The Scrappy Chick

Papertake Weekly...2 takes

IS she not the cutest little elf you've ever seen??  This is Alva, another Magnolia  stamp...sitting on her daisy.  (I borrowed these images from my friend Heather...we try to buy different stuff when possible)

I stamped this card for this weeks Papertake weekly challenge...I stayed almost with the sketch but of course had to veer just a tad...my 3 wavy accents at the top were a bit much so I took it down to 2.

She was such a fun little stamp to color!  I am so happy that Betty is carrying these little Sewdish babies!!   Where have I been???

• Supplies:

• Stamps: Sitting Alva, Big Daisy (Magnolia Stamps); Great Expectations (Verve)

• Paper: Wild Raspberry pp (K & Co); Riding Hood Red (SU!); white (Neenah Crest)

• Ink: Memento Tuxdo Black (Tsukineko)

• Accessories: dbl end tags (spellbinders); batik flowers (Prima); circle punch, red gingham ribbon (SU!); gems (MaMBI); die cut borders (K&Co); black journaler (SU!); copics

And I did another version with this same sketch using the adorable stamp that I won from  a Cute Card Thursday  challenge a couple of weeks back!  This image is from the UK...by Pink Gem Designs...Pirate Mimi.  If you've never heard of them...go check them out!!  Adorable little Mimi, and Max and Milly stamps!!

So, thats it for today.  I get to go watch the new Hannah Montana movie with my girls!  (Saw Monsters vs Aliens with my little guy yesterday and we loved it!!)

Thanks for stopping in today!  Happy Easter!  -Cyndi

• Supplies:

• Stamps: Pirate Mimi (Pink Gem Designs); Thoughtful Florals (Verve)

• Paper: Whale of a Tale pp (Sassafras Lass); Riding Hood Red, Basic Gray cs (SU!); white cs (Neenah Crest)

• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko); Basic Gray, Riding Hood Red (SU!)

• Accessories: Word window punch (SU!); Beetle black brads (Doddlebug); markers (Copic)

Last weeks challenge cards

  I finished up a couple of sketch challenges last night but my internet went bonky so I'm just now posting them :)

Today is Michael's 6th birthday...I can't believe my baby is 6 already!  He starts off the birthdays for the kids...before too long the others will be 13, 14 and 16!  Yikes!  I feel oooold.  so today though we are heading to daddy's restaurant for a birthday brownie, to Cici's for dinner (his favorite is spinach pizza...and yes, all my kids love spinach pizza!  Go figure....oh, and then maybe to see Monsters  vs Aliens.  should be a fun, yet rainy day.

So, first up is a bright one for you...this is my card for last Saturdays (oops) Our Creative Corner Challenge.  I used the adorable little chick from the Spring Whiff of Joy  kit.  I stamped and colored him in twice then cut him out and stacked them up.   The shadow underneath is the smallest AMuse oval that I have...and the saying is by Verve.  Pretty simple card, but I think it turned out really cute on the white background!

• Supplies:

• Stamps: Chickie & Easter basket (WHiff of Joy); All about You (Verve); small oval (A Muse)

• Paper: pp by K& Co; Taken with Teal, white cs (SU!)

• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko); Summer Sun (SU!)

• Accessories: Oval Nestabilities (Spellbinders); Lg oval punch (SU!); white grosgrain (stash); copics

And for the other card that I gave you a quickie peek of...this is for Wednesdays Whiff of Joy challenge blog...another sketch challenge.    I used Willow with Flowers (which was also a part of the Spring kit but is now available sold separately) and General Sayings.  I am still trying out the Neenah cs.  It really soaks up the color, and its easier to layer and blend, but it runs a bit under the lines for my taste.

The flower I'm still not totally happy with, but it turned out kinda neat.  I couldn't find the right color purple or pink and started to dye a white one, then I thought to use  stickles instead.  Its definitely prettier in person.

Ok, chickies, thats it for now.  I am off to play with my little man :)  Have a great saturday and thanks for stopping by!  -Cyndi

• Supplies:

• Stamps: Willow with flowers, General sayings (Whiff of Joy)

• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko)

• Paper: white cs (Neenah); pp & Hydrangea cs (CTMH)

• Accessories: Curvy Rectangles & Large Oval Nestabilities (Spellbinders); small & large oval punches, Paper pretties (SU!); white ribbon (May Arts); copics

I'm turning Japanese, I think I'm turning Japanese...I really think so...

  I am totally not going to do song lyrics for every post...only the uber-creative Shannan can do that, but it was just so fitting!

I uploaded a bunch of stuff last night, but I just now realized  that I never got around to editing my pics, urgh.   BUT, luckily I have a couple of things I haven't shown you yet.

First up is Geisha Anya, a digi image from The Greeting Farm.  There are tons of new images coming out there...last week and next week, most in rubber, but also a couple of new digis too.

For this I pulled out my trusty old SEI black Orchid pad and colored her with copics.  Pretty straightforward.

