Birthday Boy

Hey everyone! Today I'm sharing with you a masculine card I made for my brother's birthday last week. I thought this older sketch from Taylor {TECC58} really had some masculine potential, so paired it with Seeing Stars and a sentiment from Wonderful Wishes and voila!



The ovals are cut with the Petite Ovals Nestabilities and I used a 1" square punch and the small SU! star punch for the 9 panels. And since the card was headed out on its way to its new home that very day, I even completed the inside, with the help of the handy dandy Top Note die from Stampin' Up! The inside sentiment is from the Fancy Florals set.

ETA: All stamping was done with Versafine Onyx Black. I colored with Copic Marker Spanish Olive YG97 (a pretty close match for Old Olive) and sponged the edges of the Kraft cardstock with Antique Linen Distress Ink by Ranger.

Go Go Gadjet Mojo

Happy Monday, everyone! It's already time for another Mojo Monday sketch, and this week my card features everyone's favorite swanky cat, Sprinkle. She's all decked out in her Easter finest - isn't that Easter bonnet a hoot?

The colors were inspired by the Raspberry Tart paper by K & Company. Everything's pretty straightforward with the card, so I'll just leave you with the recipe and a link to the Mojo Monday blog where you can see this week's sketch and the fabulous creations from the Mojo Design Team!

What's In It?
Stamps: Spring Fling (The Cat's Pajamas)
Paper: Bazzill cardstock, Raspberry Tart DP (K & Company)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento), Mint (Studio G)
Accessories: Scallop & Classic Circles (Nestabilities), Copic markers, Stardust stickles, May Arts taffeta ribbon, black glitter dots (Jesse James)

Egg-stra Special Bunnies

Happy Friday Everyone! Yesterday I finally received some of the new Nestabilities dies that I pre-ordered ages ago. It was almost like Christmas, since I'd actually forgotten what I even ordered! LOL!! The Labels Four Nestabilities started screaming to be made into a treat bag the moment I opened the envelope. And since I didn't want my new dies to feel bad on their first day here, I decided to oblige.



I started by using the largest die on white cardstock and the next largest die on some In The Meadow Collab digi paper I had printed. I sponged around the edges of the In the Meadow paper, then glued to the white piece and scored in half. Next I stamped the bunny from Chocolate Bunnies, colored him with Copics and added some doodle accents and the Hoppy Easter sentiment. Next, I just trimmed him out and glued him to the bag topper. To finish off I added some gel pen accents and some Stardust Stickles. And the little treat bag is filled with those yummy little mini Cadbury eggs you can only find this time of year.



Here's a group shot of my project with a few little friends I made for the Verve Egg-stra Special Project Parade. Hop on over to the Verve Blog today to see my egg holders up close and personal. And we're still picking random commenters throughout the parade to win free Verve sets, so make sure to leave the girls a little love if you see something you like! And for a chance at a $25 gift certificate, be sure to link up your Egg-stra special spring project or card --> HERE <--. I hope y'all have a fantabulously crafty weekend!

Just Breathe

Happy Thursday! Today I've got a little hybrid project for you using a brand new digi collection by Kelley Mickus called Just Breathe. Don't you just love that name? The papers will make you want to do just that, too - they're all so breathtakingly lovely. When I saw them, I immediately thought of making a cute little set of notecards and a matching box. I started with the dimensions for the top and bottom of the box from Laurie's tutorial on SCS. From there I strayed off on my own and just cut pieces of my printed digi papers in strips 1/8" smaller than each panel. I like the look of the white matting setting off each panel, and I increased the contrast by inking the edges of each panel with Frayed Burlap distress ink. For the top of the box, I chose a section of the flower paper included in the Just Breathe collection and added some tiny rhinestones and some red hemp twine. The tag is cut with Nestabilities tags and I used a sentiment from the Chocolate Bunnies set.



For one of the cards in the set, I just layered a couple of the papers over each other, using one of the Piercabilities borders to cut the blue paper. The sentiment is one of the Verve freebie stamps that was sent out with launch orders this month - a little larger version of the smile stamp from Circular Sayings. I cut out a couple of the little scallop button digi embellishments I printed and added one on a dimensional as an accent for the card, and one on the outside of it's envelope for a little matchy-matchiness.



Okay, that's it for today, peeps! Hope you have a fabulous day! Thanks for stopping by!

