Clay Space

Part 3: Mai Tai Sunset

charlie — Fri, 25 May 2012 07:00:03 +0000

Well, going into the third day on our trip we had hoped that our son would be adjusted to the time zone. We stuck around the hotel in hopes that he would take his usual nap, but turns out it was much shorter than usual. None the less we headed out to the Hawaii Children’s Discovery Center. One of the first things Caleb discovered while we were there was the GINORMOUS mouth! You can’t see it in this photo, but the tongue is a slide….too cute!

Of course, we kept going and discovered the huge light brite! Do they even make these anymore? I am not sure who liked this activity more…

Of course we found a ton more things to do at the museum, but we had to see the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument. We got there in time to only do one activity, so we of course chose the USS Arizona Memorial. I must say I learned a ton on this trip to this park!

I think just seeing the wreckage in person had a profound impact on me…

I love how beautifully the flag was waving above this memorial…

Lastly, I think the tree of life design is timeless….

When we made it back to the shore, we were greeted by a beautiful rainbow…No better way to wrap up our day…

Except for dinner with friends from college at a great Thai restaurant of course

Mai Tai Sunsets:

Creativity Solves…

charlie — Wed, 23 May 2012 07:00:57 +0000

I made these inspirational quotes a while ago. I admit I have no idea where the original quote comes from, but I do know that I heard the quote on the drive into work on NPR. None the less, when I heard the quote I knew that I was going to have to create a free printable out of it, so here is your choice of two:

Colors from COLOURLovers

charlie — Sun, 20 May 2012 07:00:53 +0000

Last week, I talked about creating color palettes using a website called Kuler. I liked the site, but personally I have been going to a site called COLOURlovers for a while. What I love about that site is that you can create color palettes from a photo. Take for example this beach photo from Waikiki Beach on a cloudy winter day:

You simple add the link to the photo tool in COLOURlovers and start picking colors (by clicking on them) to add to your palette:

You save your palette and suddenly you have it on your profile:
Color by COLOURlovers

Now you are sharing the colour pallette with everyone (if you should so choose), but you can also create a pattern with it too!

Vector Patterns by COLOURlovers

Part 2: Mai Tai Sunsets

charlie — Fri, 18 May 2012 07:00:37 +0000

Well rested, we decided to hit the beach… We were there until we got rained out and we simply walked across the street and back up to the hot tub. I know you are thinking hot tub in Hawaii, but it was cool enough for it

We wanted to stay around the resort in the morning so the little guy could get his usual nap, so I found a lei making class that I wanted to attend. We meandered down there and started chatting with the teacher. I went to sit down and start lei making only told to get up, that it was a man’s job! Nick had no idea what hit him…

We loved chatting with the teacher, he taught us so much about the culture and in the end I ended up with a beautiful lei for my anniversary…

After the nap we walked around and discovered some fresh smoothies for lunch…

Explored some local farmers markets…

Eventually reserved a spot at a restaurant and dined…

Of course we wrapped up the day with a trip back to the beach…

Mai Tai Sunsets:

Part 1

Late to the Party…

charlie — Wed, 16 May 2012 07:00:51 +0000

Yes, I committed to participating in the 3rd Do Over Challenge by Jeannie. Yes I am unreasonably late to the party. I would love to give you all kinds of excuses for my delay but frankly I don’t want you to have to a wait another second…

Here is what Jeannie sent me:

As you can see I received a double strand necklace with wood, glass, turquoise, and coral beads. The first piece I made I purchased this really awesome wood donut bead that I have had in my stash just waiting for the perfect project…well here it is. I made it into a toggle. Used the one layer of strands from the necklace as it is, added some turquoise, and here you go:

What was great about this necklace is that some of the pieces are from the Jeannie Do Over Challenge, others are abandoned parts from stash and then a few pieces from the Bead Soup Blog Party. I of course didn’t stop there, I really wanted to get a bracelet into the scene. I took the other strand from the necklace, dissected the pieces and started wire wrapping them together. Of course in my usual fashion the bracelet is assymmetrical and I added a few rings and a turquoise bear just for fun

There you have it…Late I am but at least I showed up I guess. Did you see what everyone else created?

