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Golden Christmas

Hi friends!  I'm popping in with a card using this week's November Week 3 Viva la Verve sketch + inspiration.  As soon as I saw the inspiration picture, I knew I'd have to find some time to play along with the challenge.  Christyne had me at pumpkins.  {grin}  So, I'm recapping this week's sketch and sharing some of my favorite entries from the last week over on the VLV Sketches Blog today.


Anyhow, since my desk is covered with Christmas goodies from the recent release, I decided to trade the pumpkins for poinsettias, using lots of cream on cream and golden accents.  I wanted a really clean, crisp look and you would not believe how many times I had to stop and remind myself of my objective and step away from the paper distresser.  I'm pretty sure I have a distressing problem!  LOL

Anyhow, the card came together really quickly.  I stamped the poinsettia with leaves from Pinecone Christmas in Versamark six times and embossed with gold embossing powder.  Next I cut three of the images out with the coordinating die from Poinsettia Pinecones Die Set.  The other three I cut with the smaller poinsettia die, so I could pop up over the other die cut.  (You get a little bit of the leaves on the border around the poinsettia, but since I was popping it up over the same image and not doing any coloring, I knew it wouldn't be very noticeable.  I loved the effect and it was much easier than cutting the poinsettias by hand.)

Next I die cut 3 circles (embossed with dots) from cream and matted with some gold vellum scraps I had.  The sentiment is also from Pinecone Christmas, embossed in gold and hand cut into a banner.  I layered everything together, added some gold ribbon, jingle bells and 3 shiny flatback pearls to the center of each flower and I was done.  Pretty quick and super elegant.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  On the agenda for today is lots of the boys' favorite new book, Dinosaurumpus and some toddler crafting in the form of no glue paper bag turkeys. Wish me luck!  {grin}

Viva la Verve Nov Week 3
Enabler's List
Stamps: Pinecone Christmas (Verve Stamps)
Paper: cream, gold vellum
Ink: versamark
Accessories: Poinsettia Pinecones Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), Classic circles nestabilites (Spellbinders), dots embossing folder (Cuttlebug), ribbon, jingle bells, flatback shiny gold pearls (Pizzazz Aplenty)

Wintry Cross

Hi friends!  It's the last Monday of the month and time for a tall & skinny sketch over at Mojo Monday.  I used a 3.5" x 5.5" base for my card so it will still fit in a regular A2 envelope.

The current Diva Dare over on the Verve Blog is Vellum Visions, and I've been wanting to play along.  So I pulled out some vellum and the new Weary World set and got started.


My original vision for the card was that all the panels would be white.  I first cut the white panels and embossed them with a snowflake embossing folder.  The cross is embossed in silver on pearlized card stock, then cut with the coordinating Starry Stable Die Set.  Next I took a strip of vellum for my diagonal banner.  I wanted silver, but didn't have any, so I decided to make my own by covering the vellum with brushed pewter distress stain, spritzing it with some white linen Dylusions spray and then embossing it with the snowflakes folder before attaching it to my white layer.

Next I embossed the "Christ is the Lord O Praise His name forever" stamp onto vellum, cut it into a banner and embossed just the top of it with that same embossing folder.  I found a scrap of red vellum in the pile, and decided it would make just the right splash behind the cross image, so embossed it with that snowflake embossing folder (are you sensing a theme?  LOL), then brushed it with some of the pewter distress stain.  Liked how it looked, so I decided to lightly brush the distress stain on all my panel edges.  Finished with a bit of silver cording and two silver jingle bells.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving week. Our family will be having twice the pumpkin pie as we're doubly blessed to have both of our families nearby. A busy time for sure, since the twins are a bit squirrely at meal times in general, and turn on the drama when their off their routine.

If you're shopping this week, Verve started it's Thanksgiving Sale a little early with our new release last Thursday.  20% off all stamps, dies and embellishments (INCLUDING the brand new release)!   Gobble up the savings before November 30!

