Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Family Drawing

A year ago today, Evie drew this family picture.

Family Drawing | shirley shirley bo birley Blog

The plus side of technology these days is that I can digitally immortalize gems such as this.

At the age that Evie drew this (four years old), I felt that this was a pretty good picture because she drew all four us (plus my dad too, I think), including baby Parker. Do you see him down on the bottom right? Look how tiny she drew him! Because he's a baby! I'm all heart eyes over here.

I know I can't keep every piece of art she creates, and I wouldn't want to, because honestly, some of it just isn't that good, but this was a keeper for us!

Monday, June 27, 2016

Pretty Postal Floral Swap 2016 - Received

I participated in the Pretty Postal Swap last month and finally opened up the mail I received over the weekend. I was waiting for some down time when the lighting in our front room was still good for taking pictures. The theme of the swap was floral.

Envelope front:
Pretty Postal Floral Swap 2016 - Received | shirley shirley bo birley Blog

Envelope back:
Pretty Postal Floral Swap 2016 - Received | shirley shirley bo birley Blog

From Andrea:
Pretty Postal Floral Swap 2016 - Received | shirley shirley bo birley Blog

From Steph:
Pretty Postal Floral Swap 2016 - Received | shirley shirley bo birley Blog

From Ceara:
Pretty Postal Floral Swap 2016 - Received | shirley shirley bo birley Blog

From Jessica:
Pretty Postal Floral Swap 2016 - Received | shirley shirley bo birley Blog

I opened the mail during Parker's nap, but Evie no longer takes naps, so she eagerly helped me open the mail. Since I was taking pictures of the mail, she also asked for a picture of her with a piece of mail:

Pretty Postal Floral Swap 2016 - Received | shirley shirley bo birley Blog

I was actually a week behind in getting my mail out, but hopefully my swap partners didn't mind too much, because I thought my floral-theme mail was pretty good (not that I'm biased or anything, ha - see Pretty Postal Floral Swap 2016 - Sent). I think I could have gotten them out earlier (or maybe even on time) if I hadn't come down with a cold the weekend that I got back from Taiwan.

Friday, June 24, 2016

National Independents Week 2016

It's national independents week from June 25 through July 4 and here in Phoenix, there's a number of local businesses participating. Additionally, there's a 20% off Golden Coupon available on the Local First Arizona site (there's an online shop code too), along with a directory of participating Local First Arizona businesses!

National Independents Week 2016 | shirley shirley bo birley Blog

I took a spin through the directory and here are the ones that caught my eye, though there's plenty of other fun shops and restaurants on there:
  • Junkie Threads - I first saw them at the Gilbert Art Walk, where I picked up an "Arizona grown" T-shirt for Parker (it's still a little big on him). I also ordered their Feather Tank. Also, they were on the Finding Arizona podcast, which I enjoyed listening to.
  • LetterCraft - We picked up some Arizona-themed ornaments a couple of Christmases ago. I like the state cutouts and the United States puzzle. They were also on a Finding Arizona podcast recently.
  • For The People - This is a shop that I haven't checked out before, but I would like to.
  • Frances - My friend, Emily, first told me about this boutique shortly after I came back to Phoenix from undergrad. I like to check it out every once in a while when we're in uptown Phoenix. It's been uptown before uptown started getting trendier. Also, the owner's daughter is on SNL!
  • Practical Art - I thought this was a neat shop with a variety of handmade items from a number of different artists. We got a table from here that we now have next to our front door.
  • House of Tricks - I go here for work on multiple occasions, particularly for lunch, and I get the Grilled Chicken Breast Chipotle Pasta, Oven Dried Tomatoes, Scallions and Spinach in a Spicy Pepper Cream Sauce

Either this weekend or next week, Greg and I are planning to check out Practical Art again, and For the People while we're at it, which is next door. Frances is on the same corner, so maybe we'll swing by there too! (Although Greg isn't as big a Frances fan).

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Multicolor Stamped Grid Thanks Card

I made this card a while ago after taking some inspiration from the layout and colors of a Jaxn Blvd sign (this heart one).

I used a handful of different Distress Ink colors for the circle "Thx" sentiment, and then black ink for the script "thanks" sentiment. I then mounted the stamped panel on a turquoise mat to finish it off.

