Friday Fun

Hi peeps!  I'm so glad it's Friday!  Today I have a CARS (clean and RELATIVELY simple) Mother's Day card to share with you. using the new set Love Deepens.

I started by gluing a piece of Vintage Springtime paper onto cream cardstock, then running through the Big Shot with the Labels 1 dies.  I then made a coordinating mat from Rich Razzleberry cardstock and stamped the sentiment from Love Deepens in the same color ink.  To add a little interest to the card, I tied a knotted bow of razzleberry taffeta around the label shape, then added a regular bow, a paper flower and a triple pearl stick pin.  The next layer is cream embossed with a Sizzix textured impressions folder and lightly distressed and sponged with Vintage Photo ink.  The card base is punched at the bottom with the Eyelet Border punch and then I accented with some pretty lavender rhinestones from Pizzazz Aplenty.

On the Verve front, here are a few little reminders...
April Stamp Collection:  15% off discount ends tomorrow, 4/30!
Kindred Spirits:  40% off discount ends tomorrow, 4/30!
Viva la Verve!:  The first May challenge is posted!  Play along for a chance to win a future Verve release!
Diva Dare:  Only one more week to go to get your April Showers Bring May Flowers entries in.  And be sure to leave a little shout out as the girls parade their daring creations for another chance to win!
May Diva Inspirations Hop:  Tune in right here Sunday, May 1 for the start of our May hop!

Okay, that's all folks!  Hope you have a fantastic weekend and thanks so much for stopping by!

Enabler's List:
Stamps: Love Deepens (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Vintage Springtime DSP, Rich Razzleberry (SU!), Natural White (Neenah)
Ink: Rich Razzleberrry (SU!), Vintage Photo (Ranger Distress)
Accessories: Labels 1 Large & Small Nestabilities (Spellbinders), rich razzleberry taffeta, eyelet lace border punch (SU!), ivory triple pearl stick pin, lavender rhinestones and open flower (Pizzazz Aplenty), Flowers & Flourish Set textured impressions folder (Sizzix) 

Feel Better

Hi y'all!  Happy Thursday!  This week is just flying by.  I can't believe it's almost May - I remember as a kid hearing my parents talk about time flying and I thought they were crazy.  The days just drug on and on and on.  One day seemed like an eternity.. remember that?  And that ever important 1/2 year was always included in your age, because 1 whole year was too long to wait to get older.  So funny to think about.  Anyway, sorry for my rambling... you're probably ready to talk stampy stuff now, huh?

This card was inspired by this week's Color Throwdown #139.  There are 5 colors this week and I'm so surprised by the predominant color in my card, because when I was looking at the swatch the little color snob voice in my head said, "definitely will be minimizing the crushed curry!"  But then....  I sat down at my desk and this piece of Portrait dp was just sitting there calling my name and I told myself... "you can doooooo it!"  {grin}

I started by cutting some Floral Circles in cream, then stamping the Wild Flower Plain Jane in Groovy Guava on the small and medium die cuts.  Then I inked up the edges with some Dusty Durango ink and fussed with the outer edges, bending them in and out to get a shabby look.  The sponging darkened the guava more than I intended, but I promise it's still there! ;-) Next up, I cut an  Elegant Leaves die cut out of Pear Pizzazz, then stamped with the coordinating stamp from Bloom & Grow.

The sentiment from Hope Blooms is embossed in Chocolate Chip craft ink onto a Classy Label Die, then I sponged around the edges with Chocolate Chip die ink and hand cut a very thin mat for it.  The background paper got a healthy little dose of chocolate chip ink and was embossed with the Diamonds and Damask folder, then sanded lightly.  A little chocolate chip striped ribbon, dusty durango polka dot ribbon, a leaf pin and some pearls, and this little number was finished.

Well, that's it on the stamping front today!  Hope you have a fabulous day and thanks so much for stopping by!


Enabler's List:
Stamps:  Wild Flower Plain Jane, Hope Blooms, Bloom & Grow
Paper: Portrait Collection (Crate Paper), Chocolate Chip, Pear Pizazz (SU!), Cream
Ink: Groovy Guava, Dusty Durango, Pear Pizazz, Chocolate Chip (SU!)
Accessories:  Elegant Leaves Die, Floral Circles Die Set, Classy Label Die (A Cut Above by Verve), Chocolate Chip striped grosgrain, Dusty Durango polka dot grosgrain (SU!), Leaf Trinket Pin (Maya Road), pearl (Melissa Frances), Diamonds and Damask textured impressions folder (Sizzix)

A Difference

Hi peeps!  Happy Wednesday!  I was wondering why things were so quiet on my blog today and then realized I never actually wrote a post. {sheepish grin}  It's definitely been one of those days.  You know the kind where you have to drink about three times the coffee just to cope?  My computer crashed and I lost several hours worth of illustrating and now my computer has been in this cycle of installing updates and rebooting for what seems like an eternity.  Maybe the universe is telling me I should just give up on being productive and stamp today!  {grin}

Speaking of stamping, today's card is one I made for our latest Verve release.  It uses Bloom & Grow, Faithful Phrases, the Floral Circles die and a frame from an older set, Framed Wishes.

I've been wanting to spread my artistic wings a bit and am really interested in learning more about mixed-media.  Right now I'm just reading blogs and magazines, watching you tube videos and collecting supplies trying to get up the courage to break out paint and canvas.  But while I'm in the discovery stage, I thought I could apply a little bit of what I've been reading about to card making, using supplies I already have.

