Mojo Dare

Hi friends!  It's Monday again and time for a round or square Mojo Monday sketch!  I'm also wrapping up the July Diva Dare  over on the Verve Blog so my card today is a 2 for 1.

This month's Diva Dare is a mash-up of the styles Teresa and I are known for... uplifting, distressed, shabby creations.  For me, shabby always turns a bit to mixed-media and I had so much fun getting my fingers all painty for this card.

For all the details on how I made this card, head on over to the Verve Blog.  There's a comment prize as well as a prize up for grabs for playing along with the Dare.  Deadline is Wednesday, August 31, for prize eligibility.

Hope you have a fabulous start to your week!  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Enabler's List
Stamps: Be Okay Plain Jane, On Occasion (Verve Stamps)
Paper: soft sky, brown paper bag, vellum, paper doily
Ink: VersaMark, blank canvas paint, surf paint
Accessories:  Occasion Frame Die (A Cut Above by VERVE), Grand Circles and Scalloped Circles Nestabilities (Spellbinders), soft sky ribbon (SU!), flower, rhinestones, punchinella, dry wall tape, liquid pearls, champagne glass glitter, bead, stick pin, hot glue

Viva la Birthday Boy

Hi friends!  It's Friday and I'm hosting the Viva la Verve! sketch this week along with a fun little inspiration option.  I've been thinking about decorating the twins' playroom and so the inspiration photo is a quick little mood board I created for one of the options I'm deciding between.  It seemed so festive, I thought it would make a great jumping off point for a card.

One of the boys' playmates had his 1 year birthday party recently, so this week's VLV sketch and inspiration were the perfect pairing for my card.  In fact, the birthday boy's party was giraffe themed, so what could be better than the giraffe from To the Moon peeking in?  The papers are from the Snap Color Vibe collection and I added some soft sky, kiwi kiss and basic grey to complete the color palette.  I went with some polka dot balloons paper pieced using the Birthday Bash set (also used for the sentiment), then added a bunch of die cuts... Rounded Scallop Frame Die, Rounded Rectangle Die, Flourished Trim Die and the Scalloped Trim Trio Die Set.   Some silver liquid pearls, a bit of SU! ribbon and a little dry embossed background finished things off.

Alrighty, that about covers it for the card.  Be sure to head on over to the VLV forum and play along with all of our July sketches for a chance to win some serious Verve moulah!  {grin}

 Enabler's List
Stamps: To the Moon, Birthday Bash (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Snap Color Vibe (Simple Stories), soft sky, kiwi kiss, basic gray (SU!)
Ink: basic gray (SU!), black
Accessories: Rounded Scallop Frame Die, Rounded Rectangle Die, Flourished Trim Die and the Scalloped Trim Trio Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), ribbon and circle punches (SU!), Stars & Swirls embossing folder (Sizzix), liquid pearls (Ranger)

Birdcage Birthday

Hi friends!  Today's my birthday and I'm kicking it off with a massage and then a fun kid{less} day with Mark.  Should be a lot of fun!  Speaking of birthdays, I've got another birthday card to show you.  This one uses the July Week 4 Viva la Verve sketch by Janelle.  I just LOVE the shorter card front with a border edge.

I did my border by lopping off part of the card and then adhering the Scalloped Trim Trio  die cut to the top of it.  The patterned paper is from the Echo Park Here & Now collection and I added a smokey slate piece of corrugated cardstock to the inside layer of the card so it would show through.

The stamps are from the Doodled Occasions stamp set and I colored the heart door with a pistachio pudding marker and accented with glossy glaze.  Two bows using ribbon from the Stormy Skies Ribbon Collection are glued together for my ribbon treatment and a few smoky rhinestones finish things off.

I hope you have a fantastic day!  Thanks for stopping by!

