Chirpy CASE Study

Hi everybody! This month I'm honored to be the guest muse over at the Case Study challenge blog! Each Thursday in March they'll be challenging you to be inspired by and loosely CASE a given card of mine.  And this week Verve is sponsoring the prize, so I hope you'll play along!

This week, we're CASE-ing this whimsical little card I made a while back with the Text Objects and Wordy Birds sets.  To read more about this card, you can check out my original post  here.

For the remake I was inspired by the whimsical feel, white accents and the bottom border of the card.  I chose this fun paper I just got by My Little Shoebox and thought the Wordy Birds set would fit perfectly with all the fun little birdhouses.

I started off by cutting my borders using the Big Scallop die from The Cat's Pajamas.  Next I stamped the birdie from Wordy Birds, colored with Copics and cut out.  I made a little nest for him by gluing some linen thread together in a nest like fashion, then added the sentiment strip using the Sentiment Flags die from Lil' Inker Designs.  I layered this all on some circle punches, accented with liquid pearls and glued on so it looked like the nest was about even with the branch on the dp.

My final touch was a bit of white twill knotted, then a big white grommet placed over it.  I highlighted each of the little bumps on the grommet with some liquid pearls to dress it up a bit and then added a bit of Stardust stickles to the birdie's wing and I was finished.

So before you run and start the challenge, 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

Okay, for those of you who read my blog regularly, I came back from the doctor on Monday armed with medicine to treat my sinus infection, ear infection and laryngitis. I had an afternoon and evening of relief and renewed hope that I was on the road to recovery only to wake up Tuesday morning with nausea and I've hardly kept any food down since then.  When it rains, it pours, I guess.  Maybe I'm just getting all my sickness out of the way for the entire year!  LOL  Thanks for all of you who've left such sweet get well wishes and comments.

Enabler's List:
Stamps:  Wordy Birds (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Home Tweet Home DP (My Little Shoebox), White CS
Ink: Black Dye Ink (A Muse), Copics
Accessories: Big Scallop Die (TCP), Sentiment Flags Die (Lil' Inker Designs), Circle punches, jumbo grommett, linen thread (SU!), Stardust Stickles, White Opal Liquid Pearls (Ranger), white twill

Case Study Friend

Hi everybody! This month I'm honored to be the guest muse over at the Case Study challenge blog! If you haven't heard of them, I hope you'll take a moment to check out their fun challenge! Each Thursday in March they'll be challenging you to be inspired by and loosely CASE a given card of mine. They usually have some fun prizes, too, so be sure to check it out! 

For this week, we're CASE-ing this card I made for Mark for our anniversary. It's one of my recent faves and I hope you find some inspiration there!  To read more about this card, you can check out my original post here.

I took my inspiration from the overall shabby chic feel, the rosette and the flower... oh and those little hearts from the Text Objects set.. love them!  My card for today went with a much more feminine feel, but Mark seemed just as impressed by it.  He even momentarily stopped his video game to ooh and ahh over it!  And he knew right away exactly which card I had CASE'd.

I started with the Good Day Sunshine collection by My Mind's Eye and embossed the cheerful friend quote from Text Objects in Early Espresso directly onto the coral paper. Next I used the Damask texture fade to dry emboss above and below the sentiment, then sanded lightly for a super shabby feel. The rosette is made from coordinating paper using the Tim Holtz Rosette die and I matted it onto a Petite Scallop Circle Nestabilities die cut for a little more oomph! Next I added the stamped heart, sponged with a little Groovy Guava then the friend sentiment punched with the modern label punch. The Prima sets it off and I added a hint of glitter and diamond glaze mixture for a little sparkle.