Fluffy White Tail

Hey everyone! I don't have a lot of time to write, but I thought I'd leave you with something new to peek at. This one uses the Beans & Bunnies & Peeps, Oh My! set from The Cat's Pajamas. I colored the bunny with Copic markers and added a little liquid applique for a fluffy white tail. Isn't he cute? :)

A Card for a CAUSE

Happy Tuesday, peeps! The weather has been fabulous here - and I'm so happy to see the sun! I just feel like whistling a happy tune when the sun's a-shining! And my tulips are starting to peek their little green heads through the flowerbeds, so spring is really HERE! Hooray!



Today's card is going to a special cause that's dear to my heart. Jen Tapler is having a huge blog candy give-away {over $250 worth of stampin' goodies, including all of Verve's latest release sets!} to collect cards for a charity auction to raise money for the Alzheimer's Association. The association provides valuable information, education and support for Alzheimer's patients and their families, as well as funding research to find a cure for this frightening disease. Jen's dad has been rapidly progressing through the stages of Alzheimer's, and having watched those stages first-hand with my great-grandma as a young child, and more recently my grandfather, my heart breaks for her and the grandfather this disease is cheating her son out of. So, please make a card to donate for a good cause! All the challenge details can be found --> HERE <--. You can win some FABULOUS prizes, but more importantly - you can make a DIFFERENCE!

My card for today uses this week's Viva la Verve! sketch The {twist} for the week is CAS (clean and simple), which for the purposes of this challenge, meant limiting to one embellishment. I was doing great until, without thinking, I threw on some rhinestones to bling up the Grateful Elegance flowers. So just pretend I used Stickles instead and didn't totally cheat!!! LOL Anyhow, the sketch is awesome and the card was a lot of fun to make, especially since I got to use some of my new favorite digi papers - the Strawberry Cafe [Revised] Collection from Sugarplum Paperie. Oh, and the sentiment is from Circular Sayings and the hardware from the SU! pewter Hodgepodge Hardware kit. Remember, you can win the April Verve release by participating in all the Viva la Verve! sketches for March. But hurry... your entries need to be in by this Thursday night!

Hey Honey

Happy Monday! Wow, the weekend flew by and it's already time for Mojo Monday again! How does that happen? This week's sketch is one with clean lines and a little attitude. Hope on over to the Mojo Monday blog to play along and see the other gorgeous samples from the Mojo Maker Design Team.

My card uses the Hearts and Flowers set by The Cat's Pajamas. I took my colors from the K & Company Raspberry Tart papers, and added some simple black mats to really make the layers pop. And there's that fleur de lis border punch again... just can't seem to put it down! :)

Hope the sketch inspires you to get stamping this week! For some more eye candy, hop on over to the Verve Blog, where this month's project parade is under way. There's chances to win stamps for commenting AND for participating, so be sure to check it out. This is also the final week to get your March Viva la Verve entries in for a chance to win our entire April release! Entries are due this Thursday night!

Life is Good

Hi Everyone! TGIF! Today I have a cute little gift set to share with you. The Flutter Top Box is a template from Kelleigh Ratzlaff designs and I used some gorgeous digi papers from the Strawberry Cafe [Revised] collection by Sugarplum Paperie.



This red polka dot digi paper just makes me smile, so I pulled out another thing that makes me smile... The Cat's Pajamas stamps! No Sprinkle today, but this happy little snail gets me giggling every time I get a peek of him. And I just love the life is good sentiment. Life IS good, isn't it? These stamps come from two different TCP sets, Hearts and Flowers and Spring Fling.



I started by clipping the red digi paper to my template and printing it out. {If you've never worked with digi templates before, Kelleigh wrote up some great tips on the Hybrid Chick blog}. While I was at it, I printed some extra polka dot paper, and some coordinating green and brown papers from the Strawberry Cafe collection. Then I headed upstairs to Stampland. I knew I wanted to do a lacey type belly band around the box, so I cut a piece of cream cardstock the length of my box, then punched it with the Martha Stewart Doily Lace Punch, inked the edges with brown ink and stuck to my box with sticky strip before I scored. Next I scored on all the printed score lines and used the score lines as a guide to stamp the Life is Good sentiment on each section of the box

I stamped the little Snail on Flower a few times so I could paper piece it together (twice on cream, once on red and once on the green gingham). I sponged around the edges of the cream pieces before piecing all the little parts together, then colored in the stem with Copic markers.I matted on a chocolate paper from the the Strawberry Cafe collection and finished off with some Diamond Glaze for his glassy eyes and a little sparkle on his body with a Stardust gel pen and a blender pen. To pull the box together, I punched a hole in two opposite top panes with my Crop-a-dile and then tied together with strands of organdy ribbon.



