A Little Clean & Simple Goes a Long Way

I have been selling a bunch of my cards lately and was

in need of a quick replenish and decided that it was

time to go a little CAS.

I also realized that as much as I love my

'old-school' wood-mount stamps,

I don't play with them often enough.

So I went to the shelves and picked one that

I have had for quite awhile and had yet to play with.

This fun summer image from Stampabilities has so many possibilities.

So to go CAS was a good start.

The sentiment is from Hero Arts.

Just a little black ink and coordinating buttons and you are good to go. 

I also added tiny pewter rhinestones to a few of the flower centers.

Here is another take on the same design...

It's so easy to get caught up in layer upon layer on our creations.

It's totally ok to give yourself permission to take it down

a notch...or two...or three  ; )

I am going to leave the books up on my blog for another day or two.

I have chopped the prices a little more, so if you are interested in

any of these titles, this will be the only price I will offer them.

Remember, the prices DO include postage.

Click here to see each one.

Have a great day!

Purging my Art Space...

If you are here for the
Monday H{ippity} Hop
click here!

I don't normally do this, but...
I have a variety of 'art & craft' &
'lifestyle-related books
that I am ready to now part with. I can't
bear to think of them going to 'no-man's land'
so.....

I want to offer them to you (or maybe one of your friends)
as I know this is a group of people who may truly
appreciate them.
All prices INCLUDE postage.

softcover
$7.00 (reg price $14.95)

softcover
$9 (reg price $17.95)

hardcover
$12.00 (reg price $35.00)

All of these books are in excellent condition
and the prices do include postage.
They are on a first-come, first-served basis.
Prices w/postage are to US only
(Intl please ask about postage)
I can only accept PayPal for payment.
Email me at julieranae@hotmail.com
if you are interested.

Once these are gone, I will let you know.

As I continue to 'purge' my art space, I may offer
some other goodies from time to time
so I hope you don't mind.

Have a great day everyone!

So Many Thanks...So Little Time...

I don't know about you, but I feel like I can never send

enough 'Thank You' cards.  I sometimes think that the

simpler you can make them, the quicker you can get them

to the one who deserves it.

It is H{Ippity} Hop Monday here at

Julie's Open Window.

There are so many fabulous 'Ippity Chicks'

that have created something to share with you

today, so make sure you stop by the

Ippity Blog and check them out!

Today I wanted to share something that is

simple, quick, dimensional and elegant.

I used some fabby DP from Teresa Collins and stamped

the images with Ranger Archival ink in 'Coffee'. 

I gave the panel a little 'depth' by inking

the edges with Tim Holtz's Distress Ink in 'Old Paper'.

I layered Spellbinders 'Labels 9' dies to create the panel

for the sentiment.  The side border was created using

Martha's 'Deco Border' punch.

A few pearl and silver embellishments and a little

organdy ribbon finish it off.

I can tell you that the 'Bit of Burlap' stamp is one

of the most versatile images I own. 

It's great for backgrounds and adding textures to other images

such as the butterflies on my recent projects.

To see those, click here

I am so happy to be able to offer these wonderful stamps

right here on the Ippity page at Julie's Open Window.

I have them in stock and ready to ship!

Let me show you what I used and then tell

you about today's 'Ippity Double Deal'...

'The Simple Things'

'A Bit of Burlap'

This week's 'Ippity Double Deal'...

Purchase both featured stamp sets for

only $21.99 w/postage included

(reg. retail price is $24 + postage)

Just email me at julieranae@hotmail.com

and let me know you want The Ippity Double Deal'.

Here is a public thank you...

To Ippity DT member Maria Gurnsey for choosing my

card as the winner of last week's Ippity Challenge

over at SCS.  It really meant a lot to win because

it was a CASE challenge and it was Maria's card

I CASED!  Here is a quick click to see it.

One more thing....

There is still plenty of time to play

this week's challenge over at The Play Date Cafe.

Unity Stamps is this week's sponsor and they are

offering a very generous

prize package worth $75

to this week's winning creation.

So what are you waiting for???

Hope you will go out and make it a great day!

Sweet Friendships

Offering a very quick post today.

I was playing around with my new favorite 'branch' punch
from Martha Stewart and a wonderful new stamp I
picked up a couple weeks ago, and here is the result...

I have been creating with a lot of kraft cardstock lately
and I really like how these blues
work with the simple background.
The sentiment is a great $1 Studio G find.
Some lovely Prima flowers in a variety of shades...
The birds are just a tiny portion of the actual stamp
from a company I have come to love, Memory Box
who by the way, will be  
next week's fabby sponsor
over at The Play Date Cafe!.

Now...speaking of sweet friendships...

These are my 3 yummy grandsons.
(even yummier than that Pop-Tart Caleb is eating!)
That's Alex, jr on the left, he's 2.
Alex is cousin to Caleb, 4 1/2 and CJ, who is 7.

