Monday, June 25, 2012

Meet Mariko!

 Welcome to our first Introductory Post for our special Release #8!  As I already shared with you, Release #8 marks our 1 year birthday celebration!  Woo Hoo!  Still can't believe it's been a whole year already.

So, for those of you who follow my personal blog, you may have seen this little girl pop up here and there along the way... Meet Mariko!  She's comes bearing gifts.. and what's a birthday without gifts?  She was originally supposed to be a Christmas release stamp since she is holding a gift, but since gift giving occurs year round, we thought it was more fitting to release her during our birthday party!



Mariko is named after my CBFF (Crafty BFF) Debi!  Debi has helped me from before day 1 of Sister Stamps and has been my sounding board, voice of reason, and source of inspiration for the past couple of years now.  She really is more than a CBFF, she's my stamping sister!!  How fitting then to name this image after her.  When I was thinking of a name, I immediately thought of her since she is so giving and sweet, just like this image.

I was inspired by this tutorial on one of our retailer's sites.. All That Scraps!  This easy peasy gift card holder was the perfect project for all of the store samples.  All you have to do is score here, score there, fold, tape and you're done!  This will be one of the projects we will be making at some of the make 'n takes on Oahu next month.



And here's some of the samples I made for the retail and online stores.  Love me all of those Doodlebug papers!  Since they are 2-sided, it takes the guest work out of worrying if the inside will coordinate with the outside.



So now for the fun part... Wanna chance to win Mariko?  Here's all you have to do:
1)  Leave a comment on THIS POST by June 30, 2012 11:59pm HST.
2)  Become a follower on this blog if you are not already.  Please follow publicly so that we can verify.
3)  Tell me about your favorite birthday gift!  I can't wait to hear...

And stop by this whole week for more Release #8 fun!

28 comments:

  1. Mariko is so cute and those projects looks awesome. My favorite birthday gift I would say is my Nikon DLSR, first ever and I Love it.

    Hugs,
    kate

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  2. Oh my gosh, Mariko is super cute!!! And the gift card holders are FAB! Hmmm... my favorite birthday gift? So many wonderful memories, but one I always remembered when I was in junior high, my mom brought me a big huge pineapple pizza and an extremely chocolate cheesecake... the best part, there were only 2 of us, we were eating them for days. LOL!

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  3. mariko is a cutie!! love her! and adorable giftcard holders too with the doodlebug papers! as for favorite bday gifts, i love when my kids make me cards!

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  4. Aw she is sweet! This is a terrific idea, I will have to try it since you mentioned it was easy to make. the paper goes perfect with Mariko, bright & cheerful!
    My favorite bday gift was the day all my co-workers made me a card. Normally I am the one to make the cards for our birthday group, but on my birthday they each made me one (yep all handmade). It was pretty cool.
    *:)

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  5. Mariko is cute!! And love the card sets. I've been following your blog for a while now and my favorite birthday present to this day was from my 9th birthday when my dad surprised me with birthday cake at midnight during our vacation on the beach. We followed with shrimp catching on the lake.

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  7. I love that Mariko is holding a gift. She is precious!
    My favorite gift was when my kids were young & they decided to take me to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory; I love cheesecake & had wanted to try the restaurant. They surprised me even more by having the waiters/waitresses sing Happy Birthday when they brought me a piece of cheesecake for dessert!

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  8. Oh, I just love this stamp! I'm also a Mariko and my birthday is this week, and is that kismet or what? My favorite birthday present has got to be my iPhone. Now, if I can only be as kawaii and young as Mariko...

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  9. Mariko is so cute! I have received many thoughtful and generous gifts for my b-days, but I think the one that tops it off is the b-day party that three of my good friends threw for me for my 40th b-day. The party was a Hello Kitty crafting party. It was perfect! I visit your blog off and on, but just became a follower a few minutes ago.

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  10. Perfect stamp all year round - Mariko is so cute . I have fond memories of my birthday when my oldest son and his family came home from the mainland to celebrate with me and my younger son bought a whole case of crab legs to steam for my party . Yep best present is being with family

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  11. Congratulations on your first anniversary! So glad that I discovered your stamps at Ben Franklin when I was in Maui in December.

