Summer Poppies with The Twinery & Pretty Little Studio

I am so excited to be back sharing another fabulous blog hop

with you with two of my very favorite companies!

Of course, I've been working for The Twinery for over

four years now and love the creativity that comes when

baker's twine is part of the project and now, we get to

share one of my other favorite companies

Pretty Little Studio.

Hopefully you made it here from the most creative

Aimee Maddern's Blog

If not, never fear because you can get started just

a few steps back over at

The Twinery Blog

Yep!  There are some pretty fabby prizes to win if

you follow along the hop, but I'll get to those in just a sec.

I've been a fan of Pretty Little Studio for a couple years now

and find myself ordering from them with each new collection.

This one is called 'Marigold'.

I only had time to create one project for this blog hop

but I really like the outcome.

Yes...I've been using the knot idea once again to create

the stamens of these beautiful poppies. The Twinery's

baker's twine works so well to make these perfect.

For this card I used:

Marigold Solid

Strawberry Solid

Natural Solid

The Pretty Little Studio products used:

Marigold Paper Packet

Seed Packet Cut Out Tags

So I know you want to know more about the prizes

up for grabs during this hop, so here's what YOU could win....

$65 Striped Twine Sampler from The Twinery

For all the details on all the chances you can have to win, visit 

The Twinery blog to get started on the hop!

One of those ways is to make sure you leave a little love

on my blog before I send you on your way!

Now it's time to get you to the talented
Tami Bundrage's Blog

So nice to see you again & I look forward to hearing from you!

Enjoy the hop!

The Twinery / Serendipity Stamps Blog Hop

No...it is not your imagination!  LOL

I am back once again with another fabby blog hop with my team over at

The Twinery as we team up with the designer from Serendipity Stamps.

Our team were given the option to work with 

Serendipity's stamps and dies

and I chose to work with a beautiful Lighthouse Die & Stamp Set

I love using baker's twine to create landscape and that's exactly what I did for

both of today's projects.  For this one, I wanted to create the varied colors of the sea,

so I used The Twinery's baker's twine in:

Denim

Ocean

Seaweed

Honeydew

It's so easy...just run your tape roller in a wavy line and simply layer the twine

row by row. 

To create the sun, I rolled Marigold & Buttercream in a circle of tape

For the next project, I wanted to create a sandy beach landscape

so I layered Cappuccino & Stone baker's twine.

I've always found lighthouses to be a source of hope as the beacon

shines for miles.  

During this three-day blog hop, there are some pretty fabby prizes

available to two lucky winners.

If you swing by all of the participating blogs & leave a little love, you just might win...

Solid Twine Sampler Pack (retail value $48)

Here’s how you can enter to win the Sampler Pack of Twines:

Leave a comment on each participating designer’s blog on the hop (and here on our blog, too!).

This is a 3-day hop, so be sure to comment each day.

Please be sure to leave your e-mail address along with your comments

so we can have a way to contact you if you win.

For additional chances to win:

- Follow our blog. You can enter your e-mail to subscribe under the “Follow By Email!”

heading in the blog sidebar.

- “Like” The Twinery on Facebook and leave a comment on our page letting us know

you came from the blog hop.

The deadline to leave comments for the giveaway is at 11:59pm EST on Friday, August 1st.

Check The Twinery blog on Sunday, August 3rd to see if you’ve won!

You still have plenty of time to join the fun!

Thanks for stopping by and I know I will see you again soon!

It's time to get you on your way to the next 
stop on the hop, my talented friend
Monika Wright

Have fun !

The Twinery Creates with Poppystamps Blog Hop

HELLO !!!

Yes indeed!  After a year-long break, I am baaaaack!

I am so happy to be sharing a wonderful event with you

and can't think of a better time to be sharing!

I have enjoyed being the Design Team Coordinator for The Twinery

for nearly 4 years now and love when we get together with other

creative teams to share projects with you.

Today is Day #3 of our blog hop with Poppystamps.

They provided beautiful dies to inspire us & here is what I came up with.

This beautiful die is called the 'Viva Tree' and as soon as I saw it,

I knew what I wanted to do.

Last year, I used the same 'knotting' method to create popcorn

for another fun project (which can be seen HERE)

I cut a dark brown & kraft brown tree and glued them

to my card base.  I thought it would give some dimension to create

a 'shadow' effect by layering one over the other.

