A Thrill of Hope

Hi friends! I'm back with a non-traditional color schemed Christmas card using the Winter Peace DIGITAL Set.

I had already printed and colored the digital images, so it was just a matter of die cutting (the flower is cut with the Autumn Thanks Die Set) and then adding some black mats to my panels.  A thick band of ribbon across the card finishes off the layout on this simple card.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. And thanks for the well wishes for my family. We all seem to be finally on the mend now. I hope you have a fabulous day!

Enabler's List
Stamps: Winter Peace DIGITAL Set (Verve)
Paper: Bundle of Joy (Echo Park), basic black (SU!), white (neenah)
Ink: laser printer, copic markers
Accessories: Autumn Thanks Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), pierced squares die set (Cottage Cutz), grosgrain ribbon (SU!), Morning Dew Nuvo drops (Tonic), glitter

Pop Up Thanks

Hi friends! It's another Monday and miraculously all my people were well enough to go to school/work and I've got the house to myself.  I'm still fighting some bronchial issues, but I'm on my second cup of coffee and have some clarinet concertos queued up on Spotify to help ease me back into work mode.

Last Friday when Trevor was home, I set him up with some acrylic paint and color wheel practice exercises as an excuse to be able to hang out in my stamp room. That meant I got a chance to make this little caffeinated creation with some bits and scraps on my desk for another Falliday Fest challenge.  And he had a lot of fun learning about secondary colors... and that acrylic paint doesn't like water the way watercolor paints do!

As you might have guessed from my cards lately, I'm head over heels for the Amber Moon collection by Prima.  So I've got a lot of bits and pieces of it on my desk. Since the Falliday Fest challenge was to use up bits and pieces, I decided to pair my paper scraps with some of the stamped colored and cut images I already had finished that hadn't made it onto a project yet.

The first little bit that was already made was my favorite wreath stamp from the Autumn Blessings stamp set, cut with the coordinating die from the Autumn Thanks die set. I had layered another wreath cut from chipboard behind it for some heft, then popped them up on a circle die cut stamped with the thanks a latte sentiment from Autumn Leaves. Everything had been colored with copics previously and the wreath had been coated with morning dew Nuvo drops and sprinkled with glitter.  I had also splattered with some distress stain.

I tucked some Autumn Leaves leaves behind the wreath that I had previously stamped and die cut, then added a few little nuvo drops to the wreath alternating yellow and orange.

The cup image was another bit that had been previously colored and cut with the coordinating die from the Happiness in a Cup die set. My only new stamping was the steam stamped in mocha ink on the sponged scrap from an Amber Moon journaling card.  I wrapped some vintage lace trim around the piece, then layered another Amber Moon scrap, then the wreath/leaf image and finally popped up the colored coffee cup below the steam.

I knew I wanted to make another pop up gift card holder. I created it the same as the last one I shared, but this time I used the Classy Label Die to cut the opening instead of the word window punch, and then cut a little slit on each side from the die cut opening to about 3/8" from either side.  On the inside of the card, I used a left over strip of paper from the 6 x 6 pad. The center block of the paper actually has a heart that says Autumn is love, but it wasn't the sentiment I wanted, so I covered it with a heart shaped ephemera piece from the ephemera pack, then placed a coffee cup sticker from the Amber Moon planner goodie pack in the center of the heart. I bought this pack entirely because of these little coffee cup stickers! Seriously cute! I finished off with a seasonal chitchat sticker with the sentiment today I am grateful that I fishtailed on either end. Now it's all ready for a quick note of gratitude with a gift card to a local coffee drive-thru tucked in.

