Where has the time gone?  I haven't been here in a long time and realized that an old gadget I had on my sidebar was telling anyone who may have looked in that the website was for sale.  I deleted it and things seem to be back in working order. 

So much has changed since I was last here.  My son is 3 yrs old and he keeps me busy during most of my "free" time.  I have been getting the "itch" to get creative again so hopefully I will be finding time to do that so I can have something new to share here.  :-)

I've been MIA again

I haven't had much time in my craft room at all over the last few months--life has just gotten in the way a little bit, but I'm still hoping to find more time for crafting one of these days.....

My Mom asked me to make a baby shower card for twins and that got me in there for a little bit. I kept it pretty simple and came up with this.

I double stamped the onesies and popped one up on foam dimensionals to give a little more interest since everything else was so simple. Inside I used another sentiment from PTI's Bitty Baby Blessings that says "Good things come in multiples".

On a totally different subject, I just realized that I have to change my tiny bio on Blogger. :-(

Last Friday I had to say goodbye to one of my fluffy kitties. She was 15 yrs old and was not always the easiest cat to be around, but I still miss her a lot. RIP my crazy Sadie girl.

Baby Birdie

I've had fun over the past few weeks watching Robins build a nest in the small tree in our front yard. On Mother's Day I saw the first little hungry babies raise their heads up looking for food--there were 4 total. Since then they have turned into fluffy little birdies that barely fit in their nest anymore.

I snapped this pic yesterday and you can see how much they have grown. Minutes later this little baby took a very shaky flight with a sort of rough landing, but it was exciting to watch. They all seem to be gone from the nest now and I probably won't see them again, but it was so sweet to see them grow.

April Birthdays

I'm sure it seems like an April Fool's joke considering how long it's been, but I actually have a few cards to share. First up is my attempt at a manly card (sort of). I wanted to keep it relatively simple, but I also wanted to play with some stamps that needed to see ink. I made a background using distress inks (broken china, tumbled glass, brushed corduroy) and stamps from American Crafts Majestic set. I used stickers for the 40 and on the inside just kept it simple again with a plain ol' Happy Birthday sentiment. Next up is a card for my niece. I used the set Toadily by Penny Black and colored with my Copics. You can't tell from the pic, but I used Stickles on the stamped daisy to add a little extra sparkle. The sentiment is a combo of my handwriting and another stamp from the set. I was going to try to piece it together from other sentiments from my collection, but it was taking too long to find the right one--I decided to just wing it instead!

I'm starting to slowly get my stamps unpacked and I hope to be "toadily" up and running in my craft area soon. :-)

PTI 4th Anniversary

It's their 4th anniversary and PTI is having a HUGE celebration starting today on Nichole's blog!

One of the ways to enter is to pick your favorite PTI project you've made over the last year. I knew immediately which card I was going to pick.

I love butterflies. And this set (designed by the extremely talented Nikki Estes), along with the matching butterfly die, is like a dream come true. This was one of the first cards I made with it and it is still one of my favorites.

I am very excited to see what all is in store for us during PTI's anniversary celebration--you don't want to miss all of the creative inspiration and chances to win so much crafty goodness!

Helping Katie

There are probably many things you take for granted--your health, your life, and your future with your family. What I've learned over the last month is that you should live every day to the fullest and stop taking things for granted. You never know the path that life may take you down.

I have been blessed to meet so many amazing people (in person and online) and am honored to consider myself a part of the crafting community. One of us needs help now, via prayers, positive thoughts, or however you may feel comfortable helping. Please visit: www.jakheath.com/2011/01/help-for-katie.html for details (and for a little creative inspiration too).

Digi-stamping is not my usual stamping routine, but this is a perfect opportunity to get started and help out a friend in need.

Happy 2011!

The last few weeks of 2010 were a whirlwind for Joe and I. He was in the ICU for a few days, but made it home to celebrate Christmas with our families. He's feeling better now, but we're both making some changes to make the coming years a little healthier for both of us. We also bought a house and have been settling in over the last week.

That hasn't left much time for blogging, let alone creating much of anything, but I wanted to share a few new photos I took during that time.

The first is Christmas Eve snow on the bush outside the front window at Joe's parents house. I took it through the window so there is a bit of glare from the screen, but I loved how the lights shined through the fluffy white snow.



Next is Bonnie and Clyde right before the move. Things were a little hectic, but they dealt with it pretty well. Clyde immediately curled up in the new grill pan we bought--I thought it was pretty cute.



The last one is my favorite--our new house! We still have what seems like a never-ending supply of boxes to unpack, but we are so happy it is OURS!

I can't wait to see what 2011 has in store!

Halloween (a little late)

I finally was able to download some pics off my camera so I thought I'd share my pumpkin carving skills (getting better) from this past October.

