The Best Things in Life....

A very quick post for all of you today.

I have been playing around with the

'Now & Always' stamp set

from Ippity and I love how

versatile it is.

The sentiment is from

'The Simple Things'.

The designer paper on the butterfly and background is

from Webster's Pages and the striped paper is from

Nikki Sivils 'Victoria Street' Collection.

That's right...I forgot!
I used another Ippity set on this creation

which I made for the Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge.

My Mind's Eye provided this wonderful floral print DP.

Martha's Art Deco punch is featured as a

layered border and held in place with a little stitching.

The sentiment is once again from 'The Simple Things' set.

The floral stamps are from 'Faith Blooms' and is 

available from my Ippity Page for only $5!

Of course all these sets are available to order

from My Ippity Page all discounted for you!

 

 

Stay tuned for Wednesday night's midnight posting

from The Play Date Cafe.

New things to reveal...and a makeover to boot!

A Little More H{ippity} Hopping...

As Independence Day approaches, it always brings up

lively conversation between my husband and I.

Being married to a British man always puts a

unique spin on holidays.

He does love the fireworks here  : )

While working on cards for 

The Monday H{ippity} Hop,

I thought it would be fun to use this large medallion-style

stamp from the Now & Always set

for this patriotic tribute.

They make unique fireworks!

I did a little paper-piecing on the butterfly

and added lovely rhinestones for a little sparkle.

The CARDS challenge for this week is 4th of July

themed for those of us who celebrate the day.

Before I go, I hope you will stop by

The Play Date Cafe

and have a peek at our 

'new look'

There is still plenty of time to play!

This week we will be revealing a whole bunch

of new 'stuff' along with a wonderful new

color challenge!

It's gonna be fun! 

It's the Simple Things...H{ippity} Hop Monday!

 It's H{ippity} Hop Monday!

If this is your first time here, each Monday
there is a group of fabulous girls who create
inspiring projects featuring Ippity.
I am just one on the stop  : )

I am so glad to have had some precious time

to spend creating a variety of cards over the

weekend, one of which I am sharing with you today.

Last week's Ippity Challenge was to create a card

using 'paper piecing'.  I made several, but this was

one of my favorites.

I used stamps from two different sets by Ippity.

'The Simple Things' and 'Now and Always'

from the Spring 2010 Collection.

I absolutely love these large medallion-style images!

I also used my favorite new Martha Stewart

border punch to create the subtle, yet effective border.

Both of these sets are available on My Ippity Page.

Just click HERE or on the link under my banner above.

In the meantime, make sure you stop by
The Ippity Blog and join this week's
H{ippity} Hop.
There are so many talented girls waiting to
share their creations with you!

Sharing Another's Inspiration...The Play Date Cafe Challenge

Check out this amazing 'color story' for this week's

Play Date Cafe Challenge!

I canNOT take credit for this fabulous creation...

No...no..NO...

This is the work of this week's design team host,

Suzanne Czosek.

I haven't had an opportunity to participate yet this week

so I thought I would share her wonderful work with you.

Also joining The PDCC this week as the 

celebrity guest host is

Lucy Abrams!

Make sure you stop by, be filled with inspiration

and get creatin'    : )

Welcome to The US ArtQuest Blog Hop!

 
If you are here for
Where Bloggers Create II
CLICK HERE

Welcome to the very first 

USAQ Blog Hop!

If you have come to my blog by way of

Connie's, you are absolutely in the right place!

If not, you will definitely want to start back

at the beginning at Sarah's blog to see all the
inspiring paper crafting by our design team and

to have an opportunity to win
the kit I am about to feature.

The entire team have been working hard on

wonderful and inspiring projects using USAQ's

'Draw & Gild' Kit

The kit features the most amazing
variegated gold leafing called

'Gildenglitz' along with Duo adhesive

and the versatile Fine Liner tool.

Also in the kit:
'Jewelz' Powdered Pigment, a texture sponge,

complete instructions
all in one fabulous reusable tin!

 How would you like a chance to win 
this fabby kit valued at $29.99???

All you have to do is start at the beginning of

the USAQ DT Blog Hop and stop by each

of our designers blogs, leave a comment and

then keep your fingers crossed!

YOUR FINAL STOP IS THE USAQ BLOG
where Sue Rothamel herself
has made something truly inspiring for you!

Sarah Anderson

Suzi Blu

Lea Cioci

Jessica Griffin

Jan Hennings
Terri Sproul
Connie Vogt 
Julie Ranae
USAQ

The deadline to enter is Sunday, June 27th

The drawing will be announced over on

The USAQ blog on Monday, June 28th.
REMEMBER....
you must visit each blog
AND leave a comment
including USAQ to have a
chance to win!
 

