It's Blog Hop Week w/The Twinery & PSA Essentials!

It's a pretty exciting day here at The Open Window!

Day One of the Five-Day Combined Blog Hop with

and

If you arrived here from the

PSA Essentials Stamp Camp blog, 

then you are on the right track for the hop.

If not, head on back to the beginning

of the hop over at The Twinery blog

and get started there.  There are wonderful prizes for

participating each day and you won't want to miss a thing!

Before I get to all the details, here is a little inspiration

using PSA Essentials stamps and a little bit of

baker's twine accents.

I really enjoyed using PSA Essentials for this CAS design.

I played with 'Frenchie' & 'Dare to Dream' sets for this card.

Of course, I love my baker's twine from The Twinery

and the Maraschino was just the right touch here.

For something completely different....

I designed this clean & simple card using stamps from

PSA Essentials 'Mr & Mrs' set.

The Caribbean baker's twine was just the right border here.

Both The Twinery & PSA Essentials are giving discounts

for any purchases made between June 6-10.

When you visit The Twinery's website, just use the

COUPON CODE: PSAHOP15

and receive 15% off your purchase!

When you order from The Lettertree , retailer for PSA Essentials,

you will Automatically receive 30% OFF

your entire purchase!!! (no coupon code needed)

Our twine is made from 100% cotton, 

it's eco-friendly and made in the USA.

Whether you're gift wrapping, crafting or tying up baked goods 

to give to a friend, our baker's twine adds a fresh,
yet nostalgic look to any project at hand! 

Our baker's twine comes in 11 delicious colors
and is uniquely twisted against a bright white hue, 

creating an eye-popping burst of color
and a creative embellishment! 

Our twine has lots of color which lends to a fun, candy-striped look.

 

PSA Essentials manufactures custom,

self-inking stamps (think return address labels.)   

We have patent-pending

Peel & StickT technology which allows you to 

PEEL away your custom stamp and
STICK on a new design, and we have thousands of designs - 

from Holiday, Birthday, Sentiments, and licensed Peanuts, Hello Kitty, U.B.U., Smirk, College & Universities, and Greek Life, making PSA Essentials perfect for crafting! The self-inking stamper (and 22-ink cartridges) give a crisp, clean and consistent impressions every time, 

the technology allows you to interchange your designs quickly for scrapbooking, cardmaking, creating gift tags, bags, wrap, 

making favors and decorations. 

  

Wanna know WHAT YOU could win?

The Twinery is giving away 

Six spools of baker's twine in your choice of colors

(an $84 value)

PSA Essentials is giving away

 One Stamper, 3 Peel & Stick Sets

and a Monogrammed Tote

(Over $100 value)

Wanna know HOW YOU could win?

You will receive an entry for each of the following:

**Visit 5-6 blogs each day on the hop (27 blogs in all = one entry) 

and leave a comment on each blog

You'll have until Sunday, June 12th to complete the hop

**Become a follower of The Twinery

**Become a follower of PSA Essentials Stamp Camp

**Follow The Twinery on Facebook

**Follow PSA Essentials on Facebook  

LOTS of information to get through...phew...

SO GLAD YOU STOPPED BY!! 

Now to get you on your way to the next blog....

it's time to visit the very talented

Tami Mayberry 

'Girly Shoes' Project Recipe:

Cardstock: Bazzill, American Crafts

Stamps: PSA Essentials 'Frenchie' & 'Dare to Dream'

Ink: Momento in Tuxedo Black

Tools:  Spellbinders Scallop Die,

'Hearts 2' Embossing Folder from Sizzix, Big Shot,

Heart to Heart border punch by Martha Stewart

Embellishments: Baker's Twine from The Twinery in 'Maraschino'

Pearls by Bo-Bunny, Recollections

'Mr & Mrs' Project Recipe:

Cardstock: Bazzill, American Crafts

Stamps: PSA Essentials 'Mr & Mrs'

Ink: A Muse Studio in Slate

Tools:  Spellbinders Fancy Tags 2, Big Shot

Embellishments: Baker's Twine from The Twinery in 'Caribbean'

Nestabling by Want 2 Scrap

The Remedy for Love

Gosh....just the idea that someone would need to

look for a remedy for love.....feels a bit sad at first.

It's H{ippity} Hop Monday!

What a terrific way to start the week by 

feeding your creative needs with some

wonderful inspiration by all of the

Ippity chicks and fans listed

on the Ippity Blog.

So.....

What is the remedy for love?

 According to this wonderful quote, it's to 'love more'!

This is such a fun set from Ippity called

'Quotes A'la Happy'

Twenty fun, creative images 

just right for so many occasions.

I have an order going in to Ippity this week

and would LoVe for you to get in on it!

