So here I am back home in Florida. My trip was 11 days and the internet at the hotel only worked for the first few days that I was there. I had this whole plan of a step by step journey, now being home since last Tuesday, I look back at my pictures and its as if I was never there, back into the groove......Here are just a few of the things I miss the most about Hawaii....First, this palm tree was the view I had as I laid on the beach every day. I am so tan, now I just have to keep it up for the rest of the year.


Next, the rainbows everyday. Rain comes and goes in Hawaii for just a few minutes and then its gone, but the magic appears immediately, rainbows everywhere and every day!!!! Just beautiful.


Fun and friends. Good friends from around the world and new friends too. Too much fun.

The flowers, oh my, you could never imagine the flowers, the mixture of sweetness and the sea will take your breath away. On every corner, every store, restaurant, sidewalk and every where you look you see fresh wonderful flowers and smell these amazing fresh smells of sweetness and the sea mixed together. Its very rejuvenating.


Oh, my, my I gained at least 6 pounds. I traveled 6 thousand miles for the Eggs Benedict at the Hula Grill and the cheese cake and desserts from Safeway Foods!!!!!!

Hawaii I miss you, see you soon.

Yesterday my friend Kerry wanted to go snorkeling and invited me along. Now when I come to Hawaii with my husband he's totally not into the adventurous side of the island, especially if it involves being part of the food chain in the Pacific Ocean. Well, I must admit I was a little apprehensive, but I gave in because I am the adventurous type. With a 40 minute bus ride to Northeastern side of the island, we jumped aboard the Pacific Passion with Captain Jay for an afternoon of snorkeling, whale and dolphin watching. First, we dove and watched several different species of fish near the North Shore, then it was off for a dive for some turtle watching. Amazing how these creatures move in the water and their curiosity is wonderful, they come right up to you. No pictures to show of these dives since I used a underwater disposable camera. While watching for whales we did see a mother Alaskan humpback whale and her newborn calf, she was keeping her baby afloat in the water.

Aloha my fellow bloggers, this is a 2 part post. First just look at this view from the hotel. This is so perfect that its hard to leave the room at all.

I have coffee in the mornings with friends at the hotel across the street in the picture above, we also go to the beach at this hotel. The Moana, also known as the "First Lady" is one of the oldest hotels in Oahu. The food, decor and staff are top notch, first class indeed.


What a view of the coastline. Yesterday was the Honolulu Festival and the BIG Parade. So many people, we decided to watch the parade from the lanai.




Aloha......

Peaceful Mornings

This morning I left my room about thirty minutes earlier than usual and walked around while I drank my 100% KONA coffee. Once I arrived at the in Hotel where I meet my friends from around the world, I sat and watched the surfers and in the distance there were 3 whales playing. What a way to wake up in the morning with a real coffee high and a view of heaven. Just look at Diamond Head in the distance. The sounds of the waves and doves in the background make this the most peaceful way I know how to enjoy a morning. The coffee was so, so good this morning I went and got another one......WOW.....oh thank heaven for caffeine.

I'm running on empty, and on about 2 hours sleep. My nerves were out of control this morning. I prayed and prayed to be safe during the tsunami warning. It was horrible. I think if it had been during the day, it wouldn't of played so much on nerves. Now 10:45 in the morning waves are still coming in every 25 minutes or so. First thing this morning after the warning was lifted I went and got a cup of coffee and sat at the beach. Slowly the water would go out revealing the rocks on the ocean surface, then many waves would come in and cover them up again. The process takes about 20 - 25 minutes or so. After seeing this now I understand what they meant when they measure the waves, 6 feet is based upon how far the sea level goes down and how high it is at the crest of the sea when it raises. I have walked out to the rocks before and they are about 4 feet deep so the waves have measured at least 4 feet.


We were really lucky here, my thoughts and prayers go out to everyone in California and Oregon who are getting the most damage and to all the people in Japan.

