Taking on a Challenge...or Two...or Three?

It's Wednesday....a full week into the month of 

December and it's gone by quickly, hasn't it?!

I have been 'hooked' on making Christmas cards

this year.  I don't know if it's because I stocked up

on sooooo many of the new holiday collections

this past fall or what?!

I just know that I am going to be offering most of

my new cards in my Etsy shop because I will have

an abundance!

I have My Mind's Eye and Fancy Pants Designs to thank

for parts of this elegant greeting.  I embellished a bit with

lots of bling

from The Paper Studio, Recollections and Stickles.

Oh...that punch on the blue panel?

It's a cool 'Radiant Circle' from EK Success.

I just randomly punched it and I think it added

a lot of depth, don't you?

I thought I would offer these to the following challenges:

There She Goes #84 ~ Bring on the Bling

City Crafter #34 ~ Let it Snow
Sunday Stampers #132 ~ Wonderful Christmastime

Little Red Wagon #58 ~ Use a Die Cut
Simon Says Stamp & Show ~ Holiday Greeting

I LoVe this quote and I LoVe this card

from Fancy Pants Designs 'Christmas Magic'

Collection.  I find all of their cards so versatile.

The DP on the base is from the 'Merry Days of Christmas'

Collection and the holly die cut is from 'Holly Jolly' set

both from My Mind's Eye.

I am a huge fan of those very 'luxe' sequins that I find

in the $1.99 bins at Archiver's, so the last time I was

there, I picked up several colors.  They made

terrific berries for the holly.

It's not as easy to see, but I added

stardust Stickles around the edges of the

holly and on the card around the heart gem.

I love that this card fits these FAB challenges:

The Color Throwdown #122

The Color Dare #88

Red, Olive, Neutral of Choice

There She Goes #84

Bring on the Bling

So happy to have had a chance to share these with

you today!  I will be back at midnight tonight with a

fab new challenge from 

See you soon!

Gift Tags Galore!

One of the things I enjoy making at Christmas time,

more than anything else

is gift tags...but not just plain jane tags.

I think all these tags qualify for CAS until you start

adding embellishments, which I love to do!

Die cut tags using Spellbinders Labels Four,

layered with a variety of designer papers from

Memory Box and K&Co.

The focal point sentiments for each of these are vinyl

'Stickerz' from EAD Designs.

Add pearls, gold twine and silk ribbon and there you go!

I am entering my set of tags above

for the Scrappy Saturday Challenge

featuring one of my favorite Christmas songs,

'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas'

I made another set of tags using a wonderful rubber stamp

image from Memory Box.  I used a paper-piecing method

with the holly and added fabby pearls for the berries.

The holly is actually placed with 3-D tape for a

dimensional affect.

I am entering this set of tags over at

Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge

and

Little Red Wagon Challenge #57

and

Sunday Stampers #132

Last but not least, another batch of tags

featuring EAD Designs 'Stickerz'...

Love the 'retro feel' to these ornaments.

I dressed them up a bit with Stickles in platinum

(which is my FAVORITE color)

and a lovely rhinestone for the center.

The stamped sentiment is from The Paper Company.

All of the tags in this post have been shaded on the edges

with Tim Holtz Distress Ink.  It adds depth and gives a

vintage-feel to paper projects.

Hope you enjoyed these fun little projects!

One more thing....

Monique Hanson, my design team-mate at The Twinery

and author of the blog, For the Love of Paper, honored

me with a sweet blog award today.

I thank her for thinking of me and I appreciate her

being a follower here at The Open Window.

I am going to 'cop out' a bit on the sharing the

personal things that most awards require, but only

because I just shared some pretty fun and in some

cases, surprising things in my interview with Ippity.

So if you have a moment, I would love if you

would click here and check out some fun facts

about Julie Ranae.

I didn't 'cop out' completely....Thanks again Monique!

A Little Creativity to Tie Me Over...

Been doing a little 'workin' for the weekend'

on some cards this week.

I have a wedding to attend in which my daughter

is a bridesmaid (for the first time) and her son,

my 7 year old grandson, is the ring bearer.

I can hardly wait!

So I am pretty sure that my weekend will be nearly

gone before I can get back to a little creative time.

So here are some cards I made

for a couple of challenges.

This first one is for the

Cupcake Inspiration Challenge #61
over at Hope Stamps Eternal.

Monochrome and polka dots

and above all else, cupcakes  : )

This next card is for two challenges....

Challenge #31 - Alter an Embellishment

CAS-tastic challenge #6 - Focus on Sentiment

Both of these challenges focus on the

sentiment for this card.

I took a 'rub-on' embellishment

from Rhonna Farrer then:

'aged' it with ink, 

added rhinestones to the letters

and added ribbon tabs.

Hope you enjoyed these two little creations.

I will have a couple more to share with you tomorrow.

Before I go....here's what I would LOVE to know...

WHAT ARE YOUR

CREATIVE PLANS
FOR THE WEEKEND?

Please leave a comment and let me know.

It's always fun to know what you are up to...

it may be paper crafting, attending a graduation party,

leaving on vacation or planting a garden...

There's creativity in

EVERYTHING!   : )

Looking Through a New Window

I wanted to play with this challenge ALL last week,

but just couldn't seem to get it done.

So I am very happy to have completed my project

and am quickly going to get it posted over there  : )

Little Red Wagon's challenge this week

'Put a Window in it'

I knew exactly what I wanted to use for this

unique and fun challenge.

  I love these chipboard embellishments from

Tattered Angels and thought it would put a

'twist' on the challenge.

There is most definitely a 'window'

in this distressed and layered card.

I used wonderful Tim Holtz/SA

stamps for the flourishes and butterfly.

The sentiment is from My Sentiments Exactly.

I'm sure you recognize all the Prima going on!

I am also entering this card over at...

Totally Gorjuss
#31 - 'Bling'

Flutter By Wednesday
 #110 - flower & butterfly

Stampin' Sisters in Christ
#40 - Distressing

I hope you enjoy it and I hope it inspires you

to 'think outside' the window  : )

It's Pure Bliss.....

I had a ball working on this card over the weekend

and thought I would share it with you

and offer it for a few challenges this week.

I love dimension and this card definitely has it!

I used designer papers from the 'Mirabelle' collection

by The Paper Studio.  The vintage writing DP
makes a beautiful backdrop to the Victorian floral
foreground.  The sentiment is from Studio G
and the lace is about 20 years old.

Can I just say that Prima have really outdone
themselves with these flowers and the bling is
by Prima as well.

This creation fits a variety of challenges for this
week, so here is where I am entering:

Challenge #27 ~ Pink & Green
(the hostess used similar colors to mine)

Challenge #29 ~ Recipe
( one type ribbon/2 DP's/3 Embellishments)

 

Challenge #79
Wedding Wishes

Which Anniversary is it?
1st is paper.....13th is lace
30th is pearl.....60th is diamond

Challenge #49
Wedding/Birthday

Challenge #20
All About Weddings

Challenge GC53

Read
(using text)

 Wee Memories Challenge #5
Stitching
 Crafty Ann's #14
Anything Goes
Creative Inspirations #33
Celebrations
Clearly I Stamp #13
Flowers

That's it for now!

I have a busy week ahead.  Soon I will be leaving
for the Twin Cities of Minnesota with my friends
Sue Rothamel & Crystal Copperstone
of US ArtQuest.
We will be at
The Rubber Stamp & Scrapbooking Expo
demoing and having more fun than
anyone has a right to!  : )

So tonight, I will be working ahead on a variety
of projects to share with you and catching up
on a neglected to-do list.
Have a great Monday!