4th of July

Wishing everyone a Happy July 4th.. please be safe and take a few minutes to remember those who are not home, but away fighting to maintain our freedom.

time keeps slipping away..

I guess we really are into the summer groove. Every time I look up it seems like a mess of days have passed on the calendar. I have a good deal to show for it but it ain't very picturesque. Our big project this summer is painting our house! We have been scrapping and sanding and washing and today we primed the front of the house. Big thanks to my friend Vicki who helped! I'll be sure to share the before and after pix when we get it presentable. Its so cool to see if coming together.

In other productivity news I finished and photographed a couple more of my Say It With Letters Design Team projects.

The first was sent to me as part of my spring projects but I forgot to take a picture. Its the cute birdhouse shape which I covered with decorative paper (I think its Hambly) and then I cut a piece of cork board to fit the bottom portion. I covered that in the cute vintage gingham fabric and glued it all together. Afterward, I embellished with vintage buttons, pom pom trim, a doodad from Hannah Grey (at the top) and the letters. The tacks are just thumb tacks with sweet vintage buttons glued on top. Its a handy little note board for by our calendar.

The other project has kind of a funny story behind it. I opened the package with excitement because I can never wait to see what new shapes Deb has dreamed up. Out came her seashell shape, but I saw it upside down and thought it was a tutu. I asked Hannah what she thought it was and she thought it was a dress too so I proceeded to paint it pink. I later discovered that it was in fact a seashell but decided to just go against the grain ( so not me right? LOL) and proceed with my dress idea. I added vintage wallpapers from my wallpaper connection and friend, Donna along with vintage lace and trim. Since I have done it upside down I had to add my own hanger but I bet if you wanted to make your own, Deb would have the keyholes at back aligned the proper way if you asked. Anyway, we all were happy with the way it turned out and I love how the flocked wallpaper has such a soft feel and the sweet age spots on it. A true bit of shabby!

Ok, so I am off to try to sleep. It has been eluding me lately which is very frustrating because it sure doesn't elude the 5 year old who pops up at 7 am every morning. Check back soon because I am going to be having a couple of giveaways coming up on the old blog to celebrate 700 posts! Happy summer.

campin...

Just over a week ago we went on a family camping trip up to Gualala, CA. We had beautiful weather and it was so nice to unplug and relax. Here are a few shots from the redwoods and the beach. Lots of inspiring places and sites. The first 2 shots are of the "cathedral tree" which was so cool and peaceful.

Ties that Bind

Last fall I was invited to participate in this project to raise money and awareness for ovarian cancer. Our goal is to raise $10,000 by September 30 in a raffle of an amazing doll created by nearly 100 artists who contributed artwork in the form of embellished ties and charms. Click on the button for more information and to help us reach our goal!!

fun with Flickr

Rules:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search (http://www.flickr.com/).
b. Using ONLY the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into Mosaic Maker. Change rows to 3 and columns to 3 (http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/mosaic.php)
d. Save the image and post it.

The Questions:
1. What is your first name? Heather
2. What is your favorite color? green
3. What is your favorite food? Thai
4. Favorite drink? iced tea
5. Dream vacation? Italy
6. Favorite hobby? creating
7. What you want to be when you grow up? artist
8. What do you love most in life? family
9. Best self-description? OK



1. Damp heather, 2. Agriscape - Marche, Italy, 3. Thai Food, 4. Ice Tea Splash, 5. Rural Landscape/5 - Macerata, 6. Create OLW, 7. Little Artist, 8. Family, 9. Day 110 - The Sun Is OK

weekend fun

This past weekend my BFF Joleen came up for a quick weekend visit. It was much too short but I sure enjoyed having her around. On Saturday morning we met us with my Mom for a 3 generations photo shoot which was a lot of fun. I have only seen a teaser few of the shots on her blog but what I have seen, I really like. I am super excited to see the rest.. hurry Joleen! LOL
After we got back here is when things got a little nutty. I had asked Joleen to go with me to get my nose pierced which I have been wanting to do for several years. I don't know why I didn't do it earlier but never did and all of a sudden it became imperative for me to do it NOW. We searched out a place to do it and I went for it with Joleen and my family in tow. Hannah was excited to watch but when he pulled out a big needle Joleen stepped in front of her so she wouldn't panic. Hannah thanked her! It only hurt a bit at the beginning and then it was over, its healing well (everything crossed) and I am anxious to get a new, flatter stud to wear. This is a shot immediately after it was done.

So one thing lead to another and Joleen decided that since we were spending time in tattoo parlors she'd get the tattoo she'd been thinking about for a couple of years. We went to her appointment and then after she was done I decided I needed another one too!! Voila, a new tattoo...
I got 3 stars, ( a smaller version of Joleen's 9 stars which you can see on her blog) one for each member of my little family. I am not going to lie. This sucker HURT!! I have heard that the foot is one of the most tender places to get it but WOW. It hurt much more than my other tattoo. Eep. I don't think I am going there again. LOL In the above picture I had to Photoshop out the bruises and scrapes on my foot. I fell down the stairs in front of our house last week and my foot is still pretty beat up. I am amazed I did not break anything. So lucky!!

Anyway, so that was our adventurous weekend. I am already missing Joleen and hate that we live so far apart but its always good to spend time with her. Looking forward to the next visit!!

flying..

I have still been on my polymer clay mosaic kick and making tiles like a mad woman. Its been inspiring and addicting and I feel free. My muse is flying.. I have been producing lots of frames and have been invited to place them in a gallery shop in San Juan Bautista which features the artwork of woman! In addition, some of my frames will be flying to OH to grace the lovely little shop Alice Adair which is owned by my good friend. Yay ( I need to get those in the mail!)
Another exciting development this week is that Sadie surprised me by making me the featured seller on Lollishops for the week. I had to hustle and get some things loaded in my shop because I had been procrastinating but I have added some new cards and mosaic pieces. I am really excited about the possibility of doing some custom pieces for people but I love all the things I have created already too! I hope you will hop on over and check out my shop as I will continue to add new items throughout the week.

Also, Friday my gal pal and co-publisher of Portals Zine, Joleen will be flying up for the weekend. We will be visiting, planning issue #8 and she will be shooting a 3 generations session of me, my Mom and Hannah. Be sure to visit the Portals Zine blog over the weekend where we will be posting a special giveaway!