Thanks from Cappy

Wow!  Can't believe tomorrow is release day!  Yay!  Hope you've been checking out all our sister's posts and all the fun projects! 

Karen

Laura

Eunice

Linda

Eva

Debi

Just wanted to thank everyone for helping us celebrate our 2nd birthday!  Couldn't have made it without the help of our Guest Designer KI- thanks girl!  And much mahalo to our Chinese Zodiac team that took on this extra release just to help us celebrate!  You guys rock!  And thank you so much to Eva who agreed to be a regular design team member!  And of course to my CBFF Debi... Thanks so much for all your help!!!  It's not easy finding a bunch of talented girls that are reliable and easy to work with!

While we are on the subject of thanks...Here in Hawaii, we usually make favors for almost any kind of party...  A bit of a thank you for coming to our party and helping us celebrate!  I found this Kawaii favor box that doubles as a thank you card!  Here's how I decorated the front...  Kept it simple by just stamping thanks in a circle, punched it out and adhered it to a scallop circle.  Added some ribbon and then adhered the scallop circle over the ribbon.

When you open up the card, you see the favor!  I decided to punch a hole using the scallop punch again and then adhered some acetate under it.  I thought it would be cute to see what the favor goodies were inside.

I thought Cappy matched this project the best, so I colored her up and added her to the inside.

And here's a shot of the drawer that slides out for your goodies.

So simple to make!  Here's the link to Julie's blog where I found the tutorial...

And just wanted to say a very special thank you to my sister for all her hard work and amazing creations!  Hope we can last another year!

Kiki Cake!

We're in the home stretch!  Woo Hoo!  Only a few more days till you can adopt these pups or kitty to take home with you!  

Today I wanted to share a special cake I made just for this occasion.  I found some small round paper mache boxes at my local craft store and since they were stacking boxes, I thought it would make a cute wedding-like cake.

First I painted it with a coat of gesso since I wanted it to look more like frosting than a paper bag.  Then I adhered paper along the sides of the boxes and found circle dies to cut out the circles for the top of  the lid.  After adhering those down, I adhered some brown ribbon to the sides of the lid.

 Then it was time to embellish!  Dug through my stash and pulled out a mix of Prima, Petaloo, Wild Orchid Crafts and I Am Roses flowers in browns and creams.  Then for the cake topper!  I adhered Kiki to some acetate for stability and cut out around her so that she was stiff and would not fall down. I left a small tab on the bottom so that I could adhere it down to the box, which seems to have worked.

Each box's lid can still be opened to put in little gifts or treasures.  The smallest box is very tiny, so it would have to be something small... like jewelry?!  Just dreaming...

So now for some more birthday fun!  Out of all of our images, how many of them have live animals (no toys, stuffed animals, etc.)?  Again, if you think you know, please email me at sisterstampsllc@gmail.com with your answer.  The first person to email me the correct answer will win a prize!

So much fun yah?  Speaking of fun... go check out our crafty sisters to see what else they've been up to...

Karen- Guest DT
Laura
Eunice
Linda
Eva
Debi

Cris Cross Doogie

Hello Hello!  Back again with more Release #15 projects!  I'm still tripping out that we are gonna be 2 years old already.  I remember all the excitement of getting our first images printed and now we have __!!  Hmmmm..... how many do we have?  I wonder if anyone knows out there.  If you think you know how many images Sister Stamps has released (including these Release #15 images), send me an email at sisterstampsllc@gmail.com.  I will give away a prize to the first person who gets it right!  Only one entry per person.  Please don't cheat and send emails from several accounts.  Let's all play fair! Thank you!

Soooo, did you check out our guest designer yesterday?  It's none other than Karen!  Karen or (K.I.) as I call her, is a dear friend.   We used to work together a long time ago, but still keep in touch.  We were also in the FCE club together where our club would do a lot of service projects (sometimes craft related) for the community.  She will probably tell you that I totally got her into stamping, which is true.  And now she's and avid card maker.  Thanks KI for helping us with this release!