    Mariko is so adorable! Love her. My favorite bday present is my watch that then boyfriend (now husband) gave me! I still wear it now - its been 10 years!

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  12. OH MY HECK! How cute is she!!! LOL I think I always say the same things when I see a new release, Jenny! :P ABSOLUTELY perfect for all year round.

    My favourite birthday presents so far (sorry, I have to add in two, lol) is the time that my boyfriend surprised me with the camera that had been wanting for awhile and needed a new one, too! The other was when he took me to a very posh French restaurant and we wined and dined all evening just enjoying each other's time. :) I am enjoying all the different stories that everyone is sharing.

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  13. She is totally adorable! I could definitely see her on birthday and Christmas cards...or so many cards and projects!

    My favorite birthday present is the Nook reader that my husband gave me last year! Since I got it, I've read so many more books...it's so convenient to take along wherever I go!

    I've been a follower of your blog for a while...love seeing all the fun things you all do with each release of your super-cute stamps! :)

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  14. Squeee, Mariko is adorable!! You're right, she's totally great year round for many different occasions! Love her!

    I follow the blog and Facebook, too.
    My favorite birthday gift was actually just last month, my husband got me an awesome vintage inspired cubby shelf for all my inks, mists, and other random littles that were taking up too much room on my desk.

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  15. Love the new stamp. My best B'day gift was a 10 day trip to HI. I fell in love with The Islands and came back and stayed for 23 years.

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  16. WOW Jenny! These are great!!! I can't believe how fast the year has gone. Congratulations and continued success to Sister Stamps!!!

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  17. Mariko is so cute and a great addition to the family! I've been following your blog since around last August.
    My favorite bday was when my (then) boyfriend and I went to Maui for vaca & to visit his sister. We drove to Ho'okipa to watch the surfers and he surprised me and proposed. We had been together for about 9 years then. We celebrated my bday a couple of days later. What an exciting trip it was!

    Congratulations on the birthday!

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  18. Hey Jenny! Luv that you name these cuties after real people and that it has so much meaning behind them. Congratulations on your 1 year and I wish you and Denise many more years of success with Sister Stamps!

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  19. Yay Sisterstamps... Congrats! Wow one year already. I wish you continued success!

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  20. i love this stamp! congrats on your one year anniversary!

    i'm a follower of your blog.

    i have had many favorite birthday gifts. my friend gave me a small stuffed puppy doll during my first year of college.

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  22. Thanks for your help answering my questions Jenny. Sorry for the previously deleted post. I'm still learning. I am public following your blog as JW. Not sure how that works....I guess I'll learn....hahaha

    Congratulations on a whole year of totally cute stamps! I especially love these new ones.

    My favorite birthday was the one when my now husband flew from the east coast to the west coast to celebrate my birthday with me when we first started dating. And this was a few days AFTER spending almost a week driving from the west coast to the east coast!

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  23. Mariko is so cute.

    Yah Hoo .... you made one year....congratulations!!!

    My favorite birthday gift ... receiving a gift card to shop at a local craft store.

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  24. my favorite bday gift was diamond earrings from my husband - totally surprised me!!!

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  25. Jenny - These are adorable! I won't repeat what will be on my blog, but I'm giddy with excitement to have an image named after me. Thanks so much!

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  26. Super KAWAII! I have been so waiting for the release of Mariko ever since I saw her on your blog! Hmmm...a favorite birthday gift? I've had so many birthdays that it's hard to choose! But nowadays, my favorite "gift" is for anyone to remember my birthday and to have them say "Happy Birthday!". Makes me feel so special!

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  27. I have been in love with these adorable little stamps since I first saw them on Mama's blog a year ago and have been a follower since. I wasn't sure they could get any cuter back then...but OMG, I'm smitten by Mariko!

    Fav birthday "gift" was to myself....getting in shape, losing weight and running my first (and only) 7K on my 50th.

    Happy Birthday to Sister Stamps!!!

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  28. Mariko...a very lovely name for a very pretty, sweet, and talented gal. How wonderful to name this sweet image after Debi! I wish you and Denise many, many more years of success! Love this project, too!

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