Best Friends...The Twinery & Nikki Sivils Event

Wow!  What a week here at The Open Window and we've made

it to Friday.  Hope your week was terrific!

Today is Day #2 of a Product Showcase featuring several of the

talented designers of

and the creative designers of

Our team had a blast each working with a collection from the

Spring 2012 line and incorporating different ways to combine

our baker's twine with these fun paper sets.

I LoVe the colors from the 'Messages' collection and immediately knew

that I would be combining the same two baker's twine colors as I used

in the project I featured on my blog yesterday, even though the projects

were done nearly 3 weeks apart.

I've always liked the combo of black & brown, so I took 

The Twinery's Cappuccino & Charcoal twine 

and created a banner hanger as well

as an embellishment for my frame cut from 

Spellbinders' Lacey Circles die.

Each paper element on this card was created from the Nikki Sivils

collection.  I love when collections feature at least one sheet of

cardstock-weight die cuts and this one has a variety to choose from.

Both companies are giving away prizes . . . . 

and it's oh so easy to have a chance to win.

To have a chance at one of 4 prize packages (2 from each company)

all you have to do is visit the participating blogs from each day, 

leave a comment and I'll keep my fingers crossed for you !

Deadline to visit & comment is Sunday, April 1st.

Winners will be announced at The Twinery & Nikki Sivils on Tuesday, April 3rd.

Wanna know what you can win from 

The Twinery?

It's the Colorful Bunch Sampler Pack!

For a complete list of the participating blogs from The Twinery,

make sure you visit the blog and check it out.

Thanks so much for swinging by!

It was great to have you!

Project Recipe:

Patterned Papers & Die Cuts:  Messages Collection 
all by Nikki Sivils Scrapbooker

Embellishments: Cappuccino & Charcoal baker's twine from The Twinery

mini brads & gems by Recollections
Tools:  Lacey Circles & Standard Circles small dies from Spellbinders, Big Shot

What's the Buzz?

It's that time once again!

Say it with me....

'Color Splash'  ! ! !

I don't know which I love more....

the fact that we are trying out another neutral color

as our 'splash' for the very first time

or

this terrific graphic ?!

So here is another little fun fact that I am pretty sure I've

never shared...

I love rabbits.

I love real rabbits...

stuffed rabbits...

(especially of the handcrafted artisan-type)

and vintage-style figurines

So this graphic is one of my favorites we've had to date.

I knew right away that I would be pulling out my baker's twine for this one.

The Twinery's 'cappuccino' was the perfect color.  I paired it with 'charcoal'

and I really like the look.

How about this adorable stamp set from The Craft's Meow? !

It's a new release designed by NinaB Designs and is a limited edition

gift with purchase right now.

It's called 'Thanks Bee to Thee' and has become one of my faves.

{this is a post full of favorites : }

The sweet'heart' bee wings were filled in with platinum Stickles

{yes, my favorite color glitter glue : }

We are happy to be offering a wonderful prize from our prize vault

provided by The Twinery, so you too, can have these colors and more

for your baker's twine collection.

So head on over to The Cafe, check out the amazing inspiration

from our design team and come 'splash' with us!

Project Recipe:

Stamps:  Thanks Bee to Thee by The Craft's Meow

Embellishments: Cappuccino & Charcoal baker's twine from The Twinery

Platinum Stickles by Ranger

Relax...Dream...Love...

Hello ....

I hope you are having a terrific week so far.

Mine has started off as a busy one and that's the way I like it!

I am super excited to share this new project with you.

If you regularly peek in at The Open Window you know I am a

huge fan of Little Yellow Bicycle

and I am so looking forward to my upcoming projects for

their Swoon Cycling Team.

Until then...I've been playing with one of my favorite collections

since 'Twig'...and that is 'Saturdays'.

I spied this great acrylic collage photo frame on one of my recent visits to

the craft store and knew exactly what I wanted to do with it.

I used a variety of elements from the 'Saturdays' collection for each of

the frames and for texture on the OUTside of many of the frames as well.

I loved the designs on each of the double-sided textured cardstocks.

