Winter Wishes November Diva Inspirations Hop

Hi friends! Welcome to Verve's monthly Diva Inspirations Blog Hop and Challenge! I'm the first stop on the hop, so settle in for a little blog tour of pretty projects and have some fun.


There are TWO $30 gift vouchers to the Verve shop up for grabs this month and two ways to win! First, comment on the design team's blog hop posts (linked below) for an entry in the first giveaway. Then to be entered into our challenge prize drawing, go get inky and link up your take on the challenge. You have until December 5 to link up. Feel free to play along with the challenge as many times as you like. Verve stamps aren't required to play, but we do smile a little brighter when we see them!

I love the dreamy trees in the inspiration photo, and decided to pull out the Holiday Greetings set and paper piece some layers with curled up edges.  So I stamped the tree once on a cream colored square, then 5 more times on different patterned papers.  I sponged around the tree image on the cream square with old paper, then tumbled glass then faded jeans distress ink.  Next I added a bit of "snow" with white texture paste and the dot fade layering stencil.  Finally, I cut the 5 layers of the tree out, distressing the bottom edge and pieced them onto the square.

For the background, I took a piece of green patterned paper and randomly stamped the wreath image and snowflake image from Holiday Greetings for a bit of texture.  I added a few strips of the same papers I used for the tree and then overlaid some bits of lace.  The sentiment is stamped onto a Stitched Pennants die cut and I added a paper flower and leaves to finish things off.

Thanks so much for stopping by today.

Next stop on the hop is Betty.

Read on for all the challenge and hop details...

These rustic trees in blues and greens bring images of Old World Christmas to mind. Add in some baubles and finery, or keep it simple and rustic.  Either way, it's sure to inspire.  There are no rules... follow our color pattern or head off in whatever direction these pretty trees take you.  We can't wait to see what you create!

Click here to link up your challenge entries
Challenge deadline: Monday, December 5.
Prize: $30 gift voucher to the Verve online store!

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.  Just leave a little love as you hop about for a chance to win!

1. Julee	6. Marisa
2. Betty	7. Maureen
3. Charmaine	8. Susan
4. Christyne	9. Teresa
5. Laurie

Enabler's List
Stamps: Holiday Greetings (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Figgy (BasicGrey), Polka (Echo Park), crumb cake (SU!), cream (Neenah)
Ink: old paper, tumbled glass, faded jeans, vintage photo (Ranger Distress), mossy meadow, pear pizzazz (SU!), marker (Copic)
Accessories: Stitched Pennants Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE),  flower (Recollections),  pierced square stax (MFT), tiny attacher, dot fade layering stencil (Tim Holtz), leaves (Prima), vintage lace trim, texture paste

Rustic Winter Blog Hop

Hi friends!  It's time for another Diva Inspirations Blog Hop to kick off Verve's November inspiration challenge.  I'm the first stop on the hop, so grab a treat and get ready for a little loveliness from the Divas inspired by this month's challenge theme... Rustic Winter!  There's a blog hop prize and a challenge prize up for grabs, so be sure to read to the bottom for all the deets!

My inspiration came from the fun tree in the background of the inspiration graphic and the bluish wood paneling.  I took a simple approach to the layout. I loved the gold flourishes on the teal striped paper, and thought it would make the perfect snow scape for my rustic tree.  The tree from Holiday Greetings was stamped twice on patterned paper and then again on the striped paper.  I cut every other layer of the two trees and sponged with ink, then layered them together.  I then outlined the inside edges of the tree on the striped paper with glue and added some shabby frantage embossing powder, then did the same for the pieced together tree and layered them together.  The sentiment is embossed in gold and I did a bit of sponging with distress inks, then dusted the corners with gold embossing powder.

The star is a wood veneer that I dipped in Versamark and then embossed with gold embossing powder.  A little gold cording behind gives a nice little accent to add my vintage postcard looking panel to.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I can't wait to hop along and see the rustic' creations from the other Divas!  I hope you'll play along with us too!  You can find all the challenge details and linkup info on the Verve Blog.

Next up on the hop is the fabulous Amy Kolling!

