You Make my World Go 'Round

Are you ready for a really fun color combo ?

It's time for this week's new challenge from

I really love this graphic... L.O.V.E. I.T.  ! ! !

This week, I got to play with a new 'Pinwheels' stamp set & brads

from Close to my Heart which also happens

to be this week's prize.

I grabbed inks to match the color combo and got to work.

When you see the stamp set, you'll see how easy it was to

do this card.  Simple layers.

This week's sponsor is

Elizabeth Mindemann

I really hope you'll come by The Cafe, check out

all of the amazing projects from our team and play along !

Great to see you here ... please say hello before you go !

Project Recipe:

Cardstock: dot embossed by Bazzill

Stamps: Pinwheels from Close to my Heart

Inks: A Muse Studio 

Embellishments: pearl brad from Close to my Heart

 

Heartfelt Thanks!

I'm so glad you stopped by today.

I am happy to share a colorful card with you today

to say 'Thank You' to teachers everywhere !

Yes . . . The Twinery is sharing all kinds of crafting goodness

this week in honor of educators.  

 

Our design team will be

sharing both cards & gifts using fun & fabulous baker's twine

in hopes of inspiring you to create something for the teacher in your life.

With four grandsons ranging from 4th grade to pre-school, I have had

the pleasure of making cards for their teachers for Christmas

 and the end of the school year.

I am definitely a card maker at heart & did I have fun putting

this card together !  I created the tag first and layered from there.

Both the tag & card base have washi tape from Freckled Fawn.

These alphabets remind me so much of grade school

[which was WAY too long ago]

I love putting a whole bunch of baker's twine together for

a tag 'tassel' and for this one, I used:

Charcoal, Mandarin, Buttercream, Marigold and the brand new

Rainbow Teal Shimmer.

All of these can be found over in The Twinery Store.

I used stickers from SRM for the sentiment & fun polka dots,

a fun pencil embellishment (which I've had for years)

and the flower is from Prima.

 

I hope you will stop by The Twinery blog this week and enjoy

the projects our talented designers have to share.

 

Thanks so much for stopping by today !

 

 

Project Recipe:

Cardstock: Bazzill

Embellishments: washi tape from Freckled Fawn,

pencil button by Dress it Up, stickers from SRM Stickers

flower from Prima, all baker's twine from The Twinery

Zva Creative April Design Team Blog Hop

Zva Creative and my fellow Design Team members welcome you to our April blog hop! We are excited about month's hop and look forward to sharing our new work with you!

Today's Blog Hop begins at Zva Creative's Facebook Page! Be sure head on over to check it out! You will also find a complete list of all the participating blogs there (in case there is a glitch along the way). 

As you know, Zva offers many beautiful color groupings for pearls, flowers and crystals.  If you like what you see along the hop you can find a list of stores and online retailers that sell Zva HERE.

Today I am featuring Zva's brand new red crystal flourishes
and mini-gem flowers.
I've had a beautiful project-life 'style' paper pack
from Recollections that I have been looking forward
to breaking into.  It's called 'Beautiful Life'
and I thought it worked perfectly with this flourish.
I simply layered each piece of cardstock, added
the journal card & added my gems.
The mini white roses are also from Zva.

If you would like to play along with our design team, just follow along the blog path.  I am linking to one of the Zva designers and that designer is linking to the next and so on. Be prepared to be inspired along the way!

The Blog Hop starts today, April 29^th and runs through midnight US Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday, April 30^th 

***Prizes***

Hidden on FIVE of the designer's blogs is a 

Zva Creative prize package! 

Winners will be randomly chosen after the hop is over. All you need to do is leave a comment on this Blog Hop post... you do not need to leave a comment on each and every designer's blog post to qualify. 

However, the more times you comment along the blog hop path, 

the more chances you will have to win.

The 5 winners will be announced on Wednesday, May 1st

on Zva Creative's Facebook Page.  

We will do our best to notify each winner, but it's best if you can pop in to Zva's blog on Wednesday to see if you are a winner!

We also thought it would be more fun to add even more chances to win our blog hop prize!  To increase your chances of winning:

* Comment to let us know that you posted on your Facebook page about our hop (link to any of the blog hop posts)

* Comment to let us know that you "tweeted" about our hop 

(link to any of the blog hop posts)

* Comment to let us know that you asked your local store to carry Zva creative products.  If they already do, that's fantastic, maybe you can suggest other products that they don't carry.

*Hop over to Zva's facebook page and "like" our page or leave a comment there to tell us that you stopped by if you already like follow us there!

Mark your calendar to join us again on 

May 27^th for our next Zva blog hop!