To create the colorful leaves, I simply tied three knots for each color,

and glued them randomly to the tree.

The Twinery has so many beautiful shades of baker's twine, so you

can really get creative with this idea.  

For my tree, I chose the following colors:

Pink Sorbet

Lilac

Marigold

Mandarin

Honeydew

Cappuccino

During this three-day blog hop, there are some pretty fabby prizes

available to two lucky winners.

If you swing by all of the participating blogs & leave a little love, you just might win...

Metallic Sampler Pack (retail $32)

Two-pack of Dies (retail $26.50)

Here’s how you can enter to win the Sampler Pack of Twines:

Leave a comment on each participating designer’s blog on the hop (and here on our blog, too!).

This is a 3-day hop, so be sure to comment each day.

Please be sure to leave your e-mail address along with your comments

so we can have a way to contact you if you win.

For additional chances to win:

- Follow our blog. You can enter your e-mail to subscribe under the “Follow By Email!”

heading in the blog sidebar.

- “Like” The Twinery on Facebook and leave a comment on our page letting us know

you came from the blog hop.

The deadline to leave comments for the giveaway is at 11:59pm EST on Friday, August 1st.

Check The Twinery blog on Sunday, August 3rd to see if you’ve won!

You still have plenty of time to join the fun!

Thanks for stopping by and I know I will see you again soon!

It's time to get you on your way to the next blog on the hop
Patty Tanuz

Saturday's Designers :

The Twinery

Poppystamps

Julie Ranae

Patty Tanuz

Amy Crockett

Jeanne Jachna

Rebecca VanDeMark

Rudlis/Irena Kowalczyk

Melania Deasy

Sherry Eckblad

Denise Hahn

Sherry Hester

Rebecca Greco

Fun's a Poppin' with The Twinery & Ruby Rock-It

Oh yeah!  What a couple days as the designers of The Twinery

get together with the designers of Ruby Rock-It

for a fun blog hop !

I am just the third stop on today's journey, so hopefully

you came by way of the

Ruby Rock-It blog

If not, we would love for you to start at the beginning of the

hop because there are some pretty terrific prize packages

up for grabs when you leave a little love along the way !

Armed with The Twinery's amazing baker's twine

and the super fun 'Carnival King' collection provided

by Ruby Rock-It, I had a great time making this colorful card.

 I love ANYthing carnival, circus or county fair-related.

As soon as I saw the popcorn box embellishments, I knew I

wanted to 'pop' some popcorn.

I used The Twinery's original & new solid Marigold baker's twine

& began making little knots.

I 'tied' the banners together with a braided 'rope' using solid Maraschino

and original Caribbean & Charcoal twine

and added a little more shimmer using Stickles & tiny gems from K&Co.

Both The Twinery & Ruby Rock-It

are offering awesome prize packages for two lucky

winners who leave comments along the blog hop way.

All the details & the complete hop list can be

found over at The Twinery.

It is time to get you on your way to Ruby Rock-It's designer

Beckie Dreyer's blog

Thanks for stopping by & don't forget to leave a comment

for your chance to win one of those terrific prize packages !

Project Recipe:

Patterned Paper: black check from A Muse Studio

Tokens, Die Cuts & Project Card: Carnival King by Ruby Rock It

Embellishments: gems from K&Company
original & solid baker's twine in Marigold, Marschino, Charcoal & Caribbean

all from The Twinery

Red, White & Blue Inspiration

Yep...the 4th of July is almost here!

It's always an interesting time in our home

as I am married to a 'very' British Englishman.

Yes, that is one redundant phrase, but it was

meant to emphasize just how 'British' he is!

He really enjoys the celebrations we have during

the holiday & after nearly 24 years here in the

U.S. he has come to love our patriotism.

Well today, I'm sharing this project over at The Twinery
& thought it would be fun to share here

how quick & easy it is to add an accent of

twine here & there to make your card 'pop'!

{no pun intended}

This is actually my second patriotic card in two days... I'll 're-share' the other
in a moment...

Once again, I used Authentique's 'Pride' Collection for my background
and this time, I stamped & die-cut my anchor using a Hero Arts set.
I created a border between paper designs using blue pearls from  
Zva Creative. The waves & sentiment are from Avery Elle.
My favorite cloud die still comes from Lil' Inker Designs.
I used an EF from LifeStyle Crafts appropriately called 'Waves'
to create the texture in the clouds and added a touch of
baker's twine in Denim from The Twinery.

