Vintage Christmas

Hi friends!  I can't believe we're just a few days from December!  I loaded up my playlist with Christmas music yesterday and found myself a little overwhelmed with how fast this year has flown by... and at the same time seemed to stretch an eternity!  One crazy year, and the holiday season is about to make it even crazier!

My card for today uses the new Joyous Noel set. The layered poinsettia was left over from another stamping session a few weeks ago.  Katrina came up to my office the other day and saw it laying on some scrap paper and mentioned that it was really pretty, so I just had to make it into a card.  The papers are from the Joyeux Noel pack from Glitz and I stamped the sentiment on a Vintage Oval die cut, stamped with the coordinating Vintage Oval Frame.  Some brown paper bag matting, inked edges and a ribbon/jingle bell embellishment complete this quick little card.  That little border punch came in my Mixed Media kit from the Scarlet Lime a few months back and I just love it!

Hope you're having a great week!

Enabler's List:
Stamps: Joyous Noel, Vintage Oval Frame (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Joyeux Noel (Glitz Designs), brown paper bag (Paper Accents), cream
Ink: Frayed Burlap, Black Soot (Ranger Distress), Gumball Green, Cherry Cobbler (SU!)
Accessories: Vintage Oval Die (A Cut Above by VERVE), jingle bells (Michael's), Stripes & Scallop Knock Outs border punch (American Crafts), seam binding ribbon, rhinestones

Glory

Hi friends!  Happy Tuesday!  I'm popping in with a really quick CAS Christmas card using the new Joyous Noel set.

I embossed the Glory to the newborn king sentiment from Joyous Noel in silver on Midnight Muse.  Next I cut the flared cross from the Cross Die Set (on sale this month) out of foil tape and embossed with the square lattice embossing folder.  The midnight muse panel is embossed with the same folder, then I distressed the edges, added a little silver ribbon and a few scored lines on my card base and I was done.  Easy peasy and so elegant. Mark and I had a December wedding, and navy and silver were our colors.  I just love them together.

If you missed  my Diva Inspiration Hop post click here, There's a chance to win Verve's entire new release, so it's worth checking out!  Thanks so much for stopping by!  Have a fantastic day!

Enabler's List:
Stamps: Joyous Noel (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Midnight Muse (SU!), White
Ink: Versamark
Accessories:  Cross Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), silver ribbon, Square lattice embossing folder (SU!), Scor-pal, foil tape and silver fine detail embossing powder (Ranger), paper distresser (Tonic)

Make the World Special

Hi friends!  Happy Friday!  The end of the week always means a new Viva la Verve! sketch and this week's sketch is designed by my fabulous friend, Teresa.  It's the last sketch of the month, so you have until next Thursday (6/28) to finish all four June sketches to be eligible for our prize drawing!

For my card I started by picking up one of my new paper pads from last week's shopping excursion.  I loved the colors in this Howdy Doody paper, so based my card around that.  I flipped the sketch upside down, but otherwise stayed pretty true to it.  The sentiment from Feel the Sun is stamped onto a Tagged Rectangle die cut and I pieced the flower together, stamping directly on the patterned paper and then shading with Distress Ink markers and a waterbrush.  The horizontal piece is crimped in my paper crimper and then clipped on with a mini library clip.

I embellished with a little linen thread, randomly coated with glossy glaze and sprinkled with champagne glass glitter.  A little scallop trim border on eithre end of my large panel and some Topaz czech rhinestones from Pizzazz Aplenty finish things off.

That's all from me today!  I hope you have a fabulous weekend.  We've got a busy one planned with a trip to meet up with our trainer at the gym, a baby shower for some dear friends and a birthday celebration for my father-in-law.  Hooray for our new nanny who is making it possible to crawl back into the land of the living from time to time. {grin}


Enabler's List:
Stamps: Feel the Sun (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Howdy Doody Miss Caroline (My Mind's Eye), Early Espresso (SU!), Cream
Ink: Coffee Archival, Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink, Barn Door, Spiced Marigold, Bundled Sage and Forest Moss Distress Markers (Ranger)
Accessories:  Tagged Rectangle Die (A Cut Above by VERVE), Scallop Trim border punch, mini library clip, Champagne Glass Glitter (SU!), Paper Crimper (EK Success), linen thread (TCP), Smoked Topaz Czech Rhinestones (Pizzazz Aplenty), Glossy Accents (Ranger), sewing machine)

Simple Love

Hi friends!  Happy Thursday!  Yesterday we had our first real snow of the year and it's now a wintery wonderland around here.  I spent a little time in the studio enjoying the snowy view, staring out the window and stamping.  This clean & simple little card is what came out of that session.

