Here are the contents of the mystery present… a teacup and saucer! This is something I’d been daydreaming about for awhile. It’s the last of my birthday gifts and wow – they certainly seemed to keep rolling in...

I’d seen this ChilliChilly teacup (called “By the Lake”) at a number of design sites and loved it. I couldn’t find it anywhere in the U.S., so this came all the way from England at Design My World. My parents are so thoughtful and very patient to have ordered it from so far away.

When I get presents, I divide them into two categories: for the office and for the home. I try really hard to keep my home a more grown up space. I love kid stuff and cute things, but I don’t want my place to look like a kindergarten classroom. This is really hard because for a long time, it did look that way. And with a mammoth purple velvet couch, it’s hard to get a classier style going. But we’ll talk about the couch another time.

At work, I let my inner 12 year old decorate – and that’s where all of the fun, girly stuff goes including the pink rug I’d never put in my home.

This teacup is for the home. Thanks mom and dad.

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 07:24 PM | Permalink

Rushing around this morning... I'm putting up a little mystery package. I promise to show you what's inside later. In the meantime, you can admire my mom's incredible gift-wrapping talents.

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 09:11 AM | Permalink

Today it rained. I managed to avoid stepping in any major puddles (a huge accomplishment for me), but I felt distracted all day by the sound of the rain. It is a big relief to be inside at home without any further expectations of productivity. And to top it all off, I have brownies in the oven. Yum.

I’ve been spending time lately thinking about why I started this blog and how I got interested in crafty blogs and web-sites to begin with…. I wanted to expand my About page and give a better explanation of what this site was supposed to be. I’ve been trying to put together a timeline (really just for myself), but it’s all pretty hazy. I remember things in patches. For example, I know that in January of 2004, I made marble magnets on a Saturday with my friend Kristen so I know I must have discovered the whole crafting community before then. But there are entire months in between that are blank in my head. I registered this domain in September 2004, so you can tell I sat on the idea of starting this for a very, very long time.

And the ideas behind this place have changed a lot too. Originally, I had wanted to have a site as a way to keep in touch with a friend who was going to be traveling the world. Unfortunately, I didn’t know anything about starting up a site, and to be honest, I got distracted by all sorts of activities and made up a lot of excuses. So www.littlehappyones.com sat lifeless for a year.

Then, this past fall, I started my annual Christmas planning and thought again about the site. I kept thinking that it would be a great idea to use littlehappyones.com as a place to give a little “behind the scenes” story about all of the presents I was making – not to mention a nice way to credit my sources of inspiration. I even made little tags to go on each present. I took pictures and got everything organized and wrote posts offline for months. My boyfriend, Mr. Bunny Slippers, encouraged me and built the site. I kept showing him the “biggies” – little birds and angry chicken and saying “can it look more like this?” More than once, I believe he questioned why in the world I hadn’t just set up a Typepad account, but I’d been holding onto this domain for awhile and sometimes, I have a knack for doing things the hard way. The earlier posts were back-dated (I know, I know, I cheated, but they were written offline on those dates). Everything, finally made its’ way online a couple of months ago. February was the “true” start date. And there are still older posts I had written that didn’t make their way up here.

I love my family and friends, but they’ve never checked this site! (At least not yet…) So, for now, I am enjoying this as a place to record some little pieces of my day. I also use it as a notebook of sorts – collecting links and images and shopping ideas. And when I get back in to making things again, I know this will be a fun place to archive some of my creations and projects. It has also been an interesting exercise in thinking about what to write and what I would be willing to let anyone see. (For now, I haven’t had to worry about that a whole lot. But there are things I would say to a stranger who loves to make shrinky-dink pins that I might not say to my mom. I might admit here to obsessing over making stuffed animals because I know there are a bunch of people out there that understand… but there are people in my life I am very close to who might think I’d lost my mind. So it’s interesting. But I still really enjoy the parts where I take pictures of things and keep an eye open for something happy to post about.)

I’ve always felt that one of the hardest parts of being an adult is that there aren’t any more semesters. When you had semesters, it was easier to remember things that happened. And, for me, semesters were a built in motivation system. Fall and Spring were times to try harder, to have a fresh slate. I think that’s the reason holidays have become so important to me. I can measure the passing of time by remembering the presents and decorations I made, the desserts I baked… And if one season is particularly hectic, I can say “hey, I’ll be sure and celebrate National Flag Day better next year.” (Or, in this case, “hey, maybe next year I’ll actually celebrate National Flag Day at all.”) Maybe this blog will become my semester system.

So today, I struggled to remember all the bits and pieces. That’s a lot of what this site is – bits and pieces. And hopefully, some of these bits and pieces will make its way onto the About page soon.

