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Abundant Blessings Treat Pail

Happy Saturday!  Last night we had a fabulous release party and I'm completely exhausted after an entire day of madly trying to pull the website together!  But it all worked out in the end and our 12 new sets/stamps and TWO new dies are available at the Verve store!

Today, I'm going to share a fun little autumn tag I made to package a little bucket of Hershey kisses.  The metal bucket was a find at Michael's a while back - I think it was 49 cents, and I just had to have one or two.... or 5!  LOL  To start, I used the Sweet Scallop Die to cut a white tag, then flipped the die over to it's back side and traced around it in pencil on some Early Espresso, for a guide to quickly cut a little mat for it.  Next up I stamped the tall pumpkin from Bountiful Harvest directly on the tag and added a few curly cue stamps at the bottom.  I stamped the pumpkin again on some orange plaid from the Matilda Cosmo Cricket line and the leaves  and Abundant Blessings sentiment on the green plaid.  Next up, I simply added a sponged edge, then tied on with some thin early espresso taffeta and added a Maya Road trinket pin.  Easy peasy!

Okay, I better get back to work.  Thanks so much for stopping by!  Have a fantastic weekend!

Warm Wishes Treat Tray

Happy Friday!  Gulp.  I'm so far behind on the website for tonight's release, it's not even funny!  But rain, snow, sleet or shine, I'll deliver!  LOL  I'm going to make this kind of short and sweet, since I feel a bit like the white rabbit from Wonderland today!

It's the last day of our New Release Spotlight Hops and today the Divas are featuring our new Sweet Scallop Tag Die along with stamps from our Autumn and Winter releases.  In addition to hopping around, be sure to leave a little love along the way to be entered in today's drawing!  And you might also want to check out the Verve Blog today to read more about our new die line... A Cut Above Dies by Verve!

My project for today features a tag pairing the Sweet Scallop Tag Die and the Winter Mittens set.  The mittens are paper pieced and I cut out the stamped hearts and covered them with Xmas Red Stickles.  The sentiment is embossed on vellum and layered over the tag and I added a felt poinsettia and button for a little accent.  The ledger paper is cut with the Sweet Scallop Tag Die and I then used the die as a stencil to pencil in and cut out a thin black mat for it.  I recently have fallen in love with Ferrero Raffaello Almond Coconut Treats (thanks Laurie!) and since they look like little snowballs, I thought they'd be perfect for holiday gift giving.  I created a cardboard tray to fit 2 packages of the treats.  I just measured the length and width, then added 3/4 inch on both sides of the width for the sides of the tray.  Then I just scored 3/4" in on both sides and added a punched border on each edge.  Next I simply tied it up with some May Arts ribbon, added the tag with some bowdabra silver cording and finished off with a prima flower in the center.

Okay, I'm last in line again, so if you've been hopping thanks so much for tuning in to our hops this week!  If you've just started, here's the list of Divas that are posting today!  Have fun and Mr. Verve and I will "see you" at the release party tonight from 9-11pm Eastern!  :)

1. Laurie 9. Teresa
2. Charmaine 10. Sankari
3. Lynda 11. Tosh
4. Mercy 12. Amber
5. Amy 13. Jen d.
6. Shannan 14. Andrea
7. Michelle 15. Julee
8. Jackie

Peace On Earth

Wow!  Is it Thursday already?  The week is just flying by! I've got so much to do before tomorrow's release my brain can't even process it all!  LOL  So, let's just get on with the eye candy!  :)  Today the Divas are shining their spotlights on the new set Glad Tidings.

For my card, I was inspired by the new Webster's Pages Sweet Season paper that was waiting for me when I got home.  I embossed the Glad Tidings snowflake tag directly onto the patterned paper in white, then embossed the Peace on Earth sentiment as well.  Next up, I cut a couple other sheets from the same collection, added a little stitching and some distressing, then layered it together and laid down some cherry cobbler seam binding ribbon in a ruffle down the length of the card.  I added a little bow for my tag, then finished off with some shiny gold pearls and a gold rimmed red rimstone, both from Pizzazz Aplenty.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  If you've already been hopping, I hope you had a blast on today's hop!  If not, be sure to check out the Diva posts below for some uber gorgeousness with the new Glad Tidings set!  As with all our hops this week, one random commenter from one of the blogs will receive today's featured stamps!  Hooray!

