All Times are Mountain Standard Time
bee class
$45 per person Autumn Equinox Herbalist Gathering Registration Fee
The fee includes meal tickets for the Brown Bag Lunch Buffet Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  Dinner ticket for Saturday’s Apprentice Potluck, participation in the Mullein Torchlight Parade, and Barter, Buy or Bicker event, plus evening saunas, Docu-rama in the movie area. You will also receive a stout cloth Mavens’ Haven bag for taking home all your Autumn Equinox projects.

Each class is hands-on, and therefore the enrollment to each is limited. Register early to assure your place in the desired class/workshop.

Total Attending ___
Check the Classes in which you will be participating:

Friday September 19th

Herbal Soap Making with Cindy Greer 10:30 A.M. – 2:00 P.M. $35____
Working with Beeswax! with Jessica Garrett 12:00 P.M. – 2:00 P.M. SOLD OUT
Making Felted Soap with Brandy Vernay Henson 2:30 P.M. – 3:30 P.M.  $15____
Let’s Make Pickles with Darcy Williamson 2:00 – 5:00 P.M. $30____
Dung Can be Fun with Eloris Rogers Wilhite 3:00 – 5:00 P.M. $25____
Idaho Stone Wire Wrapping with Anna Stark 3:00 – 5:00 P.M. $30____
Sunset Mullein Torchlight Parade across Cow Creek Bridge (No charge) 7:30 P.M.
Relax & Restore with Renée Silvus 9pm ~ 10pm $20____

7:00 – 11:00  Sauna’s Hot Women’s sauna time 7:00 – 8:00 P.M.;
Men’s sauna time  8:15 – 9: 30; Couple’s sauna time 9:45 – 11:00. (No charge)

Saturday September 20th

Home Roasting Revisited with John Davidson 8:00 A.M. – 9:30 A.M. $30____
Mindful Yoga with Deanna English 8:00 A.M. – 9:00 A.M. $20____
Nature Printed T-Shirts, Creating personalized shirts using the Discharge Method with Cindy Marlow 10:30 A.M. – 1:30 P.M. $35____
Making Butter and 5 Minute Bread with Leah Harvey 10:30 – 11:30 A.M. $10____
Making Coulommiers Cheese with Leah Harvey 12:00 – 2:30 P.M. $35 ____
Creative Forest Tromp with Renée Silvus 10:00 A.M. – 12:30 P.M. $20____
Medicinal Plant Applications for Pets with Eloris Rogers-Wilhite 12:30 P.M. – 2:30 $25____
Sauna Scarves with Betsy Hinze 1:30 P.M. ~ 4:45 P.M. $45____

Dutch Oven Cooking with Jesse Chaistain 2:00pm -4:00pm   $15____
Story Art Collage~Making a Fabric Story Wall Hanging with Jane Holbrook 2:00–4 P.M. $40___
Barter, Buy or Bicker (located at canopy near main lawn) Bring your herbal wares, crafts, produce, canned goods, etc. to participate. 5:00 – 6:00 P.M. (No charge)
Apprentice Pot Luck Dinner 6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Sauna’s Hot Women’s sauna time 7:00 – 8:00 P.M.; Men’s sauna time 8:15 – 9: 30 P.M.; Couple’s sauna time 9:45 – 11:00 P.M. (No charge)

Sunday September 21st

Thai Massage with Renée Silvus 8:30 A.M. – 10:30 A.M. $20____
Journal Making with Thea Belzec 10:30 A.M. – 2:30 P.M. $60____
Holistic Skin Care with Cindy Marlow 10:30 A.M. – 1:30 P.M. $45____
Homemade Vinegar with Marilyn Giddings.  2:00 Noon. – 4:00 P.M. $20____
Mindful Yoga with Deanna English1:00 A.M. – 2:00 A.M. $20____
Wilderness First Aid with Darcy Williamson 2:30 P.M. – 5:00 P.M. SOLD OUT

Name__________________________email___________________________Phone__________

Address:______________________________________________________________________

Total Fees:__________ (Including the $45 per person registration fee)

Mail form with fees to: From the Forest * P.O. Box 4190 * McCall, Idaho * 83638

DETAILS ABOUT OUR HERBALIST GATHERING

Our facility at Mavens’ Haven is small and intimate.  We can comfortably handle 45 day visitors and 8 instructors.  There is no public lodging at Mavens’ Haven during the event, but there are nearby options for accommodations and camping (see website).

