Rock-a-bye baby...

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!
My days this week have been one big blur. But I can not wait for tomorrow! My lovely friend, Anna, and her beautiful daughters and husband have driven down from Reno for the weekend. We get to spend the day with them tomorrow before they have to head back home.

If you ever get a chance to stop by SplitCoastStampers then you should try to check out their challenges under "Stamping Stuff." One of my favorites are their color challenges.
Emily posted a "Basically Soft" challenge about a month ago and my dear friend, Carolina, made this yummy Time Well Spent With Friends card. What an inspiration! I had to make a card for a swap that I am in, which is due this Monday. I am not sure if it's the sheer exhaustion from the Christmas craze, or the relatively new medication I am on, but I could not come up with a card for days! I turned to Caro's card and Emily's color challenge and this is what I came up with:

Stamp sets: Nursery Necessities, Bundle of Joy
Paper: Basic Grey, Certainly Celery, Soft Sky, Whisper White, Le Jardin DSP
Ink: Basic Grey, Certainly Celery, Soft Sky
Accessories: small corner rounder, slot punch, 1-1/4" square punch, 1-3/8" square punch, 1/4" Whisper White grosgrain ribbon, 5/8" Certainly Celery grosgrain ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals, Crafter's Tool Kit (paper-piercing tool, paper-piercing mat
Techniques: scalloped edges using corner rounder, faux stitching along edge of card & the boat

Cheers!
Jane

Out with the old and in with the new...

One of my favorite stamps this Christmas has been from the "Tags For All" set.
I used Old Olive, Real Red, and Chocolate Chip Stampin' Write markers to color in the leaves, berries, and branches. Then after punching the 3 windows in the cardbase (1-1/3" square punch) and creating a separate template with a large border to stamp over, I "color, huff, and stamp" over each window. Add a Purely Pomegranate Satin ribbon and voila!



A large star punch is coming out in the new Spring/Summer catalog!
I used it to make this 3-D star ornament.



Eight more days 'til Christmas!

A long list of accessories that are going... going... gone.

Here it is! The long awaited Fall/Winter Retired Accessories List.
I'm sad to see a few of the items go, but am looking forward to seeing what will be replacing them. If you see anything on here that you are interested in getting, let me know asap! Items in red are no longer available.

