Blooming Bricks Diva Hop

Hi friends! It's the 10th of the month, and after a break in January, the Divas are back and ready to inspire with a new Diva Inspirations Challenge and Blog Hop.  There are two prizes up for grabs, one for commenting on the blog hop posts and one for linking up to this month's challenge, so come play along with us! I'm the first stop on the hop, so let's get to it...

Our February challenge is Industrial Chic and I've got just the inspiration photo to get you in the groove.  I'm so wishing I had a wall like that in my house!  Check out the Verve blog today for a closer look at the inspiration picture.

The pop of color in this industrial style loft speaks of the hope of spring in the midst of winter. Kind of like February... it's still cold and wintry, but new life is on the horizon. Feel free to take your inspiration from the photo or the color combo, whatever suits your fancy! We can't wait to see what you create.

Click here to link up your challenge entries

Challenge deadline: Saturday, March 5.

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

My jumping off point was the wall.  I started with smokey slate, embossed with a brick embossing folder, then sponged with pumice stone, brushed corduroy and black soot until I got the desired effect.  Next I pulled out the Doodled Occasions set, thinking I would use the birdcage image.  But I saw the doodled flowers and just had to pull them out and start stamping in purely pomegranate and lucky limeade instead.  I colored with a waterbrush and the same color inks, then quickly fussy cut them and layered with some die cuts using the Sprightly Sprigs Die Set.

For accent I added some glossy accents to each flower center and a pinch of glitter, then sprinkled some of the new Lots of Love sequins all around and glued them down.  I couldn't bear to cover up any more of my brick wall, so decided to stamp the sentiment (also from Doodled Occasions) on an acetate die cut circle and then clipped with a mini library clip.  I finished off with distressed edges all around.

Alrighty, next up on the hop is the lovely Amber.

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! 

	1. Julee	8. Marisa
	2. Amber	9. Maureen
	3. Amy	10. Sankari
	4. Betty	11. Stacey
	5. Charmaine	12. Susan
	6. Christyne	13. Teresa
	7. Laurie

Enabler's List
Stamps: Doodled Occasions (Verve Stamps)
Paper: smoky slate, white
Ink: black, purely pomegranate, lucky limeade (SU!), black soot, pumice stone, frayed burlap (Ranger Distress)
Accessories: Sprightly Sprigs Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), Lots of Love Sequin Mix (Verve), brick embossing folder (Tim Holtz), stitched circle stax (MFT), mini library clip (SU!)

Sunshine Shaker

Hi friends!  It's Friday again, and that means it's time for another Viva la Verve sketch.  This week's hostess is Stacey and she has a sweet and fun sketch for us this week.

I adapted the sketch to fit my papers, since I loved the fringe of flowers around the edges of this My Mind's Eye paper.  Made another sequin shaker because the boys like to shake them so much!  {grin}

The sentiment is from Doodled Occasions and I stamped it and then highlighted the sunshine portion with a Copic marker.  The shaker is made using the Rounded Scallop Frame Die and the Rounded Rectangle Die, then filling with sequins from the Pastel Sequin Mix.  I accented with some liquid pearls and layered a couple banners from the Banner Bundle Die Set behind the shaker.  Finished off with some twine and distressed edges.

Short and sweet today.  I hope you have a fabulous weekend!

Viva la Verve FEB Week 3

Enabler's List
Stamps:  Doodled Occasions  (Verve)
Paper: Dolled Up (MME), so saffron (SU!), cream (Neenah), acetate
Ink: black, copic marker
Accessories:  Rounded Scallop Frame Die, Rounded Rectangle Die, Banner Bundle Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), Pastel Sequin Mix (Verve), liquid pearls (Ranger), divine twine, paper distresser

Birdcage Birthday

Hi friends!  Today's my birthday and I'm kicking it off with a massage and then a fun kid{less} day with Mark.  Should be a lot of fun!  Speaking of birthdays, I've got another birthday card to show you.  This one uses the July Week 4 Viva la Verve sketch by Janelle.  I just LOVE the shorter card front with a border edge.

I did my border by lopping off part of the card and then adhering the Scalloped Trim Trio  die cut to the top of it.  The patterned paper is from the Echo Park Here & Now collection and I added a smokey slate piece of corrugated cardstock to the inside layer of the card so it would show through.

The stamps are from the Doodled Occasions stamp set and I colored the heart door with a pistachio pudding marker and accented with glossy glaze.  Two bows using ribbon from the Stormy Skies Ribbon Collection are glued together for my ribbon treatment and a few smoky rhinestones finish things off.