I had a very limited amount of product to use I'm afraid as my trip to

Archivers proved a few days too late!  I knew this design from LYB

would be huge hit and clearly, much of it was picked over, but I made the best

of it and cut each 2"x3" very thoughtfully : )

Here is a view of the dimension this frame lends and the different textures

of both the cardstocks inside and the stickers on the outside can be 'felt'.

The additional element to this frame was the 'Twiggy Tree' from Memory Box.

Of course, no dimensional project is complete without a little bling & pearls

in just the right spots, so I added berries to the bicycle basket and LYB gems

here and there and and it just felt right to stop when I did.

Of course, this would be totally stunning if you substituted a few B&W photos

among these beautiful reds, blues & browns.  I didn't have anything chosen, 

but I thought of it the entire time...so I think I would LOVE to do 

another one with that in mind.

I sure hope you enjoyed this idea half as much as I enjoyed working on it.

You can find all the amazing products I used for this project over at LYB.

Thanks for stopping by and I will be back tomorrow night with a brand new

challenge from The Play Date Cafe.  See you then!

Project Recipe:

Textured Cardstock, Decorative Edge Cardstocks,
5 Things Envelopes Embossed Stickers, Cardstock Stickers
Tear-out Ticket Book all from 'Saturdays' Collection by

 Little Yellow Bicycle
Embellishments: Jewel Stickers from 'Hello Fall' by Little Yellow Bicycle
pearls from Recollections
Tools:  Twiggy Tree die from Memory Box, Big Shot

All Grown up for Easter

Happy Monday!

It's time for another T-riffic blog hop with the designers from...

If you've made your way here from the most talented

Judith of Jay Gee's Nook

then you are in the perfect spot!

If not, I would love for you to pop back to the

EAD Designs Blog

and get started there because there is ALWAYS a

terrific prize awaiting a lucky visitor to each of our blogs.

So I am thinking 'how cute is this little dress'?

I think it's a grown-Easter dress and I'd definitely wear it!

When I came up with the idea, I wasn't sure which direction to go because

it has so many possibilities...I mean, think of all the FAB Stickerz that

EAD creates and well, the sky's the limit!

I was hoping for a batch of free time to make all sorts of examples

for you using a variety of colors and designs, but time was not

on my side when it came right down to it.

I used my new Spellbinders 'Decorative Dress Forms' die on a beautiful

textured cardstock from Bazzill.  Then I used the same die to cut out

the 'Retro Flower Background' BlockArt Stickerz from EAD for the design.

EASY...PEASY !!

I love the texture from the cardstock.

No dress is complete without a designer belt, so I made one out of

ribbon, pearl flower & rhinestone from Making Memories.

The sentiment is from Sweet Stamp Shop.

I love this background...and I think you will too....

...and how great is THIS...

I hope you'll give these a try because they really are a lot of fun!

OK...it is time to get you on your way to our fab Guest Designer

Jenn of PaperCut Creations

Don't forget to leave a note to have a chance to win and

I will see you again soon!!

Project Recipe: 

Cardstock:  Bazzill
Stamps: Hello Beautiful by Sweet Stamp Shop

Embellishments:  

Retro Flower Background BlockArt Stickerz by EAD Designs
ribbon & pearls by Making Memories, gems by Recollections

Ink: Slate by A Muse Studio

Tools:  Decorative Dress Form die by Spellbinders, Big Shot

Beautiful...Blessed...Perfect

Happy Sunday everyone!

I have a busy week here at The Open Window with lots of projects

that will be posted, so I thought I would take today to share a layout with you.

Now you KNOW....I typically don't do layouts...I love them, I just don't

have time to do them, but my sweet friend Katrina Hunt has been

after me to scrap this photo, and I finally did it!

I have been a lover of the Little Yellow Bicycle collections for awhile

and since this photo is a 'fall' photo, I went straight to the 'Hello Fall'

collection from LYB.

I used a lot of elements from this collection.

I can't decide if my favorite is the 'Clear Cuts' acetate sentiment 'Happy'

or the 'Mini Banners' stretched to say 'BLESSED'.

Both of the elements describe this layout as it was celebrating

our 20th Anniversary at one of our favorite places.

The day was absolutely 'Beautiful' as described with the 'Cardstock Favorites'

banner on the right. I love the dimension on this page and
how it all tells the story.