The From the Forest Senior Apprentices organize and teach most of the classes.  By the time they have finished the junior apprentice program and graduated to senior status, they are accomplished instructors.  During these “hands-on” classes each participant is involved in the process.  At the end of each class they have items that they made to take home.  This is why classes are small (5 to 10 attendees) and usually last 1½ hours or longer.  You won’t get a conference bag with a t-shirt, cold cup, or mug.  You will receive an empty From the Forest bag to fill with all the wonderful things that you will be making during your classes, plus items you Bartered, Bought or Bickered for at that popular late Saturday afternoon event.

mavenshavenidaho.com
Following are details about each class and their instructors

Friday, September 19th

10:30 A.M. – 2:00 P.M. Herbal Soap Making with Cindy Greer, class size 6 (Located in Mavens’ Haven’s main kitchen).

Cindy is excited to dispel the mystery about soap making. Creating customized soap is truly rewarding and fun, discovering the pleasures of synthetic-free bubbles and creating a personalized bar.  You may find time to daydream while stirring that wooden spoon round and round the bucket. Participants will take home the wonderful soap that each creates during this popular Mavens’ Haven event.

About the Instructor: Cindy is passionate about combining soap making and medicinal wild plants.  She started Salmon River Skincense featuring handmade soap, body and lip butters.  Not only do the plants add softening, antiviral, antiseptic, and soothing properties, but half the fun is foraging in the forest.

12:00 P.M. – 2:00 P.M.  Working with Beeswax! with Jessica Garrett, Class size 6 (Location, Outdoor Canning Kitchen).

This hands-on class will leave you stunned with the beauty and fragrance of natural beeswax. Try your hand at dipping, molding, twisting, and shaping all natural beeswax candles. Projects will include making a pair of 8’’ tapers and dipping and decorating a wildflower glow lamp. Join the fun, experience the art and fall in love with beeswax. Take home everything you make!

About the Instructor: Jessica Garrett, a From the Forest Senior Apprentice, is a multi-talented young woman.  She trains horses, is musically talented and teaches classes on a wide variety of topics with her easy-going style and sense of humor.

2:30 P.M. – 3:30 P.M Making Felted Soap with Brandy Vernay Henson, class size 10 (Location, Main Haven Kitchen)

Take your soap to a new level!  Delve into fiber arts using alpaca fiber to wet felt around a bar of handmade all natural soap.  Felted soap is an excellent exfoliator for your body and hands, and can also be used for washing dishes.  Learn some specifics about alpaca fiber that will help with future fiber arts projects, the basics of wet felting, and of course how to felt your own soap. All supplies will be provided. You may bring your own handmade soap if you prefer.

About the Instructor: As the owner of Alpaca Harmony, LLC, Brandy has established a small herd of award-winning Huacaya alpacas through years of careful breeding with a focus on excellence in fiber quality and well-being.  Throughout her 15 years involved in the alpaca industry, Brandy has sheared hundreds of alpacas, become a practitioner of animal massage and acupressure, superintended fleece shows, and vastly enjoyed exploring the creative side of fiber arts.  The beauty, softness, and warmth of alpaca are irresistible and inspirational.

2:00 P.M. – 5:00 P.M. Let’s Make Pickles with Darcy Williamson, class size 8 (Location, Outdoor Canning Kitchen).

The Mavens’ Haven abounds with fresh autumn produce ~ beets, tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbage, kohlrabi, melons, seedless grapes, pears, apples.  So, let’s make pickles!  All sorts of pickles!  And bottle them in Mavens’ Haven’s outdoor canning kitchen on the vintage wood burning cook stove.

Take home your pickles to share with family and friends, or give as gifts.  If you are a seasoned pickle maker, you will learn a few new twists, if you are a new to pickling, you will be a confident pickle maker at the end of the class.

About the Instructor: Since 1977, Darcy has authored more than a dozen cookbooks.  Her recipes have been included in both Gourmet Magazine and Food and Wine Magazine. Darcy’s cooking adventures have led her far and wide.  Her most memorable occurred in November of 1985, when she Darcy prepared a Traditional Thanksgiving Feast for the Peace Committee of Leningrad. The feast coincided with the presentation of a peace pipe to Gorbachev by a group of Native Americans prior to the Russian President’s peace talks with Ronald Reagan.