Tsunami Aloha

Well I made it to Hawaii just in time for a Tsunami from the earthquake in Japan. The first 6 foot wave is to hit in 10 minutes. Wish me luck. The sirens are sounding and people are stacked high in the condos and hotels.

More for the Money

Inspiration for this project for my Card's Plus club came from my upline Annette Green. Annette held a fundraiser in late February and she created some wonderful large gift tags for the event. Check out her post on January 25, 2011 here. While I helped Annette at the fundraiser, my mind was working. Now, I don't like to copy someone's work, I couldn't resist with this project. I have decided this year to use less and do more and I wanted to show my club gals how to get a bang for their buck and I believe this did it. All products used are CTMH unless specified.

X5812 Creative Basics Wings Collection only $7.95
C1461 Salutation Seals stamp set
B1364 Take Luck stamp set
Z2114 Cocoa Ink Pad
Z2137 Olive Ink Pad
Z2165 Juniper Ink Pad
X5643 Cocoa Cardstock
1245 Olive Cardstock
X5752 Juniper Cardstock

Other craft supplies:

An arrangement of Cricut shapes, a Martha Stewart punch, a 1 1/4 circle punch, a 1 1/2 circle punch, an assortment of ribbon and a candle tin from my local dollar store.



Now, I have 5 gals in my club and with one paper packet each made 1 of each card and matching tag for a grand total of 24 cards and 24 tags (including the sample)

For the card base, I used 12 x 12 cardstock and was able to get 3 cards from each piece of paper, only using a total of 8 pieces. The card base is 4 x 10 folded in half to make a 4 x 5 card. When cutting the cardstock, I first measured and cut at the 10 inch mark, leaving a 2 x 12 inch piece of cardstock.

You guessed right the 2 x 12 cardstock was used to make the tags. The tags measure 2 x 4, so each remaining strip of cardstock made 3 tags, so no need for more cardstock for the tags.

The ribbon you see here comes with the Creative Basics kit and I had just enough to make all these cards and tags, with about 2 inches of ribbon left over.

Where the Lizards Go

Ok, so I really think my obsessive compulsive disorder is rubbing off on my babies......I honestly can't stop something once I start. Its so bad that sometimes I can't sleep, and if I do sleep, I dream about what ever it was that I was doing or thinking about. Well, this week I noticed that Kimber is getting to be more and more like me everyday.

Every time I let Kimber out, she runs straight for the rain gutter at the end of our back porch. The lizards like to hide behind the gutter or inside of it. She goes absolutely bonkers, barking, jumping, I tell you she is really way out there.......Last week she even got her head stuck in the gutter.

Just look her determination to catch those lizards. Not too sure what she would do if she ever actually caught one, but it sure is fun to watch her go at it........Happy hunting Ms. Kimber....
Now, that's one way to floss your teeth......hehehehehehe.....Here is some trivia for you....... daschunds have over 40 teeth in those tiny little mouths.

Oh Sophia

A card maker at heart, I'm falling in love with scrapbooking. Now, I don't have your traditional family, a most of you know. I have three wonderful and very energetic dachshunds. So my pages will mostly reflect the magical moments they fill my days with. Here is Kimber my youngest, she just turned 1 in January, these pictures are from when she was just a few weeks old.....


I've been trying to get a Magic scrapbook club started and its really hard, but I have some very dedicated friends who tolerate my eagerness to succeed. This group of gals meets with me on the third Thursday of the month and we do the Workshops on the Go from CTMH. This month we did the Sophia Workshop. Now, even a card maker like me can do the layouts in the workshop, so to take it a step further, I design a layout or I choose one from the Magic Book from CTMH. This month I made the first page and the second page was inspired from the Magic Book.


How about these flowers, check out Diane Tuggle's Blog and see how she made these wonderful flowers and where I found my inspiration from.

If you like the layout, check out the cutting measurements below. Have fun.......