Sweet Treats

It's a very bright day here at The Open Window !!!
Hope it's bright where you are.
If not, it's about to be....

It's time for another color challenge at EAD Designs.

The minute I saw these colors I knew exactly the direction I was headed.

I love these 'sweet' TinyTwinies Stickerz by SoftPencil Studios.
With each card I created, I used all three colors in variations.

The first card, the sentiment is from The Craft's Meow.

The sentiment on this card is by Paper Smooches.

Finally...a mouth-watering sentiment from Studio G.

Each card was created using a Cuttlebug large dot embossing folder
and dies from Spellbinders.  The inks are a variety from A Muse Studio.

Here is the set that is being featured.....

You have two weeks to play, so I hope you will.
What lovely spring-y colors sure to inspire!

Check out all of the inspiration from our design team
over on the EAD Designs Blog.

I'd love to hear from you so I hope you'll say hello !!!

Project Recipe:

Cardstock: Bazzill

Stamps: All You Need is Love by The Craft's Meow

Sentiment Sampler by Paper Smooches

Embellishments: Cupcakes by EAD Designs
tiny pearls by Recollections

Tools:  Dot EF by Cuttlebug

Scalloped Circles & Standard Circle die by Spellbinders, Big Shot

Here Comes the Sun at CAS-ual Fridays

It's that time again!

I must say that it's a very COOL thing to have

Laura Davis as our Sketch Queen.  I am sure you know

her from the very popular sketch challenge 

2 Sketches 4 You and now we are happy to have her

design sketches for CAS-ual Fridays along with her

very creative talents on our design team.

As one who has not been a sketch-player because it's

not something I spend time on, it was a very fun

way to get myself going in that direction!

Very little stamping happened on this card, as you can see.

Most of it was die cuts, embossing folders and border punches!

Please come play with our very talented design team.

This week, our challenge is sponsored by....

and you have to play if you want to win!

Today's Project Recipe:

Cardstock: American Crafts & Bazzill

Stamps: Studio G

Ink: Memento in Tuxedo Black

Tools: Scalloped Border by Fiskars,

Icicles Border & Sunburst Deep Edge Punch by Martha Stewart

Standard Circle Die by Spellbinders

'Rays' EF by Tim Holtz for Sizzix

Sweet Friendships

Offering a very quick post today.

I was playing around with my new favorite 'branch' punch
from Martha Stewart and a wonderful new stamp I
picked up a couple weeks ago, and here is the result...

I have been creating with a lot of kraft cardstock lately
and I really like how these blues
work with the simple background.
The sentiment is a great $1 Studio G find.
Some lovely Prima flowers in a variety of shades...
The birds are just a tiny portion of the actual stamp
from a company I have come to love, Memory Box
who by the way, will be  
next week's fabby sponsor
over at The Play Date Cafe!.

Now...speaking of sweet friendships...

These are my 3 yummy grandsons.
(even yummier than that Pop-Tart Caleb is eating!)
That's Alex, jr on the left, he's 2.
Alex is cousin to Caleb, 4 1/2 and CJ, who is 7.

I had the blessing of having all 3 boys over this past week,
trying to keep up with them playing catch and a little soccer.

The brothers sometimes don't display friendship to
one another as often as they should
(as brothers tend to do)
but I love watching them display friendship to their little cousin.
It would be nice to keep this crew as young as possible...
just for a little longer...

Thanks for stopping by!

A Bug-Eyed Hooty Owl...Yeah, That's What I Said!

I have had so much fun the past few days

creating in my little art space.

I am this week's color host over at

The Play Date Cafe.

I rarely have ANY idea what I am going

to make when I choose my color inspiration photos.

This week was no exception, but I can tell you that

I had something much more elegant in mind

than what I came up with....here's why....

Look at this fabulously elegant inspiration

from marthastewartweddings.com

Now look at the whimsy that followed...

Now granted, the senior designers typically

choose the 'color stories' up to 3 months in

advance, but I can assure you I had no idea that

I would go in THIS direction.

