Happy 4th of July!

Wow! Today really snuck up on me fast this year! I have tons of 4th of July cards and I meant to share them earlier, gasp! They have been sitting on my computer for 6 months, LOL. These are some of the cards that I designed for the Stampendous! 2010 Summer catalog.

Well, now you get a whole blast of them today! I won't give you full details on any, but feel free to email me if you want to know any specifics! All stamps are from Stampendous! All cardstock is from Bazzill.

I added lots of glitter to most of the cards using some of Stampendous! wonderful colors in Jewel and Pearl tones. Colors included Red Apple, Blue, and Multi.

I did incorporate many Spellbinders dies as well, circles, Curvy Rectangles, and Rectangles. All ribbons are by Creative Imaginations.

And, lastly I used some fun Class-a-Peel stickers also by Stampendous! Be sure to check in on the Stampendous! blog this weekend for many more Patriotic samples, including these of mine plus some of my others! Plus look for the latest Sketch Challenge. Its an anything goes challenge this week...and still prizes!

Thanks so much for flying by today! Hope you had a great weekend and hope all my American friends had a great 4th. We are cooking out this evening with friends then heading to see some fireworks hopefully!

-Cyndi

InStyle Stamps Sketch Challenge 11

Welcome back to the Bat Cave! This is Batty Chloe a new holiday image from InStyle Stamps. I am so thrilled that we are expanding the Chloe line...she is so fun! Be on the lookout for more Chloes from me, AND sneak over to the ISS blog to get more peeks of Chloe and more today from the rest of our Design Team!

WE had a fun sketch to work with this month, so why not play along with us? There are always fun prizes to be had! For my card I used some oldie but goodie papers and punches, all of which are listed below. Keep reading afterwards to find out more updates from InStyle Stamps!

• Supplies:
• Stamps: Batty Chloe digi (InStyle Stamps); Boo! (A Muse)
• Paper: Purple, black (BAzzill); White cs (Neenah); pp by Heidi Grace
• Ink: Palette Noir
• Accessories: Curvy Cutter & Bat Lace punch (EK Success); Spooky Dew Drops (Robin's Nest); ribbon (stash); Designer Label punch (SU!); Copic markers

Announcements from InStyle Stamps this week:

"Today is the official start of a brand new team for us - the InStyle Stamps International Design Team! Isn't that exciting? Please help us welcome these talented ladies to our family!

Lena Katrine from Lena Katrine's Scrappeskreppe

Cathy Wallington from Ellieskeepers Creations

Sarah Bonsell from Card Oasis

Aren't these some amazing women? We are thrilled to have them join our team!"

AND...

"We are so excited to welcome several new designers to our team! Just wait until you see the amazing creativity these ladies are bringing to the table - you are going to looooove them! Some of these names you may recognize - a few new designers have actually come to this team from our Promotional Team.

Let me introduce you to our newest members!

Kimme Leach, from The Life of a Princess

Dawn Knight, from Dawn's Rubber Room

Patti Stigsell, from Design U

Simone Pursiful, from Fashionable Cards

How lucky are we here at InStyle Stamps? We are so fortunate to have so many amazingly talented people who love to work with our images. We are SO glad to have everyone on our team!"

OK, me again. Thanks as always for coming to visit me! Hope my US friends have a great Holiday weekend!

-Cyndi

Pixie Dust Patriotic Challenge

I will be back this afternoon with this months InStyle Stamps sketch challenge...but in the meantime I have lots of Patriotic cards to share, so I thought I better get a move on! (Tomorrow and Sunday I will showcase all of my Stampendous! Patriotic cards that I created for the 2010 Summer catalog.)

Today I have for you a card created with 2 adorable Pixie Dust Studio images. This is Blueberry Fairy and Strawberry Fairy. The theme for this weeks Pixie Dust Challenge is to use the colors red, white, and blue. Perfect for some Berry Fairies!

Both fairies were colored with Copic markers, then I added white smooch to their wings. I tried to get a closeup of the wings, but I can never get a good shot of a smooched item, LOL.

Also, Pixie Dust Studio released a new group of digi stamps today...the Jammin' Out Collection. Go check it out!!

Anywho...supplies are listed at the bottom of the post. Don't forget to come back at 3pm EST...and thanks for visiting!

