A Year of Joy

Hi friends! Welcome to another week! I had to take a short break from shabby chic cards to make a birthday card for my Dad. We had a joint birthday/Valentine celebration for him and hubby yesterday, since their birthdays are Feb. 14 and 15.  My Dad loved this card. He just turned 75 and it was fun to see the delight in his eyes as he paraded the card around to everyone to show them the "special" card I'd made. I think that right there is why I love cardmaking so much.. the delight it brings to the recipient.

Anyhow, I recently found a local artist that makes handmade watercolors and I had to give them a try. I love supporting handmade and local and these watercolors are such a treat. Packaged so sweetly and super fun to play with, with rich, creamy pigments. I may have *had to* help hubby out with my Valentine's present by ordering some more for myself from her etsy shop over the weekend!  LOL

I started by stamping the balloons from Birthday Bash in archival ink, then watercoloring with the two aquas. I like to keep colors simple for my dad, since he is red/green color blind.  I then made some rough masks for the balloon sections and splattered the two blues and the yellow over the whole panel.  Next I stamped the sentiment from Cake & Candles on the side and then accented with a bit of baker's twine. Next I watercolored two little wood confetti stars, then coated them with nuvo drops and layered together to accent the string.  A bit of black behind the side adds a bit of interest and also hides that my watercolor paper and card base aren't quite the same color of white. (twitch, twitch)

And there you have it, a simple and quick masculine birthday card.  Thanks so much for stopping by today. I hope you have a fabulous start to your week.

Enabler's List
Stamps: Birthday Bash, Cake & Candles (Verve Stamps)
Paper: watercolor distress cardstock (Ranger), white (Neenah), basic black (SU!)
Ink: letter-it black archival (Ranger), Wild & Free watercolor collection (Designs by Rachel Beth)
Accessories: baker's twine, wood veneer confetti stars, nuvo drops, paper distresser

Birthday Star

Hi friends! It's Monday again and time for another Mojo Monday sketch challenge. My card this week is the one I made for Mark's birthday.

I started with the Birthday Bash set, stamping the cake image onto a tag cut from the Flourished Tag Die Set.  I then paper pieced the center of the cake and colored the rest with Copic markers.  I stenciled some dots down the side of the tag and then stamped a few stars and cut them out to scatter around the cake.

I stamped the birthday sentiment on the green polka dot panel, then cut some stars with the Starry Die  and inked them up, adding a bit of an outline with a marker.  The soft sky layer is lightly stamped tone on tone with two of the star stamps from the set, then I finished with some twine and a bow accented with a metallic star.  A super fun masculine card.

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I hope you have a fantastically creative week.  If you're shopping today, our Weekend Free Shipping promo for US orders over $30 is still on through the end of today.

Mojo Monday 485 Card Sketch

Enabler's List
Stamps: Birthday Bash (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Breeze Lost and Found TWO (MME), early espresso, soft sky, crumb cake (SU!), cream (Neenah)
Ink: antique linen, ground espresso (Ranger Distress), espresso (Altenew), Copics
Accessories: Flourished Tag Die Set, Starry Die (A Cut Above by VERVE), dot fade layering stencil (Tim Holtz), stars and swirls embossing folder (Sizzix), twine (Hemptique), metallic star (MME), stickles (Ranger)

A Valentine Birthday

Hi friends!  It's Valentine's Day, which also means it's my Dad's birthday and Mark's birthday tomorrow.  So right in the midst of all the lovey dovey pink and red heart stamping, I always have to switch gears and remember how to make a masculine card.

Today I'm sharing the card I made for my Dad and gave to him this past weekend. It's my masculine take on this week's Mojo Monday 484 sketch.  I can't seem to start a masculine card without thinking of the Birthday Bash set, so that's just where I went.  I knew the little birthday sentiment would fit perfectly in one of the squares and had visions of balloons and stars popping out. My dad is red/green color blind so I always try to stick with blues and browns, although a little green snuck in there.

