Kitty Bee Designs February Release Blog Hop

**(If you're looking for my Kitty Bee Designs CH #16 post please scroll down, Thnx!)**

Hello!

**SORRY EVERYONE. ALL OF MY LINKS HAVE NOW BEEN UPDATED. SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE!!**

Welcome to the Kitty Bee Designs February release blog hop! Today the Kitties & Bees are teaming up on this special blog hop to introduce the newest digis just released in the Kitty Bee Designs Etsy store.

Ruth has been hard at work creating some new & kawaii animal images just in time for Valentine's Day.   The new release is already in the KBD Etsy store and includes (3 of each) Kitties, Pandas, Red Pandas and Racoons.  All super adorable and cuddly, just like all of the Kitty Bee Designs stamps.  With so many to choose from you're bound to find the one that would be perfect for that special Valentine.  I think you could even use some of these to make fun and easy Valentine's day post cards for your kids and their friends/classmates.  Just Sayin' ;)

If you've arrived here from Katie's blog you're on the right path, if not you'll find the full list of blogs over on the Kitty Bee Designs blog.  (I will also post the full list below)  **You'll want to make sure that you hop to each of our blogs and leave a comment because you might be the lucky one to win a digi from the new release!  The more blogs you comment on the better chance of winning.  Entries close at 10am (Hawaii time) on Friday, Feb 7th with the winner being announced on the following Sunday.  Good luck!!

Here's the image I got to play with, Red Panda Heart Bubbles.

So I've never really seen a red panda before, so of course I had to do some research on Google and I came across some adorable photos which I thought I would share.  These are such cute creatures with some crazy colored fur!  hahaha!!  BTW, they are not RED, but more like a burnished brown leather color.  They made me smile so I hope they make you smile too. 

This one is so lazy!! Doesn't it make ya want to take a nap too?  hehehe...

I think this next picture captures the full details of the red panda. Looks like a giant fox to me.  Crazy coloring yea? But what a cute and cuddly animal.

Sorry to get off track!  Here's my project...

I used the Deconstructed Sketch #135 today, sorta squished it all on to the small 5x5 card.  I had a little bit of a challenge with this one, but lucky for me my friend Jovana was over and she helped me get to where I wanted my little red panda to be.  Thanks Jo!!  >.<

 

Now I think you've been here long enough, it's time to leave a comment and then you're off to Taniaj's blog where she's showcasing another kawaii image in the new release.

 

Have a Happy Aloha Friday everyone!!  And a prosperous Lunar New Year...  Oh look Si-foo who happens to be a red panda kung-fu master!  hahaha...

Mahalo for stopping by!
Hugs,
Leanne
for Kitty Bee Designs

BLOG HOP LIST: Click on everyone's name to jump to their post. Happy hopping!

Kitty Bee Designs
Shirl
Larissa
Katie
Leanne (me!!)
Taniaj
Julie 
Kel
Theresa
Victoria 
Niki
Zella
Kitty Bee Designs

KBD - CH #16 - Valentines/Love Sponsored by Chi Chi Memories

Happy Aloha Friday!
Happy Lunar New Year!

Today over at the Kitty Bee Designs Team blog we're starting a brand new challenge and something new!  Starting in 2014 most of our challenges will now have sponsors from other companies!!  Our gal, Kel, has been hard at work getting some really amazing sponsors for each of our challenges and we're excited. We're still going to have Kitty Bee Design images to use, but you'll get the benefit of the sponsor's prize.

CHALLENGE #16

VALENTINE'S/LOVE

Sponsor: Chi Chi Memories Designs

Stop by the Kitty Bee Designs challenge blog to see the details of the challenge/prize and then link up your card or project.  If you're stuck on what to make, check out my teammates adorable inspirations.  They're bound to get your creative juices flowing. 

We have a choice of using the sponsor's image or a KBD image.  Today I have a Kitty Bee project to share. 

This is another card/tag/envelope featuring an adorable bunny squeezing a heart from Kitty Bee Designs.  