-Cyndi

• Supplies:
• Stamps: Blueberry Fairy & Strwberry Fairy digis (Pixie Dust Studio); Celebrate Freedom (STampendous)
• Paper: Block Party (Bo Bunny); white cs (Neenah); Blue cs (Core'dinations)
• Ink: Palette Noir
• Accessories: Ribbon (Bo Bunny); WHite paper Frills (Doodlebug); Moonlight White Smooch (Clearsnap); Copic markers; Designer Label punch (SU!)

You Rock!

A day behind as usual...here is my last June card for InStyle Stamps. Just couldn't get it posted yesterday. Michael had a friend over, got a new bike AND we went to see Toy Story 3. LOVED it! (even cried at the end, but don't tell)

So, this is Tiffany, an Anime digi image available from InStyle Stamps. I decked her out in Purple and Orange....which were the school colors when Taylor was a Cheerleader in Middle School. Tiffany is also paired with new Bo Bunny papers...love these colors!

I did a touch of sewing on my card, my bobbin isn't cooperating lately so I have avoided it for a while. The sentiment is from Lizzie Anne Designs and was stamped ono a piece of Neenah cut with the inside piece of the small die in the Polka dot frame Spellbinders set. Love the way it turned out!

Below are pictured the copics I used. Not a lot of other supplies this time. Check in tomorrow for the first days of Holiday images for InStyle Stamps. We will start previewing new images with tomorrow's July Sketch Challenge!

-Cyndi

Tuesday with Tilda

Sorry for no posts the last couple of days. Today I am sharing with you a couple of Magnolia cards that I created for Enchanted Cottage. First is Traveler Tilda paired with some My Minds eye papers and Prima flowers.

And this is Sweet Tilda. She was colored to match the papers and felt flowers from Little Yellow Bicycle. I also used the Spellbinders Fleur de Lis Nestabilties die and some yummy silk ribbon. No new Magnolias at the Cottage lately but I will try to have a Christmas card class in July during the Stamp & Scrap Art Show in W-S.

Thanks for hopping by! Check in tomorrow for my last InStyle Stamps post for June, then a few days of Patriotic cards with Stampendous! images :)

-Cyndi

Stampendous! Saturday sketch Challenge

TGIS! I actually got to sleep in this morning til almost 9 thanks to my little one! He's finally getting on summer hours! I took Michael and Taylor to see "Knight and Day" last night. Perry refused; he thought it looked stupid. It was definitely a date flick...action for the guy, romance for the girl, and lots of humor. As long as you don't expect it to be a true action movie you will like it. Tom Cruise is back to his Jerry Maguire charming self as the critics are saying :)

But alas, you want to see some eye candy, don't you? It was my turn again this week to draw up the challenge for Stampendous! I created a square card sketch for you, but it doesn't have to be square. My additional challenge is to use glitter as well.

Above is the sketch. If you would like to join us just create a card (or scrapbook layout) using the sketch and then link it back to the Stampendous! blog. You have until Thursday night 12AM PST for your submission. As always there will be 2 prizes up for grabs!!

This is what I ended up with using "Wildflower Sprigs" a clear set from Stampendous! I colored directly on the stamp with my copic markers then reactivated the ink with a spritz of Copic blender solution before I stamped it on the paper. This creates a nice watercolor effect. I also added a foreground layer of smaller wildflowers in Old Paper Tim Holtz Distress ink and then airbrushed lightly over the whole image while still in the Nestabilties die.

This is a closeup of the image once the glitter is added. I randomly dotted my Quickie Glue pen on the Magenta flowers then added Rose Jewel Stampendous! glitter. The sentiment and the 3 scallops are all stamped with other images from the same "Wildflower Sprigs" stamp set. The rest of my supplies are all listed at the bottom of the post, and below is a photo with my copics.

Thanks for visiting my blog today! Hope you have a great weekend :) -Cyndi

• Supplies:
• Stamps: Wildflower Sprigs (Stampendous!)
• Paper: pp by Bo Bunny; Java (Bazzill); Ivory (Papertrey Ink)
• Ink: Tim Holtz Old Paper Distress Ink (Ranger); Berry Sorbet (Papertrey Ink)
• Accessories: Labels 4 Nestabilties & Fancy Tags (Spellbinders); Rose Jewel Glitter (Stampendous!); ribbon (stash); Mini mister spray bottle (Ranger); ABS1, Blender refill solution, & Copic markers (Imagination International)

InStyle Stamps Blog Hop!

