Small Tags & Chocolate Feltie House

Yesterday at Lisa's house, I saw this adorable paper tag necklace that she made when she took a class from Connie Govea Stuart. I just loved it and had to try and make one myself. At the suggestion of Lisa, I reduce images of Catherine Moore stamps and other images and put them on these small 1 1/2" each tags. I worked on it this morning and I'm happy with how they came out. I'm not sure if I should make a necklace with them, or use them in some other way - so you can see them all at once.

On another note, this is a kit that we bought from the Japanese Dept. store in Hawaii. Rachel made it this weekend and it's so cute. It looks good enough to eat! Chocolate Dessert House.

Pat's Celebrations & Class

Today the sisters and I celebrated Pat's Birthday and Retirement by having a class with Lisa Super and then going out to lunch afterwards. It was great to get together with all the sisters at once. It's not often to have all six sisters in one place.

We were so excited to make this project after seeing the finished sample Lisa made. We had so much fun making it and loved how it turned out. Beautiful shadow boxes full of wonderful goodies.

Lisa's house looked great and she even brought Pat a delicious birthday cake...yummy!

Great way to spend a Saturday.

This is one of the gifts I gave Pat for her birthday - I made a small fabric/paper book. It's my first time printing on fabric using my printer...it was great. I used this product called Sew-In Computer Printer Fabric - they sell it in cream color too.

And I have to show what Rachel made last night for a bday party she went to today. This adorable bday card with a cupcake key chain.

Back From Hawaii - Pictures & Journal

We had one of our best vacations this summer and we can't wait to go back again. Here are some of the highlights. Get ready for lots of pictures.

This is our FAVORITE beach, Kailua. The water is so warm and shallow, the sand is so fine and soft and we even saw some fishes too. It wasn't crowded at all.

The kids took the boggie boards out and paddled around.


Snorkeling at Hanauma Bay...the best view of beautiful fishes up close.



We love the water park there. The water is so warm and they have some great slides. We went there twice.


Hiking to the top of Diamond Head. Only 1.5 miles round trip, but it was a steep climb...but so worth it.

Over 150 stairs to the top.

The 360 view was spectacular.


We drove to the north side in search of turtles. This one came on shore for a rest.

Here some pages of my journal that I wrote in everyday. I made the cover from a vintage Hawaiian brochure.

Hawaii Day 3

It's a sight seeing day - we need to take a break from the sun. We went to the kids favorite spot, Byodo Temple. It's beautiful there.


They love to feed the fish.


Next great ramen restaurant find - get's 4 thumbs up!



Highlight of the day - eating Malasadas at Leonard's - really delicious.

Hawaii Day 2

We're at the beach behind Hilton Hawaiian Village - beautiful and not crowded at all.

Kids in the lagoon...water was cold though, it was warmer in the ocean. See the clouds in the sky? It did rain on us several times - but it would only last like a minute.

Our best meal yet at Yotteko-Ya, might even be the best ramen we've EVER had anywhere. We did a search on Yelp for top rated ramen restaurants in Oahu and this one was rated right on top...and we second that!

Their special homemade broth is said to make you look and feel younger...not to mention it was very tasty.

Family Summer Vacation

We're back in our favorite vacation spot. It was a unanimous vote go to back to Hawaii this summer.

I actually enjoyed the plane ride this time - it was so relaxing. I brought so many activities(knitting, journaling, cutting and sudoku) to keep me busy that the time just went by so fast - not to mention we got in 45 minutes early.

I also sat behind this 7 year old boy who was quite a talker and so interested in everything I was doing. It was so cute, he asked me for my phone number so we could stay friends.

We're staying at my sister Diana's place. Check out these palm trees in front of the entrance - never seen this variety anywhere.

We went swimming right away - the kids couldn't wait. The pool was wonderful and the surroundings so beautiful and peaceful...no one else was there. What a great way to unwind and relax.

Here's the journal I made to keep all our Hawaiian memories recorded. I used it last year too and it was so much fun to write in.

4th Of July Weekend & Tin Types...

We hosted a bbq on Sunday with the sisters & the spouses...here's some of the pics from the games we played. We took ideas from the show "Minute to Win It". We had so much fun. The winners were Rocky, Maryl and Fran!













We had great food...thanks everyone for the delicious dishes.

I made the strawberry shortcake for Ron's Bday!

And then the sisters did some art projects. We were inspired by Deryn Mentock and her article in Belle Amoire Jewelry.

These are the necklaces made by Maryl, Diana, Lana and myself...


Fran and I made bday banners for a bday party on Monday...

Happy 4th of July - we hope everyone had a great weekend!