Verve Retrospective Blog Hop

Hi friends!  I'm the designated party starter for today's Anni-VERVE-sary Release Retrospective Hop.  It's our new fun time to play with the new release and give you a bit more inspiration now that you've had a chance to get the stamps in your inky little hands!  And we're giving a $40 gift voucher to the Verve store to a lucky commenter along today's hop, so get comfy and let's take a ride!

I'm a last minuter.  Yep, that's me.  Totally squeak by in the nick of time most days.  Although since I've had the boys, I'm not always in control of WHEN the last minute is.  Sometimes I leave my stamp room, thinking I'll be right back and it's a week later before I get to enter again.  It's the new "normal", I guess. So as I was busy with my kiddos all week long and not feeling very creative after 12 hour marathons with two 2.5 year old energizer bunnies, I told myself, I'd stamp on Friday night after the boys go to bed.  But wouldn't you know it, the migraines kicked in last night right as I was reading Go Go Gorillas (the boys' new obsession, favorite book, which we MUST. READ. EVERY. NIGHT).

So, instead of stamping a new card, I'm sharing with you something I finished earlier in the week, but didn't want to use for the hop, since it featured some freehand sketching for the greenery, instead of stamping.  But here goes, anyway.  I guess it's all inspiration, right?  Maybe you like to sketch or doodle, too?  :)

The play by play:  Stamped the flower duo from Framed Lilies on cream cardstock, Sketched in the leaves and grass with a copic multiliner and colored with watercolor pencils. Muddied the colored flowers by being to impatient with the watercolors, so decided to stamp them again with early espresso, then color by stamping with the solid 2-step stamp in blushing bride, then hand cut and paper piece onto the image.  Cut the image with a Petite Oval nestability.  There was a notch missing near the top when I cut it, so decided to distress and grunge things up.  Stamped the sentiment from  Framed Lilies in the corner of a crumb cake square, tied on some taffeta ribbon.  Used a 4.25" square card base of blushing bride, inked with some walnut stain distress ink and embossed with chicken wire embossing folder.  Finished off with some paintbrush splatters using a mix of walnut stain distress ink and water.

Want to win some shiny new Verve? We're giving away a $40 gift voucher to one lucky commenter along the hop, so be sure to leave a shout out in the comments as you hop about.  Here's the full hop list.

Next up on the hop is Teresa!

	1. Julee	9. Janelle
	2. Teresa	10. Christyne
	3. Amber	11. Jen
	4. Charmaine	12. Andrea
	5. Marisa	13. Betty
	6. Monika {Guest}	14. Karen
	7. Stacey	15. Amy
	8. Maureen

Want another chance to win? Now it's your turn! We'd LOVE to see what you've done with the August release. Link up your cards using at least one product from our August release and you'll be entered in a drawing to win our entire next release! All the details and the linkup widget are on the Verve Blog today. The deadline is October 3, so there's still plenty of time to get the August release if you haven't already.

Enabler's List
Stamps:  Framed Lilies (Verve Stamps)
Paper: blushing bride, crumb cake, early espresso (SU!), cream (Neenah)
Ink: walnut stain, antique linen (Ranger Distress), blushing bride, early espresso (SU!), aquarelle watercolor pencils (Faber-Castell), Copic multiliner
Accessories:  chicken wire embossing folder (Cuttlebug), taffeta ribbon (SU!), petite and scallop petite ovals nestabilities (Spellbinders)