CUCKOO REVUE 2010

Hand crafted ribbon lettering, coconut crafts, hand knit golf club covers and handmade ribbons for Simple Times, John;s parents enjoying the warm January temperatures and new year plantings.

January started out with John's mom and dad coming for a 7 week visit filled with days fishing, sightseeing, and relaxing while I spent the month making projects for Amy Sedaris' new book "Simple Times - Crafts for Poor People".

Visiting the buddha in Lahaina, in the kitchen making fried cinnamon tortilla strips and homemade pata for lasagna and whale watching in Kapalua.

February we were still entertaining John's parents while his mom cooked almost every day. This was the first time they had seen the Humpback Whales which winter here in Hawai'i.

Swiss chard ravioli, a last dinner on Maui at Sansei, staining concrete, Mom, Nick, Heather and Brandon, Whale wtach and a bamboo birthday hike.

March brought the Giordani's 7 week visit to an end and we had about 2 weeks to recoup and take care of a few home improvements before Conn's family came for a 4 week visit.  Lots of whale sightings and bamboo forest hike for John's birthday.

Touring Haleakala's backside and a stop at Kaupo Store and a wall of waterfalls. Waimea Canyon, Glass Beach, Nick conquering his fear of caves and the Kilauea Lighthouse on the 2 day whistle stop tour of Kaua'i.

We were able to introduce Conn's family to new parts of the island like the back side of Haleakala and we even crammed a 2 day trip to Kaua'i right before they departed Maui.

Ideal Bookshelf book submission, sealing the tiles and tile installation on the office lanai, Kekoa's dad "Big Daddy", and the new kitchen tools.

Mid-April found us putting together the "Ideal Bookshelf" for our book collection that was painted for the Curiosity Shoppe / Jane Mount show. We finally got our office lanai tiled, Kekoa's dad became a regular visitor and we have now become quite close to him. The kitchen faired really well this month with the addition of the long desired KitchenAid mixer and the so hard to find scraper. We were also interviewed and featured on the blog Seeds and Fruit by Kathy Epperson... which led to the design of her new book series - Field Trip.

The view from the office window facing East to Hana. The Java Plum and Christmas Berry trees were getting extremely tall so we cut about 15-20 feet off the tops to reveal what we call Hana Twin Peaks.

May found us tending to the yard and garden area that had suffered for almost a year and a half since we started construction on the new office.

Vanilla ice cream in the making and the new book shelves.

May continued to be full of catching up on home related projects. We finally found some bookshelves and had them shipped from IKEA. Then there was the KitchenAid ice cream maker that needed to be tested. 

Yard work, gardening, concrete staining, wore yard work and the actual painting from Jane Mount for the Ideal Book Shelf project.

June saw the purchase of our new and MUCH need laptops. Our old ones were 7 years old and while they still worked... they were slooooooooooow. More attention to the yard and house this month.

Building a better berm, John visits his family in upstate NY and celebrates his parent's 50th anniversary at the Mohonk Mountain House.

July saw John heading back to NY for his parent's 50th Anniversary as well as visiting old friends in the city.. But before he left we had some landscaping work done, traded in the old... ok not old... the other car for a new gray model that better suits our personalities. Conn's high school friend Jenny and her son Brian, who now lives on Kaua'i, visited on their way to and from Indiana. 

Breaking ground on the shed, nursing a Japanese White Eye after it hit the window, building and planting.

August ushered in the building of the new garden shed from the leftovers of the old garden shed we tore down over a year and a half ago. Conn's obsession with birds is never ending and of course there is always something to plant.

Raising walls and the roof ad finishing touches to the shed, The Hawaiian stilts at Kanaha Pond, Big swells  hitting Ho'okipa Beach.

September we were still working on the new shed. We finally made a visit to Kanaha Ponds to view the wintering birds and the big waves starting showing their faces on the north shore. 

Maui County Fair, a Kapalua hike and Star Noodle Birthday dinner, Guri Guri, fresh coat of paint on the shed, the end of the tent and THE NOBLE CHEF EVENT at the Fairmont Kealani.

