Ready for Fall...Vintage-Style

I can't tell you how much I love these new papers from
My Mind's Eye Spider's Web Collection.
After rounding off the corners of my base card, I distressed the edges using a sanding file and then began layering my papers and elements. You may recognize that gold-striped paper from the GCD'S Provence Collection...that's sure getting a lot of mileage!

The frame was cut from some of Martha Stewart's Halloween paper and I used The Paper Company's 'Fall' sentiment. Top off with some vintage lace, fabulous ribbon, Prima Flowers, brads and pearls and a glittered leaf (cut from the Spellbinders Leaves Set) and you have yourself a very unique card for the fall season.

I mentioned earlier that I would be sharing my post for Artful INKables tonight, but my camera battery completely died. So tomorrow's errands will include purchasing a new battery and then I will be back with some fabulous gift tags using
AI's newest Holiday rubber stamp set.
See you tomorrow!

Color Dare Challenge #36

Just a quick post for now...my offering from
The Color Dare Design Team.
The last of the 'summer-y' colors as fall is now here.
I hope you will take on the challenge.
Stop over at The Color Dare Blog for all the details. Starting this week, Riley will be recognizing her top 3 picks from your entries, so get going and get on it!

I will be back a bit later with my post for this week's
Artful INKables Design Team....stay tuned!

Birthday Fun Part Two ...GIFTS!

Now I know right off the bat that my dear friend Paulette is going to be turning a variety of shades of red as she sees this at the top of my blog post, but I did try to give her plenty of notice before it's posting. Isn't this pin just fabulous?! Paulette, also known as Beedeebabee is the artisan who crafts these beautiful creations. I have to say that one of the highlights of my birthday week was actually speaking, by phone for the very first time, to Paulette. A little more on that in a bit. When I look at the craftsmanship that goes into the intricate sewing of these pins, it amazes me and I am so thankful to now own a Beedeebabee original! Love you girl!

So, while I was taking photos of all the fabulous papers I shared with you last night, my doorbell rang with a parcel from the UK....talk about excitement! While Paulette's gift was a complete surprise, I knew to expect this parcel because, well...it's from Sarah and it was my birthday!
Sarah knows how much I LOVE some of the British craft and stamping magazines, so she lovingly gets them for me along with other goodies and sends them along. I reciprocate with things from the US that she would love to have, but the book that was a part of this parcel was a very lovely surprise! Sue Roddis is one of the UK's artistic stamping 'celebrities' and Sarah has done a number of workshops with her. This is Sue's brand, spankin' new book and of course, IT'S SIGNED! I looooove it! Sarah....you know your are my very bestest friend! Love you!

So...this cupcake totally loses something in the translation....IT'S HUGE and it was YUMMY! This was a treat from my mom after we enjoyed lunch together the day before my birthday. Lemon Creme and French Vanilla...oh my goodness!

Here comes the lovely stuff.......I never thought in a million years that I would meet a person via the internet and connect in a way that would change my life for the good...well dear friends, that has happened twice in the past 9 years. Those of you who experienced this have your own unique story, I'm sure. I shared how Sarah and I met back when I first started my blog...the link isn't quite working, so just go back to my June 2009 archives and look for 'My Favorite Friend From England'. Now...enter Paulette and now....click here for our story.
I remember my very first phone call to England to speak Sarah. After that call, I talked about her to Paul for hours. When I spoke to Paulette on my birthday a few days ago, same thing. When you put a voice to the photos and messages, it changes everything, and in our cases, definitely for the better! Sarah and I have been through LOTS of personal triumphs and tragedies together and would imagine that the same will be true for Paulette and I. Sarah and I have had two occasions to spend spans of time together, she came to the US and stayed with Paul and I and on our last trip to see my mother-in-law, we spent a few days at 'the manor house' with Sarah and her wonderful family. I would assume that it will only be a matter of time before I will meet Paulette face-to-face as well.
Finally....the really cool thing now is that both Sarah and Paulette have become followers of one another's blogs as well, I JUST LOVE THIS BLOG LAND, don't you?!