I hope you have a fantastic day!  Thanks for stopping by!

Enabler's List
Stamps: Doodled Occasions (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Here & Now (Echo Park), smoky slate, pistachio pudding (SU!), white
Ink: Black, pistachio pudding (SU!)
Accessories: Classy Label Die, Scalloped Trim Trio Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), Stormy Skies Ribbon Collection (Verve), glossy accents, paper crimper, rhinestones

A Great One and a HOP!

Hi friends!  It's the 5th of the month and that means it's time for the Divas to put on their monthly  inspirational little hop using some old{er} favorites from Verve.  I'm the first stop on the hop, so grab yourself a treat and hop along for some inspiration!  There's a comment prize, too, so be sure to leave a little shout out in the comments as you hop around to the blogs listed below.  All the prize details can be found over on the Verve blog today.

For my card I pulled out Doodled Occasions to make a fun little birthday card.  I wanted to try my hand at this week's Mojo Monday sketch again, since I went all clean and simple with my first one.  The papers are from the Now & Then collection from Teresa Collins and I stamped the flowers in Cherry Cobbler and Midnight Muse, then colored in with a blender pen.  I added the sentiments on separate layers, and masked off the happy birthday stamp with some scotch tape so I could add another happy in there.  You can never have enough happy, right?  {grin}  The leaves are stamped with the Dream Big set and cut out with the Dreamy Leaves Die Set.  I cut the chevrons from paper in the collection, then gave everything a healthy dose of distressing and stardust stickles.  I finished off with a seam binding bow from the Signature Ribbon Collection, then added some super sparkle-tacular Subtle Spray Glitter Rhinestones from Pizzazz Aplenty.  Seriously sparkly!!!

In other news, we've got two brand new ribbon collections releasing and a Summer Sale starting at Verve today!  Check out the summery ribbons I selected, then do a little shopping!  We've got a bunch of sets and dies marked at 30% off and all of our ribbon collections are 10% off this month.

Okay, now it's time to HOP!  Up next is the phenomenally talented Amy Kolling!

	1. Julee	7. Sankari
	2. Amy	8. Sarah
	3. Anya	9. Sony
	4. Betty	10. Susan
	5. Jessica	11. Tiffany
	6. Karen

Enabler's List
Stamps: Doodled Occasions, Dream Big (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Now & Then (Teresa Collins)
Ink: Midnight Muse, Cherry Cobbler, blender pen (SU!)
Accessories: Dreamy Leaves Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), Signature Ribbon Collection (Verve), Classic Circles Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Stardust Stickles (Ranger), paper distresser (Tonic), Subtle Spray Glitter Rhinestones (Pizzazz Aplenty)

Sunshine for My Soul

Hi friends! Happy Tuesday! One of the things I've chosen to focus a little more on in my life is time management. I thought I was a pretty good time manager until two little souls showed up to prove how wrong I was. Now I'm trying to make peace with the fact that my time is no longer my own. So instead of focusing on all the things I can't do, I'm trying to focus on the things I CAN. Even if it's just in short little micro-bursts. {I'm the type of gal that likes to finish something when I start it, so it's a bit of mind shift to try to break projects up into more manageable tasks.} However, one of the things I want to do more is get into the studio. I'm a creative gal and my soul starts to wilt a bit if I spend too much time without a creative outlet.

So today, as soon as the nanny got here for my work day, I set aside 30 minutes to make a card. Now, that's not enough for a typical card of mine, but I recently read a bit about the freestyle collage style where you combine things that on their own wouldn't work together, but together they work.  I thought that was something I could do in about a half hour.

So here is my 30 minutes or less card... I used the Doodled Occasions set, because I just love the sentiment... you are sunshine for my soul. A few scraps from the Soho Garden collection were on my desk, so I went with those, added in some washi tape and some rosette lace. The sunshine is stamped on a scrap of pattern paper, then punched with a circle punch. I slit in between each ray with my scissors than rounded out the shorter rays. The face is paper pieced on top and I added a bit of glossy accents to both the sun and the sunshine portion of the sentiment to give it the look of an epoxy sticker. A library clip and a few little rhinestones finish things off. Don't you just love that little blue heart? It's actually from a nail art kit I saw at Claire's around Christmas time. (I totally got drawn in to the store by a HUGE Hello Kitty display!) The rhinestones were 50% off and I knew they'd be so fun to add to cards. I was right! {grin}

Okay, I have to get back to my work day, then a dentist appointment, so I better skeeeee-daddle. Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a fabulous day!

