Its off to Hogwarts...

One more day til Harry and his fellow wizards arrive at Pixie Dust Studio! But today you can have a peek! For my card I used Hermione. No, she's not my favorite character, but this did turn out to be my favorite card of the bunch this week :) And yes, my jaw dropped to the floor when Kathy showed us this release! It is magically magnificent!!

I used Wendy's sketch for Papercraft Planet this week and in keeping with the simplicity theme there I went with the Dyeing for Punches challenge at Cute Card Thursday also...to use NO punches or diecuts. Wow, thats hard. Just a trimmer.

I was stressing finding any burgundy or gold paper in my stash...but Betty had the perfect group of Graphic 45 papers in stock at the crop this weekend! Totally Gryffindor, eh?

OK, head to the Pixie Dust Studio blog for more peeks today and tomorrow, and check in at the Pixie Dust web store later for the full release! Its scheduled for tomorrow, but hint...Kathy never waits!

Thanks for flying by today! I have lots for you this week including challenges, new releases, blog candy, and maybe even an announcement, so check back in!!

-Cyndi

Ultimate Vamp Fan

OK, I know you don't all want to hear my life saga, LOL, but the crud has entered my house. Taylor says it feels like the flu. I know I am pooped and achy but I thought I was just feeling my age! I did have a blast cropping with Denise all day Saturday :0 Maybe thats what wore me out yesterday? We went to Betty's and saw tons of friends! I am ready for the next one!

Here's my card for this weeks Pixie Dust Studio challenge...Stitch it Up. I have had this finished for days but just haven't flet like even getting the mac out of the car. How sad is that.

I used "Ultimate Vamp Fan" from Pixie Dust Studio's last release...Funhouse!! Look at that little glossy of Edward in her hand, gotta love it! I used some old SU! paper I have been hoarding apparently, I didn't even realize I still had any, but it worked perfectly!

She is colored with Copics of course. And I stitched up all the layers with my handy dandy sewing machine. Had to dust it off first of course. The Bite Me is one of my all time favorite A Muse sentiments!

OK, thats it for now. I gotta go catch up on reading blog posts! Check back tomorrow for sneak peeks of the new Harry Potter release from Pixie Dust Studio! These images are AWESOME and you don't want to miss out! Thanks for hanging with me today, have a great one!

-Cyndi

InStyle Stamps Blog Hop

Happy Friday! Its the end of the kids first partial week of back to school. The girls have their first football game tonight...Taylor is a Dancing Boot this year and Rachael is in Marching Band. Its an away game so I am not going. I will have the evening to spend with just Michael. Perry is at work :) He finally goes back to school on Tuesday since he's at UNCSA.

BUT, today is the last Friday of the month which means its time for the InStyle Stamps blog hop! Virginia has an extra special prize for the winner this month so be sure to hop through all the blogs then go back to the ISS blog and vote for your favorite project!

Be sure you started at the beginning, at the ISS blog. If you came from Patti's blog you are right on track!

For my project I needed to do something 3D and end of summer and Jax was the image I left myself to work with...so I decided he would be cute as a title on a Mini journal for my son. You know how they always want the kids to talk about what they did over the summer? well, this way he can write about all the things he did then pick one memory for school :)

I simply covered a plain notebook with this Piggy Tales paper then printed Jax out really small and stamped "Summer" and some dots on the tag. The "Memories" is hand written. Tag was colored with copics. Pretty simple!!

OK, so now its time to hop on over to our fearless leader's blog...and I am sure that Taylor has something extra special in store for you!! Thanks for hopping by today, have a great weekend! I am going to an ALL day crop with Denise tomorrow, I can't wait!!

-Cyndi

Bugs and Hisses!

Can you guess what today is? Its Wednesday, yes, but that is not the important detail. Its the first day back to school!! Oh, yeah! I can get some work done again! Before I start off my day I am leaving you with a touch of eye-candy.

This is Broomstick Fluffles! He is one of the Halloween cards that I sent in to Stampendous! a few months back. I actually have a whole pile of Halloween cards to share at some point! The bugs and Hisses is also from Stampendous as are the cobweb class-a-peel stickers in the corners of the card. Paper is by Heidi Grace.

And don't forget this weeks sketch challenge at the Stampendous! blog....its a back to school challenge hosted by Rachel, The Gingerbread Gal! New challenge will be this Saturday!

