Last Minute Easter Treats

Hi y'all! It's the last day of spring break here and boy am I ready to get back to a normal routine! I had envisioned quiet afternoons crafting with the boys, reading tons of books and playing board games. What I got was one boy with a secondary infection from strep, civil war, utter chaos, and a whole lot less patience than I started the week with! Haha! #lifewithboys

I made this little prototype of a quick Easter treat bag last week, planning to make more with bigger tags and some other variations to share on the blog this week. But instead I didn't step foot in my craft room all week and I ate all but a few of the chocolates! {sheepish grin}  I'm a sucker for Dove chocolates, but I did have a couple little helpers, too!

But if you're scrambling for something to make quickly, and don't have boys that think going to the store is like asking them to take a bath in boiling hot acid, here's how I made them.

1. Cut a length of 2" x 4.5" piece of cardstock (adjust length for more or less eggs)
2. Score 1/4" from the edge on both long sides and fold up to create tray
3. Optionally cut a 1.5" x 4.5" piece of patterned paper and adhere to the inside of tray
4. Add your chocolates and tuck inside a 2" x 9" cello bag
5. Tie closed and embellish as desired.

For my embellishment, I chose a tag using a sentiment from the new Risen Savior stamp set. I stamped with bermuda bay on vellum and embossed with clear embossing powder, then cut with a circle punch.  I layered this onto a Lacey Frame die cut (available in our 4/10 release), then used a crop-a-dile to punch a hole in both and thread the seam binding through and tited a bow.  I finished off with a yellow paper flower.

Easy peasy! Hope you have a wonderful Easter weekend!

Enabler's List
Stamps: Risen Savior (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Eastertime (Authentique), soft sky (SU!), vellum
Ink: soft sky, bermuda bay (SU!)
Accessories: Lacey Frames Die Set (coming 4/10 from A Cut Above by VERVE), circle punch, clear embossing powder, ribbon, upholstery thread, prima flower, crop-a-dile, 2 x 9 cello bag

Angels and Keeping Christmas

It's the 25th of the month and time again to join some of my crafty friends for our monthly Keeping Christmas Inspiration Hop! The idea of the hop is to both to bring you a little dose of holiday inspiration throughout the year and also have some Christmas cards and projects in our stash all ready to go for December 2018. If you've already been hopping along, you should have arrived from Claire's blog. If you're just popping in, read on for all the details!

Okay, so this month I did a teensy bit better at getting my project for the hop done before the deadline. As in I sent Mark off to a birthday party with the boys and about thirty other 3-6 year olds while I made my hop creation yesterday afternoon. See... a little better than a late night stamping session, but not really meeting my turning a new leaf over goals here! Haha. 

I had been thinking about what I should make for the blog hop earlier this month and had a fun tag project in my head with a super snowy mixed media flair. But, I couldn't find the snow paste I wanted to use when I sat down to stamp. Since the clock was ticking, I decided to save that idea for later and make a card with the one pad of Christmas paper that didn't get put back in the closet! This time it was more of an issue that I only gave myself about 6 inches of room on my desk when I swept all the Easter stuff I've been working on to the side! 

Anyhow, I pulled out three papers from the pad and got to work with the Angel Voices set. I wanted to make some shimmery vellum wings, so decided to paper piece the angel.  I embossed the angel image in gold on white cardstock, vellum and two colors of patterned paper.  I cut the white angels with the coordinating die from the Angelic Die Set. I fussy cut just the wing portion of the vellum images and glued them just in the center, allowing the wings to pop up a bit.  Next, I layered the patterned piece of the robes over the top, gluing down the top portion and using a dimensional at the bottom to give a little depth to the image. I colored the sashes, faces and the white wings with Copic markers.

Next I embossed the sentiments on a label die cut in gold, then sponged the label with antique linen distress ink with the die still in place to give a subtle glow.  I layered the papers and added a big white bow to each, finishing off with some glitter glue on the wings for a shimmery sparkle.

One of the things that is a major roadblock for me in getting my cards to the mailbox each year is that I don't often decorate the insides when I make the cards. So Christmas rolls around and I have a box of cards, but still need to stamp a Christmas message or greeting in all of them. 

So I decided to make it easier on myself, I'd make sure my Keeping Christmas cards are completely done. And since I really don't need anymore scraps in my scrap pile, I decided to use as much of the paper scraps I had left to decorate the inside, pulling in the same label design with the Merry Christmas sentiment. I know I'm going to pat myself on the back come December and all I have to do is write and stuff!

So there you have it, my March installment for Keeping Christmas. Hope you enjoyed it! If you're looking for some new Christmas stamps, everything in the Verve shop is 30% off through the end of March. 

