Last Minute...

Ran short on some Thanksgiving cards so I quickly put together this card...

I love that sketches can make a card come together especially when in a hurry!  Today's card is using Seize the Sketch shown here...

Here's the full card...

I was trying to capture those glittery letters from the DCWV Glitzy Glitter Matstack...sorry about the lop-sided look, but I promise it's pretty straight in person...hehehe.  All the stamps and dies are from Avery Elle and will also enter for the November challenge too!

Mahalo for stopping by for this super last minute card!

Picking Up the Pieces Monday Vol. 2

Happy Monday...I hope!  Welcome back to another edition of paper piecing.  One of the reasons I love to paper piece is because I'm not the best at coloring.  I love Copic markers and LOVE how you can create so much depth and shading, but unfortunately there are no classes here in Hawaii to learn the awesome art of Copic coloring. Everything is paper pieced except for her skin...I attempted the Copic coloring.

On to my paper pieced card with another fun technique...using double stick tape to create glitter strips! Chari made some beautiful Christmas cards with this technique and I had to try it out.

Dandelion Designs CL-17 Aloha Set, Lawn Fawn Stitched Journaling Die, Memetno Luxe Love Letter Ink, Memento Tuxedo Black Ink, Copics, Lawn Trimmings twine, Distress Glitter in Festive Berries, Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed, Mowed Lawn, Peacock Feathers and Seedless Preserves

I hope you enjoyed today's paper pieced card and fun glitter technique...until next time...MAHALO for stopping by!

His and Her Christmas

Sunday already?!  It was so nice to get some mom time in and even better to have some ideas pop up in my head while playing at the playground and going for some pumpkin and cinnamon frozen yogurt after.  I had to get some homework done for the OCC:Holiday Cards Workshop and came up with this...

For Him...

Kept with muted colors, but couldn't help myself with the silver embossing on the Cottage Cutz die.  I first did a single tree die cut, but it was so boring to me I decided to make it more like a silhouette for the silver tree.  It was hubby approved.

For Her...

I took the same layout/design and used a more festive approach with the red background pattern paper from Lawn Fawn Fa La La paper pad and added rhinestones and pearls.

I'll be honest I'm not a fan of intricate dies because of the patience you need to take all the bits and pieces out, but this tree really is worth it.  There was also a tip to get the metal shim to help cut intricate dies better.  I'm on the fence with this because if I made that purchase I probably would be buying more dies!

Hope you'll visit again for tomorrow's post to see the next edition of "Picking Up the Pieces Monday."  Hint...it's got some Hawaiian flair!

I Believe in Embossing

YES!  It's Friday...and the best part is I'm not oncall!  This weekend I plan to spend as much time with my kiddos as possible.  They are growing too quickly for my liking.  My favorite moments are listening to them chat in the backseat about Christmas.  They are getting excited and its very contagious.  My 7 year old is on the fence about Santa, telling her brother that she believes in Santa, but thinks that moms and dads have a lot more to do with presents then Santa does.  Oh if I could just stop time and keep them believing forever!

On to my card following this week's CAS(E) this Sketch

Fresh Squeezed Stamps On Trend, Fresh Squeezed Stamps Words to Live By, Versamark, Judi Kins Diamond White embossing powder, clear embosing powder, Avery Elle Winter Blend sequins, Quickutz Santa's Sleigh

I have had that Santa's Sleigh die for years and absolutely love it!  Every year I bring it out and add him to just about every  holiday creation I can.  I thought it perfect for the sketch...

I tried to capture the bling of the sentiment...

Do you guys have any holiday item (die, embellishment, stamp, etc.) that has to be used each year during the holidays?  I'd love to hear about it! 

Picking Up the Pieces Vol. 1 and Craft Room Makeover!

Aloha gang!  Welcome to the first edition of Picking Up the Pieces Monday in which I will be sharing every Monday my most favorite technique of paper piecing.  I've been enjoying The Holiday Card Workshop from Online Card Class and wanted to share some things I've learned.  My card today is using pattern paper from Doodlebug Design's North Pole 6x6 paper pad.  I LOVE 6x6 pads because they are perfectly scaled patterns for card making.

Avery Elle Holiday Fill in the Blank w/ dies, Avery Elle Sequins, Doodlebug Design Pattern Paper North Pole, American Crafts Rouge CS, Timeless Twine Christmas Twist, Memento Ink in Cottage Ivy

 

The technique to use on the 2nd day of class was die cut inlays which allows your card to have a pretty smooth surface.  For my tree I wanted a little dimension and used some Avery Elle Evergreen Blend sequins and Kraft Blend for the stump.  I added some Timeless Twine in Christmas Twist to continue with my traditional color card and there ya go...a fun and festive card!

Challenges I would like to enter this card in...
Avery Elle I Love You Challenge
Curtain Call: CAS-ual Christmas
CAS-ual Fridays: CFC 120

 

So on to my craft room makeover.  Here is the before (I dreaded showing this!)...

In my defense I know where everything is! 
Here is where my hubby works miracles...

Wow right?!  I recently got happy mail for my first ever publication in Paper Crafts Magazine that will debut in March!  As a surprise gift, my hubby said it was time for me to get organized and he purchased a few things from Stamp-n-Storage.  I HIGHLY recommend their products as they are reasonably priced, shipped quickly all the way here, and truly make a difference in organizing everything!

The finished room...

It took me a few days to adjust where everything was but I absolutely LOVE it.  Mahalo hubby!!!  Everything has a place, but I'll confess my desk needs a little tidying up...again.  Recently the hubby added this fun decor using some inexpensive frames and adding his own sheet metal from the hardware store that were only $1!

I can finally have guests in my craft room...lol!  If anyone is ever on Oahu I would love to meet up and craft together!

