Have a Fan-tastic Day!

Oh Aunty, you really outdid yourself this time!  This card is right up my alley. I love the pink sakura stamp by Hanko on the Dreamweaver fan stencil.  As I've said before, I just can't seem to do stencils, so anytime anyone uses stencils I'm so impressed.  I know, everyone says how easy it is, but I struggle with it and can really appreciate how nice they come out.

Again, the sentiment was printed from her computer.  How perfect is that sentiment for this card?

And here's Yoshimi...

Wow- what a showcase!  Thanks again Aunty for all your inspiration!

Miyako Heart Fold Card

 Now this card is quite impressive. When I opened this one up I was surprised at the mechanics...

 See- it opens up quite nicely!  Aunty also gave me some templates to play around with- Thanks Aunty!

She also punched a lot of flowers to decorate the card.  I love these flowers- the petals are heart shaped too!   And here's a close up of Miyako...

Woah- we are almost done with Aunty's cards!  I have one more to share tomorrow.

Love You!

 Meet my all time favorite Keitaro card!  When I saw this one, my jaw hit the ground.  I had such a hard time figuring out how to make Keitaro's hat look like newspaper and eventually gave up and just colored it in gray.  I like Aunty's hat so much better!  She paper pieced the hat by stamping a Hero Arts kanji stamp called Chinese Dragonfly.  The kanji was small enough to make it look like the hat was a folded up newspaper!!!  She totally accomplished what I was trying to do.  Now that I think about it...I  also have a small kanji stamp by Poppy Stamps. I bought awhile ago and never used it since I thought the kanji was too small.  Now I need to dig it out of my stash to use it on Keitaro!

 I also loved the washi paper (again) behind the vellum.  If you look closely, the washi is actually boys day type items that work perfectly with Keitaro.  Again, she shows you that you can use these Valentine's stamps all year round!  Here's a closer look at that hat!

Still more to come!

A Dance Of Happiness...

I was doing the dance of happiness when I saw this card!  I think Aunty out-did herself this time.  I love the look of vellum over washi- it really softens the look and lets Yoshimi stand out.  Now why didn't I think of that?  I will file this in my memory for future cards. 

I asked her where she got that cute sentiment from... she told me it was from the computer!  Yay!  That means I don't have to go hunt it down - I can just print it up myself.  How easy!

And do you like her mizuhiki?  I've never really tried mizuhiki- it intimidates me. She assured me that this one was a simple knot.

And here's a close up of Yoshimi. Can you tell that she blended pink with purple Copics?

Thanks again Aunty!

You're In My Thoughts...

I gotta say, I love this card from Aunty Jan!  It's so simple, but the small touches make all the difference.  The heart Miyako is holding was paper pieced using washi paper.  She placed it perfectly- I love the placement of the sakura!  The flower you see is from the Tim Holtz flower die.  I got me the other one, but I think I should get this one too since it has two sized flowers on one die. 

This sentiment is my favorite part of the card... so perfect yah?  Can be used even for non-Valentine cards!  The sentiment is by Hero Arts and is called "In my thoughts".  Don't you just love the baker's twine bow too?  Adds just the right touch.  So well balanced!

I've got tons more to share.. be back again soon with another Aunty Jan creation.

With All My Hearts

 Met up with Aunty Jan this month and she surprised me with a bunch of new samples!  She told me she was so excited about this release and thinks it has something to do with the fact that all the images are named after her family.  I'll be sharing her cards throughout the week, so check back regularly to see what else she came up with...

First up is Keitaro... I just love the composition of this card!  She always seems to find just the right balance of color and interest.  The sentiment is by a company called Darcie.  It matches so perfectly yah?

And I love the detail in the hat. I think she said she used the masking technique.

Thanks Aunty!

On another note, none of our blog candy winners from this blog have responded yet.  If you are one of our winners for Release #6, please respond by Tuesday. Thank you!  Hope the rest of your weekend is great!

Release #5 Winners!

