America the Beautiful Geared Up for Fun

Hi friends! I'm back today with a couple of projects. I got a little chance to create and decided to finish up some half started projects that have been patiently waiting for me to finish them up.

First up is this America the Beautiful mixed media tag.  The sentiment and cups are from the Land of Liberty DIGITAL Set. The tag is a kraft tag that I coated with two coats of heavy gesso, then played around with some red, white and blue Impasto paints.  I splattered some of the paints on the sentiment and accented with a couple of rhinestone stars.  The cups were colored with Arteza real brush markers and then highlighted with a white nail art pen.  I finished off with some ribbon remnants from days gone by.

The second card is a fun birthday card for one of the boys' friends who has a birthday coming up in July. I watercolored the robot from Geared Up with Prima oil pastels and a waterbrush.  Then I fussy cut him and added a few accents with a silver gel pen.  The sentiment is stamped on a circle die cut and I stamped one of the gears from the set tone on tone behind for a little accent.  The gear dies are from a Tim Holtz Bigz die.  The background is randomly stamped in grey with an assortment of the gear images in the set. I love it for a background!  I finished off by stamping a number 6 to accent one of the gears.

Thanks so much for stopping by today and for your sweet, sweet comments of encouragement on yesterday's post. I puffy heart you all!

Enabler's List
America the Beautiful Tag
Stamps: Land of Liberty DIGITAL Set (Verve)
Paper: white, riding hood red (SU!), kraft tag
Ink: laser printer, real brush markers (Arteza - Amazon affiliate link)
Accessories: Rounded Rectangle Die (A Cut Above by VERVE), white nail art pen (Sally Hansen - Amazon affiliate link), ribbon (Creative Impressions), corner rounder, Impasto paints (Prima)

Geared Up Card
Stamps: Geared Up (Verve)
Paper: smoky slate, island indigo, lucky limeade (SU!), white (Neenah)
Ink: lucky limeade (SU!), grey (Altenew), black (Hero Arts), silver gel pen, water soluble oil pastels (Prima - Amazon affiliate link)
Accessories: Gadget Gears Bigz Die (Tim Holtz Alterations - Amazon Affiliate link), circle dies (spellbinders)

The Brave Thing To Do

Hi friends! There are so many thoughts swirling through my head today. The boys have finished Montessori school and summer is officially here and Verve closes for good this weekend. I don't deal well with transitions and usually avoid them at all costs and now there are transitions going on in pretty much every part of my life all at once! Ack!

One of my favorite movies is You've Got Mail and I always cry when Kathleen closes her shop. ALWAYS, always, always. I'm not sure I can bring myself to watch this movie right now, but I do remember a wonderful little scene that makes my heart feel a bit lighter today.

"Closing the store is the BRAVE thing to do...I know you don't feel it right now, you feel like a big, fat failure... but, YOU'RE NOT! You are marching into the unknown armed with.... nothing."  

Big, fat failure. How is it that we always see our failures so much clearer than our successes? One of my reasons for closing Verve is that overwhelming everyday feeling of failing at juggling being both a Mom and a business owner. Both are exceedingly tough, very rewarding, full-time jobs that are exhausting in their own right. I'm a very private, self-sufficient perfectionist, and I have a ridiculously hard time asking for help when I need it. RIDICULOUSLY hard. Crazy stuff like not sleeping and having intense panic attacks just to send an email to ask someone to be a guest designer. Crazy, right? Silently suffering through panic attacks, depression and heartbroken, soul wrenching emotions have been my companions the past few years of trying to balance a creative business and motherhood and it's time to lighten the load. So I do consider it the BRAVE thing to do to close my shop when I could continue going through the motions for many more years. I am marching into the unknown armed with nothing but my faith, my family and 11 years of memories from running a very loved business created from my heart. Seems like a lot more than nothing, don't you think?

