In Person Meet-Up With Heathersmoo: July 2022 (Part 1)

 This past July, I was fortunate enough to meet face-to-face with Heathersmoo of Livejournal, known for her "Keychain Of The Day" posts. Heather had already made plans to visit some family members in Pittsburgh over the summer, and she asked me ahead of time if I'd mind her stopping by on the way to see me. Now, Pennsylvania is a deceptively long state, so my hometown is technically nowhere near Pittsburgh. The fact that Heather was willing to go out of her way just to meet me in person really means a lot.

In the time leading up to Heather's visit, I got to work gathering up and packing the various keychains and other small items that I'd put aside for Heather for Halloween (her favorite holiday), her birthday, the winter holiday season, etc. I figured that, if I packed everything up neatly and gave it to Heather when I saw her, she would be set for the rest of the year and I wouldn't have to pay rising postage costs on multiple, holiday themed packages.

Heather brought a number of fun goodies with her for me as well. Some of them were things that she had promised to make for me or to set aside for me, while others were a complete surprise.

Like these knitted flag keychains. Heather, remembering a previous blog post that I'd written about my ancestry, handmade this set of small, knitted keychains, based on the national flags of every country that makes up my combined heritage. Since I'm not as familiar with my ancestors' home countries as I probably should be, I had to refer to online images when photographing these, just to make sure that I didn't have any of the flags upside down.

While we're on the subject of knitting, Heather also sent me several emails discussing the possibility of making me a knitted scarf. I got the definite impression that all of her family members, her friends, and anyone else who has been part of her life for long enough eventually receive a handmade scarf. Heather had been emailing me for suggestions of what color schemes and/or patterns I might like. Unfortunately, I had a lot of trouble coming up with a scarf concept that I felt would work for what I had in mind. I wanted something that was Disney inspired, but I didn't want the Disney influence to be too obvious. If I wore the scarf out, I wanted other Disney fans to recognize it as the signature colors of a particular Disney character. But I didn't want strangers 'not-in-the-know' to brand me as a Disney dork. I considered having Heather create a blue and black and yellow pattern based on Dory's coloring and markings from Pixar's Finding Nemo films. But Heather was worried that the end result would look "too collegiate". In the end, I gave my approval to the idea of using Figment colors, which was something that Heather had suggested.

For those of you who might not know, Figment is a character from the Journey Into Imagination attraction at Epcot in Walt Disney World. The little guy has quite the fan following among Disney parks enthusiasts old enough to fondly remember the original, 1983 version of the attraction. There have been a couple, controversial refurbishments to the ride since then, starting in 1999. But Figment is still prominently featured on a lot of official Epcot merchandise.

Heather not only made me a scarf in Figment's signature colors. She also made me a matching hat and coordinating fingerless gloves. The hat is loosely knitted, which is nice because it means that, if I ever make it back to Walt Disney World in Orlando, I can wear the hat at the actual theme parks without worrying about getting too warm in the Florida heat. Also, I've learned from experience that fingerless gloves are extremely useful when browsing outdoor flea markets in autumn. The weather then can be too chilly to leave my hands exposed to the elements, but it's very difficult for me to pick items up to check for maker's marks and/or small areas of damage if I'm wearing full gloves. Fingerless gloves are therefore the perfect middle ground. That's a little shopping tip for any of you who buy keychains secondhand.

In addition to the other knitted goodies, Heather also made me these two knitted keychains. One is in 'Figment' colors, and the other is predominantly purple, my favorite color.

Since Heather is an Orlando local, she picked up this set of Disney-themed, souvenir Orlando Florida keychains for me. It is my personal belief that one can never have too many Disney keychains, and Heather knows this about me.

Heather also knows that I do papercrafts, primarily handmade greeting cards, as well as some scrapbooking. In late April, I emailed Heather to request a favor regarding one of my papercrafting projects. I told her how I'd been personalizing some partially filled Disney parks autograph books that I'd bought secondhand, one of which was a combination autograph book and photo album. Since I wasn't the one who'd originally collected the character autographs, I didn't have any corresponding photos of the characters to put in the album. So I'd been filling the photo sleeves with character postcards instead. I'd asked Heather if she could keep an eye out for a couple of specific character postcards, to help me finish up the project, since she lives much closer to 'Disney territory' than I do.

Although Heather wasn't able to find what I was looking for, she did get me a Disney-themed Florida postcard, thinking I might be able to use it in my papercrafts. I actually have a growing collection of Disney postcards, organized and arranged in standard photo albums. So I'm happy to add this one to my collection. I really like the cheerful colors, and the window frame style grid layout.

To continue on the Disney train of thought, in February of this year, Heather told me about a McDonald's Happy Meal promotion featuring Disney Stitch plush toys that could easily be converted into keychains. I don't really keep up to date with fast food toys anymore, despite there sometimes being interesting keychains in the assortments, so this was the first I'd heard about the Stitch promotion. Heather promised to give me "an extra" that she'd gotten. This plush is number 4 from the assortment, "Sippin' Stitch". There appear to have been 8 in total to collect. Heather even taped a spare split ring to the back of the packaging before giving it to me.

(To be continued...)

