Ohh...Nicky!

RAKs

2010-04-09T23:57:00.000-10:00

These pictures and thank yous are long over due. I've been horrible at sharing all of the wonderful RAKs that I receive. I haven't been crafting much lately, but when I do get the chance to do something, I really do enjoy it. Which is why I love these get togethers that I get invited to, it's my opportunity to dust off my supplies and try to create something to share. It also gives me an opportunity to spend time with some really fun people. My time spent at these outings are ALWAYS fun!!!

The most recent get together was a mini gathering at Linda's house. She so graciously opened her home to a small bunch of us. These are some of the RAKs that I received from Dawne, Kyoko, and Janis.

This is a make 'n take that Linda shared with us. It was a challenge to make this one. It's a memo pad or post-it holder. Holds 3x3 paper. It's even got a little compartment in the back to hold a extra pad.

Janis did a make 'n take as well and it was an easel calendar with a little drawer. Cute!!!

In the mail, Jen sent me a birthday card filled with these CUTE Chococat cutouts that she made with her cricut. She must have created this because I don't think that there's a Chococat on the Hello Kitty Cartidges.

Kyoko made this card for me and filled it with a birthday goodie. It's a shaker card!

Linda gave me this card. I love this image and she also gave me a image to use...so I will definitely need to ink it up and make a card with it and get it posted.

This brithday card was mailed all the way from the United Kingdom. It's from Claire Warhurst. So intricate!!! Claire participated in Jen's Birthday RAK club. Sooo sweet of her to mail a card to me.

I received one other handmade card and some goodies from Joni, but I still need to take a picture of her cute card, so that will wait for another post. I hope that you all are doing well! Happy Crafting and Have a Wonderful Weekend!

I made it...barely....a post in March

2010-03-31T23:57:00.000-10:00

I can't believe how fast this year is already flying by. Before we know it, it will be December again. I just wanted to get in a quick post. I have a lot of things that I should have posted for March..but have really been slacking. I really am trying to get back into the groove of things.

Denise had us over again for a crafting get together at her home. I always have a lot of fun at these get togethers. I made a little basket for Easter to give to all those who attended, but I forgot to take a picture of the basket before I gave them all away. I used a sizzix plate to emboss each piece and then the sizzix die to cut each peice of the basket. I can't believe that I didn't take a picture.

These are the RAKs that I received and two make and takes. Justine showed us how to do a little Easter basket and Denise had us a do a clip note holder. Sooo cute and so much fun.

I'll be back this wekeend to post more...got a long weekend coming up! Take care!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T23:10:00.000-10:00

Here are a few cards I made for this occassion. Nothing really fancy... but all made with a lot of love.

This one was my favorite. I used the stamps that I won from Dandelion Designs giveaway. Thanks Jean! These little matching birds are just adorable.

Two Scoops Rice - Challenge

2010-01-18T14:50:00.000-10:00

I was visiting Enjoli's blog (Stamping Under the Sun) and saw that she has just completed this sketch challenge at Two Scoops Rice. I just bought the Kakimochi & Popcorn set, so decided to play along. If you want to play along too, visit Two Scoops Rice for all the details. Here's the sketch. You have until 1/29/10 to enter.

Here's what I came up with. I tried to give the design some dimension by puffing up the images and using foam tape...but you can't see it too well in the picture. Also curved the sentiment on the acrylic block so that it would fit in the oval punch.

Just realized that this is my first post for 2010! So a Happy New Year is in order! Have a Wonderful 2010!!!

Goodbye Caleb!

2009-12-13T06:00:00.001-10:00

Caleb, gone but not forgotten. My friend in Colorado let me know that she had to put her kitty cat to sleep the other week. Caleb lived a long life and in his latter years he ended up having a lot of problems. He's in a better place now.

Sk120509

2009-12-12T06:00:00.001-10:00

I hadn't participated in Papercraft Plant's Sketch Saturday for a long time, so I decided to try it. The image is Elliot from Dandelion Designs. The sentiment is from Penny Back. This card turned out a little better than I expected. It looks like a present! Here's a picture of the sketch in case you want to play along.

Eek! A mouse...

2009-12-11T06:00:00.002-10:00

I was so excited to pick up some new Dandelion Designs stamps at J's Knicknacks several weeks ago. My favorite this year was this cute little mouse sitting on an ornament. For this card I wanted to try this simple technique to try to make the card a little more interesting. I found this on Split Coast Stampers, here, it was called a spiral pop-up card.

Is it Christmas already?

Surf's Up!

2009-12-10T18:00:00.000-10:00

I had to put something together quick to wrap a grab bag. My other half is an avid surfer and he was invited to a Christmas Party held by a group of regulars at Court's (Ala Moana Beach Park). These die hard surfers get up and get into the water before the sun comes up, surf for a few hours, and then go to work. Amazing!!!

This box measures 4 x 4 x 1 and fit a gift card and a bar of surfboard wax. To decorate the box, I used my Stampin' Up roller wheel. Surfer Ian was a perfect fit!

Happy Birthday Shaye!

2009-12-09T18:00:00.000-10:00

I made this card for Shaye for her birthday. Her favorite color is blue and she loves to be shiny...I came across this pretty blue glitter paper in my stash, so I tried to incorporate it into Hello Kitty's clothing. I think she likes it : )

Happy Birthday Dawne!!!

2009-12-08T21:28:00.003-10:00

I made this card for Dawne of Dawney's Delights. She LOVES cupcakes. : ) The image and sentiment is from Hero Arts. Tries to give the cupcake some shiny sprinkles with some stickles.

Thanks for stopping by!

Another fun day!

2009-12-08T20:58:00.006-10:00

Thanks to Denise and Jamee for opening up their home for yet another fun filled day! It's always fun to get together with these talented ladies. They are all so inspiring.

Brenda of Sweet as a Gumdrop, graciously did a make and take with us. It was a recipe book.

Jenny of Jenny's Creations also did a fun make and take. Take a look at this pretty card.

I made these little snowflake packages with my Silhouette to give to everyone at the event.

Here's a picture of the generous RAKs that I received. Soo many. : )

Fun fun fun!

Thank you ladies!!!

It's the Turtle Again!

2009-10-19T06:00:00.000-10:00

I just can't get enough of this turtle stamp from Dandelion Designs. Hope you all are having a wonderful Sunday!

Another card for the Twins

2009-10-18T17:00:00.000-10:00

My friend needed a card as well to give to Terynn and Krystta... so I used Dandelion Design Stamps to make this card (instead of two cards, it's one card with double images. )

Happy Birthday Terynn and Krystta!

2009-10-18T14:00:00.000-10:00

We went to a party today to celebrate Terynn and Krystta's Birthday...they just turned 3. Why did I make 2 of the same card? Because they are TWINS... and because they need to have exactly the same thing to keep peace in the family.

These are the TWO men in my life

2009-10-18T00:55:00.000-10:00

Just thought I'd share a picture that was taken recently at Disney's California Adventure. These are the TWO men in my life (Brandon and Blade) that keep me busy at home. They look harmless enough. : ) It was Blade's 1st trip to Disneyland, 1st family vacation, and 1st time out of Hawaii. Lots of fun!

RAKs from yet another fun day at Denise's House

2009-10-18T00:25:00.003-10:00

A little over a month later, but here it is. Look at all these goodies!!! : ) These ladies are just sooo talented! Thank you to all of you for your generosity and awesome company!

Tri-fold Card

2009-10-17T23:59:00.006-10:00

I finally made a tri-fold card. Someone had given me one for my birthday. I should've watched the tutorial before I attempted this. But all in all I was happy with how it turned out. And I know, you ALL are thinking, "Wow... she finally posted something!" : ) I'm back... and I hope to keep it up for awhile. 2 months absent, shame on me. I also just realized tonight that it's been a year since I started my blog. I better get my act together!

A Card for Ashley

2009-08-14T12:15:00.000-10:00

Ohh...two posts in a row. Amazing, well, for me anyway. I needed a card to give to a girl at work, so I flipped through all the stamped images that I received a few weeks ago and picked this cutie from Joy. The printed cardstock was from Joni. The colors on the cardstock were so cheerful! I chose the image and card stock because it reminded me so much of Ashley. She's such a sweetheart, and she's so shy, but she's always so cheery! Monday is her last day of work with us, since Summer is almost over and she is going back to school. We will miss her, but she's moving on to bigger and better things.

Happy Belated Birthday Teri!

2009-08-13T23:50:00.000-10:00

I made this card for Teri. Her birthday was a couple of weeks ago. I bought this stamp a LONG LONG time ago, but never used it. It's a Penny Black. I love Penny Black! I chose this image because Teri has a cute kitty named Mochiko, and it reminded me of her.

