Enjoy...my word for 2012!

I've always enjoyed writing journals when I travel and find that I find them hard to resist when I see interesting ones when I go shopping.  Here are a few of the ones I've recently found to be very enjoyable.

 Some of these will be used for workshops to take notes, or draw sketches in.

 Some of them just make me smile when I look at them.

 Others are pretty and have lovely words.

 Some inspire you to learn something new like painting.

 Pink is a favourite colour and the embossed designs are so whimsical and enjoyable.

Finally these lovely designs to inspire and tease you to try something different.  Enjoy!  What inspires you to choose a word for 2012?

Waikiki Beach...

Walking along Waikiki beach we came upon this statue named the Surfer.

 Looking across at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel now known as the Hilton Hawaiian.

 A closer look at Diamond Head.

 A very bright sailboat enjoying the Sunday sun.

 This statue features the endangered monk seal and a young surfer.

 An iconic pose by and unknown surfer.

 Sun, sand and palm trees...paradise.

 Duke Kahanamoku, the original surfer who encouraged others to teach tourists to learn how to surf.

 Beautiful leaf motif on top of a building with amazing blue skies.

 Bias relief of more tropical leaves on a building.

 Some batik fabrics from Fabric Mart in Honolulu.

 Some bright solids with white to inspire me to make a traditional Hawaiian quilt from Anne's Hawaiian Quilts. www.anne-hawaiianquilt.com

 An hibiscus postcard from Anne that she is selling as a fundraiser for Japanese earthquake relief.

 More leaf and floral inspirations for quilt design.

 Some good advice!

 Aerial roots of the Banyan tree just outside of the Honolulu zoo.

 Beautiful colour and shapes to the flowers.

 A white hibiscus just starting to open.

Today I woke up to a sprinkle of snow covering the courtyard to my surprise! Tonight I'm going to my friend Tricia's for a Christmas celebration. What a great way to start the day.

Yesterday I had lunch at my friend Rita's with another friend Tricia. These chickadees were enjoying their lunch also.

This is what the quay looks like in late fall. I love the light at this time of year filtering through the bare branches.

The reflection on the water is just delightful, I see a quilt in my future to reflect this time of year.

On Thursday I went to downtown Vancouver to have lunch with my friend Heather. I went for a walk along Robson Street and found this wonderful window with some vintage typewriters with Wish Lists.

Robson Street has some amazing shops and lovely decorations along it. At night it is a wonderland of lights.

I could only get a few of these trees and red boxes in my picture, but look how effective they look.

I found this tree topper on Thursday, and like it just standing on my mantle.

I found this tree to join some of my many angels on the mantle.

This is the my favourite of my many little trees. I found it in L.A. when I went to the Rose Parade 2006, you'll remember it was the first time in 50 years that it rained!

This morning I woke up to a skiff of snow on the quay, I decided to go for a walk before it starts to come down heavier. I had breakfast at Angelina's before taking any pictures. On entering the market I saw this wonderful display of blue and green ornaments at a local florist. I love how they used the peacock feather and carving to make a bird.

I found this group of poinsettias very pleasing.

Gerbera daisies are a favourite flower of mine and the contrasting colours here just jumped out.

The winter kale looks interesting sitting in the snow.

The boardwalk has a light layer of snow, you can still see a few roses bravely showing their colours amongst the shade of grey.

Here is a sight you don't get to see often, snow on the palm trees outside my condo.

There are several peeling bark maples planted along the quay this year. As the weather gets colder the bark will peel even more.

Roses dappled with snow, how delicate they look, but how rich the colours appear!