Mojo Monday 373
Enabler's List
Stamps: Weary World (Verve Stamps)
Paper: pearlized white (Paper Accents), regular vellum, red vellum
Ink: Versamark, Brushed Pewter Distress Stain, White Linen Dylusions Spray (Ranger)
Accessories:  Starry Stable Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), snowflake embossing folder (Tim Holtz Alterations), jingle bells, silver cording

Silvery New Year

Hi friends!  Happy Friday!  It's been a super busy week here and I'm just now getting to share the card I made for last week's November Week 2 Viva la Verve challenge and it's already time for a new challenge to post! Be sure to head on over to the VLV Sketches blog to see Christyne's lovely sketch + inspiration for this week.


I just watched Tangled (one of my favorite recent Disney movies) again with the boys last week and totally had paper lanterns on the brain, so I knew I wanted to use the lantern image from Light My World. I started by embossing it in silver on pear pizzazz, then cutting it out by hand.  I used a cropadile for the hang hole, then threaded some silvery ribbon through and tied with silver cord.  The black panel is stamped with the small star image in jasmine Mix'd Media Inx, then matted with silver shimmer paper.


I used the same star for and a Versamark pad for some tone on tone stamping on the pear pizzazz panel, adding the Happy New Year sentiment at the bottom in black.  A silver doily is behind this layer and my main black panel is embossed with a chevron embossing folder and lightly sponged with the jasmine mix'd media inx.  I finished off with a rhinestone and silver pearl accent on the lantern.  A little hard to photograph because of all the shine, but sparkle-tastic in real life.

That's all for my card.  If you haven't had a chance to comment on my Verve Spotlight Hop posts, here are the links.  The prize drawing deadline is tonight (11/21) at 10pm Mountain.

Day 4 Hop

The master hop lists are linked on each post, or you can view all of the cards in this week's spotlight hops on our November Spotlights Pinterest Board...
Follow Verve Stamps's board November 2014 Spotlights on Pinterest.


In addition to our new release being available, everything in the store is marked 20% off through November 30, during our Thanksgiving Sale.  Offer is good while supplies last, so hurry in for best selection!

VLV November Week 2
Enabler's List
Stamps: Light My World (Verve Stamps)
Paper: black, pear pizzazz, silver shimmer paper (SU!), doily
Ink: versamark, jamine (Mix'd Media Inx), black
Accessories: doily, ribbon, rhinestone, Cropadile

Verve Release Day Spotlight Hop

It's release day at Verve and we're celebrating with Day 4 of our November 2014 Spotlight Hops!

Have you enjoyed the spotlights we've been sharing this week? Well, the wait is over and everything previewed this week is available in the Verve online store now! Today's spotlight is on the November 2014 Release Collection, so the Divas and special guest will be sharing creations using whatever inspired them from the new release.  It's sure to be a treat, and speaking of treats we have another giveaway, but this one's the MERRIEST of giveaways... the ENTIRE release!  So be sure to give a little shout out in the comments as you hop about.

I'm the first stop on today's hop and am so glad you're here.  Stay tuned at the bottom of the post for the prize info and hop list.


First up is a little mixed-media card using the Light My World set.  This is the first card I made with this release and it was so much fun.  I created a background piece on gessoed watercolor paper with grey and yellow pan pastels, some gold acrylic paint, and a charcoal pencil.  I scribbled some of the words to O Holy Night over the piece, then added a bit more pan pastels and spritzed with Dylusions white linen spray and finished off by stamping the little star in white a few times.  Next I stamped the candle image from Light My World in Archival black, then again on cardstock and colored with Distress markers and a waterbrush, cutting the image out by hand and popping up over the stamped piece on dimensionals.



The Merry Christmas sentiment is stamped onto a Charming Oval die cut and matted in basic gray. The candle panel is torn by hand, and then I tore a basic gray mat for it as well, then adhered to an embossed panel of white, distressed the edges and tied some silver cording around it.


Next up, to bookend the spotlights, I'm sharing the last card I made for release.  This one uses the manger scene from  Weary World, embossed, colored and cut with the coordinating Starry Stable Die Set.  I also cut the smallest star in the die set from shimmer paper and popped it up above the manger.  The O Holy Night sentiment is embossed in silver onto vellum and then adhered to a piece of cardstock embossed with snowflakes.  I embellished with some lines of silver pearls, then added a fun little jingle bell ribbon treatment down the side.

Thanks so much for hopping along with me this week!  There's a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes to pull off a release, and it's always this big bright spot in my very long release week days to read your lovely comments in between putting the finishing touches on the website and marketing materials.  I hope you enjoy these stamps and I'd love to hear which set is your favorite from this release.