Here's another  did a couple of weeks back for work.  The tree stamp is by Hero Arts...sentiment by Verve.  I added a bit of sewing and a flower but wanted to keep the look really simple in keeping with the Asian style.  (paper is Basic Grey Ambrosia line)

Thats it for this morning!  Have a great Monday:)    -Cyndi

Viva La Verve week 2

Happy Friday!  And its a special Viva la Verve challenge today...Amber asked me a couple of days back to do a special card ahead for the sketch this week so it can post with hers!  How cool is that?!  Glad you'd liked it last week chickie!  Hope this weeks doesn't dissapoint too much!

This was a fun sketch and the twist was to use a lot of BLING-baby!  I pulled out some fun rhinestone colors and matched them up with new paper I had then went through all my Verve stamps til inspiration struck with these fabbo hearts from "Wild Thing"...one of last years Verve Valentine sets.  Have you seen the new releases coming out tomorrow?  WOW!  Some great ones!  Head over to the Verve blog to see some great eye candy!

I also used Feeling Groovy for my sentiment.  The hearts from wild Thing are stamped twice...one stamp on the pattern paper...then the outline in black on black...then these were layered...and added some bling:)

The background of the main panel is white PTI cs, cut with the curvy rectangle nestabilities.  Pattern paper is new Bo Bunny...the pink pattern I ran through my Cuttlebug with the Paisley folder...then I sanded it to bring out the white core where the images were raised.  Gems are Me & my Big Ideas, ribbon from my stash.  Thats about it!  head over to SCS (link above for the challenge) and play along with us!  Thanks for popping by!   -Cyndi

Viva La Verve!

  A new Year brings new challenges and Verve stamps  has started a new weekly challenge...Viva La Verve!  This is challenge #1 from Amber...a sketch challenge with a twist...you must use hardware:)  see the original challenge in the SCS Verve forum HERE.

I chose some bright fun Bo Bunny paper and paired it with a few of my favorite Verve sets, LOL.  I outlined some parts of the flowers to mimic the pattern paper...and my hardware corners were originally white, so I changed them to black with a copic marker!  This ended up being a pretty easy and fun card to make, minus all the cutting of course!   

Thats it for tonight...check back in the morning and thanks for stopping by!   Viva la Verve!!

-Cyndi

• Supplies:

• Stamps: anniversary Birds, Petals & Stems, Wild Thing (Verve Stamps)

• Ink: Palette Noir; Pretty in Pink, Riding Hood Red, Cool Carribean (SU!)

• Paper: A Gift of Love pp (Bo Bunny); Black, Cool Carribean (SU!); white (PTI)

• Accessories: Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders); Paisley embossing folder (Cuttlebug); Hardware & brads (Queen & Co); copic markers; pop dots

Katharina's Sketch Challenge #37

  Katharina, owner of Whiff of Joy, presented a sketch chalenge on her blog HERE, and the winner receives a new Party animal stamp from Whiff of Joy.  Well, everyone knows I can't resist a good challenge, especially when there are FREE stamps involoved!  And that  little mouse under the party hat is a gotta have too:)  Have you seen all the new adorable images drawn by alison??  Too cute!!

I used my newest WoJ image, Herb with Baby for the sketch and paired it with some new My MInds Eye papers.  I also got to use my new Air gun for my copcs!  (all of these were Presents from my friend Julie who got me a gift cert to All That Scraps... thanks Julie!!)

Here's a closeup of the ribbon treatment.  I sewed the Soft Sky ribbon onto the chocolate cs corner piece, adding some ruffles for interest.  I think it turned out really neat!!  I didn't want too much going on, so I didnt put the ribbon on the other corner piece, just a tag instead, keeping it asymmetrical yet still centered, KWIM?

I also added machine stiching to all the mats on this card...I am loving havng my machine set up again...if I just leave it out I actually use it WAY more:)

(Yes, the corner was a bit unseemly, so I glued a bow over where the piece of ribbon is "mitered")

  And here's the other corner...the sentiment is from a Verve Stamps set, Starlight, Starbright remixed.  I thought this would be another great baby card!  So, thats the main ingrediants of the card...I also added some Glaze to the eyes and nose of each snowman, and to the berries, some highlights with a white gel pen, and some dew drops.

Thanks for visiting!  It feels so good to be stamping and blogging again!  -Cyndi

• Supplies:

• Stamps: Herb with baby (Whiff of Joy); Starlight, Starbright remixed (Verve Stamps)

• Ink: Palette Burnt Umber

• Paper: Irresistible pp (My Minds Eye); Kraft, White, Chocolate (Papertrey); Aqua (Bazzill)

• Accessories: circle punches, Soft Sky ribbon (SU!); copics & Air gun; pop dots; Cowboy dew drops; sewing machine; white gel pen (Signo); Glaze pen (sakura)

Whiff of Joy challenge blog sketch #1

***Post #3 of 3 for the day...scroll down for UnityHIP HOP Thursday and sneak peek for CC Designs***

  WOW!!  It has been a busy morning for posts for me...sorry!  This is the last post for now  I think!  But I had 3 things that needed to go up all today!  This is my card entry for the Whiff of JoyGuest designer challenge :)  You can see the details on the challenge at Katharina's blog ---->HERE.  I didn't spot this until about a week ago...knee deep in design work so of course I put this off til the last minute...what was I thinking??  But, hellooooo...last minute is just me!!

