Fun Stuff

  • The Creative Connection

    ByHeather Bailey

    I'm in Minneapolis, MN for The Creative Connection this week.  What
    an amazing crowd of bloggers and business women!  All brought together
    by Nancy Soriano, Jo Packham, and their fantastic friends and staff.

    1008_PortraitofMomIt
    is an honor to be invited as a speaker and panelist. They have put
    together a perfect schedule of business-fodder, food, and fun, along
    with an impressive Handmade Market.

    The event kicks off tomorrow
    morning with a variety of classes for the attendees. At lunchtime, The
    Pioneer Woman    , Ree Drummond, will join in for some Q & A. Then MaryJane Butters and Amy Butler will speak at the kick-off
    dinner.  I have an autograph party tomorrow night and two panels on
    Friday, centered on business development, with some meals and meetings
    in there as well. Saturday morning I'm listening in on another panel,
    then heading back home.  It's a full schedule. 

    I can't wait.

    (It looks like the bio and pig-tailed photo of me on the Creative Connection site
    are both several years out-of-date. Oops. (No, I'm not introducing my
    first line of fabric this year.) Here's a more up-to-date portrait courtesy of Charlotte.)

  • |

    August in a Cupcake Wrapper

    ByHeather Bailey

    CupcakeBouquet470 Had a birthday. Yep. 

    It was great!  Isaac brought me chocolate cake, mom brought me chocolate cake, and Nica made me a bouquet of chocolate-rose cupcakes ala Carrie — delicious and entirely photo-worthy. (Thank you s'much!)LifeisaPinata  Add to that a great birthday party put on by my sisters, Julia & Merris, and a serious spread of mexican food.  I was far too busy eating chocolate and tacos to blog about it. 

    Other than eating cake round the clock, let's see, I've been busy batting at a variety of moving objects.  Life is a pinata.  One feisty, swingy pinata.

    One project I'm excited to announce is my partnership with Peking Handicraft to produce several housewares collections, including aprons, dishtowels, pillows, and more.  I'll post photos once samples are in hand.  Right now we are aiming for several January releases.

    On the pattern front, I'm introducing two new mini patterns this month.  LOVE them both.  One is the awesome lunch bag pattern I mentioned before and the other is a great little hat pattern — a sort of mixture between a 1920s cloche and a hippie beret.  Patterns & instructions are complete; I just need to wrap up the covers.

    CupcakeT
    I'm also toying with a blog theme idea; tell me your take on Sketchtember.

    Doodle-loo, scribble too — whoop-di-do.

  • Survival Gear

    ByHeather Bailey

    WildernessSurvival-5e
    Isaac and Elijah
    have been at Boy Scouts Camp this week.  Isaac is there to teach
    Wilderness Survival.  Elijah is there to survive.  And have fun.

    WildSurv-7c There isn't much
    budget for outfitting the boys with survival gear, so Isaac has been
    mighty resourceful.  One of the projects the boys are working on is this emergency kit.  It is made from two square pieces of metal flashing. 
    Duct tape covers the sharp edges and creates the spine of the booklet
    design.  The highly-reflective mirror-like tape on the outside is for
    emergency signaling.  On the inside of the kit are fishing hooks,
    weights, fishing line, wire, safety pins, crazy-strong thread, and
    needles.  The kit closes into a compact and is kept shut by
    a strip of hair-band elastic that has been riveted to one side of the flashing.  

    And
    it's orange, so they won't lose it.

    It was my opinion that they
    should close the kits with complete, un-cut hair-band elastics.  That
    way, if a boy is stuck surviving for weeks in the woods, he will have
    something to tie his wild-child hair back with.  But, ah well.

    It's a several-part class he's teaching, so there are other projects
    too, as well as gobs of survival information — Isaac is really into
    this subject — and an overnight survival camp-out where the boys have
    to build their own shelter and whatnot.

    Today I find out whether
    Elijah survived or not.  My campers return this afternoon.

  • Happy Memorial Day

    ByHeather Bailey

    Feltstar300aHappy Memorial Day, Americani! 

    I'm feeling
    appropriately patriotic.  If you have a chance to watch The Story of Us series on the History Channel, do. 
    I've watched several episodes over the last two days.  It's had me
    choked up on more than one occasion — the struggles and triumphs of our
    country's past (and present).  The series is intelligently paced.  It
    ties in the technological advancements of each era as well, and shows
    their impact on historical events.  It's just good.

