Happy Memorial Day!!

Happy Memorial Day! Hope everyone had a great cookout and family day! I had to work at the Cottage til around 4then when I got home the hubby had already done all of the cooking! Can't beat that :) All the kids were home and both sets of grandparents came. Great afternoon.

So, since I haven't had any stamping time today I had to dig something up from my "not blogged yet" folder. Here is one of the samples I did for last summer's Stampendous! catalog. I used Watermelon Bee, colored him in with Copics then added a couple of simple frames to keep him nice and simple for the catalog. The "Smile" sentiment is also from a Stampendous! set called "Sunny Swirls".

I am off to get the little guy wound down and ready for school tomorrow. Only 9 more days!! Have a great night and thanks for stopping by!

-Cyndi

• Supplies:
• Stamps: Watermelon Bee; Sunny Swirls (Stampendous)
• Paper: African Daisy, Black White cs (Bazzill)
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko)
• Accessories: Large & small standard rectangles & large scallop rectangles Nestabilites (Spellbinders); buttons (Basic Grey); copic markers

Playing Catch-up!!

OK, here it is 2 days til the end of May...where does time go??? I have one last card for InStyle Stamps f0r you this month as well as a couple of challenge cards for Stampendous!

But before the eye candy...I took 2 of the kids to see the latest Shrek today. It got terrible reviews but we actually all loved it. Perhaps not as quick and clever as the others but it was still great and a wonderful conclusion to the quadrilogy!!

First up is my InStyle Stamps card using another of the new "A Day in the Life" images. They are so unique and fun to color! This one is called "BFF Lunch". I paired it with pinks and oranges from the My Minds Eye Abbey Road Collection.

Next up is my card for this weeks Stampendous! sketch challenge. You can check out the sketch and play along for fabulous prizes...just head over to the Stampendous Impressions blog for more info!

I stuck loosely to the sketch by flipping it sideways and using brads instead of a sentiment. The image is one stamp called "Sunflower Scene". I stamped it and colored it with copics then paper pieced the flowers and the barn with papers from the Cosmo Cricket Garden Veggies line.

Last is my card for last weeks Stampendous sketch, a classic 4 sqaure. For some reason I have the hardest time with the simplest things. Anyway, I used an older Christmas stamp from Stampendous! called "Festive Forest". Have you heard that Stampendous! has ALL their stamps up on their website right now?? Go check it out!!

OK, so have a great Memorial Day tomorrow! I have to work all day but then I think we are grilling out tomorrow night! Yum!!

Thanks for visiting! -Cyndi

InStyle Stamps Blog Hop!

Its Blog Hopping time again at InStyle Stamps! If you arrived her from Jodi's blog then you are right on track! If not...why not start at the beginning of the hop at the ISS blog!

This month our theme was "fathers". When Virinia gave us some image choices I had to laugh when she included the "Milk Man", and so of course I just had to use him!

I wish I had a sentiment or were even creative enough to create one on my computer about the milk man, but its humor enough to me just to use this image! I printed him really large so I didn't have a lot of space to add much to the card, so I just kept it very simple. He is available in the Retro section of the InStyle Stamps store :)

OK, so do you want some more eye candy?? Head from here over to Taylor's blog!

Thanks for stopping by my corner of the world! Have a great weekend :)

-Cyndi

• Supplies:
• Stamps: Milkman digi (InStyle Stamps); sentiment (CTMH)
• Paper: Joy Ride pp (Cosmo Cricket); white cs (Neenah); Java cs (Bazzill)
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black)
• Accessories: Circle & corner punches (SU!); copic markers

Magnolias: Going Buggy!

Good morning! I haven't shown you any Tildas lately but I have a lot I've made for Enchanted Cottage this month. I have a class this month and next called "Going Buggy" using some of the adorable bug Tilda images. Today I'll share Dragonfly Tilda.

