{warm} wishes

I'm baaack !

It's time for another challenge over at

These colors begin to take me to Spring, but leave me

lingering in the cool of winter.

We still have plenty of snow on the ground here and since

it's still only February, I just have to be patient.

I thought it would be fun to create using these sweet coffee mugs

from Paper Smooches called 'Hot Concoctions'.

The 'wallpaper' was created using My Mind's Eye 'Honeycake'.

I divided it using The Twinery's Platinum Shimmer & Flax baker's twine.

You know I'm a Zva Creative girl and just love the variegated colors

in these flourishes and couldn't resist using them as the

steam for my coffee.

I really hope you will join us this week.

We have a VERY special guest designer

and

one of our favorite sponsors with us . . .

Thanks so much for making a visit !

Project Recipe:

Patterned Paper: Honeycake by My Mind's Eye

Stamps: Hot Concoctions by Paper Smooches

Embellishments: gem flourish CRW-05CB-144, CR-05CA-125

all from Zva Creative
baker's twine in Flax & Platinum Shimmer from The Twinery

 

 

Celebrating the Day!

Gosh...it's been waaaay too long!

Last week, I was a welcome overnight 'guest' in one of our

hospitals and I've found it difficult to be on the computer much.

I am happy to say that after many, many tests related to my heart

(including an induced stress test which was simply 'unpleasant' at best)

my heart was declared in "perfect" condition.

It turns out that I have some torn ligaments in the chest wall

near that area and did you know . . .

it's pretty darned painful and can totally fool ya !

Of course you KNOW I now have very few excuses for not

adding a little exercise to my life.

But it's a very content feeling knowing I can do it with confidence.

Anyway . . . I am back at it and glad to be able to share a couple

of projects with you today featuring beautiful bling from

I really enjoyed making this card.

The colors, the bling, the stamps . . .

it all made me happy !

The colors are perfect for the current challenge over at

 

I simply created my wallpaper with these beautiful papers

and then determined where each element should go.

The bling is beautiful jet black crystal flourishes from Zva

and they really do stand out on this card.

The die frame is Spellbinders Labels 18 and the stamped sentiment

is from Avery Elle.

How about some more bling ??!!

This time, I added a BIG punch with Zva's beautiful bold flower.

This card does have a lot going on.

An embossed panel on the bottom with a panel created

using Martha Stewart's Deep Edge Geometric Medallion punch.

Then I layered the beautiful pink/lavender flourish just under the flower.

The stamped sentiment is from The Craft's Meow.

I am so very glad you stopped by today and hope that you found

a little inspiration along the way.

I'd love to hear from you, so please let me know you came by.

I always appreciate your visits !

Happy Valentine's Day Project Recipe:

Patterned Paper: Rosarian by Prima
Stamps: Lots of Love by Avery Elle

Embellishments: black crystal flourish CR-04CA-125

from Zva Creative
seam binding from Sugar Lump Studios on Etsy & Hug Snug

Tools: Labels 18 by Spellbinders, Big Shot

So Grateful Project Recipe:

Patterned Paper: So Sophie by My Mind's Eye
Stamps: Many Thanks by The Craft's Meow

Embellishments: pearl flourish CRB-05CA-122

white flower all from Zva Creative
Tools: Geometric Medallion Deep Edge punch 

by Martha Stewart

large swiss dot EF by Cuttlebug, Big Shot

 

Be Our Valentine ... The Twinery Event!

Happy Monday ! ! !

Welcome to The Open Window and a fabulous day !

That's right . . . The Twinery wants to be YOUR Valentine !

Our design team will be sharing inspiration with you

all week long with crafts that focus on a variety of themes.

Today it's Gift Tags!

These are bold, aren't they?

I love mixing bright colors, but it sometimes takes me awhile

to come around to them.

For these tags, I was totally inspired by our baker's twine.

Pink Sorbet

Strawberry

Cantaloupe

{doesn't that sound absolutely SCRUMPTIOUS?!}

I stamped the tag tops & sentiments using terrific stamps from Avery Elle,

then embossed the bottom section of the tag using this

beautiful diamond pattern EF from Lifestyle Crafts.

From there, I simply loaded up on twine and made the

tag full of texture.

For a completely DIFFERENT take on tags . . .

 I focused on our newest 'Platinum' Shimmer twine

paired with 'Ocean' to create a completely different look.

Staying with the stamp set from Avery Elle, I simply 'shadowed'

the images with my inks.