Yesterday, I shared a card featuring bling from Zva Creative.
Here's a peek . . .

Make sure you stop by THAT POST to see the rest & leave a 
comment for your chance to win a terrific prize package from Zva Creative.
FIVE of them will be given away from random comments on any one
designer's blog, so don't leave without a quick hello!

Hope you enjoyed a little 'Red, White & Blue' Inspiration!


Project Recipe: 
Patterned Paper: Pride by Authentique

Stamps: Knotty by Avery Elle 
Embellishments: baker's twine in Denim

from The Twinery

blue pearls {PEW-03CB-118} from Zva Creative 
Tools: Tides EF from LifeStyle Crafts, Big Shot

Cloud die from Lil' Inker Designs

Zva Creative June Design Team Blog Hop

Zva Creative and my fellow Design Team members welcome you to our 
June blog hop! 
We are excited about it and look forward to be 
sharing our new work with you!

Today's Blog Hop begins at Zva Creative's blog! Be sure head on over to check it out! You will also find a complete list of all the participating blogs there (in case there is a glitch along the way).

As you know, Zva offers many beautiful color groupings for pearls, flowers and crystals.  If you like what you see along the hop you can find a list of stores and online retailers that sell Zva HERE.

I really had fun creating this card.
I was totally inspired by this week's assignment
over at The Twinery, which was to create
something using red, white & blue.

I bought the 6x6 pad 'Pride' by Authentique
on my last trip to Archivers & knew what I
wanted to start with.  I laid down my
'wallpaper' and went from there.

The focal point bling is the beautiful red
flourish from Zva Creative.  Even though
bling tends to be on the more 'sophisticated'
side, it totally works with this Americana
look, don't you think?

The burlap star is from Little Yellow Bicycle
and the sentiments are from Paper Smooches.

If you would like to play along with our design team, just follow along the blog path.  I am linking to one of the Zva designers and that designer is linking to the next and so on. Be prepared to be inspired along the way!

The Blog Hop starts today, June 24^th and runs through midnight US Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday, June 25^th.

***Prizes*** 
Hidden on FIVE of the designer's blogs is a Zva Creative prize package! Winners will be randomly chosen after the hop is over. All you need to do is leave a comment on this Blog Hop post... you do not need to leave a comment on each and every designer's blog post to qualify. However, the more times you comment along the blog hop path, the more chances you will have to win. 

The 5 winners will be announced on Wednesday, June 26^th on Zva Creative's blog. We will do our best to notify each winner, but it's best if you can pop in to Zva's blog on Wednesday to see if you are a winner! 

The blog hop begins here at Zva Creative's blog.

Your next stop is

Jolanda Meurs blog

Enjoy!

Thank you for joining us! 

P.S. Mark your calendar to join us again 

on July 29^th for our next Zva blog hop! 

And don't forget to leave a comment for your chance

to win one of those great prize packages!


Project Recipe:

Patterned Paper: Pride by Authentique

Stamps: Sentiment Sampler from Paper Smooches

Embellishments: Red Flourish {CR-06CA-107} from Zva Creative

baker's twine Silver Metallic from The Twinery

Burlap Star sticker from Little Yellow Bicycle

Tools: Banner die by Sizzix, Big Shot

 

So Blessed ~ 4 Years of Blogging

Happy Monday and the beginning of a great week here

at The Open Window.

I am celebrating FOUR YEARS of blogging

(my first post was June 14, 2009)

and the sentiment on today's card says it all.

In so many ways, it seems like just yesterday

I posted my first thoughts & photos.

I've also been blessed to work with some pretty

aMAZing companies along the way.

Today....I come to you representing one of

my very favorites !

It is

NEW RELEASE PREVIEWS WEEK

at

Let's get things started here with a gorgeous set called

'Beautiful Rose'

illustrated by Nina B Designs

 I recently picked up a batch of new 6x6 pads on an Archivers
shopping trip and couldn't wait to start using them.  Most of the paper
on this card feature 'Down by the Shore' from Fancy Pants Design.
The rose was cut from Authentique's 'Pride' collection.
Although there are a few elements on this card by way of punched
borders using Fiskars Apron Lace ( great go-to punch),
a hand-cut flag & baker's twine in Canteloupe & Denim from The Twinery,
it still goes back to that 'Beautiful Rose'

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 8pm PST, tonight to comment to be eligible.

