Do You Filo?

Welcome to the final day of previews!  I hope you've enjoyed seeing all the projects featuring our new images thus far.  Wanted to thank Kerry for all her help and awesome projects!  Thanks Kerry!

And make sure you check out all the featured Zodiac projects... I'm continuously floored by all the creativeness that goes on using our Chinese animals.  Thanks to Laura, Eunice, and Patti for working so hard all year!

And how can I forget Debi, Eva and Linda!  Don't forget to check out their stuff and Linda's You Tube channel.  She's giving away goodies too, so don't miss out on another opportunity to win!

That being said... wanted to share my final project for this release.  Actually, it not only features our turtle set, but I also included some old favorites in my project!  If you are on You Tube, you may have stumbled on all the filofax craze!  I admit... the first time I saw all the hype, I thought, isn't that just another planner?  Why would you want a regular planner when you can use your smartphone?  As I started watching more and more of those videos, I started to understand why it was catching on again.  I remember having planners while in school and even up to a few years ago.  But gave them up when I got my iphone... now that there's all kinds of FUN stuff to decorate your filofax, I'm back on the bandwagon and loving it.  (much thanks to Nadine Tx, OhaiJoy, and Lfundoo for enabling... Bwahahahaha!).  

So the "authentic" type is made by Filofax, but I didn't really want to spend the money on something I wasn't sure I'd be that into.  So I just got a plain one from my Office Max, and I must say I'm pretty happy with it.  Now I understand the washi tape craze too!  OMG, if you aren't decorating your planner, you gotta try it using all your tapes, stickers, and stamps!

Which brings me to my project.  It's actually a present for my sister. She's coming to visit soon, so I thought this would be a fun present for her.  Instead of a Filofax, I got the BoBunny binder and calendar inserts.  The papers are already cute, so I didn't have to add much except our images to personalize it.  The first page I wanted to share features our turtle set from this release.  I love how it has a To Do section, Notes section and a Don't Forget section.  I think this one also has a pocket, so you can stick in tags and other note.

Here's a better look at our turtle friends.. "Beep Beep"

Here's the other pages- see Yoshimi?

Here's a better look...

And here's Ayako! I think I chose her for this page since sh'e holding an umbrella.

 And can't forget Daba!!!

Otsu had to make an appearance too...

Do you like this next layout?  I had fun hand drawing the kite string..

 And since we don't have any Halloween images (yet- hint hint Denise!).. I colored up Miyoko in her best fall attire and gave her a pumpkin by Dandelion Designs (Hi Jean!).

And finally, Santa rounds out December.  Couldn't have a planner without Setsuna right?

 And here he is...

It was so hard choosing which images I wanted to use in the planner.  Hope you decide to start using regular planners again and decorate them with our images!

Don't forget to enter to win our blog candies by leaving a comment on each of the introductory posts.

Remembering Japan

Well, I tried posting this yesterday, but for some reason, it went up as a blank post!  Anyway, I'm a day late now, but I still wanted to share this post with you.

Last year at this time, I was on my first trip to Japan.  You can read more about our Tokyo adventure here...

While in Japan, we were there for the earthquake and tsunami.  Luckily nothing bad happened to us but we were still scared and frightened being in another country.  Through it all, we developed a deep respect and appreciation for the people of Japan.  There was no crime, looters, panic or anything uncivilized during this tragedy.  You could sense the worry, but still everyone continued to work and go about their business.  If you were there, you would not have even realized that the tsunami had happened on the other part of the island.

We heard many stories of how residents had to walk 10 hours to get home or got stuck in hours of traffic trying to get to loved ones.  It's just incredible that thorough all of that, everyone seemed to stay calm, cool, and collected.

Just wanted to share a Sister Stamps card with you because Sister Stamps was on my mind while in Japan.  I got inspired by many of the things I saw while on my trip and hope to go back there again soon.

To make this card, I distressed the background with a few colors.  After staring at it for awhile, I decided to do something simple this time and just stamp Yohimi onto the distressed background, so you could still see the blended colors.  I added the black kanji for birthday (giving it away to a friend) and on the right, I used an old kanji stamp and stamped it with versamark and applied gold mica powder for a subtle look.  To balance out the black, I matted it onto black cardstock.

Even though I'm late, please take a moment of silence to remember the people of Japan who passed away or lost loved ones through this disaster.  They have gone through so much with such grace and honor.

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!