I do have to admit that I really enjoyed making this card today...everything else was all caught up for a minute so I could breathe!  (Then its off to 2 release parties today!!)  I wa s supposed to use any of Katharina's sketches for the card...so I chose the sketch that is for the very first challenge on the NEW Whiff of Joy Challenge blog!  So this is also my entry for that challenge..is that double dipping?  Hope not...I call it time management!

So, for my card I used one of the new Guardian Angel stamps...Melinda Reading Book.  (I also have to share for my North American friends...that Christine at All That Scrapsis carrying these images in her store so shipping won't be quite as long...but she is out of stock of many...they are quite popular!)  My original order from Switzerland was actually very fast...just at a week or so!

I colored Melinda in with my copics...adding a bit of glitter to her charm, necklace, and of course her hair with a gold glitter pen.  I also pulled out one of my new Shimmerz paints to add to her wings...they are so shimmery!!  The book is paper-pieced with the same Basic Greay papers that I used for the background pieces.  Then sentiment is from Verve...I bent it around in a bit of a circle since its an acrylic stamp its not too hard to do.

OK, so don't fpget to check out the new Whiff of Joy challenge blog...and to head over to the Whiff of Joy siteto see all the beautiful Guardian Angels, Oakley and Willows, and Charlotte and Charlies!  (I would send you to enter the GD contest...but time is up in  just 20 minutes or so!...but the link is above in the post if you do want to chack out all the entries)  Thanks for stopping by!

-Cyndi

• Supplies:

• Stamps: Melinda Reading Book (Whiff of Joy); Petals & Stems (Verve)

• Paper: Chocolate, white (Papertrey); Phoebe PP (Basic Grey); Pink Pirouette (SU!)

• Ink: Noir, Burnt Umber (Palette)

• Accessories: Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders); buttons (SU!); pink tafetta (SU!); flower (Prima); 1/4" square punch (SU!); scallop scissors (Michael's); gold glitter pen (atyou); Butter cream paint (Shimmerz); markers (Copic)

Happy Independence Day!

Happy early 4th!  I hope to have a fun afternoon of stamping with my friend Heather...maybe some pool time, and definately some fireworks.  The hubby is working, so probably no grilling out.  I will have more peeks for you tomorrow, but wanted to do a little something in honor of our country.  This is a thank you I made a few days ago while I was in the Red/white/blue mood.  I didn't want to use stars...but kept thinking about a vase of flowers for some reason.  I pulled out one of my favorite Verve sets...Floral Whimsy.  I also used Julee's Mojo Monday sketch #44.  The sentiment is from one of the all new Verve sets this month...All About You.

I stamped the background layer with the little flowers from Floral Whimsy in Black, then colored them all in with red and blue, then went back and dotted or colored in the centers of each with a white gel pen.  The rest is pretty straight forward stamping & embossing!  Check back in tomorrow afternoon for more new CC Designs!   -Cyndi

Supplies:

• Stamps: Floral whimsy, All About You (Verve Stamps)
• Paper: Ballet Blue, Brilliant Blue, Real Red, Basic Black (SU!), White (Papertrey)
• Ink: Palette Hybrid Noir
• Accessories: markers (Copic), Swiss dots embossing folder (Cuttlebug), Circle punches, Brocade Blue jumbo Grosgrain & Black/white gingham ribbon, Black brads (SU!), dimensionals, white gel pen

Just Dance

Sorry this didn't get posted last night...I am such a slacker!  But here is one of the pages that I made this week using my new Unity stamps!  I started with Christi's sketch challenge over at the SCS forum from a couple of weeks back (USC 4 I think??)

Once again I pulled out the new Believe set...this was the one that I got FREE with the purchase of the full handle set, and I absolutely adore it!  I stamped the flowers in Purely Pomegranate, then layered them over large Prima olive flowers.  For the oval element in the sketch I used the pretty vine/floral stamp...inking it in a nice muted green to match the PP, then I went back with a copic marker to add the Pomegrante centers to the flowers. 

The stitching along the top and bottom of the pages is DCWV Curly Q Stitched Rubons.  The rest of the stitching is faux too, but done with my White gel pen (Under the title, around the flowers).  I added some little stamped flowers (from Verve Floral whimsy) , then went back in and colored eh petals with the white gel pen.   The sketch called for a scalloped border, so I hand cut around the flowers in the PP. 

