April Showers.....

April Showers....well, you know.

It's time for another fabulous color challenge from

Along with white, we're looking for projects that use

Flamingo Pink and Bright Orange.

I used a lot of clean space and paper-pieced my little
umbrella using papers from My Mind's Eye.
You are reading the sentiment correctly....
this set from The Craft's Meow comes with a lot
of stamps that feature bees for spring, but I couldn't
imagine a bee flying in the rain : )   LOL

Of course, no umbrella is girly without a little bling!

I'd love to submit this to the CARDS/Create
Spring Cards Challenge because there is
nothing like 'Spring Showers'!

We are so excited over at The Play Date Cafe
to welcome a brand new Private Blend Designer
who will be starting with us in May.

Donna Bowman received the invitation to join a
very prestigious group of PBD's who have come before
and we know she will inspire you each and every week!

Hope you'll come play with these fun and bright colors.
I'll see you in The Cafe!

Spring is Here Project Recipe:

Cardstock: Bazzill  
Patterned Paper: Honeycake by My Mind's Eye
Stamps: Spring is Here by The Craft's Meow

Embellishments: gems from White Blossom, KandCompany, Recollections

True Friends ...

 Hello and welcome in to The Open Window!

I am so excited about today's post for two reasons.

Firstly, it is Day 2 of the New Release Previews for

 Each day this week, you will see a new set

revealed and have a chance to win a set each day!

The other reason  I am super excited is because my friend

and TCM Illustrator Karen Baker, is sharing her

very first stamp set today !

She is so excited and I must admit, I am so excited for her!

It's called 'Inspired by Audrey'

and is just a wonderfully elegant stamp set.

For this card, I pulled out paper from My Mind's Eye to lay the

'wallpaper' for my background.

I stamped the beautiful frame and chain on the top panel.

On a separate coordinating piece of paper, stamped the sentiment and laid

it over the oval.  I then stamped the additional flourishes from the set

and embellished with gems and pearls.

From there, it was a matter of adding the lace and seam binding

to finish dressing it up.

Can you see why I am so excited about this set?

It's a beauty and just wait till you see

the rest of this set  !!!

Make sure you pop by

 The Craft's Meow Blog

and check out the fabulous-ness

from all of the designers.

TCM is giving away a new release set

each day, so make sure you leave a comment

on the blog for a chance to win!

I am so glad you stopped by today and I hope

you will plan to come by each day this week

so you don't miss a thing!

Spring is Here Project Recipe:

Patterned Paper: So Sophie Graceful Collection by My Mind's Eye
Stamps: Inspired by Audrey by The Craft's Meow

Embellishments: gems from Martha Stewart Crafts & Little Yellow Bicycle

Lace from The Paper Studio, seam binding from Hug Snug

Spring is Here with The Craft's Meow

It's certainly Spring here at The Open Window as it's

Day #1 of 

New Release Previews

 Each day this week, you will see a new set

revealed and have a chance to win a set each day!

Before we get to it, I am so excited to welcome our
April Guest Designers at TCM...
Gini Cagle & Geri Freeman
These women are super talented and I am so glad they
will be a part of the new release festivities.

Our first sneak peek is called 'Nature's Beauty'
from TCM illustrator Michelle Bertuzzi

Another very versatile set indeed!
I did a lot of 'fussy cutting' for this card, but I like the
way it turned out.  Had my fingers held out, I would have cut a dozen more
of these blossoms and created even more layers.
The centers were created using Liquid Pearls.

I would love to submit this cards for the call over at CARDS/Create
for the Spring Cards Challenge.

I think it would be really elegant to stamp these same blossoms
in black and white and have that lovely little butterfly in a bold color.

The next release sneak is from TCM illustrator
Kaitlyn Ord called 'Travel Time'.

I took a really BOLD approach with this stamp set.
I created my own background using the sentiments that come
with the set and layerd the uber-cool airplane on top.
I LOVE the 'newspaper-style' graphics on the plane.

Just wait till you see the rest of this set  !!!

Make sure you pop by

 The Craft's Meow Blog

and check out the fabulous-ness

from all of the designers.