Its the last Friday of the month so that means its time for a Blog Hop with InStyle Stamps! Our theme his month is Patriotic and The Great Outdoors. If you hopped here from Janelle's blog then you are right on track, if not why not start at the beginning of the hop at the InStyle Stamps blog!

For my project I used the digi download "Grill" because thats my absolute favorite part of summer and holidays...cooking out!! I am so not a hotdog girl, but I LOVE grilled burgers! Do you have plans for next weekend? We are planning to go to the lake one day with my hubby's work friends :)

Now, don't forget to hop through all the Design Teams' blogs and leave us all lots of love! Your comments make us so happy! (Really!!) After you hit all the blogs go back to the ISS blog and vote for your favorite project and leave a comment there too. You can win 7 Spica glitter pens this month!

From here head over to Jan's blog to see what fabulousness she has cooked up for you! If you get lost along the way, here's the list of the hopping order:

Robin

Janelle

Cyndi

Jan

Genevieve

Taylor

Angelique

Angela

Kimme

Tina

Jodi

Kerry

Raquel

Thanks for hopping by my corner today! Have a great weekend and stop back in tomorrow for my sketch and card for the Stampendous! Saturday Sketch Challenge!

Also, don't forget InStyle Stamps is having a Design Team call! Head --->HERE for info!

-Cyndi

• Supplies:
• Stamps: Grill only digi (InSTyle Stamps); Free Spirit (Close to My Heart)
• Paper: Block PArty pp (Bo Bunny); Blue cs (Core'dinations); white cs (Neenah)
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko)
• Accessories: Polka Dot Frameabilities (Spellbinders); ribbon (Stamping Up!); glaze pen (Sakura); buttons (Stash); black precision pen (American Crafts); Copic markers

Twilight Fever

OK, I have to admit that I did read all the Twilight books, took about a week the way I love to read, if its a good story I will fly through a series like there's no tomorrow. I was completely obsessed for a couple of months, but then as always I moved on. I read a LOT, LOL.

And I have to say that I find it amusing the way so many ladies are totally obsessed with Twilight...but then again Robert Pattinson is HOT!! I'm not as wild about the movies as I was about the books, but of course I have seen the first two and plan to see Eclipse in just a few days :)

BUT, what I do get giddy about are stamps of my favorite characters, from books or movies. I LOVE that Kathy at Pixie Dust Studio has drawn most of the important Twilight characters as digis...still waiting for the rest of the Cullen family though!

So, I had to break down and download a few Vampires for the latest challenges over at Pixie Dust Studio challenge blog. I missed finishing Victoria for last weeks challenge (see below) but I did get Alice done in time! She is also using the sketch...very loosely...for the Oh, Alice! challenge this week and she is another Alice, right?

The Pixie Dust challenge was to use Red, Black, White and Silver. So I hunted through my paper stash to find a starting point. I came up with paper from Making Memories and Basic Grey then used those colors to pick out my copic markers. I used lots of different Spellbinders dies for this one and lots of Primas. All supplies are listed out at the bottom of the post. Heres a shot of the copics I used...

And here is last weeks card that never got finished in time. This is Victoria, another digi from Pixie Dust Studio. She was colored to match the greens and blues from the Making Memories paper I picked. Also had fun with this card by pulling out a it of Glimmer Mist and a Glimmer Screen for the background. AND I found this yummy Blue Velvet ribbon from my stash.

Again, here are the copics that I used and the rest of the supplies are listed below. Thanks so much for stopping by today! Have a great Hump Day :)

-Cyndi

• Supplies for Alice card:
• Stamps: Alice digi (Pixie Dust Studio); Wicked (A Muse)
• Paper: Scarlet's Letter pp (Basic Grey); 5th Ave pp (Making Memories); Black (Bazzill); Red (Bo Bunny; White (Neenah)
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
• Accessories: Double end Ribbon Tag, Contemporary Hearts Border, Labels 5, and Curvy Rectangles Nestabilites (Spellbinders); Red bling (Hero Arts); Silver/Red/Gold Dewdrops (Robin's Nest); ABS1 & copics (Imagination International); Primas; ribbon from stash

• Supplies for Victoria card:
• Stamps: Victoria digi (Pixie Dust Studio); Bite me (A Muse)
• Paper: 5th Ave pp (Making Memories); Blue cs (Core'dinations); Black cs (Bazzill); White cs (Neenah)
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
• Accessories: Curvy Cutter (EK Success); blue bling (Basic Grey); Prima flowers; ribbon from stash; Tuxedo & Azure Smooch; Lime Twist Glimmer Mist & Regal Glimmer Screen (Tattered Angels); Tag punch (SU!)

