What's Brewing? Coffee and a Little More...

 

The Play Date Cafe Challenge was posted extremely late

and I promised the players over there if they stopped

by my blog, I would explain why.

I will do that at the end of this post...

I LoVe this photo by Maria Medeiros over at CozyComfyCouch.

I thought it was terrific inspiration and am very excited to see

what everyone does with this color combo.

Me?  I took it a bit 'literally' 

and went very CAS (clean and simple)!

 

I have the limited edition Fiskar's 'coffee mug' punch and 

thought this was the perfect time to use it.

I stamped the linen-finish punched-pieces with the fabulous

'Simple Swirls' Flourish stamp from Artistic Stamper.

These stamps are so versatile and I love having them as

my 'go-to' background images.

The sentiment is from The Paper Company.

The 'Eyelet Lace Border' punch and ribbon 

are from Martha Stewart.

A quick reminder that the DESIGN TEAM CALL

is still going on over at The Play Date Cafe.

For all the details, click here

Now to share the past 24 hours of frustration...

Recognize this?  If you have been a follower of my blog

for the past 6 months or so, you know we recently went through

the construction process of a brand new road.

If you are newer to The Open Window, I would encourage you

to catch up with the story HERE before you continue.

The reason for the close-up photo above is to give you an idea of

the proximity from our patio to what's next.

 

We awoke yesterday morning to lots of noise and many voices.

As I looked out the patio doors, this was the scene behind

all the condo units.  It seems when they built the now famous

'Road to Nowhere', the original easement was not in the appropriate

place, so all....yes, ALL the underground utility lines had to be moved.

About 3pm on Wednesday, I arrived home to no electricity and the

conversation went something like this:

"can you tell me how long we will be without power?"

"we're working on it"

"so you have no idea if this was planned or accidental"

"we're working on it...we've called ComEd"

 OH-oh...oops!

No lights, no phone, no heat...chilly.

At 8:30pm, 2 men, who I would assume were 

frozen to the core, gave me the good news that we

were getting close...mission accomplished shortly after that.

I rushed to my computer only to find that my DSL was

not functioning.  I picked up our phone and....dead.

It was like an army of people outside today...workers everywhere.

Obviously our phone and DSL service were restored...

approximately 3pm this afternoon.

And now...

HERE'S what it looks like outside my patio door

as I type this...

When they spotted for all these cables, they said not to worry because

it's all done very 'electronically' so the digging will be minimal.

This is just behind our condo...it looks like this behind every building.

Here's the part that I just have to laugh at....

It was only OUR unit...

our lowly little abode that was disconnected.
Gee...I hope they're coming back.

Don't they KNOW I have a blog to take care of?

Love is in the Air...it's a Private Blend!

 

This is a fabulous week over at The Play Date Cafe!

Not only do we have an open design team call going on at the moment, but we also have a new  

Cafe feature with a designer opportunity.

This week, I was totally inspired by The Play Date Cafe's first 

'Private Blend' Designer.

Before I tell you about that inspiration, I want to also thank my friend

Maria Medeiros from CozyComfyCouch Photography & Design.

Maria has graciously provided this fabulous inspiration photo

for this week's challenge.

 

Mona Pendleton of Cupcake's Creations is our first

'Private Blend' Designer and her tissue paper flowers are so beautiful.

I decided it was time to make a few of my own 

inspired by her terrific style.

I also managed a little 'Boo' with this project by using flocked DP from

Prima's Nursery Rhyme Collection, 

and this fabulous Paper Inspirations

stamp that I have had for over five years and had never inked!

The textured hearts were a part of a die cut package that came free with one of my British stamping magazines.

Hope you will take this opportunity to play with these great  

Valentine-y colors over at The Play Date Cafe.  

Head on over and find out how you can be a 

'Private Blend' Designer!

Retro Fun at The Play Date Cafe!

I am very excited about the color inspiration for this week's

Play Date Cafe Challenge.

And how fun is this inspiration photo?

Julie Campbell is actually our challenge host this week, but as she is away at CHA in Anaheim, I offered to fill her shoes with an offering of inspiration.

The verse I used for this card was from Scrappy Cat and it's in tribute to my UK friends, Jennie and Hels.  I serve on the creative team with them at Artistic Stamper and have been in LOVE with the grungepaper roses that they are so proficient at making.

Because I STILL need to get myself some grungepaper to make the actual roses, I decided to put my own spin on them using the same

'retro' feel of the inspiration photo.

I created the flowers using my Sizzix Flower Layers die cuts.  The patterns were created with Artistic Stampers' Houndstooth and Polka Dot background stamps.  Although houndstooth never goes out of style, I think it has a very 'retro' vibe to it.  I outlined each flower with turquoise and silver Stickles and centered them with zebra-print brads.  Fun...fun...FUN!

So you have two places to visit.   

The Play Date Cafe of course, and then head on over to

Artistic Stamper.

Tell them hi from me!