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Hibiscus Cool

Hi friends!  It's Friday and time for the final May Viva la Verve sketch.  This one's hosted by the always fabulous Anya.  My first look at the sketch looked like a post card, so that's where my inspiration led me.


I started with a couple of patterns from the Dolled Up paper pack.  I loved the one that says start everyday with a smile, so cut it so that portion would show, then cut the pink gingham piece for the other panel, sponged around the edges, taped together and glued to the aqua stripe paper.  Next I turned to the sentiment and settled on building my own with the Happy Days set.  I stamped the cool in strawberry slush on cream cardstock, then used a crumb cake marker on just one side of each marker and over stamped to add a hint of dimension.  Next I stamped the you're so sentiment in walnut stain and pulled out the  Borderline set for the row of stitches at the bottom.

I stamped the hibiscus duo from Happy Days in archival black, then water colored with NeoColor II watersoluble pastels and a waterbrush.  I added some white gel pen accents, then stamped the image again and colored just the leaves with twisted citron and forest moss distress ink and a waterbrush.  Fussy cut each piece, then popped up on dimensionals and accented the card with one rounded corner and a bit of linen thread.

You can guarantee that the Hibiscus Hula song from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse was running through my head on an endless loop the entire time I was making this card. I'm pretty sure the songs to that show have been branded into my long term memory!  :)

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

May Week 5 Viva la Verve Sketch
Enabler's List
Stamps: Happy Days, Borderline (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Dolled Up (My Mind's Eye), cream (Neenah)
Ink: walnut stain distress, twisted citron, forest moss distress ink, black archival ink (Ranger), Strawberry Slush, Crumb Cake (SU!), Neocolor II Watersoluble pastels (Caran d'Ache)
Accessories: corner rounder (WRMK), linen thread (SU!), wood veneer (Evalicious)

A Day to Remember

Hi friends!  It's Monday again and time for a brand new Mojo Monday sketch.  This week is tall & skinny week, so I made a 3.5" x 5.5" card (that way it still fits in a regular A2 envelope).



I had Memorial Day on my mind, so picked out the Sunny Days set to make a little remembrance card.  The two fringe flowers are stamped in cherry cobbler ink on cream, then sponged with fired brick and barn door distress ink.  I then punched them out with a 1" and 1-3/8" circle punch, inked the edges with walnut stain and snipped every few lines or so, to give some dimension.  The center piece is a 3/4" circle punch sponged with fossilized amber, then doodled with a chocolate chip marker, sponged with walnut stain ink and then accented with thee white gel pen dots.

The sentiment is stamped onto a circle in early espresso ink, then I sponged around the edges with antique linen and walnut stain, adding a bit of Tim Holtz tissue tape to the side for a little interest.  The leaves are stamped in mossy meadow and then cut out with the coordinating Leafy Sprigs Die Set.  I added a banner behind cut from island indigo using the Banner Bundle Die Set and then layered some wide striped ribbon and some filmstrip ribbon for my other panels.

The cream panel is embossed with the chicken wire embossing folder and also inked up with some antique linen and walnut stain ink before adding it to my card base.

That's all on the card front.  If you're in the States I hope you're enjoying the long weekend.  If you haven't checked it out yet, be sure to head on over to Verve to pick up some deals during our Memorial Day sale.  Use offer code MEM25 at checkout for 25% off your purchase through May 26, 2015.


Mojo Monday 399 Sketch
Enabler's List
Stamps: Sunny Days (Verve Stamps)
Paper: old olive, island indigo (SU!), cream (Neenah)
Ink: cherry cobbler, early espresso, mossy meadow, chocolate chip (SU!), antique linen, walnut stain, fossilized amber, barn door, fired brick distress inks (Ranger), white gel pen (Signo Uniball)
Accessories:  Leafy Sprigs Die Set, Banner Bundle Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), film strip ribbon, tissue tape, tiny attacher (Tim Holtz), chicken wire embossing folder (Cuttlebug), 3/4", 1" and 1-3/8" circle punches, wide striped ribbon (SU!)

My Happy Place

Hi friends!  Happy Friday!  Friday means it's time for a new sketch challenge over at Viva la Verve, and this week Stacey is our hostess with the mostess.  I love the possibilities of her sketch.


