I'm Joining The Craft's Meow Team!

Do I have some pretty fantastic news to share!!!

I am thrilled to announce that I have been asked

to be the newest member of 

The Craft's Meow Design Team

as a 

Designer 

and

Newsletter Editor.

I absolutely adore Lisa Hjulberg and when she

asked if I would be interested in taking the position

as the newsletter editor, 

she didn't have to ask me twice!

If you have visited my blog for any length of time,

you will probably know that in my other life, I was

a copy writer & show producer for affiliate & public television.

I published my own store store newsletter

that was sent to over 1000 customers monthly

and have written dozens of articles for trade publications

in the rubber stamp industry.

I have a real passion for creative writing as well, so I

feel like it's a match made in stamping heaven!

I love the set of 'Timeless Tags' from The Craft's Meow

and felt this one best shares how I feel about Lisa

giving me this opportunity!

I look forward to all that is to come designing with the

extremely talented 

and 

creative designers

from

The Craft's Meow!

Today's Project Recipe:

Designer Paper: 'Emma's Shoppe' by Crate Paper,
'Dots & Stripes' by Echo Park 
Stamps: 'Timeless Tags' by The Craft's Meow 
Tools:  Spellbinders Grommet Tag Dies, Big Shot

Border punch by Fiskars

Embellishments: Pearl Brads, Crochet & Paper Flowers by Recollections

Design Team News to Share & More!

Talk about some FanTABulous news!

I received an email last Monday with an
invitation to join the new Design Team for

I have been playing with their  

wonderful baker's twine 
over the past month or so and
am in love with the colors and quality.
I am looking forward to working with a variety
of crafters including home decorators, party planners,
sewers and of course, paper crafters.
So stay tuned...we're going to have fun together!

I have been trying for a few weeks now to play
in a new challenge that has been started by my
friend Mona...but CrAzY life keeps gettin' in the way.
Well...not this week!  Well...barely...

Mona uses the beautiful color stories from
everyone's favorite 'A Creative Mint' and
this is a lovely combo indeed.

I have been making cards all week long for a
special project that I am raising money for and
this little collection is part of my week.
Very simply....K&Company paper,
Hero Arts greetings and the
small Spellbinders scalloped die.
A few simple embellishment details
are the finishing touches.

Here is a close up of two of the cards.

So that's it for today....sorry to be brief but I promise
next week will be fun.

This coming week is
'Player Appreciation Week'
in The Play Date Cafe.

We will have

Three Brand New Sponsors

to share with you.  It's going to be a lot of fun!!!

Sharing with You, My Friends....

Are these lanterns not beautiful???!!!

We are going in to the deep of autumn on

our way to 'you know where' and when I

chose these colors, I thought how perfect

they would be to create something with

soft tones as a contrast.

Of course, you recognize this graphic as our

next challenge at The Play Date Cafe.

I am very excited that my old 'boss'

(and I mean that old as in 'previous'  : )

Jennie from The Artistic Stamper

is our sponsor AND guest designer!

Spending time on their DT was so much 

fun and her stamps are UNbelievable!

I love this UK company and you will too.

Can I just say on another note...sort of....

I love my design team at The PDCC...

I say that very thoughtfully because without them,

this challenge would not exist.

Yes, the team goes through a transformation

every six months or so, but it's the 

'team factor'

that I am speaking of.

Long story short as I share....

My family is going through a very difficult time

right now...it began on Tuesday, my 19th wedding anniversary

to the love of my life, Paul which we share

with my middle grandson Caleb, who celebrated

his birthday number five!

It's a part of real life that can't just go away.

I wish I could share more, but it's just not possible.

For those of you who are 'pray-ers', 

I covet your prayers.  

Your kind thoughts and virtual hugs are

very sustaining.

Blogging is like no other medium.

To run a challenge and not have the strength

to create a project is tough, but with the

support of my team and your gracious understanding,

next week can be another story....

and I thank you for that.

Memories of Childhood & Rearranging Furniture

Before I get started, I just want to mention that I have

been going through some changes with my blog this

past week and hopefully 

one or two of you have noticed  : )

As I continue to go through the process, I ask that

you will bear with me as I 'rearrange the furniture'

around here.  I have a long way to go, but I 

know it will be worth the work in the end.

