Art + Flea Hawaiian May 2014!

It was so fun participating in this month's Art + Flea! The night was jam-packed with live music, ono food, fashion, art & fun for all! 

BIG mahalos to everyone that came out and stopped by! Mistprint has taken me on such an amazing adventure so far and I am truly grateful for the continued love & support!  Wishing you all a very wonderful weekend! :)

Art + Flea!

Happy New Year Everyone! I hope 2014 is off to a great start for you all!!!  This year has just begun and it has already brought us new & exciting adventures!  It was an amazing experience being a first time vendor at this month's Art + Flea!  It was a night of fun celebrating local artists, music, food & supporting local businesses!  Much mahalos to Thanh and Patty for all your support (and helping me set up shop!) and to everyone who stopped by (and also for those of you who were there in spirit)!  It was a really awesome surprise to see many familiar faces, old friends & meet a bunch of new ones throughout the night! Thank you all so much for taking the time to stop by and making this such a wonderful experience (especially being such a newbie :P)!

 

 It was great to see EngiNERDart just a couple booths down the way!  Chad is a very talented artist!  His woodblock prints are amazing and he's been so nice to share his process offering customers a hands-on experience letting them create their very own woodblock print to take home!  Just before closing up shop, Thanh and I were fortunate enough to create a print PLUS a couple special prints made by Chad himself! Check out more of his work here!

 

Such a fun night!  Can't wait to see what other adventures awaits us in 2014! Have a great Aloha Friday & an even greater Aloha weekend ;)

Long Time No See!

Oh my good goshness it has definitely been a while since my last blog post!  I hope this belated entry finds everyone happy and doing very well! 

Boy do I believe in living in the moment and taking things a day at a time, but those moments & time still seems to seriously fly by!  As I've learned (and am reminded daily)  Life. Just. Keeps. Going. Yes, sirs & ma'ams, life is one big, non-stop, one way golden ticket taking us from on adventure to the next.  These past couple months have definitely been non-stop and jam-packed with seeing old friends, meeting new ones and has been a constant learning process all the way through....where do I even begin!? Here we go with a little recap, cliffnoted version on what's been going down:

Reunited and it feels SO GOOD!  My best friend was back in town for her wedding!  I've known this girl since Grade-K and had such an amazing time celebrating this new beginning in her life!  It was a privilege being her Maid of Honor and being a part of such a special day!  It was truly priceless spending time with old friends & making new ones as we all came together to share so much love and excitement for the newlyweds! Speaking of reunited and time flying by (and also feeling kind of...old?!), also attended my 10 year high school reunion this past weekend and had a blast! :)

We're changing up some things for the cafe and have been playing around with new menu items such as fresh pressed juices & smoothies!  We are so excited and happy to offer these newbies to the menu packed with natural goodness and nutrients (and not only are they good for you, they taste soooo goood!).  It's definitely been a constant learning process as Thanh and I discover new ways we want to utilize the cafe- mainly to provide a space for creativity, bringing people together and being able to exercise sustainability & supporting local.  Stay tuned, there's more to come as we build up our new cafe & menu!

I've been going through a pineapple phase lately. I have recently grown a huge soft spot for this delectable fruit let me tell you! I even doodled one as I patiently waited a few days for it to ripen before I hacked it open (and even juiced!).  Pineapple Guru Thanh has taught me his trick at picking a sweet pineapple: smell the bottom of the pineapple; if it has a strong, sweet pineapple aroma..it's good for the pickin'! (If you can picture me individually picking up and smelling each pineapple butt in the market, it wouldn't be so far from the truth haha!).

That may do it for some of the main highlights since my last entry.  I'm definitely learning something new everyday (even random facts about sloths?!) and am hoping to be better at updating and sharing all things to come!  Lots of Aloha to you all on this wonderful Friday!

Life just got a little more "betta"...

Happy Aloha Friday, friends! With a busy week of finishing cafe renovations and preparing for a nearing opening date, it's been extra nice to balance out the week by intertwining a few art & garden-related projects in between :) I was recently given a great opportunity to add a new piece to my watercolor series by a request of a custom betta illustration.  

Meet Dream.  He's a beautiful betta full of color & life!  I absolutely loved working on this piece and am so happy I could create it for a fellow betta lover (Dream's owner) :)  I still have a lot to learn with watercolors, but there's just something about this medium that really excites me and is so fun to work and experiment with.

Other mini joys of the week include jazzing up some new terracotta pots with Thanh (the wonderful boyfriend) and creating new decorations and displays for home & the cafe.  When he's not occupied by the construction and renovations, it's really nice to see Thanh spend some time on his woodworking and gardening because it's so clear to see how much he enjoys it :)  We've been having fun working on projects that include up-cycling reusable materials (i.e. salvageable wood, pallets, wine bottles, etc) and transforming them into planters, terrariums and decor. We hope to have some on display (and possibly for sale) in the cafe :)

That might just do it for now...Here's to a great Aloha Friday for you all and an even "betta" weekend ahead!

Get out to stop & smell the...succulents?

Sometimes living right next to a freeway has its downfalls of being able to practically hear every motorcycle, loud muffler, siren or speeding car whiz by. Not to mention, with the lingering chill in the air lately, it has been so easy to choose to work indoors (on several occasions, wearing long sleeves & socks!).  Tuesday was definitely a breakthrough: the sun was shining, the air was crisp and I found myself excited and energized even before having my daily dose of coffee (say what?!)! Even after brewing my slow drip coffee, I knew the day was too nice and I was too energized (and now too caffeinated) to waste staying indoors!

Our new place has a nice lanai right outside the front door which we've been using as extra storage and for those "we're still moving in" boxes that needed to be sorted.  I replaced the freeway noise by jamming to some Songza (I highly recommend THIS playlist!) and finally attacked the crazy pile of miscellaneous and made space where I claimed as my work area for the day :)

Along with decorating some new terracotta pots for the house and cafe, I was able to doodle up some new succulent plants.  Collecting these little guys have become such an awesome hobby.  They are just too cute (and quite affordable) to pass up!  I have to admit I bought two more the other day! I'm seriously a sucker for succulents!  :)

I'm not too sure where this doodle may go or what it will turn into just yet.  Majority of the time, I tend to draw things from interest or enjoyment and then go from there.  It might sound like a backwards process, but sometimes it helps to clear my mind by simply doodling and not worrying too much about its purpose or what it could be used for.

Just as in life, sometimes it's needed to spend time doing things we enjoy for the simple reason that it makes us happy :)  With days of being a busy body and getting caught up with the daily grind, being able to "stop and smell the roses" can make all the difference! :)