Once the box was done, I finished the ensemble off with a coordinating 3x3 card, using many of the same elements. Well, that's my little sunshiney project of the week. Hope y'all have a great weekend. I've got another marathon weekend with my frenemy Quickbooks planned. Yeehaw!

Best Laid Plans

Hi Everyone! Today I'm sharing a project that's been 94% complete, sitting on my desk for almost 3 weeks. I had intended to make a wall hanging or shadowbox, but finding 6 x 6" frames is a lot harder than it used to be! Then I was going to paint a canvas and layer it on, but last night I finally just decided I NEEDED to have this project off my desk, so it became a 6 x 6" card! :)



The main panel is stamped with the Flowers of Tomorrow Plain Jane and I did some soft silhouettes with a stamp from Abundant Blessings, inking first in Pale Plum, then rocking & rolling around the edges with Perfect Plum. I went with Perfect Plum and Mellow Moss as my main colors to coordinate with this beautiful digi paper from the Sugarplum Paperie. I fell in love with the soft silhouettes in the Sweet Afternoon Collection and just had to have them. I must say they're even prettier printed out in real life than on the screen - and I loved them on screen! I've printed several of the designs out scaled down to 6 x 6 size for cardmaking, and now I'm just waiting for more TIME to use 'em all!

The main image panel is cut with the Nestabilities Label One dies, and I pierced some holes around the Perfect Plum mat, separating the layers with foam squares for added dimension. I added a lace wrap from Fancy Pants designs to kind of add to the vintage/victorian feel, then finished off with some primas from the stash and some little Fleur de Lis punches in the corners to give the card a little balance.

Okay, on to a fun announcement...

The Verve Project Parade kicks off today. Our theme this month is Egg-stra Special Spring and the Divas will be showing off their creations every week day through April 4 over on the Verve Blog. We'd love for you to play along by linking us to a new springy project you make. If you play along, you've got a shot at a $25 Gift Certificate to the Verve Stamps store. Here's the link to the post with all the details and the Mr. Linky form.

And that's not all! We'll randomly be picking 5 winners throughout the parade to receive a Verve set of their choice! All you have to do is comment on one (or all) of the Project Parade posts on the Verve Blog. You never know which day a Diva will be drawing a winner's name, so if you see something you like, be sure to leave the girls a little love!

Mojo Blessings

Happy Monday, y'all! Today there's another sketch over on the Mojo Monday Blog to get your mojo started for the week. This one was inspired by a Bride's Journal I saw at Barnes & Noble a while back. Unfortunately I didn't get a pic to show you, just created the sketch from memory. I really like the rounded rectangle shape and thought it would make a fun and different card. I created mine by weaving a strip of paper through one of my Classic Circles Nestabilities, so that only one end was cut. I might be a little sparse this week, since I spent the entire weekend either shipping orders or working on a tax report that was due today, and therefore there wasn't any stamping time! {sigh} Hopefully y'all find a little more stamping time this week than I have lately!

What's In It?
Stamps: Everlasting Life (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Basic Black, Pattern Prints II (SU!), Urban Praire (BasicGrey)
Ink: A Muse Black, Copic markers, Stardust gel pen, Blender pen, Black Micron pen
Accessories: Ribbon (May Arts), Butterfly punch (Martha Stewart), glitter, diamond glaze, Classic Circles (Nestabilities)

Black, White and Gray All Over

Happy Friday! The other day I needed a sanity break and while on a blurfing tour, I saw Kristina Werner's color challenge for this week. Basic Black, Basic Gray and Whisper White sounded totally up my alley, and I remembered one of the reasons I had chosen the Prints Pattern II pack from SU! was because of the Basic Gray papers. So, I took a little break and hit the stamp studio. I think I must have had a bunch of creativity bottled up inside from not being able to stamp, because this card came together like a breeze and I LOVE how it turned out.

I started by stamping the butterfly from Beautiful Kindness on pearlized white cardstock and then added a few shadowy highlights with a gray Copic marker. Next I cut this out with the Labels 1 Nestabilities and popped up on a mat of black with White gel pen accents. I cut a square of the prints paper, matted on black and then embossed the thank you sentiment from Thankful Blossoms in black. The Basic Gray cardstock panel is embossed with the Cuttlebug Textile folder, then I added a strip of the opposite side of the prints paper to the side with a black mat that had been punched with my EK Success Fleur de Lis punch (I am so addicted to that thing! LOVE it!). I finished off with a couple white primas painted with Pixie Dust Shimmerz, a black bow and a button center.