TCM is giving away a new release set

each day, so make sure you leave a comment

on the blog for a chance to win!

I am so glad you stopped by today and I hope

you will plan to come by each day this week

so you don't miss a thing!

Spring is Here Project Recipe:

Stamps: Nature's Beauty by The Craft's Meow

Ink: Orange, Bubblegum, Fern & Lido by A Muse Studio

Grape Jelly Memento by Tsukineko 

Embellishments: Liquid Pearls by Ranger in Buttercup & White Opal

Travel Time Project Recipe:

Stamps: Travel Time by The Craft's Meow 

Ink: Slate, Blueberry & Burano by A Muse Studio

It's All About the Shoes !

 FOR THE EAD DESIGNS

 MONDAY BLOG HOP

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN

Welcome to The Open Window...it's great to have you here today!

There's a very special blog hop going on all week long

so you picked a GREAT day to peek in!

If you've reached my blog by way of the talented

Diana Fisher's Blog

then you are right where you need to be on the hop!

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

Imaginisce Blog

because there are some great prizes up for grabs!

There are only 6-8 blogs to visit each of the five days

so it's an easy hop to complete and will be so worth it!

 All the details are at the end of my blog post.

Each of the participating designers from The Twinery were given a collection

from Imaginisce called 'Sole Sisters' and I can tell you that we ALL

had a great time with this collection.  Each of the designer papers & embellishments

were super fun to work with.

It is so easy to use The Twinery's baker's twine as accents on shoes

and that's exactly what I did here using Honeydew & Charcoal twines.

These shoes remind me of something I might find in my mom's closet

as a little girl in the 60's.

I used everyone's favorite Caribbean twine as a border 

for a little extra interest.

Every girl knows a handbag is not complete without 

a nice big embellishment hanging from the handle!

I absolutely adore the design of these chipboard embellishments,

right down to the colors.  They have such a cool 'retro' vibe to them.

You can never go wrong with houndstooth!

The over-sized 'Best Friends' tag was a perfect addition to this bag.

I used Buttercream twine for the flower center and a created a

big huge bow

out of Mandarin & Honeydew twine.

There are going to be SIX PRIZES given away during this fabulous week!

'I Dream in Twine'

all 18 colors in The Twinery Collection

$32 retail value

'Making Waves'

from Imaginisce

All you have to do is:

Leave a comment on 

each of the blogs on the hop each day 

Of course I would love to have you follow my blog here at

The Open Window as well!

Easy Peasy!

There are additional chances to win and you'll find those

details and deadline details over at The Twinery.

It is time to send you on your way.

The next stop on the hop is the amazing

Heather Leopard's Blog

Great to have you stop by!

The Right Shoes Project Recipe:

Patterned Papers & Die Cuts: Sole Sisters by Imaginisce

Embellishments: baker's twine in Honeydew & Charcoal by The Twinery

Pearls by Martha Stewart

Stamps: The Paper Studio

Best Friends Project Recipe:

Patterned Papers & Die Cuts:  Sole Sisters by Imaginisce

Embellishments: baker's twine in Honeydew, Buttercream & Mandarin

by The Twinery

brads by American Crafts

Tools:  Dot EF by Cuttlebug, Big Shot

Ain't it Nice to Have Friends ?!

It's going to be a busy week here at The Open Window
and I for one, am looking forward to it!

It's time for this week's....

I'll bet you arrived here from the talented
Judith of Jay Gee's Nook

If not, I'd love for you to pop over to
EAD Designs
and start the hop there.

There are only 10 blogs on the hop
and YOU could win a terrific prize from EAD!

Owls are so trendy in papercrafting right now and to say that I ADORE
these would be an understatement.
This Stickerz collection is called 'Feathered Friends'.
I've said it before but what I love about EAD's Stickerz line is
that with care, they are totally repositionable.
To prove it, I can tell you that I moved these sweet owls around
at least 3 times.  I had a few different designs in mind, but decided
to go with a CAS look in the end.

Here are the sets I used for this week's project....

Feathered Friends

Good Company

It's time to send you on your way over to the sweet
Lauren of Lauren's Creative

Make sure to leave a comment and I'll keep my
fingers crossed for you to win!

