Twisty Lei for Lauhala Hat

When I first got here, I went to the local farmers' market in Kekaha. There was a little Filipino man there who made lauhala hats. I tried them on, but they were WAY too small. I have a big head, no pun intended! :) Anyway, he told me if I came back the following week, he'd make one for my big head. And he did! A REALLY big one!! Mind you, these hats are alot of work! All that weaving! And I don't know if he even prepped his own leaves! Yikes!

So this last week, with all the crocheting going on, I decided to crochet what's called a "Twisty Lei" to put around my hat. It's a combo of rattail & fluffy kine yarn. I think it fits the hat well. I've learned so many things here on Kaua'i...wait until you see my feather leis!!! LOL!! (That's a joke 'cuz some of us take years to finish just ONE!)

The Packing Angel!

Ya ever heard of the packing angel? Well this is the guy version of one! I have a girlfriend version of him on the mainland who helped me move 5 times in 2 years! Bless them both!!!

So I go thru' everything, separate what goes, stays with pals, gets donated, etc...then this angel flies in and packs it all! Even without a.c.!!! Look! There's just a fan going next to him! Ack!

And above you'll see our spare room is getting more full of boxes...as the rest of our house gets more empty! Yikes! Dreams are coming true!

Crochet Lesson for Lovely Ladies!

So lately, when peeps find out I'm leaving the island, they want to learn a few things I happen to know. I've taught basket making, weaving, beading...but lately it's been crochet! A few weeks back I taught one pal, & now this weekend I taught 3 beautiful women their first crochet stitches! They all did FABO, in spite of the fact I'm not the best with words. Much better with my hands! LOL! I wish them all the best on their creative journeys!!

Beauty!

This beautiful flower just fell over in our yard! We rescued it & put it in a place of honor on our front porch...and it honors us with it's beauty!

And before that, one of my bestest friends here brought me some beautiful gardenias she grew in her yard! Oh, the smell! If I could just describe how wonderful it made me feel to get these beauties! The fragrance is so warm & wonderful! I sewed a petal into my art journal so hopefully some of the fragrance will last forever...like my friendship with my pal! Love you, pal!

April BJP - Woman Rune

So I'm still trying to catch up...but as you know from the pics about our move, it may take some time! Anyway, above is April's rune...Woman. This rune signifies shining power & gentle action. By offering our compassion for others, we actually gain strength. This ancient rune is also found on the Egyptians' Doorway to Isis, which they believed led us to the infinite...all life called into being, as well as departure. The branching V is a universal idea which corresponds to the Finnish rune for Ilmater, meaning "water mother". It also was symbolic for the Virgin Mother among Germanic people. Other groups associate this symbol with the magic wand.

The branching V reminds us of the branches of our family tree...reaching back to extended families & generations. Also the branching of the creative imagination, centered & flowering outward. This is the female line, friendship, giving birth, home & protection...everything that is female in nature. It's also stands for nurturers & healers, which can also be men, if they can tap into this. This rune tells us there is an energy present in our lives to soothe & make right whatever is wounded or unresolved. Don't expect fast actions, but others will be receptive to your plans. This is a time of healing, rejuvenation & finding a niche where you can be yourself, where things flourish in a natural way. It can also suggest pregnancy, or the beginning of a new project. It also stands for the wisdom of women, & the witch's magic wand, healer, psychic & women of mystery. Look for fertility in some form when you pick this rune...whether a dwelling place, garden, land, or nurturing center of some kind!

The traditional birthstone of the month is Crystal or Diamond, so I used the beads I had that were closest to that for the background. I also used matte black beads for the actual rune symbol. Black contains all colors, & reminds me of the Goddess who watches over us all.

Again, all the information gathered above comes from "A Witch's Runes", by Susan Sheppard.

Note: I'm finding these runes to be interesting in light of the recent accusations of children in Africa being tortured because they are believed to be "witches". I am saddened by the abuse that is happening to them in the name of religion. If we could educate people into the true history of so called "witches", maybe these innocent children would never be abused again!

WIP Simply Charming Bracelet

I decided I wanted to make a charm bracelet with only handmade charms on it! Well, maybe a few special personal charms I've been given will be added also! Along with the charms I made for the swap with my pal, I've also made these little charms above. One is a beaded fish using a real fishing barrel swivel for the attachment. The other is a beaded Swarovoski crystal & seed bead heart. I already had the bracelet finding, I just need the special charms. I think my next ones may involve fabric!

