A landscape of inspiration

I think it's ok to admit how horrible I've been at keeping up these past couple of months.  It has to do something with 3 young kids, summer vacation, a new school year, a new machine and travel! Eventually one day I'll get back into my routine but until then, I have a little to share.

After several weeks with my new machine, I can officially say it is a work horse of a machine. Would I recommend it? Absolutely.  I love that I am able to see a lot of the inside of the machine so I can clean the nooks and crannies that like to clutter up with fabric fuzz. I was very hesitant about the side bobbin but it's amazing.  Love the knee presser foot lift, so much so that my knee does this really awkward jerk when I go back to my Singer machine.

I'm happy to confess that despite being busy with the kids I have managed to give Juki baby a run for her money.  Most recently I have been excited about recreating landscapes of beautiful Oahu, all done on fabric.  My most favorite part of it all though, is the 2nd to final step, the free motion quilting.  First few tries my hands were very shaky but as I get used to it, build up my confidence, and practice I notice a steadier hand and more of a fluid movement to my designs.

I've gone in to a couple of local galleries to see if they will carry my work.  I will pursue this more once we get back from our trip, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this will all pan out.  I'm gradually growing my inventory in hopes of joining a gallery in the near future.

So we are heading out on a trip for the grand event of our family! My younger brother is getting married.  And with only 2 weeks to spare my bridesmaid dress arrived and to my dismay, it didn't fit.  In a true panic, I took a few deep breathes, whispered to my seam ripper "don't let me down"  and together we worked at tearing seams apart, reworking them and finally, getting the dress to fit without having to pay a seamstress to alter it.  Another check in my book of things to learn. I'm thankful it worked out.  I'll share pictures of the dress after the event.

I've been practicing my "smokey" eye makeup.  So far, I've tried green, gray and black.  I'll find the links to the good tutorials I have been using to learn how to do this.  I love the reaction my girls give me when they see a new shade of smokey eye.

Despite being gone from the blogging world, I hope you have all stayed creative and inspired!  Until next time,

                                              Mokulua Islands off of Lanikai Beach

                                                The many shades of Kailua Beach

                                                          Mt. Olomana from Kailua

                                                              Plumerias at Pyramid Rock

Ahoy!

Thinking of my sailor today, he'll be home soon! Excited beyond measure, as are our children! The little guy turns 3 years old the day Daddy comes home and I keep telling him he gets the best birthday gift EVER! He returns the excitement and anticipation with his silly grin, squinting eyes and wrinkled nose.

I thought it was only appropriate today, being on the topic of Sailors, to try another sailors weave bracelet.

This time around, I used a cotton rope, the same kind that you find in the DIY section of Home Depot, made of cotton, used for blinds or Roman Shades.   I also wanted to incorporate a bit of tie-dye nylon I found at Benjamin Franklin Craft Store.

Here is what I used:

 

My wrist is a little on the big side I think, about 6 1/2" around and this Dasani bottle worked perfectly for my size wrist.  I have also used a baby food jar to make these bracelets.

 I follow the directions in my book, but for a good online tutorial on how to make a sailors bracelet, check out More Design Please's Blog.

Here is my bracelet:

 

I really wanted to make it a little bit funky, in retrospect I probably should have just let it be natural, but I took that red bottle of spray dye and started spraying away at this piece. In turn, it is sort of funky but a little too splotchy for my liking. 

Did you like that effect of it on the Hibiscus plant?? Nice color coordination right? Haha, at least something turned out kind of cool. So I wait for the dye to set and got a little distracted and snapped a few shots of Miss M. with some bracelets I have made for her:

With the dye set, I set in to make this piece yet more funky with the dyed nylon pieces. I weaved the nylon throughout the sailors bracelet and Ta-DA! Here is what I got:

Not too shabby. Next time, I wont use the dye but I might use a piece of raggedy scrap fabric. I adore this one that I've seen on Pinterest, which also belongs to Under the Sycamore's Blog.

Rainbows and Sunshine

We're going on week 2 in paradise. It's been raining a whole lot and very windy, but even with "Rainbow Season" (thank you Ellen!) I'm enjoying our time here immensely.  Today the day started out overcast on one side of the house, almost clear on the other side of the house. I walked the girls to school and suddenly the clouds opened up and dumped a whole bunch of plant food on us (I mean rain) and off in the distance a beautiful, completely full rainbow greeted my walk home. It was lovely.

Reluctantly this week, I had to get back into the workout grind. So mustering up all my will power, I put out my yoga mat 2 days in a row and got to sweat my butt of to Jillian's Biggest Loser workout and her 30 day shred workout. I need to get a "beach body" to fit in around here, I'm far from having one. LOL.   Luckily, the sun was still shining when I finished up today so Fletch and I took a dip in the not so warm pool. I let him splash around for a bit as I took in a bit more sunshine before the clouds decided to hug her away again.

