Great is Thy Faithfulness

Are you ready ??

It's time for the January New Release Previews from

If you've been visiting the TCM blog, I'll bet you've been

'intrigued' by the sneak peeks and today, we start revealing

more each day.  Our design team is simply...fabulous

and I know you'll be inspired.

This month, TCM welcomes

Jennifer Ingle

as our Guest Designer.

Her design work is, well ... AWESOME!

Today's set is called 

'Beautiful Hymns'

designed by NinaB Designs for TCM.

{I apologize in advance for the lighting in these photos...dreary days here}

I love sets that have vines, ivy ... any type of free form stems

that can be stamped as an accent.  I used the one from this set

by stamping it in green & teal.

I still love this patterned paper from SEI and thought it paired

nicely with the 3-D sticker from KandCompany.

The hymn featured in this set is called 'Great is Thy Faithfulness'.

It's a song I grew up singing in church and still means

a lot to me today.

How would you like a chance to win this set ?

All you have to do is stop by the TCM blog and leave a note

to say you stopped by for a visit.

Each day of the previews will bring another set up for grabs.

You have until 9pm PST, January 18th to comment to be eligible.

I'll be back tomorrow with another fabby preview.

Don't forget, a brand new color challenge is up and running over at

See you soon ! ! !

Project Recipe:

Cardstock: GinaK Designs

Patterned Paper: 'Couture' by SEI

Stamps: Beautiful Hymns by The Craft's Meow

Embellishments: die cut sticker & gems from K&Company
Ink: A Muse Studio

Feelin' Groovy...

Smile . . . It's a new week & you know what that means . . .

I hope you came by way of my teammate

Judith's blog Jay Gee's Nook

If not, I invite you to start at the beginning over on the

EAD Designs blog

because there is a great prize for a lucky visitor!

I just love playing with retro images and this set of

'Groovy' Stickerz from EAD are great.  I love the colors

and I love the possibilities.

I embossed the background with a Paisley EF from Cuttlebug,

created a die frame using Spellbinders Lacey & Standard Circles

and embellished with tiny gems & pearls from Want2Scrap.

Here's the groooooovy set I used this week

and just to remind you 

I am the caboose on the blog hop train this week.

Hope you enjoy all the inspiration provided by the

design team.  I know I sure did !

Thanks for stopping and make sure you leave a

little love before you leave.  I'd love to see

you win this week's prize !

Project Recipe:

Cardstock: Pure Luxury by Gina K Designs, Bazzill

Embellishments: Groovy Stickerz by EAD Designs
gems & pearls by Want2Scrap, Ribbon by SEI

Tools:  Paisley EF by Cuttlebug, Big Shot

Lacey Circles, Standard Circles by Spellbinders

Happy Mother's Day !

Thank you so much for stopping by The Open Window today!

This is just a super-quick post to share the card I made

for my mom for Mother's Day.

I actually haven't had an opportunity to give it to her yet

as she spent the day with my step-dad taking 

a drive on a very beautiful, sunny day.

She stops by my blog quite often, so hopefully I am

posting late enough that she will have it in her hands

before she actually pays a visit : )

You've seen this design here before as it was one of last month's

releases over at The Craft's Meow.

The flower image is from 'Beautiful Spring' and the sentiment

from 'To My Parents', both from TCM.

I layered the flower by stamping it several times on this

beautiful designer cardstock from SEI.

The embossed frame is by Sizzix.

The photo definitely doesn't do the colors justice.

I love the design and know that I will use it again and again.

On a complete DIFFERENT subject....

Today was a big day in our house as my husband Paul's

lifelong soccer team, Manchester City won their first

title in 44 years!

I literally took pictures directly from the television

throughout the 90+ minutes of the game.

It was definitely a nail-biter as in the....

our team managed to tie the score and in extra-time...

We came up with the result we needed!

Be thankful I shared the abbreviated version because I

snapped over 75 photos!  LOL

Thanks for swinging by....I'll see you soon!

