Store Samples and Candy Winners!

Phew!  Did you have fun with this release?  Hope you enjoyed all the samples by the DT and myself.  I have one last sample to share with you today... Normally I try to include a sample for each store that carries our stamps.  Well, look how much our business has grown!  And this isn't all of them- just the Hawaii stores- the mainland cards were already shipped by the time I got a photo taken.  Now you know why I'm so busy right?

Went with a gatefold card this time and went to town with all my new washi paper!  Like I've said... I've been collecting boy type washi in anticipation for this release, so I thought.. I'd better use it now!  Some were from Hanko, some from the Paper Source, some from Heiko, and some from Island Scrapbooking- sorry I don't know the name of the new company they brought in, but when I find out, I'll update.

And on to the winners...

Katsura winner:  Thanh Vo

Yoshi winner:  Jes

Kenichi winner:  Jazzmom

Congratulations to all!  And thank you to everyone else who entered!  Winners, please email me at sisterstampsllc@gmail.com.

Happy Easter!

 Happy Easter!  Gee, it feels like I already celebrated Easter since our Easter images were released about a month ago.  Makes it more fun to be able to celebrate Easter twice!

Made these Easter goodies for some of my friends. You may have remembered my Masa post with the green milk carton?   I love pastels and bright colors, so the Doodlebug mini printed cardstock was perfect for this project.  Cut each sheet using the milk carton Sizzix pro die, which made putting this box together oh so easy.  

Then I colored up some Akemi's to go on each box.  Didn't want them to be the same, so I colored up each one a different color.  Before putting Akemi onto the box, I added some grass using my MS grass punch (my fave!) and this Magnolia fence die that I've been dying to use!  Unlike other fences, it has hearts cut out of it!

Found these flower clothespins at Michaels for $1 for a pack of 3.  Love it!

So hope you and your family have a Happy Easter!  Gotta go hunt down some eggs now- have fun!

It's Release Day!

We made it!  It's our 7th Release and I'm so excited to hear back from all of you on how you like our stamps!  Can't wait to see all the samples in blogland too.

First of all, I have to give a BIG mahalo to Kris, our Guest Designer for this release!  Thanks Kris!  And to my girl Debi for always helping me out!  You rock!

Ok on to my last project.  Decided to go all out and make a Waterfall Mini album!  Found many tutorials online and on YouTube, so you can just do a google search for them or on YouTube for the instructions.  For some reason I love this WAAAAAY more than the original Waterfall card.

Here's the cover- honors goes to Katsura.  Do you like my red snapper?  I got it at a local store in downtown Hilo.  They import things from Japan- need to remember to check them out more regularly.  Unfortunately its too soon to get any of the small boy's day koi that comes with candy filled sticks that you can find around boy's day. I know we had a couple from past boy's days but can't seem to find them in my messy house. Thought about buying a regular one that you hang above your house, but those are waaaaay too big to fit in this photo!  So red snapper fish will have to do.

Picked this washi paper as the constant in the album.  Love the masculinity of it (is that a word?)  Next up is Yoshi- posed him in a somersault position so he looks like he's really tumbling!

Page 2 features an old favorite- Nobu! Yes, he snuck into this mini just to say hi!

The next page features Kenichi and his doggie...

And this last page features Keitaro!  He wanted to join in the fun too!

 

There's actually one more page behind Keitaro, but I didn't have any more small boy stamps that would fit!   Anyway, I'm thinking I can add on the photos on the back side of the pages and add journaling to the pages with the boys.  What do you think?

Ok so if you've been reading all of my posts, I didn't really answer the question of how I cheated in cutting out the images right?  You are probably thinking- are you ever going to answer that question?  Well, on the Katsura tag, I didn't cut out the string part of the fish.  It would've been too thin, and since I had placed him on a colored background, it looked funny with the white showing through... So I played around with my copic markers until I found the right color that was the same as the background and colored that space up to match.  I did the same for the area in between Kenichi and the doggie.  There!  Now you know my secret!

So hope you had fun with this release!  Can't wait to see what you all come up with!  Enjoy!  Be back soon with the Release 7 candy winners.

Distressed Katsura

 I know I don't mention my personal blog all that much, but I've been recently inspired by my craft idol- Tim Holtz.  I know he and his awesome products have been around for awhile, but I guess I never really understood how to use them until I signed up for his Creative Chemistry 101 class. I'm hoping that the 101 means that eventually there will be another version later. (crossing my fingers!).  All I can say is that if you haven't signed up for it yet, you can still do so since its an online class and if you sign up, you will have lifetime access to the videos!  Sign up here- you won't regret it!

So while doing my "homework" for the class, I ended up playing around since I had a lot of the supplies out.  I had a really fun day playing around with different color combos and stumbled upon this one that I fell in love with.  While at CHA, I took a Hero Arts class (click here to see the cards I made) and Sharri Carroll (who taught the class) shared how one of her favorite color combos was brown and blue.  I guess I had that in the back of my mind when I made this card, and now I absolutely love it! Especially for male cards!

