holiday notecards

Finding a warm community

software update
the maple releasing
its obsolete

                       l

                            e

                                       a

                                v

                       e

                            s

“software update” is 11x14, made with acrylic paint, paper, pen and glue on cradled wood. This is a page from my 2025 calendar. A card version reads, “have a wild and crazy birthday”. © Annette Makino 2024

I had a wonderful time at the Seabeck Haiku Getaway last month! It was four days of marinating in all things haiku with fellow poets in beautiful Seabeck, Washington.

Since the conference theme was maps, I recruited my geographer husband, Paul W. Blank, to lead a “Walk on the World” session with his giant maps that show the world at 16 miles to the inch. It was great fun wandering across Eurasia in our stocking feet! Many haiku emerged from his session and others.

The schedule was packed with presentations and “Write Now” exercises, many on the theme of maps and travel. Featured guest Crystal Simone Smith shared her moving haiku inspired by 19th century fugitive slave ads; she also led us in exploring new haiku approaches.

The Seabeck Haiku Getaway always includes a kukai, a contest of haiku written at Seabeck that is judged by the participating poets. I was honored that both of my submissions placed, tying for first and sixth. Here is my first-place poem:

Geographer Paul W. Blank, far right, explains the big maps at the Seabeck Haiku Getaway in October 2024.

Tokyo alley
I run into
the moon from home

But for me, the best part of the long weekend was deepening my ties to the haiku clan. During communal mealtimes, walks in the woods and late-night socializing, I got to reconnect with poet friends and meet others I’d only known by name. Basking in this community was especially precious to me since I live far from any in-person haiku groups.

Earlier this year haiku poet P. H. (Peter) Fischer and I co-edited the conference anthology for the 2023 Seabeck Haiku Getaway. Published by Haiku Northwest, it was distributed at last month’s gathering. Winds Aloft features terrific cover art of Seabeck and six haiku comics by graphic novelist David Lasky, as well as poems by almost all of the 56 conference participants that year. Here’s one of mine inspired by the bigleaf maples at Seabeck:

the last rays of sun
offered back to the sky
yellow maple

As Peter and I wrote in the introduction, “Haiku poets are a special breed. The habit of keenly observing life’s details tends to make people more attuned, thoughtful and appreciative. Or perhaps it works the other way around. In any case, each year this unique tribe gathers at Seabeck to create a warm community of like-minded folks. In the words of physicist Douglas Hofstadter, in this kind of synergy, ‘The soul is greater than the hum of its parts.’ We appreciate everyone who added their own unique hum to the magic that is Seabeck.”

In these turbulent times, we need community more than ever. So on this, my eighth time at Seabeck, I was grateful once again to be welcomed into the fold.

Makino Studios News

These are just four of the notecard sets on sale at 20% off in the Cards section. Sale ends this Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024.

SALE on notecards: I’m offering 20% off all holiday and everyday notecard sets. These come eight to a box with eight kraft envelopes. Normally $20, they are on sale through midnight this Sunday, Nov. 17 for $16 with promo code NOTECARD20. Most of these designs are also available as single cards with words.

2025 calendars: So far this season, more than 500 of my mini-calendars of art and haiku have gone out the door! Still just $12 each, these lovely little calendars make great gifts for friends and family.

Greeting cards: You can find most of my newest single cards at the top of this collection of 70 designs. These cards are made with fiber from responsibly managed forests and the mill uses green energy and carbon offsets. They are printed in Arcata, California by an independent small business and go for $5 each.

Holiday shipping deadlines: For arrival on or before December 25, please place your order no later than December 17. The mail has been slow these days, so even sooner is safer!

Made in Humboldt Fair: This event at Pierson Garden Shop in Eureka, CA runs through Dec. 24. There you can find my book (Water and Stone: Ten Years of Art and Haiku), signed and matted prints, 2025 calendars and notecard sets.

Arcata Holiday Craft Market: This fundraiser for the Arcata Recreation Department’s youth scholarship program takes place Dec. 14-15 at the Arcata Community Center in Arcata, CA. Look for the Makino Studios booth on the lefthand side of the main room. This is my only in-person event this season and I will be offering some deals and closeouts.

Social: I’ve given up on Twitter/X, but I regularly post art, haiku, news and more on Instagram and Threads as @annettemakino and on Facebook as Makino Studios (links below). See you over there!

Thanks: I always appreciate your feedback, whether by email, on social media or here in the comments.

Credit: “the last rays of sun” - 5th place tie, kukai at Seabeck 2023; in Winds Aloft: 2023 Seabeck Haiku Getaway Anthology, Eds. Annette Makino and P H. Fisher, Haiku Northwest, 2024

Hot off the press!

