Happy Belated Birthday!

Aloha~

I usually don't send "belated" birthday card, but things happen out of our control. 

I used Waffle Flowers cupcake stencil. Two coffee mugs are both from NND. The recipient of this card is from the Coffee card swap group, and that's the main reason I added those mug cups. I had to "Look for" any kind of sentiments which could've said "belated" and found this one from Essentials by Ellen. Papers are from Carta Bella. I really like her papers! 

For inside, I actually found the stamp, stating "belated birthday" in my stash. It's from LF. 

We had soo much rain and wind this summer. It got a bit quiet for some days now. Hope y'all are not suffering too much from the severe weather wherever you are. 🙏

Thanks for stopping by my blog today. Hugs, Eve

Coffee card for the card swap of September

Aloha~

Well, life sometimes gets in a way, and I finally made a card for September swap. I PMed the recipient on FB to let her know in advance. Since she is in California, she should get it anytime now...

September is always the start of PSL for me! 😊I used the stamps from NND. Letters are from Sunny Studio, and decided to stack one layer more to give a little more depth. I used LF's leaf die, to cut the LF papers out. The background paper is from Carta Bella. 

Thank you for stopping by my blog today. Hope you are enjoying PSL season, too! Hugs, Eve

Coffee & "summerween" collab.!

Aloha~

My coffee swap card for August! I'd been wanting to make "SUMMERWEEN" card. This is my first ever (in my whole life! and 35+ years of card making life!) "Summerween" card. In fact, I'd been seeing the coffee mugs in dies and stamp sets since last fall and I got an idea. No, I don't own this die which I used for this card. I "improvised". We, the old card makers used to "improvise" A LOT because there were not many products available back then. But I enjoyed coming up with ideas and shared those with other card makers, in "snail mails" and some via emails, like in the Yahoo groups, remember those?? Years before Facebook! Now, you CAN BUY almost everything... kinda lost fun for the creativity but the businesses have to thrive so I understand. Things EVOLVE over the time. 

The pumpkin & ghost dies are from Spellbinders. I went through all my dies with "handles", for this size and shape of pumpkin and found one from my MFT collection. I attached the handle. It's not perfect, but it's pretty good, don't you think? The background "sandy" beach and waves are from Honey Bee Stamps. I also used the "sandy" stamps on the kraft card stock before die cutting/imprinting. The top sentiment is from NND, used the die cut after stamping. The bottom sentiment in gold was with a little work. See, this was my first ever SUMMERWEEN (collaboration) card and didn't have the sentiment, so, I went to my sticker book and found this cursive alphabet stickers, so, I used them, trying to lining up as much as possible. I'm glad it worked well, with that particular color and thin font. The shell dies are from both IO and HA. 

Inside, I stamped the sentiment and the ghost cup from NND. I really like how I did to my first ever "summerween" coffee card! 😊For next year, though, I plan to buy stamp set which has "(happy) summerween" sentiment, on this year's Black Friday sale. 🤞

I'm content with "Summerween" cuz I love summer and Halloween but usually I couldn't combine those, for many years but thanks to the industry(!!) they came up with the idea from most liking Christmas in July idea! 

Thank you for stopping by my blog today! I really like this card. Let's get "improvised", once again! Love, Eve

Happy Birthday! #2

Aloha~

My BFF's birthday is coming up and I made this card. I've known her since early 80s, and I decided to use this fun dies from Trinity Stamps which was released in April. This set really makes me remember Good Old Days in our lives. But, many of these great die sets are very intricate and the card becomes "labor intensive" and this was one of them. 😅Of course, you can make it simpler and can adjust in different ways which is also a lot of fun, but this one, I made it close to the "original" pac man (original release in 1980, 5 months after the release in Japan). I also chose to stamp "25c" from Newton's Nook Designs in the middle of two coin slots. That was actually the amount we inserted (a quarter) back then, and I wanted to emphasize that, instead of just hand writing on the coin slot buttons.