I used two of the new sets for this card... the hearts & swirls frame from Twitterpated is stamped directly onto the kraft layer in Real Red, then I added the love sentiment from Wings of Love in black below it.  Next I stamped the wavy heart from Wings of Love in Real Red, cut out and matted on a  Wavy Hearts die cut, popping up over the frame with dimensionals.  Then it was just a matter of a few scored lines, a little distressing and a pretty taffeta bow to finish off this 4.25" square card.

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

Enabler's List:
Stamps: Wings of Love, Twitterpated (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Kraft, Cream, Real Red
Ink: Real Red, Basic Black (SU!), Vintage Photo (Ranger Distress)
Accessories:  Wavy Hearts Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), taffeta ribbon (SU!), Scor-pal

Love BIG

Hi friends! I hope you all had a very merry Christmas! The past couple weeks have just flown by for us with the move to our new house and all the holiday festivities.  We've got our main living areas (kitchen, living room, master bedroom & bath) unpacked, but are still surrounded by boxes for the rest of the house, including my studio.  Hopefully someday I'll stamp again.  {grin}

In the meantime, I thought I'd pop in and share this card I made a while ago, but never posted because I wanted to take a new photo of it.  That new photo never happened, but hopefully you can imagine that all the pinks match on this little card.

We're having our annual end of year sale over at Verve, so all the stamps you see here are on sale 10 - 50% off through December 31!  Plus use the SHOPHOP gift code in your cart at checkout to receive an additional 10% off your order!  Woohoo!  Here I used Tag Time (which is currently a whopping 50% off!) for the graph lined tag, the circle background on the primitive heart and the love and big sentiments.  The small heart from Sip & Savor (also 50% off) is used around the leafy sprig from Sunny Days (30% off) and also as a little background inside the circles on the primitive heart.  I used the coordinating Tagged Rectangle Die (10% off) to cut out my tag and the From the Heart Die Set (30% off) to frame my stamped heart from Better With You (30% off).  I accented with stickles, some rhinestones and a bit of twine to finish it off.


That's all from my little corner of the world.  We're spending the day with my brother and his wife who are visiting from California, so I better wrap things up and get ready.  Hope you have a fabulous day and thanks so much for stopping by!  Since I haven't stamped recently, I don't have a new Mojo Monday card for you, but be sure to check out the Mojo Monday blog for this week's sketch and samples from the design team!

Enabler's List:
Stamps: Tag Time, Sip & Savor, Sunny Days, Better With You (Verve Stamps)
Paper: DCWV, Black, Melon Mambo
Ink: Melon Mambo, Black, Antique Linen, Vintage Photo
Accessories:  Tagged Rectangle Die, From the Heart Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), Primitive Hearts die (Sizzix), small circle punch (SU!), rhinestones, twine, embossing folder

Hope Perches

Hi friends! Happy Monday! It's time for a new Mojo Monday sketch and this week's sweet sketch was designed by the even sweeter Debbie Carriere. I love the simplicity of it and couldn't wait to give it a go with some of the newly released stamps and dies from Verve. This card is also featured on the Verve Blog today, along with some fabulous favorites from our design team. be sure to check it out for a little inspiration with the newly released stamps!

The new Love Birds Die Set made me think of one of my favorite plain janes... Hope Perches. I just love this verse by Emily Dickinson and it was repeating over and over in my mind as I created this card.  I think the idea of hope perching in my soul and just singing and singing and never stopping is just so cool.

"Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,"

So that was the inspiration for the card.  The coordinating bird stamp from Bright Spirits is stamped in Early Espresso, then I cut it with the Love Birds Die Set, filled in with glue and sprinkled some ultrafine flower soft on it to give it some fluffy texture.  For my floral spray, I chose the star/snowflake/flower images from Bright Spirits (I so love when a stamp can have many uses) and stamped them in Baja Breeze onto the coordinating dies in the Winter Fun Die Set.  Then it was just a matter of coloring each with Copics, outlining with a little Stardust glitter pen and blending with a blender pen for a bit of frosty sparkle.  Each flower is accented with a pearly dew drop.  The main background for the card is embossed with a stars & swirls embossing folder, then lightly sponged with distress ink.