 

So I'll share the project backwards.  First up is the tag itself.  I blew up the image to a bigger size than I normally would.  I used Copic markers to color the image, then I trimmed it out leaving a good enough amount of white space around it.  Stamped an old Happy Valentine's Day sentiment ($1 stamp purchased from Michael's) just below it.  Matted it with kraft cardstock and a strip of red/cream swiss dots designer paper.  The ribbon/seam binding is from my stash.  So you know what the tag looks like here's what it looks like inside the envelope:

The envelope is made out of kraft cardstock and the same red & cream swiss dots dp. I also went a little bit cray-cray with the embellishments.  Added flowers & gems from Recollections; the paper flowers are made with an MME designer paper and punched out with a Noor Designs 8-petal flower die.  Instead of the regular circle window I went with a heart window using two Spellbinder dies.  The regular heart for the kraft cardstock and the scalloped heart for the red/cream dp.  You can't really see it, but I stamped the word "Hugs" in the bottom right-hand corner.  You'll see it in a later photo. 

I stamped the sentiment, "Big squeezes ones that really squish you" from Make It Crafty, inside the window.  This sentiment is so cute and could be used for different occasions.  It just happened to match my project.  (yay)  Here they are side-by-side...

I had so much fun with the backside of the envelope.  I used up all the scraps from the front include the hearts...

The designer paper is from MME (The Station).  I matted it onto the red/cream swiss dots paper and as you can see I used the cut outs including the scalloped heart one and randomly placed them here and there.  Looks so cool with the pretty MME dp.  Added a swirly crystal above the E in the sentiment.  This could actually be another card.  :)  Last I have a couple close ups.

This next one shows the "Hugs" sentiment, I might have to go over it with a darker marker...

Okie dokes, it's now your turn to get creative.  Don't forget to read the rules and then link up.  Looking forward to everyone's project.  Mahalo for stopping by!!  Have a happy Aloha Hawaii Five-O day!! :P

Hugs,

Leanne 

Kitty Bee Designs DT

Arigato *^.^ v

Morning everyone!

Thank you all so much for the support and love. If the circumstances change will definitely let you know.  Today I think I'll share something happy. 

Here's my card that I submitted for the Oct/Nov (2012) issue of Designed to Color magazine issue. Much to my amazement it was published!!  If you have the DTC Oct/Nov 2012 issue my card is towards the back of the magazine.  So blessed to be published alongside some really amazing colorists.  It was definitely a bummer when the magazine was put to rest, but family definitely comes first and so happy that Ms. Carisa is having a blast with her lovely growing family.  It was definitely awesome while it lasted and I'm crossing my fingers that she'll pick it up again.  (hehe)

So yes it's been a few years and can you believe I never had a chance to post it?!  Featuring Fumi with Umbrella here's the card I submitted for the trending color, I think it was, Patone.

This is definitely one of my favorites.  I used CC cutters for the vines and 5-petal punches for the sakuras.  The bridge is from the Cricut Pagoda cartridge. The sentiment is handwritten and yes those are pearl dots from a white Viva Decor pen.   See the pretty background paper?  That's from Hanko Designs (bummer looks like it's discontinued but here's the link to the red & white one which I also love)

Okay I feel much better now.  Mahalo for stopping by, have a terrific day!!

Hugs,
Leanne

Yumi & Fumi Handmade - A Fond Farewell!

Hey everyone,

It's been a rough day...

Not sure if you've heard but after a year and a half of business we've made the hard decision to put our little company, Yumi & Fumi Handmade on hiatus until further notice.  Pretty hard to understand yea?  Well it was equally hard for us to do but circumstances have lead to this decision and we felt it was time to hang it up.  Did you know that when we started this little company we had a simple dream?  Yep, to create stamps that we love and share them with the crafty world.  And if in the process we made a few of you smile and think, "Wow, that is so darn cute! I gotta have them," then we did our job.  I think we were able to accomplish that in the small amount of time we had and guess what?  We made tons of new friends from all over the world. :)

If you're wondering what "hiatus" means for Yumi & Fumi Handmade?  Well in a nutshell it means completely shutting down the website and, unfortunately, the challenges until further notice.  Here's more information:

Website: If you have been trying to place an order prior to 12pm PST on Sunday we've got it and should be shipping it out this week.  If you missed that time we're sorry but it's officially closed. We'll let you know when and if we decide to sell the rest of our inventory and how you can get them, but for now we do not have an answer for you.

Challenges: Challenge #30 (current challenge) will be our LAST challenge.  You have until Friday, Jan 31st to link up, after that we will have no more challenges.  To join our current challenge link up here.

Blog: The blog will still be up so that you can enjoy all of the posts and creativity year round.  If you would like to share your projects with us upload it to our FB page or Splitcoast Stampers (key word: yumifumi)

I hope you'll think about joining us for the current challenge because it is literally your last chance to win a Y&FH stamp. 