Stampendous! Sketch Challenge!!

Monday night and I am sitting in the bed typing while my little guy is watching The Simpsons. We re-organized all the million DVDs we had tonight and he forgot we had a full season on DVD. Urgh. I sooo prefer Spongebob or The Clone Wars.

So, wanna hear about the card? Its Saturday a few days late over at the Stampendous! blog :) Our Saturday Sketch just went up today, hehe, so I am just now posting mine too. Had to work today so I didn't get any computer time.

I am finally using this sweet little knight I have had for forever. It seemed just right for my hubby for Fathers Day yesterday. I paired "Knight Shield" with "Shining Knight", both from Stampendous! for my card. I wanted to pull out the gray in the knight so I found this fun gray polka dot print in my "Sugar Rush" Basic Grey paper pad. I also added the red love print from the same pad for a splash of color.

The cool border is done with my new EK Success border punch. All the little bling dots in the corners are fun Holographic stickers from Stampendous!...these are "Dot Sparklers Class a Peels".

OK, so if you would like to play along with us there are prizes available as usual!! Head over to the Stampendous! blog to get all the details. Here is my buddy Debbie's fabbo sketch for this week:

Also, why not head over to our little group at Papercraft Planet. Its still young and growing and we would love to get to know you better!

Thanks for visiting with me today! Have a great week!

-Cyndi

Method Monday with InStyle Stamps

Good Morning! Today I am in charge of Method Monday at the InStyle Stamps blog, but first I wanted to send you to --->THIS post to see all the details for the new InStyle Stamps Design Team Call!!

Today I want to share with you one of my favorite types of specialty fold cards...what Splitcoast Stampers has dubbed the "Joy Card". First you want to gather all of your supplies: cardstock, stamped or digitally printed image, embellishments, a trimmer and a scoring tool.

Above are all of my pieces precut. My bottom base card is 4.25 x 9.75. My top base card measures 3.75 x 7.5. To embellish the front of the bottom base my layer is 4 x 4. The layer atop my top base card is 3.5 x 3.5. ( My main image I chose to run through my Cuttlebug with a Layers 4 Nestabilties, but it could be any size square smaller than about 3.75 x 3.75.)

Using a scoring tool you want to score the bottom base card along the long side at 5.5 and fold. The top base card will be scored at 3.75 and folded. I used a Scor-Pal for my sample but there are many other ways to score a card.

Lay the 2 card bases out so that the larger is on the left, and both openings are to the center. If you want a layer on the inside back of your card add that now. Layer the open top base over the open bottom base so that the bottoms are adhered together. The left edge of the top base should be about 1/2 inch or slightly more in from the edge of the bottom base. First fold the bottom card closed, then the top one is closed to overlap the bottom.

This is a picture of how the top card is opened up leaving the bottom card still closed. I used a button attached only to the bottom card so that I can tuck the top card under (see last photo of card) The top card opens to the left (backwards)

Then the bottom card will open to the left as usual. A sentiment or message can be added to the inside. I used the digital anime image "Trent and Justin" from the InStyle Stamps web store.

This is the final card. Below is pictured the copics that I used and also a list of the supplies that I used.

Thanks so much for joining us today for Method Monday at InStyle Stamps! We would love for you to show us your version of a Joy Fold card if you create one! And don't forget to stop back in this Friday for our June Blog Hop!

• Supplies:
• Stamps: Trent & Justin digi (InStyle Stamps); Starbright, Starlight remix (Verve)
• Paper: Dude Collection pp (Prima); black cs (Bazzill); white cs (Neenah)
• Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
• Accessories: Labels 4 Nestabilties (Spellbinders); button (Autumn Leaves); Scor Pal; Copic markers; Black precision pen (American Crafts)