The papers are from a My Mind's Eye paper collection and I sponged them with antique linen and ground espresso distress inks, then matted with early espresso cardstock.  I stamped the balloons and stars on designer paper and fussy cut, sponging along the edges.  I then layered my pieces together and stamped the balloon image on the card base, then on the designer paper panel and lined them up and pieced the balloons onto the image.  I finished off with some glossy accents and a sprinkling of glitter.

Since I can't let Mr. Verve's birthday go unheralded, we've got a little promo code going on in the Verve shop today and tomorrow.  Use gift code LOVE15 at checkout for an additional 15% off your purchase.

Hope you have a day filled with love and laughter!


Enabler's List
Stamps: Birthday Bash (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Breeze Lost and Found TWO (MME), early espresso, soft sky (SU!)
Ink: antique linen, ground espresso distress (Ranger), espresso Altenew)
Accessories: glossy accents, glitter, grosgrain ribbon

Celebrating Verve

Hi friends! It's the first of August and time for contest week at Mojo Monday. Play along this week for a chance to win a Verve Stamps set of your choosing. You can enter as often as you like and Verve stamps are not required (though I do love to see them getting inky). {grin}

Today is also the official 9 year anniversary of  Verve. A life redefined with the push of a button, I am forever changed and grateful for all the friends I've made through Verve over the years and the stories I've read behind the cards you all so lovingly make and share with your loved ones. Thank you for being a light in the world and also in my shy little introvert universe.

Today's card uses a timeless set that is one of my all-time favorites... Birthday Bash.  I love these swirly little balloon strings and the fun sentiments in the set that are great for masculine, feminine and kids cards. That's a lot to ask of a font combination, so it definitely makes the all-time faves list for me!

I used some new papers I picked up at Michael's during a birthday shopping spree, paper piecing the balloons, and adding lots of crisp white space with crumb cake matting.  A bit of twine and a little silver accent is my only embellishment.

I don't typically do measurements for my sketches, since I want everyone to feel comfortable adapting the sketch to fit their particular images and sentiments, but there are lots of layers here, so I thought I'd tell you what worked for me.  My vertical strips are all 5.25" long and 0.75", 1.75" and 1.25" wide.  My skewed panel is 2.75" wide x 3.75" long.  My sentiment panel is 2.75" wide x 1" tall.  And I used a 1-1/8" and 1-1/4" circle punch for my sentiment circle.

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

Mojo Monday 459 Sketch

Enabler's List
Stamps: Birthday Bash (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Hello Today (Heidi Swapp)
Ink: black archival (Ranger), Copic marker
Accessories: twine, metal accent

Birthday Balloons

Hi friends!  It's Monday again and time for another Mojo Monday sketch.  Since it's the last Monday of the month, our challenge this week is a tall and skinny layout.  I flipped my card horizontally to fit the idea I had for a balloon bouquet.

One of the boys' good friends had her 3rd birthday party this weekend, so I got to make a girly card.  She loves all things sparkly and pink and purple, so I started by stamping the balloons from Birthday Bash in archival ink and then coloring with Prismacolor pencils and blending with gamsol.  I added a bit of glossy glaze to each balloon for a highlight and then dusted them with glitter.

The monkeys are from the just arrived back in stock To the Moon set.  Had to include two little monkeys, since the card is from both of MY little monkeys.  {grin}  They're colored with prismacolors and gamsol, then cut with circle dies and matted with stitched circle dies.  I added a little extra dimension to the birthday sentiment circle, layered some polka dot ribbon behind and found a scrap of dp that worked with my color scheme.  Each layer is matted with black cardstock.

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

Mojo Monday 413 Sketch

Enabler's List
Stamps: To the Moon, Birthday Bash (Verve Stamps)
Paper: black, white, dp scrap
Ink: archival black (Ranger), prismacolor pencils
Accessories:  classic circles nestabilities (Spellbinders), stitched circles stax (MFT), glossy glaze (Ranger), polka dot ribbon (May Arts), dazzling diamonds glitter (SU!), gamsol, blending stump

Mixed Shabby Celebration

Hi friends!  Welcome to another Friday!  Today I'm sharing my take on this week's Viva la Verve Augusts Week 3 Sketch.  I couldn't pass up a chance to use one of the shiny gold doilies I've been hoarding, and thought it would fit perfectly with the Celebrate inspiration challenge going on this month.