 The blog hop begins at the Zva Creative FB Page

Your next stop is Nicole Martel's blog

Project Recipe:

Cardstock: Patina flower embossed by Bazzill
Patterned Paper: Beautiful Life by Recollections

Embellishments: red gems flourish {CR-06CA-107}
mini flower gems {CRW-06CA-153}
mini flowers in white {FLBK-03CB-101}

from Zva Creative

You Are Never Alone

Happy Sunday !

I'm just popping in today with a card I recently made

to { hopefully } bring a smile to my mom.

I recently shared that she was diagnosed with lung cancer

and while she is going through treatment, I want to

make sure she knows how much I love her

and admire her strength.

 

She does read my blog from time to time, so hopefully

she will not 'peek in' for a few days so I can

make sure this card gets to her : )

 My mom has loved gardening since I was in high school.

She turned most of our backyard into the most

beautiful flower garden over 30 years ago and to this day, still has

the most beautiful blooms from Spring to Fall around

her entire condo.

 

I recently picked up these fabby vellum pages by Heidi Grace

and was so anxious to use them.

I used my Lacey Circle die from Spellbinders to create the frame

and placed it on top of yellow cardstock so the design

would stand out more.

I also created the base using the Swiss Dot EF from Cuttlebug.

The sentiment is from a beautiful set called 'Inspired by Audrey'

designed by Karen Baker for The Craft's Meow.

I simply embellished the flowers & umbrella with pearls & gems.

It's important she knows this sentiment is true and I hope

she enjoys it once she receives it.

 

Don't forget. . .

There's a terrific color challenge going on over at

 

Thanks so much for stopping by today.

I'll be back on Monday with a very special event

with The Twinery and Imaginisce !

Project Recipe:

 Cardstock: Recollections & Bazzill

Vellum: Sunshowers Quotes by Heidi Grace
Stamps: Inspired by Audrey by The Craft's Meow

Tools:  Lacey Circles die by Spellbinders

Lg Swiss Dot EF by Cuttlebug, Big Shot Embellishments: gems from K&Company

pearls from Recollections

New Beginnings with The Craft's Meow

To visit my post for The Twinery
Please scroll down
or click here

Welcome back to The Open Window

I am really excited to share today's preview from

It's New Release Week and today's set is simply  . . .

' sweet '

It's called 'Easter Blessings'

designed by Karen Baker

Nothing says 'New Beginnings' to me like Dogwood blooms.

I couldn't resist these from Martha Stewart and thought they

were the perfect addition to these sweet little animals from TCM.

Once I inked each stamp, I pressed it on scrap first so I could

create a simple ' shadow ' of each creature.

The inks were from A Muse Studio.

Although it's not as visible in the photos, I embossed

the beautiful cardstock from Bazzill using the

' Stylized Flowers ' EF from Cuttlebug.

The ribbon is also from Martha Stewart.

How would you like a chance to win this set ?

All you have to do is stop by the TCM blog and leave a note

to say you stopped by for a visit.

Each day of the previews will bring another set up for grabs.

You have until 8pm PST, February 19th to comment to be eligible.

Thanks so much for coming by.
I would love to hear from you and I'll keep my fingers crossed
that YOU win this beautiful set.
Just in case, make sure you put it on your ' must have ' list !

Project Recipe:

 Cardstock: Berrylicious by Bazzill
Stamps: Easter Blessings by The Craft's Meow

Ink: Slate, Papaya & Latte from A Muse Studio
Tools: Stylized Flowers EF by Cuttlebug, Big Shot
Embellishments: Dogwood stickers & Vintage ribbon
both from Martha Stewart

Honored to be Guest Designing with . . .

Surprise !

It's usually pretty quite here at The Open Window during

the weekend, but I have some very special posts I'll be sharing

with you over the next few days.

I'm honored to be a Guest Designer over at

and it's Release Week with brand new stamp sets

that I absolutely adore !

Today, I am sharing a card I made using a new set called

'Lots of Love'

Another Clean & Simple design for me.

I used my Heart border punch from Martha Stewart

and glued a few of the tiny heart punch-outs

next to the sentiment.

This card would also be great using each one

of the three heart images too.

Here is a look at the set I played with . . .

It's absolutely terrific !

I hope you will make a visit over to the

Avery Elle blog

and tell them I said hello !

I'll be sharing more fun cards over the next few days,

so I hope you'll stop by again.

Project Recipe:

Cardstock: Bazzill
Stamps: Lots of Love by Avery Elle

Tools: heart to heart border punch by Martha Stewart

Holiday Inspiration with The Craft's Meow

Happy Monday !

It's hard to believe the holidays are upon us, but they most

definitely are on the way.

