Clean and Simple...

Thought I would show you my offering for the
SCS Clean & Simple Challenge.
The idea is to leave a lot of 'clean' space with simple focal points and something that could be made quite quickly, and this week's additional challenge was to make it masculine.
This surely qualifies as it is one of the simpler things
I have done in recent days.
With all of the Artful INKables DT projects and blog challenges I have been focused on, it was a nice change of pace to do something simple, but effective.

Speaking of AI, I want to invite you to visit the blog over there as tomorrow marks the first bi-weekly challenge from the new DT.
It's called 'THINK INK TUESDAY'.
Check out our new logo on my sidebar.
So head on over tomorrow and continue to check back here
for more news on the AI front.
My posting day for the design team is Wednesday, so I will be sharing something from one of the new AI sets
which were released this past weekend.

Just one more thing before I call it an early evening...
I have officially reached
ONE HUNDRED FOLLOWERS
Do you know what that means? A nice BLOG CANDY offering to help celebrate. I am putting a fun selection of things together and will let you know when you can start logging on to win.
I can tell you that the value of the blog candy is
worth OVER $100!!!
So make sure you visit The Open Window often!
See you tomorrow...

Happy Friday!

What a busy week this has been for me. I am blessed to be able to work from home on all things creative (but of course, I do have my house-wif-y things I love to do as well). Some days just run into others and the weeks just meld together, and now here we are at the end of July! I have mentioned several times that our summer has been on the extreme mild side, so it feels as though we haven't quite reached summer and yet it's 3/4 over....but I digress......

Back to the busy week....There was the big Artful Inkables DT announcement, so I have been working on a variety of ideas....Answering a boat-load of messages of well-wishes from followers here and friends by email...I've been getting alot of hits at my gallery on SCS, so I have been following those and my Etsy store has been busy. Of course I check in over at Facebook, posting my projects and having silly conversations with my 'friends'. So I can honestly say, for the first time in awhile, I KNOW it's Friday, and I am glad it is! Paul isn't working at B&N today, so while I play, he is going to find a good movie from his DVD library (which by the way, takes up a better part of the living room wall, but I have a whole studio in our spare bedroom, so......). I think all in all, it's going to be a really nice day!

So onto the card....I thought it was fitting for the mood I am in today. The sun is shining here, the temp is near 80 degrees and the sky would look extraordinary with these heart-shaped balloons flying through the air.
I love Heidi Grace Stamps. These are from the Cheerful Bee set. I used VersaMagic Chalk Inks and and Martha Stewart rhinestones to set them off. The title transparency is from Making Memories.

Hope these colors put a smile on your face today! For now, I need to finish a couple of projects, but I'll be back a bit later to pass on some blog awards, so I will see you then!

So Many Things to Share...Get Your Cuppa First!

Where to start this morning....

Huge thank you to Alysabeth for the blogger award she sent my way yesterday. What a lovely surprise. Make sure you get over to Layin' Rubber Ink and check out the creative mind of this Canadian. Don't miss her sidebar comments, they will definitely put a smile on you face! Once again I am reminded that as bloggers, we really do thrive on the comments left when you visit, so make sure that you leave a note for Alysabeth...let her know you stopped by!

Also wanted to let you know that over at Simon Says Stamp they have featured one of my SCS/Etsy cards on their Heidi Swapp idea page. I don't have it posted here, so make sure you pop over there sometime today and have a look. It features a chandelier stamp that I recently picked up at Archiver's. There are other cards there also using the same stamp which is a great way to get different perspectives using one image.

What else to tell you.....did you participate in last night's PTI blog hop? I still haven't made it through to all the participating blogs, but I plan to finish up later today. Again, variations on themes are some of the best ways to find multiple uses for stamps that you have or don't know exactly what to do with. When we demoed in our store, that was the one thing that we loved teaching....how to use your stamp for more than one card and in this economy, it's more important than ever, don't you think?

So why a card about Fall in the middle of summer? Just because...Never mind that it is my very favorite time of year, but quite frankly we have had more 70 degree days lately at a time when we should be feeling the 90's. I stopped by Hobby Lobby yesterday and the first scent that hit me was 'autumn candles'. Are you 'scent sensitive'? I don't mean in an allergic way. I am very triggered by scents, some that go back to childhood, others that are season-to-season. I had to remind myself as I contemplated a candle purchase that I am still in my 'fruit-scented' time right now, not 'caramel apple'! So it ended up being Strawberry Shortcake that has found it's way onto my art table.

Will stop for now....I really feel as though I forgetting something that I wanted to tell you, so I will come back a bit later with a new creation or two and I'm sure by then, there will be more fun things to share. I love this place!