As we prepared for Atlanta last week, you could have literally put a sign on the studio door, “Gone Fishin.’” The MicroFish pattern, (which is one of our favorite designs from the Bot Buddies® fabric collection) was just begging to show up on a variety of product categories. We pulled out our Sculpey box again. All three girls spent some of their home-for-the-holidays time producing fish bodies. Some fish were too fat, some were too flat, (we even had to throw a few back into the sea) … but 10 little fishes were just right to fill our Fishmas Tree.

Above is our inspiration, the Bot Buddies® Big Border panel, which you can buy here.

The Food Network was playing on the television in the background while we worked, which was an odd juxtoposition, because periodically, a tasty fish dish would be featured, and we felt a little uneasy, because, well, our new fish creations were smiling at us … we had bonded.

Photos above from top clockwise: (1) After years of Sculpey play, Margaret makes fish for market. (2) Julianna pulled out the box of CelVinyls (which used to be our medium of choice before Photoshop entered our lives) and starts mixing pots of paint the old-fashioned way.
(3) Jules painting a base-coat on a fine fat fish. (4) A closeup of one of our smiling fishbots.
(5) After painting the fish, we hung them in the trees to dry … if birds could swim and fish could fly …

Just to imagine these busy MicroFish with yet another medium, here they are, below, in thread. We made these mockups to help buyers to visualize these little guys in a powder room at the beach or in a child’s bath upstairs at home. And you can make these, too! (They would be a great “thank you for inviting me to your beach house gift.”) We’ll post the how-to when we return from Atlanta.

And, while all this sculpting and sewing was going on, Margaret had the duty of cutting, and cutting … and cutting our newly received Bot Buddies® flannels for a variety of needs. We now have fat-quarter sets for Atlanta, as well as yardage to go to the members of the East Bay Modern Quilt Guild to cut and sew some fun projects. And although we provided Margaret with a fancy new rotary cutter, Margaret plans on not cutting anything for at least a month.

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!

I was going to send you some photos of the outdoor gourd display that Jim created in some kind of Mr. Martha mood a few weeks ago to impress and amaze visitors as they walked to the entrance of our home studio … but alas, the gourd decor has rotted in such a creepy, furry, mouldy kind of way, that I cannot share them with anybody. It’s as though we are growing a penicillin garden. In fact, I am so glad that it is finally Halloween, so that we can send them on to gourd heaven after tonight. I just hope they don’t scare our trick-or-treaters away. That would mean that I would have to eat all the candy myself! (… hmmm, on the other hand …)

So, instead of sharing our Do-It-Yourself Gourd Garden/Science Experiment with you, we thought we would wish you and yours a fun Halloween with some happy mold-free studio owls. (Well, that last one isn’t very happy … must have had too much candy.) Have a hoot tonight!

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.)

Here is what we learned on Snow Day:  Neville loves the snow.  We think it might have something to do with the fact that he is part (albeit a tiny part) Siberian Husky.  The minute he went out today, he ran to his high rock and barked and barked, as if to say to everyone in the neighborhood (who thought they might get to sleep in today), “Hey everybody, there is a bunch of white stuff out here and it is fluffy and wet and fun. Come play with me.”

Below is a photo of Neville discovering his first snow.  He’s not quite ready for the Iditarod, but he’s thinking about going into training.  It looks like he might need a little set of snow boots.

I wasn’t able to capture a photo of Neville when he made his first snow angel, but here is a quick sketch, just so you can appreciate another one of his amazing talents.  Happy Snow Day everyone and we hope you have as much fun as Neville is having!

Texans love bluebonnets and we love taking bluebonnet portraits.  The sturdy blue flowers grow in abundance along the highways in the early spring, thanks to the foresight of Lady Bird Johnson. For most of us, at some point in our lives, we have had to squat down in a sea of bluebonnets on the side of the road for our official bluebonnet picture … all the while hoping that a car would not run over us and the fire ants would not bite us.  But, after the event (if there had not been too much crying) we had a portrait de beauté. And, we were proud.

So, it was just natural that I felt that I needed to take a bluebonnet portrait of our one-year-old pup, Neville, amongst the state flowers.  However, when a friend caught us shooting Neville’s bluebonnet photo, I knew I was in trouble. “Really, you’re kidding, right?  Your’re not taking a bluebonnet picture of Neville … are you?”

At first, I tried to pretend that he was just sniffing for squirrels, but alas, he was all primped up and posing and it was just too obvious.  So I confessed. “Yes, as a Texan dog, he knows this just comes with the territory.”

And, when I was questioned as to whether I had portraits of my human children, I was relieved that I could say, “Yes I do.” So, here are a few pieces of proof that I treated my first three just as specially as our newest addition … if you can call forcing your children to dress up and sit near possible varmint holes special.

And speaking of bluebonnets, WHAT a season we are having … the prettiest in years.  See below for a great weekend tip for bluebonnet sightings if you are in the Austin area.  Some people are suggesting that this weekend may be the peak, while others are pointing to next weekend.  But either way, I hope everyone can take a bit of time off to just enjoy this little Texas miracle.

And, if you see someone on the side of the highway shooting bluebonnet pictures of her dog, she is not me.

Below are some pictures taken of our girls, friends and cousins, who, as card-toting Texans, were kindly posing for the required Texas Bluebonnet Portrait when they were little … proof positive that Neville was just partaking in family tradition.

A wonderful teacher from our school shared these great bluebonnet sighting tips if you are around the Austin area this weekend.