I had the blessing of having all 3 boys over this past week,
trying to keep up with them playing catch and a little soccer.

The brothers sometimes don't display friendship to
one another as often as they should
(as brothers tend to do)
but I love watching them display friendship to their little cousin.
It would be nice to keep this crew as young as possible...
just for a little longer...

Thanks for stopping by!

A Visit to Dublin, Ireland by Way of The Play Date Cafe

It's my turn to host the 'color story' again this week at
The Play Date Cafe Challenge

and this is one that I am really excited about!

This is one of my favorite places on Earth!
No...not just Ireland.
No...not just Dublin.

The photos you see are of the lovely
Russell Court Hotel
on Harcourt Street in the
Heart of Downtown Dublin.

Paul and I stayed there just over 20 years ago
and it is probably the place we talk most often
and most fondly about.
Ireland is fond to my husband's heart as well
because both his mother and father are from
Northern Ireland...it confuses people quite often
when my husband Paul, who is British tries to explain
that he has Irish parents : )

Back to Dublin.....

Not much has changed over the years...
It's still as beautiful as ever.
The card I chose to make was not intentional,
but in the end, it certainly speaks to how I feel
about this wonderful place...

The stamps that I used for sentiment and for the designs
around the clock are from Ippity Stamps 'Now and Always' set.
Again, how apropos is that??!!

The clock was cut from the DCWV 'At Home' Stack.
The papers that make up the 'wallpaper' are from
the same DCWV and The Paper Company.
I used Spellbinder's 'Labels 9' for my die.

Here is a close-up of the clock so you can see the subtle
stamping I did using these wonderful Ippity stamps.

I used Ranger Adirondack Ink in Mushroom.

If there was ever a week to play...
This one is it!

Ippity's parent company, Unity Stamps is
our sponsor this week and there is
$75 worth of stamps sets up for grabs to
the most creative entry this week!

Unity Design Team Member and one of

Paper Crafts Magazine's 'Go-To Gals'

Maren Benedict

is our Celebrity Guest Designer.

So what are you waiting for?

Oh...well I know it's to leave me a comment...
but get going...and git er done!
See you soon and enjoy your trip!

Still Feelin' Happy...

Last night I had a little time to sit down and play.

I was still very inspired by Maria Gurnsey's card

that I CASED for the Monday H{ippity} Hop

and thought I would see what I could do with the leftovers.

I used all of the same stamp sets and paper elements that

I used yesterday, so if you are interested in all the details,

you can scroll down or take a quick trip by clicking here.

If you are new to Ippity stamps, and you like the ideas that you see,

you have come to the right place!

I would love to be your 'Ippity Chick' and you can

find the sets used for these cards on my

Ippity Page here.

Check out yesterday's post for the specific sets

used AND for the great deal that you can get

this week ONLY.

I will be back tomorrow night at midnight, EST with a

brand new Play Date Cafe Challenge.

There is still time to get your entry in for this week's challenge 

and have an opportunity to win a fabby $14 gift certificate for

an entire stamp plate from our gracious sponsors,

See you then!

A Cheerful Day Indeed...It's H{ippity} Hop Monday!

It's Monday...the start to a brand new week!

It's Monday...it's H{ippity} Hop Monday!

This is the day where you can take in a

whole bunch of inspiration from a group of

very talented creators...The Ippity Chicks!

Stop by the Ippity Blog by clicking here

and not only will you see what the design team

have to offer, but also the list of all those participating

in the H{ippity} Hop!

This past week's challenge over at Ippity was

to visit the SCS Ippity Gallery and CASE a

creation there and I fell in love with

Maria Gurnsey's card which you

can see here.

This is my humble take on it.

I love the random 'writings' of this

K&Company DP.  I stamped the ladybug

on a snippet of DP from Heidi Grace.

Now here's the good news!

All of the stamps I have featured here today

are available directly from my Ippity Page here.

Here's what I used for this card...

'A Little Buggy'

'Now & Always'

'A Bit of Burlap' (butterfly pattern)

I love sharing these cheerful stamps

sets with you and I would love to be

your 'Ippity Chick'!

Order the first two sets from me this week

for only $35 (+ $5 postage)

and you can get 'A Bit of Burlap'

for just $3 !!!

That's $10 off the msrp

Just email me at julieranae@hotmail.com

and let me know you want this week's

'Ippity Triple'

(I accept Paypal & postal money orders)

One more thing..

I thank the girls over at Ippity for the

honoring my card as one of the Sunday Favs

yesterday!  Just click here to see my card

and the cards from the other talented ladies!

Have fun on the Hop!

Celebrating a Birthday...aaah...Not Mine

Just a quick post today....

To wish my favorite daughter

(my one and only, of course  : )

A Happy 26th Birthday.

Love you with all my heart, Mallory!

And to those of you who visited, I will be
back tonight by midnight EST with a little
H{ippity} Hop!