I know you've been patiently waiting for the Release #5 Blog Candy Winners- thanks for being so patient!  Here they are:

Miyako:  Scrapper al
Keitaro:  Brenda
Yoshimi:  Lysa

Congratulations to all the winners! Please email me at sistertampsllc@gmail.com with your mailing address. And if you entered into Debi's Candy, please check her blog here... to see if you've won!  Thanks for playing!

Also, our New Year's winner did not respond yet... Vera Yates- please email me to claim your prize.  If I do not hear from you soon I will choose another winner.

Psst... our retailers now have the Release #6 image previews!  You can check with your favorite retailer for more info. We hope you think they are "egg"-stra special!

Yoshimi Lantern

It's Release Day! Yay! We finally made it! Before I share my last Release Week sample with you, I just wanted to thank Nadine joining us this month and making some awesome samples! Thanks Nadine! And of course, my CBFF Debi! Thanks Debi- you rock!


For my last project, I decided to give you a break from all that Valentine's Day stuff and treat you to a Girl's Day project. I bought this Lifestyle Crafts die (formerly Quickutz) and thought it would work nicely with our images. Since I cut the body out of vellum, I was able to make it a real lantern! Decorated it with some Island Scrapbooking sakura die cuts for some interest. To contrast the pink in the lantern, I decided to paper piece Yoshimi's kimono using red washi paper. After I was done, I lit up a battery operated tea light and placed it in the lantern so that it would illuminate!



Here's a close up of Yoshimi...

I also thought you could make this lantern into a cute treat holder. See how I replaced the tea light with some goodies?


And to make sure the goodies don't fall out, I created my own bottom by cutting small 1/2" strips and taping them to the inside of the lantern.


Now your lantern treat holder is good to go! Makes a cute girl's day favor too!


I hope you enjoyed all of our new releases! Can't wait to see what you guys do with the new images! Enjoy!

Candy Bouquet

Thanks again for joining us for more Release #5 fun! Today I have a Keitaro project to share with you. While shopping at a local craft store, I found all kinds of Valentine's day goodies and couldn't resist snatching them up. But what to do with them? They were very bulky, so obviously I couldn't really use them on a card, so I put my thinking cap on and came up with this... I made a candy bouquet out of a metal pail. To hold all the sticks in place, I used a small styrofoam ball and hot glued it to the bottom of the pail. Then all you do is start sticking all of your sticks into the ball! Here I used some heart sticks which I think they use for floral arrangements, butterflies, hershey kiss roses, and heart shaped lollipops. Then I colored up Keitaro and attached him to my heart nesties and then onto a chopstick. Since he was the focal point, I decided to stick him in the middle.


I don't know if you can tell, but I wrote on his hearts "Be Mine". You can customize your message up to 7 letters. How fun is that?


We have one more day of release fun tomorrow! Don't forget to check out Nadine's and Debi's blogs for more fun!

Miyako Love Coupons

Before we get into the project for today, I wanted to announce who our Guest Designer is for this release! This special lady's work caught my eye with her awesome coloring skills and sense of style. I'm always checking out everyone's Sister Stamps creations to see what you all come up with, and was awed at her creations. Check out who our Guest Designer is here...


As you can probably tell, I've been on a crafting vacation since the holidays and had to get back in gear to make some samples just for you! To get me in the mood, I went shopping and found some oh so cute Valentine's day stuff to play with. Do you like my little heart shaped gumball machine? Akemi LOVES gumball machines, and got a Hello Kitty one for Christmas this year. She claimed that was her best present this year. This gumball machine reminded me of her.


What you see here is another take on the toilet paper roll mini album. Yes, I've been watching all those Youtube videos on how to make one and put my own spin on it by changing it up a bit and making it into a coupon book instead of a mini album. When I was young, I used to always make coupon books for mom once I figured out that I could give her something without spending a lot of money. I don't think she ever used any of her coupons, but I'm sure she got a kick out of it. My husband made me one when we were still dating. I wonder if those coupons are still valid? So when you pull on the tab, the coupon comes out. I guess I cut the card too small, so it kept falling out of the toilet paper roll. To hold it in place, I attached a brad to the tab, then used the brad to hook the coupon onto the cover.


