Shell Shock

Last year we took a road trip up the California coast. One of our stops was Morro Bay where we discovered The Shell Shop 

I loved the old original sign. It's been there since 1955. I hope they never "up-date" it.

When we got inside we were shocked by their enormous selection of shells.

They provide baskets for you to gather shells. We gave the girls a $10 budget and they managed to fill their baskets to the brim.

 Prices ranged from 5 cents to $500.

 They had some of the more expensive items behind glass. Loved the coral.

 All of the vibrant colors, shapes and patterns were so inspiring.

Who knows you may even see some ideas pop up in a new bag soon.

Which reminds me of one of Marilyn and Lily's favorite jokes. (They love telling it to anyone that will listen)

What kind of phone does a Mermaid use?

A Shell-Phone, of course!

Patchwork 2011

Get ready for Patchwork 2011 on May 29th. We always have a ton of fun at this event and the best part is hanging out with you girls and being "crafty". 

We've done some fun things in the past: live sewing demo, button making, T-shirt printing, stencil painting, focus groups, etc... Do you have anything that you would like us to do again this year??? Or maybe something new. We've got few ideas but we need more. Put on those thinking caps, we need your creative ideas again.

I Have A Confession To Make

I'm Addicted to Have'a Corn Chips

The ingredients are so simple and they pack a powerful crunch. They're made in Laguna Beach, right here in Orange County.

They usually sell anywhere from $1.59 to $3. I usually pick mine up at Mother's Market. If you don't live in Southern California then you probably won't see them on the local supermarket shelves. But don't worry, you can by them by the case HERE and shipping is free. I know, it's a lot of trouble just for a corn chip but trust me, it's worth it.

Fur Friday

Keep your paws off.

Cristina Rodriguez sent us this pic of Felix, guarding her Amethyst Color-Block Boxy.

Choose Color with Confidence

So, today we chose our new colors for spring of next year. Everyones comments on the Color Wheel post really helped out. Have you ever noticed how when you're focused on something it seems to jump out at you from everywhere? That totally happened to me over the last couple of weeks. Here's a few pics that inspired me.

This past Saturday we painted our bedroom yellow. I took this picture at OSH while we were picking out the exact shade of yellow.

Lily's water colors

I spotted these single color M&M's while I was waiting in line at Michael's.

I struck up a conversation with a girl in line that's using the silver one's for her wedding. She told me about THIS website where she ordered personalized messages on them.

 I came across this PBN's notebook

 Sharon and Carin made this Birthday Cake for Irene. I loved all the vibrant colors. Irene is a big Day of the Dead fan.

I liked this table cloth at Kimmie's, oh and Marilyn's sippy cup.

Thanks again for all the suggestions and keep them coming.

I know a year is a long time to wait but we have some amazing colors coming this spring that I know you'll love.

Mobile Blogging

I just discovered that I can post to the blog right from my iphone. 

Get ready to be bombarded. It's on like Donkey Kong!

Our Extended HARVEYS Family

Remember when you dropped off a roll of film and a week later picked up a pack of photos? Then you would rummage through them and pick out the good ones to throw in a photo album. I miss those days. Don't get me wrong, I think digital technology has allowed us to do some amazing things but it's kind of nice being able to hold something in your hand.

Malia, our Marketing director came up with a neat idea of passing this old photo album around the office and invited everyone to put in a picture of their "Classic HARVEYS Moments".

Last year we bought this little printer. It prints out on 4x6 photo paper. Just like the good old days.

You spend a lot of time with those you work with. We are blessed to have such an amazing crew at HARVEYS and through the years we have shared some very special moments. I can honestly say they're like our extended HARVEYS family.

Vault 28

Melanie and I had a great time at the Vault 28 event on Saturday. With all the rain we weren't sure how it was going to turn out but we got lucky and everyone managed to stay dry.

There were a few that were prepared for rain.

Once we all got inside it was warm and cozy

The Vault 28 crew did a great job displaying the bags

It was great catching up with everyone and we even meet a lot of first timers that came out for the event, which is always fun.

A few LTD's showed up for the occassion

The Vault 28 tems was so helpful. It's alway a treat to do events there. I can't wait for the next one...