(Signed, Treesa)

Birthday Surprise Box From Heathersmoo

 My first introduction to Heathersmoo was through her Keychain Of The Day posts on Livejournal. Before the internet, having a collection or interest that wasn't prominent in the mainstream could often feel like a solitary, or at worst an isolating, pursuit. When I first started collecting keychains in my childhood, it was easy for me to believe that I was the only person on the planet who did, judging by the way people reacted when they found out about my collection. I'm pretty sure I got some odd looks when I went flea marketing with my dad and he explained to sellers we bought keychains from that I collected them. And none of the adults in my life had ever heard of someone collecting keychains before, though they were willing to indulge my odd hobby and help me build my collection. When I showed off my keychains to my grade school peers as part of a class project, I'm fairly sure that they just added 'keychain collecting' to the long list of things about me that were strange. I was never one of the 'popular' kids to begin with, but collecting keychains just reinforced the idea that there was something off about me. Anyway, I was really happy when Basic Fun Inc. created a pop culture craze with their mini board game and classic toy keychains. Not only were the keychains cool, but knowing that there were other people in the world who also collected them made me feel like less of a weirdo.

The World Wide Web has made it much easier for people to connect with others who share their particular interests. Thanks to the internet, collectors who previously felt isolated have been able to form vast, global networks with other collectors. However, keychain collecting is such an obscure hobby that even online I had trouble finding anyone who shared my enthusiasm for keychains. So it was a real thrill for me to discover Heather's posts.

Heather and I have been corresponding by email off and on for quite a while now. We've also sent each other small packages from time to time. I've mentioned Heather here on the blog before, since I try to upload a post any time she sends me something for my collection. But I was especially touched by Heather's kindness when her most recent package arrived. Despite the fact that she had recently suffered a loss in her family, Heather still took the time to put together a gift box for my December birthday because she wanted me to have, as she put it, "a big birthday surprise". But that was only the beginning of Heather's thoughtfulness.

 Here's a photo of everything that was in the box. Heather took the time to individually wrap each small gift with My Little Pony wrapping paper. Being a child of the 80s, I had quite a collection of My Little Pony toys back in the day. So I do have a sense of nostalgia for the My Little Pony brand, even though I never got into the more recent iterations of the franchise.

Heather handmade this hemp macrame keychain and this knit Santa hat ornament just for me. The fact that Heather put in the time and effort to craft something by hand makes the gifts even more meaningful, in my opinion.

But to show you the full extent of Heather's thoughtfulness, let me tell you about the two keychains pictured above. In a previous blog post about my ancestry, I mentioned that I was looking for a keychain from Hungary to round out a sub-collection of keychains that I'd assembled to represent my mixed 'cultural heritage'. Well, Heather got one for me. I had also emailed Heather earlier that year to ask her if she had any extra Cypress Gardens keychains that she could float my way, since she lives in Florida and she's mentioned before that she holds on to her duplicate keychains. Heather didn't have any spares in her collection to send me, but she went to the trouble of going online and buying me one instead.

Heather also sent this BFF keychain from Claire's. Keychains like this are typically sold in pairs, and according to the note that Heather included in the package she kept the coordinating pink cat for her own collection. She also said that she considers us "keychain best buds", which to me really means a lot.

There were several other fun inclusions in the package as well, like this railroad museum sticker and keychain set.

I really like the architectural design on this Budapest keychain. The use of light in the composition is striking and gives the building an almost ethereal glow.

This Buzz Lightyear clip originally came with a McDonald's 'Happy Meal'. I'm glad I'm not the only one who still thinks about ordering kid's meals to get a particularly tempting premium. I am feeling a little divided over whether or not I should open this, since the bag is still sealed.

Last but not least is this Uzbekistan keychain, shaped like a boxing glove. I 'googled' Uzbekistan and boxing to try and figure out the connection, and apparently boxing is a very popular sport in that country, thanks to Uzbekistan's stellar participation in several of the Olympics.

Thank you so much Heather! You really went above and beyond with this 'birthday surprise', and I am blown away by your thoughtfulness.

Signed, Treesa

My Ancestry

 I like to think that my combined heritage somewhat represents the melting pot that is the United States. My ancestry is a mix of Austrian, German, Hungarian, Irish and Ukrainian. For a while now I've been trying to acquire keychains to pay tribute to the homelands of my ancestors. I'll be showcasing some of those keychains in this post.

This first keychain was purchased secondhand. I'll admit, most of what I know about Austria comes from watching The Sound of Music. I know that popular entertainment is often loaded with cultural stereotypes, and is therefore not the most reliable source of information. But in this case, I don't think the movie had any influence on my choice of keychain. However, there have been other times on my collecting journey when I've been swayed by cultural stereotypes.

People with strong Irish roots may be offended that I see this keychain in terms of my Irish heritage. The shamrock design and the green rhinestones are so over the top that, if I was more in touch with my Irish ancestry, I might've left it at the store. But I am first and foremost an American, so I'm accustomed to seeing St. Patrick's Day celebrated with tacky, green accessories.

I do have other Irish keychains that are a little more culturally sensitive. Or at least as culturally sensitive as something made to be sold to visiting tourists can be.

The keychains in this next picture are meant to pay tribute to my Slavic ancestry.

The one keychain was designed to look like a traditional matryoshka, or 'nesting doll', while the other features a red and white design that resembles designs used in Ukrainian embroidery.

Here's another 'nesting doll' keychain, but with a different color scheme and art style.

I'm still looking for interesting but affordable keychains to represent Germany and Hungary in my collection. Seeing as how I'm unable to travel to those countries in person, and considering the cost of international shipping for online purchases, it may be a while before I find anything. But then, isn't hunting for specific things part of the fun of collecting? Having something to search for helps keep collectors energized. The day someone finally completes their collection must bring about the same mixed emotions as a school graduation. The feeling of accomplishment is quickly followed by the realization that one journey is over, and that you need to figure out where to go from there.

Given the wide variety of keychains on the market, and the rush I get from never knowing what I'm going to stumble upon next, I'm hopeful that my keychain collection will never really be 'complete'. After all, everybody needs a hobby. However, I'd still like to check off the necessary additions to my 'cultural heritage' keychain sub-collection, someday.

Signed, Treesa