Thank you for indulging me for a bit...not only about my birthday celebration but also about the personal things that make coming to this computer a joy...I mean 'who'da thunk, huh?!'

I am THRILLED....Thanks GCD STUDIOS!

Well...the news came via Vanessa in Germany! So I ran right over to the GCD Studios Blog and there it was! I was this week's winner of a $100 prize from both GCD Studios and Grafix! I am just thrilled. If you remember the post I did on my love of Provence....this is the company that produced that fabulous line of patterned papers. I also featured it on my very first Friday Night Series. Click here and here to see those posts.

Anyway...thank you so much GCD Studios and Grafix...
I am both shocked and amazed and can't wait to play
with this fabulous prize!

Birthday Fun Part One...SHOPPING!

I had such a great time shopping with my ever-so-patient husband and now it's time to share my bounty with you! I hardly know where to start, so I decided to go with the papers I am most excited about. I love vintage...retro...nostalgia...call it what you want. When Paul spotted these great papers from Graphic45 on the rack, he knew it would be ok to have me "drop everything to check these out!" (I love that he knows me THAT well!) They are fabulous, 2-sided patterned papers that harken 'back to the day', that's for sure. I cannot wait to start designing with these and I am SURE they will show up soon in a Friday Night Series.

Next up, the spookier, more macabre Halloween...'intellectual' Halloween. These papers are from the Spider's Web Collection for My Mind's Eye. I've already begun designing a card that I hope to share with you tomorrow. I love these upscale colors, don't you...something different, I think.

Of course with the spooky comes the cute and colorful. I found some great new Heidi Grace and Doodlebug Design for Halloween and then some really cute prints from Bo-Bunny for the general fall season. Vibrant colors are always a nice option when it comes to fall-color alternatives.

I had really been looking forward to seeing the new Eskimo Kisses Collection from Basic Grey and along the way, I found some terrific 'stuff' from Bo-Bunny, My Mind's Eye and one of my favorite companies, Fancy Pants Designs. I was definitely NOT disappointed! There are so many beautiful shades to work with for the holiday season, I really won't know where to start!
I think all in all, I bought around 75 new sheets of patterned papers and a variety of chipboard, die-cut and sticker sheets. What a great way to keep the birthday party going, huh!

I saved the stamps and accessories for last! My ribbon collection just went through the roof here! I just couldn't pass up alot of it, especially the Martha Stewart sets, as they were on clearance for $1.99 a set and the paper ribbons were .97 a package....Yeah, I know! Have you started working with Flower Soft yet? I bought 3 color varieties and some wire stems to make bouquets. This stuff is HUGE in the UK and much of Europe. I bought the English Cottage Peel-offs with a specific project in mind using the Flower Soft, so I will let you know how that works out. A great stamp set from October Afternoon and some much needed mushroom stamps from Hero Arts. I have been wanting to do some '70's-themed' cards and those will be perfect. A few $1 stamps thrown in there and some odds and ends and that's about it!

I have a few more photos to share with you of some 'crafty' gifts I received and a GIANT cupcake! But those will have to wait until tomorrow. In the meantime, I would love to know if you have indeed worked with Flower Soft....if so, what did you make? If not, is it something new to you?
Leave me a comment and let me know.

One more thing.....I can't thank you enough for the lovely birthday wishes I received over the course of the past week. It is so wonderful to be able to celebrate with this new community of friends that you have become.....it truly made me smile!

I'm Baaaack! With the Curtain Call Challenge!

I thought since I have been MIA celebrating my birthday, I would at least let you know that I AM here, I had a GREAT birthday and have LOTS of stuff to share with you. I did quite a bit of 'crafty' shopping and am in the process of taking pics to share with you.