I started with an inventory tag.  Then I used a harlequin stencil and brayered on some Scattered Straw ink to give a nice diamond print background to the tag. Next I embossed the large solid flower from Bloom & Grow in Concord Crush, then the two leaves in Peeled Paint.  I stamped a smaller flower over the big one and embossed in white, then stamped an even smaller flower on a Floral Circles die cut, then snipped and sponged to make it shabby and layered on top with a dimensional.  Next I stamped the small flowers and leaves in the background all over the place. 

To make the sentiment stand out, I stamped and embossed the frame from Framed Wishes off the edge, then embossed the sentiment from Bloom & Grow in white and sponged peeled paint all around inside the frame.  I distressed the edges and sponged the tag, then added some little rhinestones to each of the tiny flower centers.

For the top section, I stamped the God Bless stamp from Faithful Phrases in Concord Crush on a floral circle die cut.  Then I masked off the sentiment I used in the frame so that just the YOU would stamp below the God Bless.  I added some background stamping with one of the small flower stamps, then inked up with Scattered Straw, punched a small hole in the top and tied to around the tag with some lemon divine twine.  The pear pizazz ribbon was tied through the hole in the tag, then I wrapped another piece around it and frayed the edges for the wispy fibers.  I then added some dew drops in the center of the flower and the O in YOU.  A Kraft card base, stamped randomly with flowers was the perfect finishing touch.

Enabler's List:
Stamps: Bloom & Grow, Faithful Phrases, Framed Wishes (Verve)
Paper: Crumb Cake (SU!), Natural White (Neenah), inventory tag (Scarlet Lime)
Ink: Concord Crush, Peeled Paint, Scattered Straw, vintage Photo Distress Ink (Ranger), VersaMark (Tsukineko)
Accessories: Floral Circles Die Set (A Cut Above by Verve), Lemon Divine Twine (TCP), lavender rhinestones (Pizzazz Aplenty), Pear Pizzazz ribbon (SU!), Clear detail and white embossing powder (Judikins), Harlequin Stencil (Crafter's Workshop, Oregon Raindrops (Pink Hedgehog), crop-a-dile

Friendly Flowers

Hi y'all!  Happy Tuesday!  Today I have a little card to share with you using this week's Viva la Verve! April Week 4 sketch.  It's the last sketch of the month, so if you're playing along, you have until Thursday night to get all four of the April sketches completed for your chance to win an entire future Verve release.

I love the rays on Shannan's sketch and after checking out her tutorial, I was reminded of a similar shape in the new Nested Pennants Nestabilities, so I decided to use those for my rays, cutting the pieces, then assembling them with all the points together, so that nothing overlaps.  Here's a couple "the making of" photos (they're taken with my phone, so sorry they're not the best quality).  I started with 5 triangles, but ended up using 7 triangles to  fill the sketch in the way I wanted it to.

The papers are all from the Portrait collection by Crate Paper.  Funny thing... that paper in the upper left corner of the card is a calendar print from the collection.  Once I got the card all together I noticed that the designer paper had a typo in it, and the month title for January in the upper corner read Janurary.  At first I thought I could live with it since it was in the background, but then my OCD tendencies kicked into full gear and I had to cover it up with the notebook border punch!

Anyways, enough about that, let's get to the fun part... stamping! I used the new Hope Blooms set for the sentiment, embossed in black onto a Labels 10 die cut.  Then I embossed two sizes of the bloom directly onto the aqua paper in the pack, then cut out, added a button center and then tucked a leaf sprig, embossed using the leaves from Bloom & Grow and die cut with the Elegant Leaves Die.  I finished off with a die cut apron border, a bit of vintage lace and some linen thread.

Enabler's List:
Stamps: Hope Blooms, Bloom & Grow (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Portrait Collection (Crate Paper), Black, Ivory
Ink: Black, Vintage Photo
Accessories:  Elegant Leaves Die (A Cut Above by Verve), apron border CutUps (TCP), Nested Pennants and Labels 10 Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Beautiful Wings Embosslit and notebook punch (SU!), clear embossing powder (Judikins), Tiny Attacher (Tim Holtz), button, Butterfly pin (Webster's Pages), Black diamond Stickles (Ranger), black pearls (Pizzazz Aplenty)

Thanks a Bunch

Hi y'all!  It's Monday again and time for a new Mojo sketch!  This week is my favorite type of sketch - round or square and today's sketch was designed by Sarah Bigelow.

I went for a circle card, because I just couldn't wait to use my Grand Big Scallop Circle dies again!  I flipped the sketch and made a few minor tweaks to accommodate this fabulous flower made using the Pinwheel Die  from Lil' Inker Designs.  I cut the pinwheel pieces out of Vintage Whimsy paper from The Girls Paperie, then threaded a needle and thread through the provided holes, and then sewed on a big button to secure them.  The angle on that photo doesn't really show the pinwheel very well.  Here's a close-up (do a little clicksy to em-biggen it).  

Next up I cut some leaves from Espresso paper with the Elegant Leaves Die and embossed the coordinating leaves from the Bloom & Grow set with clear embossing powder.  The sentiment is also from Bloom & Grow and is embossed directly onto the scrumptious gingham print.  The vertical panel is kraft glassine from Tim Holtz, and I dry embossed it using the Damask texture fades.