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

Enabler's List
Stamps: Autumn Leaves, Autumn Blessings (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Amber Moon 4 x 6 and 2 x 3 journaling cards and 6 x 6 pad (Prima), neutral cardstock
Ink: coffee archival, vintage photo distress stain, brushed corduroy distress (Ranger), warm sunshine, crimson, espresso, mocha (Altenew), copic markers
Accessories: Autumn Thanks Die Set, Autumn Leaves Die Set, Happiness in a Cup Die Set, Classy Label Die (A Cut Above by VERVE), Seasonal chitchat stickers (Tim Holtz), morning dew, ripened pumpkin and dandelion yellow Nuvo drops (Tonic), vintage lace, Amber Moon Planner Goodie Pack, Amber Moon ephemera pack (Prima)

Other Links
Color Wheel printables
FF17bejoyce Falliday Fest Challenge
Pop Up gift card tutorial

Sneaky Autumn Leaves and VLV

Hi friends! Today I'm happy to announce we have a new mini release just around the corner. The team will be hopping showing you a brand new set and die next Tuesday, October 10. But today, the pre-order for the new Buy it All Bundle starts at a 30% discount, so it's the perfect time to pick up a bit of fresh fall fabulousness for your stamp room. {grin}  While you're there, be sure to check out our World Card Making Day Sale, with 40% off our selection of holiday stamps and dies.

I'm sneaking in a peek at the new set today, along with my first look at the October Viva la Verve sketch.  I love the simplicity of this one, with so many options for what to stand in for that flower. I hope it inspires you to get inky!

I started by stamping the cup and happy fall sentiment from the new Autumn Leaves set and coloring with Copic markers. I cut the sentiment out with a pierced square die and the cup with the Happiness in a Cup Die Set.  I had some left over leaf sprays already stamped and cut using Autumn Blessingss and the Autumn Thanks Die Set, and I liked the way they looked tucked behind the cup, so colored them and added glossy accents and glitter to all the leaves.

I wanted a bit of a splashy background, so took a piece of white cardstock, layered with gesso and then treated with teal magical powders and water.  I then glued it to a white cardstock panel and ran through with a fall leaf swirl embossing folder so all the embossing lines would meet up.  I finished with a crinkled ribbon bow and a white card base.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you have a fabulous weekend and would love to see your take on the sketch.

Enabler's List
Stamps: Autumn Leaves, Autumn Blessings (Verve Stamps)
Paper: white (Neenah)
Ink: black, Time Travel Teal Magicals powder (Lindy's Stamp Gang), Copic markers
Accessories: Happiness in a Cup Die Set, Autumn Thanks Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), pierced squares dies (Cottage Cutz), fall leaf swirl embossing folder (Darice), glossy accents, glitter, gesso, seam binding

Rusted Tag

Hi friends! I'm back again today with another card for the Fall Coffee Lovers Blog Hop.  I've still been having a blast with the new Coffee Please Digital Set. This time I added in a little mixed-media flair with a tag I distressed.

I found a pack of tags at Tuesday Morning the other day and I just loved the dictionary print to them and had to pick up a pack.  When I got home, I decided to pull out some distress oxides and lindy's sprays and get my fingers inky!

I first coated the tag with a very thin layer of heavy gesso, to prep it for the sprays and inks.  I splattered on some orange and yellow sprays, spritzing with water and letting it run, then heat set.  I then sponged on some distress oxides in yellow, orange and brown and spritzed and dried again.  I kept alternating between sprays and oxides until I achieved the look I wanted, then coated the whole thing with some microglaze so it wouldn't react anymore if I ended up adding more later on. I also cut a tag the same size out of chipboard and glued my rusty tag to it to give it a little more heft.

Next I printed out the salted caramel wishes and the wheat cup from the Coffee Please Digital Set on my laser printer and colored with Copics.  I stamped the wreath from Autumn Blessings in archival coffee ink and then colored with copics and cut with the Autumn Thanks Die Set.  I cut the cup with the Pumpkin Spice Die Set, then layered it all together and accented with Nuvo drops on the wreath and the whipped cream and wheat.

I had an orange polka dot leaf die cut on my desk that didn't make it on another project, so I decided to make it match my project.  I sponged on distress oxides until I got the color I wanted, then blended in some inkagold and copper rust paste to give it a little more dimension and texture. I also added some of both of these to the tag to tie it all together.

