Bringing new life to old papers with Die Cuts!

Well, 2011 is coming to a close in just a few short hours.  I have high hopes for 2012 and am looking forward to it!  I thought I'd share a layout today with some pics of my kids from our DC trip this summer.  I had no idea where this layout would take me with the love theme, but I do love my kids!

I started with a pile of Bo Bunny paper from last year (have you seen the new Valentine's BTW, ca-ute!!) and pulled out all 3 of my new It Kits from Lifestyle Crafts.  I also used the 4x8 Chocolate alphabet for part of my title and the numbers on the tag in the bottom right.

I cut lots of little tag envelopes with the Tag It Kit and then lots of little tags to stick down into them.  For my journaling I simply punched some windows, adding some words then adhered them over the tags.

All the scraps of ribbon are from my stash, from May Arts, Stampin' Up!, and Michael's.  The brads are Bazzill, both the large and small ones.

For my title the large LOVE is from the Chocolate alphabet and the smaller MY LIFE is part of the Clip It kit from Lifestyle Crafts.  The circle tab and heart are from the same kit.

Another clip from the Clip It Kit, as well as a heart from the Tag It Kit.  The scalloped border is part of the Edge It Kit.  These 3 kits are wonderful, working great by themselves, or combining them together for endless possibilites.  They all provide lots of fun accents when you just need a little something extra as well!  below are the pics of the 3 kits:

Edge It Kit $39.99

Clip It Kit $39.99

Tag It Kit $39.99

Lots of fun, right??  I'll have more fun from Lifestyle Crafts for you tomorrow for my next sketch challenge, as well as announce the winner from the last challenge!

I hope you have have a very Happy New Year, be safe!

-Cyndi

A Dreamweaver New Year

Time flies...its almost 2012 and with the New Year I am adding a new Design Team to my mix!  I'm thrilled to be joining the DreamTeam at Dreamweaver Stencils!  I know, you have never seen any stenciling on my blog, but thanks to my peeps Pam and Wendy I have been oohing and aahing over these beauties for a while now!  I will also be Repping for Dreamweaver and will be offering monthly technique classes at my local stores...so be sure to be on the look out!

Today's challenge was New Years.  Hmmm.  The generous Lynell Harlow, the queen bee herself, sent me a huge box of goodies, but no New Year specific themes, so I had to be a bit creative.  I went with the time flies idea since I can't believe 2012 is upon us already!

For my first stenciled endeavor, I used the Gears Stencil embossed in Matte Black Paste.  I first tried to add some gold mica, but I decided I liked the matte version better...more of a steampunk look.  And along with the gear theme and steampunk look I pulled out my Gears and Gadgets die from Tim Holtz for an accent.  Here's a peek at the actual embossed area.

The paste spreads beautifully for a wonderful dimensional effect!  My sentiment is stamped with  Time Flies by Stampendous!  Be sure to check out the other projects from the Dream Team at the Dream It Up blog, and enter our challenge while you are there!

I am signing off, to go play more with my new toys that Santa Lynell brought me!

-Cyndi

Skipping Stones Design Sketch Challenge!

Good morning!  I am trying to stick to my daily blogging resolution before the new year even hits....so today I am playing along with this weeks Skipping Stones Design Sketch challenge!  I have quite a few blogging friends on this team so I have fallen in love with these stamps over the last few months!  

Most of my favorites are the quirky, off beat humorous ones...but todays card uses an elegant set called   Victorian Summer that I actually won last year :)  I have stamped the rose twice, masking part of the stems then colored it with copics.  After it was all colored I went back with the large rose and stamped it off in a pale aqua to give a hint of texture or almost a background paper look.  I did the same with the sentiment tag.

Theres small touches of glitter using my Gelly Roll Stardust pen and I just had to pull out the handy dandy sewing machine and stitch the edges on this one.  The eyelet border is actually one edge of a large square die that I cut with Cheery Lynn Designs Scandinavian Hearts.

Here's the sketch if you want to play along. You have til next Monday!

And here's the Victorian Summer set all together, I only used a few of the gorgeous images!

Thanks so much for visiting with me today! Have a happy Hump Day!

-Cyndi

A little lone bird...

