Wendy Cevola - New colors of the Frank mug by Frankoma now available.

Happy Anniversary
Love those photos
Dan-0 still have those boots?
Have a great day........

Cheers

Jon

He has the shirt. I have my dress. His pants and boots have left the building when given away to family. Thank you for sharing our day. Wendy

Hey where is everyone? Oh yes it's a three day weekend. Our plans for our actual anniversary day today changed this morning when Dan said his tummy ache was getting worse.

We went to Sutter Hospital where we worked until 2010 when we retired. 34 years for me and 25 years for Dan.

It was so fast, checked in and sent for blood work.

Talked to the PA and

got an IV started for the CT scan.

CT scan and then the IV was pulled and

he was released to go home.

On the way home we stopped for our anniversary meal at On The Border.

Dan's doing great. He is on antibiotics for Colitis which was caught in time. Don't ignor tummy aches. Colitis is fatal if left untreated. Dan kept his tummy ache a secret or I would have nagged him to go to the doctor. He's tough but it could have been much worse. I want to be married to him another 20 or so years if we are lucky. Cheers, Wendy

Colitis is an odd anniversary gift
:(

Get well soon Dan-0
Finish those 2 antibiotics

Cheers and congratulations again on the anniversary

hang10tiki you bet on both things! Dan feels better today. It always helps when a doctor says you are on the road to recovery.

================================

Here is the beginning of our 40th Anniversary trip to Oahu, Hawaii. Our first time there in 12 years. It sure had changed. Since we will not be shopping for tikis this will be a trip of gardens and beaches.

We got up at 2 am and got to the airport in plenty of time. I met this man whose name I've forgotten but he's a champion

surfer and he showed me a photo of one of his rides on his phone. I looked him up on my computer when we got to our hotel. Impressive career and he is also an inventor.

On the plane was a toddler with a very bad cold. The parents let him look over the seat at us.

At the airport we found our rental car. What??? No key. I had to figure out how to start it before I could drive it.

We stopped at the Dole Plantation on the way to North Shore. Too tired to spend more than 10 minutes there.

The map is upside down. We are going to stay at the Turtle Bay Resort. We will stay here 5 nights.

Pretty room with a fun pillow. Good wall art for a change.

Because it's our 40th I signed us up for a room with a view.

During the 2nd night both Dan and I started sore throats. Mine would rage for three days.

Each morning our room came with a wonderful buffet breakfast. The view was terrific. Eating really helped our thoats.

This is the longest walk we took on our whole trip. As we got sicker we spent more time in our room.

It was fun to see live creatures in their shells on the rocks.

At our hotel we had a meal at Roy's on the beach.

I'm only putting up photos where we look good. No morning photos after a night of throat pain.

We bought three boxes of throat lozenges and cough drops and headed out to a garden.

I take photos so I can use them in my art. Especially the black velvet paintings.

We did our best to stay away from people to not expose them. All coughing was into tissue which then went into our pockets.

The next day we drove in the opposite direction to a little town. We saw a shop called Polynesian Treasures and went in to find Gecko'z art for sale. He's the best.

Back in the car on our way an idiot light came on then after that this message appeared. So we turned around. We found an air station and Dan pumped them up. One tire was low. A little while later the message came back. So we drove to the parking lot at the hotels golf course.

We called the rental car place and talked to someone in Florida. They decided to swap out our car. We were to meet them in the parking lot in two hours.

We timed it so we would walk back and have a meal at the gold course snack bar. I look so much better than I felt.

I love coincidences. First our favorite red headed bird came to visit.

Then right after a guy with a red woven cap drove by. In Hawaii he wears this warm cap? Maybe he likes the look of this bird.

Dan said I know what will make our throats feel better. So right.

I spotted this alien on the way to our car.

Now we are driving a silver car and we have a new license plate to memorize.

We spent most of every day in our room watching TV. This newscaster's name was very close to Danny Cevola.

We watched a lot of island news.

By the fifth day our sore throats are gone during the day. We have the next stage to deal with. This is our last breakfast and then we pack and head South.

In spite of the colds we are enjoying our trip. Five nights to go. Wendy

Happy Anniversary, Wendy and Dan! Congrats on 40 years.

My sister and brother-in-law honeymooned in Hawaii a month ago, and they really enjoyed Oahu.

[ Edited by: Hamo 2018-05-28 12:03 ]

Great photos
Sorry u guys didn’t feel good

Love that alien photo :)

hang10tiki but in the scheme of life we were so lucky to have a beautiful room and plenty of Kleenex! We really looked at that alien. He was scary.