Well, I hope you have a fabulous weekend! Catch ya on the flip side! Oh, and if you're looking for some inspiration this weekend, be sure to check out the Viva la Verve! Sketch Challenge with a {twist} of birthday.

Fabulous Girl Friday

Hey there, peeps! I am just loving daylight savings time right now. It's so awesome to have sunlight longer in the day. I feel so much happier and more productive when it's light out, and we're starting to get to that time where it's still light out here until almost 9 PM! Wooohooo! LOVE it! :)

Today's card was inspired by my new Girl Friday by Cosmo Cricket obsession. I LOVE this line of paper. Cosmo Cricket has been my favorite brand of designer paper for quite a while and this line is my all-time favorite. I loved the colors in this stripey paper, so I started coloring the flowers from Floral Symphony with some of the same colors. The different pieces are stamped three in a row, and then I sponged lightly around the panel with Creamy Carmel ink. I tried to use my new Lines and Dots border punch, but I misjudged where it was going to stamp and so had to cover up my mistake with a sliver of orange satin ribbon. This is matted on Tangerine Tango and punched with my new favorite - the EK Success Fleur de Lis border punch. {SO pretty!} :)

For the sentiment I stamped the sentiment from Beautiful Kindness, used a Copic marker to highlight the fabulous part, and then punched out with Petite Oval Nestabilities. It's matted on a Petite Scallop Nestability in Rose Red and I added some piercing and gel pen accents. For the finishing touch I stamped the flowers one more time, cut out the largest one and popped it up on the sentiment, adding some colored bling to the center of each flower. The card base is textured Pink Pirouette 5.25" x 5.5" (due to a cutting error on my part, but I like it just the same!) with the corners rounded.

Hope you have a fabulous day! Mine is scheduled for packing orders, packing orders and more packing orders - just like every other day this week! :)

Bloom

Happy Wednesday! Today I've got a quick little card I made with Miracles Blossom and the fabulous new Bloom paper by My Mind's Eye. The paper was my main inspiration for the card, so I just let it flow. The little shape at the top is one of the diecuts from the paper pack and I added some rhinestone bling to the centers of the DP flowers. A little simple stamping of the sentiment in black and matting of Tangerine Tango pretty much finished the card. The border is punched with the SU! Eyelet Border punch and I highlighted each circle with a white gel pen.

What's In It?
Stamps: Miracles Blossom (Verve)
Paper: Tangerine Tango (SU!), Bloom DP (My Mind's Eye)
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black
Accessories: Clear EP, Eyelet Border Punch, white gel pen (SU!), Kaiser rhinestones, Primas, Archiver's satin ribbon, Stardust Stickles

Okay, that's all for today. Be sure to hop on over to the Verve Stamps blog to see our spotlight on Kelly Lunceford.

Viva la New Stamps!

Hi everyone! Happy Tuesday! There's no stamping time this week for me, but I do have a couple projects to show you that I finished ahead of time. Smart thinking, no? :)

I started out with this week's Viva la Verve! sketch with a {twist of red, green and pink}. If you do all of the March challenges, you have a shot at winning our next Verve release, so be sure to play along! I always love Amber's unique layouts and it's so fun to try and incorporate her {twists}. I had a hard time not thinking Christmas with this particular twist, but I think I was able to lighten it up enough to pose as a spring card. :)

The stamps are from the new Floral Symphony set and I stamped the greenery in Kiwi Kiss and the floral trio in Riding Hood Red. Next I stamped the trio two more times on Pink Pirouette cardstock and cut out. I layered one set of trios on pop dots, then I trimmed out just the center flower of the second and added as a third layer, for even more dimensional oomph! I think the patterned paper is from Chloe's Closet by Making Memories. I finished off with a Pretty in Pink spritzing with that cool air brush spritzer tool I got from SU!, then added a taffeta bow and a clear button.

Be sure to hop on over to the Verve Blog today and see our feature on March Guest Diva, Jodi Collins. This girl has got it goin' on! :)

Beautiful Kindness

Happy Monday, everyone! It's already time for another Mojo Monday sketch, so head on over to the Mojo Monday Blog to see the new sketch and the super cute samples from the Mojo Design Team.