P.S. The tag pictured above reads:

"Hand crafted with love and help from the little happy ones. They do try hard, but it is possible that your gift may not hold up to standard wear and tear. In the event of a gift emergency such as breakage, unraveling, or fraying, please contact the little happy ones for repair and/or replacement. Not responsible for loss in case of fire or tornado although we will try to help anyway. For the complete story behind your present, visit www.littlehappyones.com. This is not a toy. Not intended for small children or animals."

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 09:09 PM | Permalink

I like to keep running lists of things I like.

And I have an entire list just for stationary. I reference it quite a bit, and try to decide if my opinions have changed… if maybe one of them has moved to the forefront and left all of the other cards and social flats in the dust. I’m not good at mailing letters (although I’m pretty good at writing unsent ones), but I like to pretend that if I had a huge collection of papers I would write everyone I know often. I’m going to share some of my current favorites here although I can’t take credit for finding any of them. I rely on the likes of Creature Comforts, oh joy!, decor8, and design*sponge for that.

1) Binth
2) Joy By Mel Lim
3) Snow & Graham at Greer
4) Paper + Cup
5) Egg Press (Also at Greer)
6) Elum
7) Cavallini
8) The Paper Princess

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 07:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Yay! The print I ordered from Dawbis is here. My scanner doesn’t really do it justice – the colors are so much more beautiful and saturated in real life. If you’re not familiar with her work, her portfolio site is here. Lovely.

This one is titled “I Dream of You and Me in the Clouds.” I really like the label on the back too.

Alicia of Posie Gets Cozy recently wrote a post that really got me thinking about supporting artists whose work I admire. There are people and small businesses out there I get so much inspiration from; I think it makes sense to give something back – not just with comments and wishes although I’m sure those are appreciated too – but also by buying some of the things they work so hard to make. A little investment in their dream and something special to take home all at the same time.

I can’t say I’ve always been conscious of this. It really is something new for me, but I’ve started setting aside some money to buy some of those fun things I’ve been admiring -- and also as a way to say thank you for all of the great ideas that these people share with everyone.

Not to mention, I’m having lots of fun planning my next little splurges… I will most certainly need something from here.

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 08:24 PM | Permalink

I found the bunny! (If you don't know what I'm talking about, click here for the story.)

Here he is relaxing at home with his new buddy, Little Yellow Chick. Thank you to Jessica who kindly left a comment suggesting I check the grocery store. Sure enough, the sad looking Easter Bunny was waiting just two doors down from El Pollo Loco next to the baskets and candy. As I stood in line, I wondered if the other people knew how exciting this was – I was on a secret bunny rescue blogging mission! (Yes, I just typed that.) I hesitated before putting the bunny on the conveyor belt (what if he gets dirty?!) and cringed when the grocery bagger stuffed him brusquely into a plastic bag.

I don’t normally fall for random grocery store bunnies (especially when so many talented people out there make such wonderful home-made versions), but there really is something about the too short arms and legs, giant head, and bewildered expression that did me in… he looks a little alien even, which I love. And maybe he will inspire me to create some new little happy creatures…

So now that my bunny and I are happily reunited for $4.32, I thought I would confess to some other “not so very grown up” things that I’ve been daydreaming about lately:

1) Children’s composition notebooks at eeboo.com via shelterific via weewonderfuls

2) “Ewe’s Fluffy” T-Shirt at Delia’s

3) Squirrel Place Card Holders at Plum Party

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 08:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I was feeling very jealous of some of the pictures I had seen around the net of gorgeous spring blossoms. Yeah, that was until I walked outside and realized the tree directly outside my front door was covered in flowers. Way to be alert there.

Well, in case there is concern that all I’m going to do is put up pictures of my front yard, I promise this is not the case. Anyone who has visited me would realize how funny this would be given the very small patch of grass out front. I would run out of pictures very fast. In the meantime, it’s a nice little exercise in appreciation

Since starting Little Happy Ones, I’ve begun using my lunch hour to take pictures since it is dark by the time I get home from work. There’s something really nice about going back to work after I have had the opportunity to discover something pretty or nice or special to photograph. Or sometimes it’s just something that was there unnoticed all along just waiting for me to pay attention to it.

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 07:37 PM | Permalink

(Click on photo for larger version.)

As I wandered outside to get the mail, I noticed this tiny flower on the bush out front. Yep, this is the same bush that’s about ready to fall over any second.

Here in Southern California, it’s really hard to get excited about the seasons. Really hard as in nearly impossible. This flower is probably all the notice we’re going to get.

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 07:23 PM | Permalink

I meant to put this picture up yesterday. It’s a sweet St. Patrick’s day card that my sister sent. I believe she cut out these little leprechaun hats herself. Sometimes I think I would forget certain holidays altogether if it wasn’t for my sister who always seems to have remembered to stick something in the mail.