I've been busy in the studio, and I'm happy to share that my 2024 mini-calendars of art and haiku are now available! There are also a couple of new vinyl dog and cat stickers. And I've brought back two beloved holiday notecard sets, plus there are eight more notecard designs to choose from. 

As ever, I also offer single cards for birthdays, holidays and more. You can view all current designs and other products in the Makino Studios shop. Shipping is free for orders of $35 and up; just enter promo code FREESHIP35 at checkout. Happy autumn! 

P.S. The Made in Humboldt Fair at Pierson Garden Shop in Eureka, CA runs Nov. 7 through Dec. 24. I will have books, prints, stickers, calendars, and notecard sets there.

P.P.S. The Arcata Holiday Craft Market takes place Dec. 9-10 at the Arcata Community Center. Look for the Makino Studios booth on the lefthand side of the main room.

P.P.P.S. I'm excited to attend the Seabeck Haiku Getaway Oct. 26-29 in Seabeck, WA, where I will give a short haiku reading and have some haiku books and calendars for sale.

Halloween treats

“all that I am” incorporates "asemic" or made-up writing by my young nephew, book pages, a fern print, a vintage Japanese letter, and washi papers from Japan. I painted the papers, then tore and glued them onto cradled birch panel. The original is 11x14. This is one of the pages of my 2023 calendar of haiku and art.

Fall is definitely upon us. At home we’ve started making wood fires on these crisp mornings and evenings. The leaves on our Mount Fuji cherry trees are turning a deep gold—a less celebrated but still beautiful phase of their year.

“all that I am” collage in process

all that I am
still unfolding
cherry tree in autumn

Meanwhile, I’ve been gearing up for the holiday season. I’ve produced new boxed notecard sets and delivered my new cards and 2023 calendars to local stores.

As a Halloween treat, I’m offering 20% off everything in my Makino Studios shop until midnight on Monday, October 31st. There is no minimum order—just use code TREAT.

For another goodie, I’m sharing a rengay on the theme of Halloween written with one of the haiku poets I mentor, Aaron Samuel. (A rengay is a linked sequence of two and three-line haiku usually written by two or three poets.)

We had a lot of fun taking turns writing the verses. I’m curious to hear if this brings up any memories of your own past Halloweens.

All Hallow's Eve

cloudy skies
toilet paper ghosts
sway from the trees

electric candles flicker
behind the pumpkin's eyes

blood moon
a thumb-sucking Dracula
hides behind her mummy

technicolor blood
the horror movie
plays on
in my dreams

in the dark woods
teens meet for grownup treats

jack-o-lantern grin
the one-eyed pirate
sorts his loot

Aaron Samuel
Annette Makino

Happy Halloween!

“all that I am” published in Modern Haiku, Issue 52.1, Winter-Spring 2021
All Hallow’s Eve published in Failed Haiku, Volume 7, Issue 39, June 2022

Makino Studios News

Rabbit notecards read, “peace on earth, goodwill to all creatures.”

20% off through Halloween: Use promo code TREAT at checkout for 20% off everything in the Makino Studios shop except original art. Good for first-class shipping within the U.S. Offer ends at midnight on Monday, Oct. 31. Only one promo code per order.

New notecard sets: A new holiday notecard set features a small rabbit in a snowy forest. The words read, “peace on earth, good will to all creatures.” Another new all-purpose notecard set features four different scenes of wild places: beaches, redwood forest and a wildflower meadow. These are $20 for a set of eight cards with eight kraft envelopes.

2023 calendar of art and haiku: For the tenth year in a row, I have created a mini-calendar of art and haiku. Featuring natural scenes and original words, the calendar is $12. Makes a great holiday gift!

New cards: I’ve recently added ten new designs to my card lineup, currently numbering close to 80 designs. These cards are made with fiber from responsibly managed forests, and the mill uses green energy and carbon offsets. They are printed in Arcata, California by an independent small business. Card envelopes are produced in the USA from 100% post-consumer recycled paper. $5 each, blank inside.

Book of art and haiku: There are fewer than 20 copies left of my award-winning book, Water and Stone: Ten Years of Art and Haiku. It will take several weeks to have more printed and shipped, so order while supplies last! This makes a lovely gift.

Studio visits: Although I don’t plan to do any in-person fairs the rest of this year, you can always visit my studio by appointment.

Thanks: I appreciate everyone who came to my collage show, “Torn Together,” at Just My Type in Eureka, CA last month, and to those who visited my Makino Studios booth at the North Country Fair in Arcata! It was a real pleasure to connect with you.