So that's it.. easy peasy, but so much fun.  I hope you'll play along with Mojo this week.  Be sure to head on over to the Mojo Monday blog to see what the Mojo designers came up with for this week's sketch!  Thanks for stopping by.  I hope a bit of hope perches in your soul today.

Enabler's List:
Stamps: Bright Spirits, Hope Perches Plain Jane (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Pool Party, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake (SU!), Cream
Ink: Pool Party, Baja Breeze, Early Espresso (SU!), Antique Linen, Brushed Corduroy (Ranger Distress), Copic markers
Accessories: Winter Fun Die Set, Love Birds Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), swirls & stars embossing folder (Sizzix), pearl dew drops, dimensionals, Stardust glitter pen, Ultrafine Sand Flower Soft

Snowflake Tidings and a Spotlight Hop

Hi friends!  Tonight's the night!  It's almost time for new Verve to release.  I hope you'll join us as we count down to our release from 9-11pm Eastern in our SCS Forum.  Until then, the Divas have more eye candy previews for you to hop around to for Day 3 of our New Release Spotlight Hops.  One lucky commenter on one of today's hop spots will win the stamps and dies featured today.  Deadline for commenting is tonight at 5pm Mountain.  Winners will be announced during our release party tonight!

Today the Divas are showcasing a mini set called Santa's Helper, plus some dies that coordinate with previously released sets.  Snowflake Tidings Die Set (which I've used on today's card) coordinates with the snowflakes in Glad Tidings, one of my all-time favorite holiday sets.  Frosty Snowflakes Die Set coordinates with the snowflakes in Frosty Flakes and Christmas in the Air.  And last but not least, a die I've received the most requests for, the Lovely Marquee Die coordinates with the frame in Love Story.

My card today uses Glad Tidings, Love Story, the Snowflake Tidings Die Set and the Lovely Marquee Die.  I embossed the medium and small snowflakes from Glad Tidings in white onto Sage Shadow, then cut with the Snowflake Tidings Dies.  I loved the way Amy used the Lovely Marquee Die as a border on her card yesterday, so I decided to take her idea and run with it.  I embossed the frame from  Love Story in white on Early Espresso, then cut with the Lovely Marquee Die and trimmed in half to tuck under each side of my panel.  I used the snowflake stamps as a background on most of the panels, then added a sentiment flag with Peaceful Wishes embossed on it and tied some rusty jingle bells on with linen thread.

The layout for this card is Jackie's Viva la Verve! sketch for this week.  Play along with all of our November sketches for a chance to win a $100 gift certificate to Verve!  Now that's something worth stamping about!  (grin}


Enabler's List:
Stamps:  Glad Tidings, Love Story (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Sage Shadow, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso (SU!)
Ink: Sage Shadow, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso (SU!), VersaMark
Accessories:  Snowflake Tidings Die Set, Lovely Marquee Die (A Cut Above by VERVE), Lacey Circles and Fancy Tags 2 Nestabilities (Spellbinders), rusty jingle bells (Frost it Pink), linen thread (TCP), mini library clip (SU!), Copic markes (to recolor library clip), liquid pearls (Ranger), damask embossing folder (Sizzix), Swarovski Crystal Rhinestones (Pizzazz Aplenty), white and clear detail embossing powders (Judikins)

Okay, it's time to hop along to the next stop...

1. Julee 8. Sankari 2. Andrea 9. Teresa 3. Vickie {Guest} 10. Charmaine 4. Amy 11. Tosha 5. Maureen 12. Wanda {Guest} 6. Laurie 13. Jackie 7. Gretchen {Guest}

Blooming Hope

Hi friends!  Happy Friday!  I'm so glad the weekend is almost here!  I've been feeling so much better and getting caught up on everything so I think I'm actually going to get to just relax and unwind this weekend.  Sounds heavenly, don't ya think?  {grin}  My mojo seems to be kicking back in and when I saw the SCS SC352 sketch challenge this week I couldn't wait to give it a go.  Here's my elegant take on the sketch...

The Making Of:
When I sat down to stamp, a bag of these pretty flowers caught my eye and right then I decided to use it as my inspiration for the card. So I picked some coordinating papers out, then chose ink colors of Groovy Guava and Calypso Color to try to capture the feel of the flower with some sponging around my sentiment circle.  The sentiment is one of my favorites from the Hope Blooms set, then I cut leaves using the Leafy Sprigs die set and stamped the coordinating leaf stamps from Sunny Days in Basic Gray.   Some pearl and liquid pearl accents, a bit of stitching and a couple strips of twill and the card was done.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you have a FABULOUS weekend!

