GARDEN 2010

This is the wide view from the "entrance" We had scrap drywall from our various construction projects so i put it in the central path to block out the weeds. A bit slippery when wet though.

Arugula and leeks on the left, Beefsteak tomatoes on the right.

Celery and roma tomatoes on the left

Swiss chard and red cabbage

Back in January my folks helped us whip the garden into shape after neglect. With all our home-oriented projects going on over the past year (and still going) the garden took a back seat. It finally started producing a few weeks ago and we've been enjoying fresh cucumbers, corn, tomatoes, lettuce, and radish. Still waiting on the leeks, cabbage, swiss chard, japanese eggplant and curly kale. Also we have a few beets and parsnips trying their darnedest to grow. The cukes have been a nice change. I will definitely be planting more of those. Also, fennel is surprisingly hardy in the garden. I have green onions in there too, I swear they must be over a year and a half old, they're just starting to make flowers. It's kind of amazing that we can just go out there grab a bunch where as, if we were to buy them in the supermarket, we'd most likely not be able to finish them, tossing the rotten remainders in the compost. We've been making lots of tomato-based dishes lately, like pasta with red sauce, tomato and avocado salad, tomato chicken soup and grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches. Hopefully in June we'll have more veggies to blog about.

CONTAIN YOURSELVES

I was recently approached to do a new logo design for Gurman Conatiner + Supply Corporation in Terre Haute, Indiana. I love that I get to work on designs as varied as Floral Designers, Wedding Planners, Life Coaching to a Container Supply Company.

The goal was to bring a clean and modern look to the company and my only instructions were to use navy blue and to keep it from looking too cartoony and cheesy. I came up with a more sophisticated blue than what was previously used and kept the light gray as an accent. The challenge was what imagery to use considering the company sells more than containers. After several design submissions Whitney at GC+SC settled on s design that utilized the tops of metal drums. For an alternate design to use in other applications like t-shirts and on the side of their delivery trucks she chose a version that had stacked drums.

When it came time to apply the logo to their existing website, we both felt that the red needed to be changed. This acid green that I used as the web accent was inspired by toxic spills and clean-ups and gives the site just the punch it needed without being too much. I really love the crisp, clean and modern feel of the site now. Sometimes it's as simple as just giving your site a face lift with a new logo or color scheme rather than redesigning the entire thing... especially if the site works well and does not need to be rebuilt. Think of it as a haircut that you get or a new shirt. It makes you feel brand new with just a little change.

The new master logo.

An alternate version for use in other applications.

The new logo applied to the existing site.

The original look and feel of the site with original logo.

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I have always loved this texture of layers and layers of staples on a telephone pole.

The variation of browns, rust, gray, silver is perfect for creating a neutral color palette.

Paia, Maui.

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John and I are busy at work on some new home projects so our posting has been a bit slow. Stay tuned for the new and complete lanai we are tiling right now as well as some newly stained concrete sidewalks and more.

Lichen on a rock

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Tuesday's Texture is coming to you a bit late this week as it was mom's last day here yesterday. We spent the last week doing a lot of running around and I failed to get this post made in time.



The beach at HUI ALOHA CHURCH in Kaupo, Maui.

TABLE TIME

Conn takes a break to scope out the birds. The other side of the table is a mirror image of this side. The tubs in the background indicate we are still in move-in mode. That wall is slated for bookshelves. Finally!

Even though our office isn't officially outfitted, one of the pieces is completed and in use. We needed a work table for the office where we could stow all our cutting mats and crafting utensils and have a large work space for creating. We started with the table top. We knew we had to have something durable and easy to maintain. We had used laminate before in the kitchen, and were always impressed with the new patterns and colors, especially the faux stainless. We had already decided on a bright orangey red for the long desk so we wanted something muted for the table. We gave the fabricators, Maui Countertops, a dimension of 4x6 feet but adjusted the width to 44 inches when we found out that was the maximum width dimension of the rolls of laminate.

Then we set about designing the base. Rather than go with the conventional 4-legged support, we came up with the idea to have 2 boxes, divided in ways to allow for storage of large-format posters and art as well as portfolios and have shelves to place storage boxes and books. As you can see, the top shelf is short since it's meant to have super flat things like rulers and mats.

The sketch shows all my calculations. I wanted to make sure I maximized the 4x8 plywood sheets so there was little waste. It helped that we were painting the wood since I didn't have to worry about which direction the wood grain was going. And since it's plywood, the strength is never really sacrificed. Also, since it was going to be primed and painted, filling the jig pocket holes could be done with spackle. I had tried to use the wood plugs but it proved to be more time consuming and complicated. Sanding them to be flush with the surface was too hefty a job for our medium-grade sander.

