Counting My Blessings

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood here at

The Open Window and I am sure glad you stopped by.

I am continuing the fun over at Skipping Stones Design

as one of the September Guest Designers

Here is the beautiful sketch we are working with today

 and I couldn't wait to break out my new flowers from Prima

Actually...the flowers and paper are both from Prima's new

'Rondelle' and 'Tea-Thyme' collections.

The bottom layers of my flowers were die cut using scallops

from Spellbinders and the very bottom scallops were stamped

with matching inks using Skipping Stones Designs'

'Garden Stamp Kiss' set.  The sentiment and scroll border

is from 'Everyday Blessings'.

I hope you will pop over to the Skipping Stones Design Blog

and take a look at all the beautiful inspiration from the designers there.

Thanks so much for stopping by . . . I'll see you again soon !

Project Recipe:

Cardstock: Pure Luxury by Gina K Designs
Patterned Paper: Rondelle by Prima  
Stamps: Everyday Blessings & Garden Stamp Kiss
both by Skipping Stones Design

Ink: A Muse Studio
Embellishments:  flowers Tea-Thyme Collection by Prima
pearl flourish by Want2Scrap, brads by Recollections
Tools: Scallop die by Spellbinders, Big Shot

Sketchin' as a Skipping Stones Guest Designer

Welcome back in to have a peek at The Open Window.

September is definitely upon us and with that comes

a terrific guest designer invitation that I've been

really looking forward to.

This month, we will be working with sketch challenges

designed by Kim Kesti and I'm joined with Laura Basson

to bring you inspiration using the fun stamps from SSD.

Here is the sketch . . .

and here is my take . . . 

I took a few liberties but used the same elements to make it happen.

I focused on the 'Everyday Blessings' set from SSD and found that I wanted

to do a little color-blocking with the sketch.

Each of the textured cardstocks match the colors of the leaves.
The sentiment is from SSD's Grunge 2 set.

I hope you will stop by the Skipping Stones Design Blog

and take a look at what each designer has to share.

Thank you for popping by.  I always enjoy your visits

and absolutely love to get a note from you so I
know you were here.

Have a great day !

Project Recipe:

Stamps: Everyday Blessings & Grunge 2 
both by Skipping Stones Design

Ink: Tuxedo Black by Memento, Copics

Happy .... Happy!

For The Play Date Cafe Challenge
Please scroll down

Happy March 1st!

It's a great month to celebrate as it's  

National Craft Month

but even better it's.........

The Craft's Meow's 

1st Birthday!

To kick off the celebration, we are welcoming one of the

most talented designers I know to our wonderful list

of stamp illustrators

Karen Baker 

If you don't know her, you will and I know you are going

to love her style!

It's also the beginning of a new Sketch Challenge at TCM

This beautiful sketch was designed by the lovely Nina Brackett

and I just love it!

To honor my dear friend Lisa, who is the owner of TCM,

I used this month's sketch to celebrate the anniversary.

This card features the stamp set 'I've Got Your Number'

using beautiful patterned paper from Momenta.

How about the fonts on this set??!!!  They are so bold and I love

having the ability to use large numbers and letters.

Lots of die cutting, decorative punching and layering all in one card!

I am a huge fan of greens and dark blues together.

I started by making my own over-sized banner.  Underneath is one of my

favorite border punches from EK Success.

I cut the Beaded Ovals die from Spellbinders out of white cardstock

and sponged the edges with shell pink ink from A Muse Studio.

I then cut Fancy Tags Two {also from Spellbinders} out of a

textured green cardstock and layered that on top.

The little daisies were punched using a Fiskars punch and embellished with

a small pearl in each.

I hope you will make plans to play in the challenge at some

point in the month......and I hope you will visit TCM often

because we have celebrations galore all month long!

Thanks so much for popping by!!

Project Recipe: 

Patterned Paper: Family Forever by Momenta
Stamps:  I've Got Your Number from The Craft's Meow  
Embellishments: pearls from Recollections

Tools: Beaded Ovals & Fancy Tags Two die by Spellbinders, Big Shot
Arch Lattice border punch by EK Success, Daisy punch by Fiskars

All the Merry Best...

I've got just a quick post to share with you today!

Our Thanksgiving prep is under full steam and I

can't be away too long.

 

You know I love designing for 

The Craft's Meow

and this week, they are sponsoring the

newest sketch challenge over at

Here is the sketch...

...and here is my interpretation....

I turned the sketch on it's side and had fun with

this whimsical set designed by Kaitlyn Ord

for TCM called 'The Merry Best'

I used lots of my very favorite yummy inks

from A Muse Studio

in Slate, Ocean, Grass & Bubblegum

{Check out my special offer if you order HERE}

I embossed the card panel with Swiss Dots from

Cuttlebug and embellished the diagonal layer

using black checked cardstock also from A Muse Studio.

The punch border is from EK Success.

I apologize for the poor lighting...still getting used to

the new light tent and I'm finding white on white is

the hardest to figure out.

Hope you will take the challenge over at Lily Pad Cards 

because you'll have

a great opportunity to win some fabulous stamps

from The Craft's Meow.

Hey!  Just a quick reminder that 

is having an open design team call until the

end of the month.  I hope if you are considering

applying, that you give it a go!

We are looking for all kinds of:

crafters

party-planners

scrapbookers

cardmakers

mixed media...

you name it

as long as you incorporate bakers twine!

For all of the details, visit The Twinery.

So great to have you stop by today!

I know it's a busy time, so I sincerely appreciate it.

Project Recipe: 

Designer Paper: Black check by A Muse Studio
Stamps: All the Best by The Craft's Meow
Tools:  'Swiss Dot' by Cuttlebug, Big Shot

Arch Border Punch by EK Success

Embellishments: Gems from Recollections

Honey...You Are Just My...

Ready for a little somethin' 

Clean & Simple?

 Karen came up with the fantastic sketch this week

and she is pulling me over the 'sketch' world

with this one!
 

 

 Been looking for an excuse to pull out my alpha

stickers from Authentique and thought this fit

the bill.  The brown checked cardstock is from A Muse Studios

and gave me the feeling of 'sepia'.

The typewriter image and the sentiment stamps

are from this week's sponsor...

You'll have lots of time to play Clean & Simple

because this is a  

TWO WEEK CHALLENGE.

We know that life in the U.S. is busy during

the Thanksgiving Holiday, so we are giving you

additional time to play along.

I'll see you over at CAS-ual Fridays!

Project Recipe: 

Designer Paper:  Brown Check from A Muse Studio

Ink: Slate from A Muse Studio
Stamps: You are Noteworthy by Tradefish Designs 

Embellishments: Petite Type Stickers from Authentique