Monday, January 31, 2011

The Remedy for Love



Gosh....just the idea that someone would need to
look for a remedy for love.....feels a bit sad at first.

It's H{ippity} Hop Monday!
What a terrific way to start the week by 
feeding your creative needs with some
wonderful inspiration by all of the
Ippity chicks and fans listed
on the Ippity Blog.

So.....
What is the remedy for love?


 According to this wonderful quote, it's to 'love more'!

This is such a fun set from Ippity called
'Quotes A'la Happy'
Twenty fun, creative images 
just right for so many occasions.


I have an order going in to Ippity this week
and would LoVe for you to get in on it!

Place an order for this set or any other
Ippity set from my page here and you will
receive 10% off your entire order!
Order $50 or more and get your choice of
one of these stamps free:






You'll find all Ippity sets here!
This offer expires on Sunday, Feb 6th at 11:59pm CST.

One more thing.....


You know I am on the design team for
The Twinery, right?
Well, I wanted to make sure you were aware of
the newest colors which are now available and
are shipping immediately....


Aren't they gorgeous?
One of the most requested colors has been black
and it's now here for you!
I personally LoVe the Honeydew and am really
excited to know mine is on the way!
There's also a very fabby Valentine's giveaway going on

So glad you were able to stop by.
I hope you'll leave me a quick little note to
let me know you were here.
Make sure you stop back later tonight as I will be
announcing the winner of the blog candy from the
'March of the Snowmen' Blog Hop.


Today's Project Recipe:
Cardstock: Bazzill, The Paper Company
Ink: Ranger Archival in Black, Tim Holtz Distress in 'Frayed Burlap'
Stamps:  Ippity 'Quotes A'la Happy'
Die Cut Tools: Cricut 'George & Basic Shapes'
Embellishments:  The Twinery baker's twine in 'Maraschino'
Recollections & K&Co rhinestones
Tools:  Fiskar's Corner Rounder, misc markers


Saturday, January 29, 2011

A Baby is....


Another very quick, but colorful post for today!

I always like to play with 'unusual' 
color combos for baby cards.  I get tired of
the same pink and blue pastel themes
(although I still think they are beautiful).

Thought it might be fun to enter this over at
(I don't currently own any Verve : (  but they
are on my wish list for sure!)


So when I want to go bright and bold, I go straight to
Cosmo Cricket!  These papers are from the 'DeLovely'
collection and are really fun.

The sentiment on the die cut tag is from Verses Rubber Stamps,
but it doesn't stop there....


I inked the first portion of the stamp for the front
of the card and finished off the verse for the
inside greeting.
I love when you can do that with sentiments and
Verses stamps offer a wide variety of ways to
do just that.


Through this Sunday, you can get
20% off your entire order
over at Verses!
Just use the coupon code:
SNOW20
in the comment section of your order.

Well....it's time to get busy with completing a few
creations with deadlines attached, so I KNOW I
will see you soon!
Thanks so much for stopping by!

Today's Project Recipe:
Cardstock: The Paper Company 
Designer Paper:  Cosmo Cricket 'DeLovely'
Ink: Ranger
Stamps:  Verses
Embellishments: baker's twine by The Twinery, Recollections gems
Tools:  Fiskar's Border Punch



Friday, January 28, 2011

Celebrating a Golden Birthday!


Happy Friday to all!

I have just a quick post for you today as it's a busy one
for me.  Tonight is our night to watch my two oldest
grandsons and Paul is home as well.
We are taking CJ and Caleb out to celebrate
CJ's report card...can I just brag
He has been declared
top of his 2nd grade class 
and also received 
'excellent' on all behavioral levels in class.
His choice for dinner.....''the mall where Papa works"
He went on to explain that as he likes Japanese food, we
would all get to choose a 'type' of food 
we like in the food court!
The dinosaur exhibit is also there and he is a huge fan
so we'll spend some time there and I am sure both
boys will be able to talk us in to a trip to 'Papa's store'.
Barnes & Noble is there favorite place to make
a stop because they both love to read.

Anyway......

My PDCC teammate Fiona suggested a challenge
for me that I was unfamiliar with.  This one is from
her homeland of Australia and I was thrilled to
have an opportunity to participate for this
special occasion. 


Inkurable Stampers is having a 

My British husband has made it pretty clear that
the celebration of 'golden birthdays' is a very
American thing....so I was surprised to see it
celebrated in Australia, but apparently, it's new
to them as well!


