HELLOmynameisHeather

Online Event in Two Weeks

Are you interested in creating a pocket-page scrapbook? Like the one I designed for Project Life? 

There is an online, full-day event coming up on January 25th that you might be interested in. It's called "True Scrap Pocket Pages" and the classes will be live and interactive, discussing the basics of pocket scrapbooking and beyond. All of the live classes will be recorded as well, so you can re-watch them as needed. 

Project Life is one of the sponsors for this event. They asked if you guys might be interested in hearing about it and I said, "Of course. Why not." I'm not affiliated with True Scraps, but I do love the simplicity of pocket-page scrapbooking. I already organize many of my creative projects on index cards for easy filing. It wasn't hard to convince me to keep family stories, kid quotes, and doodles on pretty little cards—such a fun and easy way to keep a family record!

 

Here's the list of classes —each one is an hour long:

• Hybrid Hints for Paper People (Traci Reed)

• Pocket Scrapping 101: Back to Basics (Layle Koncar)

• Do You Hear What I Hear? Including Your Family’s Perspectives in Your
Pocket Spreads (Marcy Penner)

• KISS: Keep It Simple, Scrappy! Simplifying the Pocket Page Process
from Monica McNeil

• Playing Big: Adding 12×12 photos and layouts to your Pocket Pages
Albums (Lilith Eeckels)

• Outside the Lines: Creative Approaches to Adding Journaling to Your
Pocket Pages (Stephanie Bryan)

 

Anyhow. If you are interested, visit truescrap.com/pocket for more info. (Lain Ehmann even posted a welcome video.) There is a ridiculous discount if you book the class today (January 10th)—hence my hurry to get this information posted! The code is "99OFF". You save a wild 66% or something, making the total cost only $50.

What is pocket-page scrapbooking? Here are my thoughts.

Giveaway Day 23

I was up all night altering my son's band uniform. The only pair of pants they had on hand for a 6'4" kid were equally as big around—serious Tweedle-Dee pants.

In the end, I removed 15 total inches from the girth of the pants, taking out 1" to 6" on five different seams: inseams, outseams, and center back. And I added two darts in the front to bring the suspenders closer together.

I deserve a sewing badge for extreme alteration. That was some WiLd sewing. I've never modified a garment so drastically before. I'm stocking up on mama points this week. Going to cash them in for babysitting—starting tonight. Hooray for the weekend!

Today's giveaway is a collection of Heather Bailey paper-crafting supplies, including a variety of clear stamps, ribbons, die-cut felt trim, stickers, ink pads—all sorts of bright happy supplies. A $43 value.

Giveaway Day 12 — A Day for Cake

Today is my birthday. I don't know if there will be any celebrating just yet. My kids are sick and at least one of them is staying home from school. We're waiting to see how the others are faring. Thankfully, with my campaign for Birthday Month, who really cares. There are 31 days in August. We should be able to find a day for cake somewhere in there. It's Birthday Month!

Remember when birthdays were an achievement? In the middle here, birthdays are just novelties, an asterisk on the calendar. If I'm fortunate enough to reach old age, birthdays might become accomplishments again. In fact, there should be necklaces to celebrate your age like an award ribbon. When I'm 86, I'll gladly wear my age on a gold necklace and swap it for an 87 with a smile.

This year's birthday doesn't just have a small asterisk next to it though—because I'm giving away big presents every day this month. And I've planned a big ol' glorious prize for today. Becky Higgins and Project Life are generously donating a complete kit of the Olive Edition I designed for them: a Core Kit of cards, an Album and a Big Pack of Photo Pocket Pages. Everything you need to complete an album. A $75 value.

Project Life is taking the scrapbooking and journaling world by storm. In summary, it's a simple, efficient system for cataloging your life in photos and stories.

My limited Olive Edition for Project Life is currently available only at Amazon.com. In addition to the items shown above, there is a big pack of 12" x 12" papers and super-fun month dividers. Everything is very reasonably priced. For more information on Project Life in general, visit BeckyHiggins.com. Becky and her team keep a faithful blog of ideas and inspiration. There are even videos to get you started. Also, for the daily play-by-play, follow @beckyhigginsllc and #projectlife on Instagram.

Comment to enter today's contest. Be sure to include your email address so we can contact you if you win. You don't have to type your email address into the body of the comment if you entered it in the email-address field on the comment form; I can access that info from behind the scenes. Today's giveaway will close at 11:59pm PST on Monday 8/12/13. Watch for the winner to be announced within a day or two at the bottom of the post. 

For more info on my August giveaway madness, click here. Please share the word. Check back every day. I have amazing prizes planned this week from my friends at Copic Markers, Cricut, Puj Baby and more, prizes worth as much as $300. Prizes I wish I owned!

Good luck!

xo—Heather

Lucky Ducky

A quick reminder: the Project Life Olive Edition SALE ends tonight at midnight EST over at Amazon.com.

