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!

Aloha~

I made this card, remembering the sender for June card to me loved Hawaii vacation and mentioned it again in her card. I also received a paper pad of Hawaii from Echo Park very recently. These days, I can't stop buying paper pads cuz they are so good!! I cut the two designs from the paper pad, attached to the postage stamp die cut outs, using Hero Art's die. I attached the bottom one first, and "postcard" one with the 1mm foam squares. I really love these 1mm foam squares. It's easy to use, and only a little dimention, which is great for mailing. Most of my cards are mailed out. I stamped "Happy birthday" (Waffle Flowers) on the "postcard". I used another paper from the same paper pad as the base. I'd been itching to use my new die set from Taylors Expressions. In the same set, there are small plumerias, too, so I used a couple of them, too. 

Inside, the sentiment is from Hero Arts, and the turtle is from Pink & Main. Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles (Honu) are another sea animal famous in Hawaii beside the Hawaiian Monk Seals. I wanted to send the "Hawaiian vibe" so I chose this turtle.

I still hear the severe weather from US mainland. The typhoon is still coming this way but the course is taking to rather north of the islands and it downgraded to tropical storm. I heard though that all beaches in Hawaii are closed. You know, those high surf and all...please take care wherever you are. Thank you for stopping by my blog today. Love, Eve  

Happy Birthday!

Aloha~

I made this card for the daughter of my BFF. She hasn't been around in US much after graduating college, and will be leaving for Italy for her 1st year in an American grad school. She was in Peace corp for two years and decided to go to grad school, and she got full scholarship! We are so proud of her, so when this Spellbinders die set was released back in March, I already knew I was going to use this one for her birthday card. She is "unstoppable"! 

I stamped the sentiment of Lawn Fawn on the top. The background building stamp is from Concord & 9th. A little hard to see but clouds are from Concord & 9th, too, die cutting vellum, and attached using Xyron. The hillside is made using My Favorite Thing's die, with stamping Hero Arts' grass stamp on the die cut out. The initial is for both her first name and "Superwoman"! It worked perfect! 

Thank you for stopping by my blog today. Hope you are all safe from the severe weather. 🙏Love, Eve 

Missing you

Aloha~

My late mother loved scuba diving. After I left for college, she started to learn swimming (better) and moved to scuba diving. I'd been "collecting" scuba diving stamps but found only a couple in last 35 years of my stamping. When I saw the new release from Spellbinders, I had to have it! Since I've been stamping for so many years, I don't do "monthly subscription" anymore, but to get this set for sure, I had to... anyways, my mother's anniversary was coming, and I thought I would make a card, for her. I found the background paper in my stash, which I used My Favorite Things stencil. Other than all pieces from the set, I added the Hero Arts clear enamel dots to finish it off, as air bubbles. I've been seeing pictures of her, like this card, so many of them, in 35 years of her scuba diving life! The lady on the right who is hand signing, "👍" is definitely my mother. 💕 

I miss her so much. I added that sentiment, attached with a foam tape, to give it a bit of dimension. 

Now it's September, and the set became available for purchase, and I was surprised how great the club price was. I always loved Spellbinders dies, and this month, it's already on its way, and I love that September set, too. :) 

The weekend is almost here! Thank you for stopping by my blog today. Love, Eve 

Happy Birthday!

Aloha~

My godmother's birthday is coming up. I made this card, thinking of the May birth flower~Lily of the Valley (from Hero Arts). I've known her for many many years but this is probably the first time to make a card with Lily of the Valley image, which I recently purchased.

I used Spellbinder's layering die, cutting from Lawn Fawn's paper, on the background. The sentiment is from Pink Fresh Studio. I used Honey Bee stamps pearl embellishments to finish it off. 

Inside, the sentiment is from the same stamp set of Pink Fresh Studio. My godmother brings happiness to all people around her, so I used this sentiment. 

Happy Mother's Day Eve! Hope you all will have a wonderful day tomorrow! I'll be thinking about my mom, looking at the pictures from my childhood tomorrow 💕 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

Christmas card #5

Aloha~

For this card, I used Mail Box and little mails die set from Hero Arts. I stamped and white heat embossed the sentiment from Simon Says Stamps. The gingham paper is from Memory Box. You may not be able to see the "gold" lines on the paper, which looks like "foiling", although it's not foiling. But I attached the golden ribbon to match those thin gold lines on the background paper. I used snow stencil from Lawn Fawn on the kraft card stock from the same company. All greens and red berry dies are from Sizzix/TH. I used Waffle Flower's postage die for the frame, to match the theme of "mail". 

Inside, I stamped the sentiment from Sunny Studio. 

A week left before Christmas! Are you ready??!! 🎅Love, Eve

Now, Christmas card time!

Happy Holidays!

Now, time to make Christmas cards!