Don't Tees Me - Winners

First I want to say WOW! This contest set the record for the most comments, 143 and counting. Thanks to everyone that entered. I really enjoyed reading each and every comment. It really helps to know what your favorites are so I can keep designing bags that you'll love.

6 winners were selected at random and here they are along with their favorite bags:

Lisa C N- Chocolate Floral

Kylie Ingram - Paint by Numbers, LTD

Ashley Tange - Tough Love Boxy

DeeT- Disney Messenger

Kelly@Mental Garbage - Lola

Rache - Armed with Roses Large Satchel

Congratulations girls. I hope you enjoy your special Disney x HARVEYS Tees.

Barbie Collector

Melanie has been receiving these Barbie Collector catalogs for years. The other day, the latest issue came in the mail and I heard a scream coming from the kitchen. I ran to see what was wrong and Melanie was jumping up and down. "What is it" I said and she just pointed at this...

She had completely forgoten that our bags were going to be featured in there. While she was flipping through the pages she came across this, she was pleasantly surprised.

The caption reads:

"This collection was a life-long dream of mine." Says Melanie Harvey owner and designer of HARVEYS. "I'm probably one of the biggest Barbie fans on the planet."

Drop a Hint

Every year around Valentine's day we create downloadable HARVEYS Hint Hearts so your Loved ones know just what to get you. Well if that doesn't work, you can always pop in to one of our stores and drop a Hint for a chance to win in our Hint Heart Raffle 

This year's 3 lucky winners each received a Tough Love 2011 Boat Tote.

Emili De Cew

 Megan Peal

and Valleri Kumar

Congratulations Girls.

A big thank you to everyone else who entered and remember, HARVEYS Loves Ya.

Fur Friday

Rachel sent us this picture of her dog Macy, taking a nap on her Tree-cycle Large Satchel. Apparently Seatbeltbags make great pillows too. 

It reminded me of this Tree-cycle Pillow we made a while back. We were thinking about making more in different sizes and colors, but never got around to it.

 What do you think? Yes, No, Maybe So...

Our Humble Abode

Color Wheel

We use this color wheel for reference. It's made up of Hangtags of every color of seatbelt that we've ever produced. Right now we're picking our colors for 2012. Since I'm getting so much great feedback from you gals on the "Don't Tees Me" post, I thought I'd ask you to help me out by posting a comment with your favorite colors from the past or maybe even some we haven't done yet. Thanks...

Don't Tees Me

The Disney release is this Saturday from 3-6pm at Vault 28 in Downtown Disney. Yesterday we made up some Tees for the Vault 28 crew. Here's how we did it.

We started out with the artwork on the Disney Couture Hangtag label. Then we printed it out "actual size" on large format Vellum paper.

Then it's off to our Darkroom to get "burned" onto the screen.

Each T-shirts is hand screened and sent through our Conveyor Dryer where it's heat set at 320 degrees. We use American Apparel Tees because, well... they're Built in the USA. Even our Screen Printing equipment is Built in the USA by Brown Mfg in Michigan. Just like you, we love supporting American made companies.

These won't be available for sale but I did make up 6 extras (in Espresso and Maliblue) and I'm giving them away here on the blog. If you'd like to enter to win one, just leave a comment on this post and tell me your all-time favorite HARVEYS bag...But you have to be a "Follower" of this blog. If you're not already, just click on the link in the side bar. It makes it easier to verify the winners... Oh and one comment per person please.

I'll pick 6 winners and announce them next Monday February 21st. Right here on the blog.

Thanks and good luck everyone.

New Tags

Look for these new tags on your bags now. We just got them a couple of weeks ago.

They still have the care instructions and the Story of how the first bag came to be...and now we've added a picture of Melanie and I in our Wedding attire, standing next to the Buick that started it all.

In 1996, exactly 1 year after we met, we drove to Las Vegas, and got hitched at the Graceland Chapel.
 5 months later I made the very first seatbeltbag for Melanie. A red Small Tote.

<3 <3 <3 Happy Valentine's Day Melanie <3 <3 <3

Little Red Baguette

Someone sent me this Portrait of her Red Carriage Baguette with all it's contents. A street artist painted it for her on a recent trip to Paris. Tres Chic. Love the gold hardware on the red Carriage too.

Tpi