I also want to introduce you to the digital version of the Olive Edition, which is on sale today at ACDigitals.com as well. The entire digital kit is available for only $10.15, or you can purchase portions of the collection for $3.19 each. Have a look. There are a ton of designs included in the kit. A serious deal.

Heather Johnson recently posted these layouts she created with the Olive Edition digital kit. Aren't they gorgeous!? I love how she layered the gray chevron print with the turquoise floral background and balanced the bold titles across the spread. Great job, Heather—I love what you put together. Super fun.

Heather is a photographer and a blogger from St. Paul, Minnesota. She is also on Becky Higgin's Creative Team this year, which means she is a talented idea machine, churning out Project Life inspiration left and right. I'm excited to see what she does next with my designs. This is truly the most fun aspect of my business—seeing what people make of my finished work. I love it.

Without further ado, I have a winner to announce for Friday's Project Life GIVEAWAY post. Whitney Winter, you can thank Random.org for calling your number on this one. An Olive Edition core kit and binder, along with a big pack of photo pocket pages is all yours. Email me your shipping info and we'll have Amazon send out your prize. Thank you to everyone who entered the contest. Like I said before, we're having lots of giveaways this year, so hang in there and keep those fingers crossed.

Project Life Giveaway

GIVEAWAY TODAY—with a seriously awesome prize of one binder, one core kit and one big pack of photo pocket pages from my Olive Edition of Project Life. *Leave a comment below to enter*.

While you're at it, have a look at the Paper Hearts Tutorial I posted yesterday, featuring the Olive Edition 12 x 12 papers. All of these items are available for purchase on Amazon.com—and psst—the Heather Bailey items are on special sale for 20% off through Monday at midnight EST.

*Amazon is shipping the prize; they require the winner to have a U.S. address. Prize winner will be selected on Monday morning.*

Good luck!
xo—Heather

UPDATE: The giveaway contest is now closed. Congratulations to our winner, announced in this post.

Paper Hearts

Oh, love... love, love. It bends our paper hearts backward and forward—folding our lives into something more beautiful—or making an unintelligible mess of us.

How's that for romantic cheesiness this Valentine's Day!? Have at it, Hallmark.

Yesterday, I took a break from working on artwork for my next fabric collection to fold a few paper hearts for my children. My new 12x12 paper packs from Project Life have been calling my name since they arrived at the studio last month.

I'm delighted with how these valentines turned out. I wasn't sure that cardstock would fold so well. But hey, here they are. See for yourselves—pretty great.

There are number of techniques for folding a variety of origami hearts. This design is one of my favorites. I like the burst of contrasting color at the center. And they are super fast and super fun to make. 

I suggest you take a quick break from whatever it is you're doing right now and make one—a little play for a better day. You can use any ol' paper, though double-sided paper is best. And, because you start with a rectangle that is twice as long as it is wide, you can even use a dollar bill from your wallet.

To make things easy, I created a PDF instruction sheet. See sidebar under "Free Patterns" or click here. The image below gives you the general idea.

For my hearts, I used one half-sheet of 12 x 12 scrapbook paper each and wool-blend felt in Bubblegum from my designer felt collection at HeatherBaileyStore.com. Though we have some papers in stock at HeatherBaileyStore.com, these particular papers are only available at Amazon.com. Click here or search "Project Life Olive Edition" on Amazon. They come in a pack of 24 for only $7.99. However, for Valentine's Day weekend, the paper packs are on SALE for an additional 20% off (that's $6.39 each), along with the rest of the Project Life Olive Edition I designed—wahoo!

By the way, there are Heather Bailey for Project Life GIVEAWAYS GALORE being hosted this weekend around the web. My Olive Edition is making some special rounds for the holiday. Becky Higgins is giving away a core kit, binder and pocket pages on her blog, as are Ali Edwards, Lisa Bearnson and Margie Romney Aslett (tomorrow). I'm not even sure if that's the whole list.

I will have a GIVEAWAY here too tomorrow, so be sure to check back in. And, like I said above, the whole Olive collection is seriously on SALE for the weekend. Go crazy. Go get some.

And fold up some paper hearts for your smoochies today. You don't even have to run to the store to have heart-felt valentines ready to go.

Olive Edition - Hot Off the Press

I have fun news today. My Olive Edition core kits and papers for Project Life have arrived. They are now in stock at Amazon.com and available for purchase with Amazon's FREE Super Saver Shipping. Becky assures me that she ordered gobs of product, but she also laments that her products tend to sell out with ridiculous speed. I'm not sure where that leaves us on urgency.

But, I do know that it's the beginning of a new year—and the perfect time to get going on a Project Life album. The Project Life concept makes documenting your life fun—and easy. You only have to fuss as much as you like to fuss. And if you don't like to fuss, there's no need to fuss.