3:00 – 5:00 P.M.  Dung Can be Fun with Eloris Rogers Wilhite, class size 8.  (Located on porch by Koi Pond or consultation room in basement if weather is wet).

Livestock waste (dung) from Ruminates can be turned into Paper, Fire Bricks, Kindling, Sculpture, Building Bricks, Metane Fuel, ‘Frisbees’, fabulous compost (of course you knew that) and more..  Basically the ‘Dung can be Fun’, Creative and most importantly food for the garden and an Alternative Heating Source if needed.   “Ruminate” because other animals just don’t qualify for all the things that ruminate dung can do.

Ruminants have a four-compartment stomach, they’re the ones you see laying around chewing their ‘cud’ after dinner.  Livestock including sheep, goats, cattle, deer, elk and BUFFALO (sorry I just had to make it all caps). Horse dung is a rare exception because their body utilizes their feed much the same way as Ruminates.   We’ll be using Buffalo Chips as examples of things that you can utilize this type of Dung ‘waste/manure’ for.  You will have an Instruction Book to go with the class giving you, if not all, at least an astonishing number of different things you can recycle Ruminate waste into.

About the Instructor: Eloris Rogers Wilhite, own a Buffalo Ranch with her husband in Lake Fork, where they produce Buffalo and related products that are sold locally, on eBay, through From the Forest, Farmer’s Markets, and from NorthWood Buffalo Ranch.  Some items will be for available at the Barter, Buy or Bicker session Saturday evening.

3:00 P.M. – 5:00 P.M. Idaho Stone Wire Wrapping with Anna Stark, class size 8 (Located at the main dining table next to Mavens’ Haven’s kitchen).

Turn a simple stone into a beautiful pendant by learning the technique of wire-wrapping.  This is a simple technique that anyone can accomplish.  Each piece will be different as individual creativity is applied to the basic technique.  If you have jewelry tools, bring them.  Anna will have some tools for your use, and also, if possible, will have some tools that you can purchase at my cost.  The key to successful wire-wrapping is good tools.  The cost of materials is included in the price of the class.  Cost of tools is not included.  Basic tools needed are bent nosed pliers, flat nosed pliers, fine wire cutters.

About the Instructor: Anna Stark has raised the bar on jewelry-making at the Haven.  You may see a number of Mavens wearing Anna’s magical silver-wrapped stone pendants.  Anna has been making jewelry for about 10 years and traipsing with Darcy through the woods for about 20.

9 P.M. – 10 P.M.  Relax & Restore with Renée Silvus, class size 8 (Location Haven Living Room)

Feeling out of sorts or disconnected?  Come home to yourself with a restorative yoga nidra, or rest.  For an entire hour, you’ll simply lie still in a soft “nest” while Renée creates a sensory bath of guided meditation, poetry, massage, sacred music, and more.  By adding some deep breathing techniques, we can drop into the healing place of the Alpha-Theta brain waves.  At these frequencies, you are relaxed and aware in a light meditative state.  Here is where we access creative visualization, insight, intuition, and spiritual connection.   Feel your stress dissolve and let your mind/body/spirit rest for an entire blissful hour.

About the Instructor:  Renee took a break from teaching one year and decided to attend massage school in Santa Monica just for fun.  She had no idea that learning about Chinese Medicine and energetic anatomy would change her life.  She has offered healing bodywork and massage in McCall since 2005.

Saturday, September 20th

8:00 A.M. – 9:30 A.M. Home Roasting Revisited with John Davidson, class size 8 (Location fire pit by the cottage)

The art of roasting quality coffee at home is readily accessible to anyone interested in investing a small amount of time to learn the few basic skills necessary for turning green beans into a superb cup of coffee.  Join John Davidson as he walks you through the process in a 90 minute workshop. The process and use of materials necessary to fire up your own in house coffee shop will be demonstrated.  John will have a variety of the farms finished product available, and will demonstrate how the Ticos (Costa Ricans) have brewed their superb coffee for generations. You’ll receive a packet of top quality green beans to get started with and roasted coffee to take home with you!

