Just for You

Happy Thursday! Today I'm sharing a card I made for the February Week 3 Viva la Verve challenge. The deadline is tonight to get all your February VLV cards in to be entered for a chance to win our March release. And might I just add that this release is going to shine! ;)

Anyhow, here's the inspiration photo I chose to start from. I'm kind of proud of myself for not being so obvious for once! LOL I'm usually so literal when I do inspiration sketches, but in this photo I was really drawn to the repeated circle patterns, specifically the dotted ones on the chairs, which made me think of the Just for You set.

My papers are from a pad of paper I recently got at Hobby Lobby. It's absolutely gorgeous, but the packaging just says My Mind's Eye Glittered Paper Pad, with no collection name. Anyhow, it's all sorts of gorgeousness with aqua, brown and creamish glittered papers and totally up my alley. I KNOW you'll be seeing more of it. ;) I chose the dotted circular patterned paper to emboss the flower from Love's Flower and paper piece in layers as my focal image.

Next I stamped the circle frame from Just For You onto the aqua paper and cut out with Nestabilities. The cream square is dry embossed with a small Cuttlebug folder that looks really similar to the knotted pattern on the side table in the photo, however my flower completely covered it up! I lightly sponged the edges with Antique Linen, then embossed the Just for You sentiment on a square of cream, sponging the edges of that panel too. I added a little punched border on the designer paper panel and then tied my ribbon on. I was doing the sketch from memory and for some reason I thought the sketch didn't have the ribbon all the way across the main panel, so I worked hard at figuring out a way to accomplish this. I ended up using the SU! slot punch to punch a hole in the brown layer, then slid the ribbon through and glued to the back, then tied a separate bow and added with a glue dot to cover the hole. But this morning as I'm looking at the sketch I see that the ribbon should have gone all the way to the bottom. Doh! :)

What's In It?
Stamps: Just for You, Love's Flower (Verve)
Paper: Cream (Paper Accents), Glittered Paper Pad (My Mind's Eye)
Ink: Chocolate Chip Craft (SU!), VersaMark, Antique Linen (Ranger Distress)
Accessories: Ivory satin ribbon (RibbonFX), Clear embossing powder, slot punch, border punch (SU!), Classic Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Cuttlebug embossing folder, chocolate pearl (Kaiser Craft)

Life is Beautiful

Hi Everyone! Today I'm sharing my circle version of this week's Mojo Monday sketch. This one features more papers from that gorgeous little Tiny Princess digi paper pack from Sugarplum Paperie. Love it! I've been doing a little re-organizing in my craft room lately, and I ran across an entire box of fun fibers. Remember when those were really popular? It was all the rage when I discovered Splitcoast about 3.5 years ago. Anyhow, I thought it would be fun to try to use them again, and since these ones are all sorts of stringy, I went with a little shabby chic feel to the card.

The card is pretty basic, I stamped the Life is Beautiful sentiment from Fairy Tales in Vintage Photo ink and then used my Square Nestabilities as a stencil to sponge and inner border of Antique Linen. Next I cut some butterflies from the polka dot paper with my new Beautiful Wings Embosslits die, sponged the edges, layered a few and added some chocolate pearls. I finished off with an Old Olive Mat and a Chocolate Chip base, accented with some liquid pearls.

What's In It?
Stamps: Fairy Tales (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Tiny Princess digi paper pack (Sugarplum Paperie), Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Vanilla (SU!)
Ink: Vintage Photo, Antique Linen (Ranger Distress)
Accessories: Circle and Square dies (Nestabilities), Beautiful Wings Embosslits (SU!), fibers, liquid pearls, pearls

A Spring in My Step

Hey everyone! Welcome to another week! I'm happy to be participating in the first Waltzingmouse Stamps Customer Blog Hop today. If you've been hopping along, you probably arrived here by way of Pauline's blog. If not, never fear, just click on over to the WMS blog to start from the beginning. This is also the square version of this week's Mojo Monday sketch.


The theme for the hop is spring, and although I've indulged in quite a collection of Claire's beautiful stamps, I had to think a little outside the box to create something springy. I finally settled on creating my own flower with stamps from the new Small Vintage Circles set. I had some papers from the darling Tiny Princess digi paper pack by Sugarplum Paperie printed out and decided to take my inspiration from the pinks and greens in the pack. So I stamped the leaf shape 5 times on the pink paper, then trimmed out. Next I stamped the larger solid circle and punched out with a larger circle punch, then sponged the edges, layered all the pieces together and covered the solid stamping with a nice little coating of Cotton Candy Stickles.

Next up I stamped the gorgeous frame from Very Vintage Labels #1 on Buttercream cardstock in Regal Rose, then cut out with the Labels 1 Nestabilities and sponged lightly with Pink Pirouette. The sentiment is stamped in old olive with the For You stamp in the Very Vintage Christmas set. Then it was just a matter of finishing off with a little ribbon and pearls. Okay, there you have it. That's my card in a nutshell! :)

Next up on the hop is Stephanie Grubb.
Happy hopping!