1. Amy 8. Tosh
2. Jackie 9. Sankari
3. Mercy 10. Teresa
4. Michelle 11. Jen T.
5. Lynda 12. Andrea
6. Charmaine 13. Amber
7. Laurie 14. Julee

Winter Joy

Happy Wednesday!  I'm back with another sneak peek during our week of New Release Spotlight Hops!  Today's card just uses a couple mix and match sentiments from the set.  I had another card started, but just didn't feel up to it after the fabulous massage my sweet husband scheduled for me last night.  I should definitely go away more often!  ;-)
My card started out just wanting to play with a fun Maya Road nested chipboard frame in Laurie's stash.  I covered the outer frame with the gorgeous Lilac House paper from Fancy Pants, then covered the inner frame with a piece of kraft paper stamped with the WINTER stamp from the new Merry Wishes set in Crumb Cake.  The scripted Joy sentiment is embossed over the stamped background in Early Espresso and I added some Early Espresso sponging to the edges of each.
Next up, I found a Maya Road chipboard snowflake amongst Laurie's awesome chipboard collection, and decided to cover it with Melissa Frances Pink Mica flakes and some pink glitter.  For the background, I did a little letterpress technique using the Kassie's Brocade Cuttlebug folder and some Early Espresso ink.  My final touch was some more of that gorgeous May Arts polka dot ribbon and some pink pearl accents.
Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I can't wait to hear what you think of today's sets.  Be sure to check out the other Diva creations along the hop to see more of Merry Wishes and the Sweet Scallop Tag single and leave a little love along the way for a chance to win today's featured stamps!
1. Charmaine 8. Teresa
2. Michelle 9. Sankari
3. Lynda 10. Tosh
4. Jackie 11. Susan
5. Laurie 12. Amber
6. Mercy 13. Andrea
7. Amy 14. Julee

Vervey Thanks

Happy Tuesday!  It's the second day of our New Release Spotlight Hops and today the Divas are previewing 2 new sets and a single frame stamp. My sample features the new sentiment set, Joy for the Journey, and the Vintage Oval Frame stamp.

To start, I stamped the Vintage Oval Frame stamp twice (once on Ivory cardstock and then again on some Dream Street Papers dp), then cut the ivory at the inner frame line and the aqua dp on the outer frame line and layered, then trimmed a small mat for it.  The ivory piece is embossed with the Tim Holtz Regal Flourishes texture fade and I softly sponged with some Vintage Photo distress ink.  The flowery paper is the back side of the same Dream Street aqua paper, and I stitched a border and added an  espresso mat.  I used a QuicKutz corner flourish die that caught my eye in Laurie's stamp room, then added a bit of ribbon on the diagonal.

The sentiment is from the Joy for the Journey set and is punched out with a 1-3/8" circle punch, then matted with an espresso nestabilities die cut, then layered over the vintage oval frame.  i finished off with some aqua bling and two gorgeous little paper roses from Recollections.

That's all for me today.  Thanks so much for stopping by!  Be sure to hop around to the other Divas featuring these stamps today and leave some comments for a chance to win today's stamps!  :)  Here's the hop list...

1. Jackie6. Sankari
2. Laurie7. Teresa
3. Lynda8. Andrea
4. Amy9. Julee
5. Mercy

Mojo Joy

Happy Monday!  My vacation has just flown by and today I'll be traveling back home to find myself up to my eyeballs in prep work for Verve Release Week!  We'll be releasing a whole bunch of new sets at our release party this Friday, October 29, from 9-11pm Eastern.  And to celebrate Verve style, our New Release Spotlight Blog Hops start today and each day through Friday the Divas are putting on a hop to share their creations with the new stamps with you!  So be sure to hop around and leave some comments for a chance to win Verve goodies!.  All the details and the official hop list for today can be found on the Verve Blog.