I bet you all thought it was just a 2-woman job, but we had a terrific group of friends & family who spent many an hour helping us prep & work to get our product to you. We appreciated the hard work, advice and support from all of our parents, friends, families, Design Teams and friends in the business.  Your support has been invaluable to us and we've made a lot of lasting friendships. 

Masako, Kat, Jesse, Chuck, Kathy & Jovana, thank you all for the tireless hours spent prepping & working the Carson Rubber Stamp conventions with us. You hardly knew what to do from the first day but boy you all learned so much so fast in the short amount of time and became experts after that first show.  We will forever be grateful. Many thanks to Mike for always giving us a great platform to display our stamps. Each of our ideas was only realized because of your craftsmanship and vision. We gave you an idea and you always delivered with style and grace.  Whether you shared in prepping for a new release, working on projects or celebrated at the end of a great event, you were all there giving it 100%.  You're more than friends, you're ohana. Mahalo!

Thank you Mr. Jim for everything and for saying our stamps were cute! You rock! :)

Now I couldn't have dreamt up a finer design team than the ladies who said yes to our Design Team call.  For some it was there 10th team, but for others it was their first.  These talented crafters made this team so much fun to be around.  Their enthusiasm has always been unbelievably amazing.  Each project they shared made me continuously smile.  I'm sure gonna miss that.  My deepest thanks go out to you for breathing life in to our images from the beginning to the end.  Thank you Sandie, Rachel, Kim, Eva, Rosemary, Denice, Blankina, Cebelica, Lisa T, Sheena B, Kathy, Olivia, Corinne, Melissa, Debra, Audrey & Taylor. Our guest designers, Thanh Vo, Danni Bindel & Linda Tan and it wouldn't be complete with out our solo gent and honorary member, Chuck Garcia aka Chuckles.  You will forever be more than friends, you're ohana. Mahalo!

Now I knew that I couldn't have been able to get organized with a team of 12 designers, and I'm so glad that I had help from two very special ladies, our tireless team leaders Rosemary & Denice. Thank you for making it so easy and for always going the extra mile. Could not have done this without you gals. I will be forever grateful for the friendships we've made and the memories we've created.  Love you guys!


Over the next week we'll be sharing some special posts on the Y&FH blog dedicated to the team. Be sure to bookmark all of their blogs, you can also find them on the Yumi & Fumi Handmade sidebar.

Thank you to our friends and fans on the web and at the Carson show.  You all have been amazing.  We definitely made new friends across the pond and right here in our back yard.  We love that you love Yumi & Fumi Handmade and we hope that when you create for a birthday, celebration, blog challenge or just for fun you reach for a Yumi & Fumi Handmade image.  You'll always be a part of our Y&FH ohana too.  Mahalo!

Lastly to my partners Renate' (aka Yumi) & Zach, thank you both for letting me be a part of this journey, we gave it a good shot and learned a lot.  Here's to looking forward to the possibilities for the future.  Love you guys!

If you've read to the end, thanks so much! 

Mahalo,
Fumi

Y&FH Challenge #30 Team Fumi Reminder

Good afternoon everyone!

Sorry I'm late with this post. Today over at the Yumi & Fumi Handmade blog, Team Fumi is sharing their inspirations for our current challenge:

Challenge #30

Sketch #5

So far we only have 1 entry to the challenge, hopefully some of you just need some inspiration to get the juices flowing.  There is tons of it on the blog.  Team Yumi's inspirations were adorable last week and this week Team Fumi has done another awesome job of using this sketch to create.  Make sure to head on over to each of their blogs and leave them some love... Click here to get started...  And don't forget you have until Friday to link up.

Here's my take on my own somewhat crude sketch (lol)... Another pocket-tag featuring Fumi Panda:

The pretty dp is from MME The Station 6x6 paper pad.  Kraft cardstock is Recollections and the white is Neenah.  Flowers are from Petaloo and the bling is from Recollections.  The hearts are punched out with two different sized heart punches and I hand wrote the sentiment.  Oh and that little piece of pretty ribbon on the bottom is from Daiso.  Here's the tag which I kept CAS, will write my message on the back of the tag when I decide to send it out...

Colored Fumi Panda with a minimal amount of Copics (E000, E00, E21, E20, N10, E44, E49, E42) and paper pieced part of her suit.  Here's the hidden message in the pocket...

