An Everlasting Love Mojo

Hi friends! It's the last Monday of the month and that means it's time for a non-traditional card sketch over at Mojo Monday.  The tall & skinny sketch this week was inspired by this card I made for the latest Verve release.

I've been having a lot of fun using multiple inks on the same image lately.  Just love the look, and it's so much easier to get it just the way I want it with the MISTI.  For both stamps from theLove Everlasting set I inked them up with pool party first and stamped, then inked the bottom half with pacific point and stamped again.  The heart is cut with the coordinating Everlasting Heart Die Set and the sentiment is cut with the Stitched Pennants Die Set.

The background is just a variegated designer paper, which I added a mat of pacific point to and then finished off with a seam binding bow.  Super easy and quick, but packs a big punch.  My kinda card! {grin}

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you have a fabulous start to your week.  If you have a little time, be sure to head on over to Mojo Monday and see what the other designers did with this week's sketch.  And if you're in the mood for a little Monday shopping, Verve has 25% off all stamps and dies, plus free US shipping for orders over $35.  Sale ends May 31.

Mojo Monday 450 Sketch

Enabler's List
Stamps: Love Everlasting (Verve Stamps)
Paper: dp (Recollections), pacific point (SU!), white (Neenah)
Ink: pool party, pacific point (SU!)
Accessories: Everlasting Heart Die Set, Stitched Pennants Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), Summer Sailing Ribbon Collection (Verve)

Beautiful Soul Retrospective Hop

Welcome to Verve's May Release Retrospective Blog Hop! It's been a fabulous post release week at Verve and today the Divas and Guest Divas are helping you ease into the long weekend with another dose of inspiration using the brand new release! All of our new products are available to order in the Verve Store and is 25% off through the end of May! Plus, we've got a super sweet hop prize in store!

I'm the first stop on today's hop, so let's get to it!

My card today started with the Mojo Monday sketch for this week.  I embossed the flowers from Beautiful Things on text paper, then colored with a drop of reinker and water with melon mambo and calypso coral.  Next I stitched the panel to a piece of cream cardstock, then distressed both layers with antique linen distress ink and a paper distresser.

The beautiful soul sentiment was inked up with calypso coral ink on the top half and melon mambo on the bottom, then stamped and clear embossed on a stitched circle die cut. I stamped one more flower in calypso coral, embossed and watercolored, then cut with the coordinating Beautiful Flowers Die Set. I also cut some leaves from the text paper and added some detailing with a stabilo pencil and watercolored. A dry embossed background and a bit of my favorite wide stitched ribbon finish things off.

And now for a little hop and store talk...

Want to win some shiny new Verve? We'll be picking a random commenter on one of the hop spots below to win a $40 gift voucher to Verve! To be entered in the giveaway, leave a little comment love as you hop around to the blogs linked below! Comment deadline for the prize giveaway is May 31. Check out the Verve Blog today for all the prize info and deadlines!

1. Julee 7. LauraJane {guest} 2. Lori {guest} 8. Marisa 3. Betty 9. Maureen 4. Charmaine 10. Stacey 5. Laurie 11. Teresa 6. Lesley

In other news, since it's Memorial Day weekend here in the States and my boys are off from school, the Verve office will be closed May 30-31.  I'll resume my regular office schedule on Wednesday, June 1. While I'm away, I've added a free shipping promotion to sweeten the deal!

Free first class shipping on US orders over $35 May 27 - 31, 2016. 

Select US Shipping as your ship method at checkout and discount will be calculated automatically. Offer not valid on US Priority, International or Canadian shipping methods. Free shipping is calculated on your subtotal after any discounts or gift codes.

All of our new products are available to order in the Verve Store and during our May Sale all stamps and dies (including our new release) are 25% off!  There's only a few more days left, though... the sale ends May 31.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you find a bit of inspiration along the hop!

Next stop on the hop is the fabulous Lori Craig.

Mojo Monday 449

Enabler's List
Stamps: Beautiful Things (Verve Stamps)
Paper: conservatory (7 Gypsies), cream (Neenah)
Ink: melon mambo, calypso coral (SU!), antique linen distress (Ranger), black pencil (Stabilo)
Accesories: Beautiful Flowers Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), stitched circles stax (MFT), wide striped ribbon (CTMH), sewing machine, embossing folder (Sizzix), paper distresser

Beautiful Card Concept 56

Hi friends! It's time for a new Card Concept challenge, and the new graphic totally pulled at my coffee loving heartstrings.  When I saw the spoon and cup, I just had to pull out the Coffee set and get right to work making a shabby little creation.