Place an order for this set or any other

Ippity set from my page here and you will

receive 10% off your entire order!

Order $50 or more and get your choice of

one of these stamps free:

You'll find all Ippity sets here!

This offer expires on Sunday, Feb 6th at 11:59pm CST.

One more thing.....

You know I am on the design team for

The Twinery, right?

Well, I wanted to make sure you were aware of

the newest colors which are now available and

are shipping immediately....

Aren't they gorgeous?

One of the most requested colors has been black

and it's now here for you!

I personally LoVe the Honeydew and am really

excited to know mine is on the way!

There's also a very fabby Valentine's giveaway going on

over on The Twinery's blog!

So glad you were able to stop by.

I hope you'll leave me a quick little note to

let me know you were here.

Make sure you stop back later tonight as I will be

announcing the winner of the blog candy from the

'March of the Snowmen' Blog Hop.

Today's Project Recipe:

Cardstock: Bazzill, The Paper Company

Ink: Ranger Archival in Black, Tim Holtz Distress in 'Frayed Burlap'

Stamps:  Ippity 'Quotes A'la Happy'
Die Cut Tools: Cricut 'George & Basic Shapes'

Embellishments:  The Twinery baker's twine in 'Maraschino'
Recollections & K&Co rhinestones

Tools:  Fiskar's Corner Rounder, misc markers

Welcome to The March of the Snowmen Blog Hop!

It's so great to have you visit The Open Window today!

I am an official stop on the....

....and I am very happy to share my little

creation with you

and

give you the opportunity to win some

fabby blog candy along the way!

Did you get here from Joan's blog?

Hope so!  If not, why not pop back to the very

 beginning of the hop here

to start fresh...it's the best way to

not miss a thing!

I really enjoyed making this card because I find once

the holidays are over, I rarely use my snowmen stamps.

The winter season is looooong

and snowmen deserve a little shout out once in awhile!

I used Ippity stamps from 'Kissmas & Mistletoe'.

I am proud to say that this wonderful Ippity set is available

to order on my Ippity page here.

I inked up my little guy using Tim Holtz Distress Inks

variegating between two colors.

I did a tight zig-zag stitch on the machine, but quite

a bit of it is covered with the rest of the elements.

I recently purchased 100 yards

of plain white seam binding to do a little

custom-dying, so I had plenty of white to lend here.

I offered this card on display for the
Stamp With Fun Challenge too!

Now....want to win 

a little blog candy from me?

All you need to do is leave a comment here on my

blog and you just might win!

Of course, I would love for you to become a 

follower here at The Open Window too.

You'll have until 11:59pm EST
Friday, Jan 28th to leave a comment to win.
The random draw will be held during the weekend
and the winner announced on Monday, Jan 31st.

Once you leave here, make sure you hop over

to Kim's blog here......

and if I were you, I'd make sure you stop by

each blog because there's a whole bunch

of blog candy up for grabs.

Here's a list of all the participants in

The March of the Snowmen Blog Hop:

Angella Crockett

Barb Foster

Deb Felts

Holly Brown

Jen Carter

JenMarie Taylor

Joan Ervin

Julie Ranae

(you are here!)

Kim Sears

Laurie Willison

Linda Lucas

Lynn Stevens

Pam Imholz

Patti Gilliam

Sue Pelletier

Stacy Rogers

Melisa Waldorf

Have fun!

Today's Project Recipe:

Cardstock: Bazzill

Designer Paper: DCWV 'The Four Seasons' Stack

Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Inks in 'Faded Denim' & 'Vintage Photo'

Stamps:  Ippity 'Kissmas & Mistletoe'

Embellishments: Recollections pearls & flowers
Prima Crochet Flowers
Seam Binding in Winter White

Tools:  Fiskar's Corner Rounder

Clean and Simple Valentines

I spent a day last week playing around with these very

simple heart shapes, which I created using my Cricut.

I was inspired by an article I saw in the current issue

of Scrapbooks, Etc. and thought I would really

focus on CAS.

There really aren't many details to share.

It's all pretty self-explanatory, so I'll just share them with you.

I will mention that I find one of the easiest ways to

dress up a simple card is to add rhinestones and pearls.

I love textured cardstock...it always seems so much richer.

I have always loved this little sentiment from the

classic PSX rubber stamp company.

I have been hanging on to this one sheet of paper from

Sassafrass Lass for the longest time.

All of the hearts for these cards were cut from 

that single 12x12 sheet.

So glad you took a moment to stop by.

I am planning taking another inspiration from that same

issue to help my grandson create Valentine's

for his 2nd grade class.

He's coming over for the day tomorrow, so we

will be creating and I hope to share those

photos with you soon.

Hey....one more thing!

Hope you will mark your calendar as I

have been invited to participate with a very

talented group of ladies for the....