In the meantime, I wanted to get this challenge in before the deadline. This is from Stacey's Stamping Stage. 'The Curtain Call' for this time around had a 'retro' feel for me. I guess when you are near the half-century mark, you see things differently!

I had already picked out this great patterned paper from the Making Memories Vintage Findings collection with the thought of using just a glittered snowflake. I just didn't know that I would expand the idea to include red and pink, but I think it worked. I love the red ribbon from American Crafts, too. So I hope you stop on over and take a look at the other entries for this challenge and plan on participating yourself!

I promise I will be back with all the details of the birthday fun including some pics of not only the goodies I scooped up, but a couple of fabulous gifts that I received from YOU!

The Countdown is On!

MySpace Countdown Clocks

Think Ink Challenge - Scary Stuff!

Back with one more challenge for you today....this one comes from the design team of Artful INKables rubber stamps. So what's the deal? This was the 'Think Ink Tuesday' Challenge,which was a 'Recipe Challenge' issued by AI's very own Jackie Rakoski over at Stampin' Sister. The recipe consists of:

1 image
2 different ribbons
3 layers
and any type of scallops

I stuck 'fairly' close to the recipe. I had to resist the urge to include a very scary greeting and I did add a little 'light' to the windows, which may or may not be acceptable....old habits die hard, I guess! I decided to '3-D' the haunted mansion and I thought the Martha Stewart Spider Web was the perfect 'scallop' for a scary greeting. The orange polka dot ribbon was just a store find, but the deep purple with metallic threads is a May Arts ribbon which you can also grab from AI.

Hope you will pop over to the AI Blog and see what others are doing and get in on the challenge. One lucky entry will win a fabulous prize from Artful INKables, so get all the details there!

So today is the official 'day before my birthday' celebration. Now you would think that this idea would have originated from my very own brain...you know....drag out the birthday celebration as long as possible, but it really wasn't. Beginning this morning, I am awakened with my morning 'smooch' from Paul with the words 'Happy Day-Before-Your-Birthday'...tomorrow it will be the usual....and then Friday, it will end with 'Happy Day After-Your-Birthday'. Ya know, now that I think about it, I MAY have been the one who started all this when it was HIS birthday...
oh well, anyway....

I enjoyed a couple of hours this morning with my youngest grandson and spent time with camera in hand. Yes, I do have a few shots to share with you because they will be something we can ALL appreciate, children or not! Then from there, I was treated to lunch at The Cracker Barrel by my mom. My son Alex and the aforementioned Alex, jr also came along, so it was a lovely time. From there, my mom and I stopped off at a new little bakery and cafe and each grabbed a cup of wonderful coffee. I found myself walking out of the cafe with quite a large 'birthday' cupcake for dessert. Then my mom and I came back to my home for a little while. She was anxious to see all the projects I have been working on. She used to do quite a bit of rubber stamping when I had my store, so she has a real appreciation for the love that I give to each card. She left with one or two in hand!

Tomorrow, the actual real day that I am supposed to celebrate, I will be back to share a few photos with you, hopefully another project and of course, my favorites list for this week. Paul has the next couple of days off and I have BIG plans to do a little 'paper, rubber stamp, glitter, embellishments, etc shopping
as we head out of town.
OH! I received a lovely, LOVELY surprise gift in the mail today from one of my dearest friends....not someone who I have known all my life, but someone I have come to love since the first week of this blog. I will share that gift with you tomorrow as well.
Have a great night!

Color Dare Challenge #35...Won't You Join Me?

As the season is changing to autumn colors, I have to say these were tough colors for me to work with, but as part of The Color Dare Design Team I am a 'team player' and I am glad to have worked it out because I actually love this piece.
I recently received a batch of new stamp sets as a gift from my mom, which included the 'Asian by Design' set from Inkadinkado, which I used in this extra-large tag. It's a bit hidden by the Prima flowers, but the Bamboo image on the left is HUGE and really great as is the Cherry Blossom image, which I embellished
with a few teeny-tiny pearls.

