So Very Happy

Hi friends! I found a little time to create this weekend and it was so much fun.  I printed out some of the downloads I added to the Verve shop to go along with some of the dies that we still have in stock with no matching stamps.

My colored images here use the Beautiful Flowers Printable, available with purchase of the Beautiful Flowers Die Set, as well as the free Flutterby Printable available on the Flutterby die product page. I printed them both on Canson smooth bristol paper.  I colored them with Zig clean color real brush markers and a wink of stella glitter pen over the course of a few days for #thedailymarker30day challenge.

I wanted a splashy background, so pulled out some new Shimmerz colors I hadn't played with yet... Anchors Away and It's Mint to Be.  I plopped a bit of the Anchors Away on some cellophane packaging and then smooshed onto canson smooth bristol paper. I repeated with the Mint to Be color and then did some spritzing and smooshing with water and flicking with a paintbrush until I got everything how I wanted it.

I then stamped the sentiment from Wonderful Marvelous directly onto the background, but because of the thickness of the paint in the background, it didn't look as crisp as I like, so I stamped it again on vellum and embossed in black.  I cut this with a circle die and lined up directly over my less stamping and then layered the flowers and butterfly, cut with the Beautiful Flowers Die Set and the Flutterby die.  I tucked in some leaf die cuts (also from Beautiful Flowers die set), colored them with zig markers and then added some rhinestone and dew drop accents. A bit of distressing and a thin pacific point mat finishes it off.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Hope you have a fantastic start to your week.

Enabler's List
Stamps: Wonderful Marvelous (Verve Stamps), Beautiful Flowers - now Forever Loved (SNSS), Flutterby Printable (Verve)
Paper: smooth bristol (Canson), pacific point, vellum (SU!)
Ink: Kuretake clean color real brush markers, clear wink of stella pen (Zig), It's Mint to Be and Anchors Away Shimmerz (Shimmerz Paints), Intense black (Hero Arts)
Accessories: Flutterby die, Beautiful Flowers Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), black embossing powder (Judikins), stitched circles stax (MFT), rhinestones and dew drops, paper distresser

Beautiful Soul Card Concept

Hi friends! It's time for another fantastic inspiration challenge over at The Card Concept.  This one has beautiful shades of pinks and purples paired with woodgrain that had me itching to try out my new Distress Oxide inks.

And oh my word, I don't think I've been as excited about an ink pad since I first discovered stamping. These stamp so well and are rich and creamy in color and  react so amazingly with water. I had so much  fun smooshing backgrounds galore, so I'm sure you'll be see more pinks and purples from me in the future as I turn those backgrounds into cards.

So I started with the backgrounds, inspired by the colors in the inspiration photo, then moved on to the flowers.  I love these flowers from Beautiful Things, so used my MISTI to stamp them in worn lipstick, then spritzed a bunch and let them fade away and dry, then stamped again with wilted violet for a crisp outline.  I added some glitter to the outer petals with a glue pen and loose glitter, then accented the centers with shine bright sequins and a teeny little flatback pearl.

I knew I wanted to pull in some woodgrain from the chair in the photo, so decided to make my own. I started with white cardstock, then smooshed a bit of iced spruce on my craft mat and spritzed with water.  I then took a dry stencil brush and dipped it in the watery ink and made sweeping strokes across my cardstock.  I repeated with a layer of vintage photo, then did a similar treatment using a watered down bit of weathered wood distress crayon.  I went back with the other colors as needed and then embossed with a woodgrain folder.  I felt it still needed a bit more blue, so I finished off with a round of broken china.  I then cut it down to card size and used the extra bits to cut the leaves using the Beautiful Flowers Die Set.

The sentiment is stamped on vellum in versamark and then embossed in white.  Then I roughed up the edges of everything and layered it all together with a bit of lace.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you have a fabulous day.  For a little more inspiration, head on over to The Card Concept blog to see what the other designers are sharing today.