October found us at the Maui County Fair and doing a hike in Kapalua on Conn's Birthday finished off with a fantastic dinner at Star Noodle. We finally tried Guri Guri, finished the construction of the shed... with a few bits to add on like shelving and a rain catchment system (which will be detailed in an upcoming post). The Winter winds rolled in and finally helped in dismantling the construction tent. The vent for THE NOBLE CHEF / Maui Culinary Academy that Conn designed all the printed collateral and new logo for took place at the end of October and we were lucky enough to be able to attend and partake in the delicious food from around the islands.

Leonard's Bakery and Diamond HEad on Oahu, Simple Times, John on the "set", charred pine tree in Poli Poli Spring State Recreation Area , international treats and Thanksgiving dinner at Hali'imaile General Store. 

November took us to Oahu for 2 days to do some work with several clients including Leonard's Bakery and more importantly - shopping. Simple Times - Crafts for Poor People hits the stands, John landed a set assisting gig for a Lands End catalog shoot, we got a sweet treat delivery fresh from Paris full of chocolates and sugars from dear Deb and her ohana. Thanksgiving was spent hiking Poli Poli Spring State Recreation Area and going out to eat for the easiest Thanksgiving day dinner ever at Hali'imaile General Store.

Mama's Fish House, The first proof of FILED TRIP, a temporary gate in the attempt to keep out wild pigs, more planting, holiday parties, the new troff to be used as water catchment on the shed, sotting the first whales of the season on the north shore and our bamboo and garland holiday "tree"... the other one did not make it's way out of the box in the garage.

December saw our 10 year anniversary and we celebrated by going to Mama's Fish House. We had wild pigs invading the yard and making a few messes, yard work, parties, whale watching and sad holiday decor.

Conn's Design work for 2010: New Logo for Gurman Container + Supply Corporation, The design of the new book, FILED TRIP, The cover design and hand ribbon lettering for SIMPLE TIMES as well as some very fun crafts inside, A new Logo for a new Floral Wholesaler, New + updated Identity for Melissa Foster Cook of Brilliant Life Design, Art Announcements for Parnell Corder, A CV for hair and make-up stylist Giorgio Baroni, and THE NOBLE CHEF 2010 Logo and printed materials ... just to name a few.

John's Design work for 2010:  The new logo and blog design for hapa | hale, Logo re-work and in-store signage for Leonard's Bakery on Oahu, A new blog design for Grace Supports, Identity for Island Endodontics on Oahu, Logo and Flyer design for an iPhone app called BUCKET LINK, the Website Design for a new Recipe site called Asian Supper and Icons for FIT LIFE a division of Rodale... to name a few.

We somehow managed to keep ourselves very busy with new and continuing clients to whom we are very thankful for their business. MAHALO!

Again, we ate really well and enjoyed the adventure of finding new ways to use the fruit and vegetables from our yard...

...despite being so busy, we always take time to stop and enjoy the tropical flowers...

...Conn obsesses over the birds, especially with the purchase of a new telephoto lens and...

...we introduced you to TUESDAY'S TEXTURE, and we plan on bringing you a new weekly post starting next week.

...we broke for rainbows and...

...we always try to stop and enjoy the vibrant light shows from sunrise to sunset.

Please visit us often in 2011. We will continue to chronicle our adventures and discoveries, food and friends, textures and more. And who know what critters will be showing up here next. That's always fun.

To those of you who visited... we loved hearing from you and hope you enjoyed your visits. 

Mahalo and Hau'oli Makahiki Hou!

A hui hou,

c+j 

WE WAS POOR BUT WE WAS LOVED...

Late last year Amy Sedaris began work on her newest book - Simple Times - Crafts for Poor People - and asked me to do a few projects for it. You might remember I did paintings for her last book back in 2006 - I Like You - Hospitality Under The Influence.

She thought I would be the perfect person to make the coconut crafts and I jumped at the chance. I also knitted golf club covers, made award ribbons, and some "native" jewelry.

As the book progressed Amy began talking to me about lettering options for the cover. We have an old lettering book from the 40's that has great examples of novelty lettering and I thought she would really like the the title spelled out in ribbons.

One day I just whipped up this sample to show her what it could look like and next thing I know I was designing the cover layout. Megan Whitmarsh and Vickie Farrell embroidered the subtitle an author name. After playing with a few color versions... it would seem as this is the cover they are going with. The thing I love about working with Amy is that she is so over the top yet loves to pull back when needed. This cover is spare yet chock full of information... She has a great eye for when things are too much... or for when she needs it to be too much.