I started by smooshing some spun sugar and worn lipstick distress ink on watercolor paper, then sprinkling with water after it dried.  I cut the center of the paper with the Classy Label Die and stamped the sentiment from Birthday Bash in the center.

To make my doily fit the card, I cut a big circle out of the center, then pleated the outer circle created under the inner circle to size it down to card front size.  The tag is made with the Flourished Tag Die Set, just cutting the black card stock to a bit thinner than the die size and weaving the paper through so it only cut the top portion.  I stamped it in white ink with the background from Better Together, then scribbled mono adhesive all around the edges of this panel and the classy label die cut, then embossed with frantage shabby pink embossing enamel.

The stars are cut with the Starry Die, and I grunged things up a bit with picket fence and black soot distress stain and a touch of gold glass glitter.  My fingers were so covered with glitter and stain by the end, it was the most fun I've had in quite a while!  I finished off with a pink seam binding bow from the Truly Madly Deeply Ribbon Collection  and a triple pearl stick pin.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you have a super creative start to your weekend.  If you're looking for a challenge, be sure to check out Viva la Verve and our Diva Inspiration challenge!

Viva la Verve August Week 3

Enabler's List
Stamps: Birthday Bash, Better Together (Verve Stamps)
Paper: basic black (SU!), watercolor distress paper (Tim Holtz), gold doily
Ink: spun sugar, worn lipstick, picket fence, black soot (Ranger Distress)
Accessories: Starry Die, Classy Label Die, Flourished Tag Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), Truly Madly Deeply Ribbon Collection (Verve), frantage shabby pink and gold embossing enamel (Stampendous), triple pearl stick pin (Pizzazz Aplenty)

Birthday Balloons

Hi friends!  It's Friday and time for a brand new sketch over at Viva la Verve.  This week's layout is brought to us by the lovely Maureen.  We're attending a birthday party for one of the boys' friends tomorrow morning, so I thought it was the perfect excuse to pull out some birthday stamps!

I started by cutting the Tagged Rectangle, then stamping the sentiment from Birthday Bots in archival black, then coloring with Copics in colors that matched the party invite. I placed a strip of washi tape over the sentiment to mask it off, then stamped the balloons from Birthday Bash and highlighted with a grey Copic.  I stamped the balloons again on white and colored with Copics, hand cutting to pop over the tag.

Next I stamped one of the bots from birthday bots and colored with Copics, popping up parts of the head, and tucking him behind the tag.  The 3 is a die cut from TCP, which I cut in white, then colored with a Copic marker and accented with a white gel pen.  I also offset a basic black mat for it.  The stitched circle behind is colored with a copic to match the orange and matted with a pinking circle.

I added in some stripes for the current Sensational Stripes Diva Inspiration challenge with some paper from the Scoot collection.  I chose a coordinating red paper for the vertical strip and stamped it randomly with the balloons image from Birthday Bash, then colored with a copic and accented with a white gel pen.  Finally, I added the star border from the Scalloped Trim Trio Die Set and then adhered to a panel embossed with my favorite stars & swirls folder.

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

VLV July Week 4 Sketch

Enabler's List
Stamps: Birthday Bots, Birthday Bash (Verve)
Paper: white, basic black, Scoot (Echo Park)
Ink: archival black (Ranger), white gel pen, Copic markers
Accessories: Tagged Rectangle Die, Scalloped Trim Trio Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), stitched circles stax (MFT), pinking circles nestabilities (Spellbinders), corner rounder, stars & swirls embossing folder (Sizzix), Numbers Plate Cutups (TCP)

Viva la Birthday Boy

Hi friends!  It's Friday and I'm hosting the Viva la Verve! sketch this week along with a fun little inspiration option.  I've been thinking about decorating the twins' playroom and so the inspiration photo is a quick little mood board I created for one of the options I'm deciding between.  It seemed so festive, I thought it would make a great jumping off point for a card.