The seam binding ribbon was tied on then heated with my heat gun for a distressed look.  Only I burnt the ribbon and the color of the glassine below it melted onto it.  So to hide that boo-boo, I brushed on some brown ink with an aquapainter and covered in a mixture of diamond glaze and glitter.  The open flower charm below the ribbon is from Pizzazz Aplenty and I accented it with a Smoked Topaz Czech rhinestone, and added a trio of them below.  I finished off with some sponged and glittered edges around my circle and scalloped circle, then I dotted some Cinnamon Stickles all around the edges.  After I was one, I used the air art tool and a crumb cake marker to add some ink to the entire project.

That's all from me today!  I hope you'll play along with our Mojo challenge this week!  Have a fabulous start to your week and thanks for stopping by!

Enabler's List:
Stamps: Bloom & Grow (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Vintage Whimsy (The Girls Paperie), Glassine Kraft (Tim Holtz), Early Espresso (SU!), Cream
Ink: Vintage Photo (Ranger Distress), Early Espresso, Crumb Cake (SU!)
Dies: Elegant Leaves Die (A Cut Above by Verve), Pinwheel Die (Lil' Inker Designs), Grand Big Scalloped Circles, Grand Classic Circles Nestabilities (Spellbinders)
Accessories: Damask Texture Fades (Tim Holtz), seam binding ribbon, air art tool (SU!), clear detail embossing powder (Judikins), glitter, diamond glaze, open flower charm and smoked topaz czech rhinestones (Pizzazz Aplenty), Cinnamon Stickles (Ranger)

Pinwheel Spin

Hi peeps! Happy Easter! I've been thinking about the tall and skinny TCP Tuesday sketch all week long and finally had a little time to myself to play yesterday. So I pulled out the cute What a Blast set and Pinwheels CutUps from The Cat's Pajamas and did a little stamping just for the sheer joy of stamping's sake!

I just HAD to use that big old pinwheel die (isn't it gorgeous?), so a little tweakage to the original sketch happened, but you can still see the inspiration there, I think. The pinwheel is cut from Stella & Rose Mable Paper, then pinned together with a vintage brad, sponged a little with vintage photo ink and then layered over a taffeta bow.  PJ and his pinwheel from What a Blast is stamped onto a Labels 10 diecut, then I paper pieced the pinwheel and colored everything else with Copic markers, adding a few stripes to the pinwheel pole.  And he just had to tilt a little since his heart is spinning!  The You Make My Heart Spin sentiment is stamped directly on the bottom panel of patterned paper, and then I finished off with some stamped and cutout clouds from the same set.  My card base uses the Long Scallop Rectangles Nestabilities and I accented each scallop with some liquid pearls.

That's all from me today!  I hope you have a fabulous Easter and thanks so much for stopping by!

Enabler's List:
Stamps: What a Blast (TCP)
Paper: Stella and Rose Mabel Collection (My Mind's Eye), Crumbcake (SU!), Natural White (TCP)
Ink: Coffee Archival, Vintage Photo Distress (Ranger), Copic Markers)
Accessories:  Pinwheels CutUps (TCP), Long Scallop Rectangles, Labels 10 Nestabilities (Spellbinders), liquid pearls (Ranger), vintage brads, diamond glaze, glitter, taffeta ribbon (SU!)

Shabby Blessings

Happy Saturday!  Today I've got a shabby little card using a sentiment from Joy for the Journey.  This set, plus many others in our Faith line of stamps are 25% off this weekend during  Verve's Easter Sale!  Hooray!

Do you ever just fall head over heels for a certain designer paper?  That's totally what happened with me and this rose print from Webster's Pages.  I just can't put it down!  And something as pretty as that shouldn't be hidden below a bunch of layers, so the only stamping here is the God Bless You sentiment from Joy for the Journey on the Grommet tag die.  Then I just added shabby embellishments and distressing to my heart's content!  Such a fun card to create!

I hope you have a little fun planned for your weekend!  Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Enabler's List:
Stamps:  Joy for the Journey (Verve Stamps)
Paper:  Trendsetter/Ladies & Gents Collection (Webster's Pages), Chocolate Chip (SU!), Ivory
Ink: Chocolate Chip (SU!), Vintage Photo, Antique Linen, Tattered Rose (Ranger Distress)
Accessories:  Grommet Tags (Spellbinders), flower (prima), shabby wrinkled ribbon (Prairie Bird Boutique on Etsy), heart spray (Wild Orchid Crafts), ivory 2 and 3mm pearls (Pizzazz Aplenty), paper piercer and mat pack (SU!), paper distresser, cuttelebug embossing folder, flourish border punch (EK Success)

Life that Sparkles

Happy Thursday!  Today I have a card to share with you using the new Hope Blooms set and this week's SCS sketch challenge {SC329}.

Some gorgeous new Webster's Pages paper arrived in my mailbox the other day and I just had to play with this rose print paper as soon as possible!  I wanted a soft, aged look, so I stitched a piece of vellum over the paper, then sponged with antique linen and vintage photo distress ink.  I embossed the life is good sentiment from Hope Blooms on the vellum, then used a pearl border sticker as a divider.  The flowers are also from Hope Blooms and are embossed onto pink card stock, then cut out, Stickled and dusted with glass glitter.  Then, as if that wasn't quite enough sparkle, I added a little Fruit Punch Stickles to the edges of the whole panel and then covered with more glass glitter!