    So now LA
    Ink     is on while I type.  I go high-brow, I go low-brow.  I'm
    strangely relating to this episode.  The main tattoo chick is
    interviewing for two new employees while absorbing their duties in the
    meantime. I'm hiring for two positions right now too.  Sorting through
    resumes took an entire day by itself.  Tattoo chick, I feel you.

    I'm
    not too busy to celebrate Memorial Day though!  The BBQ brigade is
    coming to our house today.  We have a new backyard to christen, after
    all.  And it's gorgeous out.  For now.

    Hug a
    soldier, hug a veteran, hug the free earth beneath your feet!

    God
    bless America.

  • Growing Things

    ByHeather Bailey

    PepperCrop2

    Wow, is it already the end of
    May?

    Last week I was swept away by a birthday blizzard on one
    side and a
    Spring Market squall on the other.  My brother's birthday is the 16th,
    Isaac's is the 17th, my sister's husband's is the 18th, and my mom's big
    day is the 20th.  Add to that a trip to Minneapolis last week from
    Wednesday through Sunday and a father in the hospital. (He came home on
    Sunday too — after two weeks.  I won't go into it without his consent. 
    He does seem to be doing much better now.  We were worried.  Love you,
    Dad!) 

    I have a book-contribution to photograph, fabric to finesse, patterns to polish, kids to cuddle.  (Now I'm
    just having fun with alliteration.)  Mayday, Mayday!


    FencePlayW     Minneapolis,
    what a beautiful city!  I don't know what I was expecting exactly, but I
    was pleasantly surprised.  The weather was great, the city was clean
    and lively, and the public transit system was fantastic, and there was a
    Target right downtown.  I picked up some flip-flops and chocolate on
    Thursday, grabbed apples and couscous on Friday, and made a last-minute
    umbrella-run for Saturday's rain.  This is exciting stuff — as on most
    of my city-stays, I lack some mundane object I have left behind;  there
    was no want this time. 

    I love to catch up with everyone at
    Market.  Friends everywhere with new patterns, new books, new fabric,
    new fabric shops, new wallpaper.  Some with launch-parties, some with cake-parties.  I forget to work.

    Minneapolis was great. I feel
    completely refreshed right now.  And I'm happy to be home to my little
    green garden of growing things. 

    TinyappleWI have a number of outdoor
    projects to scoot-to before the coming heat scoots me back inside: work
    tables to build, chairs to refinish, a storage unit to clear out, a new
    garden to tend.  Truthfully, I can't even start on this list till a
    whole different work-list is checked.  We'll see how it goes.  The blaze
    is on its way.

    I've got some fresh energy so I'm hopeful.  I'll
    keep a camera handy.

    And school is out tomorrow!  My kids are all
    mine again. This makes me squishy.  I go.

  • Long Live Long Legs

    ByHeather Bailey


    MariePirateShip

    I have some fun, old sewing
    books I like to flip through on occasion — sometimes for laughs.  Take
    for instance the following discussion about the absurdity of various
    fashion trends, from Fabrics and Dress by Rathbone and Tarple,
    1937.  Hang in there with me.  There's a good laugh coming.

    First up is the fabulous
    headdress above, a la Marie Antoinette
    — Watch out madame, you're tipping starboard!

    "Regardless of
    how reasonable or sane the inspiration for a fashion may be, the style
    sometimes is carried to extreme, with grotesque and absurd results. We
    can glance through books on historic costume and pick out many "follies"
    which have grown out of sensible fashions.  Outstanding among the
    freaks of fashion has been the headdress made popular by Marie
    Antoinette, Queen of France and Royal Dictator of Fashion…"     
    And the book goes on to discuss the fabulous hair-do above. (I say go
    for it, Bjork. I liked your cheeky swan dress.)


    Figure4OldShoe     The next folly of fashion on the table are poulaines,
    medieval shoes with liripipe
    toes. (This seriously takes me back to my History of Costume class my
    Freshman year in college. How in the world did I recall the term,
    poulaines?)

    "Shoes with long toes were another
    absurdity of fashion to which we often point with ridicule… richer and
    more eminent personages wore shoes with tips a foot long and princes
    two feet (Fig. 4)"     And so forth.


