This last trip to Japan was a long one…almost 6 weeks.  I came back to Hawaii at the end of June and recently had a lot of family and friends visiting!  The summer in Hawaii is always busy with people coming and going.  The studio has been very busy too!  We have a number of students from Russia here taking classes.  I am so pleased that they would come all the way here to take our classes.  They will stay for two to three months to complete our program.  We are so excited and pleased with their great attitude towards this clay art and everyone works very hard.  We have seen the interest for DECO growing in Russia over the past year. We will be planning a trip to Russia someday soon to visit all the members and instructors.

My mother was also visiting Hawaii for about two weeks.  During this time, we worked on our long awaited DVD project.  We have been working on this project for many years and now, finally, it has started.  We met a very talented group of video professionals who will help us turn this into a reality.  It will take a while until it is complete… we will keep you posted!

Chenli continues to be a vital part of our classes here at the studio as well as making some pretty amazing beautiful custom orders.  We have just started to work on 20 centerpieces incorporating a range of pastel shades.  This is a fun chance for us to work with so many color schemes.  My favorite!  I think it will be very unique and beautiful once all the pieces are ready and arranged together.  I just finished one wedding order for a July bride.  Her theme was romance with a shabby chic style.  She chose peonies, ranunculus and cherry blossom with very soft pink, off white and just a touch of antique blue.

I will be going to Japan in August to start the instruction classes for the 30th anniversary event!  Instructors in Japan will be creating theme projects in groups to be displayed together at the exhibit. It will be so exciting to be a part of all this creativity!  My mother and I will be holding these classes from August to December. Not to worry, I will be in Hawaii giving classes too.

The summer in Hawaii is so bright with the most beautiful clear sky!  Before I leave to Japan, we will be taking summer vacation in early August.  We have decided to stay in the neighbor Islands to enjoy this beautiful weather. Less travel time is good for me. Honestly, I’m so tired of all the travel and being on an airplane… I just can’t wait for this relaxing time and catch up on some R&R.

Sorry I haven’t posted to the blog much, I will try to do more.. Thank you for visiting.

Yukiko