First up is the kitty cat shown after dark. I had one of those color-changing lights inside it, so it went from red to blue to green and flickered like a candle. It was pretty cool.

Next is a scary face. I took this one to my parent's house so I wasn't there to take a pic after dark.

I only had time for two, but I love carving pumpkins and watching them when they're lit up at night. Maybe next year I'll have time for more. Of course, I roasted the seeds too--another tradition I'm not willing to skip.

I don't have any cards to show, but I have another pic of my kittens being cute and snuggly. It never gets old (to me) to see them sleeping all snuggled up together.

Hope you're having a warm, snuggly sort of day!

Tomorrow it will be one year

It doesn't seem possible, but tomorrow Joe and I will celebrate our first wedding anniversary. I made a simple card for him, letting the designer paper do most of the work.

I used Fillable Frames #4 from PTI for the frame and sentiment. On the inside I used a sentiment from Tiny Trees and a flourish from Fancy Phrases (both from Waltzingmouse Stamps). I finished it off with a scrap of the same designer paper (Simply Elegant from The Paper Studio).

We have reservations tomorrow night at a nice Italian restaurant and I think it's going to be a fabulous evening.

Tag-You're it Again!

I made this second tag last Saturday as well, but I wasn't quite as happy with it. To be perfectly honest, this is one that I threw away and then rescued from the trash--for the simple fact that I spent enough time and effort on it that I figured I might as well show it too.

There's not anything wrong with it per say, but it didn't turn out quite like I had planned out in my head--it was much more elegant in theory. LOL

You can't tell from the photo, but I covered the sentiment in crystal glitter again. (Running it backwards through my Xyron machine makes it so easy to get perfect coverage.) Also, the vintage glass glitter on the snowflake is SO sparkly in person, but you have to be careful with it--as it is just that--tiny shards of glass with sharp edges.

Stamps:

sentiment from Tiny Trees (Waltzingmouse Stamps)

background is Composer's Dream (Stampendous)

small snowflake (Michael's $1 stamp set)

Ink:

Victorian Velvet (Tim Holtz distress ink)

Silver (Encore! Ultimate Metallic)

Misc:

silver vintage glass glitter (RedLead - redleadpaperworks.com)

snowflake die (Spellbinders)

silver snowflake brad/square brads (The Paper Studio/Hobby Lobby)

ribbon and metallic eyelash yarn (Michaels)

Waltzingmouse Tag-You're It! Challenge

If you check out Claire's blog she has all of the details about her latest challenge. She wants to see tags, not just any tags, elegant ones. The prize for the winner---about $200 USD worth of Waltzingmouse goodies of your choice!!! You can enter as many tags as you'd like and it will increase your odds of winning.

I made one tag last Saturday, but I just got around to getting some pics of it today for the blog. I have always loved the vintage style tags that Tim Holtz creates, but I've never been able to make anything like them. This tag was inspired by him:

I used crystal fine glitter to cover the sentiment for a frosty/Winter look. Here's a close up:

Stamps:

snowflake, sentiment (Walztingmouse/Seasons of Love - Tags)

musical background (Stampabilities/Composer's Dream)

Ink:

Bundled Sage (Tim Holtz distress ink)

Vintage Tea Dye duo, Pure Poppy & Dark Chocolate (PTI)

Misc:

Holiday stickers/red ribbon from Hobby Lobby

red rhinestone bling

fine crystal glitter

Metal bookplate (Ornate plates by Tim Holtz idea-ology)

World Card Making Day 2010

I usually plan to make a card for World Card Making Day, but lately it has become more of a necessity since it falls around the same times as several birthdays. DH (and his twin sister) and my BFF's daughter all share the same birthday and then my Mom's is 2 days later. Well 3 out of 4 ain't bad. LOL

Here are the 3 that I came up with. (I still have one more to make)




This one is for DH so I made it a little more "manly". :-)

Here is another fun one. This patterned paper is where I got the cupcake for the first card too. I cut them out and used foam dots to pop them up a bit.

I thought I'd finish with a little dose of kitten cuteness so here ya go...

Thanks for stopping by! :-)

WaltzingMouse Sketch Challenge #14

I feel like I'm on a bit of a roll here. It's been a while since I've had 2 cards to post in just as many days but here goes.

I made this card last night for this week's Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge #14.

I started with a kraft base and then added designer paper from DCWV's Garden Party stack. I've been itching to break out some of the yummy papers in that stack and this butterfly design is one of my favorites. This photo doesn't catch the sparkle in the paper, but I promise it's there.

I used stamps from Fancy Phrases and Very Vintage Labels No. 4. I only inked half of the sentiment at a time to make it fit in the space, but I think it would've fit perfectly had I turned the label on it's side. I don't remember the brown ink color off hand, but it is a Tim Holtz distress ink, as is the pinkish "Worn Lipstick" color.

