Project 365...Day 30

So I read online that the largest and brightest moon of 2010 was to be on January 30th. Sure enough, it was GORGEOUS!!!!! I tried to get a few good photos. Even with the tripod, it was difficult. THIS is why I need a huge fancy smancy lense! lol

Project 365...Day 29

Many days I catch myself gazing out he back glass doors and enjoying nature. This is the view. I know, not that fancy for some of y'all. There is just something that I love about this tree. Once I have pictures of it through the seasons, I will post them all together. I love to watch the seasons change.

Project 365...Day 28

There are shrines and gardens displayed all over the base. This is one of many. This one is by the Officer's Club. I plan to spend a day in the Spring photographing all of them.

Project 365...Day 27

For my Paper Artist Online sisters, this one is no surprise. :) Yesterday one of our neighbors moved out. They put several pieces of furniture by the dumpster. We snagged a desk for dd. For now I plan to use the desk as my crafty area. Her room is such a mess there is no room for anything else in there! There were also 2 cubes and this goodie.I'm already starting to alter it. I hope to finish today and show y'all the end results! I am SSOOOOO excited! My own crafty area AND storage! wooohhooooo dumpster diving rocks! lol

Blog candy WINNER!!!!

Sorry I am late posting this. Life got busy. I'm sure y'all can tell by the fact I played catch up today with myproject 365. lol Anyway....the winner of my blog candy is.......
"4nancie said...
Very nice of you go give away so much fiber. I have you linked on my ArtBox. Glad to see your doing so well!!
nancie"
Congrats Nancie!!!! Email me at nativetexan 814 at g mail dot com (spaces removed of course lol) and I will drop these goodies in the mail to you!!

Project 365...Day 26

The Japanese have many many interesting advertisements. This one is for the gas company. I'm guessing it says something about their gas heating your bath water for a nice relaxing time in the tub. In the US, this would be perverted. Here in Japan, this ad is perfectly acceptable.

Project 365....Day 25

My friend Michelle brought me to a new to me curry restaurant. Its called KCs Dining. The curry was OH SO YUMMY!!! This is the mango yogurt drink they serve. Delicious!!!! The only thing I didn't like about the restaurant was the smoking allowed inside. YUCK!

Project 365....Day 24

A store here in Japan called Seiyu is partially owned by Walmart. They do NOT have Walmart prices though. It is cool to see familiar brands such as Mainstays. They have a parking garage across the street. Parking is 600 yen (about $6.50) unless you buy something and have them validate your parking. This is the view from the walkover bridge connecting the 2nd floor of the parking to the store.

Project 365...Day 23

Yes, those ARE Mickey heads there on the gate. This adorable house on the way to Daiei (a shopping sotre/complex close to the base) has Mickey Mouse everywhere! Notice he is above the mailbox too. I will have to walk by later and take pics of their other Mickey decorations. This is one of my favorite houses here. lol Disney is very very popular here in Japan.

Project 365...Day 22

One of the many many things I've found interesting here in Japan is their vast array of pastries. There are several shops that offer yummy baked goods. Japanese sweets aren't as rich as American sweets. That means less calories & fat. Right? lol When you enter these shops, you grab a tray and tongs, wander around & choose the goodies you want. Once your tray is full, you bring it to the register and they ring up your purchase. The thing I don't like though is that they wrap every single pastry in a plastic bag. I cringe and think, "Oh no! This is greatly enlarging my environmental footprint! Not good!" They really should put them in one big box. Some of the goodies are oh so yummy. Others, not so much. This one was kiwi & cream. It looks much better than it tasted. I took one bite then decided it wasn't worth the calories & fat. lol
I'm working on my Mardi Gras masks and invites. Just wait until you see them. I am loving the mask so far!!!! Don't forget about my blog candy. Time is almost up! Happy crafting!!!

Project 365.... Day 21

When we went to the Japanese Festival at Tokyo Dome City (day 9 pics), I bought some dried blueberries. I bought them with the idea of making cranberry/blueberry/macadamia nut cookies. Since they cost $10, I was hesitant to use them. lol I decided instead to make a blueberry cheesecake. YUM!!! It turned out AMAZING!!!! Now I need more for my cookies. lol That's ok though. I cant lose weight if I keep making cheesecakes & cookies. Don't forget about my blog candy! Just a few more days left to enter!!!!

