Inspiration with The Craft's Meow

Welcome back to Day #2 of New Release Previews

during the

1st Birthday Bash at TCM

Along with sharing projects inspired by the newest stamp releases

(which will be available March 21st)

we have a challenge with each day that you can participate in.

For all the details, check out the TCM Blog.

Today's challenge is an Inspiration Challenge....

Take a look at this gorgeous photo and let those

creative juices flow.

Today is Mother's Day in the UK, so I was thinking about my
dear sweet mother-in-law as I created this card...miss her so much....

Another beautiful stamp set from Nina B Designs for TCM.

It's called 'Cherished' and will be a perfect addition to your stamp collection.

My background frame, flowers and stems are created from papers by 

Little Yellow Bicycle and lily bee design.

I used the Lacey Squares die from Spellbinders for my base frame

and used the Martha Branch Border, which was inspired by the

beams in the photo above.

I'm linking this up to the Vintage Florals Challenge over at
CARDS/Create as well.

How would you like a chance to win this stamp set before it

goes on sale next week?  All you need to do is visit our designer's blogs and

make sure to leave a comment over on The Craft's Meow blog.

You'll have until 9pm PDT each day to leave your comment and the winners

will be announced the following day along with the next preview & challenge.

We would love for you to play along with each challenge during our

1st Birthday Bash...all the details are on the TCM Blog.

I'd love to hear from you....please leave a note & make sure you leave

a contact address so I can say hello back.

Enjoy the bash!!!

Project Recipe: 

Patterned Paper:  Paradise from Little Yellow Bicycle, Picket Fence by lily bee design
Stamps:  Cherished from The Craft's Meow
Ink:  Dusty Concord Distress Ink by Ranger
Black Tuxedo Memento by Tsukineko

Tools:  Lacey Squares die from Spellbinders, Big Shot
Branch Border punch by Martha Stewart

Beautiful Spring with The Craft's Meow

The day is finally here  !!!

The designers at The Craft's Meow have been so looking forward

to this week of new release previews.

It's extra special because TCM is celebrating our

first birthday!

Over the next four days, we will share previews of 1-2 sets

each day and to make it extra fun, we will have a challenge available

for you to participate in so you can join the celebration

and have a chance to win prizes & a possible

GUEST DESIGN spot with TCM!

 For all the details, check out the TCM Blog.

Here is our first challenge....

A beautiful sketch challenge by our creative

Amy Tsuruta.

The first two sets we are previewing were designed by the very talented

Nina Brackett of Nina B Designs for TCM.

'Beautiful Spring' & 'Mother & Father' are perfect for this time of the year.

For this card, I stamped a base with a gorgeous floral image from the

'Beautiful Spring' set in Latte & French Roast ink by A Muse Studio.
All A Muse Studio inks are available directly to your door from
my web store HERE

They are the perfect shade to match these papers from Echo Park.

I used the Fancy Tags Two & Standard Circle dies from Spellbinders

to create the focal points.  How beautiful is that butterfly...also from

the same stamp set.  I adore Nestabling by Want2Scrap and thought

it was the perfect embellishment for the sentiment.

I love the 'vintage-style' florals of this paper and hope it's ok
to share it with the folks over at CARDS/Create for their
'Vintage Florals' Challenge.

 How would you like a chance to win one of these stamp sets before they

go on sale next week?  All you need to do is visit our designer's blogs and
make sure to leave a comment over on The Craft's Meow blog.
You'll have until 9pm PDT each day to leave your comment and the winners
will be announced the following day along with the next preview & challenge.

We would love for you to play along with each challenge during our
1st Birthday Bash...all the details are on the TCM Blog.

I'd love to hear from you....please leave a note & make sure you leave
a contact address so I can say hello back.

Enjoy the bash!!!

Project Recipe: 

Patterned Paper:  Graceful from This 'n That from Echo Park
Stamps:  Beautiful Spring & Mother & Father from The Craft's Meow
Ink:  Latte & French Roast from A Muse Studio 

Embellishments:  Nestabling by Want2Scrap, pearls from Recollections

Tools:  Fancy Tags Two & Standard Circles die from Spellbinders, Big Shot

Walk on the Wild Side

Hi ya!

It's time for another fun and fab color challenge from my favorite

How bold and beautiful!!