About the Instructor:  John is a 4th generation Idahoan.  For the last 8 winters, he’s been privileged to live and work with various families in Costa Rica during Idaho’s winter months, which is the dry season in Costa Rica.  For the last two years John has worked with a family who have a small organic coffee farm in the Central Valley, about 30 kilometers from the capital city of San Jose.  The experience has been a boon for John in many ways.  Not only has he gotten to savor some of the best coffee in the world (he worked on a small coffee operation on the Big Island years ago, and Kona Coffee is still one of his favorite brews; but he’s been seriously spoiled by the Costa Rican coffee he’s been exposed to through working with the family), but he’s also gained a tremendous respect for methods used in the organic growing process, as practiced by one of the most esteemed coffee growers and native plant specialists in the region.

8:00 A.M. – 9:00 A.M. NIA Soul with Talisha Sofie, class size 12 (Location main lawn ~ or consultation room if raining)

Nia is a sensory-based movement lifestyle that leads to health, wellness and fitness. It empowers people of all shapes and sizes by connecting the body, mind, emotions and spirit. Classes are taken barefoot to soul-stirring music in more than 45 countries worldwide. Trainings are designed for those seeking personal enrichment and professional development. Every experience can be adapted to individual needs and abilities. NIA is not just a great body work out but also a way to connect the body and mind creating a synergy of deep exploration and healing. Talisha will be offering two powerful routines during the Solstice Herbalist Gathering, Soul and Opal.

Earthy and raw, Soul blends the percussive and instrumentation of Native American music, awakening the primal dance within. Some tribes and indigenous people believe that the earth could recognize a human being by their unique dance through a simple, repetitive pulse – a moving meditation.

About the Instructor: Talisha Sofie, a NIA white belt trainee, received her certification in Boise with NIA black belt master, Britta Vontagen.  Vontagen has spent the last 20 years sharing and exploring the dynamics of NIA. Talisha discovered NIA 5 years ago at the downtown YMCA and was automatically hooked. The power in NIA movement resonates so strongly with Talisha’s core belief that she feels a great responsibility and honor to share it with as many people as possible.

10:00 A.M. – 12:30 P.M. Creative Forest Tromp with Renée Silvus, class size 12 (Meet at the Trading Post)

Let’s go forage inspiration!   We’ll tromp into the woods with curiosity, receptivity, and our creative muses.   Renée will offer writing and drawing prompts and guided meditation in different forest *gardens.* Please bring a journal or notebook and pen(cil)s.  You don’t need to know a thing about writing or even believe you can write. You can just draw, meditate, nap, and wake up in 100 years. Anything is possible. Fee includes follow-up help writing revisions and Horehound beer, of course.

About the Instructor:  Renee took a break from teaching one year and decided to attend massage school in Santa Monica just for fun.  She had no idea that learning about Chinese Medicine and energetic anatomy would change her life.  She has offered healing bodywork and massage in McCall since 2005.

10:00 A.M. – 1:00 P.M Nature Printed T-Shirts, Creating personalized shirts using the Discharge Method with Cindy Marlow, class size 6. (Located in the downstairs consultation room)

Learn to create one of a kind, personalized t-shirts using a technique that removes color from the shirt leaving behind your design.  Shirts will be provided or, if you have a favorite, make sure it is 100% cotton (or close — a small percentage of Lycra or poly is usually OK), colored (this technique does not work on white or really light fabric), pre-washed and dried with no fabric softener.  Part 1 will be foraging and preparing natural materials to use in the printing process.   Part 2 will be the design, printing, and processing to create your masterpiece.

(This process uses a common household cleaning product. However, if you are sensitive to commercial cleaning products, I would be happy to assume the toxic risk and create a custom shirt for you for a nominal fee!)

About the Instructor:  Cindy Marlow began at a very young age using natural materials to create art.  This included painting the side of the house, the sidewalk, and her little sister with mud, grass, and twigs.  Though she enjoys many forms of artistic expression, her go-to form is discharge printing.  You will often see her at thrift stores and tag sales searching for items to print on.

10:30 – 11:30 A.M Making Butter and 5 Minute Bread with Leah Harvey. (Located at the main Mavens’ Haven Kitchen)

Leah will demonstrate how to mix up a loaf of no-knead bread in 5 minutes. Ever wonder how they make those beautiful crusty rustic breads?  You will learn the easiest way to make the yummiest bread. Due to oven availability, this will only be a demonstration, with some hands on. We’ll mix up and bake a couple loaves to serve with our potluck dinner.