The background paper was a scrap from years gone by and I really liked the contrast with the tag, so blended some ink onto the edges, wrapped a bit of lace around the front and then splattered with some watered down coffee archival ink.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you're enjoying the hop. If you'd like to play along for some of the prizes, just ink up a fall coffee/tea/or cocoa project and link it up over on the official Fall Coffee Lovers Blog Hop post.

Enabler's List
Stamps: Coffee Please Digital Set, Autumn Blessings (Verve Stamps)
Paper: dp scraps, DIY Newsprint tag (Studio Calico), white (Neenah)
Ink: laser printer, spiced marmalade, wild honey, walnut stain, antique linen  (Ranger Distress Oxides), Copic markers, Red Hot Poker Orange and Bling-y Blonde sprays (Lindy's Stamp Gang)
Accessories: Pumpkin Spice Die Set, Autumn Thanks Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), paper piercer, twine, stitched square die (Cottage Cutz), Heavy Gesso, Copper Rust Paste (Prima), Inkagold, Micro Glaze (JudiKins), lace, morning dew Nuvo drops (Tonic), paper distresser

Pumpkin Spice Fall Coffee Lovers Blog Hop

Hi everyone. Today's the kickoff of the week long Fall Coffee Lovers Blog Hop! Fall is my favorite time of year and I just can't wait to see all the fabulous caffeinated autumn lovelies. You can check out all the hop details and prize offerings over on the official Fall Hop post.

As soon as September rolled in, I couldn't wait for pumpkin spice candles.  My boys say they smell like muffins, and what goes good with muffins?  Coffee!  {grin} Though I love pumpkin just about everything, I'm not a pumpkin spice girl for coffee.  I am happy that pumpkin spice season always brings with it salted caramel mochas, though, which I can totally get behind!

I started with a little watercolor wash using a Pebeo watercolor palette from Illustrated Faith.  I then embossed the pumpkin spice sentiment from Everything Nice in white.  The cup from the same set is stamped in early espresso and watercolored with the same set, then cut with the coordinating Pumpkin Spice Die Set.

The leaf spray is from the Autumn Blessings set, which I watercolored as well, then cut with the coordinating Autumn Thanks Die Set and coated with morning dew Nuvo drops and sprinkled with glitter.  I took everyone's advice and made a bunch of Nuvo dots on a craft sheet, then applied them to the card when they were dry, which worked much better than my freehand attempt last time.  Finished off a dry embossed pumpkin backgrond.

Over on the Verve Blog I'm sharing another card today.  This one features a darling new coffee themed digi set I designed. It's the first one I'm offering for sale and I've had a lot of fun creating with it this week. I hope you like it too! It's called Coffee Please and is filled with autumn coffee loveliness, which you're sure to see a lot more of here over the next few days! It's on sale right now, along with all of our fall and coffee themed goodies.

Enabler's List
Stamps: Everything Nice, Autumn Blessings (Verve Stamps)
Paper: coldpress watercolor (Strathmore)
Ink: early espresso (SU!), Versamark, Shanna's Favorites Watercolor palette (Pebeo)
Accessories: Pumpkin Spice Die Set, Autumn Thanks Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), Nuvo drops, pumpkin embossing folder, paper distresser

Many Blessings

Hi friends! I'm popping in to change up the scenery with this fun little card inspired by the challenge at The Card Concept.  When I saw the photo, I immediately thought of the Rose Quartz papers from Prima I just had to have but hadn't had a chance to play with yet.

For my clean and layered card, I pulled out the paper pad and picked out the wood panel and a couple others to play with.  I've been in fall coffee lovers making  mode, and had this wreath out on my desk and decided to take it in the direction of a dreamcatcher.

I stamped the wreath from Autumn Blessings in coffee archival ink, then colored with copics, adding in a few little details and berries with a pen.  I also stamped the trio of feathers and the flower, coloring with the same markers and cutting with the coordinating Autumn Thanks Die Set. To give the wreath a little sturdiness, I layered a chipboard wreath die cut below it, then glued it around a circle die cut that was stamped with the many blessings sentiment.

