HELLOmynameisHeather

Bright Paper Packages

...How about mobile, Divco, 'Supplies! Parties' -- a park-n'-shop novelty for scrapbook nights, bridal showers, baby showers, etc.  I like it.  Or I could have the cutest camper/RV ever.

Lia made me these wonderful presents for my birthday.  They made their way safely here all the way from Singapore.  Thank you, Lia!  Such a great surprise.

I particularly love the varied textures on the tag above.  Lia used a couple of papers from my line.  The 'h' is decorated with one of my corner stamps, but it has a thick, clear coating over the top.  I'm thinking she may have used Diamond Glaze.  Have you ever tried Diamond Glaze?  It's fantastic.  I use it when making painted necklace pendants.  I don't think I've shown you those.

Lia, did you do the crackle finish on the tree trunk yourself as well? Crackle finishing can be tough -- good job.  It really looks great. 

And check out this fun, framed collage and birthday card.  A lot of scrappers cut shapes from papers and then use them as 3-D elements in their projects -- such a great way to achieve a layered effect.  I made a fun, little gift-box using this technique for my upcoming CK article.  I'm excited to put together some variations in the next week or so and post a free pattern for it.  More on that later.

Speaking of paper crafts, check out this Raggedy Ann masterpiece that Leslie put together.  I'm just ga-ga for it.  I've always loved how well cherry-red works with this icy, pastel palette.  Leslie really picked up on that and used it to maximum effect. (And check out these overalls too.)

Oh, now I need to hunt down the childhood photo of me gripping my favorite Raggedy Ann doll.  I believe my mom tried to take my doll away from me for the portrait, but I would have none of that and must have thrown a fit.  In the end, my mom ended up with a photo of me greedily clutching my doll -- with tears welled up in my eyes -- doubly not what she had in mind.  I was about one and a half. 

Wandering. 

I'm looking forward to next week.  Lots of fun little design projects to wrap up and some baby presents to make for friends.  I was going to embellish some onesies, but now I'm thinking Happy Stacker ring toys with coordinating 3-D tags as cards - kinda like the top photo.  Might get out my Diamond Glaze even.  Though I had draped Lia's tag there casually for a the photo... well, they just look so great together.  No need for wrapping paper. 

I don't know if I've mentioned the new HB Paper Crafts Group on Flickr yet, but it's all set up and ready for you.  (Erica just posted the cutest wooden dolls.)  I've added the paper group to my sidebar, along with the new Pop Garden & Bijoux Flickr Group for those fabulous fabric projects of yours.  Gah!  Double gah!  You guys are amazing.  I love Flickr groups.  Really such an easy way to inspire and get inspired.

Divco

I love old trucks.  One day I'd love to have a real, souped-up old delivery truck with a new engine in it so I could drive it whenever, wherever. 

Somehow I ended up on a milk-truck hunt the other day on the internet.  Not shopping, just learning new things and taking a break.  It looks like a company called Divco made all of the cool old milk trucks and most other multi-stop vehicles for a good, long time.  They produced teensy tiny delivery trucks for their dealers too.  I'm curious if they had working engines. Here's one -- and another -- adorable.

Too bad neither Pimp My Ride nor Overhaulin' was around yet when I lived in Hollywood.  Then my delivery-truck fantasy could have included some ridiculous theme that suited my personality or hobbies of choice. They do some crazy stuff on those shows.

True, I'm not sure what I'd want to put in the back of my dream delivery truck -- or what might be my obvious theme.  In the absence of the perfect idea, I'm sure a couple of added seats might satisfy well enough -- that is, if my kids would allow me to drive them around in such a silly vehicle.  Ooo, what if it was a mobile studio with seatbelts?  With craft storage built in?  And what should it look like?  I don't know.  Maybe I'd just want the back to be empty. 

I'm clearly just daydreaming here.  I'm still working out the details.

Cottonwood & The Pillow Incident

My mother-in-law is in town.  We drove up near Sedona to pick her up from Quilter's Quarters where she was teaching a doll class.  Such a calm & pretty drive.  We went for dinner at a great little restaurant that was built where the town's old movie theatre had been for many, many decades.  Tavern Grille in Cottonwood, AZ.  They serve humongous portions.   

Cottonwood is just south of Route 66.  I'm not too familiar with the place, though we did stay there once before.  It's the town where The Pillow Incident took place -- now family lore. 