Here's the second page... I just punched out some harts out of kraft cardstock and stamped them with my new Hero Arts conversation hearts clear stamps. I love this set! I had my husband in mind when I came up with this coupon! If you read the part below the nap it states that it "Excludes doggie interruptions". My dog Kiki will seek out anyone who is napping and snuggle up against you.


Here's the last coupon... My daughter is really really really into board games right now. We started with Monopoly, then Clue, and she just got Yahtzee, so we are learning how to play that now. I didn't realize just how fun Clue is! Can you believe me and my husband never played that game before?



Well, hope this has inspired you to try out the toilet paper mini album for yourself. Its really easy to do! And don't forget my girl Debi... she has some cute samples to share with you too! Check back tomorrow for more fun!


Supplies:

• Miyako stamp- Sister Stamps
• All other stamps- Hero Arts
• Tab punch- Stampin Up
• Flower punch- EK Success
  
• DP- Bo Bunny
• Brads- Stampin Up
• Button- PTI
• Baker's twine
  
• Binder ring- Office Max
  
• Ribbon scraps
  

Here's Yoshimi...

How are you liking our new images so far? Our last introductory post is Yoshimi. Yoshimi is my cousin's middle name and I'm told she is named by my grandmother. I guess my grandmother met a young girl named Yoshimi once and since she was a good girl, she picked that name when my Aunty asked her to give her daughter a middle name. My cousin "Yoshimi" is the mother to "Miyako" and "Keitaro". I thought it would be fun to release the entire family all together.

Although Yoshimi is not a Valentine's day image, I decided to release her since she could also be used for Girl's Day, which is just around the corner (March 3rd). Debi did a nice job on this notepad cover. I like the added fringe she used to accent the piece. When you open up the notepad, there are notepads on both sides. I also love how she used contrasting colors. It makes Yoshimi really pop! Thanks Debi!



OK- you remember how it works right?? Leave a comment on THIS POST and follow the same rules as what's on the Miyako introductory post. This time tell me if you celebrate Girl's Day or not and if you do, what do you do? Can't wait to hear! Check back tomorrow to find out who our Guest Designer is for this release!

Introducing Keitaro-Kun

You met Miyako yesterday right? Well, meet her brother Keitaro! Keitaro is Miyako's little brother in real life, so I thought it would be fun to do a release with both of their names! I've only met Keitaro once, but I hear stories about him from his Tutu. Hopefully we'll get to see him again soon.


Since so many of you love boy images just as much as girls, we decided to offer up a Valentine's boy image. Don't worry, more boys are on their way... all in good time! For now, Keitaro will entertain you with his ability to cut a paper heart string. Now I've racked my brain to try to figure out how to do one in real life... If I ever figure it out, I will show you one of these days.


Onto the card... Here's another awesome card by Debi (thanks Debi!). I love the look of colored images on kraft cardstock. As you can tell, Debi is a huge fan of Papertrey Ink products as the sentiment, and filigree border die are both by PTI. She topped it off with more baker's twine and rhinestones. Love it!


All this talk about Valentine's day got me thinking about elementary school days (for you Hawaii born- hanabata days) and how we all used to give each other little ATC sized valentine's and learned how to cut out a heart by folding a paper in half. I never understood why you would want to give a Valentine to a boy. Yuck! And why would a boy give one to me? Double Yuck! Aaaah to be young and naive! Now I get it, but I seriously didn't back then. I remember my mom buying me the Valentine's day "kit" to give to all my classmates. I think I ended up only giving the girls cause boys were yucky! ha ha ha ha ha! Plus I didn't want any boy to think I liked HIM! hee hee hee hee hee! Now that I watch the Valentine's Day Charlie Brown episode, I feel bad.. I guess I should've given the boys a Valentine too. Hopefully they got some from their friends and didn't end up like Charlie Brown! (Note: if you do not know what I'm referring to, you really need to buy that DVD and watch it!)