One of the boys' playmates had his 1 year birthday party recently, so this week's VLV sketch and inspiration were the perfect pairing for my card.  In fact, the birthday boy's party was giraffe themed, so what could be better than the giraffe from To the Moon peeking in?  The papers are from the Snap Color Vibe collection and I added some soft sky, kiwi kiss and basic grey to complete the color palette.  I went with some polka dot balloons paper pieced using the Birthday Bash set (also used for the sentiment), then added a bunch of die cuts... Rounded Scallop Frame Die, Rounded Rectangle Die, Flourished Trim Die and the Scalloped Trim Trio Die Set.   Some silver liquid pearls, a bit of SU! ribbon and a little dry embossed background finished things off.

Alrighty, that about covers it for the card.  Be sure to head on over to the VLV forum and play along with all of our July sketches for a chance to win some serious Verve moulah!  {grin}

 Enabler's List
Stamps: To the Moon, Birthday Bash (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Snap Color Vibe (Simple Stories), soft sky, kiwi kiss, basic gray (SU!)
Ink: basic gray (SU!), black
Accessories: Rounded Scallop Frame Die, Rounded Rectangle Die, Flourished Trim Die and the Scalloped Trim Trio Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), ribbon and circle punches (SU!), Stars & Swirls embossing folder (Sizzix), liquid pearls (Ranger)

Birthday Balloons

Hi friends!  The weekend flew by and it's Monday morning again already.  And that means it's time for a new sketch over on the Mojo Monday blog.  This week's sketch was designed by Mary Fish.  My father-in-law's birthday is this week, so I took the opportunity to make a masculine birthday card.

For the squares on the sketch, I chose to use sentiments from Super Dad and Birthday Bash.  The balloons are from Birthday Bash and I paper pieced them onto the Simple Stories Aweso{ME} paper (which I whitewashed with a little watered down butter cream paint to subdue the pattern so the balloons would pop).  The twill is stained with distress stains and the background is core'dinations cardstock embossed with a Tim Holtz texture fades embossing folder and then sanded with a nail file.

Well, that's all for today.  I hope you have a fabulous start to your week.  Be sure to head on over to the  Mojo Monday blog to see the inspiration from the rest of the design team using this sketch!

Enabler's List:
Stamps: Birthday Bash, Super Dad (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Aweso{ME} (Simple Stories), Tim Holtz Distress Forest Moss (Core'dinations), Cream
Ink: Brushed Corduroy, Antique Linen, Forest Moss Distress, Coffee Archival (Ranger)
Accessories: mini library clip (SU!), twill, buttercream craft paint, paper distresser, Tim Holtz Gridlock Texture Fades (Sizzix)

Birthday Mojo

Hi friends!  I spent a little time in my studio yesterday trying to distract myself from thinking about the boys in the NICU, so I've got a Mojo Monday card to share with you.  This sketch by Teresa had some clean lines that I thought would be perfect for a masculine birthday card I needed to make.

I pulled out the Birthday Bash set and paper pieced the cake on some Loyal paper by Authentique, adding green stars and some Dark Chocolate liquid pearls for the icing.  A little hardware frame from my stash sets off the sentiment and I tied it on with a little linen thread.

Kellan & Trevor Update:

The boys continue to improve each day.  They're now trying room air a little, but have to go back to the nasal cannulas when they get tired.  They've started taking a bottle now instead of just the feeding tube and they've graduated to a single crib.  We're hoping that having the dynamic duo back together will hasten their development.  At this point it looks like we're still looking at at least another 1-3 weeks in the NICU.  Here's our first look at the boys side by side.  They looked so peaceful sleeping next to each other and it's so awesome to finally see them together!