Since it's also Monday, I'm combining my peek at the new Joy Plain Jane with this week's Round or Square Mojo Monday 162 sketch.  I really wanted to make the round version of this sketch, too, but time just slipped away while I was laughing and eating and stamping and driving with Laurie this past week!  Hopefully I'll get a chance later this week to give the round version a go!

I started by stamping the Joy Plain Jane on ivory cardstock, then coloring the wreath "o" with Spica glitter pens.  This section is cut out with Blossom Nestabilities and I sponged some ink around it for an old world feel.  The paper is all from the gorgeous new Tinsel & Twig line by The Girl's Paperie and I added a fiskars punched border and some faux stitching and paper distressing to finish off the look.  The big bow is some luscious May Arts ribbon I picked up in Missoula and so is that fabulous little green gem I accented the wreath with.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Be sure to check out the other fabulous previews the Divas are sharing today...

1. Lynda 8. Sankari
2. Michelle 9. Tosh
3. Mercy 10. Susan
4. Amy 11. Amber
5. Shannan 12. Jen d.
6. Laurie 13. Andrea
7. Teresa 14. Julee

Missoula Throwdown

Wow!  It's Friday already?!  This week has completely FLOWN by here at Laurie's place.  We've had some good coffee, lots of laughs, lots of driving and a little bit of stamping time, even!  When we were in Missoula last weekend with Tosh, we all challenged each other to a little inspiration "throwdown" inspired by something from our trip.

I kind of freaked out a bit, since inspiration challenges are my least favorite and iPhones are great for a lot of things, but photography is not one of their strong points!!!  So forgive my grainy inspiration photo of the menu at Ciao Mambo, a yummy little Italian restaurant we went to.  I loved the layout and colors and wanted to see how it would translate to a card.

I started with the Rustic paper collection by DCWV, did a little ink distressing with antique linen and vintage photo, then stamped the Give Thanks sentiment from Happy Fall repeatedly for a fun text background on the saffron dp.  Next I ran the dark chocolate dp through the Cuttlebug with the Damask Texture Fades folder, and sanded and inked for a nice leathery looking panel.  To add that splash of red from the menu, I added  some shabby wrinkled ribbon and stamped and cut out leaves from the Autumn Splendor set to layer beneath an SU! die flower with a vintage brad.  I finished off with a fun little hinge diecut I fell in love with here in Laurie's stamp room, then accented things with a bit of copper stickles and some red bling.

So now you've seen my very literal inspiration challenge, be sure to head over to Laurie and Tosh's blogs to see what they were inspired by!  Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Have a fantastic weekend!

-Julee

Autumn Thanks

Happy Monday!  Today I'm sharing the card that inspired this week's Mojo Monday sketch.  I made it a few weeks back with the fabulous Teeny Trees set from Waltzingmouse.  Check the Mojo Monday blog for this week's sketch.

I started by stamping the tree branches, then filling in with the leaves in Peach Parfait and Cajun Craze, then adding a floor of leaves below the trees and lightly shadowing with a Copic marker for some depth.  The wavy border punch from EK Success adds a little whimsy and i added some piercing and a small paper clip at the bottom of the Cajun Craze piece.  For the sentiment, I inked up just part of the Give Thanks sentiment and punched out with oval punches.  The Peach Parfait background is embossed with a QuicKutz leaf embossing folder and I lightly rubbed with some off white craft ink to make them stand out a bit. The ribbon is peach parfait poly twill and I tied a little vintage tag with one of the leaves stamped on it and embellished the trees and tag with some chocolate flatback pearls from Pizzazz Aplenty.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a fabulous day!

Waltzingmouse Autumn Blog Waltz

Happy Sunday!  I had a fantastic weekend meeting up with Tosh and Laurie and now I'm starting my week of relaxation here at Laurie's.  After a few days of no stamping and a day of driving, we were soooo ready to spend a little time in the stamp room last night creating something for the Waltzingmouse Blog Waltz.  You can find all the info about the waltz on the Waltzingmouse Blog.

