HELLOmynameisHeather

10,000 Points

Such a great week!  We had Laura with us for four days, kids included (Luke & Lily below).  We hit the best antique stores & boutiques, my favorite new grocery store (a few times) for gelato & aisle-coursing entertainment, and we ate out more than we ate in. Whoa.

I scored 6+ yards of vintage flaming-orange fabric, now destined for a bedskirt in my yet-to-be-decorated bedroom.  Got an old donut-maker tool too - in a cool paperboard box (that Charlotte later tore to shreds). Then more vintage buttons, a hand-knit yellow baby sweater, a bizarre basket purse, and a cool leafed table with a green & orange metal top.  I promise to show all at some point.  The donut-maker definitely fits into this month's theme (a theme which will have to extend well into April as I didn't expect my Chicago trip, Elijah's Spring Break, and an Easter week with Laura to be such wonderful distractions).

On Tuesday, Isaac took Charlotte & Lily out for an all-day girl-extravaganza.  Lily practically bubbled out of her skin to tell us all about it that night.  Here's Isaac's outline of their day.  Perhaps he's planning a thesis.

1. Glitter Box -- ultimate girl store
    a. Girls get princess up-dos and chat up the proprietresses
    b. Girls shop
        i. Lily - glitter journal, magic glitter face stamp, girlie bag
       ii. Charlotte - set of seven heart-shaped, flavored lip-gloss rings (cherry, orange, vanilla, etc.), magic glitter face stamp, girlie bag

2. Puppies 'N Love--puppy super store
    a. Watch puppies
    b. Pet and play with miniature schnauzer

3. Lunch at Johnny Rockets -- hamburger joint
    a. Nickel juke box
        i. Del Shannon, Runaway
        ii. Lollipop
    b. Waitress makes ketchup (catsup) drawings
        i. Lily and Charlotte get ketchup puppies
        ii. Isaac gets ketchup winkin' dude
    c. Burgers Fries & Chicken Tenders
        i. Cherry 7-up

4. Disney Store
    a. 'Nuf said

5. Play in Park
    a. Make a new friend

6. Apple Store
    a. Sponge Bob game
    b. Okay, this one is really for Isaac

7. Pick Up Elijah from School

8. Cold Stone Creamery -- ice cream mixed on a chilled marble slab
    a. Lily - finally settles on mint ice cream, cotton candy ice cream & rainbow sprinkles
        i. First idea - mint ice cream, chocolate ice cream & gummy bears
        ii. Second idea - cotton candy ice cream, pineapple sorbet & gummy bears
    b. Charlotte - strawberry milkshake
    c. Elijah - mint ice cream, chocolate cake batter ice cream, chocolate chips
    d. Isaac - chocolate cake batter ice cream, banana ice cream, graham cracker crumbs, YUM!

9. Movie Rental Place
    a. Aladdin
    b. Fox and Hound II
    c. Miss Spider's Tea Party

10. Back Home
    a. Princess photos by the front door
    b. Dump tablespoon of purple glitter on tile floor for special, girlie, princess grout-treatment 

11. Heather & Laura Return
    a. Lily bounces down the stairs to report 
    b. Charlotte twirls

12. Bedtime Bath
    a. Remove dozens of bobby pins 
    b. Rinse off glitter 
    c. Scrub out hairspray 
    d. Play some more

In simple mathematical terms ...

Princess Day for the Girls + Shopping Day for the Moms = 10,000 Points for Isaac & a Good Night's Sleep for Everyone.

Sketchy

Probably the most-used, most-carefully-placed tool around here, the sketchbook. Not to be lost.  When one fills up, there are several new ones on hand, ready to go.  Small one for discreet sketching, at meetings or whatnot.  The spine of my latest sketchbook has developed leprosy or something so I'm giving the spiral-bound a try.  If the pages stay in then I'll convert.

Isaac on Lenses

So this is new.  I mentioned to Isaac how I needed to do a tool post about camera lenses at some point this month & look what he put together & surprised me with... a guest post.  Too fun.  It's kind of technical though, so perhaps we'll need to discuss this in the comments till it all makes sense.  I'll make sure Isaac reads the comments & chimes in if you have any questions about photo equipment, lenses, etc.  Here's Isaac:

"I get a lot of questions about the equipment I use to create the photos that you see on my website, which is the same equipment used to create photos for this blog. First of all, let me say that Heather is quite a good photographer and does 99% of the photography for her blog herself. That being said, we do share the same equipment and since it is March of the Tools, I thought I'd chime in and share one of the tools that makes my style possible. There is no substitute for a good eye and an active, observant imagination, but certain looks just can't be achieved without the right tool.

