Christmas in the Heart

Hi friends!  Happy Tuesday!  Today I'm back with a fun little treat project for the November Get Your Diva On challenge. Teresa's the hostess this month and she's challenging you to Celebrate the Season and get inspired by the gorgeous inspiration photo.  Play along by this Sunday {Nov. 20} and you could be the winner of a $100 gift certificate to Verve!  Woohoo!  All the deadlines and details are on the challenge thread in our SCS forum.  I hope you'll play along... I can't wait to see what everyone creates!

As I was looking through my stash, I ran across some library pockets I ordered from the Scarlet Lime a while back.  They seemed like the perfect size to hold a candy bar, and an idea was born!  I created a background of color using Peeled Paint, Scattered Straw, Fired Brick and Brushed Corduroy distress inks, then embossed the Ellis quote from the Christmas in the Air set in gold directly onto the library pocket.  I used a Quickie glue pen to add some adhesive to the rim of the pocket and one corner, then applied some champagne glass glitter for shabby sparkle.

My heart piece is made from a Jotted Heart Die, which I embossed the hanging heart ornament from Bright Spirits onto, then colored with Copics and sponged with Scattered Straw Ink.  I added a little flower from the Bright Spirits set, then accented with a gold pen and some shiny gold pearls.  To make the cherry cobbler mat, I simply traced around the die's plastic alignment tool, then hand cut with scissors.  Then it was simply a matter of adding some vintage lace and tying some gold jingle bells on with gold cording.  I added a mini library clip to the side to make sure the cording didn't slip, then tied a bow on a candy cane and tucked in some Turtles.

I did a little testing at the store and most of the normal sized candy bars fit the pocket with ease, and even some of the larger specialty bars.  I thought these would be great to have on hand for neighbors and friends who show up with home baked goods, since I won't be making any this year with the move and all the other things going on in my life.

As you can see, I was pretty loose with my interpretation of the inspiration photo.  Actually, I was going from memory, and I remembered the tree as being red and gold!  LOL  But the beautiful photo did immediately make me think of the "It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air" quote, which inspired the project. 

Okay, that's all from me today.  Hope you have a wonder-filled day!


Enabler's List:
Stamps: Bright Spirits, Christmas in the Air (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Cherry Cobbler (SU!), White, Manila library pocket (Scarlet Lime)
Ink: Fired Brick, Scattered Straw, Peeled Paint, Brushed Corduroy (Ranger Distress), Versamark, Copic Markers, gold gel pen
Accessories: Jotted Heart Die (A Cut Above by VERVE), jingle bells, gold cord and shiny gold pearls (Pizzazz Aplenty), ribbon, mini library clip and champagne glass glitter (SU!), quickie glue pen, dimensionals, Gold Detail Embossing powder (Judikins), candy, vintage lace trim

Handmade Love

Hi friends!  It's Friday!  Woohoo!  That means it's time for another Viva la Verve! sketch.  This week's sketch is hosted by Maureen Plut.  I haven't had as much time to stamp as usual, so I decided to combine a few challenges into my VLV card as well.  First off, the Handmade Happiness Get Your Diva On challenge is going on and a $100 Gift Certificate to Verve is up for grabs, so you best get stamping!  Deadline is Sunday night!  The challenge is to use a handmade embellishment.  Here I chose a handmade rosette with a chipboard heart covered in glass glitter.  And that heart also makes this card work for the Brave Heart Hope You Can Clint To Challenge Teresa Kline is hosting to have at least one heart on your project.

I knew I wanted to make a rosette for my handmade embellishment, so I started using the Tim Holtz Paper Rosettes die, then cut a circle from a paper doily, inked with Victorian Velvet ink and made a little scroll strip to layer under my heart.  The heart is cut using the From the Heart Die Set and I ran it upside down through the Xyron, then covered with glass glitter for a fabulously shabby embellishment.  I thought this sentiment from Text Objects fit perfectly with the heart, so I added it to a circle die cut, then sponged with Victorian Velvet.  To tie things together, I stamped part of the coordinating sentiment background strip on the cream panel and distressed with inks and stains.  I used the wide ribbon for the two little tabs up top, then cut the ribbon in 1/2 to make a bow small enough to fit in the corner.  I finished off with a whole lot of distressed edges, using my Distrezz-it-all.