The sentiment stamps are from two different Scrappy Cat sets. Hey...when stamping on a surface like a vellum tag, use a solvent ink like Staz-On. It takes a little longer to dry, but it will give you a vivid image and will not streak once dry. Add a few brads and a nice, thick batch of fibers at the top and you are good to go.

So are you up for the challenge? I would love to see some of my friendly followers enter this challenge, so let me know if you do. I will be checking the list as well. Head on over to The Color Dare blog for all the details along with inspiration from
the rest of the design team.

I will be back a little later with yet another projects and a little bit about today's 'pre-birthday' celebration.

It's Beginning to Look....Well, You Know...

No....I am not quite ready for the Christmas Season, but I was really in the mood to make tags and 'glittered things' all weekend, so this is where I landed.

I must say that as we officially welcome autumn to our lives, it won't be long before we are totally focused on holiday projects.
Have you already planned out your holiday cards? I'm not there yet, but when I get the inspiration, there will be no stopping me!

I really enjoyed making these projects. This beautiful patterned paper from Foo-Fa-La was so easy to play with.



I have been using a lot of vintage buttons on my cards lately, too.

The other bits 'n' pieces to these projects include the Spellbinder's Snowflakes and lots of glitter!






The tags include the Martha Stewart Arctic Snowflake punch and Nestibilities scalloped circles and the tag template from Cuttlebug's Happy Halloween set.

So....I hope you enjoyed a little peek into the holidays with me. I am excited to be able to share this season with you as it approaches.

I am now off to finish my project for the 'Think Ink Tuesday Challenge' over at Artful INKables. I hope you will stop back tomorrow and see the results. In the meantime, I hope you will consider taking the challenge yourself.
Stop over at the AI blog and get all the details!

Happy Autumn! Well, I Just Can't Wait....!

I know I am a day early with my official autumn celebration, but I can't wait any longer! I love every single thing about this season....the color, the weather (yes, rainy periods included), the smells...I LOVE IT ALL! It's too bad that while the leaves are changing, they aren't all glittery like the leaves on this tag...I mean, if it's already going to be a little messy as they hit the ground, why not make it pretty, too!

Here are the elements to this fun project:
First off, I started with fabulous patterned paper from My Mind's Eye cut into an extra large tag. I distressed the edges with Ranger Archival ink in Coffee using a stipple brush....I don't use anything else, by the way. I LOVE using stipple brushes for this technique and I think at the moment, I have a dozen of them. I used a Paper Inspirations 'swirl' stamp on the bottom half of the tag and an Inkadinkado stamp for the sentiment. From there, it was just lots of layers of lace, ribbon, pearls and glitter. The leaves were cut using 'The Bug' and Spellbinders Leaves. The glitter is a mix of brands, including Martha Stewart. I think one of my favorite elements of this tag is the vintage lace at the top. It was actually a mint green color, which was just not 'natural' enough, so I stippled the coffee ink over the lace, and that was all it needed.

Well...I need to run and take care of a couple of projects with deadlines of today. It's going to be tough because 'Dancing With the Stars' is starting but I am pretty good with multi-tasking!

Before I scoot....let me ask you...Do you have a favorite activity that you only do in the fall? What is it you are looking forward to? For me, there are a few. I love visiting the local apple orchard and getting those first HOT apple cider donuts...I love seeing my grandkids dress up for Halloween...and my wedding anniversary is in November. I will leave it at that for now, but I would love it if you would leave a comment and let me know
what excites you about Autumn.

Looking Ahead....

MySpace Countdown Clocks

GCD Designs 'Provence'...Bold Pattern Series

I always look forward to Fridays, for many of the same reasons you do....the weekend is here, for many, it's a great 'date night'...but for me, it is also the night I have set aside to share with you a series of projects featuring specific colors, designs, themes and more. Tonight, I am happy to share a couple of projects that I made this week using a paper set that I showed you a couple of weeks ago and have been so excited to use! GCD Designs, which just finished a fabulous blog hop over at their site, is the name behind this series called 'Provence'. If you have come to know me, even a little, you know that my dream trip is to this region in the South of France. So let's go on a little tour of Provence right here at The Open Window.