When I want to get the effect in the photo of the lavender flowers, where the flowers in the foreground are the only thing in focus and the background seems compressed and close, I use my 70mm to 200mm f2.8 lens. Set at it's longest focal length of 200mm, this lens all but eliminates depth of field. Depth of field is the distance between the first object in the foreground that is in focus and the last object in the background that is in focus. The depth of field is determined by two properties, the focal length of the lens (longer focal lengths -- telephoto lenses -- have less depth of field built in) and the aperture of the lens (f-stop) which is the size of the opening that lets the light into the camera. A very fast lens like this one opens very wide and hence has very shallow depth of field.

A third factor in the look is the effect of compressing the foreground and background, which eliminates a lot of extraneous details from the shot and has the effect of making shots look tightly-cropped in the camera. This is a result of the length of the lens -- imagine looking through a long tube where all peripheral vision is eliminated.

The 70-200 mm f2.8 lens is a bit pricey, but for the serious amateur or pro, it creates a look that can't be replicated by other lenses. While you will not be able to fully achieve this look with a point-and-shoot, try setting the camera on macro focus (it's usually the little flower icon), zoom in as far as your optical zoom will allow, then back in and out until you find the absolute closest place you can focus.

By the way, thank you for all of the compliments on the MEHC article. That was a very intense and fast paced shoot, but extremely fun!"

--Isaac

All of this camera talk reminds me that I never showed you the slideshow from Heather Tinsley's wedding (click here).  Heather is a blog reader who flew Isaac out to photograph her wedding last December.  Love that!  Hi Heather.

It was in D.C., I think, as Isaac went to the Spy Museum the next day. The Spy Museum!  Can you believe there's a spy museum?  I wonder how much James Bond reflects reality -- or vice versa. 

There's certainly nothing discreet about that camera lense up there.  I usually use a smaller 24-70mm f2.8 lens because the other one makes my arm ache.  They both have a similar effect in my opinion. Similar enough (don't tell Isaac I said so).

Finally Used My New Pink Coat

I just got back from a fantastic weekend in Chicago with dozens, make that hundreds, of inspirational women.  I enjoyed the tremendous honor of participating in the web panel at the Country Living Women Entrepreneurs event at the Renaissance Hotel.  Wow.  I think we'd all agree. Wow. 

A much-needed, much-enjoyed energizer!

They dyed the Chicago river green that day.  I hear there was a fantastic parade.  Though it was tempting to sneak outside for a quick peek, we were all plugged in for a serious re-charge and not likely to disengage. I spent the event shoulder to shoulder with Anna Griffin, as dynamic as she is beautiful.  Such a treat to get to know her.

*Panel photos courtesy of Anna herself, who thoughtfully dug out my camera for a couple of quick shots.  (Thanks, Anna!  Your photos were the best ones of the batch.)  There she is with miss Beth Ferreira of Etsy -- lots of exciting things in the works over at Etsy*

Dozens of business owners gathered from over 40 states to attend the event.  I had the pleasure of meeting many of them during the breaks -- I wish I could have met them all.  Evenings were spent getting to know the panelists & the well-knit Country Living editors & staff. What an amazing group!  Contagious electricity.

I'd share more photos, but most of them are blurry & psychedelic.  I did get one sharp shot of the audience to my left. That's Vicki Bodwell in front (sunshine embodied) of Warm Biscuit.

My Saturday night ended with a winding tour through the maze-like hallways of the House of Blues with Maggie Pace of Pick Up Sticks (love her!).  I'd have been set with blog photos if I'd had my camera at dinner that night -- imagine walls upholstered with crazy quilts & painted shoes.  And the pokiest elevator in modern Chicago -- good company makes all the difference.

Then there was Sunday.  Bonus day.  No work, no plans, just a last-minute meet-up with a gaggle of gals from the event.  Joanna Figueroa & I drove out to Lincoln Park to window shop and fabric talk with the delightful Paula Prass, her beautiful daughter, Jennifer, miss Bari J., and Anita Hopper who makes handbags of recycled leather jackets (great concept).

What a fantastic weekend!  Kudos to Country Living for bringing women business owners together for such a meaningful event.  If you're revving up to focus your creative dreams into a real business, I highly recommend attending next year.  Thanks Country Living for your hospitality, I had a wonderful time. 

Extra, Extra

Last shot of the day and it was remarkable we got anything as it was pretty dark by that time.  It looks like I'm kicking my leg up in a pose, but I'm really just keeping my balance.  Isaac says this adds to the 50s-postcard-feeling we've got going on here - happy girl in skirt packing licorice-laden picnic into outrageously-fabulous orange truck. Sounds good to me.

This is the parting shot from an 8-page feature in the current Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion magazine.  The April/May 2008 issue just hit news stands this week.  To help answer questions about the article & to help keep up with all of the new visitors popping in (Hello friends!), I've put together some information about the projects & patterns featured in the article.  Here's a link to that info page. And congrats to my talented husband for a beautiful cover! 

