This week, we will be heading to Atlanta for the International Gift Show at AmericasMart. It has been a busy workshop around here. Thankfully, with lots of Hecklettes home from college for the holiday, we had some extra elf-help for 3-D-ifying our designs.

When we show work to companies, we like to show a few designs in formats that help the art directors imagine the possibilities for their specific items. We thought you might enjoy seeing the way a 2-dimensional painting can be transformed into 3-dimensional critters. First, we started with one of our best-selling collections, Little Pond. We pulled out our beloved Sculpey box, (which has been our go-to-clay for making lots of class projects through the years). This very same box had been pulled out of the craft cabinets many-a-holiday when little on-vacation hands were needing to be busy. And those same hands (now college-sized) jumped right in without missing a beat. Below, Margaret started with the giraffe and then moved right on to the elephants. We discovered that Margaret, who is an animal science major, seems to have a gift for visualizing all sides of an animal, which comes in very handy when one has to imagine what is on the other side of that painting.

Photos above from upper left clockwise: (1) Margaret smooths the giraffe mane with a dentist tool. (Why do we own a dentist’s tool? Don’t ask me, but it really works for sculpey sculpting.) (2) Here is Margaret creating the baby elephant so that he fits on the mama’s back, or it might be a daddy’s back … we didn’t really go into that kind of detail. (3) The white stage … ready for painting. (4) Julianna creates pots of paint for finishing the pond pals.

And, voila! Below is a little group of critters to help one imagine these pond friends as ornaments, or baby banks, or bookends, or bath toys, or game pieces, or, or, or …

Before we head to Atlanta, we’ll send you a couple of other how-to posts, just in case you are having a hankering to start making things pop to life in your house. And, this winter, if you hear some moaning pleas like “mommy, I don’t have anything to do,” I highly recommend Sculpey time. (Or Pluffy™ time, Sculpey’s new clay for little ones.) Who knows, you might have a sculptor in the making … or perhaps, an animal science major!

We hope you have a happy food-eating, game-playing, friend-visiting, family-hugging holiday from Cathy and Ellen

Visit the Jolly Jabber blog at Fat Quarter Shop for a fun star sighting of our new Bot Buddies collection, plus a few peeks at studio life, (including a visit to Neville’s crooning video). AND, since it just happens to be Cyber Monday, and Fat Quarter Shop celebrates this special day with 25% off all the way to Thursday, you can buy enough fabric for all of your 2012 projects. I’m headed over there right now for a little cyber-shopping.

Thank you Kimberly and Stephanie from Cathy, Ellen, and Baby Bot, too.

Here is some background music for today’s post … so that you can sing in the rain, like we are! It rained today in Austin, Texas and it was a real, no-kidding soaker rain. I was in the grocery store when the skies finally opened after months of water rationing and 100+degree days. Everyone came out of the store just to stare at it, as if to collectively say, “what is that?” When I returned home, this is what was waiting for me: our beloved, but possibly dumb, dog standing in the rain … either he loves to be wet, or he just doesn’t have much common sense, as he could have easily waited under the eve. Since I love him so, I’ll vote for “loves to be wet,” but deep down, I think it might be that he is stu_ _ d … hey, look, when you leave the up out of stupid, it spells stud! (Can you tell I love this fella even when he smells like a wet dog!)

And below are pictures of what it looks like outside the studio window, along with two new colorways to emerge from today’s heavenly weather. The first one is called “It’s Rainin’ Rain, Hallelujah,” and the second one is called “Flower Shower.” We hope you are enjoying your weather as much as we are!

After reading Ellen’s post about perfume-making, I was wafted back to a happy scented memory from childhood. I had the chicken pox or the measles … something that itched. I scratched and I whined. I had even tired of my favorite “when-sick-at-home” tv program, Leave It To Beaver. I languished on the sofa, pitiful. In an attempt to keep my hands busy and not scratching, my parents presented me with the most perfect get-well-present-ever … my very own official no-kidding “Make Your Own Perfume Kit.” At that moment, through my eyes, mom and dad suddenly became even more wonderful than Ward and June Cleaver.

The box seemed huge. (Although today I’m guessing that it was about the same size as a Candyland box.) Inside were thousands (okay, probably tens) of bottles and dobbers and all things needed to make your very own perfume. It was like a floral candy factory and I was Cathy Wonka!

