Merry Christmas Friends!

Hello All-

It's been a few days since my last post- I've been a busy girl delivering gifts to family and friends. Here are a few pics of this years packaging. I try to stay with a theme for holiday decorating and packaging- I think I did pretty good this year.

The "believe" box is simply a box of matches- but I think it looks much nicer as a decorative match box... so that's what I did!

The packaging / gift basket was for my mom - her and I are constantly competing for best packaging- I might have won this year!

I also decided to give paper whites as gifts this year. I forced the bulbs the day after Thanksgiving and I noticed this morning they started to bloom- perfect! I was able to find inexpensive containers at Michael's. With the addition of burlap and a hand stamped tag- it makes a perfect thoughtful gift if I do say so myself.

I know this holiday season I've been obsessed with burlap, pinecones and all things natural... but it is such an inexpensive way to make a statement- what can I do??? Because I recognize my obsession I have decided to add some additional material into my repertoire.

I plan to spend the coming week on new products for my etsy store but will release pics here first.

Final thoughts... Have a very, very Merry Christmas and cherish each and every moment you spend with the ones you love (including your furry friends)- I will.

S.H.S At Home for the Holiday

Here are a few pics of my holiday decor '08. My inspiration came from Cottage Living, Country Home and of course Mrs. Brown- Katie Brown that is. So, whats you think- you like??? I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.

The run down on the tree: Since I am obsessed (as previously mentioned) with pine cones - I painted the tips of several cones an off-white, then placed on the tree- I love the way it looks to add pine cones back to a tree. Then, I cut aspen logs into discs and hand painted several inspirational holiday words such as: joy, peace, love and hope. Next I made burlap bows out of remnants and then added a few twine stars (picked up on discount at Ben Franklin last year) and topped it all off with a burlap bow for the final touch. I feel it looks very earthy and oh so HeddyShea.

For the stockings- I used burlap and leftover white linen. I purchased my letters "L, H and C" from Ben Franklin and attached all to an old bed frame of mine- it works out pretty darn well.

Table setting details...I spray painted a few things I already had around the house (LOVE spray paint) like my candle holders- painted cream, and two separate chargers I had purchased last year. One set of chargers received the cream paint, and the other metallic bronze. I topped the chargers with cream napkins (also already had) held in place by chocolate brown ribbon, small sprig of pine needles, and hand painted name plates on aspen.

Baby It's A Snowin'

Woo Hoo! I awoke to our first snow of the season- So Happy! I confess, I am a weirdo about snow and dreary weather- it really makes me happy. I feel much more motivated when the sky is gloomy- I get perky!

Here a few pics I took this morning of my backyard- will write more later- gotta go work on my booty since I continue to overeat on the weekends- what's a girl to do? Enjoy your day... I will!

SimplyHeddyShea Holiday Decor

I am so, so sad to report today that one of my fav go-to design mags “Cottage Living” has closed. I was just preparing to write a post on design inspiration for this holiday season only to read this news. Well, I guess I must find a way to move on, but how, how I say! This is a cover shot of the Cottage Living Nov/Dec ’08 holiday decorating- and I LUVS it lots. So, I am preparing my stockings and tree décor and will post my Cottage Living holiday decorating tribute photo very, very soon.

Also must give SHOUT OUT to one of my all time fav domestic gurus KATIE BROWN- she can do it all. Don't get me wrong, I loves me some M.S. (Martha Stewart), but I have more than enough love to go around! Here are a few pics of K.B.'s holiday decorating ideas from Country Home 2007- I will combine these ideas with the ones from Cottage Living (teardrop, teardrop) final edition ’08.

What I love most about the Cottage Living and Country Home photos are the use of burlap. I am currently addicted to burlap (and pinecones) and love finding new ways to make use of the inexpensive, earthy fabric. Don't you just love healthy addictions? What are yours?

Christmas Tree Gatherin'

Today was our annual xmas tree gathering and it was quite a success despite the warm temperature and lack of snow. This is a great “tradition” that we look forward to and even took our Whiskey boy to help us find the perfect tree! We start our adventure with a great cup o' joe (salted hot chocolate for Pea), and off we go. This year we scored three trees: one for our home, one for the office, and one for my mom (that’s a surprise). Small acts of kindness make me feel so good!

Now, onto more important items of discussion... I want you all to know that M.S. has let me down. It’s not often I feel this way, but today I feel the need to express my disappointment. The recipe provided by M.S. for “fleur de sel toffee” was borrrrring! No worries though, I was able to recover and find great victory with the old standby recipe of saltine cracker toffee.

SimplyHeddyShea Tip Numero Uno: It’s all about the packaging! Even the smallest gift will make a big impact if packaged well. Ditch the old standby paper plate or plastic baggy and package your homemade treats with a little pizzazz peeps. For our Primak Girls “Wintertime Toffee” Peanut and I chose brown lunch bags for our packaging. Decorated with an aspen leaf, the word "believe", decorative tag and sealed with twine- I think the packaging will be a hit!

My Little (5x3 niche) Studio

Since my dreams of owning an arteest (i wrote it this way to emphasize the accent I use when saying it- I can't simply type artist- what fun is that?) studio have yet to come to fruition, I decided to spruce up my little niche in the hallway. Here is a peek of my little space- that's right it's all mine- mine I say! mine!

Price:

branches - free (took from nature)

shutters- free (took from my mom which were in my garage)

bookshelf- gift

quilt- gift

chair- $3 (although this pic doesn't show it very well, I picked it from my local Goodwill (that's write- I'm all about the bargain- no sense in denying it).

candles- free (took from other location in mi casa)

table- free (took out of storage)

frame- $5 (another Goodwill purchase)

And that my friends is how it's done. You take from others, from nature, beg for gifts, and from places in your house that can do without and voila- a little workspace all to yourself.

note: I am by no means advocating stealing from others; however, please feel free to use their things if they choose to store said things in your garage!

MayaMade

Just checked out MayaMade's new winter wonderland window- me loves it! So creative! Maya was the first etsian to link on my faves for definingyoustudio.etsy.com - she is definitely one of mine!

Friday To Do's

Number one to do: Focus, Focus, Focus- such a simple word, why so hard?

• Pick up daughter from school ( i can remember that)
• take dogs to dog park (my little Ollie boy will be a maniac- good times!)
• stop by Trader Joe's for homemade (love that word) pizza ingredients. Friday night special in the Primak house!
• Also, purchase ingredients for homemade (there it is again-sneaky little word) fleur de sel toffee (thanks to M.S. aka Martha Stewart)
• spray paint letters for individual stockings (H, L and C)
• make stocking (ah yes, that is important- what good are letters without stockings)
• make xmas ornaments from quaking aspen branch (new idea for my site as well)
• finalize gloves/ arm warmers xmas gifts (will post pics soon)
• research, research, research on how to become successful etsy shop owner! ( i hate the hard stuff)

Who Am I?

Who am I you are probably wondering. HeddyShea is my childhood nickname (Heather Shea). I thought it would make a perfect blog title to capture my life and times! Anyway, HeddyShea is a new etsy entrepreneur hoping to find success with her handmade goods. I have many, many ideas for my little shop "definingyoustudio" as well as ideas for additional etsy shops (no one track mind here). I have a tendency to get overwhelmed and excited by all my ideas and unfortunately not follow through on any. So, definingyoustudio is a big accomplishment for me- as they say "one step at a time". I plan to blog about whatever! and hopefully you will find my whatevers! to be inspiring, funny- possibly interesting??? but most of all enjoyable!

So, that's that and here we go!