Out front of my apartment, we desperately need some little leprechauns to come and help out this little shrub. It has been leaning precariously like this for several weeks. I guess leprechauns probably don’t help plants (aren’t they busy guarding pots of gold?), but you would think the gardeners who come by to mow the lawn would intervene. Poor little plant.

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 11:22 AM | Permalink

This little elf guy in the picture is having the time of his life. It’s 2004. He’s in Alaska, and he just rode up a steep hill through a forest in a golf cart. On more than one occasion, he thought he was going to fall down the mountain on his head, but the trees were very beautiful and this view awaited him at the top. He’s having a great trip.

Tomorrow I’m going on a trip and, well, I really struggled to find a picture since all I intended to write was that I’m going on a trip tomorrow, and I have to get up very early in the morning. I should say very early in the morning for me. Wake up times are all relative, and I’m sure that I will be getting up quite late compared to many people out there. It's a quick day trip for business (not to Alaska), and I won't be riding in any golf carts.

In general, I’m quite lousy at looking after myself, so early morning plane rides are one of the few times I actually succeed in planning ahead. It’s before 8 PM, and the coffee pot is programmed which never, ever happens although it would make so much sense if it did. Hair is washed. Toenails are painted (which is just silly since I’m wearing tennis shoes). Tomorrow’s outfit is laid out. Boarding passes are printed. I'm ready to curl up all cozy and relaxed on the couch for the evening.

I feel like any little edge I can give myself on these early days might help. I so wish that I could do this sort of thing all the time instead of rushing around like a loony. It feels good to be able to relax – I've got to start doing this more often.

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 08:02 PM | Permalink

Ok, so this is not healthy to admit, but I’m slightly obsessed with a stuffed bunny rabbit that I saw at El Pollo Loco. (I’m checking right now and discovering that El Pollo Loco exists only in California, New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. So for anyone who doesn’t know, El Pollo Loco is a fast food chain restaurant that serves chicken and burritos.) Traditionally, it is not a place to look for stuffed bunny rabbits.

However, they had a bizarre display advertising their catering services which had sort of an Easter theme (ok, a blatant Easter theme - see Easter egg paper plates above as reference). And there sitting next to the pictures of chicken and macaroni and cheese was this perfectly adorable little Easter Bunny. My boyfriend, of course, did not understand the fixation but indulged me while I snuck a photograph. Ok, like 5 photographs. (Hey, lighting conditions weren’t exactly ideal and I didn’t want my special bunny picture to be all blurry.) I even convinced my boyfriend to ask the person at the counter if she knew where the bunny came from, but this elicited a shrug and a slightly horrified look indicating that we were as insane as we felt.

Oh, bunny – I wish you could come home with me.

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 07:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Some unexpected delights from the weekend:

• Drinking coffee and staying up too late with friends – It’s even better when they bring you birthday gifts of pink legwarmers and the New York City Ballet Workout.

• Finding these Count Von Count stickers at the Sanrio store (see below) – I’ve mentioned this Sesame Street collection before, and finally gave in and brought something home. I love looking at this stuff; most of the products are pretty witty. These stickers are quite happy and nostalgic that way. (Plus my mom would kill me if I started walking around with a Count Von Count purple vinyl purse… and who could blame her? The stickers are much safer for all involved.)

• My dad hunting down a copy of Harry Potter (thank you dad!) – This movie really is better when the weather is slightly gloomy/rainy outside, and you’re curled up in front of your parent’s rather large TV.

• This delicate Waterford tea cup – I found this lonely, little tea cup at the Robinsons-May closing sale (which was a pretty big disappointment – everything was marked way above normal prices before taking off the 60-70% discount). I think the pattern is really special (called Chrysanthemum). You can’t tell from the picture, but the little pink dots are raised. The soft colors complement another recent birthday gift from my parents - this plate from Tord Boontje’s Table Stories collection.

This plate didn’t look like what I expected to at all – it was actually much better. The pattern in the light grey is really understated. In fact, in direct sunlight, you can't see the pattern at all. I love that it has a happy deer pattern on it without screaming “hello, I’m 12 -- check out my awesome deer plate.” (Why is it that half the things I like seem to say that?) I like this plate for being so nice and quiet about it. And no, I have no idea what I’m going to do with my quickly growing collection of plates and cups. I guess I’ll have to start having people over and making dinners. (Um, right.)

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 08:13 PM | Permalink

I scraped by on my inspiration hunt challenge and came home with this. It’s really not a lot. I have a love/hate relationship with looking for materials. Finding just the right thing can be so exhilarating. The day I found the shrinky-dinks you could run through your printer was like that. But most times, I find I walk away with almost nothing – and then wonder why I even bother looking for stuff if I’m not going to buy anything. Or I suddenly have a lot of faith in myself that Yes! I will find a use for this strange thing, and I will make it into something amazing! Yeah, ok. Maybe.

Well, we’ll see.