I started with a little ATC sized white panel and sponged some distress paint on over a Memory Box stencil.  Once this dried, I layered the dot fade Tim Holtz stencil over this and sponged with fossilized amber and then with walnut stain.  I added some black soot around the edges and then wiped off and repeated.  Next I stamped the sentiment from Happy Place on white cardstock and cut out.  The flags are a couple of paper clip embellishments from my stash and I decided to add a hint of washi to my sentiment panel to tie in the orange in one of the flags.

For embellishment, I looped some linen thread around the panel, added a silver heart and finished off with a mini library clip.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you have a fabulous start to the long weekend.  And if you're in the mood to shop, be sure to head over to Verve and use gift code MEM25 for 25% off your purchase now through May 26!

Viva la Verve May Week 4
Enabler's List
Stamps: Happy Place (Verve Stamps)
Paper: white, black
Ink: tumbled glass, peacock feathers, peeled paint, fossilized amber, walnut stain, black soot (Ranger Distress inks & paints), black archival
Accessories: butterfly vine stencil (Memory Box), dot fade stencil (Tim Holtz Alterations), washi tape, paper clip embellishments, silver heart, mini library clip, linen thread, Chicken Wire embossing folder (Cuttlebug)

All Things

Hi friends!  It's Monday again and time for a brand new sketch over on the Mojo Monday blog. We've had a super rough week of sickness at our house, topped off with an a still going strong stomach virus for the twins, so I'm going to keep this short and sweet and just share a picture and the ingredients for my card.



Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you have a healthy and creative week!

Mojo 398 Card Sketch
Enabler's List
Stamps: Bloom & Grow (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Miss Caroline (MME), smoky slate (SU!), white (Neenah)
Ink: soft sky, coastal caribbean (SU!), pumice stone distress (Ranger), white pencil (Stabilo)
Accesories:  Floral Circles Die Set, Sprightly Sprigs Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), hexagons embossing folder (Cuttlebug), pearls, 1/2" circle punch (SU!)

I Totally Meant To Do That

Hi friends!  It's Friday again already and that means it's time for a brand new Viva la Verve sketch. This week Charmaine has a sweet and simple layout that I just adore!


My card for today turned out much different than I originally had expected. My brain painted this picture of a super simple white on white with a touch of watercolor look. And it definitely started out that way. I spent a little time relaxing and trying out the no line watercolor technique using the flowers from Kind Words and my Neocolor II watersoluble pastels and a waterbrush. I just scribble the pastels on my craft sheet and then pick up the color with the waterbrush.  My coloring session looked something like this...


Soft and serene, no? I walked away to let it dry, then came back ready to stamp my sentiment, cut a few panels and be done. BUT... I totally fumbled my black archival ink pad when I was taking the lid off and it landed ink side down right in the spot I was going to stamp the sentiment. Eek! There's NO way to hide that on a clean & simple card. So I took it as a sign that the card needed to be grunged up... my secret weapon against all manner of card bloopers.

So out came the distress inks and the paper distresser and the air art tool to splatter more black ink to make my focal panel look like my black ink stain was artistic choice. I then needed a background that matched in grunginess, so picked out an embossing folder, sponged distress inks on it, and painted in some of the detail with the Neocolor II crayons and a waterbrush. The embossed butterfly didn't stand out as well as I would like, so I mixed some light modeling paste with a few scribbles of the watercolor crayon to tint it and stenciled some dots on the butterfly and a few random areas on the card.  I added some white gel pen accents, then finished off with a black bow for my vertical strip.

Well, that's all from me today.  I hope you have a fantastic start to your weekend!

Viva la Verve May Wk 3 Sketch
Enabler's List
Stamps: Kind Words (Verve Stamps)
Paper: watercolor paper (fabriano), cream (Neenah)
Ink: black soot, tumbled glass, vintage photo, antique linen, dusty concord distress inks and black archival ink (Ranger), Neocolor II water soluble pastels (Caran d'Ache), white gel pen, wink of stella clear pen
Accessories: butterfly embossing folder (Darice), light modeling paste (liquitex), waterbrush, ribbon
dot fade Tim Holtz stencil (Stampers Anonymous)

Celebrate

Hi friends!  It's Monday morning again and time to jump start the week with a brand new Mojo Monday card sketch.  This week's sketch was based on a fun shabby chic card I made last week for the Diva Inspirations Blog Hop using the same stamps and papers as today's card.  (Tomorrow's the deadline for the blog hop comment prizes, so if you haven't checked out the hop, be sure to click on over for some blooming inspiration!)




