Saturday, October 16, 2010

Halloween 2010

Halloween... the classical time when there's always that one person who is hiding behind the bush just waiting to jump out and scare someone. Then there's always that one person who only cares about exactly how much candy they got. Then there's that one person who is just too lazy to answer the door every few minutes, so they leave the whole bowl outside with a sign that says, "Please Take One", and most of the time the whole bowl is taken at once. They're screwed. ...Good times.

If you're a long time follower, you'd know I have had some epic pumpkin shooting (with a potato cannon) in the past. Funky story. Click here.

Anyway, we got our pumpkins today, and I decided to carve a penguin. Simple. Cute. It's so perfect.

This is my beautiful pumpkin. (It has a little bumpy gross thing. This is a picture of the back of it. Pumpkins get acne. So do I. Perfect fit.)

And this is my penguin design. (As you can see, I printed it off of www.fun-with-pictures.com. Thanks guys. It makes a great pumpkin design.) I didn't carve the letters, just the penguin. Celebrating with pudding. (Also, the newspaper below says they have Fresh Island Creek Oysters for only $5.99 a pound. Ew.)

It's hard to see, but I taped the penguin paper to my pumpkin, and used this pointy tool to stab holes into my pumpkin so I could carve without the paper. Transfer design. I'm sure you're all familiar with this concept. You can sorta see I started cutting by it's head. Sorry dude. But it's a pumpkin.

Final pumpkin carving product! The arms were a little hard, but I think it came out pretty great. Leave your comments below. 

And, possibly my favorite part about it, the guts. (The metal thing there is just my carving spoon thing.)
I know, gross, but come on. It's not that bad. Fun splattering it.. imagine that in a paint gun. Laser tag... I want to play that so bad right now... oh well. I can get very competitive during laser tag. It's awesome. 

...
Apples.
Apple crisp.
With vanilla ice cream.
Melting.
Tasty.
Plus apple cider
= Happy

(Is that poetry? I don't think so. I don't know. But I just love apples. So why not share that fact.)


Have a happy halloween everyone!! Let me know what funky costumes you'll be wearing! Comment below. I'm going to be an eskimo. As much as I would LOVE to share with you what it looks like... I'm not aloud to. I'm not 13 yet. Dad's rules. Oh well. I mean, I could show you the fabric, but not me wearing it. Any picture with me in it = not allowed on my blog til I'm 13. I promise I'll show you on May 14th!!! I'll get it all ready the night before and my face becomes a part of the intertubes May 14th 12:00 AM. Stay tuned. 

~SWH

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Doodle Card Samples

2010 Doodle Cards is now selling door to door, and now, finally, I get to show you what they look like. (This is my very own simple artwork!! :D) These cards are great for any occasion, and each one is blank, so you can fill in your own personal message. Whether its get well, happy holidays, or an invite card to a get together, these cards are one of a kind cute. You'll notice each picture has a little statement or a story behind it, but that's just the "history" of the drawing and what I was thinking about while I drew it. You can use these cards for whatever you want. :) Here are the samples:

(Don't you just love the water mark text??) 
This I like to call Wild Flower, because of its bold colors. Inspired by Marimekko. 
I was thinking about how everyone should be themselves, and to stand out while I drew this. 

This is called Classic Ice Cream
The sound of the Ice Cream truck song in the distance down Central Street inspired me to draw this.j
I was thinking about how luck doesn't last while I drew this.  
Notice how it drips a little on the edges? 
Hurry, Johnny!! Lick it!! 

This cute scribbled in heart is called Doodle Heart
I was thinking about Valentines Day as I drew this one, 
and the smell of vanilla candles inspired me to do the tan background. 

This typical plant with just a little too much soil in the pot is called Life Plant.
I was thinking about how everyone is growing up, all the time when I drew this. 
The plant with tons of leaves at my grandparents house inspired me to draw this. 

This is called Peace Candle.
Yoga inspired me to draw this. (Yes, yoga.)
I was thinking about how lots of people aren't happy with who they are when I drew this.

This is called Flying Angel.
3 out of all 10 of these doodles are doodles I like to call "Sonja Originals" because they are one of my very first doodles, and have stuck with Doodle Cards all the time. First, the collection was just 3 cards. The originals. Then we added some more, then we deleted a lot. We summed it down to 10 to keep it simple, and the originals have always been in the collection, and we'll never get rid of them.
(ANYWAY,) My hopes and dreams inspired me to draw this.
I was thinking about how everyone should chase their dreams.

This is called Winter Cocoa.
(Also a Sonja Original, and #1 Best Seller)
This doesn't exactly have a life lesson to it, like be yourself, or chase your dreams, but I was just thinking about how badly I wanted to have hot cocoa right then. The smell of the melted marshmallows.. you gotta love it. The rumble in my stomach inspired me to draw this. :)

This is called Toasty Fire.
(Also a Sonja Original.)
The smell of pine from the Christmas Tree, and the heat from the warm fire inspired me to draw this.
I was thinking about how during the holidays, people should spend time with their families. 
(I appologize for those of you who do not celebrate Christmas, but we do have a Hanukah inspired one.)

Tah dah! The Hanukah inspired one. 
This is called Starry Night.
I've heard that blue and white and stars are some main colors/symbols of Hanukah, so those of you who would like to have some holiday cards for Hanukah, here you have it!
Hanukah inspired me, and I was thinking about how every night, we don't notice the beauty in the sky. (At least most of us don't notice... here's a cute animated version for you.)

(Last but not least...)
Ice Skates.
(Simple name... a cute "Just Married" kind of a look. Nice big bow.)
Skating with my mom while listening to Michael Jackson inspired me.
I was thinking about how left isn't left without right, and right isn't right without left. 
(Think about that for a sec.)