Okay, now it's time to hop along and check out all the other fabulous posts on the hop. I'm so excited to hop along and see everyone's creations! The hop is hosted on the fabulous Kelly Lunceford's blog, so head over there to start from the beginning. Or continue on to visit Kim Heggins if you've already been hopping along!

Kelly Lunceford

Lesley Croghan

Anita Madden

Broni Holcombe

Claire Broadwater

Julee Tilman {You are here}

Kim Heggins

Lori Tecler

Nance Salkeld

Nina Forsyth

Rachel Bergfeld

Vicki Finger

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Enabler's List

Stamps: Angel Voices (Verve Stamps)
Paper: (Echo Park), white, vellum, shiny gold
Ink: antique linen (Ranger distress), versamark, copic markers
Accessories: Angel Voices Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), labels die (Spellbinders), gold embossing powder, stitched rectangle dies (Cottage Cutz), ribbon, glitter glue

How Sweet the Sound

Hi friends! I'm here today with another card using the just released Risen Savior stamp set. I've had visions of shabby chic cards in my head ever since I stocked up on all the new Prima papers earlier this year. And the egg garland  in Risen Savior was just asking for a shabby treatment when I sat down to stamp yesterday.

I stamped the egg garland image in coffee archival ink, then colored with Copic markers and fussy cut. Next I went over the speckles with a glue pen and heat embossed with some midnight bronze embossing powder. I absolutely love this color of embossing powder, and since it's got a bit of mica in it, it leaves a shimmery dusting wherever it's sprinkled, which looks fabulous on these eggs.

The sentiment from the Risen Savior set is embossed on vellum, then cut with a stitched rectangle die. I glued this to a piece of patterned paper, then added some distressing all around the edges.  I fussy cut one of the winged creatures from the background paper, adding a few Copic highlights to tie in the pinks of the card, then finished off with a bit of lace.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you have an amazing day.

Enabler's List
Stamps: Risen Savior (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Cherrry Blossom (Prima), vellum, cream
Ink: antique linen, pumice stone distress, coffee archival (Ranger), Versamark, Copic markers
Accessories: stitched rectangle dies, vintage lace, midnight bronze embossing powder (Lindy's), paper distresser

He is Risen

Hi friends! I'm happy to say there's a new Verve stamp set in the store today!  Hooray! The Risen Savior set is officially part of our upcoming April release, but I've added it to the store early since Easter is just around the corner! And since all of our stamps are on sale this month, you can pick it up at 30% off! Double hooray!

My card uses the March Viva la Verve sketch and you can even sneak a peek at a border die set that's coming in the April release. I pulled out some St. Tropez papers by Prima for this shabby chic card and used a piece of ephemera also from the St. Tropez collection. It had a bit of wording in the center, so I covered that with gesso and then stamped the sentiment from Risen Savior in the center.  Lots of distressing, a bit of seam binding and upholstery thread, and a pretty paper flower finish things off.

I've been wanting a new Easter stamp set for some time, but these early Easters keep sneaking up on me. This year, I just decided to move forward even if the manufacturing timelines were cutting things close. Hope you enjoy this inspirational set. I have lots of ideas running through my head... just hope I can make time for them all!

Enabler's List
Stamps: Risen Savior (Verve Stamps)
Paper: St. Tropez (Prima), crumb cake (SU!), cream (Neenah)
Ink: antique linen, vintage photo distresss (Ranger), Coffee Archival (Ranger)
Accessories: Lacey Trim Duo Die Set (releasing April 2018 from A Cut Above by VERVE), St. Tropez ephemera (Prima), gesso, upholstery thread, flower and leaf (Prima), seam binding, paper distresser

Simply Lucky

Hi friends! I've had a busy week and until last night, hadn't stepped into my studio since last Saturday. Some weeks are like that. I love to get inky, but there are times when a book or a chance to play basketball with the boys on a sunny day wins out over stamping.

Anyhow, last night I decided to spend a little time stamping and was totally surprised when I got to my desk and saw that there was a card I had put together but hadn't glued down just sitting there waiting for me!  Always nice to start a stamping session with a little success, right? {grin}

When I created this one I was in a very rare clean and simple mood. The spring cleaning bug has started nipping at me and I wanted to make a card with lots of white and crisp green for the March Diva Inspirations challenge. Growing up my parents always used Ivory soap, but when we went to my grandma's she had Irish Spring soap and I remember how crisp and clean and nice smelling it was. I used to love washing my hands at grandma's! Anyhow, I tried to capture that crisp and clean Irish freshness with this card.

