Dd Survey: Meet Heather Toner!

Heather Toner, a new Dd contributor, answers our seriously silly survey and we look forward to her crafty side coming out in full force.

1.  ART:  Performance or visual?  What place does art have in your life?

Performance AND visual.  It all plays a huge part in my life.  I believe in expression, and whether it be through words, movement, pictures, sounds, smells, tastes, whatever!  I guess personally I have had a bit more experience in theater, and performance art but years working in television has give me a solid appreciation for the film medium.

2.  CRAFT:  Knit or Crochet or Other?  What is your craftiest project to date?

Other.  I do not know how to knit or crochet and am ashamed of these facts.  I like to sew (learning how to make actual clothes now) paint and art-journal/scrapbook.  I also enjoy embroidery, redesigning old items to give them new life and I love making mixed media collages.  If I had to pick one project that I am most proud of it would be the tutus I make for my shop and a local dancewear store.  They are just so much fun to make and, since they are for little ballerinas, I can be as frilly and fantastical as I please.

3.  DESIGN:  Classical or modern?  What designer or architect inspires you the most?

Classical.  I like 1950′s style.  Givenchy (circa Audrey Hepburn “Sabrina” period) is my absolute favorite.  However, current deisgners I love are Alannah Hill, Luca Luca and Betsy Johnson.  I love lots of frills with full skirts…wait it just occurred to me that maybe you meant design only in the architecture form, and in that case, I like total classical–Queen Anne Victorian architecture.  I wish they still built homes like that in Los Angeles.

4.  FOOD:  Salty or sweet?  Do you know how to make your favorite dish? (If so, please tell us in a blog!)

Salty most definitely!   My favorite dish is chicken fajitas and I make really good ones.  Would love to share the recipe.

5.  THOUGHT:  Fiction or Nonfiction?  What form does the bulk of your own reading and/or writing take?

I really prefer to read fiction, though I seem to write more Non-fiction, which is strange.  My concentration in college was American literature, which I thought was the best thing ever since I basically spent all my time reading nothing but Hemingway, Twain, Faulkner and Fitzgerald.  But I am not a book snob, I love any book that tells a good story.  Actually, I feel like most of my favorite works of literature are children’s books.  And I do love poetry.  Phillip Larken and Stevie Smith are two of my favorites.

6.  FUN:  Where in the world do you want to go or be stranded?  What five things would be in your bag?

I’d like to be stranded in Mendocino California.  It’s way up north, but it has vineyards, Victorian houses and the beach–basically paradise to me!  In my bag would be:

1. A copy of “The Sun Also Rises”
2. My cell phone
3. My Camera
4. My journal with some kind of writing implement
5. A Bottle Opener

Welcome, Heather!  And in case you are wondering where else she can be found, there is always Lilac and Lace, Facebook, Twitter and soon a new shop!