The scallop rectangle is cut from Kraft Glassine paper and I added some liquid pearls to each scallop.  The background layer is stitched, sponged and distressed, then has a brown mat and is on a 4.25 x 5.5" card base.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Have a fabulous day!

Enabler's List:
Stamps:  Hope Blooms (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Ladies and Gents/Trendsetter Collection (Webster's Pages), Kraft Glassine (Tim Holtz), Vintage card stock (Coredinations), Vellum Card stock (SU!)
Ink: Vintage Photo, Antique Linen (Ranger Distress)
Accessories: Scallop Rectangles Nestabilities (Spellbinders), pearl sticker border and large pearls (Recollections), glass glitter (SU!), clear embossing powder (Judikins), liquid pearls (Ranger), sewing machine, paper distressing tool

A Man's Heart

Happy Tuesday! Today' I've got a masculine card to share with you. I'm not usually a very technique-y kind of stamper, but boy-oh-boy did I have fun getting my grunge on with this card! {grin}

It all started with the new Proverbs 16:9 Plain Jane.  I embossed it onto an ivory cut out of the Vintage Oval Die.  Then I sponged the edges and then started swiping antique linen and vintage photo ink pads across it, for an aged look.  Next I rubbed my clear Versamark pad over the entire surface coated with clear embossing powder and embossed, then repeated a second time.  I loved the glossy look so much, I decided to use the same technique on the next panel, adding in some Broken China ink to match the designer papers I was using on the other panels.  This background square is also embossed with clear embossing powder, then I wrapped some twine around  it and knotted the ends, layering the vintage oval over the top.

I did some more ink pad swiping on the patterned paper layers, then stamped the verse repeatedly on a couple Bermuda Bay strips and crimped with my paper corrugator.  A few espresso mats, some large jumbo eyelets and a couple dogeared corners and I was done!

The layout for this card is Jen del Muro's April Sketch For You To Try and this month I actually played along before the last day of the month!  Go me!!!  {grin}

Well, that's all for today here on the ole' blog.  Hope you have a fabulous day and thanks so much for stopping by!

Enabler's List:
Stamps: Proverbs 16:9 Plain Jane (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Gabrielle Collection (Bo Bunny), map print (Heidi Swapp), Bermuda Bay, Early Espresso (SU!), Natural White (Neenah)
Ink: Broken China, Vintage Photo, Antique Linen (Ranger Distress), Early Espresso (SU!), VersaMark (Tsukineko)
Accessories: Vintage Oval Die (A Cut Above by Verve), Clear Detail embossing powder (JudiKins), jumbo eyelets (SU!), twine, paper corrugator

All Things Grow

Happy Monday!  It's a brand new week and there's a new sketch over on the Mojo Monday blog today.  But sadly there's no mojo card here. I got my weeks mixed up and did the wrong sketch! We're on sketch #187 and that's the first time I've ever done that! I guess it's just the hazard of always having a few dozen irons in the fire, right? {grin} Anyhow, I do have a little somethin' something with the new Bloom & Grow set to share with you today.

Over on the Verve Blog, we've got a little after party going on!  The Divas are all sharing their favorites from this release and oh my, there's a lot of eye candy in that post!  The card I picked as my favorite is this CARS (clean and RELATIVELY simple) card using last week's Sweet Sunday Sketch #112 by Karen Giron.

I wanted a stylish, classy card for a wedding or anniversary, since that season will be upon us soon.  I've been wanting to make a zipper flower, so I stitched and coiled a zipper half, then coiled some May Arts wrinkled ribbon around for the outer blooms.  The center is one of those fabulous acrylic Sunbursts from Pizzazz Aplenty.  The leaves are cut with the Elegant Leaves Die and then embossed in clear with the coordinating stamp from the Bloom & Grow set.  Then I used a couple different embossing folders on the white panels, adding the sentiment from Bloom & Grow in the corner.

For the three little flags in the sketch, I substituted Charming Banner dies and accented with shiny silver pearls, then finished things off with some tiny butterflies using the SU! Embosslits.


Enabler's List:
Stamps: Bloom & Grow (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Basic Black (SU!), Bright White (Neenah)
Ink: Black dye ink (A Muse), VersaMark (Tsukineko
Accessories: Elegant Leaves Die, Charming Banner Die Set (A Cut Above by Verve), zipper, Beautiful Wings Embosslit (SU!, ribbon (May Arts), clear embossing powder (Judikins), Acrylic Sunburst and silver pearls (Pizzazz Aplenty), butterfly migration and ornate frames embossing folders (Sizzix)

Crazy for Hope Blooms

Happy Saturday! We had a blast at last night's release party - oh my goodness the Divas and Guest Divas made some GORGEOUS creations this release! Pure eye candy! Anyhow, the sets and dies you've been seeing us peek the past few days are all available over at the Verve store!  Yippee!

For today, I'm sharing a clean and simple card I made with the new Hope Blooms set and the Floral Circles Die Set.