And what is fresh bread without real, homemade, creamy butter?  Learn how quick and easy butter making can be!

About the Instructor:  “Eating real food from real ingredients” is a motto that Leah Harvey lives by. From harvesting her own herbs to harvesting local fish and wild game, every meal has a special connection.  Growing up on a farm in Montana set her up in the art of preserving and putting up foods for the winter.  in White Bird, ID, she cans, freezes, dehydrates, sells and shares produce out of her garden. The closer we get to our food, the healthier we can be. Among gardening (and harvesting weeds) Leah enjoys cooking, baking, hiking and her new love; painting.

12:00 – 2:30 P.M. Making Coulommiers Cheese with Leah Harvey, class size 7 (Located in the main Mavens’ Haven Kitchen)

Coulommiers (pronounced KOO-lom-yay) is a cheese made in farm kitchens near Paris. Though related to Camembert, it has a tangier taste and is not aged as long. Participants will learn how to make Coulommeirs, take a batch of fresh cheese (to be aged), instructions and cheese making supplies to make more at home.

About the Instructor:  “Eating real food from real ingredients” is a motto that Leah Harvey lives by. From harvesting her own herbs to harvesting local fish and wild game, every meal has a special connection.  growing up on a farm in Montana set her up in the art of preserving and putting up foods for the winter.  in White Bird, ID, she cans, freezes, dehydrates, sells and shares produce out of her garden.  The closer we get to our food, the healthier we can be. Among gardening (and harvesting weeds) Leah enjoys cooking, baking, hiking and her new love; painting.

12:30 P.M. – 2:30 P.M. Medicinal Plant Applications for Pets with Eloris Rogers Wilhite, class size 10 (Located on Mavens’ Haven lawn)

Medicinal plants can be easily adapted to Pets for relief or support of maladies such as: Anxiety, Internal Worm/Parasites, Ear Mites, Fleas, Dry-Nose, Sore Paw-Pads, Wounds i.e. scratches, scrapes, burns, cuts etc., Heart Toner, Tumor Aid, Immune Booster, Bad Breath, Female ‘season’ odor, Nail/Hoof Conditioner or Salon items i.e. Shampoo, Conditioner, and Body Powder to name a few.

You will have an opportunity to identify plant materials and examine samples of these Herbal Pet Medicines.  You will also receive an instruction manual giving ingredients, how-to recipes and applications.   Pet items will also be available for purchase at the Barter, Buy and Bicker event, Saturday evening.

About the Instructor:  Eloris Rogers-Wilhite was initially inspired by and learned the trade from Darcy and has now been preparing and administering Medicinal Plant support for Pets for 8 years, providing it Via From the Forest, eBay, Famer’s Markets and NorthWood Buffalo Ranch.

1:30 P.M. ~ 4:45 P.M. Sauna Scarves with Betsy Hinze Class size 10 (Located in the downstairs consultation room)

This class will be an exploration of capturing a time and place on fabric to create a beautiful work of wearable art.

We’ll begin the class by gathering wild dye plants and harvesting plants from the gardens, then we’ll each design a silk scarf using the local dye materials. We will use steam to set the dyes, and instead of boiling water just for the purpose of dyeing scarves, we will instead relax in the sauna and allow the heat to do the work for us. As we soak away the day, our scarves will soak up the colors of the plants. In the morning we’ll unwrap our masterpieces to see what lovely surprises are awaiting us! Each participant can expect a good introduction to the process of “eco-dyeing,” a discussion on natural dyes, and the finished product of a lovely silk scarf to remember the weekend by.

About the Instructor:  Betsy Hinze is more than just your typical glass-blowing, pie-baking, nature-walking art student. She also knows how to create a compelling piece of art. Born in 1991 in Idaho, Betsy started doing art at a young age from finger-painting walls to sculpting mud pies. Today, Betsy is taking a bit of time off due to health issues, but plans to go back and finish her BFA specializing in glassblowing and interactive installations as soon as possible. Meanwhile she is exploring her passions and perfecting her baking skills in her (rare) spare time.