Enabler's List
Stamps: Beautiful Things (Verve Stamps)
Paper: watercolor paper (Fabriano), white card stock (Neenah), vellum
Ink: wilted violet, worn lipstick, vintage photo, iced spruce, broken china distress oxide inks, weathered wood distress crayon (Ranger), Versamark
Accessories: Beautiful Flowers Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), Shine Bright Sequin Mix (Verve), white embossing powder, woodgrain embossing folder (Darice), lace, stencil brush, flatback teeny pearls, glitter, MISTI

Colorful Diva Hop and Challenge

Hi friends! It's the 10th of the month and that means it's time for another Diva Inspirations Blog Hop and Challenge.  I just love hopping along and seeing what each of the Divas came up with from the inspiration, and I hope you do too! I'm the first stop along today's hop, so let's get to it.

PRIZE alert: there TWO $30 gift vouchers to the Verve store up for grabs and two ways to win! First, comment on the design team's blog hop posts (linked below) for an entry in the first giveaway. Then to be entered into our challenge prize drawing, go get inky and link up your take on the challenge. You have until August 5 to link up. Feel free to play along with the challenge as many times as you like. Verve stamps aren't required to play, but we do smile a little brighter when we see them!

I've been playing along with the Daily Marker 30 Day challenge this month.  I keep telling my boys that with a little practice you can do almost anything, so decided to put action to my words and practice something I've never considered myself much good at... coloring.  The flowers from Beautiful Things were colored one day with Copics, adding some fun little white gel accents to the edges of each flower. The next day I cut the greenery from white cardstock using the coordinating Beautiful Flowers Die Set.  Then I colored in all the detailing with Copics. Pretty fun and it gives so much depth to the leaves.

For the card, I picked out some scraps of designer paper, that reminded me of one of the pillows in the graphic and inked up the edges in coordinating colors, wrapped a little twine and layered on my flowers.  I finished with the birthday wishes sentiment white embossed in the corner and a bit of glossy glaze and glitter on each flower center.

Okay, here are all the challenge and blog hop deets.  Next up on the hop is Betty.

We're headed into the lazy days of summer and this outdoor scene is sure to inspire some cozy creations. Take your inspiration from the graphic or follow the color pattern, just have fun stamping. We can't wait to see what you create!

Click here to link up your challenge entries

Challenge deadline: Friday, August 5.

Prize: $30 gift voucher to the Verve online store!

Need a little 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 to one random commenter along the hop. Just leave a little love as you hop about for a chance to win!

1. Julee	6. Marisa
2. Betty	7. Maureen
3. Charmaine	8. Stacey
4. Laurie	9. Susan
5. Lesley	10. Teresa

For anyone in the mood to shop, Verve has a fun Christmas in July sale going on with all in-stock holiday stamps & dies as well as all Plain Janes 30% off!

Enabler's List
Stamps: Beautiful Things (Verve Stamps)
Paper: white card stock, scraps of designer paper
Ink: black archival, picked berries, evergreen bough, spiced marmalade distress (Ranger), Copic markers, white gel pen
Accessories: Beautiful Flowers Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), twine

Beautiful Soul Mojo

Hi friends!  The weekend flew by and it's already time for another Mojo Monday sketch.

Last week I stopped in at Tuesday Morning and found a ton of super awesome crafty things for $1.99 or less, including the Grand Bazaar paper pad from BasicGrey. I loved the bohemian feel and bold colors, and picked out this pattern as my favorite.  After I cut it down to card size, I had a light bulb idea to make a chalkboard panel to go with it using the Beautiful Things set.

I started by embossing the beautiful soul sentiment in white, then offsetting with a bit of white mix'd media ink for that smudgy chalkboard look. Next I white embossed the flowers around the corners, also embossing two more on a scratch piece of basic black. I pulled out some Prima watercolor pencils to add a bit of color to each flower, wiping with a baby wipe to make the color react.  I just love the effect!  Next I scraped the white ink pad lightly over the panel to give an eraser look and distressed the edges.  The flowers and leaves are cut with the coordinating Beautiful Flowers Die Set and then layered together on dimensionals.  A doily and some ribbon finish things off.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you'll play along with this week's sketch.  For a little more inspiration, hop on over to the Mojo Monday blog to see what the other designers are sharing today.

