Happy Birthday Hannah Grey

As many of you know I was one of the founders of Hannah Grey Curiosities & Drygoods. A bit over a year ago I decided I needed to leave to handle some person upheaval that was happening in my family but Shosh kept on and has been working really hard to keep HG going. I have continued to lend my moral support, do shows and work on the design team and as a consultant behind the scenes. It is exciting to me that Hannah Grey turns THREE today and to celebrate they are offering 25% off of orders of $15 or more TODAY ONLY and 10% thru the rest of the week. I hope you will run over and check out the cool art goodies that she sells.

Happy Birthday Hannah Grey!!

kid art

When Hannah was a baby I used to dream about when she would be old enough to do art with. Ever since she could hold a paint brush or crayon we have given her all kinds of art supplies to play with. She has been using a real needle and thread since she was 3 and is interested in painting, drawing, sewing, etc. As she started showing that interest is has been really fun to watch her as she grew in her ability and start recognizing the things she was drawing and creating. I find her drawing in little notebooks all the time but she doesn't always share what she is up so and I don't pry. Today I found this lying on my computer table.. isn't it cute? I am amazed at the leap she has made in the last month. Aren't these faces cute? She informed me that they are Penny & Zoe, our two cats. She did a great job because Penny is a bit bigger and her ears are more round than most cats. It just makes me smile... I love little kid art.

wow, the sky IS blue...

Yeah, so I had kind of forgotten what color the sky was supposed to be. We're going on week 2, or is it 3, of smoke. Its been so hazy and dirty here from all the fires in CA. I have lived here my entire life and do not remember it EVER being this bad. ugh.

We went over to the coat this afternoon for a couple of hours to celebrate my Mom's birthday at one of our favorite, fun restaurants and while it wasn't completely clear over there it was a breath of fresh air, literally. I tell you it felt great to breathe some clean, ocean air and a nice surprise to see a glimpse of blue sky when we returned home. That darned wind actually came in a bit handy today.

Not much else to report around here. I have been back on the purging band wagon. I cleared out 3 plastic tubs of fabric and random stuff from my storage space and made a BIG box to send up to Teesha for the AFF Art Asylum room. Yesterday I gave myself permission to get rid of gifts and knicky knacks that I don't like and cleared out some more space in my living room AND I busted my way into the studio and started getting rid of stuff from in there too. My goal is to have it organized and office ready by the time Hannah goes back to school at the end of August. I am trying to be ruthless. Wish me luck....

time for a pick me up...

Its been so dreary around here.. concern for my friends and the smoke and the heat. It has finally cooled down and the fires are slowly being contained and extinguished. I am in need of a pick me up and a SWAP seems like a good way to do that.

Earlier this year I made a pact with myself to MAKE cards for various special occasions rather than buying them. (they are SO EXPEN$IVE) On this front I have failed miserably making ZERO cards yet this year. I made a bunch last year and even participated in a spring card swap hosted by Heather of Speckled Egg. I know there are others who have lamented about not having the time or inclination to make their own cards so I thought some of you all might be interested in swapping.

Here are the details...
• 1 for 1 card swap up to 12 total pieces.
• Greeting cards WITH envelopes that are mailable.
• OPEN theme.. you may send blank "everyday" cards, or themed cards i.e. birthday, Thank You, anniversary, holiday, etc.
• Cards DUE to me by Friday, August 8 (that's 6 weeks).
• PLEASE include a self addressed address label and $3.00 in cash or stamps to cover return postage.
• EMAIL ME to sign up at which time I will send you my address.
Cheers!

Check out this inspiration I have found around the web:
Fab cowboy & cowgirl cards by Lilia of Flea Market Studio

Super cute birthday card from Ellen at One Ripe Peach:
How cute are these Mona Lisa cards from AP Vintage?
Or this clever Thank You card from Freckled Pink?
There is so much inspiration out there if we stop and look around. I can't wait to create some cards now and I hope you will join me!
* Int'l players are welcome provided you get your cards to me on time. We can work out Int'l postage, please EMAIL ME to sign up as I am unable to get everyone's email or reply though blog comments. Thanks!

smoke & fire

Thanks to everyone for their positive thoughts and prayers for my friend Taryn over the last couple of days. The Trabing Fire (pictured) which affected her is now 100% contained and she is back in her HOME although with no power or water. The fire came to 40 feet from their house. I spoke to her this morning and although she sounds exhausted, they are relived to have their home and everyone safe.

Yesterday was a very strange weather day here in central CA. It started out with high temps and strange clouds. My friend commented how it reminded her of the weather she used to experience when she lived on OH before a thunder storm and Greg agreed. We had brunch and did some quick shopping and then exited to thunder and lightning. We drove home watching the show in the sky and got some rain by the time we got home. The temps had dropped by about 20 degrees but slowly climbed back up to 90 or so. It was pretty muggy and we were relieved that there had been some rain but that relief was short lived when we discovered that lightning strikes were responsible for a handful of new fires. Greg saw one of them on his way to San Jose this morning and when I got in my car it was literally coated with ash. I noted that at one point today the sky above us was clear but we were completely surrounded by smoke. That didn't last long though as the wind picked up bring more smoke into the area.

I just downloaded the most current map from CAL Fire which shows the fires in relation to us...
we are indicated by the blue "X".. you can click on the image to see a larger version on my Flickr.

Looks like its going to be another week full of inhalers and stinging eyes. My thoughts and prayers are going out to those directly affected and the the many, many firefighters who are risking their lives to keep everyone safe.

prayers please

For those of you that pray, or send out positive thoughts, please send some prayers this way. My oldest BFF lives in the immediate area of the most current big CA fire which called the Trabing Fire. I imagine she has been evacuated but I have not been able to contact her to see if she is ok and if they have gotten their pets out. The temperatures are 100+ here and expected thru the weekend and we are having terrible winds so the situation is terrible. I hope everyone will remember my friend and her husband and the others affected by these fires in their prayers tonight.

(update: I finally got hold of Taryn and she is safe. She abandoned her car and hiked to the house to get her dog and cat. She was safe at her sister in laws with her husband but her car has been impounded and the fire had come up to their property line. Still no word if the house made it or not. Still waiting for news. )
Thank you!!
xoxo
Heather

uuuugh

I am melting.. quite literally, if that is possible.

A couple of weeks ago the fan went out on my car AC and it hasn't been so bad but then it wasn't 102˚! I took her in today and it took the guys about 3 hours to figure out that some doohickey had gone bad. Of course they didn't have one in stock and won't get it until Monday and what is the forecast for the next two days? Up to 105˚ ! Ugh! Thank goodness we have the pool replaced and filled up but still.. even after leaving the AC on today it was hot to come home to and I have the kinds of headache that sticks with ya. We're supposed to go out tomorrow to Gizdich Ranch with some friends but hmm, I dunno.

I am more tempted to stay in and sew with my scraps... I am trying to figure out how many blocks total I need to make a certain size quilt. Math is not my strong point at all. I am enjoying to just plugging along on the block making anyway.

I still have all kinds of scraps so if anyone is interested, I love to do some kind of swap Just give me a holler.

PS Thanks to you guys for the Mommy support. Its so hard and sad to see your baby sick. I know she isn't nearly as bad as could be but she hasn't managed to catch a break this year. I appreciate your comments and suggestions so much. xoxo