Have a great hump day and enjoy your day of relief for my friends whose kids also went back today :) Most of NC did I think, maybe elsewhere! Thanks for flying by!

-Cyndi

Just another Manic Monday

And we are off to finish back to school shopping. Michael wanted to go to daycare today and tomorrow, thanks goodness... So I am taking the girls out today to Target and the Mall to finish up some last minute stuff. We of course stopped by the Starbucks at Barnes & Noble first to have "breakfast".So, while they chat I am typing :) Here is a card that I created last week for the new releases at InStyle Stamps. Isn't that tree swing an adorable end of summer image? I paired it with fun "Olivia" papers by Basic Grey and an eco-friendly sentiment from a Unity set called Earth Love.

Okie dokie, gotta be fast so we can scoot! Hope you have a great week..I will be back on and off with a few challenges this week. Kids start up Wednesday and I have a big Friday deadline so it may be a bit slow. Ciao!

Cyndi

Pixie Dust Stdio Polka dot challenge

Happy Friday! This afternoon I have for you my card for this weeks Pixie Dust Studio challenge, "Go Crazy with Polka dots!" Well, thats not hard for me seeing as I love polka dots.

But I did pull out some funky polka dot paper...from Fancy Pants, no less. (seems like its been quite the Fancy Pants week ) I used 2 new images from the Funhouse collection...Frankie Boy and Frankie Bride. Aren't they just the funkiest little cuties ?!

The sentiment is from an old Verve set, Anniversary birds. I stamped it directly on the main card with Palette ink. The spiderweb border is a Martha Stewart punch.

Be sure to head over to the Pixie Dust Challenge blog and play along with the Pixies this week (you don't have to use a Pixie Dust Studio image if you don't have one, but we love it when you do!!) There is always a FREE digi of your choice up for grabs for the winner each week!

Thanks for stopping in today! Its been so much less stressful without the job. Life is getting better, its just been totally insane the last couple of weeks it seems. Thankfully everyone will be back in school in less than a week!

-Cyndi

Pixie Dust Studio NEW release day!

Welcome to the Funhouse! Here's Frankie to welcome you to a whole new world of fun :) Here's a peek at the rest of the gang in the Funhouse! Today all these adorable images are ready for purchase at the Pixie Dust Studio webstore!

For my card today I used "Frankie Funhouse Fairy". I think she is my favorite of the bunch, but then again I adore Halloween and everything to do with it, so I love them all! I used up some of my favorite scraps from a Fancy Pants Halloween line. So sad they are almost all gone.

Be sure to head over to the Pixie Dust Studio blog for more of the Funhouse gang. also tomorrow will be a new challenge at the PDS challenge blog so check back for that too!

Thanks for visiting today!

-Cyndi

InStyle Stamps Color Challenge

Its time for the InStyle Stamps color challenge! This month our colors were inspired from a photo of glasses and ribbons. You can see it at the ISS blog along with inspiration from more of the DT. You can also find out how to play along to win digi images!

For my card I used the adorable new digi image "Hannah" the Hippo. She will be available at the end of this week in the InStyle Stamps web store! And don't forget we will be having a release party this Friday evening in our Papercraft Planet forum!

OK, thats it for tonight...I am scheduling posts ahead as I will be in Charlotte on Wednesday!

Have a great one and check back later today for post #2, its release day at Pixie Dust Studio!

-Cyndi

Funhouse Sneak Peek

Its time for a sneakie peekie for you of Pixie Dust Studio's new Funhouse collection!

Sorry I am a bit behind today...we had the last day of band camp and performance/potluck this afternoon. I am so impressed at all they have accomplished in just 8 short practice days! AND my youngest DD Rachael got an award tonight...you see she's an oboeist and they don't normally march, so she has taken it upon herself to memorize all of her music!

So, on to the eye candy! I used the Funhouse "Just Batty" for my card. Isn't he just the cutest? Wait til you see the rest of this release! I will be sharing more tomorrow as well as a graphic showing all the images from this collection :)

I made my sample into a Big Buckle card since I hadn't done one of those in a long time. My papers are the wee bits of leftovers I have from last year's Fancy Pants Halloween line. I am seriously trying to use up some of my old stash!

Here's the view of the card partially opened. All the supplies are listed below.

