Tao Of Craft

January On Maui

Ok well I skipped right through the holidays without a single post..

This is what happens to you when you live on Maui. The warm beautiful days brings your energy to the ocean not to the computer!

This past week we were drawn to the ocean by the big North Swell that visited our little island.

The swell brought 40- to 50-foot surf to the north facing shores of most Hawaiian islands.

Of course when the waves are in Paia is insane. Traffic is backed up for miles and people flood in just to get a glimpse of the power of the ocean. The favorite spot is at Peahi (Jaws). It only breaks with the largest swells of the year and when it does, some of the biggest waves that can be surfed in the world are found there.  

             

  

 This is an ariel video shot at Peahi...Stunning!

 

FYI: The 2nd picture was taken by Morey HI

 

Michaelmas 2013

 

What better thing to get me blogging again then the festival of MICHAELMAS!

It is one of my favorites in the Waldorf tradition. It is the festival that recognizes the change from the external world to the internal one. We are meant to recognize aspects of ourselves or of our life that need refinement... A time to tame our inner dragons and then to rise victorious in the spring.

Fall is my most challenging time on Maui. I miss the energy that I got every year from the changing seasons. The autumn days of Colorado were a signal to me to begin baking, sewing, and preparing for the upcoming winter days. But on Maui I have to be much more disciplined with this. Last fall I just let it all go and I went where ever maui took me. But this year I find that I need to reclaim some of my favorite seasonal rituals. 

Since Michaelmas is the time when we are to look within ourselves to defeat our own inner dragons, I will seize this as my opportunity as well. Back to baking, creating, and blogging, and taming my inner dragons...

Even in the land of summer...

Autumn Blessing:

 Brave and true will I be,

Each good deed sets me free,

Each kind word makes me strong.

I will fight for the right! 

I will conquer the wrong!

 

Sword of Michael brightly gleaming,

Down to earth its light is streaming,

May we see its shining rays

In the Winter's darkest days.

Here are links to some our Michaelmas Celebrations past 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012

 

Summertime Style

My Maui girls still has some Colorado in her!

Happy Aloha Friday!

The Wholehearted Parenting Manifesto

I am loving Brene Brown right now. Her book, Daring Greatly, is inspired. It makes me think about how I am raising my children. What a gift and obligation it is to be able to raise children with an natural awarness of gratitude, vulnerability, respect, and worthiness. I love this manifesto on parenting by Brene and thought that I would share. Aloha.

Words To Live By...

Carrot Cashew Pate Recipe

Carrot Cashew Pate is my favorite raw dip! A local store on Maui sells it but it is too expensive to feed my addiction. So I began a quest to crack the code to the perfect Carrot Cashew Pate. Here is my version and I think that it is even better that the original! 

RECIPE

2 Carrots

1 Cup Cashews

3 TBL Cilantro

2 Cloves Garlic

1 Heavy TBL (or more to taste) Vegenaise

1 TBL Braggs or Tamari

In a cuisenart pulse the cashews, garlic, and chopped carrots to a coarse consinstancy. Add Cilantro, Vegenaise, and Braggs. Pulse lightly. You want the dip to remain coarse and have some texture.

 

Enjoy!

Valentines Day Heart Stencil T Shirt

Around here Valentine's Day means kisses, candy and of course... crafting.

I whipped up a VDay shirt for Amala.. A freezer paper stencil, fabric paint, glitter and a white shirt are all that is needed to create a some V Day magic!... 

 

 Perfect for giving hugs on Valentines Day!

A Valentines Day heart is just not complete without some gliiter. So I added red craft glitter to the fabric paint to give it the little sparkle that it needed.

Happy Heart Day!

New Year, New Digs, New Blog...

Happy 2013

So many changes in the past year... I welcome 2013 and all of the possiblities that it holds.

We brought in the NEW YEAR  with a new house!  It is our 4th move since we came  to the island. We started out on the dry side in Kihei,  then we moved up the mountain to Kula, next was down to the beach in Paia, now we are in the green lush jungle of Haiku. We seem to be making our way through all of the climates that Maui has to offer!

Here are some images of our NEW DIGS....

 

 

 

There will be many new things happening with the blog.. so not really a  NEW BLOG  but certainly updated! Subcribe via email to be notified or check back soon!

Hau' oli Makahiki Hou!

 

 

Princess Dresses are made for Spinning!

My mom made this Sleeping Beauty dress for my oldest daughter... 7 years ago and now it has now been passed onto Amala. It is still in perfect spinning condition! She made it from the pattern Simplicity 9384 which is not in print anymore but I did see it on Ebay! There are other patterns but, this is definitely my favorite Sleeping Beauty pattern!