Keeping with the birthday theme, I decided to make another birthday card.. I can always use birthday cards!  And yes, I'm using that Vintage Bliss line again from Simple Stories.  Yes, I'm in love....

So here we have a cris cross card. (Why do I fell like Jump! Jump!ing...)  This card is very easy to make- honest!  I found the tutorial on Splitcoast Stampers a long time ago by Beate.  Lately I've been seeing some awesome cards using this method, so I thought I'd revisit an old favorite again. 

I decided to give Doogie a patch around her eye this time.  My daughter actually did that when making a card for her cousin. I liked that idea, so now I'm CASE'ing my daughter!!!  How you like them apples?  She's totally inspiring me now!

And here's a shot of the inside.  You can write a message on the card insert.

Oh, and wanted to point out the present on the Island Scrapbooking sentiment... That present is part of the Otsu set.  I told you in the Otsu introductory post that if you bought Otsu, you would also get the ball of yarn and a present... we'll now you can see what the present looks like.

Thanks for stopping by today! Don't forget to check out everyone's projects!  I can't wait to see them myself!

Karen 
Eunice
Laura
Linda
Eva
Debi

And don't forget to email me if you think you know how many images we have (including this one).  Good Luck!

Paper Bag Puppies

Hi there!  Back again with more birthday fun!  To help us celebrate our 2nd birthday, we have some friends joining us in the celebration... But before that, I wanted to announce who our guest designer is for this release!  This lady is not only one of our biggest fans, but she is also a dear friend!  Check out her blog here to see who I'm talking about...

But wait.. there's more!  We are thrilled to have some of our Chinese Zodiac team join us in this special birthday release!  They will be sharing projects this week using our new Release #15 images...  Check out their blogs here:

Laura

Eunice

Linda

And finally.... we've asked a former guest designer to be a permanent addition to our family! Find out who will be returning for the long haul here...

And don't forget my right hand lady... I'm sure Debi has some great projects up her sleeve...

Who knows, you might just have another chance to win some birthday blog candy along the way!

Now that all the announcements have been made... On to the card!!  I was looking at Pinterest for some inspiration and found a tutorial on this paper bag card.  It's super duper easy to make and a great way to use up your scraps.  I recently taught a class that used this Vintage Bliss paper by Simple Stories.  I'm totally addicted to this paper collection!  I'm a BIG Simple Stories fan, but this is my all time favorite collection.

I decided to use both Doogie and Cappy on this card.  For some reason, Doogie looks like she wants to eat something... I think it's her tongue hanging out of her mouth.  Anyway, what's a party without cupcakes right?  So I found an ancient cupcake Sizzix die in my stash. I knew it would come in handy one day. It's the perfect size as it was not too big to fit on the pocket.

Then I colored up Cappy and made her peeking out from inside the pocket.  I guess it's her positioning that makes me feel like she's peeking over the edge.  Added a small birthday flag by Bella Blvd that I got a a red tag sale.  It's on a little sewing pin, so I'm sure you could easily make your own.  I think it would be great with washi tape!

Here's a shot of the card outside of the pocket.  You can write the message on this card, or make another card and stick it inside the paper bag.  I think this would make a cute mini album too.

Here's a closer look at Cappy.

So don't forget to check out everyone's projects today!  And you might want to leave a comment... jus' saying!

Washi Cat

Ok, enough dogs right?  Where's something for the cat people out there?  Well, we have something for you guys as well...  Meet Otsu!  Otsu was my mother-in-law's kitty when I first moved to the Big Island.  She actually had three cats at the time, but Otsu was the mellow-ist of them all.  Even though she was mellow, she was still the boss.  When Paul's cat Ranma moved in, their other cat Spuds went into hiding while Otsu stood her ground and didn't let Ranma take over the house.

Otsu had the sweetest meow ever!  It was really high pitched and sounded more like "Aaaaaak".  I always wondered why in the Bloom County cartoons Bill the Cat said "Aaack" instead of "meow", but after meeting Otsu, I found out cats really do make that noise too!