Project 365.....Day 20

So today's picture isn't the best in the world, the flash made it freaky, the shadowing is weird, there are blurry spots. However, it was a quick snap, spur of the moment shot. A moment and memory captured in time. A very funny, rather hilarious moment too! Here's the story.... Taylor came home and sat down to do her homework. She needed a Virginia state quarter. They are studying Jamestown in her class. She was to use the images on the quarter to tell us what she has learned so far. This is the conversation that followed....
Taylor: Dad I have to tell you 3 things about Jamestown and you have to right what I tell you on this paper for my homework.
Ron: What? I dun did my learnin. (said in his best "redneck" accent)
Taylor: No, its for MY homework. Its about Jamestown.
Ron: I know all about it. Its a town, named after a guy named James.
Taylor: Yea, King James.
Ron: Yeah but I called him Jimmy.
Insert TONS of laughter here! I was laughing so hard I was crying!!!
Taylor: They came over on ships.
Ron: Yeah, the Pinto Bean, Santa Anna and what was the other one.
Taylor: NO Not that and not during Columbus.
Who knew that homework could be so much fun!!! lol

Crafty time! A few ATCs

I absolutely love ATCs. Its so easy to create a piece of art when it is 3.5 inches by 2.5 inches. I've started maning Zentangle ATCs too. They are much easier in this smaller size. I created a few using Japanese Dr Pepper labels. The Stitch on the third ATC is cut out from a package from a toy.
Don't forget about my blog candy too!

Project 365....Day 19

Oh how I love fresh flowers! Today I bought roses and tulips from Joyful Honda. Who can pass up roses for 50 cents each?? I had to buy the tulips because one of them is half yellow/half orange.
The wine cork wreath in the background is another of my creations. It was very simple to make. Glue wine corks randomly onto a grapevine wreath. When the corks are as you like, wrap ribbon around the wreath. Easy peasy! Don't forget to enter to win my blog candy! Your chances of winning are great!

Project 365....Day 18

I just had to snap a close up photo of my flowers. They don't smell the best but they sure are pretty and vibrant! lol This photo is one of the many many reasons I LOVE my Nikon D60. That was the best birthday present hubby has ever gotten me!!!

Project 365....Day 17 BLOG CANDY!!!!

I was going through my ribbons and fibers to give some to a friend. I realized how much excess I have and decided to share the wealth!! So, my day 17 photo is also my BLOG CANDY giveaway! If you would like a chance to win these ribbons and fiber, simply follow me, comment and/or link to this post or my blog. If you would like more entires, simply do all three. :) I will choose a winner on next Monday, 25 January. (Thats Sunday night 24 January for those in the states.) Good luck!!!

Project 365....Day 16

I wasn't sure what to take a photo of today. The kiddos have been busy with friends. Its cold outside so that keeps me indoors. hhmmmm I finally decided on these cuties. I purchased them at the Arts & Crafts Fair in November. They were made by an 83 year old Japanese lady. She wasn't there. She had someone slling her crafts on her behalf. These two were the only ones with sad expressions. I decided they needed to come home with me! I call the bunny "Ninja Bunny". lol

Project 365....Day 15

I have been eyeballing this glass vase at Joyful Honda since before the holidays. It always called out to me from the shelf when I walked by. Tammy & I went shopping and I decided to buy the vase while it was still available! I wandered and wandered through their floral department trying to decide what flowers to buy. I finally decided on these lovelies. The vase was 2400 yen. (About $26) the flowers were about $5. Not bad! they have several more vases in a variety of colors and shapes at Joyful Honda. I just might go back and add to my collection.

Project 365....Day 14

Sometimes a beautiful photo just happens. Hubs and I were driving to Joyful Honda. One of my fav places to shop here. lol They sell Copics!!! Anyway, I looked to my left and caught a glimpse of Mt Fuji at sunset through the buildings. I quickly grabbed my purse and told him I wanted to snap a picture. He slowed down & thankfully the light turned red so we could stop. I waited for a group of teens to cross the sidewalk then snapped this picture. I had just enough time to get it before the light turned green. Beauty is all around us. We just have to take the time to look around!

Project 365...Day 13

To days photo may look like something not that special but believe me, it is! (At least to me lol) I've been on the look out for a yummy body scrub that smells yummy but didn't cost an arm & a leg. Well, shopping for some things is limited here in Japan. (especially things at a reasonable price!) I decided to make my own scrub! Since I have many rough dry spots during the winter, a salt scrub is out of the question! ouch! This one is very simple.
1/2 cup brown sugar (not packed)
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup oil (I used Vitamin E oil. It was all I could find at the time.)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Mix all together well and store in an airtight container. To use, rub over dry spots and rinse off with very warm water. Pat dry.
There ya go. My secret to smooth skin. hhhmmm I'm thinking this will make nice gifts. Wonder if I can find small glass air tight containers here in Japan.

Project 365....Day 12

I plan to take more family photos this year. . I have more pics of "events" or "objects". I guess that's part of what Project 365 is about. BTW, if you are doing a 365, please let me know. I love to see others works. Today's photo is dh helping the kids with their homework. Yes, ds on the computer IS doing homework. The majority of my kids assignments these days seems to be "on the computer". I guess its a sign of the times. Oh for the "old days" when you had so much homework your hand cramped from all that writing. lol

Crafty Time!