Enabler's List:
Stamps:  Birthday Bash (Verve Stamps)
Paper:  Loyal (Authentique), Early Espresso (SU!), White
Ink: Onyx Black (Versafine), Antique Linen (Ranger Distress), Copic markers
Accessories:  Hodgepodge hardware, linen thread (SU!), bracket border punch (EK Success), Dark Chocolate Liquid Pearls (Ranger), paper piercer

Celebrate

Hi friends!  The weekend flew by and it's already time for another Mojo Monday sketch.  This week's sketch is designed by the talented Mary Fish and was perfect for a masculine birthday card I needed to make.

I started with the Breeze collection papers from My Mind's Eye, then pulled out the Birthday Bash set from Verve.  I paper pieced the balloons and colored the stars with a white gel pen before coating with glue and dusting with glitter.  To keep things masculine, I chose to tie a knot with grosgrain instead of a bow, added some mini brads to the sentiment flag and finished off with some Tim Holtz photo corners.  Easy peasy and just perfect for my Dad's birthday.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you have a fabulous start to your week.  Be sure to check out the Mojo blog this morning for the sketch and inspiration from our design team.  And if you haven't yet, hop on over to Verve, where our Wishing for Spring Sale is going on!

Enabler's List:
Stamps:  Birthday Bash (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Breeze (My Mind's Eye), Early Espresso Crumb Cake (SU!)
Ink: Brushed Corduroy (Ranger Distress), white gel pen, Early Espresso marker (SU!)
Accessories:  sewing machine, mini brads, espresso grosgrain (SU!), photo corners (Tim Holtz), glitter

Pool Party Birthday

Hi friends! Happy Saturday! I'm popping in with a quick card I made before the release party last night. All the stamps we've been previewing this week are available in the Verve store now. Yippee!

For this card I started with the new Pool Party cardstock from SU!, embossed it with the Stripes embossing folder and then swiped some Broken China distress stain over it for the cool background.  The sentiment is from the new Small Phrases set, and I stamped it in archival ink across some twill, then adhered to the card with sticky strip.  The balloons are from the Birthday Bash set (on sale 20% off this month), and I paper pieced the balloons, popped them up on dimensionals and added a little glass glitter.

To jazz things up a bit, I added a punched border with shiny pearl accents, a glass glitter star and a huge polka dot bow, accented with a Webster's Pages sparkler center.  It was a quick and easy card and without the ribbon could be a super layout for a masculine card as well.

After a week of high stress, no free time and crazy deadlines, I'm hoping to chill out and relax this weekend and maybe get some art journaling done, hit the gym and take in a movie with my awesome hubby.  Sounds fabulous, don't you think!  I hope you find a little time to unwind from the week yourself... AFTER you go check out the new stamps at Verve!  {grin}

We've just released 3 new sets and 3 new plain janes! Now through July 31, buy the July 2011 Stamp Collection and save 15%!

Enabler's List:
Stamps: Small Phrases, Birthday Bash (Verve Stamps)
Paper:  Pool Party, Basic Black, 2011 In Color Prints DSP (SU!), Natural White (Neenah)
Ink: Jet Black Archival, Broken China Distress Stain (Ranger)
Accessories: Stripes Textured Impressions Folder, Glass Glitter, Scallop Trim punch (SU!), shiny silver pearls (Pizzazz Aplenty), twill, glass glitter star (Frost It Pink), ribbon (May Arts), Sparkler (Webster's Pages)

July Diva Inspirations Hop

Hi friends!  It's the first of the month and that means our Diva Inspirations team (plus a few Divas from the release team) is putting on a blog hop to kick the month off right!  We've got an awesome line-up, and don't forget to leave a little love in the comments section as you hop around, because a lucky commenter on the hop will win a Verve gift certificate!  Just in time to spend at our July release next Friday night!  Head on over to the Verve blog for all the hop details and deadlines.  The master blog hop list is at the end of this post.

This super sweet layout is by Amber Hight and just happens to be the first Viva la Verve sketch for July!  Play along with all of our July sketches and you just might be the lucky winner of our entire Anni-VERVE-sary release.  And let me just say, it's gonna be BIG!!!

