Looking UP - AVS Hop Day 5

Hi friends!  It's Monday morning and that means it's time for a new Mojo Monday sketch.  This week's sketch was designed by Teresa Kline.  I've flipped the sketch horizontally for my card.  Head on over to the Mojo Monday blog for all sorts of inspiration to jumpstart your creativity this week.

It's also Day 5 of our Anni-VERVE-sary Spotlight Hops and today the Divas are showcasing a set called Brighter Days, along with the coordinating Scalloped Flowers Die Set and Arrow Die, which will all be available following our release party on Friday night (8/24).  Hop along and leave some comment love on each of the blogs on the list and you just might win the sets and dies featured today!  Who wouldn't love a little new Verve?!  {grin}  Check out the Verve Blog for the full hop list, all the prize info and a little back story on today's stamps.

My card uses all three of today's featured products, plus another peek at the Flourished Trim and Pennant Trim dies.  I like to play with flowers with a lot of petals and layers, so these flowers are right up my alley.  For this card, I chose to use only stamps (no patterned paper) and one color of ink.  So everything is stamped in Cherry Cobbler and then I just used a colorless blender pen to fill in each of the flowers.  I love the different depths of color it creates on different colors of cardstock.  Here I used cream and Pretty in Pink.  The arrow shape has a pennant tail, so I decided to decorate my Pennant Trim border by stamping the end of the arrow on each pennant and coloring with a blender pen.  Then I had to stamp the full arrow and cut out with the Arrow Die to pop up next to my sentiment.  The pink and white layers of the flower add-on are cut with the Scalloped Flower Die Set.  I hand cut the smallest flower center to give a little more dimension, then coated with glassy glaze and a sprinkling of glitter.

I layered my borders, including my favorite dotted edge border punch, which I think looks great with the Pennant Trim Die and Flourished Trim Die.  I finished off with a ruffled ribbon treatment, a vintage button ad some liquid pearl accents.

Not sure if you noticed the little bit of "character" built into my card, but on my way from my studio to take the photo, one of the twins had a meltdown and I had to set the card down on the kitchen counter to go calm him down.  And sometime between then and when I picked the card up again it got splashed with water from the kitchen sink, so there's a little water spot on the T in "things".  In my life before twins, I would have remade the card, but the new there's-never-enough-time-in the-day-me is saying it's "good enough".   {grin}

There's lots to see today, so I'll stop rambling.  Now it's time to head on over to Laurie's blog to see her fabulous spin on these new products!  

1. Julee 8. Andrea 2. Laurie S. 9. Charmaine 3. Maureen 10. Janelle 4. Teresa 11. Betty 5. Tosh 12. Christyne {Guest} 6. Amber 13. Laurie W. {Guest} 7. Amy

Enabler's List
Stamps:  sneak preview of Brighter Days (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Pretty in Pink (SU!), Cream
Ink: Cherry Cobbler (SU!) Colorless Blender Pen (Dove)
Accessories:  sneak preview of Scalloped Flowers Die Set, Arrow Die, Pennant Trim Die, Flourished Trim Die (A Cut Above by VERVE), Dotted Edge punch (EK Success), Classic Circles Nestabilities (Spellbinders), seam binding ribbon (SU!), button (MME), liquid pearls (Ranger), Candy Cane embossing folder (Cuttlebug), corner rounder, glassy glaze (Ranger), glitter

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 Love the peeks you've been seeing and want a chance to win the whole release?

Create a new card using Verve Stamps Post your card to your blog or gallery Include a link to the Verve store in your write up Link your card using the entry form HERE

One lucky participant from all the entries will win our entire new release of products! That's over $300 worth of stamps and dies! You may enter as many times as you like, and feel free to link any new* Verve challenge cards, but each entry must be a different card, use Verve Stamps, be posted in a separate post, and include a link to Verve. *Only new cards posted August 16 through August 24, 2012 are eligible.

Deadline to link your cards is 5PM Eastern on Friday, August 24. The winner will be announced at our release party that night (you don't need to be present to win)!