break time

Every few months or so I get the burnout feeling that keeps me from really enjoying my time blogging, checking out inspiring sites, etc. I get a feeling like I'm standing in the middle of a noisy room. It's a point of saturation and I've reached it today. Add to that, the fact that I have a lot of work to tackle and I have the perfect recipe for an easy decision—I need to take a break.

I was going to give you a date of when I'd be back but I'm going to let things develop as they should. When I feel ready I'll be back. No use in putting an artificial timeline on that, right?

In the meantime, I will post shop updates on my A Little Hut Facebook page and send out a newsletter  or two (sign up here). Friday freebies will also be continuing.

I hope you all stay well and I'll catch you when I get back. Be well!

owl wall art

These little guys have been waiting on the sidelines for a while. I hadn't shown them yet because the more graphic simplistic owl was looking rather grim and scary. He didn't look friendly and that wasn't working with me—but the Owl Wall Art set is now complete and I love it!

It was a difficult illustration because I kept wanting to stay away from the cartoony owls and make one more realistic but that still look approachable. I think I still ended up on the more fun side of this which is a bit ironic since I did take off from actual National Geographic type photographs.

My goal with this set was to keep the same look and feel as the Cardinal Wall Art. I want anyone that has the first set to feel like this second one falls in line. I'm thinking this is going to become a collection of sorts. A Little Hut birds or animals? Oh I know the A Little Hut Zoo! Yes!

So... which bird should come next?

After all the reds, pinks and hearts floating around here lately this is such a welcome change isn't it?

Happy Thursday everyone!

• • •

PS - I talked a bit about something that I'm asked about a lot on my Facebook page. In case you haven't read it check it out here.

simple monday - trying to go further

Saturday night we had some of our son's friends over to celebrate his birthday. More than a party it was a "hang out", which is the way they put it. Needless to say having five rowdy 12 and 13 year olds that were deeply involved in their fun left me with a bit of unexpected crafty time (our DD was having some daughter-dad time).

I used some of the parts of my Hearts Gift Set to make a couple of cards that are a bit out of my comfort zone. I'm not used to layering, adding glitter and texture all in one—like the card on the right.

Card on the right
- The white piece of paper right behind the flower is a larger version of the slide with the ribbon holes cut off.
- I used Stickles stardust glitter glue on all the hearts

Card on the left
- You may not be able to tell from this photo but the heart is being held by a mini-wooden clothespin

And that's all I had time for—but some time with paper is better than none, right?

Happy Monday!

hearts + news

Happy Friday everyone!
It's been a long week. I think it's a combination of back-to-school routine with my new idea of getting up early every week day—and I'm talking 4am early. As I've mentioned before I'm going to be exhibiting in Surtex in May (booth 664—I know you're going to get tired of this!!) so I'm squeezing that in alongside my A Little Hut projects. I've decided to use the early morning strategy that I used when I wrote the manuscript for my book way back when. There's just something about the early morning darkness and quiet that gets me really going. The good news is that it's working. I'm getting a lot done!



So here's the new Hearts Gift Set! It's completely inspired by my Wreath Gift Set—can you tell? I just love the combination of a pretty shape with a bit of 3D involved. It takes it to the next level.

Cut the Hearts Wreath and/or the Hearts Flower below really big and use it as beautiful gift toppers!



News
- Many of you know that I contribute some work to the Silhouette shop. I will continue to do so but I've decided that I will no longer break up my sets and post them there. I will only be adding single images that I have on my site and that are not part of any of my current sets. This will make it easier for you to know what will be posted and what will not.

- For those of you that have asked about Studio files—I can't offer them because Silhouette does not allow anyone to sell files with that format.

- Videos are coming! I stopped making them simply because our camera had died and we finally, FINALLY got it fixed. I'm so happy about that! I'm excited about the ideas that I have in mind. They will be very simple videos but I hope they will give you more creative ideas of how to use my files.

• • •

Friday Tidbits
- I had skipped out on visiting Print & Pattern for so long but I'm definitely back. Always such an inspiration. It was so nice to see a bit of my work included in the Holiday Round Up post!
- Who's keeping an eye out for new products being shown at CHA this weekend? I am! I'd love to go one day. In the meantime I catch a lot of the action through Twitter using the #CHAshow and #CHA2013 tags.

Have a wonderful weekend!

thirteen

Today my heart feels like this heart flower—all aflutter! My little (now big!) D is 13 today and reminding me constantly that "your little boy is now a teenager"—ackk!! Where did the time go?

Happy birthday my sweet boy! You're the sweetest. I love you.

(Pictured: a little preview of what's coming tomorrow! Weee!)

simple monday: start with a smile

Let us always meet each other with a smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.
- Mother Teresa

• • •

The Christmas decorations are put away and the kids are in school. Today is the first day of the year where I'm all work and no play (although that's relative when your work is fun!).

Happy Monday!

(Card: Heart Clips and Heart U)

ready, set...

Happy New Year!

Just a quick hello... We had a great holiday weekend and have been relaxing all week. The kids are in serious denial that they'll be back in school in just a few days. It's been fun having them home.

I'm feeling so excited for what awaits this new year! A lot of work is on my plate already but I'm really looking forward to it.

In the meantime I managed to squeeze in a couple of new projects—Blooming Hearts and Heart Clips. I thought that the hearts lace on the card where going to be too small or detailed to be workable but it cut beautifully. Love it!

I hope you're all enjoying the new year and looking forward to having a creative year.

Now to get some yummy soup on the stove!