Starting a New One

I tried downloading a picture for my post today, but apparently blogger has run out of "FREE" memory for me to download pictures on this blog site.  To be able to continue to use this current blog I would have to pay each month to be able to download pictures.  To make blogging cost effective on my part I have decided to start a new blog titled "Created With Aloha Two" which is located at www.4hawaiianmonkeys2.blogspot.com  I thought that posting this information here would be the best way to notify all the people that look at my blog about my new blog.  I hope that you will join me as I continue on my crafting journey as I start the second edition of my blog.

Gifts and Treats Given With Grateful Hearts

I hope that everyone had a good weekend.  I sure did and am grateful for that I have this week off from work.  This is the first year that the school distrct I work for has a week off for Thanksgiving.  The district that my kids' attend have this week off too.  All of us are super happy to get have a break this week. During this time of year, God reminds me even more how much I have to be grateful for.  To remind family and friends how much my family and I appreciate them, I suprise them with a little gift.  This is what I made for my co-workers/friends. Can you believe that I folded 32 of these?  Thanks to my hubby in helping me do the punching  I did not need to stay up too late making them. 

Here is a close up of one of the treat holdes with a piece of Reeces inside. (So sorry about the quality of this picture with a slight shadow.)

For long distance friends I made them these pockets using a die from SU, added a image from one of my HK stamp sets, and put a yummy chocolate treat inside.

I made pumpkin shaped tags to attach to the gifts for people in my family. 

Just in case your are wondering what that odd shaped item inside the bag is- it is a paper weight.

Last, but not least I made tags for my kids' to give to their teachers as well as the principal of their school to express their appreciate for each of them. 

I think it's always fun to surprise people in my life with some extra love.  Thanks for stopping by today.

A Card and RAK from My Secret Sister

Happy Friday!  Even though it was a short work week, I still feel exhausted.  I guess it didn't help that I had a sinus infection.  With feeling under the weather, it took extra effort to get things done. I hope that everyone had a less exhausting week than mine.  I am so thankful that today is Friday and that the weekend starts tomorrow.   Well, today I would like to share what I received last month from my Secret Sister. I received this colorful card

and RAK from my SS Charleen.  Thanks Charleen for the nice card and pretty bling. Have a fabulous and crafty weekend everyone!

Celebrating Batman Style

I hope that those of you who had Veteran's Day off yesterday had a relaxing long weekend.  It's been a bit hectic at work and my plate is more full than usual at home so I am grateful for the extra day off.  It was fun just to be able to relax and stay home with my family.  :)  On the weekend we went to two b-day parties- one that we planned and one that we attended.  We gave my son a Batman themed b-day party with 10 of his friends at Chucke Cheese.  My son was so excited about his party that he could not sleep.  For once my hubby and I did not stay up until the wee hours of the morning prepping for the party.  These are the decorations that we put together for the center pieces.

I made tags for the party favor tags and dog tags for each of his friends.

Here are the party favor bags.

Now that my son's b-day party is over, we need to start thinking of what to do and make for my daughter's b-day party for January.

Happy Veteran's Day!

My family and I are thankful for all the great men and women in the past and present that have served and protected our country. We feel very blest and honored to be grandchildren and great grand children of one of these great men. Our prayers continue to go out to all those people that are serving our country now and for their families.

Happy and Ono Mail From a Friend

It's always fun to receive "happy mail" especially when it includes some thing ono.  :)  A few weeks ago I received a delicious box of macadamian nut chocolate from a friend that lives in Hawaii.  She also sent along some yummy tea and a super cute card.

I never had the flavors that she sent to me- guava, lychee, and pineapple.  I can't wait to try them.  Before ending this post I wanted to share a picture of the cashiers check that she sent to me.

It has a picture of a surfer on it.  I think it's the best looking cashiers check I have ever seen since I am such a huge fan of Hawaii.  My friend is sending me a check to pay me back for the California Starbucks gift cards that I got for her.  Both of us like collecting giftcards from Starbucks with different names of states on them.  Have a wonderful long weekend everyone!

A Hello Kitty Themed Post

I hope that everyone had a lovely weekend.  Mine was pretty good with some time dedicated to crafting, some time for doing paper work for work, and some family time.  This weekend my family and I went to Hello Kitty's 35th b-day party at a local Sanrio store.  Here is Hello Kitty taking a picture with one of her biggest fans- ME!  :)

It was an afternoon full of lots of fun- games,

prizes, face painting, and a coloring contest.  Now onto some crafty creations.  It just happens that I'm going to share some Hello Kitty crafty creations today.  What a coincidence.  This is what I made and sent to my Secret Sister last month.  

The theme that we were asked to follow is to make some kind of treat holder.  The treat holder is slightly different from the one that I made for my friend Gail that I posted in my previous post.  I sent this card to my friend Grace, another dear friend that I swap cards with each month.  

I hope that you enjoyed my Hello Kitty themed post.

Swapping With a Good Friend

Happy November!  I have mixed feelings about starting another month.  Part of me is happy that it is November because it means that the holidays are just around the corner.  On the other hand, I don't want it to be November just yet because it means that my schedule will be even more packed with events and projects to do.  Either way, November is starting whether I want it to or not.  :)  I am just going to take it one day at a time and thank the Lord for the time He has given to me.  Today I would like to share last month's swap that my good friend Gail and I blest each other with.  We've been swapping cards and goodies for two years now.  It's always so much fun to see what she creates for me each month.  This what she made for me.

What she makes is always super creative and is always a great inspiration to me.  (Even though I as well as several other people have bugged her about starting a blog to share her awesome creations, she still hasn't.  I can't wait until she decides to start one.) Gail also included some special treats for my kids.  She is always so thoughtful!

This is what I made and sent to her.  In the treat holder I put one of my international KitKats that I got from Marukai.

Have a fun and crafting weekend!