A Fun Filled Day

2009-07-28T22:23:00.002-10:00

Ohh...what a fun filled day! Spent Sunday with a bunch of new friends, sharing, laughing, and creating...well, I don't know how much they created, but I didn't create anything... but I sure laughed A LOT and ate a lot. It was nice getting together...thanks to Denise, who invited us in to her beautiful home. Here are some of the goodies that I received from these talented ladies. Look at all of these creations!

Besides just opening her home to all of us, Denise packed this funky roll of ribbon and Hello stamp to give to me. So sweet...I can't wait to use that ribbon. It makes me happy to see those colors!!! Doesn't it look fun?

Jodi created a a cute box that looks like a mini suitcase. She packed it with a couple of stamps and some pretty flowers. I love the color combo on this creation!

Joy created a purse box and filled it with so many creations. The contents were a decorated tin filled with some stamped images, a bunch of pretty flowers, and some brads. She also included a checkbook cover and matching pen. It's hard to see, but she also added in a CHOCOCAT stamp. : )

Dawne gave a bunch of printed digital images to use and decorated a baby food jar. She filled this cute little creation with a ton of ribbons and flowers. Look at this stash!!!

Linda created a post-it holder with a personalized big clip, and included my favorite CHOCOCAT goodies! I already used the post-its...look at the color choice!

Jenny made these bookmark magnets and included a whole bunch of cutie buttons! The magnetic bookmark is already in use. Such a neat idea...now, even when I drop my book, like I always do, I wont lose my page.

Joni gave a bunch of printed cardstock and this cute little purse filled with a candies, flowers, and a special tootsie pop flower. The candy didn't last too long...and I think I'll hoard some of the paper and flowers.

Kyoko made this Hello Kitty note pad cover and packed it with a yummy Snicker's bar... yum! That kitty took a lot of work. Soo many little pieces to glue down.

Teri made a little card holder that folded into a little purse, with some cute notecards. I love penguins! I think I'll have to make some of these. I love mini cards...and what better way to package them as a gift.

Michelle U. made this cute match box with a window, and filled it with some yummy candies and a little bottle of hand sanitizer. I didn't use the hand sanitizer before I ate the goodies. Oops!

Janis made these cute little packages and filled it with more yummy treats! She was also was so generous to share some NEW designer paper she just picked up too. Ohh so cute...I can't wait to use them. Well, maybe I'll just keep them for now... too cute to use. Look at this digital image...it's just adorable.

Michele H. who couldn't make it to Denise's afterall, but she sent with Kyoko this cute pouch and filled it with a matching pen, some stamped images (none of which I own by the way) and some M&M's.

I was also the lucky recipient of a special prize. But I'll share that one at a later time when I use my new stamp. : ) I know, I know... I'll get with the program nad start posting my own creations soon! I just wanted to share all of this to thanks these wonderful ladies for their generosity, their creativity, and their friendship! I'm so happy to have met them all and I look forward to our next gathering!

May All Your Dreams Come True!

2009-07-08T06:30:00.000-10:00

I made this card to give to my friend for her birthday. I wanted to give the hot air balloon the illusion of floating in the sky. So, I put it together as a tri-fold card. The front and middle panels were cut out with an oval nestability. The front panel was layered with acetate to make the window. The hot air balloon was suspended with thread and a small piece of acetate on the middle panel. The back panel a solid piece of cardstock.

The hot air balloon image is by Julie Fujii, formerly, Juju's Tiny Treasure, now, Create in Me. The cloud image is by Great Impressions. Instead of coloring in the balloon, I stamped the image on printed paper and cut it out. To try to add some depth to the card, I sponged clouds on all three panels.

I didn't have a sentiment that matched the hot air balloon, so I hand wrote the sentiment, "May all your dreams come true!".

RAK from Jenny

2009-07-06T06:00:00.000-10:00

Jenny gave me this Hello Kitty, personalized jar. It was filled with furikake party mix... the snacks are all gone... we ate it all. YUMMY! I haven't met Jenny in person yet, but I'm sure we'll meet soon. I visit her blog regularly and if you haven't visited yet, you should take a look, here.

Cupcake Time

2009-07-05T00:22:00.003-10:00

Dawne printed this image for me to play with. It's a Dustin Pike image. I love this monkey. He's so cute. I used the Nestability Scallop Circles to frame him.

Here's a closeup. I used pop-up dots to lift him up from the backing...and curled his tail a little bit to give him some dimension. Also used stickles to frost the cupcake.

Motivet Inspiration Blog Candy

2009-06-30T23:45:00.004-10:00

What a great blog candy. Look how many images you can win! Please visit the following link to enter to win... and while you're there, check out all of the cute cards!

http://motivet.com/blog/?p=456

A Penny Black card for Mom...

2009-06-29T23:30:00.001-10:00

I made this card for my Mom. It was a simple card... but the coloring took so long. I need to work on my copic blending. This is an old Penny Black stamp I found in my stamp drawer. I think I scored this stamp from a friend who was trying to thin out her collection, several years ago. I don't know how she could part with this one. Lucky me!

My first post for June

2009-06-28T17:54:00.001-10:00

I'm back! I know it's already June 28th and this is my FIRST post for the month of June. I'll try to keep this brief, so that I can get back to my craft desk and start making stuff. First of all, I wanted to say thank you to all these talented ladies. These are the RAKS that I received.

FROM Kyoko - Cards and Tags Mania

She made this accordion folder closed with velcro and inside, there were these extra goodies and some cute stamped images.

FROM Denise - Denise Loves Stamps

This is a card folder. I should have took a picture of it opened. It had two pockets on the inside and it filled with some hand stamped images... I love this folder.

FROM Linda - Simple and Sassy Creations

She made this purse box... closes with velcro. Inside she had some stamped images and a Chococat notepad and a cellphone charm. As you know, Chococat is my favorite!

FROM Marisa -Marisa Faylim Designs

I recieved this June ALOHA RAK. For June, it was a flower theme. Marisa also included some extra goodies...I tried to fit them all into the picture. These flowers are just beautiful!

Here's a better picture of the card. I love what she did with the colors...

Thank you to ALL for their thoughtful and generous RAKS.

Ok... and now here are a couple cards I've made in June. Yes, just a couple : ( I made a few more that I needed for parties and graduations this month... but as usual, I was putting on the finishing touches 5 minutes before leaving the house to go to the party...so I didn't take any pictures.

This was the card for my June Aloha RAK. It's a Penny Black image. I punched holes where the stamped flowers were so that I could run the wire of these flowers through the back. In hind sight, I probably should have just cut the wire off. The roses are from Natural Accents. I hope she likes her card...I added some small goodies with her card. It was late being mailed out...so she probably wont get it until tomorrow.

Dawne came over to my house at the beginning of June and we were intent on working on our projects together. I'm happy to say that I actually worked on something with her help and with her stuff...and made this card for my nephew Ryder's 1st Birthday! He was born in the Year of the Monkey... so it fits him perfectly!

I hope you all had a restful Sunday... : ) Take care and thanks for stopping by!

Blog Award from Dawne

2009-05-30T00:06:00.000-10:00

I got this blog award from Dawne of Dawney's Delights. Tee hee...I'm tickled! : ) Thank you so much Dawne.

I was just thinking about this today... Dawne MUST be an angel. Why? You ask. Not only because she's such a dear friend, and it's not for the many things that she does for me or with me. I only made the connection today...but the same day that I lost someone very dear to me was also the day that I was blessed with an acquaintance that grew into a dear, dear friend. As the saying goes, "Friends are Angels in Disguise"...and I truly believe that! I bet Granny checks up on me every now and then and sees me laughing with Dawne. She can rest peacefully now, her youngest Granddaughter has an Angel to keep her smiling. : )

Well, I hope to work on some things this weekend and get it posted.

Blog Candy Alert - SuperStar Taelyn

2009-05-29T23:50:00.000-10:00

In honor of her SuperStar daughter, Taelyn, Joy from A Place to be Me has a SWEET blog candy give away until Sunday. She has MANY ideas to share as well, so go and check out her blog. I wish I had her creativity!!!

Inspiration Award

2009-05-23T07:30:00.000-10:00

I've been so wrapped up in work the past couple of weeks, that I haven't had the energy when I got home to do much else, so the only crafting I've done was to make things that people asked for. I've been meaning to post this for over a week, so I wanted to start this long weekend off by posting a blog award that I received.

I received this Inspiration Award from Joy.

Here are the rules...

1) link back to the person who gave it to you
2) put the picture/award on your blog
3) you can nominate anyone and as many as you choose
4) leave a fact that no one knows about you
5) leave a comment on the blog that gave you this award

I was going to nominate a whole bunch of people, but I saw that Joy, beat me to the punch... but there are a few other people that weren't listed on Joy's that inspire me and who's blogs that I visit often as often as I can.