Our holiday release came later than I had hoped and since it's so close to Thanksgiving I decided to start our Thanksgiving sale a little early.  That way I can spend some time with my sweet boys and family next week and only need to do one website changeover.  That means all of our products (including the brand new releases are 20% off  through November 30.



Want to win some shiny new Verve? We'll be picking a random commenter on one of the hop spots below to win our ENTIRE November 2014 Release! So be sure to leave a little comment on all the blogs below to increase your chances! All of this week's prize drawings end on Friday 11/21 at 10pm Mountain, so you've still got some time to peruse all the fabulous samples the design team has shared this week.

November 2014 Collection


Next up on the hop is Laurie! 


Day 4 Hop List
1. Julee8. Teresa
2. Laurie9. Andrea
3. Marisa10. Christyne
4. Amber11. Nancy
5. Diana 12. Maureen
6. Charmaine 13. Janelle
7. Stacey


Enabler's Lists
Candle card
Stamps: Light My World (Verve Stamps)
Paper: white, basic gray (SU!)
Ink: pan pastels, paint, gesso, distress markers, charcoal pencil, white linen dylusions spray, jasmine (Mix'd Media Inx)
Accessories: Charming Oval Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), silver cording, diamond glaze, snowflake embossing folder (Darice)

Manger card
Stamps: Weary World (Verve Stamps)
Paper:  pearlized card stock (Paper Accents), vellum and silver shimmer paper (SU!)
Ink: black archival (Ranger), VersaMark, Copic markers
Accessories: Starry Stable Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), lost lagoon taffeta, silver cording (SU!), jingle bells, silver pearls, snowflake embossing folder (Darice)

Weary World Spotlight Hop

Welcome back to Day 3 of Verve's November 2014 Spotlight Hops!  The Verve Divas and special guests are back for another day of spotlighting the new holiday release! And the wait is almost over... everything previewed this week will be available in the Verve online store tomorrow (Thursday, 11/20). So come hop along with us and see our first looks at today's featured products!

I'm the first stop on today's hop, so grab a treat and hop along with us to see what's new!
Today's spotlight is shining on my illustrations for this release... Weary World, Psalm 119:105 plain jane and the Starry Stable Die Set.



While I love fun and whimsical Christmas decor, my favorite kind of Christmas cards to make are the ones that put the meaning of Christmas front and center.  So that was my intent when sitting down to design this set, inspired by one of my favorite Christmas hymns, O Holy Night.


For my card, I decided to watercolor the manger scene from Weary World with Distress markers and a waterbrush.  I added some glitzy accents with a Wink of Stella pen, then stamped the sentiment in the Vintage Oval frame from Die Sidekicks, watercolored and cut with the Vintage Oval Die.  The papers are from the Glistening collection and I added some seam binding and aqua jingle bells, then finished off by accenting the star on  the stable with the smaller star from the die set, cut from silver shimmer paper.

Want to win some shiny new Verve? We'll be picking a random commenter on one of the hop spots below to win today's featured products! So be sure to leave a little comment on all the blogs below to increase your chances! Check out the Verve Blog today for a little more about our new products and all the prize info and deadlines!
Weary WorldStarry Stable Die Set
Psalm 119:105 Plain Jane

Next up on the hop is Laurie!

Day 3 Hop List
1. Julee8. Stacey
2. Laurie9. Teresa
3. Chaitali10. Andrea
4. Marisa11. Christyne
5. Amber12. Nancy
6. Diana13. Maureen
7. Charmaine


Enabler's List
Stamps:  Weary World (releasing 11/20), Die Sidekicks (Verve)
Paper: Glistening (Authentique), watercolor paper (Ranger), pearlized card stock (Paper Accents), glitter paper (SU!)
Ink: black archival, distress markers (Ranger), copic markers
Accessories:  Starry Stables Die Set, Vintage Oval Die (A Cut Above by VERVE), Signature Ribbon Collection (Verve), jingle bells, silver cording, waterbrush, clear embossing powder

Pinecone Christmas Spotlight Hop

Welcome back to Day 2 of Verve's November 2014 Spotlight Hops!  The Verve Divas and special guests are back for another day of spotlighting the new holiday release! Everything previewed this week will be available in the Verve online store on Thursday, 11/20. So come hop along with us and see what's new at Verve!