Enabler's List
Stamps: Doodled Occasions (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Here & Now (Echo Park), smoky slate, pistachio pudding (SU!), white
Ink: Black, pistachio pudding (SU!)
Accessories: Classy Label Die, Scalloped Trim Trio Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), Stormy Skies Ribbon Collection (Verve), glossy accents, paper crimper, rhinestones

CAS Birthday

Hi friends!  It's Monday again already and time for another Mojo Monday sketch.  This week's super sweet CAS sketch comes from the mind of Carole Burrage.  We were running and going all weekend long so when I sat down to make a card, I knew I was going to keep it super CAS.

I used a butterfly embellishment that has been on my desk for a while, since it didn't make it onto a previous card.  I covered some cardstock with chevron washi tape and then cut it with the All Aflutter Die Set and layered them together with dimensionals and added some rhinestones for the body.  The flag is cut from the Flag It Die Set and I accented it with part of a rhinestone flourish then hand sketched a border around it.  I continued the hand sketched border around my other panels, using the On Occasion set for the loopy border and sentiment.  More of the chevron washi tape is used for the horizontal element on the sketch and I finished off with a white card base and some coordinating aqua rhinestones.

Verve's Christmas in July Sale is still going strong and all of the stamps & dies used on this card are currently on sale!   There are tons of birthday and holiday stamps marked down 20% through the end of the month. Speaking of birthdays... only a few more days until mine!!! {grin}

Enabler's List
Stamps: On Occasion (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Soft Sky, Basic Black (SU!), white (neenah)
Ink: black
Accessories: Flag It Die Set, All Aflutter Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), rhinestone flourish, aqua adhesive rhinestones

Sometimes

Hi friends!  Happy Wednesday.  Things have been crazy busy around here, but I thought I'd just pop in really quick and show another card I made for this week's Mojo Monday sketch.  This one's the card drew the sketch from.

I love me a pink elephant, so when I saw this paper in the Prairie Chic Collection, I knew I needed to make a shabby chic baby card with the Emery Plain Jane.  I stamped Emery twice on the patterned paper, then cut out just his head and arms and layered between an Occasion Frame die cut stamped with it's coordinating frame from On Occasion.  The Winnie the Pooh quote in the center is the Smallest Things Plain Jane and from there I added some tiny little pink pearls and colored the frame slightly with a pink marker.  A bit of distressing and embossing with the Stars & Swirls embossing folder, then I finished off with a bow from the Polka Dot Basics Ribbon Collection.

With its tattered look and meaningful sentiment, this card would be perfect for the Tattered Pages Diva Dare going on right now.  Be sure to tune into the Verve Blog each week day through July 29 to comment for a chance to win, then play along for another chance to win!

Enabler's List
Stamps: Emery Plain Jane, Smallest Things Plain Jane, On Occasion (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Prairie Chic Collection (BoBunny), crumb cake, espresso (SU!), cream (Neenah)
Ink: Early Espresso, Blushing Bride (SU!)
Accessories: Occasion Frame Die (A Cut Above by VERVE), Polka Dot Basics Ribbon Collection (Verve), Stars & Swirls embossing folder (Sizzix), pink flatback pearls (Pizzazz Aplenty)

Sailor Birthday

Hi friends!  It's Monday again and time for another Mojo Monday sketch.  This week's is pretty simple, which means it has plenty of room to dress it up, which is just what I did with my card.

My card is inspired by this week's Curtain Call Challenge - Feeling Nautical.  Stacey has re-opened her inspiration challenge and Verve is sponsoring this week's grand re-opening celebration.  So be sure to head on over there for all the festivities and some fabulous inspiration from her all-star design team.

I loved so much about the inspiration photo that I decided to do a collage. From my first look, I jotted down postage stamp, nautical, yellow, blue, sand, foliage and woodgrain and that was my jumping off point.

I loved the tank top with just a portion of the anchor showing, so I embossed the anchor image from Strong Anchor on white paper then did a resist technique with a blue gelato.  The foliage is stamped with the Leaves Plain Jane and I fussy cut one for an accent.  The sweet little ship's wheel charm is from Pizzazz Aplenty and I wrapped it around the Stamp Trio CutUps die cut.  For my ribbon accent, I went with a swatch of washi tape, a scrap of ribbon from the Red, White and Beautiful Ribbon Collection and a prima butterfly.