Last night, we released 8 new Verve stamp sets and 5 Plain Janes and had a rockin' release party! My sample card for today uses this week's mojo sketch and one of my favorite sets from the new release... Beautiful Kindness. I've had a sleepless weekend preparing for this release, so I'm just gonna leave you with some eye candy and skip the deets. Have an awesome day! :)



What's In It?
Stamps: Beautiful Kindness (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Old Olive, Basic Black, Rose Red, So Saffron (SU!), Urban Prairie (BasicGrey)
Ink: Black Dye Ink (A Muse), Old Olive, So Saffron (SU!)
Acessories: Classic Circle & Scallop Circles (Nestabilities), Glitter, Diamond Glaze, Kaiser Craft rhinestones

A Verve Challenge Preview

Welcome to the weekend! Only one more sleep until the Verve release! We have a special sketch challenge cooked up for you this weekend as we countdown to our release on Sunday night. You could win a new Verve set for playing along, so be sure to check out all the challenge details and submit your card entry over on the Verve Stamps blog. Deadline is Sunday (March 8) at 6PM Eastern, so get stamping! ;)

Here's the sketch we're working with. Verve Stamps aren't required and you can always change up the shapes to accommodate your card.

For my card, I wanted to use these fancy new EK Success fleur de lis punches I picked up at Michael's for 30% off this week. LOVE them! How cool is that border punch? And to have a coordinating fleur de lis punch makes this girl so happy! The punches made me think of this gorgeous glittery paper from My Mind's Eye, and of course I had to use one of my favorite color combos - pink and brown!

The stamp is a preview of the new Psalm 51:10 Plain Jane releasing on Sunday. It's stamped on a Classic Circle Nestability and matted with a Scallop Circle Nestability. I used the die as a stencil to add some pink sponging inside the circle. For a little decoration, I spruced up the scallops with some Pink Liquid Pearls and then colored some K & Company pearls with a Copic marker for the centers of my fleur de lis.

To finish off I used a brand new tool I have been wanting for years and just never have ordered. You know one of those nice-to-have luxury items that always gets crossed off the wishlist to make room for another stamp set? Well, I'm finally the proud new owner of one of those SU! air brush tool thingies. Yep, the technical name totally evades me right now. But it's the weird looking thing you hook up to a marker and squeeze and it makes fabulous little flecks all over your paper? Well, I LOVE it and I'm sure you'll be seeing a lot more of it! I think it was the perfect little touch to make my Kraft card base not so boring!

Okay, so that wraps it up for today. The release party starts at 8PM Eastern tomorrow (Sunday) night and we'll be chatting up a storm and giving you the first looks at all the new sets. Come join the fun!

Miracles Blossom Preview

Hey everyone! Happy Friday! Only two more sleeps until the Verve Release! This week has just flown right by. Today the Divas are previewing two complementary sets, Miracles Blossom and Floral Symphony. I really have enjoyed stamping with this release more than any other Verve release so far - I can't wait for you to see them all! It seems like the images really make it easy, and you know me - I like the mix-y match-y kind of sets. Be sure to pop on over to the Verve Blog today to see these sets in action and a chance to win!

For my card I chose to work with Miracles Blossom. I stamped the greenery in Olive Green and then stamped the open tulips in Rose Red. Next I stamped the tulips again on some Pattern Prints II paper and pieced them over the top of the stems on dimensionals. I colored in the greenery with Copics, and then lightly sponged some sky in around the edges with Soft Sky ink. The papers are from the Urban Prairie BasicGrey pad and I matted them with Rose Red. The delight in life sentiment is stamped directly on the white card base in Rose Red and I added a few Martha Stewart butterflies punched from the coordinating patterned papers, which I coated with a mixture of Diamond Glaze and Dazzling Diamonds for some spark-tacularness! I finished off the card with some May Arts satin ribbon from my stash and a cute little flower button from the Button Latte pack.

Okay, that's it for today, peeps. Be sure to join us on Sunday at 8PM Eastern for the Verve Release party. It's sure to be a fun time with fun peeps! Oh, and stay tuned tomorrow for a special Verve challenge you won't want to miss! I have resigned from the OCC, but you can still catch their challenges on Saturdays too! Happy Stamping!