I've also had the pleasure of working for
aNOTHer aMAZing company
for the past
3 years and wanted to let you know that there is a
TERRIFIC CHALLENGE
going on right now over there . . .

Whether you use a 'little' or a 'lot', 
as long as you use baker's twine on your project
YOU CAN ENTER!
Check out all the details HERE

I sure hope you'll leave a little note here as well.
I'd love to know you stopped by.
See you again tomorrow for another
terrific preview from TCM!

Project Recipe:

Patterned Paper: Down by the Shore by Fancy Pants Design
and Pride by Authentique
Stamps: Beautiful Rose by The Craft's Meow

Embellishments: baker's twine in solid Canteloupe & Denim by The Twinery
Tools: Apron Lace border punch by Fiskars

Side by Side at The Craft's Meow

Welcome back to The Open Window !

It's a great time to be 'peeking in' because it's

NEW RELEASE PREVIEW WEEK at

Today we are sharing the beautiful new stamp set

designed by the talented Karen Baker

'Side by Side'

I kept this card very CAS.  I love the sentiments in this set

and how they can randomly be placed on the front of the card

OR

you can use on on the front and the another inside to complete the greeting.

I simply paper-pieced the flower and wound beautiful, subtle baker's twine

from The Twinery between to bright copper brads.

It's always fun to add little pearls here and there, isn't it ?

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 tonight to comment to be eligible.

I'll be back tomorrow with another fabby preview.


I sure hope you'll leave a little note here as well.
I'd love to know you stopped by.
See you again tomorrow for another
aMAZing preview from TCM!

Project Recipe:

Stamps: Side by Side by The Craft's Meow

Embellishments: pearls by Recollections

baker's twine in Shore from The Twinery

Tools: Swiss Dot EF from Cuttlebug, Big Shot

 

A Mother's Day 'Thank You' Gift

Welcome to a very special Sunday post here at The Open Window

I'm so glad to be able to join these fabulous ladies today

with projects to inspire you to create for Mother's Day.

You should have come by way of 

Angi Barrs' blog

If not, I'd love for you to start at the beginning at

Donna Bowman's blog

There are some pretty fabby prizes up for grabs
and ONLY TEN BLOGS in the hop

{more on that below}

My mom recently asked if I would be willing to start making 

'Thank You' cards for all of the kindess people have been showing

since she started her chemo treatments.  Of course, I am happy to.

I just thought it would be fun to have a nice place for her

to keep them stored as I add to them.

This is going to be a lengthy post, but I thought it would be

fun to show you how I created the designs on the box, so let's get started !

I recently purchased a set of stamps from HSN

and they arrived in this terrific box.

Because there was already so much bold color, I thought it would

be great to keep the box base and most of the lid the way it came.

So I grabbed a few dies, an embossing folder and stickers from

SRM Stickers and proceeded to make my own frame for the lid.

From there, it was time to choose some fun borders to place

on the edges of the lid, so I pulled out my collection of

stickers from SRM.

From there, I knew I wanted to include some fabby baker's twine from

The Twinery, so where to start . . .

I chose to use The Twinery's Mandarin, Marigold & Carribean,

which I also used on each of my cards.

Each of my cards use My Mind's Eye 'Sunny' Collection, SRM Stickers

along with a variety of embellishments such as Stickles, pearls & gems
from Zva Creative & KandCompany.

and fabric flowers (also from MME) & baker's twine from The Twinery.
I also used dies & embossing folders from Spellbinders, Sizzix
and LifeStyle Crafts.

I sure hope you enjoyed this project and find inspiration to
do something fun & colorful for the 'mom' in your life !

To be eligible for prizes from this hop, simply leave
a little love along the way on each designer's blog
and YOU could win !  To see a list of the prizes up for grabs
and a complete list of participating blogs
{ and there are only 10, so it's very do-able }
make sure you start at the beginning.

The next stop on the hop is my dearly creative friend
Jen Cuthbertson's blog

So glad you stopped by today !
Fingers crossed that one of those great prizes is yours !


Products used in this post include:
baker's twine from The Twinery
stickers from SRM Stickers
patterned paper from My Mind's Eye
dies from Spellbinders & Sizzix
embossing folder by LifeStyle Crafts
gems from Zva Creative, KandCompany, Recollections
 cardstock from Bazzill