I accented with some gingham ribbon, gold flourish stickers, and a shiny gold butterfly just to give a little more sparkle.

If you haven't played along yet, you still have 2 days to enter this week's challenge (link on sidebar). There is a new challenge every Saturday so be sure to check back for even more inspiration.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a good one.

I'm back, sort of

I finally got some of my craft stuff unpacked and made a card (the first one in quite a while). I wanted to use my PTI dies to cut some felt for the first time and I needed a little cheering up so this card was born. I found some sparkly felt on clearance at Michaels and anyone who knows me knows I can't pass up a sale or anything sparkly. LOL

I used the Fillable Frames #6 stamp set from PTI and a color scheme of Orange Zest, Raspberry Fizz, and Vintage Cream.

I've been leaving this one out on my desk as a subtle reminder to keep looking at the positives in life.


On a side note, I took this picture a little bit ago of the kittens in their absolute favorite place--the front windows. They have gotten so big now--they turned a year old in July--but they're still my little fuzzy babies.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today. Have a good one! :-)

Small Vacation from Crafting

I know I've been MIA again, but this time it was for an important reason--moving. It took me quite some time to pack up all of my craft goodies beforehand and I haven't been able to unpack them yet. I'm hoping this weekend to have some time now that we've got most of our other stuff settled in (furniture, clothes, the kitties, etc.).

So far the only thing I've unpacked is my cardstock--at least I can see all of the pretty colors on my shelf when I pass by and that somehow makes it feel a little more like home (even if it is a temporary one).

Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge #5

I had a little time last night to play with my new stamps from Waltzingmouse and I am really, really loving the set Victorian Frippery. I decided to use them to play along with this week's Waltzingmouse sketch challenge.

This was the sketch provided:And here is my card:


I used Dark Chocolate, Terracotta Tile, and Rustic Cream from PTI and I used their Tea Dye Duo to sponge the edges. The sentiment is from Fancy Phrases (WMS).




Thank you for coming by and checking out my card. Have a good one! :-)

Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge #3

This is my first time trying out the new Waltzingmouse sketch challenges, but better late than never I guess. :-)


This was the sketch that was provided for this week's challenge:




And here is my take on it:

I started with a base of Ripe Avocado (PTI) and used patterned papers from Memory Box (Gossamer) and Basic Grey (Infuse). I used my Labels 4 Nestabilities die for the sentiment piece. It was stamped in Dark Chocolate (PTI) using a stamp from Waltzingmouse's Fancy Phrases set.

The ribbon is Dark Chocolate Swiss Dots (PTI) and the button is one that I found in a multi pack at Walmart. I distressed the edges a little and put it all together.

I'm hoping to be able to participate in more of these challenges. There is a blog dedicated to them and it can be found here: http://waltzingmousesketchchallenge.blogspot.com/
The more the merrier, so why don't you play along too?

Friends of Waltzingmouse Stamps Blog Waltz

It's time for the June Friends of Waltzingmouse Stamps blog waltz. The theme this month is "let's hear it for the boys" (yes I do sing those words in my best Deniece Williams Footloose voice every time).


I used stamps from Pic-Nic Patterns and Seasons of Love - Tags by Waltzingmouse and a star from PTI's Star Prints.


Inks used were Broken China and Shabby Shutters (both Distress Inks) and Dark Chocolate (PTI). The stars are stamped on Rustic Cream cardstock (PTI) and I really like how it looks with the twine--definitely gives a more rustic look. I pulled the twine tight to make the paper bow out a little bit--it gives it a little added dimension that you can really see in person.

One thing I realized while making this card is that I really should use eyelets more often. My Crop-A-Dile makes it almost effortless and I have a ton of them in my stash so I have no more excuses! LOL

Thanks for waltzing with me. I've really been out of my grove with stamping, but I hope to make some more time this weekend. I need to get my stamps inky. :-)

Waltzingmouse May Blog Waltz

I was very excited to receive my new stamps in time for the blog waltz this month. In honor of the first birthday of Waltzingmouse Stamps, the theme this month is Happy Birthday!

I went to work immediately and created 2 cards, one with a feminine touch and one that would make a good masculine card.

First up is the girlie one. I used stamps from Pic-Nic Patterns, Off Beat Backgrounds, and Fancy Phrases for this. The plaid is made from Summer Sunrise and Hibiscus Burst and I also used Dark Chocolate (PTI) and Shabby Shutters (distress ink).

I went for a clean and simple approach with my next card. I used stamps from Fancy Phrases and Off Beat Backgrounds. The colors used were Dark Chocolate and Ripe Avocado.

I hope you're enjoying the blog waltz. Thanks for stopping by.