===========================================

We hit the road to Waikiki and our next five nights at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

This is what I picture when I think of Hawaii.

Palm trees and flowers.

Along the way we saw this iconic island.

I am not kind to my husband. I hit him on the head to get this photo.

We are here! I told the man at the check in desk we were there to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary and he said, "Well then, I'm going to give you a free upgrade to a room with a view." So cool because that was unexpected.

Wow what a wonderful view. Diamond Head in the distance and so much to see from the balcony.

Looking down was fun too.

We went for a walk to look for food.

12 years ago we had lunches at this restaurant. Now it's only open for a breakfast buffet.

I didn't know that this rainbow design is on the front and back of this tower.

Back in the room I saw in this magazine that on this Friday night there would be fireworks. Too ill to go we were going to miss them...

but when the booms started I found that I could see half of the show. The building hid half but this was good enough.

Another day has started.

Dan's favorite activity every morning.

Each morning after a very hot shower we felt good enough to go for a walk.

The pathway along the beach went for a very long way.

Eventually we had to leave and go to the main street.

That's when we found the new International Marketplace.

Going to Woo Hoo and Soccer Tikis International Marketplace with all the artist vendors is now the best place to go. Especially for tiki art. This has lost the fun factor of cheap junk. No reason to return here. We were glad we went when all the businesses were closed.

More soon. Wendy

[ Edited by: danlovestikis 2018-05-29 16:16 ]

[ Edited by: danlovestikis 2018-05-29 08:51 ]

On 2018-05-29 08:49, danlovestikis wrote:

The pathway along the beach went for a very long way.

42 years ago Carol and I walked that same walkway. We did it at night so we could see all the shows at the hotels for free. I don't think you do that anymore.

John

Funny
Your trip looks just like ours
:)

Hamo I think I missed your message. Thank you. I hope they had a great time.

MaukaHale we did that too decades ago as well. We actually saw the original Ink Spots that way. They were all in their 80's. We heard two songs and then they took a break. Dan went up and spoke with them. He had and has all their albums and told them this and they discussed his favorite songs. It was such a joy.

Now when the sun goes down we are safely in our room.

hang10tiki same hotels and many of the same spots. But I no longer hunt for tikis to photograph. I just use yours!

==================================

Our 40th anniversary trip to Oahu, Hawaii continues as does our colds. We are doing our best to view the island from the car and to walk through gardens. Here are our last few days.

We went for a drive and above us was an ultralight. So high there was no engine noise.

We drove between lava flows. Pahoa on the Big Island has roads under thick lava flows with no end in sight.

You can't tell but the cold is raging on. We found a restaurant called Zippy's that we had been to 12 years before.

If you sit in the back you have this view.

The food is fine, the view is really good.

Back to the hotel. There are parrots to view in the hotel gardens.

The next day our outing was to La Mariana. Our dream had been to meet Gecko, his family and Freddie here but we can't talk without coughing fits so we went for a quiet lunch. We got there when they opened and left before it filled.

Yelp has the food rated at 4.5 of 5 stars and we agree with them. We had an excellent meal. I lived it up with Hawaiian Punch. Nope no spiking my drink. I take it straight.

We spent a lot of time at Hilo Hatties in the past. It was a shock to see this huge store in Waikiki closed.

The next day we went to Fosters Garden. It had changed so much since our last visit we were shocked. It was the best garden we went to on Oahu. So many flowers and beautiful walks to take. We loved our walk.

The next day we went to the zoo. Again 12 years makes a huge difference. It was a whole new zoo. We loved our time there just walking around.

On our last day we hung out at the hotel. We packed and rested for the journey home.

We visited all the parrots.

The next morning we were at the airport. I read the newspaper and then shared it with another family.

There was turbulence on the ride home. Service was stopped, overhead compartments even flew open. This one man held the plane together for an hour!

We made it home safely on May 9th. We are still coughing. We had a wonderful trip except for missing our friends. We did our best not to spread our colds to friends or strangers. Hand washing is important and hand sanitizer is second best in a pinch.

Thank you all for taking this journey with us, hugs, Wendy

[ Edited by: danlovestikis 2018-05-30 08:07 ]

Thanks for all the pics
Cheers

hang10tiki you are so welcome. I have fun posting and look how many friends I've made. Super fun.

===========================

Back to work on Wish List #8. This mug is for Roger Scott. It was custom made to look like his wife. They met when young in Samoa and married. Maybe married close to the number of years Dan and I have been married.

Just a few of the steps shown here.