Project Recipe:

Patterned Paper: Couture by SEI

Stamps: Beautiful Spring & To My Parents by The Craft's Meow

Embellishments: pearls by Recollections

Tools:  Wreath EF by Sizzix, Big Shot

Have a Lovely Day !

Happy Friday to one and all!

The Craft's Meow is this week's sponsor of

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge and several of the

TCM designers have created projects using

this week's challenge.

This week's Clean and Simple Challenge is....

Find opposite colors on the color wheel and use

them as the focus of your project.

For me, it was lavender and lime green.

Yes...you've seen this wreath before...it's a Sizzix embossing folder and

has become a favorite.  I love the big beautiful blossom from the

'Beautiful Spring' set by The Craft's Meow.

Paige over at CARDS magazine / Create is looking for cards for Spring
and I think these colors really put the spring right into it!

Speaking of TCM....

YOU could win a stamp set of your choice if you

play this week because TCM is sponsoring!

Please stop by, check out the new Girl Fridays

and play along ..... just remember to

Keep it Clean and Simple!

Project Recipe:

Patterned Paper: Couture by SEI

Stamps: Beautiful Spring & Lovely Birds by The Craft's Meow

Embellishments: pearls by Recollections

Tools:  Wreath EF by Sizzix, Big Shot

BOO 2 You - WaltzingMouse Sketch Challenge

I spent a little time last night playing with a few

ideas for the current WaltzingMouse Sketch Challenge.

I took a few liberties with the sketch by turning it

on it's side (sort of) and not making it an actual card.

I had so much fun with this.

The chipboard background is from one of my

Crafty Secrets Vintage Postcard Sets.

I covered it with Martha Stewart Halloween paper

and then layered Spellbinders Die Cuts (Labels 4)

on top with dimensional tape (so it's not flat).

One of my new favorite punches is the

'Vampire Bat' from EK Success.

I punched it twice from another Martha design

and layered it to give dimension.

The fabby alphabet letters are 'Thickers'

from American Crafts.  The ribbon is

from an old SEI mini SB kit that I have been

hanging onto for the perfect fit...this was it!

There is SO MUCH BOO on this

it's CrAzY (click HERE to find out more).

So here is what I want to know....

What is the latest BOO you have used in a project?

Leave a comment below and let me know...it's so fun

to what you are doing in your creative space : )

Back tonight with an all new Play Date Cafe Challenge

with Celebrity Guest Sankari Wegman!

I 'Embellished'...this Challenge

I have just a really quick post for you today.

I have spent most of the day at the clinic with

my sweet husband while he had a medical

procedure done on his esophagus, so I am

spending time between 

giving him some TLC 

and my studio/computer.

 I thought it would be fun to put something together

for this week's Embellish challenge and I knew if

I didn't get it done today, I would

miss out on the fun.

Ashley Cannon Newell is the wonderful host of

this challenge and e-zine AND is our guest

designer in The Cafe this week.

Although my grandpa's have long since passed on,

I was thinking of my grandsons and their love for

'Papa Paul' as I made this card.

I LoVe this color combination and I 

managed some MAJOR BOO on this

project as I broke out some fabby

rub-ons from SEI.

The cardstock is Bazzill & the DP is

from The Paper Company's 'Mirabella' stack.

Everyone's favorite Loop border punch 

is Martha Stewart/EK Success.

I used Spellbinders Scallops for the

dimension and centered it with a

fabric-covered brad from My Mind's Eye.

So that's it in a nutshell!

I will see you tomorrow night at

midnight, EST for the new challenge

from The Play Date Cafe.

Using What You've Got...It's a Giveaway!

One of my so-called resolutions for 2010 was to do my best to use a little 'somethin' that I have had for a long time.  My priority is to use my paper stash first followed by embellishments.  Oh my goodness!  As I organize, it's like Christmas everyday as I find things I forgot I had!
I know...that's your story too, isn't it?!

My mom called the other day and said she needed 12 valentines, 
any style, any color.  PERFECT!

I immediately began to think of ways I could put my plan to use,
but make the cards quick and simple.