I'm the first stop on today's hop, so grab a treat and hop along with us to see what's new at Verve!
Today's spotlight is shining on the Pinecone Christmas set illustrated by Chaitali Narla and the coordinating Poinsettia Pinecones Die Set.


I loved the multi-step stamping concept of this set, so started with the pine cones in mossy meadow, then adding the branch in brown sugar, as well as the pine cone duo.  I embossed the Happy Holidays sentiment above in cherry cobbler, then sponged the edges with brown sugar ink.  The poinsettia with leaves is stamped in brown sugar and then cut out with the coordinating die from the Poinsettia Pinecones Die Set.  I then stamped the solid flower in cherry cobbler and the solid leaves in mossy meadow for a super quick colored image.  A Flourished Trim border die cut separates my layers and I embellished with some cherry cobbler seam binding and a gold rhinestone.


Want to win some shiny new Verve? We'll be picking a random commenter on one of the hop spots below to win today's featured products! So be sure to leave a little comment on all the blogs below to increase your chances! Check out the Verve Blog today for a little more about our new products and all the prize info and deadlines!
Pinecone Christmas

Next up on the hop is Laurie!

Day 1 Hop List
1. Julee7. Charmaine
2. Laurie8. Stacey
3. Chaitali9. Teresa
4. Marisa10. Andrea
5. Amber11. Nancy
6. Diana


Enabler's List
Stamps:  Pinecone Christmas (releasing 11/20 from Verve Stamps)
Paper: Joyeux Noel (Glitz Designs), baked brown sugar (SU), cream (Neenah)
Ink: cherry cobbler, baked brown sugar, mossy meadow (SU!)
Accessories:  Poinsettia Pinecones Die Set and Flourished Trim (A Cut Above by VERVE), square lattice embossing folder (SU!)

Light My World Spotlight Hop

Welcome to Verve's November 2014 Spotlight Hops!  Over the next few days the Verve Divas and special guests will be spotlighting 3 new sets, a plain jane and 2 coordinating die sets! Everything previewed this week will be available in the Verve online store on Thursday, 11/20.   I'm the first stop on today's hop, so grab a treat and hop along with us to see what's new at Verve!

Today's spotlight is shining on the Light My World set illustrated by Chaitali Narla and the new Holiday Sequin Mix.  And since it's Monday, I chose to use this week's Mojo Monday sketch for my card. I actually made two cards with the sketch (one with the Light My World set and the other with the new Psalm 119:105 Plain Jane that will be featured later this week).


First up, I stamped the candle trio image from Light My World on a piece of cream cardstock that had been happily splattered with some watered down ink when I was cleaning a stamp.  I liked the splatter, so decided to use it.  I die cut the circle and then sponged some scattered straw ink over the image before taking it out of the die cut.  Next I stamped the bottom portion of flowers on cream, watercolored with distress markers and popped up for some dimension.  And I stamped the candles on dp, then sponged with forest moss, cut out and paper pieced onto the image, coloring in the flames with a wink of stella marker.  The sentiment is stamped onto cream, then cut into a flag and accented with some gold cording and a red rhinestone.

Next up is my card with the Psalm 119:105 Plain  Jane.


I embossed the verse in early espresso onto cream cardstock, cut out and matted with a scallop circle die cut. On both cards, I used my paper corrugator to crimp a few lines on the left edge.  The papers I chose were shabby chic, so I distressed a bit, covering a wood banner with some of the DP and adding some paper flowers and iridescent leaves to finish things off.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  There's a little giveaway along today's hop with a chance to win today's featured products.  We'll see you back here tomorrow for another spotlight of our new release!



Want to win some shiny new Verve? We'll be picking a random commenter on one of the hop spots below to win today's featured products! So be sure to leave a little comment on all the blogs below to increase your chances! Check out the Verve Blog today for a little more about our new products, an introduction of our 2 fabulous guest divas, and all the prize info and deadlines!


Light My WorldHoliday Sequin Mix


Next up on the hop is  Laurie!