For Project Life, you use pocket pages to organize your photos and then you add in color, design and documentation using one or more of the Project Life kits—like my Olive Edition core kit here. Each core kit comes with hundreds of cards for jotting down key bits of information pertaining to the photos in your album. Everything goes in a pocket page. And there are lots of pocket-page configurations to choose from. Super simple.

The Olive Edtion core kit is housed in a chic, glossy box and organized as you see below, in a tidy tray. In the larger compartment, there are title cards and foldable journaling cards with lots of writing space. All of the smaller cards have artwork on one side and journaling space on the reverse.

There are scrapbookers who go wild with their embellishments, preferring all sorts of texture and flair within their layouts. And there are others who like simple, clean layouts. Project Life is designed to satisfy everyone.

I like goop, well-done goop, that is. But, I don't have time to goop. I do have time, however, to slip photos and cards into pockets. And my kids are expert pocket-slipper-inners. Project Life works for me and my busy, busy life in this way.

Of course, you know I'll find at least a dozen other ways to sneak Olive Edition cards from their well-ordered little box and use them for other purposes: gift tags, thank you cards, bookmarks, valentine ornaments—lots of ways to spread this loveliness about.

Oh, that's right. There's a 12"x12" coordinating paper pack. I can use that.

There are also some cool, plastic month dividers and a coordinating album/binder that should be in stock soon. These are still making their way to Amazon's warehouse.

Here are links to the products available so far:

• Olive Edition Core Kit
• Olive Edition Paper Pack

To pull up my collection over on Amazon as items are added, search "Olive Edition Project Life" in their Arts, Crafts & Sewing Department. I don't think Becky has "Heather Bailey" on the listing yet.

For more info and images, visit my earlier post about the Olive Edition here.

Goodbye October, Hello November

I'm back from a whirlwind month, trotting here, there and everywhere. Let's see, Pennsylvania, Florida, the Bahamas, then Denver, Dallas and Houston as well. Some of these stops were lay-overs, but other stops included white sand, TV cameras, and my favorite fabric folks (Quilt Market). I've only been home long enough in between each trip to unpack, then repack again.

I returned to a desk stacked with product proofs to review and approve—the HB world kept on turning while I was away—hallelujah. Here's the color proof for my new Project Life Olive Edition album cover with Becky Higgins. Yummy, yummy olive green.

I went for a subtle, decorator-ly print with a mod bent so the album would look fabulous in its own right and compliment many of the Project Life kits. This way several completed albums can be stacked together on the shelf and make their own color statement in a room. The spines of the albums are solid green with a metal label frame.

I believe this product line will be out soon. December, most likely. But, remember, Becky's Project Lifers are seriously dedicated. You have got to get in there and grab these things up the day they go live on Amazon or you might have to wait another couple of months for the next order to arrive. I know, it's impressive—go Becky!

Paper Moon

Check out these super-fun paper stitcheries from Belinda Moon of Australia. She starts with colorful craft papers and adds rows of free-form stitching which adds visual movement—and panache.

I discovered Belinda's work in the HB Paper Crafts Flickr Group. I was thrilled to see such a perfect and adorable use for my scrapbook papers. They almost look like they are made out of fabric, don't they?

If you think these are fantastic, like I do, brighten Belinda's day with a kind comment here, or at her blog. She has an Etsy store too, with birds, fish, pirate ships, robots—all sorts of great graphic pieces to decorate with.

Show Belinda some craft-love.

NOTE: Such great projects are being posted in the HB Flickr groups—wow, you guys! I'm going to make a renewed effort to spotlight some here and there. Thank you for posting your projects. I get to craft vicariously through you.

Project Life - Olive Edition

So here's the scoop!

I just wrapped up designs for a new Project Life collection — the Olive Edition. Becky Higgins announced the news on her blog this morning, along with a ton of sneak peeks.

I'm sure a bunch of you are already familiar with Becky and her Project Life mission to "cultivate a good life & record it." If not though, I will LOVE to be the first to tell you. Project Life is a fun and easy system for housing treasured pictures, thoughts, memories, and life's important details, without the time, fuss, expense and gewgaw of a traditional scrapbooking approach. Of course, you can add as much gewgaw as you like.

Basically, you get a Project Life album, along with some thoughtfully-laid-out plastic sleeves (lots of configurations available) and a kit of double-sided cards to slip into those sleeves along with your photos. You can use the cards to track details and stories relating to your photos or just use the decorated sides of the cards to add personality to your album—or as placeholders till you are ready to write the details down. There are paper packs and plastic month dividers too.

Here's the idea...

I have kept journals since I was ten years old. I know first-hand the benefits of keeping a personal record. You recognize your blessings better, you appreciate your day more, time doesn't seem so fleeting, and on top of that, you are left with a treasure for your loved ones to prize for generations.

Project Life makes all of these life-keeping benefits easy to access.

So, on top of my thrill in curating the new Olive collection for Becky, like the founder of The Hair Club for Men said in his commercial, "I'm also a customer."

