Super Tuesday + Fat Tuesday = Super Fat Tuesday!
Now that’s something to celebrate. Seriously though, go vote. Stop
browsing the computer, put down your work or play, pack up your kids if
you must and go vote in The Primaries. There are a few clowns running
for U.S. President this year. Though they might be entertaining in the
role, I must say Down with Clowns in this case. Go vote for someone
who’s not a clown — whichever non-clown suits you best, but vote.
Lists! Why haven’t I done this before?
There’s no sense trying to connect any of these thoughts together. A
list will suit the occasion perfectly.
1. Laura Lure – Laura has big news! Read about it here.
2. Rachel, Rachel, What Rhymes with Rachel? –
Isaac’s sister has a new blog and an online store. called harper. Remember Harper? Rachel has
perfected edgy simplicity. You’ll love her aesthetic.
3. Tara Haira – Meet Tara. Well, her hair at least. Tara’s now working with us a couple of days a week to help
keep our many plates spinning smoothly. This is the awesome Trash Ties
‘do she wore to work last week.
4. It’s Back! – Freshcut wasn’t on the Free Spirit website for a while. It turns
out their web designer made a mistake, so yes! the collection is still
available. Free Spirit’s new mantra is to keep every collection
available as long as it’s selling well. Good plan : )
5. Not So Sweet –
I made it four days without sugar last week. I’m trying for five this
week. This mini mug of cocoa love (see #9 below) is for Charlotte and
there’s one more for Elijah when he gets home.
6. Drip, Drip – It’s raining outside. I love rainy days!
7. Trip, Trip –
Isaac’s brother moved to Germany this year to teach at a university.
He’s there with his wife and new baby boy. I’m thinking I might have
to get my passport in order and fly out for a visit. Sometime. Just thinking.
8. Flip, Flip – We want to get a backyard trampoline for our kids soon. One with a net. Any suggestions before we jump to it?
9. Sip, Sip –
Cost Plus World Market is selling pink hot cocoa for Valentine’s Day in
pink-striped packages. Might make for some fun grown-up valentines??
These little strawberry/chocolate bits are from there too. The mini
mug set is from Target.
10. Hmmm – Check this out. What store would you live in?
What do you do with a bunch of party-clad toddlers when Princess, Princess, Queen (aka Duck, Duck, Goose) and King Simon Says have lost their charm?
Jewel up some crafty crowns!
So I was going through Charlotte’s birthday party photos today,
archiving them into their appropriate places, when I realized that our
crown craft was an idea worth sharing — for birthday girls
everywhere. It worked out perfectly, and captivated a table full of
kids for a noteworthy while. So, for anyone with a little girl’s party
coming up soon, here’s a great activity.
These foam crowns are from Michael’s. They’re only one dollar
each. Add two buckets of foam stickers in letters & shapes (50%
off right now), a couple of adults for sticker-peeling, and a big
table. That’s it. Not very tricky at all, but dern successful.
The girls went for goopy, froo-froo crowns and the boys kept things fairly
simple. Even Max joined in, although he was already sporting the best
crown ever.
On other fronts, I’m designing another fabric collection right now and
it’s nearly impossible to tear myself away for anything. Yes, partly
for the fun of it, only partly, but mostly because I can’t
stand the suspense. I’ve been working away on one of the designs for
five or six days now and well, I really need to step out into the
sunlight. Fun design though. Unexpected and a bit cheeky.
Things are moving along smoothly with Trash Ties too. We’re ahead
of schedule and getting orders out even earlier than promised at the
moment, so that feels good. And I’ve just now set up the Trash Ties
photo group at Flickr, though I haven’t posted any photos yet. So, go
join the group, post your Trash Ties ‘dos & beat me to it. I can’t
wait to see what you’ve dreamed up. Like this and this and this — you
guys rock!
The more tired I get, the more exclamation points I’m tempted to use. What’s that about? ! Time for a nap, I guess. !
Still licking the frosting off my fingers from a week of birthdays.
Nah, I’m actually testing my willpower by avoiding it all together for a few days. Two days down. Detox, baby. Ha, we’ll see how that goes. Of course you can’t count fresh-squeezed tangelo juice. My parents live in a citrus grove and my counter tops are covered with heaping bowls of oranges, grapefruit & tangelos, while the lemons on my own tree are growing as big as footballs.
Back when Laura lived nearby, we had a tradition of freezing baggies and baggies of
freshly-squeezed lemon juice in one-cup measurements. Through experimentation, we figured out how much sugar and water were needed for the perfect pitcher of lemonade so we could pop frozen lemon juice in a jug at any time and whip up some freshly-squeezed. I’m eyeing my hand-crank squeezer now. Hmm, what was I supposed to do tomorrow? Oh yes, no sugar, Heather. Whoa now.
Charlotte’s party was a royal gala. All the lords and ladies of the kingdom were in attendance, wearing their finest threads. Little Max here, aka Lord Max of Hall, topped the parade with his bejeweled crown and emerald twist-tie rings. Have a pair of thread-bare toddler trousers flitting around somewhere? Why, cut the waistband off and make a crown of course! And rings, a king must have his rings.
Ah, I loved Max’s costume.
Gaw, isn’t this gorgeous!?! I’m ready to pack my bags & a tarp
to go live in a lean-to right there by that fence in Who-Knows-Where,
South Carolina. Purple azaleas, mossy-green grass, gravel road,
weathered wooden fence, misty forest…heaven.
I have this photo open on my desktop while I work and when I drift
off, I drift off down that path. Kinda nice, really. You should try
it.
If you live somewhere as beautiful, pray, do tell where. Sigh.
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.
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.
There was a tear in the time/space continuum last month that left us
about two weeks behind the rest of the world in Holiday spirit. Kick
off the Holidays as late as December 22nd and you might welcome your
gussied tree to hang around long past New Year’s.
Well, today was the day. The tree has left the building.
One last hoorah with a Gingerbread Man Float and it’s onto sugar
detox. Here’s hoping the Jones Soda Company brings these back next
year. Mmmm.
I know, I know, I’ve been absent from these parts for most of the last month. Beyond taking a much
needed holiday break, I’ve been wrapping up some big projects and
structuring my world to take on the new year. If I get some of these
things done quickly this week, I just might get to tap into the
new-year enthusiasm in the air before it dissipates. That’s the plan.
That’s the hope. I love a new year! And I’m happy to bury 2007.
Things will pick up here as well. I have some great new crafts and
free patterns in the works for January. And some fun finds to share.
Looking forward to it. Thanks for hanging around : )
Happy New Year!
Aah
yes, look what came to our door in time for a late breakfast (love
that holiday excuse). Each layer offers a different selection, all
separated with parchment paper and chilled. So fancy! Thank you, dear Jona : )
Mmm, mmm.
Well, a Crazy Christmas it’s been. We’ve decorated the tree,
amassed the presents, poisoned ourselves with sugar and revolutionized
our dance moves on my mom’s new Wii. A few more presents to wrap and
we’ll be all set for a calm reflection on the meaning of it all.
Merry Christmas everyone!
xo–Heather