When I received the kit from Queens and Co., I wanted to make some shaker pieces right away. I'm glad I did that, so I can use them, without having extra time in this busy season! I added shaker bits from different companies and packets! Christmas pudding cakes, chocolate chip cookies, Gingerbread men & houses beside the different colored pearls! So fun! I used the frame die from Hero Arts. First I had another design in mind, and I remembered this frame die. I checked the size of the oven area and it matched the shaker piece, so I decided to use this die instead. I love how it turned out! 

Hope you have started a nice week after Thanksgiving day and Black Friday! Kinda strange to have Cyber Monday in December, though... right?! Hope you aren't buried in the snow, either...  

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

Happy Birthday!

This is the last birthday card this month.

I wanted to use my new Hero Art's fancy die. My design started from there. I used "sandy" paper from my stash, stamped the Waffle Flower's sentiment. I love this font as if it was written on the sandy beach! I used the MFT stamp's stitch frame for the whole front. I noticed that I've been using this frame die often.😊 I stamped the ocean stamp from Papertrey Inc. The puppy on the float, both stamps are from Sunny Studio. I'm a cat person and I think this is the only dog stamp I own, but the recipient loves dogs, so I chose this stamp. The sun, the clouds and seagulls stamps are from Lawn Fawn. 

Hope you are having a great week! If you are in heatwave area, please stay safe and stay hydrated! Here in Hawaii, a couple of storms coming this way, from Sunday... two already got their names; Hone & Gilma. Thanks for stopping by my blog today! Love, Eve

Hello~

I'd been wanting to use the "fruit" papers (esp. lemon) from LF and the mason jar dies from MFT stamps since last summer. Finally I got time to use them!

"hello" sentiment is from Hero Arts. I stacked up 3 times since I attached the bulky shaker parts next to it. This mason jar isn't the shaker dies but I managed to make it fine, I think...? 😊 Shaker bits are from Q&C and Hero Arts. Very summer-like, right? 😊

It's going to my godmother. 😊I wanted to use "Thinking of you" on the front but I didn't have the die which fits in the place instead of "hello", so I stamped that inside 😊

Have a nice evening! Thank you for stopping by my blog today! Stay hydrated! Love, Eve

Happy New Year!! #2

My 2nd card in 2024 which I used the same stamp set from the previous post but the different stamps. I used the same colors and the medium for the main dragon stamp. Same background, using my very old clouds stencil from Print Works/1997! I have a couple of clouds stencils but I still use this old one, sometimes. It was $2.79, probably found at nearby stamp store, in late 90's..."Stencils" never go bad! lol I used different embellishments from different company. I layered that front to the white card stock which I just swiped with my Honeydew Encore inkpad from Tsukineko, directly around the edge of the card stock. The sentiment is from old stamp set from HA. 

This is going to my godmother. 😊

Well, my friends, it's cold here, too... yesterday morning, it was the 2nd coldest in the record! That was 58F! The coldest day ever was 57F which was recorded in 1978! It's definitely a hoodie weather in this "tropical" island. Stay safe, stay warm! Love, Eve

Coffee card for August card swap

Aloha~

It's been really hot here. So, that thinking led me to make this card! I've been drinking Iced Coffee and Iced Tea a lot cuz it's been HOT! I used Lil' Inker's coffee/tea stamps with ice cubes and straws. I used glossy accent for the straws. I had "lemon slices" embellishment, so I cut it in half, attached them in the tea cup. I used the Whimsy stamps Ripple's Die. This die really need a pressure to cut it, and still I need to snip some parts... but love the design! I used Hero Arts water ripple's stamp in the center. I used Sunny studio's alphabet dies for spelling "HOT", and used Concord & 9th's "summer" stamp. I finished off with a couple of sequins to give a bit of shimmer on the front.

Inside, I wrote, "Iced Coffee?? Iced Tea??" 

Thanks for stopping by my blog today! Have a nice weekend! Stay hydrated! Hugs, Eve

Happy Birthday, BFF!

Aloha~

This is the card which I made for my BFF from college. I hadn't used this stamp set since I bought some years ago...I decided to go with "puns". 😄 Inside, it says "time to SHELL-EBRATE" with the image of shells. 😄 The fun part was to make the background. I always enjoy making the background. I used the vellum for the sentiments, and heat embossed. The final touch is those little heart embellishments which I found at local "dollar store". 

Thank you for stopping by my blog today! Stay safe from all that heat across the States! Weekend is almost here, my friends! Love, Eve 

My 1st Christmas card...

I wish it was still in early December...In November, coming home from the trip was delayed by 10 days and was delayed making Thanksgiving cards... then, I caught a cold... so, yes, this is my 1st Christmas card...😓

Here is my card for my godmother, using my new Concord & 9th addition! 

Most of this card was done with Concord & 9th and various card stock. I used Echo Park papers, which also had a Christmas star & stars. After finishing the card, I used Ranger's stickles to give it a shine. I often keep the package of skin cares, and this, "a little dull" gold card stock for the crescent and the sentiment came in handy. I die cut twice for manger and Joseph & pregnant Mary, to give a bit of dimension, to give a bit of "closer distance" compared to the building dies in the back. 

