Gobble Gobble!

Turkeys are arriving today at The Bead Gallery! I also have a couple up on etsy.com so please stop by either place to check them out.

And have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!

More jewelry by wonderful artists!

I haven't had a chance to add these to the gallery yet (I need help from a friend) so I thought I'd share them here first. Thank you to everyone that came to the Soft Flex Bead Show and brought their jewelry to share! I have a couple more pics that I'll share later this week.

The first necklace is by Emilie... it's absolutely gorgeous! The little girl and her puppy is by another artist and is like a mini piece of art... so cool - I love it!

silly & fun

Just wanted to share some jewelry that Clarine created with her Halloween juju beadz! They came out super cute and fun! She also asked me to make her a Scooby Doo bead and thought I'd share that too. Scooby doobie doo! Hope you all had a great Halloween! Now that my kids are older, I'm bummed they don't go out and trick-or-treat - I don't get to "check" all of their candy anymore. :)

Beach bums for a day

What a gorgeous day to take off and go to the North Shore with my friend Alicia! The water was incredible and as usual, we were hunched over the sand looking for treasure (shells). We were lucky today and found a whole bunch of teeny-tiny ones. Got to play tourist too since she's going to featured in a magazine back in Genova and they wanted some pics of her doing things in Hawaii.

Fishing Tournament

The Keehi Boat Club Wahine Fishing Tournament was held this past weekend. When the men have a tournament, there's often a pretty woman in a bikini or pareau to take pics with the men and their catch upon their return. Well, Kylen and Cole were volunteered to be the "men" that took pics with the women and their catch when they arrived. They were supposed to take off their shirts but were too shy... at least they had big smiles! And that's a nice mahi mahi that the Kiyomi brought in! Too bad Kevin didn't include the fishes head in the pic, yah?

night lights!

The new glass I ordered arrived last Wednesday! Yay - it's Christmas or my birthday in October! Never mind, cancel the birthday, I really don't need to get older sooner. :)

I added some night lights and jewelry to etsy.com and more will be coming soon. Here's one of my latest night lights... doesn't it look yummy?!

Skinny Pigs???

Saw these funky animals at Koolau Pets today while my kids were having their teeth cleaned. They're called Skinny Pigs a.k.a. hairless guinea pigs. I think they're cute in a weird way... my favorite's the guy in the food bowl. Which one do you like?

FIRE!

Kevin went to Molokai this past weekend to check on his fishing hideout - a 20' container that now has water (via a hose) but no electricity. Woke up at 4:30 am to the brightest sky he's ever seen without a sun. Snapped this pic as he was leaving and hoped the container would still be there when he returned. A big thank you to the fire fighters that soon arrived and saved his hideout as well as the nearby homes.

I "wuff" The Bead Gallery!

That's dogspeak for 'I love The Bead Gallery'! Are you stuck and don't know what kind of jewelry to create with your juju beadz? Jamie and Michelle and the whole Bead Gallery gang are always so creative and helpful with jewelry design ideas. They helped me create this necklace with these puppy beads yesterday. It's so fun, I want to keep it! Then I created the butterfly and flower necklace... I want to keep this one too! :)

Interview with Surfing Magazine

Kylen got this interview with Surfing Magazine the other day. He's super stoked...

60 Seconds With Kylen Yamakawa

By mbauer - August 25, 2009 - 14:05

60 SECONDS WITH KYLEN YAMAKAWA, WINNER OF RIP CURL’S SECOND GROM SEARCH VIDEO ELECTION

Watch the Video Here

By Alex Ryden

First the contest and now this? Oahu local boy Kylen Yamakawa not only placed first in the Rip Curl Grom Search 16 and Under Boys division at Kewalo Basin but he has now won Rip Curl’s second Grom Search Video Election. At Stop Number 2 of Rip Curl’s Grom Search contest series, Kylen was the king of kings. But to Kylen, it’s just another jewel on a bigger crown. Rather than taking the time to sit back and relax as Grom Search royalty, Kylen is training harder than ever. Luckily, we got a few minutes of his time, pre-second surf session of the day.