I had intended to make a card for today, but the boys wanted me to play Monopoly Star Wars, and War and read Darth Vader and Son, and take them bowling and watch The Empire Strikes Back (sensing a theme?) yesterday and I just couldn't say no on their first day of summer break.  So I'm just highlighting a few cards from times gone by using the three sets that are still left in the shop.  All remaining stamps and dies are 75% off and Saturday is the final day!

This card uses sentiments from Geared Up and a robot image from Birthday Bots, but you could easily just substitute the robot in Geared Up to make the card. I added some Mickey Mouse punched shapes and drew in some balloon strings by hand for accent. I absolutely love using the numbers in this set for birthday cards. And the gears images make for an easy randomly stamped masculine card or steam punk background.

This card uses the Twitterpated stamp set. Love the sweet little butterfly, which I colored and then coated with glossy accents and a sprinkling of glitter. The sentiments are perfect for adding to a heart die cut or making a little sentiment banner. Such a sweet little set and I'm especially fond of the Hearts & Swirls frame in the set.

And finally, here's a favorite card I made with the Pinecone Christmas stamp set. No fancy coloring here, just embossing in gold on cream cardstock and layering with some circle die cuts.  Classy and elegant, this is one of my favorite Christmas sets. I also love the card below, where I used the pine branches and pinecone images and my MISTI for a watercolored stamping effect.

Thanks so much for stopping by today and listening to my rambling heart. Hope you have a wonderful day!

Deconstructed Robot

Hi friends!  Happy Tuesday.  Today I have a fun little 2 year birthday card for one of the boys' friends.  His party was construction themed, so I decided to make a little construction bot for his card and this week's Deconstructed Sketch (flipped on its side) seemed like the perfect jumping off point.

I started by stamping this robot from Birthday Bots, then coloring with Copic markers.  I punched three coordinating mickey mouse ears for balloons, then popped them up on different levels of dimensionals and drew in the strings.  The yellow one is colored with copics, the smoky slate and basic grey ones are just cardstock wiped around the edges with pewter distress stain.  Because even robots love Mickey Mouse, right?  The silver piece is smoky slate cardstock embossed with a clockworks embossing folder then rubbed with the pewter distress stain.  The other layer is basic grey and I embossed the turning and the 2 from Geared Up in silver, then added a few sprinkles of Metal Mix Sequins.

The party was a blast and the boys actually ate cake for the first time ever.  They've refused it every time we've offered until Saturday.  It was chocolate and messy and I'm pretty sure the sugar content was enough to fuel them for a month!

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  Have a great day!

Enabler's List
Stamps: Birthday Bots, Geared Up (Verve Stamps)
Paper: basic gray, smoky slate (SU!), white
Ink: black, copic markers, pewter distress stain (Ranger)
Accessories: Metal Mix Sequins (Verve), silver embossing powder (Ranger), mickey mouse punch (EK Success), clockworks embossing folder (Cuttlebug)

Boys Rock Diva Dare

Hi friends!  It's my turn to wrap up the Tag You're It October Diva Dare over on the Verve Blog today.  This month's dare is to make a tag, use a tag on a card, or be inspired by a tag!  For my take on the dare, I did all three!

I fell in love with these Boys Rock clothing tags as soon as some super cute fuzzy hoodies for the boys arrived and immediately rescued them for a future project.  I made a little tag shaped robot card to go along with the clothing tags, then decorated a couple white lunch sacks to hang them from for some super cute gift packaging for my boys!

Head on over to the Verve Blog today to see my whole write-up and closeup photos, as well as a chance to win a little Verve!

Supply List
Stamps: Birthday Bots, Geared Up, Holiday Treats (Verve Stamps)
Paper: brushed silver, basic black (SU!), white lunch sack, clothing tags
Ink: black, pewter (Mix'd Media Inx)
Accessories:  Metal Mix Sequins (Verve), Decorative Card Hanger Die (Soapbox Creations), Pinking Circles Nestabilites (Spellbinders), liquid pearls (Ranger)

For Fun

Already Wednesday?  What a crazy week.  My littles have been asserting their 19 month independence lately and it's beyond exhausting.  Seriously, bone weary exhausting.  So I haven't had much time for stamping lately.  I found this card using Geared Up in my photo archives that never made it to my blog, so I thought I'd share it today.