Home Companion is an amazing magazine.  If you've never picked up a copy before, do it!  You'll think, "Dang-shoot, I've been missing out!"  Then you just might have to track down all of the previous issues & catch up.

There's also a little spot about my blog in the March issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine.  A few of the editors from the magazine approached me at The Cheesecake Factory while I was in Anaheim a couple of weeks ago.  They handed me an issue of the magazine and said," Well, I guess this was fortuitous timing!  Congrats on your new scrapbook collection."  Odd to be spotted in public, but kinda fun too. And the paper-craft crowd seems just as fabulous as the fabric crowd;  cool ladies having all-together too much fun (well, mostly ladies).  Oh to get invited on a trip to Italy;  it seems paper-crafters know how to go all-out!

Teensy Tiny Watercolor Set

This little box of watercolors is no bigger than 5" x 6" and is extremely handy if you're a must-make-something-at-all-times kind of person like I am. (My soda should give you some idea how small it is - I threw that in there for scale). This tool is easy to grab & ready to go, whether to Granny's house, on a family vacation, or on a business trip.  And I really enjoy painting from watercolor pans (those rectangular cubes of color).

Sometimes I just want to get to it & paint, without having to fuss with lids every time I need a new color.

It's been a while since I've done much with watercolors or shown you any of my watercolor work, but this is still one of my favorite little things to have around.

This set is by Windsor Newton and is called "Cotman WaterColours: The Compact Set."  I think they're available at Michael's.  And here are a couple of online stores that sell them as well:  CheapJoes, FineArtStore, & KenBromley(UK).

The Wacom

I'm jumping price brackets from my last March of the Tools post. But, whatever the expense, here's a tool I absolutely couldn't do without:  the Wacom tablet.

This tool allows you to forego your computer mouse for a stylus (penlike tool below).  Some artists will use the stylus & pad to draw or paint images right into the computer and for such an approach the Wacom is invaluable.  I, however, do all of my initial artwork outside of the computer, so the Wacom's obvious benefit of more authentic art isn't my main reason for affection here.  In fact, it is really my right hand that's in love with the Wacom.  Intense work on the computer with a mouse can make your hand cramp & throb after endless hours of clicking & dragging & clicking & dragging.  Working with a stylus is just a lot more comfortable. A lot more!

And there are some pretty cool secondary features too.  The graphics tablet is pressure sensitive. So, if you have an art program that's compatible with this feature, you'll find that with some paint brush tools a stylus will create a varied stroke in response to the pressure you apply.  This is the case with Painter, Illustrator, etc.  No settings to change.  A normal computer mouse will just produce an even line. 

The buttons in the corners can be programmed to do whatever functions you regularly use.  And the longer rectangle (see top photo) allows you to zoom or scroll if you stroke your finger across it.  I have my buttons disabled as I'm all about key commands.  But I still think they're cool.

So that's the Wacom.  I have one huge tablet, as wide as my keyboard, and a smaller one to take with my laptop.  As I said before, I couldn't do without it, so I had to have a second one for travel.

March of the Tools

I love tools.  Tools that make life better, work easier, and fun funner.  I get a lot of questions about which sewing machines I have, what camera equipment I use, etc.  And seeing as I haven't put together my FAQs page just yet, I thought I'd embark on a new theme for the month of March... March of the Tools.  Work tools, food tools, sewing tools, whatever tools come to mind, but all tools that I love & use. 

To kick things off, here's one of my favorite doo-hickies - only the best cherry pitter ever.  My sister picked this up for me at Williams Sonoma (I think) a number of years ago.  No other cherry pitter will do.  You just place a cherry on top of that "O" and squeeze.  The pit comes shooting out the hole.  Just make sure you wear an apron and do your pitting over the sink into a bowl.  (Oh look, here's one with a splash guard.)  Nothing's more indulgent or delicious than sitting down to a bowl full of pitted cherries, washed and ready to eat.  I swear, cherries are ambrosia & nectar in one - food of the gods.

And with cherry season well behind us, I resorted to the crocheted-cherry detailing on one of my dolls to set the proper fruity mood here.  Not quite so photogenic as real cherries, but I saved myself from a serious cherry hunt, so humor me.

The parading tools will likely include some things silly, some serious and some expensive.  No bragging intended, just some dang good tools you might want to know about.

Want to join me on this March of the Tools?  I'd sure love the company.  And the tool recommendations.  If so, here's a badge you can post in your sidebar.  Link back to this post, so your readers will know what's up.  (If there's some trickier/better way to do badges, certainly let me know.)  This one is 150 dpi, or you can use the 250 dpi one here, or snag the clovered-up version from my sidebar.  Add your link in the comments below so we all know who's playing along.  Then we can all click over to your blog throughout the month to see what sort of tools we're missing out on.  And join the March of the Tools Flickr Group (great resource for next year's Christmas list, I'm thinking).

That's my 76 trombones. Cornets or not, I'm marching.