Sunday, March 11, 2012

Remembering Japan

Well, I tried posting this yesterday, but for some reason, it went up as a blank post!  Anyway, I'm a day late now, but I still wanted to share this post with you.

Last year at this time, I was on my first trip to Japan.  You can read more about our Tokyo adventure here...

While in Japan, we were there for the earthquake and tsunami.  Luckily nothing bad happened to us but we were still scared and frightened being in another country.  Through it all, we developed a deep respect and appreciation for the people of Japan.  There was no crime, looters, panic or anything uncivilized during this tragedy.  You could sense the worry, but still everyone continued to work and go about their business.  If you were there, you would not have even realized that the tsunami had happened on the other part of the island.

We heard many stories of how residents had to walk 10 hours to get home or got stuck in hours of traffic trying to get to loved ones.  It's just incredible that thorough all of that, everyone seemed to stay calm, cool, and collected.

Just wanted to share a Sister Stamps card with you because Sister Stamps was on my mind while in Japan.  I got inspired by many of the things I saw while on my trip and hope to go back there again soon.




To make this card, I distressed the background with a few colors.  After staring at it for awhile, I decided to do something simple this time and just stamp Yohimi onto the distressed background, so you could still see the blended colors.  I added the black kanji for birthday (giving it away to a friend) and on the right, I used an old kanji stamp and stamped it with versamark and applied gold mica powder for a subtle look.  To balance out the black, I matted it onto black cardstock.

Even though I'm late, please take a moment of silence to remember the people of Japan who passed away or lost loved ones through this disaster.  They have gone through so much with such grace and honor.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Bunny High

I'm on a bunny high after getting this card from Aunty Jan!  Don't you just love the bunny washi in the background?  I think that is one of my all time favorite washi paper in my collection.  So much so, that I bought several versions of the same washi in different colors while in Japan!

I gotta say though... my favorite thing about this card is the awesome basket!!! Don't you love it?  I was struggling with trying to figure out how to make a basket on a card for this release, and just couldn't do it, so I was floored when I got this card from Aunty.  I love how she used the same paper and cut a thin strip and just wrapped it around the lip and handle of the basket.  She achieved the basket look without actually weaving it! 




Oh.. those chickies are back again!  And here's a close up of Daba.. don't you love how "he" is now a she just by adding that little bow?




Hope you have a happy hump day!

Supplies:
Washi paper- Paper Intelligence
Spring stamp- Hero Arts
Flowers- All Natural Accents
Daba- Sister Stamps

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Life's Little Pleasures

So... did everyone get their stamps yet?  If not, you can check out any of our retailers listed on our sidebar to see if they still have them in stock.  These seem to be going really fast- had to fill some re-orders already!

Just wanted to share another card from Aunty Jan.  I thought this Masa card was so cute!  I guess the chickies thought so too since they are back again. 



Can I just say that I love that she added grass to the scene!  She paper pieced Masa's kimono using washi paper.  I love all the details too... she used Doodlebug rick rack stickers and punched some butterflies using a Martha Stewart punch.  The Easter paper is by Best Creation and the sentiment stamp is by Stamp Oasis.  She stamped the sentiment on vellum so you could still see the paper behind it.  Love it!




I don't think you can tell from this photo, but the eggs and butterflies have a touch of glitter.. just enough to make it sparkle.  Thanks Aunty!

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Miss Out On Candy?

Hey Everyone!
Just popping in to let you know to check out Dena's blog today.  She is participating in the Our Favorite Things Blog Hop and each step along they way is giving away candy!  In case you missed out on your chance to win Keitaro and Miyako, Dena is giving some away on her blog so check it out here...

Good Luck and Happy Girl's Day!

Thursday, March 1, 2012

It's Release Day!

 Well, it's been a crazy week.. and it's only Thursday!  Just want to say thank you again to Debi and Donna for sharing their Release #6 projects with us. Hopefully our sample have inspired you to get these images and start creating!

Aunty Jan surprised me with some samples this week!  Yay!  Wanted to share one with you today- Akemi's back in this precious card.  I love this simple layout and matching sentiment by Hero Arts.  What you can't tell from this photo is that the Akemi stamp is popped up from the card base- a nice way to focus on the image without having to cut her out completely.



And look who decided to photo-bomb this photo shoot... It's none other than Daba himself!  I stole him from Akemi just as she was falling asleep.  He just wanted to pop in and say hi!


Oh- and the little chickies snuck in too.  I think they wanted to eat the jellybeans.

So I'm sure you popped in to also see if you've won any of our blog candies?  Well, wait no further...


Akemi Winner:  Dena
Daba Winner:  Expressions & Inspirations
Masa Winner:  Eva

Congratulations to all the winners!  I will be away on a trip, but please email me at sisterstampsllc@gmail.com with your mailing address.  I will mail these off to you upon my return.  Thank you to everyone who entered!  Don't forget to check Facebook if you are a follower to see if you've won our candy giveaway there... AND don't forget to check out my personal blog if you've entered to win my blogaversary candy!  AND don't forget to check out Debi's blog later on if you entered her candy giveaway.  Phew!  That's a lot of candy!