For my card, I paired the leaves from the Big Blooms - Crysanthemums set with a sentiment from the Peace and Plenty set.  To start, I did a little rock and roll stamping with the solid leaf and some Peach Parfait and Cajun Craze ink.  I added a Cajun Craze mat with a Martha Stewart deep edge punched border, then layered a little ribbon, some pearls and the sentiment over the top.  To jazz things up, I finished with some Diamond Stickles accents on a couple of cut out leaves.


Okay, that's all for me today.  Thanks so much for stopping by today and happy hopping!

Turkey Thanks

Happy Thursday!  This morning I'm flying out to meet up with Tosh and Laurie for a fun-filled weekend, then stowing away to Laurie's place for a week of vacation, Montana-style.  I wasn't able to get as much stamping done in advance as I thought I would, so things might be quiet here over the next week or so.  I have a few things to share, but haven't typed up any posts, so we'll so how it goes!  :)  And for the first time ever, Mr. Verve is holding down the fort and trying his hand at shipping orders while I'm away so that I can take some much needed time off before our next release.  Isn't he such a sweetheart?

My card for today was a quick one I threw together last night while waiting for the umpteenth load of laundry to finish drying.  I stamped the turkey from Bountiful Harvest in Early Espresso, colored with Copics and added a bit of pearlized Smooch for a pearly luster.  The panel is sponged with a little Antique Linen and Vintage Photo, then I did the same thing to the Fancy Tag and added the sentiment from Happy Fall in Cajun Craze.  The background paper is from the beautiful Autumn Splendor collection from DCWV, and I scored all the plain lines on the paper with my Scor-pal for a subtle texture.  The edges are distressed with my Distrezz-it-all tool and I added some Vintage Photo ink directly to the edges.  For embellishment, I added some wide striped ribbon behind my image and accented with some super sparkly Smoked Topaz Czech Rhinestones from Pizzazz Aplenty.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Have a fabulous rest of the week - I know I will!  :)


What's in it?
Stamps: Bountiful Harvest, Happy Fall (Verve)
Paper: Autumn Splendor dp (DCWV), Ivory, Early Espresso
Ink: Early Espresso, Copic Markers, Vintage Photo, Antique Linen (Ranger Distress Ink)
Accessories: striped ribbon (SU!), scor-pal, Distrezz-it-all (Zutter), Pearlized Smooch, Fancy Tags (Spellbinders), Smoked Topaz Czech flatback Rhinestones (Pizzazz Aplenty)

Matilda

Happy Tuesday!  Today's card has a little Halloween flavor with a couple new sets from Verve and the Matilda paper pad from Cosmo Cricket.  I just love this bubbly design on the paper.  It reminds me of making root beer in class for grade school Halloween parties.

I started by paper piecing the tall pumpkin from Bountiful Harvest on a Labels 14 die with the orange and green plaid designs from the Matilda pack.  Behind this I layered a circle and some black cardstock punched with a new Martha Stewart deep edge punch, then I ruffled some sheer swirly black ribbon across the middle of the punched trim and added a couple mulberry open roses from Pizzazz Aplenty.

The sentiment is from the Happy Fall set and I stamped it onto a modern label punch and then tied to the pumpkin tag with some of the same sheer swirly ribbon.  I distressed the edges of the paper and mat, then finished off with a few shiny gold pearl accents from Pizzazz Aplenty.

That's all from me today!  I hope you have a super fantastic day.  Thanks for stopping by!

Many Blessings

Happy Monday!  Man, the weekend just flew by!  I can't believe it's Monday again already!  And a new Monday brings another Mojo Monday sketch!  For my card, I decided to pull out one of my favorite sets from the new release, Many Blessings.

The flowers are stamped in Early Espresso and colored with Copics and I stamped a couple extra flowers to color and layer. Then I added a little diamond glaze to the centers for a glossy look. My side bracket is a Labels 14 die cut trimmed to the size of my panel and then stitched on.  The dotty paper is from the Pixielicious paper pad by Cosmo Cricket and I used the inside pinking border die from The Cat's Pajamas for my bottom border.

And those super shiny accents on the border are some 5mm rainbow bubble pearls from Pizzazz Aplenty.  They are so shiny and colorful in real life!  I finished off the card with a little espresso taffeta bow and the sentiment from the Many Blessings set stamped on a modern label punch and tied on like a tag.