Day 1 Hop List
1. Julee7. Charmaine
2. Laurie8. Stacey
3. Chaitali9. Teresa
4. Marisa10. Andrea
5. Amber11. Nancy
6. Diana

Enabler's List
Candle Card

Stamps: Light My World (releases 11/20 from Verve)
Paper: Joyeux Noel (Glitz Designs), cream (Neenah)
Ink: black archival, scattered straw, fired brick, festive berries, forest moss, vintage photo distress ink (Ranger)
Accessories:  Classic Circles Nestabilities (Spellbinders), gold cording, rhinestone, paper corrugator

Mojo Monday 372
Thy Word Card
Stamps: Psalm 119:105 Plain Jane (releases 11/20 from Verve)
Paper: Devotion (Prima), early espresso (SU!), cream (Neenah)
Ink: early espresso, pool party (SU!), vintage photo distress ink (Ranger)
Accessories:  Classic & Scallop Circles Nestabilities (Spellbinders), paper flowers, paper corrugator, iridescent leaves (Pizzazz Aplenty)



Medallion Blessings

Hi friends!  It's Monday again and time for a new Mojo Monday sketch.  This week's sketch is based on a card I made for last month's release that I thought came together really quickly, but still packed a punch.  I hope y'all have fun with it!


When I was working on my Viva la Verve card for last week, I made an extra medallion piece with the VLV colors (green + red + kraft) and the Peaceful Medallions set.  I thought it would work well for the sketch, so I just grabbed some Christmas papers and the Glad Tidings set and got to work.  I stamped the crumb cake base in crumb cake with the medium sized snowflake from Glad Tidings and stamped the sentiment from the same set in Vintage Photo ink in the corner.  I sponged all of my panels with vintage photo, then layered them according to the sketch, adding a bit of cherry cobbler seam binding, some jingle bells and a red rhinestone for accent.   Easy peasy!


Verve got a restocking shipment (including the Peaceful Medallions set I used today) last week and all of our back in stock products are on sale 10% off, along with 25% off  a bunch of other stamps and dies.   Check out our SALE page for all the deals!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you have a fantastic start to your week!

Mojo Monday 371
Enabler's List
Stamps: Peaceful MedallionsGlad Tidings (Verve Stamps)
Paper:  Joyeux Noel (Glitz), mossy meadow, cherry cobbler crumb cake (SU!)
Ink: cherry cobbler, mossy meadow, crumb cake (SU!), vintage photo (Ranger Distress)
Accessories: classic circles Nestabilities (Spellbinders), circle punches (EK Success), cherry cobbler seam binding (SU!), jingle bells, red rhinestone

Peaceful Christmas

Hi friends! It's the first Friday of a new month and my turn to host the Viva la Verve challenge.  For my feature this year, we've been doing a sketch + color challenge.  Play along with just the sketch, just the colors, or both if you're feeling it!  For November, I chose one of my favorite color combos for Christmas.  Inspired by brown paper packages tied up with string and red Christmas bulbs on a green Christmas tree, this months colors are kraft + red + green.


For my card, I knew I wanted to play with the newly restocked Peaceful Medallions, so I pulled it out straight away and stamped the big medallion in mossy meadow and cut and matted with nestabilities. Next I stamped the small medallion in cherry cobbler and punched with a 1-1/8" circle punch and matted with a 1-1/4" circle punch.  I layered everything together then pulled out some dp scraps from my last card for the other panels.  I decided to hand cut a banner on each panel for a little extra flair and sponged everything with vintage photo distress ink for a little depth.  For decoration, I added a bit of gold washi to the top of one of the panels, then accented with some cranberry flatback pearls.

The crumb cake panel is stamped with the Christmas Wishes sentiment from the Christmas Joy set, and then I embossed the whole panel with a snowflake embossing folder and sponged with a little more vintage photo ink before adhering to my crumb cake card base.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you have a fabulous weekend!

Viva la Verve Nov Week 1
Enabler's List
Stamps: Peaceful Medallions, Christmas Joy (Verve)
Paper: Christmas Cottage (Teresa Collins), mossy meadow, cherry cobbler, crumb cake (SU!)
Ink: cherry cobbler, mossy meadow (SU!), vintage photo (Ranger Distress)
Accessories:  classic circles nestabilities (Spellbinders), circle punches, washi tape, embossing folder (Darice), cranberry flatback pearls (Pizzazz Aplenty)