Thank you, oh weekend, for rescuing me from myself and my deranged trips to the fabric stores. May happy materials show up from the sky with little notes attached showing me how to make them into something even happier.

Speaking of skies, I’ve been really enjoying this link I saw here. This is a quote from the Skyfish web-site that I can’t stop re-reading. I’m not 100% sure what it means, but it makes me really happy:

"The image of Skyfish is a very curious fish jumped out of water, perhaps
a big whale floating in the sunny sky. It continues to float all the way
to the universe to meet another fantastic world."

Now, doesn’t that sound nice?

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 06:58 PM | Permalink

Well, my quest for inspiration is getting off to a very slow start. Trips to such uninspired places as the grocery store keep interfering. Even the Harry Potter DVD is proving elusive.

So instead I will leave you with this picture of a little house which is serving as a muse of sorts for a new project I have in mind. For now, I will leave it at that.

I haven’t given up on finding some new materials to get the creative juices flowing, so hold tight. The hunt isn’t over yet.

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 08:14 PM | Permalink

Yesterday after work I trekked through the rain in search of crewel supplies. I bought Katherine Shaughnessy's book, The New Crewel, as an early Christmas present to myself and have yet to start on any of the projects. Well, that’s about to end. At least, I had hoped that it was about to end. I got home to discover that I had picked up tapestry wool instead of crewel wool. I seem to have a gift for this sort of thing. (Anyone need some pink and green tapestry wool?)

I know I should just ask better questions, but the store was slightly intimidating. The shop was in a high-end neighborhood, and there were a number of well dressed older ladies working on their projects and gossiping. (I overheard one woman say in a dramatic, scandalized whisper: “Oh yes, that’s right. That’s after she had embroidered the snowman.”) The store owner smiled at me, but I got the hint that I was intruding upon their social hour.

So I’ll need to get my act together and try a new store this week. There really is a wealth of inspiring places to find materials and ideas around here, and I thought I’d make a game of it. This week I’m going to try to go on at least 3 trips for inspiration and/or supplies. [Note: I’m going to count today’s trip to buy the Harry Potter DVD since that’s a crucial backdrop to any project making.]

If I find anything good, I’ll let you know.

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 08:57 AM | Permalink

There has been a serious lack of inspiration going on around here lately that I hope to correct very soon.

To be honest, I’ve been under the weather for awhile now, so it’s been hard to be focused. This last week was my birthday, and I feel like everybody remembered to celebrate it except for me. I was spoiled with balloons and decadent cupcakes and beautiful gifts, and kept wishing we could do this all again on a different day when I felt up for it.

I had hoped that I would be able to put together some goals for the year since I never really got off the ground with my New Year’s Resolutions. I know a lot of people think these things are silly or negative or whatever, but I like knowing I’m working towards something. I will have to let go of this and accept that if I make a list, it’s not going to be all neatly tied into a yearly, milestone event. It will end up being “the list I wrote on such and such day that happened to be in the middle of any such week” not “the list I wrote for myself on the eve of my birthday.” And really, why is this so hard?

In the meantime, all sorts of wonderful things have been happening all around me, and it’s about time I acknowledged them. So take that, Miss Lack of Focus and Appreciation!

• My mail service has returned! Now I have more than just jelly beans in my mailbox. This weekend I received Aranzi Aronzo Post Card vol. 20 and my lovely red envelope from mailorder. (I don’t know how she does it. Everything in this package was put together so beautifully.)
• There are some new improvements in the works around here at The Little Happy Ones. I’ve finally added an “About” page and contact info. I’m still tweaking the banner (with a lot of help from Mr. Bunny Slippers). It makes me happy that the little guys up top look like they’re in a little tree world.
• Harry Potter: Goblet of Fire is out on DVD!

I’m off for more celebrating!

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 10:47 AM | Permalink

To my friend Kristen who may be stopping by...
Just thought you'd like to see that your sunglasses are still quite safe here although I'm not sure that the dragon will be willing to release them. Will do my best.

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 07:45 PM | Permalink

Wire working always seems so complicated. I once tried to make an angel ornament for my mom out of beads and wire courtesy of a seemingly simple kit from Michael’s craft store. The whole experience was so awful that I swore I would never get ambitious with wire again. Four years later, her ornament still isn’t finished although I try to fix it every year.

Then, I stumbled across this book (ISBN 4-88996-114-3) and fell in love with this necklace. I liked the whimsical style so much it made me feel brave enough to try again. I even splurged on a wire jig (not needed for the project pictured above).

I made this bracelet a while ago. My attempt at making a bracelet looks strangely like the picture and took under an hour. Hmm… maybe this isn’t so hard.

My sister seemed to like it, and I've wanted to try making more. Not everyone wants to look like a fairy princess, so some slightly more subdued colors might work. There are some other pretty cool projects in the book, if I can work up the nerve.

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 07:29 PM | Permalink