The gorgeous button brads are from The Paper Studio.

Just check out the beautiful metallic shimmer woven into the twine . . .

It's a fabulous celebration and I hope you will join us each day.

There have already been amazing giveaways & each day brings more.

Today's giveaway is a great 'GIFT TAG' PUNCH.

Make sure you stop by The Twinery blog to check out all

the details and to find more inspiration from our great designers.

Thanks so much for stopping by today.

Make sure to leave a little note before you make your

next stop.  I'd love to hear from you  :  )

Happy Valentine's Day Project Recipe:

Stamps: All Occasion Tags & Lots of Love by Avery Elle

Embellishments: baker's twine in Strawberry, Pink Sorbet & Cantaloupe

from The Twinery

 

Be Mine Project Recipe:

Stamps: All Occasion Tags & Lots of Love by Avery Elle

Ink: Memento Angel Pink & Teal Zeal by Tsukineko

Embellishments: baker's twine in Ocean & Platinum Shimmer

from The Twinery

 

It's a Beautiful 'Blingy' Day with Zva Creative

Happy Monday and welcome to The Open Window.

It's one of my favorite times *shiniest* times of each month

as it's our team blog hop over at

Happy New Year to you! Zva Creative and our talented 2013 Design Team 
welcome you to our January blog hop! 
We are very excited about month's hop and are excited to share our new work with you!

The Blog Hop begins at Zva Creative's blog!
*Be sure head on over to check it out! Leave a comment there for a chance
  to win an extra prize package just for visiting the blog and telling us
  that you stopped by!  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

One of the things I love about creating with the beautiful
bling from Zva is it takes me 'off the page' to create cards with
lots of dimension.  I love doing that anyway, but the bling designs
really inspire me.
I used a combination of purple pearl flourishes, a gem flower flourish
and tiny taupe pearls all from Zva.
The card was created using papers from My Mind's Eye and a
stamped sentiment from Avery Elle.
The leafy die cut was made using a Sizzix Branch w/Leaves
and the border was punched using one of my fave Martha borders.

Here's a close-up of the dimension . . .

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, January 28th and runs through midnight US Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday, January 29th.

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, January 30th 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!

We also thought it would be more fun to add even more chances to win our blog hop prize!   

To increase your chances of winning:

* Comment to let us know that you posted on your Facebook page about our hop (link to any of the blog hop posts)

* Comment to let us know that you "tweeted" about our hop (link to any of the blog hop posts)

* Comment to let us know that you asked your local store to carry Zva creative products.  If they already do, that's fantastic, maybe you can suggest other products that they don't carry.

*Hop over to Zva's facebook page and "like" our page or leave a comment there to tell us that you stopped by.

Your next stop is Evgenia Petzer

Thanks so much for coming by ...

I always appreciate your visits!

OH !  one more thing  . . .

Mark your calendar to join us again on February 25th^th for our next Zva blog hop! It will be a very special one where our team will be debuting all of Zva's new CHA releases that will be hitting stores soon!

Project Recipe:

Patterned Paper: So Sophie
Stamps: Lots of Love by Avery Elle

Embellishments: 

taupe pearls {CRW-04CB-139}

flower gem flourish{CRB-04CA-112}

gem/pearl flourish {CRS-05CA-108} 

all from Zva Creative

Tools: branch w/leaves die by Sizzix

heart border punch by Martha Stewart

  

My True North

Hello !

I'm so glad you could swing by The Open Window

because it's 'Splash' time over at

It's one of the favorites in The Cafe

and this time, we're using Emerald Green

Before I get to my project, I want to make sure you head

over to The Cafe this week because we have a brand new

joining us and I know you'll just love her!

 

I've been working a lot of Clean & Simple lately and seem to

always go that route when it 'splash' time.

I chose to use one of the sets from Avery Elle to make this card.

This is a true testament that you can use products meant for another time,

as this paper is October Afternoon's 'Witch Hazel' collection.

It was the perfect accent for the color story.

This week, we welcome back

as our sponsor.

Thank you oh so much for stopping by.

I always appreciate your visits.  I know how

many creative blogs are out there and mine is a

simple drop in the ocean, so thank you for your support !

Project Recipe:

Patterned Paper: Witch Hazel by October Afternoon
Stamps: Let's Get Knotty by Avery Elle

Embellishments: gem & brads from Recollections

Heartfelt Thanks with The Craft's Meow

The day has finally arrived !