Enabler's List:
Stamps: Hope Blooms, Sunny Days (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Lost & Found Two Rosy (MME), Basic Gray (SU!), Cream
Ink: Groovy Guava, Calypso Coral, Basic Gray (SU!), Antique Linen (Ranger Distress)
Accessories: Leafy Sprigs Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), Classic & Scallop Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), textured impressions folder (Sizzix), sewing machine, twill, pearls, liquid pearls

Splendiferous Diva Inspirations Hop

Hi Everyone!  Happy September!  Today the Diva Inspirations team and a few of our release Divas are starting your month off with a hop filled with Verve-alicious inspiration!  Leave a little shout-out in the comments as you hop around and you might win yourself some brand new Verve.  All the prize details and deadlines are on the Verve blog.

Since it's a brand new month, we've got a new featured Stamp of the Month for you!  During September, Autumn Splendor is 30% off.  Here I paired some of the leaves and the title sentiment from this set with the new Tag Time set and coordinating Curvy Bookplate Die.  These yummy papers are all from the Lost & Found Two Sunshine pad and I stamped the leaves in crumb cake, so saffron and peach parfait, before cutting them out with scissors.  Some smoked topaz czech rhinestones from Pizzazz Aplenty finish it off.

I'm keeping it short so you have time to hop around.  Thanks for stopping by and happy hopping!!!

1. Julee 9. Andrea 2. Betty 10. Sankari 3. Dawn 11. Teresa 4. Jen d. 12. Tosh 5. Lynda 13. Charmaine 6. Shannan 14. Maureen 7. Sony 15. Jen T. 8. Susan

We've hidden a little mystery prize on one of today's hop spots, so be sure to leave a little comment love as you hop around for a chance to win!
Comment Deadline: 11:59pm Mountain, September 12
Prize: $30 gift certificate to Verve

Enabler's List:
Stamps: Autumn Splendor, Tag Time (Verve)
Paper: Lost & Found Two Sunshine (My Mind's Eye), Early Espresso (SU!), cream
Ink: Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Peach Parfait, So Saffron (SU!)
Accessories: Curvy Bookplate Die (A Cut Above by VERVE), smoked topaz czech rhinestones (Pizzazz Aplenty), Dotted Wave border punch (EK Success), linen thread, striped ribbon (SU!), paper distresser, clear detail embossing powder (JudiKins)

Gathered From the Heart

Happy Thursday!  Today I've got something super fun to share with you!  Kelleigh released this Gathered Box Template Set & Cutting Files over at The Digichick today and I couldn't wait to try it out!

I used the SVG Cutting files and SCAL software to cut the box with my Cricut Expression.  The paper I used is from the DCWV Botanical Stack (such gorgeous paper).  Then it was simply a matter of folding on the scored lines, sponging the edges and assembling.  I tied it together with some cherry cobbler seam binding ribbon, then tied on the Sweet Scallop Tag (embossed with a sentiment from Bloom & Grow set) with some gold cording.  (I made the small mat for the tag by tracing the die in pencil on espresso cardstock and trimming with scissors.)  Then I layered some gold cording loops, a prima flower, a glass glitter star and some triple pearl stick pins on top for a focal piece.

I made a slight adjustment to the original template by rounding both corners of the top of the box with my 1/2" Corner Chomper.  (I did this after the box was assembled, and the corner chomper went through all the layers easily).  Then I added a litttle tag (cut with the Sentiment Flags die from Lil' Inker Designs) and stamped with the from the heart sentiment from Happy Phrases.  The heart is punched from the Lots of Love SU! punch and I added a few shiny gold pearls then clipped on with a mini library clip.

This was so fun to make and came together for me in less than half an hour!  And the best part of the box is that it has a flap that opens from the bottom, so the receiver doesn't have to mess with removing all the pretty ribbons.  It's the perfect size to tuck a little gift card and a little chocolate square in (which is exactly what I intend to do), so double YAY!!!

And to celebrate National Scrapbooking Weekend, The Digichick has a fabulous sale going on!  You can pick up most everything in the store, including the Gathered Box template I used today at a 30% discount  (add the item to your cart to see the discount).  I look forward to their sales when I can stock up on the products I've been adding to my wishlist.  So in the spirit of proper enabling, here's a few items I'm purchasing today which I'm sure you'll be seeing here in the future.  Can't wait to play with these digi papers and cutting files!


