Day 3 AnniVERVEsary Spotlight Hops

Hi friends! We're back with Day 3 of our 10th Anni-VERVE-sary release! I've been so inspired by the fabulous samples everyone's been sharing, and we're back with another day of hopping! Hooray!

I'm the first stop on today's blog hop so settle in and let's get HOPPING! Verve is releasing 4 new sets and 2 die sets on Monday, August 28. The Divas and our very special Guest Diva, Kelly Lunceford, are joined by two more talented former Divas for today's hop. Michelle Woerner and Tosha Leyendekker. Both these gals are phenomenal designers with the sweetest hearts. I'm so excited to be hopping alongside of them again!

Today's feature is on the Cake & Candles stamp set. It's only fitting for our 10th Anni-VERVE-sary release to have a birthday set, right? This one is another fusion of new and classic Verve, with the re-appearance of the so very popular Happy Birthday and Birthday To You plain janes, as well as a fun Dr. Seuss quote from our 1st Anni-VERVE-sary commemorative set, Beautiful You. I added in a new cupcake and a few new sentiments that I frequently find myself writing inside birthday cards. Oh and a special request for a happy cake and candles stamp for Moe.

For my sneak peek today, I did a little watercolor plopping. A few weeks back I watched an Ali Brown video on this technique. In the video she mentions that your brush really matters for this technique. I nodded my head, looked at the price of large paintbrushes on Amazon, then decided my largest brush from my stash would work just fine. And the results were TERRIBLE.  LOL Like seriously... size really matters!  Then last weekend on a trip to Michaels I saw a round #12 brush on clearance and a lightbulb went off. It's pretty huge, and that's why it works... it can hold a ton of water! I brought it home and now I want to plop watercolor on all the things! Seriously fun, and the results have been wonderful every time. Here I used the blues and greens from the Pastel Dreams watercolor confections palette. Such a dreamy, ethereal look, don't ya think?

I first did the background for the sentiment, then did a card panel as well. I die cut the stitched circle from the previously released Springtime Stitches Die Set out of the card panel so it would match perfectly, knowing I would be covering up the hole with the sentiment panel. The sentiment from Cake & Candles is stamped in black, then I added some black rhinestone stars for accent.

The cupcake from the set is stamped onto the stiched circle die cut, then matted and accented with a touch of crystal glitter drops.  I finished offf with some baker's twine and a small sunburst rhinestone (another find in the beading section at Michael's). Super fun, but still relatively simple to make, and the colors and styling would work for a girl or guy. Bonus!

I've got another fun card with this set over on the Verve blog today, so don't forget to hop on over there for a little more inspiration!  If you already know you want the whole release, be sure to get in on the 30% off Buy It All Bundle pre-order.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Happy hopping!

Next up on the hop is Maureen.

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! Leave a little shout out in the comments section on all the blogs below to increase your chances! Check out the Verve Blog today for the full hop list, a little more about our new products and all the prize info and deadlines!

1. Julee 7. Lesley 2. Maureen 8. Christyne 3. Betty 9. Laurie 4. Charmaine 10. Kelly (Guest) 5. Marisa 11. Michelle W. (Alumni) 6. Tosha L.(Alumni)

Enabler's List
Stamps: Cake & Candles (Verve Stamps)
Paper: watercolor paper (Creatology), basic black (SU!)
Ink: onyx black (Versafine), Pastel Dreams Watercolor Confections (Prima)
Accessories: Springtime Stitches Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), classic circle die (Spellbinders), rhinestone stars, baker's twine, Nuvo crystal glitter drops (Tonic), sunburst sticker gem (Darice)