Inside, I really wanted to use this fun stamp from Riley and Company. When they released this stamp with big "80s", I HAD TO GET IT! 😄But, since this is the birthday card, so I had to adjust how to use it on this card. This is the result. 

I used some sentiment strips from Simon Says Stamps. I love these strips. They are easy to use! Nowadays, several companies make them. 

This is how much I love Pac-man. I'd like to brag here a little (!!) that I spent a quarter to play Space Invaders for 35 minutes before Pac man was released.😁I never forget that! Fun time! 😀

Hope you are having a nice weekend! Severe weather continues. 🌩🌪Stay safe! Thanks for stopping by my blog today. Love, Eve 

Happy St. Patrick's Day ~ Coffee card swap

Aloha~

So, what do you think about this "Irish Coffee" for March card swap?! 

I got this Girl die set from Whimsy Stamps and wanted to use it. First I made this card.

I dressed her up using the papers from Echo park. I let her hold "Irish coffee" in her hand for "good luck", I guess. lol That dies are from Newton's Nook Designs. I used "stickers" for "Irish coffee" word. The background is the stencil from Simon Says Stamps. 

Hope the recipient will have a "lucky" day when she opens the envelope! 🍀

Thank you for stopping by my blog today! Hope you are having a great weekend! Love, Eve

UPDATES: I just realized that SSS Wednesday challenge is to use Whimsy stamps product. So, I decided to enter this card for the challenge. Background stencil is from SSS, so perfect! 😉

Coffee card for November 2025

Aloha~

This is the card I made for Coffee card swap group, for November. I already mailed it a week ago. Finally I found the time to upload it on my blog. Hope the recipient will get it soon. 

I love the season and PSL! These stamped and colored images are from NND. Love these little images! The sentiment is also from NND. I made this background, using the new stencil of "falling leaves" from Lawn Fawn. I used 3 colors. 

Hope you found some great deals from Black Friday to Cyber Monday if you live in US. 

Thank you for stopping by my blog today. Officially, Happy Holidays! Love, Eve

Coffee card for October swap

Aloha~

Well, time passed so fast, and I was off island, too... I made this card early in October and sent it out but never posted it, so here it is. 😅 I'm trying to catch up, blogging... I enjoyed making this card, using my new additions! The background is TH's stencils. I love this stencil set. I found the vellum to attach the colored stamped images from NND. The witch and the kitty are from Mama Elephant. I just love this stamp set! Super Cute! 

The sentiment inside is also from NND. The Washi tape I used on the bottom is from LF. 

Hope y'all had a fun Halloween!... I know, it's a month late. lol 😄But I feel like I wanna continue making Halloween cards! I come up with the different ideas for Halloween and not enough time to make them into cards, esp. when I was off island... 

Mahalo for stopping by my blog today. Love, Eve

Happy Birthday! 2 cards!

Aloha~

These are for two card making friends from "coffee card swap group", whose birthdays are in October. One, who likes to decorate for Halloween, and another one whom I'm not sure of. Halloween is something I'd like to be careful about. Some don't care for Halloween, so, I made a card with some Halloween flair, and another one without it.

I used the postage collage stamp background die from Waffle Flower. I used stamps from Waffle Flower and Newton's Nook Designs.

For this one, I used Trinity stamp's stamp and made "Espresso Martini". I just had this drink a couple of days ago, with my BFF from Virginia. If you have ever had Espresso martini, you know how it is served~ a couple of coffee beans on the foam. I used a couple "coffee bean" clay embellishments from Trinity stamp, colored them with Copic marker to make them a little darker. Coffee bean paper is from Newton's Nook Designs.  

Hope you are having a great week! Thanks for stopping by my blog. Love, Eve

"SEA" you soon!

Aloha~

I must love this sketch! 😄This is my 3rd card for the challenge! Again, I used it sideways. I don't think I ever made three cards for a challenge, esp. in August, which happened to be the busiest month for my card making! Anyways, so, not only I love the sketch but also love this NND's paper pad! As I mentioned before, I was surprised to see many more NND stamp supplies than I ever thought I had! lol 😅Here is my card.