Where Bloggers Create II...Welcome!

Welcome to 

The Party of the Year!

'Where Bloggers Create II' was started by
Karen Valentine over at My Desert Cottage
and this year, we have over 450 guests
participating, so I am just ONE on
the guest list...make sure you stop by
her blog, check out the guest list
and start your visits!

 While most other bloggers may share 

their entire studios with you,

I will be sharing the favorite parts

of my creative space with you.

If you make it through this post all the way

to the end, I will invite you to participate in

my PARTY GIVEAWAY!

So here we go.....

All in all, this is why it's difficult to have a good run at

any one project!  This is Lucy, my 16 year old

sweetheart who keeps me company quite often : )

Much of my inspiration comes from paper crafting

magazines.  This is just a 'smidge' of a sampling

of my British magazines.  Those who follow my blog

know that I am a magazine fanatic!

So believe me when I tell you that this doesn't begin to

cover the amount of 'inspiration' I can find on a 

regular basis.

There are two things in my little creative space that I can

never have too much of

Glitter...

...and ribbon.

I am creating quite a little collection of these as well!

I can't fit them all on one shelf at the moment,

but I think you get the idea  : )

Love my Martha Stewart punches from EK Success.

One of my favorite shelves is the top one with a

variety of cards, gifts and autographs from some

pretty 'famous' papercrafters and artists.

This shelf and the inspiration board house a few more

handcrafted cards from my friends as well as baskets

of things I 'just can't live without'.

Within easy are the tools that I use on an everyday basis.

And here is my new favorite tool...

My new paper distressor.  No more using my

little hand tools which eventually get dull.  You can

run a whole batch of cardstock, chipboard and more

through this baby and in one fell swoop...

Well, you get the picture  : )

One other small collection I have are these fabby

chunky books.  I use them for altered items and for

wonderful retro images on my cards.  I always manage

to find them in the bargain book section of my

favorite store...say it with me...

Barnes & Noble.

 

 
I decided to leave you with a few of my favorite things.

Now you may be asking yourself...

Isn't she a stamper?

Where are all her stamps?

Well..if you look hard in a few of the photos, you will

see them all lined up in a few baskets, but those are just

my clear or unmounted sets.  I have a boatload of 

old-school wood mounted stamps 

that I will never part with, but to be honest, I just did not

have the time or fortitude to organize them in a

presentable way for you   : )

So maybe next time, huh?!

So you made it to the end!

Now for the fabby giveaway...

Please leave a comment and

let me know which of the items

 in my creative space would

most likely be found in yours...

I will gladly part with a few things from my 

creative stash

and send it to the winner.

The deadline for leaving a comment on

THIS POST 

is Midnight EST, Saturday, June 26th

I will draw using Random.org

on Sunday,  June 27th.

Make sure you check back to see

if you are the winner!

While you're here, I hope you will become

a follower and help me celebrate my

ONE YEAR BLOGAVERSARY!

Click here for another

Fabby Giveaway!

Home Grown Love - 2S4Y

FOR MY BLOG CANDY GIVEAWAY

CLICK HERE!

This is just a quickie post for today.

I wanted to get this little creation linked

over at 2 Sketches for You.

This is my first time playing  : )

I love this 'Garden Variety' collection from

Cosmo Cricket and I thought it went so well

with the theme of my card, which quite frankly

all started with this darling new

Martha Stewart Farm Animal punch.

That punch is so dang adorable, I can't stand it!

Hope you enjoy!

Feelin' a Little Blue...

FOR MY BLOG CANDY GIVEAWAY

CLICK HERE

I love this stamp set from Lizzie Anne Designs.

I thought it was just right for this week's

'COLOR SPLASH'

over at The Play Date Cafe.

I am the color host of this week's challenge

and when I found this fabby photo, I knew

it had to be the one for this week.

I used my favorite 'Stylized Flowers' EF

from Cuttlebug for the white-on-white background.

The hint of blue is so subtle, yet very effective.

So very CAS for this week.

The sponsor for this week's challenge is...

So make sure you pop on over and start

your creative juices flowing.

Then....Play....play....PLAY!

It's a Beautiful Day! It's a Giveaway!

Click HERE for the Monday H{ippity} Hop

I am so happy to share with you that today is
indeed the anniversary of my very first post
here at Julie's Open Window.

As I created this card, I began to think of all the

'sweet' things that have happened over the past year.
If you go back to my very first post, I think you will see
that things have definitely 'changed' over the
course of the past 12 months.

I have come to make so many friends here...
learned so many techniques...
and most of all, been inspired by you.

I do want to mention just a few people/things that
have made this such a fabulous journey for me.

 Sarah Anderson...
my best friend in the world
and the ultimate encourager who made sure
I knew I could start a blog!