And, to my parents’ delight, it kept me busy for days. I became a mad scientist of perfumery. I created every blend imaginable, and then some. Labels were provided, so I could design the packaging and name my inventive aroma blends: Geranium Girl, Smell The Daisies, Cathy’s Love Potion. To this day, when I smell certain sweet smells, I am transported to the short time in my life when I was a prolific and successful perfume manufacturer.

When my chicken pox (or measles) finally went away, it was perfect timing. The oils, bottles, cottons and labels provided were all gone. I was ready to share my discoveries with the world. Off I went to third grade … smelling like a garden!

Do you have a memory of a favorite game or present you received as a child? If so, please share it with us. And, you might want to share the link with the person who gave it to you … perhaps he or she will be surprised and delighted that a little something given has remained a part of the fabric of your life all this time.

And, if you need a distraction for a sick little gal, you can buy a kit full of scented surprises here or here. (Caution: You may have to put your little inventor in the backyard to “air out” from time to time.)

Lately, when I run into friends, they ask me (with a bit of caution), “So, how is the empty nesting going?” I thought my answer would be, “It’s so very sad. I sob every time I hear Miley Cirus singing Butterfly Fly Away.” I had imagined that our lives without our precious children all around might look something like this:

Since we began our new empty nesting phase, these are the new sentences we have actually found popping into our conversations:

Earlier this week, our last little gal, who is now in college, (the one who made the nest officially empty) sent us a link to this video in an email that read, “Here are you and Dad as empty nesters.” Well, most of you have probably seen this video, as I read that it has been viewed by 7.3 million viewers, so far. But I just have to share it again, because this adorable couple will bring a smile to your day. If this is where empty nesting takes you, then we are very excited to be on our way!

This summer, a handsome cardinal couple built a nest right in front of our kitchen window, while a petite set of “little birds” built their abode near the walkway to the front door. We watched them prepare the homes for their little ones, patiently sit on the eggs, and protectively cheep at us as we passed by. Then, one by one, they encouraged their little hatchlings to leave their nests and cautiously fly out into the big wide world.

We were particularly touched by the circle of life happening in our yard, because we are about to watch our last little hatchling leave the nest … and I don’t think I’m going to be quite as good at it as the mama birds that live in our trees. But, I’m going to try to take their parenting techniques to heart when I arrive at the college gates. For example, when the little bird babies left the nest, they first latched on to the bricks about 8 feet off the ground, and sort of just held on for dear life, because 8 feet below was a hard, cold, solid concrete sidewalk. The mama bird did not stand under them to catch them, but rather perched herself at some distance and cheeped something loudly and clearly in bird language, while the little ones were clinging to the wall with all their little birdie strength … I’m almost certain she was saying, “you can do it … I know you can … you can do it … let go with your feet … use your wings … keep going … keep going … look! You did it!” And, off they flew.

So that’s my plan. I learned that in a few days, I will need to step back and cheep encouraging words loudly from afar, as I watch my little gal spread her wings. I’ll let you know if it works. I have a funny feeling that the cheeping will really need to be directed to me, as I try to take this last flight. Wish me luck.

Here are the nests that we found after our feathered-friends had finished their child-rearing phase. Both, our cardinal couple and our “little bird” couple, were gifted architects. This first nest belonged to the cardinal family, and yes, sadly, one little egg didn’t make it to birdhood, but, fortunately we saved it from Neville who had his eye on it. (It’s not that he is a malicious dog … he’s just a dog, and this egg sort of looked like a puppy-treat to him.) We were also intrigued by the fact that Mr. and Ms. Cardinal had actually celebrated the manmade material we call plastic, and blended it with the local natural materials to a very pleasing effect.

When we began to transplant the second nest created by the Little-Bird couple, we encountered a surprise. As we pulled the leaf canopy aside, under which the nest was hidden, it was not one nest, but two! A duplex! We were all very impressed with the overachieving Little-Bird couple. I guess they just wanted to show the neighbors that they could keep up with the Cardinals … and then some.