I hope you have a fabulous start to your week!  Thanks for stopping by!

Wandering through Autumn Leaves

Happy Saturday!  I've had such a fun-filled week leading up to yesterday's release and this weekend is scheduled with packing orders, packing orders and packing orders!  :)  If you haven't heard, all the new sets are available now in the Verve store.  Head on over to check them out.  Plus, I've posted the winners from our release week challenges and spotlights HERE.

My card for today features the new Autumn Splendor set.  for the focal piece I stamped the circle frame from Happy Hello on ivory card stock (this will be covered up, so it doesn't matter what color you stamp it), then I stamped the larger leafy sprig at 12, 3, 6 and 9, then came in and stamped the smaller leaf sprig in between each of those.  To color them, I simply stamped the solid leaf sprigs over my stamped images in pear pizazz.  I quickly trimmed a little border around the leafy cluster, then added the Autumn Splendor sentiment popped up on some circle die cuts.  The side borders are the negatives from two Tim Holtz bracket die cuts that I trimmed to fit my card, then stamped one of the wheat images from Autumn Splendor in Antique linen on the border and added some dotted accents with an Early Espresso marker.

To embellish, I added some shabby wrinkled ribbon, a Maya Road leaf trinket pin and then tied a little Tim Holtz Philosophy metal tag around the bow with some linen thread.  Oh, and the background paper is from the Restoration line by Crate Paper.

Okay, back to the shipping desk.  I hope you have a fantastic weekend!  Thanks for stopping by!

Bountiful Harvest

Happy Friday!  This morning we're previewing the last set from our new release.  Then at noon Mountain TODAY, the sets will be available for purchase in the Verve store!  Hooray!

So this morning you're invited once again to hop around the Diva-sphere  for previews of Bountiful Harvest.  While you're at it, be sure to leave some comments along the way for a chance to win the set we're previewing!  Check out the official list of today's hops at the bottom of this post or check the Verve blog for all the details.

Today, our final spotlight is shining on a 6x8" set titled Bountiful Harvest.  This set is full of fall whimsy, with a turkey and a few pumpkin illustrations perfect for coloring or paper piecing.  Oh, and don't forget the 8 scripty sentiments that coordinate with the other sets you've seen previewed this week.  This set is so much fun to stamp with and I can't wait to hear what you think of it!


I just couldn't wait to color this trio of pumpkin images in this set, so this is the first card I made when I got my stamps.  The image is stamped in Early Espresso, then colored with Copic markers.  I used a Quickie glue pen to add a little fine toffee Flower Soft to the ground and some green glitter to the vines.  Then I sketched a little frame around the image and added the moon stamp colored with Copics, cut out, popped up and coated with lemon peel Stickles.  The background is one of the solid colors from the Pyrus BasicGrey pad and I ran it through with the Autumn Text Cuttlebug folder, then lightly sanded to highlight the embossing.

Next up I stamped the Harvest Blessings sentiment at an angle on a square, sketched in a matching frame, then layered it over some Early Espresso grosgrain that I ruffled, then topped with a bow.  The layout for this card is the VSWCMD3 sketch from our WCMD/ Release Week Challenges going on this week.  You still have until tonight to play along for a chance to win some Verve!

Thanks for stopping by!  Here's the list of diva-licious hops for today.  Happy hopping!

1. Mercy 9. Amy
2. Jen d. 10. Laurie
3. Charmaine 11. Susan
4. Michelle 12. Jackie
5. Tosh 13. Sankari
6. Teresa 14. Amber
7. Lynda 15. Julee
8. Andrea 16. Shannan

Autumn Splendor

Happy Thursday!  We're moving on to the second day of the New Release Spotlight Hops for Verve.  You're invited to hop around the Diva-sphere (teehee) for previews of our soon-to-be-released stamps.  While you're at it, be sure to leave a few comments along the way for a chance to win the stamps we're previewing!  Check out the official list of today's hops at the bottom of this post or check the Verve blog for all the details.