I needed a birthday card for a 1 year old girl and so I decided to dress my retro bot in pink and black.  The photo looks a little off in color, but the two tones I used were strawberry slush and blushing bride.  I thought the number fit well in the little embossed hexagons, so stamped it repeatedly in a little pattern as the background for the card.  The bot from Geared Up is stamped on blushing bride and I paper pieced the body and hat for a little dimension and easy color.  The body is stamped lightly with some of the smaller gear shapes, then I added the 1 to the center.  The sentiment is stamped onto a die cut from the Flag-It Die Set and I paper pieced one of the gear stamped images onto a black pinking circle for a fun paper embellishment.  I finished off with some Pastel Sequin Mix and a Metal Mix Sequin.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Have a great day!

Enabler's List
Stamps: Geared Up (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Blushing Bride, Strawberry Slush, basic black (SU!)
Ink: Strawberry Slush, Blushing Bride, Black (SU!)
Accessories: Flag it Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), Pastel Sequin Mix (Verve), Metal Mix (Verve), Pinking Circles Nestabilites (Spellbinders)

Viva la Birthday!

Hi friends!  Happy Friday!  It's time for another Viva la Verve! challenge over in our forum and this week, Sarah has a super fun sketch AND/OR inspiration pic for you.  The inspiration pic brought out a lot of ideas for me, but I still needed to make a 1st birthday card for my niece, so I decided on aqua and pink from the floral canvases and got to work with the new Birthday Bots and Geared Up sets.

The sweet little robot from Birthday Bots is embossed onto white cardstock and then colored with Copics.  I added a little backsplash of gears from Geared Up around her in pink and aqua and then stamped a bunch of gears for a random background on the pool party background.  The gear embellishment is a couple of the gears from Geared Up cut with circle punches and matted with a Sprightly Sprockets die, then I stamped and hand trimmed the 1 to top it off.

I laced some thin polka dot ribbon through a section of the Award Banner Trim Die  then embellished with Metal Mix Sequins and teeny nail art rhinestones.  Super fun and a fun little keepsake for her first birthday!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Be sure to stop in tomorrow for the World Card Making edition of our Diva Inspirations Hop!  We'll be giving away the entire September release to one lucky commenter along the hop, so tune in!


Enabler's List
Stamps:  Birthday Bots, Geared Up (Verve Stamps)
Paper: pool party, pretty in pink, smoky slate (SU!), white
Ink: pool party, pretty in pink (SU!), black, Copic markers
Accessories:  Award Banner Trim Die (A Cut Above by VERVE), Metal Mix Sequins (Verve), Petite Classic & Scallop Nestabilities, Sprightly Sporckets (Spellbinders), Clockworks embossing folder (Cuttlebug), corner rounder, ribbon, nail art rhinestones, clear embossing powder

Verve Release Wrap-Up

Hi friends!  Happy Saturday!  I hope you're having a fabulous start to your weekend.

Yesterday was the big VERVE release, and I'm just happy as a lark to have some new Verve to play with! And since I've been stamping up a storm I thought I'd pop in and share the cards I posted over on the Verve blog this week.  Some of you might have seen them already, but if not, here's a little more inspiration with the brand new sets that just released!

Designer Notes:  The butterfly is embossed in white on vellum cardstock and hand cut, then sponged with distress inks and accented with pearls.  God is able is stamped repeatedly tone on tone for a fun background.
Stamps: Each Day (Verve Stamps)
Paper: sahara sand, basic black (SU!), cream, vellum cardstock
Ink: sahara sand (SU!), black, wild honey, tumbled glass, broken china, walnut stain, antique linen (Ranger), VersaMark
Accessories: washi tape (Recollections), paper crimper, half back pearls (Pizzazz Aplenty), paper distresser