The walls and back of the deep side pockets had to be primed and painted before hand since I wouldn't be able to comfortably reach in there once it was all assembled. We made sure that there would be enough room for a person to comfortably sit in the center of the table and for the height, I had to factor in the wheels and stools we had already purchased.

It ended up taking 3 sheets of birch/maple plywood. Plus a sheet of scrap siding leftover from the office construction to use as the base layer spanning the two boxes under the laminate top. Conn had the idea to make a small connecting shelf in between the "leg" boxes once the whole thing had been assembled which has become more of a foot rest than a shelf (just visible through the stool in the pic).

This sketch shows all the calculations and dimensions in order to figure out how much plywood we needed.

SEEDS AND FRUIT

Today we bring you an interview we just completed over at Seeds and Fruit blog... which is not a blog about seeds or fruit actually. It's a blog written by Kathey Epperson about creativity, beauty, design, and the cross-pollination of ideas. We were introduced by dear sweet Elizabeth Kiester... a wonderfully talented girl I worked with back in New York. Elizabeth now lives in Cambodia where she has a cute little shop called Wanderlust.

It's nice to stop and do these interviews now an again as it  allows us to reflect on why we love doing what we do. We got so caught up in researching images for this that we lost track of time and were a bit tardy in turning it in. I think I spent at least an hour looking at images of the Eastern Airlines and John got lost looking at old Flags of the World images.

Many Mahalo's to Kathy for the chance to stop and look at why we love doing what we do and to Elizabeth for the introduction as well as her friendship and inspiration.

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Hawai'ian White Sand is actually many colors consisting of marine organism particles and small shells.

RED HEAD

Since getting the new zoom lens I am even more addicted to watching and feeding the birds. The RED CRESTED or BRAZILIAN CARDINAL pictured here is the friendliest or most tame of the bunch we have loitering around here, waiting for a free meal. He usually lets me get within 3-4 feet before flying off. He comes and hangs out on the railing just outside my office window or in the branches of the Royal Poinciana out the other window and sings until I head out and give him bird seed. Until last week there was also a female traveling with him, but she has been absent from the daily visits. I am hoping she is sitting on a nest somewhere and that she will return soon... with little red headed keiki's. More feathered friends coming soon.

PERIODICAL PARADISE

Paradise Holiday Annual

Just a wonderfully retro piece of paradise I found at one of the swap meets. I love the wide panorama strips. The dancers in the mod black + white unitards seem oddly out of place in the "royal court." I'll try an post excerpts from time to time.

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Carpet of leaves from a PROTEA tree. I love how the edges look like they were cut with pinking shears. As always... no one can beat mother nature.

WHALE TALES

Baby humpback whale breaching with Lanai in the distance.

Mama whale is the dark spot to it's left...almost in the center of the pic.

Friday morning were up not so bright but very early to make it to Lahaina by 8:00AM for our whale cruise with PACIFIC WHALE FOUNDATION. It was a picture perfect day and within 5 minutes of sailing out of the dock Mom, Nick, Brandon, Heather, John and myself were treated to a mother and baby humpback whale (above). This time of year, most whales have already started their long journey back to Alaska to feed for the summer, so we were lucky to have any sightings at all. Along with the whales we also saw a few bottle nose dolphins who were taking it easy just swimming along as though they were out for an afternoon stroll. The other great thing about taking the boat is the view you get of the islands from the water. It's always nice to get another perspective of Maui other than the highway view.

I picked up a new 250mm zoom lens with image stabilizer the day before in hopes of getting "the shot". Problem with the zoom lens, other than me not having time to adjust to it, is that it is much more sensitive to motion and the images are not super crisp. The use of a tripod would help that. I have 90 days to try it out... so I'll be shooting and posting away during that time to see if we think it's a keeper or not.

This is a shot from the top deck of the boat looking directly down into the water.
It looked exactly like this... NO LIE. Water can look different colors depending on which way you look and where the sun is at that particular moment.

A deep valley on Maui's West side.
You can actually see all the way through to the East or Wailuku side.

An adult ding a "spy hop". Who's watching who?

An adult breach and splashdown.

The fluke or horizontal tail fins of whales, dolphins, and porpoises are unique to each with no two having the same markings or ridges on the tail edge. This helps to identify whales for research purposes.

Bottle Nose Dolphins

Mother and baby with another adult in the distance.

(detail)

The slow rise of the hump then tail before the whale descends.