The sentiment from the Irish Coffee digi is printed on vellum.  I also printed the four leaf clover and cup from the digi on white cardstock and colored with Copic markers. The cup is cut with the coordinating Happiness in a Cup Die Set.  For the layout I just grabbed a few scraps from the Emerald collection by Authentique and glued them together, then I used my sewing machine to zigzag stitch the vellum sentiment on. A plaid strip to ground things and a few scored lines at the top and bottom of the card base finish things off.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you have a wonderful St. Patrick's Day weekend. The boys were pretty excited for the Irish dancers to come perform at their school this morning. And tomorrow we're going to an annual St. Patrick's day brunch with friend and there will be live bagpipe players. Pretty exciting!

Enabler's List
Stamps: Irish Coffee DIGITAL Set (Verve)
Paper: Emerald (Authentique), white, vellum
Ink: laser printer, copic markers
Accessories: Happiness in a Cup Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), sewing machine, scor-pal, Zazz glitter glue (American Crafts)

Shabby Calling

Hi friends! Today I'm sharing a fun little shabby collage card I made with the Amelia Rose collection from Prima and a sentiment from the new Irish Coffee digi.

As I was flipping through the Amelia Rose 3x4 pad, this journaling card just spoke to my soul. It reads...

"The things you are passionate about are not random, they are your calling." -fabienne fredrickson 

How true. I felt it would be a perfect little start to a new adventure kind of card.  I distressed it a bit with distress inks and gesso, then added the good luck sentiment from the Irish Coffee set. It is printed on vellum and embossed with pink foil, then cut with a circle die and I tucked a cream colored circle below it to help it stand out.  I added the fearless ticket from the amelia rose collection, then fussy cut a couple of flower images from the 6x6 paper pad. Since I didn't want to cut off any part of the journaling card, I decide to go with a 5.5" square card base to give things a little room to breathe. The dream sticker is from the sticker collection and I tucked in a couple butterflies and some flowers, adding accents with black tulip color bloom spray and a watercolor brush where needed.  The background is from the 6x6 pad, splattered with white india ink and I added a bit of cheesecloth behind the collage for some interest.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you have a fearlessly passionate kind of day.

Enabler's List
Stamps: Irish Coffee DIGITAL Set (Verve)
Paper: Amelia Rose 6x6 paper pad and 3x4 journaling cards (Prima), cream (Neenah), vellum
Ink: pumice stone, hickory smoke, spun sugar distress (Ranger), white india ink (Dr. Ph. Martin's), black tulip color bloom spray (Prima)
Accessories: Amelia rose paper tickets, Amelia Rose ephemera, Amelia Rose word & quote stickers, Briella Cherry blossom flowers, Rose Quartz butterflies, Damianne Love Story flowers (Prima), cheesecloth, pink foil, Minc Machine (Heidi Swapp), tiny attacher (Tim Holtz), gesso, paint

Drink Me Coffee Card and a Blog Hop

I'm happy to announce that we're bringing back Verve's monthly Diva Inspirations Challenge Hop!  I'm the first stop on the hop, so grab a little cup of something and settle in for a Vervey treat! This month the challenge is to use the color green and I'm so excited to see what the girls have created.  Hop along and leave a comment at each stop, then link up a new green creation over on the Verve blog for a chance to win!

PRIZE ALERT: Our challenge comes with a prize drawing for a $30 gift voucher to the Verve shop. To be eligible, be sure to hop around and leave a comment on each of the Diva blog posts, then play along and link up before April 5. Verve stamps are NOT required, but we do love to see 'em!

There are no rules.. just have fun creating!
This month we'd love for us to show us your green. Feel free to take inspiration from this drippy, weathered gate photo or just pull out some green toys from your stash and start to play. We can't wait to see what you create!

Click here to link up your challenge entries
Challenge deadline: Thursday, April 5.
Prize: $30 gift voucher to the Verve online store!

For my card I started by dripping and spritzing some color bloom spray onto a gessoed tag. I loved the look and didn't want to cover it up too much, so printed the drink me sentiment from the Irish Coffee digi on vellum and adhered to the bottom of the tag, accenting with a bit of thin washi tape and rounding the corners. Next I colored the shamrock with copics and cut out the shamrock with a circle die, matting with gold foil cardstock.  I finished off the tag with a bow of seam binding.

Next I decided I wanted to make a card shaped like a coffee cup. To do this I cut a 3.5" x 11" piece of cardstock and scored at 5.5" and folded it over.  On the front bottom edge I marked 0.5" from either side with a pencil. Then I lined up the top edge and the pencil marked line with my guillotine trimmer and cut, repeating on the other side.