 

 

 

 

I had a few too many photos for just one page, so I had to turn this into a double page spread.  Unfortunately, none of the photos are really great...this was inside a somewhat dark room where I couldn't get a very good shot of the girls dancing during a summer program over at The School of the Arts last year.  But sometimes its all you havem KWIM??

Sorry for no sketch this week...I'll be back with one next week.  Thanks for hanging out today ;) 

-Cyndi

 

 

• Supplies:
• Stamps: Believe, Bliss & a Birdie (Unity), Floral Whimsy (Verve)
• Paper: Simply Neat PP (Fontwerks), Kraft (SU!), pink (BAzzill), White (Papertrey)
• Ink: Pomegranate(SU!), Kiwi (CTMH)
• Accessories: Stitched rubons (DCWV), letter stickers (Junkitz), buttons (MME), Oval & circle Coluzzle, RV19 copic, White signo gel pen, Olive flowers (Prima)

What would I do Without You?

Good morning peeps!  Not morning you say?  It is here....I had a tivo marathon with my oldest son while grandma had the youngest one last night.  I can't tell you the last time I was up until after 3am....bwaaahaha.  So my old bones slept in til about 11 am.  I have now officially caught up with current on Battlestar, and we have added one more addict in the house.  Are there any more of you out there, or am I the only SciFi nut??

But, is that why you are here?  No, of course not...want a card?  Here's one of my favs I did for Verve this month.  (And have you checked it out?  I am the featured Guest today over at the Verve blog...hehe...how cool!!)

  

Can you tell that Anniversary Birds is still one of my all time favs that Julee has designed?  I paired it with All About You, one of the newest sentiment sets for the month.  This is such a terrific all-around set!  I love the sayings that she chose, and of course as usual, her font is to-die-for!  The rest is pretty self-explanatory, the supplies are listed below.  BTW, this card is based on one of Beate's WSC's from a couple of weeks back :)

Thanks for flying by!  Have a happy and safe weekend.  I will not be doing a sketch this week...I am going to do every other over the summer.

-Cyndi

• Supplies:
• stamps: Anniversary Birds, All ABout You (Verve)
• Paper: Mod pp(Autumn Leaves), Red circles (KI Memories) Petal Pink, WHite (Papertrey), Celery, Real Red (SU!)
• Ink: Cranberry, Blush, Sweet Leaf (CTMH)
• Accessories: Ticket corner punch, lg oval punch, white tafetta ribbon (SU!), Swiss Dots embossing folder (Cuttlebug)

A Better Place

Here's another of the cards that I made for the Verve release yesterday.  Have you been to see all the incredible new sets that Julee released yet??  There is the Asian Flair set, a single "Plain Jane" Scripture verse, and 3 sets of sentimens that you have always wanted!  This sentiment  is from the little set All About You.  I also used Petals and Stems for the flowers, then placed them on hand-cut stems from  Basic Grey Phoebe pattern paper.  The leaves were stamped in Palette Burnt Umber onto the same Phoebe paper with leaves from Thankful Blossoms.  The frames are cut out with my Rectangle Nestabilities.

I have a lot more Verve to show you this week, but I seem to be finding it harder to sit at the computer for any length of time this summer.  stamping time is fine, but the kiddos fall apart when I sit down to type.  I may be on short & sweet posts for a while!

Thanks for stopping by!  -Cyndi

Feeling Groovy

Feeling Grooooovy...thats what I am today!!   I get to begin showing you some of what I have been working on lately :)  I won the awesome honor of being one of the Guest Designers for Verve this month!  (Thanks Julee!!!)  Today all you get is a peek...but stay tuned and I'll tell you where to find more peeks!

Tomorrow is the big day over at Verve...Julee is releasing 4 new sets including my favorite new sentiment set... "Feeling Groovy".  Julee has the sentiment-mojo happening, thats for sure!   The first one from this set that I had to get inky was the sentiment used on this card:  "Mama said they'll be days like this".  I kept thinking of these cute little Anniversary Birds and what kind of mischief that they could get into.  After many humorous attempts (and my daughter saying, "umm, mommy, that bird looks dead" I arrived at this configuration...one little guy just can't keep it in line with the others.  (I also had to add some eyes and lashes to the otherwise closed and lovely eyes that Julee drew so as to convince my DD that indeed, he was still alive).

To see more sneak peeks of this set and more head over to the Verve blog to see what the other Guest Designers and the Verve Divas have created!  While you are there, its not too late to enter to win some Verve bucks!  Stay tuned this week as I show you lots more Verve!

Supplies:
Stamps: Feeling Groovy, Anniversary Birds (Verve)
Paper: polka dots (Amanda Blu scrap pad), Black (Bazzill), White (Papertrey)
Ink: Palette Hybrid Noir
Accessories: Copic markers, Black journaling pen, Circle punches, Key tag punch, Bazzill brads, white grosgrain ribbon (SU!)