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've got a prize for one lucky commenter along the hop! Check out the Verve Blog today for all the prize info and deadlines!

	1. Julee	5. Maureen
	2. Amy	6. Marisa
	3. Betty	7. Charmaine
	4. Sarah	8. Stacey

Enabler's List
Stamps: Holiday Greetings (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Lost & Found Christmas (MME), cream (Neenah)
Ink: Versamark, Early Espresso (SU!), gathered twigs and brushed corduroy (Ranger Distress)
Accessories:  star wood veneer, gold cording, gold embossing powder, shabby embossing powders (Stampendous), corner rounder

O Christmas Tree Blog Hop

Hi friends!  It's the 5th of the month and that means it's time for another Diva Inspirations Blog Hop and Challenge!  I'm the start of the hop and as usual, there's a comment prize, so be sure to leave a little shout out in the comments as you hop about for a chance to win some new Verve! Link list is at the bottom of this {very} long post.

It's also the first Friday of a new month, so I'm hostessing Viva la Verve as well.  Since December is a super busy month, I did a special 6 x 6 One Sheet Wonder (OSW) layout with 4 sketches that will be our challenge for the whole month.  I think these are perfect for making card sets for gift giving and also for knocking out holiday cards, so I hope you enjoy them.  I've made three card sets already with the OSW template, so you'll be seeing some more inspiration with the sketches as the month progresses.

The inspiration challenge this month is O Christmas Tree, so I combined Viva la Verve with the inspiration, adding stars and snowflakes to my cards, which are some of my favorite things to trim the tree with.

My cards use one double-sided 6 x 6 sheet of patterned paper, four circles, card fronts and card bases in crumb cake.  I used the Holiday Greetings set for stamping on the circles, then embellished with some stars, snowflakes and rhinestones.  I hand cut the banner ends on a few of the pieces as well. All in all a super quick card set, though!

Here's the link to the full printable PDF of the template. 

This month's challenge is entitled O Christmas Tree:



Ribbons and sparkle and merry galore! Create a card inspired by the decorations of the season!

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've got a prize for one lucky commenter along the hop! Check out the Verve Blog today for all the prize info and deadlines!

Next up on the hop is Amy.

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

Enabler's List
Stamps: Holiday Greetings (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Christmas Basics (DCWV), crumb cake (SU!)
Ink: Mossy Meadow, Crumb Cake (SU!), Vintage Photo Distress (Ranger)
Accessories: glitter stars (Frost it Pink), snowflake charms, rhinestones, paper crimper, snowflakes Texture Fades (Tim Holtz Alterations), Classic Circles Nestabilites (Spellbinders)

Washi Tape Mojo

Hi friends!  I'm a little late with my Mojo Monday 329 sample today.  I've been sick all weekend and the kiddos had a rough night so there wasn't any time to finish my half done Mojo card until now. This week's sketch is a super fun one by Teresa.

My card uses the wreath from Holiday Greetings and a sentiment from No Matter What.  Most of the sentiments in this set were designed to fit inside this wreath, so the two sets pair beautifully.  I colored with copics using a red, grey and pink color scheme.  Washi tape, stitching and a portion of the Award Banner Trim Die accent things and I even added a bit of stitching down the sides. The wreath, hearts, stars and berries are coated with glossy accents and then sprinkled with dazzling diamonds for some extra sparkle.

Well, it's back to bed for me.  Hope you have a fabulously creative start to your week!

Enabler's List
Stamps: Holiday Greetings, No Matter What (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Yours Truly (Pebbles), basic gray, smoky slate (SU!), white
Ink: black, copic markers
Accessories: Award Banner Trim Die (A Cut Above by VERVE), washi tape, classic circles nestabilities (Spellbinders), rhinestones, corner rounder, sewing machine, glossy accents, dazzling diamonds

Rejoice

Hi friends! Happy Friday!  I found a little time to sneak away and stamp this week and just had to work some more with the Rejoice paper scraps that were still on my desk from my Mojo Monday card.  Here I paired the papers with the Holiday Greetings set and the Viva la Verve December Week 3 sketch.