Happy Tuesday!  I hope everyone had a wonderful break and enjoyed their families over the Holidays!  We had a great Christmas, very little arguing amongst the kids, LOL.  I haven't done much crafting the last few days BUT I have finally started reading a series that my DD Rachael has been trying to get me to read forever...The Hunger Games Trilogy.  Its amazing if you've never read it.  Finished the second book this morning ( I could only read 320 or so pages last night before sleep took over). I will begin the final book, Mockingjay tonight, so I have birds on the brain!

Here's a card I designed for my January Stamp-a-Stack in Charlotte using the new Lone Bird from Stampendous!  HE was embossed with Clear Bark EP from the Scenic Collection over some pattern paper from My Minds Eye.  The cirlces were both cut with Lifestyle Crafts Nesting Circles...a great value!  20 dies for just $24.99!!  Thats 3 times the dies you get for the same price from Spellbinders!!

At the bottom of the card I've layered three rows cut with one of the dies from the new Lifestyle Crafts Edge It Kit...2 in the brown and 1 in a pattern.  What a gorgeous yet easy to achieve look!  Here's a peek at this set:

Well thats it today, I must go to my Stamp Room!  Its calling my name :)  Thanks for popping in! Don't forget about my sketch challenge!

-Cyndi

Season's Greetings

Here's a card for you today from my archives.  I'm not sure why I've never posted it, LOL.  The stamp is Cling  Chickadee from Stampendous!  It's  been colored with copic markers and paired with some older paper from my stash.  The sentiment is also from Stampendous! called Chris-Moose Greetings.

Only 5 shopping days til Christmas, are you ready?? I'm not!!

-Cyndi

The Scrappy Chick Sunday Sketch Challenge: Merry & Magical

Good morning!  I've decided its time to offer up sketch challenges again!  I just couldn't wait for the new year, so here's the first and it will run for 2 weeks, you have until Saturday, December 31st at 8pm EST to submit your entry! If you are using a public gallery please label your tags as "SCSSC01".

For my sample today I have actually drawn the sketch to go with the card that I created first!  

My card  uses Merry Magical from Stampendous!  Its been embossed in Stampendous! Clear Bark Embossing Powder onto scallop circles cut from  Nesting Scallop dies  by Lifestyle Crafts.  I love these because you get so many more shapes for the same amount as the Spellbinders dies!  

Here's a closeup of the  main panel.  The circles were then layered onto the center cut out of the Scandinavian  Hearts die from Cheery Lynn Designs.  It is one large die which cuts out the frame and the center which looks like a snowflake to me :)  Its a lovely combination  and there is never wasted space on a die from CLD!

Here's the Scandinavian Hearts die.

The pattern papers are from the Journey collection by Authentique Paper.  Authentique is one of my absolute favorite new paper lines!!

I have up for grabs for this challenge a Cheery Lynn Designs die that I happen to have 2 of, LOL.  Its called Polynesian Sails Oval.  I'm sorry, but for now US winners only.

I hope you'll join me!  Have a wonderful Sunday...only 6 shopping days...eeek!!

-Cyndi

Stampendous! Saturday

First up today I need to announce the winner of my Blog Candy from last week!  Stampendous! generously gave all the DT stamps to give away this month.  I had Random.org pick my winner from last week's post...#10 Caroline!!  shoot me an email with your snail mail!

This week we are still doing our color challenge,  I didn't come up with anything new for that, sorry....BUT my tag sort of fits!  If you want to play along the colors are Cream, Gold, Brown, and Pink.

                                                         

This is a tag I created last week while demoing at The Enchanted Cottage and I am going to do a slightly edited version in classes next month.  I started by spraying my tag with Turquoise Perfect Pearls Mist and Iridescent Gold Glimmer Mist and then heated that.  Next I stamped the Jumbo Songbird in Versamark ink and embossed it with Aged Gold Embossing Enamel. 

I used Glimmer chalks from Craf-T Products to rub inside the bird and leaves.  Next I stamped the Music Score background in Vintage Sepia Distress Ink from Tim Holtz and then edged the tag with  a combo of more Aged Gold and Shabby Blue embossing Enamels and added a touch of Gilded Mica and Champagne Crushed Glass Glitter using Fran's Encrusted Jewel Technique.