Our friend Jason Frank Rothenberg shot all the photo's including the cover and our friend Lauren Smith of The Curiosity Shoppe made the cute little dog as well as a few other amazing crafts featured in the book like felt fruit jewelry and sugar skulls.

I got to see the first draft of the book recently and can tell you it is brilliant. Hold onto your hats... it's gonna be another HIT! Due out November 2, 2010.

I'll post some of the projects I did for Amy once the book is released.

FAIR PLAY

Friday night we made our way to the Maui County Fair where we enjoyed some really good food, got to people watch and check out crafts and Orchidland. My main reason for going was the food and to take some pics of the rides all lit up.

Most important part of the fair is the food. John had the smoked meat plate while I had a the orange chicken pork lumpia and a corndog...
YOU HAVE TO HAVE A CORNDOG AT THE FAIR!
After that we shared a bag of sugary malasadas. These were not from Leonard's, but still good.

Ferris Wheel

LIGHTS!

Prizes.

Crafts were a bit odd. I did love the lei made form an old cut up dress. The miniature Christmas trees were rather peculiar… especially under that plastic shield.

We did admire the origami tree.

My favorite piece of art by a 4th grader.

2 beauties from Orchidland.

How does one judge mac nuts and sad wilted lettuce?

Juicy fruits.

Bamboo shoots and hot peppers. Still wondering how they come to a decision on best in show.

Fanciful feathered and furred friends. I fell so sorry for all the poor animals cooped up in tiny pens and cages.
So many people taking pics with the blinding flash right in the poor things faces was a bit upsetting. i used no flash and all was just fine. Why don't people think about this sort of thing?

After I saw these cute donkey's I begged for one. Not gonna happen I'm afraid. This cow was such a beautiful color.

Our last stop before heading home was for a bag of cotton candy and sugared nuts.
Oh the headache that followed.

WAX NOSTALGIC

I figured it was about time I blogged about my friend BJ's bright new venture called Relight Candles.

Back in the day, I could not go thrift shopping with BJ and her sister Denise without being egged on to buy more than expected. They're very persuasive with a good eye for vintage finds. Every once in a while, I'll get a surprise "I-saw-this-amazing-thing-and-had-to-buy-it-for-you" package from either of them. Once, a very hurried Denise did a "drive-by" She deposited an awesome vintage lamp in the lobby of our apartment building in New York with instructions to the doorman to ring us up. No time for a note, or a handshake or a big thank-you hug. I only found out later who it was that actually dropped it off!

BJ has a special knack for the thrift store vintage score. On one occasion, she sent me these amazing Thermos bowls with pointy little Jetson's-style feet. We still have them and use them regularly.

So it's no surprise that she turned her shopping spidey senses into a business with an green side. Using all manner of nostalgic vessels—planters, glasses, vases—to make soy-wax candles, she upcycles what might be easily discarded into something to be admired and illuminated.

You can catch her selling her wares at some of the upcoming holiday craft fairs:

• Patchwork, Santa Ana and Long Beach (see ad for dates)
• Unique LA, downtown LA December 11 and 12 (see add below)

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.

CUCKOO REVUE 2009

As 2009 left and 2010 came rushing in, we thought we would take a look back at the past year here at CFC... albeit a bit late. Mahalo to everyone who stopped by and found what we had to say from Haiku, Maui entertaining, informative, funny or just plain stupid over the last 3 years. We look forward to sharing more of our adventures soon and hearing what you have to say... so stay tuned.
We still have a few projects up our short sleeves that involve the completion of the office and the building of a new garden/tractor shed. Oh yeah... and we can't wait to get our garden up and growing again.
Aloha + Hau’oli Makahiki Hou!
Conn + John

JANUARY

It was a slow month in terms of activities... but we had a good amount of work to keep us busy in January. We did take time to take a hike down to the ocean cliffs, enjoyed daily visits from Kekoa and made a few treats with the winter guava.

FEBRUARY
February was another one of those slow months in terms of activities and heavy on work.
John made his way to Oahu for a meeting with Leonard's Bakery, a bit of whale watching, more visits from Kekoa and gardening.