I hadn't used this Echo Park paper pad for 2 years? But I saw this sentiment in this paper pad. It matched to the front sentiment! So, I used spellbinder's frame die to cut that sentiment, and placed it on the gold paper, to place it inside of the card. I used "Blessings" die from Hero Arts to finish the card.  

Thank you for stopping by my blog today! Merry Christmas! Love, Eve

Happy Thanksgiving! 2022

Aloha~

Ok, Thanksgiving day has come and gone. I've been quite busy, and, I forgot which website I used, to place "watermark" on my photos, and it took forever to find it! lol I've used other photo shop site for several years til they stopped, and I had to find another one. I did, but back in July and for the last couple of months, I didn't post anything, and I totally forgot the website! 😓Anyways, now, I found it, and I can post my "watermarked" photos! So, hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving day!

I made two cards this year, using the same technique but used different papers and colors. This big die and other extra dies are all from Hero Arts, their monthly kit of May, 2022. I liked the "white" all around, and water colored a little. 

Now, I will not forget the website of placing watermark.😅

Hope you are having a nice weekend, probably, everyone is busy! Nearby mall was packed today! Thanks for visiting my blog today! Hugs, Eve

Coffee card for monthly swap April 2021

Aloha~

This is the card I made for April for my Coffee card swap group on FB. Most stamps are from LF, and I colored them all with Copics. The bear on the screen doesn't hold a cup, so to make the theme to be "coffee", I looked for a perfect size cup image stamp from my stamp collection, masked and stamped. That tiny cup belongs to Miss Ink stamp set. I also masked the sentiment in the picture frame, so that I could stamp the hibiscus from Hero Arts, to give a little touch of Hawaii/tropical Island.🌺 I love doing something a little different, and doing so, I spend time to look for a perfect match, mostly size and sometimes the design. When I find it, I get excited! lol The fox stamp is from LF but from a different stamp set. Background paper is also from LF. I used Wink of Stella shimmer pen on the steam from coffee but very hard to see.. The sentiment which I heat embossed is from Neat & Tangled stamp set. Even in pandemic, we can have a coffee time with friends, thanks to the technology! 💻Can't imagine the people's lives during the last pandemic which is Spanish flu..I used the foam tapes to the fox and the pile of books to give the dimension to the scene I made. Also I used it to the sentiment strip. 

Hope y'all are having a wonderful week! Thanks for stopping by my blog today! Hugs, Eve

Happy Easter!

Well.. a week delayed post. I'm sure that most of you "went" to Easter Sunday Service online...

This is the only Easter card I made this year... I just wanted to say "Blessings" to my godmother in this unsettling time.. Made it very simple. Shimmery card stocks, background paper & glitter paper are all from Lawn Fawn. Love using these colors this year for the Easter card. I die cut the sentiment from one of my packaging of Lancome cosmetics I keep! They come in gold, antique gold, silver, black, coated black, and so on. I keep them for mainly die cutting since the paper I could use are not that large, cutting off the original wordings of Lancome. 

Thank you for stopping by my blog today. Stay safe! 
Eve

Happy 45th Anniversary, Hero Arts!

I've been stamping since 70s'? when I was in elementary school in Japan. In their culture, "stamping" for the new year cards has been common ever since.  

I saw this stamp in Tokyo, Japan, early 90s'. I wanted to make Christmas cards and "Peace on Earth" has been my fav. saying, and it was in English! If I'm not mistaken, I found it in a department store, in stationary section, maybe 25+ years ago ...? When I last moved, giving up hundreds of wood mounted rubber stamps, I still couldn't part away from many stamps from 90s' made... and this is the oldest from Hero Arts. I can still stamp and get a good enough impression using a soft cushion underneath of a paper but it became more of a "treasure" than just a rubber stamp to stamp to make a card. I even decorate it wz winter village on the mantle for Christmas sometimes. I stamped in black ink, and colored, and also you can see from the picture that I used color markers to stamp. I usually clean my stamps very well but I don't' recall I had a good ink cleaner in early 90s'... Back then, I wasn't really familiar with Hero Arts but since then, all the stamps I still have from 90s', I have Hero Art's the most, which means, they've been making "masterpieces"!! ❤ They are still making great stamps, wood mounted, unmounted rubber stamps & clear stamps. I just bought the stamp kit of the last month. I love Hero Arts because of the affordable prices with great designs which is also timeless!  

Hope y'all are having a nice weekend! 

Eve

September Coffee Card Swap

Again, I had to have this stamp set from Hero Arts as soon as it was introduced! Super cute! I love the sentiments, too ❤

In this busy life, we have to "take a paws", and drink coffee, OFTEN! 😉

Thank you for stopping by my blog today! Have a nice weekend! 
Eve

Happy St. Patty's day!

I know, it's a bit early but before you know it, you'll be wearing, drinking, eating "'green"! lol 
I made this card for Coffee loving peeps group swap. Hope this will bring the recipient good luck! 

Also submitting SSS's Wednesday challenge, "Anything goes". 

Hope y'all are having a great weekend! 
Eve