Sweet Simple Things

Happy Monday to one and all.

How true is this sentiment ? !

It is the perfect sentiment for my project this week for the ....

If you've reached my blog by way of
Judith's blog Jay Gee's Nook
then you are headed the right direction for the hop.

If not, I hope you will pop over to the
EAD Designs Blog
and get started there because there is always a great prize
for a lucky winner each week.

Last week, I shared a card using a sentiment from this very
same set of Stickerz from EAD called 'Believe in Make Believe'
and mentioned that I would be sharing one more using the same set.

This set just 'screams' simple and all I did was use a few of my
Copic & Sharpie markers to color in the tree & decorations.
Any alcohol-type marker will work and the affect is really pretty.

I am the final stop 
on this week's hop! 

Before I go, I would like to share a
photo taken on Sunday at my niece's
bridal shower.

It's moment's like this one that remind
me of the sentiment above.
I hope you have something 'simple' that
makes you smile too!

Project Recipe:

Embellishments: Believe in Make Believe by EAD Designs

Tools:  Copic Markers

A Star is Born...The Twinery / SRM Event

It's Friday here at The Open Window
( and most likely where you are too  : )
and I'm excited to share today's post with you.

I love being a designer with The Twinery and especially when
we team-up with awesome companies.

It's Day #2 with

A variety of our designers have had a ball playing with
the beautiful stickers {and more} from SRM.
Of course, combined with what, in my opinion, is the
best baker's twine on the planet
our two teams have incredibly inspiring projects to share.

The majority of my card uses stickers from the 'We've Got Your Border'.
Banners & buntings are still quite trendy and my favorite go-to for
hanging them of course, is baker's twine from The Twinery.
I braided the colors Buttercream, Honeydew and Shore
and curved these fab stickers across the top of the card.

The panel of the card is embossed with the large dot EF from Cuttlebug,
but only 2/3 of the panel is embossed.  The flat 1/3 is decorated with more
sticker borders and the sentiment is also from SRM.

I went into my 'archives' stash and found the cute little metal star
from KandCompany and attached it to a baker's twine bow.

I am entering this into the Simon Says Stamp Challenge as well
as their theme is 'Anything Goes'

HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO WIN
THREE SPOOLS OF BAKER'S TWINE 
IN YOUR CHOICE OF COLORS
FROM THE TWINERY ?

All you need to do is visit & comment on The Twinery's
participating designer's blogs.  Easy peasy!
A complete list for both days can be found on
The Twinery blog and to help you out, 
I am including it here as well.
You have a few days to get your visits in and there are
only 20 visits total
(including 2 at The Twinery)
Deadline to leave comments is 11:59pm EST
Sunday, April 29th.

I hope you enjoyed your visit today.
Make sure you leave a note before you leave and I'll
keep my fingers crossed for you!

The Twinery's Participating Designers Blogs
for The Twinery / SRM Stickers Product Showcase

Karola
Julie Ranae
Kellie
Jennifer
Kathy
Jamie
Dorangela
Angi

Natalie

Amy

Jessica

Katarina

Tifany

Monika

Carolyn

Ashley

Project Recipe:

Embellishments: baker's twine in Buttercream, Honeydew & Shore
from The Twinery
We've Got Your Border stickers by SRM Stickers
metal tag by KandCompany, gem by Martha Stewart
Tools: Large Dot EF by Cuttlebug, Big Shot

Simply Thinking of You

Welcome back to The Open Window.

I find it hard to believe how quickly the week just

comes .... goes .... and comes around again

It's time for another wonderful color challenge at

What I love about our color challenge is that it's 

always open to interpretation and that includes

our design team and this week, I wasn't sure which

way to go with the suggested colors, but I like my choice.

Such a simple design using papers from My Mind's Eye and

Webster's Pages, an EF from Sizzix 

(one of the newest additions to my collection)

and a beautiful sentiment from The Craft's Meow.

Oh...and some beautiful bling!

I hope you can play along with us this week.

Check out who's sponsoring this week....

and it's a terrific shopping spree for our winner !

I'll see you over in The Cafe !

Project Recipe:

Patterned Paper: So Sophie Graceful Collection by My Mind's Eye

Country Estate Collection by Webster's Pages
Stamps: Inspired by Audrey by The Craft's Meow

Tools:  Beaded Ribbons EF by Sizzix, Big Shot

Embellishments: gems from Martha Stewart Crafts

lace & gem border from Recollections

 

Believe in Make Believe

Visit the Birthday Blog Hop

for my friend Michele

by scrolling down just one post

It's time for the Monday get-together with the

designers of EAD Designs

If you arrived on my blog by way of

Judith of Jay Gee's Nook

then you are in the perfect spot to not miss a thing!