* Updated 6p PST 12/17/2007
Item # Product Description
109198 Accents & Elements Borders & Blossoms
109199 Accents & Elements Little Reminders
2109197 Accents & Elements Tagged
100700 Album Leather Post Black 8-1/2x11
105385 Album Linen Post Mellow Moss 8-1/2x11
104520 Album Linen Post Natural 8-1/2x11
104517 Album Linen Post Navy 8-1/2x11
105382 Album Linen Post Real Red 8-1/2x11
105392 Album Linen Ring Mellow Moss 8-1/2x11
104510 Album Linen Ring Natural 8-1/2x11
104513 Album Linen Ring Navy 8-1/2x11
105388 Album Linen Ring Real Red 8-1/2x11
105067 Boxes & Tags Pockets & Pieces Assortment I
105068 Boxes & Tags Pockets & Pieces Assortment II
108798 Boxes & Tags Tiny Takeout Confetti White
107246 Boxes & Tags Tiny Takeout Kraft
105747 Boxes Stamp & Supply Extra Large
105748 Boxes Stamp & Supply Extra Large Divided
105744 Boxes Stamp & Supply Extra Small
105749 Boxes Stamp & Supply Jumbo
105734 Boxes Stamp & Supply Large
105746 Boxes Stamp & Supply Medium
105745 Boxes Stamp & Supply Small
101052 Brayer Attachment Foam
107293 Cards & Envelopes Greeting Very Vanilla Medium
109149 Designer Series Paper Brocade Background
109161 Designer Series Paper Cerise
109162 Designer Series Paper Charbon
109155 Designer Series Paper Creepy Crawley
109152 Designer Series Paper Darling Doodles
109150 Designer Series Paper Dashing
108503 Designer Series Paper Petals & Paisleys
109156 Designer Series Paper Linen Prints
109147 Designer Series Paper Notations No. 2
109148 Designer Series Paper Outlaw
109158 Designer Series Paper Uptown
109157 Designer Series Paper Wintergreen
107285 Envelopes Open End Very Vanilla Large
107284 Envelopes Open End Whisper White Large
107296 Envelopes Shimmery White Medium
107287 Envelopes Square Vellum Large
107310 Envelopes Square Very Vanilla Mini
107294 Envelopes Vellum Medium
107290 Envelopes Very Vanilla Large
107291 Envelopes Whisper White Large
101016 Eyelet Tool Kit
105317 Eyelets Bold Brights II
105379 Eyelets Silver
105315 Eyelets Soft Subtles II
107282 Fancy Fibers Bella
107283 Fancy Fibers Elizabeth1
03352 Stampin' Glitter Romantic Red
103349 Stampin' Glitter Silver Shine
106650 Greeting Glue
102620 Liquid Glue
103145 Page Protectors Post 8-1/2x11
104523 Page Protectors Ring 8-1/2x11
103598 Paper Vellum 12x12
105543 Pastel Refills Bold Brights
105544 Pastel Refills Earth Elements
105547 Pastel Refills Neutrals
105545 Pastel Refills Rich Regals
105546 Pastel Refills Soft Subtles
105962 Perfect Layers Tool
104184 Post Extenders
106522 Punch Spring Bouquet Flower
109722 Simply Scrappin' Creative License Hostess Level
1109611 Simply Scrappin' Happy Me Hostess Level
3109596 Simply Scrappin' Out & About
109626 Simply Scrappin' Primary Colors
109649 Simply Scrappin' Round Up
109635 Simply Scrappin' Secret Garden
109663 Simply Scrappin' Winter Bright
107415 Simply Sent Friendship Shapes
109230 Simply Sent Happy Day
105580 Spectrum Pad Blue Frost
101492 Spectrum Pad Celebration
105579 Spectrum Pad Cotton Candy
101336 Spectrum Pad Pumpkin Patch
100000 Spectrum Pad Un-inked
103953 Stamp-a-ma-jig Imaging Sheets Refill
104432 Stampin' Around Cartridge & Ink Refill Clear Embossing
101460 Stampin' Around Cartridge & Ink Refill Whisper White
102391 Stampin' Around Ink Refill Clear Embossing
103017 Stampin' Around Ink Refill Whisper White
103151 Stampin' Emboss Powder Hologram Highlights
105677 Stampin' Kids Pad Bear Brown
105676 Stampin' Kids Pad Beetle Black
105675 Stampin' Kids Pad Boxcar Blue
105674 Stampin' Kids Pad Gumball Green
105673 Stampin' Kids Pad Poppin' Purple
105672 Stampin' Kids Pad Princess Pink
105671 Stampin' Kids Pad Robin Red
105670 Stampin' Kids Pad Yahoo Yellow
103174 Stampin' Pastel Applicators
100852 Stampin' Pastel Erasers
100081 Stampin' Write Marker Going Gray
100945 StazOn Ink Refill Timber Brown
103088 StazOn Pad Timber Brown
107235 Tag Sheets Bold Brights
107239 Tag Sheets Confetti White & Kraft
107236 Tag Sheets Earth Elements
107240 Tag Sheets Kraft
107237 Tag Sheets Rich Regals
107238 Tag Sheets Soft Subtles
100894 Watercolor Brush Flat
101551 Watercolor Brush Medium
101331 Watercolor Brush Small
105395 Wire Works Metallic
105652 Wrapping Paper Whisper White

Stampin' Around wheels
100360 Acorns
109812 All about Birthdays*
109690 All about Christmas*
109812 All about Gratitude*
109676 Autumn Dots
104070 Bloomin'
107466 Bodacious*
105750 Bouquet*
107481 Butterflies & Blossoms
104065 Fishy
100267 Happy Jacks
107563 Ho Ho Ho
104312 Hot to Dot
104279 Leaf Prints
106062 Leaves Awash*
107479 Rough around the Edges*
101927 Snowman Fun
107465 Speckled*
105521 Spooky Skyline*
108979 Spotted*
107480 True Hearts
105033 Wings & Things*
* Jumbo Stampin' Around wheels

Santa Claus has come to town!

We managed to make it over to Valley Fair Mall on Sunday morning. Santa was not scheduled to arrive until 11a, but a line was already starting to form when we got there at 10a. Kevin was sweet to wait in line while Keiji and I ran a couple of errands. Ken ran around on one of the video playmats nearby the fast growing line.