Everlasting Life Sneak Peek

Hi Everyone! It's time for another sneak peek at one of the new Verve sets coming your way on Sunday. Today we're peeking a set called I made two cards to share today.. For your chance to win this set, be sure to head on over to the Verve Blog and leave a comment. I made two very different cards to share today.

The first card is a change of pace for me. I really love this flower image and the John 3:16 verse together, and wanted the stamps to shine, so I attempted a very classic one-layer layout. One of my favorite things in the stamping world is SU! watercolor paper. It's so beautiful, and the texture always makes me think of fine stationery - it just feels luxurious to use it! LOL I stamped the two stamps from Everlasting Life side by side with A Muse black ink and then colored in the flower with Copic markers. I added some sparkle with a Stardust gel pen and then mixed it all in with a blender pen for ultra shimmer. Click the close-up to see the sparkle in action. It just makes me smile! :) To dress up the card just a bit, I finished by adding a few score lines to the top and bottom and then matting on a Basic Black card base. Clean and simple, and it took less than 5 minutes from start to finish! Wahoo!

After depriving myself of embellishments on that card, I felt the need to make a card with a little more oomph. This cross image with swirly grasses is one of my favorites from the release, but I wanted a praying for you card, so I paired it with a sentiment from the new Circular Sayings set. The cross is embossed in white on Kraft cardstock, and then I used some eclipse tape to roughly mask around the cross. I added a couple drops of Chocolate Chip reinker and a couple drops of water to a painter's palette, then streaked the ink over the image with a toothbrush to get a woodgrain look. Next I sponged with Vintage Photo Distress ink to fill in the cross, and pulled off the mask and buffed the embossing for the crisp resist look.

I colored the swirly plants with a Copic Marker, then sponged around my panel, and added some ticket corner punches and some paper piercing. The sentiment from Circular Sayings is embossed in white, punched out with the 1 3/8" circle punch and matted on a SU! scallop circle. Next I layered a big white prima underneath and painted it with Pixie Dust Shimmerz. I finished off with a So Saffron piece of cardstock, run through the Cuttlebug and a big grosgrain bow from the Sale-A-Bration ribbon bundle.

Sneaky Bunny Duet

Hi Everyone and Happy Wednesday! It's another day of sneak previews over on the Verve Blog, and today the Divas are peeking two new sets. The first one is called Bunny Duet and is a single stamp that I used on today's card. The second set is called Chocolate Bunnies. Be sure to hop on over to the Verve Blog and leave a comment for a chance to win the sets being peeked today!

I started my card by moving the lateral file I store my cardstock and die cuts so I could get the Top Note Die that fell behind it about 3 weeks ago! This involved displacing a whole lot of stuff in order to get to it, but in the process I also found my Grateful Elegance set, some yellow ribbon and my word window punch, so an idea for the card was born! I ran the Top Note through my Big Shot twice, once with Barely Banana and once with white. I then stamped the Bunny Duet stamp in Chocolate Chip craft ink and embossed with clear EP. The bunnies are colored with Copic markers and highlighted with a Stardust Gel pen and a blender pen. Next I stamped the bunnies again on copy paper, trimmed out and used as a mask to stamp the Grateful Elegance background on the panel in Creamy Caramel. The edges are inked with first Vintage Photo, then Tea Dye Ranger Distress ink and then layered on dimensionals onto the barely banana top note.

Next I ran a piece of Kraft cardstock through the Cuttlebug with the Swiss Dots folder and then wrapped some wide Chocolate Chip satin ribbon across it. The sentiment is from the Circular Sayings set that was peeked on the Verve blog yesterday and is embossed with Chocolate Chip Craft ink then punched out with the SU! 1.25" circle punch. I also stamped it with the Grateful Elegance background and inked the edges, before layering on the 1 3/8" barely banana circle and then the Chocolate Chip scallop circle. I had to place my sentiment where I did to hide an ink smudge, so I decided to balance out the card with a word window punch on the side and accent it with a Button Latte button and some liquid pearl accents.

Then I just happened to notice a few primas laying on the desk and decided to use that yellow ribbon and the flowers to make another little embellishment. I finished off with a pearl brad and some Stardust Stickles on the flower, ribbon and the bow and necklace.