The Project Life Olive Edition by Heather Bailey will be available to purchase in November through Amazon.com. There are swarms of PL fans waiting for each new edition to be available, so if you are interested, follow Becky's blog for updates and be prepared to shop the day the collection goes live.

So, go have a look at Becky's announcement post. She has way more preview photos posted over there than I do. Leave a comment. And read up on how Project Life works. There's even a cute little cartoon you can watch on her home page.

(Fabric-folk, you realize these images sneaky-preview some new designs for you too, right?)

Batty for Birthdays

Here's what I ended up with for Charlotte's 'spooky' birthday cupcakes.  I used an Oreo Cakester for the body, two chocolate-covered sunflower seeds for the eyes and black scrapbook paper for the wings.

For easier assembly, I cut the wing and ear for each side as one piece. I used a paper punch from Martha Stewart to give the wings a more girly personality.  Though the sinister Cakester-frosting smile was entirely unplanned, it was a welcome surprise.

After I prepped the wings and things, Isaac put the cupcakes together while I stitched up dragon tails.  All together (not including baking), the cupcakes and tails took us a bit longer than one run of the original True Grit on AMC. (I think Isaac made two trips to the store in there too.)  Who says bats are for Halloween alone? 

It's true, Charlotte, you ARE your own self.

Gilding my Sneakers

I've just returned from Creative Escape, a several-day craft-a-thon with hundreds of enthusiastic and kind women from all over the world: Japan, Canada, France, Australia, the U.S. Though I taught all day a couple of days in a row, I'm surprisingly refreshed. I blame it on the touching & funny keynote addresses presented by Heidi Swapp & Melanie Wellman -- and my decision to wear tennis shoes instead of heels. 

The CE students went out of their way to express their excitement for my class, bring gifts (chocolate, jewelry, handmade cards, hair clips, etc.), and make the experience fulfilling for us teachers as well. (Thank you, ladies!)

All 700 or so in attendance were deeply moved by the response to CE's designer lamp fundraiser for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society the final evening. All of the teachers at the event, and from past years, donated a hand-built, one-of-a-kind lamp to be sold in silent auction -- all $ going straight through to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

To add excitement to the final evening, two of the lamps were sold at live auction. One bidder forked out $29,000 for charity to get her hands on Tim Holtz' lamp (neat girl too), and Heidi's lamp raised over $8000. Without gushing on, I'll just say I was seriously moved. I think we all were. It was a great time. Thank you, Heidi & the Bazzill team for including me in this year's event.

So...Now that the cat's out of the bag on the fundraiser, I can finally show photos of my lamp design -- think tweet, tweet, chirp, chirp. I'll gather up some photos to post.

It's great to be back. I'm wrapping up several big projects (hallelujah!) this week before heading out to Utah to deliver a keynote address at the Start-Up Princess event on September 11th. If you're anywhere near South Jordan, Utah next weekend, sign up for Friday's event and come say 'hi'. Or visit me at Material Girls quilt shop on Saturday the 12th -- around 1ish (till 3ish?), I think.  I'll post a sure time as soon as it's confirmed. I'll also be on t.v. on Thursday, the 10th at Studio 5 in Salt Lake City. As for the rest of the trip -- I'll probably be sleeping, huh?

In Limited Supply: album kits, fabric... patience

It is refreshing to be home again.  Not only to sleep in my own bed and hug on my little kids (of course), but now I can start scratchin' at those irresistibly- itchy projects I sketched up while I was away.  Here and there, at least.  First, I have some emails and interviews to complete, as well as some fabric strike-offs to sort through (yes, round one is in the house!).

So, check out my Flutterby Flip-Book mini album.  I used an old-fashioned wooden clothespin for the butterfly body.  A variety of cardstock wings make up the album's many pages, with a sprinkling of flowers and miniature butterflies thrown in for good measure.  The perfect album for celebrating a special event, a summer-load of activities, a new baby, a birthday, quirky kid-drawings, etc.

This is the workshop I taught at Inspired in North Carolina this month -- the stinkin' cutest-est album ever.  We kitted up some extra albums, with full-on illustrated instructions included, so you can make an album too if you like. (Or maybe set up your kids or grandkids with a kit -- gotta keep those children engaged over the summer.  My two have been squabbling all day.)  So, if you're interested, hop on over to the HB store.  Limited supply!  When they're gone, they're gone. 

Freshcut™ is in the same boat too.  Free Spirit's warehouse is plum out of my Freshcut collection now.  We received our last supply.  Though the demand for that collection never subsided, the supply certainly now has, so last call for Freshcut!  Heck, here's a discount while you're at it.  Use the code "AlmostGone" through June 1st for 10% off any fabrics from my Freshcut collection.  We'll all sigh as it trickles away.

And this week is my blogiversary again -- three years now.  I'll put together some sort of giveaway, so stay tuned for that. 

I'm off to dig myself up an urgent dose of Tylenol.  My kids aren't used to being around each other all day.  It's adjustment time -- for all of us.