Countdown to Santa's appearance... look up and what do we see?



Do you see them? In the window? Reindeer antlers!

We were fourth in line, so it was relatively quick. Ken is in the goofy "show all my teeth" phase. Keiji seemed a bit star struck. lol! This is a picture I took from my camera. Ken is telling Santa what he wants for Christmas.



Ho, ho, ho!!
Jane

Love me some Bellas!

Em has done it again. Another super cute bella, just in time for the Bella Ball at SCS!
Introducing, MwahBella!

There was a prechallenge to get a picture of ourselves as one of our favorite Bellas.
I couldn't help myself.



Still waiting for my Bowlin'Bella!

Here's My Bella Challenge cards!

# 1 - Kerianne's Tri-fold Card Challenge:


#2 - AmyR Sketch Challenge:


mwah!
Jane

It's time to say goodbye!

It's that time again to say goodbye to a few good stamps.
Here's the Stampin' Up! retiring list by page and by alphabetical order.

Aside from all of the hostess sets that I will have to set aside, I am happy to say that only twelve stamp sets will be put away for personal use only. It's hard to say goodbye to "Silly Sealife" since I got it just a couple of months ago. It's such a cute set! And having Print Pattern and French Script background stamps retired in the last round was really difficult. Now Linen is being retired. Phooey.

Well, if there are any stamp sets on the retiring list you have to have, now is the time to get it!

Cheers!
Jane

Wrapping Up The Holidays with Stampin' Up!

From now thru December 15th, Stampin' Up! is helping you wrap up the holidays! They are offering specials on wrapping paper, ribbon, gift card holders, tag-making supplies and more!

Color Flyer

Item Number - Description - Price
112409 Holiday Tag Bundle $ 4.95
110380 Tags for All Stamp Set* $24.76
110264 Designer Gift cards* $ 4.55
109862 Chocolate Chip satin ribbon* Buy 1, get 1 free!
109863 Purely Pomegranate satin ribbon* Buy 1, get 1 free!
112410 Tin 3-Pack $ 9.95
110147 Celebration wrapping paper* $17.95
110228 Hand Selected Accents & Elements $ 8.21

* This item is from the current Holiday Mini Collection. Only this and other items indicated will be extended through the campaign period while supplies last. All other Holiday Mini items will be available until November 30.

There is no limit to the number of items a customer may purchase, but Holiday Mini items are available only while supplies last.

The Holiday Tag Bundle includes 30 of each of the following pieces:
-Whisper White card stock
-Real Red textured card stock
-Soft Sky Prints Designer Series Paper (Dotted Diamond pattern)
-Real Red twill tape

The pieces for this bundle make 15 cellophane bag toppers that are perfect for neighbor or teacher gifts.

The satin ribbon offer (buy one, get one free) is good on both the Purely Pomegranate and Chocolate Chip ribbon. You may select any combination of ribbon for their free ribbon. For example, you can buy one Chocolate Chip and choose a second Chocolate Chip or a Purely Pomegranate ribbon for the free ribbon!

The Tin 3-Pack contains three empty Accents & Elements tins. These tins have never been available for purchase separately! Terrific for altering as stocking stuffers!

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

Some have asked about why I haven't posted in such a long time.
I have missed you too! I have been having severe migraine attacks for a few months now and it has become worse with the vertigo and nausea. Thankfully, I have found a chiropractor and massage therapist who have helped relieve a lot of the pressure and pain. X-rays have shown that I sustained trauma to my spine in the car accident back in 2006. And there seems to be fused vetebral bodies that I have had all my life. Next stop is to see a neurologist.

Anyways, I just wanted to get back online and wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving.

xoxo
Jane

What happened to August?

I can not believe it's the end of August! And I didn't blog once during the entire month.
It's been a long month and I am really glad it's coming to an end.
I have been working on different projects, including a submission to Stampin' Up! I will start posting again this weekend, so keep checking back in.

Tomorrow will be a very long day for the Matsumoto family.
The Matsumoto siblings, husbands and wives, and children will all be flying out to Los Angeles for Grandma's funeral service at 2p. Kevin has been in Taiwan this week, so he will fly from SFO and meet up with us at LAX. His grandma (father's side) suffered a massive stroke on Thursday and passed away on Saturday. We are all very sad and will miss her. She was going to be 90 years old in November.