I added a designer paper tag up in the corner and did some loopy twine bows.  Finished off my accents with some Nuvo drops and glued it all together.

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

Enabler's List
Stamps: Autumn Blessings (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Rose Quartz (Prima), crumb cake (SU!), white
Ink: coffee (Ranger Archival), markers (Copic), early espresso marker (SU!), antique linen (Ranger Distress)
Accessories:  Autumn Thanks Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), stitched circle die, Nuvo drops (Tonic), twine

Grace Card Concept 62

Hi friends! It's time for a new challenge over at The Card Concept. The new inspiration graphic had me thinking about plaid, flowers, autumn colors, and table settings.

I started with some color burst powders on watercolor paper in oranges and yellows, then when it was dry, I stamped over it with the wreath and the large flower from Autumn Blessings in tangerine tango. I then added some coloring in with Copic markers and cut out with the coordinating dies from the Autumn Thanks Die Set.

Next I started working with some rust paste, stenciling onto a tag.  I ended up liking the piece that I used to scrape up the excess rust paste with more than the tag, so scrapped the tag idea and cut the watercolor paper down to square size, embossing the grace quote from the  Scripture Medley 4 stamp set in early espresso.

I added a bit of color here and there to this piece as I worked, swiping it with a baby wipe I used to clean up the yellow dylusions spray and paint I used on the bottom layer, then finishing off this piece with some drops of straight dylusions spray in pure sunshine.

The bottom layer is Authentique paper.  I loved the plaid pattern, so added a strip of it to a reddish orange piece, taping down some washi tape randomly, then adding paint, dylusions and distress ink to blend everything together.  The entire layer is dry embossed with a darice  embossing folder, then sanded and distressed.

For embellishment I added some teeny red rhinestones to the wreath, an orange bauble to the flower center and a fun wooden leaf from Michael's behind the flower.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! If you get a chance, hop on over to The Card Concept blog to see what loveliness the rest of the team is sharing for the challenge.

Card Concept 62

Enabler's List
Stamps: Autumn Blessings, Scripture Medley 4 (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Thankful (Authentique), early espresso (SU!), cream (Neenah), watercolor paper (Fabriano)
Ink: early espresso, tangerine tango (SU!), Colorburst (Ken Oliver), pure sunshine spray (Dylusions), dab of yellow paint (Studio Collection), Copic markers, vintage photo, scattered straw distress ink (Ranger)
Accessories: Autumn Thanks Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), wooden leaf shape (Michael's), clear embossing powder (JudiKins), leaves embossing folder (Darice), rhinestones, washi tape, Rust Paste (Prima)

Give Thanks Mojo

Hi friends! It's Monday again and time for another Mojo Monday sketch. I knew I wanted to make a card for Lori's Falliday Fest challenge to make a Thanksgiving card with a wheat image. So I had to tweak my card just a bit to fit in the wheat stamp I wanted to use, but all the sketch elements are there, I just swapped to a wide card and changed out the rectangle for a square.

The wheat image from Good Work is stamped twice in soft suede onto designer paper and colored with a blender pen.  I then stamped the flower and leafy elements from Autumn Blessings in soft suede and cut with the coordinating Autumn Thanks Die Set, coloring again with a blender pen.  The Give Thanks sentiment (also from Autumn Blessings) is stamped onto the square and I gave all my layers a bit of distress with some antique linen and vintage photo inks.

The soft sky base is stamped tone on tone with the wheat across the bottom edge and I added some aqua polka dot paper I had in the scrap pile as my accents, cutting off one bit of a pierced die cut to make the strip on my triangle and then accenting with flatback pearls.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you have a fabulously creative start to your week. For more inspiration with the sketch, be sure to head on over to the Mojo Monday blog.