Chris of Mudmaven Designs
Deb of a Stamp and a Song
Fay of My Stamping Creations

Of course and there's Dawne (who Joy already nominated, but I just HAVE to nominate her again). Dawne is an inspriation to many... AND especially to me. In such a short time, Dawne has become an integral part of my life...and I'm so very lucky to be able to call her my BFF.

There is one other person who I'd like to nominate, but she doesn't have a blog. She's the one who actually got me started on all of this and I'm very thankful for that...CATHY. The day that I met her, was the day that my life changed. I know, sounds dramatic... but because of Cathy's enthusiasm about card making and other projects and her willingness to share with me her knowledge....she inspired me to dust off my stamps and start making things again and she introduced me to the blogging world and without this, I would never have met such wonderful people.

FACT: When I'm in a certain mood, I can spend HOURS sitting in one spot focussing on 1 thing that really shouldn't be such a big deal (and it's usually a task that might take someone 15 minutes to complete)...like folding all the recycled shopping bags...I actually enjoy this.

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-10T12:24:00.001-10:00

Happy Mother's Day to all of you Mom's out there. It takes a lot to be a good Mom...besides all the love they possess and provide, they need a lot of courage, patience, compassion, and understanding. It takes a lot of work to be a good Mom, but you always make it look so easy!!!

We had an early Mother's Day dinner last night. Here's the mini Mom's Day gift that I gave to my Mom, Aunty, and my sister. I used the Sizzix little package template. Paper Shapers flower punch , Stampin' Up circle punch, and Martha Stewart Crafts ribbons. The sentiment is from Dandelion Designs. It was a quick and simple project...but made with lot of love.

I started this project at Jen's House for her get together on Friday night... I met some very talented ladies all working on their projects...played with Jen's cutie, Cyrus, and had a lot of fun laughing with eveyone. Jen demonstrated the Hello Kitty Cricut Cartridge for me and I was just amazed with the result. So many little pieces that she had to glue down... WOW... Jen also gave us a little gift. So sweet. In a little box, she included some cute embelishments. She also gave each of us this pink bracelet for Breast Cancer Awareness, visit TheBreastCancerSite.com. Thanks Jen!!! It was a lot of fun!

Look at what Dawne got for me. I had been looking for this stamp for about a month now...I don't know why I was so attracted to this stamp. It must be his huge eyes and his innocent look. : ) She's so sweet... she knew that I was looking for it, so she looked it up online and bought it for me. She's so sneaky... she didn't say a word about it and she surprised me with it. She was so excited to give it to me, you should've seen the look on her face, but then again, you should've seen the look on my face too. I'm so lucky to have a friend like her. Thanks so much Dawne.

Sorry for the long post... I just wanted to get this out today. I have a lot of things to still do today and I gotta get a move on...

I made this card for my Mom... like me, she LOVES cats, so I dug out this kitty image in a window. Tried to give the kitty some dimension that you can probably only in the close up of the window.
My Mom is one of those very special people. She is a wonderful Mom... full of love and compassion. She loves my sister and I unconditionally and she supports ALL in that we do, whether she may agree with us or not. She gives us her two cents, but she supports our decisions and never fails us. That's the kind of Mom that I hope to be someday!

Hope you ALL have a wonderful day...

Aloha RAK from Erin in Ohio

2009-05-07T20:00:00.000-10:00

This is the Aloha RAK that I received from Erin in Ohio... love her color combo...: ) and look at all the goodies she sent with her RAK. She is so generous! Thanks Erin!

Congratulations!

2009-05-07T19:15:00.001-10:00

I volunteered to make a Congratulations Card from our office for a co-worker. I wanted to keep it simple...but yet add in some color. The stamp is from Stampendous. I used groovy guava ink from stampin' up to ink the image. Also used a sizzix embossing plate to give the background some texture. The ribbon is from Martha Stewart.

Happy Birthday Jennie!

2009-05-06T07:00:00.001-10:00

I made this card for my friend Jennie in Colorado. She likes cats, just like me. I think it's safe to post it now... because I think she got her card in the mail by yesterday. Her birthday was on May 1st... so shame on me for sending it out late. Happy Belated Birthday Jennie!

RAK from Joy

2009-05-06T00:14:00.003-10:00

Omigosh...I was so happy when I opened my mail and found this cute RAK from Joy. It was a wonderful surprise. She created the cute bag and personalized it just for me with my FAVE Chococat. She even included those goodies...I forgot to take a picture of the cute card that she also included...another personalized item with an "N" for Nicky! She's so sweet... : ) She makes some really awesome stuff and she's so talented. I'm so fortunate to be the receiver of such a generous RAK. Check our her blog for her "Ohh" so cute creations! Thank you, Joy!

Aloha RAK for Erin from Ohio

2009-05-05T23:38:00.004-10:00

I was a little late in sending Erin her Aloha Monthly RAK for April. I got it out last week Monday though... at least before the end of April. April's Aloha RAK was hosted by Tracy from Tracy's Happy Place. I was partnered with Erin from Ohio. This is the card that I made for her. I stamped the image (Juju's Tiny Treasures) with Palette Ink on acetate...then used clear glue and different colors of glitter to give color and shine to the image. It took a long time, but I was happy with the results. I hope she liked the card.

Jen from Pieces of Me will be hosting future Aloha RAKs, but I missed the sign ups for May, so I wont be participating this month.

Another Hello Kitty!

2009-05-01T19:00:00.000-10:00

I got this Sizzix die from Dawne for my birthday... Look at how cute Hello Kitty is. I've been enjoying using my Big Shot. I also used a nestability die on shimmer cardstock to try to add some dimension to the card, but it didn't really work out as I had envisioned it.

Japanese Girl with Animal Friends

2009-04-30T00:01:00.001-10:00

Another Juju's Tiny Treasure image. This is one of my favorites. She's a little cutie with her puppy and kitty. I actually made this card a couple of months ago...but forgot to post it.

Girl and Boy Card

2009-04-29T21:18:00.002-10:00

This little girl and little boy stamp is by Juju's Tiny Treasures. The kids have pop dots behind them to make them stick out a little bit. I need to learn how to use my camera better, the picture got so washed out.

Congratulations!!!

2009-04-29T21:03:00.002-10:00

UH Graduation is right around the corner...and believe it or not, I am actually one step ahead of the game. Usually I'm making the card the night before or that day... but not this time. I tried to keep the card really simple since it's for a guy. I used two different design papers and a little bit of stickles on the tassel and the ribbon to give it a little bit of texture. Congratulations to all the graduates!

MTTSC19

2009-04-26T22:33:00.003-10:00

This card was based of Madelynn's "Twinkling" Tuesday's sketch from 4/21/09. The sketch was done by a guest artist, Jack. These kids are just so talented. I don't know how they do it. I've missed out working on these sketches for a while, so I'm just trying to get back into it. If you want to play along, the next sketch will be posted for Tuesday. For this card, I used an old stamp that I had bought years ago. It's by Juju's Tiny Treasures. I tried to accentuate the leaves, so I added a lot of stickles.

Hello Kitty with Felt

2009-04-26T16:04:00.004-10:00

I was flipping through a card sample magazine and saw that someone had used a sizzix die to cut felt. So, I thought about trying to do a "Hello Kitty"... To my surprise, it cut the felt pretty easily and cleanly too. The hardest part was gluing everything down. I like the texture of the felt for Hello Kitty, now she's soft. Hope you're having a great Sunday!

Easter RAK from Dawne

2009-04-26T12:10:00.003-10:00

I know, posting it so late... but this is an Easter RAK that I got from Dawne. Ooh, so cute...plus it was filled with some goodies...Chococat stamps! : )

Happy Easter!

2009-04-19T21:35:00.001-10:00

Look familiar? This is my attempt at Jean's (Dandelion Designs) cupcake box. I thought it was such cute idea, so I had to give it a try. Jean shared the pattern on her blog.

These are some Easter treats that I made for my office. I used my "silhouette" machine to cut the boxes, (carton with handle box and the match box). To give these little boxes their Easter touch, I used stamps from Dandelion Designs. Before I put the boxes together, I stamped "Happy Easter" over the entire box with Versamark ink. You can barely see it in the picture.

My Stamping Creations: Blog Candy Time!

2009-04-09T20:56:00.000-10:00

Fay has past 4,000 hits! Hurray.... : ) She has a blog candy going on right now to celebrate!!! Show her some love and enter!

My Stamping Creations: Blog Candy Time!

Aloha RAK for De

2009-04-04T09:08:00.000-10:00

My Aloha RAK partner last month was De. I made her a regular card and little box of mini thank you (arigato) cards in a holder. Since the image I chose was a little girl in a Japanese Kimono (Juju's Tiny Treasures), I just HAD to incorporate washi paper. I'll post the RAK that De sent me later. She makes some really nice things...visit her blog, Stamping De-va's Blog Spot.