'Google Blogger for Dummies'

for obvious reasons

Paulette aka 'Beedeebabee'
who became one of my dearest friends all because
when we lost our followers list for the first time,
WE PANICKED
(and I KNOW you know what I'm talking about)
went to the help forum, met there, shared our woes,
and the rest is history

 Mona Pendleton...
One of the most creative & innovative paper crafters I have met here.
We've shared many hours on the phone together and
my life is richer for knowing her.

The Play Date Cafe
Design Team and Players
All of you make Thursdays one of the best days of the week!

So now it's time to CELEBRATE!

How would you like to win
this fabulous prize package?

Here's how to do it.....

Leave me a comment and tell me...

What inspires you here at
The Open Window?

 Place my blogaversary badge on your sidebar

(you'll find it on my sidebar) and link it back here

and you will have an additional chance to win.  
Just let me know that you have done so
when you leave your comment.

You have until Friday, July 2nd to enter.
I will announce the winner on Monday, July 5th.

 ...and of course, 
I welcome new followers!
So please feel free to follow along.
I will pop by to see you and thank you
for your support of  
Julie's Open Window!

It's H{ippity} Hop Monday and My Blogaversary!

It's H{ippity} Hop Monday once again!

While I anxiously await my new Ippity

stamps, I am once again using the beautiful

set 'What Matters Most' for today's project.

I think this wrought-iron cross and sentiment have so many 

possibilities such as baptism, confirmation, wedding, 

pastor appreciation, sympathy and encouragement.

The new 'branch' punch from Martha Stewart is

quickly becoming one of my favorites.

I used my Cuttlebug 'swiss dot' EF for the navy blue

panel and a Spellbinders 'pebbles' Impressibilities

on the layers beneath the cross.

As a part of my continued 'BOO' challenge,

I used ribbon from American Traditionals

which I felt kept within the 'branch'

theme of the punch.

Stop by the Ippity Blog

to see who else is hopping with me!

Today I celebrate one complete year

here at The Open Window!

I hope you will stop by beginning at

7:00pm CST TONIGHT

for my blogaversary post.   

I have a fabby giveaway 

that will be open to all my followers.

So please come back 

and help me celebrate!

I will see you a little later....

Taking Things One Day at a Time

I have thoroughly enjoyed playing around

with my set of Ippity stamps that I got

from Saavy (that's MY name for her, anyway).

I have participated in the blog challenge over

at the Ippity blog & SCS forum for this week

and here is my little contribution...

The challenge was to use fabric or canvas.

This was THE PERFECT TIME to pull out

my little quilting sample squares that I ordered

from Keepsake Quilting YEARS ago.

(so I've also met my own BOO challenge)

I stamped the sentiment on different calico squares

then layered the additional squares to mimic the

beginnings of a CrAzY quilt, right down to the

slight black border.

I took the fluttering butterflies, which is

one image, stamped it at the top left

and bottom right as well as repeatedly

on a variety of decorative paper scraps.

I then cut them out individually and

POPPED them up for some dimension.

WELL....I hope you will start spreading the word

to our mutual friends who visit me her at

The Open Window because tomorrow is a

great day for me.

It will be my....

ONE YEAR BLOGAVERSARY

and we are gonna celebrate together!

Of course, there will be a 

RiDiCuLoUs GooD

GIVEAWAY

so make sure you make plans to come back

around tomorrow!

There's a First Time for Everything....

Just a quick little post to share this 

bright and cheerful card with you.

Over at the CARDS blog, Paige is calling

for cards using flower paper, so I thought

I would share this over there as well.

You may notice I have been breaking out my

Cosmo Cricket paper lately.

I LOVE IT!  I LOVE IT!  I LOVE IT!

It's from the 'Material Girl' collection.

This card is all paper-layering with a few

little pearl rhinestone embellishments.

I used my Martha loop punch for the center border.

Before I go, I just HAD to share these two

photos with you.  Last week, I mentioned that

my daughter and grandson would be in a wedding

together, she a bridesmaid for the first time

and he was the ring bearer.

There were MANY firsts that day.

I have to tell you that when I took this photo,

they had just seen each other for the first time before

the wedding.  My daughter had to fight back the

tears as she was SO proud!

It was such a great day!

At the reception, he finally gave in and

danced with his mom, which was 

another first for both of them.

Then....he got his 'mema' out on the dance floor.

That was a first for me...to dance with my grandson.

He could have danced the night away with me.

I think it was approximately 10:30pm

when he came to me and said ''Mema, I'm 

ready to go to your house to sleep over" and

believe me, it wasn't long before he was out

like a light, sandwiched between

Paul and I.

Speaking of Papa Paul....

These two just make me smile.....