If you have studied any French decorating, you know that the patterns and colors are bright and bold. Ochre, Cerulean Blue, Bordeaux...just to name a few. I think the colors and patterns on this first card are so classic. Stripes mixed with bold patterns. This card has a real feel of a wallpapered wall, don't you think? Because I have not seen these papers sold separately, I don't have names for the individual sheets, but what I do love, is that in each set, there are pattern choices on both sides. So coordinating is a cinch....especially when you are talking about 'busy' patterns. My philosophy is...if it's all in one set, you can mix any of it together!

I used the Martha Stewart Loop Around the Page punch just for something different as well as a vintage button and a soutache-style ribbon for focal points. Everything was aged using Ranger Archival ink in Coffee and the sentiment stamps
are from Scrappy Cat.

To quote Monty Python (and my friend Sarah!)...
and now for something completely different...

Yep....these patterned papers are from the very same set! What a change in theme though, huh?! I fell in love with the gold-striped paper, which I also used on the card above AND on the card from yesterday's post. It really set the 'gold tone' for this card. It also features one of the die-cut tags that was included in the set.

The 'extras' on this card include a very 'vintage' lace that I inherited from my seamstress grandmother, Martha Stewart rhinestones in my grandmother's birthstone Garnet, copper brads and these fabulous Holiday Brads from K&Co. The snowflake was cut using 'The Bug' and the Snowflake Nestibilities and then covered with fine gold glitter. Don't let glitter scare you! It's not nearly as messy as it used to be. There are so many great techniques for applying it as well as the quality...that can make all the difference in the world. The source for the rubber stamped sentiment is unknown, but I love the vintage 'feel' to it.

I'm curious....back to glitter for a moment....do you use glitter? How often and what's your favorite thing to make? Do you have a favorite brand? PLEASE LEAVE ME A COMMENT because I would love to know what you do with glitter. I specialize in making themed glass ornaments all year-around and every ornament is 'tricked' out with some glitter.
I would love to share some of my glittering 'secrets' with you!

With Gratitude....Julie Ranae's Thursday Night Favs!

I extend that greeting to you! Every day, I find myself thinking about how wonderful it has been to become friends with so many new people. My husband laughs every now and then when he sees my 'followers' count. There was a time when I couldn't get past the number FOUR! For nearly 2 weeks, all I could say was, "just one more and I will have 5...that's all I really need!"
Well, times have certainly changed since those days in June and
I have you to thank for spreading the word
and stopping by each day to say 'hello'.

Let's get right to some new favorite places I have come to love.

This first blog is a wealth of information all wrapped up in great fun! Stampin When I Can comes from Allison of Calgary, Alberta Canada. I just love the layout of her site. Not only does she offer great projects which often use a variety of layouts and colors from other challenge sites, but she is a great list 'sharer' and always willing to help promote a fellow blogger. You will totally see what I mean when you hop on over. This is one of the most organized and easy to follow blogs I have seen in a long time.
I think you're gonna love your visit!

This next one is going to keep you smiling while you have a look around. Just Add Glitter and Stir is another one of those blogs that is big on 'sharing' and promoting fellow bloggers. Have you seen the badge 'I'm a Craftaholic' and wondered where it came from? Well, now you'll know!
Maggi is your fabulous host here and she does a terrific job making this blog a colorful place to be....when you stop by, please tell her we said hello from The Open Window!

I know these two blogs are going to keep you busy, so we will stop there for tonight. This past week, I received several recommendations from you dear friends, and I am still making visits. As always, thank you for sharing some of your favorites with me. I appreciate that you have come to know some of the styles and formats that I enjoy.