Swaps! Not to be forgotten!!!

OK...finally got some pics of swaps with my neighbor pal!!! These first 2 pics were from swaps a few weeks back...these are what she swapped to me!! Gotta love those little "Round Tuit" pieces! And the lovely little cane pieces. May have to use one of them on a new WIP!

This is this week's swap! We do whatever we feel like, so this week she made me these 2 sparkly ATCs! They are more magic in person! Gotta love glitter, but it can be hard to photograph for me!

And since I'm doing this certain WIP, I made her the 2 charms you can see below:

Kept 2 for myself for my WIP!

RAAKed!!!

Some of you may have read I was RAAKed just a little bit ago by a pal...you can see her site here! I think she has a different Flickr account where she shows her beautiful art! Anyway, after my last post, she asked me if I realized the flap on top opened! I hadn't! I kept pushing it down thinking the humidity in Hawaii was making the glue come undone! So I quickly got out my new personalized magnet box, & lo, & behold...it opens! I wondered why she hadn't signed her name to her art! And here was this wonderful note you can see below:

She is such a sweetie! And has a certain style about her that I can tell anywhere! Below you can see the pic she sent me to show me how it was originally sent. What a wonderful surprise! Thanks, sweetie!

Photography Issues

Neophyte photographer here!!! I'm trying to learn about taking better photographs. Most of the time "natural light" photos turn out the best. However, if you don't know what you are doing, you may turn off your flash & think that the kitchen light is "natural light". Well, it's not. The photo to the left was taken with just the kitchen light & no flash...while I was thinking, "Cool! Natural Light!". You can't even see the blue color of the bin! Then I took one with a flash...and guess what? The colors are more true in the photo at the right! So without taking classes, it sure is slow learning! Trial and error!

Don't tell my DOCTOR!!! Please!!!

For those of you who don't know, there are many variety of bananas, alot of which grow on Hawaii. Some are not as sweet as those on the mainland, and are sometimes fried. Well, we haven't had fried foods in SO LONG!!! But now that we're leaving, we want to try everything! My Sweetie Pal in Malaysia taught us how we could fry up some "banana fritters"! You can see her greeting card site here! She has other sites, but this one can get you started. SO...above you slice your starchy kine bananas.

Then you get your oil hot...well, your DH does that since you are a chicken! You dip the bananas in a combination of flour, body temp water & a pinch of salt, then fry them in the hot oil. (And if you are MY DH, you also cut up some onions to fry up afterward!) :)

Once they are done & nicely browned, you can either let them drain, or you can dip them in some sugar, or sugar & cinnamon. Here's some below:

YUMMY!!!

I personally like them dipped in sugar & cinnamon!!! However, my DH really enjoyed the first ever fried onion rings he's ever made, as you can see below!

But please don't tell our doctors! Really...we haven't ever done this before! LOL!

Follow the Red Dirt Road!

In February we finally got our life map finished. You can see it above. For those of you who haven't heard, we are leaving The Garden Isle for the Land of Enchantment! Pretty much Oz to me! Yahoo! We plan on just heading out to some temporary housing in Albuquerque until we find our home. We have been looking online for a long time, & decided, instead of wasting a "house-hunting trip", we'd just go & look for ourselves! We plan on being in New Mexico by August!

Below you can see some of the things we've been donating...or giving away to pals. There's still alot to go, but we want to get rid of as much "stuff" as we can so we don't have to ship it. A few of you may recognize that bed! LOL!

My DH has been busy as a bee packing every day!!! Bless him!!! This has allowed me to continue to create...and teach...and cry...I will miss this home of ours! But we are ready for this new adventure!

More books to give away!!! They weigh so much to ship!

And there goes the truck with another load to donate! The house is getting emptier every day!

And lastly is our little dream catcher we keep outside of our bedroom. It reminds me that all of our good dreams will come true!

Wish us well on our journey! I will be changing over my email to my gmail account. So if you don't get me here on The Garden Isle, you can catch me out in cyber space before we land in The Land of Enchantment. My gmail account is: hrhccGM@gmail.com

Happy trails to us!!!

More hemp...

So, someone seems to like hemp! That's a good thing! They saw the last hemp stash bag I made & ordered one for themselves! I only had a little left, so this little guy is only about 3" by 3.5", but it still will hold a few things & last a very long time!

I've been RAAKed!!!