Let's just say that the front deskman at the hotel wanted to keep our pillow for himself (we had brought a pillow from home in case one of us wanted to sleep in the car on the drive and we accidentally left it in our room).  The pillow was clearly marked as ours and we weren't leaving without it.  Getting him to return this pillow was straight out of a Seinfeld episode, including a brief, comical tug of war.  When the front deskman eventually handed the pillow over the counter to Isaac, after twenty minutes of denying its existence, he just couldn't quite let go of it.  It was hilarious.  Poor Isaac was completely bewildered -- and I had the giggles.

It was a super-nice pillow.

The Pillow Incident -- one of my funniest and strangest memories.  I should get Isaac to record the whole affair.  I could have sworn we were on Candid Camera.   

Snowflakes... Nose and Eyelashes

When I was little, my favorite dress-up hair-do was looped pigtail braids.  So, when Charlotte agreed to get Christmas-ed up for a recent photoshoot with a vintage theme, looped pigtail braids were the must-do hair-do. 

I couldn't remember what my mom would do with the ends of my braids though.  This required a phonecall. Turns out she tucked them up under the rubberbands that held my pigtails in place, so the ends of my hair were hidden next to my scalp.

Of course, I had to try this hair-do out with Trash Ties.  The result was much tidier than my previous attempts with rubberbands. Because I could just wrap a Trash Tie around each looped braid to secure it -- and I didn't have to stretch a rubberband around the braid over and over -- the braid didn't get all frayed and fuzzy.  And I could easily adjust the loops to match each other.

The snowflakes?  Those were trimmed off of a felt garland I picked up at Hobby Lobby.  The same Trash Tie that's holding each braid in a loop is holding each snowflake in place.  I just hooked the ends of the Trash Ties through the centers of the snowflakes.  Kinda like tucking paper into a paperclip.   

Why am I going on about the hair-do?  Who knows.  I'm nostalgic for looped braids, I guess.  What I really should be rambling on about is this adorable little girl who is every bit as sweet and wonderful when her hair is askew and dreaded up with popsicle juice.

The red & white dress makes me giddy too.  It gets my right in my Annie spot.

I don't believe I can sneak-peek the Christmas projects from the Creating Keepsakes article this early, but I can certainly sneak-peek the little sweetie who helped me with the shoot.

Widdle Wubby Flowder Paddern

Hey all, there's a Trash Ties giveaway going on at Sweet Life in the Valley.  And April's listed out a few ways you can increase your odds while you're at it : )

I'm working on the cover story for the holiday issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine.  All of my photo mojo is going into that right now.  I'll see if I can slip a sneak peek into an upcoming post.  Who knew you could make Christmas out of such Spring-i-ness?  I offered my doubts, but Creating Keepsakes urged me on.  I'm glad they did.  I've got some kick-A Christmas projects here now. 

And I haven't forgotten about the giveaway for the La Fleur Debris brooches.  I read through the first 300 or so entries on my birthday, but haven't had time to pour over the rest just yet.  I truly must read and consider them all.  I promise to get that bit of fun resolved in the next few days. 

The La Fleur Debris pattern is now available though.  It's so cute and little -- like dvd-size.  I want to coo at it.

Lovely

Tara's wedding was yesterday and it was beautiful -- she was beautiful. 

It seems I've had everyone I know -- and almost everyone I'm related to -- in here working with us at times during the last two weeks so we could keep humming along without adding undo pressure on Tara while she prepared for her wedding.  With only two weeks to pull off a wedding, you can bet she had enough on her mind. 

Friday night, as Tara and I set the tables for her reception, Tara decided on a Jennifer Paganelli print for her table decor.  I picked up a bolt from Jona in the wee hours of the night & sewed up six table-runners for her on Saturday morning.  Tara & Colin picked up the cake, Isaac did the roses run, Tara's mom set out the food, and everything elegantly came together just in time for the Saturday afternoon reception. 

Sunday was the wedding and it was as lovely as any I've been to. Tara was stunning.  Colin was beaming.  Everything was so peaceful and joyful and sweet.  True, I should probably save my reporting until Isaac's processed the photos, but how can I resist?   I'll just have to re-visit the subject. 

It was a beautiful weekend, with a small group of guests (mainly just the bride & groom's close family members) -- and two glowing people who were clearly thrilled to finally be married.