Shades of Purple

It's so great to back at The Open Window.

Paul and I celebrated our 21st anniversary last week,

so he took four days off from B&N and spent lots of

time together just hanging out.

Today, I am back with another great challenge from

I love these different shades we are calling

Plum ... Fuchsia ... Wisteria

I created this very CAS card using stamps from The Craft's Meow.

For each ink or leaf I stamped, I also 'shadow' stamped without

re-inking the image.  It created more depth.

I used Memento inks for the three shades and done !

The gems added a little texture.

We are always happy when our friends from

come by and offer their terrific prize !

I really hope you'll take the challenge this week.

Our design team knocked it out of the park with their

very creative projects, so make sure

you come, take a peek and play !

Before I go, thought I would share a few of the photos

Paul and I took during our anniversary date.

We make sure to visit our local apple orchard

every fall for lunch and this was a great day to do it.

We have the same 'fare' every season . . .

Paul is finishing up a slice of hot apple pie with ice cream

which always tastes great with a hot cup of coffee

Paul loves to sample apples in the apple barn.  There are

two dozen apple cider donuts and some fresh peanut brittle

in the basket.  We did share a dozen of those donuts with

our daughter and grandsons!

Here is a quick trip down memory lane . . .

 

We met here in the states in 1989

fell in love and got married in 1991 ...

and we're as happy as ever 21 years later ...

Thanks so much for stopping by today . . .

I always appreciate your visits!

Project Recipe:

Cardstock: Bazzill in Avalanche
Stamps: Golden Days by The Craft's Meow

Ink: Memento in Sweet Plum, Lilac Posies, Grape Jelly & Tuxedo Black

by Tsukineko

Tools: corner rounder punch by Fiskars 

Embellishments: gems from Want2Scrap

 

 

I Have Some Pretty specTACular News!

I am so very excited to share this news with you today !

I've been offered a spot on the very

aMAZing team over at

Zva Creative

I absolutely love working with gems & flowers

and have always appreciated the 'quality' of what

Zva offers.  To be able to represent that here on my

blog for the 2012-13 design season is simply terrific !

What a great team ... I'm glad to be among them

AND 

two of the designers were among my teammates

over at The Play Date Cafe, so it's a bonus for me !

 

Natasha Naranjo Aguirre

US

Andrea Ewen

US

Christin Grønnslett

Norway

Marley van der Heijden

Netherlands

Lisa Johnson

US

Marilia Lopes

Brazil

Nicole Martel

US

Carole Maurin

France

Jolanda Meurs

Netherlands

Fabi Ormerod

Brazil

Tara Orr

Canada

Evgenia Petzer

  South Africa

Julie Ranae

 US

Jennifer Snyder 

US

Lisa Somerville

US

Irene Tan

Malaysia

Justina Tey

Singapore

Anna Zaprzelska

Poland

Guest Designers

Sylvia Blum 

Germany

Emily Lanham

US

Helen Tilbury

South Africa

Kate Vickers

Canada

I hope you will stop by the 

Zva Creative blog 

and

congratulate all these fabulous designers.

It's going to be a 'beautiful' year !

 

Celebrate November!

Happy First Day of November to you!

I am pretty excited because tomorrow is the

21st anniversary of being married to the

best man I could have ever asked for.

It's also the day our sweet grandson Caleb was

born 7 years ago.

So many good things to celebrate.

Especially as we see all the heartbreak on the East Coast.

I hope you will find a way to make a donation to help

those who need it right now, whether it be clothes, money

or volunteer time at your local Red Cross.

As you could see above, it's also time for this week's

challenge over at The Play Date Cafe and the

colors are just perfect going into this month, aren't they?

I hope to be back designing later this week after handling

a health issue that has side-lined me much longer than I

ever anticipated.

In the meantime, we are super excited to have back

as our sponsor and the beautiful inspiration you will see

over in The Cafe will have been created using stamps

from DRS Designs.

Make sure you play along because you could win

a generous shopping spree!

See you soon!

A Final Walk with EAD Designs

 Recognize these ?

It's what got me hooked on a company called

 And now what a bittersweet post to share.

Today bring us the final day we will be blog hopping

together as the designers of EAD Designs.

EAD has decided to close it's doors as new opportunities

are on the horizon.

It has been my pleasure to be a part of such a fantastic

company and a very creative team.

If you are here by way of the hop, you will have made

your way here from

Judith's blog Jay Gee's Nook

If you would like to say farewell to each designer,

you'll want to stop by the

EAD Blog

and make sure you leave a note along the way.

For my final post, I thought I would take a walk

down memory lane by revisiting some of the

projects I created during the past 10 months

as an EAD Designer.

Technically, this collection of cards and tags was created

just prior to coming on board as a designer, but they've always

been some of my favorites.

You can read the original post HERE

Here are some fairly Clean and Simple designs that were created

along the way for a variety of occasions.

To see the original posts, you can click each of these links:

Shake Rattle & Roll

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

Fall

It's Tea Time

Here are snippets of some fun and very different designs

using a variety of EAD Stickers.  I always enjoy adding embellishments

to my cards and these designs were perfect for that.

I created this one during the London Olympics and loved adding

the bling to the Eye.  The original post is HERE

I added a lot of elements to these sweet little Stickerz

and created a very flat, but dimensional card.

You can see how it was all completed HERE

Finally . . . I can't finish off the day without something for

Halloween.  Even though these projects were shared most

recently, I thought it would be great to end with these.

Who wouldn't love this colorful guy outside their back window ?

You can read more about this card HERE

and finally . . .