2:00 – 4:00 P.M.    Story Art Collage ~ Making a Fabric Story Wall Hanging with Jane Holbrook Class size 12.  (Located on porch by Koi Pond)

If you are interested in art, and want to explore the creative process, this class is for you. No sewing skills required! When Jane combines fabrics, she finds the story. Sometimes, the story helps combine fabrics.  Jane will show you how to make a fabric collage without having to sew.  The class will use the magic of iron-on fusible webbing to create their piece. If students have some sewing skills and would like to do a little stitching, there will be a simple vintage machine, as well as needles and thread.

Students will work with fabric and scissors, plus iron and fusible webbing.  After the collage is made, students will layer batting and backing. Loops will be attached and a dowel provided.  At the end of the class each will have their own small story collage/quilt.

The instructor will provide fabric, fusible webbing, scissors, iron, basic sewing supplies, dowels, and lots of story prompts. Optional for students to bring: theme fabric, iron, and scissors. Any type of fabric will work.

About the Instructor:  As an experienced “sewist”, Jane enjoys creating story quilts. She will bring several of her quilts to illustrate the process and tell you their stories to get your creative juices flowing.

2:30 – 4:30 You are What You Eat (and Think): a Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Approach to Daily Eating with Chef Amy Klingler, class size 8 (Located Mavens’ Haven Main Kitchen)

The foods you eat are a direct reflection on how you will feel (and think) throughout the day.  Fresh, whole food is vital to your body and providing you the essential nutrients and minerals you need to stay healthy.

Come and learn tips and ideas on how to incorporate gluten-free and dairy-free eating into your lifestyle. Learn what to shop for and quick and easy recipes that save you time and keep you healthy. We will forage from the Haven’s Garden and create an edible masterpiece that is customized to your body’s needs. We will focus on knife cuts and techniques that create different textures for the palate; along with, the spice cabinet and pantry to blend a fun sauce or vinaigrette for our creation.

About the Instructor:  Amy discovered her hidden talents and passion for healthy food shortly after moving to California from Idaho. Being surrounded by the bounty of fresh and local ingredients, Amy embraced food and taught herself the benefits of clean, whole food eating. She also realized she is a natural at food combining and a wizard for bold flavors and plate detail. Through dedication and endless creating, Amy’s Whole Food Creations was born and a culinary dream was set into reality in 2004. Amy is a proven executive chef, and gained valuable experience with hands-on culinary training at local, fine dining restaurants. Before moving back to Idaho as a From The Forest Apprentice, Amy was the Executive Chef at a local, award winning catering company, and had been the personal chef to prestigious wineries and clientele since 2004. Amy was a 2008 Harvest Fair award winner, and with a Certification in Food Safety and Preparation as well as a Bachelors of Science in Biology from the University of Idaho, Amy has provided nutrition and lifestyle consultation to numerous North Bay clients. Amy also specialized in alternative and restrictive diets, specifically, gluten-free, dairy free, raw food preparation, vegan and vegetarian cuisines.

Sunday, September 22nd

8:30 A.M. – 10:30 A.M. Thai Massage with Renée Silvus, class size 12 (Located in the downstairs Consultation Room).
Come learn and RECEIVE the comfortable, therapeutic benefits of Thai Massage.  This tradition offers a unique blend of stretches and pressure.  You will learn how to use your body weight, feet, knees, elbows, and palms of your hands to give a gentle yet firm massage.  Thai massage is fully clothed, easy to learn, and fun.  Please wear loose and layered clothing.

About the Instructor:  Renee took a break from teaching one year and decided to attend massage school in Santa Monica just for fun.  She had no idea that learning about Chinese Medicine and energetic anatomy would change her life.  She has offered healing bodywork and massage in McCall since 2005.

10:30 A.M. – 2:30 P.M. Journal Making with Thea Belecz, Class size 10 (Located at the dining and game room tables just off the main Mavens’ Haven kitchen)

Do you love books? Do you love the way a book feels in your hands, the whispering of turning pages, the way a book opens you to possibility as you open up the book itself? Here is an opportunity to create your own book for your own journey.

We will take the raw materials of Book: board, page, waxed thread, needle – and combine them with something of yourself; pictures, fabric, ephemera. Stitching and gluing the practical and basic together with items of interest and meaning to you personally will produce a book uniquely your own. The book we make together in class is the beginning of the journey for you and your book – whether used as a journal, a scrapbook, or a combination of the two, you are learning a time honored skill you can share with others and use to keep making your own personal books.