A New Laptop & Free Internet at the Airport

Posting on the road.  I'm sitting in the Charlotte airport waiting for my plane to board.  I'm at once disappointed to leave Inspired just as the main event kicks off, and excited to meet up with the Creative Escape team at Bazzill for a weekend of group crafting. 

With all of my jogging this way and that this week, I've grown seriously more attached to having an assistant.  (Two now.  We welcomed Lindsay to our team last week -- just in time to wrap up our kits for Inspired.  I'll introduce Lindsay more officially when I'm not racing against my departure time -- & I have a photo of her.)  It is so nice to get emails telling me where to go & when.  Here's your confirmation #.  Donna will pick you up at 7:00.  Meeting at this time.  Dinner at that time.  Turn right.  Turn Left.  Do 20 jumping jacks.

This saves a surprising amount of brain power, which can then be budgeted toward other activities.  Budgeting your Brain Power by Heather Bailey.  Get it now.

I had a great trip to Charlotte.  Loved the fog.  All of my flutterby flip-book students motored right through their projects.  I spent my break-time chatting with two women who drove four hours or so (each way) just to take my one hour workshop.  (Hi Lisa & Heather!)   I also met a sweet little girl for whom my workshop was a surprise present for her 8th birthday.  (Happy Birthday, Olivia!)  Olivia's mom and she set aside time every Thursday evening to make projects together -- isn't that great!?! 

Yesterday evening was spent talking Trash (Ties) with dozens more women.  We did hair and laughed and chatted.  It was great, giggly fun.  The dozens of Trash Ties we packed were gobbled up like cotton candy at a carnival.  Licked clean.

Then, last night, when it was time to pack in as much sleep as I could before heading out west for round two, my dern book got inconveniently exciting.  Could have had another hour of sleep if it were not for imminent danger, a surprise wedding and a sexy, first kiss.

That's the brief.  Time to hop on a plane.

Flit & Flutter

I'm bouncing all over the place this week.  By Tuesday night, I'll be in Concord, North Carolina again for Donna Downey's Inspired Artist event.  While there, I'll be teaching a mini-workshop on Thursday called The Flutterby Flip-Book for which my team has been kitting supplies all week.  Around the studio, stacks of Heather Bailey papers are shuffled together with some beautiful solids from Bazzill Basics.  And we're surrounded by bowls and tubs of colorful ribbons, flowers, clothespins, rhinestones, butterflies, and brads.  Bowls of candy. 

Cutest paper project!  Can't wait to show you. (We'll post some extra kits to the Heather Bailey Store later this week.)  If you're in North Carolina, come see me.  Here's where you can sign up for the last couple of seats in the 1pm class.  The 12pm class is completely sold out.

Let's see, there are some Trash Ties workshops late Thursday night as well (at Donna's irresistible urging).  We'll probably be somewhat loopy by 10pm, so I'm expecting more of a giggly, slumber-party-like setting than anything else.  Everyone in the class is getting two sets of Trash Ties and I'll be spending the hour teaching how-tos and demonstrating hairstyles. I hear there are a few more spaces available in the 9pm & 10pm classes.  If you're in NC, sign up!  I'd love to meet you.  Here's the workshop schedule where you can get your tickets.  Scroll down to the time-slot you're interested in (both are on 5/7), then click the blue & orange 'buy' button to read more about the class.

On Wednesday, before the workshops, I'll be at the Free Spirit headquarters in Charlotte, discussing fabric, hush puppies, high school (Jeff, the Sales Manager went to the same high school as I - small world), whatever comes up.  It's mostly a social visit.  Always fun. 

Friday, I'll fly back out west to attend a preview weekend for next summer's Creative Escape event.  I'll be crafting along with Heidi Swapp, Tim Holtz, Debby Shuh, and the other Creative Escape teachers while we preview our classes to each other and the entire volunteer staff.  There should be some fun dinners in there too, I think. 

Come Saturday night, I expect to flop into bed like an eggy crepe.  

Perhaps my kids will pour some syrup on top on Sunday morning -- a smoochy reunion.  Isaac's always good at heading up some sort of kid-made breakfast-in-bed for Mother's Day as well.  I dream of fuzzy slippers and chocolate.

Gift Card Boxes

I used to go to great lengths to make sure every present I gave was handmade and tailored to the recipient's taste.  Over the last few years, I've realized that most people truly love to receive a gift card now & then, so they can go out and get the very thing they've been hoping for.  This has been an adjustment for me.  I felt kind of guilty about the first few gift cards I gave, like I didn't put enough time into it.  But, as the reactions were genuinely enthusiastic, I thought, 'well, that was easy' and I decided that gift cards can be very good. 