Everyone's favorite little green guy trying to escape

just reaching for that big blue gem !  You can find this card HERE

HAPPY HALLOWEEN !

I've appreciated all the Mondays you've spent during our

Designer Blog Hops with EAD Designs.

I'll miss our dates, but I'm sure something will fill those

days soon.

Until then, please make sure you stop by my creative teammate

Rose's Blog My Happy Place

I know she has something pretty fabulous for you !

Thanks for coming by and walking down memory lane

with me and I hope you'll leave a little love before you go . . .

The Play Date Cafe Color Challenge

It is time for another challenge over at

The Play Date Cafe

We had a great time last week offering

over $300 in prizes!

They will all be announced on Friday.

It's a tough week as we say goodbye to one of our

Senior Designers, Ruby McGuire.

Ruby has been inspiring our players since

joining our team in early 2010.

She is pursuing a wonderful profession in

life-coaching and has to give up some of her

creative teams to do so.

We are so happy for her career path

and will miss her tremendously . . .

 

We are super-excited this week as

is joining us as a sponsor.

We are also happy to welcome

Paper Crafts Magazing 'Go-To' Gal

Teri Anderson

as our Guest Designer this week !

So stop on by and make sure to play !

We'd love to have you !

Pretty Amazing!

Welcome back to The Open Window !

I am back with the honor of being a Guest Designer for

I blogged yesterday about this amazing news and

hope you will scroll down and check out that post.

Today the sneak peek is the 'Truth Is' set.

Can you just see all the CAS {and more} possibilities ?

I really did stay very Clean & Simple to make this card happen.

Just a variety of inks and Wa-La ! ! !

CAS-ual Fridays Stamps are the finest quality, photopolymer stamps 

made in the USA. 

There are five sets to the brand new release.  

Each day of the release, you will have a chance 

to win the featured set !  

All you have to do is head to the store blog and leave a comment

on each of the sneak peek posts to have a chance to win.

You can most definitely go back and comment on posts you may have missed,

so that's great news.  You have until 11:59pm EST, Wednesday Oct 24th to

comment for a chance to win. Click HERE to get all the details.

Winners will be announced the following day and the stamps will

be available for purchase on Friday from CAS-ual Fridays !

You can also play along with the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge

to have a chance to win the entire release!

 It's been a joy to celebrate this new venture with my

friend Michele & all her designers.

I hope you will check out all the amazing projects from her team.

Thanks for stopping by once again . . .

Project Recipe:

Cardstock: Gina K Designs

Stamps: Truth Is by Skipping Stones Design

Ink: A Muse Studio

Embellishments: gems from Little Yellow Bicycle

 

Peace on Earth with The Craft's Meow

I am so happy to be back sharing a beautiful preview

of one of the newest releases from

This set is called 'Christmas Cheer'

by Mabelle R-O

I love this CAS set !

When I saw those trees, I knew I wanted to create a baker's twine

landscape, so that's what I did.

I rolled my adhesive and layered my twine using

'Shore & 'Honeydew' twine from The Twinery.

I stamped the trees & snowflakes along with the

frame & sentiment, all from this set.

I chose a variety of gems to decorate the trees.

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 and today, you have a chance to win this set! 
Make sure you leave a comment

on the blog for a chance to win!

In Our Thoughts Project Recipe:

 Patterned Paper:  baby blue check from A Muse Studio
Stamps: Christmas Cheer by The Craft's Meow

Ink: A Muse Studio

Embellishments: baker's twine in Honeydew & Shore
by The Twinery
gems from Recollections & KandCompany

An Exciting CAS Day Indeed!

What an exciting day!

I've got two three fabulous things going on today

so buckle up !  It's going to be fun!

Imagine my surprise when a birthday gift arrived

at my doorstep with five brand new stamp sets

in the package !  They were from my dear friend

Michele.  If you've visited my blog for any length

of time, you will know she was a designer over at

The Play Date Cafe and from there, we worked on

The CAS-ual Fridays Challenge together.

She has now taken the BIG LEAP and started

her own stamp line based on the terrific

CAS concept and I am honored to be a part of it

as a Guest Designer !

This set is called 'Calm & Gentle' and I absolutely love

these trees.

I just got this new 'Cathedral Lace' punch from Martha Stewart

and I thought it made a great fence.

I just 'dressed up' the trees with tiny gems.

CAS-ual Fridays Stamps are the finest quality, photopolymer stamps 

made in the USA. 

There are five sets to the brand new release.  

Each day of the release, you will have a chance 

to win the featured set !  

All you have to do is head to the store blog and leave a comment

on each of the sneak peek posts to have a chance to win.

You can most definitely go back and comment on posts you may have missed,

so that's great news.  You have until 11:59pm EST, Wednesday Oct 24th to

comment for a chance to win. Click HERE to get all the details.

Winners will be announced the following day and the stamps will

be available for purchase on Friday from CAS-ual Fridays !

You can also play along with the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge

to have a chance to win the entire release!

In the meantime, I am also celebrating the

FINAL DAY

of our 3rd Anniversary Celebration over at

Over $300 in prizes from our sponsors and all

you have to do is play along !  Create something

using our color story above.

For all the details, make sure you visit The Cafe today !

I will see you later today with one more post and more

new stamps to preview.

Thanks for your visit today !

Project Recipe:

Cardstock: Gina K Designs & American Crafts

Stamps: Calm & Gentle by CAS-ual Fridays Stamps

Ink: Slate from A Muse Studios & Teal Zeal Memento by Tsukineko

Embellishments: gems by Recollections

Tools: Cathedral Lace punch by Martha Stewart Crafts

corner rounder punch by Fiskars