Supply List for Students:
Stiff ruler: metal or plastic gridded ruler used in fiber arts
Exacto knife and/or rotary cutter
Self-healing cutting board if you have one – I’ll bring three
Pencil
Awl for punching holes in your pages OR a 1/16” hole punch (these can be found in craft stores)
Materials for covering your book covers such as a natural fabric (no polys or synthetics), pictures, photographs, netting, ribbon, etc.

Teacher will supply:
Book covers of “davey board” cut to 8” x 10”
Water color paper for use as pages (we’ll limit our pages to 15 or less so we can finish in a day!)
Drill
Assortment of waxed thread
Needles
Instruction booklet

**If you have an old book you’d like to use for your covers, please bring it. Likewise, if you have old canvas paintings or prints you’d like to use as pages, this is very attractive as you can append them and decorate them as you wish.

**For examples of handmade books, check these websites:
http://mkimberlypress.com
http://lisacheneyjorgensen.blogspot.com

About the Instructor:  Thea is college educated in the hard sciences, philosophy, and ethics; she was raised in the Michigan dunes and woods, and grew into maturity with a keen appreciation for logic alongside the ever changing faces of the natural world. As she found her way into living as a full time studio artist, she discovered the art of bookmaking as a way of combing her two loves of method and craft. Thea’s home in Valley County, Idaho provides her with luxurious opportunity to explore and discover broad scale and microcosmic themes alike. Husband, family, dog and friends nurture her soul and makes her work possible.

10:30 A.M. – 1:30 P.M. Holistic Skin Care with Cindy Marlow, class size 8 (Located main Mavens’ Haven kitchen)

Can you eat your cleanser?  A holistic, organic approach to skin care.

Learn how to make organic skin care products that are good enough to eat.  Using organic, seasonal fruits, vegetables, dairy, grains, and spices, we will create products that are not only great for your skin, they taste good, too!  You will go home with custom products and recipes for personal use and/or gifting.  Your $45 also includes a travel size skin care kit from Elina Organics; the holistic, organic skin care line I use in my practice.

About the Instructor:  Cindy Marlow is a Certified Holistic Esthetician and owner of Organika Botanika Esthetics in Boise, Idaho.  After 23 years in the military, Cindy retired and decided to pursue a kinder, gentler profession.  She now applies warm wax to tender areas and removes (rips) hair from bodies.   OK…But the gentler part is her extremely relaxing holistic facial that often leaves clients snoring on her treatment table.

2:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Homemade Vinegar with Marilyn Giddings. (Located main Mavens’ Haven kitchen)

This class will provide students with all the experience and knowledge they need to make their own vinegar. We will be observing and understanding the fermentation process, exploring the health benefits, and discussing the many practical uses for vinegar. Students will have the opportunity to sample a variety of all natural vinegars and compare those with infused vinegars. Students will take home a cruet of homemade vinegar.

About the Instructor:  Marilyn Giddings, one of the three White Bird Mavens, is happy to spread the wealth, herbal wisdom and other lost arts, to family, friends, and neighbors through teaching, talking, and sharing. Her favorite passions are quilting, gardening, and self-sufficiency in a world gone helplessly crazy with technology.  The Haven brightens with Marilyn’s lush, creative centerpieces and tilts to center when she commands the kitchen.

1:30 A.M. – 2:30 A.M. NIA Opal with Talisha Sofie (Located on the main lawn or consultation room is rainy)

Talisha will be leading attendees in a dance called Opal, a powerful balancer in masculine and feminine energy.  Opal is a classic Nia workout.  Its main focus is yin and yang ~ the two energies that exist in all of creation. This lively, expressive routine combines the soft energy of Yin with the explosive power of Yang, bringing your body and life to new heights of fitness, strength and ease of movement.

Nia is a sensory-based movement lifestyle that leads to health, wellness and fitness. It empowers people of all shapes and sizes by connecting the body, mind, emotions and spirit. Classes are taken barefoot to soul-stirring music in more than 45 countries worldwide. Trainings are designed for those seeking personal enrichment and professional development. Every experience can be adapted to individual needs and abilities. NIA is not just a great body work out but also a way to connect the body and mind creating a synergy of deep exploration and healing.

