Just an Island affair....

If you love tropical or hawaiian themed products, check out Island Paperie!!

Head on over to their blog, there's a prize giveaway, but you must act soon!!  Ends on Friday...  *=)

If you're ever on Maui, stop by the store front or you can always order online here!

Follow them on Facebook too for the latest happenings!!

May Secret Sister Swap Sign ups!

May day is lei day in Hawaii.... 

Haha, who has that song stuck in their heads now?!?!  hehehe!

Can you believe we are almost at mid year?!?  gosh, where has time been going?  Hope you all are well and enjoying the spring weather...

time to sign up for my Secret Sister Swap!!!

NO THEME for MAY!  create whatever your heart desires...  i truly hope the players are enjoying their surprises as much as making them to surprise!!  Sign ups end at Midnight on April 29th.

Reflection of my mini rules for this swap (Please take note of the blurbs in red):

1. You can swap anything you think is appropriate. Such as cards, 3d projects, gift tags, altered items, etc. You are not restricted to just a card for each swap... for example, you can do a card this month and gift tags next month, etc... be creative and use your talents! Many of you do not limit yourself to cards, there are some that do awesome jewelry, altered items and so on, so this is the swap to make something special and surprise someone... can't get creative? no problem, you are free to sub in a RAK too!

2. I kindly ask that you please send out your swaps before month's end. Please take into consideration snail mail timing. If you cannot mail your swap before the end of the month, you are given until the 5th day of the following month to do so. This will allow some time for your Secret Sister to receive it. If nothing has been received within 10 days past the end of the month, i will not include you in future sign ups. Please friends, let's play fair.

PREVIOUS PLAYERS, i have your info so all you have to do is comment that you will be participating on this post... here's a list of those who have already signed up:

Karen, Amy, Leanne, Gail, Sheila, Theresa, Kathy, Charleen, Miyuki, and Linda T.

Please let me know ASAP if you are unable to participate for any reason. No questions asked, just please let me know. Thanks!!

**To clear up any confusion: your participation is monthly (unless otherwise stated by you) by confirming your participation through email or comment on the sign up posts. if i do not hear from you by the sign up deadline, it is assumed you will not be participating for the month. if it is easier for you to sign up a month ahead or for a few months, etc. let me know too.

NEW PLAYERS, please email me at krisnal5868 at hotmail dot com to sign up for April with the subject SSS or Secret Sister Swap and the following info: Name, Address, Blog URL (if you have one) and Best Email to contact you... i will send you a confirmation email that i have received your info...

**Please note that swap info is sent out by the 2nd day of the swap month. If you miss the sign up deadline, it doesn't hurt to shoot me an email and ask if you can still play. There may be a chance i'm still sorting through the players and can add you in...

Let's Celebrate with Katsura!

Hip-hip- HOORAY!!! It's RELEASE day!!! Woohoooo!! bet you all been waiting for this day... especially those who have boys in their lives... =)
Sister Stamps Release #7 - FINAL preview day!! And we are celebrating BOYS' DAY with Katsura!! (i had to save my FAVE image for last, hehehe)... so, which of these boys are your fave?? or are you going to get them ALL?!?! ;)

Before we get to my creation, i want to send another big THANK YOU to Jenny, for having me guest design for this release!! Jenny, i had so much fun with these boys!!! the ideas are endless for them and they helped me try or atleast create things i have never done or haven't done too much of... Thank you, thank you with all my heart, it's such an honor!! And to Debi, (she's like an older sister taking wing of a little sister) Thank you Debi for having me join you for previews too!!! it's been such a blast!!
Look at him!! isn't he just adorable?!?! Katsura actually does represent Boys' Day, a japanese celebration, but for those that do not celebrate it, you can use this cutie for an all occasion creation... so i left off using a 'happy boys' day' sentiment to show you (but i'll be adding one later for the lil' one)... Katsura can be used with happy birthday or just for you... ah, you get where i'm going... =)

my immediate thought was to use some washi paper for this card... but after dwelling (he was the most challenging for me) on this and that, i decide to use some pretty cool well rounded papers... all the papers are from Deja Views Soda Pop collection.... fun colors i guess... anyway, Katsura is propped on a cream colored nestied oval that i distressed with Antique Linen distress inks... and no i didn't create the shadow effect, it's actually really there.... LOL... wanted to color in the fish blue so so bad (my son's fish is blue IRL) but i thought it would be too overwhelming with all the blues... so i went with red and a honey orange/yellow, which ended up standing out against the papers... border punch is from MS... what do you think? i know it's not the most outrageous creation you've seen, but i like it and that's the finished outcome!!

