DECO Clay Craft Academy - Blog

California Classes

I just returned from Japan teaching the new C3 Series 4 classes consisting of Christmas and New Year’s projects. As always, it was a very fast paced trip and I still have jet lag! Fortunately, this is was the last Japan trip for the year!

Next we are off to Northern California with my mother to teach the instructors there the new C3 classes. We are very excited  about this great opportunity for us to meet the instructors and also for the instructors to get to know each other and create a great bond and support group for themselves!

While in San Francisco we also plan to visit some new stores to introduce our line of products. There are some nice shops that we would love to visit!

Below are pictures of our 2009 Christmas and New Year’s kits. When I return from California, classes will begin in Hawaii for these kits. Remember to check your email and our website for updates on when the kits will be available and also to sign up for these kit classes. Also please remember that every year we only have a limited stock of these kits, so don’t wait too long to get yours!

 
 

DECO studio in Tokyo, busy with classes...

For the past two weeks the DECO studio in Tokyo has been busy with classes. We have been teaching Christmas and New Year's arrangements. Next week, once the Tokyo classes are finished, we will be moving to Osaka and Kyusyu.



It’s the fall season in Japan, the weather is so nice. We get to see the color of the leaves changing, the sunsets are very pretty and the food is so good! I love everything about Japanese food.
These pictures are of some projects that we are working on and some of the beautiful things my mother recently made. I am her biggest fan!



Yukiko

Clay Art for Special Occasions book

It has been very busy schedule at studio since we came back from our trip.

We had very nice get together with everyone for Aya's good-bye party before she left. Thank you so much for everyone who attended the party, and to Gary who hosted at his place. We will all miss Aya very much! Wishing her the best and we will definitely keep in touch!

Ken, a good friend and past DECO employee, came to Hawaii with her family for vacation. It has been over a year since she left and now she is a Mommy. We all got to meet her daughter, Alexie she is super cute and very healthy. It is very amazing how fast the time goes.




I'm off to Japan again for C3 classes. We will be teaching new C3 classes with Christmas & New Year's projects.

Right before I left, we received the Clay Art for Special Occasions book. I hope you will get to see this new book! We are also working on Japanese version of this book which will be out in the coming months.




I will be in Japan until first week of November, I will try to post news from Japan!

Yukiko

We have been looking forward to this trip for so long!

Our trip started with a day layover in NY on the way to Europe. I love NY!!! After landing in Milan, we drove to our friends house in Northern Italy to the village of Mezzolago. After a day of rest we took a drive to see more friends in Bolzano, this was such a unique place in it's culture and history. I have never seen such a bicycle friendly place. Next, we were off to Verona to drop our bags and take the train to the amazing city of Venezia. After 2 days and a night here, we rented a car for the drive through Tusany and Umbria. There are just too many beautiful places to see, places like Firenze, Modena, Siena, Orvieto, San Gimignano, Pisa, Lucca. I didn't think we would be able to, but we made it to Rome. We tried to visit as many different cities without overdoing it, finally, I think we overdid it....

We had such a great time visiting each old town of Italy. Each place is so different; offering so much to see. So many breathtaking structures and architectural marvels around every corner. Oh yea, food and wine, too...

We enjoyed Tuscany with view of grapes & rolling hills for miles, so much, that we found a little villa to stay for a few days. From the beginning, we decided to keep an open itinerary in case we wanted to see more of a specific place. It turned out to be wonderful 17 days in Italy.

After Italy, we had tickets to fly to Paris for 4 nights (our only real planning for this trip.) It was amazing to see this beautiful city of lights. We made a trip to the flea market to look for some vintage & antique things. To my surprise, I didn't shop too much, it was enough just to walk around the city. Of course, there were the distractions of the world famous bread, cheese and wine. After three weeks, we had met so many nice people, ate so much great food and had experiences that we remember forever.

It was a great to turn off from my busy work schedule and just focus on the simple life. Laugh, relax and eating great food. It really opened my eyes to see so many beautiful things and it opens my heart to meet wonderful people. This was the longest time for me to be away from work and I feel fully charged of good energy. Life is good!

38,000 people attending!

The Made in Hawaii festival was a very good turn out, I saw on the news last night that it was a record with 38,000 people attending!

 

The Neal Blaisdel Center was packed with people and it was great to see how many venders were doing so well at the show. It was so good to see all the people who stopped by our booth to say hello. I had a chance to meet many people I haven’t seen for years. Thank you for all your support and encouragement! We would like to thank all the instructors who helped in our booth with greeting customers and doing Make & Take sessions. A great big thank you to all the DECO instructors who participated worked with their creations; these turned out to be some of the best selling items. I would like to send out a special thank you to Chenli, Gary and Margaret who were there to help from the beginning of set up and the last to help in the final tear down.

Since the show I’ve been working on few wedding orders. Chenli has been assisting me with custom orders. There are so many things I need to keep up with. Sometimes I think it is endless….. We are also working on Christmas & New Year’s kit samples, we will be showing these kit pictures in our website sometime in October.

Some new display pieces...

This is what I has been keeping me busy for the last couple weeks. Since we are limited to displaying on the back wall of the booth, we have to be creative when hanging anything, this can be very difficult within the confines of a 20' by 10' space. This year I am attempting to display flowers inside frames made of art board. This material is very light but very sturdy. To accent, I found some live snake grass. There are six different sizes of frames; each with a different color scheme. This is a good way to show of the colors and display many varieties of flowers. It really gives a good idea of what flowers & colors are possible with CLAYCRAFT.

