Believe, Mojo, and a Blog Hop

Happy Monday!  It's October, which is my absolute favorite month of the year!  I like the warm afternoon sun and the chilly mornings and evenings... not to mention the glorious smells of pumpkin spice and apple cider in all the stores and eateries.  Such a heavenly time of year!  Anyway, it's the first Monday of the month and that means it's a Mojo Monday contest week!  Play along for a chance to win some Verve.  It's also time for our October Diva Inspirations Hop, so hop around and leave a little love on the Diva's beautiful inspirations (the full link list is below) for a chance to win some more VERVE!  Then pop over to the Verve website to check out our Think Pink sale.  In honor of breast cancer awareness month, we've got a 20% off sale, plus we're donating 10% of the proceeds from our sale to the Susan G Komen fund. A little something for you... a little something for the cure!  Sale ends October 16.

The Making Of:
I just love this simple layout, which you can keep fairly simple, or dress up with texture and embellishments.  Here I've kept the focus on some beautiful new patterned paper and a sentiment from the Believe set.  I dressed things up with a bit of sponging, an embossing folder, border punch and a bit of bling.  A few people asked how I made my double bows in my last post, and I'll let you in on my poser secret.  I usually just tie two bows separately, then glue down with a strong glue like Zip Dry to a flat piece of ribbon already adhered to the card.  It gives you the flexibility to get each bow just like you want it, without worrying about messing up the first one as you tie the second one on.  A ribbon like SU!'s seam binding ribbon ties beautifully, and is less bulky for gluing, so I prefer it for this type of ribbon treatment.


And here's the Diva Inspiration Master Hop List!  Happy Hopping!

1. Julee 10. Sankari 2. Betty 11. Teresa 3. Dawn 12. Andrea 4. Jen d. 13. Tosh 5. Lynda 14. Maureen 6. Shannan 15. Amy 7. Sony 16. Laurie 8. Susan 17. Jen T. 9. Charmaine

We've hidden a little mystery prize on one of today's hop spots, so be sure to leave a little comment love as you hop around for a chance to win!

Comment Deadline: 11:59pm Mountain, October 10
Prize: $30 gift certificate to Verve

Enabler's List:
Stamps: Believe (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Generations (Simple Stories), Early Espresso (SU!), Cream
Ink: Early Espresso (SU!), Vintage Photo, Antique Linen (Ranger Distress)
Accessories: Classic & Scallop Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), seam binding ribbon, eyelet lace border punch (SU!), rhinestones, Herringbone embossing folder (Cuttlebug)