Thanks for stopping by!  Happy Tuesday :)   -Cyndi

Verve Visual Inspiration Challenge

Sorry to be away for a couple of days.  I have been spending time cleaning my neglected house :( and also getting some design work completed!  Remember that I won the Verve Guest design spot for June??  I am still giddy!!!  I will have lots of samples to share soon...but I can't yet...so here is one card that I can share.

I made and re-made this card like 5 times for the Inspiration Challenge this month over at the Verve Visual blog. I simply fell in love with the red/white comforter and began my card journey with the background piece that I created using one stamp repeatedly...the small flower from Thankful Blossoms.  I think it turned out really cool, but then I struggled with what to do with it!  I finally settled on Beate's weekend sketch for the week, WSC52.

So from there I added the large flower of the same design, outlined a few petals, colored the center and popped it up.  The ribbon is self-adhesive Black Orchid by SEI.  The thank you is also from Thankful Blossoms.  I masked it and stamped it twice so that it would fit into my space.

Check in over at the Verve Blog for all the DT's inspiration pieces, and their answers to the big Stamper quiz...some are quite humourous :)  And check back at the Verve website, Verve's new release is in just one more week!    Thanks for stopping by today!  -Cyndi

A little bit of Mojo

Still a sweltering 90 something here today...but there are supposed to be storms on the way to cool us down!!  I am soooo looking forward to a little H2O...and so is my grass!!  I am finally on my summer hours though...am I the only one out there who sleeps in with the kiddos during the summer, bwaaaahaha!  I may be pushing 40 but I am still a night owl and hate mornings!  The girls have been OOT this week so I have been staying up late every night watching Battlestar Gallactica with my sons.  Where on earth have I been?  This show is great!!   I have caught up on season 1 and almost half-way through season 2.  My husband came home last night, looked at us all piled on the couch with munchies and sci-fi, shook his head and said...you guys are Battlestar junkies!

But you aren't here for my ramblings, now are you?  Want to see a card?  But hey...Where, oh where has my mojo gone?  I tried to do Julee's Mojo Monday sketch this week, but I'm feeling a little eh about it.  Its not even that I didn't really stick with the sketch, but then again, when do I ever??  I flipped the flower panel, but it still didn't look right so I also rotated the whole card to the right.

I do love the paper that I used...it is from a paper pad by SEI, called Black Orchid....isn't it yummy??  The ribbon is from the same line...my only problem with it is that its self-adhesive, so no bows.  But that worked for this project so I can't complain.

The stamps are all from Verve Visual....I used "Floral Whimsy" which has become one of my new go-to sets and the Congrats is from the set "Great Expectations".  I love the wildflowers in the set...I tried to do my colors to match the SEI paper, but when I mixed some copics the dark coral is way darker than I wanted.  Oh well.  I do love the way the PP lent itself perfectly to the scallop border on Julee's sketch...kinda cool!

And, did you notice that I am finally using my Dew drops?  I got a few bottles a month or so ago and kept forgetting about them....but they are are gorgeous!  Thats it for today:)  Have a great afternoon and thanks for stopping in!    -Cyndi

Find Joy in the Little Things

Its Sunday which means its time for me to do some challenges that I have been wanting to get to all week!  This card is for Julee's Mojo Monday Sketch.  I got my order from Verve the other day and have as usual just fallen in love with the sets!  I used 2 sets for this card.  The flowers and the vase are from Floral Whimsy and the sentiment is from Petals and Stems, 2 of the 4 new releases this month.  The great news is that you can save money by buying all 4 in the May Flowers pack! 

(I am having trouble all of the sudden with the new way of linking in Typepad...sorry for no more links...I WILL figure this out)

I used Ginger Blossom DSP from Stampin' Up! for the panels in the sketch and to paper-piece the vase.  The coordinating colors for mats and coloring are: Ruby Red, Groovy Guava, Cameo Coral, and River Rock.  after coloring the flowers with my copics and SU! markers I shaded everything with copic W3 so everything stands out just a bit.  I used the same marker for a fine border around my main panel to achieve a faux-beveled edge.

I as usual strayed from the sketch a bit and had to move the oval element.  I ended up placing it over my ribbon in the end.  The hardware is a mix of SU! Hodgepodge in coppper (soon to be retired) and spare Parts Copper mini-brads.  I always run out of those little brads first, don't you?  Luckily, these are the perfect color match!!

We went to see the new Indiana Jones yesterday.  All in all I was impressed at the way they kept it in line with the old movies: cinematography, humor, and action!  My 5 year old loved it the most, the older ones didn't seem as taken by it.  Have they been so spoiled by modern, more digitized movies?  Very sad.  Oh well.  They will all enjoy Prince Caspian next weekend!