The sentiment is from Borderline and embossed on a piece of dp painted with gesso.  I finished off with some woodgrain embossing and some scattered bling.


Enabler's List
Stamps: Strong Anchor, Borderline, Leaves Plain Jane (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Key Lime Collection (BoBunny), white, sahara sand (SU!),
Ink: sahara sand, soft suede, always artichoke (SU!), versamark, gelato (Faber-Castell), gesso
Accessories: Red, White and Beautiful Ribbon Collection (Verve Stamps), linen thread and Stamps Trio CutUps (TCP), ship's wheel charm and royal blue flatback rhinestones (Pizzazz Aplenty), Woodgrain embossing folder (SU!), butterfly (Prima), pinking shears, washi tape (Glitz Designs), clear embossing powder (JudiKins)

Bold Birthday Blooms

Hi friends!  The Color Throwdown is celebrating 5 years of color challenges and as a former guest designer (September 2011), I've been invited to help them celebrate today.  There are lots of prizes available for participating in the challenge, so be sure to head on over to The Color Throwdown blog for the full prize list and links to all the participating alumni and guest designers!

The colors this week are bold and bright.  Not my usual palette, but a scrumptious challenge nonetheless. As I've mentioned before July is birthday season in my life.  So many birthdays to celebrate, so I couldn't miss this opportunity to make another card on my list.  This one is for Stacey Schafer who just happens to be celebrating a birthday today and is also this month's guest designer at The Color Throwdown.  Happy birthday, Stacey!

The flower stamps are from the Joyful Blooms set and the sentiment is the Birthday to You Plain Jane.  No patterned paper was harmed in the making of this card.  {grin}  Lots of tone on tone stamping for the backgrounds, then a bit of fussy cutting for the bermuda bay popped up flower.  Some washi tape flags with buttons and a Flourished Trim Die for the botto

m border finish things off.

That's all from me!  Hope you have a spectacular day and find a little time to join in the festivities this week.

Enabler's List
Stamps: Joyful Blooms, Birthday to You Plain Jane (Verve Stamps)
Paper: bermuda bay, crumb cake, melon mambo, so saffron, basic black (SU!)
Ink: melon mambo, bermuda bay (SU!), black
Accessories: Flourished Trim Die (A Cut Above by VERVE), washi tape (Glitz Designs), buttons, embossing folder (SU!), Tiny Attacher (Tim Holtz), onyx liquid pearls (Ranger)

Presents and Stars

Hi friends! It's a brand-new Monday and time for another sketch over on the Mojo Monday blog. This week's sketch is based off a quick little card I made a while back.  I loved the layering and don't use ovals very often, so thought it would make a fun challenge for this week.

I'm in the last stretch of a very long and exhausting week as I type this up on Sunday night.  Everything from an entire house of sickies, to our switch dying while we were trying to print shipping labels for Verve orders and then spending an entire day without internet trying to figure out what happened and fix it, then a 4th of July ER visit for Kellan when he had a violent allergic reaction to some unknown thing, add in lots of family gatherings (when getting the twins ready to leave the house is a day long ordeal on its own) and it all adds up to one adrenaline filled, emotionally exhausting week.  Hopefully this coming one is low-key.

Not a lot to say about the card.  Stamps are from Borderline and I colored a bit with a Pistachio Pudding marker and then highlighted with glossy accents.  The stars are layered cuts using the Starry Die   Some washi tape, liquid pearls and star clusters finish things off.

Hope you have a little down time to play with this week's sketch.  Be sure to head on over to the Mojo Monday blog and check out the design team's sample cards as well.