I didn't have a lot of time to create, so I decided to just work with some stamped and cut flowers and papers still on my desk from a previous stamping session.  The stamps used are from the Poppy Birthday  set and they're cut with the coordinating Build a Poppy Die Set and paired with the greenery from the Sprightly Sprigs Die Set .  Each is die cut, shaped a bit, sponged with vintage photo distress ink and accented with a white gel pen.  The papers are all from the  Lost & Found - Blush collection from My Mind's Eye.


I added some twine for my horizontal layer, then hand cut some banners for the sentiment, adding a hint of a border with a black pen.  Finished off with some black matting to make the layers pop.

This one's also another sample for the current Let it Bloom Diva Inspiration Challenge.  Are you playing along?  We'd love to see your floral creations and Verve Stamps are not required to win! We're equal opportunity stampers, here.  :)


Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll play along with this week's Mojo sketch!



Mojo Monday 397 Card Sketch
Enabler's List
Stamps: Poppy Birthday (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Lost & Found - Blush (MME), black, cream
Ink: vintage photo distress, archival black (Ranger), white gel pen, black micron pen
Accessories:  Build a Poppy Die Set, Sprightly Sprigs Die Set  (A Cut Above by VERVE), twine

More Shabby Poppies

Hi friends!  Welcome to another Viva la Verve Friday!  This week's sketch is a super fun one from Anya, and after making my last card, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with this sketch.... more shabby poppies!  {grin}


When I realized yesterday afternoon that I haven't made any Mother's Day cards yet, I knew I needed to get ON it!  And since these lovely lost & found papers were still on my desk, I got right to work. The stamped poppies from Poppy Birthday are cut using the Build a Poppy Die Set using the same prints I used on my last card, but this time w I added some white gel pen accents. I paired them with leaves cut with the Sprightly Sprigs Die Set and then added white gel pen accents to those too.


The papers are shabbified with vintage photo distress ink and a paper distresser tool.  The sentiment is from Button Bestand didn't quite fit the birdy panel I had already cut, so I masked off the mother's day portion and stamped just the happy on the panel.  Next I stamped the stamp again on a scrap of paper and cut into two strips to add below the happy.  I finished off with a bit of black pen accents around each word to make them pop a bit.

This card is also perfect for the current Let it Bloom inspiration challenge.  Are you playing along?

That's all for today. I hope you have a wonderful start to your weekend.  Don't forget that it's also contest week at Mojo Monday, so we'd love it if you'd play along for a chance to win some Verve.



Viva la Verve May Week 2 Sketch
Enabler's List
Stamps: Poppy Birthday, Button Best (Verve Stamps)
Paper:  Lost & Found - Blush (MME), cream (Neenah)
Ink: vintage photo distress, archival black (Ranger), white gel pen, black micron pen
Accessories:  Build a Poppy Die Set, Sprightly Sprigs Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), paper distresser

Let it Bloom Diva Inspirations Blog Hop

Hi friends!  It's the 5th of the month and that means I'm kicking off Verve's May inspiration challenge as part of our monthly blog hop today.  So grab a drink and get ready for a little inspiration from the Divas with this month's challenge theme... LET IT BLOOM!  There's a blog hop prize and a challenge prize up for grabs, so be sure to read to the bottom for all the deets!


I loved the inspiration pic that Sarah picked out this month and just had to do something with aqua and pink!  So I pulled out an old My Mind's Eye paper pad, the Poppy Birthday set and coordinating Build a Poppy Die Set and got to work.

Whenever I use patterned paper on a card, I always start by flipping through a pad and picking out 3 patterns that I want to use (bonus if they are double sided).  Here I picked the bright pink polka dots, the aqua stripes and a dainty little rose pattern that brought the two colors together.  The text print is the backside of the aqua stripes paper.  So I cut a piece from each pattern and ran them through my die cut machine with the three largest flower dies from the Build a Poppy Die set.  Next I stamped the coordinating stamp on each pattern, distressed the edges with antique linen distress ink and popped each layer up on dimensionals.