Speaking of telling the story, the 'Journal Card' says it all...it was 'PERFECT'!

I hope you enjoyed your visit...and the layout.

I definitely need to do more of these and do them more often.

Hope you are having a great weekend...I will see you soon!!!

Project Recipe:

All elements from the Hello Fall Collection by

 Little Yellow Bicycle

The Play Date Cafe Challenge

Hi everyone.....

This is just an uber-quick post to make sure you know

all about this week's challenge over at The Play Date Cafe.

I had yet to start my project for the week when my mom

was admitted to the hospital on Monday.

I've been devoting my time to the deadlines I had already

committed to and of course, making my visits to the hospital,

so I am sure you can appreciate why I have nothing creative to share.

What I do have is a GREAT SURPRISE GUEST DESIGNER to share

over in The Cafe, so you MUST head on over and read all about

this fabulous person I recently met....I think you're gonna love HIM!

Thanks for stopping by....the team has assembled some seriously

gorgeous and fun projects to inspire you with this week's colors.

I have some very special projects that I'll be sharing with you

on Friday, so I hope you will plan to stop by again and please don't forget,

is still going on with challenges, blog hops & facebook contests!

You could seriously win some great stuff...so check out all the details

on the TCM blog!

Happy 1st Birthday to The Craft's Meow !!!

The Day has finally arrived  !!!

The new release previews that we have been sharing for the past four days

can now be yours !!!  That's right it's.....

New Release Blog Hop Day

We are super excited because toDAY is the actual birthday

of when TCM began, so it's truly a happy day!

To celebrate that, you will find our banner ad over on SCS

running throughout the day...hope you'll let us know you

spotted it...just leave us a note on our FB page!

If you have arrived at my blog from our talented

Guest Designer  

Deborah Nolan's Blog

then you are in the right place!

If not, start back at the beginning at the

TCM Blog

 and get started there because

when you do, you could win big!  All 5 stamp sets !!!

More on that in a sec.

I struggle so much to photograph white on white, but I hope you get the idea.

I combined three stamp sets to create this Clean & Simple Card.

I used 'Beautiful Spring', 'Thanks Bee to Thee' & 'Cherished'.

I paper-pieced my sweet little bee and used a variety of inks from

A Muse Studio for the rest. 

I know you will see all the sets on the TCM Blog/Website, so I am going

to show you a very special one here...

This set is 'Thanks Bee to Thee' designed by the lovely

Nina B Designs for TCM and for a limited time is only available

as a gift with a purchase of $50 or more.

I used this set in my post from yesterday as well...

you can check it out here

So here is how you can win....

Visit each designer's blog on the hop, leave a little love

{there's only 16 total}

and you have until 9:00pm PDT, Friday March 23rd to do so.

Don't forget...we have challenges still going on all week

and you can find those and the details over on the TCM blog.

One of the challenges will give someone a

Guest Design Spot with TCM.

They are all on sale today!!!

Don't wait!

Look forward to your comment and I will keep my fingers

crossed that YOU are a winner!

The next stop on the hop is my friend and our
newest stamp illustrator
{just wait till you see her April designs!}

Karen Baker

Project Recipe:

Patterned Paper: yellow gingham by A Muse Studio
Stamps:  Thanks Bee to Thee, Beautiful Spring, Cherished
all from The Craft's Meow

Ink: Blackberry, Green, Slate all from A Muse Studio

Embellishments:  gems from Recollections

Happy !!!

Click here for

The Craft's Meow

1st Birthday Bash !

Welcome to the joint blog hop with the designers of

and the designers from

RibbonCarousel.com

I hope you've arrived directly from their

challenge blog because that's exactly where

you need to be if you are participating.

If not, pop back just a couple places to

The Twinery Blog

and check out all the details on how you

can win some great baker's twine and a shopping spree from RibbonCarousel.com

Our designers are taking the challenge with

the girls over at RCC....

and creating something using baker's twine & ribbon.

I love the new 'Paradise' collection from Little Yellow Bicycle

and thought the colors were bright and fun.

I took this fabulous shade of seam binding from RCC

punched holes with my Japanese hole punch

{makes neater holes with no fraying}

 and wove twine in Honeydew & Pink Sorbet.

