Have you ever WRANGLED a ….

HAMSTER? OMG I was starving Tuesday morning. I can only assume it’s from the festivities hubby & I encountered before the work day even started. You may have read that we bought Rheagan a hamster 2 weeks ago. Well guess what? It got out last night, while we were all sleeping. I discovered the missing hamster when Rheagan and I went to feed it that morning. I am pretty sure I am the one who didn't close the lid on the “observation deck” all the way so I felt so bad. We got Rheagan off to school and I spent a lot of time scouring the house thinking we'll find it weeks from now, dead somewhere. Normally I would have stayed home to work in hopes that I’d be sitting there at my home office desk and see the little critter scurry past me but I wanted to go to the office that day because my director was there from California.

I gave up searching and had to finish getting ready for work. With the house for sale I have my jewelry in a hiding place. It’s just my everyday, Chicos/Charming Charlies stuff but our agent advised us to keep it out of site. So I went to grab a necklace and then bent down to get something else in the corner of my closet and there's her 2 eyes staring at me. I reach for her and she zipped away to Bryan's corner of the closet. That’s when we went all McGyver on it.

She had wedged herself behind a huge desk of drawers and kept peeking out so we got some "treats" and pushed it out with a hanger and kept missing her when she would come out. Actually, the first time she ran out so fast, saw us and attempted to put the breaks on but she was still in motion so her front legs stopped and her hind legs came flying up above her head. It’s like a cartoon character you see in a movie. I was sitting on top of Bryan, who was wedged in the corner doing all this and I was back-up in case the hamster zipped past him in an attempt to flee the scene.

Meanwhile Reese is freaking out because she's on the other side of the piles of shoes we've moved to get to this hamster. I pull her over the pile so now there's 3 of us squished in the corner closet.  So we wedged flip flops in the hole behind the dresser after we scooted her out and swept her up but it seriously felt like the hamster olympics or maybe she was just trying to prepare us for the rodeo that’s coming to town this weekend by exposing us to some hamster roping.

We were wiped out but we got her. So to bring it back around I think the adrenaline rush caused me to be hungry by mid-morning. What’s a gal to do?

Check out the round observation deck she escaped from

Some Recent Projects

I've been working on. My new scrapbook nook is really working out well for me. I have gotten so much accomplished since it came to live at my house. I'm still trying to figure out what goes where but I am going to figure that out as I go along. What better way to see what truly works??? So here's a few projects I did this past week.

   

Design Team News

I'm so excited to announce that I was chosen to be on a scrapbooking Design Team.  It was my first try and my goal was to get on to at least one this year.  The site is called Nuts About Sketches and what I love about it is that it offers 2-page, multi photo layouts.  I love all the 1 page sketches but historically I've always done 2 pages.  Of course, if I just feel like doing 1 page I can just choose to do just one half of the sketch. 

New sketches are posted every Monday.  Check it out at http://nutsaboutsketches.blogspot.com/2010/02/new-sketch-team-im-happy-to-announce.html

Join the Message Board and tell them Heather sent you! They have a photogallery, forums and more.  http://nutsaboutsketches.ning.com/

My first layout will be posted March 1.

I Can't Believe We Bought A

Hamster.  My daughter fell in love with the Zhu Zhu pets that she got for Christmas but never showed any interest in a real hamster.  To tell the truth I don't think she knew they existed ... until she went over to her BFF Abbey's house.  Abbey has a tiny little gerbil.  Since then Rheagan would draw pictures of "her" hamster, talk about it, write about it in her books, etc.  So after doing some research and talking to others, we decided to look into getting her a gerbil, not a hamster, for Valentine's Day. 

So we go to the store and you know what?  A gerbil is not a good starter thing for 6 year olds.  We heard all about their biting, the ability to easily squeeze it to death, and the fact that the tail can easily come off if she were to grab it.  I think I threw up in my mouth at that point.  So, we went back and did more research and decided to get her a Black Bear hamster, because of their temperment.  Her name is Stripe because she has a white stripe down her neck.  Rheagan LOVES her.  I hope that doesn't wear off since we were informed it could live a good 6 years.  Holy Moly. 