And here she is taking a catnap on the couch.... 

Now, I was never a cat person.  I think it's mostly because I'm allergic to them (big time), so I try to keep my distance.  But being exposed to these cats has been very educational.  They are very affectionate- almost as much as dogs, don't make much noise, and are easier to clean up after than dogs.  My daughter really wants a cat, but unfortunately I can't have any.  I'm sure she'll get one once she moves out of the house.  For now, whenever she needs a cat-fix she goes Grandma's and visits Plumpy.

Ok on to the image... I am on a washi tape roll (get it?)  I love how if make a mistake, you can easily lift up the washi tape and re-position it without ruining your project!  I'm still learning how to use it in projects, but I'm slowly getting it.

 So just to let you know cause you can't really tell by this card, when you purchase (or perhaps win) Otsu, you will also be getting the yarn ball and a present image along with Otsu.  My sister and I talked about having some flexibility with this image and allowing the stamper (you) to change out what Otsu is playing with.  In this card, I made her playing with a ball of yarn, but if you wanted to change it to a birthday card, you could stamp the present instead of the yarn.  So you actually will be getting 3 images instead of just one.  And because the images are not attached to the cat, you can also use whatever you already have.  I've used hearts, cupcakes, etc. in place of the yarn or present in the past and they all seem to work out purrfectly!

Oh.. and decided to use an Island Scrapbooking custom laser cut "Hello" sentiment.  It's so easy to adhere them over the washi tape!

So cat lovers.. or stampers who make cards for cat lovers... this one's for you!  Here's your opportunity to win Otsu!
1.  Leave a comment on THIS POST by 06/30/13 11:59 HST; and
2.  Tell me what other things do you think you could put in Otsu's paws?

Please join us tomorrow to find out who our guest designer is and some other special surprises!

Doogie Doggie

Now it's time to meet Doogie!  No, it's not a typo.. her name is really Doogie... Not Doggie.  Doogie is part heeler (thus her coloring and spots) and part jack russell.   

She's a really loveable dog and very smart, and much more behaved than Kiki (which is not saying much)... unless it has to do with cats!  That's Plumpy in the bag.. She is now the only cat who lives with my mother-in-law.  Before there used to be two cats (Plumpy and Jama), but Jama passed away, so now it's two dogs (Doogie and Cappy) and one cat.  When we bring Kiki over, they really gang up on Plumpy, but she can hold her own.  My husband took this photo one night of the shenanigans that happen at that house with all the pets.

Getting back to how smart Doogie is...Doogie is Grandma and Grandpa's dog.  For Doogie's snack, she gets soda crackers.. When she wants crackers she barks 2xs for "crack-er" (2 syllables).  Every night she gets a hard boiled egg. When she knows it's egg time she barks once for "egg" (1 syllable).  Although, now that she lives at my mother-in-law's with the other animals, there's no rhyme or reason like before.. I think she thinks, why do I have to do it correctly when the other's don't!  ha ha ha ha ha!

So now that she's exposed to the other animals, she's picking up all of their bad habits.  Sigh.  Bad influences I tell you!

On to the image... I tried to color up the Doogie image to look like the real Doogie.  Added a lot of black spots to try to get the same effect as her coat.

That sentiment is by Lawn Fawn- love their new dog stamp set!!!  Oh.. and made those washi covered hearts by laying washi on some white cardstock and then punching them out with my heart punch.  Here's a closer look at Doogie...

It's time for more doggie treats!  If you would like a chance to win Doogie, please follow the rules below...

1.  Leave a comment on THIS POST by 06/30/13 11:59 HST; and
2.  Tell me if you are a dog person or cat person, or don't like pets at all....

Don't worry cat people... we have something for you too!  Check back tomorrow!

Meet Cappy

 Ok enough gushing about my first child... On to the next doggie!

Meet Cappy.... Cappy is a wire haired miniature daschund that joined our family when my daughter was born.  She shares the same birthday as Akemi!  Weird yah?