Project Recipe:

Embellishments: Feathered Friends & Good Company Stickerz 

by EAD Designs
pearls & mini brads by Recollections

Tools:  Large Dot EF by Cuttlebug, Big Shot

Have a Lovely Day !

Happy Friday to one and all!

The Craft's Meow is this week's sponsor of

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge and several of the

TCM designers have created projects using

this week's challenge.

This week's Clean and Simple Challenge is....

Find opposite colors on the color wheel and use

them as the focus of your project.

For me, it was lavender and lime green.

Yes...you've seen this wreath before...it's a Sizzix embossing folder and

has become a favorite.  I love the big beautiful blossom from the

'Beautiful Spring' set by The Craft's Meow.

Paige over at CARDS magazine / Create is looking for cards for Spring
and I think these colors really put the spring right into it!

Speaking of TCM....

YOU could win a stamp set of your choice if you

play this week because TCM is sponsoring!

Please stop by, check out the new Girl Fridays

and play along ..... just remember to

Keep it Clean and Simple!

Project Recipe:

Patterned Paper: Couture by SEI

Stamps: Beautiful Spring & Lovely Birds by The Craft's Meow

Embellishments: pearls by Recollections

Tools:  Wreath EF by Sizzix, Big Shot

Having a Girls Night!

Are you ready for something really fun? !
How would you like an opportunity to play along and win 
a shopping spree to boot? !

Here is the fabulous new color story from
 my favorite challenge....

When I think of the suggested colors for this week, I think...

Fabby ..... Fun ..... Yummy ..... Delightful .....

well, you get the idea.

Daffodil ... Hydrangea ... Kiwi ... Cherry

I took a little creative license with the colors,
as there are more than those four here,
but I felt like our color story was quite prominent
in this fun paper from Imaginisce.

Sometimes four colors can be a real challenge ... couple that with bright colors
and you have a real challenge...that's why this paper was perfect for me !

I love houndstooth....LOVE it !
So I used the frame from an embellishment pack and
picked out the phrase 'Girls Night' to be in the spotlight.
Remember, when you play with us at The Play Date Cafe,
neutrals such as black are always ok.
I used Maraschino and Buttercream baker's twine from The Twinery to create
the fun centerpieces on the shoes.
They remind me of shoes the 'adult ladies' used to wear in the 60's !
Remember the clips that you could change out on your high heels
to make completely different looks?

I really did count on the colors from this fun paper
for most of my colors this week.

So here's that shopping spree I was talking about .....
it comes courtesy of this week's sponsor



So I hope you will come play along with us.
I have a feeling we're going to have a gorgeous gallery full of
fun and creative projects this week!

Project Recipe:

Patterned Paper & Die Cut Frame: Sole Sisters by Imaginisce
Embellishments: baker's twine in Maraschino & Buttercream
by The Twinery

Sweet Treats

It's a very bright day here at The Open Window !!!
Hope it's bright where you are.
If not, it's about to be....

It's time for another color challenge at EAD Designs.

The minute I saw these colors I knew exactly the direction I was headed.

I love these 'sweet' TinyTwinies Stickerz by SoftPencil Studios.
With each card I created, I used all three colors in variations.

The first card, the sentiment is from The Craft's Meow.

The sentiment on this card is by Paper Smooches.

Finally...a mouth-watering sentiment from Studio G.

Each card was created using a Cuttlebug large dot embossing folder
and dies from Spellbinders.  The inks are a variety from A Muse Studio.

Here is the set that is being featured.....

You have two weeks to play, so I hope you will.
What lovely spring-y colors sure to inspire!

Check out all of the inspiration from our design team
over on the EAD Designs Blog.

I'd love to hear from you so I hope you'll say hello !!!

Project Recipe:

Cardstock: Bazzill

Stamps: All You Need is Love by The Craft's Meow

Sentiment Sampler by Paper Smooches

Embellishments: Cupcakes by EAD Designs
tiny pearls by Recollections

Tools:  Dot EF by Cuttlebug

Scalloped Circles & Standard Circle die by Spellbinders, Big Shot