Mini Cards in Box

Mini Arigato Card

Annie and Cassie

2009-04-04T08:46:00.002-10:00

Here are a few photos that I took of the RATS...it was really hard to get some good shots. This was the best I could do out of 40 photos. They kept moving around. The mixed color one is Cassandra (Cassie) and the all gray one is Annabelle (Annie). They don't really know their names, but they do respond to you if you walk by the cage. There favorite thing to eat is Cheerios. They both love to get out of their cage and they run fast, but it's funny, they don't roam too far. We recently bought them each a clear pet ball for exercise. Once they get in, they run, and roll, and roll, and roll. Annie and Cassie are very sweet and amazingly gentle critters. : ) Hope you're having a great weekend!

Annie

Cassie

A Teeny Mouse or a Teeny Rat?

2009-03-30T21:57:00.000-10:00

Can you tell the difference between a mouse and a rat? Ok, so you hear the word RAT and you think "Eeeew...gross!" Yep, got that a lot... but the rats that we have in our home are not those yucky ones that go through your garbage and eat through boxes and plastic containers...our 2 rats live in a cage and are cute and gentle...we got them from a pet store. I chose the gray one...like in the card that I made here. Her name is Annie. She's really sweet...she can sit on my shoulder for hours at a time if I let her. The other one that we got is cute too, her name is Cassie. She has kind of a cow pattern. Cassie was added to keep Annie company because my other half read somewhere that rats are social animals. Well, when we put Cassie into the cage with Annie...I was worried that they would beat each other up...they roll around every now that then and you hear a little squeek too, but they sleep next to each other and follow each other around, so I guess they are playing when they roll around. These rats are very gentle. We just got them these clear plastic balls to exercise them. It's really cute, you just drop each one in, close the lid, and then let them wander around the house. They just roll and roll and roll. They are the latest addition to our family! I'll get a picture of them posted later! Hope you all had a great Monday! I took most of the day off today, but it's back to work tomorrow.

It's a Win Win....

2009-03-28T08:10:00.001-10:00

As promised, I'm back this morning to announce the winner of my blog candy... so sad that only 2 people left comments, but that's okay... Jenny and Enjoli now have a 50/50 chance of winning...I wrote their names on scratch paper... folded them into tiny pieces...and shook them and dropped them and shook them and dropped them...closed my eyes and picked, Enjoli from Stamping Under the Sun. But wait, since only two of them played along...Jenny is a winner too. Remember I had 3 blog candy's to give away... so I'll send out two...one for Enjoli and the other for Jenny. Enjoli, I'll send your candy out shortly. Jenny, please send your snail mail addy to me at ohhnicky@yahoo.com, so that I can mail yours out too. So I got the blog candy for my Birthday out of the way and the blog candy for reaching over 1000 hits. I know that Jenny's been visiting my blog a lot, because she leaves such sweet comments. : )

Thanks to both of you for playing along!

It's Ryder!

2009-03-28T07:31:00.000-10:00

Just thought I'd share a picture of my nephew, Ryder. I was downloading pictures from my camera and came across this picture that my other half took when I wasn't paying attention. In this picture, taken a month ago, Ryder was 9 months old. This will probably be one of the few pictures that he actually stops to look at the camera, since now, he's rolling around, doing the army crawl, and is just moving all about. He's a sweetie...when you see him, you just wanna eat him up. Poor thing though, he's not as cute as his big brother, Skyler. Ok, I only say this, because I'm biased... his big brother Skyler, 4 yrs old, looks like me when I was little. Hee hee... I know my sister is reading this...well, hope you are all having a wonderful Saturday! Enjoy the weekend!

Life Is Sweet!

2009-03-24T19:30:00.000-10:00

Dawne and I had another play day the other week...and all I have to really show for it, is this ONE card. I was there from 10:30 - 7:30'ish... and I completely finished only ONE card. Ok, so we did manage to go and pick up lunch and we made a quick trip to Ben Franklin too. But that's okay... I had A LOT of fun... as usual. There's never a dull moment between us. Within the first 5 minutes I was there, we were both laughing so hard we were crying. I don't know what it is about us getting together. : ) Anyway, this is an image from Two Scoops Rice. The picture of course is washed out because I don't know how to use my camera properly. It was Dawne's idea to add those other embelishments, I just couldn't think what to do. She suggested the addition of the sprinkles, which turned out to be a really cute idea. She's so crafty. I really do enjoy our little scrapping sessions... okay... I guess I should say, I really enjoy her company... because I don't get too much done, but I ALWAYS have fun.

Birthday Blog Candy

2009-03-24T19:21:00.001-10:00

Here is the first of the 3 blog candies that I'll be giving away! This one is to help celebrate my birthday. I'll be adding a few more thing to this before I mail it to the winner. So far it includes a pack of printed paper and cardstock, a cardboard cut outs, stickles, roll of ribbon, some embelishments, and a gelly roll glitter pen.

In order to play, leave a comment on this post and share with me one of your favorite birthday gifts that you've received over the years...be sure to include your "approximate" age at the time of the gift and explain why it's one of your favorites. You have until 11:59 pm Hawaii Time on March 27th, to leave your comment. I'll announce the winner on Saturday, March 28th.

For me, last year at the age of well, let's say "somewhere in my 30's", I woke up to a note left on my bathroom mirror...the note indicated that my favorite stuffed sheep had invited his brother and nephew all the way from the UK to come live with us in Hawaii. Below the note, sat an identical twin and a miniature version of my Sheepy. To give you a little background, on our trip to New Zealand in 2006, I picked up a NICI sheep as a souvenir. I've slept with him under my neck every night since...needless to say, he was rather dingy looking after 2 years...well loved, you could say. I had always talked about finding another Sheepy and how sad I would be once he fell apart. Come to find out that they didn't sell him just anywhere. We'd have to order himj online and pay an arm and a leg for shipping, so that was out. Or so I thought. He ordered it online and managed to keep it a big secret. He waited til I fell asleep and then strategically placed them so that I would get up in the morning and see them staring at me as I put my eyes on. Gotta love him for that! It was so thoughtful and made me teary!

Owl Always Be Your Friend

2009-03-21T07:35:00.001-10:00

I made this card using an old template that Jean from Dandelion Designs has on her website. You pull the string to reveal the message. Her template is actually smaller, I made this to fit a regular size card. The image is Jean's as well and of course the sentiment "Owl Always Be Your Friend". So perfect to match the image. I tried to give the owls some dimension, but I don't think you can really see it in the picture. I just rounded them out and put some pop up dots in back of their heads and bodies.

Hello Kitty!

2009-03-21T07:26:00.000-10:00

I made these Hello Kitty cards when Dawne came over to my house to play, several weeks ago. She brought over her new Hello Kitty Sizzix for me to try. Also had gotten some new cardstock, so I played around with it too. I was happiest with this first one.

RAK's from Kristie, Tia, and Tracy

2009-03-21T07:14:00.001-10:00

These are RAK's I should've posted a long time ago. Kristie was my January Aloha RAK partner. This RAK exchange is hosted by Tracy, from Tracy's Happy Place. Kristie made this cute card for me...purple and green...love that color combo. You can't see it too well in the picture, but the background on the green paper has a dotted texture. Look how she colored the dress, it looks like it has texture too. This image is so cute...Thank you Kristie!

I received this card from Tia in February. I participated in a card swap that Teri from Big Ideas from a Little Girl hosted. I has posted the card that I made for Tia in an old post. I had a picture of Tia's card with all of the embelishments attached, but that picture was lost when the computer was taken. : ( There was a heart button on the blue flower and I'm missing a red dew drop. The card is still cute though. She added a lot of detail. Love the layout and of course Anya is so cute sporting her overalls. Thank you Tia!

I received this RAK from Tracy from Tracy's Happy Place. It was from her Christmas Card Challenge that she's been holding on her blog every month. What yummy goodies! Thanks Tracy! She posts the challenge on the 15th of the month. To participate, you just need to follow the requirements, make 5 cards, and then post the link to your 5 cards on her blog. It's really fun and helps you get a jump on getting those Christmas Cards done early!

What a Wonderful Day!

2009-03-19T20:45:00.002-10:00

Happy Birthday to Me!

It started out as a normal work day...but when I arrived at the office, I was greeted with a beautiful micronesian ginger and orchid lei from my office. Proceeded to get some work done and then was pleasantly surprised by a visit from Dawne, bearing gifts and a bunch of yummy cupcakes to share with my office. How sweet is that? The cupcakes were soooo yummy! My office then treated me to lunch! Finished the work day. Then I got home and opened a lot of presents!!! Such thoughtful friends and family! Look at what my other half got for me.... a Silhouette machine! I was stunned when I got home and saw it. How did he know? A little bird told him... and I know that little bird was Dawne. Those sneaky buggers!

We just got back from a delicous dinner at Kobe Steak House. Yum Yum Yum!!! I had a great day...thanks to all those thoughtful people in my life!