I realized I've not posted much artwork lately. I thought I'd get y'all caught up on several of my latest goodies. I made this awesome dragon card using a brass embossing stencil, Embossing Icing, and Club Scrap's Ornamental Papers. I did 2 versions, one with Black Soot Distress Ink and one without.

While crafting with my friend Cindy, I made this cool bead card! Its almost completely covered in microbeads. The stamped image and paper is from Club Scrap's Ornamental kit.

I decided to try and make a Michelle Zindorf inspired card. I had to improvise on supplies. I will have to practice this technique a bit more.

Here are 2 versions of the Christmas cards I sent out. I used Club Scrap papers and Close To My Heart stamps.

Project 365..Day 9 Festival of Festivals

As you can see, I had a very difficult time choosing just one photo for today. Thought I would share the day and several photos with you. On Saturday, January 9th, we went to the Tokyo Dome for The Festival of Festivals. It was advertised as a way to experience some of Japan's 3000 festivals all in one place. They had 2 groups perform while we were there. We didn't get to watch up close but did see them on the big screens. The main focus of the event seemed to be food. Boy oh boy was there a lot of food! Several vendors offered free samples. We tried a wide variety of noms! One vendor stopped us and gave us free sushi. He asked us to tell the crowd how delicious it was. Another was so excited to meet someone from Texas. While the event wasn't what I expected, it WAS a lot of fun. I just wish we could have seen more dancers and drummers perform. When we were leaving, we saw one dance troupe and one group of drummers perform. Too bad I didn't bring my small Nikon with the video feature. I could put tons of pics here but think I will try to limit it as best I can. I can't wait to scrapbook this day. The colors are so vibrant!!!

Walking up to Tokyo Dome City. We will have to go back and ride the rides in the Spring!

HUGE screen inside!

Another view of the gorgeous float!

The curly hair in the middle of the photo belongs to a guy. Stunning locks!

It was sssoooo crowded!! Its was shoulder to shoulder people. I've never been pushed around so much. This made Disney on its busiest day seem like a ghost town!

Not sure why she's dressed like this. Will have to find out the story and share the details later.

Ron & Britt checking out the noms. Those wings were huge!

Project 365... 8, 10 and 11

Yes, I skipped 9. That will be an entire blog post in itself. :) Day 9 was very difficult to choose just 1 photo. You will soon see why. So, onto the other pics. Day 8...My dd was home sick from school. She started a Hanna Montana marathon to pass the time. I had to interrupt to watch the longhorns lose. ;) To keep her entertained, I taught her how to make tags, Tim Holtz style. I am very very proud of her results!!!

Day 10 is one of the plants hubby's coworkers gave me when I had my hysterectomy. If anyone can give me tips on this plant I would GREATLY appreciate it. He is just not happy in my home. I've tried lots of light, little light, no light, lots water, no water, medium amount of water. Nothing seems to work. Another plant in the same area is very happy. Not sure what the issue is.

Day 11 I finished reading Dacre Stocker's Dracula The Un-Dead. Thought it was appropriate for the book to be my photo of the day.

Wow, I just realized how big those look. lol I willl have to make them smaller next time. I'm off to resize the pics from Day 9. Look for that post soon. I hope you are all having a crafty day!!!!

A New Project 365

I hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday season. I didn't stick with Project 365 last year. I hope to do better this year. I'm off to a good start! Since I am behind in posting the pics to my blog, I thought I'd do a photo collage. Pic 1 was my "Happy New Year" block. I made them out of various scrapbook papers. The letters on the back side of the blocks say "Merry Christmas". Pic 2, we went to Cafe Calico in Kichijoji. Most Japanese do not have pets in their homes. There are various places you can go to play with the kitties. That's my friend Michelle in the stripped shirt to the middle/right of the photo. Pic 3, my Happy Bag (grab bag) stash from one of the Japanese craft stores. Pic 4 is hubby's delicious meal from one of the new Udon restaurants we tried. Pic 5 is dd in front of the tree before we took it down. Pic 6 is dd with Mt Fuji in the background. Snapped that one before taking her to school one morning. Pic 7 is me bundled up before I had to walk to the doctor. Its a little over a quarter of a mile but at 30 degrees, it feels like more! lol I do NOT like the cold. bbbrrr Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed my first week of Project 365. I have so many crafty things to share. It might be a marathon blogging day. lol

Blog candy

Go check it out. Erika has many fabulous goodies. After you check out the candy, browse through her wonderful artwork! You will NOT be disappointed.