One way to accomplish this is to get out of the box color-wise.
So here is the result...

 This is just one of the cards I came up with.  The patterned papers came with a British magazine that Sarah sent to me.  So I used the Sizzix Flower Layers die cut and highlighted the edges with  

Stardust Stickles.

My friend Mona sent me the rhinestone brads from Making Memories and the border punch is Eyelet Lace from Martha Stewart.

The colors are a bit unconventional for a typical valentine, but why not?

While I had the Sizzix die cut out,

I decided to continue on with my plan...here's what I made...

I have had the polka dot paper forEVER!
It's called Penelope's Potpourri from SEI.

The pink flower was made from the same paper on the card,
but now for my favorite....

THIS lovely flower is my favorite!  Adorned with Platinum Stickles.

The contest...

What can YOU tell me about the patterned paper that was used?

Take a good look at the photos above and really zero in on the patterned flowers on the left.

1. Who manufactures this paper?

2.  What makes this particular 'sheet' unusual?

Leave a comment with your guess.  Feel free to try and guess both answers.  I will take all correct answers and draw a winner.  You have until 11:59pm EST, Tuesday, January 19th to enter your guess.

The winner will receive a package of papers from this particular collection AND a completed flower embellishment.

A New Design Team & Another Challenge!

I am very excited to tell you that I have been asked to be a part of another Design Team. This one is 'The Color Dare' Challenge and I am looking forward to it. Riley Fitzgerald is your host of this fabulous fun. So let's get to the particulars, shall we?!As with many color challenge sites, SU colors are being used for the color choices, but you can use whatever you might have on hand. The 'descriptive' names for these are:
Old Olive
Pale Plum
Very Vanilla
Rich Razzleberry

I had a lot of fun with this card. There are a lot of 'collage' effects going on, but it really does come down to simple layering until you know it's enough. Do you remember the Basic Grey paper series I shared last Friday, well, this is more paper from the 'Periphery' set, along with SEI 'Chocolat' and handmade paper from Thailand for the flowers. The die cuts are also from the BG set and the journal tag is Anna Griffin. The greeting is from Cuttlebug and for a special touch, I added crystal Stickles to the flower and the vintage button rim.

I hope you will stop over at the Color Dare site and enter your color challenge piece. In the meantime, here are the newest DT members to be added...
Laura Lin from I Stamp, I Sew
Christi Bryant from Christi's Blog
Lori Padberg from Lori's Purple Giraffes
See the entire team on my sidebar and make sure when you stop by, you tell them who sent ya!

Now....I know there have been two, count 'em 2, back-to-back posts today, but Google Blogger was having photo loading issues this morning and there were many of us who had deadlines, so that is why you haven't had any breathing room between posts.

BUT....we still have Julie Ranae's Wednesday Night Favs to get to. So I will be back later on this evening with those. I have some lovely places to take you, so grab your favorite beverage and head back later on tonight. I look forward to seeing you!

A Cup of Coffee for the Color Throwdown

Couple of offerings for this week's Color Throwdown. As I have been leaning towards fall colors lately, this was a perfect challenge for me, but I was stumped for the theme.

The coffee card clearly has the 'argyle-style'. The background was a repeat pattern I stamped with a Studio G stamp. I used Colorbox Chalk Ink. The coffee cup and verse are from The Paper Company and the ribbon is KI Memories. I love when I can find things that coordinate, so I really got lucky here.

The fall card is one I have done before, but the colors seemed just so right for this challenge, so I wanted to include it so you can see that the sky's the limit with color challenges.

Again I used a Studio G stamp for the focal point, SEI paper and Spellbinder Die Cut leaves were created using 'the bug'.

So how has your day been? I have felt a tad under the weather today, which is sad because it was a beautiful day. Tomorrow promises fairly severe thunderstorms followed by temps near 100 over the weekend, so the mild weather is on it's way out....for now.

I hope to get a post off to you again later this evening, but if I don't, know that I am getting some much needed rest. I would like to spend some fabulous time with you this weekend, when our blogs tend to be quieter, so I am gearing up for that!