Stay tuned for my blog candy giveaways... I think I'll do a few...one to celebrate my birthday, another for reaching over 1,000 hits (now over 1500), and the last one to mark the arrival of my new computer! Woo hoo!

I'm Back!

2009-03-18T21:00:00.001-10:00

Got my new lap top and today and I am very happy to be able to blurf and post! For those of you who are wondering... I'm doing much better these days. Our life has gone back to normal...with a few changes. My other half installed an alarm system in our home, so I feel a lot better about leaving the house now. For awhile, I dreaded returning home. Always had the anxiety that we'd come home to find our house broken into again. We were so lucky that no one was hurt and that they didn't have a chance to take too much.

Thank you for those of you who shared your stories with me and for the nice comments and words of support. I have a lot of posting to do...so I'll be catching up in the next week.

Thank you to Enjoli...for her very sweek RAK...she sent this to me to cheer me up. Look at all the goodies she mailed!

I got these goodies from Dawne. She came over to play one day and brought these with her to give to me. It's my favorite Chococat.

February ALOHA RAK from Anne

2009-03-02T18:38:00.000-10:00

I got this box of goodies from Anne in Arizona. So sweet. Her card is so pretty. Again, I'm so sorry for the poor lighting on the card. I'm not quite sure what she used to make it, but it sure is pretty. She sent me a bunch of other goodies too. She even sent me a mini Hello Kitty picture frame. Thanks Anne!

I took a picture of the card that I sent to her, but I am really sad because it was on my computer : ( I went with an Easter theme and attempted to add some pearls with wire. I used the Girl and Boy with Easter Baskets from Dandelion Designs. Shucks! Oh well, I hope that the card made it to her intact!

Well, that's it for today... I can take pictures tonight... but will not be able to post until later because I don't have the cord for my camera. My other computer was great... I could just take the card out from the camera and stick it in to the computer to download the pictures... I'm using a friend's computer tonight, so I should just be happy for that.

A Card for Tia

2009-03-02T18:10:00.007-10:00

This is a slider card that I made for Tia. She was my partner for a card swap that Teri hosted. Tia had mentioned to me that she saw my blog and liked this type of card, so I incorporated it into her card. The image is from Hero Arts...Dawne let me use her stamps, so I stamped several of this cute girl for Girl's Day. I hope Tia liked her card, she must've received it by now.

I was asked by several people if I had thought of doing a tutorial for this card...and I hadn't really thought about it, since it's not a project that I created... but I'd love to share this great idea, so I'll see what I can do. It really isn't that ut the creator of this card was very creative!

Anyway, I haven't taken a picture of the card that Tia sent to me yet. Her card was so cute. She used Farmer Anya. I'll try post it soon!

I also need to post my January ALOHA RAK from Kristie and my February ALOHA RAK from Anne. So far behind. Sorry Kristie and Anne. I'll get those up soon. I need to take another picture of Kristie's card, because that picture was lost with the computer. : (

Thanks for bearing with me!

Valentine's RAK from Dawne

2009-03-02T17:00:00.001-10:00

Oohmigosh!!! Look at what I got from Dawne. She gave this to me for Valentine's Day (I'm very late posting it)... these are Chococat key covers. You put them over your keys and can easily identify which key is for home, etc.... She knows how much I love Chococat, although she didn't know his name was Chococat, LOL~ She's so sweet!

Another Set of Christmas Cards

2009-03-02T12:55:00.003-10:00

Tried to play along with Tracy's Christmas Challenge, but with my computer being stolen I didn't have time to post my pictures in time to meet her deadline. That's ok though... I did finish my cards and now I have a jump on Christmas....I made 10 Christmas Cards this year so far...Woo hoo! I used Penny Black's Hedgehog stamp. This challenge was to make 5 square cards, any size...but no sentiment on the front. Sorry that the pictures are so dark. I gotta get better lighting for my pictures. Thought I was going to be able to post more than one today, but ran out of time... I'll try and post something later today, if not, then tomorrow. Hope you're having a good Monday!

Happy Birthday Jen Young!

2009-02-26T11:15:00.004-10:00

In celebration of her Birthday, Jen from Little C's is posting giveaways on her blog every hour. Click here to see what she's giving away this hour. Requirements for the 11:00 hour is to post or re-post a birthday card for her... I'm reposting my Hedgehog Card...Happy Birthday Jen!!! I hope you have a wonderful day.... you're still very YOUNG, Jen Young... : )

My Sob Story

2009-02-23T20:50:00.001-10:00

And so here I am, after what seems like forever, but it's only been 1 week...I have to share my sob story with you all. May this story be an eye opener for us all.

Last Wednesday, our house was burglarized. It happened within about an hour's time span. They must've been watching us leave and waited until dark to break in. What scares me too is that they were so bold. Who robs people in the early evening, when most people are just arriving home from work? We were fortunate though that they didn't have the chance to steal too many things and no one was injured. From the looks of it, they were thwarted by my other half returning home earlier than they expected. They had taken out our suitcases and it looked like they were going to fill it, but they didn't get a chance to. They did, however, manage to make a mess in my walkin closet and the master bathroom and they stole my laptop...yep, the one that I use to post all of my projects and visit everyone's blogs and an even more unfortunate thing with that, we lost our pictures, and our wedding invitation list. : ( Luckily, no financial information was on there... so after all is said and done... I guess I should be happy, since it really could've been much, much worse.

We have since installed some motion detector alarms so those bad people will at least get a good scare if they return, plus my neighbors are all well aware now and once that alarms sounds, the authorities will surely be on their way. I'm still very upset by the whole thing and I'm finding it hard to feel comfortable in my home. It's a very unsettling feeling. The thought of an unwelcome stranger violating my personal space. Aaaah!

Anyway, please take care and be aware of your surroundings. Also, take some time to back up to disc or other hardware files/pictures on your computer that you'd hate to lose. It also might be a good idea to know exactly what you have on your computer and secure any personal information on your computer and in your home. With the economy not being in good shape, we're hearing about much more incidents like these.

My posts will be very few and far between until we replace the computer and I wont be able visit all of your blogs too frequently : ( That makes me sad as I do so enjoy seeing all of your projects and love reading your stories. I think my blog counter hit 1000 too, so I wanted to giveaway some blog candy this month, but it will have to wait until March.

Be safe everyone!

Time Sure Flies When You're Having Fun

2009-02-16T23:43:00.002-10:00

Ok, a last quick post and I'm off to bed. Gotta get up and go to work tomorrow. : ( So hard after a 3 day weekend! I had a fun day yesterday (Sunday)...I spent the day with Dawne. We had planned to get together to do some crafting...we played for 12 hours. And all I have to show for that 12 hour event are these two cards. I think she made 4...it just shows how much we talked. She posted the cards that she made on her blog. It just goes to show that time sure does fly when you're having fun! Ha ha ha!!!

I'll be back soon with some other stuff that I worked on this weekend. Have a good week!

Happy Valentines Day

2009-02-16T23:35:00.000-10:00

Ok, a few day late for Valentine's Day... we were having some technical difficulties with the computer, but all seems to be well now. Here are some Valentine's Cards that I made this year. I forgot to take pictures of a couple of other cards I made before I gave them away. This first one was made for my other half. He had asked me if I was going to make him a card, since I'd been making cards for everyone else all this time. He's been really supportive of my time spent on the computer and my time spent stamping. I wrote inside that he'd always be my #1 Valentine. I honestly thought that he has just glossed over my message inside, but when he was asked what it said, he repeated it word for word... Hee hee...he really did pay attention...I know "Ohh Nicky, how could you think that... of course he didn't just gloss over it!"

All of these cards were made with images from C.C. Designs Rubber Stamps. I love these images...I'm so glad that I ordered them in time for Valentine's Day. I'm sure I can use them for other occassions, but it was so perfect for Valentine's.

Another Slider Card

2009-02-11T20:57:00.003-10:00

I made this slider card a couple weeks ago and recently gave it to a friend with her baby shower gift. I know that the Whale's saying, "Get Whale Soon", but I masked out the sentiment. The stamp is from Stampin' Up... but I loved coloring the whale in ligh gray and the water baby blue with a little bit of stickles...thought it was cute for a baby boy...since the whale is all chubby! Anywhoo...it seemed like a good idea to me. I hope that they liked the card.

Kristen's Blog Candy

2009-02-11T20:49:00.002-10:00

Kristen has some awesome blog candy on her page, Scrap-Creations, click here to enter to win and to take a look at some of her projects. Her cards are so sweet. She's getting a jump on Easter already too!

Monthly Aloha RAK for Kristie

2009-02-11T07:30:00.000-10:00

In January, I was paired up with Kristie from New Haven, CT for the Monthly Aloha RAK Club, sponsored by Tracy. This is the card I made for her...I used a Cuttlebug folder and my Big Shot for the leaves and used Stickles to give the leaves some shine. This card was used to hide the surprises I sent her in the box (that I didn't make). After she removed the card, she found a litle chocolate macadamia nut treat and a mini 12-month calendar. I stamped and colored different images for each month. I hope she liked it.