Today, the Verve spotlight is shining on a new 6x8" set titled Autumn Splendor that will be released on Friday.  This set has a myriad of leafy options, a few sweet sentiments and a happy little autumn quote.  I wanted to be able to create my own autumn backgrounds and designer paper, so I made sure there were lots of options in the set, and even two-step stamping features to easily add a splash of color.


Here's that color combo I just can't seem to get enough of.    I just love the look of peach parfait with cajun craze, and for this card I added a little crumb cake in to the mix - those names are totally making me hungry!  The three sizes of one of the outline leaves from Autumn Splendor were stamped with Early Espresso in kind of a cascading pattern.  Next I added some color by stamping again with the coordinating solid images.  To give my leaves a little added depth, I lightly outlined them all with a light sand color Copic.  The sentiment from Autumn Splendor is stamped in Cajun Craze and cut and matted with Petite Oval Nestabilities.  I added a fun little shabby wrinkled ribbon bow and set it off with a mulberry open rose from Pizzazz Aplenty in the center.  The crumb cake background is letterpressed (ink up the inner bottom side of the embossing folder with an ink pad, then add paper and run through your machine upside down) with the Swirls #2 Sizzix embossing folder and some Crumb Cake ink.  The layout for this card is the VSWCMD2 sketch from our WCMD/ Release Week Challenges going on this week.  Play along for a chance to win some Verve!

Thanks for stopping by!  Here's the list of diva-licious hops for today.  Happy hopping!

1. Mercy 8. Amy
2. Charmaine 9. Susan
3. Michelle 10. Andrea
4. Jen T. 11. Jackie
5. Tosh 12. Sankari
6. Teresa 13. Amber
7. Lynda 14. Julee

Harvest Birds

Hi everyone!  Happy Wednesday!  Today is the first day of the New Release Spotlight Hops for Verve.  Today, tomorrow and Friday, you're invited to hop around the Diva-sphere (teehee) for previews of our soon-to-be-released stamps.  While you're at it, be sure to leave a few comments along the way for a chance to win the stamps we're previewing!  Check out the official list of today's hops at the bottom of this post.


Today, the Verve spotlight is shining on two new mini sets and four new plain janes.  I didn't get the stamping time I had hoped for this week, so my card for the hop only features the new Harvest Birds Plain Jane.  This whimsical little image is a single stamp (the birds and the sentiment are all one stamp).

For my card layout, I used the VSWCMD4 sketch from Verve's World Card Making Day Release Week Challenges.  I stamped the Harvest Birds Plain Jane onto a Labels 14 die cut, then paper pieced the smaller bird and its wing with some paper from the Matilda Cosmo Cricket pad.  The purple plaid paper is also from the same pad and I stitched it onto some black cardstock punched with an EK Success border.  A little circle frame (to make one of these just stack two circle nestabilities together and run through your die cut machine.  You'll end up with an inner circle and a thin outer circle frame.) sets things off and the background is embossed with the Cracked Tim Holtz Texture Fades.  Once again, I'm embracing the white space!  :)  I finished off with some polka dot ribbon and black pearls (for the bird tail feathers) and lavender rhinestones from Pizzazz Aplenty for a bit of bling.

Thanks for stopping by!  Here's the list of diva-licious hops for today.  Happy hopping!

1. Mercy 8. Laurie
2. Jen T. 9. Jackie
3. Tosh 10. Sankari
4. Teresa 11. Shannan
5. Andrea 12. Amber
6. Lynda 13. Julee {that's me!}
7. Amy

Everything Beautiful

Welcome to Tuesday!  I had planned to have this ready to post earlier, but my epic clutziness struck again. Last night I decided to do a bit of tidying up and in the process of moving a bottle of red wine to a "safer" location, I dropped it.  So strategically in fact that it oozed under the refrigerator AND the stove, ruined an area rug and we spent the next 1.5 hours moving said appliances and scrubbing the tile!  Not exactly the way I wanted to go about getting a new area rug for the kitchen, but I did want a new one!  (there's always a silver lining!  teehee)   Anyhow, the moral of this story is don't have red wine in your home!  LOL   ;-)  I'm not a fan anyway, it's Mark's thing.  :)
Okay, so you're probably here to see a card.  You've been duly warned that you'd be seeing this color combo again, so here it is.  I seem to be in an "embrace the white space" phase, which is pretty atypical for me, but I'm really loving it!  For this card I paired the smallest solid flower in Great Friend with a sneaky peeky of one of the new plain janes releasing Friday.  This one is Ecclesiastes 3:11 Plain Jane and I just love this verse.