Okay, enough rambling. I'm sure you've got things to do and I KNOW I've got things to do. So here's the cliff's notes on that pretty picture you saw up there. {grin}


Enabler's List:
Stamps: Bloom & Grow, Happy Phrases (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Botanical Stack (DCWV), Early espresso (SU!)
Ink: Antique Linen, Vintage Photo, Coffee Archival (Ranger)
Accessories: Gathered Box Template Set & Cutting Files (Kelleigh Ratzlaff Designs), Sweet Scallop Tag Die (A Cut Above by Verve), Sentiment Flags Die (Lil' Inker Designs), Lots of Love punch, mini library clip, cherry cobbler seam binding, gold cording (SU!), flower (Prima), glass glitter star (Frost It Pink), clear detail embossing powder (Judikins), SCAL software (CraftEdge), Cricut Expression (ProvoCraft), triple pearl stick pins (Maya Road)

A Man's Heart

Happy Tuesday! Today' I've got a masculine card to share with you. I'm not usually a very technique-y kind of stamper, but boy-oh-boy did I have fun getting my grunge on with this card! {grin}

It all started with the new Proverbs 16:9 Plain Jane.  I embossed it onto an ivory cut out of the Vintage Oval Die.  Then I sponged the edges and then started swiping antique linen and vintage photo ink pads across it, for an aged look.  Next I rubbed my clear Versamark pad over the entire surface coated with clear embossing powder and embossed, then repeated a second time.  I loved the glossy look so much, I decided to use the same technique on the next panel, adding in some Broken China ink to match the designer papers I was using on the other panels.  This background square is also embossed with clear embossing powder, then I wrapped some twine around  it and knotted the ends, layering the vintage oval over the top.

I did some more ink pad swiping on the patterned paper layers, then stamped the verse repeatedly on a couple Bermuda Bay strips and crimped with my paper corrugator.  A few espresso mats, some large jumbo eyelets and a couple dogeared corners and I was done!

The layout for this card is Jen del Muro's April Sketch For You To Try and this month I actually played along before the last day of the month!  Go me!!!  {grin}

Well, that's all for today here on the ole' blog.  Hope you have a fabulous day and thanks so much for stopping by!

Enabler's List:
Stamps: Proverbs 16:9 Plain Jane (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Gabrielle Collection (Bo Bunny), map print (Heidi Swapp), Bermuda Bay, Early Espresso (SU!), Natural White (Neenah)
Ink: Broken China, Vintage Photo, Antique Linen (Ranger Distress), Early Espresso (SU!), VersaMark (Tsukineko)
Accessories: Vintage Oval Die (A Cut Above by Verve), Clear Detail embossing powder (JudiKins), jumbo eyelets (SU!), twine, paper corrugator

Bloom & Grow Spotlight Hopping

Hi again!  It's time to shine our sneaky Verve spotlight on some more brand new stamps! We're counting down to Verve's release party this Friday night, April 15, with FOUR days of Spotlight Hops! And since we love to share, there's a prize hidden on one of today's hop spots! Just leave a little shout-out in the comments as you hop about for a chance to win some new Verve of your very own! You can check out the Verve Blog for all the prize details and deadlines.

For my sample card, I used all three  things the Divas are previewing today... Bloom & Grow, Elegant Leaves Die and the Floral Circles Die Set.  I also included a sentiment from the Faithful Phrases set.  I started by cutting the Floral Circles from Pink Pirouette paper, then stamped two sizes of flower centers in Rich Razzleberry onto them and layered together, with some pearl accents in the center.

Next up I cut two of the Elegant Leaves, then stamped the large coordinating leaf image from Bloom & Grow on the cutouts.  The die is one large cutout of the two sprigs (shown behind the flower), but just by making a couple snips with scissors you can separate the two sprigs, like I have for the smaller one behind the sentiment.

After that, I pulled out some First Edition newsprint and stamped a background using some of the smaller flowers from Bloom & Grow in blushing bride and rich razzleberry, then inking up with some antique linen distress ink.  The background paper is from the Vintage Springtime collection and I aged and distressed everything, then layered the sentiment from Faithful Phrases onto some Charming Oval dies.  For a little interest, I stamped the smallest flower from Bloom & Grow around the sentiment, then added some lavender bling, some delicate pink metallic dream string and two trinket pins.

Okay, that's all from me today  Happy hopping....