Enabler's List
Stamps: Doodled Occasions (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Soho Garden (American Crafts), scraps
Ink: Black
Accessories: circle punch, petite and petite scallop ovals Nestabilities (Spellbinders), tiny attacher (Tim Holtz), library clip (SU!), washi tapes, rhinestones (Claire's Boutique), embossing folder (Sizzix), corner chomper

Mojo Blooms

Hi friends!  It's another Monday morning, and that means it's time for the newest Mojo Monday sketch!  This week's sketch comes from the dark recesses of my little creative mind.  I've been drawn to simpler layouts recently (maybe due to my lack of time in the studio), so that's what inspired this one.

I love the sketchy little flowers in Doodled Occasions, and here I've stamped them on white cardstock, colored with Copic markers, added a little liquid pearls and layered the centers for some dimension.  Fun times!  The sentiment is stamped on a pretty in pink circle, which I randomly stamped one of the small flowers around for a fun little background.  Some doodled dots and liquid pearls on the scalloped circle finish off that piece.  The leaves are from the Sunny Days set and are stamped on basic gray cardstock and then cut with the coordinating Leafy Sprigs Die Set.  I added three little pennants from the Pennant Trim Die behind my two top flowers, then layered everything onto a piece of cardstock embossed with the Striped folder from SU!  A couple rounded corners seem to balance out the layout and I finished off with some pink rhinestones in the corners and addorning the centers of the flowers in my sentiment.

I hope you enjoy your Monday!  Thanks so much for stopping by.  Be sure to head on over to the Mojo Monday blog for more inspiration with this week's sketch!

Enabler's List
Stamps: Doodled Occasions, Sunny Days (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Pretty in Pink, Basic Gray (SU!), White
Ink: Black, Blushing Bride (SU!), Copic markers, black pen
Accessories: Leafy Sprigs Die Set, Pennant Trim Die
(A Cut Above by VERVE), Classic & Scallop Circles Nestabilities (Spellbinders), basic gray taffeta ribbon, Striped textured impressions (SU!), corner rounder, rhinestones, liquid pearls

Mojo Smiles

Hi friends! Can you believe it's Monday again already? It seems the weekends go by faster and faster with 2 little boys around! {grin} Anyhow, Monday morning means it's time for another Mojo Monday sketch. And since it's the last Monday of the month, it's my favorite week... round or square. I hope you'll find a little time to play along with my sketch this week! I love seeing what everyone comes up with!

For my card, I pulled out the newly released Doodled Occasions set and a bunch of paper from my scrap pile. I noticed as I was looking through cards by the Divas in our gallery that there was a lot of yellow being used this release. So I set out to use a little bit of yellow on my card. The pennants are cut with the Ribbon Banner Die and I stamped the trio of flowers off the edge of a Classic Oval Nestabilities die cut, then added the Smile sentiment and cut out and popped up another flower from the Doodled Occasions set. I stamped another flower trio on white cardstock, then cut out the leaves to add them to my solo flower. Everything is colored with Copics. I added a few doodles here and there to match the sketchy style of the images, then finished off with a Flourished Trim Die edge and some scattered flatback pearls (as well as some black liquid pearls up top.

Okay, that's all on the card front. If you haven't already heard, all of the sets and dies we've been showcasing over the past couple weeks are now available for purchase in the Verve Store!  Woohoo!!!

And all Verve stamps and dies are on sale 10 - 50% through the end of the month, so be sure to check it out!

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Enabler's List:
Stamps:  Doodled Occasions (Verve Stamps)
Paper: dp scraps from MME, Authentique and BasicGrey
Ink: Black, Copic markers, Opaque White Mr Huey's Spray (Studio Callico)
Accessories: Ribbon Banner Die, Flourished Trim Die (A Cut Above by VERVE), Classic and Scalloped Ovals Nestabilities (Spellbinders), liquid pearls (Ranger), grosgrain ribbon (SU!), flatback pearls (Pizzazz Aplenty)

Bloom

Hi friends!  Happy Saturday!  I had so much fun chatting with many of you at our release party last night!  I've met so many wonderful people over the last 5 years with Verve and am so inspired by so many of you!  There's a LOT of work that I do behind the scenes to pull off a release, and seeing your excitement over the new products makes it all worth while!  Thanks so much for your support!  All of the products the Divas and I have been showcasing over the past couple weeks are available for purchase in the Verve store now!  We've also got a great sale (even on the new products! going on through the end of the month, so be sure to check it out!