Enabler's List
Stamps: Borderline (Verve Stamps)
Paper: The Pier (Crate Paper), Smoky Slate, Basic Black (SU!), cream (Neenah)
Ink: Basic Black, Smoky Slate, Pistachio Pudding (SU!)
Accessories: Starry Die (A Cut Above by Verve), Glossy Accents, Onyx Liquid Pearls (Ranger), washi tape (Glitz), star rhinestones (Recollections), paper distresser (SU!), Stitches texture fades embossing folder (Tim Holtz)

Beachy Birthday and a HOP

Hi friends!  It's the 5th of the month, and that means I'm kicking off the July Diva Inspirations Hop!  I just love seeing what each of the designers chooses to use from the Verve archives.  So pull up a chair and your favorite treat and lets go to the hop!!!

There's a little prize hidden along today's hop, so be sure to leave some comment love as you hop about to the blogs listed at the bottom of this post.  For all the blog hop prize detail and deadlines, head on over to the Verve Blog.

When I was strolling through the craft store a month or so ago, this Key Lime Collection by BoBunny literally screamed my name from across the aisle.  {grin}  It was instant love... retro, masculine and colorful and it immediately made me think of our Relax set.  So that was the inspiration I started with for a masculine birthday card I need this month.  I wanted a beachy feel so I paired the colorful papers with soft sky and crumb cake.  The surfboards from Relax are stamped onto patterned paper and then cut out.  I stamped the wave onto soft sky, then cut out and layered behind the flag, which is simply a section of the background paper.  I just loved the Live Love Surf text on the paper, so I made sure to cut the flag so it would stand out.  I wrapped a little twine around it  for emphasis, then added some Frosted Lace stickles to both the waves and the twine.

The soft sky banner is stamped in Soft Sky with the solid accent from Relax, then over stamped in white ink with the matching outlined accent for a frosty look.  Not sure if it shows in the picture, but it's pretty cool in real life.  I added to large jumbo eyelets to the top and tied some twine around them for a little interest.   The sentiment is from the Borderline set and stamped onto cream paper which I spritzed with a pool party marker and the air art tool.  Lots of distressing to the edges of everything, and you can see a bit of the embossed Rays texture fades peeking out  on the crumb cake layer.

The layout of the card is my masculine take on this week's Mojo Monday sketch.  Have you been playing along with the Mojo Monday 300 celebration?  There are oodles of prizes to be won and you have until Sunday night to get your entries in, so don't delay!

Alrighty, I've probably talked your ear off enough.  Time to hit the next stop on the hop... the amazing Amy Kolling!

	1. Julee	7. Sankari
	2. Amy	8. Sarah
	3. Anya	9. Sony
	4. Betty	10. Susan
	5. Jessica	11. Tiffany
	6. Karen

Enabler's List
Stamps:  Relax, Borderline (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Key Lime Collection (BoBunny), crumb cake, soft sky (SU!), cream
Ink: Soft Sky, Pool Party (SU!), Jasmine (Mix'd Media), black
Accesories:  Classic Circles Nestabilities (Spellbinders), jumbo eyelets, Frosted Lace Stickles (Ranger), paper distresser, Rays Texture Fades (Tim Holtz), linen thread, air art tool (SU!)

Birthday Blessings

Hi friends!  I've been waiting for July to get here for so long thinking this would be the time things would finally slow down.  Instead my life seems to have shifted into turbo speed and there are so many things to be done!  In addition to twins, Verve, Mojo Monday and life in general, I seem to have a plethora of friends young and old with birthdays in July (mine included!)  So you'll probably be seeing quite a few birthday cards here in the next little while.  This one I'm linking up to Stacey's Birthday Linky Party.  She's got some sweet prizes she's giving away for participating, including some Verve!
 

This card pairs So Fluttery with On Occasion (which is 20% off at Verve right now, plus there's the 300MOJO discount code that will get you an extra 20% off your entire purchase.  Quite a steal of a deal, if I do say so myself!)