Don't forget to check out Debi and the Sister Stamps blog today for the final reveal... and then head on over to your fave craft store (retailers listed on the SS blog) and get your boys!!!

Thank you again to Sister Stamps, Jenny, Debi and all of you who came out to join us in the previews!!! Truly appreciate your comments, love and support!!!

Kenichi is SHAKIN' things up!!

Welcome back!!! Day 2 of DT previews for Sister Stamps Release #7!! Hope you are loving what everyone is sharing with you... Jenny's cute slider card and Debi's awesome card scene! Told you these girls ROCK! I bet a lot of you are pinching yourself waiting for RELEASE day to come!! hehehehe.... it will, very soon!

Today Kenichi decided to take over my blog and shake things up a bit... AND he has a playful little friend by his side...
this is a type of card i haven't done in a loooooong while!! a SHAKER card!! again, with Kenichi and his little furry friend, i wanted something a little interactive to portray them having some ball chasing fun.... aren't they so sweet together?!

i'd be lying if i said working with these cuties were easy.... actually boy images are hard to work with because you have to refrain from using all those cutesy, pretty, girls embellies and papers... it would have been easy to grab some washi paper and create a card but i want to show you that these cuties can be paired with many different papers... i used papers from DCWV The Pets Stack... and i was happy to find some that really worked with Kenichi.... micro beads are from a MS set i had lying around... finally got to use them! hehehe... and i used a MS border/embossing punch... sentiment is from TGF's OA Just for you set...

just wanted to share that it is a shaker card... LOL... this is another fave interactive card my son loves... he walks around the craft room shaking it and laughs up a storm... melts my heart to see him enjoying the creations as much as i had fun making them... =)

So far, what image is your FAVE from this release?!? Go and visit Jenny and Debi too for more ideas and inspirations on these FUN FUN FUN release!!

come back tomorrow for yet ANOTHER (and last) preview!! what's more, these boys will be available for you to grab up and get creative with tomorrow too!! ain't that fabulous?!? see you then!!!

Let's take a SPIN with Yoshi!

Raise your hand if you are super excited for Sister Stamps Release #7!!!!!!! (hands up high) or is it that i'm FLYING high because i am the GUEST DESIGNER for this spectacular release?!?!
ok, ok... i'm still on cloud 9 having been asked by Jenny to join her and Debi in previewing Sister Stamps first ever BOYS ONLY release!! Cheeeehuuuu!! this is such a privilege, a HUGE honor, to be apart of these talented gals... and when asked by Jenny, i was beaming ear to ear with excitement, of course you know what my answer was!!! Thank you Jenny, for having me be apart of your design team for this release!!! i hope i do you proud!! =)

so who's ready to take a spin with Yoshi?!?!
Yep, Yoshi (and Daba) are having fun in the bamboo forest...

as soon as i saw the image of this playful little guy, INTERACTIVE totally came to mind... yes, i speak from experience because my lil' guy bounces of the walls... literally... LOL... he has so much energy and Yoshi reminded me of him... except my lil' one isn't quite doing cartwheels yet... hehehe... searching for the right type of project for Yoshi, SPINNER came to mind... i haven't tried one of these type of creations until this and it was a good idea... it was so funny to know that Jenny had the same thing in mind... and i'll admit, it took me 4 tries to get it right! **sorry i don't know what happened to link of where i found the instrux!!** my son loves it... he laughs out loud each time i share this with him... and so, i really thought Daba was appropriate to share in the spotlight... cause Daba is full of laughter too!
another pix to show that Yoshi does move... =) card is very simple... didn't want to attract too much attention to the background... i simply used the bamboo dreamweaver stencil and dabbed cottage ivy, pear tart and bamboo leaves memento ink on blue cardstock... then i took some brown cardstock, tore one edge and distressed the edges using vintage photo distress ink.... nice field for Yoshi to play all day! Dabba is simply white with a flocked bunny tail and mid-section... aren't they both just the CUTEST?!?!

Don't forget to check out the Sister Stamps blog as well as Jenny and Debi's blog... i think Yoshi is overly excited because their just might be some candy up for grabs!! Release #7 will be available on April 7th!!!!

Join me tomorrow for another preview from this new release!! until then, i'm going to spin on out of here!!!