This came together so quickly, and I just love how it turned out. Inspired by the fabulous creations Charmaine always makes with embossing folders, I challenged myself to use an embossing folder on a CAS card this release.  I love the dramatic border this one creates on the basic gray background.  I embossed the sentiment from Hope Blooms in Black, then added a bit of mini ric rac and a mini library clip to ground my flower.  The flowers are both embossed in black and cut out with the Floral Circles Die Set.  One with a die larger than the stamp and one with a die smaller than the stamp.  I like it!  {grin}  Then I just colored the flowers, layered them on dimensionals, punched a border and mounted on a blushing bride cardstock base.  Can you believe no glitter was harmed in the making of this card?  That's crazy!  LOL

Well, that's all from me today!  Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you have a FABULOUS weekend!

Enabler's List:
Stamps: Hope Blooms (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Basic Gray, Black, Blushing Bride (SU!)
Ink: black dye ink (A Muse), Copic marker
Accessories: Floral Circles Die Set (A Cut Above by Verve), mini ricrac (JoAnn), dotted wave border punch (EK Success), Flourish, Dots & Ribbons embossing folder set (Sizzix), mini library clip (SU!), detail embossing powder (Judikins), corner chomper

Hope Blooms Spotlight Hopping

Hi again!  It's time to shine for our final Verve spotlight before tonight's Release PARTY!   It's the fourth day of hopping, and once again there's a prize hidden on one of today's hop spots! Just leave a little shout-out in the comments as you hop about for a chance to win some new Verve of your very own! The deadline for prize commenting is tonight {4/15} at 6PM Mountain.  Winners will be announced at our Release PARTY!

Today the Divas are spotlighting Hope Blooms, an all-occasion sentiment with three fabulous blooms.  I'm totally smitten with the three blooms in this set, not to mention the fonts! It seriously makes me happy just to sit and stare at them in their packaging!  (And that's definitely saying something considering the number of stamp sets I've packaged in the last few years!) Anyhow, for my card, I went with a birthday theme and the April Get Your Diva On challenge!

And, if you've been all giddy with release week excitement and forgot about the challenge, never fear, you have until Sunday night to get your entries in!  One entry will be chosen to be a Guest Diva for a future release, receiving all the stamps and dies for that release and will be spotlight hopping right here alongside all the Divas!  Sounds exciting, huh?  Well, come play along!  This month's challenge is hosted by Amber, and she's cooked up a recipe challenge, complete with a little chart that changes depending on the first letter of your name, so be sure to check out all the details on the challenge thread!

Hi... my name is Julee and I love turquoise, brown and pink, and have been known to have a thing for twine, buttons and brads!  {grin}  So that's where I started, and not to be one to limit my layers, I had every intention of making a circle card.  ONLY... see that baja breeze circle?  That was my original card size!  EEKS!  Way too small to fit all the goodies I was stamping with the new Hope Blooms set!  Luckily Amber allowed us one category substitution.  So I switched out my circle card for a long shaped card and all was well again!

I did a little background stamping with the blooms both on the cream layer and the baja breeze layer.  Then I cut the Floral Circles dies from Pink Pirouette and stamped the blooms over it. The flowers are slightly bigger than the dies when paired straight across and I think it gives a real natural look to them!  Why don't we get a little close-up... don't be shy?! {giggle} I accented the flower with a button and layered them on dimensionals.

Next up I stamped the smallest bloom on a punched out circle, then stamped over it with the Wish Big sentiment from Birthday Phrases.  Then this is matted and layered onto Charming Oval Dies, another circle punch and finally matted with the large Floral Circle die.  Pretty cool looking thingamabob, huh?

Oh, and there's the happy birthday sentiment!  I just love the combination of a big fat font with a skinny scripty font!  In fact I love it so much that I used it as a background as well as the sentiment for the card!  Then I just finished off the recipe with some loopy looped twine.  Such a fun challenge!

Okay, that's enough rambling!  The Divas are also spotlighting the Proverbs 16:9 Plain Jane today, so hop around to see what everyone chose to play with!

1. Julee 8. Jackie 2. Tosh 9. Charmaine 3. Amber 10. Janelle 4. Amy 11. Teresa 5. Maureen 12. Laurie 6. Cresta 13. Sankari 7. Andrea 14. Melissa TODAY'S PRIZE: Hope Blooms, Proverbs 16:9 Plain Jane and Floral Circles Die Set

Enabler's List:
Stamps: Hope Blooms, Birthday Phrases (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Crumb Cake, Pink Pirouette, Baja Breeze, Early Espresso (SU!), Natural White (Neenah)
Ink: Baja Breeze, Pink Pirouette, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso (SU!)
Accessories: Floral Circles Die Set, Charming Oval Die Set, Classic and Petite Scallop Circles Nestabilities (Spellbinders), circle punches (SU!), button, brads, twine, corner chomper

Love Deepens Spotlight Hopping

Hi again!  It's time to shine our sneaky Verve spotlight on some more brand new stamps! We're counting down to Verve's release party this Friday night, April 15, with FOUR days of Spotlight Hops! And since we love to share, there's a prize hidden on one of today's hop spots! Just leave a little shout-out in the comments as you hop about for a chance to win some new Verve of your very own! You can check out the Verve Blog for all the prize details and deadlines.

Today the Divas are spotlighting Love Deepens, a sentiment set focused on the women in our lives.  For my card I used the title sentiment, My love for you only deepens through the years.  I just love this sentiment.. perfect for mothers, children and even spouses.  Here I used the Mom sentiment from this set to personalize my card, stamping it onto a tea-dyed mini tag in Rich Razzleberry and tucking it underneath the flower.