Nope it's not too fancy at all.  hahaha...  Hand wrote that one too.  I couldn't find the right sayin' to add in the window so this is what I ended up with.  hahaha!  I know, I know...  Alrighty, don't forget you have until Friday, Jan 31st to link up.  Your absolutely last chance to link up.

 

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!  Mahalo for stopping by!
Hugs,
Leanne

LFF #66 - First of 2014

Happy Aloha Friday!

Sorry everyone!  I pre-posted something earlier for the wrong date!! My bad!!  But no worries, I have another post to share.  If you didn't see the project I had for KBD cool, if you did no worries.  You'll see it again later this month. :)  Please stop by the KBD blog today to see the new challenge and the Bee's posts. :)

So since I didn't really have to post for Kitty Bee Designs I can post a LFF which would be the first of 2014!  Today for Lilo's Fun Friday #66 share I have another tag/envelope featuring the Year of the Horse from Sister Stamps.  I work for a Chinese company so I think I'll make something similar for Chinese New Year for a few of my co-workers, minus the money (maybe).  (lol)

 

I used black cardstock for my base and the beautiful red/gold paper is from DCWV.  Love this new line of Asian papers.  Sorry the picture is so bad, I was in a hurry and didn't get a chance to get a good shot of the paper.  I added some pretty flowers from Petaloo.

The inside tag is super simple with a few kanji sentiments stamped with gold Encore pigment ink.  I colored the horse with Copics, tried to go for a golden tone but looks like honey to me.  :D

 

Yikes!  The picture is really bad, but I wanted to show you the message inside the window.  Another awesome laser cut die word from Island Scrapbooking.  When I was visiting I made sure to pick up several of these words in white so that I could color them up to match my projects.  This one I colored red and it pops really nicely off the black.  Here's the back of the envelope...

Using the black circle that was a result of the front window I embossed it and then using some scraps of the red and gold paper I die cut 2014 using the CC Cutter dies.

Mahalo for stopping by today!  Have a terrific Aloha Bones/Hawaii Five-O Friday!!
Hugs,
Lilo

Wishing you a purrrfect Birthday!

Afternoon!

Today is my friend/co-worker, Daphne's birthday.  When coming up with her card I wanted to make something that she wouldn't expect.  She likes animals, mainly dogs and cats, but guest what?  She doesn't own any.  If you tell her you have pets she'll remember their names and ask about them every time she sees you.  It's sweet.  The funny thing is if you have kids she won't remember their names, but she'll always ask about your pet(s), hehehe.  Since she likes cats I used a sweet cat image named Otsu from Sister Stamps.  To read more about Otsu click HERE. 

For some reason when I finished this card it looked like a card for a baby girl!  hahaha!  I'll have to remember these colors and layout.  Like I mentioned I wanted to give her something she wouldn't expect.  Like a pinkish card.  I layered white & kraft Neenah cs, used a couple embossing folders, Spellbinder dies, half pearls, dp from Colorbok (French Prep), white sheer ribbon, Stickles, Copics to color Otsu & her gift and mounted them all on to a Tsumugi soft cherry cardstock from Hanko Designs.  The Happy Birthday embossing folder is from Crafter's Companion and the polka dot one is from Sizzix.  Lastly I hand wrote the sentiment with a white gel pen.  Thought it would be a fun touch to add the half pearls to all the dots on the sentiment and there's one more pearl.  Can you find it?  Well if you saw it on the bow of the box you're correct!  :)

Alrighty, hope you're all having a great day and if you're also celebrating well Happy Birthday!  Hope it's purrrfect too!  Mahalo for stopping by!  Have a Happy Happy Happy Duck Dynasty Day!!  :)

Hugs,
Leanne

More Year of the Horse coaster calendars

Morning folks!

I made a few more coaster calendars using the adorable Year of the Horse stamp from Sisters Stamps.  These are CAS and easy to make calendars I made for a few more crafty friends.  I used the Green Flying Cranes washi paper from Hanko Designs.  I loved the greens, golds and hints of reds on this one, and of course the beautiful cranes.

Ugh, the picture is blurry but not to worry I have close-ups!  woo hoo!!

I've never colored a black/charcoal horse so I thought I'd give it a try.  Not too bad.  Obviously needs work, but I'm happy with the result anyways.  The other two were also fun to color.  Thought I would include a picture of the Green Flying Cranes washi paper I used in case you all were interested in buying it... 

 

It's pretty awesome right?!  The pictures don't give it justice.  Well I'd better get back to work.  Hope you all have a great NCIS Tuesday!  Until next time Mahalo for stopping by!