Mojo 470 Sketch

Enabler's List
Stamps: Autumn Blessings, Good Work (Verve Stamps)
Paper: soft suede, soft sky (SU!), cream (Neenah), Autumn (Carta Bella), Let's Polka (Lawn Fawn)
Ink: soft suede (SU!), antique linen, vintage photo (Ranger Distress), blender pen
Accesories: Autumn Thanks Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), stitched circles stax, pierced squares stax (MFT), flatback pearls, rhinestone

Starry Purple Hop to Stop

I'm linking up to the Hop to Stop today with this card featuring purple, the color of domestic violence. The hop is designed to raise awareness for victims and survivors of domestic violence.  
1 in 3 women will experience domestic violence over the course of their lifetimes. That's 33% of all the women you meet.  And yet, it's something that is rarely talked about in public. It's something that's hidden and hushed. But since papercrafters are some of the most amazing people out there, some of you have agreed to make a card (or cards) during the course of this hop to raise awareness for this issue. Together, we CAN make a powerful impact. 

I'm honored to say that Verve (along with several other fabulous companies) is once again a sponsor for the hop. Link up your newly created purple creations over on the official Hop to Stop post by October 30 for a chance to win some fantastic prizes! Come join us as we hop and create! 

As I started this project, I was thinking about imperfection and all the little (and not so little) things in life that can go unseen and unnoticed. And in the amazing power of the human spirit to shine through in an incredibly dark and oppressive world. To rise above the constant barrage of  noises telling us we are not good enough, not smart enough, not strong enough, not pretty enough, not perfect enough... just plain not enough.  And I wonder at the spark of hope that ignites against all odds that comes with the knowledge that we have come through the fire and that we are beautifully flawed, worthy of love, and oh-so-much-more than enough... perfect in our imperfection.

So, with all of those thoughts whirling around my head, I knew I wanted to make a mixed-media card. I started with a piece of cardstock, which I scraped some heavy gesso onto.  I love the unevenness and imperfection that this technique gives. Especially how the ink spreads in such unexpected ways depending on the amount of gesso that made it to the cardstock. Next I sponged three shades of purple distress ink (shaded lilac, wilted violet, dusty concord) over the panel and blended, making sure to create areas of both light and darkness. I stenciled on some stars to the top and bottom corner with a FolkArt stencil and a layer of both dusty concord and wilted violet.  I added a bit of black soot ink around the edges and then hand doodled an imperfect little line down at the bottom.

Next I stamped the flower from Autumn Blessings twice, one in duty concord and one in wilted violet, coloring with a waterbrush and then cutting with the coordinating Autumn Thanks Die Set.  The thanks is also cut from the same die set, using paper I had sponged the three colors of purple onto.  I added a few black leaves courtesy of the Sprightly Sprigs Die Set and then finished off with some Hocus Pocus Shaker Mix scattered around.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! May you see the beautiful, wondrous person that is YOU in a new and amazing way today.

Enabler's List
Stamps: Autumn Blessings (Verve Stamps)
Paper: white, black
Ink: wilted violet, shaded lilac, dusty concord, black soot (Ranger Distress), heavy gesso (Prima), copic marker, white pencil
Accessories: Autumn Thanks Die Set, Sprightly Sprigs Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), Hocus Pocus Shaker Mix (Verve), stars stencil (FolkArt), flatback pearls

Autumn Blessings Day 4 Blog Hop

Welcome back to Day 4 of Verve's October Spotlight Hops! It's been a fabulous time sharing our new release with you this week and the Verve Divas and Guests are back today with one more hop spotlighting the third set in our release, Autumn Blessings and the coordinating Autumn Thanks Die Set.  All of the new Verve you've seen over the past few days is available to order in the shop  on sale 25% off!  Hooray!

And once again, there's a prize drawing from all the comments along the hop, so be sure to give a little shout out in the comments section as you hop about.  :)  I'm the first stop on today's hop, so let's get hoppin'!