Below are a few pictures taken from time to time, as we watched Mr. and Mrs. Little-Bird deal with all the challenges of parenting: building a stylish, yet affordable home, finding food, not enough water (drought), too much water (sprinkler system), and protecting eggs from predators (the curious Heck family). Here are a few lessons we learned from our feathered friends as the weeks went by:

1) Keep your eggs warm and safe, except when scary predators come by, (like camera-carrying-artists) then cleverly fly away from nest to draw attention elsewhere and cheep loudly to scare them away. Return to egg-protecting duties. Repeat as necessary.

2) Feed hungry babies with healthy fruits and vegetables and occasional sugar cereal and gummi worms. Although the healthy foods will keep them strong, they will always remember the sugar cereal vacations!

3) When it’s time for babies to fly, demonstrate technique and move away. Encourage with loud cheeping from nearby perch. Baby birds may say, “I can’t do this,” but mom and dad birds say, “We know you can. Keep trying.”

4) Watch babies take flight and feel like proud parent birds. Then, brag about it with loud cheeping to everyone that passes by. Then, go take a nap … that was hard work!

So those were my lessons from our very smart bird family, and I am hoping I will be able to follow their wisdom in a few days. Wish me luck.

And, that’s the end to my little summer bird saga … with the biggest lesson learned: enjoy every minute of your nesting, it goes by so very fast.

While the California studio was working on Tuesday, the Austin studio was having a brief brush with fame. Our house, which is a casual, kid-and-dog-friendly abode, became a hip, mid-century home for a scene in an upcoming ABC Family TV show, The Lying Game. Everyone was all a-twitter, especially Neville, our beloved mutt, who, as many of you know, is a talented fella. (Here is a taste of his crooning when he was but a pup!) When he heard that a film crew would be here, he immediately started practicing his talent, in hopes that a part could be written into the script just for him. He imagined his scene might go something like this:

Camera pulls back. Handsome dog (from uncertain background much like the mysterious past of the twin-girl characters in The Lying Game) begins to look imploringly at Sutton, the rich twin high-school girl who is reading a magazine in the kitchen.

Neville: (thinking to himself) Can this really be Sutton? (He sniffs her Gucci scarf.) What? This is not Sutton. This is an imposter! (Just to be sure, he begins to display his crooning talent, knowing that the real Sutton would praise him, hug him and feed him steak bites.) But, this girl, this so-called Sutton, is not impressed.

Sutton: Be quiet, dog.

Neville (shocked by her disinterest) lowers his head with remorse and whispers softly: Woof.

Sutton’s father enters: Hm. I’ve never seen Neville act this way. What’s going on Sutton?

(The plot thickens.) Neville gives Sutton a heart-broken glance as he exits camera right.

Cut. Print.

Of course, that was just Neville’s dream. In real life, he was actually sent to doggy day care, to avoid the possibility of a stray bark in the midst of a cliff-hanging scene. But, we did take a few pictures, so Nevs could see what he missed while he was at the “spa.”

The most impressive aspect about our day was observing the large number of talented technicians, directors, producers and actors that it took to put together about 2.5 minutes of television-watching pleasure. Here are a few glimpses. (We were trying to stay out from under all these feet, so I just have a few peeks into our afternoon in Hollywood, Texas.

Above top left clockwise: 1.The first to come in were the lighting technicians. 2. Our entry became a “video village” when it wasn’t being used as an entry. 3. A cameraman in the study, where we will watch the first episode. (We might even have to have a Lying Game party … I wonder what to serve? Liar’s lemonade, fib figs with prosciutto, deceptive donuts … you know how I love a theme.) 4. This giant tube is called ‘the worm’ and it is probably one of the most important pieces of equipment of all … it supplies quiet air conditioning, which is much needed when the lights are on and the loud air conditioning is off. 5. Another video village is hurriedly set up in our kitchen before the sun sets.

Above top left clockwise: 1. I love this shot of our gal watching, while trying to blend in with the woodwork. 2. Here are two of the actors taking direction. Mads was played by Alice Greczyn and Eduardo was Rick Malambri. All of the actors, by the way, were not only pretty and handsome, but polite and friendly. (I am inspired to teach Neville the importance of manners if he becomes the famous crooning dog he hopes to be.) 3. The actor who was the pretend-owner of our house, Alec Rybak, was played by Adrian Pasdar. Here he is in costume looking over his lines. 4. This was a remote video set-up in a back bedroom. It was odd to see the high-tech equipment sitting in front of our bookcase full of children’s books, topped with Winnie-the-Pooh bookends. Hey, wait a minute, Baby Bot, what are you doing there? Oh, I forgot you had your eye on the world of video. 5. Going over a scene with Rick, this is the director, Elodie Keene, who calmly directed all involved in the midst of the controlled chaos.

