Advent Calendar

Can you believe it?  It's almost release day!  To celebrate, I have a big project to share with you today, but first I want to thank all of our hard working design team members for their great projects!  You guys are the best!  How about a round of applause for Eva, Linda, Debi and our guest designer Steph!  Thank you ladies!  And don't forget to check out Steph's and Linda's You Tube Channels for more fun!

So I told you about a big project right?

It's an advent calendar!  I know it's hard to see but I wanted to give you a view of the whole project before I share with you the details.  I must say, it took me a few days to complete this calendar.  I found a bunch of red gingham paper bags in my stash and thought they would be really cute to use in a project.  Since I had so many of them, I thought it woudl be great to use them to hold goodies or an activity to do to help countdown to Christmas!   My daughter loves her advent calendar that my mom bought for her when she was just a baby.  My mom used to put money in it, but I think my daughter cares more about taking an ornament out each day to put on this wooden tree.  She's very good about remembering to do it too. I, on the other hand would always forget to do mine as a child. I guess some things never change.

So to make the calendar, I cut out all the numbers using a Papertrey Ink numbers set.  It's so hard to find large numbers and letters, so I was thrilled to find this large size on their site.   After cutting out all the numbers, I punched out 24 circles and 24 scallop circles to mount the numbers to.  Then I cut a 3/4" band to go around each bag.   After adhering everything down, I folded over the top of the bag down towards the number.

To hang each bag to the ribbon, I decorated 24 clothespins using designer paper and double stick tape. I didn't want to have images on each clothespin, so for those that did not have an image, I just went through my stash and found red, white, and green buttons to decorate the fronts.

On certain bags, I added some of our new Christmas images and some old favorites.  Shown above is our new reindeer image.  And right below is Setsuna.  He decided to pay us a visit in this post.

Aaah, my favorite little girl... it's Yuki!

And gracing us with his presence on this next bag is Minoru.

Last but not least is our crane image.  I positioned the image at an angle so that the crane looked like it was taking off.

Well, hope you enjoyed all of our new releases!  Eh... no forget to enter to win our blog candies on each introductory post! Bwahahahahaha!

Happy Holidays

Hope you enjoyed all of the samples for our Release #4 images. Thanks again to Debi and Leanne for all your help!

I was able to visit with Aunty Jan last weekend while visiting Oahu, and she gave me a couple more samples. She decided to cover up a fan she bought at a local craft store using our holiday images. Shown here are Yuki and Setsuna wishing you a Happy Holiday. To decorate the edge of the fan, she decided to make little presents all around the border. She told me she punched and cut out different sized rectangles and squares to do this and added ribbon, baker's twine and punches to decorate each present. Such a cute idea! You can't tell from this photo, but there's actually a hook where you can hang the fan up on the wall or on your tree.



Here's a close up of her Santa...

And sweet Yuki...


Supplies:
Yuki and Setsuna- Sister Stamps
Happy Holidays sentiment- Stampendous
Fan- Flora Dec.
Ribbon
Baker's Twine
Copics
Not shown- Washi paper on back

Merry Christmas!

Just wanted to share another card using the holiday stamps before we start getting into the New Year's ones. I bought this Cherry Lynn doily die in Honolulu and wanted to use it on something. You'll need to run it through your machine more than once but I'd say the results are worth it. I love the intricate lines it forms- makes it really look like a doily! Had this colored up Setsuna waiting on my desk to be used, so I added him the front as the focal point.


Here's a close up of St. Nick...


And here's the inside of the card... I FINALLY used my Sizzix 3-D tree die I got last year after Christmas. It was really easy to put together and the results are awesome. Now I wish I got the snowman one too. I placed Yuki next to the tree by attaching her to the tree itself.



And finished it off with a sentiment. Layered the Merry Christmas (Island Scrapbooking Laser Cut) onto some Spellbinder labels that I used as tags. Because it looked rather plain, I added the ribbon and holly branch.


Have a great week!

T'was The Night Before Christmas

So after I made yesterday's card, I had a vision of another card...