MARCH
All work and no play... ok... some play, but not much. This month we finally tried the banana fruit pies at McDonald's, had Kekoa eating out of our hands, planted a few new hedges and John found himself back on Oahu photographing ALL the baked goods Leonard's Bakery has to offer for their website. That giant shopping bag full of sweet treats he brought home didn't last long.

APRIL
Ok, Here we go... April was a month from hell. It started off easy enough with a trip to the planning department to pick up our building permit, lunch at
Sam Sato's, Lahaina, the beach and home for dessert on John's birthday. A few days later Kekoa showed up with his broken leg. The 2 weeks of nursing back to health, with no eating and loud crowing at 5:00 AM was taking it's toll on all of us. After a few days of weaning in the coop, we finally let him go, only to find out he was harassing a neighbor, who admitted to kicking him, so we felt it best to take him somewhere a bit safer. That's when we met Laurlee at Leilani Farm Sanctuary. With heavy hearts, we dropped Kekoa off at her farm in hopes he might have a better chance at not being hurt. We are not really sure what became of him, but Laurelee said she hears him crowing now and then. We started the demo on the shed in preparation for the new office. New gas lines were dug and we stopped by Leilani Farm Sanctuary to help plant fruit tree's for the animals to feast on with the help of Orchards for Animals. We did not see Kekoa, bu we did hear him.

MAY
May was another jam packed month. Without Kekoa around, it was feeling a bit dreary. His dad, Big Daddy as we call him, began making regular visits to the banana patch... where I put out grains for him and the other birds. We also discovered the Northern Cardinal nest and kept an eye on that daily. The lanai became the temporary home for our water pump, pressure tanks and batteries. Solar panels were relocated to the lawn and new underground power lines were laid to the battery box. Another trip to McDonald's, this time for the Taro pie... the best one in my opinion. More demolition of the shed on top of all our design work. We manged to get our photo's in Maui Weekly from the tree planting at the sanctuary and saw the 3 baby cardinals hatch. More demolition and selections of exterior paint colors and desk tops were tackled. We finally made it to the MFOL - Maui Friend's of the Library and are now addicted. We participated in an interview over at the groovy paige + modern on what influences us.
The month ended with a Memorial Day hike along the sea cliffs.

JUNE
Summer is here and we didn't even notice spring. We thank our lucky stars we had so much design work this year. Here's hoping it keeps up now that we have a proper office. Exterior paint colors were finalized, the baby cardinals flew the coop. We finally got to meet Deb, Scott and Malia from Deb and her Camera fame. That was a treat... why don't you still live here Deb? WHY? Tiles for the lanai were finalized... stay tuned for the installation of those in the next month. Excavation was done and concrete was poured for the new office. Building materials arrived as did a new propane tank. The work tent was erected, wood was cut and walls were raised. A teenage cardinal needed special handling after it flew into the house and was knocked out cold. Nursing an injured bird was not on my to do list. He sure was cute and I still can't believe I held a baby cardinal... John immediately looked at me and said ... NO. After long hot days of building and computer work... a rest in the hammocks was in order.

JULY
Keep it coming. Summer seemed to be flying by. The second story was put on, the roof was attached and inspections were coming at us left and right. Windows FINALLY arrived and we could get back to building. Siding was attached and painted. The metal roof was secured, more painting was done as well as more and more design work. Big Daddy was still hanging out and finally realizing that I was the source of the grain. He is used to me know and does not run off to quickly. He hides just on the other side of the drive and as soon as I walk away from the pile of grain... here he comes.
It was time to do a bit of shopping and find things for the interior like this perfect 3-drawer orange chest of drawers.

AUGUST
AH.. a moment to breath... the desks tops and bathroom counters arrived, the stair rails were installed and we got to we try the coconut pie at McD's. Drain pipes and water lines buried as well as the construction of the new battery box. Oh... did I mention we had lot's of design work this month? That explains the lack of imagery this month. I'M NOT COMPLAINING!... just sayin'.

SEPTEMBER
Back at it and full throttle. Insulation in place, sheet rock hung and walls plastered. Solar panels placed on the roof and batteries on their new home. The water pump and pressure tank were also relocated to the new utility room which also received it's new concrete landing. Interior paint colors were chosen, then we later tossed out the Vintage Map Blue color. The copper rails were cut, polished and installed on the stairs. And we ended the month with a visit from John's high school chum Denise and her husband. Boy did we need a mini vacation?