Okay, so before you run and start the challenge, 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:  Text Objects (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Good Day Sunshine (My Mind's Eye), Early Espresso (SU!), Cream
Ink: Groovy Guava, Early Espresso (SU!), Vintage Photo (Ranger Distress)
Accessories: Rosette Die, Damask Texture Fades (Tim Holtz), Petite Circles Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Prima flower, Modern Label Punch (SU!), Flourish die (Sizzix), Loop trim punch (Martha Stewart), lace, tiny pearls (Pizzazz Aplenty)

Sweet Little Baby Boat

Sweet little baby..... boat??  That's what my hubby, Mark, said when he saw today's card.  Usually he has great comments, but last night, not so much.  LOL  I do admit that the card is nothing like the one I had in my head when I sat down to stamp, but that's what's so fun about stamping... you never know where you'll end up!

I had intended a totally sweet, mostly white card, but I came across these Alphabet Soup papers in my stash and wanted to play with the Stacking Stars die from MFT.  Then I think watching Steven Tyler on American Idol kind of influenced my inner rockstar, and away I went!  :)  I wonder if his mother dressed him in baby blue?  LOL  I love the little sail boat from Text Objects and decided to pair it with the frame and sentiment from To the Moon.  For the frame, I punched out the center with a super jumbo marvy square punch, then colored the bit of edging with Copic markers and layered over my paper pieced sail boat with dimensional tape.  Love the look of it.

For the starry piece, I hand cut a little shape for the base, then just layered on stars cut with the star die, and added a german glass glitter star behind it all.  The twine is Midnight Silver Baker's Metallic Twine from Pizzazz Aplenty.  Love it!

Well, that's all I have time for today, folks.  Thanks so much for stopping by and have a fabulous day!

Enabler's List
Stamps: Text Objects, To the Moon (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Alphabet Soup (My Mind's Eye), Black, White
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, copic markers
Accessories:  Stacking Stars, Open Scallop Border (MFT Die-namics), Wave die (TCP CutUps), large star punch (SU!), german glass glitter star (Frost it Pink), star rhinestone, silver pearl and Midnight Silver Baker's Twine (Pizzazz Aplenty), Super Jumbo Square Punch (Marvy)

Adore

Happy Monday!  This is a very special day for me.  It's the day I married my best friend, the love of my life, my soul mate.  After 13 magical years together my knees still go weak when he walks into the room.  And I still thank God each day that He gave me this perfect match.  Mark triumphs in my successes and carries me when I'm too weak to stand alone.  He pushes me to be the best I can be and picks up the slack when I fall short.  He's my # 1 fan and I couldn't imagine my life without him.  My life is truly blessed and I am a better person for knowing him!  So this card is for the man I adore... my husband, Mark.

 

The layout is this week's Mojo sketch {Mojo170} and I knew I wanted to pull out this Lost & Found paper I've been hoarding.  It's vintage and masculine, but still swirly and beautiful, too!  :)  I started by cutting the paper so the ADORE part of it would show, then I stamped a couple hearts from the Text Objects set on dp, cut out and used the scraps to make a fan, by scoring every 1/4" and folding accordion style like a rosette, but leaving unfinished like a fan.  I stamped the sentiment from Text Objects inside the stamped Vintage Oval Frame, then added some german glass glitter from the Holiday Glitzy pack by TCP around the frame and on the prima flower.  It's so sparkly!!!  There's a bit of brown lace underneath all that and I gave everything a good sponging with some Vintage Photo distress ink.

Well, there you have it!  Thanks so much for stopping by!  Be sure to head on over to the Mojo Monday blog for this week's sketch!  Have a fantastic day!

Love Life

Hi there!  Happy Friday!  Sorry I've been neglecting the old blog this week.  Laurie came to visit for a few days and we were so busy giggling and shopping and watching movies that I never had a spare moment to post.  So here I am on Friday afternoon, posting the card I had planned to post Tuesday!  :)

My card uses the new Text Objects set, featuring the Gandhi quote, "Where there is love there is life."  That is so true, isn't it?  The world just comes alive when we're in the presence of love.  Whether it's the love of my sweetheart (our 13th anniversary is on Monday so I'm feeling a little sentimental) or the love and support of dear friends, I count myself truly blessed to be living and loving life!