Isn't that the great thing about challenges, though?

I used a wonderful new punch from EK Success.

This 'starburst' is punched directly into the

lime green cardstock.  The stamp is from 

Studio G's 'I Cling' series.  The DP is from

DCWV's 'Latte' matstack.

I paper-pieced the polka dot DP to the

'Bug-Eyed Hooty Owl'.

Now it's time for you to skeedaddle over

to The Play Date Cafe.  You are not going

to believe this week's DIVERSE collection

of projects using these fantabulous colors!

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!

Another Honor...Guest Designer at Jazzy Paper Designs

I have been 'itching' to put these little

Studio G stamps to work and I have to

say this was a fun way to do it.

I am very happy to be the 

Guest Designer over at

Jazzy Paper Designs.

Tenia has a FaBuLoUs challenge there

and if you haven't guessed already, the inspiration

comes from a 'jazz album' cover.

Tenia herself is an accomplished and well-known

jazz pianist and I think the theme of her challenges

is perfect!

I used VersaMark to make the background of

this card and then added some 'track' stitches

to mimic the album cover a little.

The stamps are from two different

Studio G sets and were stamped with

VersaMagic.  I added a twill ribbon from

American Crafts and beautiful black

rhinestones for my little version of

the black keys on the piano.

I added rhinestone 'seeds' for a little

more dimension.

Please stop by Jazzy Paper Designs,

and tell Tenia I sent you.

Then play along with this week's challenge.

It's really quite fun when your mind

'starts to play'...you tend to find

'just the right notes'!

 

 

Happy Saturday ... What Have YOU Been Up To?

It's a bit of a dreary Saturday here in Northern Illinois.

A little papercraft shopping always brightens my day,

so that's how I spent a bit of today.

I love working with these colors and thought I would

make a card for a few challenges.

I used the fabulous 'sequin background' from

The Artistic Stamper.

I love, LOVE this background!

I used a sweet little Studio G set for the flowers

and the sentiment is from Wordsworth.

Here are the challenges:

Stampin' Sisters in Christ #35

(flowers)



Sew Many Challenges #12
(anything goes)

Diva Coffee Break Designs #173

(sketch)

Penny's Paper Crafty Challenge #27
(anything goes)

Pile it On #15
(think spring)

Before I go, here's something I would LOVE
to know.....

WHAT ARE YOU CREATING THIS WEEKEND?

Please leave a comment...it's always fun to see
what YOU are working on  : )

Going Back to my Roots...Clean and Simple

Clean and simple.

What does that look like to you?

I think most would say that the more 'white space' you
have, that's clean and simple or, CAS.

For me, CAS is going back to the basics and using
layers in a way that keeps the card clean and for me
that's a 'simple' process.

So that's what I have been doing lately
and I must say it's been refreshing.

I went on a little buying spree last week in Wisconsin.
There are few stores that I like to visit and this time
around, I was able to stop at Gina K's.
Unfortunately, they were closing early, so didn't have time
to really look, but I will be back.
While I was away, I bought this fabulous DP from
'Quite Contrary' from My Mind's Eye,
along with the die cut.

TOTALLY CUTE!

The swiss dot EF is a Cuttlebug and the sentiment
has become one of my favs...it's from Studio G.

By the way....Happy Spring to all of you.

What's the weather like where you are?
We had temps in the 60's all last week.
Today, the first day of Spring is definitely
coming in like a lion...
SNOW and 34 degrees!

Oh well...Happy Everything.

 

Love me Some Lace...Moxie Fab Challenge

Was visiting over at Moxie Fab and made time to play a little with

some new stamps,springtime colors and of course lace for the

Moxie Fab World Challenge

'Diggin' on Doilies and Lace'

I have a drawer full, well many drawers full, of lace and ribbon

and some of my favorites are things that were given to me by my

grandmother.  This card features an old eyelet lace with this fab

seafoam green satin running through it.

I suppose there is debate over what is lace, what is a

doily....is eyelet lace?  Yes it is.  Debate closed  : )

New series of Studio G stamps were used for the sentiments

and flowers...VersaMagic inks...Martha pearls...