So after inking up this tag, I followed the advice of my wise husband who told me after I expressed that I wanted to play with Distress and not Sister Stamps (gasp!).. why not mix the two together! Duh!  He's so smart yah?  So I added some detail to the tag for some interest by digging through some old stamps that I had in my stash.  The branch stamp is an old Stampendous wood stamp and the dragonfly and kanji poem are both by Hero Arts.  The branch stamp was inked up using Forrest Green distress ink and the other two were stamped using my Versamark pad and topped with bronze mica powder for shine.  That might be the reason its so hard to see in this photo.

So I got in close and tried to get the light to hit the tag just right to show you the kanji poem and dragonfly images covered in mica.

After I colored up Katsura, I cut him out and adhered him to the tag.  Can you see where I cheated in my cutting?

Hope you enjoyed this distressed tag as much as I had fun making it!   Don't forget to check out Debi's and Kris' projects too!  See you tomorrow for Release day!!!

Other supplies used (not listed above):
Katsura- Sister Stamps
Copics
Gold Smooch
Tim Holtz tag die
Manila folders

Super Fun Yoshi!

 So are you liking the new images so far?  Hope so!  Well, to give you more inspiration on using our images, I've solicited the help of a very special Guest Designer for this release.  Frankly, I needed a lot of help since I'm so junk at boy stuff, so I had to pick someone who also had a boy... You can find out who I'm talking about by checking out her blog here...

Don't forget to check out my CBFF (Crafty BFF) Debi's blog here for even more inspiration! (Thanks Debi!)  She has a boy too, so I'm sure she has some great boy projects for you.

So my project for today is using Yoshi again.  He's just full of surprises... check it out:

Is that a present I see?

Wait!  Yoshi is popping out of the present!  What a rascal!

Here's a close up of Yoshi. I actually had a lot of fun making this slider card.  I haven't made one in awhile, so I had to look up the directions again.  I forgot how much thought you have to put into it to figure out what he will be popping up from behind.

So my last story to share about Yoshi is that one time while at my house, my sister made us tuna sandwiches for lunch.  After serving us the sandwiches, my sister checked on us and my cousin Yoshi was done.  She couldn't believe it since Yoshimi and I had only taken a few bites of ours.  He claimed he ate the whole thing, but my sister must've suspected something.  She checked the trash but couldn't find it, so assumed he did eat it.  Later on when my mom came home, I don't know what she was doing but she and my sister found the tuna sandwich!  He ended up inserting the sandwich into a hole in our recliner in an effort to not have to eat it.  What a rascal yah?   That story still makes me laugh till today!

Ok, so now that you've had a good laugh for today, go check out our Guest DT and Debi's blogs for more fun.  Psst... Debi might have some candy too!  All joking aside, for the record, my cousin is not like that anymore, but I sure have fun remembering the good 'ol days!

Supplies:
Yoshi- Sister Stamps
CS- Bazzil
DP- Bo Bunny
Ribbon
Small tag punch & sentiment- SU
sentiment- Hero Arts
Pop dots
Copics

Here's Kenichi!

 Hi Everyone!  Back again for our last Introductory post for this release..  stop in tomorrow to find out who our Guest Designer is for this release!

As you already know, I try to give our images a name- mainly so that it's easier for me to identify and remember. It also gives me a chance to name them after friends and family or just names that I like.  Kenichi is the name of one of our friend's sons who is still a toddler.  Kenichi looks like a young boy, so I thought it matched him.

When I tried to find out the meaning of the name or backstory on why they gave their son that name, I found out that Kenichi means "Healthy and Strong".  All they wanted was for their child to be healthy and strong, which is the reason for that name.  Kenichi is healthy and strong- what more could parents want?  We haven't seen Kenichi since he was just a baby, so I'm sure he's much bigger now!

On to my project... I am having a blast distressing left and right.  Pretty soon my whole house will be distressed!  More on distressing tomorrow.  For now, let me just tell you about my project. After distressing the tag with my distress inks, I decided on using a stamp I haven't inked up before.  I got this stamp last year but never used it till now.  It's a wood stamp I got from Poppy Stamps- which I think is affiliated with Memory Box.  On the wood, it says "friendship", so I assumed it would also say that on the rubber.  After I stamped it, I wondered what happened to the "friendship"... I guess it was just the kanji cause "friendship" never showed up!  It's ok, I like it still, but thought that now I needed to explain it to you! I like that you can see the distress inks underneath the kanji letters too.  Embossed it with black Zing embossing powder so that it stood out.

I then stamped the bamboo shoots (Stampendous) using Versamark again and this time added bronze mica powder.  I thought it just needed something on the right side of the tag.  Had to stamp it 2xs before adding the mica.  It seemed to fill the space nicely. I tried to position the tag so that you can see the mica powder on the bamboo.