So, that’s a little peek into a few minutes of television fun. The good news is that our house was returned to its former kid-and-dog-friendly self within about 20 minutes of the last shot. Everything is back to normal … well, almost everything … Neville is still a little upset that he didn’t get the part of Sutton’s faithful dog. I told him that with a crooning gift like his, he might be better suited for a part on Glee. (Don’t you think Kurt needs a crooning dog, and Nevs could even save him from a life-threatening accident like Lassie. Grab a writer. Let’s do lunch.)

Be sure to watch the first episode of The Lying Game on August 15 at 8pm CST, on the ABC Family channel, so you know what’s going on by the time our house shows up about four episodes later! (Cathy puts moviestar sunglasses back on and exits blog, camera left.)

Reading Ellen’s previous post about Bacon Caves made me a little bit hungry, and here is the reason: I ABSOLUTELY LOVE BACON … not in rock formation, but in crispy, crunchy, glorious-cut-of-pork formation. In fact, my little bacon addiction might be part of the reason I finally joined my local Weight Watchers group. However, before I was willing to join, I had to find out the answer to this question: “Will I have to give up bacon?” Happily, the answer was, “No, but you will have to count it.” Okay, then I’m in. So, now I still eat bacon, but in moderation. Have you heard the quote, “Moderation in all things?” I am thinking about creating a little embroidered panel that says “Moderation in all things, darn it.”

The good news is that Weight Watchers worked, bacon and all. I am pretty sure that I will reach my goal this week, after six months of bacon-moderated breakfasts! So, if you have ever wondered if you can be successful with Weight Watchers and still eat bacon, the answer is, “Hallelujah, yes.” (Although, I’m pretty sure my weekly meeting advisor will have a word with me about my bacon blog post. Admittedly, I haven’t been to a meeting yet, during which we shared bacon recipes.)

But, back to bacon love. Above is a picture I found of one of our weekend breakfasts after a football game. Note the bowl brimming with bacon. (And, yes, I think those are chocolate chip cookies right behind it. What can I say, I think I was in some kind of temporary mind-control grip from one of my teenagers. But to my credit, I did try to sneak a little fruit onto the table.)

I digress. Back to the pork. As a full-fledged bacon specialist, I would like to share three things with you: (1) a list of our favorite brands of bacon, in case you haven’t had the chance to compare and contrast. (2) Some tips gleaned from many years of bacon preparation. (3) Some tricks I have used to control my bacon addiction while fully embracing the Weight Watchers healthy eating style.

Favorite Bacon Brands from a Bacon Connoisseur

I think our favorite bacon is Applegate’s Sunday Bacon. It is nitrite-free, which always makes me feel as though I am serving up a big platter of “healthy” bacon, which is perfectly delicious at the same time. It’s not as thick as our favorite thick-sliced bacon, but it’s not too thin, either. If it had been served in The Three Bears’ house, it would have been ‘just right.’ Another favorite is Wright‘s Applewood Bacon. Sometimes, we have even bought the pepper-covered version, but usually the kids have complained that we were buying grown-up bacon, so, we are saving that for our empty-nesting years. And, finally, our daily bacon is actually our local HEB Microwave Bacon, which I have mastered to perfection. The secret is to always use the wax papers included in the package … this keeps the bacon from getting too dry. I used to be a bacon snob and turn up my nose to microwave bacon, but I had to succumb during our carpool years, when I insisted on a full farmhand breakfast into all tummies before the carpool arrived.

Bacon Tips for Families Who Love Bacon

1) For full-fledged cooked-in-the-frying-pan bacon, cook one or two whole packages at once on the weekends, so you only have to clean the greasy stovetop one time. Then, save it in the refrigerator for breakfasts all week long. During the week, take out one or two pieces and pop in the microwave for a very short time, like 5 seconds. Voila! Fresh fried bacon on a Tuesday.