Today, the designers of

are coming together for a

Holiday Card Blog Hop

to inspire YOU this season !

All of the seasonal sets being featured are

on sale 15% off through this Thursday!

If you came by way of my very talented friend

Jessica blog iEmbellish

you are right where you should be to be

eligible to win a TCM stamp set of your choice !

If you just happened to swing by, I'd love to invite you back to

The Craft's Meow Blog

to start there.  When you do, just leave a comment and

YOU could win !

This is one of my favorite sets from TCM called 

'Warm Winter Wishes'.  It's a great set for paper-piecing.

The paper is from Recollections with the scarf & mittens adorned with

baker's twine in Ocean & Honeydew from The Twinery.

I am loving these colors for the winter season !

On a completely different note . . .

'Holiday Foundations' is an absolutely aMAZing set with so many great possibilities.

This CAS card was easy-peasy and could be done in varied colors.

Here are the sets I featured today

 

To be eligible to win a set of your choice, just make sure

you visit the blogs on the hop and leave a comment over

on the TCM blog by 9pm PST, Wednesday Nov 14th

It's time to send you on your way to my friend

Karen blog The Bald Dragonfly

So glad you stopped by !

You Warm my Heart Project Recipe:

Cardstock: Bazzill

Patterned Paper: Jolly & Bright by Recollections
Stamps: Warm Winter Wishes by The Craft's Meow

Embellishments: baker's twine in Ocean & Honeydew from The Twinery

Stardust Stickles by Ranger, gems from A Muse Studio

 

 

Happy Holidays Project Recipe:

 Cardstock: Bazzill & Recollections
Stamps: Holiday Foundations by The Craft's Meow

Ink: Cherry & Grass from A Muse Studio 

Embellishments: gems from K&Company

 

 

Shades of Purple

It's so great to back at The Open Window.

Paul and I celebrated our 21st anniversary last week,

so he took four days off from B&N and spent lots of

time together just hanging out.

Today, I am back with another great challenge from

I love these different shades we are calling

Plum ... Fuchsia ... Wisteria

I created this very CAS card using stamps from The Craft's Meow.

For each ink or leaf I stamped, I also 'shadow' stamped without

re-inking the image.  It created more depth.

I used Memento inks for the three shades and done !

The gems added a little texture.

We are always happy when our friends from

come by and offer their terrific prize !

I really hope you'll take the challenge this week.

Our design team knocked it out of the park with their

very creative projects, so make sure

you come, take a peek and play !

Before I go, thought I would share a few of the photos

Paul and I took during our anniversary date.

We make sure to visit our local apple orchard

every fall for lunch and this was a great day to do it.

We have the same 'fare' every season . . .

Paul is finishing up a slice of hot apple pie with ice cream

which always tastes great with a hot cup of coffee

Paul loves to sample apples in the apple barn.  There are

two dozen apple cider donuts and some fresh peanut brittle

in the basket.  We did share a dozen of those donuts with

our daughter and grandsons!

Here is a quick trip down memory lane . . .

 

We met here in the states in 1989

fell in love and got married in 1991 ...

and we're as happy as ever 21 years later ...

Thanks so much for stopping by today . . .

I always appreciate your visits!

Project Recipe:

Cardstock: Bazzill in Avalanche
Stamps: Golden Days by The Craft's Meow

Ink: Memento in Sweet Plum, Lilac Posies, Grape Jelly & Tuxedo Black

by Tsukineko

Tools: corner rounder punch by Fiskars 

Embellishments: gems from Want2Scrap

 

 

Celebrate!

It is Monday indeed and time for this week's

If you are hopping with us, you will have come by way of

Judith's blog Jay Gee's Nook

If not, it's only a few steps back to join us from the start at the

EAD Designs blog

Last week, the sad announcement was made that EAD

would be closing their 'web' doors this month.

I will miss my Monday visits via our blog hop  : (

This is such a fun, geometric Stickerz set from EAD called

'Your Birthday'

I love the idea of bold, black graphics with red, don't you ?

I kept this really clean and SIMPLE for sure, as I used

Bazzill's swiss dot cardstock, so no embossing for me !

I embellished with the additional gems and that's it !

I also used this set on my Halloween card a couple

weeks ago and thought I would share it here, just in

case you missed it.  I love the 'bubbles' !

You can read all about it HERE

Here is the terrific set I used

 

It's time to send you on your way to

Liz's blog Liz's Paper Loft

I hope you enjoyed your visit and I hope

you'll stop by again soon

Project Recipe:

Cardstock: Gina K Designs & Bazzill

Embellishments: Your Birthday Stickerz by EAD Designs

gems by Recollections