I had these flowers from the Beautiful Things set all stamped and colored with prismacolors and cut with the coordinating Beautiful Flowers Die Set left over from the release cards I made last week. It seemed so perfect that they were already done in pink, just like the bloom in the graphic.  So I went for a similar look by embossing the cup and spoon images from Coffee in white on crumb cake and then coloring with colored pencils.  I hand cut the spoon and cut the coffee cup with the coordinating Cuppa Joe Die Set.

I did a bit of distressing with sandpaper and watered down gesso on the designer papers, then masked off the you from one of the sentiments and embossed it on a vellum Stitched Pennants die cut.  I then colored some crumb cake paper with the same color of pencils I used for the teacup and cut the beautiful word out.  The oval picture frame in the graphic had me digging through the closet to find my oval nestabilities and it became the perfect little grounding point for my collage of die cuts.  I finished off with a bit of twine and some crumb cake leaves.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! If you have a second, be sure to hop on over to The Card Concept to see all the wonderful inspirations by the design team.

Enabler's List
Stamps: Beautiful Things, Coffee (Verve Stamps)
Paper: conservatory (7 Gypsies), vellum, crumb cake (SU!)
Ink: Versamark, early espresso (SU!), colored pencils (Prismacolor), picket fence distress stain (Ranger)
Accessories:  Beautiful Flowers Die Set, Cuppa Joe Die Set, Stitched Pennants Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), petite classic and scallop ovals nestabilities (Spellbinders), twine (Hemptique), clear and white embossing powders (JudiKins), liquid pearls (Ranger)

Beauty For Ashes Spotlight Hop

Welcome to Day 3 of Verve's May Spotlight Hops! It's release day and that means all the new Verve that we've been sharing this week is available in the store!  To celebrate, we're putting on another hop and the prize is the ENTIRE release!  Woohoo!  Today's featured focus is designer's choice, so you might just sneak a peek at a whole bunch of must-haves!  I'm the first stop on today's hop, so let's get to it!

I was down and out most of last week with a sinus infection, and on a particularly rough day I spent most of the morning on YouTube instead of preparing for the release.  I stumbled across a fantastic video by DeeDee Catron on making some mixed media tags and I immediately KNEW I had to test out some of the techniques with the new Beautiful Things set.  I thought the black and white combo would pair perfectly with the Isaiah 61:3 verse.

I started by collaging a few papers and some Tim Holtz tissue paper together, adding a whitewash of gesso and water, then collaging some more and adding in some black paint.  Then I scraped some white gesso over the project with a palette knife.  The flower was then embossed in black and I pulled out a black stabilo marks all pencil and outlined the stamped image.  I then spread it around with a waterbrush, bringing a bit of dimension and a grungy look.  The sentiment is also embossed in black.

I added splatters with watered down black gesso and added a bit more grunge where I felt it needed it with the stabilo pencil and water.  Next I cut the leaves from black using the Beautiful Flowers Die Set and glued them to my project, adding a few basic highlights with a white stabilo pencil.

For the base, I collaged more of the Tim Holtz tissue paper directly onto white card stock, did a little stitching and a bunch of distressing of the edges to finish things off.  I just love how it turned out. Can't wait to make more like this!

Okay, that's all from me today.  Thanks so much for stopping by and for hopping with us this week!

Oh, and one last thing before you hop along. We have a brand new Instagram account for Verve, so we'd love it if you'd follow us @vervestamps!

Next up on today's hop is the fabulous Lori!

Want to win some shiny new Verve? Today's prize is a BIG one. We'll be picking a random commenter on one of the hop spots below to win our ENTIRE new release! So be sure to leave a little comment on all the blogs below to increase your chances! Check out the Verve Blog today for the full hop list and all the prize info and deadlines!