Finally, my favorite part of the tag is the quartet of ribbons and fibers that I tied through the top.

Here's a link to Fran's How to video for the Encrusted Jewel Technique.

That's it this morning! Thanks for coming by today! I am hoping to find lots of crafty time on  this sunny yet breezy Saturday.  What are your plans? 

-Cyndi

From the Crypt...

Hi, I have  a peek into The Simply B Stamps Crypt with some of the Emo Christmas stamps!  This was the original line that made me completely gaga over Simply B Stamps!  I have 4 projects to share with you today starting with Bahumbug Christian!

Christian is such a hoot!  He reminds me of my Scrooge of a hubby :)  He hates Christmas prep, but loves the day itself!  I colored him with my copics then cut him out with Wonky Squares from Spellbinders and did a bunch of stitching with my machine.  The papers for this card are from Echo Park last year which I got from the Simply B Store (she's out now, but there's a TON more EP paper there!!)

On the top of the card I punched a border with my Martha Stewart Icicle punch then covered it and Santa's fluffy trim with some stickles.

Next is Prezzies for Lola!  She is such a little doll, complete with her bat friends (check the present!!)  She's colored to match papers from a cute little pad I picked up that was imported from England.  A bit of black tulle and shimmery turquoise organdy for a bow and she's perfect!

To Lola I added some hints of sparkle with my Spica markers AND Gelly Roll Glaze pens!

Next is my FAV of the bunch, elfinmiller.  He just inspired me to have so much fun creating this card!  My colors are a bit non-traditional, but oh-so SBS!  I added some Aged silver EP from Stampendous! around the edges of some of the panels and on the top of the ornament.

Here's a closeup of Miller:

The ornament is cut with a Tim Holtz Ornament die from Sizzix, then I embossed it with Spot & Dots Cuttlebug folder, inked the raised parts with Spiced Marmalade TH Distress ink then embossed that with Clear EP from Stampendous!  The bottom border is from the Border It Kit from Lifestyle Crafts.

And finally, this is the page that I submitted earlier this year for Betty's Design Team call.  I love it as much now as then!  I used Candy Cane London for my tag.  Papers are from Little Yellow Bicycle and Love, Elsie (KI Memories).  The ornaments are the same Tim Holtz die embossed with the Spiderweb CB folder.  Skull was from the dollar bin at Michael's.

So don't forget when you hop over to the SBS store to check out some of the older stamps too...just as fun!  The projects today use the 4 of the 6 Emos that are still available in clear stamp form :)  Thanks for joining me today for From the Crypt!

Happy Birthday Laura!

I am a bit late in the day with this, sorry...but I have a birthday wish for our Stampendous! Graphics Manager, Laura Weed!  Happy birthday my sweet friend!  I hope its been full of fun and friends (and catalog crunch time)

Laura, like I, has a bunch of kitties...I can't remember their names (sorry) but they are dear to her heart and I know she loves to read when she finds the time, so I ma guessing she loves this new image as much as I do!

 I'm a total cat freak if you don't really know me, so when this new stamp, Cattus Librum came in my box of October catalog goodies from Stampendous! it was the first one I had to ink!  My kitty is stamped in Vintage Sepia Versafine ink on Kraft cardstock then layered on some Authentique paper.  The background is stamped in the same ink with Stampendous! Cling Dream Text.  A very CAS card for me, the only adornment that I couldn't resist was the stick pin from Webster's Pages tucked into my ribbon at the top of the card.

And I of course HAD to share pictures of my fur babies...here they are in alphabetical order...