What's In It?
Stamps: Bunny Duet, Circular Sayings, Grateful Elegance (Verve)
Paper: Chcoolate Chip, Kraft, Barely Banana (SU!)
Ink: Chocolate Chip Craft, Creamy Caramel (SU!), Tea Dye, Vintage Photo (Ranger Distress), Copic Markers
Accessories: Top Note Die, Chocolate Satin Ribbon, Button Latte, Circle and Word Window Punches, Clear EP (SU!), Swiss Dots Folder (Cuttlebug), Stardust Gel Pen, Dove Blender Pen, Primas, May Arts Ribbon, Bride's Pearl Brad, Liquid Pearls

Sneaky SFYTT - Beautiful Kindness

Hi Everyone and Happy Tuesday! It's another day of sneak previews over on the Verve Blog, and today the Divas are peeking two new sets. The first one is called Beautiful Kindness and is what I used on today's card. Be sure to hop on over to the Verve Blog and leave a comment for a chance to win the sets being peeked today!

Jen del Muro posted a fabulous Sketch For You To Try layout last Saturday, and there's some cool stuff on her blog you can win for participating this week! I loved the layout, so had to give it a go!

I started by stamping the flourish three times across the top and bottom of the pearlized cardstock in Tangerine Tango. Next I stamped over each one in Versamark and embossed in clear. I inked up just part of the "Spread your wings and fly" sentiment in black and embossed with clear, then did the same for the fly part of the sentiment in Tangerine. The embossing was all so I could do a brayered effect on the background with some Soft Sky and Baja Breeze ink. I finished off by stamping the butterfly in black in the corner, then stamping and embossing it again on Tangerine and popping up over the first stamp for some dimension.

I picked up a new Fiskars border punch this weekend at Archiver's, so I had to test it out on the tangerine and black layers. I fhinished with a little doodling and some faux stitching with a paper piercer and a white gel pen.

What's In It?
Stamps: Beautiful Kindness (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Pearlized White (Paper Accents), Basic Black, Tangerine Tango (SU!)
Ink: Tangerine Tango, Baja Breeze, Soft Sky (SU!), Onxy Black (Versafine), Versamark
Accessories: Clear EP, Mat Pack and paper piercer, white gel pen (SU!), Textile Embossing Folder (Cuttlebug)

Sneaky Mojo - Practically Perfect

Welcome to March! Can you believe it's already time for another mojo sketch? And since it's the first Monday of the month, Mojo Madness is back and bigger than ever! That's right, to celebrate the upcoming Verve release, the Mojo design team will be picking up to SEVEN winners from the entries for this week's Mojo contest! Each winner will receive their pick of any shiny new Verve Stamps set. You won't want to miss out, so hop on over to the Mojo Monday blog to see the sketch and all the details!

Today also starts a week of previews by the Verve Divas and our two fabu-licious March Guest Divas... Jodi Collins and Kelly Lunceford. These two gals are paper crafters extraordinaire! I wish I could be a button in their little button jar to watch all that awesomeness in action!! :) Anyhow, today's sneak preview is of Verve's newest addition... Practically Perfect, which will release Sunday night {March 8}. For more adorable peeks at this set and for a chance to win, hop on over and leave a comment on the Verve Blog.

My sneak peek card uses both the Mojo Monday sketch and the Practically Perfect set. Growing up, The Veleveteen Rabbit was my absolute favorite story, so I'm especially partial to fuzzy little bunnies with a little wear and tear. So when I sat down to design a baby set, I just couldn't think of anything but cute little bunny cards! This is the little boy bunny, and you can see the girl bunny sneaks over on the Verve Blog today. I stamped him on SU! watercolor paper in Memento rich cocoa and watercolored with Watercolor Wonder Crayons and Bashful Blue Twinkling H20's. The squares are all cut with the Classic Squares Nestabilities and I cut out his bow tie and popped it up for a little dimension. I took my colors from this glittertastic My Mind's Eye paper from the Coastal and Natural Collections. I finished off with an embossed Cuttlebug row of buttons across the bottom, leaving room for the Welcome baby sentiment, and added a little Chocolate Chip taffeta bow.

What's in it?
Stamps: Practically Perfect (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Watercolor Paper, Soft Sky, Chocolate Chip (SU!), Coastal & Natural Collections (My Mind's Eye)
Ink: Watercolor Wonder Crayons (cocoa, chocolate, bordering blue, mellow moss, creamy caramel), Chocolate Chip Craft Ink (SU!), Bashful Blue Twinkling H20's, Rich Cocoa (Memento)
Accessories: Classic Squares (Nestabilities), waterbrush, clear embossing powder, Chocolate Taffeta ribbon (SU!), Buttons border (Cuttlebug), Stardust Gel pen, blender pen