I'm a Winner!

Aloha everyone,
I thought I would take a break and not post again until tomorrow, but this can't wait.  I received from Cindy at Whimsical Musings this beautiful Autumn collage and gorgeous tag! I won her give-away contest.  I was so excited when I found out.

http://cindyadkinswhimsicalmusings.blogspot.com

  By the way, if anyone would like to know how to tweak your blog, make it more user friendly for yourself and your followers and even get more followers, you must go to her blog now.  She's having an online seminar called Blogging 101.  Oh, did I mention it's free? As in from the heart?!
Aloha,

Backpack Favors for the Birthday Party!

Aloha everyone,
It's been one hectic week since returning from my trip to Nevada.  I spent the entire week concentrating on making these backpacks that my daughter used as  party favors bags for her daughter's party.  It was  a small party just my grandchildren (8 of them) , my neighbor's little son, and a cousin of the birthday girl.  I just made nine bags since the newborn is well, newborn.  Though that would have been a sight to see her with a miniature one!
The theme for this party was "My Little Pony".  I couldn't find any fabric in her theme, so I thought I might look for it while on my trip.  Long story short---zippo.  But, this is what I came up with for the little girls.

What I did was photo copy a picture from a MLP storybook onto fabric to  create a pocket as the focal point of the bag.  The outer fabric is a pink star print that has a shimmer of glitter.  The lining and straps is a stripe. 
That's not all, for the oldest grandchild, I did a photo copy (again on fabric) of Justin Bieber for her bag.  I reversed her bag; stripes for the outer and shimmering pink for the lining.

Sorry for the blurry photo

But wait, there's more (sounds like, as seen on tv huh?).  The boys were the easiest, I just used fabric that had the "Cars" print as liner, pocket and straps, using a solid blue for the outer fabric.

The bags are about 12x10x2.5 inches, so there was plenty of room for the goodies planned for it.  
The party was a success, party girl was happy, mommy and daddy were happy, grammie was glad, but oh so tired.
Have a wonderful rest of the week, thanks for stopping by for a visit.
Aloha,

A Child Is Born! And A Much Needed Vacation From a Vacation

Finally our newest family member has arrived. Kira entered the world on 9/11 at a hefty weight of 9 pounds.  I'm not biased (hah) but I must say, she is a beautiful baby!  Not sure when I can post a pic of this beautiful bundle of joy, but as soon as I get permission, I will do just that.
I'm finally home from my trip and am trying to play catch up in blogland.  Why I didn't access any blogs while away (hello, I did take my ipad2), is a mystery.
I got home Friday in the middle of the day, dashed over to my daughter's to see Kira, hubby helped make dinner for the family, we ran several errands before heading home and by the time we finally did get home it was well into the dinner hour.
Saturday morning I went to the BFC 60th Anniversary party in Mapunapuna, dashed off to the Trade show to p/u supplies for DD and myself, then finally back to DD's house to share the spoils.
This is the make and take project I did at BFC that Cheryl taught and we received this party favor as we walked into the store.

CD holder/card and party favor

 We used the BigShot Pro die to cut a CD holder, then deocorated the top closure.  This is such a cool project in that it could be used as a greeting card, adding a CD that has photos of a previous Christmas or other occasion and it becomes a greeting card and gift.  How cool is that?!
Well I have a bunch of party things to put together for GD #2, it's this coming weekend.  Thank goodness my daughter likes to keep the parties small. I'll keep you posted.
Aloha for now,

Weekend of crafting

Aloha everyone,
It's been an uneventful weekend in that my daughter did not give birth yet. We're waiting patiently, hoping she'll give birth before we leave on our trip.
In the meantime, I was able to enjoy a couple of fun crafting days. Ben Franklin Crafts threw a wonderful Super Party of make and takes, a demo of the Eclips machine and a One-stroke painting demo on Saturday at their Pearl City Store.  Eileen Tokita, formerly known as the "Egg Lady", now known as the "Bling Lady" was there teaching you how to bling whatever you want with Swarovsky crystals.

notebook, box-card, slider-card, glass-tile pendant

 What's not up in the photo is a bracelet that was made using the Kumihimo wheel and seed beads that was taught by Raynette. I'll post that photo later 'cause I made more that one.  Hehehe.

Then on Sunday the Pacific Coast Stampers' had their end of Summer stamp camp. I look forward to these events, seeing friends and enjoying their company, the fun of creating with each other and the surprise of who wins the silent auctions, raffles and door prizes.

three darling boxes and a bookmark

Check out the goodies that we got as we checked in at the door.  Some were in or on our kit package .

goodies just for attending, YUM

That's it for now, have a great time and be safe.
Aloha,

Reunions, BFF, and Turtles

Aloha everyone!
It's been a fun summer, though very busy.  Summer seems so hot on the mainland, so being here was a treat for my BFF, Cyn.  She arrived on the 4th of August and flew home on the 16th; home being TX.  Can we say HOT?
We did some serious crafting and sewing.  Cyn must have cut about fifty tags with the Cricut to take home for her "Ladies Night"meeting; they'll be decorating them when they meet.
We took some time to visit Cyn's cousin, my classmate Priscilla.  She and her husband Bill own "A Place In Time" located in Kailua.  I hope to have a button on my sidebar for their place soon.  In the meantime click here to see their site www.ptcraftshop.com Their store is spacious and full of sample cards, scrapbooks, boxes, tags etc. along with all the tools and supplies.  If you find the time, you must visit their store; definitely eye candy. While there we learned how to make a 'forever card', otherwise known as an infinity card.  (I'll  tell you more on that in another post).
Back at my workroom we also played with my Bigshot.  Now Cyn is going home to buy herself a BigShot and some diecuts after she saw samples of things I made using the Bigshot and after she learned how easy it is to use.  I did try to talk her into getting either a Cricut or an Eclips, but it was just one of those TMI things for her.  I'll let her get used to the Bigshot for awhile. 
We didn't spend all of our time indoors, we went to the beach too.  No, we didn't swim, I don't think we even went into the water.  We picked up coral, driftwood and a few beach glass and shells.  Would you believe she took home a gallon size zip-bag of coral and shells? The driftwood was packed separately. We're not in love with the stuff, but we do craft with them.  Always thinking about and doing something creative, that's us.
While out along the north shore we stopped at my favorite place to watch the turtles play along the shoreline.

phone photo-click picture to enlarge

Back at my workroom we did some sewing.  One of the things I showed Cyn was how to make a pareo so that it wouldn't flap open while wearing it.  So off to the fabric store to pick up Hawaiian print fabric.  Don't tell, but some people in TX will be getting them as gifts.
Forgive me, I don't usually post long, but I had such a wonderful time, I just had to share.
Now in between my BFF's visit, my husband had a 60th birthday class reunion.  You know us local people, we think of anything to get together and have a celebration.  Well, DH was part of the planning committee and volunteered my services to make one of the centerpieces.  Since this was a birthday reunion, what better thing to make than a birthday cake.

Happy 60th!

This is made from a set of nesting gift boxes that I covered in the school colors. I used the Cricut design studio to weld the letters together at the top of the cake and the CHS. 
Well, Bff is home in TX,  reunion is done and I need a rest.  However, DD is about to give birth any day now.  Traditionally, I'm either in the birthing room with her or I'm with her other children.  This time (5th) I'll be with the children until they can visit mommy in the hospital.  Let you know the outcome, for now....
Aloha,