There is a prize up for grabs, so if you want to get in

on that, you'll definitely want to start back at the

EAD Designs Blog

There are only 10 blogs to visit & a whole lot of

inspiration to glean, so I would if I were you!

It's Clean and Simple day here at The Open Window.

I found these really sweet mosaic pieces on a recent visit to 

a local craft store and thought they would be perfect for a card like this.

I used EAD's 'Believe in Make Believe' Stickerz for the sentiment

and embellished with tiny pearls ... yes, so very easy.

I really love the textured cardstock as well.

It's so hard to make out the 'feel' of it, but it's Recollections brand

and I think it makes the simplest cards look elegant.

Here is the set of Stickerz I used for today's project ...

Next week, I'll be using the same set of Stickerz for

my project, but this time, I will be using Copics & Sharpies

to add color.

I AdOrE the design of these Stickerz and I see

so many possibilities.

It is time to send you on your way to my creative friend

Lauren of Lauren's Creative

Enjoy the hop...Enjoy the day !!!

Project Recipe:

Cardstock: Recollections

Embellishments: Believe in Make Believe by EAD Designs
pearls & mosaic tiles by Recollections

Happy Birthday Dear .......

A very special friend of mine is having a birthday

and a very special group of designers is having a party for her!

Yep...it's my friend Michele Gross' birthday!

Several current and past designers are getting together

to celebrate.  I am one of the 'retired' designers from

the challenge and am so happy to be joining the fun

to honor my friend.

If you've reached my blog by way of my talented friend

Virginia Lu's Blog

then you are on the right trail.

The beginning of the hop starts at my friend & TCM teammate

Karen Baker's Blog

A complete list of blogs on the hop are listed at the end

of this post and you won't want to miss any of the inspiration

provided by these amazing designers!

I thought it would be fun to keep the theme Clean and Simple, so I went with

these fun stickers from SRM.  The primary colors worked so well with

the baker's twine from The Twinery.

Keeping it 'dotty' 

( a word that reminds me of my friend Sarah from the UK)

I did a 3/4 background using an EF from Cuttlebug.

I sure hope you enjoyed your visit and hope you have fun on the hop!

Michele is a fabulous designer and a very dear friend.

I hope you get to know her just a little bit more today because you'll

find out the very same things about her that I have.

The next stop on the party train is the very talented

Christina Maclaren's Blog

If you get lost along the way, the entire list of designer who are

partying with us today are listed here:

Karen
Dana
Stephanie
Karolyn
Angie
Debby
Lorena
Suzanne
Kimberly
Jenny
Virginia
Julie Ranae
Christina
Laurie
Lisa
Deb
Gayatri

Project Recipe:

Cardstock: Bazzill (color)

Embellishments: baker's twine in Pink Sorbet, Lemondrop & Carribbean

all by The Twinery

Birthday We've Got Your Border by SRM Stickers

Tools:  Lg Dot EF by Cuttlebug, Big Shot

Happy Earth Day !

I am pretty sure this is a first for me in the 16+ years I've been

a paper crafter....I'm celebrating with a card for...

As soon as I got the newest stamps from Paper Smooches, I just

new I was headed for an Earth Day card, no question!

This design is ala my dear friend, Savannah O'Gwynn.

Doesn't this look like something Savvy would put together ?

I am a huge fan of everything she does but she IS the master of whimsy !

I've been collecting sheets of alphabets for about six months now and decided

it was time to start using them and I managed to do that with this card!

'Happy' is from Authentique

'Earth' is from Prima

'Day' is from Echo Park

The base paper is from MME's Fine & Dandy 'Girl' 6x6 pad.

I thought it worked perfectly with these stamps.

I used a little Stickles around the cloud for some additional texture.

How about those tall trees from Paper Smooches ?!

All the paper-piecing was done with a variety of papers 

{ see recipe below }

I also pulled out the 'Forest Whimsy' set from PS as well because no 

little forest is complete with a a tree stump and a squirrel to join the party!

So happy you stopped by today!

Thank you as always, for all your kind comments

left along the way....

Project Recipe:

Patterned Paper:  Fine & Dandy & Honeycake from My Mind's Eye

Portrait by Crate Paper & Blossom by Jillibean Soup

Stamps:  Forest Whimsy & Spring Groves by Paper Smooches

Embellishments: Alphas by: Prima, Authentique & Echo Parks
pearls by Recollections, Stickles in stardust by Ranger

Keep Calm...with The Craft's Meow!

The day is here !!

It's New Release Blog Hop Day at

If you have arrived at my blog from our talented

Guest Designer  

Gini Cagle'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 SIX stamp sets !!!