There's always one or two people on my gift list who gift cards are perfect for.  Like my dad.  I never know what to do for my dad.  My sister, Julia, has pulled off some well-chosen shirts or gardening books for him, but I'm always stumped.  My most successful handmade present for him to date was a custom-designed table mat for he and my mom to play cards on.  They love that thing.  Who would have known? I've certainly made things that were cooler than that, like a hand-cut, metal bookmark that looks like a man climbing over the page when in place.  Crazy stuff sometimes.

I'm much more excited about planning gifts for my dad now that I'm cool with gift cards as a safety net.  What seals the deal for me is that I can still make the box.

For my recent feature in Creating Keepsakes (Dec 08), I designed a free pattern for the gift card box shown above. If you are planning to give some gift cards and would like to dress them up a bit, head to the pattern download page or follow the 'Gift Card Box' link under 'Free Patterns' in my sidebar.  These little boxes are great for wrapping up buttons, jewelry or candy too -- or for housing a love note on top of a larger, wrapped gift.  Get creative.

xo--Heather

Flower Pinwheel Pattern

Bring on the holidays!  Here's the Flower Pinwheel project that is featured in the December 2008 issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine, which is on news stands now.  The Creating Keepsakes team did an amazing job with the article.  There are a ton of projects featured and they did an impeccable job bringing it all together -- it's really beautiful.

I'm thrilled with how this pinwheel design turned out.  I had originally planned the poinsettia pinwheel as a holiday decoration -- without concern for functionality.  However, as I perfected the flower wheel design, my fascination with the science behind the spin grew. Isaac insisted that I couldn't just make a pretty-looking pinwheel.  It had to function.

This is where a stash of supplies comes in handy.  I rummaged through my studio for eyelets, wire, beads, pliers, etc. and soon had elevated my pinwheel project from pretty-to-look-at to pretty-to-look-at & dang-fun-to-play-with. 

These pinwheels spin like crazy.   

With red cardstock and yellow centers, I made poinsettia pinwheels for the holidays.  With floral prints and glittered papers, I made pinwheels straight out of Candyland or Santa's Workshop.  This project is surprisingly easy and remarkably inexpensive -- especially if you're a scrapbooker with a bevy of tools and supplies already at hand. 

Thank you for your patience if you've been watching for this pattern. I had originally scheduled to complete the pattern by the end of this week and have it available by next Monday.  However, the December issue of Creating Keepsakes shipped out to subscribers far earlier than I had expected. 

I was happy to work overtime this last week to design and post this download for you as quickly as possible.  I had to squeeze it into an already-packed design and family schedule.  I love this pattern and am equally excited to have it posted a week before originally planned (with the natural side benefit of having more pie-making time for next week, right?  Isaac's family tradition involves one pie per guest - well, practically).

Anyhow, go make some lollipoppish pinwheels and some twinkly family memories while you're at it.  Have a happy kick-start to your holidays this year.  For the Flower Pinwheel download page, follow the link in my sidebar under 'Free Patterns' or click here.

Happy Holidays everyone -- enjoy! 
xo--Heather

**free Gift Card Box pattern also coming this week.  And, we've posted our new holiday promotions and freebies for the store as well -- follow the 'Happy Holidays' badge in sidebar**

Creating Keepsakes

Hello to everyone stopping by from my article in the Holiday issue of Creating Keepsakes.  I can't believe it's already out (I thought it'd be around Thanksgiving) -- I can 't wait to see it.  If you're looking for my Flower Pinwheel pattern or the free Gift Card Box pattern, they'll be available next week under the 'Free Patterns' section of my sidebar.  Thanks!  More on the CK article to come : )

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.

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.

Fabric-Covered Brads

Such a great idea. 

Laura just posted a photo tutorial on how to make these.  And there's a giveaway.  In fact, I think she's doing something like five different giveaways this month -- Have a good idea for how to use fabric brads?  Someone suggested belt decor.

And I totally missed the boat on this next one.  Stephanie did these amazing Trash Ties hair dos.  Amazing.  Have you ever seen a blog that's all about creative hair-dos for girls?  She had a Trash Ties giveaway.  And I forgot to tell you.  But you should see these hairstyles!  (All of them.  Not just the Trash Ties ones.)  Stephanie definitely gets it.  You really can do anything with them. 

My computer's still acting up.  I think we might have fixed it today, but man, was I discombobulated for a few days there.  I'm ping-ponging between a dozen projects that are all about 95% done.  Hand-written lists are everywhere.  Getting very close.

Glad to be back on my own computer again.  We have other, faster, more-powerful computers, but I still like mine best. 

Impressive.

Where's my card reader for the point n' shoot?  I was going to show you some random shots from my trip to Charlotte, NC, but I can't find the card reader & I don't want to wake Isaac up over it.

I was going to name the post "Old News," as I'm finding it hard to be very current with my updates (still meaning to show photos from our Disneyland trip months ago & my antique store finds with Laura). Now, when I do find the card reader, I'm going to have to name the post "Very Old News," as it will have been a whole week since I headed out to Donna's Inspired. event.  Which was mightily impressive!  What a tremendous feat, Donna & Bill.  You must be fearless.  And everything was beautiful & seamless.