It's such fun to make something special for someone. But all her close friends are covering their eyes when looking at the mug! Wendy

Wish List #8. While doing clay all day I do Black Velvet painting in the evening. So doing a little at a time it took 3 months to finish this one for Mondo-By-The-Bay. It won't take that long to put up the photos!

The Disneyland Spitting Tikis are really popular for my paintings. Mondo sent this photo and asked that I do a painting with them.

I printed the photo in the size that would work for my canvas size and then I cut out the tikis.

I will use the cutout areas as a guide for painting the tikis. For me art is also a craft.

I use a light gray to block out the tiki designs.

Then I remove the cutout page from the velvet.

Now it's time to do the garden. This takes many layers and is constantly changing.

This looks fast from the photos but it isn't. But it's so worth it in the end. Next up will be the tikis. Wendy

Mondo pick my favorite Wendy Black Velvet topic
These are awesome
Can’t wait to see it done

Cheers

hang10tiki glad you like it. As many of these as I've done it never gets easier. I try to make them all look different in some way.

===========================

Wish List #8 a Black Velvet for Mondo By The Bay more steps.

I decided to paint everything that needed to be white. I did many layers until the white really showed up bright.

I decided to cut up some painters tape and to use it when doing the bib on the big tiki.

The rest of these photos just show you most of the layers it takes to paint on Black Velvet.

It felt so good to get his part done. Wendy

Awesome

hang10tiki the bib says a big thank you very much!

================================

Wish List #8 the Black Velvet for Mondao By The Bay is finished, framed and shipped!

Next I started to work on this tikis gray body.

There are many tiny areas to paint and

I keep checking the photo to get it right.

A flash makes that one layer of paint show up really well. That's why I paint with spotlights on the velvet.

I work on details on the tikis body and

then on it's eyes.

Finally it's body gets the first layer of gray glaze.

This process is slow and days pass by then finally the center tiki gets his first layer of gray.

Now it's time to do the second layer on all three tikis.

Without a flash and

with a flash makes a big difference. Same thing as to where you hang a black velvet.

On a different day the third layer is added.

I always point the painting towards the door so that it beckons me to return to work.

Again I used painters tape so I can paint the first layer on the bamboo faster. Well cutting up the tape takes time but it' also a safety issue to prevent me from doing something I'll regret.

I am using a gliter ceramic paint to add stars that twinkle as you move while looking at the painting.

An overall view of my messy table.

Close up.

Framed.

Another Wish is completed along with the mug that will go with the painting. A happy day. Wendy

Dang
Came out great
Love em all
The eyes pull u in

Cheers

I dig your velvets almost as much as your ceramics. You’re such a versatile artist.

A week since your last post? You must be really busy making tikis....

hang10tiki and Hamo, thank you both. I am overwhelmed with work. As soon as I have the Sacramento Crawl mugs in their boxes things will be under control. Right now it's get up at 5:30 am, prepare and work until I drop.

I have so many projects to share. I plan to find time soon to post. Maybe today. Thank you for checking up on me, Wendy

O2 out the Diver's Helmet. A fellow named Peter Underwood suggested that I make the skull more boney and less white.

I re-glazed the skull and the mug.

After firing it looked like this.

Here is a flash photography photo. I'm very happy with his suggestion.

I'm back! Wendy

Looking great! I have to agree, the "boney" color really makes the skull stand out. I think it looks like it has more depth to it.

I like the details on the outside.

littlegiles I like it when people tell me there can be something done to improve my art. I'm a work in progress too!

MaukaHale thank you.

========================================

I'm making 6 O2 out Diver's Helmet for this Wish List #8. Here is the second one. Since I've shown the steps before I'll just show the finished mug here.

I actually missed one carving step on this skull. I will correct it on the day I fine tune and sand before the bisque firing.

Only 4 more of these to do! Wendy

Aloha Wendy

Diver looks good

Just got back from Vacation

Ok to post photos?

hang10tiki we waited for you to show up here. Well let us see where you went instead. It better be good! Wendy

:)

Ok
Travel day

LV to LA

Then LA to Tahiti

Tahiti airport

Off to the hotel at 2am
Le Meridien

Long travel day done

:)

OK Tahiti is defiantly a better trip than to Elk Grove. Wonderful photos for Day one. This is going to be fun to see. Wendy

Wish List #8 O2 out the third of six Diver's Helmet's for this Wish List. I try to make each one look a bit different, from the shape of the skull orbits to the carving on the helmet, even the sea shells.