Thanks for stopping by today!  Have a great long weekend if you live in the US :)  -Cyndi

CC166 I'm so glad you're my Dad

Pumpkin Pie and Ruby Red...ok, I'm cool with that, but throw in Soft SKy??  Hmm...needs another color to me to pop.  Is that cheating?  I don't think so...I see a lot of greens and browns in other samples...sooooo I added some Old Olive.  Way better.  Here's my sample for this weeks color challenge:

Turned out kinda bright and funky, don't ya think??  I used Sahara Sand as my neutral for stamping on instead of white or vanilla or my other fav, Kraft.  I used one of last months new releases from Verve Visual, "Father Figure".  This is such an awesome set, lots of possibilities in putting the different words together...and the row of dots...Love them!  I used them at the top and bottom of my main panel, as well as to create the pattern along the bottom of the card and the olive strip.  A lot of mileage out of one little stamp:)

The card base is Sahara stamped with all 4 colors: Soft Sky, Ruby Red, Pumpkin Pie, and Old Olive.  This is on a Ruby Red base.  Instead of ribbon I opted for the skinny olive strip which gives the same effect.  I also added some jumbo pewter eyelets to the card.  I am sitting this one aside for Father's Day for my step-dad.

Have a great night and find some time to stamp!  Thanks for stopping by:)  -Cyndi

SFYTT double take!

I haven't done a Jen SFYTT in a few weeks...but now I have 2!!  Last weeks never got posted because of our power outage (and yes, everyone is fine, thanks for the prayers and well wishes...and no more tonadoes last night...yeah!!)

First up is this weeks sketch from Jen.  See it here------>  i{heart}2stamp.  I used the Verve Visual set Thankful Blossoms.  I stuggled with this sketch because of the 2 strips, the one overthe main panel  was ok, but when I tried to match it up to the separated one I kept getting bamboozled.

I finally settled on doing a vine for both strips, stamping extra leaves and cutting them out so they could extend from the strip.  These were colored in with a copic marker to give a darker tone for the leaves.  The flowers were also colored with my copics.  The Chocolate Chip panel was embossed with the Cuttlebug Paisley folder.  I also added some Celery (soft subtles) buttons from SU! and copper jumbo brads from American Crafts. 

The inside of the card has the Happy Mothers Day sentiment from the Papertrey set Women of Life, this card was for mom yesterday!

The next card is using Jen's sketch from last week.  I had created a scrapbook layout using this set and colors with my friend Heather a couple of weeks ago and thought it would transalate great to a card!  The main set is the new Friendly Flowers from the SU! Occasions mini catalog.

All supplies for this card are from Stampin' Up!  The colors are Soft Sky, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, and Old Olive.  I also used the One of a kind set for the other medallions used on the main panel, and Boho Backgrounds for the line of circles on the sentiment panel.  The strips are Old Olive DSP, and the hardware is  Copper Hodgepodge...soon to be retired!  I did use a teal brad for the centers, these are from my stash...source unknown.

Oh yes, and the background was stamped in Sky with the Polka dot bg stamp.  I think that was it besides circle punches...this seemed like such an easy card, but I guess I did use quite a few sets and supplies!

Thanks for visiting today!  Its just another manic Monday, right??  -Cyndi

A Little Mojo and a BIG cheer!

I am feeling the love today!  Guess what I won?  Check out this post over at the Verve Blog...I get to be the Guest Designer for Verve Visual in June!!  WooHoo!!  I am so excited and very thankful.  There were so many talented stampers out there and there were so many terrific entries!  Thanks Julee for this fabulous opportunity :)

So, In honor of Verve, here is my card for this weeks Mojo Monday challenge.  It started as a square, but looked kinda empty so I cut it down.  The problem is though, it doesn't really look like Julee's sketch anymore, LOL.  You can check out her mojorrific sketch and all the fab submissions on her blog: Poetic Artistry.

Anywho, I was out at my LSS the other day and when I saw this adorable paper from Heidi Grace Designs I just had to have it for my Anniversary Birds set from Verve.  These 2 panels are backed on Bazzill Black and then on a card base of SU! bashful Blue.  The little birds and the sentiment (all from the same set) are stamped on Papertrey White and then colored with my copics.   I then paper-pieced their little wings :)  and cut them out so they could be raised on dimensionals.  These 2 panels are backed with Orchid and Bashful Blue then Black...I hand-drew the lines in Black ink around all the panels.  The card was finished with some hardware from the SU! styled silver Hodgepodge kit and some Black gingham ribbon.

I am off to work on pages for a big Scrapbook day in a couple of weeks:)  Have a great weekend.  I will have some more CC Designs peeks for you in the next 2 days, as well as my next Scrappy Sketch for you tomorrow!!   -Cyndi

Verve Visual Honored Guest Challenge

Woa, talk about waiting til the last minute!  This is my submission for the Verve Visual Honored Guest Designer Challenge #2...the deadline for submission is tomorrow.  If you read my blog regularly, you know that I REALLY want this spot!  Verve has fast become my newest addiction!  I've been putting this challenge  off forever, trying to find some true mojorrific inspiration.  I finally went to my LSS to get some fresh papers in the hope of inspiration.