In this card Tilda is colored in bright reds and oranges. I used Bo Bunny double dot papers, one of which was then embossed with a cuttlebug folder and sanded. The "Big huge hugs" is from a Hero Arts set. Also used: Spellbinders Large standard and Jumbo scalloped rectangle nestabilites & jumbo scalloped lg circle nesties; prima flowers, Marigold & Apple Red Glitter from Stampendous!; copic markers. All items are available (when in stock) at the Cottage.

I'll share more over the next week :) Tomorrow is Blog Hop day with InStyle Stamps and Saturday is Stampendous Super Saturday Sketch Challenge! Have a great Thursday...thanks for visiting!

-Cyndi

Sweet Chloe

Looks like I am the lucky gal over at InStyle Stamps this week...I was chosen to be in the DT Spotlight this week :)

Be sure to head over to the ISS blog if you want to hear a bit about me. I was thrilled when Virginia emailed and asked me to create some projects for her last year. I jumped right in then applied for the Design Team and have loved every minute of it since!

InStyle Stamps has the absolute cutest images that are soooo unique! She has Anime, Retro, Whimsical categories and more...including the new "A Day in the Life" series and the new "Chloe"s. I am showing you a Chloe image today.

This is "Hoppy Chloe". Isn't she just the cutest?? I colored her with copic markers (Shown below) and picked my colors to match this cute new My Minds Eye paper. My layout is based on the sketch from The Pink Elephant Challenge last week. Its too late to submit, but I must give credit!!

So,be sure to check back in the Friday for the InStyle Stamps Blog Hop! WE will have LOTS of great Father's Day idea for you and of course chances to win lots of prizes!! Thanks for visiting me today! -Cyndi

InStyle Stamps Color Challenge

OMG!! I am so late with this post, so sorry! This card has been completed for DAYS but I couldn't get near a computer last night or today.

BUT...I had a terrific day today teaching 5 gals at Enchanted Cottage today. It was a fun group...2 different groups actually. But I want to give a special shout out to my 2 new friends from Switzerland...Martina and Dani...you gals were so energetic and cheery and its been great having you at the store all week!

On to todays challenge though. It is time for the InStyle Stamps Color Challenge, and this month we had an inspiration piece. You can see the inspiration as well as the rest of the Design Teams' cards over at the ISS blog. ALSO, find out how you can play along and have a chance for a cool prize!

For my card I used one of the new "A Day in the Life" series from InSTyle Stamps called "Shopping Day". Since the inspiration had so much white in it I kept my colors very minimal...didn't realize how hard that would be for me to do! I then cut out the image with my Large Standard rectangle Nestabilites and the yellow mat with my Jumbo Scallop Rectangle Nestabilities. The next layer is White cuttlebugged with Swiss Dots then layered on the white card base.

OK, so I will hopefully have my Stampendous! sketch challenge up by tomorrow so check back! Thanks for visiting with me today :) -Cyndi

Pixie Dust Challenge

I have a challenge card for you tonight! I got lots of stamping done yesterday so I have a bunch to share this week, a little at a time. This little cutie is April Pixie from Pixie Dust Studios. She was a freebie a few weeks ago...really pays to check in on all the fun over at the PDS group at Papercraft Planet...never know when there may be a new FREE download!

She is colored with my Copic markers to coordinate with this cute Umbrella paper from Prima. The little sentiment is from a Lizzie Anne Designs set called Shore Thoughts. My copics are pictured below. Oh, and this card was made for the newest Pixie Dust Studio Challenge...to cut it out! You can check out the challenge at the PDS Challenge Blog.

Thanks for popping by tonight! Hope you had a great Hump day:) -Cyndi

• Supplies:
• Stamps: April Pixie digi (Pixie Dust Studio); Shore Thoughts (Lizzie Anne Designs)
• Paper: Umbrella collection (Prima); green print & Teal dots (Bo Bunny); white (Neenah)
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko)
• Acessories: Small Circles, Large Jumbo Scallop Circles NEstabilities (Spellbinders); Copics & ABS1 (Imagination International); rick rack from stash; buttons (Basic Grey)

HUGE Stampendous! Giveaway!

