Maneki Ornament

I know, Christmas is over, but I just had to share this with you!  My sister showed me this on one of our Skype sessions and I loved it!  She painted the Maneki Neko image on the computer and blew it up so that it would fit in the ornament.  The ornament is a paper mache disc looking shape that she found at Michaels.  My sister is also a beader, so you will notice the beading underneath the base of the ornament...

And check out the side view... Love how she covered the side.  I need to find out from her what she used.

I'm hoping she makes one for me.. (hint hint!)

It's Release Day!

Woo Hoo!  We made it to Release Day!  As you are reading this I'll already be in Japan.  Can't wait!  I'll likely be freezing my buns off, but I think it will be worth it.

My last project to share with you was one of the projects I learned in the class I took up at Volcano Arts Center.  This little bag made the treck worth it!  I really really really love the flower shape to this bag.  It was a little tedious to put together since it involved manually scoring each crease using a ruler instead of my MS Scoreboard.  But I think the end result is worth the work.  Our instructor, Charlene Asato advised that you could also pinch the ends of the flower for another look.

I decided to use the Kokeshi doll image to accent the bag.  Because of the unusual shape, I had to think of a way to use her without her hiding in the folds.  My solution?  Adhere her to a mini clothespin!  

And look!  I found Akemi's kokeshi dolls!  I'm glad I could show you an example.  They come in all shapes and sizes.

Here's a better look at the bag and doll clip...  I decided to use washi paper from Hanko Designs.  I love this pattern... its my favorite!  I think this would make a really cute Girl's Day goodie bag.

Hope you all enjoyed our sneak peeks!  A huge Arigato to our guest designer Suilan and Chinese Zodiac team- Patti, Eunice, Laura and Linda!  You guys rock!  And can't forget my girl Debi!  So glad to have you back!

I hope to blog again while on my trip, so if you are interested... check out my personal blog at crazyforpaper.blogspot.com.

Lucky Magnets

We are nearing the end of our sneak peeks and soon you'll be able to pick them up at your favorite retailer or online.  Just wanted to thank Suilan for an awesome job with our new release.  Please check out her blog and send her some love!  And also give a shout out to the Chinese Zodiac team that has been working hard on samples for that release.  Thanks to Patti, Eunice, Laura and Linda!  I feel so fortunate to have such a talented group of ladies help me out throughout this year!  Thank you for all the great inspiration!  And who can forget Debi!  So glad to have you back girl!

The nice thing about a smaller image is that you can make projects that you can't do when the images are too large.  One of them is marble magnets.  These flat marbles were found at Ben Franklin and are the perfect size to cover the lucky charm images.

After coloring up the images using my copics, I applied a layer of mod podge to the marble (flat side) and then adhered the image to the marble.  Then I punched out a circle using the Graphic 45 paper (can you tell this is one of my favorites!?) and applied another layer of mod podge over the image's backside and affixed the circle to the back of the image.  Here's what they look like when they are dry.

After they are dry, you can glue a magnet to the back and use them on your fridge or other metal surface.  Here's a close up of each image.

Hope you've been inspired throughout the week with all of the projects our team has put together.  Hope to see what you all come up with once you ink these guys up!

Good Luck Li See

So are you enjoying all of the projects so far?  Hopefully you'll find some inspiration along the way... today we have even more samples as the Chinese Zodiac team is back again to share some samples using our new Sheep and Monkey images!  Woo Hoo!  In case you forgot who helped us out last time, here's a list with their blog links so you can be sure to check them out and give them some love...

Patti's blog:  http://creationsbypatti.blogspot.com/

Linda's blog:  http://simpleandsassycreations.blogspot.com/

Eunice's blog:  http://astarforchiemi.blogspot.com/

Laura's blog:  http://bytkg.blogspot.com/

And don't forget to stop by Suilan & Debi's blogs for more Lucky Charm goodness..

For my next project, I wanted to share the samples I made for the retailers.  With every new release, I try to give the stores that will carry the new images a sample that they can use to display one of the images.

I used the Tim Holtz mini envelope (looks like an office envelope) die to cut the base out.  They were much smaller than I had anticipated, but they totally reminded me of the li see packets!  In fact, they are the perfect size for giving gift cards or adding pockets to your smash books!  The possibilities are endless.  

I kept the samples pretty simple this time.  Added a strip of washi paper, punched a 2" circle and added the image along with a good luck sentiment that I picked up at Island Scrapbooking.

Since the theme was "good luck", I thought these would be perfect to give to someone who is going to VEGAS!!  I'll have to remember that next time.

And here's the same sample using the Maneki Neko.

So don't forget to check out the rest of the guest designer's posts!  I can't wait to see them myself!  Stop by tomorrow for more fun...