My father-in-law LOVED Kiki.  I guess he always wanted a dog, so shortly after Akemi was born, they got Cappy....  That's why Kiki is so grouchy... lost attention because of Akemi and Cappy!!!

My father-in-law tried to teach Cappy tricks.... But she was only able to master one...

Chodai!  We teach young children to place one palm over the other facing up to say "please" when they are young and can't really speak.   This term was known as "Chodai" in my household.  Whenever we said this, my daughter would make the motion and then we'd give her what she wanted.  Well, my father-in-law decided to teach this to Cappy.  Since she can't make the same motion with her paws, she sits up as shown to beg for food.... which is why our next image is named after her!

I decided to keep this card simple... Cappy is such a happy doggie, that I thought this sentiment by Hero Arts was a perfect match for her.  After stamping it, it reminded me of those old label stickers that everyone had.. then it reminded me of washi tape!  So I went through my stash and found a bunch of washi from Target that I bought awhile ago.  Love that they sell them in a pack with different designs of all the same color.  Makes it so much easier to match!  Here's a close up of Cappy..

So, would love to take Cappy home?  Well, not the real cappy, just this new stamp?

1.  Leave a comment on THIS POST by 06/30/13 11:59 HST; and
2.  What is the best dog trick you have ever seen? I'm sure I'll hear a lot of examples from stupid pet tricks.. Am I right?  Hee hee.. Can't wait to hear!

My Kiki

Hi Sister Stampers!!!!  Woo Hoo!  Still can't believe we are coming up on our 2nd birthday!!!  Yay!!!  It seems like we just started our little company and now we are on our 15th Release!!!!  Yowza!

For this special release, I chose to share some special friends with you.  We've had a lot of great response whenever we have animals in our release images, that I asked (make that begged) my sister for some domestic animals.  I really really really wanted a dog image.  Let me introduce you to my dog Kiki...

Yikes- that's an old photo of me!  Yes, we got our Kikigirl for Christmas the year we got married. I couldn't wait till we bought our own house so I could get my very own dog!  I really wanted a red haired daschund.  My friend's mom had a long haired red daschund (Pixie) that I just loved to death and really wanted one of my own.  So my husband bought Kiki for me for Christmas that year.  I don't think you can tell, but I put her in my stocking- that's how small she was!

I call Kiki my first child, cause that's what she is.   We had her for about 3 years before my daughter came along....

Then she got grouchy... cause she was no longer the only child!   I'll share more about that later...  

We found out that Kiki was really an alpha dog.  That really made things difficult in the house, because I am the alpha female (just ask my husband), so we battled it out, and I think she finally knows that I'm the boss.  (or does she?)

No wonder we are both alpha females.. we are born on the same day!

The thing about Kiki is that she's REALLY REALLY SMART!  You can see it in her eyes.  She looks into your eyes and tries to figure you out... can I get this person to give me food?  Hmmmm, maybe if I try barking... No?  Ok let's try giving them the guilt trip by giving them the sad doggie face...  She scans the room and her radar can detect who will give up the food the easiest.  My mom has to go in another room so that Kiki doesn't cast her spell on her. See how she tilts her head?  She's trying to figure out what you are saying...

So this is what happens when Kiki gets a stuffed animal.... Mission Unstuff!

A-ha!  Caught in the act!!!!

She knows better than to mess with Daba... she settles on snuggling w/Daba instead.

No matter what type of mischief she gets into, Kiki is still my doggie and I don't know what we'll do without her!

Wow- that was a lot about Kiki, but she is my first child after all... On to the project....

I had done a copic class last month and used Kiki to demonstrate blending to white using your copics. I love that technique and really should use it more often.  I decided to keep the card simple since the focus was on coloring.

The reason why I chose this image to name Kiki is because she always tilts her head when she's trying to figure out what you are saying.  Especially when she hears key words like "walking", "let's go", etc.  She is really asking... "Am I coming too?"

