Gratitude

Posted on November 28, 2013 by mauistamper

I’m pretty much a “glass half full” kinda girl. It’s a choice – and why not choose the happy option? I have a loving husband and family, and more than enough “stuff”. And I live here:

(photo credit to my brilliant son)

Mr. Stamper and I are living The Duo Life this Thanksgiving. The newlyweds are in Australia where Thanksgiving fixin’s are hard to find, my middle daughter is with her young man and his family on the East Coast, and my son is with his roommate in Chicago – and they apparently went to the circus tonight. Go figure. The two of us are going to Mass in the morning (how better to say thanks?), then helping serve a sit-down meal at the feeding program at our church. Later we’ll join a group of dear friends out at Green Acres (aka Haiku) to celebrate our gratitude with good food and a refreshing beverage or two.

We have been richly blessed, and as we grow in age and wisdom we are realizing that the best way to show our gratitude is to pass those blessings on.

Happy Thanksgiving, my friends.

A Serendipitous Chicken

Posted on September 5, 2013 by mauistamper

Last Spring, Mr. Maui Stamper and I were in Phoenix and took the opportunity to spend a few days in the Grand Canyon. WHOA. It is grand! But this isn’t about the Grand Canyon, it’s about something I saw there. I saw a Chicken made by Edith John.

Edith is a Navajo from a family of Navajo crafters. II saw her work at the Heard Museum in Phoenix too. (It’s a FABULOUS museum – but this post is not about the Heard.) I have a soft spot in my heart for chickens, at least hand-crafted chickens. The real thing…well, I like them in principle, but I’m not much of a Green Acres kind of girl and I don’t see myself putting a chicken coop in the back yard.

ANYWAY…I had spent some time looking at Edith’s chickens while I was at the Heard, and I saw them again in various gift shops throughout Grand Canyon National park. I couldn’t make up my mind. I didn’t see one I really loved above all the rest, and to tell the truth, I’d already spent enough money for one trip. Edith’s chickens are well priced for hand-crafted art, but they are not inexpensive. I came home without one.

About 3 weeks later, I was in my local thrift shop looking for bits and pieces for a craft project and I saw a chicken. I held my breath as I turned it over…

Oh.My.Goodness. If ever a chicken was meant to live in my home, this was the one. Not to mention that the price in my local thrift shop was many times less than the price at the Heard or at the Grand Canyon.

SUCH a handsome bird!!! He was a tad dusty and clearly needed rescuing from the thrift shop. There’s a little ding or two in his paint job, but that just endears him to me all the more.

Clearly this chicken was the one I was meant to have. He has a permanent home on my kitchen counter. I would love to say that I was listening to that small, quiet voice inside when I was shopping at the Grand Canyon, but if I’m honest, I have to acknowledge that I was listening to the nagging voice that pays the bills. Either way, this was a truly serendipitous find.

A very special sign

Posted on February 19, 2013 by mauistamper

Carol was inspired by something she saw on Pinterest and asked her dad if he could make a sign for the wedding. The guests were coming from many, many places, and Carol wanted something that would acknowledge the distances traveled.

Mr Maui Stamper, aka Dad, is a craftsman in his own right. His medium is wood, and though it’s been a few years since he did a project of this scale he immediately started planning. His skill and attention to detail resulted in an extraordinary sign:

There were a few locations that weren’t represented by name but were within a hundred miles or so of another destination. And those distances are not approximations, but were carefully calculated using specific coordinates for the EXACT distance!

The sign required a pretty substantial footing, and that meant removing a couple of the distance arrows from the bottom in order to put it in place. Carol loves her power tools:

The sign began and ended the week installed in our back yard – in fact, it is going to be permanently installed in the garden. For our parties at home, we wanted it to be more accessible so it went in the middle of the lawn:

Did I mention that Carol is an engineer too? She and her dad worked together on the back yard installation as that is a big sign and takes at least two people to put in place. Guests at the various parties took photos with the sign and admired both its physical and technical beauty.

It was a pretty impressive installation at the reception, too:

Memories to last a lifetime

Posted on February 8, 2013 by mauistamper

“There’s no such thing as the perfect picture…just the perfect moment.”

That’s a quote from Scott Drexler, the enormously talented photographer who captured many perfect moments for our family last weekend. We spent the week before the wedding celebrating with family and friends who arrived from near and far. Saturday was a gorgeous Maui day, and our hearts were full to bursting with love as Carol and Clarence celebrated their commitment to one another.

The tables at the reception were perfect with gorgeous arrangements by Teresa Sena and a few hand-made touches by MOTB (Mother of the Bride).