I came home with this fun new Fancy Pants paper.  Love it!!  I hope I have enough for a scrapbook page later :)  I originally wanted to use Thankful Florals for this sketch, but when I saw this paper I kept going back to my page (below) that I made with these fun stars , thinking....hmm, that would be fun with just the pattern paper as my canvas ( this idea cased from Susan Liles)

So, the deets on the card: size is 6 5/8x 3 1/4.  Stamps: Verve Visual Seeing Stars; Paper: Fancy Pants; Cardstock: SU! So Saffron, Chocolate Chip; Ink: Palette Hybrid Burnt Umber; Brads: American Crafts lg and Spaer Parts sm; Ribbon: Papertrey.

I think the card turned out really fun :)  I just hope its fun enough.  The competition is really stiff...there are some great cards so far in the lineup.   And I am NOT doing wht I did on the last challenge...not following the sketch exactly.  This one should be to the letter!  Check out the other cards over at the Verve Visual Blog.  And then head over to the Verve website to check out Julee's two new sets and the Star Studded Special!!

Thanks for visiting!  Check back in tomorrow for the first of 5 days of sneak peeks from CC Designs new release scheduled for May 4th :)  -Cyndi

LAD_WC_24 Le Jardin

Hello from Florida!  Again, you ask?  Yes, we are back in Orlando, but not at Disney, and not with the kids.  This trip is a bit shorter and is "business" for my hubby.  Business means a few meetings, a lot of fabulous dinners, live bands, golf & pool.  I have some cool stuff to share later, such as we heard President George Bush Sr. speak to our group, how cool is thst?  The man is 83 years old and is still quite humorous.  The speech was not political in the least, more on values.  Lots of family anecdotes.  Don't know if I can share a pic online?

Anyway, I had just received my free set that I won from Lizzie Anne Designs  right before we left, so I threw it and a few copics and some paper in a craft keeper.  I had fun creating this yesterday, but didn't have time to post it. I need to be quick so here's the nitty gritty on supplies:  stamps: Le Jardin by Lizzie Anne Designs, greeting from Thankful Florals by Verve Visual; ink: Palette & copic markers; CS: SU! black & celery; paper is Amanda Blu; ribbon is SU!; dimensionals.

Thanks for stopping by!  -Cyndi

Little Birdie Mojo

Its been a busy couple of days around here, but what's new, right??, so I haven't posted any of my challenge cards for a few days.  This card is for Julee Tilman's Mojo Monday Sketch week #32 over at her blog Poetic Artistry.  I don't know that I found enough of my Mojo, but I sure would LOVE a free set!  I just discovered Verve a few months ago, but I am nuts over all the stamps!!  (now I just need something REALLY mojo-tastic to submit for the Verve Guest designer spot!...which I really, really want)

I had to pull back out these cute little Anniversary birds from Verve Visual that I just love!  I was feeling inspiried to do something 3-D with this set so I went outside and plucked a branch off a tree (you can see this better in the next photo below) to perch him on :)  The leaves were also stamped and cut out and popped up.  (leaf is from the set Thankful Blossoms, also by Verve).  The birdie is stamped twice, once directly on my background so that i didn't have to cut out his little swirly feathers  and then again and cut out and popped up.  He is colored in with a copic markers, and his wing was paper-pieced.  The pattern papers are Stampin' Up! Bali Breeze and Doodlebug, the cardstock is SU! Rose Red and Papertrey WHite.

The greeting is actually one stamp, but I re-configured the order by masking it so that it would fit in my 1 5/8" circle punch.  I colored the words with my SU! markers Old Olive and Taken with Teal (greeting is from the set Thankful Blossoms too)  This was then layered onto a Scallop circle punch.  I used my Paper piercer, guide and mat to create the pierced holes sround the mats and the scallop.  Also added was some Silver Styled Hopgepodge Hardware from the SU! Occasions Mini and Tempting Turquoise grosgrain.  Here is the side view so that you can see the dimension a little better:

Hope you enjoy it!  Stop by Julee's blog (click --->HERE)  on Monday to see all the fabulous entries and a new sketch!  Thanks for dropping in!  Have a fantastic and lazy Sunday!  -Cyndi

You Make me Smile!

YOU make Me smile, my readers that is!  I love to read all of your comments and check in on your blogs :)  So this card is for all of you!

I made this a week or so ago, using one of Beate's weekend sketch challenges, #39 maybe?  I just never got around to posting it.  The gorgeous butterfly is from "Thoughtful Blossoms", which is now back in stock at Verve Visual.  I stamped it in Ruby Red then used a blender pen dipped in Groovy Guava and traced around all the swirls.  These colors and the butterfly itself goes perfectly with this paper that I got from  my LSS.  I inked the edges of the paper with Ruby red as well. 