Ok....I am happy to be the color host for this week's

Play Date Cafe Challenge.  One of the perks of

being on the senior design team is that we get

to choose our own 'color story' to share.

If you have been following or playing with us over

there, you will see that each one of us has a

very unique style, some might say

'identifiable'.

This color combination has been one of my

favorites since I was in grade school.  I remember

finding these 4 crayons in the box and scribbling them

all over the paper.  I LoVeD it!

Thanks to Marthastewart.com, I get to share

them with you this week : )

I picked up these stamps from Imaginisce last week

and thought they were perfect for this color combo.

Who doesn't think 'french poodle' when you think pink!

(OK...whose now willing to admit that?)

All I had to do was add some bling in the form of

pearls and rhinestones and we're in business.

I used Spellbinders & Cuttlebug label dies

for my layering and wha-la!

Hey....recognize this logo?

I am very excited to share with you that

Ashley Cannon Newell

is our Celebrity Guest Designer

this week over in The Cafe.

Ashley is one of today's most celebrated

paper crafters having many of her cards

published in a number of magazines.

She has recently launched her own

E-zine called 'Embellish Magazine' and it

is FaBuLoUs!

Make sure you stop by The Cafe and read her

paper crafting journey (well, a small portion of it)

and then make sure you check out this fabulous,

new online publication.

I am so glad to be back with you here at

The Open Window...I've missed you.

Any chance....you've missed me?  : )

What A Stash & Julie Ranae's Thursday Night Favs!...scroll down for AI Blog Hop

What an absolutely busy week this has been here at The Open Window. I don't know if you could 'sense' the activity, but I am here to tell you that between my new design team features, the AI blog hop and even MORE news that will be coming in the next day or so,
it's been crazy busy.
But I wouldn't have it any other way!

So what are these photos about? A couple of days ago I received the other half of my birthday gift from dear Sarah in the UK and each of these photos show those lovely surprises. Above is a stash of wonderful bits and embellishments. Those long 'wooden-looking' strips you to see at the right are 'Cracker Snaps' that I asked Sarah to look for. I want to make and teach how to make authentic-style British 'Christmas Crackers' this season. Although we have a fair amount of Peel-Offs to choose from here in the US, it does not compare to the UK and Sarah knows I love them!

This lovely stamp set above came as a surprise gift from Jill Tuck at The Stampman in Yorkshire. When I had my store, I was the only US distributor of 'Aspects of Design' when Jill first released her line. Aren't they stunning?!
Can't wait to use them.

Now...this was just the best surprise of all! When I unwrapped this little package, I did a happy dance. This Pandora-style bracelet came from one of my favorite department stores in England, John Lewis'. Look at that clasp...seriously! The theme is handbags, which couldn't be more appropriate! I think on my last trip to see Paul's mum, I brought home 3 new purses and a fab coin purse,
so this bracelet is just the perfect fit!

Thank you for indulging me as I share those wonderful gifts. I know as creative people, it's fun to see the 'stamp stash' of others. As Sarah and I trade stashes all the time, you will undoubtedly see more. Get to know Sarah even more in the next post down. She was today's feature designer for The Play Date Cafe Challenge!

On to my newest favorites....I have two for you tonight that I have been dying to share, but the past couple of weeks have just not allowed me to get the proper time to do so. So let's go!

Have you been to A Vintage Chic? Go....now...just go,
but make sure you come back.
Julie is your host of this lovely, lovely blog. The projects that are featured here are photographed so well and the snapshots of the California landscape where she resides is absolutely stunning.
When you do stop by, make sure you tell her hello from me.

My next new favorite...I am not even sure how to describe it other than to use the word 'darling'. Do people still use that to describe the sweet things of life. Alice's Little Wonderland is a precious blog that makes you just take a breath and relax. Her designs are sweet and her dialogue is descriptive. This is one of those blogs that just makes me smile, and I think you will smile, too.

I hope you have a chance to visit these special places.
Stop by tomorrow because we are finishing our design team feature as I share a little more about myself,
as the final designer.
I promise I will share things that you
still don't know about me.