Hugs,
Leanne

Birthday Cake Emily

Happy Monday,

Hope you all had a great weekend.  So glad I got a chance to spend some time with some crafty peeps who came in from out of town.  First it was Jenny & Linda from Hawaii and then it was Sparkle, Thanh, Kim, Suzanne, Chris, Chuck, Kathy & Renate.  Yesterday I got to spend some time with my sis and her dh who drove down for a day but ended up staying for the weekend.  All-in-all I had a very nice weekend.

Today's card feature's the lovely Birthday Cake Emily from Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamps.  (Sorry the store is currently on hiatus and as soon as it's back online I'll link up)

Kept it pretty CAS.  If you haven't noticed I'm trying to branch out by adding flowers here and there to my projects.  I purchased a bunch of flowers, but I have also been hoarding them as well, so hoping to figure out how to arrange them like some of my favorite ladies with green thumbs.  (hehe)  The flowers are partly Recollections & Petaloo.  Used a Spellbinder die to cut out the colored image  and adhered it to some leftover red cardstock.  Then the whole piece was glued down on to a white card base.  The sentiment along with another one comes with the stamp as a set. 

Birthday cake Emily - SCRS

Thanks so very much for stopping by!  Have a terrific Monday! 
Hugs,
Leanne

Y&FH CH #29 Reminder - Anything Goes

Morning!

Today Team Fumi is sharing their super awesome inspirations for the current Anything Goes challenge.  Stop here to be inspired.  For my card I made a get well card.  I don't have very many of these, but they are still good to have in my stash.

I used Fumi with Messenger Bag here.  I was really sure what I was going for with this card, something cheerful and bright I think.  I grabbed an older Bo Bunny (Ambrosia Collection) paper pad because I really liked the pretty papers.  Grouped them with some white accents and I was done.  The zig zag border is a die from MFT, also from MFT was the sentiment.  Last I added some half pearls to finish it off.

Stop by the Y&FH blog to join the challenge which ends on Friday.

This weekend is CHA and although I didn't go in to the convention I did meet up with some crafty friends for dinner and dessert.  Here are some pictures.  You might also see Chuck (aka Chuckles), Kathy (from Team Fumi), our guest dt Thanh Vo & one of our original DT gals, Kim Yu. You'll also see some celebrities, Sparkle (from Sparkle Creations), Suzanne Bier and Jing Von Opstal.

Yep, we had a great time hanging out.  Now it's time for me to get back to the crafty table to make more a few more cards.  Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Have a fantastic football Sunday!
Hugs,
Leanne

Christmas projects recap

Morning!

I didn't get too much done for Christmas it just came way too fast but I did have some time to make a few things.  Here is a recap of what I made using stamps & dies from C.C. Designs...

This was a case of a card that Kathy made for one of our stamp camp meet ups that I missed out on.  She was sweet to give me the parts and since I had the stamps I was able to make it yay!  Featuring the Sweet November Fairwees digi stamp Jilly & Emmaline's Secret with sentiment from AmyR Christmas Sentiments II..

This next card features another set of Fairwees Piper & Mia (Banner Day), the C.C. Cutter It's snowing dies and of course an AmyR sentiment.  (I hand wrote the JOY in the banner)

Here are some quick bags I made using the sweet penguins and the Joy music sheet background stamp.

My co-worker asked me to make some gift card holders for her.  I came up with a super simple design and used the discontinued (from CC Designs site) Kraftin' Kimmie holiday trinkets stamps.

This next card features one of my new favorites from CC Designs, Roberto's Rascals Henry Claus.  I used some leftover cutouts (tree & wreath) for this CAS card. 

This next one was also fun to make.  Featuring Swiss Pixie Fuzzy Boots Birgitta...

I saw a lot of crafters making wreaths with ribbon and I thought to myself, "Hey self, why don't you do that on a card?" So I did. :)   The sentiment is partly from the dp and handwritten by me.  And last in my 2013 stash is another card featuring the Fairwees Jilly & Emmaline... (One of my favorites of the season.  Love how it turned out).

I used the following supplies from CC Designs:  AmyR Big Christmas wishes, Whiff of Joy Essential backgrounds text style & CC Cutter Bubble Alphabet die.  Here is collage of the rest of the card including the inside.

Thanks so much for stopping by...  If you stop by tomorrow I think I'll have something for the Yumi & Fumi Handmade CH #29 reminder.  hahaha..  Have a wonderful day!!

Hugs,
Lilo