More on that in a sec.

 For this card, I revisited the sets called
'Vintage Rides' and 'Nature's Beauty'.
I thought it would be fun to do a little paper-piecing with papers from MME.
There's those great cloud dies from Lil' Inker Designs once again
and the sunshine was punched using one of the newest punches from
Martha Stewart's Loop Collection.
I'm sure you recognize my favorite baker's twine from The Twinery as well.

 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 adorable set is 'Giddy Up' 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 comment

{there's only 17 total}

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

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 newest stamp illustrator

Karen Baker's blog

Just in case there are any glitches in the blog hop,
here is a complete list of blogs participating for TCM:

The Craft's Meow Blog
Amy Tsuruta
Amy Wanford
Ivana Camdzic
Geri Freeman
Iwona Palamountain
Jackie Rockwell
Jean Martin 
Jen Cuthbertson
Jenny Suchin
Jessica Fick
Gini Cagle
Julie Ranae

Karen Baker
Lindsay Amrhein
Michelle Bertuzzi

Nina Brackett

 Project Recipe:

Patterned Paper: Fine & Dandy Boy by My Mind's Eye
Stamps:  Vintage Rides, Nature's Beauty
both from The Craft's Meow

Tools: Cloud die from Lil' Inker Designs, Big Shot
Large Dot EF by Cuttlebug
Circle Loop punch by Martha Stewart for EK Success

Embellishments:  baker's twine in charcoal by The Twinery

Howdy Pardner!

Howdy and Happy Friday!

I couldn't help myself...the greeting was all too obvious.

We are on the final day of New Release Previews

over at

Tomorrow all of the stamps will be available

for sale and I know a lot of people who are 

pretty darned excited!

Until then, we have one more set to share with you

that will be the  

April Release Gift with $50 purchase

and it's called...

'Giddy Up'

designed by Nina Brackett

I see all kinds of possibilities with this set....everything from a fun

greeting for a cowgirl to a set of invitations to a cowboy cookout.

I hung the sign with denim baker's twine by The Twinery

and decided that no saddle was complete without a few pearls.

Make sure you pop by

 The Craft's Meow Blog

and check out the fabulous-ness

from all of the designers.

TCM is giving away a new release set

each day, so make sure you leave a comment

on the blog for a chance to win!

I am so glad you stopped by today and I hope

you will plan to come by each day this week

so you don't miss a thing!

It's a Boy Project Recipe:

Patterned Paper: red gingham by A Muse Studios
Stamps: Giddy Up by The Craft's Meow

Embellishments: baker's twine in denim by The Twinery
stars by White Blossom, brads & pearls by Recollections

Taking a 'Vintage' Ride

The Play Date Cafe Color Challenge

Please Scroll Down

Hello and welcome to another BuSy day here at The Open Window!

Today we are revealing 'bits' of two new stamp sets as

It's Day 3 of the New Release Previews for

This first set was designed for TCM by one of my favorite

people on the planet, Nina Bracket of NinaB Designs

It's called 'Vintage Rides' and I just l.o.v.e. it

I used paper from one of my favorite older collections from GCD Studios

appropriately called 'Planes & Trains' and created my prop plane.

I tied the banner on with 'stone' baker's twine from The Twinery.

I used my favorite cloud dies from Lil' Inker Designs

then Embossed and Debossed them with my Cuttlebug dots.

Doing both gives it a variety of textures.

This would be so fun to do for baby cards using boy and girl colors.

I can't wait to use it more!

Next up, is a brand new set created by Jenny Suchin for TCM

'Owl Journaling'

I took a different approach with this set because I am not one to do

journaling, per se.  I know Smash books & Project Life is really on trend,

but I can't find another second in my days right now.

I think this card worked out well though....the images are small, so you

can squeeze them into tiny places and add layers on top of one another.

Love those numbers all created with different inks from A Muse Studio.

This really WAS my To-Do list the day I created the card : )

Make sure you pop by

 The Craft's Meow Blog

and check out the fabulous-ness

from all of the designers.

TCM is giving away a new release set

each day, so make sure you leave a comment

on the blog for a chance to win!

I am so glad you stopped by today and I hope

you will plan to come by each day this week

so you don't miss a thing!

It's a Boy Project Recipe:

Patterned Paper: Planes & Traines by GCD Studios
Stamps: Vintgae Travel by The Craft's Meow

Embellishments: baker's twine in Stone by The Twinery
Tools:  Cloud dies by Lil' Inker Designs
Large Dot EF by Cuttlebug, Big Shot

To-Do List Project Recipe:

Stamps: Owl Journaling by The Craft's Meow
Ink: various by A Muse Studio