WHERE ARE YOU FROM?

I’m from Honolulu, Oahu.

WHAT’S YOUR HOME BREAK?

Most of the time I surf at Alamana Beach Park.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE SURF SPOT?

It is a little spot on the North Shore. Not a lot of people know about it; it’s sort of hidden.

WHO’S YOUR FAVOITE SURFER?

Kai Barger

IF YOU COULD ONLY DO ONE MANUVER FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

It would definitely be air reverses.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ARE THE MOST OVERRATED AND UNDERRATED MANUVERS IN SURFING?

For most overrated I’d have to say — well, I don’t really like alley-oops. [laughs] I think the most underrated maneuver right now is the old-fashioned power hack.

DO YOU THINK IT’S MORE IMPORTANT TO WIN SOMETHING LIKE A PUBLIC POLL, OR THE EVENT ITSELF?

I think it’s cooler to win something that your peers vote on. It’s like a team thing if your friends are voting on you. It just makes you feel good knowing that people like your surfing.

WHEN YOU SURF HEATS, DO YOU CONSCIOUSLY SURF MORE CONSERVATIVLY THAN WHEN YOU FREE SURF?

I think I surf a lot more conservatively in contests. I just don’t want to fall.

DID YOU VOTE FOR YOURSELF?

Uh…yeah. I’m guilty. [laughs]

DO YOU APPRECIATE RADICAL MANUVERS, EVEN IF IT’S ONE MOVE? OR DO YOU THINK TRADITIONAL COMBOES ARE THE WAY TO GO?

I like just having that one explosive maneuver. It just looks better.

Something's super fishy!

Can't get much fishier than this! Kylen finished his dad's board and it's ready to go out to sea now. Good thing the fish are on the top and not the bottom or a shark might take a second look! This is the first time he's painted with acrylics - should be fun to see what he comes up with next time!

New face for new hair

Well, the penguin hair is now gone but Cole did a "face plant" into the reef while surfing today.   He lost some skin above his left eyebrow and below his nose.  And now has a bigger head (more brains?) due to a lump on the left side of his head.  How much did it hurt?  I think his expression says it all! 

And would you believe yearbook pics are tomorrow!

Daddy was feeling left out of my blog so he had me take a pic of his "owie" face even though there's no "owie".

Something's fishy!

Kylen drew all of these cool fish to decorate his dad's board!  (Yup, freehand, no tracing!) Can't wait to see the finished piece!

Here's what happens as the lazy days of summer break are winding down and you leave your boys alone while you make beads. Note the before pic taken maybe 1-2 weeks ago:

It only took a few minutes for his older brother to change him into a penguin - I think they're called rockhopper penguins. They have little fluffies on the sides of their heads. One more week till school begins. Think he'll be tired of it by then? :)

Save the butterflies!

Haven't seen many caterpillars or butterflies lately so I started collecting and raising the few teeny caterpillars I found on our mini crown flower plant. So far, 7 butterflies have been released in our yard during the past week with 2 more taking off today.  Only 2 left to go with no other caterpillars in sight... good thing the others are flitting around so hopefully I'll have more caterpillars to collect soon!

Mini Crown flower plant... my fat thumb shows just how tiny the flowers are.

Anyone want seeds?  I have a bunch!

my baby's full grown - ready to make his/her chrysalis soon

just "born" this morning!

doggie tribe

Here's our extended family.  Pepper's our resident moose, Mr. Pickles is the psycho ball chaser, Wuzzy is the constantly sleeping furball and Radar's hiding in his house.  Our friends adopted Radar since he's only 9 pounds and wanted smaller friends.  So he's happily residing in Kailua now and has been elevated to prince status.  Prince Radar gets special meals cooked for him and his friends and totally snubs the food we used to give him!  

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A fun afternoon at Ala Moana Beach...whose fish is bigger?!!!