The paper on this card is from the Cosmo Cricket Circa 1934 collection.  I stamped the background and matching quote stamp from Text Objects directly on the dotted paper.  The hearts are stamped, cut out, and then I hand trimmed black mats for them.  The little horizontal border is the fabulous new Apron Border die from The Cat's Pajamas.  I also stamped the LOVE stamp in Baja Breeze on a circle, then the scripted life over the top in black and matted with the TCP Snowflake die, adding a few Jade Ice flatback pearl accents from Pizzazz Aplenty to set things off.

Okay, that's all from me today.  I hope you have a fantastic weekend!  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Birthday Sparkle

Hi Everyone!  Happy Wednesday!  I've still been down and out with a cold, but I thought I'd pop in and quickly change the scenery to another bright, cheery card I made this weekend.  This one features the new set Amazing Wishes.

I found some scraps of Bo Bunny Valentine paper from last year when I was putting away some new Valentine paper I just bought, so I set it aside to use.  I stamped the large and small flower from Amazing Wishes several times in Cherry Cobbler on the pink patterned paper, then cut out, painted with a mixture of glitter and diamond glaze and then layered with dimensionals using some super cool red frosted pearls from Pizzazz Aplenty to accent the centers.  I stamped the Vintage Oval Frame in Cherry Cobbler on white cardstock and cut out with the Vintage Oval Die, then decided it was too white against the almost-but-not-quite-white designer paper.  So I cut another Vintage Oval out of vellum, layered it over the top, embossed the sentiment from Amazing Wishes in Cherry Cobbler, then outlined the frame with some pink liquid pearls.  The edges are done with a Martha Stewart Border punch and I added a row of Swarovski Crystals from Pizzazz Aplenty and some May Arts pink ruffly ribbon to finish it off.  Not sure if you can see all the sparkle in the photo, but this card positively shimmers in real life!  :)

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Oh, and before I go... just a little reminder that if you're wanting a chance to be the next Verve Guest Diva, the deadline for entry in our Triple Play Project Parade is tomorrow night,  {12/9/10}!!!

Saturday SMILES

Hi there!  Happy Saturday!  Last night I had a blast at our release party.  For once, I was ahead enough to actually get to chat for a bit instead of scrambling to finish the website at the last minute!  LOL  Anyhow, if you haven't heard, the new sets are available in the Verve store now.  Plus all of our new release stamps are 15% off through December 31!  No pack to buy, just a good old fashioned deal on the new stuff! {grin}

My card today features the Wild Flower plain jane.  This bold flower is just a bit on the wild side and I like it!  :)  When I first showed the image to Mark he thought it would be great for Christmas and well, I like the way he thinks, so I turned it into a Christmas thank you card, adding a portion of a sentiment from Amazing Wishes. 

I started by stamping the flower in real red on white cardstock four times.  Then I trimmed around three of the flowers and trimmed the inner portion of the fourth to pop up for some dimension.  The centers are glitzed up with some Stardust Stickles.  Then it was a matter of distressing some baja breeze, black and white papers with the Music Sheet Texture Fade folder and my new Heart Attack distressing tool.  I finished off with some black ribbon, a vintage brad, some little silver bells and some 2mm light sapphire rhinestones from Pizzazz Aplenty.

Okay, that's all from me today!  Thanks for stopping by and have a fabulous weekend!

Sail Away - Hopping with the Divas

Hi there!  Happy FRIDAY!  And not only is it Friday, but it's a release night at Verve!  Hooray!  We'll be chatting it up, revealing the sets and having some good old fashioned virtual fun over in the Release Party Thread tonight (12/3} starting at 9PM Eastern!  I hope to see you there!