I stamped the sentiment on a Labels 1 Nestability, then shaded with Crumb Cake ink.  Next I made the flower by spritzing some blushing bride and rich razzleberry Floral Circles die cuts with water, then scrunching together, dipping in diamond glaze and sprinkling with glass glitter.  The inside is adorned with a chocolate pearl brad from Pizzazz Aplenty.  Next I stamped the big leafy image from Bloom & Grow twice in Pear Pizazz and cut with the Elegant Leaves Die to layer under my flower. 

The card base is two Grand Big Scalloped Circles glued together, and the background is cut from some pretty Espresso striped paper from the SU! Naturals DSP pack.  I finished off with some a seam binding bow and some liquid pearls.

Okay, that's all from me today.  The Divas are also spotlighting the Proverbs 31:28 Plain Jane today, so hop around to see what everyone chose to play with!

1. Tosh 8. Janelle 2. Teresa 9. Jackie 3. Maureen 10. Charmaine 4. Laurie 11. Andrea 5. Julee 12. Amber 6. Cresta 13. Melissa 7. Sankari 14. Amy TODAY'S PRIZE: Love Deepens, Proverbs 31:28 Plain Jane and Elegant Leaves Die

Enabler's List:
Stamps: Bloom & Grow, Love Deepens (Verve)
Paper: Neutrals DSP Prints, Rich Razzleberry, Blushing Bride, Early Espresso (SU!), cream
Ink: Early Espresso, Rich Razzleberry, Pear Pizazz, Crumb Cake (SU!)
Accessories: Elegant Leaves Die, Floral Circles Die Set (A Cut Above by Verve), Grand Big Scallop Circles and Labels 1 Large and Small Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Bisque Liquid Pearls (Ranger), seam binding (SU!), glass glitter, diamond glaze, chocolate pearl brad (Pizzazz Aplenty), Tea Dyed Mini Tag (Vio's Handmade on Etsy)

Bloom & Grow Spotlight Hopping

Hi again!  It's time to shine our sneaky Verve spotlight on some more brand new stamps! We're counting down to Verve's release party this Friday night, April 15, with FOUR days of Spotlight Hops! And since we love to share, there's a prize hidden on one of today's hop spots! Just leave a little shout-out in the comments as you hop about for a chance to win some new Verve of your very own! You can check out the Verve Blog for all the prize details and deadlines.

For my sample card, I used all three  things the Divas are previewing today... Bloom & Grow, Elegant Leaves Die and the Floral Circles Die Set.  I also included a sentiment from the Faithful Phrases set.  I started by cutting the Floral Circles from Pink Pirouette paper, then stamped two sizes of flower centers in Rich Razzleberry onto them and layered together, with some pearl accents in the center.

Next up I cut two of the Elegant Leaves, then stamped the large coordinating leaf image from Bloom & Grow on the cutouts.  The die is one large cutout of the two sprigs (shown behind the flower), but just by making a couple snips with scissors you can separate the two sprigs, like I have for the smaller one behind the sentiment.

After that, I pulled out some First Edition newsprint and stamped a background using some of the smaller flowers from Bloom & Grow in blushing bride and rich razzleberry, then inking up with some antique linen distress ink.  The background paper is from the Vintage Springtime collection and I aged and distressed everything, then layered the sentiment from Faithful Phrases onto some Charming Oval dies.  For a little interest, I stamped the smallest flower from Bloom & Grow around the sentiment, then added some lavender bling, some delicate pink metallic dream string and two trinket pins.

Okay, that's all from me today  Happy hopping....

	1. Amber 8. Julee 2. Amy 9. Laurie 3. Andrea 10. Maureen 4. Charmaine 11. Teresa 5. Cresta 12. Tosh 6. Jackie 13. Sankari 7. Janelle 14. Melissa
TODAY'S PRIZE: Bloom & Grow, Elegant Leaves Die and Floral Circles Die Set

Enabler's List:
Stamps: Faithful Phrases, Bloom & Grow (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Vintage Springtime, First Edition DSP, Rich Razzleberry, Pink Pirouette (SU!), Natural White (Neenah)
Ink: Pink Pirouette, Rich Razzleberry, Pear Pizzazz, Blushing Bride (SU!), Antique Linen, Vintage Photo (Ranger Distress)
Accessories: Charming Oval Die Set, Elegant Leaves, Floral Circles Die Set (A Cut Above by Verve), vintage lace trim, sewing machine, flatback pearls and rhinestones and Delicate Pink Metallic Dream String (Pizzazz Aplenty), Powder and Forest Berries Trinket Pins (Miss Vio's Handmade on Etsy)

Happy Phrases Spotlight Hopping

Hi blog peeps!  It's time to shine our sneaky Verve spotlight on some brand new stamps! We're counting down to Verve's release party this Friday night, April 15, with FOUR days of Spotlight Hops! And since we love to share, there's a prize hidden on one of today's hop spots! Just leave a little shout-out in the comments as you hop about for a chance to win some new Verve of your very own! You can check out the Verve Blog for all the prize details and deadlines.