For those of you who don't know, a RAAK is a Random Act of Art Kindness...kinda like a Random Act of Kindness, but in this case, someone sends you a surprise piece of art they made for you! In this case, one of my e-pals sent me a personalized box of magnets she made just for me! I met her on a Yahoo group we are both in. You can find her site here! She doesn't show alot of her art on her blog, but she has such a beautiful style! I wish she would show more! :)

Here you can see as I opened the box what I found!

And here is a close up of the personalized magnets! How fun!

Thank you so much, Pal!!!

Happy Mom's Day!!!

Happy Mothers' Day to you all

with warmest aloha!

Beaded Bottle Birthday Gift!

This little beaded bottle was for a pal's birthday. I did some beaded netting around it, & then did some freeform peyote stitch to fill in the bottom. It was fun & she liked it! Yea!

Vial Holder Knotless Netting Necklace

This is a little knotless netting waxed linen vial holder necklace I made for a pal who uses essential oils, & likes to carry some in a little brown bottle with her. She had given me some "JOY" in one of the little bottles, so I fashioned this holder just for her!

Hemp Stash Bag

So...in another lifetime this little stash bag would've been used in a much different way! (Or so I've been told!) ;) But now you can use it to hold little bits of leftover soaps, a deck of cards, or any of those loose bits that fly around in your purse! I made this one for a pal of mine.

Swap Time

My pal was a little behind on swaps, so I got 4 inchies this time! Now we're both caught up on those at least! :) I may drill holes in these to put on a charm bracelet. Or....

Trying to Catch Up!

Ack! Trying to get caught up on my BJP project. This is as far as I've gotten for April! Hopefully I can finish April & May this month! Whew!

Blogoversary Give Away!

Hi, all! Remember these little critters??? Well, it's almost my Blogoversary & I found out that some bloggers have give-aways on those days. Well, I couldn't think of what to give away! Something I made? Something I designed? I had no clue until...one day someone asked me if I would give them some of my patterns for the Tin Folk (goddess dolls) that I made to fit in Altoid tins. Well, now...that sounded like a good idea! I had already researched a bunch of goddess forms, sketched versions of them, including a pecked owl goddess petroglyph form, and had mounted them on board for myself. But if I could let someone use the same patterns for personal use, why not? Plus it would help recycle all those old tins! You could make a goddess, or in my case, Tin Folk, & use the tin as a home for the doll, or gift box! Also, these are small enough that you could use the patterns to make ornaments & then use the tins as keepsake boxes. How you would decorate the tins would be up to you.

So...my Blogoversary is May 24th! That's like almost 3 weeks from now. I will have to retrace the forms onto a sheet to make a pattern, but I think I could get it done in that time. (What's adding one more thing to the list?) ;)

Here's the deal...if anyone wants a copy of a FEW of my patterns for wee dolls that will fit in an Altoid tin, I will email you a copy of the sheet of patterns. You may use these for your personal use, or for pin money, but please to not sell, or give away, my patterns. Hopefully you will be able to use them as gifts, and help our planet by recycling those tins!!! This offer is only good until my Blogoversary, & after I have created the page to email you! I hope that's clearer than mud! :)

So leave a comment, or email me (I will need your email to send the sheet) that you would like the patterns, & I will send them to you as soon as I can. Happy Blogoversary to me!!! Enjoy!

Another WIP

Above is another WIP using the same yarn as the other WIP...I wonder how many things I could make out of one skein??? You can also see an earring on this one that I tried to use as a stitch holder. It kept getting caught since this is a small project. So I switched to an earring finding. It sure was pretty seeing it along with the yarn tho'!

WIPs

Above is a WIP...Work In Progress. It started with knotless netting, where you can see the blue, plastic needle, but it was slow going, so it turned into crochet! Now maybe I'll be able to get it done in this lifetime! :)

And above is a helpful hint...if you don't have any crochet stitch holders, you can always use an earring finding! After the first day of flu, I could only do a few things. I just didn't have the energy to do anything but get well. So crochet comes to me naturally. It passed the time when time was going so slowly! Yikes!!! Can you tell what it will be?

Flu & Cut Finger

OK...not gonna be much of a weekend update. I had the flu this week, & today I just sliced my finger while making a sandwich. Oweee!!!! So in case there's any mis-spellings or errors, please excuse them. Luckily it was my left hand, but I still need that pointy finger to type & do other things! Poo!!!