About the Instructor: Talisha Sofie, a NIA white belt trainee, received her certification in Boise with NIA black belt master, Britta Vontagen.  Vontagen has spent the last 20 years sharing and exploring the dynamics of NIA. Talisha discovered NIA 5 years ago at the downtown YMCA and was automatically hooked. The power in NIA movement resonates so strongly with Talisha’s core belief that she feels a great responsibility and honor to share it with as many people as possible.

2:30 P.M. – 5:00 P.M Wilderness First Aid with Darcy Williamson, class size 10 (Meet at the Trading Post)

So you are hiking around in the forest and you step on a rattlesnake and get bitten. Your hiking partner is so startled that she tumbles down a rocky hillside and breaks her leg.  Her teenaged daughter freaks out and has an asthma attack (she left her inhaler in the car, three miles away).  The young girl’s boyfriend attempts to comfort her, but Fido thinks the he is threatening his mistress and takes a huge bite out of the poor guy’s thigh.

Unexpected things happen in the wilderness and many are ill prepared.  This class will demonstrate some of the solutions that are at hand.  Each participant will have the opportunity to act out a mishap (this could add some humor to an otherwise serious scenario).  Prior to our venturing into the forest, participants will draw a card from a basket.  The cards are to be kept SECRET.  Each card will list a number and a misadventure.  As we hike through the forest a number will be called.  The one holding the number acts out the calamity listed on their card and the rest of us resolve the issue with what is present in the natural surroundings.

Even though this Wilderness First Aid experience is bound to be fun and laughter-filled, much will be learned and remembered about dealing with unexpected wilderness mishaps.  A booklet of our acted out misfortunes and their solutions will be handed out to each participant at the end of our forest expedition.

About the Instructor:  Darcy Williamson a practicing herbalist, instructor and author from Idaho. Wild medicinal plants have been a passion of hers for as long as she can remember. For the past 30 years she has taught hands-on classes on locating, identifying, preparing and using herbs growing in the Rocky Mountains, finding it to be a glorious and humbling occupation ~ to be the go-between for the medicinal herbs and those who need their healing powers.

LODGING & MEAL DETAILS

LUCILE GUEST HOUSE ~ located a short walking distance from Mavens’ Haven.  Fully Equipped Kitchen and Dining room, Satellite TV, bathrooms, hot showers.
Front bedroom with Queen and sofa: $70.00 per night
Rear bedroom with full bed: $60.00 per night
Bunk room: Three single beds (Two are in bunk bed configuration) $25.00 per bed per night
Upstairs bedroom: Two full size beds, $40.00 per bed per night
Phone (208) 628-3254.
STEELHEAD INN ~ Located approximately three miles south of Mavens’ Haven along Highway 95 overlooking the Maynard Hole on the Salmon River in Lucile, Idaho, the Steelhead Inn delivers spacious, clean rooms whose true beauty comes from the loving care and atmosphere created by new owners Kenn and Nancy Brown.  Phone (208) 628-4279 and www.steelheadinn.com.
There are also numerous free camping areas along the Salmon River between Riggins and Lucile, as well as between Lucile and Slate Creek. There is trailer camping in Riggins (Riverfront Gardens and RV Park 208-628-3777), (Riverside RV Park 208-628-2698).

MEALS

There is only one meal served at Maven’s Haven, Saturday evening’s Apprentice Potluck.

There will be a “Make Your Own Brown Bag Lunch” bar set up in the Main Kitchen at Mavens’ Haven between the hours of 8:30 to 10:30. Everything will be supplied for you to make a hearty and nutritious sack lunch including sliced freshly baked turkey, egg salad, tuna salad, fresh sliced organic produce, condiments, home-baked cookies and quick breads, organic sandwich bread and wraps, plus an assortment of organic chips. Individual lunch tickets may be purchased for $7.50.

Docu-rama~ The downstairs movie room is the perfect place to relax between classes or during a lunch break to enjoy the latest documents on health related issues.  A schedule of documentaries and times they are scheduled to play will be posted.

Friday and Saturday Nights ~ Sauna’s Hot
7:15 P.M.– 8:30 P.M. Women’s sauna
8:30 P.M.– 9:45 P.M. Men’s sauna
9:45 P.M. – 11:00 P.M. Couple’s sauna

Be certain to bring your items for Barter, Buy and Bicker! Herbal items, craft items and homemade goodies all qualify for this popular event. It is good to bring your items to the display when you arrive so that they can be admired before the event late Saturday afternoon.