That's it from my stamping corner today.  I hope you have a fabulous weekend.  Here's a little updated photo of our new house... with exterior paint and stonework.  The garage doors still need to be painted, but things are starting to taking shape on the outside.  We've made all the interior selections, so now we're just waiting on things to happen.  {grin}

Enabler's List:
Stamps: Text Objects (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Shabby Chic Paper Stash (Tim Holtz), Early Espresso (SU!), Cream
Ink: Victorian Velvet and Vintage Photo Distress Inks, Antique Linen Distress Stain, Coffee Archival Ink (Ranger)
Accessories: From the Heart Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), Paper Rosette Die, Damask Texture Fades (Tim Holtz), Classic Circles Nestabilities (Spellbinders), wide striped ribbon (SU!), Distrezz-it-all (Zutter), Pink glass glitter (Melissa Frances)

Learning to Dance

Happy Friday, friends!  There's a Get Your Diva On challenge going on this week and the prize is a Guest Diva spot for a future Verve release, so if you haven't played along... you totally should!  The deadline is this Sunday night, so it's the perfect excuse to sneak away for a little stamping time this weekend!  {grin}  Sankari's our hostess, and her challenge is to make a monochromatic card.  That could be a bunch of neutrals and one color, or different shades of the same color, or just one color... whatever you choose.  I've fallen in love with green recently, so decided to use different shades of green (with a hint of gray and cream for my neutrals).

I picked out the Blue Skies set because this sentiment really spoke to me. "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain." It seems like the storm clouds have been rolling in a bit here lately, and I thought this sentiment was the perfect reminder that we are in control of our own happiness.  We're given the race that's set before us, and our job is to finish it well.  The goal isn't to finish first, or with the most toys, or to wish we were running a different race, but to finish the race we're in and to do our best to make sure that at the end of the race we deserve to hear two precious words.. well done.  So, I don't know what tomorrow brings, but today I'm going to dance in the rain and enjoy the life I've been given.

The Making Of:
I paired the sentiment from Blue Skies with the new Graph Paper Plain Jane.  I matted with a basic grey Rounded Rectangle die cut, then layered onto a Rounded Scallop Frame die cut, stamped with the flourish from the Blue Skies set.  I did the same random flourish stamping for the card background.  A few different patterned papers, ribbons and green embellishments kept the monochromatic march going, then I finished off with the butterfly, who always seems ready to dance!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you have a fabulous weekend!

Enabler's List:
Stamps: Blue Skies, Graph Paper Plain Jane (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Lost & Found Two (MME), Lucky Limeade, Basic Gray (SU!)
Ink: Lucky Limeade, Basic Gray (SU!)
Accessories:  Rounded Scallop Frame Die, Rounded Rectangle Die  (A Cut Above by VERVE), ribbon (SU!), lace trim (Webster's Pages), flatback rhinestones (Pizzazz Aplenty), flower embellishment (Jesse James Dress it Up Flats), Leaf trinket pins (Maya Road), Tiny Attacher (Tim Holtz), Corner Chomper (WRMK)

July Get Your Diva On

Happy Saturday, friends!  Today I'm sharing a card for the July Get Your Diva On challenge.  This month Maureen is challenging us to be inspired by a gift card.  Play along for a chance to be a future Guest Diva for Verve!  But you better get cracking, because the deadline is tomorrow night {July 17).  For my inspiration piece I found an adorable gift card featuring my favorite character... Hello Kitty. 

I took my inspiration from the pink and black colors and the polka dots reminded me of this fun Uncommon paper from Authentique.  I wanted a softer shabby look, so chose a dark grey and a coral pink.  The "buttons" down the side are made with the sun image from the New Mercies set and some big pearls.  The big leafy branch is stamped in Blushing Bride, then I stamped the happy birthday sentiment from Small Phrases over the top.  I tied a little shabby bow over to the side of the sentiment panel, just like on Hello Kitty.  The butterflies are the Mini Exotic Butterflies from TCP and I finished off with a pearl border to continue my shabby polka dot theme.

Well, that's all for me today.  I hope you'll find a little time this weekend to get creative and play along with this fun challenge!  I may be a little biased, but I do think that being a Verve Guest Diva is a pretty cool gig!  :-)  Have a fantastic day!