At first, I started work on a green color theme and moved on to yellow & orange. After seeing these progress I felt that I needed some white and, last but not least, PINK. It was very fun to work on these colors and to have the chance to make so many different types of flowers. I think it's safe to say there are about 30 varieties in all.... If I only had more time, I could go on and on making more and more.... I was honestly amazed a how many types of flowers that can be created.

The arrangements that were brought in by the instructors for the Made in Hawaii festival are so nice. Everyone had worked so hard and really made some beautiful pieces. The quality and techniques keep improving each and every year. I am so proud of everyone! Thank you for all your hard work.

We will begin setting up things today for the Made in Hawaii show. It will take a couple of days to get things just right. We are hoping for a good turnout and looking forward to seeing you all at the show.

Yukiko

Sorry I’ve been neglecting my blog…

I guess I should be posting on it everyday? Every other day? Once a week? ;-)

Since returning from Japan, it has been non stop with classes and custom orders. As of yet, I have not had the time to focus on making display pieces for the Made in Hawai`i show, but I intend to do my best to make time. The pressure to get it done is actually good for my creative soul. This year, I will be focusing on COLORS as my theme for the display pieces.

This is my 7th year in participating at the Made in Hawai`i show. This is one of the biggest trade shows of its kind here in O`ahu. Exhibitors at the show are producers of “made in Hawai`i” products and services. This is the only trade show that DECO-Hawai`i is involved in and we do our best to share this experience with all our Instructors and members. Please, if at all possible, come to the show and support local businesses and experience (and taste!) the 3 day event from August 21-23, at the Neal Blaisdell Center.

We have exciting news to announce…Aya and her husband are expecting their first baby! Their bundle of joy will be due in February 2010. We are so excited for them! We support them wholeheartedly and Aya’s decision to focus her time on preparing being a “Mom to be.” Aya has been a part of our DECO family for over a year now, and will miss her ever so generous help here at the studio. Aya, know that our door is always open for you… :-)

Of course, before I sign off, I wanted to share some pieces that I recently made for some special brides. These are orders we get thru our website! I am in no way computer savvy, so it still amazes me this world of technology and how we can all get connected by the Internet.

Yukiko

Back to Hawaii

I am leaving Tokyo, after 26 days!  I can’t believe how fast the days have flown by…I guess being busy with classes, event  planning, and just spending time with family can do that, which is all good!

The summer weather here in Japan is hot and humid, but I’m not at all complaining since summer is the season for some of my favorite fruits…watermelon, peaches and grapes.  They are especially sweet this season and YUMMY!  There’s also amazing displays of fireworks, which I was lucky enough to get a glimpse of, while in the car. They are huge!

My Mother and I had a chance to look around Kyoto, while we headed to Osaka for classes.  We had so much fun being “tourists.”  Even though I’ve been there several times, I still find it to be a quaint town with a lot to see.  We enjoyed browsing in antique shops, and let me tell you, we could have spent days in there; so much to see!

Just recently, the DECO head office had a luncheon meeting with all the master instructors.  There were 85 who attended the luncheon and the main item of discussion was the upcoming 2011 DECO 30th anniversary event and exhibition.  We are really excited about this BIG event!  Yes, we are starting the preparation quite early, just so that we get every i’s dotted and t’s crossed.

 
I will be back in Hawaii before the end of the week and will start working on display items for this year’s “Made in Hawaii” show on August 21st – 23rd.  See you at the studio!

Yukiko

why not cake toppers...?

   Hello from Tokyo!  The rainy season is almost over and the weather here is getting warmer as time goes by; I can already foresee that it’s going to be a really HOT summer this year.  My Mother and I are finishing up the classes in Tokyo and then we are off to Osaka and Kyusyu to fulfill the rest of our class schedules, then I will be taking a flight back home to Hawai’i!
Looking back at my past projects, using DECO Clay, it dawned on me that I’ve accumulated a collection of cake toppers.  Since summer is a popular season for weddings, it just seemed an opportune time to share these with you. :-)

Wedding themed items have always been and I think will always be popular items for us.  Custom orders can be made in studio or thru our many certified instructors.  We have seen many of our certified instructors sell their hand made designs online successfully, and in the process have had new and returning clients wanting to have custom flowers made for their special day, or as a special gift!  That’s what’s amazing about working with DECO Clay; anyone can get a one of a kind piece, be it a bouquet, boutonnieres, centerpieces, corsages, favors, and cake toppers that are made specifically for them and the occasion. :-)

Hope you are all having a great summer so far!

Yukiko

Hawai’i is in bloom!

Hawai’i is in bloom!  This time of year, many species of flowers are in bloom on the island.  There’s Pikake, Pakalana, Stephanotis, Bougainvillea and one of my favorites the Rainbow Shower Tree.  Its majesty and gorgeous cascading flowers ranging in color from white, light green, orange and yellow are so pretty to look at-it reminds me of cherry blossoms.  When you see the trees all in a row along the highway or park it’s breathtaking to see!  Another summertime treat are Mangoes, they are seen pretty much everywhere here.  It seems like every home has one or two in their front or back yard!  I’ve had my share of good Mangoes this summer-they are so yummy…

I am busily working on some NEW upcoming projects for the Curriculum III course, along with custom orders, before I head off to Japan at the end of the week.  There are three weeks of classes scheduled in Japan and then I’ll be back in Honolulu at the end of the month.  I will be missing the July 4th festivities and fire works, but I hope you all have a happy and safe 4th of July and enjoying your summer!!!

Yukiko