 And the star of the tag.. Kenichi. 

Kenichi is part of our kids and pets series along with Akemi.  I colored him in orange to balance out the tag. Can you see where I cheated coloring him?

So.. want to win Kenichi?  Just leave a comment on this post and make sure to follow all the candy rules.  This time, tell me if you had (have) a pet and what kind of animal it is.

Time to Meet Yoshi!

Welcome back to Release Week!  Our next image is a playful one named Yoshi.  Yoshi is my cousin's name and is short for Yoshio.  If you remember Yoshimi, he's her brother.  Funny yah?  Yoshio and Yoshimi? When I asked my Aunty why she named them so similar names, she said my grandmother named both of them.  My cousin is actually named after his father (his first name), but we all called him Yoshi instead of his given name.  I guess so as not to confuse him with his dad.

This image is so playful, which is why I picked it to name after my cousin.  When we were young, my two cousins, Yoshi and Yoshimi used to come over early Saturday mornings- and I mean early!  Like before the sun came up.  Their mom used to work with my mom at a coffee shop, so they were dropped off for my sister to watch all of us.  I remember Yoshi used to watch cartoons as soon as they were on. I also remember him staring at my sister until she woke up on Saturdays!

Yoshi was always a bit mischevious, so I think that's why this image just screamed his name to me.  He used to irritate his little sister (like most older brothers do) and seemed to get away with more than me and Yoshimi did.  We used to have to clean the bathroom, while Yoshi used to watch TV.  Not fair I tell you!  But that's in the past and now Yoshi is not as waru bozu as he used to be.  Still I have fond memories about those Saturday mornings.  Seems like it was just a few years ago and now we are the adults!

So when my sis emailed this image to me, I had just one thought... spinner card, don't 'cha think?  She said she actually had that in mind when she drew him.  I love his pose- makes it great for interactive cards... and if you know me, I LOVE interactive cards!  So I dusted off my word window punch by SU and found a few pennies to make this spinner.  I had fun making it since it's been awhile since I've made one.

 

Well, it's not a video but you get the jist right?  Oh yes, must not forget about the washi paper.  While at CHA this year, I found a washi paper company that had some great designs.  I was happy to get my hands on them recently- perfect color too for my boys!

So here's your chance to win Yoshi... Check out the introductory post for Katsura (posted yesterday), and in addition to being a follower and leaving a comment, tell me if you had an older brother or cousin, or other family member that was mischevious too!  I have another story to tell you about Yoshi, but I'll save it for a future post! :)

It's Time To Release The Boys! Meet Katsura...

 Are you ready to meet the boys?  Well first up is Katsura.  Katsura is my brother's middle name, who is named after our father.  It always reminds me of Chicken Katsu, and I think that's how I remembered it all these years.  I did a search online to find out what it means.  I laughed to find out it could mean toupe'e (sorry, can't find the correct symbol).  I guess it also means moon, which is probably the more correct meaning of why this name was chosen by my grandparents.  Let's just say that it is so I don't start laughing everytime I think of it! (hee hee).

I guess I picked my brother's name for this image because he's the only boy in our family.  Poor thing yah?  Surrounded by 3 women his whole life, then gets married into a family with mostly women, and then has 2 daughters!  Since he's the only boy in our family, boy's day was really all about him.  Being that there's not a lot of testosterone in our family, I had a hard time making boy cards for this release!  Here's what I came up with for my first card...

In preparation for this release, I've been picking up a few boy papers here and there to assist me.  Found this boy's day washi paper while shopping at Hakubundo in Honolulu.  They have a small selection of washi paper and crafts, but mostly I went for the japanese props to help my my photos more fun.  I need to go back since I gave them to my sister.

Back to the card... I got this cool punch by EK success recently and it just screamed Japanese background to me.  Punched it out on both sides of the cardstock and stuck a strip of brown shimmery cardstock over it and then layered my boy's day washi on that.  I call it a boy's day washi because it has koi (fish), samurai helmet, and other boy's type things.

Because the next size reverse wonky die was too big for the card, I had to figure out how to make it stand out a bit.  So I decided to use my distress inks on the edges to kind of frame it so that the image pops out.

I topped it off with a new sentiment by Island Scrapbooking- Happy Boy's Day, and popped it up using my mini pop dots.

Ok- now for the real reason why you are here right???  Want some candy?  OK here's the rules:

1.  Leave a comment on THIS POST for your chance to win Katsura by Friday, April 6th 11:59pm HST.
2.  Tell me how many boys are in your family.
3.  Follow this blog Publicly (so we can verify) if you are not already.

Sound easy?  Ok- see you back here tomorrow so I can tell you about our other boys.  See you soon!

Look Who's Coming Soon!

Boy oh boy!  We have a special all boy release coming your way!  You've showed us how much you loved our first boy- Nobu, so we have three more boys to share with you soon!  Introductory posts start tomorrow, so check back for more fun.