Today's Project Recipe:

Cardstock: Bazzill

Designer Paper: Sassasfrass Lass

Ink:  Versamark,Tim Holtz Distress Inks

Stamps:  Ippity, Unity, PSX, Studio G

Die Cut/Embossing Templates:  Cuttlebug 'Swiss Dot' EF

Cricut 'George & Basic Shapes',

Embellishments: Recollections rhinestones & pearls

Tools:  Fiskar's Corner Rounder

Joyeux Noel

OK...so not only am I on the

'Christmas card designing' track, but

apparently I am loving all the bling that

can be used to really take it to another level!

When I saw the finale challenge for EBTKS,

I knew I had to put my newest acquisition to use.

TEXTURES!!!

I love the new 'Snowflake Impressabilities' from

Spellbinders.  I used it with Coordinations cardstock, so when

I sanded it, I got this great teal-y green affect.

Kind of reminds me of a velvet embossed sofa!

 I then took my terrific Prima Poinsettias and sprayed

them with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in

Bazzill Navajo, which I believe was a limited edition color.

The beautiful top card is from Fancy Pants Design.

I embellished with teardrop rhinestones and a

gigantic pearl center.  The black diamond

rhinestone flourish is from Prima as well.

The simple sentiment is from The Paper Company.

I am also offering this card over at 

Simon Says Stamp & Show ~ Holiday Greeting
There She Goes Challenge ~ Bring on the Bling

Well...I am off to make a few more things.
I am feeling a bit 'crafty' tonight.

A Bird on a Wire...Birdcage, that is....

I really enjoyed working on this challenge and have a

feeling it won't be my last.  I am a big believer in

Etsy, and of course, I have my own little shop over there...

...and that's why I think you will be seeing more

creations from me which support

The Etsy-Inspired Challenge.

Our inspiration came from

Sunshyne Silverwear.

This shop features wonderfully creative

pendants from recycled spoons.

We could choose any of the pieces that inspired us

and I could not resist this fabulous birdcage image.

I have been 'collecting' birdcage-related images

for awhile now, so I could have gone a number of

directions.  I chose to use this beautifully

crocheted birdcage from Webster's Pages.

The sentiment and the tiny bird on a branch are

rub-ons from Rhonna Farrer.  I used pearls in

matching colors to the cardstock, which is Bazzill.

My old friend Claudine Hellmuth is sponsoring this week's

challenge over there, so I hope you will stop by and

take a look at what other's have created for the challenge.

Is it Really Summer?

Many Northern Illinoisans are asking themselves that very question...it's only 61 degrees here...and it's rainy...and there are supposed to be thunderstorms coming, but at that temp, I don't know how.

So my trip to the Chicago suburbs yesterday was a nice day out. I spent time at the Archivers store and managed to get quite a bit of work done on some projects for my Etsy store. Of course, the first hour was spent shopping. I managed to come home with lots of decorative papers, some Bazzill Basics cardstock, althought the store informed me that they will not be stocking that brand any longer, but she couldn't tell me what brand they would have in the future. I also brought home a bunch of new clear stamps, a Penny Black wood-mount Christmas Ornament stamp that I got for 75% off and some storage solutions for my clear stamps. So all in all, a very good day!

As for Paul's interview, time will tell. But for now he is happy being a merchandising manager for Barnes & Noble. He's a book hound, so he makes a great bookseller.

So how has your day been? I have been multi-tasking today. I am working on getting some of those stamps organized in my new cases, working on cards for Etsy and taking care of basic household chores. Do you find it difficult to balance your creative time with everyday life? I would encourage you to take what time you can, even if it's just a little bit and do something creative. I would love to hear what you did today!

Away for the Day

Thought I would post a quick note to you tonight as I will be away from home for a better part of the day on Tuesday. My husband Paul has to go into the Chicago 'burbs' to talk with management regarding a major promotion, so I am going to tag along.

Actually, I will be spending my morning at the Archiver's Store using their workroom to catch up on some little projects. We do not have that store in our area, so I always like to stop when there is one on my travels. If you've never been to Archiver's, it's a paradise for stampers and scrapbookers. My favorite purchase is always Bazzill Basics cardstock and background papers, so when I get home late tomorrow afternoon, I will share with the class the treasures I find.

Before I forget....I opened my Etsy store today! YAY! So I hope you will click on the link at the left and take a look at the cards for sale. Many of them have been favorites on this blog, so now would be your opportunity to get one for yourself....and if you would, please let your friends know, too. I would soooo appreciate it!

Hope you have a great day....OH! The photo for today is just to inspire you to be creative. Those cards were produced over the course of time using a variety of techniques. Maybe today would be a good day to pick your favorite technique and run with it!