As they say 'a picture tells a thousand words'...
and this one tells the whole story, doesn't it?!
CJ, our 6 year old grandson lost his first tooth the day before yesterday. If you've kept up with the story, you know that he discovered it was loose while spending the afternoon with me, well over a month ago. It was quite the discovery at the time, but like all six year olds, it became old news at pretty quickly and he just wanted it out. The trick? He bit into the rind of a lemon (I have no idea why...) and within five minutes, he was now the proud owner of 'one gap in his mouth'! Last week I showed you a picture of the tooth already making it's way in, so it won't be a gap for long.
"The tooth fairy left 8 quarters under my pillow!" he told us. Then he was very excited to find out that the tooth fairy who covers Mema Julie & Papa Paul's side of town, stopped by and left $2.00 under a pillow. He was even more excited to hear that "Papa was asleep when he felt his pillow being lifted, it woke him up!"
Let's see how long we can keep that going, huh!?

Have a great night everyone....back tomorrow with another offering from my new 'Friday Color Series'.
I'm very excited about this one!

Are You Ready for All Kinds of Scary?

I just gotta say...I am having so much fun with this brand new 'Halloween Hauntings' rubber stamp set from Artful INKables. There are 11 fabulous images to choose from...I used 4 on this fun little tag. Along with the new patterned papers from Making Memories, a vintage button and some 'scary' ribbon,
it's a pretty simple 'make'.

Well, we are half way through the week...how is yours shaping up? Mine has been busy with business and personal things. Yesterday I gave you my morning 'play-by-play' and my UK friend Cal said that I have now "set the bar" for getting things done. As productive as yesterday was, today couldn't have been any more opposite, so I guess it was just a one time thing.

I want to thank those of you who expressed interest in The Play Date Design Team. I will be contacting each one of you personally over the next few days. I think it is going to be so much fun as we begin to present a new color challenge site
right here at The Open Window.

I mentioned last week that I was contemplating a move of my 'New Favorite Blogs' list to Thursday nights...and I have indeed decided to do just that. So beginning tomorrow night, you will find the feature being called 'Julie Ranae's THURSDAY night Favs'. I have a fabulous list for you tomorrow night, so I hope you will come by. I am hoping to post to you during the day as well as I get to share a 'little' news & photo about my 6 yr old grandson, CJ...can you guess what it might be? If you have been following along for the past week, it shouldn't be too hard.

Still would like to hear more from you regarding your 'favorite styles I have dared NOT try'. We talked a little about it yesterday, but if you missed it, just click here.
Look forward to seeing you tomorrow!

Color Dare Challenge

I gave you a sneak peek of this project a couple of days ago and loved the comments I received.
The photo of the entire card is not the greatest, but that's another story. For now, I am just happy it's here for you to see!

This week's Color Dare Challenge #34 was to use a combination of Blush Blossom, Certainly Celery and Chocolate Chip (all from SU color chart). They were nice colors to play with.

The rest of the design team have come up with some fabulous projects to inspire you, so I hope you will get yourself on over to The Color Dare Challenge blog, have a look around and then go create! Make sure you enter it via Mr. Linky so we know when to come have a look!

How Has Your Day Been? DESIGN TEAM REMINDER!

As I was thinking of a title for this post, I decided to ask myself the very same question...and my day has been TERRIFIC! What I especially liked was that I had accomplished the following all before noon: two loads of laundry...prepared 12 packages for the post office...returned 2 quite lengthy phone calls...dropped Paul off at B&N...dropped said packages off at USPS...stopped at the dollar store to see what I couldn't live without...made a quick trip to Walgreens and treated myself to a $4.50 blended ice mocha...
ALL BEFORE NOON!

So tonight, I decided to play a little and can you tell what I have been playing with? Yep, 'the bug'! I have been so excited about making fall cards and I love the 'pumpkin spice' EF. I stamped these fabulous Inkadinkado 'pumpkins on the vine' with Versamark. The greeting is from the same set stamped in Versamagic 'night sky'. Couldn't resist some embellishments with the vintage, single-hole button and the extra-large rick-rack by Debbie Mumm.