So now, we have several more hours ahead of us before the girls get home from school. I do miss my creative supplies but I am happy I at least have a couple of sketch books and pens/pencils with me.  I have been on Pinterest far too much the past few days building up my "inspiration" files. If you want to follow along, here is my link: http://pinterest.com/quatapoch/pins/

My girls started at their new schools yesterday. They were both pretty much happy when they got home yesterday. It was certainly cute to see them walking home together. And so fun to be near enough to school that they get to experience something I did when I was younger instead of constantly being a bus rider. I was a little uncertain about Mia's teacher but it turns out she was very sweet and very friendly and Mia was truly happy when she got home.  She said she made a friend which put my mind at ease.  Vera too was happy, but she did tell me her teacher yells (could be that she just speaks loudly and it's something she will need to get used to) she has to sit next to 2 boys at lunch because lunch is by last name now, not by class.  She said her spelling words are easy but we might have a little bit of work to do with math because they started division in her class already and so far, she is only used to multiplication.  Hopefully today is an even better day for them. I'm truly proud of them, they have been such troopers with all of our moves, having to make new friends and getting used to new schools.  They have been adapting nicely with each adventure they are presented and we haven't had too many emotional meltdowns.

Now, to work on potty training with the little guy so maybe he can go to preschool a few days a week. I know this is going to be a challenge because so far, there is absolutely NO interest. By this age, the girls were both potty trained. I can say for sure, raising a boy is SO different than raising girls.

Well...I am going to end here. I want to sit and "color" with Fletcher before lunch and nap time. Until next time, stay creatively happy!

here we are at sunset beach in the North Shore, waves were HUGE!

Soursop, Papaya, Kona Coffee and Tropical Life

I am happy to report that we a no longer a Nomad family. We took the long flights from Boston, to Salt Lake City to Honolulu and finally settled in our new home on New Year's Eve. The Navy has loaned us some wicker and floral furniture until our actual furniture arrives.  I'll take this uncomfortable furniture any day, beats staying in a sticky hotel right off a busy freeway any day.

layover in salt lake city, utah

The flights were uneventful. I am not fond of flying so for this, I am happy.  The girls were excellent on both legs of the trip. Fletcher, well, he was our wild card but much to my delight, he slept for 1/2 of both of the airplane rides which meant only 2.5 hrs and 3.5 hours of keeping him entertained so his loud screech or scream wouldn't startled any of the passengers near us. We went from some cold weather in Boston to arrive on a lush green, warm island. It was an amazing difference.

Kailua beach, first day here

 The first and second day here, the weather was pretty agreeable but since we have actually moved into the house, it's pretty much been raining and incredibly windy but yet, not too humid.  What I love is that you can drive up the Pali Highway, or head up the H3, drive through the tunnels and the other side of the island is sunny and a bit warmer. So the sun is never truly far away.  I am told this has been an unusually wet "rainy season"  so maybe in a few days it'll clear up again.




The house is really cool. It's mostly 1 floor but the master bedroom has it's own level.  From the master bedroom balcony, on a clear day, we can see the most amazing mountains. Watching the sun rise, you see the orange reflection on the mountains. It is absolutely inspiring.

Our master bedroom has such a green tropical view, and mountains just off in the distance

Our yard has beautiful lush trees, an Avocado tree, a Papaya Tree and a Soursop Tree (http://www.collective-evolution.com/2012/11/23/can-soursop-really-cure-cancer/) as well as a Kona coffee plant! We have had two Gecko's take up residence in the house already but they have disappeared from our view so maybe they decided we were too noisy.

Soursop tree in backyard

I walked the kiddos over to their new school yesterday. We searched the campus grounds for the front office and what a quaint little school! It's only a 1 minute walk from home, I told the girls they will probably hear Fletcher scream during recess time we are so close.  I filled out the 1,000 pieces of paper for enrollment but then we had to take a drive over to base to enroll in Tricare for this region and get TB shots for the girls. They are required before they are allowed to start school, so these lucky ducks get 2 extra days off and will probably start on Monday.

They are anxious and excited.  Such troopers.  It must be hard to get up and move every 2 years, have to make a new set of friends, find your way around a new school and worry if your teachers will be super nice. But they have such beautiful personalities that I am sure they will make friends quickly and as for teachers, I tell them to always be nice to their teachers because it's a tough job. I remind them that I sometimes get mad at them and I only have to deal with 3 kids...not 18+ children.

Well,  we have been on island now for 4 1/2 days and jet lag is still getting to me.  I've been trying to go to bed later each night but I still keep getting up very early in the morning.  At least it's not 3 a.m. like the first day here, at the hotel nonetheless.  At least now that we are home, I can relax, catch up on my posts, and have a cup of coffee before my chaos begins.

I am anxiously awaiting our HHG. I want to share pictures of our scenery but I'm so obsessed about editing that I wont upload them until I get my regular computer here. So until then, please keep coming back. I'll post more regularly now that we are connected to the interweb and I'll share photos from my phone until I can upload my pictures from my camera.

Have a beautiful, creative day!