    Figure7ShortSkirt     Now here's where it gets good.

    "Another recent fashion, which will probably seem as absurd
    as many of these when it becomes long out-of-date, is the very short
    skirt of 1928-1929, which was about three inches above the knee (Fig. 7)
    When worn with extremely high heels, it made the expanse of the legs
    much longer than the length of the skirt…"

    Wait.  What?.

    Innocent
    eyes, look away. 

    The scandal!

    What
    woman would want her legs to look longer by wearing a short not-that-short
    skirt?  Just the most absurd idea in fashion ever — the extremely
    short     skirt of 1928-1929 — clearly as absurd as the pirate hat and
    the carrot shoe.  It will never last.

    I do love my old books.

    -o-o-o-o-o-

    Regarding poulaines: "Such shoes
    proved a hazard among the French Crusaders at the Battle
    of Nicopolis     (1396) when they had to cut off the tips in order to
    run away."     Isaac Asimov, Isaac
    Asimov's Book of Facts    , 1979.

    Some fashions
    don't repeat themselves — for good reason.

  • Happy Holidays!

    ByHeather Bailey

    I
    had a great Christmas week — plenty of time off, plenty of fun. Next
    week I'm wrapping up several business projects and doing some winter
    cleaning at home. I should be ready for the new year around January
    3rd, which is far better than my normal acceptance of the new year in
    February or March.

    Doesn't this holiday pin make a great bow?  Next year I'll post a tutorial & put together some kits or something.

    HollyTag470
    While it's still holiday season, it's time to announce giveaway winners from the Meet Nicey Jane post a couple of weeks ago — $100 in gift certificates to the Heather Bailey Store. (Read the comments when you need a spot of sunshine. They are like reading a copy of Chicken Soup for the Soul.) Thank you, everyone, for taking the time to share your stories, weird information, insights, etc. I enjoyed every comment!  (Did I mention, you really should read those comments?)

    Here goes:

    One $25 gift certificate goes to… JENNE

        My husband had a terrible work accident close to 3 years ago. He has yet to
    return to work, but did have his last hip surgery this past Spring. A friend
    at church noticed our bald tires. This past Sunday we left church to find
    new tires–and a repaired tie-rod–on our van.     They had sneaked the keys out
    of my purse, sneaked the car away to the shop and returned it to the spot
    right beside our original one. We didn't notice until they all stood around
    giggling as we packed the kids in the car. A whole group of lovely friends
    was involved, and none of them has much more to spare than ourselves. I
    bawled with joy over how loved I felt. They were just delighted they
    surprised us so.
        Posted by: Jenne | December 08, 2009 at 11:06 PM

    Another $25 gift certificate goes to… MELISSA

        You did say you wanted weird, right? I was at Swiss Days (a huge outdoor
    craft fair) and my mom and I were sitting at a table eating lunch. It was
    crowded and two men and two women asked if they could sit with us. We
    scooted over to make room, and one of the women remarked to me, "Oh, no. If
    you are sitting by my husband, you better guard your food."     We all laughed
    and continued eating, although the man sitting next to me WAS uncomfortably
    close. Table space was at a premium, and he kept scooting closer to me.
    After each scoot, he would say, "Are you okay?", probably in response to me
    leaning away from him. I finished eating, and laid my fork down, and he
    leaned over and said, "Are you going to eat those cherries?" I glanced at my
    pie plate and said that I was finished. He proceeded to grab a potato chip
    from his plate, reach across and scoop up and eat a cherry from my plate.
    Then another, and another, until even the cherry juice had been scooped and
    gobbled. Just as I was thinking, enough's enough, and we were getting ready
    to go, he leaned across me, looked at my mom and said, "Aren't you going to
    eat your cookie?" We handed it over and scooted away post haste. So bizarre.
    I love Nicey Jane, by the way. Jane would know how to handle some random
    stranger eating food off her plate. Me? Not so much!
        Posted by: Melissa | December 08, 2009 at 05:32 AM

    And a plump ol' $50 gift certificate goes to… ASHLEY

        On Saturday, my Mom gave birth to my first little sister! Her name is
    Hadley. She is such a sweetie. 🙂 After 16 years and four sons after me, Mom
    is sure excited!
        Posted by: Ashley | December 09, 2009 at 09:07 AM 