I copied this straight from the Stampendous! website...

This past week has been so exciting!! For those of you who are Stampendous fans on Facebook know that we are having a HUGE giveaway!! All you have to do is become a Fan of our Stampendous page and leave a comment or a photo of a card (using our products), sometime before May 26, 2010. Easy, right? Then you’ll be entered in to win over $200 in Stampendous goodies including wood stamps, cling stamps, clear stamps, embossing powder, glitter and MORE!

Find us on Facebook by clicking here or signing into your Facebook account, then searching “Stampendous”. We are the first search result under “Pages”.

The rules for the contest can be found here.

Another bit of exciting news… we have begun a group on Flickr. If you haven’t heard of Flickr before, it’s a photo hosting website where you can share your photos, view and comment on other people’s photos. We think this is the perfect way to see what other stampers and card makers are creating while getting inspired at the same time! Plus, it doesn’t hurt to show off all the cute cards you’ve made!!

You can add and view cards on the Stampendous Pool here.

OK....so there you have it...what are you waiting for?? Go enter to win!!

-Cyndi

Party Animals!

Good morning! Looks to be rainy and chilly here in NC again. Sigh. My allergies hate it but my grass loves it. OK, so we have had a ton of birthdays lately and I thought it was time to make a small stash of birthday cards for my girls to have for their friends.

I pulled out "Party Animals", an adorable set I got from Lizzie Anne Designs back at CHA. So sad to say it has sat uninked for a bit too long. BUT it pulled triple duty Sunday. I pulled up the latest LAD sketch...which is actually from last Monday, so there will probably be a new one by the time I get this posted, LOL.

The first card I used the sketch for, with Mr turtle. He is one of many cute little party critters in this set, which also comes complete with a ton of sentiments and accessories! All 3 cards today use only the stamps in this set, and to keep it simple I used the same pattern papers and accessories for each of the cards.

This is the little birdie stamped with the frame stamp around him...fits perfect to die cut with Spellbinders LAbels 1!! All buttons are from Basic Grey or Stampin' Up! Papers are by Pinecone Press. The embossing folder for the green strip on the hotdog card is embossed with the Happy Birthday Cuttlebug folder.

OK, so thats it today. A few simple ones for you and I have a new stash for hopefully another month or so of girl bdays. I am finishing up some errands then home to stamp!! Have a great day :)

Thanks for stopping in!

-Cyndi

Stampendous! Sketch Challenge!!

Happy Saturday! Its time for another round of the

new Stampendous! Saturday Sketch Challenge and its my turn to host! I was in the mood to create a circle card this week, so I drew up a quick circle sketch for you to have a go at! You can see the sketch down below OR at the Stampendous! blog.

For my sample card I used 2 Stampendous! images... "Changito Grad" for the focal image and "You've Got Style" for the sentiment. The sentiment is actually a really big one so I just reverse masked off the part I didn't want with tape and inked the part that I DID want :)

Both pieces were cut out with the Labels 1 Nestabilites from Spellbinders. The paper is some old Reminisce patterns that I pulled out at work and then I left this as a Grad sample for the store.

So, here's the sketch. We'd love for you to play along with us! There are 2 prizes up for grabs each week...so 2 chances to win!! Just shoot us a comment on the Stampendous! blog with a link to your card so we can all come check it out! If you upload to a public gallery be sure to use the keyword STMC6.

Thanks for joining me today! Have a great weekend :) -Cyndi

Rainy Day Layout

Howdy! Just a quickie post tonight. I had some scraps left at work from another page I was working on and ended up turning them into this today! I thought it turned out really cute so I am sharing it since I never seem to get any of my own scrapping done anymore.