Be sure to head over to the Pixie Dust Studio blog to see more peeks using this collection. AND don't forget to head to the store to pick up some of these adorable images tomorrow! Thanks for stopping by tonight! Have a great one :)

-Cyndi

Supplies:

Stamps: Just Batty digi (Pixie Dust STudio); Boo! (A Muse)

Paper: pp by Fancy Pants; cs (Bazzill)

Ink: Palette Noir (Stewart Superior)

Accessories: Designer Label punch, word window punch, & circle punches (SU!); ribbon (Michael's); dog tag punch (EK Success); Copic markers

Summer Breeze

Its release week over at InStyle Stamps! Mainly we are releasing baby images, but there are some really cute end of summer images as well :) This image is called Summer Breeze...isn't it just the cutest scene of flowers? You can see more new images all this week at the InSTyle Stamps blog.

I used this weeks Sketch Saturday sketch for my layout. Papers are from an old scrap pad in my stash..Amanda Blu. Below are the copics I used. Thanks for hopping by today! Peeks start tomorrow for Pixie Dust Studio's Funhouse Collection :)

Quick Post...and cute baby kitten

OK, so you all know that I am definitely the crazy cat lady. We have 4 indoor fluffballs at the moment, but we temporarily have custody of this sweet little booger. His name is Noah and he is about 4 weeks old right now. Taylor's friend Savannah brought him over last week and we are Kitten sitting. She found him outside on a hay bale all by himself. So we have been bottle feeding him this week. His favorite place (besides being tucked under someones chin) is in this toboggan.Now, on to my card for the day. I have one more for you from the "Gnome World" collection from Pixie Dust Studio. We will begin peeks from the Funhouse collection in just a couple of days!
This is "Gnome Playtime". He was colored to match this bright paper line from Cosmo Cricket. The layout is based on this weeks sketch at Oh, Alice! and the theme is summer fun for The Pink Elephant challenge. ALSO, since there is a tree involved in my Gnome's tree swing it qualifies for Cute Card Thursday challenge "Treemendous".
OK, that was longer than I intended. Gotta scoot, a million things to do!!

-Cyndi

Pixie Dust Challenge

Hey everyone! Sorry I am a day late on this post. Its been a tough week for me. Ive had a lot of stuff going on and a lot of stress. The big change of the week was that I left my job at Enchanted Cottage yesterday. Its been a hard decision to make but it was time. I hope to have more time for everything else now including blogging :)

For todays card I have funky little number in pink! Its time for this weeks Pixie Dust Studio challenge...this week is "Pretty in Pink!" I used the August Pixie "Autumn Grace" available at Pixie Dust Studio. She is a cute little doll and she reminds me of the movie "Coraline" for some reson. Maybe its the eyes??

Anywho...I like pink alright I guess, but I wanted the card to be a bit funky so I pulled out some old papers from the Love, Elsie collection by KI Memories. Autumn Grace was cut out and placed on a Labels 10 die cut out. And of course it had to have buttons, flowers and ribbon :)

So why don't you join us at the Pixie Dust Challenge blog this week? You could win any digi of your choice including any from the latest "Gnome World" collection! You have until next Wednesday night to enter!

Thanks to everyone for stopping by! Have a great weekend! We are having Rachael's birthday party this evening with 20+ teenagers...wish me luck!

-Cyndi

InStyle InSpiration Wednesday

Its time for Inspiration Wednesday at InStyle Stamps! This month Taylor picked this adorable little nursey as our source for inspiration. You can go with the colors, the theme, the layout, even the lamp shade...whatever inspires! Be sure to head to the InStyle Stamps blog to check out all the details and see what you can win as well as to get eye candy from more of the DT! BUT, note that not all of the DT's samples are up today...we are spreading them out now so you need to keep on checking back!

For my sample I used digi Ellie, the cute little baby Elephant who will be available in the InStyle Stamps store next week! I sort of picked up the colors but mainly I noticed the cute sqaure frames and wanted to make a frame to hang in a nursery!

Thanks for popping by today! Sorry such a short post but its been one of those weeks :)

-Cyndi

Sending Sunshine your way

Happy Sunday! Its been a heck of a day around here. Since it was tax free weekend here in NC I took Michael out shopping for school clothes at the new PS store. It wasn't too terribly crowded and he lucked out on a ton of stuff. When we hit the regular Aeropostle it was a mad house so we kept going.

The rest of the day has been spent inside, avoiding the heat, cleaning house. My absolute least favorite thing to do. No, actually I would rather clean than go out in the heat!