My Toys:
Stamps: Small Vintage Circles, Very Vintage Labels #1, Very Vintage Christmas (Waltzingmouse Stamps)
Paper: Tiny Princess Digi Paper Pack (Sugarplum Paperie)
Ink: Regal Rose, Old Olive, Pink Pirouette (SU!), Antique Linen (Ranger Distress)
Accessories: Old Olive Satin Ribbon, Pink Grosgrain ribbon (SU!), Labels 1 Nestabilities (Spellbinders), pearls, Cotton Candy Stickles, circle punch

For those of you new to my blog, the comment link is in the upper right corner of the page, next to the post title. Thanks for stopping by!

My Hero

Hi everyone! It's Monday again and time for another Mojo Monday sketch. Check out the Mojo Blog for all the details. It's also the last day to get your entries in for the Verve Project Parade, so don't delay!

Today is Mr. Verve's (my husband, Mark) birthday. I'm so blessed to share this journey with such a wonderful man. He's my best friend, my #1 cheerleader and an amazing inspiration in my life. It's like after years of darkness, the sun finally turned on the day I met him, and it's been shining ever since. I'd follow him anywhere! Anyhow, I'll stop with the sappiness and get to the card.


I had to shift my panels around a bit to accommodate my stamping, but other than that I stuck to this week's Mojo sketch {Mojo126}. The balloon and clouds are from Up, Up & Away and I paper pieced the balloon and added a little coloring with Copics and some depth and shading with a sponge and some Soft Sky ink. The sentiment is from Thankful Hearts and the stars are punched with papers from the SU! Sale-a-bration paper pack (I'm drawing a black on the name right now). I just love the cloud paper - so fabulous! The ribbon is the new Chocolate Chip Satin from SU! and I added a fiskars border punch to the top and bottom.

What's In It?
Stamps: Up, Up & Away, Thankful Hearts (Verve Stamps)
Paper: SU! Sale-a-bration paper, Chocolate Chip
Ink: Soft Sky (SU!), Onyx Black (Versafine), Copic markers
Accessories: Chocolate Chip Satin ribbon, star punches (SU!), Stardust Stickles, Border punch (Fiskars)

Peace in the Days Ahead

It's with such a saddened heart that I post today's card. You always hope you won't have to make sympathy cards, especially for those dearest to your heart. This one's going to my dear friend, Shannan, who lost her husband earlier this week. My heart aches for her and her children and all the loved ones left behind. Shannan's support, encouragement and friendship has been sunshine to my soul over the past few years, and Verve would not be what it is today without her constant cheerleading and belief in me from the get-go. I hope we can all return that same encouragement, belief and support to her in the days ahead. Please keep her and her boys in your thoughts and prayers.

For my card, I started with the Worn Music background from Unity Stamp Company because it's the stamp in my studio that most says "Shannan" to me. I stamped it in Vintage Photo on Kraft cardstock and added a little vintage photo sponging around the edges. Next I stamped the sentiment from Forever in Our Hearts in Vintage Photo on a buttercream Labels 9 die cut and sponged with Antique Linen.

Next I stamped the flower from Everlasting Life directly on the stamped background and colored the greenery with Copic markers. I stamped the flower again on buttercream cardstock, colored with Copics and then paper pieced onto my card. I gave it a little Smooch Pearlized Top Coat for shimmer, then finished off with some pearls and vintage lace trim.

What's In It?
Stamps: Forever in Our Hearts, Everlasting Life (Verve Stamps), Worn Music (Unity Stamp Co)
Paper: Kraft, Chocolate Chip (SU!), Buttercream (Prism)
Ink: Vintage Photo, Antique Linen (Ranger Distress), Copic Markers
Accessories: Vintage trim (Webster's Pages), pearls (Recollections), Pearlized Top Coat (Smooch), Labels 9 Nestabilities (Spellbinders)

Mojo Be Mine

Hi Everyone! It's Monday again, which means it's time for another Mojo Monday sketch. This week's sketch {Mojo 125} was designed by Maria and it's a fun one! We hope you'll play along.


My card uses the Heart's Desire set. I stamped the viney heart in Rose Red then colored with Copic markers. I promise the coloring on the heart looks a little less radioactive in person. Not sure why my camera decided to make it look neon! LOL! I cut out with Circle Nestabilities and added a little liquid pearls to each scallop. For the arced panel, I cut a 3.5" strip of Bo Bunny paper and used a tin to trace the arc and cut with scissors. For the mat, I placed a longer rose red panel under the cut DP, and then traced and used the tracing mark as a guide line to cut a scallop edge with decorative scissors.

The be mine sentiment is stamped on a Curly Label punch and I finished off with some shimmery organza ribbon and a few pearlized top coat Smooches accents for even more shimmer.