Donna has two new books out.  I picked up a copy of each while I was at the event.  I knew that she had used a couple of my pincushions in some photography for Fabric Scrapbooking, but I had no idea that my Freshcut line was used throughout the whole book & on the cover.  That was a fun surprise.

Cool projects too.  Donna has no fear of fabric, though she doesn't profess to sew.  And she's spreading the love.  The owner of Scrapbookin' Adventures is all jazzed now to carry my Freshcut fabric collection, as well as the whole Freshcut scrapbook collection (coming in June, I'm guessing. I'll get some dates.)  I think Donna's to blame. Or maybe Christina.  She taught a fabric/paper project too.  Anyhow, I can't wait to see what projects they put together.      

And a big thanks to all of the wonderful women I met last weekend.  I had a ton of much-needed fun.

Hatched

Ah, paper crafts -- sweet, peaceful, clippy, foldy, gluey goodness.  You guys called it - the cat has flown the bag.  I have a new line of paper craft & scrapbook goodies on its way, announced last weekend with my googly eyes peering down at the crowd from the top of a 12-foot banner, as if to say, "Hey down there, be nice now." 

This has been in the works for a while now, so my lips are quite sore from the super glue.  Figuratively.  Pschewwaa, what a relief.  Now that I can talk, you have got to see the vintage button stickers I have coming down the pipeline - all shiny & 3-D - and the french paper clips, die-cut felt ribbon, chipboard buckles-thingies, etc, etc, etc. Gaw! 

Heck, here's one peek - Ribbon Charms (buttons & buckles to me).  Autumn Leaves doesn't have the collection up on the web yet & it'll be a while before it hits stores, so I better not go further just yet.

And another fun thing.  I ran into Kathy from Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion at the show and guess whose article made the cover for the next issue!  They have some sort of public internet vote to pick the cover - cool tradition btw.  Well, I meant to campaign, dance in a clown suit, whatever it would take for you to go vote for Isaac's covershot, but completely missed the vote all together.  It came & went.  And there we are anyway, with no guilty feelings for swinging the vote either.  He-yaw.

These Party Chicks are one of the projects I put together for that upcoming MEHC article, place-card holders for only the most decadently-playful table setting. That's watermelon & orange-flavored licorice back there. Who needs veggies?  I used aluminum soda-can-sides, together with art papers & random whatnots from around the studio.  And each chicky-girl roosts on a vintage toy block. 

Easter's only a month away - free pattern in sidebar : )  Fun for baby shower or birthday decor too - or as gift tags.

I have a couple of days left to go in polishing up the paper collection for production, then it's onto another new adventure in the works.

On My Way to C.H.A.

I've made a last-minute decision to head out to Anaheim for CHA this week, the big craft & hobby industry show. If any of you will be attending or hosting a booth, email me your booth info and whatnot & I'll try to stop by for a hello!

I'll be back here in a couple of days.

Global Heart-Warming

Now here's a version that's a little more in season.  These valentine ornaments are made from my Paper Globes pattern.  These go together easily with a glue stick and a good helping of sit-around time. 

Ornament Tips: For the dangle, string beads from the top of each embroidered heart, locating a large ball-shaped bead at the end of the string of beads. Then insert that large bead into the paper globe before gluing the paper flaps on either side of it shut. Likewise, for the ribbon loop, stitch the bottom of the loop into a ball-shaped wad, then insert that part into the paper globe at a joint before gluing the paper flaps on either side of it shut.  When done, the large bead and the wadded up base of the ribbon loop are securely fastened within the paper globe where they don't show. Follow?  I probably should do some sketches.

We may have been behind on Christmas, but we're looking all set for Valentine's day.  That's an notable accomplishment for us.  From December 25th through January 26th our family has Christmas (& Christmas Eve), New Year's (& New Year's Eve), our wedding anniversary and both of our kids' birthdays to sort through.  We're always a bit cross-eyed this time of year.

Paper Globes

I'm getting there.  I can just about make out the light.  Getting caught up on things can be so dangerous though;  that's when the To Do List gets frisky and starts to breed.

I spent the earlier part of the week going over fabric strike-offs, color-bossing every nuance.  The next collection is looking pretty crazy fantastic and I'm excited to push it one more step toward the finish line. There are a couple of pieces that I'm going to have to design some clothes around.  That's just it.  Can't stand it.  A fitted little cocktail jacket out of one and a flared 50s dress from another. Something to do during the wait, I guess -- draft patterns & do stomach crunches (50s dress requirement).

I've uploaded a new pattern to my sidebar called "Paper Globes."  This is one of several projects I put together for the upcoming Home Companion feature (April/May 08).  The shoot was last May.  See, everything I do takes a year these days. These are super easy and fun.