Preschool starts for Ken next week. I will start working with the 2 yr olds (Tot Time) on Wednesday. Keiji will be in my class. I am really excited and can't wait for my class to meet! I get the feeling Keiji will rule the roost with my being the teacher. lol!

I have to get dinner ready and the boys in a bath. It has been so hot and humid the past few days! With the boys in bed relatively early, I might be able to get some stamping done!
Just wait until I show you the "Teacher Appreciation" gift I am working on. It's a notebook made up of clasped envelopes, decorated with Cutie Pie DSP and pretty ribbon. And it comes with a matching beaded pen!

Inky hugs,
Jane

Workshop Cards

Hostess club and Japanese workshop cards:

Baby Wipe Technique and Crinkled Ink Technique:



Pick-A-Petals stamp set, Holidays & Wishes stamp set


A Baroque Christmas Card:


Baroque Motifs stamp set, Shimmery White cardstock, new In-Colors (Wild Wasabi, Purely Pomegranate), Rhinestone Brads!


Tri-fold Cami style Christmas Card:


Fun & Fast Notes stamp set, Whimsy Wheel, new Scallop Punch


Cheers!
Jane

My first rock concert!

Sunday night, Kevin took me to my first rock concert. Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo at the Mountain Winery.

We ate dinner at Crepe Danielle:


We made our way up to the "winery in the sky":

(the most amazing view overlooking San Jose)

The concert was opened by Lennon Murphy.
I was blown away by this woman. It was just her and her keyboard and she was incredible!
So much so that I bought her CD and got in line for her autograph. Then Kevin encouraged me to get back in line and ask her to have a picture taken with me. And she did without any hesitation!

Can you see I can't stop beaming? lol!
Lennon... if you ever read this... YOU ROCK MY WORLD, GIRL!

Then of course, the one and only Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo.


OMG! What an amazing concert! Can you believe it's the first time Kevin has seen them live? Most of you will know what a Benatar fan Kevin is. So it's so cool that we were able to experience this together. This experience is right up there with my wedding and the births of my children. Seriously.

xoxo
Jane

Bridal Shower Cake (part deux)

I woke up this morning and took a look at my bridal shower cake for Meredith.
Here's what it looked like (it's also in the post down below):



I didn't like it... looked kinda plain.
Please leave me comments on what you think...
There's always room for improvement! lol!

Here's what it looks like now:


Off to get ready for the bridal shower!
Have a wonderful Sunday, my friends.

Jane

Bridal Shower Cake

My friend, Meredith, is going to have her bridal shower tomorrow afternoon.
I purchased 2 bath towels, 2 hand towels, and 2 wash cloths off of her bridal registry, and made a towel cake as a gift. The white tulle, moss green tulle, and orchids are from Michael's.



** I noticed that there have been a lot of traffic from Google for this post.
If you are coming in directly from there, you may not be able to see that I had updated this bridal shower cake the next day! Here's a link to what the "cake" ended up looking like:
http://whoopsiedaisy-jane.blogspot.com/2007/07/bridal-shower-cake-part-deux.html

If you like what you see, please leave comments... would love to hear what you think of the cake.

Happy Mail!

My Big Sister over at SCS (DDSS Round 8) sent me this happy mail:


She sent me a card before this to wish me congrats on reaching my first year as an SU! demo too.

I LOVE happy mail!!

Speaking of which, I wanted to also thank those from the DDSS Birthday group who sent me birthday cards over the past couple of weeks. Thank you for making me feel so special!

I am working on uploading the instructions for the mini wallet / photo holder, as well as a tri-fold card, which we will be making at the Techniques Workshop / Hostess Club meet next Sunday. Hoping to get that posted for you tomorrow.

Cheers,
Jane

Waterfall Cards Instructions

Thank you, Hostess Club members, for patiently waiting all this time for the following instructions for a Waterfall Card. This is such a great "wow" card that is easy to assemble, once you get one done.