What's In It?
Stamps: Heart's Desire (Verve Stamps)
Paper: DP (Bo Bunny), Rose Red, Pink Pirouette (SU!), Brown (Prism)
Ink: Rose Red (SU!), Copic markers, Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories: Scallop edge scissors (Fiskars), Classic & Scallop Circles (Nestabilities), Organza ribbon, Curly Label punch (SU!), White Opal Liquid Pearls (Ranger)

Celebrate

Hi everyone! Welcome to the weekend. Last weekend Mark asked me, "What fun thing are we going to do this weekend?" Little did he know that there wasn't going to be much "fun" involved, but a whole lot of cleaning and stuffing of stamps! So this weekend we made it a goal to start off the weekend with me stamping and Mark playing Xbox. Mission accomplished! :)


I started with the Viva la Verve! sketch/inspiration challenge for this week. It's a new month, so there's still plenty of time to participate for a chance to win our next entire release! This month we're walking through dining rooms, and I chose to use the very cool green and brown vase in the third inspiration photo to base my card on. I liked the splotchy, distressed look and the brown and green combo and thought it would be perfect for a masculine birthday card I needed to make.

My papers are from the BasicGrey Origins pad and I dirtied them up with some Walnut Stain ink and an air art tool for some splotchiness. Then I lightly sanded around the edges to give a distressed look and also to define the panels without adding more bulk. The sentiment is from the Believe set and I masked off the "this life" so it could be a generic birthday sentiment.

The star is stamped with the puffy star from Starstruck, directly on patterned paper, then I highlighted with a Copic marker and punched out with the large SU! star punch. I hand cut a Kraft mat for it and sponged with Walnut Stain ink. To match the sanded look on my other panels, I used a white gel pen around the edges of the star (so much easier than trying to sand all those edges). The center star is stamped on the brown dp, punched with the small star punch and sponged with brown ink. A few eyelets and some twine finish off the card.

My Toys:
Stamps: Believe, Starstruck (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Brown, Kraft (Prism), Origins (BasicGrey)
Ink: Walnut Stain (Ranger Distress), Chocolate Chip (SU!), white gel pen
Accessories: Rectangle Dies (Nestabilities), Star punches, air art tool, twine (SU!), eyelets (Making Memories)

Hello Sunshine

Hi everyone! The other day I needed a break from all this dreary weather, so I decided to create a little sunshine of my own. This orange American Crafts ribbon called my name from the Archiver's store window and I just HAD to buy some. So I built the card around the ribbon. I love the way the card turned out, but just as I told Mark when I showed it to him, "This is SO NOT going to photograph well!" It's so much softer and dreamier in real life.

The banana background is embossed with the QuicKutz polka dot folder and the Apricot Appeal background is stamped with a pendant from the Accent Notes set and then the open flower from the Love's Flower set. The main panel is stamped with the Accent Notes frame and cut out with Nestabilities Labels 9. I colored in the fleurishes with an Apricot Appeal marker. The sentiment is also from Accent Notes and is punched with a 1.25" circle punch. To finish off I added some liquid pearls accents and stamped and cut out the little flower from Love's Flower and coated with Spiced Marigold Distress Stickles and a rhinestone.

My Toys:
Stamps: Accent Notes, Love's Flower (Verve)
Paper: Barely Banana, Apricot Appeal (SU!)
Ink: So Saffron, Apricot Appeal (SU!)
Accessories: Spiced Marigold Distress Stickles, Liquid Pearls (Ranger), Labels 9 (Nestabilities), Circle punches (SU!), Polka Dots embossing folder (QuicKutz), ribbon (American Crafts), Rhinestone

Be Mine

Hi everyone! Long time no post, huh? I don't have an excuse, the same things are going on in my life as always... too much work, another flare-up of tendinitis and just generally not enough play time. So here I am popping in to let you know that I'm alive and change up the eye candy! Hope y'all are doing well! :)



This card uses the new Heart's Desire set, which is on sale right now along with some of our other Valentine's sets and plain janes. I stamped the be mine sentiment across the heart die cut repeatedly for a fun little text background. The arrow stamp is stamped in Rose Red, then colored with a blender pen and covered with Cotton Candy Stickles. On my last trip to Archiver's I found a pack of Handmade Mixed Petal Layered Accents by K & Company. These are seriously cool! Such beautiful patterns and colors and they even have rhinestones. Love 'em! So I picked one out of the batch that matched my project and added it to the center. The petals were cream, which looked a little odd next to the white stamped panel, so I just covered them in Cotton Candy Stickles and everything was groovy!

My Toys:
Stamps: Heart's Desire (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Basic Black, Rose Red, Pink Pirouette (SU!), Bo Bunny DP
Ink: Rose Red (SU!)
Accessories: Primitive Heart Die (Sizzix), Rose Red Grosgrain and Scallop Trim Border Punch (SU!), Handmade Mixed Petal Layered Accents (K & Company), Cotton Candy Stickles & Pink Raspberry Liquid Pearls (Ranger)