Believe in Fairy Tales Retrospective Hop

Hi friends! If you're here hopping along with Verve's October Release Retrospective Hop, welcome! This is our time to share a little more inspiration using our new release, now that the stamps are hopefully in your creative little hands. I'm the first stop on the hop, so settle in for a treat.

And speaking of treats, we've got a $40 gift certificate up for grabs to one lucky commenter along the hop, so be sure to give a little shout-out to the Divas and our special guests as you hop about for a chance to win.

Verve is a sponsor of the Hop to Stop, a hop to raise awareness for the victims and survivors of domestic violence. There are some fabulous prizes up for grabs just for linking up newly created cards featuring the color purple (the awareness color for this cause) before October 30. So for my card today, I knew I wanted to participate in the Hop to Stop, and the Everything Nice stamp set seemed like the perfect pairing.

I just love this believe in fairy tales sentiment. It's so full of hope and wonder and a reminder that we need to look for and capture the little tidbits of the extraordinary in our everyday lives. To not settle for the things that make us feel not enough, but to keep toiling and believing and striving, because someday we will rise up and the diamond we've been hiding inside will shine so bright that no one can stop it from lighting the room.

Anyhow, that was where my little brain was headed when I started this card. I wanted the sentiment to be this bright circle against a dark galaxy background.  I started with a piece of fabriano paper, coated with heavy gesso, then I added some spackled diamonds with a stencil.  I used dylusions sprays to create the background, adding some butterfly washi tape, then splattering on some white linen dylusions.  I needed a bit of grounding for my butterfly, so I fingerpainted some acrylic paint on, then set to work on my butterfly.

The butterfly was created with distress inks, sponged onto white cardstock, I stenciled the same diamonds in black soot, then cut  the butterfly out with a Cheery Lynn die.  I layered it onto a black butterfly cut with the same die and added it to my card.  I finished with a black strip of cardstock down the side and some rub-ons and doodles.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Next stop on the hop is Marisa.  I'm also sharing my Viva la Verve card over on the Verve Blog today, so be sure to take a peek.

Want to win some shiny new Verve? I'll be picking a random comment winner 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! Check out the Verve Blog today for all the prize info and deadlines!

1. Julee 6. Vickie (Guest) 2. Marisa 7. Maureen 3. Charmaine 8. Teresa 4. Betty 9. Lesley 5. Lisa (Guest)

Enabler's List
Stamps: Everything Nice (Verve Stamps)
Paper: watercolor paper (fabriano), white, black
Ink: crushed grape, funky fuschia, white linen Dylusions spray, shaded lilac, wilted violet, black soot distress ink (Ranger), lilac acrylic paint (Claudine Hellmuth Studio), heavy gesso (Prima), whipped spackle (Faber-Castell)
Accessories: washi tape, stitched circles stax (MFT), pinking circles (Spellbinders), rub-ons (Scarlet Lime), butterfly die (Cheery Lynn Designs), Tim Holtz Mixed Media Thinlits (Sizzix)