So, I finally can settle down to my laptop and hide for a few minutes. I am posting another card made with one of the adorable digi images that I won from Spesch Stamps! This is "Spring Dandelion"

He is such a little cutie! I just love this line of nature fairies and sprites! AND Tracey has a NEW line out today designed by Sylvia. They are all super cute! Hop over to the blog HERE and check them out, while you are there, you'll notice that Tracey has a DT call out right now, but you better hurry! The call ends today!

Here's a closeup of my little sprite so you can see the glitter on the dandelion and on my primas :) I am entering this card into the following challenges:

Mojo Monday: sketch

Cute Card Thursday: Whateva!

Color Throwdown: Tangerine, Daffodil and Olive

OK, dudes. I am outta here! Have a great week :) -Cyndi

• Supplies:
• Stamps: Spring Dandelion digi (Spesch Stamps); Shore Thoughts (Lizzie Anne Designs)
• Paper: Max & Whiskers (Basic Grey); Fly a Kite (October Afternoon); Sahara Sand, Old Olive (SU!); white (Neenah)
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko); Spiced Marigold & Crushed Olive distress ink (Ranger)
• Accessories: Dog tag Punch & Border punch (EK Success); flowers (Prima); twill (stash); Autumn Terra Cotta accessories (CTMH); Sunflower glitter (Stampendous); corner rounder (SU!)

Stampendous! Saturday sketch Challenge

Its time for the Stampendous! Satuday challenge, and this weeks the challenge is to use Class-a-Peel stickers (or any other stickers if you don't have any from Stampendous)

For my sample I made a layout with a wickedly fun picture of Taylor. I used "Jumbo Bat Stickers" with the glitter technique that Fran demonstrated in the Stampendous booth last year at CHA. You can see her tutorial for this technique on Youtube.

The cool netting at the bottom of the page is from Creative Impressions, and the letters were cut with the Old West cartridge for my Cricut. The orange letters were also stamped with the Spiderweb background, also available soon from Stampendous!

OK, so we would LOVE for you to come out and play with us! Find all the details over at the Stampendous! blog and check out more eye candy from the DT. Thanks for stopping by my blog today! Have a great weekend :) -Cyndi

• Supplies:
• Stamps: Spiderweb (Stampendous)
• Paper: Orange, Purple, Black, White cs (Bazill)
• Ink: Palette Noir (Stewart SUperior); Spiced Marmalade distress ink (Ranger)
• Accessories: Jumbo Bat stickers (Stampendous); Lavender, Tigerlily, and Moss glitter (Stampendous); sticker paper; buttons (Basic Grey); net ribbon (Creative Impressions); Old West cartridge (Cricut)

Cute as a Button!

Its Thursday and time for this weeks Pixie Dust challenge! Challenge #44 is "Cute as a button"...show us some buttons on your cards! You can check out more cards from the DT over at the Pixie Dust Challenge blog and find out the details on how to enter the challenge!

For my card I used "Gnome sweet Gnome". I made the little cutie into a baby card. This image is part of the newest collection, "Gnome World" available at Pixie Dust Studio. I added a bit of Stampendous fun flock to the baby blanket and the Gnome's hat to give it a soft feeling :)

Here's the closeup. I used a PVA glue similar to flower soft glue so that you can really pack the flocking on! This color is Snowcone blue from the Saltwater Taffy flock kit. Its a perfect baby color! Below you can see the copic colors that I used.

I am also entering this card for: Sketch Saturday (the layout)

and Papertake Weekly Challenge (white & bright)

I hope you have a great day, I will be working all day so shoot me a quick comment to make my day...I can pick them up on my blackberry! Until tomorrow...

-Cyndi

• Supplies:
• Stamps: Gnome sweet Gnome digi (Pixie Dust Studio); small wonder (SU!)
• Paper: baby pp (K&Co); green cs (Bo Bunny); white cs (Neenah)
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo black (Tsukineko); amethyst cats eye (Clearsnap)
• Accessories: Dog tag punch (EK SUccess); Labels 10 (Spellbinders); Snow cone blue fun flock (Stampendous); flowers (Prima); rick rack (Stash); buttons (Basic Grey); copic markers

ISS SC12

Its time for this months InStyle Stamps sketch challenge! But there is a twist this month...this card needs to also be an easel card. (If you don't know how to make one there is a link to a tutorial over at the ISS blog along with the cards made by the rest of the DT.)