The Autumn Blessings  set has me a little giddy.  I absolutely adore wreaths and all those fun little sprays and laurels you see added to chalkboard lettering, so that was what I had in mind when I designed the set.  And the coordinating die cuts for each element make things so much fun to layer and tuck into your layout.  I'm sure you'll be seeing tons of cards with this set from me!

I started my card with a scrap of designer paper with some beautiful fall colors in it.  I stamped the flower from Autumn Blessings in cajun craze onto the paper, then cut with the coordinating die from the Autumn Thanks Die Set.  I used a blender pen to color in the leaves, then stamped the center flower onto another portion of the paper and hand cut to pop up in the center of the flower.

Next I embossed the give thanks sentiment in gold and matted with early espresso card stock and set aside.

For the background I stamped the large flower randomly in crumb cake all over a piece of crumb cake cardstock, then sponged around the edges with vintage photo distress ink.  I added some color accents with Pan Pastels, then layered a gold doily, a linen thread bow and some teeny rhinestones to finish things off.

If you hopped along for the Fall Coffee Lovers Blog Hop, you've seen the card below using Autumn Blessings, which I paired with our previously released Get Together set and Great Kindness Die Set for a fun chalkboard look.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

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

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! 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. Maureen 2. Marisa 8. Christyne 3. Charmaine 9. Laurie 4. Betty 10. Teresa 5. Lisa (Guest) 11. Lesley 6. Vickie (Guest)

Enabler's List
Stamps: Autumn Blessings (Verve Stamps)
Paper: designer paper (Bo Bunny), crumb cake, early espresso (SU!)
Ink: cajun craze, crumb cake (SU!), Versamark, vintage photo (Ranger Distress) 
Accessories: Autumn Thanks Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), gold doily, gold embossing powder, linen thread, rhinestones, clear embossing powder, blending pen, paper distresser

Autumn Blessings Release Day Hop

Welcome to Verve's October Spotlight Hops and happy World Card Making Day! It's release day and that means there's a new crop of Verve stamps and dies in the shop just waiting for you to adopt them. To celebrate the release, 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!

For today's card, I combined a few elements from the Autumn Blessings and Everything Nice stamp sets.  I just love wreaths and started by stamping this one in tip top taupe, then coloring with copics, adding a few sketched in lines and some berries for detail.  Once it was just the way I wanted it, I cut it with the coordinating Autumn Thanks Die Set.  I am seriously in love with this die set.  It's HUGE, with so many fabulous little details and even a word die!  There are several of the sentiments in the set that nest beautifully inside the wreath and here I used the Autumn Blessings sentiment on a circle die cut, then popped the wreath over it on dimensionals.

The pumpkin is from the Everything Nice stamp set.  It's a solid slightly larger version of a pumpkin in the previously released Bountiful Harvest stamp set and I just love the shape.  I used my MISTI to stamp the bottom in pumpkin pie, then add some green and brown to just the stem and vines.  This sweet little pumpkin is cut with the coordinating die from the Pumpkin Spice Die Set.  I layered a few autumn papers that caught my eye, sneaking in an Award Banner Trim Die underneath and then wrapped it all up with linen thread and accented with a wood leaf cut out.  Super fun and I can just smell the cider and pumpkin pie looking at this card!  {grin}

Thanks so much for stopping by today!
Next up on today's hop is the fabulous Marisa!

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 6. Vickie (Guest) 2. Marisa 7. Maureen 3. Charmaine 8. Laurie 4. Betty 9. Teresa 5. Lisa (Guest) 10. Lesley

Enabler's List
Stamps: Autumn Blessings, Everything Nice (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Autumn Days (Photoplay), tip top taupe (SU!), cream (Neenah)
Ink: tip top taupe, pumpkin pie, cranberry crisp, old olive (SU!), antique linen (Ranger Distress)

Accessories: Autumn Thanks Die Set, Pumpkin Spice Die Set, Award Banner Trim Die (A Cut Above by VERVE), wood leaf cutout (SU!), linen thread, bitty rhinestones