The rest of the card is layering elements from LYB.

Here is what you could win from The Twinery...

and if you play along in the challenge, you could

win a fabulous shopping spree from RCC.

I hope you'll hop along with us...you have until

Friday, March 23rd, so plenty of time!

Your next stop on the hop is the very talented

Debbie Carriere's blog

Make sure to leave a quick note and I'll cross my fingers

that YOU will be the winner of that fabulous twine!

Project Recipe:

Patterned Paper:  Paradise by Little Yellow Bicycle

Embellishments:  baker's twine from The Twinery
seam binding from RibbonCarousel.com
Clear Cut Acetate, Cardstock Stickers, Tear-Out Ticket Book
all from the Paradise Collection from Little Yellow Bicycle

Un-bee-lievably Amazing!

It's the Final Day of New Release Previews

during.....

It's been an exciting four days as we have shared projects

featuring the newest stamp sets from TCM.

As you may know, with each preview day, TCM has also been

issuing a challenge that you can participate in.

With each challenge you have a possibility of winning one of

our in-stock stamp sets.

Today we have a very special prize 

to go along with our challenge....

A Guest Designer Spot at TCM  !!!

Create a project using the above photo as your inspiration

and YOU could be randomly chosen to guest design with our team.

All the details are available on the TCM blog.

Today's set is a very special set designed by Nina B Designs for TCM

and is available for limited time as a gift with each purchase of $50 or more at TCM.

It's called 'Thanks Bee to Thee' and it's so darned adorable.

I decided to go 3-D with these images by stamping each houndstooth

honeycomb in alternating black and gray.  Ever since I was a little girl,

I've loved pink, black & gray together, so the bee HAD to be pink  !

How cute is that bee ?? !!!

Of course, I used my favorite inks from A Muse Studio which include

Bubblegum & Slate.  You can purchase those inks from my webstore HERE.

From there, I just layered my pieces.

I hope you've enjoyed the previews each day.

Tomorrow is the big team Blog Hop and the sets officially go on sale.

Remember, today's is a gift with every $50 purchase you make.

We would love for you to play along with each challenge during our

1st Birthday Bash...all the details are on the TCM Blog.
 And don't forget...today's challenge could make you a
guest designer with The Craft's Meow !!

I'd love to hear from you....please leave a note & make sure you leave

a contact address so I can say hello back.

See you Soon !!!

Project Recipe:

Stamps:  Thanks Bee to Thee from The Craft's Meow

Ink: Bubblegum & Slate, Black Tuxedo Memento by Tsukineko

all from A Muse Studio

Embellishments:  gems from Recollections

Sending All my Love

Welcome to Day #3 of New Release Previews for

It's been so much fun to share projects as 'sneak peek's

during our 

1st Birthday Bash

I hope you are enjoying them!

Each day, we are also bringing you a challenge you can participate in.

All the details are over on the TCM Blog.

Today's challenge is a Color Challenge....

and here is my take on the challenge using two new sets by

Jenny Suchin for TCM

'Spring is Here' & 'Get Well Soon' are the newest designs that will be

released soon at TCM.  In keeping with the color challenge, I paper-pieced

the balloons using paper from Little Yellow Bicycle & DCWV.

I tied the them together with baker's twine from The Twinery in Honeydew & Denim.

A little 'stardust' Stickles on the coneflower for good measure.

How would you like a chance to win this stamp set before it

goes on sale next week?  All you need to do is visit our designer's blogs and

make sure to leave a comment over on The Craft's Meow blog.

You'll have until 9pm PDT each day to leave your comment and the winners

will be announced the following day along with the next preview & challenge.

We would love for you to play along with each challenge during our

1st Birthday Bash...all the details are on the TCM Blog.

I'd love to hear from you....please leave a note & make sure you leave

a contact address so I can say hello back.

Enjoy the bash!!!

Project Recipe: 

Patterned Paper:  Saturdays by Little Yellow Bicycle, 
Flower Shower by Die Cuts with a View
Stamps:  Spring is Here & Get Well Soon from The Craft's Meow
Ink: Black Tuxedo Memento by Tsukineko
Embellishments:  Honeydew & Denim baker's twine by The Twinery
Stardust Stickles by Ranger