1. Julee 7. Lesley 2. Lori {guest} 8. LauraJane {guest} 3. Betty 9. Marisa 4. Charmaine 10. Maureen 5. Christyne 11. Stacey 6. Laurie

Enabler's List 
Stamps:  Beautiful Things (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Conservatory (7 Gypsies), white (Neenah), Melange tissue paper (Tim Holtz Ideaology)
Ink: black archival, black gesso, white gesso, stabilo marks all
Accessories: Beautiful Flowers Die Set,(A Cut Above by VERVE), collage medium (Ranger), sewing machine

Love Everlasting Spotlight Hop

Welcome to Day 2 of Verve's May Spotlight Hops! There's a new Verve release just around the corner and for the next couple of days we'll be shining our creative spotlights on the new Verve sets and dies releasing this Friday, May 20!  I'm the first stop on today's hop, so why not settle in for a fresh little dose of inspiration?

Today we're sharing our first projects featuring the Love Everlasting stamp set, Everlasting Heart Die Set and the Copper Blush Sequin Mix.  Check out the Verve Blog post today for the full product reveals!

For my card today, I was feeling a bit shabby chic, so I just went with it.  The sequin mix colors inspired me, so I pulled out a bit of groovy guava cardstock and stamped around the edges in calypso coral with a portion of the big flowery heart stamp.  Next I embossed the heart with copper embossing powder, colored with Copics and cut with the coordinating Everlasting Heart die. I sponged lightly around the edges with antique linen to give a hint of an aged look, then added a bit of glossy glaze and glitter to each of the flowers.

Next I pulled out the Stitched Pennants Die Set and cut the larger one from vellum, then embossed the sentiment in copper.  (Side note: this bottle of copper embossing powder is the first embossing powder I ever bought way back in 1997 and it's still going strong!  Can't believe I haven't spilled the whole bottle by now.  LOL)  I sewed the pennant directly onto the guava layer, then added some Copper Blush Sequins, some copper mica flakes and a bit of shabby white embossing powder to the corners.  Dry embossing for the base layers and a bit of lace trim finishes things off.

Okay, that's all from me today.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Next up on today's hop is the fabulous Lori!

Want to win some shiny new Verve? We'll be picking a random comment winner on one of the hop spots below to win today's featured products! So be sure to leave a little comment on all the blogs below to increase your chances! Check out the Verve Blog today for the full hop list, a little more about our new products and all the prize info and deadlines!

1. Julee 7. Lesley 2. Lori {guest} 8. LauraJane {guest} 3. Betty 9. Marisa 4. Charmaine 10. Maureen 5. Christyne 11. Stacey 6. Laurie 12. Teresa

Enabler's List 
Stamps:  Love Everlasting (Verve Stamps)
Paper: groovy guava (SU!), vellum, white (Neenah)
Ink: calypso coral, VersaMark, Copic markers
Accessories: Everlasting Heart Die Set, Stitched Pennants Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), Copper Blush Sequin Mix (Verve), copper embossing powder (PSX), mica flakes, shabby white embossing powder (Stampendous), glossy glaze, glitter, lace trim, embossing folder (Darice)

Beautiful Things Spotlight Hop

Welcome to Verve's May Spotlight Hops! There's a new Verve release just around the corner and for the next couple of days we'll be shining our creative spotlights on the new Verve sets and dies releasing this Friday, May 20!  I'm the first stop on today's hop, so why not settle in for a fresh little dose of inspiration?

Today we're sharing our first projects featuring the Beautiful Things stamp set, Beautiful Flowers Die Set and the Stitched Pennants Die Set.  Check out the Verve Blog post today for the full product reveals and a little bit about our fabulous Guest Divas, Lori Craig and Laura Jane!

I'll start by saying, I'm really loving this release. I've been struggling through several months of creative block and these sets might just be the thing to pull me out.  {grin}  These flowers seriously make my heart go pitter patter and I want to color them in all the colors!

I started the card by heat embossing the flowers from Beautiful Things in white on crumb cake and coloring with prismacolor pencils in blues.  My boys were fascinated to watch the blending of colors, so it was fun for the whole family! Next I die cut them with the coordinating Beautiful Flowers Die Set (with Trevor's help cranking the Hello Kitty Big Shot handle, of course!).

For the sentiment tag, I cut both pennants from the Stitched Pennants Die Set in crumb cake, then added a little colored pencil border to each die, going just to the stitched line.  I embossed the birthday sentiment in white, then layered them together and tucked in under my flowers.

