hbDesigns Available @ The Colorwheel!!!

So... Remember that news I had about possibly selling some of my 'Staches on a Stick at a local gallery shop? Well it's a reality!!! I dropped off my 'Staches and some earrings at the Collorwheel (46th & Grand) last Friday before work and there is so much there to see + you can get a hair cut! (If you book an appt a head of time, of course.) Tammy is really nice and loves to chat about all kinds of art! Tammy's mom (mother-in-law? I don't remember which) is a painter and the pet portraits are amazing! Please check out her shop, there are so many fun things to see!

The 4 styles of my 'Staches on a Stick

Toxic Cupcake Earrings

White Cupcake Earrings

Mini Cupcakes Earrings

State of MN Earrings

NEW!!! 'Stache for your Keys!

The Triangle designs are not available at the Colorweel, they were more for my experimentation with the Shrinky Dinks + paint pens. You are more then welcome to contact my directly if you would like to buy one or ask for something custom made. ^_^.

T. 1

T. 2

T. 3

Larry the Octopus

This cute little guy's name is Larry, he's a plushy octopus with bendable tentacles. He's a great little computer companion, watching over your shoulder for spelling mystakez*. Just watch out in the night, he doesn't like to sleep alone, so he may sneak up next to you to sleep. His 6 (yes 6!) tentacles are all hand stitched with brightly colored suktion* cups to he can stick by your side. Specs: He's navy felt with lime green stitching, about 9-10 inches tall from head to tips (of tentacles) and is $25.00. Kind of a timely creature to make, but SO cute and worth it in the end. ^_^.

*Larry was out getting a fish snack and wasn't here to check my spelling.

Sorry Ya'll!

WOW, it's been a month since I've posted anything. I'm sorry everybody. Unfortunately there hasn't been too much going on, I just work a lot. Having 2 part time jobs that I have to drive to (45-50 min away) eats up a lot of my free time. Plus all of my friends are either back in Mpls, out of state or in other countries. No fun for the HB, sad to say. I try to keep busy with my projects but even then I easily get distracted.

Sorry something shiny caught me eye. ;-)

Ok, so I'm not ADD/ADHD and I'm not making fun of people who are, I just miss my old life (well my life circa Summer 2008 - Summer 2009) so I try to do a lot of different things to keep the boredom at bay. So if anyone ever wants to visit my little town, say hi and hang out, let me know, otherwise, I'm driving up to the burbs all the time for work anyways.

I'll be doing a photo dump here soon, I do have a few new things to share with everyone. The onesie I made, the felt hearts and I'm currently working on an octopus, but he's taking a lot of time since he has more details to flush out.

On more note, there MIGHT be a gallery show in the works this Dec! I'm not sure what kind of stuff I would want to put up yet, I have old MCAD drawings, photos, digital illustrations, my tees, my plushies... SO if anyone has a vote/ suggestion or whatever please feel free to comment your thoughts! The owner of the gallery also SEEMED interested in my 'Staches on a Stick so maybe she would be willing to sell them in her Salon/Gallery/Shop. I was hoping to go to her next show opening up on Aug 15th. It's called Street Art - The Art of the People, it's at the Colorwheel Gallery in Minneapolis. If someone wants to go with me, please drop me a line ASAP.

'Staches On A Stick

Some more craft-i-ness! 'Staches On A Stick! Now available in 4 fun styles.

The Elliott

The Selleck

The Hutz

The Taft

And just for fun Thai with a Fu Manchu 'Stache On A Stick.

hbDesigns Plushies 1.0

So I'm still playing with this idea of crafting (and maybe someday selling, prolly on Etsy or at Craft Fairs) small fun plushies, but it's hard to know what's gonna be a big hit and what's gonna fall through the cracks... I'm still playing with foods, I know it looks just like breakfast, but I'm still working on it. But being crafty and creative really makes me happy, seeing people happy from things I made, really makes me happy.

IF YOU!!! Yes, you, have any ideas, fun suggestions or thoughts to be made out of felt, PLEASE share them with me...

Fortune Cookie with a luv note.

Eggy

Eggy & Bacon!

BACON!!!

Doughnut with Sprinkles

I think the toast (with removable butter, for fewer calories ^_^.) needs a different kind of stitch. Hmm...
Oh! And a mini sprinkle doughnut.

Wearables!

Today I made some sweet felt plushie headbands! A Rice Ball, some Sushi and a Mini Cupcake!!! All for $8 bucks each! What a steel for all my hard work. ^_^. Or maybe you have an idea of your own, let me know!

Cheap & Dirty Screen Printing Tutorial

Materials needed: A t-shirt, paint brushes, straw - if desired, an embroidery hoop, (bull clip +) card board, screen printing ink (I use Speedball brand), a glue that isn't water-soluble (I use Mod Podge), a sheer netted material/old nylons, and a computer with a printer (or a good hand for drawing things).

Find an image you like and that has good contrast. Print it out so the image is the size you want it on the t-shirt

After pulling the sheer material/old nylons tight across the embroidery hoop (and screwing it shut really good), trace the image onto the material with a pencil with the material close to the paper, not upside down so it's far away. Turn the thing over and with the glue, paint all the "negative space," (all the places you don't want ink to go, the white space). Make sure the material isn't touching whatever surface you're working on otherwise you'll end up gluing the whole thing down.
After the glue dries (I recommend a test print 1st to see if you need to touch up any areas with more glue), center the image on the shirt face down, and I sort of stipple the ink through the material, I used a straw to move drop the ink and then a bull clip + card board to make sure it was fully saturated, but also making sure not to glob it all over the place.
Carefully peel it back, wait for it to dry, and follow the "setting" directions on the ink (mine is to iron it on medium 3 - 5 minutes each side with a piece of cloth/paper between the iron and the ink). Be sure to wash your screen right away, this way you can use it again and again!

And Ta Da!
Photo and example assistance by Christina Beard!

3 Day Weekend!

I had the pleasure of enjoying a 3 day weekend (Thur-Sat)!!! It was packed full of fun and exciting things!!! Thursday: I had a freelance interview and ran into some MCAD friends, Tim and Ash (!). I met up with Brent for a bite at Lions Tap, before going to see COHEED & CAMBRIA!!! I think I orgasmed when they came to play an encore! My high school friends Marisa and her BF, Matt was there too, it was nice running into them. Friday: Early walk with Christina to get groceries that we needed for making cupcakes for Anna's 1st Solo Art Show (during Art-A-Whirl). We made Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes AND Champagne Cupcakes, I'll put both recipes on my baking blog, hbDesigns Cupcakes. Both were a huge hit, I got the Vegan thumbs up from Raighne, one of the owners of 2D Cloud Studio, where Anna's show was being held. After the show's reception, a handful of us grabbed some Japanese food at Kikugawa, near the river. And last, but not least, Christina and I finished off our Friday night by doing some dirty/cheap screen printing. I'll make a tutorial for this in my next blog posting. It was a lot of fun and very worth it for the price of materials. I'm happy to take requests for a reasonable price. Thanks to Christina for putting up with me for over 24 hours!!! And thanks to everyone else for the awesome weekend. Photos, photos, photos to share with you all the fun!!!

Coheed & Cambria Concert!

Anna Bongiovanni's 1st SOLO Art Show

Kikugawa with Mako, Chritina, Alison and Sean.

Dirty/Cheap Screen Printing with Christina!

Now, I know what you're thinking, "Heather, what about Saturday?" I used Saturday for sleeping in, relaxing and enjoying some time to myself. ^_^.