It's The Craft's Meow January Release

Team Blog Hop

I hope you stopped by from my friend

Jessica Fick's Blog

If not, I would love for you to join us from the start at

The Craft's Meow Blog

because someone is going to win the

entire collection of new releases and it could be you !

I created today's card using

'Happy as a Lark' and 'Many Thanks'

I laid down my 'wallpaper' base using paper from Lily Bee Design.

I wrapped the seam with binding & baker's twine from The Twinery.

I stamped the lark on the top half.

 

On a separate piece of cardstock, I stamped another lark, cut it out

and shaded it with color.  I adhered it just off-center from the one

on the base card so it would bring a little dimension.

I die cut the vine and gave it some dimension with Stickles.

I stamped the sentiment on a Spellbinder's die cut frame

and embellished it with black gems & Liquid Pearls.

Don't forget . . .

'Lark Additions' is this month's FREE GIFT w/$50 purchase.

It's the PERFECT compliment to the set I featured today.

The sentiments are simply beautiful.

To have the BEST CHANCE TO WIN the entire collection of new releases,

pay a visit to our designer's blogs,

leave a comment where you can and cross your fingers

all by 9pm PST, Wednesday January 23rd.

One random winner will be chosen from one of the blogs

on the hop.  

Speaking of the hop, it's time to send you on to

Karen Baker's Blog

She is the illustrator behind the beautiful lark designs

and I know she will have beautiful inspiration for you !

Thanks so much for coming by . . . I look forward to hearing from you !

Project Recipe:

Patterned Paper: Lily Bee Designs

Stamps: Happy as a Lark & Many Thanks 
by The Craft's Meow

Tools: Grommet Tags by Spellbinders, 
Season's Greetings Phrase by Sizzix, Big Shot
Embellishments:  baker's twine in Ocean & Platinum Shimmer
by The Twinery
seam binding from Sugar Lump Studios Etsy Shop
gems by Recollections
Stickles & Liquid Pearls by Ranger

 

Many...MANY Thanks!

It's getting closer!

We're on the final day of the New Release Previews over at

Today's set is . . .

'Many Thanks'

designed by Kaitlyn Ord

I have a small selection of washi tape and have been dragging my
feet when it comes to using it.
When I saw that the challenge over at
Simon Says Stamp was to use washi tape, I was inspired get a roll out
and have fun.  This tape is from Freckled Fawn.

Because this roll has multiple graphic designs, I just

cut my each layer to the desired length & cut them free-hand into long banners.

I then die cut sentiment banners & placed them on top of each column.

The banners were cut using a die from Lil' Inker Designs.

I love this stamp set because of the multiple styles and sentiments

to say 'thank you' and I think you will too ! !

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 this evening to comment to be eligible.

I hope you will join us tomorrow as we share the
entire release during our team blog hop.
The day the stamps go on sale is always an exciting day !

See you soon ! ! !

Project Recipe:

Patterned Paper: American Crafts

Stamps: Many Thanks by The Craft's Meow

Tools: banner die by Lil' Inker Designs, Big Shot
Embellishments: washi tape from Freckled Fawn 
mini brads by Recollections

Happy as a Lark!

It's getting closer!

We're on Day #3 of the New Release Previews over at

and today we share two sets with you,

one is this month's 'free gift with purchase'!

Today's sets are . . .

'Happy as a Lark'

and
'Lark Additions'
designed by the talented Karen Baker

I simply adore these sets.  

I love the images . . . I love the fonts of the sentiments . . .

I love them all !

This card is fairly straightforward in it's design.

I used a very old {and I mean like, 14 years old}

cloud template to create the subtle sky,

then stamped each image and layered things as you see.

 

For the tree trunks, I actually stamped in brown first

then 'shadowed' in gray to create dimension.

The inks are Memento & A Muse Studio,

the baker's twine is Cappuccino & Ocean from The Twinery.

'Lark Additions' is this month's 'Free Gift w/$50 Purchase'

It's such a fabulous addition with it's pretty sentiments.

Free for a limited time!

How would you like a chance to win these sets ?

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 20th to comment to be eligible.

I'll be back tomorrow with the final fabby preview.

See you soon ! ! !

Project Recipe:

Cardstock: Coordinations & GinaK Designs

Stamps: Happy as a Lark & Lark Additions by The Craft's Meow

Embellishments: baker's twine in Ocean & Cappuccino
from The Twinery