Designer Notes:  Used several of the gear stamps for a fun stamped background, paper pieced the hat and the tummy gear.  Stamped on grey and accented with grey markers for minimal coloring.
Stamps: Geared Up (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Cogsmo (Cosmo Cricket), smoky slate, basic black (SU!)
Ink: Smoky Slate (SU!), black (TPC Studios)
Accessories: Award Banner Trim Die (A Cut Above by VERVE), Sprightly Sprockets (Spellbinders)

Designer Notes: Created a stamped background with the number stamps. Hand cut the 2 and used a some of the gear stamps for the medallion.  Stamped the bot image twice for a card for my twins, colored in green and blue with fun little sequin belt buckles.
Stamps: Birthday Bots, Geared Up (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Lucky Limeade, Soft Sky, Basic Black (SU!) Cream (Neenah)
Ink: black, versamark, lucky limeade, pool party, soft sky, smoky slate (SU! markers) Copic markers
Accessories: Award Banner Trim Die (A Cut Above by VERVE), Pastel Sequin Mix (Verve), Circle punches, Pinking Circles Nestabilities (Spellbinders), grosgrain ribbon (SU!), white embossing powder

Designer Notes:  stamped solid poppies with a darker ink on the blushing bride poppy die cuts for a fun layering effect.  Sequins cover a multitude of ink smudges! {grin}
Stamps: Poppy Birthday (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Blushing Bride, Pear Pizzazz, Basic Black (SU!), white (Neenah)
Ink: strawberry slush, pear pizzazz (SU!), black (TPC Studios)
Accessories: Build a Poppy Die Set, Award Banner Trim Die (A Cut Above by VERVE), Pastel Sequin Mix (Verve), Liquid Pearls (Ranger)

Designer Notes: umbrellas stamped on colored cardstock, then stripes and polka dots doodled with a white gel pen.  Butterflies are created by stamping the raindrop four times in a butterfly formation, then adding white gel pen accents and some black mini rhinestones.
Stamps: Rain or Shine (Verve Stamps)
Paper: soft sky, smoky slate, real red (SU!)
Ink: real red, soft sky (SU!), white gel pen, black (TPC Studios)
Accessories: Award Banner Trim Die (A Cut Above by VERVE), liquid pearls, black rhinestones, Bubble Wrapping embossing folder (Sizzix)

Geared Up Spotlight Hop Day 2

Hi friends!  It's Day 2 of release week for Verve and the Divas are back sharing their first looks at another new set in today's blog hop. This is the start of the hop, so grab a treat and settle in for a fresh batch of Verve!

As usual, there's a prize too!  Just leave a little comment as you hop through each blog in today's list and you'll be entered in a drawing to win today's featured products...  Geared Up and the Award Banner Trim Die.

My card today has a few little peeks at other things in this release as well.  The birthday wishes sentiment is the "freebie" stamp that will be tucked in with orders this release.  The ribbon is part of the Autumn Elements Ribbon Collection, and I've also embellished with a few of the gear shaped sequins in the Metal Mix Collection.  The main image from Geared Up is this fun little retro robot.  Here I've paper pieced his parts with designer paper for a rusty look to match the seam binding.  There are seven different gear images in the set, and I used them all to stamp a tone on tone background, then used just three of the outlined gear images and punched them out as circles to accent the sentiment.  The top little bracket is made using the Flag It Die Set and I finished off with some silver liquid pearls.  Alrighty, everything you see today will be available for purchase in the Verve store on Friday, September 27.  Next up on the hop is...Teresa!

1. Julee 8. Laurie W. 2. Teresa 9. Christyne 3. Charmaine 10. Maureen 4. Stacey {Guest} 11. Marisa 5. Andrea 12. Janelle 6. Jen 13. Laurie S. 7. Amber

Enabler's List
Stamps: Geared Up, freebie sentiment (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Wanted (Cosmo Cricket), Cajun Craze, Basic Black (SU!), cream (Neenah)
Ink: Black, Cajun Craze (SU!)
Accessories:  Flag It Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), Autumn Elements Ribbon Collection, Metal Mix Collection (Verve), Classic Circles Nestabilities (Spellbinders), liquid pearls (Ranger)