	1. Amber 8. Julee 2. Amy 9. Laurie 3. Andrea 10. Maureen 4. Charmaine 11. Teresa 5. Cresta 12. Tosh 6. Jackie 13. Sankari 7. Janelle 14. Melissa
TODAY'S PRIZE: Bloom & Grow, Elegant Leaves Die and Floral Circles Die Set

Enabler's List:
Stamps: Faithful Phrases, Bloom & Grow (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Vintage Springtime, First Edition DSP, Rich Razzleberry, Pink Pirouette (SU!), Natural White (Neenah)
Ink: Pink Pirouette, Rich Razzleberry, Pear Pizzazz, Blushing Bride (SU!), Antique Linen, Vintage Photo (Ranger Distress)
Accessories: Charming Oval Die Set, Elegant Leaves, Floral Circles Die Set (A Cut Above by Verve), vintage lace trim, sewing machine, flatback pearls and rhinestones and Delicate Pink Metallic Dream String (Pizzazz Aplenty), Powder and Forest Berries Trinket Pins (Miss Vio's Handmade on Etsy)

Birthday Fun

Hi everyone! Today I have a little card to share that I made last weekend when I was playing around with new toys.  My Pennant Nestabilities finally arrived, and I couldn't wait to break out the Vintage Banners set from Waltzingmouse.

I stamped the big striped pennant twice in Cherry Cobbler, then once in Bermuda Bay.  Next I cut one of the red stamped images with the Pennants die, then a cherry cobbler mat with the Lacey Pennants.  I didn't like the way the Pennants and Lacey Pennants Nestabilities layered together, so I hand cut the Pennant along the emboss line to nest inside the lacey pennant.

I cut out the scrolly section of the bermuda bay Vintage Banner and layered it over the cherry one, adding some rhinestones.  For the side tabs, I simply cut the stamped vintage banners with the smaller Pennants die and added them to the sides for a little interest.

To dress things up, I stamped the butterfly from Chicks Rule, cut out with the Flutterby Die, then colored with Copic markers and added some diamond glaze, glitter and rhinestones.  The sentiment is from the Wordy Birds set, and is stamped and layered onto Charming Oval die cuts.

And since it was such a festive card, I decided to do a festive ribbon treatment to go along.  I layered some loops of bermuda bay polka dot ribbon, then glued down a round sparkling slider from Pizzazz Aplenty and topped with a bow.  The base of the card is a little narrower than usual and the finished card (embossed with the 5x7 dots Cuttlebug folder) is 3.5 x 5.5".

Enabler's List:
Stamps:   Vintage Banners (Waltzingmouse Stamps), Chicks Rule, Wordy Birds (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Bermuda Bay (SU!), Bright White (TCP)
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Bermuda Bay (SU!), Black Dye Ink (A Muse)
Accessories:  Charming Oval Die Set, Flutterby Die (A Cut Above by Verve), Pennants and Lacey Pennants Nestabilities (Spellbinders), dotted embossing folder (Cuttlebug), clear 3mm rhinestones, round sparkling slider (Pizzazz Aplenty), ribbon (SU!), diamond glaze, glitter

Photo Shoot

Hi there peeps!  I was cruising along and realized it's the last day of the month and I hadn't shown my March Sketch For You to Try entry yet.  Oops!  For this card Dax the Duck got all dressed up (because what duck doesn't want a sparkly orange bill?) and went to one of those photo booth vending machines!

I couldn't wait to try this sketch, because I love a  tilted panel.  And the only thing more fun than a tilted panel is... a wonky titlted panel!  LOL  Little Dax from Lucky Ducky is stamped repeatedly on strips of white cardstock, then I colored his bill with a copic marker and matted on black.  The striped paper is from the Echo Park Springtime collection.   For the main panel, I cut the wonky rectangle, sponged around the inner edges with barely banana, then made a tag with the Sweet Scallop Tag Die, and the Charming Oval Die Set and Charming Banner Die Set.  I split the sentiment from Lucky Ducky up to fit the banner, then stapled the banner to the charming oval die cut.  I finished off with liquid pearls, stickles, and divine twine.  Oh, and that fabby little double bow uses gingham ribbon from Pizzazz Aplenty.  It's a dream to tie!  Love it!

Well, there you have it!  There's still a few more hours to get your cards in for Jen's Sketch For You to Try this month.  Tune in tomorrow morning for our April Diva Inspirations Hop!!!