I went kind of fun & whimsical with my interpretation....

 

This week, all of our designers were able to play with stamps from

our sponsor, DRS Designs and these were mine.

I love this sweet giraffe and to keep with the color challenge, I used

paper from My Mind's Eye.  The perfect shades were right there!

I did a little paper-piecing with the spot and feet and of course,

my denim blue color comes from the clouds, using my favorite dies

from Lil' Inker Designs.

A big thanks to

for providing stamps for all our designers

and for the terrific shopping spree that awaits

this week's winner!

Thanks for popping by...leave a little love,

then check out all the fun inspiration from our design team

over at The Play Date Cafe.

Project Recipe: 

Patterned Paper:  Stella & Rose by My Mind's Eye 
Stamps:  Giraffe & Sentiment by DRS Designs

Embellishments:  3-D flower border by The Paper Studio

Tools:  Clouds die by Lil' Inker Designs, Dot EF by Cuttlebug, Big Shot

May the Force be With You

It's the start of a new week and that's means ....

If you've come by way of the

EAD Designs Blog

you are in the right place to get started.

If not, it's just one stop back to get on the right

track to be eligible for this week's prize.

Today is my oldest grandson CJ's 9th birthday and he

loves Legos & Star Wars, so imagine how excited I got

when I learned that EAD has a set created for just such an occasion!

Sunday was CJ's party and he seemed quite happy to get a handmade card from
Mema Julie.

He loves to make art himself and is such a creative guy.

The paper is from Echo Park's This & That collection called 'Charming'.

I used two different designs for my background and punched both with

the Radiant Circles punch from EK Success.

I used Lemondrop baker's twine from The Twinery for the seam

and layered the 'Galaxy Warriors' & 'Birthday Sentiments' Stickerz 

from EAD Designs.

Here are the sets I used today...

Galaxy Warriors

Birthday Sentiments

Before I send you on your way, I'd like to share a few 

of the party photos with you.

CJ loves to roller skate, so we spent the afternoon at Skateland.

One of the many, MANY Lego Star Wars sets he has now added

to his collection.

Saving the best....for last!

So glad you came by today.

I'd love to see YOU win our prize this week, so make

sure you hop along, leave a comment on each designer's blog

and enjoy!

Time to head over to our March Guest Designer's blog

Jenny at PaperCut Creations.

Project Recipe: 

Cardstock:  American Crafts

Patterned Paper:  Charming by Echo Park

Embellishments:  Lemondrop baker's twine from The Twinery

Galaxy Warriors, Birthday Sentiments Stickerz by EAD Designs

Ink: Old Paper Distress by Ranger

Tools:  Radiant Circles by EK Success

A Sentimental Goodbye

Hello everyone...welcome back to The Open Window.

This post is a bittersweet one for me....

Nearly a year ago, I got the itch to start a new challenge.

You know me, always adding something to my plate.

I approached one of my dearest friends about the idea and

within a week, Michele Gross & I began a wonderful journey

as CAS-ual Fridays was born.  Our design team call began

March 11th of last year...and what a wonderful year it's been.

To read the story on how it all began, click HERE

Michele has really been the creative mind behind everything

having to do with CAS-ual Fridays....and now it's time to turn

it completely over to her.  I am excited to see her totally run with it!
The challenge is nearing 1000 followers and averages 150+ players
each week.  The sponsors & prizes are absolutely amazing and that is
a huge accomplishment for a challenge that is only a year old.

I will miss being a part of the challenge on a weekly basis

and I will continue to help promote the challenge and will play

when the opportunities are there.

Of course, a challenge is only as inspiring as it's designers and the

team that has been assembled for the past 2 terms has been

so phenomenal.  I know that they will continue to be inspiring to

those who come to play each week and I wish them success in

each creative step they take.

I could go on and on....but let's get to this week's challenge....

See what I mean about the 'creative' mind of Michele

Of all week's to be 'sentimental'...

This week's challenge is to create something that is Clean & Simple

with a sentiment as part of the project.

We are sponsored by SRM Stickers and they provided a beautiful

package of stickers to work with.

Since we are a CAS challenge, I couldn't go overboard using a lot

of images...and I truly kept it CAS.

I used the beautiful set 'We've Got Your Border-Baby Boy' set

for this card.  With 4 grandsons, I tend to lean towards boy cards.