OCTOBER
Banisters and copper rails were finished and a pathway of stepping stones was put in place. Walls were painted and lighting installed. I worked on staining the concrete floor... a 3 day project, while John installed the Crushed Mulberry upstairs. We had a wayward Homing Pigeon we named Homie, call our lanai home for about 2 weeks and we FINALLY got the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park poster by artist Charley Harper framed as a birthday present to myself. It's still waiting to be hung.

NOVEMBER
November saw us getting our FINAL INSPECTION and we found ourselves taking a few days off to regroup. It was then that we really noticed just how much we had ignored the yard and garden. So what did we do? We went the the Arbor Day Celebration at Maui Nui Botanical Gardens and picked up a few more plants and planted a small succulent garden with some of our finds. John and I were invited by Anne over at one of our favorite "getaways" - Prêt à Voyager - to participate in an interview segment called Boarding Pass. Read Conn's interview here.
Read John's interview here.
More shopping and a few great vintage finds like these little coffee cups from Japan. Thanks giving came and went and I finally just pulled the car over at the side of the road on the way to town one day, parked it, got out and walked along a rocky shore and cliffs that I had never stopped at before. Sometimes you just gotta slow down and enjoy the things around you. I can't wait to go back with John's folks and my family in the next few months.

DECEMBER
December brought us HUGE 40-50 foot waves at JAWS and there was no way I was missing them. We had a front row seat on the cliffs at JAWS here on Maui's North Shore to some of the best names in surfing. How can you say no to that? John began building the cabinets for under the desk and we got the top set in place. So far so good. Next up we ripped out the old lanai and installed the new composite decking... more on that in a future post. We no sooner got the last screw in and our friend William from NYC arrived for 2 weeks... which meant we were on another mini vacation. The tree was decorated with much thanks to Denise and Peter for the new LED lights on white cords and parties were attended. Swimming, hiking and resting were on the agenda as well as a drive to Hana and Kaupo in a convertible. It was great to have the top down... but the back seat is REALLY where you want to be for the best views.
The year ended with a night of fondu and a chocolate version for dessert and a little bubbly. Just the 3 of us and we were all lights out by 11:30 PM. It was already midnight somewhere... right?


... And somehow we still managed to stop and watch the sunset most nights...

...As well as break for rainbows as they magically appeared...

... We took time to stop and smell and admire the flowers...
And if we could grow it, we ate it.Tomatoes, mac nuts, pineapple, more tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, fennel, bananas, more tomatoes, avocado, green and lima beans and radishes. And did I mention tomatoes?

Of course there is always time for dessert...
starfruit upside down cake, lemon cookies, lilikoi and banana doughnuts, citrus pound cake, lilikoi coconut jello, orange chocolate pound cake, guava cheesecake, lemon pepper pound cake, banana upside down cake, lilikoi cream cheese cake, banana honey cupcakes, orange chocolate cheesecake, peanut butter and jelly cookies and guava caramel cake... just to name a few.

With a schedule that was truly evil... we did not cook as much as we would have liked to... but we got by. Turkey tetrazzini, stuffed breadfruit, lumpia and southwestern hamburgers were just a few home cooked meals on the menu.

...Some of our design work this last year.

Biggest Loser Club - re-design of website

Maui Oceanfront Weddings and Events - identity and web design

Leonard's Bakery - re-design of website and identity re-design

Melissa Foster - RDH - identity and web design

Locate This - identity and web design

Flowers First - identity and web design

Dark was the Night - cd booklet design

Parnell Corder - promotional flyers

Maui Weddings and Events - identity and web design

Brilliant Life Design - identity and web design

Tiger Athletics - identity and web design

Ignite Athletics - re-design identity

Girls Scouts Awards - website design

...with more in the works, so stay tuned for new designs and launches this spring.

Please visit us often in 2010 for the more Adventures of Conn + John in Haiku, Maui. We will have some updates and final postings on the new office as well as some new posts on the garden shed and another all new project I hope to get off the ground this year. And who knows what critter we will be showing off next. To those of you who visited... we loved hearing from you and hope you enjoyed your visits. We hope to hear from you again soon.

Aloha Nui Loa

c+ j