My card features the July Stamp of the Month... Carpe Cupcake, which is a steal at 40% off in July!  I  think you probably remember me saying it was birthday season?  Well, July brings FIVE Diva birthdays (Charmaine, Sony, ME, Jen T. and Teresa), so we're celebrating with 20% off our birthday stamps and a free goody bag for orders over $75!  Hooray!

Well, I've rambled on a bit and I wanted to keep this short.  We're having our kitchen & dining room floors redone this week and the house has been a war zone.  It's looking great, though.  Just some detail woodworking left tomorrow and we can put our house back together again!  Yay!

Okay, I'll leave you with the hop list and an enabler's list, since I didn't really give you any details about the card.  {sheepish grin}  Happy Hopping!!!

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

Enabler's List:
Stamps: Carpe Cupcake, Birthday Bash, Vintage Oval Frame (Verve Stamps)
Paper:  Journey (Authentique), Sahara Sand (SU!), Walnut Stain (Ranger C'oredinations)
Ink: Early Espresso, Pacific Point, Sahara Sand (SU!), Copic markers
Accessories:  Vintage Oval Die (A Cut Above by VERVE), Grand Circles Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Polka Dots ef (Cuttlebug), liquid pearls (Ranger), shiny silver pearls (Pizzazz Aplenty), seam binding ribbon (Prairie Bird Boutique on Etsy), clear detail embossing powder (Judikins)

For the Birthday Girl

Hi everyone.  This week has been a rough one for me.  My grandmother passed away, so I've been laying low, trying to process things.  And so I missed a very special birthday yesterday... my best friend, Laurie's!  I actually made the card earlier this week and squeaked it in under the wire for the February SFYTT challenge.  Jen's sketch got my creative juices going and I only strayed a little when making this little number for Laurie!

Laurie loves leafy designs... like crazy love... so I stamped the basic gray, cherry cobbler and basic black layers with the leafy sprigs (embossing the black on black, which is something Laurie does and I always think it looks amazing!).

Next I went for the flower.  I stamped all three sizes of the line art flower from Great Friend on white, then cut out, sponged with a bit of Pumice Stone, curled the edges and layered on dimensionals.  Then I added a little German glass glitter, a prima flower center and a nice coating of glitter/diamond glaze mixture on everything.  It's so super sparkly in real life!

For the little horizontal strip, I used an SU! border punch, stamped the For You sentiment from Great Friend across it three times, then added some German glass glitter, red rhinestones and some of that polka dot ribbon I love so much.  And since Laurie got me hooked on those tiny library clips, I had to add the sentiment circle (from Birthday Bash) with a silver library clip, then accented with a couple star trinket pins, because Laurie's such a star!

Okay, that's all from me.  Have a fabulous weekend!  And here's a refresher of what's going on in Verveland...
March Diva Inspiration Hop: Deadline to comment is Saturday night
Verve Fan Hop: Deadline to link up your creation is noon (Mountain) on Saturday
Verve Fan Hop Commenting:  Commenting is open until Sunday night
Viva la Verve! March Week 2:  Charmaine's this week's hostess

Enabler's List:
Stamps: Great Friend, Birthday Bash (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Basic Gray, Basic Black, Cherry Cobbler (SU!), Natural White (Neenah)
Ink: Basic Gray, Cherry Cobbler (SU!), Pumice Stone (Ranger Distress), Frost VersaMark
Accessories: circle punches, glass glitter, mini library clip, eyelet border punch (SU!), star stick pins (Maya Road), diamond glaze and glitter mixture, flower center (prima), rhinestones (Pizzazz Aplenty), paper distresser (Tonic), polka dot ribbon, file folder die

Celebrate

Welcome to another week!  It's time for another Mojo Monday sketch, and this week Maria Gurnsey has stepped up to the sketchpad to inspire us with a fun little sketch.  Head on over to the Mojo blog for the sketch and to see the fabulous samples by the Mojo designers.