Mojo Monday 452 Sketch

Enabler's List
Stamps: Beautiful Things (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Grand Bazaar (BasicGrey), black (SU!), white
Ink: Versamark, watercolor pencils (Prima), white jasmine ink (Mix'd Media)
Accessories: Beautiful Flowers Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), doily, lost lagoon ribbon (SU!), white fine detail embossing powder (JudiKins)

Beautiful You Mojo with Help From Trevor

Hi friends! It's Monday again and time for a brand new Mojo Monday sketch.  Since it's the first sketch of the month, that also means there are Verve prizes up for grabs!  We hope you'll play along!

My card started out with this piece of a water colored project Trevor had done that was sitting out on my desk.  He LOVES anything to do with art, especially painting, and it's so fun to see what he creates. I loved the colors he put together and thought it would make a great background.  Next I stamped the flower from Beautiful Things on vellum and embossed in white.  I colored with Copic markers on the backside and then cut it out with the coordinating Beautiful Flowers Die Set.

The sentiment is stamped in rich razzleberry and island indigo onto a Stitched Pennants die cut and I layered a vellum cut out from the Springtime Stitches Die Set below it.  A bit of white twine, some Shine Bright sequins and a whole lot of embossed and distressed panels finish things off.

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

Mojo Monday 451 Card Sketch

Enabler's List
Stamps: Beautiful Things (Verve Stamps)
Paper: white, vellum
Ink: rich razzleberry, island indigo (SU!), copic markers, watercolors (Crayola)
Accessories: Beautiful Flowers Die Set, Springtime Stitches Die Set, Stitched Pennants Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), Shine Bright Sequin Mix (Verve), chicken wire embossing folder (Cuttlebug), paper distresser, white twine, white embossing powder

Beautiful on Repeat

Hi friends! It's been a whirlwind week for me and I just realized I never posted this little card I made last weekend.  I was super inspired by Lori's little tip on her hop post about using the MISTI to line up repeating images and just had to try it out. 

I love the look of second and third generation stamping (stamping once, then again without reapplying ink), and decided to test out her little alignment trick with this technique.  So I inked up the beautiful sentiment from Beautiful Things in rich razzleberry, stamped it, then moved my paper down 3/4" and stamped again, then another 3/4" move and the third stamping. Love the different shades I got from just the one inking.

For the bottom portion, I stamped the make beautiful things sentiment, adding the YOU to the top, then added a second generation stamping of the flower off the side.  The rich razzleberry panel is stamped randomly with the same flower, then I distressed the edges and added a seam binding bow, tucking in some vellum cut leaves using the Beautiful Flowers Die Set.  Super easy and lots of fun.  I hope it inspires you!

Alrighty, thanks so much for stopping by.  A long awaited box of Verve restocks appeared on my doorstep last night, so I have a day filled with packaging stamps ahead of me.  {happy sigh}

Enabler's List
Stamps:  Beautiful Things (Verve Stamps)
Paper: rich razzleberry (SU!), vellum, white
Ink: rich razzleberry (SU!)
Accessories: Beautiful Flowers Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), frosted lace stickles (Ranger), pear pizazz seam binding (SU!), paper distresser, MISTI

Beautiful Soul Retrospective Hop

Welcome to Verve's May Release Retrospective Blog Hop! It's been a fabulous post release week at Verve and today the Divas and Guest Divas are helping you ease into the long weekend with another dose of inspiration using the brand new release! All of our new products are available to order in the Verve Store and is 25% off through the end of May! Plus, we've got a super sweet hop prize in store!

I'm the first stop on today's hop, so let's get to it!

My card today started with the Mojo Monday sketch for this week.  I embossed the flowers from Beautiful Things on text paper, then colored with a drop of reinker and water with melon mambo and calypso coral.  Next I stitched the panel to a piece of cream cardstock, then distressed both layers with antique linen distress ink and a paper distresser.

The beautiful soul sentiment was inked up with calypso coral ink on the top half and melon mambo on the bottom, then stamped and clear embossed on a stitched circle die cut. I stamped one more flower in calypso coral, embossed and watercolored, then cut with the coordinating Beautiful Flowers Die Set. I also cut some leaves from the text paper and added some detailing with a stabilo pencil and watercolored. A dry embossed background and a bit of my favorite wide stitched ribbon finish things off.