For my card, I decided to start with Happy Phrases, paired with the  Charming Banner Die Set and Charming Oval Die Set.  I also threw in the Sweet Scallop Tag Die, as well as a peek at the new Floral Circles and Elegant Leaves dies that we’ll be previewing later this week.  My flower uses the three sizes of Floral Circles, which I ran through my paper crimper to loosen up the fibers, then sponged, painted with a little pearlized top coat, then layered together and added some pearls twine and chunky glass glitter.  The leaves are die cut with the Elegant Leaves die and stamped with one of the script backgrounds from Text Objects.  I stamped the same background in Blush Blossom on the Sweet Scallop Tag (stamp), then cut out and layered with the coordinating die cut.  The background paper is from BoBunny and I embossed the DP with the Damask Corners textured impressions folder, then lightly sanded, added lots of loopy loops of linen thread and pearls and a little Fiskars bird punch to finish it off.

Okay, that’s my little peek, head on to the next stop on the hop to see what other goodies the Divas are previewing today!

	1. Andrea 8. Julee 2. Jackie 9. Tosh 3. Charmaine 10. Amber 4. Janelle 11. Amy 5. Teresa 12. Maureen 6. Laurie 13. Cresta 7. Sankari
TODAY'S PRIZE: Bunny Shake, Birthday Phrases, Faithful Phrases and Happy Phrases

Enabler’s List:
Stamps: Text Objects, Happy Phrases, Sweet Scallop Tag (stamp) (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Gabrielle Collection (BoBunny), Mellow Moss, Blush Blossom, Early Espresso (SU!)
Ink: Blush Blossom, Mellow Moss, Early Espresso (SU!)
Accessories: Sweet Scallop Tag Die, Charming Oval Die Set, Charming Banner Die Set, Elegant Leaves, Floral Circles Die Set (A Cut Above by Verve), bird punch (Fiskars), Damask Corners textured impressions (Sizzix), linen thread, Holiday Glitzy Glass Glitter (TCP), flatback pearls (Pizzazz Aplenty), Pearlized Topcoat (Smooch) 

Grow

It's Monday and time for the next Mojo Monday sketch!  This week's sketch was submitted by Teresa and features twine and ribbon... two of my favorite things!

My card doesn't have much stamping going on.  Actually just a sentiment from a set that will be releasing this weekend from Verve.  The Divas will be starting our spotlight hops tomorrow, so be sure to tune in all week long to see what we've got up our sleeve!

For my card, I went shabby chic and kept piling on the goodies.  I started with a corrugated cardboard flower shape, added some paint and glass glitter, then a ribbon rose made from shabby seam binding and painted on some Tattered Angels glimmer glam and finished with some pink pearls.  I found the grow bingo card in my stash, cut it to fit the sketch, then embossed the bloom and grow sentiment on vellum, sponged on some ink and paint, then stapled together.  The border and the embossed background our Tim Holtz and I added some sponging to age things up a bit.  I finished off with a little metallic dream string and tucked in a few copper skeleton banyan leaves from Pizzazz Aplenty up top.

Enabler's List:
Stamps:  Bloom & Grow (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Gabrielle (Bo Bunny), Blushing Bride, Early Espresso, vellum cardstock (SU!), Natural White (Neenah)
Ink: Vintage Photo (Ranger Distress), Blushing Bride, Early Espresso (SU!)
Accessories:  Corrugated flowers (Maya Road), Snow Cap paint dabber (Ranger), shabby wrinkled ribbon (Prairie Bird Boutique on Etsy), Holiday Glitzy glass glitter (TCP), Lipstick Pink Glimmer Glam (Tattered Angels), Bingo Card (Jenni Bowlin), Scroll border die, Ledger embossing folder, tiny attacher (Tim Holtz), pearls (Studio G), Chocolate Toffee Metallic Dream String, Copper Skeleton Banyan Leaves (Pizzazz Aplenty)

Color Me Spring

Happy Saturday, peeps!  The Verve Diva Dare is wrapping up this weekend, so I thought I'd take this chance to pop in with my take on this month's challenge... Color Me Spring!  You have until Sunday night {4/10} to play along, whether you're taking the dare or just commenting on all the fabulous Diva creations.

Color was the name of the game for this dare, and as I pulled out my colors I couldn't help but think of a fabulous new line of sorbet I saw at the grocery store the other day...  mango, strawberry, lime and lemon.  Yum!  So along with the Egg-stra Special set I pulled out some cardstock that hasn't seen the light of day in a while... apricot appeal, gable green, pink pirouette, barely banana and soft sky.  Sorry my photo is a little dark.  My camera settings got bumped and I can think of at least a hundred things I'd rather do this morning than retake the photo with the correct settings.  {grin}  So for a moment, just imagine brighter whites, softer colors and sparkling butterflies and eggs.

I didn't really have a plan, just started stamping eggs on the different colors of cardstock, accenting with Copic markers and layering with my just hatched chick and some green grass.  The cardstock pieces are embossed with a new Sizzix embossing folder and I just layered them together similarly to how they fell on my desk, adding a little hand-doodled dotted border and stamping a couple eggs in the white space in the bottom corner.


The sentiment is cut with the Charming Oval Die and I accented with some rhinestones in pink, blue and green.  I finished off with some sparkly butterflies, polka dot ribbon and a couple Trinket Pins from Vio's Handmade.

That's all for me today!  I've got tons to do before next Friday's release.  Hope you have a fantastic weekend, and don't forget to play along in the Diva Dare! 