Supplies:
Neutral Colored Cardstock (Whisper White)
Colored Cardstock (Barely Banana, Soft Sky, Groovy Guava, Wild Wasabi, Purely Pomegranate)
Assorted Stamps and Ink (Bundle of Joy) (Close to Cocoa, Creamy Caramel, Purely Pomegranate, So Saffron, Mellow Moss, Pretty in Pink, Pale Plum)
Paper Trimmer with a scoring blade
Eyelets and tools
Punch (Horizontal Slot)
Ribbon (Red Gingham)
Scissors
Adhesive (Sticky Strip Tape, Snail)


Neutral Cardstock: (1) 5-1/4" x 8", (4) 1-7/8" x 1-7/8"
Colored Cardstock: (4) 2" x 2", (1) 5-1/2" x 4-1/4", (1) 9" x 2", (1) 3/4" x 4"


Fold the 5 1/4" x 8" Neutral Cardstock in half:


Stamp as desired:


Stamp on the four 1-7/8" x 1-7/8" Neutral Cardstock squares:


Color as desired:


Mount onto the four 2" x 2" Colored Cardstock squares:


Score the 9" x 2" Colored Cardstock with scoring blade:
Start at the end of the strip and score at 2", 2-3/4", 3-1/2", and 4-1/4"


Fold along the scored lines:


Attach 3/4" x 4" Colored Cardstock strip to the front of the folded cardstock with eyelets:


Attach scored strip to the horizontal strip by sliding the long unscored side under the horizontal strip.

Add a strip or two of Sticky Strip tape along the bottom of the scored square:

Adhere to the horizontal strip:


Attach first image (will be the last image of the waterfall card after assembled).
The entire 2" x 2" cardstock should be glued down to the first square of the horizontal strip.


Attach next image by adding a strip of Sticky Strip tape along the top of the 2" x 2" cardstock. Adhere along the scored line and do the same with the other 2 images:


Punch a hole on the bottom strip:


Attach a ribbon and glue down to the 5-1/2" x 4-1/4" Colored Cardstock:


When you pull the ribbon, your images should "flip" like this:


* Update * 3/23/08 Punny Waterfall Card

Post here if you have any questions or comments!

Please remember, all text, photos, and designs are the intellectual and legal property of Jane Izumi Matsumoto ©2007.
Please do not copy and paste!

Jane

Refresh your Pick A Petals card

Thank you for swapping with me! I am looking forward to getting your cards from AJ!
If you were in the SCS Fall/Winter Preview Swap, Group 5, you received a "Pick A Petal" card that looks like this:



If your petals got squashed down during mailing, then simply curl the petals under with your fingertips like this:



Your petals will curl under to look like this:


Some have asked how I stamped "Cherish" across the middle of the flowers. The "Cherish" stamp is from Baroque Motifs stamp set. I colored each letter individually in Chocolate Chip Marker and stamped them one at a time in an arch. So color in "C" and stamp... clean the stamp... ink up "h", stamp, clean... ink up "e"... etc.

Post all questions and comments here and I will get back to you asap.

Jane

Happy 4th of July!!

I'm back online! Woo hooo! It seemed like our host blog site was down for a few days. I have quite a few posts to make, so bear with me.

First of all, we took our boys on a surprise trip down to Disneyland. It turned out to be a long 8 hour drive (there's a long story attached to the long drive, but that's for another time)... but certainly well worth it. We made a stop in Los Angeles to visit with Nana.



That evening, after checking into the hotel and saying goodnight to the boys, I headed out to meet up with Joni (kix) from 2ScrappyChixDesigns. I have chatted and swapped with this incredibly talented lady for a couple of years now and although she lives down in Southern California, we have never met! Well here we are, having a terrific time (picture was taken by her beautiful and equally talented daughter):



Something I stamped for Joni:


And now... a few pictures from our trip to Disneyland:

THE castle... taken just as the sun is going down, before the fireworks show:


Dumbo!


Keiji learns to drive:


Awwwww.... just barely missed being able to ride the Bumper Cars:


Bumpity bump bump!!


Finding Nemo Ride... 2 - 3 hours in line and let me tell ya it was worth it!!



A couple of pirates in training:


Winnie the Pooh... I love you!!!


And Tigger too!


Ken's favorite ride was Buzz Lightyear (10 times!!) and this photo-op was the highlight of his day!


We met a mouse...


Not but certainly not least...
Home at last:


Thanks for looking... it was our best trip to Disneyland yet!

Jane