I did a little rock-n-roll technique on the flowers, first in Peach Parfait, then around the edges in Cajun Craze and stamped on opposite corners of my sentiment square.  The centers are given a little glitz with some Stardust Stickles.  The vertical panels are just coordinating cardstock stamped with the same flower, then I layered everything over an ivory piece of cardstock, embossed with the Swirls #2 folder by Sizzix.  My finishing touch was a little stitched poly peach parfait ribbon.

I used the VSWCMD1 sketch from Verve's World Card Making Day - Release Week Challenges for this one.  Head on over to the Verve Blog to check out all 5 sketches and read about how to win some prizes!  And be sure to check back tomorrow for the first of the official New Release Spotlights!  Thanks for stopping by!

Friends Always

Happy Monday!  It's the start of a super busy week for me and I'm totally energized! Since it's the first Monday of the month, that means it's CONTEST time over at Mojo Monday!  Play along with this week's sketch for a chance at some new Verve!  We'll have up to six winners this week, so don't be shy!  :)



My card for Mojo159 uses the adorable Teeny Trees set by Waltzingmouse Stamps.  I've had so much fun with this set and I'm warning you right now, you're going to be seeing a lot more of this color combo {Peach Parfait, Cajun Craze, Early Espresso and Ivory} this week, because I'm kind of crazy about it!  I have all sorts of new patterned paper, but every time I sit down to stamp I keep reaching for these colors instead.  Must be me wanting to escape the unseasonably warm weather we've been having.  I'm so ready for fall!

There's nothing too complicated here, just some border punching, some shabby wrinkled ruffled ribbon and a whole lot of really fun peach pearls from Pizzazz Aplenty.  Oh, and I scored a little frame on the ivory card base with my Scor-pal.

Okay, that's all on the card front today.  If you haven't seen them already, be sure to pop over to the Verve Blog to see the 5 sketch challenges we're currently running leading up to our release this Friday!  There's lots of new Verve up for grabs!  And our official sneak peeks start on Wednesday.  Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Have a fantastic Monday!

Frosty Friday

Happy Friday, friends!  Oh, it's another fabulous Friday and my spirits are high!  It's the beginning of a new month and our next release is only a week away!  Hooray!  Plus, tomorrow we've got release week/world card making day challenges kicking off!  Yippee!

And since it's a brand new month, we have a new Featured Stamp Set over in the Verve Store.  This month you can save 40% on the super fun Frosty Flakes set!  So for today's card I pulled out this little set and got to work.

I started by stamping the four sizes of flakes randomly on some kraft cardstock in versamark, then embossing with white embossing powder.  Next up, I sponged Vintage Photo distress ink all around the snowflakes, to give them a little depth, then wiped off any excess ink.  The embossing was pretty white, and I had an off-white paper, so I lightly colored over the flakes with an E41 Copic marker.  It's just perfect and you don't have to be too fussy about it, since if any white shows through it just adds a little more depth to the image!

The paper I chose to work with is from the new Jovial 6x6 pad from BasicGrey.  I stitched the stamped piece onto it, then chose a coordinating pattern and stitched it to some early espresso punched with a snowflake border.  In my little goody bag from Pizzazz Aplenty, I found the perfect furry trim (I put the sequin side down) that reminded me of fur lined boots and coats  and some clear rhinestones in 4 different sizes to accent the snowflakes.  I finished off with the sentiment from the Frosty Flakes set embossed on a Labels 14 die cut and sponged with Vintage Photo ink.

Okay, I have lots to do to prep for release week, so I better get back to work! Have a fantastic day!  Oh, and if you haven't already, be sure to pop over to the Verve Blog today to see who our October Guest Diva is!