Heather Ink Blog

I'm moving off the G Reader

Heather Walpole — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 20:31:31 +0000

It's a sad day, I liked Google Reader. I found Bloglovin' and I think it'll work for what I like.

A Day Among Giants {wedding invitation design}

Heather Walpole — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 17:12:26 +0000

Over the summer I had the pleasure of designing wedding invitations for my cousin and his lovely bride-to-be. They were set to get married at the Bohemian Grove which might be the most secluded and coolest place on earth. It's a big encampment deep in the redwoods and it's amazing. The happy couple wanted their wedding invitations to reflect the Grove, be a bit fancy but generally simple and understated. I think we did it!

The Grove's towering trees are incredible and the day was even better than I could have imagined.

Thanks, Melissa and Andrew for letting me be part of such a fun day!

Hello from my corner of California

Heather Walpole — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 02:17:21 +0000

It's March but that means its almost sunny season here in California. I can't wait to spend my Friday afternoons out here with a cold cocktail, my pups and some knitting!

Introducing: Metalico Cowl Knitting Pattern

Heather Walpole — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 21:58:02 +0000

Hello, pretty yarn! I received a hank of Metalico by Blue Sky Alpacas during our Christmas yarn swap at my knitting group. I hadn't seen the yarn before and I fell in love! Metalico is a blend of baby alpaca and raw silk. The yarn is shiny and luxurious and I wanted to make something I'd wear a lot. So meet the Metalico Cowl! This cowl is knitted using just one skein of this yarn and it's the perfect size.

Metalico Cowl – #211
Size: 6" high x 21" circumference
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpacas Metalico - 147 yards
Color Cinnabar #1615 – 1 skein
Needles: US 5 16" circular needle
Supplies: stitch marker, darning needle
Gauge: 22 sts to 4" in stockinette stitch

The Metalico Cowl knitting pattern is available for sale in my Ravelry store. Click here to view on Ravelry.

My little Lola

Heather Walpole — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 18:11:32 +0000

I don't know what it is about this dog but she makes me laugh at every turn. Lola is either on or off. There's no in between with her. She's alert or she's passed out like a champ. See, here she is completely interested in what I'm doing, am I going to get her a treat?

Of course I am! How could I not after that little face?

But then there's this. Did she have too much bourbon? Passed out cold!

Oh, Lola!

{Recipe} Honey Chipotle Spiced Pecans

Heather Walpole — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 18:45:01 +0000

Meet your new favorite party treat. The Honey Chipotle Spiced Pecans are a crowd pleaser. They're spicy, salty, sweet and totally irresistable. They are easy to whip up and they'll disappear fast!

Honey Chipotle Spice Pecans

2 tbsp honey

1 tsp chipotle powder

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

3/4 tsp cinnamon

2 cups pecan halves

2 tbsp granulated sugar (I use raw sugar)

3/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine the honey, chipotle powder, cayenne and cinnamon. Warm through. Stir nuts into warmed honey mixture to coat well. Spread honey-coated nuts in a single layer on to a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake until fragrant, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 1 minute. In a clean mixing bowl, combine sugar and salt. Add hot nuts to bowl and toss to coat. Return nuts to baking sheet and allow to cool completely. Yum!

Take a tour of the ISS

Heather Walpole — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 22:31:29 +0000

I have always been a big fan of space from as young as I can remember. My sister taught me the basic constellations. I learned all the planets and their specs from book after book. I was even lucky enough to take astronomy in high school inside the school's planetarium!

A few nights ago we were sitting outside watching the sunset just as the brightest stars were appearing in the sky. A friend and I were figuring out which they were, Canis, Jupiter, what's that one? A new one appeared, too bright to be a plane but moving to fast to be star. I whipped out my iPhone, launched SkyView and figured out it was the International Space Station! I hadn't seen it before since it's only in the sky a maximum of seven minutes at a time and this was a real treat. How amazing would it be to be one of a handful of humans to circle the planet? In this video, Commander of the International Space Station, Sunita Williams gives a great tour of the orbiting vehicle. It's about 25 minutes long but worth the watch.

Bacon is healthy

Heather Walpole — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 04:55:22 +0000

Yes! It's true. This birthday card is proof. Thomas got it from our vegetarian friend and we laughed so hard we had to add it to our permanent art collection.

I am his TV #8

Heather Walpole — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 01:01:56 +0000

Was New Year's Eve really this week? The work week seemed a lot longer than just three days! I'm happy to make a good dinner, sit down and get stared at by my crazy dogs. Back to the beauty of mundane life as my best friend put it. Tonight I'm going to have a beer and watch some serious tv... with my knitting, of course!

Organized Living: Weekly Planner

Heather Walpole — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 21:50:37 +0000

In the New Year effort to get organized I decided to reinstate the planning printables that I created. I previously posted about the Weekly Dumplist and have given it an update. Now called the Weekly Planner, I think it's better suited for its real use. The Weekly Planner is an itemized to-do list that helps you see all the tasks for the week and organize them per day. It's a great tool for a designer like me or anyone else that just has a lot of things to do!

Click here to download the printable PDF to-do list.

In the top right you can write down your project and the date followed by a brief overview for the week. Take a minute and write down any appointments or other items that are already scheduled. There's a box for each day giving you plenty of room to make notes. This is a great place to add doctor visits, birthdays, or even family dinner here in this section.

On the left is the big list. Start at the top line and add a task, then another one. Get all of the things you need to do out of your brain and on to this piece of paper. As you start writing you'll start to remember more things that you need to do so keep writing. Write EVERYTHING you need to do on this list. It might not all get done this week but by writing everything down you won't forget something.

Now you can break up the week into days. Read down your list. Are any of the items urgent? If they are then put an X on the corresponding line in the Urgent column. Read through your list again and think about which items need to be done first and which can be accomplished later in the week. Assign a day to them in the Date Assigned column, I use M, T, W, Th, F as my shorthand. Take into consideration how long a task will take you to complete and maybe put one longer project on each day. Also be sure to space out your tasks throughout the week, not everything needs to be done on Monday.

The next step is to get to work! After you've completed each task on the list then put an X in the Complete box. I scratch out the whole line, too! By Friday you should have everything done!

Click here to download the printable PDF to-do list.

I've also included it in the righthand column of the blog if you need to come back and grab some fresh prints! -->