The beautiful is also part of the Beautiful Flowers Die Set and here I cut it from white fun foam for some thickness and a layer of crumb cake for a bit of shadow.  The leaves are from the same die set, cut from crumb cake and tucked in to fill out the layout.  I finished with a couple fun neutral papers, aged with a bit of antique linen distress ink and tied a big twine bow.

Okay, that's all from me today.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Next up on today's hop is the fabulous Lori!

Want to win some shiny new Verve? We'll be picking a random comment winner on one of the hop spots below to win today's featured products! So be sure to leave a little comment on all the blogs below to increase your chances! Check out the Verve Blog today for the full hop list, a little more about our new products and all the prize info and deadlines!

1. Julee 7. Lesley 2. Lori {guest} 8. LauraJane {guest} 3. Betty 9. Marisa 4. Charmaine 10. Maureen 5. Christyne 11. Stacey 6. Laurie 12. Teresa

Enabler's List 
Stamps: Beautiful Things (Verve Stamps)
Paper: crumb cake (SU!), cream, fun foam, Beach Day (Carta Bella), Conservatory (7 gypsies)
Ink: Versamark (Tsukineko), Prismacolor Colored Pencils, antique linen (Ranger Distress)
Accessories: Beautiful Flowers Die Set, Stitched Pennants Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), white embossing powder (JudiKins), button (SU!), twine (Hemptique)

Mojo Cupcake Happiness

Hi friends! It's time for another Mojo Monday sketch.  Here's the card I based the sketch off of, but I went a bit easier on you and left a few layers off the sketch.  Dress it up, or dress it down, just have fun!

I had been itching to use the Cupcakes stamp set since it recently came back into stock after a long hiatus.  I was inspired by the colors in the bracelet of his month's Diva Inspirations challenge, so started with those colors in mind, stamping and embossing the cupcake and sentiment in pink.

I pulled out a tag that had soaked up some blue and green inks from a previous project, layered it under the vellum and added the stamped Cupcakes word.  Next I toook a bit of distress paper and smooshed some wild honey, spiced marmalade and worn lipstick around until I had a nice background.  Below that the turquoise layer is spritzed with dylusions spray, then dry embossed and sanded for a fun texture.  All of this is on some textured white distressed cardstock, and I finished off with a resist chipboard butterfly, sponged with distress inks and dolled up with glossy glaze and glitter.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you have a wonderful start to your week.

Mojo Monday 448 Sketch

Enabler's List
Stamps: Cupcakes (Verve Stamps)
Paper: white, vellum
Ink: melon mambo (SU!), versamrk
Accessories: Stitched Pennants Die Set (releasing from Verve 5/20/16), Springtime Stitches Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), pinking circles nestabilities (Spellbinders), resist butterfly (Teresa Collins), glossy glaze, glitter, embossing folder (Darice), white embossing powder

Amazing U Card Concept

Hi friends! It's time for another challenge over at The Card Concept and this time we've got a sunny little inspiration pic for you.

I was inspired by the scrabble tiles to pull out the I Heart U Die Set to pair the letter U with the Amazing Adjectives Word Die Set.  I selected a texty paper that reminded me of the scrabble tiles and highlighted a few words randomly.  I pulled the sunshine inspiration in with a Partly Cloudy Die Set die cut that I split in half and layered down the center of my card.

The flowers from Coffee Helps were perfect for a bit of sunny coloring and I added a bit of stardust Stickles to each for some bling, cutting them out with the coordinating die from the Cup For All Seasons Die Set.  I finished off with a birdie wood cut that I covered with designer paper and distressed.  A bit of sanding all around gives a shabby weathered look and I added a bit of chic in with a mixture of lace and twine.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Be sure and head on over to The Card Concept to see where the inspiration took this team of amazing designers!

Card Concept 55

Enabler's List
Stamps: Coffee Helps (Verve Stamps)
Paper: dp scraps, tiptop taupe (SU!)
Ink: black, Copic markers, white pencil
Accessories: Cup For All Seasons Die Set, Amazing Adjectives Word Die Set, Partly Cloudy Die Set, I Heart U Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), birdie wood cut, bisque liquid pearls, stardust stickles (Ranger), twine, lace, rhinestone