Enabler's List:
Stamps:  Lucky Ducky (Verve)
Paper: Springtime collection (Echo Park), Black, White
Ink: Black Dye Ink (A Muse), Copic Marker
Accessories:  Sweet Scallop Tag Die, Charming Oval Die Set, Charming Banner Die Set (A Cut Above Dies by Verve), Wonky Rectangles Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Orange Peel Stickles, Lemon Liquid Pearls (Ranger), Black Licorice  Divine Twine (TCP), 3/8" Black & White Gingham Ribbon (Pizzazz Aplenty), flower center (Prima)

Flutterby CASE Study

Hi everybody! This is my final week of being the muse over on the Case Study challenge blog! I've had so much fun playing along with them and seeing all the beautiful inspired creations from my little cards!

I hope you'll play along with us this week as we CASE this creation of mine from back in July.  That butterfly from Blue Skies is one of my favorites and who can go wrong with a little wild wasabi?  You can read more about the inspiration card on my original post.

This was probably the easiest card of  the whole month for me to CASE.  Maybe after an entire month, I'm finally getting the hang of it!  Or maybe this card was just my favorite.  {wink}  When I started the month, I had no idea how hard it would be to CASE myself - especially when I'm the kind of gal who tries never to do the same thing twice!  LOL  Anyhow, I had a lot of fun and it stretched me to make some great cards, like this one with some of Verve's new stamps and dies!

I took my inspiration from the layout, the large scallop circles, the butterfly and the flower.  I started by cutting the large scallop circles, then embossed the flower trio from Chicks Rule in black and colored with Copics.  Next up I embossed the butterfly from the same set once on patterned paper and once on vellum, trimmed out and layered.  Then I cut a black mat for them with the coordinating Flutterby Die and added some black  pearls for the butterfly body.

I stitched and embossed piece of vellum directly to the For the Record designer paper, then inked up with Antique Linen and Vintage Photo and distressed the edges a bit.  Some stitched red ribbon was the perfect divider and I added a big bow.  The sentiment is from the Friendly Phrases set and is stamped and matted on die cuts using the Charming Banner Die Set.

The little trio of pearls is set off with the 4 petal flower punch from the SU! Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack.  I just glued the pearls down, then folded up the petals.  Love how it turned out.  I finished off with the eyelet lace border punch and a few drops of liquid pearls.

Okay, that's all for this post, be sure to check out these inspired creations by the CASE Study Design team...

Iwona Palamountain

Amy Wanford

Andrea Ewen

Cristina Kowalczyk

Jean Martin

Julie Smith

Lenet Mos

Melyssa Connolly

Sue Kohler

Teneale Williams

Enabler's List:
Stamps: Chicks Rule, Friendly Phrases (Verve)
Paper: For the Record (Echo Park), Basic Black (SU!), Natural White (Neenah)
Ink: Onyx Black (Versafine), Copic Markers, Antique Linen, Vintage Photo (Ranger Distress)
Accessories: Charming Banner Die Set, Flutterby Die (A Cut Above by Verve), Clear Detail Embossing Powder (Judikins), Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack, Eyelet border punch (SU!), Big Scalloped Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), 5/8" red grosgrain with side stiching, black and white flatback pearls (Pizzazz Aplenty), paper distresser, Diamond Glaze (Judikins), white opal liquid pearls (Ranger), Dots embossing folder (QuicKutz), sewing machine, Distrezz-it-All (Zutter)

Valentine Kites

Happy Thursday!  Today I have a whimsical little card to share with you.  Last weekend a few goodies I had ordered during after Christmas sales arrived and I headed up to the studio just to play! 

 

I've been trying to use a little old with everything new lately, so for this card I decided to pair the BasicGrey Manila Basics paper with some BoBunny and Graphic 45 papers.  The lined heart from the Love Notes set is embossed onto vellum in Antique Linen, then I embossed the Valentine sentiment in Early Espresso and edged it with Copper Stickles.  The striped aqua heart is cut with the Jotted Heart Die.  The kites are from the To the Moon set, and I popped the top halves of them up with dimensionals and coated with a mixture of glitter and diamond glaze.   The smaller heart is clear embossed with one of the hearts from the Love Notes set, then cut out and popped over the rounded banner in coordinating papers.  I also die cut a little aqua border and accented with some turquoise pearls from Pizzazz Aplenty.  Next I added a few little buttons and a pink frosted pearl and a bit of May Arts ribbon to finish it off.