The top of the cup is two panels.  I cut a 1" x 4.25" piece  and a 0.5" x 4.25" piece from white cardstock.  I rounded the bottom two corners of the bigger piece with a 1/2" corner rounder, then rounded the top two corners of the thinner piece with a 1/4" rounder.  I then used dimensional tape to line the two up overlapping, so the whole piece is 1.25" x 4.25". This piece is glued to line up with the top of the card.

I then cut a 2" strip of patterned paper for the java jacket and adhered it to the front of the card, trimming the excess edges with scissors.

I wanted my card to hold a coffee gift card, so I cut a 2" x 3.5" strip of patterned paper for a pocket on the inside. I then placed sticky strip along the bottom and up about 2" on the side edges of the inside of the card and adhered the panel, burnishing the edges. Then it was just a matter of trimming the excess with scissors, popping in a gift card and accenting a bit with some of the same washi tape.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you enjoyed my project.

Next stop on the hop is the fabulous Betty.

PS. You can save a little green during our March sale, with everything in the shop, including our new digis,  30% off!

Need a little more 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're giving away a $30 gift voucher to Verve.  Just leave a little love as you hop about, then come back and link up your green creations for a chance to win!

1. Julee	4. Laurie
2. Betty	5. Maureen
3. Marisa	6. Teresa

Enabler's List
Stamps: Irish Coffee DIGITAL Set (Verve)
Paper: Emerald (Authentique), white, vellum, gold cardstock
Ink: laser printer, Copic markers), Color burst spray (Prima)
Accessories: corner chomper (WRMK), circle dies, washi tape, seam binding, gesso, tag

Lucky to Know You

Hi friends! I'm back with a fun little friendship card to share with you today.

I had a little time to play in the studio, but back pain had me not wanting to get out of my chair to grab some watercolor paper. So I coated a piece of thin white cardstock with some watercolor ground and pulled out some prima sprays that were next to my desk that made me think of the challenge at The Card Concept this week. The watercolor ground really seems to retain your brushstrokes when you apply it, so it was fun to see how the sprays highlighted those strokes as I applied them.  The effect made me think of a rainy spring day, so I went with an Irish spring layered kind of card.

The sentiment and four leaf clover image are from the new Irish Coffee digi, printed on a laser printer and colored with Copics.  I added a little texture to the watercolor background by embossing with a stars & swirls embossing folder, then added some black and gold accents, plus a button and twine to finish off the card.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you have a fabulous day.

Enabler's List
Stamps: Irish Coffee DIGITAL Set
Paper: white, black, gold, Emerald Authentique)
Ink: laser printer, copic markers, color bloom sprays (Prima)
Accessories: circle dies, rectangle die, button, twine, ribbon, stars & swirls embossing folder (Sizzix), watercolor ground (Daniel Smith)

My Pot of Gold

Hi friends! I'm back with another coffee card using the new Irish Coffee digi from Verve. This one's pretty simple in layout, but I had a lot of fun with it.

I started by foiling the sentiment from Irish Coffee in gold. Then I cut coordinating mats in shiny gold and green pattened paper. Next I colored the kettle with Copics, adding some inkagold for accent and some dew drops and glitter on the clover.  This is cut with the coordinating die from the Kettle Time Die Set.

For the background, I started by spraying some Sandra Dee Sepia flat fabio spray on a palette, spritzing with water, then inking up the coffee rings stamp from Better with You a few times and stamping on whtie cardstock.  I let this dry, then went in again with the stamp and stamped a crisp image with ground espresso distress ink.  I finished with splatters using the leftover fabio spray.  Easy peasy and lots of fun!

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  Hope you have a fantastic rest of the day.

Enabler's List
Stamps: Irish Coffee DIGITAL Set, Better with You clear set (Verve)
Paper: Emerald (Authentique), white (Neenah), shiny gold (Recollections)
Ink: laser printer, copic markers, Sandra Dee flat fabio spray (Lindy's Stamp Gang), ground espresso distress ink (Ranger), Inkagold (Viva Decor)
Accessories: Kettle Time Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), circle dies, paper piercer, morning dew drops (Nuvo), glitter, gold foil, Minc machine (Heidi Swapp)

Luck of the Irish

Hi friends! Welcome to another week. The weekend flew by and this week is destined to be a whirlwind with the twins turning 6 on Friday. Not sure how they're already going to be six, but here we are!

My card for today is a shabby little thing inspired by the current Fusion challenge. The sweet photo of the leprechaun hat with flowers in it had me thinking of this sentiment and since I love the flowers in the Zella Teal collection from Prima, I just stared distressing papers and layering them together.  The sentiment is from the new Irish Coffee Digi and I printed it on vellum, then sewed it onto the patterned paper.

