Sensational Stripes and a Hop

Hi friends!  It's time for the Verve Divas to bring you our monthly Diva Inspirations Challenge and Blog Hop! There are two ways to win Verve prizes: comment on the design team's blog hop posts (linked below) to see their take on the inspiration, then go get inky and link up your take on the challenge to be eligible in our prize drawings! You have the rest of the month to link up, so feel free to play as often as you like.

I'm the first stop on today's hop, so grab your favorite refreshment and settle in for a hopping good time!  It's also Friday, so this is my sample for the July Week 2 Viva la Verve sketch hosted by Marisa.

So, do you see the graphic below that Sarah chose for this month's inspiration?  I just love a sandy beach and was so inspired by the colors I got right to work. I started by stamping the Deco Borders trim on the Flourished Tag die cut.  I also cut the tag in crumb cake and clear acetate.  Next I stamped the same border in smoky slate on smoky slate, then cut with stitched circles.  I made a frame by layering two stitched circles dies and cut from bashful blue.  I cut another smaller stitched circle from bashful blue to layer under my flowers (totally inspired by Wanda's Mojo card this week). Next I pulled out the smaller poppy image from Floral Notes, cut it with the coordinating die from the Floral Notes Die Set and then watercolored with marina mist ink, adding a bit of glue and glitter to make the centers stand out.

For my stripes I added a layer of crumb cake embossed with stripes and then I used a white pencil to color the stripes to give a sandy sort of look.  The next cream layer is embossed with an SU! frame embossing folder and I matted again with crumb cake and layered onto a cream card base.

Finally, I stamped the birthday blessings sentiment from Floral Notes in archival black on the acetate Flourished Tag.  I layered everything togethr and punched a hole in the tags with my cropadile, then threaded some ribbon from the Signature Ribbon Collection through the hole and tied in a bow.

Okay, next up on the hop is Amy!  You can find the full hop list below.

Our July challenge is Sensational Stripes

Stripes go with everything! Make them nautical, or pair with florals for a graphic look. Use stripes however you're inspired! Use the inspiration graphic or head off in your own direction, just show us your stripes! 

Click here to link up your challenge entries
Challenge deadline: Friday, July 31.
Prize: $30 gift voucher to the Verve online store!

Need a little inspiration? Check out the blogs linked below to see what the other Divas did with the challenge! It's sure to be a treat, and speaking of treats, we've got a prize for one lucky commenter along the hop! Check out the Verve Blog today for all the prize info and deadlines!

	1. Julee	8. Susan
	2. Amy	9. Maureen
	3. Betty	10. Marisa
	4. Jen	11. Stacey
	5. Karen	12. Laurie
	6. Sankari	13. Amber
	7. Sarah

July Week 2 Viva la Verve Sketch

Enabler's List
Stamps: Floral Notes, Deco Borders (Verve Stamps)
Paper: bashful blue, crumb cake (SU!), cream (Neenah), acetate
Ink: crumb cake, smoky slate, marina mist (SU!),  black archival (Ranger), white pencil
Accessories: Floral Notes Die Set, Flourished Tag Die Set, Signature Ribbon Collection (A Cut Above by VERVE), (Verve), Stitched Circles stax (MFT), embossing folders (EK Success), glitter