A Fun Game...

2009-01-31T12:39:00.004-10:00

Chris of Mudmaven Designs tagged me to participate in this fun game. I'm supposed to go the 6th picture, in my 6th folder, where I store my pictures, and then tell the story behind that picture. So, here's my picture. It's from Feb 2006. I don't really know why this picture is in MY folders...but I think it's because my other half was going to sell it, so he needed to take photos of it and he used my camera. He took it apart, fixed some stuff on it, painted it and put it back together...he's pretty handy! : ) LOL!!! I think when he got it, it was blue. He sold this bike and bought another one. I still worry when he rides, but he really loves it! I'd be sad if he told me that I couldn't do my hobby...but my hobby is not REALLY dangerous. Unless you count my over-reaction the time that I snipped my finger with my fabric shears...thought I was going to pass out, but I think it was because I saw the blood rush out...it wasn't THAT sore.

Now on to tagging 6 people to join in on the fun. Please don't feel obligated to play along, but if you do... leave me a comment so that I can check out your picture!

Dawne - Dawney's Delights
Joy - A Place to be Me
Teri - Big Ideas from a Little Girl
Heather - Heather's Heavinly Stampations
Enjoli - Stamping Under the Sun
Jenny - Little Jenny's Creations

Merry Christmas in January?

2009-01-25T11:57:00.001-10:00

Tracy has a challenge on her blog. To participate you have to make 5 Christmas Cards, using a new stamp that you received for Christmas, or a stamp that you haven't used before, or a stamp that you haven't used in awhile, oh and your card had to use some ribbon. I know, Christmas is over, but what a good way to get an early start on those Christmas cards for this year, 2009.

I dug through my drawers of Christmas images and found this stamp from Darcie's Country Folk. Haven't used this in years and years. I love these penguins.

SK011709 Hedgehog

2009-01-19T23:32:00.002-10:00

I made this card for Paper Craft Planet's Sketch Challenge, SK011709. This actually started out different too, but it turned out ok too. I really need to work on my coloring. I used 3 different pens to color the hedgehog and it seemed to blend ok, but it doesn't look soft at all. Do hedgehogs have soft fur, or prickly fur? Oh well, it was my feeble attempt at trying to give his fur some depth. Normally, I would've made most of the these daisy's pink or white, but I wanted to try to incorporate these pretty flowers that Chris sent to me. I chose the embellishment first and then went to look for the image. This image is a Penny Black stamp, called Hedgehog Bouquet. It's one of my older stamps, I bought it way back in 1999. Woah!

It was a 4 day weekend for me...very long...it's back to work tomorrow, so I better get to bed.

Thanks for stopping by and visiting! Have a good week!

Ladybug Love

2009-01-19T23:16:00.001-10:00

This morning, I finally finished my card for Madelynn's Terrific Tuesday Sketch from last week Tuesday...but am only posting it now. Still just lagging behind, her sketch for this week is already posted, since on the West and East Coast, it's already Tuesday. Here's a copy of the sketch, I turned it sidewards. The image is a lady bug from Studio G. This is a stamp that I received from Chris. When I started this card, I actually had envisioned something else, but I'm happy with how this one turned out. I tried to glitz up the ladybugs with stickles. I originally colored in the hearts with a dark gray copic pen, but it didn't show up well on the burgundy cardstock. I'm going to try and work on her next sketch tomorrow so that I can get it posted before her next sketch comes out.

Happy Sunday!!!

2009-01-18T16:18:00.000-10:00

I was so tired last night that I didn't have a chance to post anything. I was up until late on Friday night because I was so excited with the goodies that Chris had sent to me. Saturday was a busy day, but I had a lot of fun. Had to make 10 bento's for the kiddies on Blade's Soccer Team for their first game. Then I headed on over to my new friend Dawne's house for her Sillouette Class. : ) She served up some yummy corn chowder and rolls. Also got a chance to chat with Dawne, Teri, and Cheryl. I was so lucky to get some personal tips from the experts! Then I made a quick run to J's Knicknacks to get my digs in to their 30% off sale. I got some really good deals and although I wanted to play with my new stuff in the evening, I couldn't stay focused and my eyes were getting sleepy. But I did get up relatively early this morning and worked on this slider card. The printed cardstock was part of the package of goodies that Chris had sent to me.

I struggled to make this slider card...I had made one at stamp camp several months ago and then I remade it one more time after that. I followed the instructions, but must've not read it well...my first attempt left me with a card that wouldn't open. Duh... The image is a Whipper Snapper Design. I love this little girl holding a kitty. I thought she was adorable.

This card was my first attempt at using this Hello Kitty friend Sizzix die cut. I had bought her some time ago. I also used the Bigz Top Note Die Cut. I love my Big Shot!

This card is long over due. I'm going to mail this out to Sara. She had a contest on her blog. You had to make 10 RAKs and send them out. It was good way for me to work on a bunch of cards and to re-connect with friends who I hadn't called in a while. It was a great idea, but sadly only two of us entered, and I was randomly picked to be the winner. It was a 50/50 chance, so the odds were good! She sent me a Unity stamp set called, Fanciful Dots and several packages of colored dew drops. So pretty. I made this card using one of the stamps that she sent me. I hope she likes the card.

Well, that's all for now. I started on some other cards, but still need to put them together. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday...

What a Nice Day!

2009-01-16T21:56:00.001-10:00

I was off today...Woo hoo! The start of a 4 day weekend! Got to sleep in a little later...had some errands to run in the morning, but after only 15 minutes settling in at home in the afternoon, the door bell rang and the mail carrier had, not one, but two packages for me. One was my first order from Gina K designs...which I can't wait to ink up...and the second package was from Chris from Mudmaven Designs...I was the lucky winner of her Blogaversary Candy!!!

OOH...what a package!!! Look at all the goodies she sent me. She even sent some handmade goodies!!! A year round calendar and a personalized monogram card set!!! Beautiful cards! I'm so excited to play with all of my new goodies!!! Good thing it's a 4 day weekend!!! I will definitely spend part of my long weekend crafting...

Love you a latte!

2009-01-16T21:11:00.000-10:00

I made this card following Madelynn's Terrific Tuesday Sketch Challenge No. 4. This was last week Tuesday's sketch, I still need to work on this weeks one. You can't see it too well in the picture, but on the pink background, I used Versamark to stamp the same image, just to give it a little more, since it was so plain. The image is from Stampin' Up. The sentiment was on the bottom of the stamp, but I used the word punch to separate it. If you want to try Madelynn's Terrific Tuesday Sketch Challenge, visit The Whimsical Butterfly. Did you know Madelynn is only 8 years old? Such a talented girl! Her Mom, Jessica posts some really nice cards too. It's become another of favorite blogs to visit.

Kerry's Blog Candy

2009-01-16T01:20:00.002-10:00

Kerry is offering 3 really sweet packages to give away for her blogoversary. Stop by Three Clovers Designs to congratulate her and to enter to win one!

Blog Candy - Victoria Case Stamps

2009-01-13T22:00:00.002-10:00

Victoria Case Stamps is giving away a cute pack of stuff...including in the pack is a cute kitty stamp...i love kitties. Here's the link to her Blog Candy Post.

http://victoriacasestamps.blogspot.com/2009/01/blog-candy-giveaway.html

Blog Award from Heather

2009-01-10T08:54:00.000-10:00

I received this award from Heather at Heather's Heavinly Stampations last month and am only posting it now. Shame one me. Thank you so much, Heather! I feel so honored! For this award you are supposed to pick 6 blogs you find very creative and give them the award! So now I have to choose 6 blogs to receive this award. It's hard to pick because there are so many that provide me with inspiration! Most of them have had this award already...because they really are that creative.

I chose these 6 because as I was getting back into the crafting scene and found the bloggin' world, I frequently visited these blogs and found that they were really diligent in posting and sharing their ideas and cards, unlike me, but it's something to strive for.

Mudmaven Designs
A Place to Be Me
Stamping Under the Sun
Hands, Head, and Heart
Pieces of Me
Big Ideas from a Little Girl

Lim's Blog Candy

2009-01-10T08:18:00.002-10:00

Lim has some blog candy! See it here on her blog... The Voices in My Head...Lim's Blog She got some cute cards on her page as well...go take a look!

Blog Award from Joy

2009-01-10T07:57:00.003-10:00

Last weekend, I got this award from Joy at A Place to be Me . That was so sweet of her to give this to me.

In order to get this award you need to:
Post a link of the person who gave you this award.
Nominate 5 other people and give a link to their sites
Let your nominators know that they got an award from you.
Put a logo of the award on the blog.