I've got a quick little card to share using the newly released Doodled Occasions set. I've been having a blast with dies lately and thought the  Flourished Trim Die would make a lovely stem.  I've paired it with a couple of the hearts from the From the Heart Die Set to make some leaves, then stamped the sentiment and layered it onto Blossoms Nestabilities to make a perky little flower.  The border below is just one of the little flower stamps from Doodled Occasions stamped repeatedly, then colored with Distress markers and a blender pen.  I finished off with some Stickles, a butterfly die and some fun polka dot ribbon.

Enabler's List
Stamps: Doodled Occasions (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Black, Groovy Guava (SU!), white
Ink: Black, Distress Markers (Ranger), Calypso Coral (SU!)
Accessories: Flourished Trim Die, From the Heart Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), Classic Circles and Blossoms Nestabilities (Spellbinder), Mini Exotic Butterflies (Cheery Lynn Designs), Stickles (Ranger), flatback rhinestones (Pizzazz Aplenty), Stardust Gel Pen, May Arts ribbon

Make a Wish - AVS Hop Day 3

Hi friends!  Happy Saturday and welcome to our 3rd day of Anni-VERVE-sary Spotlight Hops!!!  The Divas are back at it again bringing you more delicious sneak peeks of the sets and dies that are releasing on Friday night, August 24.  I'm the start of today's show, so let's get to it!!!  Oh yeah, did I mention there's a prize?  Leave a little comment love on each of the posts on today's hop list and you just might be the lucky winner of the set we're featuring today... Doodled Occasions!  To find out a little more back story on this set and to get all the nitty gritty details about prizes and deadlines, head on over to the Verve Blog.

Okay, NOW let's get to it!  If you read the little write-up on the Verve Blog about this set, you'll know that I designed it with the clean and simple style of stamping in mind.  As you may notice, my spotlight card is not CAS, but I will tell you it STARTED there and got waylaid in shabbyville along the way! {grin}

I stamped what Mr. Verve refers to as the Dr. Seuss cake (it's his favorite stamp ever) and embossed it and the Make a Wish sentiment in white on crumb cake cardstock.  I then  did a little coloring with distress markers and then Copic markers over some of the embossed parts.(amazingly enough, Copics will cover embossing!).  Next I added some vintage photo sponging around the image and matted on old olive and a island indigo scallop rectangle.  Up until this point, everything was still pretty CAS, but then I decided to add another sneak of that little Pennant Trim in the corner.

I wanted it to pop, so I layered the white Pennant Trim below the island indigo Pennant Trim and offset it just a bit, then stamped each pennant with a star from a set we'll be peeking next week.  I added some frosted pearls from Pizzazz Aplenty (LOVE these little embellishments!) and then laid it onto some crumb cake cardstock.  It needed something... so I pulled out the Swiss Dots folder and then WITHOUT even thinking I inked and distressed the edges.  It just happened, I tell ya!  {grin}  So I kept on with the distressing and then since the CAS concept had gone out the window, I went in and added some linen string behind the crumb cake layer and then finished off with some white enamel dots all around the scallops and in the center of each star.

I just know the rest of the Divas have some exciting cards to show you with this set, so grab a cup of your favorite beverage and settle in for a fun little hop!  Next up is the always fabulous Laurie!

1. Julee 9. Janelle 2. Laurie S. 10. Betty 3. Maureen 11. Jen d. 4. Teresa 12. Christyne {Guest} 5. Tosh 13. Laurie W. {Guest} 6. Amy 14. Jen S. {Guest} 7. Andrea 15. Susan 8. Charmaine

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Enabler's List
Stamps: sneak preview of Doodled Occasions, Learning to Sail (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Crumb Cake, Island Indigo, Old Olive (SU!)
Ink: VersaMark (Tsukineko), Vintage Photo Distress, Distress markers (Ranger), Copic markers 
Accessories:  sneak preview of Pennant Trim Die (A Cut Above by VERVE), Classic and Scallop Rectangles Nestabilties (Spellbinder), linen thread (TCP), white liquid enamel (Ink Essentials), green frosted pearls (Pizzazz Aplenty), Swiss Dots EF (Cuttlebug), white embossing powder (JudiKins)