Ok now that I've gone off on several tangents, its time to re-focus and get back to the real reason y0u are reading all of my blabbering... for free stamps right? If you want to know how to enter- please check the Miyako introductory post for the "rules". In addition, tell me your funniest Valentine's Day story. I can't wait to read all about it! See you tomorrow!

Miyako-Chan Is Here!

Hello Everyone! Are you ready to meet our first Release #5 image? This little girl is named Miyako, after my cousin's daughter. She lives far away, but her mommy grew up in Hawaii and tries to teach her all about our local culture. So even though she lives in the mainland, she has a Hawaiian first name, Japanese middle name, and calls her grandma Tutu! I think that's awesome!


On to the card... my CBFF (crafty BFF) Debi is truly a lifesaver!!! I ran into some issues recently and was running behind schedule in making some samples for our introductions. She put on her cape and saved the day! Thanks Debi! I owe you big time!


While discussing upcoming images on Skype, I asked my sister to think about drawing a little girl holding a heart. Suddenly she stopped, looked up to the ceiling, and said she could visualize the image already- a girl holding an origami heart above her head. I'm amazed she can translate things that we discuss into an image onto paper.


And I just love how Debi translated the image into a Valentine's Day card! Debi used additional stamps from Paper Trey Ink and DP from Imaginisce, along with some baker's twine.

OK- ready to enter to win some candy? Here's the rules in case you haven't played with us before:

1. Leave a comment on THIS POST to be eligible to win Miyako. Comment by 1/13/12 11:59 HST.
2. Follow this blog publicly. Sorry, we can only verify public followers. Thanks!
3. Tell us if you still send out valentines and to who! :)
4. Tell others about our blog (appreciated but not required to be entered to win).

That's it! Come back tomorrow for another chance to win!

Are You Ready To Fall In Love?

After a much needed break, we are back with some new images! Yay! I'm sure most of you have already seen these cuties already at your local retailer, but I'm here to do the formal intros this week.. and you know what that means right? Yes! Blog candy is coming your way! So be sure to check back tomorrow for the start of our introductory posts!


Valentine's Day is just around the corner, so we thought we'd give you some new images to play with... and a bonus Girl's Day image that can be used year round! Be back soon!

2012 Calendar

No, I didn't make this cute calendar, though i wish I could take credit for it! Aunty Jan made this calendar for me and I have it sitting on my computer desk. Now that it's 2012 I can start using it!

The first thing that caught my eye (besides our Lion Dancer stamp) was the stenciled background. I'm fascinated by stenciling since I can't seem to do it right myself. The stencil is called Design in Squares by Dreamweaver and it was done in gold. On the bottom right corner she also stamped a Year of the Dragon stamp from 1141. It reminds me of a chop more than anything else.



Thank you Aunty! I love my calendar!

New Year's Card and Blog Candy Winner...

Did all of you have a good New Year's? After I read everyone's comments, I was surprised to find out that most of you stay at home and watch the ball drop on TV. You guys seriously need to come to Hawaii for some New Year's Eve- Island Style! I'll admit, before I married my husband, my family didn't celebrate New Year's like other's do, but now that I live in Hilo, it's all about New Year's!


Speaking of New Years... I never got a chance to post this card until now. Aunty Jan gave me this card awhile ago, and I was saving it for a New Year's post... but since I was not home for the holidays this year, I couldn't access all of my photos to post it. She used Kiyoko for this New Year's card.. I love how it looks so sweet with the pink and silver. She told me that the small flower background stamp that she also used on Kiyoko's kimono was from Japan. The sentiment stamp is by Printworks.



And here's a close up of Kiyoko



So I guess you are wondering who won the New Year's blog candy? Vera Yates is our lucky winner! Congrats Vera! Please email me your address so I can mail it out to you. Thanks to all who played this time. Check back next week as we will introduce you to our Release #5 images!