I know pages show soooo much better with pics, but we aren't allowed to put any of our own pictures on the samples there. Whatever. Here it is blank...

Piggy Tales Row, Row, Row Your Boat

paper, rubons, chipboard shapes

Making Memories polka dot ribbon & corduroy brads

Scenic Route Chipboard letters

Bazzill cardstock

Pixie Dust Challenge!

I haven't played along in many other challenges lately that aren't using images from companies that I design for...and I really miss using a lot of my other stamps and digis! Here's a card I started weeks ago using Zeeba the Zebra from Pixie Dust Studio. He is just the cutest thing!

I had started coloring him with this fun pattern paper in mind by Crate Paper but never finished him. Well, this weeks challenge at the Pixie Dust Studio Challenge Blog is to incorporate Kraft into your design. Well, well. Kraft made a PERFECT background for this card! I also added a bunch of Primas...one of which is actually Kraft colored too!

I hope to start playing along with more challenges again and with my other images. That is one of my personal goals for my stamping time this year :) Thanks for hanging with me today! Be sure to scroll down for the latest challenge from InStyle Stamps today :)

-Cyndi

OHDBCGA with InStyle Stamps

Happy Hump Day! Its the "hump day" of the month...that means its time for a giveaway at InStyle Stamps! Head over to the ISS blog to get all the details!

Also... our fearless DT leader Taylor Usry had her baby finally! Congrats to Taylor and baby Owen!!

Our theme this month is fathers...trying to get a bit ahead of the game, ya know? So for my card I chose one of the new "A Day in the Life " images we are now carrying at the InSTyle Stamps store! This one is called Father and Kid.

I picked up a couple of other challenges along the way for inspiration! The colors for this card are from the Color Throwdown Challenge Blog. This weeks picks were Baja Breeze, Old Olive, So Saffron, and Kraft. (I know these are Stampin' Up! colors and I haven't been using them anymore....but the colors are really close!) And I HAD to play since my friend Barbara issued the challenge!

Since I already had the yellow thrown in, this also led me to this weeks recipe challenge from Ella at the Pink Elephant Challenge...TPE66...use yellow, pattern paper, and buttons! My papers are from Bo Bunny and I added a bit of Old Paper Tim Holtz ink around all the edges to age the look a bit. Sentiment is from Verve. The copics I used are all pictured below...there are WAY to many to list. Used a lot of neutrals this time :)

So, be sure to head to the InStyle Stamps blog to find out how you can win some new images and to check out all the other awesome dad eye candy from the rest of the DT! Each has a link by her card so you can go leave everyone some love!

Have a great rest of the week! Thanks for stopping by :)

-Cyndi

Stampendous! AND Papercraft Planet Challenges!!

Happy Mother's Day! Before we head out the dor to go visit with Moms, I will shoot you a quick post. Here is the card I made yesterday for the Stampendous! STMC5 Challenge.

Wendy the Wonderful was up for this weeks challenge, and since she was ALSO up over at Papercraft Planet for this weeks sketch...we are doing a fun combo! The sketch for the week is being hosted by PCP and can be seen HERE. At the Stampendous! blog the challenge for the week is to use "Masking". You can obviously do either challenge by itself, but if you do both together you can enter for BOTH prizes!

We'll all be checking in all week to see what you all come up with, so go stamp! Have a great day :)

-Cyndi

• Supplies:
• Stamps: Shapely Vases, Sunny Flowers (Stampendous!)
• Paper: Piggy Tales pp
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
• Accessories: Circle Punches (EK); Black pen (American Crafts); ribbon (Bazzill); Copics

CAS9: Chloe Moonbeam

Its that time again for the InStyle Stamps Sketch Challenge! This weeks sketch, CAS9 is brought to us by DT Coordinator, Taylor Usry. You can see it over at the ISS blog as well as see the creations of the rest of the Design Team!