And now for a little hop and store talk...

Want to win some shiny new Verve? We'll be picking a random commenter on one of the hop spots below to win a $40 gift voucher to Verve! To be entered in the giveaway, leave a little comment love as you hop around to the blogs linked below! Comment deadline for the prize giveaway is May 31. Check out the Verve Blog today for all the prize info and deadlines!

1. Julee 7. LauraJane {guest} 2. Lori {guest} 8. Marisa 3. Betty 9. Maureen 4. Charmaine 10. Stacey 5. Laurie 11. Teresa 6. Lesley

In other news, since it's Memorial Day weekend here in the States and my boys are off from school, the Verve office will be closed May 30-31.  I'll resume my regular office schedule on Wednesday, June 1. While I'm away, I've added a free shipping promotion to sweeten the deal!

Free first class shipping on US orders over $35 May 27 - 31, 2016. 

Select US Shipping as your ship method at checkout and discount will be calculated automatically. Offer not valid on US Priority, International or Canadian shipping methods. Free shipping is calculated on your subtotal after any discounts or gift codes.

All of our new products are available to order in the Verve Store and during our May Sale all stamps and dies (including our new release) are 25% off!  There's only a few more days left, though... the sale ends May 31.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you find a bit of inspiration along the hop!

Next stop on the hop is the fabulous Lori Craig.

Mojo Monday 449

Enabler's List
Stamps: Beautiful Things (Verve Stamps)
Paper: conservatory (7 Gypsies), cream (Neenah)
Ink: melon mambo, calypso coral (SU!), antique linen distress (Ranger), black pencil (Stabilo)
Accesories: Beautiful Flowers Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), stitched circles stax (MFT), wide striped ribbon (CTMH), sewing machine, embossing folder (Sizzix), paper distresser

Beautiful Card Concept 56

Hi friends! It's time for a new Card Concept challenge, and the new graphic totally pulled at my coffee loving heartstrings.  When I saw the spoon and cup, I just had to pull out the Coffee set and get right to work making a shabby little creation.

I had these flowers from the Beautiful Things set all stamped and colored with prismacolors and cut with the coordinating Beautiful Flowers Die Set left over from the release cards I made last week. It seemed so perfect that they were already done in pink, just like the bloom in the graphic.  So I went for a similar look by embossing the cup and spoon images from Coffee in white on crumb cake and then coloring with colored pencils.  I hand cut the spoon and cut the coffee cup with the coordinating Cuppa Joe Die Set.

I did a bit of distressing with sandpaper and watered down gesso on the designer papers, then masked off the you from one of the sentiments and embossed it on a vellum Stitched Pennants die cut.  I then colored some crumb cake paper with the same color of pencils I used for the teacup and cut the beautiful word out.  The oval picture frame in the graphic had me digging through the closet to find my oval nestabilities and it became the perfect little grounding point for my collage of die cuts.  I finished off with a bit of twine and some crumb cake leaves.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! If you have a second, be sure to hop on over to The Card Concept to see all the wonderful inspirations by the design team.

Enabler's List
Stamps: Beautiful Things, Coffee (Verve Stamps)
Paper: conservatory (7 Gypsies), vellum, crumb cake (SU!)
Ink: Versamark, early espresso (SU!), colored pencils (Prismacolor), picket fence distress stain (Ranger)
Accessories:  Beautiful Flowers Die Set, Cuppa Joe Die Set, Stitched Pennants Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), petite classic and scallop ovals nestabilities (Spellbinders), twine (Hemptique), clear and white embossing powders (JudiKins), liquid pearls (Ranger)

Beauty For Ashes Spotlight Hop

Welcome to Day 3 of Verve's May Spotlight Hops! It's release day and that means all the new Verve that we've been sharing this week is available in the store!  To celebrate, 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!

I was down and out most of last week with a sinus infection, and on a particularly rough day I spent most of the morning on YouTube instead of preparing for the release.  I stumbled across a fantastic video by DeeDee Catron on making some mixed media tags and I immediately KNEW I had to test out some of the techniques with the new Beautiful Things set.  I thought the black and white combo would pair perfectly with the Isaiah 61:3 verse.