Today's my Dad's birthday (yep, he's a Valentine's baby - and my hubby Mark's birthday is tomorrow!).  So for dad's card I went for a clean and simple masculine look.  He's red/green color blind, so I try to stick to colors I know he can see well, and these fun papers from BoBunny seemed like the perfect fit.  I paper pieced the balloons from Birthday Bash, then added the celebrate sentiment from the same set and colored with Copic markers.  A little grosgrain ribbon, a star brad and some metal stickers finish off the look.

I've been suffering from frequent migraines again recently, so I've been a little quiet on the blogging front.  I have a few cards made and photographed, though, so hopefully I'll be up to posting a few times this week.  Thanks so much for stopping by!  Have a fabulous start to your week!  Oh, and if you'd like a chance at being one of the next Verve Guest Divas, be sure to check out the Get Your Diva On challenge that's starting today over in our forum!

Enabler's List:
Stamps:  Birthday Bash (Verve Stamps)
Paper: BoBunny, Black, White
Ink: A Muse Black Dye Ink, black copic multi-liner
Accessories: Star brads, 5/8" black grosgrain, Signo white gel pen (SU!), Classic Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), metal accent stickers (Colorbok), Diamond Stickles

365 Wishes

Happy Friday!  Today is Sankari's birthday and a few of my sweet friends on Facebook are posting cards to celebrate!  I knew I wanted to make a true "Sankari style" card - bright, cheerful, lots of cutting and of course lots of BLING!

Dear Sankari... how do I love thee?  Let me count the liquid pearls!  LOL  :)  In fact, this card has a year of birthday wishes on it... 341 liquid pearls dots and 24 stickles swirls, making up 365 wonderful wishes for you and your coming year!  I hope the sun shines brightly on each of your days!  Happy Birthday, sweet Sankari!

I'm headed out for a day of fun with hubby, so I'm not going to go into a lot of details on this card.  It's a whole lot of paper piecing with the balloons, stars and cupcakes from the Birthday Bash set,  a little accordion flower thingy, some ruffled ribbon and loads of liquid pearls and stickles!  Papers are from the Alphabet Soup line from My Mind's Eye.  Here's a little closeup of that accordion flower, sentiment thingy.  So much fun to make!  And I love that sparkly rhinestone star on the candle... another new toy from Pizzazz Aplenty!    Thanks for stopping by! 

Be sure to hop on over to Sankari's blog and wish her a happy day!

Cupcake Bash

Good morning!  It's Mojo Monday and the third day of the Verve new release spotlights!  Today the Divas are shining their spotlights on two fun new sets with a birthday theme...  Carpe Cupcake and Birthday Bash.  Be sure to check out the full hop list at the bottom of this post and leave a little love as you hop around the blogosphere for a chance to win today's sets!  And while I've been busy prepping for this Friday's release, Maria Gurnsey stepped in for me with today's Mojo Monday sketch.  I had a blast with it, and I hope you'll play along!

For my project today, I combined stamps from Carpe Cupcake and Birthday Bash.  The cupcake sprinkles and candle with star are all separate stamps in the Carpe Cupcake set, so I built my cupcake, then colored with Copic markers, using a white gel pen to highlight the little sprinkles and to add some diagonal stripes to my candle, then cut it all out and added a little swarovski crystal to the center of the star.

Y'all know by now about my recent fascination with Wild Wasabi, so it's not surprising that it's making another appearance today!  I cut the vanilla Classic Oval, then stenciled in the center portion with some Antique Linen distress ink and stamped the balloons so they'd extend past the oval shape.  Next I stamped the balloons from Birthday Bash again on a scrap of Cream cardstock, colored with Copics and pieced over the balloons on the oval panel.  This panel is matted on a Labels 10 die cut, which I accented with a few more swarovski crystals. (I say, there's no such thing as too much bling!  LOL)  I did a similar treatment with classic ovals and labels 10 for the "Happy birthday to you" sentiment, which is also from Birthday Bash.  The background papers are from the SU! Newsprint DSP.

That's all from me today.  Time to check out more peeks on the Diva blogs...

1. Julee	6. Teresa
2. Michelle	7. Maureen
3. Jen d.	8. Jen T.
4. Sony	9. Amber
5. Jackie	10. Tosh

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