We would love for you to join us in this challenge! as always, there is a prize to be had :) Just link up your creation over at the ISS blog so we can all come by and check it out!

For my card, I used one of the new adorable inages from the InStyle Stamps Chloe Collection. This is "Chloe Moonbeam" and I just HAD to pair her with this adorable sentiment from A Muse.

I chose colors for this card from the Color Throwdown Challenge blog...this weeks challenge is Kiwi Kiss, Rose Red, and Tempting Turquoise. So I pulled out this fun Piggy Tales paper for inspiration. All other supplies are listed below, as well as a photo of all the copics I used. (See, I am trying to get back on track!!)

I want to say a huge thanks to all my followers and friends for sticking with me when I am not so caught up every day :) I love all your sweet comments! Have a great weekend and be sure to check back tomorrow for the new Stampendous! sketch challenge!!

-Cyndi

Supplies:

Stamps: Chloe Moonbeam digi (InStyle Stamps); To the Moon (A Muse)

Paper: Row, row, row your boat pp (Piggy Tales); black cs (Bazzill); White cs (Neenah)

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories: Small Ovals standard & Labels 13 & Jumbo Scallop border (Spellbinders); flowers (Prima); brads (Basic Grey); Ribbon (Creative Imaginations); Smooch; Copic Markers: Y11, Y15, Eoo, Eooo, E31, E33, Y21, BG000, BG45, R37, R32, YG17, Co, 0 & ABS1 (Imagination International)

You Brighten My Day!

**ETA**I started this post yesterday before work, on a rainy Monday. Didn't get it finished, whats new?? So its now Tuesday and beautiful!**

Good Morning Monday! Had a great weekend. We got a new kitten on Saturday and my friend Leah came over yesterday to stamp all day! I got SO much done it was great :) BUT, of course its all top-secret stuff for the new Stampendous! 2010 Fall/Winter Catalog!

So, I thought I would go through my files and find something I made for the last catalog that I can share. This was a great one to help brighten MY day since its pouring down rain here in NC.

This is Sun Swirls, simply stamped then colored with Copic markers. The sentiment is from an adorable set called Summer Messages, also by Stampendous! It was a very simple card, as it was intended for catalog publication...so not a lot to elaborate on today! Ribbon is by Creative Imagination, and I used the Spots and Dots Cuttlebug folder on the black strip.

Don't forget to check in on this weeks Stampendous! Saturday Sketch challenge, you still have til Thursday night, then a new challenge will be issued Saturday! Check back in Saturday for the newest edition, and also this Friday for the InStyle Stamps Sketch Challenge :)

OK, I am outta here! Off to work. Have a great day and thanks for visiting :)

-Cyndi

Stampendous! Sketch Challenge!!

Good morning! Its that time again...time for the Stampendous! Super Saturday Sketch Challenge! This week our mega-talented Rachel was up to the challenge and she created us a terrific sketch to work with!!

As always, we would love for you to play along with us and there are fabulous FREE prizes up for grabs! Just send us a link to your creation by this Thursday, and don't forget to use the keyword STMC4 if you upload to any public galleries. BTW, uber-talented DT member Wendy created us a new fan group over at Paper Craft Planet..why not join us there?!!

So, on to my card for today's sketch. I used Ranunculus Fields for my focal image. That was embossed on Vanilla cs with Stampendous! Bark Opaque Embossing Powder. I then did an emboss resist with a number of different pigment pads...all colors listed below.

The sentiment is from another Stampendous! set called "Happy Messages" and all the papers are from the Bo Bunny "Jazmyne" collection. Final touch was a bunch of "Paris" Dew Drops. Hope you like it. Its a little more "grown up" looking than I usually create so I am also entering this in the Papertake Weekly Challenge for this week...to do something different!

OK, so I hope you have a great Saturday! Happy May Day and also have a great National Scrapbook Day! I am off to work to demo scrapbook techniques all day :)

Thanks for hanging with me! -Cyndi