I started by collaging a few papers and some Tim Holtz tissue paper together, adding a whitewash of gesso and water, then collaging some more and adding in some black paint.  Then I scraped some white gesso over the project with a palette knife.  The flower was then embossed in black and I pulled out a black stabilo marks all pencil and outlined the stamped image.  I then spread it around with a waterbrush, bringing a bit of dimension and a grungy look.  The sentiment is also embossed in black.

I added splatters with watered down black gesso and added a bit more grunge where I felt it needed it with the stabilo pencil and water.  Next I cut the leaves from black using the Beautiful Flowers Die Set and glued them to my project, adding a few basic highlights with a white stabilo pencil.

For the base, I collaged more of the Tim Holtz tissue paper directly onto white card stock, did a little stitching and a bunch of distressing of the edges to finish things off.  I just love how it turned out. Can't wait to make more like this!

Okay, that's all from me today.  Thanks so much for stopping by and for hopping with us this week!

Oh, and one last thing before you hop along. We have a brand new Instagram account for Verve, so we'd love it if you'd follow us @vervestamps!

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

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 7. Lesley 2. Lori {guest} 8. LauraJane {guest} 3. Betty 9. Marisa 4. Charmaine 10. Maureen 5. Christyne 11. Stacey 6. Laurie

Enabler's List 
Stamps:  Beautiful Things (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Conservatory (7 Gypsies), white (Neenah), Melange tissue paper (Tim Holtz Ideaology)
Ink: black archival, black gesso, white gesso, stabilo marks all
Accessories: Beautiful Flowers Die Set,(A Cut Above by VERVE), collage medium (Ranger), sewing machine

Beautiful Things Spotlight Hop

Welcome to Verve's May Spotlight Hops! There's a new Verve release just around the corner and for the next couple of days we'll be shining our creative spotlights on the new Verve sets and dies releasing this Friday, May 20!  I'm the first stop on today's hop, so why not settle in for a fresh little dose of inspiration?

Today we're sharing our first projects featuring the Beautiful Things stamp set, Beautiful Flowers Die Set and the Stitched Pennants Die Set.  Check out the Verve Blog post today for the full product reveals and a little bit about our fabulous Guest Divas, Lori Craig and Laura Jane!

I'll start by saying, I'm really loving this release. I've been struggling through several months of creative block and these sets might just be the thing to pull me out.  {grin}  These flowers seriously make my heart go pitter patter and I want to color them in all the colors!

I started the card by heat embossing the flowers from Beautiful Things in white on crumb cake and coloring with prismacolor pencils in blues.  My boys were fascinated to watch the blending of colors, so it was fun for the whole family! Next I die cut them with the coordinating Beautiful Flowers Die Set (with Trevor's help cranking the Hello Kitty Big Shot handle, of course!).

For the sentiment tag, I cut both pennants from the Stitched Pennants Die Set in crumb cake, then added a little colored pencil border to each die, going just to the stitched line.  I embossed the birthday sentiment in white, then layered them together and tucked in under my flowers.

The beautiful is also part of the Beautiful Flowers Die Set and here I cut it from white fun foam for some thickness and a layer of crumb cake for a bit of shadow.  The leaves are from the same die set, cut from crumb cake and tucked in to fill out the layout.  I finished with a couple fun neutral papers, aged with a bit of antique linen distress ink and tied a big twine bow.

Okay, that's all from me today.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

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

Want to win some shiny new Verve? We'll be picking a random comment winner 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. Lesley 2. Lori {guest} 8. LauraJane {guest} 3. Betty 9. Marisa 4. Charmaine 10. Maureen 5. Christyne 11. Stacey 6. Laurie 12. Teresa

Enabler's List 
Stamps: Beautiful Things (Verve Stamps)
Paper: crumb cake (SU!), cream, fun foam, Beach Day (Carta Bella), Conservatory (7 gypsies)
Ink: Versamark (Tsukineko), Prismacolor Colored Pencils, antique linen (Ranger Distress)
Accessories: Beautiful Flowers Die Set, Stitched Pennants Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), white embossing powder (JudiKins), button (SU!), twine (Hemptique)