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  • Paper Hearts

    ByHeather Bailey

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    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.

    OrigamiHeartValentine_HeatherBailey_7bW2How'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 12×12 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. 

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    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.

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    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!

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    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.

  • Teensy Little Bird

    ByHeather Bailey

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    When the hospital called on August 17th to schedule a C-section for September 3rd, I got off my computer, and walked and walked and walked. Every day, for days. My best shot at avoiding surgery was to go into labor naturally. (My oldest was born by C-section, so the doctor didn’t want me to go full-term at the risk of uterine rupture.) It was over 110º each of those days, so I would head out at 8pm after the sun went down and make laps around the neighborhood in my fluorescent-orange shirt — the Great Pumpkin.

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    I did it! With four blisters on my left foot and three on my right, our new little bub was born at 1:59pm on Thursday, August 25th. No C-section required — phew. My feet only stopped aching this week.

    I had never gone into labor before on my own, so I stayed in bed that morning longer than some might have, timing my contractions on my iPhone (standard clock app, lap function – awesome). Once I could no longer sleep, I started posting my progress on Twitter; it was a fantastic distraction. We got the kids ready for school and called in my mom to make the rounds, then headed out to the hospital. Of course, we had to make a stop at the store for an SD card for our camera. (I wanted photos!) At that point, my contractions were a minute long and three minutes apart, from start to start.

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    At the hospital, when I walked from triage to the delivery room, my doctor announced that I was at a 7 or 8 and everyone at the nursing station stood and clapped, saying “Wow, you’re still walking!?” I wonder if that’s such a big deal or if they stand and clap for everyone. “You’re dilated to a 1? And you’re still walking!?” “You’re dilated to a 3? And you’re still walking!?” Might be a good protocol.

    I had a big, goofy smile on my face — between contractions. The staff was baffled by me. Sure, it hurt. Of course! I was just ecstatic that I beat the scheduled surgery and that I’d get to meet my new kiddo. Good thing I was in an excited stupor too, because my doctor had to attend to three emergency situations in the course of my labor. She held off on me a little bit so she could help the other mothers get through their ordeals. After she broke my water, everything went very quickly and the baby was born within the hour.

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    And here he is! The inventory is complete. He’s all here, with all his teensy parts. And everything appears to work as it should: cooing, gooing, squeaking, squawking, spitting, squirting, grinning, grunting. He’s so new and tiny that all of these functions still have us mesmerized.

    I’m saving his name for another post — as that’s it’s own story. When it comes to names, I’m a waffler. Why can’t we all go by three for four different names — that would be so much easier! (Well, maybe not.)

    Two days after the baby was born, Isaac and our talented friend, Jared Platt, met up to take pictures. These lovely shots were snapped by Jared. Jared is a professional photographer who travels the U.S. teaching photography workflow and file management to other professionals.

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    Isaac has typed up his thoughts on little bub’s birthday as well — more revealing perhaps than my polite assessment. Here’s his take…


    Read More “Teensy Little Bird”