For embellishment, I loosely took inspiration from the cluster in the sketch, starting with a fussy cut a flower from one of the papers.  Next I layered some pieces from the Zella Teal ephemera collection under it, adding some leaves cut with the Sprightly Sprigs Die Set, and a bit of embroidery thread.  For the finishing touch, I splatttered on some burnished buckle Shimmerz and some white India ink.

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

Enabler's List
Stamps: Irish Coffee DIGITAL Set (Verve)
Paper: Zella Teal (Prima), white, vellum
Ink: pumice stone, hickory smoke (Ranger), laser printer, bombay india ink, burnished buckle inklingz (Shimmerz)
Accessories: Sprightly Sprigs Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), Zella Teal Ephemera (Prima), thread, sewing machine

Magically Delicious

Hi friends! I got a little time in the studio yesterday afternoon and cooked up this super quick card with the new Irish Coffee DIGITAL Set.

I had some Zella Teal journaling cards on my desk from another project and thought this one would make the perfect backdrop for the magically delicious sentiment from the digi set.  I cut the printed sentiment with a label die I rediscovered in my die collection. It cuts both the inside and a tiny frame at the same time.  So I cut it from gold cardstock as well and pieced the two together for a perfect little label.  The to go cup is colored with copic markers and cut with the coordinating die from the Happiness in a Cup Die Set.  I added a gold mat to the journaling card, then layered a woodgrain paper behind.  My grosgrain ribbon goes across these panels and then I made two little loops and tucked them on either side of the label for a super fun, super easy ribbon treatment.  A bit of stickles on the shamrock and I was done.

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  If you're in the mood to shop, everything at Verve is 30% off this month.  Woohoo!

Enabler's List
Stamps: Irish Coffee DIGITAL Set (Verve)
Paper: zella teal 2 x 3 journaling cards (Prima), white, shiny gold, wood grain paper (JoAnn)
Ink: laser printer, Copic markers
Accessories: Happiness in a Cup Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), labels die (QuicKutz), corner rounder, grosgrain ribbon, stickles

Irish Coffee

Hi friends! It's the first Friday of a new month and that means it's time for me to share a new Viva la Verve sketch with you. The layout for the sketch came from this card I shared in January. I loved how it turned out and thought it would be fun to use for the challenge this month. I hope you agree!

Back when I first started blogging, a friend of mine asked me to guest blog for her, and she picked St. Patrick's Day as one of the themes. I had absolutely zero products on hand and had a very hard time finding anything near me, so ordered some fabulous ones from The Cat's Pajamas (if you want a giggle and a peek at the card I made way back when, here's my post) and thus began a love affair with collecting St. Patrick's Day stamps and papers!

I feel like a broken record when I say I had planned to have St. Patrick's Day physical stamps to release but I missed my production deadlines again. If having kids has taught me anything, it's that my life is not all about me {wink} and my time is never my own. So I'm offering myself the gift of grace and today there's a brand new digi (and a re-released digi) in the Verve shop. I do, however, promise that some non St. Patrick's Day brand new physical stamp and die designs are at the manufacturer as we speak.  Yippee!

The Irish Coffee digi is filled with fun Irish themed coffee loving sentiments and images. And the cup images match up with the Happiness in a Cup Die Set. If you're tech savvy, you can manipulate the individual files, or if you'd rather not figure all that out, there's a hand dandy PDF printable already sized for cardmaking to print all the images on one 8.5x11" sheet.

For the card, I had to pull out my Minc machine again. I just love the look of gold foiling (although I'm not so fond of photographing it!), so foiled both the sentiment and the cup (which I colored with Copics before I foiled). The cup is cut with the coordinating die and then I layered some fun papers from Authentique and die cuts with shiny gold cardstock.  I found an old QuicKutz flourishes die in my stash and thought it would be perfect as steam, to replace the twine element in the sketch.

If you're heading over to the shop, be sure to check out our sale.  Since my boys think March is the BEST month of the year (birthday, St. Patrick's Day and March Madness!), we're letting the little leprechauns celebrate with 30% off storewide!

I'd love for you to play along with the sketch this month. Head on over to the Viva la Verve blog for more inspiration from the design team and all the details on how to enter to win some Verve!

VLV March 2018 Sketch

Enabler's List
Stamps: Irish Coffee DIGITAL Set (Verve)
Paper: Emerald (Authentique), gold cardstock (Recollections)
Ink: Laser printer, copic markers
Accessories: Happiness in a Cup Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), Minc machine, gold foil (Heidi Swapp), Lacey Circles (Spellbinders), Flourishes (QuicKutz), scallop border (MFT), circle dies