So... time for some Kiki candy!  (no not doggie biscuits)... here's all you have to do:
1.  Leave a comment on THIS POST by 06/30/13 11:59 HST; and
2.  Tell me if you have a dog and what you love most about him/her. Can't wait to hear!

Here Boy!

Can you believe July is almost upon us?  Where is the summer going?  Well, the good news is that we have another release scheduled for July 1st, which is just around the corner... Here's a sneaky peek at what's to come...

It's what you've been waiting for!  We got a whole litter coming your way, so check back tomorrow to meet the pack!

Galaxy's Best Father...

It's Father's Day!  Hope all the Daddy's out there is having a great day.  My husband is out running (yes he wants to do that) and had to go to a meeting (booooo!  who has a meeting on Father's Day?!).. Anyway, we are waiting for him to come home so we can take him to see Man of Steel.  He's been talking about going to see that for awhile now, so I thought we'd treat him to that on his special day.

While waiting, I decided to make him a card. He's a geek to the core- majoring in Star Wars.  Akemi is a geek in training, majoring in Harry Potter.  I'm also a geek but sometimes I have to turn in my geek card because even Akemi schools me on the intricate details of all things geeky.

Akemi has always been Paul's little Princess... Leia that is!  See!

See! See!.. Vader's little princess...

Even though Akemi is older now... she's still Daddy's little princess...  Here's what I came up with...

Used Miyako since she was holding a heart and her hair is in pig tails.  Instead of coloring up the pig tales, I just colored over it and made little buns on the side of her head so she looked more like Leia.  In the Star Wars movie where she has the buns, her outfit is very plain.  Had some issues with the kimono since it has a heart pattern on it, which didn't make it look quite right.  So I improvised and paper pieced another kimono over it by carefully stamping the outline of the kimono.  If any ink got on the inside pattern, I just wiped it with a baby wipe.  It seemed to do the trick.  After stamping the plain kimono, I cut it out and pieced it over Miyako's kimono to get the effect I wanted.

I found this cool Star Wars themed stamp set by Jaded Blossom... that I've been dying to use!!!  I've been cleaning my craft room and stumbled on it again, so I made a note to self to remember to use it for Father's Day.

 I also used one of the stamps for the inside of the card... It's so funny since he tries to talk like Yoda...

Well hope you liked my card and hope you are having a good Father's Day!  One last share... Here's the card Akemi made for her Daddy... Spot on right??!

Big Island Taiko Festival 2013

Although this is a semi-personal post, I thought I'd share this tidbit with you since it does have some relation to Sister Stamps....

My husband's Taiko group had a great performance in this year's Big Island Taiko Festival!  Yay!  They've come a long way from drumming on old tires!!!  Here's my favorite photo from their performance.

Since I made favors for my daughter's ballet performers, I had to do the same for my husband's taiko group.  Here's what I came up with at the last minute.  It's amazing what you can come up with if you procrastinate long enough... 

Since the M&M sticks were already made, I wanted to do something with the sticks.  I had already made a drum out of the candy stick bags before... see my old project here... so I couldn't do the same thing again right?  Especially since the same kids are still in the group.

So I had to use my brain cells to come up with something new and cool... Here's what I came up with.....

At the end of the performance, each group comes out with their group's banner like the one featured here.  All I did was print "Puna Taiko 2013" on the computer, cut it out and mounted them on black and red cardstock.  Although you might automatically think I should use Yoichi for this project, I opted for Katsura since he was already holding a long pole.  I cheated a bit and printed him up on my computer and just cut off the koi flag.  Since I thought everyone might want to save Katsura and eat the candy, I put everything on a BBQ skewer.

Here's a closer look at Katsura...

And here's a better look at the banner.. All I did was punch holes at the top and bottom of the banner.

Wow!  Looks like a parade of Katsura's!

Here you can see the banner I referenced.  The kids did a really good job this year!  It's amazing how much they've grown as players.  As my husband would say... "they must have a good sensei"!  I think he's semi-serious when he says stuff like that.  Bwahahahahahaha!