Rheagan has held it once but loves to pet it.  The hamster tickled her hand with it's claws and that kind of freaked Rheagan out. I know she will get her hands on her once she knows it really doesn't bite.  We've had it for 4 days and has only nipped twice so I think we got a pretty good one.  Now, someone tell me if you can train it to use the potty in a certain place because that thing is going all over her cage, by her food, in her wheel, bleck.  Here's some pics of the little rascal (and her hamster). Click the images for a larger view.

And I just have to include this adorable photo of daddy with his baby girl.

Everything Grows Better with

LOVE.  I had so much fun working on this layout.  I was contacted by a local photographer looking for a baby to model some onsies.  She asked me to snap some photos of Reese's smile.  Here's the layout that tells the rest of the story (click photos to see larger pictures).  I used all CTMH papers, stamps and embellishments (except for the metal accents).  The tree was created with a CTMH stamp set and was inspired by some artwork in a CTMH Idea Book.  I loved it so much I had to scraplift it.  I used CTMH Liquid Glass on all the hearts as well as the dots in the word, "grows".  I think I may go back and add some bottons to some of the circles on the tree to add a little more dimension.

I couldn't find the perfect color of green cardstock that I wanted so I inked it with a rubber brayer until I got it just right.  Then I couldn't find anything in blue with a subtle pattern so stamped some patterns onplain blue cardstock.  I've included a list of supplies I used for this layout below.

CTMH Supplies:

Twitterpated Level 2 Paper Pack - X7118B

Grown with Love My Acrylic Stamp Set - D1372

Extreme Caps My Acrylic Alphabet Stamp Set - D1250

Doodle My Acrylic Alphabet Stamp Set

Spot On My Acrylic Stamp Set - D1280

Boutique Borders My Acrylic Stamp Set - D1332

"Organic" Dimensional Elements in Color - Z1230

Liquid Glass - Z679

3D Foam Tape - Z1151

Tombow Mono Adhesive - 1514

Check out

what my hubby got me!!!!!  I am so excited with this find.  I'm using it as my "Inspiration" center.  I told my Pottery Barn Armoire (PBA) that I still loved it but had to share that love by adding another element to the scrapping dynamic.  The PBA will be home to my tools and things I don't need at my fingertips.  It's just on the other wall so it's no biggie to get to things.  Here's some photos of the new "Inspiration Zone". You can't tell from the photos but it's got a great distressed look. 

Here's what it looks like when not in use:

Now check this out.  The top doors open to the sides and the larger piece pulls down for a larger desktop area.  Look, it's got 15 slots big enough to hold 12 x 12 paper. I've already identified slots for my new paper, online challenges, my baby stuff (I seem to be working on that theme constantly), works in progress (WIP), and layouts that just need a few finishing touches (the perfect title, journaling, etc).  It's got an taller area on the left for my sketch books, magazines, or whatever I decide to use it for.  The right side has 3 shelves.  Another cool thing is that the back part of the unit has built-in pegboard.  I love that I can be mid-way through a project and just close all the doors when not in use.

The lower section has some great drawers too - 3 on the left, one in the middle and another 4 on the right.  I just need to figure out how to make the most of them, since some are hard to access when the desk drawer is down.  I have some ideas already. 

I'm still trying to figure out what goes where so I decided that instead of filling it now I will fill it while I work at it.  I think that will be the most effective way to know what works best and where.  We also got an entertainment center with the same black, distressed finish?  Did I mention that I love these new finds?

Hearts for Haiti

is all about giving but there's an added bonus that you get something in return. Our hearts go out to the victims of the earthquake in Haiti, and helping has never been easier! Throughout February, purchase a 12" × 12" textured cardstock combo pack and you’ll get one free—and with every offer purchased, Close To My Heart will donate $2 US to Operation Smile’s Haiti relief efforts. That means for only $14.95 US, you get two packs of our high-quality textured cardstock and you help this urgent, important cause. 

http://leopard.myctmh.com/