Giving Thanks

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As mentioned last month, I LOVE FALL.  I especially love the Thanksgiving season cause it causes to take a moment to pause and remember the things in life for which we are truly grateful.  This year has brought LOTS of changes for me and my family… and through that, I am learning how thankful I am for my family.  Sometimes we seem to forget to look on those who are closest to us with eyes of gratitude…

 

So, this month, I have a daily reminder to GIVE THANKS!!  And, I need to remember that throughout the whole year…

 

 

 

Head on over to see what delights Anne and Cheryl have for you!

 

 

 

 

I’m leaving on a (infant friendly) jet plane

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So…  We just got back from our summer mainland extravaganza.  It was exciting.  But,  I was a bit nervous taking the Littles on their 2nd airline flight.  (Their first was only HNL to Maui and they were only 2.5 weeks old… I think they forgot. ) Anyway… I wanted to make a little gifty favor for our seat mates.  Just a little something to break the ice and to get them to think the Littles were more cute than screaming airplane passengers.  So…  Here it is:

I used those awesome chevron printed bags and filled them with Blondie Bites and ear plugs.  Decorated them with one of my favorite sets: Zoo babies…   I wrote a little rhyme and signed them from Zeke and Hannah. 

Fresh baked cookies on a red eye help tremendously.  And there was a group of passengers that sat next to us on our connecting flight as well.   Those poor people…  
Anyway,  the Littles did very well.  Despite some major weather delays.  And I have to mention the wonderful flight attendants on American Airlines.  They were a tremendous help.  They went way above their job description to help us.  Service like that makes traveling so much more bearable.

ODE to Washi

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Welcome Back!!  And, Happy Back to school.  It is AUGUST!  Where has the summer gone??

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Well, with this month I’m particularly happy about because it features one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE stamp sets.  TAPE IT.  It’s a stamp set that looks like WASHI TAPE.  Be still my heart.  I”m still a bit of a newbie when it comes to the uses of washi tape, but it is becoming one of my all time favorites…. ANYWAY, having the stamp set allows you to do more things… you can stamp over text, etc… and make it in any color.

 

 

 

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Hope you Enjoy August.  And, peek on by Anne and Cheryl’s blogs to see what goodies they have for you!

Endless Birthdays…

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I’m always looking for nice birthday stamps. Cause as a card maker, birthday cards are probably my second most popular card…  so, when Endless Birthday Wishes came out, I immediately ordered it.  And. It just so happened I needed a card. Again, as a card maker, I live in this perpetual fear that I will give a card to someone and they are gonna think I just took it out of my box.  (I don’t know why that is bad… but it just seems that way.)  This birthday card was for a fellow stamper so I made it a point to make it with my new stamp set. Now I never promised it wouldn’t be a case (cause it is) but it was made “fresh”. And I think it was only a day late. Or two.  So here it is…

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I LOVE this set. It is in the same style as the Endless Christmas Wishes set that came out last year (and sold out).  It is so easy to use and comes with loads of words. Both in type and scripty fonts.
And to keep my card in under the 2 day late deadline, it’s way simple. Couple stamps and some glorious washi tape. It makes putting a card together so easy…I wish I could remember where I cased it from. But I can’t. Sorry.

Of course, I needed a special envelope.

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This was left over DSP from this year’s Sale-a-bration. I love making matching envies…

So there you have it. Endless Birthday Wishes. Item # 137553. $13.95. It’s a photopolymer set.  Better hurry though. They sold out of their supply once and had to reorder…

OH! I’ve been meaning to ask. As a perk for being a demo, I get to choose 4 stamp sets from the new catalog (I can tell you how you can earn loads of free stuff too if you wanna know).  I need suggestions. Post a comment with sets you might want to see. And I will see what I can do…

July

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Hello JULY!

I love July!  We always have a fabulous 4th of July party.  I love seeing the red-white-and blue decorations, flags, and shiny things in stores (I am so distracted by shiny things.) And, it is a good time to pause and reflect on the sacrifices made and continually being made for our country.  And for this I am grateful.  And, it is in this mood that I always pick the colors for the July calendar.  So, they are always red, white, and blue.  Maybe not patriotic in the content, but the colors.  And, I love this month’s…

I love this stamp set.  But, it’s very sad, it’s retired.  It’s the World Treasures stamp set from last year’s catalog.  These flowers are perfectly cheery!

 

So, head on over to Anne’s and Cheryl’s blogs to see what they have for you!

 

Graduation

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Graduation

There are many unique traditions in  different locals and Hawaii isn’t immune. One of the lesser known cultural traditions is that holidays and celebrations can last months. It is perfectly acceptable to tell someone Happy New Year in February or March. I vaguely remember giving and receiving a Christmas gift in April. And Graduation Celebrating can last all summer. So. In Hawaii, this post is right on time.  🙂

Anyway. I needed a graduation card.  One thing I do with my stamp customers is have monthly club meetings*. That’s where we get together. Eat. (Always eat…delicious, delicious food) and stamp! It’s a highlight of my month. And for the last 2 years, one sweet young lady has attended with her grandmother. I’ve always been impressed with this because…well… let’s just say we are a bit more advanced in terms of…a..hem… well. You get it.  But I’ve always enjoyed watching her and her grandma interact and just enjoyed the relationship they shared. I can’t speak for them, but I just imagine this was just a special time for them to share together.  Anyway….  this is who the graduation card is for…

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And since this is part on an extended celebration…cause I’m known for my extended punctuality… this was my first creation with the new in colors. (They’ve been sitting on my stamp desk for a month.)