Inky Paws Challenge: Inky Paws Challenge #243 Week 4

So, actually I had the recipient in mind when I decided to make another card for the challenge. My BFF from college years which means, like more than 40 years(!) are coming to Hawaii with her husband of 29 1/2 years next month! She's been here in 70s' with her family but it's the 1st time ever for her husband! So, this is the inside of the card.

I love the pun! 😄The "Aloha" stamp & Hawaii Nei stamp are from the local stamp company. 

Finally I WILL be able to start making "Halloween" cards. lol I got myself some Halloween stamps and dies, and I've been itching to use them! lol How about you?

Thank you for stopping by my blog today. Hope you are having a great week! Love, Eve

Coffee card for the card swap in August 2025

Aloha~

This is the swap card I made for this month. It's an "Iced Tea/Boba tea" card. I recently found a great buy at Echo Park website for the layered frame die set. It pURRfectly cut Newton's image! The designed papers are from Newton's nook also. The sun die cut is from Concord & 9th. The sentiment is from Pink & Main. Oh, the "sunburst" die all over the front panel is from Concord & 9th, too. 

So, inside, you wonder why these two boba teas...? Well, the sentiment happened to say, "Cups", so I just added to make it more than one in the front of the card. lol Those are from Lawn Fawn. 

Maybe I'll make a couple of more Summer card before shifting to "fall" theme, if I find time. Summer is always busy for me. 

Thank you for stopping by my blog today. Hope you are having a great weekend! Love, Eve

Coffee card for September, 2025

Aloha~

So, I really liked the August sketch challenge of Newton's Nook Designs' monthly challenge, and I decided to make another card before this month ended. By the way, I went through what I had, and I was rather surprised that I had many more Newton's Nook Designs products than I thought I had. lol So, in the front, I used everything from Newton's Nook Designs (well, almost). And, I knew I was going to make a card for fall, I decided to make this one, and mail it to the September recipient whoever it will be, on the 1st day of next month comes. I wanted to make 'PSL" theme but couldn't find the sentiment stamp from NND and decided to use another company's sentiment inside of the card. I will decide which one to use, after getting the name of the recipient for the swap group on Sept.1st. Oh btw, I used the sketch, sideways, once again. 

So, I'm submitting to the challenge; https://www.inkypawschallenge.com/2025/08/inky-paws-challenge-243-week-1.html

Hope you had a great week and getting ready for the weekend! Thank you for stopping by my blog today. Love, Eve

Updated : Sept.3, 2025

Since I received the recipient's name, I stamped some inside of the card. I also added a twine, which I should have added when I finished the card for the challenge... 😅 

Happy Birthday! August #2

Aloha~

Updated on 9/8/'2025: This card was chosen by one of the designers of this challenge, and I received the badge! I placed it on the side bar of my blog. Yay!😊

Summer is always busy for me, and August is busy with birthday friends whom I plan to make cards for. 

I bought this Newton & shell stamp set & paper pad as soon as it became available, but not I was only busy but I already had a particular recipient in mind~my former boss. She has a cat and she also lives in Hawaii, so this stamp set is PURR-fect! 😸

When I started to design, Newton's nook design's monthly challenge caught my eyes~sketch challenge. Since I have their papers, too, I decided to use this sketch. Come to think of it, the last time I joined the challenge, it was exact a year ago, and that was for Newton's nook designs, too, and used boba tea stamp set which back then, just came out. Just you know, though, when I say "just came out", it takes much longer to arrive here due to the location. Usually USPS takes a week to, sometimes, more than 3 weeks. 😑

Anyways, this is the card I made for her. I decided to use this sketch sideways. I think this challenge would've been much easier IF I had their newly released layout die but since I didn't get that one, I used My favorite things stitched frame die and cut it in the similar shape. I do like this sketch, though. Maybe I should get those dies from Newton's Nook Designs in the near future.... So, if you look closely, one and two sides of papers aren't stitched. ...I tried to color the kitty in my boss's kitty color but rather, failed..😓 At least, I tried... I used my recent favorite sentiment from Lawn Fawn. I used that for a birthday card I made, only last month. I used copics, esp. to give gradation in the sentiment, attached it with a thin foam tape.