A birthday card which includes the use of
gold made me reach immediately for these
wonderful EK Success 3-D stickers.
The gold glittered center of this cake is perfect!
I also embossed the bottom of this beautiful gold
shimmer paper with a sweet heart from Sizzix.

No cake is complete without a little icing, so I
used some of my favorite trim in white and pink
and added pearls at the top.


Quick reminder....you have until
midnight CST tonight to leave a comment on
my post here to have a chance to win some
pretty great blog candy.

I'd love to know you stopped by today, so I
hope you'll take a moment to say hello by
leaving a comment...I appreciate all of your notes!


Today's Project Recipe:
Cardstock: The Paper Company
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink in 'Frayed Burlap'
Stamps:  Kristen Powers
Sizzix EF 'Heart w/Flourishes'
Embellishments:  EK Success Sticko 'Wedding Icons', ribbon, pearls
Tools:  Fiskar's Corner Rounder


Thursday, January 27, 2011

Joy, Love and Beauty



Show of hands.....
Who knows what the color story is for this week's
challenge at The Play Date Cafe?

Here's another hint.....


Yep!
It's everybody's fave....


Creatively, there's something I just love
about black & white with a 'hint' of color.
Sarah selected this beautiful inspiration photo
for us and I got to work!


This was one of the easiest projects I've put together.
It was just a matter of choosing the DP, deciding where
it would go on the card and then a little stamping.
The only 'extra' that I added was a little
'watercolor-style' painting
around the edges of each flower petal using
dye-based in in a matching shade for the project.

You will love what the rest of our talented design team
has done with this color palette.
All of the fabby projects are on display over in

Here's who you'll find along with your's truly...

 So glad you stopped by and I hope you'll 
leave a quick little note to let me know
you were here : )

Today's Project Recipe:
Cardstock: The Paper Company
Designer Paper: My Mind's Eye
Ink: Memento in Grape Jelly, Ranger Archival in Black
Stamps:  Technique Tuesday, Unity
Embellishments:  Recollections Flowers, velvet ribbon
Tools:  Fiskar's Corner Rounder

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Welcome to The March of the Snowmen Blog Hop!


It's so great to have you visit The Open Window today!

I am an official stop on the....


....and I am very happy to share my little
creation with you
and
give you the opportunity to win some
fabby blog candy along the way!

Did you get here from Joan's blog?
Hope so!  If not, why not pop back to the very
to start fresh...it's the best way to
not miss a thing!


I really enjoyed making this card because I find once
the holidays are over, I rarely use my snowmen stamps.
The winter season is looooong
and snowmen deserve a little shout out once in awhile!

I used Ippity stamps from 'Kissmas & Mistletoe'.
I am proud to say that this wonderful Ippity set is available
to order on my Ippity page here.
I inked up my little guy using Tim Holtz Distress Inks
variegating between two colors.
I did a tight zig-zag stitch on the machine, but quite
a bit of it is covered with the rest of the elements.
I recently purchased 100 yards
of plain white seam binding to do a little
custom-dying, so I had plenty of white to lend here.

I offered this card on display for the
Stamp With Fun Challenge too!


Now....want to win 
a little blog candy from me?


All you need to do is leave a comment here on my
blog and you just might win!
Of course, I would love for you to become a 
follower here at The Open Window too.
You'll have until 11:59pm EST
Friday, Jan 28th to leave a comment to win.
The random draw will be held during the weekend
and the winner announced on Monday, Jan 31st.


Once you leave here, make sure you hop over
and if I were you, I'd make sure you stop by
each blog because there's a whole bunch
of blog candy up for grabs.

Here's a list of all the participants in
The March of the Snowmen Blog Hop:

(you are here!)

Have fun!

Today's Project Recipe:
Cardstock: Bazzill
Designer Paper: DCWV 'The Four Seasons' Stack
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Inks in 'Faded Denim' & 'Vintage Photo'
Stamps:  Ippity 'Kissmas & Mistletoe'
Embellishments: Recollections pearls & flowers
Prima Crochet Flowers
Seam Binding in Winter White
Tools:  Fiskar's Corner Rounder

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Who ARE These People? The Play Date Cafe Challenge


No...no...no....
I did not create this.....


I did not create this either.....


and I have no idea who this little sweet face is.....
But, I do know who this sweet face belongs to....