So there you have it! I'm sorry we don't sell online right now, ...but as I am editing this on January 27th, 2011, we have actually bought the domain name for my doodle cards to hit the web!! I'm not telling quite yet, because if you try to go to it, you'll just hit one of those, "Sorry, we don't know what website you were talking about!!" pages. That won't get you anywhere. 

Also, if you live in the area, or if you happen to know me, you're a lucky duck. 

Thanks again to everyone who's helped make this possible. :) Luv ya guys!!



Saturday, October 09, 2010

10th Year Dancing!!

Believe it, guys, year 10 is year 2010. Booyah!! That means I've been dancing since 2000, and that means I've been dancing since I was three. It's a bit confusing, since my birthday is always around the recital in the springtime.

I started dancing at the Acton Boxboro Dance Center. Last year, the recital was ON my birthday. So I turn 13, and I get my 10 year award. How fantastic!

Dances and years:

Year 1. Ballet

Look! It's mini me going for her ballet class! :) Believe it guys, that's me. 

Ballet class... "now, let's gather in a circle...."

Picture day! 


I think there are three rows here. The two tallest makes row 1, the 4 in the middle makes row 2, and the 4 kneeling on the floor makes row 3. I'm second to the left in row two. If you look closely, I'm not looking into the camera. :) Just day dreaming, that's all. 

Year 2. Ballet

Geez I look pail... The reason I had a pooh bear with me is because that was a prop for our dance. Adorable! :)


Year 3. Ballet

Hmm... too much make up, no? :) I love my perfect bangs in this picture!! 

I love this picture. I'm a big baseball fan, thanks to my dad, and I'm ready to go to class with my cap on. :)

Year 4. Tap (Gasp! No ballet?)

First year of tap, and NO,  I did NOT have a pixie cut. Just a low bun. :) By the way, um, same pose as last year, no? 

If you haven't noticed by now,  many of these grassy photos are taken in the same exact spot. Weird? Nope. At my old home, there was a stone square in the front yard that we called "5th base". It was a good spot for photos, so there. :) Look closely under my tap shoes... you can see it!


Year 5. Tap (5 year award this year!)

I know, I know. Weird fuzzy costume. A bit hard to dance in, but we made it work. Second year of tap, and I'm loving it!


5th base, once again. :)

Proudly standing with flowers and a shining 5 year award! :)



Year 6. Tap

Still tapping! :) This year, I got to have sort of a solo in the end of the dance, lip-sinking the last few lyrics of the song. My best friend, Claire, said I had attitude. :) Boooooyah!!
 Year 7. Tap and Jazz


Jazz dance, in action, during dress rehearsal. 

For the record, this costume was WICKED itchy. 

Tapping!! <3

Year 8. Tap & Hip Hop

New haircut, and I'm ready for the recital! :)

My wicked itchy Hip-Hop costume, all neon green. Backstage at the recital!

My brothers baseball game had just ended as soon as I was finished dancing. :) HUGS!

Year 9. Tap & Hip Hop

GASP! No glasses?? Long straight hair? WOW.

GASP! No glasses? Knee high "socks"? Total confindence?? Impressive...

Year 10. Tap & Ballet

Leaving for the recital in my Ballet tutu, with the warmth of my track sweatshirt. ;( sorry you guys couldn't see the top half of my ballet costume!! 

After the recital at my dads house, 10 year trophy and LOTS of flowers to go around. 4 bouquets!

So there you have it. Year 1-10, dancing. :) Year 11, I'm doing Tap and Ballet. :) No Hip Hop, no jazz. No hip hop, because it's weird in my opinion, and you dance to rap music, which I'm not fond of. No jazz, because it's too similar to ballet.

:)

Oh, and by the way, you should see me do ballet. I'm so clumsy, but it's really good for you. Keep your knees straight!

Thanks AlphaGraphics!!

October, in the holiday spirit already. The Paper Store has Christmas Decorations up. I'm gonna be an eskimo for halloween. Cute, huh?

You all know how I started my little greeting card business, right? (If not, get your butt to this link: http://www.sonnysarea.com/2010/08/how-i-made-over-100-on-iphone.html) This small business started last year, just going door-to-door with cute little samples of 3 designs. We used to print our cards with Staples, which was sort of expensive, plus they printed it with discoloration, so it's not exactly the original. (Sorry!!! I always go to Staples for school shopping, I'm just being honest and saying that there copy center isn't the best...) But now, we print with, (sound the trumpets....) AlphaGraphics!! 1. Less expensive 2. Perfect paper thickness 3. GLoSsY FiNiSh! 4. They print it so we can fold the cards 2 ways instead of 4 ways, which is 2 cards per piece of paper, which all comes down to saving trees. Jackpot.

I badly want to sell them online to you guys, but for now, I'm just selling in the area. If you own office space in the Clock Tower building in Maynard, lucky ducky for you! I'm sending cute little postcards to offices in the Clock Tower building explaining how we sell them, because my dad said that companies might want to buy them in BULK for clients and customers. I'm sure you'll be waiting by your door for the mailman to come.

Thanks again to AlphaGraphics for helping make the 2010 Doodle Cards collection possible!

Other dedications:
-Erik J. Heels ~ My Dad, who is also a huge part of my small business. Thanks so much!!
-Helena Heels ~ My grandma, the brilliant mastermind behind the beginning. She came up with the greeting card idea. Luv ya!!!!!!
-Tom Heels ~ My grandpa, who luvs me. :D Thanks for the support!!
-Staples Copy Center ~ Sure, we're not ordering any more prints, but you helped a lot in the beginning launching the business. Thanks!
-Pinger, Inc. ~ The Creators of the Doodle Buddy application for iPhone, iPod Touch, (and I think iPad too now!?! Oh Steve Jobs. Let's see what you do next.)

Luv you guys.
-