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Raindrops on the leaf of a VARIEGATED SHELL GINGER.

SWHALE TIME

Last Wednesday Mom and Nick arrived for a month long visit with my sister and nephew arriving tomorrow for a week and a half. Grandma was supposed to come with them all, but a small health issue kept her home this trip. She's doing well, but we're sad she's not here to see the whales. Trying to see if MAYBE we get her back with Mom and Nick in the summer sometime.

Yesterday we headed over to their hotel in Lahaina for a MUCH needed get away. We lounged by the pool watching HUMPBACK WHALES and SPINNER DOLPHINS treat us to a spectacular show. Most were out a bit too far to even try to photograph. We headed over to
WHALER'S VILLAGE for dinner at LEILANI'S right on the beach.

As the sun began to set they raised the sun shades as the wait staff walked through the restaurant announcing the sunset. On cue, a mother and baby whale started their tail slapping performance the minute the shades finished raising. The mother would slap her tail then baby would follow. One of the waitresses said that they usually do this right after the baby had fed. I could not manage to get a good shot of the baby because it was turned sideways. Here you can see mama giving a whale of a tail slap lesson. Mind you, there were many whales in the distance doing the same thing, but this pair just happened to be a few hundred feet from shore. As soon as they had finished, another whale started to fin flap to the right. A few minutes later it shot into the air and I got my first shot of a whale breaching. A "swell time" was had by all.

Mother whale tail slapping. The bay was just behind the boat.
The railing at the bottom of the image will give you an idea of just how close it was.
(detail)

Whale doing a "spy hop". This is when they just pop their heads out of the water to have a look around. It's really not all that far from shore.
(detail)

I could not tell if this was an adult or a baby. It appeared to be alone, so I am assuming it was a young male. Notice just how close it was to shore. You can judge the distance from the peoples heads at the bottom of the image.
(detail)

The quintessential "sunset sailboat" shots. How could you resist taking these shots. The bottom one is so seventies.

BLOG ALOHA

I'm pleased as Hawaiian punch to blog about a recently completed redesign for hapa|hale. The blog's author, Leigh, and I cyber-met about 2 years ago through the design*sponge feature penned by our pals Lauren & Derek about Conn's shelf makeover. We shared many common interests and design influences so it seemed a perfect match when she asked me to redesign her blog identity and site. She was well prepared and supplied me with a handful of blogs that she admired and a wish list of design tricks and functionality that she wanted deployed in the new template design. When she suggested Squarespace as a development and hosting platform, I took it out for a test drive and gave her my blessing. Using a combination of their custom style editing features, I designed the template based on the approved mock-ups and banner photography.

Before all of that were a few rounds of logo design. The lowercase h's were a trademark display style that I needed to keep but I really liked how the capitol H's worked together and when placed in a pattern arrangement they do double duty as the state's abbreviated name. The simplicity of the letter forms in the title words seemed well-suited for futura, where as the client wanted a more whimsical and girly cursive for the tag line. Enter linoscript. We were both really pleased with the results.

I styled the image in the top banner with a combination of things supplied by Leigh and an assortment of our own flora and seashells (all from local sources). Conn helped me out with gathering and positioning the elements. I must of snapped a zillion photos before we arrived at the perfect one. Leigh had the vision to have the logo letterpress-printed into beautiful calling cards by Meimiko. I took a photo of the card in the cello-envelope because I liked how the label complemented the design on the cards. They did a great job in the printing and color matching. Beautiful paper too. Letterpress is a wonderfully tactile medium, so nice to actually "feel" the design rather than just see it on the computer screen.

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An old abandoned water tank near Ali'i Kula Lavender.

3 AND COUNTING...

It just dawned on me today that as of yesterday we have been living on and in our little slice of paradise for 3 years. It feels like more and less at the same time. We don't remember too much from last year with all of the construction and as you can see, we still have yet to paint the main house. It's going to happen soon... well sometime in April or May. Just look at how much things have changed around here. Mind boggling really. Here's to (at least) another 3 years. Thank you to all who have stopped by. We truly enjoy your comments and are happy to have met so many new friends via CFC.
A hui hou!
c+j

Right after we moved in and a shot from today.
We have also planted many plants or just allowed others to grow in rather than scalping them in addition to the construction. Here you can see some of the coco palms we planted soon after moving in. They were about 18" tall with 2 - 3 fronds each. Notice the potted palms nestled in under the teenage palms? There are about 45 of them... waiting to go in the ground.

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Stems of a TRAVELLER'S PALM.

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Leaves of the ROYAL POINCIANA tree.