Enabler's List:

Stamps: Love Notes, To the Moon (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Crush (Bo Bunny), Manila Basics (BasicGrey), Once Upon a Springtime (Graphic 45), Brown Bag (Paper Accents)
Ink: Antique Linen, Vintage Photo (Ranger Distress)
Accessories: Jotted Heart Die (Verve Stamps), buttons, pearls & rhinestones and iridescent cording (Pizzazz Aplenty), Little Open Scallop Strip and Rounded Banner Tio (Die-namics by MFT), Copper Stickles, detail embossing powder, Diamond Glaze, glitter, May Arts ribbon

By the Light of the Silvery Moon

Happy Thursday!  Today’s the final day in our New Release Spotlight Hops and we’re shining our Verve spotlight on a new set called To the Moon and a couple coordinating Plain Jane singles.I’m the first stop along the hop, so be sure to check out the master hop list at the bottom of the post.  One lucky commenter on one of the hop spots today will win today’s featured stamps!  Hooray!

My card for today features the To the Moon set and the new Jotted Heart Die.  The I love you to the moon and back sentiment in this set has a trio of stars or hearts to mix and match with it.  I added the stars and accented them with some silver Stickles.  The sentiment is stamped on a Vintage Oval diecut and lightly sponged with marina mist ink.

I found a little scrap of fabric in my stash and cut it out with the Jotted Heart die, frayed the edges, then stitched to a cardstock heart and inked the edges with Marina Mist.  As I mentioned yesterday, my sewing machine and I are not friends, and my stitching was so terrible I decided to cover it up with silver stickles!  LOL

I had the glitter star in my stash and added a button and some silver cording to it, then decided I wanted some more glitzy stars, so I used the SU! small star punch and also stamped and cut out the moon from the set and covered with German glass glitter to match.  I finished off with some silvery ribbon and a background embossed with the Swirls & Stars embossing folder from Sizzix.

Okay, here’s the hop list for today!  Happy hopping!

1. Julee{ME!} 8. Debbie 2. Charmaine 9. Sankari 3. Amber 10. Andrea 4 .Amy 11. Tosh 5. Laurie 12. Piali 6. Teresa 13. Maureen 7. Jackie

Special People

Hi there!  It's Monday again and that means it's time for a new sketch over on the Mojo Monday blog!  This week's sketch was inspired by this card that I made when I was at Laurie's a few weeks back.  It's rare that I do the same layout more than once, but I really liked how the card turned out, especially the diagonal ribbon element, so I thought it would be fun to give it another go as this week's sketch.


This time around I was going for a shabby chic feel with a touch of elegance, something the recipient of this card does oh-so-well.  I had the hardest time photographing my finished card, though.  It looks so much "dirtier" around the edges in the photo than in real life.  It's a lot softer in person, with just a hint of aged edges and a whole lot more sparkle!  :)

 
I pulled out one of my favorite sets from 2010, Feel the Sun and paired it with the new Vintage Oval Frame  and coordinating Vintage Oval Die.  The patterned paper is from the Webster's Pages Wonderfall and Vintage Vogue collection, and I added some ivory cardstock embossed with the Kassie's Brocade cuttlebug folder, then inked with some mulled lavendar distress ink.  The ribbon is from May Arts and I added a couple open roses from Wild Orchid Crafts.  Then added some glitter around the Vintage Oval frame and on the roses, finishing off with some distressed edges and a few pearl accents from Pizzazz Aplenty.

Okay, that's all from me this fine Monday morning!  Be sure to hop over to the Verve Blog each day this week to see what the Divas have cooked up for our Triple Play Project Parade.

Abundant Blessings Treat Pail

Happy Saturday!  Last night we had a fabulous release party and I'm completely exhausted after an entire day of madly trying to pull the website together!  But it all worked out in the end and our 12 new sets/stamps and TWO new dies are available at the Verve store!

Today, I'm going to share a fun little autumn tag I made to package a little bucket of Hershey kisses.  The metal bucket was a find at Michael's a while back - I think it was 49 cents, and I just had to have one or two.... or 5!  LOL  To start, I used the Sweet Scallop Die to cut a white tag, then flipped the die over to it's back side and traced around it in pencil on some Early Espresso, for a guide to quickly cut a little mat for it.  Next up I stamped the tall pumpkin from Bountiful Harvest directly on the tag and added a few curly cue stamps at the bottom.  I stamped the pumpkin again on some orange plaid from the Matilda Cosmo Cricket line and the leaves  and Abundant Blessings sentiment on the green plaid.  Next up, I simply added a sponged edge, then tied on with some thin early espresso taffeta and added a Maya Road trinket pin.  Easy peasy!

Okay, I better get back to work.  Thanks so much for stopping by!  Have a fantastic weekend!