There’s a story behind those favors, and I promise to tell it in the next week or so 🙂

This weekend is the RemARKable Stamper’s Stamp of the Month Blog tour, so it’s back to Stampin’ Business!! Be sure to stop by on Sunday to see an abundance of creations with the Collage Curios stamp set, and then check in next week for more wedding details!

It’s all in the packaging…

Posted on November 29, 2012 by mauistamper

Don’t you love getting a gift? And if you’re anything like me, don’t you love getting a gift – in a cute package??

But cute packages take time, and planning, and lots of other things that are in short supply this time of year. Fortunately, Stampin’ Up! has a solution:

These two collections are perfect to have on hand for that Sure-to-Delight package! Order these at the Online Store. I’m stocking up myself because 2012 has been the Year of the Airplane in the Maui Stamper Household, and there just isn’t enough time to do all the things on my list!

Our latest flight was to beautiful Sedona, where we spent time with my family. My parents have invited us to join them at their timeshare for years, but this was the first time it was practical. It was a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend that went by too quickly, but I’m so glad we went. In addition to lots of great time with the family – and great food too – we had beautiful weather that was perfect for exploring. The sky was amazingly clear and blue, and the sun was brilliant. We watched a lot of planes fly high overhead, leaving beautiful trails in the sky:

The moon wasn’t quite full, but it was visible in the late afternoon sky; the red rocks, the scrubby vegetation, and that brilliant blue sky created such a stunning contrast:

We stopped for a late afternoon visit at the Chapel of the Holy Cross, pressed tightly into the cliffs:

The chapel interior is extremely simple but has a powerful grace:

And didn’t I do a fabulous job of color-coordination? We hiked the Courthouse Butte Loop the afternoon before we flew home:

I’ll be back to Stampin’ next time.

Grateful.

Posted on November 22, 2012 by mauistamper

It’s a life task to be grateful for all that I have, and all that I do not have – sometimes the not having is the greater blessing. Gratitude IS an attitude. It requires constant awareness, an acute sense of perspective, and humility.

Today I am grateful for many things, great and small, but especially for my family. Many of us are together today in the visual feast that is Sedona, and it is a gift to be here. I am missing my beautiful first-born daughter and her fiance who are a half-world away, and I am grateful for skype and viber and all of the amazing devices that bring them closer to us.

Happy Thanksgiving, my friends.

En route home to Maui: PDX

Posted on July 22, 2012 by mauistamper

Such an early call this morning – felt as though I would never wake up! Crystal an I were in the back of the plane but we whipped out our catalogs and started planning classes (stay tuned Maui peeps the dates are coming!)

We must have been a little noisy because we attracted the interest of our neighbor across the aisle. Turns out she’s a newlywed on the way home from her honeymoon. She also loves paper crafting so that flight went by quickly!

Just a couple of quick pix from convention – they’re from my phone so I apologize about the quality – as a taste of what else is to come:

An Ah-May-Zing Month

Posted on June 7, 2012 by mauistamper

Usually when I take a blogging break it’s relatively short, but May was different. It was a full and busy month as we prepared for and celebrated two graduations (plus a multitude of other events) and shared many wonderful moments together as family. I am so grateful to have the opportunity to step back from my business when the occasion arises, and those of you who are parents of adult children can particularly relate to my delight in having all three of my children home together at once! I hope you’ll indulge me a bit as I share a few special moments.

If you’re not familiar with my family, the first thing you need to realize is that my husband and I moved to Maui from California in 1990 for a two-year assignment. That’s us, exhausted from the flight and a little dazed by what we’ve done – and yes, I am 7 months pregnant!

22 years later, we are still here and loving it. We raised three beautiful children here, have made many dear friends, and have deep roots in this community. However, both of our families are primarily on the West coast, so we don’t often have the chance for large family gatherings.

In a bittersweet echo, my children have each embarked on distant adventures of their own. Our oldest daughter is now living and working in Perth, Australia. Our second daughter just graduated from college in Boston, Massachusetts, which is about as far opposite Perth as you can get! My daughters like to say that I raised two confident, strong women and that’s why they are living so far from home. My son just graduated from high school, and in the fall he’ll enroll at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. I wish I could find a way to complain about that, but our oldest daughter graduated from Notre Dame and my husband and I are confident that it’s the perfect place for our son. The good news is that we will become empty nesters and will have more flexibility in our travel schedule so that we can visit our children in these far-flung places!