Next I built the background with the two pink patterns on either side and I pulled in the book text (which was the back side of the aqua stripes) and stitched them all together to give a nice background for my poppies.  I cut 4 stems from black and then layered them under  the poppies, using two stems to make the tallest poppy.  The sentiment is stamped on the book print paper and hand cut in an angled banner and matted with black.  I layered a Charming Oval die cut beneath it for a fun look, then finished off with tons of distressing and a black bow.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I can't wait to hop along and see the bloomin' creations from the other Divas!  I hope you'll play along with us too!  You can find all the challenge details and linkup info on the Verve Blog.

Next up on the hop is the fabulous Amy Kolling!

Need a little inspiration? Check out the blogs linked below to see what the other Divas did with the challenge! It's sure to be a treat, and speaking of treats, we've got a prize for one lucky commenter along the hop! Check out the Verve Blog today for all the prize info and deadlines!

1. Julee6. Sarah
2. Amy7. Susan
3. Anya8. Maureen
4. Betty9. Marisa
5. Sankari

Enabler's List
Stamps: Poppy Birthday (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Lost & Found - Blush (MME), basic black (SU!)
Ink: archival black, antique linen and pumice stone distress (Ranger)
Accessories:  Build a Poppy Die Set, Charming Oval Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), ribbon

Hello Sunshine

Hi friends! It's Monday again and time for a brand new Mojo sketch! And since it's the first Monday of a new month, that means it's contest time! Play along with this week's sketch for a chance to win a stamp set of your choice from Verve!


Speaking of Verve, our National Scrapbooking Weekend Sale runs through tonight (midnight Pacific on 5/4/15). All stamps and dies are 20% off, plus we've marked down a selection of products 50% and are offering free first class shipping for US orders over $30.

For my sketch card, I pulled out one of the sets that's 50% off during the sale, Framed Lilies.  Asiatic lilies are my favorite type of flower.  Love, love, love the look of them, but my allergies go berserk around them in real life, so I'm happy to have a stamp I can enjoy without getting all asthmatic.  {grin}



I stamped the lily duo from Framed Lilies several times on cream cardstock, colored with copics and highlighted with a gold wink of stella pen. Next I sponged scattered straw distress ink over the panel through a stencil to give a polka dot background.  I did the same for the under layer of the sketch and added pumice stone ink around the edges for a worn look.  The patterned papers are from MME and I stamped the lily duo in island indigo on the indigo banner.  The sentiment is also stamped with island indigo and then sponged with scattered straw.  I stamped an extra lily, colored it, fussy cut it, and popped it up for a little depth.  I finished off with a linen thread/seam binding/button ensemble an a few red rhinestones to accent my angled panel.

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

Mojo Monday 396 Sketch
Enabler's List
Stamps: Framed Lilies (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Dilly Dally (MME), cream (Neenah)
Ink: island indigo (SU!), scattered straw, pumice stone distress inks, black archival ink (Ranger), Copic markers, Gold Wink of Stella brush pen
Accessories: Signature Ribbon Collection (Verve), Classic Circles Nestabilites (Spellbinders), Poppy Collage stencil (Donna Downey), linen thread, button, rhinestones

Always Good

Hi friends!  Happy Friday!  I'm kicking off our May series of sketches over on the Viva la Verve blog today.  I love how this card came together and just had to turn it into a sketch for y'all.  Hope you have fun with it and I'd love to see what you create!


I pulled out the One Cup set and started with the teacups.  I stamped them in archival ink on designer paper and then colored with copic markers.  I added a few accents with a white an a black stabilo marks all pencil.  Just got a couple of these to try and am amazed that they really do write over just about any media!

The tea panel was made with manila cardstock, sponged with distress inks, then I used a Tim Holtz stencil for the tea rings, making the main one with thick gesso and then coloring with various browns.  I used the same stencil on the background paper and ran it through the corrugator for a little extra texture.  The good idea sentiment is stamped on manila cardstock and added under the teacups.  I also added a little tea bag to the Tea word and then dressed some grosgrain ribbon up with rhinestones.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you have a sunshiny day!

Viva la Verve May Week 1 Sketch
Enabler's List
Stamps: One Cup (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Lost & Found - Antique (MME), manila cardstock (Ranger), basic black (SU!)
Ink: spiced marmalade, barn door, scattered straw, walnut stain, vintage photo, black soot distress inks, black archival ink (Ranger), stabilo marks all pencils
Accessories: grosgrain ribbon (SU!), rhinestones, paper corrugator, Splatters stencil (Tim Holtz)