Apollo

Bitsy

Roxie

Starbuck

Happy birthday again to Laura!!  Here's links to more of our fabby DT who crated birthday cards for Laura:

Melinda  http://mynoteworthycards.blogspot.com/

Janelle  http://rainpuddlesdesign.blogspot.com/

Taylor  http://taylorusry.blogspot.com/

Wendy P  http://paperinkandsmiles.blogspot.com/

Trudee  http://trudee.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/

Jennie  http://jenniebstampin.blogspot.com/

Pam  http://1pamperedstamper.blogspot.com/

Lynn  http://www.stamperosity.com/

Krissy  http://www.paperinkspirations.blogspot.com/

Stephanie  http://blog.artycarty.com/

Kristine  http://stampingandscrapingincalifornia.blogspot.com/

Wendy J  http://www.papertherapy-wendy.blogspot.com/

Jingle   http://www.justjingle.blogspot.com/

Jennifer Dove  http://just4funcrafts.blogspot.com/

Rachel  http://gingerbreadgallery.blogspot.com/

Cyndi  http://www.scrappychickcyndi.blogspot.com/

Stampendous! Saturday with BLOG CANDY

Its time for the Saturday Stampendous!  challenge again and we are still doing our color challenge all month of cream, gold, pink, and brown.  This week I have a card from the 2011 October catalog.  

The main panel was stamped with the heart from Amore Frame using Detail Gold Embossing Powder then I encrusted the edges using Aged Gold Embossing Enamel and Tea Stained Mica Fragments.  The sentiment is from Cherub Wishes.

The ivory panel is a piece of Canvas Corp handmade paper which I distressed with some Time Holtz ink across the top of the embossed parts using a sponge dauber. At the bottom of the card, the border is made with Wild Rose Class-a-Peel stickers.

Here's the other DT peeps playing along this week:

Stampendous Impressions -http://stampendousblog.wordpress.com
Taylor Usry - http://taylorusry.blogspot.com/ (blog candy)
Pam Hornschu - http://1pamperedstamper.blogspot.com (blog candy)
WendyJordan - http://www.papertherapy-wendy.blogspot.com
Jenn Dove - http://just4funcrafts.blogspot.com/ (blog candy)
Melinda Gleissner - http://mynoteworthycards.blogspot.com/
Suzanne Czosek - http://www.suzzstampingspot.blogspot.com/ (blog candy)
Lynn Mercurio - http://www.stamperosity.com/ (blog candy)
Cyndi Bundy -- http://www.scrappychickcyndi.blogspot.com/ (blog candy)
Kristine Reynolds -- http://stampingandscrapingincalifornia.blogspot.com/
Janelle Stollfus -- http://rainpuddlesdesign.blogspot.com/
Jennifer Ingle--http://www.justjingle.blogspot.com/

Be sure to go leave some love for everyone and theres lots of blog candy to be had today, including mine!  I have up for grabs Cling Bottled Gifts set (US winners only).  Just leave me a comment!  Blog candy will be chosen Friday December 16th at 9pm EST.

If you'd like to play along with us this month, you have until January 5th to participate, and here's the linky tool:

Wreck the Halls...

Its time to deck the halls in Halloween spirit with the 4th Day of Scary Christmas Challenge from Simply Betty Stamps!  I used Merry Betty Christmas Emo for my main image and then placed her below a garland decked with spiders (Class-a-peel stickers from Stampendous!)  Main panel is also stamped with the Spiderweb stamp from Stampendous!

The sentiment is a combo of 2 Stampendous! stamps that have been masked.

Be sure to play along with us this month for the 12 Scary Days of Christmas!  Now, sing along...

Wreck the Halls 

“Wreck the Halls with bones and spiders

Fa la la la la la la la la

‘Tis the season for Ghost Riders

Fa la la la la la la la la

Don we now scary apparel

Fa la la la la la la la la

Dress up like Lock, Shock and Barrel

Fa la la la la la la la la

Join the chaos strike the harp

Fa la la la la la la la la

Ouch the wreaths are really sharp

Fa la la la la la la la la

If they eat you it’s their pleasure

Fa la la la la la la la la

You’ll become their Yule tide treasure

Fa la la la la la la la la

Wreck the halls with rats and roches

Fa la la la la la la la la

Hurry Christmas eve approaches!

Fa la la la la la la la la

Drape them all be dark and thrilling

Fa la la la la la la la la

Look their lovely ooze is dripping

Fa la la la la la la la la

Try a taste of poison toddy

Fa la la la la la la la la

Leave a gift, leave us your body

Fa la la la la la la la la

Dig a grave then dig it deeper

Fa la la la la la la la la

Leave a present for the reaper

Fa la la la la la la la la….la la la la!!!”