    Now
    Ashley can go to town spoiling her new baby sister with handmade
    clothes, toys, blankets and more. In fact, Ashley's mom commented on Meet Nicey Jane later on, revealing that 16-year-old Ashley was in the other room sewing a baby blanket when her sister was born:

        One of the kindest things someone has done for me lately happened last
    Saturday about 4 a.m.     I was in labor with my sixth child (only our second
    girl) when I thought I heard the whir-whir-whir of the sewing machine.     I
    asked my husband what my daughter (our oldest, 16) was doing and he said,
    "sewing a blanket for the baby". Of course she was! That's just how she is.
    Thoughtful and crafty! Our baby girl was welcomed into the world with a
    beautiful new blanket and lots of love from her sister and brothers. My
    daughter loves your blog by the way!
        Posted by: Angela | December 10, 2009 at 05:44 PM

    Merry
    Christmas & Happy New Year's Week, everyone! Thank you for being a
    part of my life this year.  I love reading your comments and
    interacting with you all in this virtual world of blogging.

  • Red & White All Over

    ByHeather Bailey

    HolidayTags470

    I'm so ready for Christmas songs, twinkle lights, gingerbread
    cookies — the whole shbang. I have looked forward to the holidays all
    year.  Our last Christmas
    was pretty hectic and tiring with Isaac in the hospital and whatnot. 
    This year we are all drinking an appropriate amount of water, to say
    the least.

    I've been working my tail off to wrap up my first stationery release
    (Inviting Company, Jan 2009), to get new patterns to the printer, and
    to prepare for my new fabric collection, Nicey Janeâ„¢. 
    I'm so thankful these projects hit in November and not in precious,
    chilly December.  Despite the hubbub, I channeled some of my holiday
    excitement into designing a fun stack of holiday gift tags as a present for our customers this year.  A set of these tags will be sent out with every order placed in the month of December.  And they are DANG
    cute.  My favorite is perhaps the holly berry design at the bottom-left
    of the photo above, or the reindeer.  There are other great holiday discounts and freebies right now at HeatherBaileyStore.com as well.  Click here to take a look.

    Part of my holiday plan is to blog more.  My goodness, where have I
    been?  That's right, under a heavy stack of deadlines.  With new
    patterns on the horizon and plenty of holiday projects in the works, I
    have lots to share, including several sewing projects that have had to
    stay under wraps the last two months.  Ah, what a relief.

    First up is Miss Nicey Jane (next post) — can – not – wait!

  • Yee-haw

    ByHeather Bailey

    Arizona neighbors! You will seriously miss out if you don't make your way to downtown Mesa, AZ this weekend for Blissfest 2009, presented by my ever-fabulous friends at Domestic Bliss, Kristin & Dan Alber. Stephanie Nielson and her husband, Christian, will be there. Tara Frey will be doing a book signing with her new book, Blogging for Bliss. Jaimee Rose is coming too. There will be music, dancing, dozens of artists' booths, a stagecoach — I mean, come on, a stagecoach! 

    Blissfest

    I'll be at the Blogging Lounge on Saturday afternoon and the HB crew will be there too, with our own version of a general store: Trash Ties, fabric, felt, patterns, kits, chit chat, perhaps some chocolate to snack on. So, AZ folks, put your cotton-pickin'
    boots on and mosey on down to Friday night's 'Grand Fandango' and
    Saturday's Blissfest Market. Details on the flyer above or visit the Blissfest blog.

    Happy Fall. I don't know about your neck of the woods, but, here, the weather is gorgeous. Finally.

    See you there!

    (Felt supply all fat & re-stocked by the way — if you've been waiting.)

  • Trick-or-Eat!

    ByHeather Bailey

    Announcing

    Halloween is coming right up. Charlotte will flit around as a 'Bat Fairy' and Elijah is ready to skip the costume this year — he's in junior high now. I'm sure he'll help eat the candy though.

    In celebration, on Monday, the 26th, I'm decking the halls with HoWls of fOlly
    for a Halloween Block Party with eight of the web's best food &
    lifestyle bloggers. Nine virtual haunted houses of culinary,
    craftiverous surprises await. Which of your favorite bloggers lurks at
    each haunted dwelling? What have the hosts and ghostesses prepared?

    Visit my blog on Monday — if you dare.