Today the divas are putting on another hop, previewing a set called Text Objects, but if you missed yesterday's hop, be sure to check out the link list in my sidebar for a chance to win.  One lucky commenter along each day's hop will win the sets we're previewing that day!!!  So c'mon and be a chatty Cathy, we won't bite!  Oh, and there's still one week left to get your Triple Play project parade entries in for a chance to be our January Guest Diva!

So what can I say about Text Objects?  It's designed around a little concept that Jen del Muro cooked up and emailed me about.  Text-style background strips with coordinating sentiment stamps.  Mix and match the 4" wide backgrounds (all focused around love and friendship) for a unique background every time, or simply repeat to achieve that trendy text-style look that's all the rage right now.  There's even a few whimsical images thrown in to round out the set!  Be sure to check out all the stops along the hop today to see what each of the Divas came up with!

For my card, I started by cutting a wave background with the TCP Wave die on some Pink Paislee Cupid Collection paper.  Next up I stamped the background repeatedly on ivory paper in Tumbled Glass ink, then layered these together and cut a circle.  Next i stamped the boat and paper pieced the parts over the wave on dimensionals.  The coordinating sentiment, "There are big ships and small ships. But the best ship of all is friendship." is stamped on a classic circle, then lightly sponged with Tumbled Glass ink and matted on a kraft circle with hand drawn stitching.  For the base of the card, I stamped the same background strip repeatedly in VersaMark, then embossed in clear and sponged Tumbled Glass ink over it for a resist effect.  I finished off with some ruffled cherry cobbler seam binding ribbon, a clip and two gorgeous, super shiny cranberry flatback pearls from Pizzazz Aplenty.  I just received some of these yesterday and they're the prettiest red pearl I've ever seen!  Makes my heart HAPPY!


Thanks so much for stopping by!  Be sure to leave some comments along the hop for a chance to win today's set!  Deadline for comment entries is 8PM Eastern tonight.

Here's today's official hop list...

Julee Laurie Susan Tosh Jen d. Charmaine Jen T. Shannan

Lynda Michelle Amy Teresa Jackie Sankari Mercy

PPA Challenge and New Release Spotlight

Happy Thursday!  Today I've got so much to cheer about!  First off, I'm the celebrity stamper for this week's color challenge over on the Pals Paper Arts blog!  Their challenges are always sophisticated and sassy and I am so honored to have the chance to play along with them this week!  And I was super excited when I saw the challenge colors - I've got a thing for green lately, especially Pear Pizazz, and pairing it with Early Espresso and Regal Rose is positively delicious!

So what do you think?  Did you spy some new Verve in there?  Today is also the kick-off to Verve's new release spotlight hops and I'm the first stop!  Check my sidebar for the master hop list to see all the Diva creations and have a chance at winning today's sets!


For my card, I snuck in a little text background from a set we'll be showing tomorrow, stamping it repeatedly in Pear Pizazz for the background.  Next up I stamped the small bird from Wordy Birds onto an SU! Decorative Label Punch, then added the sentiment from the same set in Regal Rose and added some layers to the bird and wing for some dimension, coloring him lightly with a blender pen and some Early Espresso and Regal Rose ink.  The hearts are from the SU! Heart to Heart punch, and I punched them on some old patterns pack paper, then sponged lightly around the edges and added some dazzling diamonds with a glue pen.  The stripey background piece is from the SU! Neutrals Patterns pad and I punched the scallop trim border up top for some pizazz.

The flower pieces come from the Amazing Wishes set, and I stamped them on the same designer paper, then cut out and layered with dimensionals and a sending love epoxy brad.  The leafy branches are cut with the Swirls Scribbles die and I added a little dazzling diamonds for some glitz and finished off with a bit of pear pizazz twill.

Okay, that's all from me today.  Next up on the hop is....  Mercy!  And I hope you'll play along with the PPA challenge {PPA71} this week!  These colors are just fabulous and I can't wait to see what you create!  And be sure to tune in right here tomorrow morning for another Verve new release spotlight hop, as we countdown to tomorrow night's release!!!!