We were together in Boston for graduation although it was a very quick trip – flying from Maui to Boston and back in 5 days isn’t ideal, but it’s what we needed to do! The weather was beautiful, the sight-seeing and restaurants were fabulous, and graduation was everything a graduation ceremony should be – including loads of photos.

We all returned to Maui for my son’s graduation and were joined by my parents and my son’s godparents. My son’s graduating class was small – only 25 students – and they are very close, so you can imagine what a wonderful evening it was for everyone who attended. He received a number of awards including being the class Valedictorian, and we were all tremendously proud.

My daughters were able to stay here on Maui with us: one for a week, one for almost two, and I can’t begin to tell you how fabulous it was to wake up in the morning and know they were all under my roof.

The girls are now back in Perth and Boston, and my son has started work for the summer, so I’m doing my best to return to routine. Captain Stupidhead (who had dental surgery in May, but that’s a story for another day) seems to think that I should give him as much attention as the three children combined, but he is sadly mistaken. I’m stamping like mad and have loads of things to share – but this is enough for one day. I’ll share projects tomorrow, I promise.

One last night in Tokyo

Posted on March 18, 2012 by mauistamper

We’ve been in Japan for just over a week. My husband and son fly home tonight, but I’m leaving tomorrow due to the quirks of the mileage tickets program.

Japan is perhaps less foreign to someone who has lived in Hawaii for a while, but it is still a very foreign country. My ear has yet to gain familiarity with the language – it was just a couple of days ago when I picked up what someone was saying, and the speaker was a boy of about 3 years of age counting to three. It’s amazing how much of an obstacle this language barrier has created. In European countries I could improvise with a few words and gestures, but here I find it much more difficult. Still, we have encountered such hospitality and kindness as we have blundered our way through!! People on the street have gone out of their way to make sure we found our bus or train or destination.

The other medium of communication that has been universal has been food. We have eaten fabulous meals in both Tokyo and Kyoto – yakiniku we prepared over the hibachi at our table, udon so good we returned a second time, incredibly fresh sushi prepared before our eyes, and tonight we had tempura again cooked right in front of us!! We love to eat, and the chefs loved to see us enjoy our food – no words required! And desserts – oh my!! Good thing we walked miles every day – literally – I’ve worn my pedometer – we walked 6-8 miles every day. The Japanese love their sweets and we’ve had coffee and pastry every afternoon. It’s hard to pick a favorite, but the freshly prepared mochi and the custard filled cream puffs (Sakura filling!!) are at the top of my list.

I’ll be home soon – watch for some Asian inspiration coming from my studio soon!

Kyoto

Posted on March 14, 2012 by mauistamper

We’ve been in Kyoto since Sunday and have loved this beautiful old city despite the fact we’ve nearly frozen to death. It was supposed to be in the 50’s but we woke up the first morning to SNOW. It didn’t stick but there were flurries for 2 or 3 days. We were wearing all the clothes we brought – I had on a cami, a tee, a turtleneck, two sweaters, a jacket, scarf, two pairs of socks, jeans and gloves – and I was still freezing. My daughter Sara called me the abominable snow woman 5 years ago when we encountered 9 inches of snow in Boston, and this was just as bad. Still, we’ve seen a lot and consumed a lot of coffee and hot noodles!

Literally every corner, alley, and hillside has a shrine, temple or small altar. Some are huge and grand, others tiny and unassuming. We visited the Golden Pavilion covered in gold leaf, and stopped at a little trail side shrine with a tiny old an and woman dressed in hand-crocheted outfits.

The markets are bustling, from big and very fashionable department stores to little food stalls or souvenir shops selling good luck charms. The charms cover everything from general good luck to success on an exam or an easy delivery in childbirth. The food is amazing. Living in Hawaii we see a lot of food with Japanese origins, but in Kyoto they are famous for picked vegetables I’ve never seen. There are all manner of candies, cakes and pastries as well as huge displays of preserved fish, but the thing that took me by surprise was the little octopus roasted and served on a skewer. I passed.

This city is very clean, orderly and compact. People park their cars in impossible places. Front doors open immediately onto the sidewalk – but there are two or three small planters outside the step. We are staying in a small house in a residential area with tatami mats on the floors and the steepest stairs you’ve ever seen in a house!

The language is very foreign to me – I’ve learned please, thank you, good day and little else. My son has studied Japanese for nearly four years and he is doing an amazing job of getting us food, bus directions, and coffee. My ear just doesn’t hear anything familiar and it makes me feel alternately stupid and alone in this bustling city.

We leave for Tokyo tomorrow, taking the bullet train back to our entry point. I’m sorry to leave Kyoto but curious to experience Tokyo.