This card reminds me of the T'was the Night Before Christmas poem, or maybe the "Grinch Who Stole Christmas?". Anyway, I really really really wanted to somehow make Setsuna peeping out from the chimney. So after doing some altering, I was able to make him fit into the fireplace opening! Then I added Yuki, who came down to check her stocking and found it full. It was so much fun using the two images together.


Here's a close up of Yuki...


And here's a close up of Sestuna peeking out from the fireplace...



Don't forget, there's still time to enter into our blog candy giveaway! You have until 9/30/11 at 11:59 HST to enter. For more info, check out our introductory posts (Setsuna) and post on each introductory post to be eligible for each image. Good Luck!

The Joy of Yuki

Can you believe its Release Week already? Before I get into my card to share, I wanted to tell you who our guest designer is for this release... Any guesses? Well, this individual posted several times, so I knew she was interested in our images, then I saw her post a card using Mei Lin and Mei Li and I knew I had to ask her to help us out. I've been a HUGE fan of Amy Young's work since I stumbled on her blog a couple years ago. Earlier, I posted about a couple of tutorials she made using our stamps. Hope you had a chance to check them out! Thanks Amy for helping us with this release... we can't wait to see what you come up with! Oh- and don't forget to check out my CBFF (crafty best friend forever) Debi! I'm sure she has some surprises up her sleeve too!


On to the card... I've always liked the look of a Joy Fold card but never found the time to make one. I finally made one using Yuki for one of my Christmas Card classes. It was so simple to put together, I can't believe I didn't try this earlier! Decided to change it a little by adding a scallop circle to the front flap so the card wasn't so angular. Then I added a ribbon and roses for a little bit of embellishment.



Here's the card when it's open. So fun and easy!


Did you remember to enter into our blog candy giveaways? If not, there's still time- go to our Introductory post for Setsuna and check out the rules. You can post once on each introductory post for a chance to win. Oh- and Debi just might have some candy to share as well.

Meet Sweet Yuki...

This sweet little girl is Yuki. I love Yuki. In fact, I think she just might be my favorite image thus far. You can really tell how much she loves everything she got in her stocking!


Yuki means Blessing/Snow, and I thought that would be an appropriate name for this little girl. Don't you? She really really really reminds me of my sister at Christmas time. My sister LOVED Christmas. I did too, but not as much as she did as a child. Whenever I see this image, it totally reminds me of her and a story I hear almost every year around Christmas time. My mom knew my sister wanted a Barbie dream house for Christmas. Well, times were not so great and back then, and a Barbie dream house cost a pretty penny. If I recall correctly, mom scrimped and saved and finally had enough to get it on Christmas eve. I think it was the last one left at the store too. She told me it was worth every penny to see the look on my sister's face on Christmas morning. Hey... how come I never got that Barbie dream house as a hand me down??? I just realized that... hmmmm....


Anyway, back to the card. As you can see I used my favorite layout of circle, washi strip on the side and sentiment on the bottom. I guess that really is my go-to layout. As you can tell, I colored her up before I got brave enough to try Mama's hair coloring technique.


Now for a closer look at Yuki and what's in her stocking... I LOVE LOVE LOVE that puppy dog. He is just the cutest! And, did anyone have that toy in her stocking? I remember my brother and sister brought that back from Japan . I could never do it back then, but I remember watching my brother play with it a lot. Wish I found one on my trip earlier this year! Guess I have to add that to my list for next trip. Oh yes, and not to forget the sentiment and banner stamps are by Lawn Fawn (my favorite).



Ok, by now you should know the drill right? If not, refer to yesterday's introductory post on Setsuna for the blog candy rules... Oh, and let me know what your favorite Christmas present was as a kid. I'm dying to find out! I remember one year it was a cash register. What does that say about me huh?

Release #3 Images Revealed...

Wow- September is really flying by! Can't believe it's already time to reveal our next set of images due out on 10/1/11.




My sis sent me these images during the summer and I was so excited, I could hardly contain myself! Maybe it's cause I've been playing with the Release #1 and Release #2 images for about a year now, so these holiday stamps were a breath of fresh air and so exciting to incorporate into holiday projects. Can't wait to start sharing some of the samples with you soon. Please check in for introductions of each image this week.