Speaking of the DT, we added some new members this month! Please help us welcome the new gals! Here's the whole line up through the rest of the year:

The US Team

Angela Sowell

Axa Lima

Barbara Sproat

Cyndi Bundy

Jan Hunnicutt

Kerry Luis

Kimme Leach

Kristine Reynolds

Patti Stigsell

Robin McKinley

Simone Pursiful

Tina Gilliland

The International Team

Angelique Nederpel

Cathy Wallington

Genevieve Samson

Sarah Bonsell

The Others

Janelle Stollfus (Special Projects)

Taylor Usry (Creative Director)

Virginia Villasenor (Owner)

OK, business is done, on to my card! I used Peggie for my easel card. Papers are from We R Memory Keepers White Out collection. The sentiment is by Melanie Meunchinger, flowers from Prima, Labels 4 and Dbl end Tag dies from Spellbinders, ink is Tim Holtz distress ink.

I truly appreciate you stopping by today! Feel free to play along with our sketch challenge, just create your card then send us a link in the comments of the ISS blog post! Have a great hump day!

-Cyndi

Welcome to Gnome World

Today is the release of the Gnome World collection from Pixie Dust Studio! I am so thrilled to be able to present samples with this new collection since I am now officially a Pixie. Hehe!!! Today I have for you a card using the image "Gnome is where the heart is". She is such an adorable little thing with her baby and bitsy ladybug atop her hat.

I paired her with papers from the Green at Heart Basic Grey collection, paper piecing her dress and hat. The layout for the card is based on last weeks Papertake Weekly Sketch, I'm a day late but I loved the sketch :) I am also entering her in this weeks Texting challenge at Cute Card Thursday. I stamped over one of the patterns with a large text background stamp.

For the flowers I used a technique my buddy Lea has been showing at work all month, which was also in the latest Magnolia magazine. I will post the tutorial here another day :) In the closeup below you can see her cute face and the flowers a bit better.

Now, be sure to head over to the Pixie Dust blog to see more eye candy with the newest release! Here's a peekie of all the images being released today!

Thanks for swinging by my neck of the little shire :) Have a magnificent day! -Cyndi

• Supplies:
• Stamps: Home is where the heart is digi (Pixie Dust Studio); text & happy (Unity)
• Paper: Green at Heart pp (Basic Grey); white cs (Neenah); purple cs (SU!)
• Ink: Victorian Velvet, Spiced Marmalade, Chipped SApphire distress pads (Ranger)
• Accessories: Labels 4 Nestabilties & Blossom (Spellbinders); bricked embossing folder (Sizzix); ribbon (May Arts) Tattered Rose Glimmer Mist (Tattered Angels); brads; sponge daubers; oval punch (SU!)

There's no place like Gnome

Happy Sunday! I have happy news to share today...I made the Pixie Dust Studio team! I am now a Pixie! I'm so excited! I just love Kathy's images, as many of you have probably noticed and am thrilled to be a part of her incredible team! Also joining the Pixies for the next 3 month term is Melissa of Needful Things and the August guest is my friend Taylor who is the Creative Director at ISS!

So, I thought I would share a Pixie Dust creation with you today. This little sweetie is "There's no place like Gnome" from the new Gnome World Collection that will be released on August 3d! Today is the first day of peeks so be sure to check out the Pixie Dust Studio blog for more peeks and links to the rest of the DT!

He is the sweetest little thing all nestled in the clouds so I decided to make the whole card a cloud! I freehanded the shape then traced the edge with my BG11 copic to give a touch of dimension to it. The sentiment is truly the name of this image, and I thought it was so cute (and such a perfect Over the Rainbow pun) that I would print it out on my computer and use it on the card!

Other than cutting out the image and popping it up I kept it very simple, to get the blank white space and keep the cloud effect. I did of course have to add a bunch of glitter to the rainbow, since I have all those colors in lovely sparkly Stampendous! pearl glitters!

Thanks for hopping by today and for celebrating my news with me! Have a great day :)

-Cyndi

• Supplies:
• Stamps: There's no place like Gnome digi (Pixie Dust Studio)
• Paper: no pp!! can you believe it?? white cs (Neenah)
• Ink: none....gasp!
• Accessories: Sunflower, Tigerlily, Cherry, and Green pearl glitter (Stampendous!); quickie glue pen (Sakura); Copic markers; ribbon (Creative Impressions)