The only thing I added was the tiny pearls for a little dimension.

I know the designers of CAS-ual Fridays have aMAZing creations

to entice you to play, so I hope you will make your way over, 

check out the ideas and play along.

I want to thank YOU for your support of our challenge.

It has been pure joy to get to know all the talented CAS designers

out there.  Keep up the CAS look!

Project Recipe: 
Cardstock:  American Crafts 

Embellishments:  We've Got Your Border-Baby Boy 
from SRM Stickers
pearls from Recollections

Sweet ... EAD Color Challenge

For The Play Date Cafe Challenge

Please Scroll Down

It's time for another color challenge from

I adore these colors together!

I do need to learn more about photo editing because the colors on this card

matched the EAD Stickerz that were used for the challenge.

They just don't translate in the photo, but I know you'll get the idea!

The name of the Stickerz set is In a Park and the designs are so funky.

I chose the images I wanted to use and then layered my colors to fit.

I 'aged' the edges of each panel with Old Paper Distress Ink

to give it some dimension.

The feather and the bird have dimensional tape underneath to

pop them off the page.

I hope you will play along with us.

Check out the inspiration by our design team and then

have fun with these colors.

You'll find their projects on the

EAD Designs blog.

Project Recipe: 

Cardstock:  American Crafts
Embellishments: In a Park Stickerz by EAD Designs
Ink: Old Paper Distress by Ranger
Tools:  Dot EF by Cuttlebug, Big Shot

Home Is ...

I love this sentiment, don't you?

I love the colors that are on this card as well.

Thanks to this week's challenge over at....

Charcoal ..... Ash ..... Butter

It's such a popular combination of colors and I am

so glad that it was our challenge this week.

The perfect excuse for me to use my brand new stamps from  
Market Street Stamps.

This sweet little stamp set was really fun to play with and is a perfect

image to paper-piece.

I pulled out my 6x6 Authentique 'Blissful' pad and got to work.

It was as simple as that!

Are you up for the challenge?

We'd love to have you come play.

This week's sponsor is...

and it's a GREAT prize for our Cup of the Week!

Thank you so much for popping by...

ya know I love your visits!

Project Recipe: 

Patterned Paper:  Blissful by Authentique
Stamps: Neighborhood by Market Street Stamps 
Embellishments: gems from Recollections

Oh Sew Happy Life

Another Monday is here and the start of a great week!

It's blog hop time with the creative designers over at

If you came by way of 

Judith's blog, Jay Gee's Nook

then you are in the perfect spot!

If not, head on over to the

EAD Designs Blog

and get started there.  Stop by each blog on the hop,

leave a sweet note for each designer and

YOU could win!

We all know how trendy the 'Keep Calm' sentiment 

has become and EAD Designs

has come up with a great set of Stickerz with varying themes.

I paired this one with the colorful paper & embellishment kit 

'Graceful' by Lori Whitlock from Echo Park.

To quote my husband, there is "a lot going on with this card!"

From left to right....

The laid what I call the 'wallpaper' base and then went to work.

{all products used are in the project recipe below}

I cut the fun EP banners and hung them from Flax baker's twine.

Die cut the flowers and centered them with bright brads.

I placed the sentiment on a journal card and continued the banner on the right.

 I bought these fab decorative floss bobbins to use on projects

{not for floss, of course}

and wrapped this one with Blossom baker's twine.

The stick pins finish it off.

As I created this card, I began thinking of my grandma.  She taught herself to

sew when she was determined to make Barbie Doll clothes for me as a child.

I know that as she continued on making school clothes for me and eventually

Cabbage Patch & American Girl Doll clothes that she had a

'VERY HAPPY LIFE' because she enjoyed it 'sew' much.

Here's the set I used...

Don't forget....

I hope you enjoyed your visit today.

I am the last stop on the blog hop train!

Don't forget to leave a comment for a chance to win!

Project Recipe: 

Patterned Paper & Journal Spot:  
This & That Graceful by Echo Park
Embellishments: Stickerz in Keep Calm Set 1 EAD Designs
Flax & Blossom baker's twine from The Twinery,
brads from American Crafts, stick pins by KandCompany
Floss Bobbins from Sew-ology 
Tools: Tattered Florals die by Sizzix, Big Shot