Just a quick reminder.....tomorrow is the deadline for the DESIGN TEAM CALL for the new 'Play Date' Challenges from The Open Window. I am so excited about these new color challenges and I know there are those of you who may be on the fence...."should I or shouldn't I?" Let me remind you that we all started somewhere, so if you are interested, click here for the details.

Now...here's what I would like to know...WHAT DESIGN STYLE DO YOU REALLY ADMIRE BUT HAVE YET TO TRY? Is it clean and classic...vintage or retro...shabby chic with lots of lace, buttons and details...bold and bright...soft and subtle...? Do you like to pile on the layers not knowing when to stop or are you pretty much a 'minimalist'? All paper and no stamping? What about the new 'digital' craze...do you download images
or are you 'old-school'?

Leave a comment and be as descriptive as possible...it's my way of getting to peek in Your Open Window.....see you tomorrow with the Color Dare Challenge, a project from Artful INKables and my Wednesday Night Favorites list. I will also share my answer to the design-style question. Enjoy your evening!

Just Catchin' Up...ETSY SALE!

So is it just me or am I giving you a lot of 'sneak peeks' lately? This one is because The Color Dare Challenge doesn't start until Wednesday, so I can't reveal all, but I sure hope you stop by and enter this week. More on that Wednesday.

How about the Artful INKables Blog Hop today? Did you make it around? If not, there is still plenty of time. The deadline to win the BRAND NEW STAMP SETS is midnight, Sept 17. All it takes is stopping by each blog (only 11 in all), leave a note saying you stopped by and that's it.

I know my posts have been a bit more sporadic the past few days, but I promise you all is well at The Open Window. In fact, I have been busy with my hands in a number of different projects. As many of you know, we have a current design team call out and the new 'Play Date' Challenges will be starting soon. I am working on a blog makeover to accomodate all the fun things that are around the corner as well as constructing a separate blog for online workshops. So hang in there with me, because without you, it would be a very, lonely journey!

One more thing before I get back to my work table....I have decided to offer my current inventory of cards in my ETSY STORE at a 15% discount. I have a whole new batch of things to get on over the next couple of weeks and I would like to clear out some of my inventory. Most of these cards have been featured on my blog and are ready to go complete with a coordinating envelope. SO....until Friday, Sept 18th, anything you purchase from my Etsy store will be 15% OFF. The current prices listed are BEFORE the discount, so if you see something you like, put it in your shopping cart then let me know when you are ready to checkout.

Contact me directly at paul.julie1102@sbcglobal.net for invoice or questions.

In the meantime....have a great night and I will be back for a chat tomorrow!

Artful Inkables Blog Hop Time!

Welcome to the Artful INKables Blog Hop!

Did you stop by here after visiting the AI blog? If not, make sure you start from the beginning at Artful INKables
then proceed from there.
That way, you won't miss any of the great projects.

Today, the AI Design Team is featuring the
release of TWO BRAND NEW STAMP SETS

Each blog on the hop will feature one of the new sets and an
opportunity to win BOTH!
Just stop by each blog on the hop, leave a comment
and cross your fingers!

That's all there is to it!The new set that I am featuring today is called
'Halloween Hauntings'.
HOW MUCH FUN IS THIS, HUH?! I even included some fabulous new May Arts ribbon which is ALSO available from AI.
The metallic threads really sets it apart.

There are so many creative possibilities with this 11 pc set,
so make sure you add it to your shopping cart over at AI.

I'm so glad you stopped by! I hope while you're here, you will considering becoming a regular follower of The Open Window. There's something new almost everyday and quite frankly,
we have a lot fun!
Your next stop on the hop is
Jackie's blog just click here!

In the meantime....I will be back a little later today
with an update from my studio