She likes the puns, so I added more puns inside of the card. lol The larger font sentiment and paw stamps are from My favorite things and the smaller font sentiment is from Pink Fresh studio. 

Oh so, I'm submitting this card to the August challenge. https://www.inkypawschallenge.com/

I wake up to the news that severe weather is still ramping up around the world. Please stay safe! Thank you for stopping by my blog today. Love, Eve

Happy Birthday!

Aloha~

I made this card for one of my "coffee theme card swap group". I've been trying to use something I bought in the past, but haven't used them yet... sounds familiar?! LOL, we become "shopaholics" & "hoarders"! 😅. Anyways, I feel satisfied to use these "quilt" theme supplies, finally! 

Well, I found out today that the recipient's birthday was 3 days earlier than the date I thought...oh well ...

It's been hot here in Hawaii, with the high of 90F and low of 79F. Stay safe, from wild fires, floods to bad air. Thank you for stopping my blog today. Love, Eve

Coffee card for March swap

Aloha~

I received these layering dies (scallop and stitched) from Poppy stamps as a freebie during Black Friday sale last year, and had been wanting to use them. The glitter paper is from Lawn Fawn. I used Newton's Nook Designs mug cup stencil, using white ink. Those little mug cups are from Simon Says Stamps. Since St. Patrick's day is near, I added those clovers, from Pretty Pink Posh. I usually place some kind of sentiment on the front but for this one, I decided not to. 

Inside, I used the sentiment from Lil' inker designs.  

Thank you for stopping by my blog today. Hope you are having a relaxed weekend. It's always something going on here in Honolulu and feels like no relaxing day, ever. lol 😅

Are you ready for wearing green tomorrow?! 💚 Love, Eve

Coffee card ~ February, 2025

Aloha,

This is for the Coffee themed card swap. I can make Tea themed and Hot Cocoa themed cards for this group. Since I've been hearing the frigid temperature across US mainland, I decided to make a Hot Cocoa card. 

I use mug cup dies from The Greetery. Those smiley faces are from one of Lawn Fawn's stamp set. I'm not sure whether any of you are Lawn Fawn's fans but I am, ever since they opened the business. And they do make these cute face expression stamps in many of their stamp sets, so I chose the right size ones for these mug cups. On the lower part of these mug cups, I found this pink gingham washi tapes in my washi tapes stash and used it. The color matched perfectly! The sentiment is from Lawn Fawn. I attached it with 3D foam tape, to be able to attach the pink ribbon underneath of the sentiment. I used Newton's Nook Designs' stencils for the background. 

Inside, I used 2 sentiment stamps from My Favorite Things.

Unfortunately we couldn't really enjoy cooler weather this "winter" here in Honolulu. First time, not being able to wear long sleeves to go to sleep at night...even the lowest temperature this week became above 70F...we are still in February...opposite from US mainland... 

Thanks for stopping by my blog today. I hear that flu is going around in US mainland. Keep warm, stay safe! Love, Eve 

   

Christmas Card #6

Aloha~

This isn't a "normal type" of Christmas card but since it is for my godmother who had a port visit (Honolulu) recently, I decided to make a card like this. She & her husband had a wonderful time, and although it was so short (only for lunch with me), we had a great time! They flew from east coast, had a couple of days in LA, and 5 days on the ship to Hawaii. 

Inside, I stamped "Mele Kalikimaka" (Merry Christmas in Hawaiian language.)

I can't believe 2024 is almost over... Some places have been snowed in but here in Honolulu, I've been feeling the hottest December... last Saturday, I sweat a lot, running errands, and had to take a shower twice! 