I love them.

BlackBerry and Hello Honey. Now doesn’t that just sound delicious??

Here’s the color combo: basic gray, sahara sand,

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I used the Pomp and Circumstance that was in the Occasions catalog. Sorry… its unavailable now. But you could substitute just about anything. There is a great set in the current catalog called Bravo that would be perfect.

I used the banner framelits to do all the layering. And the DSP is from the Moonlight Prints Pack.  Lets discuss Prints Packs for a moment.  SU has just started these in the last couple occasions catalogs and they are wonderful. It’s a pad of 48 sheets of paper that are 4.5×6.5  You get 4 each of 12 double-sided designs.  It’s great for little pieces of DSP on cards when you don’t want to cut into a whole piece of 12×12.  I love it!  And, they’re only $6.95.

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Of course, I needed an envelope.  Envelope punch board to the rescue!  I made this out of the Smokey Slate.

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And I wanted to make a money holder cause I know that is the perfect graduate gift.

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For the money slot, just cut a panel slightly smaller than your card inside and glue on 3 sides. Then punch any shape you wish…I used the oval…about half way. This gives a space so the bills peek out and you can grab them easily.  You could redo the sizing easily and make this fit gift cards as well.

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And there you go!

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Happy Graduation Jenna! Best of luck to you!

 

*We are forming stamp clubs that will begin in August! If you are on Maui and are interested in friends, good food, and stamping, contact me and I will give you details!

June

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Welcome to June!!

Boy, Half of 2014 is gone…  But, for me, June embodies the gloriousness of summer.  The final school bell sounded this past week and we are looking forward to all the laziness (yeah, right… I just had twins) that summer can bring.  Well, we can dream about it anyway…

For this installment if the easel calendar, I used the Best of Shelli stamp set.  It had this nice bird and flower stamp.  Super easy to use and very elegant.  I used the Primrose Petals ink and paper for it and the bird is stamped in Baked Brown Sugar.

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I hope you can take some time to enjoy summer as well.  You can start by heading over to see what Anne and Cheryl have for you:

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createwithcheryl.me

May Day is Lei Day

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So, my title has NOTHING to do with my post, I just like saying it.  And, here in Hawaii, May Day being Lei Day means you get to give or wear a lei.  And, it’s a fun, and pretty thing to do.  A great tradition.  Know what else is a great tradition??  Mini Easel Calendars (How’s that for a segue…?)

For May, I used the Best Of Shelli stamp set.  It has this image that is one if my favorites. I like it cause it is a little smaller.  Sadly, the set is unavailable, but you could do something similar with the Daydream Medallions or any other stamp for that matter.  It’s a super simple stamp project, so the possibilities are endless.

I used the Crisp Cantaloupe paper in ink here…

May is a favorite month of mine.  As a teacher, the end of May can never come soon enough.  And, it symbolizes summer.  For me, that means a visit home and Sonic Cherry Cokes.  Wonderful.

 

 

You can go see what Anne and Cheryl are up to with their Mays.

April Showers…

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Hello!!  And WELCOME to April!!

For those of you who get email updates of this, I apologize… when I was uploading the pics (I’m trying to get the rest of the year done…) I had a little brain snafu and forgot to fiddle with some of the settings.  SO… you may have gotten random calendar pages.  SORRY.  I have corrected the situation and you will get them on their appropriate month.

Anyway, April!!  And, here on Maui, I wonder if April is going to be as showery as March was…  We’ve been having lots of rain.  And, everything is so lush and green.  We are going to have a beautiful spring, so you should come on over.

This page of the calendar uses Mosaic Madness.  A super cute, on trend, little stamp set that you can do lots with.  And, it has the little stamps that you can choose to put inside the bigger ones, or not… which makes it very versatile.

Simple.

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And, here it is with the cover…  Fast and easy.

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Why don’t you start your spring by heading on over to see what Anne (Maui Stamper) and Cheryl (Create with Cheryl) have made for for you with their calendars…

CANDY CORN!!

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I love fall.  LOVE IT.  It’s a bit ironic that I live in a place where fall is, well, not fall.  (AND, it’s especially not fall so far this year cause we’ve had record setting warm temperatures…so incongruent with what the rest of the country seems to be doing…)  BUT… I will be soaking in the sunshine come January… 🙂

That’s neither here nor there…

Like I said, I love fall.  And one of my most FAVORITE things about fall is Candy Corn!  Love it.  Love eating it whole, AND layer by layer.  Now, I’m a Candy Corn purist.  And, the stuff that LOOKS like candy corn but comes out at Easter in the pastel colors.  Not. The. Same. Thing.

Anyway, I loved this little Candy Corn stamp…  and my watchful bats to keep people from stealing my candy corn…  🙂  Sorry, the set retired last year… but still fun.

 

 

I love changing the months to a new calendar page!  Even though I made them and know what is coming, it’s so fun to see the change!  Like a little surprise at the start of each month!!

 

Head on over to see what Anne and Cheryl have for you!