Day 1 AnniVERVESary Spotlights

Hi friends! It's finally time to start hopping for our 10th Anni-VERVE-sary release! Wow... a decade of designing stamps for you. Such an honor and a privilege.

I'm the first stop on today's blog hop so WELCOME! I'm so glad you're here! Verve is releasing 4 new sets and 2 die sets on Monday, August 28. The Divas (our design team) along with our very special Guest Diva, Kelly Lunceford are hopping today to share our first looks with the Little Ones stamp and coordinating die set. Be sure to check out the Verve Blog today for another creation from me, plus a little spotlight on Kelly and a little in-depth look at the new set! Oh, and we've got some rockstar Diva alumni guests making some guest appearances later in the week that you won't want to miss. Hooray! Should be a fun release countdown, so let's get started!

Today's feature is on the Little Ones stamp set and coordinating Little Ones Die Set. A fusion of old and new, this baby themed set brings back some of Verve's most popular plain janes, mixed with a few new designs to tie it all together.

I've had so many requests for some of the baby plain janes and sentiments that I knew they needed to make a return to the Verve lineup. When I sat down to design this compilation set, I knew I wanted to add in a way to make the set usable for my own needs. Being a mom of twins, I wanted to have a stamp that said twins and also a way to add an s to boy or girl to accomodate multiples.

I've never really been much of a scrapbooker. Before kids I didn't have anything too interesting to scrapbook and after kids I've just been too busy. Now that my boys are getting older, I see how much they LOVE to look back at old photos. Since we're in the digital age, not many of our photos are printed, so I'm trying to make an effort to sift through the thousands of images, get some printed and make them a simple scrapbook to look at.

Selecting the photos for this 2 page spread was such a trip down memory lane. The boys will be entering Kindergarten in September and it's so crazy to look back and see how much they've grown. But even at these young ages, so much of their personalities were shining through.

The first layout started with the rattle image, which I stamped twice, colored with Copics and cut with the coordinating Little Ones Die Set.  I then stamped the precious in soft sky and the little twins stamp in black on white cardstock and arranged how I wanted them to look. I printed the photos in black and white and cropped two down to size, layering over the white and then finished off with a bit of alphabet washi tape. I just love the simple cuteness of this. Trevor is the one leaning into Kellan in that bottom photo, and it fits his loving, hugging personality to a T. Although they quarrel on a daily basis, there is definitely a whole lot of love between these two.

For the second page, I knew I wanted to use these smiley little photos. I stamped the baby boy and the s stamp in the corner of the page, then decided the smallest things sentiment would be the perfect sentiment to pair with the photos. Because definitely these two small little things take up so much room in our hearts!  I stamped the sentiment onto a die cut square, then stamped the stitched heart in soft sky and cut with the coordinating die from the Little Ones Die Set. I added the photos and a bit more washi to tie the two pages together. Super simple layouts, but I'm so pleased with how they turned out and I know my boys will love them!

Okay, thanks so much for stopping by today! Hope you enjoyed these little layouts from my heart.

Next up on the hop is Maureen.

Want to win some shiny new Verve? We'll be picking a random commenter on one of the hop spots below to win today's featured products! Leave a little shout out in the comments section 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 5. Marisa 2. Maureen 6. Lesley 3. Betty 7. Christyne 4. Charmaine 8. Kelly (Guest)

Enabler's List
Stamps: Little Ones (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Bundle of Joy Dots & Stripes (Echo Park), white
Ink: onyx black (Versafine), soft sky (SU!)
Accessories: Little Ones Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), pierced squares dies (Cottage Cuts), washi tape