Everything came together really quickly, especially since I was mainly using scraps.  I added a little doodled dotted line border around the papers to give each layer a little definition.  One layer is crimped and brushed with white ink to match the faded look of the background paper.  The snowflake is stamped in Riding Hood Red, which I stamped off twice before stamping on my circle for a watermark effect, then embossed the Merry Christmas sentiment over the top in Early Espresso.  I made the wreath from lacey circle Nestabilities, then added Rouge liquid pearls for the berries.  I finished off with a big red and white bow and a Flourished Trim border (on sale right now during our Stocking Stuffer Sale).

Enabler's List:
Stamps: Holiday Greetings (Verve Stamps)

Paper: Rejoice (BoBunny), Crumb Cake (SU!), cream
Ink: Riding Hood Red, Early Espresso (SU!), Jasmine White (Mix'd Media Inx), Walnut Stain (Ranger)
Accessories: Flourished Trim Die (A Cut Above by VERVE), Lacey Circles and Classic Circles Nestabilities (Spellbinders), liquid pearls (Ranger), paper corrugator (Fiskars), ribbon (May Arts)

Wintery Wishes

Hi friends!  It's the first Monday of the month and that means it's time for a Mojo Monday contest!  Verve is sponsoring prizes, so be sure to schedule a little creative break sometime this week to play along.  Today's sketch comes from the mind of the one and only Carole Burrage.

I thought this layout would work perfectly for something simple, sweet and mailable, so that was my goal for the card.  And I think I actually accomplished it!  Woohoo!  I've noticed that a lot of clean and simple stampers will take a layered sketch and use the stamps as layers to keep things simple, so that's what I tried with the snowflakes from Holiday Greetings.  The sentiment is also from the Holiday Greetings set and I added some thin black mats and tied in the pool party with a little tone on tone stamped border below.  A border punch, some ribbon and liquid pearl accents and the card was done.  Easy peasy!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Hope you have a fabulous first week of December!

Enabler's List:
Stamps: Holiday Greetings (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Sleigh Ride (Crate Paper), pool party, basic black (SU!), cream
Ink: Pool Party (SU!), black
Accessories:  circle punches (SU!), stripes & scallops Knock-Outs (American Crafts), seam binding ribbon, Liquid Pearls

Circular Birthday

Hi friends!  it's Mojo Monday on a Tuesday here at my house this week.  I wanted to play along with Carole's sketch this week, but this is the first time I've had to stamp in I can't remember how long.  I'm needing a few birthday cards in the near future and so that's where I started with this one.

The sketch is Mojo Monday 268 and I decided to pair the wreath from Holiday Greetings with the happy birthday sentiment from Small Celebrations.  I colored the wreath with Copics, highlighted with Frosted Lace stickles and sponged the inside with Pumice Stone ink and hand trimmed.  It's layered on some papers from the SnapLife collection by Simple Stories and I added a fun little flower and some ruffled ribbon and liquid pearls for accent.  The main layer is embossed with the SU! chevron folder and I added a hint of distressing, because I could.  {grin}

Well, I've got lots to do this week, but I wanted to pop in and change up the scenery here on the blog.  Hope you're having a fabulous week!

Enabler's List:
Stamps:  Holiday Greetings, Small Celebrations (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Snap Life (Simple Stories), white
Ink: black soot, pumice stone (Ranger distress), Copic markers
Accessories:  Classic Circles Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Chevron embossing folder (SU!) ribbon (Hobby Lobby), flower (Prima), paper distresser (Tonic), white opal liquid pearls, frosted lace stickles (Ranger)

Nostalgic Mojo Diva Hop!

Hi friends!  It's the first Monday of the month, which means it's time for a Mojo Monday contest with prizes!  Woohoo!  And since it's also the 5th of the month, it's time for a Diva Inspirations Hop!  Double woohoo!!

So I mentioned PRIZES!  Yep, play along with the Mojo sketch challenge this week, for a chance to win a Verve stamps set of your choice!  We'll have one winner for every 50 entries, up to a max of 7 winners, so I hope you can find a little time to get your Mojo on this week!  Especially since Verve just released brand new sets on Friday night and there are some fabulous new holiday stamps to choose from!