Multicolor Stamped Grid Thanks Card | shirley shirley bo birley Blog
Multicolor Stamped Grid Thanks Card | shirley shirley bo birley Blog

SUPPLIES:

Paper: Staples 8.5 x 11 white cardstock; Bazzill turquoise cardstock
Stamps: American Crafts circle "thx" stamp; Rubber Soul "thanks" script stamp
Ink: Ranger Distress Inks, Memento Tuxedo Black ink

Thursday, June 16, 2016

MyScriptFont Handwriting Font Creator

A while ago, just for fun, I was searching around for a way to convert my handwriting into a computer font for free.

I came across this How To Turn Your Handwriting Into A Font post, which used MyScriptFont.com to convert handwriting to a computer font.

The process was very straightforward: print the form, fill it out, scan it back into the computer, and upload to the site. Although the sizing and spacing of certain letters are a bit off, the font turned out pretty well for how simple (and free) the site was.

Here's how mine turned out:

MyScriptFont Handwriting Font Creator | shirley shirley bo birley Blog

After the site generated my font, I downloaded the True Type Font (TTF) format onto my computer, navigated to the Fonts folder, and moved the TTF file there. After you do that, you can select the handwriting font in any program (e.g., Office products, and the Silhouette software even).

I think if someone were to be more diligent in how well they filled out the form, they could correct the sizing and spacing of any letters through a bit of trial and error. I don't have the best handwriting, but someone with better or more unique handwriting could probably come up with a neat font!

Saturday, June 11, 2016

IHOP with Daddy and Pineapple Triangle Market

Last Saturday, Greg took the kids to breakfast at IHOP while I volunteered a couple of hours at the Pineapple Triangle market. Greg sent me this photo he took of the two of them at breakfast and it made me smile.

IHOP with Daddy and Pineapple Triangle Market | shirley shirley bo birley Blog

Two things crossed my mind first with this picture, after the "awwww" that I feel as their mama. One, Parker can sit in a booster seat now! And two, how come it seems we get a weird smile out of Ms. Evelyn more often than not when she is trying to smile?!

I had a weird cold (some sort of virus?) last week. It involved five days of a sore throat, three days of fever at night, and it was mostly over by Sunday-ish. No coughing (not complaining). No congestion (also not complaining). No doctor's visit needed either because it cleared up by itself in a week, and what would they have done for me anyway? Not antibiotics, because people! That does nothing for viruses!

In any case, by the time the Pineapple Triangle AZ Share That You Care market rolled around last Saturday, I was still under the weather, but didn't want to put the organizers in a volunteer bind at the last minute, because that's rude, and ultimately, I still wanted to check out the market because I had never been.

I got a cute tank out of volunteering, and I also got a purse from Madalyn Nault Accessories at the market. I liked the two-snap detail of the purse, and that it is cross-body (more often now than before, I feel like I need to be hands-free when out).

IHOP with Daddy and Pineapple Triangle Market | shirley shirley bo birley Blog
IHOP with Daddy and Pineapple Triangle Market | shirley shirley bo birley Blog

The unique aspect of this particular market that interested me is that the vendors are required to donate part of their proceeds from the market to a charity of their choice. (And, as a sign of how nerdy Greg and I are, we started talking about what kind of controls the organizers have in place around the donating of proceeds to charity, but we don't have the answers to those questions. Heh).

Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Pineapple Treat Bags

This past week, we started getting excessive heat warnings in the Phoenix area (according to Wikipedia, "In most areas, a warning will be issued if there is a heat index of at least 105 °F for more than 3 hours per day for 2 consecutive days, or if the heat index is greater than 115 °F for any period of time"). And . . . that's summer in Phoenix for you!

I thought a summery project was therefore in order for my Whisker Graphics project this month, so I made a set of pineapple treat bags using Middy Bitty Bags, cardstock, and my Silhouette (and a bit of spray ink, though optional).

Pineapple Treat Bags | shirley shirley bo birley Blog
Pineapple Treat Bags | shirley shirley bo birley Blog
Pineapple Treat Bags | shirley shirley bo birley Blog

Here's the how-to video:



See this project on the Whisker Graphics blog here: Pineapple Treat Bags.

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