And you don't have to make a topiary.  They make great ornaments too.  In fact, this design stems from an old-fashioned tradition of creating paper kissing balls from the year's Christmas card intake.  The ones I've seen were pretty hokey though, with too many illustration styles garbled together. It's high time we modern folk take the concept further and explore other styles & uses.

Wouldn't these be great for a baby shower or a wedding?  Or strung along a garland?  (Speaking of, have you seen the Ga-Ga for Garlands photo group lately?  Amazing.)  I'd love to see some of these paper globes made from vintage children's book pages.  Or as luminaries.

I put together a few Valentine's ornaments using this pattern last week to help me get Christmas out of my system.  They're pretty fun.  Really fun, in fact.  I'll snap some photos for my next post.

Feel free to shrink or enlarge the pattern as you please.  These paper globes can be made any size you like.  You just need 20 little circles, each with a perfect isosceles equilateral triangle scored in their middles. The main trick is in assembly.  It's easier than it looks though. Download the pattern and instructions to see how it all comes together.

Try spelling isosceles from memory.  Eek.  Which reminds me... Elijah tore his way through the school spelling bee this week and has been invited to compete at the district level.  He probably hasn't heard enough "atta-boys" though, as I've been trying to warn him that the kids who win the National Spelling Bee have crazy, mean parents who make them study dictionaries all day long.  Even nice coaches with jump ropes are still probably crazy.  Oh, what do you do? 

And a big Happy Birthday to my surprise speller too.  Elijah turned 11 earlier this week.  Birthday sleepover bash tomorrow night -- all Spiderman and big-screen-projected, multi-player video games, all night long!  And junk food. 

The Best of Funky Junky

Here they are, my favorite-ist ornaments ever, Hamburger Angel, The Real Santa, and Cheez-It Santa!  And, I love them.

Hamburger Angel wins the prize, with spoolish ankles, upside-down wings, an over-sized halo, a splotchy-"E" torso, "E-L-I-J-A-H" arms and a generous hamburger offerring.  And the best part is that there's no explanation -- just a random and fabulous creation from an inventive little boy.  (Had to move him to the top of the tree.)

The Real Santa is doing some sort of Broadway dance, I'm sure of it.  A tap dance.  He sports a frilly upside-down snowman beard and bushy white eyebrows.  Poor Santa, he hasn't even fooled baby Charlotte, who spots him on the tree and shouts, "Daddy!"

Cheez-It Santa stands 13" tall.  He has a garlic beard, cracker lips and Cheez-it dimpled buttons.  He's good friends with TV-dinner Scooby-Doo and Oreo Mama, both of which are making guest appearances over at Kiddley today.

Yep, it's true, I have the best collection of Christmas funky junkies -- I'm totally spoiled.  And Charlotte hasn't even gotten started yet. 

 

Paper On!

Thank you again, everyone, for the deluge of birthday wishes.  The chosen pear is on its way to Caroline.  And, the consequent ‘need’ for a cute card (above) and outrageous shipping label (far below) provided just the right excuse for a much-needed crafty break. 

I plucked the papers from here - a plump stack of scrapped workprints from my fabric line – let’s just say I had a bumpy start calibrating the printer to my monitor.  Making lemonade, I sorted them into a pretty box and now boast a most fabulous library of papers to craft with -  Oooo, and they’re archival.

On other fronts, Coxi will be featuring my blog over on Life Fever this week.  I scanned all through his site, and boy, he’s found some fun links, like this one that tickles my Oilily fancy and this one that sends me back to my first craft obsession, paper.  At 4-yrs-old, I filled my bottom dresser drawer with heaps of paper: white paper, lined paper, construction paper - any paper I could get my hands on.  With the assistance of a stapler, scissors and glue, I’d busy myself for hours, building all sorts of intricate 3D creatures, from robots to elephants.  Those are my earliest crafting memories.

-- Wait, I’m having such a twilight zone moment right now-- 

I just realized that here I am, twenty-seven years later, making sewing patterns, which is the same basic idea - creating paper patterns for 3D projects.  OK that’s weird, yet somehow reassuring. Hmm… deep thoughts.

Yippee-Ki-Yay

I came across this box of pencils at my antique store.  I HAD to have it.  I carried it around with me for an hour, flipping it over and over again to admire the illustrations. I love the colors and the energy.

I was with my mom. We headed to the antique store on a lark, having to purchase a $10 umbrella stroller on the way for Charlotte – no lack of wheels would interfere with our fun.  And fun it was.  We didn’t adopt many items, but the wandering conversation that accompanies such a hunt is a treasure on its own.  Thanks mom, let’s do it again! 

Knock Knock Notes

My big accomplishment for the day?  I cleaned the fridge.  The up side? -- I cleaned the fridge.  The down side? -- who wants to see photos of my fridge?  So, I offer these fabulous cards made for me by Laura.  They're doors.  One of them even has curtains!  Aren't they great?  Several of the papers are Basic Grey -- love them -- check out their cool tag sheets.  

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