There's a big ole prize for the Diva Inspirations Hop, too!  Hop around to the diva blog posts linked below and leave a comment at each stop for a chance to win the entire new release from Verve!  Check out the Verve Blog for all the prize details.

About my card:  As you may have noticed, I went a little skewed with my panels (just for you Marisa!).  LOL  Actually, when I went to glue down the bottom layer, I dropped the panel and it stuck and I couldn't get it back up, so I just went with it!  For the Diva Inspirations Hop, I mixed a little old with a little new for this fun nostalgic Christmas card.  The tree and the sentiment are from the brand new Holiday Greetings set and I paired them with the present border from our previously released Borderline set.  The presents and the tree are both paper pieced using the same prints of City Sidewalks DP and I colored the garland and bows with some Spica glitter pens.  I finished by ruffling a little glittery black twill and adding a fun little bow.

Okay, now it's time to hop on down the divasphere to the next blog on the list...  Sankari!!!

	1. Betty	7. Susan
	2. Jen d.	8. Andrea
	3. Jen T.	9. Charmaine
	4. Julee	10. Janelle
	5. Sankari	11. Maureen
	6. Sony	12. Teresa

Holiday Greetings	Borderline

Enabler's List:
Stamps:Holiday Greetings, Borderline (Verve Stamps)
Paper: City Sidewalks (Pink Paislee), Black, Cream
Ink: Black, Spica glitter pens
Accessories:  Classic Circles Nestabilities (Spellbinders), glittery black twill

Day 4 Holiday Hop

Hi friends!  It's time for the final day of Verve's Holiday 2012 Spotlight Hops!  We'll be revealing the new sets and counting down to the time when the sets go live on our website tonight.  So hop on by the party thread anytime between 9-11 Eastern tonight and say hi!

I'm starting this shindig off right here, so grab another cup of joe (and mix in a little peppermint if you're feeling festive) and hop along to see the first sneaks at a new set called Holiday Greetings. Once again we've picked a mystery blog from today's hop and hidden a prize! So be sure to give a little shout out in the comment section as you hop around to each blog on the list. We'll draw a random winner from all of the comments on the mystery blog to win today's featured stamps. Check out the Verve Blog for all the prize details and deadlines.

My mission for this card was a simple mailable layout.  I love the bells & whistles and end up hand delivering or including most of my cards in packages, but there are a few international recipients on my list and bulky cards just end up destroyed by the time they make it overseas.  So, this is what I came up with.  I had fun layering the tiers of the tree by stamping the tree twice on Simple Stories paper then cutting every other tier and layering it so it has a dimension look but still lies flat.  The star is stamped directly onto a Kaisercraft journaling tag. and I colored it in with a bit of gold liquid pearls.

The snowflake is stamped as a background to the sentiment in Antique Linen ink and then I embossed the Christmas Greetings sentiment over the top with Fired Brink ink.  It's cut and matted using the Scalloped Flowers Die Set.  More of that vintage paper made it onto this card and I finished off with a bit of diagonal striped ribbon. I also cut and sealed my ribbon with the fantastic new i-magi-cut Ribbon Cutter from Imaginisce.  I picked one up at the Inspiration Boutique last weekend and it's just amazing!  A simple thing, but frayed edges on ribbon have always made me a little batty!

Time to click on down the road and see what everyone else did with this fun new set!  Next up on the hop is Laurie!  Have fun and I hope to see you tonight!

1. Julee 6. Amber 2. Laurie 7. Amy 3. Maureen 8. Andrea 4. Teresa 9. Charmaine 5. Tosh 10. Janelle

Enabler's List:
Stamps: Holiday Greetings (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Handmade Holiday (Simple Stories), cardstock  (WorldWyn), vintage papers
Ink: Antique Linen, Black Soot, Fired Brick (Ranger Distress)
Accessories:  Scalloped Flowers Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), ribbon, gold liquid pearls (Ranger), Journaling Tags (Kaisercraft), paper distresser (Tonic)