Three to go.

hang10tiki now it's your turn. It looks like the airport had a better exhibit than the museum we visited. Wendy

---

[ Edited by: danlovestikis 2018-06-16 07:49 ]

These divers are great

Ok
First full day

After a great breakfast we walked around the hotel

Then it was off to Muse’e de Tahiti
(Walking distance from our hotel)

We arrived early, not open yet
So, walked around back
Glad we did
Saw these huge paintings on the back of the building

Open
However, they would not accept US money
Walked back to hotel to change 12.00

Ok
Made it inside

Didn’t notice the “no photos” sign until we left
Oh well

Back to the hotel to relax and have a Hinano beer

Ok
Now it’s time
Off to the ship

Made it
Off to our room

Time to walk about

Sunset
Dinner time
Time to depart Tahiti
Off to Moorea

---

Worst sound ever, slurp of an empty tiki mug through my straw!!!

[ Edited by: hang10tiki 2018-06-16 10:33 ]

Wow looks like you two are having an amazing trip!! Hopefully next time we are in town we can have you guys over for drinks, or vise versa ;D We don't have an amazing room like you guys do. Have fun guys! Tell J we said hi!

Whenever H10 is absent from here for a few days, I think, “He must be on vacation.” Looking forward to more Tahiti.

Wendy, you (and Dan, no doubt) are working really hard; when’s your next vacation?

Wish List #8 update. I decided that I would now jump in and make the last three O2 out Diver's Helmets all at the same time. So I worked and made the three indentations. It wasn't in a day. I used balloons or whatever fit to keep them from collapsing and let them firm up for the next step.

Ok hang10tiki it's your turn. It was fun to recognize the museum. I took photos there too. Morea is the most beautiful island, it's just so tiny. More photos please.

Wendy

Atomic and Hamo- had a blast
A must do...

Day two: Moorea

Off the ship to look around

Got a cab
He was great
Awesome island tour

Awesome view of Belvedere Lookout
Overlooking the panoramic Opunohu Valley and Cook and Opunohu Bays

Had him drop us off at the Manava Hotel for a look

Then we walked around town to see the sights

After lots of walking
Decided to go back to the hotel to relax in the bar

The pool looked awesome
I went to the front desk to see if I could buy us a day pass
We only had 3 hours left
20.00 each and the pool was ours

Time to head out
Walked through town again

Stopped here for a bit

20 min walk to the ship
Several great shops on the way

A few Tikis by the port
Boat ride back to the ship

Great sunset

Off to Raiatea

---

Worst sound ever, slurp of an empty tiki mug through my straw

[ Edited by: hang10tiki 2018-06-17 18:43 ]

Wendy- looks like we were posting at the same time again
:)

Holy smokes! Looks like you guys are having a great time. Those carvings, wow! Hope you are as to bring some of them home!

[ Edited by: Atomicchick 2018-06-18 10:25 ]

Hang10,

I had a dream last night that you were on vacation and you had to get three teeth pulled. Kinda strange since I didn't know you were on vacation until I looked here today. Hope that doesn't come true and your vacation continues to be amazing!

Atomicchick- all the great carvings imported from the Marquesan islands
They are awesome
Picked up 2
Not many local pieces
Luna- that’s funny :)
Still have em all

Day 3
Raiatea
Quiet island

Took the Wahine hunting at a few pearl farms
:)

Then back to the ship

Off to Tahaa

hang10tiki the photos are so lovely. I just eat everyone as if it were candy. It's fun you went to and are heading to island I've never even heard of even when in that area. It will be fun when at the end you show your tiki treasures. On Morea did you go to Bloody Mary's? Wendy

Hi W

Bloody Mary’s is on Bora Bora
So much to do there, so we didn’t make it

Day 4

Then it was off to the island for a tour

Great views

Stopped for some fun

More great views

Off to another pearl farm

Then a vanilla farm tour

A lil sumptin I bought at the vanilla farm
:)

Then it was off to the beach
Found a bunch of great shells
Took them back to the boat
Time to relax

That night we set sail to Bora Bora

We could see it off in the distance

Cheers

hang10tiki I don't want your trip to end. It's just so fun to look at these photos. I had forgotten that it was Bora Bora. If I said you see one island you will know where you are, you see more you are lost. When I saw the paddle you were holding it made me want to carve a Tiki Bob. We are looking forward to the next photos.

lunavideogames look what you did, now I see that huge mouth in my dreams!

=====================================

Wish List #8. The steps in making the last three O2 out Diver's Helmet's all at the same time.

More step by steps to come before these are done. Wendy

Was fun
We wish it didn’t end as well

Love these

helmet is looking cool !!!