The butterflies from So Fluttery are stamped in Blushing Bride, then I stamped the sentiment from On Occasion in black over that. Next I added some Stickles coated lace over a double bow using seam binding from the Truly Madly Deeply collection.  I finished off with a wood veneer butterfly that I covered in coordinating paper and then added stickles and pearls for shine.   A few little pink pearls from Pizzazz Aplenty accent each corner of my sentiment panel.  Pizzazz Aplenty is having a great little Buy One Get One Free sale on pearls and rhinestones right now, so you might want to hop over and take a look!  {wink}

Enabler's List
Stamps: So Fluttery, On Occasion (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Prairie Chic (BoBunny), Basic Gray (SU!), White (Neenah)
Ink: Blushing Bride (SU!), Black
Accessories: Truly Madly Deeply Ribbon Collection (Verve), Regal Flourishes Texture Fades (Tim Holtz), vintage lace trim, wood veneer butterfly, stickles, flatback pearls (Pizzazz Aplenty)

Mojo Mojo Mojo

Hi friends!  Today is a very special day for me.  It marks the 300th Mojo Monday sketch!  I can't believe the journey this weekly sketch has taken me on the past almost 6 years.  I started the challenge back in September of 2007 to try to force myself into a routine of blogging regularly.  I work better under deadlines, and well, I guess it worked!  {grin}  I still remember thinking to myself that no one would want to play along. Boy, was I wrong!

Anyhow, planning a big celebration for this week has been so much fun for me.  After the birth of the twins I've felt somewhat inconsequential in the blogging/stamping world.  I don't have the time I used to devote to stamping and blogging and I've felt out of touch.  To hear stories from the generous sponsors of how the Mojo Monday challenge has impacted them has left me with a great big smooshy heart, feeling like yes... I have somehow found a way to make a small difference in the world with the talents that God has blessed me with. {big cheesy grin}

So there are prizes galore to be won using this week's sketch!!!  23 fabulous companies, sponsoring 30 prizes.  Plus there are some special discounts you won't want to miss, so check out all the details over on today's Mojo Monday 300 Celebration blog post.

When I sat down to make my card, I had some scraps sitting on my desk... a little crisp cantaloupe, a little coastal cabana, some black and some Antique Aged Papers.  And there were still some paints on my desk, so I decided to go with a shabby, mixed-media vibe for the card.

The aged paper pieces are swiped with a bit of tan paint, then I added some sponged accents with Evergreen Bough and Vintage Photo distress inks.  The circle with the birdie from Making a Statement is coastal cabana, which I stamped with one of the backgrounds from Making a Statement and then finger painted a bit more of the tan paint on.   The cantaloupe layer is stamped with the two sizes of flower and then lightly with the graph stamp for a bit of texture.  I did the same thing with the graph stamp on the leaves and flowers cut with the coordinating Loopy Blooms Die Set and then added some glitter and vintage photo sponging.  The little flag the birdie is sitting on is cut with theFlag It Die Set and I just ruffled it a bit.  I added a Flourished Trim die cut down one side, then finished off with a bow, rhinestone flourishes and some glass glitter.

Hope you can play along! Be sure to check out the Mojo Monday Blog for all the prize and sponsor info and even some special discounts!  Verve is celebrating in style with a special gift code good through July 7.  Enter gift code 300MOJO at checkout for 20% off your purchase!



Enabler's List
Stamps:  Making a Statement (Verve Stamps)
Paper: crisp cantaloupe, coastal cabana, basic black (SU!), cream (neenah), Antique Aged Papers (Bazzill)
Ink: Crisp Cantaloupe, Basic Black (SU!), Evergreen Bough, Vintage Photo (Ranger Distress), Tan paint (Claudine Hellmuth Studio)
Accessories:  Loopy Blooms Die Set, Flag It Die Set, Flourished Trim Die (A Cut above by VERVE), Polka Dot Basics Ribbon Collection (Verve), black onyx liquid pearls (Ranger), glass glitter, embossing folder (SU!), Classic Circles Nestabilities (Spellbinders), paper distresser, black rhinestone flourishes.