Release #11 Winners!

Good Morning!  Just a fast note to let you know who won our blog candy giveaways...

Daruma:  Stephanie
Kokeshi:  Michelle Payton
Maneki Neko:  Wongsto
Sheep:  Heidi Brawley
Monkey:  Jenny W

Please email me at sisterstampsllc@gmail.com with your mailing address.  I will be leaving for vacation in the next few days, so I'm hoping to send out your packages before I leave.  For the zodiac winners, I'm out of these stamps for now, but I expect to receive a re-order in the near future.  I will mail out your stamps when I return from my trip.  Congrats to the winners!  And please remember to stop by for the rest of the release project shares!!!

2013 Smash Book

Did you like all the sneak peeks so far?  Well, we have more projects to share over the next few days, so remember to stop by to see all the neat stuff our guest designers have been busy working on...

And now it's time to announce who our guest designer is for this release!  I actually met this talented gal right here in Hilo.  She took a couple of classes for me before and has participated in a couple of my craft fairs.  Any guesses?  I guess you'll have to follow the link to see who I'm talking about...

And more surprises... Debi's back!  Yay!!  She had to take care of business during our last release, but we are soooooo happy to have her back. Things just weren't the same without you girl!  Please visit her here to see what she has up her sleeve....

It's official, my curiosity has gotten the best of me.  I'm finally jumping on the Smash Book bandwagon! I finally committed and bought me a new Fuji Instax camera which is awesome for smash-booking.  No excuses.  Your picture prints out (polaroid style), so you can't say that you need to wait to print up your pictures to start scrapping.  They even have some ca-ute film with borders like Hello Kitty, etc.! Can't wait to bust them open on my trip to Japan!!

So, since I'm getting back into scrapbooking- smash book style, I decided to make my own using our new images.  Here's the cover of my book.  I had two chipboard pieces that I used as my covers and covered them with some Graphic 45 Bird Song paper- my fave!  Decided to model my book like a planner/scrapbook, so I used the date to be my title.  See Maneki Neko and Daruma?  They are small but make such cute accents!

Here's a close up of the two lucky charms..

Oh, and I like it when people add charms to their books, so I attached a few from my stash. Finally putting them to use!

Here's the first page... Since the Daruma is all about goal setting, I thought it might be good to document my goals for 2013.  I distressed the edges with Distress Ink in Vintage Photo and then stamped all images using brown archival ink (by Ranger) .  I also found a kanji stamp for "success", which I thought was very fitting for this layout.  The 2013 stamp was actually individual numbers from a Papertrey ink set.  I just arranged them into a 2013 and stamped it twice on the page.

Here's a close up of the Darumas.....

I thought it would be a good thing to identify my plan for success, so I added another page using Maneki Neko since he's a symbol for good fortune.  The background stamp used was from a Fiskar's set.  I also stamped a kanji for "good fortune".  How fortunate I had it! :)

And here's the kitty's hanging out...

 Finally, I added a page for general "notes" and used the Kokeshi doll for accent.  I don't know if you can see, but I also stamped a "things to do" in the background.  This is also from another Papertrey Ink set.

And here's a close up of the doll...

I love how you can use these images separately or together.  Don't forget to find out who our guest designer is and see what Debi's been up to!

And don't forget to check in tomorrow for more fun!  The Chinese Zodiac team is back with samples using our next two animals, so don't miss out!

Who You Calling A Monkey?

Aahhhhh, our last image... The monkey image is part of the Chinese Zodiac set and one of my faves.  I think it's because Akemi is year of the monkey!  I couldn't resist making a layout with her acting like a monkey.

I don't even know how long ago this picture was taken... I'm thinking she was about 1 1/2 years old?  Don't worry, your eyes are not playing tricks on you.. the picture itself is blurry.  I don't think you can tell, but I distressed the edges of the photo and mat behind it.  Being that it was supposed to be a silly layout, I made the picture crooked.  

 The monkey was the perfect accent to the layout since she looks like she's monkey-ing around!

Just needed a title, so I went through my stash and found some Making Memories black glitter alphas and some of my new Simple Stories red alpha stickers. I like the look of mixing fonts.. especially in this layout!

I also wanted to make a boy birthday card using the monkey, but I ran out of time...  Hopefully someone else will try this idea and share it with us on our facebook page!

So I'm sure you want to know how you can win this little guy...

1.  Leave a comment on THIS POST by 01/28/13 11:59pm HST
2.  Tell me what other ways you would use this monkey in your projects? I can't wait to hear!

And don't forget to check back tomorrow... we reveal who our guest designer is along with sharing projects using these images with you! See ya soon!