It's my way of teasing you with this week's
challenge over at The Play Date Cafe.
 The beautiful and 'sweet' creations above
belong to three of our talented designers
and you can find out who when you pop over
and check out the new challenge.
All of the designers are amazing and you will
love what they've done with this week's colors.

We also have a wonderful prize from one of
our favorite sponsors....


You can't win if you don't play!
So head on over and I'll see you there!

Thanks so much for stopping by!


Sunday, January 16, 2011

Clean and Simple Valentines




I spent a day last week playing around with these very
simple heart shapes, which I created using my Cricut.
I was inspired by an article I saw in the current issue
of Scrapbooks, Etc. and thought I would really
focus on CAS.


There really aren't many details to share.
It's all pretty self-explanatory, so I'll just share them with you.


I will mention that I find one of the easiest ways to
dress up a simple card is to add rhinestones and pearls.


I love textured cardstock...it always seems so much richer.



I have always loved this little sentiment from the
classic PSX rubber stamp company.



I have been hanging on to this one sheet of paper from
Sassafrass Lass for the longest time.
All of the hearts for these cards were cut from 
that single 12x12 sheet.


So glad you took a moment to stop by.
I am planning taking another inspiration from that same
issue to help my grandson create Valentine's
for his 2nd grade class.
He's coming over for the day tomorrow, so we
will be creating and I hope to share those
photos with you soon.

Hey....one more thing!
Hope you will mark your calendar as I
have been invited to participate with a very
talented group of ladies for the....


Today's Project Recipe:
Cardstock: Bazzill
Designer Paper: Sassasfrass Lass
Ink:  Versamark,Tim Holtz Distress Inks
Stamps:  Ippity, Unity, PSX, Studio G
Die Cut/Embossing Templates:  Cuttlebug 'Swiss Dot' EF
Cricut 'George & Basic Shapes',
Embellishments: Recollections rhinestones & pearls
Tools:  Fiskar's Corner Rounder

Thursday, January 13, 2011

It's Time For a New Journey!



Been on a 'journey' lately?
I am happily beginning one with this post as I share
this week's challenge over at....



This week our 
brand, new design team debuts
and it's a very exciting time!
Our design team is creatively talented and
bigger than ever, so there's more inspiration
in a variety of styles.


The creative journey I took to make this card was
quite fun.  I had been searching high and low for
the Spellbinders Lacey Squares Die Cut set and
I FINALLY found them and I am pleased to say
that our local Michaels is now carrying them.
I also picked up the 'Summer in Paris' set
for my Cricut for only $20 and just loved
this hot air balloon.  Put them all together with a few
grand embellishments, and there you go!
My fabby teammates would LoVe for you
to stop by The Cafe to see all of the beautiful
inspiration all in one-stop.

Here's who you'll find along with yours truly....

So glad you stopped by and I hope you'll 
leave a quick little note to let me know
you were here : )

Today's Project Recipe:
Cardstock: The Paper Company
Designer Paper: DCWV
Ink:  Versamark, Memento, Tim Holtz Distress Inks
Stamps:  Scrappy Cat
Die Cut/Embossing Templates:  Spellbinders 'Lacey Squares',
Cricut 'Spring Time in Paris', Cuttlebug 'Swiss Dot' EF
Embellishments:  Recollections Flowers, Pearls & Lace & Pearl Flourishes
Tools:  Fiskar's Corner Rounder


Monday, January 10, 2011

Remember the Time.....




It's H{ippity} Hop Monday!

What a great way to start out the week, huh?!
All kinds of ridiculous inspiration with the
click of a mouse  : )


Once you've left here, hop on over
to the Ippity blog and check out the
list of wonderful designers who are
ready to inspire you.

Make sure you leave a comment
not just here
but on all the blogs you visit on the hop.
You just might win a prize  ; )


I didn't do a whole heap a stampin' on this card as I was
really inspired by using lots of these wonderful
papers from Cosmo Cricket's 'Circa 1934'.

Another reason I was inspired to play lots with paper
is because I scored a Cricut Personal Machine for
$60 after Christmas.  Brand, spankin' new and fabulous!
So I played around with the basics cartridge and made
the folk-art heart and fabby flowers.

The stamped sentiment is from one of
my new favorite sets by Ippity....


It's such a versatile set and the images are 
really substantial.  They are perfect for both
card makers AND scrapbookers.

Of course, this set and all Ippity stamps are
available for purchase right here on my blog
and most at a discounted price.

Have a great day...will see you soon with
a bunch of very quick and very easy
Valentine greetings.