2) Cook a pile o’ bacon in a pan on your grill on a weekend morning. This keeps the smoky fried smell outside of your house, which although heavenly at the moment, may not be as desired later in the day. This method also creates a memorable early-morning bacon-on-the-campfire scent that reminds one of childhood camp-outs, or for our chidren, Saturday morning bacon fry-outs. I believe that there is nothing better than waking up to the scent of cooking bacon. Nothing! In fact, someday, when I hopefully approach those pearly gates, I just wonder if there will be a pan full of bacon sizzling on the celestial stove!

Tricks for Bacon Lovers On Weight Watchers

1) Record all incidents of bacon consumption. This alone will help cut back the ‘just one more piece’ syndrome.
2) If you use the ‘two packages on the weekend’ program mentioned above, try to hide your weekly stipend from yourself. This is harder than putting candy out of sight, as it does need to remain refrigerated. My tricks include: 1) dividing it into individual portions and pulling out only the number of portions needed, and 2) freezing most of it and tucking it under a bag of frozen spinach.
3) Try substituting Canadian bacon. My favorite is Nueske’s Canadian Bacon. I can eat two slices for a total of 2 points! That’s inexpensive in Weight Watcher terms. Not as free as fruit, but doesn’t break the point bank, either.

So that’s the skinny on my love of bacon. If you, too, love bacon, you might enjoy a site I found called the Royal Bacon Society. You can find everything bacon-centric there. I found recipes like The Perfect BLT and Bacon Caramels. At the Bacon Store link, you can find Bacon Socks, Bacon Bandaids, Bacon Watches and more. Who knew there were so many bacon aficionados in the world? I feel like I have found my people! Some of the cookbooks included on the site are Seduced by Bacon, Bacon Freak and one that I recently gave a friend, called I Love Bacon by Jayne Rockmill. I made sure that I hinted to my family that I didn’t actually own this cookbook, and that it would be a GREAT Christmas present. Just saying.

So, to start your week, I’ll leave you with a few choice items you, too, can purchase from the Royal Bacon Society website. Hope your week is sizzling in a good bacon kind of way.
(Full disclosure: Bacon is not included on the Weight Watcher’s Power Foods list, just so you know.)

Before we say goodbye to our trade show season for this year, we want to highlight our marketing materials for Surtex and The Licensing Expo. They were “lip-smackin’, whip-crackin’, paddywhackin’, knickaknackin’, silabawhackin’, scalawhackin’, crackerjackin’ Cracker Jack!” (And if you do not know the tune to that 1960’s Cracker Jack commercial, then you are closer to Ellen’s age than mine, because she didn’t know it either! I have provided a link below so you can enjoy this classic commercial.) We also want to give a shout-out to our local printer, Barry Colvin at Republic Printing, for the great printing job, on time and on budget!

Baby Bot, one of our new collecitons, was our booth theme this year, and with the retro accents that are a part of the Bot Buddies collection, it only seemed fitting to go back in time snack-wise, as well. We chose good ol’ Cracker Jack for our giveaway show snacks … partly for the nostalgic feeling one has ripping into a box of “candy-coated popcorn, peanuts and a prize,” but also, because we knew it would be just what the doctor ordered after a long day of walking a trade show. And, we were right. We heard from many visitors that they had needed their snack for a late afternoon pick-me-up, and for some, they called it lunch.

Above: we designed the box to slip over a genuine box of Cracker Jack, so people would know we hadn’t made the tasty snack in our own kitchen. We also created a booklet illustrating the way we work and highlighting some of our best-selling collections. It looked like this:

Most people will tell you that marketing materials are for making your brand memorable and unique. But, here’s another bi-product you might not have been told: friend-making. Below is a photo of our next-door booth neighbor at Surtex, who was from England, to whom we would supply our American snack, when we could tell he was feeling weak and hungry. I am pretty sure he is now our friend for life.

So, that’s about it on trade show tips and techniques … now it’s back to work on the projects that were sparked by the marketing pieces above.

P.S. Here is the 1960’s Cracker Jack commercial I promised. But be warned, you may have a sudden hankering to curl up on the sofa to watch Leave It To Beaver and scarf down a box of candy-coated popcorn, peanuts and a prize!