Mahalo for stopping by my blog in your busy schedule today! Mele Kalikimaka! Love, Eve

Coffee card for November swap

Aloha~

Most of the things used here are from Lawn Fawn, except the background paper which is from Newton's Nook Designs. It's pretty much explanatory. 

Hope you had a great weekend! It's already "busy" everywhere I go. How is it in your area? 

If I don't "see" you here before Thanksgiving on this coming Thursday, have a blessed Thanksgiving day (if you are in US ). 

Thank you for stopping by my blog today. Love, Eve

Happy Birthday! #1

Well, there are more people who were born in this month. Glad I'm taking some time off from my card swap group. 

I feel like I've been buying new stamps but time passes by and don't use it for a year (due to the half of them being the "seasonal" stamp sets) and use it a year later. lol... of course, I CAN use any stamps any time, I guess but the recipients might feel..hmmm?... esp. if they are NON card makers. We, the card makers CAN just say, O.K., "Halloween in AUGUST", like "Christmas in July" and nobody minds it! LOL! 

I used mostly the LF stamp set, and their shimmery yellow card stock. I used the NND stencil for the background. The first sentiment stamp and most shell shaker bits are from Q&C. There are star shaker bits among the shell shaker bits. That's made of the packaging of my favorite beauty brand. I just keep those pretty parts (no logo nor any prints) of the packaging when I buy their skin care products. And, punch out using some punchers I have, to make shaker bits cuz I love making shaker cards. This one has star bits from "rose gold" packaging. They mostly come in gold, silver, black (shiny and matt) but I love this "rose gold" color. It's hard to tell from the photo but I used Stickles to give a little shimmer, here and there on the shells. 

It seems like shaker cards with "whole front" covered is now a trend, and I decided to make the one with that trend. So, what did I use for my "plastic" pocket? I used the CLEAR "envelope" which became a trend, about 20 (?) years ago. Remember those? It became popular, us saying, let the USPS person to see the pretty art on its way. LOL! That was LONG BEFORE Pinterest nor Instagram were born, and RAK was one of the ways of getting inspired by! We did send tons of cards to fellow card makers! Since I lived in a remote place, I bought tons of those (including larger size and square size) and hardly ever used them! That trend didn't last long. I think it's because 1. card makers also wanted to "decorate" the envelopes their cards are mailed in, 2. cards often gets a little more bulky with embellishments and all these day. Anyways, I still have plenty of them! I had better use them while this kind of shaker cards are trendy! LOL 

I decided to make a shaker card a little different. I completely shut the card base, and added the white panel for "writing", for a little twist. I die cut, using Spellbinders nesting die from very long time ago! I used the "Hawaii seal stamp" from Honey Bee Stamp's recent release. 

Well, the Paris Olympics is now closed. Have a nice Sunday evening, everyone, and thank you for stopping by my blog today. Love, Eve 

Happy Birthday!

Aloha~

The birthday of the moderator of Coffee card swap group is coming up. I bought this Newton's Nook Designs' stamp set last month. She also likes Boba tea and drinks matcha tea. I was going to use this as the main focus on the card. Then I saw the Inky paw challenge at Newton's Nook Designs'. I decided to use the sketch (it's a sketch challenge), also, I am submitting this card to the challenge which is closing tonight. I made it. lol 

I love one of the sentiment in this stamp set, and decided to use it inside. 😊

You can see the challenge details here. 

Thanks for stopping my blog today. Have a nice weekend! Love, Eve

Coffee card for the month of May!

Aloha~

This is the card I made for this month's swap. I love these papers from NND! I love orange cats, and I colored him with copic, using a little brush strokes for the furs of tabby cat. 😸I tried to color coordinate as much as possible, as you probably can tell. 😊 I used the oval stitch die from Sunny Studio, stitched pocket die from Honey Bee Stamps, altering a little on the top to fit well with the background stitched die cut design, from MFT. 

This week, we'll have tons of rain, again 😑Wherever you are, hope you'll stay safe from the severe weather. And, hope some of you witnessed the beautiful sight of northern lights! Thank you for stopping by my blog today! Love, Eve