Making Memories chipboard letter and K&Co paper flowers.

The dotted swiss DP is from the new DCWV 'Linen Closet' collection.

Simple.

You could add a small cross or few easter flowers or eggs

to adapt this more to Easter...change the colors completely

and it could be for St Patrick's Day, Mother's Day,

pretty much ANY day!

See you at midnight tonight for a brand new

Play Date Cafe Challenge 

with the BRAND NEW

design team.

If you participated in the blog hop, the winner will

be announced then...fingers crossed, right?!

Happy Mother's Day, Mum!

It's Mother's Day this Sunday....over in Great Britain.

'Mothering Sunday'....it's called and this card is getting

ready to go in the 'post' today.

(I am now channeling my husband)

I believe my mother-in-law will love this bright and cheery greeting...

at least I hope so.

If you BOO like I do, you may recognize this DP

from Making Memories...yep, it's 'Chloe's Closet'.

I just used a variety of border punches including 

Martha's Eyelet and Fiskars.

I used a little 'weathered wood' Distress Ink

from Tim Holtz around the edges 

to give it a bit of depth.

The crochet flower is GCD's Artsy Urban

and the center is My Mind's Eye.

Finished off with a few rhinestones and ribbon

with a sentiment from Studio G.

I apologize for the quick post...I am working on

the design team announcement and challenge over at

The Play Date Cafe which is very exciting!

I noticed that we have had a record number of

players this week!  YAY!

There will be a very fun opportunity for you to

win a fabulous prize, so stay tuned to this station!

One more thing....I SO appreciate your comments,

please let me know you were here.

A simple 'hi' will do   : )

Do Lemons Make YOU Smile?

Who's ready for Spring?  Raise your hand!

If this week's challenge over at

The Play Date Cafe

doesn't get you in the mood, then all hope is lost.

 

Nothing says Spring like 'lemon yellows'

and that's exactly the inspiration behind this week's challenge.

Sarah is our UK designer and she is

the 'hostess with the mostess'!

Hopefully you have enjoyed the vine border stamp from Memory Box

because here it is again!  I LoVe it!  I used a variety of VersaMark

pads for my inks and did a little zig-zag sewing.

The DP's are all from my BOO collection...in fact, I can't

even remember who made them.  There's no hallmark on

any of them, but they are from the same collections.

The paper flowers are brand new from Prima

and the sentiment is a $1 clear stamp from StudioG.

Make sure you head on over to The Cafe

and check out The Cafe News.

There's lots going on and LOTS coming up!

You will NOT want to be left out of the fun!

One more thing....
I managed two posts today, so please keep
scrolling for more
and pleeeeease let me know you were here
by leaving a comment.
I feel lonely when I know 'someone' came by
but didn't say hi   :  (

Of course, lemons DO make me smile
:  )

I DO Believe!

Well....this card is definitely a different creation for
Julie Ranae, eh!
I really loved the colors for this week's
Color Throwdown Challenge.
I went to my stamp stash and found this sweet little set of $1.00 Studio G and Recollection stamps, and that was it!
So here's what I did.....

I stamped and colored the carriage and fairy, cut them out and then re-stamped them directly on to the cardstock. I layered them for dimension, as you can see better in the closer photos. I used silver Stickles for the 'fairy dust'
(I am going to go back and add some to her wings as well).
I added a rhinestone to the carriage door
and filled the button holes with tiny silver brads.
The small flowers were from my Fiskars Daisy punch and the centers are pearls. The ribbon I used is from American Crafts, which fit the color scheme perfectly, I think.
Hope you enjoyed it and if you're up for the challenge,
you still have time to enter.

I have been so busy sharing projects with you (which no one is complaining about) that I just have not had time to update you on other things. So while Paul is at work tonight, I am going to spend some time with you here. There are some blog award updates and just some general 'stuff' to chat about, so I will be back a little later with some photos to share, a project and life in general. So stop back later with a cuppa in hand and spend some time at
The Open Window.