Here are 5 blogs that I give this award to:

1. Chris - Mudmaven Designs
2. Faye - My Stamping Creations
3. Heather - Heather's Heavinly Stampations
4. Jean - Dandelion Designs
5. Dawne - Dawney's Delights

I frequent these blogs for inspiration.

Aloha RAK from Wendy (Calgary)

2009-01-07T23:58:00.000-10:00

I received this in the mail today from Wendy Akkermans. She was my December partner for the Aloha RAK Club that Tracy hosts.

Not only did I get a card that Wendy made, but enclosed were 2 Clear G stamp sets. I love these... bought me a whole bunch, but believe it or not, I don't have either of these sets. This picture does not do Wendy's card any justice. The image is hand embossed and colored. The flower has some shimmer to it as well. I loved her choice of color, the use of embellishments, and her neatness.

She doesn't have a blog yet, but will get one going soon. I forgot to take a picture of what I made for her before I boxed it and mailed it to her, so I wont be able to share what I made : ( Oh well, guess that just means that I gotta make another one.

Thanks Wendy!!!

Last of the Jars for Awhile

2009-01-03T18:30:00.001-10:00

I know...you're probably getting sick of looking at pictures of these jars, but don't worry, these will be the last pictures for awhile. After this I will focus on my card and paper crafts. Of all the crafts I've ever done...I enjoyed this one the most.

I was trying to convince a friend today that she should set up a blog to show all of the nice things that she makes. In fact, she dropped some off some goodies for me today and spent some time with me...I wanted to post pictures of her projects, but she asked me not to... so, to abide by her wishes, I wont post them. But I bet if you saw what she made, you'd encourage her to start a blog too. She frequently visits my blog as well as many others. In fact, she's the reason that I've found my way into the blog world. I appreciate her a lot and I'm so thankful that she's come into my life. I hope soon, she'll decide to start up a blog. : )

Charlotte - Where are you?

2009-01-03T00:27:00.003-10:00

I'm looking for Charlotte. She was the winner for my Gingerbread Man jar last month, but I haven't heard from her yet. Now that it's past Christmas, Charlotte, if you want a different jar instead of the Gingerbread Man, please let me know which critter you'd like. Send me an email to ohhnicky@yahoo.com . Thanks!!!

A Thank Ewe Card

2009-01-02T21:59:00.004-10:00

I needed to starting making some Thank You cards, so I picked this stamp to start...Thank Ewe! from Stampin' Up. I incorporated this thank you card into a sketch that I came across on several different blogs I visited as I was blog hoppin' last night. Thought this was simple enough for me to actually follow. This sketch is from The Whimsical Butterfly. Her daughter comes up with these sketches for Tuesdays... it's called Madelynn's Teriffic Tuesdays. I went and checked out her sketches from the previous weeks... and boy, she is a very talented girl. Here's my take on the sketch.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T16:54:00.001-10:00

Wishing all of you a 2009 filled with lots of love and happiness! We had such a nice day today, I hope you did too!!!

Finally, a new post...

2008-12-27T22:15:00.001-10:00

Hello!!! Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! Finally, a post... after a long time. Christmas has come and gone and just when I thought things would finally get back to normal and I had time to breathe...yesterday, we had an island wide power outage. Aaaaah! I was just about to post some pictures and zzzzzt... the power went out and I lost the internet connection. We didn't have power from 6:30 pm. I still could've done a lot of other things, but just being in the dark made me sleepy, so I went to bed quite early. It was nice to catch up on some much needed sleep. Other parts of the island got their power back by 3:30 am...but not us, we didn't get power back until around 11:00 am or so this morning. My brother-in-law jokingly said that our area must not be "essential"... no kidding.
Anyway, I wanted to share with you first some pictures of the other jars I made this Christmas. I just need to make a few more non-Christmassy ones and they will be put away for another year or until someone asks me to make them again. A couple of my friends needed some gift card holders, so I used the pull out card pattern that Jean from Dandelion Designs shares and altered the pattern to perfectly fit gift cards. Instead of having a stamped message on the pull out part, I attached the gift card. These are two images that I just bought this year. The bear with gifts is a Whipper Snapper image and bear with snowman is a C.C. Designs stamp. They were both too cute to pass up and they were the perfect size to decorate this holder. That's about all I have to share right now, but for Christmas, I received a book that had patterns for some handmade cards. I can't wait to start using them.

Two Winners....

2008-12-17T23:25:00.004-10:00

And so, I'm back tonight to do a quick post to announce that I will be giving both Cathy Y. and Joy a jar since they were the only 2 that commented. Ladies, please email me at ohhnicky@yahoo.com with your addresses so that I can mail them to you. In your email, please state which character you'd like to receive. I've showed you a gingerbread man and a snowman...I also make a penguin, cat, dog, and a bear. I don't have a picture of the cat, dog, or bear right now... I forgot to take a picture of before I gave my friend her order. I do have a picture here showing the penguin. This was another order that I delivered to another friend. Well, I'm off the finish up the rest of the jars, and then I'll get back in to the papercraft scene. Someone asked me to make them some gift card holders, so I'll need to get that this week as well.

It's Snowman Time!

2008-12-14T21:40:00.004-10:00

Hope you had a nice Sunday! I'm back, a little late... and I didn't get to finish all that I wanted to today. I did pack the cookies, wrapped the gifts, went to my party, didn't finish ALL of the jars, but instead did some laundry, and did a little bit of Christmas shopping. Not bad...but could've been better.

Anyway, as promised I'm posting another giveaway. You will have until Tuesday, 11:59 pm Hawaii Time to leave a comment on this post for your chance to get this Snowman. He'll be trimmed with a scarf when he's dressed up. I'll be randomly picking the winner on Wednesday.

I am now officially starting to feel the stress of the holiday season. And the countdown begins, 11 days until Christmas! Are we cheery yet?

And the Winner Is.....

2008-12-14T06:49:00.006-10:00

And the winner is.... Charlotte! Please send me your address via email to ohhnicky@yahoo.com so that I can mail this out to you. You are the winner of my Gingerbread Man Jar. I hope you like Gingerbread Men. He stands about 6" high. This particular jar is a pint size, mason Kerr jar, so you can unscrew his top and wash the rest of the bottle. He still needs to be fed, so I'll fill his tummy with some sweets and of course he wants to be dressed up when he meets you, so he'll wear his best duds, a ribbon and jingle bell. He can't wait to meet you!

That was fun! Thanks to the rest of you who left comments. Since there is still some time before Christmas, I think I'll do that again. So, now that you know what it really looks like instead of a sea of body parts, later today, I'll set up another announcement to give away another jar. I still haven't decided if it will be the same jar or a different critter.

I first made these years ago. The last time being around 2003. My friend remembered them and had requested some of the jars to give away for Christmas, the order wasn't too bad, only 7...and that friend mentioned it to a couple of our other friends (adding another 23), and then I was working on it at home and another friend who comes over regularly to my house saw it, so she wanted 5 and she told someone else, so now I my total count is up to 42. Thus the box of stuffed heads and arms. Who knows, if I have enough time after I finish these, I may even do a third giveaway.

Be sure to check back! Now I'm off to finish up some more of these jars, pack the huge amount of cookies a friend and I made yesterday, and then wrap my gifts for a Christmas brunch today. I hope I have enough time. 2 hours and counting, to be a little more realistic, maybe I have to hold off on the cookies til this afternoon. It really is a busy time of the year!

What I've Been Working On...

2008-12-09T23:18:00.012-10:00

Hello! Sorry for my absence. I thought I would have enough time to set up a couple of posts pre-loaded to share while I was gone on my short trip to Vegas... but that didn't happen, so here I am back in Hawaii with at least 1 card to share for now and some pictures of what's been keeping me busy. This card is a re-do that I got the idea for from Stamp Camp. The card slides open and reveals something hidden. The sentiment is from Stampin' Up and the inside is Dandelion Designs' Snowman. This snowman is so cute!!! I used it at Jean's make and take for her Candy Cane favor and I just had to buy it after that!

I haven't been working on too much cards lately, but need to get back into gear, and in a hurry too... I have several projects that I need to finish in the next week and a half. The last couple of weeks, I've been working on this and I hope to be done by Sunday. Here's a sneak peak. You must be thinking... "What is this?" Take a closer look, I think you can guess. If you're interested, leave me a comment on THIS post by Saturday, 12/13/08, 11:59pm Hawaii Time and I'll have my other half choose one person randomly on Sunday, to be the receiver of one of one of these. Don't worry, it will be a completed one, not in pieces like this. I'll post the winner on Sunday afternoon.

Aloha RAK for Chris

2008-12-03T22:42:00.013-10:00

In November, I made this for my RAK partner. It was the first RAK that I participated in. My RAK consisted of a folder with pockets, with a memo pad and card hidden inside, and a mini note card with my message to her. I really enjoyed making this for Chris. I sure hope that she really liked it.