The card base is Ruby Red, then White, then finally Groovy Guava on top.  The top layer was stamped with the swirl from "Priceless" in Guava ink.  I added some White tafetta ribbon and an antique safety pin to hang the tag from...tag was made with circle punches, and the sentiment is also from Verve, called "Thoughtful Florals".

Hope you have a great afternoon!  Thanks for visiting!  -Cyndi

A little MOJO found

Hi everyone!  We are back safe and sound from the LONG trip.  Thanks to everyone for your patience while I have been away!

Today's card was inspired by Julee Tilman's Mojo Monday sketch over at her blog: Poetic Artistry.  Right before we left I ordered her new release special which included all 3 new beautiful sets.  The box was waiting on me when I got home!!

For this card I used one of the birds from "Anniversary Birds", stamped it on 2 different patterned papers then paper-pieced it and popped her up.  I placed her on a branch stamped repeatedly with the branch stamp from the same set.  I stamped extra of the leaves and cut them out and popped them up with dimensionals.  The sentiment is stamped with Palette Hybrid Noir using  a saying from another Verve set, "Thoughtful Florals".  All of the sayings from this set are a perfect fit in the Stampin' Up! word window punch.

The cardstock is all from Papertrey Ink...the white is Stampers Select WHite, the next layer up is Spring Moss that was run through my Cuttlebug using the Divine Swirls folder.  I also used the Perfect Match Spring Moss pad for the leaves and to ink the edges.  The strip is Berry Sorbet, that was stamped with the coordinating pad using the small swirl from another Verve set, " Easter Elegance".  The pattern paper (on the bird) is also Papertrey that also matches the Berry Sorbet and Sweet Blush pads and cardstock.  All the ribbon is also Papertrey from the Perfect match collection.  Finally, the brads are from Bazzill, I think, from my stash.

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope to get back to daily blogging for a while again!!   -Cyndi

Hi from Disney World!

Hi guys!  I meant to leave you all with a post before we left town, but I never got around to it :)  So, we are here, in the condo, getting ready to head over to the park and I am sneaking in a bit of blogging time while everyone is getting dressed.

Its Monday, so in honor of Mojo Monday, which I obviously can't do this week...I am uploading a sample using one of my Verve Visual sets.  Check out Julee's blog for this weeks Mojo Monday challenge at Poetic Artistry.

These images are from a set called Serenity.  You can see all of the sets over at the Verve website.  I stamped the images on Kraft cardstock in Whisper White craft ink then shadowed the images with a thin line using my copic markers.   The mats are White and Groovy Guava cardstock.  I tied it all up with a bow of White Tafetta, from Stampin' Up!

Thats it for today, just a quick post.  We are off!  Have a great day, I'll be checking in all week, so feel free to say hello:)    -Cyndi

Mojo Monday #26

I am sooooo behind!  I love doing challenges, but I can't seem to get any done right now til I get through next weekend :)  BUT...I did love Julee's sketch from last week and really wanted to play along. You can see last weeks sketch as well as this weeks at her blog---> Poetic Artistry.   It took  me a few days of finding time to get it just right, but its finally done...a week late!

I purchased Serenity from Verve Visual a couple of weeks ago and just fell in love.  (I have another card using this same set that I made when I first got it that I will show you tomorrow.)  When I saw this sheet of Pattern Paper from Autumn Leaves I knew it would be perfect with this set.  (there are large chunky swirly leaves that loom like the blooms in the set).

I took a few small squares of it, matted it on SU! Basic Gray cs and adhered this to the card base...a sheet of Aqua Mist from Papertrey.  The next layer is a piece of Spring Moss, also Papertrey, that was cuttlebugged with the Divine Swirls folder.  This was also backed on Basic Gray.  The main panel is stamped with the PT perfect match colors Aqua Mist and Spring Moss using the bloom from Serenity.  I added a bit of my Clear Spica Glitter pen to the blooms.

I tied a piece of SU! Basic Gray taffetta ribbon around these two panels, then added the last element, a large oval punch that was stamped with one of the sentiments from the same set, stamped in SU! Basic Gray.  I just LOVE the way these colors came together with the gray in with it!!

Thanks for visiting :)   Don't forget to say hi!    -Cyndi

Last Weeks Mojo Monday

First I have to apologize for being absent again for a few days.  I've not being feeling so hot.  But I did do some stamping a few days ago  and I'll share some of that!

I had fun with this card!  The sketch is Julee's Mojo Monday #25, from last Monday, LOL.  And I used one of my new Verve sets again for the sketch.  The stars are all from Seeing Stars, available on Verve Visual.  The stars are so fun and easy to layer inside one another :)  I trimmed them all super close so that I could then punch out a border to go behind them with the SU! large star punch.  The colors are SU! Real Red, So Saffron  and Palette Hybrid Noir.  The pattern paper is from Scenic Route...the Savannah line.  I cuttlebugged the background Saffron with my Divine Swirls folder, but its kinda hard to see.  The bling is Sparkles from CTMH.

Thanks for visiting!  -Cyndi