“In 45 years of driving the Central Texas hill country, I’ve never seen bluebonnets as lush as we saw this afternoon on Hwy. 71 between the end of metropolitan Austin and Llano (app. 60 miles).  In good years, this has been one of my favorite bluebonnet roads.  Difference this year?  For mile after mile after mile, they wrap right up to both sides of the highway and extend into the fields on both sides–in puffy blankets.  Every time you crest a little rolling hill and think you’ve seen the best, you get a view of a blue sea that runs for 3 more hills, and often well out into the fields on either side of the road.

If you’re from this area, you know that some years are great, some are meager, most are “average” (still beautiful), and the bluebonnet season is relatively short.  I’m sending this because this is the best I’ve ever seen, and there are probably one or two good weekends left.  Our drive took 4-5 hrs.

The other spectacular road we took was Hwy. 152 between Llano and Castell.  It wasn’t shabby south of Castell to Hwy. 87, which runs from Mason to Fredericksburg.  What’s different about Hwy. 152?  It’s a county road–smaller, less traveled, but very good surface.  More curves, more dips, more creek crossings (dry today).  More opportunities for one breathtaking view after another, even more luscious, pillow-like flights of bluebonnets, even more other wildflowers mixed-in, for yellows, golds, oranges, purples, other blues, and whites.”

Enjoy the bluebonnets, and don’t forget your cameras.

Without a small toddler in the house, we had to ask our pup, Neville, who will be 1 year old on Thursday, to model our seasonal Do-It-Yourself project.  I know he looks a little bit humiliated here, but I pointed out to him that at least I had chosen blue ears to match his argyle collar, plus we gave him many excellent treats afterward and he was totally okay with it.

So, if you find out that you need some instant ears this week (school play or school project or just because) and it’s too late to run to the craft store, you can easily make these with supplies you might have on hand.  This project is rated E for Easy … so easy, in fact, your little ones can make them in one sitting.  Caution: Keep out of reach of dogs, because we could tell Neville was thinking about devouring his tasty-looking head gear after his photography session. “Bunny Ear Appetizer, Yum.”

Here are the quick and easy steps:

1. Make an ear pattern on scrap paper adding about 2” to the base for turning under the headband.  Trace around the pattern onto shirt cardboard or cardstock. I happened to have some stiff felt, which is sold at most craft stores these days.  (We keep this on hand in case of occasions like bunny ear emergencies.)

2. Find a headband in your headband drawer … the version with teeth works best because it helps to hold the ears in place.  (If you only have boys, thus no headband drawer, you can find these headbands at any grocery store.)  Wrap the base of each ear shape to the back side and staple from the front.

3. Cut out two pieces of ‘inner ear’ from a contrasting color.  Glue inner ear to outer ear, covering the staples. We used roller adhesive because it is just so quick and easy.

4. Voila! Bunny ears in a snap.

We received a gentle correction from one of our readers pertaining to the previous post honoring Groundhog Day:
Email Subject:  There’s a Groundhog Day in Australia? Who knew?
He also relabeled my artwork:  Punxsutawney Phil visits his Aussie cousin Adelaide Adelaide.
Okay, very funny.
But, alas, he was correct.  Although artist’s prerogative does allow all of my critters to live in an eternal springtime, I do agree that perhaps Punxsutawney Phil probably was looking for his shadow from a more wintry backdrop, which I have provided above for our more literal readers.  I did have to hold myself back from adding earmuffs and mittens to my little fellas, who have always lived in Springtimeville and might be a little chilly in their new home.
Thank you Doug for watching over our truth in blogvertising.  :-)

No matter whether or not the groundhog sees his shadow, all of the critters at Cathy Heck Studio hope you are having a very nice Groundhog Day!

We are FINALLY taking down our Christmas tree.  Is there anyone else out there as late as we are?  Anyway, I was sort of intrigued with the groups of ornaments which were waiting in Ornament Purgatory … somewhere between hanging on the tree and returning to their off-season homes, so I snapped this picture.  And it’s a good thing I did, because it turned out to be Exhibit A!

When we did finally begin to place them into their proper ornament boxes, I noticed that the Bunny Groom was missing.  I noticed, because I always put him in the same ziploc bag as the Bunny Bride.  My helpers suggested that maybe he had not made it onto the tree this year, but I was positive that I had taken him down with his bride.  And, in fact, I had taken a photo of him … See?!  There he is … upper right … our handsome groom bunny. Proof positive.
So we searched hither and yon and the dapper groom was nowhere to be found.  Hmmmm … we  turned to Neville (our carol-singing dog of whom we were so proud at Christmastime) … “Neville, you didn’t steal the bunny groom did you?”
“He couldn’t have,” I said, trying to defend my obedient fella.  “I have been here all along, and all the other ornaments are still here … he would have had to pluck it out of the pile like a pick-up stick game!”  Then, suddenly, and I kid you not, Neville raced out the back door to the back gate, where he immediately turned himself in as the culprit and pointed to the mutilated groom … okay, well he did seem to be proud rather than remorseful, but still, he did fess up!  See his handiwork below.
We think our husband-to-be now looks like a groom who was mugged on the way to the wedding, but his adoring bride loves him anyway. It’s a rough start for this little bunny fella in the new year, but things can only look up from here.  Happy 2010 everyone.

(And, just so you know, Neville has been placed in Maximum Security (the backyard) until all ornaments are boxed and stored safely.  We are hoping that he will only have to endure two or three hours before being released for good behavior.  However, now that he has had a little taste of bunny ornament, our question is, will he try it again next year … and perhaps, right off the tree?  We may have to hire a rehabilitation officer to work with Nev to help him with his new problem. We’ll keep you posted on his progress.)