Mahalo for stopping by and letting me share...have a great day and week!

Using Distress Glitter...again!

Aloha friends!  I'm quickly hopping in to share this card that I'm wanting to enter into a couple of challenges.  Thanks so much for your kind words from my other post.  I've overcome the cold and crossing my fingers the kids continue to stay in good health.  It always seems so hard to keep them from getting colds this time of year!

So here's the card...

Y'all know how much I love my distress glitter, so here I went at it again using a background stamp from Hero Arts.  I got these cute wooden "book labels" (I think that's what they were called) bought in the bargain bin at Archiver's and used that to frame my sentiment. 

The sketch I followed from CASE(E) this Sketch

and since the Simon Says Challenge for Wednesday was Thanks/Thankgiving I'll be entering that as well.

All right back to work I go since I'm on call.  Mahalo for stopping by!

Kitty Bee Designs Mid Inspiration for Challenge #12

Happy Aloha Friday!  You've got one more week to load up any project with the theme of fall colors to Kitty Bee Designs.  Here's my sneak peek...

A little hint...I was playing around with my new A2 flip-it card dies which pair up perfectly for Kitty Bee stamps!  Thanks so much for stopping by and for more inpiration check out the blog at Kitty Bee Designs!  Mahalo for taking the time to stop by and have an AWESOME weekend!

The Sentiment

What a whirlwind of events this past 3 day weekend!  I had a successful craft fair despite the rain and thank all my family, friends and sweet strangers that still shopped through the weather.  Unfortunately I caught a cold and was completely out on Sunday and most of Monday, but pulling through since it's a short work week.

Anyway, I quickly wanted to enter this card for the next Lawnscaping Challenge making the sentiment the main focus of my card...

I was going for the crazy Christmas sweater look...hehehe.  Took a bunch of Lawn Fawn Fa La La pattern paper and went to town!  Quick and fun.  Also wanted to introduce the latest idea brought to you by the hubby.  He gave me this awesome idea to do a series every Monday called "Picking Up the Pieces Monday."  I thought it was hilarious but it will incorporate my most favorite thing...paper piecing!  So stay tuned every Monday for a card or project using paper piecing.

Mahalo for stopping by and have a great week ahead!

Moxie Fab Mahalo to Cath Edvalson

Aloha and welcome to this fabulous gathering of crafters that adore and admire the Moxie Fab Cath Edvalson!  This blog hop is epic, and I hope Cath FEELS the love we send from whatever part of the world we live in!

If you're going in order you should have arrived from Alyssa Scritchfield's blog.

Where to even begin?  I had been stalking the Moxie Fab posts for about a year and finally got the courage to enter one of the Tuesday Triggers to celebrate Cath's mom's birthday.  Before then I was completely intimidated by the entries.  When I heard her mom was vacationing in Hawaii, I knew I had to make a Hawaiian card for her mom!  Do you guys remember that?  If interested you could check out my card HERE.

I have never had the honor of meeting her in person, but with her daily posts of inspiration and weekly challenges in the Moxie Fab World over at Paper Crafts Connection Blog I feel like she's just a phone call away.  Her challenges pushed my creative side to new heights and her keen eye for spotting trends is a talent no one will ever come close to.

So how do you make the perfect thank you card for the perfect blog hop?!?  Well I put a lot of pressure on myself and then it just came down to going simple.  Who wouldn't smile at a rainbow and butterfly?!

I cannot thank Cath enough for her many years of inspirational bliss.  I'm surely going to miss it and can't wait to see and hear about her future endeavors!

To continue on, check out the AMAZING list of well wishers...I'm #155 if you're going in order.  Just click on the links below and you'll see more creations just for our Moxie Fab Cath!  Mahalo for hopping by!!!

Kitty Bee Design Challenge #12

Happy Aloha Friday gang!  I'm back with another project using another adorable Kitty Bee Designs original.  This week's challenge is to use fall colors since the season is upon us.  Here's my sneak peek...

As always, to see the project in its entirety, I would love it if you would hop on over to Kitty Bee Designs Blog and check out the rest of the design team's awesome projects!  It's guaranteed to make you smile on this fabulous Aloha Friday.

Tomorrow is the Aiea Elementary Craft Fair so if you're on Oahu, this project will actually be sold their!

Mahalo for stopping by!

P.S.-If you're ever wondering how to do any of my Kitty Bee Designs projects or what products I use for them, you can look them up HERE.  I have a tab at the top of my blog named "Fun w/ Kitty Bee" that is frequently updated with my latest project.  Hope you'll check it out!

Getting ready and more minions!

Aloha!  I wanted to share a few things I have been working on the past few weeks.  I've always wanted to do a craft fair and last year finally got the courage to try it out.  It was so much fun, and I had such positive feedback, that I decided to do it again this year.  So I've been working furiously trying to make inventory!  For anyone on Oahu (or anyone that wants to fly out here ;-) I will be at Aiea Elementary on November 9th from 9am-2pm.  Hope to see you there!

I've been loving the Minion trend and saw TONS of them during Halloween so it inspired me to do a little post-it note holder...

They're such cuties that I made a bunch...

in varying faces...

I finally had a project to use up all those yellow metallic papers I had in my stash and of course googly eyes!

A hot seller for me was the gift card holders...

They're simple mini envelopes (the size of a gift card), held together with a belly band.  Perfect to dress up any GC!  Of course I had to use my Kitty Bee Designs stamps!!

And lastly these fun magnets using glass tiles...

I have tons more including cards and notepads...just wanted to share some highlights.  I've been dying to enter all the fun challenges out there, but am focusing on this craft fair first.  It definitely helps support this very addicting hobby!  Mahalo for stopping by!!!