Here's a picture of the folder opened, sorry, bad lighting. Chris has some pictures on her blog as well. She has some really nice projects on her blog as well, so if you haven't been there...go check it out.

Still need to take pictures of my snowman card, plus I wanted to post what's been keeping me busy this week, my non-paper craft project. I'll try and get that posted tomorrow... gotta get some rest now!

Happy Monday!

2008-12-01T18:00:00.008-10:00

I caught a cold and hadn't been feeling too well since Friday night, but I did manage to make this card to enter PCP's 12 days of Christmas, for Day 2. In the traditional 12 days of Christmas, "On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me, two turtle doves...." I didn't have a dove, so I used two turtles. You were supposed to use a turtle, dove, or any other amphibian in your card. So, I chose Dandelion Design's turtle image. I had just bought those plastic watch covers to make the shakers, same idea as the paperclip that Lianne had made (several posts down). Added some plastic bubbles, ribbon, and did some faux stitching. It took me awhile, but it was fun!

I also made this gingerbread man mini card, but I missed the deadline to post the entry, "Ohh Nicky". This was for a challenge on MDC, but I didn't follow the guidelines anyway, another "Ohh Nicky" moment. It was a color challenge and you got bonus points for using a gingerbread man image. I only had the idea of using a gingerbread man, and forgot about the colors. Plus I wanted to use the rest of the red gingham paper and the same ribbon. Thought it matched the gingerbread men so well. Oh well...I still enjoyed making the card. This was a Penny Black stamp.

I spent the rest of my weekend finishing up another card using Dandelion Designs' Snowmen image and making a non-stamping craft project. I'll share that later this week...I still need to take pictures of it. Christmas is right around the corner...are you ready?

Whiff of Joy Blog Candy

2008-11-28T20:50:00.004-10:00

Blog candy alert! This time it's from a Whiff of Joy. Bev is giving away a cute Herb with Baby Stamp... super cute snowman. You can enter it on Bev's blog, All the Things I Love

You have until December 4th to enter!
Good luck!

Aloha RAK from Chris

2008-11-25T19:57:00.012-10:00

I arrived home late from work today... it was a long day. I opened the mailbox expecting to see bills and more junk mail, the usual. But to my surprise, I received a box from Chris, my partner for the Aloha Monthly RAK Group. Woo hoo! She had perfect timing... and it really made my day. I wanted to get this posted right away...so here it is. I sat down and immediately began tearing the box open to reveal a nicely wrapped package. Enclosed was a thank you card with her message tucked inside. I carefully removed the ribbon and found these beautiful cards and monogram mini notecards and envelopes. Her colors coordinate so well and her work is always so neat. These are so pretty that I want to just keep them all for myself... but she made a bunch...so I guess I can use some of them...but definitely not all. Thank you so much Chris!!! I'll post what I sent to Chris a little later. If you'd like to participate in this month's Aloha RAK Group, Tracy just posted the sign up on her blog. You have to sign up by November 30th to participate in December.

Hello Kitty

2008-11-25T19:53:00.003-10:00

I made this Hello Kitty box for my friend's birthday. She LOVES Hello Kitty, so I used the Sizzix die cuts to create this box. I saw this cute pink gingham fabric, so I wanted to use it for her shirt. I ran the fabric through the Zyron machine to make the back sticky and then ran it through the Big Shot to cut the pieces. Next time though, I need to remember that I should probably mount the fabric to a piece of cardstock first, then run it through the Zyron machine. The fabric was so thin that when I peeled the backing off, the fabric pulled and distorted the gingham print. Eeee...I had to cut it again and I tried to be more careful, but the gingham is still a little distorted. I used a glitter tip that Cheryl of J's Knicknacks taught us at one of her make and takes. I ran Hello Kitty's ribbon through the Zyron upsidedown and then pressed it into the glitter... it really beats trying to put glue on the whole thing and then sprinkling the glitter over the glue. I think the sparklies really added to it!

PCP Sketch Saturday 112208

2008-11-23T18:38:00.015-10:00

I made this card for Paper Craft Planet's Sketch Challenge Saturday for 11/22/08. This is a Whipper Snapper image. I bought this image because the polar bear and penguin were soooo cute. I couldn't resist. I tried to take a picture of this card at an angle so that you could see the fuzziness of the polar bear. I used Fun Flock on his entire body. I really didn't do a good job taking the picture...you probably have to click on it to see it enlarged. Also used the scallop ovals and ovals from Spellbinder's Nestabilities. The sentiment is from Stampin' Up. You can view the other entries for this PCP sketch challenge here. Paper Craft Planet is a neat website... they have a lot of different groups that you can subscribe to, there's even one for Blog Candy Giveaways...Happy Monday!

It's Sunday!

2008-11-23T17:35:00.010-10:00

Hope you had a nice weekend. I've been so busy... this past week was a blur for me. I have several things to share in this post. First off, I wanted to show you the gift that I received on Thursday from someone I work with. She's retiring at the end of the year and she gave me a thank you gift. Go figure! I was very honored to receive it. What a nice surprise. I knew she was crafty, but I didn't know that she stamped as well. This is a picture of her thank you card envelope and the pocketbook calendar that she decorated. Now Joanne will have lots of time to do her crafts, enjoy spending time with her family, and do volunteer work. What a wonderful person she is!!! : )

The next picture is a Make and Take that I did at Cute Stuff with Jean from Dandelion Designs. You can make one too...she has posted the template and instructions on how to make it on her website. It was a little challenging for me...but do able. I'm happy with how it came out. Her images are too cute!!! When I showed it to my other half, he said "Oh, that's nice, Nicky!"...but you could tell that he was just saying it to be nice...then when I told him to pull the tab and it revealed the colored image, he said "Wow, that's cool!" He thought I had gotten lazy and just decided not to color the image. It was a lot of fun to make. Thanks Jean!

This next picture is of a large paperclip that was decorated by Lianne of Cute Stuff. If you haven't been to her store, you've got to check it out. She's located in Puck's Alley. Lianne has loads and loads of "Cute Stuff". The image on this clip is a "Cute" snail by none other than Dandelion Designs!!!

The last project that I'll share tonight is a card that I made with one of the stamps that I won last week from Jean's Make and Take at J's Knicknacks. I'll be making more projects with her stamps, but thought I'd share at least this one for now. I used her cupcake image...frosted it with some stickles (i love stickles), and layered with stampin' up circle and scallop punches. The "You're sweet" image is also from Dandelion Designs. Had to add a cute little ribbon, because it reminded me of Jean... she used this kind of ribbon in the last two make and takes that she did. It's such pretty ribbon! Well, that's all for tonight. Have a good week!

Rina's Blog Candy

2008-11-20T23:13:00.004-10:00

Not much time tonight, but I wanted to tell all of you that I came across this site as I was visiting Jen's blog. Her site directed me to Rina's blog...check it out... she has some neat stuff posted there. She's also giving away some blog candy...but you gotta hurry! Check out the details here.

PCP Sketch Saturday 111508

2008-11-18T07:06:00.010-10:00

I made this card for Paper Craft Planet's Sketch Saturday 11/15/08. It was a little challenging for me to decide first of all, how to incorporate what I wanted to use for the sketch. My next challenge was taking a picture so you could see the details and then post it on their website...Whew! You can view the other entries for this particular sketch, here.

Happy Birthday Cute Stuff!

2008-11-17T18:51:00.003-10:00

I hadn't had a chance to download this image and post this until today. The resolution on this camera is rather poor, so I'm sorry that you can't see too much detail. I made this card for Lianne at Cute Stuff. This past weekend, Lianne celebrated 11 years in business! Woohoo! What an accomplishment! The image was a brass stencil by Lasting Impressions and I used a product that I had bought last month at the Mainland Stamp Expo. Fran, The owner and demonstrator of The Stencil Collection made using her "Icing" look so easy. The "Icing" looks like cake icing. You just spread it over the stencil, scrape off as much as you can (like silk screening), pull off the stencil carefully, let it dry (at least 10-15 minutes), and ta da, you have a raised image. I waited longer to be sure that it set though.

Look at what I got today!

2008-11-17T18:17:00.005-10:00

I stopped by J's Knicknacks today after work to pick up the "ohh" so generous giveaway prize that Jean from Dandelion Stamps gave out to one lucky person of those who attended her Make and Take on Saturday. I can't believe that I was the lucky winner! The giveaway included 8 of her cute stamps wrapped in a pretty pink box. I can't wait to unwrap them and start using them! If you've never seen her stamps before, you really should stop by her site http://dandeliondesigns.org/ and take a closer look at all of her images. They are adorable! I posted the project that she shared on an earlier post, here. Stay tuned, later this week, I'll use her stamps in one of my projects. :o) Thank you, Jean!