Enabler's List:
Stamps: Egg-stra Special (Verve Stamps)
Paper: gable green, pink pirouette, barely banana, apricot appeal, soft sky, basic black (SU!)
Ink: Dye Black Ink (A Muse), Tumbled Glass (Ranger Distress, Copic Markers
Accessories: Charming Oval Die Set (A Cut Above by Verve), Grass Cutups (TCP), Corners & Lattice Textured Impressions (Sizzix), liquid pearls, Stickles (Ranger), ribbon (May Arts), rhinestones (Pizzazz Aplenty), corner chomper (WRMK), trinket pins (Vio's Handmade on Etsy)

Little Birdie

Hi peeps!  Happy Friday!  This has been one looooong week for me, and I'm so glad to be heading into the weekend!  And what better way to kick off the weekend, then with a Viva la Verve sketch?  This week's hostess with the mostess is Andrea, who designed this fun little sketch.

I started by stamping Chaz and the "a little birdie told me" sentiment from Chicks Rule on a Big Scalloped Circle, then matting with black.  I stamped Chaz again, colored with Copics and layered over the top, so his little curly cue stuck out over the edge.

The paper is all from the For the Record collection by Echo Park.  I added some opposing rounded corners, liquid pearl accents and some flatback pearls accented with a punch from the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack.  For the center band, I used the Big Scallop die from TCP (although it's mostly covered, I still like the curve of it), then layered some black grosgrain over the top it.  I finished off with a cherry blossom glitzed up with some ink and a little chunky clear glass glitter.

Enabler's List:
Stamps:  Chicks Rule (Verve Stamps)
Paper: For the Record (Echo Park), Black, Ivory
Ink: Onyx Black (Versafine), Copic Markers, Vintage Photo Distress Ink (Ranger)
Accessories:  Big Scalloped Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Big Scallop CutUps and Holiday Glitzy clear glass glitter (TCP), corner chomper (WRMK), Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack and black grosgrain ribbon (SU!), mulberry cherry blossoms and flatback pearls (Pizzazz Aplenty), liquid pearls (Ranger)

Wonder Thanks

Hi y'all!  Happy Wednesday!  Today I've got a quick little card I made using Love's Flower and  a sentiment from Amazing Wishes.

A while back, I was playing around in my studio and I saw a stitched canvas rectangle on my desk and I wondered if I could stamp it and color it with watercolor wonder crayons.  Remember those?  I haven't used mine in years, but I was curious and decided to pull them out!  The flower is stamped with Vintage Photo Distress ink.  I heat set it with my heat gun to minimize any ink bleeding, then colored with the wonder crayons and blended with an aquapainter.  To my amazement, it worked!  {grin}

I added some vintage photo ink around the edges, then frayed the top and bottom and wrapped the sides with some pretty washi tape.  I wrapped the same washi tape around a square crumb cake rectangle, then stamped a couple of the flowers from Love's Flower as a background, leaving room for the Thank You sentiment from Amazing Wishes.  I had a little frame cut out from a QuicKutz Nesting Label already cut, so I just threw it behind my canvas and then finished off with some liquid pearl accents and a flatback pearl for my flower center.  Finished card size is 4.25" square.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Have a fabulous day!'

Enabler's List:
Stamps: Love's Flower , Amazing Wishes (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Crumb Cake (SU!), Cream
Ink: Vintage Photo Distress Ink (Ranger), Watercolor Wonder Crayons (SU!)
Accessories:  Stitched Canvas Rectangle, Nesting Label (QuicKutz), liquid pearls (Ranger), flatback pearls (Pizzazz Aplenty), washi tape (iCopic), aquapainter

Birthday Fun

Hi everyone! Today I have a little card to share that I made last weekend when I was playing around with new toys.  My Pennant Nestabilities finally arrived, and I couldn't wait to break out the Vintage Banners set from Waltzingmouse.

I stamped the big striped pennant twice in Cherry Cobbler, then once in Bermuda Bay.  Next I cut one of the red stamped images with the Pennants die, then a cherry cobbler mat with the Lacey Pennants.  I didn't like the way the Pennants and Lacey Pennants Nestabilities layered together, so I hand cut the Pennant along the emboss line to nest inside the lacey pennant.

I cut out the scrolly section of the bermuda bay Vintage Banner and layered it over the cherry one, adding some rhinestones.  For the side tabs, I simply cut the stamped vintage banners with the smaller Pennants die and added them to the sides for a little interest.

To dress things up, I stamped the butterfly from Chicks Rule, cut out with the Flutterby Die, then colored with Copic markers and added some diamond glaze, glitter and rhinestones.  The sentiment is from the Wordy Birds set, and is stamped and layered onto Charming Oval die cuts.

And since it was such a festive card, I decided to do a festive ribbon treatment to go along.  I layered some loops of bermuda bay polka dot ribbon, then glued down a round sparkling slider from Pizzazz Aplenty and topped with a bow.  The base of the card is a little narrower than usual and the finished card (embossed with the 5x7 dots Cuttlebug folder) is 3.5 x 5.5".

Enabler's List:
Stamps:   Vintage Banners (Waltzingmouse Stamps), Chicks Rule, Wordy Birds (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Bermuda Bay (SU!), Bright White (TCP)
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Bermuda Bay (SU!), Black Dye Ink (A Muse)
Accessories:  Charming Oval Die Set, Flutterby Die (A Cut Above by Verve), Pennants and Lacey Pennants Nestabilities (Spellbinders), dotted embossing folder (Cuttlebug), clear 3mm rhinestones, round sparkling slider (Pizzazz Aplenty), ribbon (SU!), diamond glaze, glitter