Jeannie/Hostess
Cilla Watkins
Michelle Mach
Alesha Conklin
Molly Alexander
Cindy Wimmer
Mary Govaars
Marlene Cupo
Dagi
Charlene Jacka
Julia Johnson
Carolyn Lawson
Pamela Orians
Linda Younkman
Shelly Joyce
Judy Riggs
Cary Scholes
Shaun Mullin

Colors from Kuler

charlie — Sun, 13 May 2012 07:00:45 +0000

Maybe it is just me but sometimes I find myself using the same colors and over and over again…For instance, I love turquoise, but almost so much so that I feel like I trap myself with it. I just happen to stumble upon a color site that may make break me out of my usual turquoise and brown tones and into something more cheery!

Meet Kuler from Adobe…

It is so simple to use! Just pick a color using the color wheel or even from a photo and make that your base color. From there the program will automatically create other color schemes based on the color you selected…See what can be done with turquoise!

Try the complementary scheme…

or the triad…

and don’t forget about the compound…

Do you feel inspired yet? I do! It is nice to know just a desk chair away I have inspiration at my finger tips! Happy creating

Part 1: Mai Tai Sunsets

charlie — Fri, 11 May 2012 07:29:27 +0000

Back in February of this past year the family took a vacation to Hawaii. The conversation that got us on this trip went something like this:

“Hey honey, do you want to go to Hawaii?”
“Um, why?”
“The flights are cheap!”
“How cheap?”
“Less than $400 RT from here.”
“Ok, sure!”

So of course, I book the flights to Honolulu in an impromptu fashion. I didn’t know where we going, but I knew that we weren’t going to stay on Oahu the whole time. None the less, we left. A week out from our departure I still hadn’t booked a room in Honolulu, so I pricelined it. We stayed at a room in the Hyatt at Waikiki beach for cheap! It was great…

We let our son take a nap while we got situated into our room. Once the little one woke up he was hungry and it was about dinner time, so we grabbed a quick bite and then of course went straight to the beach…

He played in the sand for about an hour before he was ready to crash and burn…Just like the rest of us

Last Minute Handmade Mother’s Day Gifts

charlie — Wed, 09 May 2012 07:04:56 +0000

If you are like me you have once again procrastinated until the last possible second to find a gift for your mother. You also know that you don’t want to just buy some store bought gift, so what can you make in a short amount of time?

[1] Dual Chain Ribbon Necklace from Fab You Bliss; [2] Faux Mini Pallet Sign from Plum Adorable; [3] Cowgirl Cookie Jar Mix from Bakerella; [4] Free Printable Mother’s Day Gift Card from Ellinee; [5] Homemade Bath Salts from Let’s Make Something Fantastic

Meet PearlMountain Image Converter (and win a copy too!)

charlie — Mon, 07 May 2012 06:01:11 +0000

I have to admit that one of my favorite tools on my macbook is my batch image converter program known as JetPhoto. When I was asked to review a different product on the market known as PearlMountain Image Converter, I figured I would love to give it a try…I was all geared up to download it and start getting my hands dirty when I discovered that its for windows users only! None the less I still have some licenses to giveaway…

PearlMountain Image Converter is a photo converter as well as batch image converter, which helps you convert images to other formats, resize, rotate, crop, add watermark, apply effects and add border to thousands of images at a time. Some of the highlighted features include:

Convert thousands of files at once in batch mode.
Supports the most popular image formats: BMP, JPEG, TIFF, RAW, PNG, GIF, TGA, and PSD, and almost all image formats.
Save operations that you usually use as profiles and bring convenience with you in the future.
Convert between many different image file formats.
Resizing image for any different use, such as for web, e-mail, photo printing, Facebook, MySpace, mobile phone, ipod/ipad/iphone, etc.
Add image and text watermark for Image Copyright Protection
Adjust image brightness, contrast and saturation in batch to make your images look more special.
Apply border to images.
Crop photos, removing unwanted areas

Ok, now that you know all about this fabulous product, enter to win 1 of 10 codes that I have available to giveaway.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Home Jewelry Show: Girl’s Night Out

charlie — Fri, 04 May 2012 07:00:18 +0000

Girl’s Night Out

Who: Your girlfriends and their girlfriends too! The more the merrier.
When: Pick a week night, try Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. Host the party from 7 PM to 9 PM.
Why: You know the girls would rather be shopping for bling over being hit on by “that” guy at the bar.

[1] Parmesan Cheese Ball by The Galley Gourmet; [2] Corner Scroll Template from Download and Print; [3] Mini Caprese Bites from Southern Living; [4] Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Devil’s Food Cake Cheesecake from Sprinkle Bakes; [5] Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites from Two Tiny Kitchens; [6] Girl’s Night In Recipe from Sutter Home