Enabler's List:
Stamps:  New Mercies, Small Phrases (Verve Stamps)
Paper:  Uncommon (Authentique), grey (Gina K), cream
Ink: Blushing Bride (SU!), Jet Black Archival, Black Soot Distress (Ranger)
Accessories:  Mini Exotic Butterflies (TCP), 3/4" and 1/2" circle punches (SU!), pearls (Recollections), flatback rhinestones (Pizzazz Aplenty), shabby wrinkled ribbon (Praire Bird Boutique on Etsy)

Birthday Pinwheel

Hey friends!  Happy Friday!  It's time for another Viva la Verve sketch, and this week Sankari's got a fabulous one for you.  I went with a summer theme to double as a card for the current Get Your Diva On challenge.  Deadline to play along with the GYDO challenge and have a chance to win a Guest Diva spot is this Sunday night.  Check out all the details on this thread in our forum.

When I think of summer, I think of birthdays.  My own is in late July, but the "birthday season" officially kicks off this weekend with my mom and father-in-law and then just picks up speed all through the next two months.  I can't believe how many birthday cards I need in the next 30 days.  So when I sat down to stamp, I wanted a really fun, summery birthday card and this Splash paper from Echo Park totally fit the bill.  Nothing too major here, just had fun using lots of toys and dies I hadn't used in a while.

Today we're getting the new blinds I ordered a while back installed!  Hooray!  The blinds we currently have in my studio get so much sun and are of the cheapest material ever, so they're literally cracking and disintegrating.  One wrong touch and they crumble!  So needless to say I'm ecstatic that the new blinds are finally here!

Well, I better get a move on.  There's lots to do before the weekend is officially here.  Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you have a fabulously creative day!

Enabler's List:
Stamps: Birthday Phrases (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Splash (Echo Park), White
Ink: Black (TCP Studios)
Accessories: Pinwheel Die and Sentiment Flags Die (Lil' Inker Designs), Icing and Big Scallop CutUps (The Cat's Pajamas), Jumbo Bracket Label and 1"Circle punch (EK Success), lace trim (Webster's Pages), Teardrop Rhinestones (Pizzazz Aplenty), glass glitter (SU!), flower (Prima), Rays Texture Fades (Tim Holtz), Stickles

Sunny Yellow Joy

Happy Monday!  It's the start of a new week, and that means that it's time for a new Mojo Monday sketch!  This week's sketch was designed by Debbie Carriere and I just loved the feminine lines to it, so went with a really girly card using the Hope Blooms set.  Be sure to check out the Mojo Monday blog for this week's sketch and inspiration from the Mojo Design Team!

My Mojo card also doubles for the Get Your Diva On challenge that's starting today!  Play along this week for a chance to be a future Guest Diva!  Laurie is our hostess with the mostess and she's challenging you to Bring on the Summer, Sunshine, and Blue Skies.  Check out the challenge thread in our forum for all the details on how to enter. Deadline for entry is Sunday, June 19 at 9pm Mountain.

This paper totally made me think of sunshine, and after five days with a constant migraine I needed a little sunshine yesterday.  And some time in the studio definitely improved my outlook.  It's so amazing to me just how therapeutic picking out pretty papers and embellishments can be.  I found this paper in a pile of paper pads that had already been forgotten, even thought I've probably only used it once.  I love the bright, happy colors... yellow, green, red and pink.  I've always loved these colors.  When I was young (around 5) I had a sweet pale yellow tank top that had a tiny bit of scallop trim around the collar and arm straps, and the word JOY screen printed in big red, green and pink letters.  I LOVED that tank top.  Loved, loved, loved.  And if my mom would have let me, I'm sure I would have worn it every single day of the summer.  Even then, color made me HAPPY.  And this card totally reminds me of that tank top... just like a sun-drenched day of pure happiness.  I hope you find a bit of sunshine today, whether it's the real kind or the paper variety!

Enabler's List:
Stamps:  Hope Blooms (Verve Stamps)
Paper:  Emma's Shoppe (Crate Paper), Pink Pirouette, Wild Wasabi (SU!), Ivory
Ink: Antique Linen, Vintage Photo, Coffee Archival (Ranger), Rose Red, Wild Wasabi (SU!)
Accessories:  Floral Circles Die Set (A Cut Above by Verve), Leaves die (Sizzix), Eyelet border punch (SU!), Classic and Petite Scallop Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), pink pearls (Pizzazz Aplenty), liquid pearls (Ranger), Lemon Yellow Stickles (Ranger), sewing machine, ruffled ribbon, corner rounder