Laughing Flowers and a Release Hop

Hi friends!  It's Verve release day and I'm so excited that all of the products we've been spotlighting this week are now available in the Verve store.  Have you been loving the Diva's cards with these sets, I sure have, and am so glad that there's one more blog hop today featuring these wonderful sets.  And today's blog hop prize is a doozy!  One lucky commenter along today's hop will win our entire July Release Collection! Woohoo!  Let's get to it!  {grin}

My card today features the new Happy Place and coordinating Happy Doodles Die Set.  It's Friday, and that means there's a new Viva la Verve sketch and this sweet layout from Anya just called my name.  I started by stamping the single flower from Happy Place on soft sky, tangerine tango and so saffron cardstock, then punching out with a 1-1/8 circle punch.  Next I stamped the flower three times in a row on a piece of crumb cake and colored all the stamped pieces with markers.  I cut out the butterfly from the Happy Doodles Die Set, then stamped the coordinating butterfly stamp and also colored with markers.

The sentiment is stamped on cream cardstock and I stamped the flower again at the bottom of the sentiment panel in the coordinating ink colors.  Each panel is sponged lightly with walnut distress stain and I accented a lot of the stamping with glossy accents.  For the sky, I started with soft sky card stock and then used one of the butterfly die cuts from the Happy Doodles Die Set as a stencil to sponge soft sky ink across the page to form a cloudy background.  A little twine and some goosebump rhinestones and I was finished.

Before I leave you with the hop info, I thought I'd let you know all of our new releases are on SALE! Through the end of July, you can buy the new release stamp and die sets individually at a 10% discount, or double your fun and purchase the whole enchilada at a 20% discount.  Woohoo!

Okey dokey, next up on the hop is Stacey!

Want to win some shiny new Verve? We'll be picking a random commenter on one of the hop spots below to win today's featured products! So be sure to leave a little comment on all the blogs along the way to increase your chances! Check out the Verve Blog today for all the prize info and deadlines, and another card from me using Happy Place!

Today's Prize: July Release Collection

1. Julee 9. Charmaine 2. Stacey 10. Jen 3. Maureen 11. Sheri {Guest} 4. Chaitali 12. Laurie 5. Marisa 13. Andrea 6. Teresa 14. Amber 7. Kay {Guest} 15. Christyne 8. Janelle

Enabler's List
Stamps:  Happy Place (Verve Stamps)

Viva la Verve July Week 2

Paper: soft sky, crumb cake, tangerine tango, so saffron (SU!), cream (Neenah)
Ink: soft sky, tangerine tango, so saffron, pear pizzazz (SU!), walnut stain (Ranger Distress), black
Accessories: Happy Doodles Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), 1-1/8" circle punch (EK Success), glossy accents (Ranger), goosebumps rhinestones (Queen & Co.), hemp (Hemptique)

My Happy Place and a Blog Hop

Hi friends!  Here we are at Day 3 of our new release blog hops and that means we're just 1 sleep away from new Verve!  Hooray!  I'm the start of the hop, so settle in and get comfy for another hop through Divaland! And since we love to give our Verve away, be sure to leave a little shout out in the comments as you hop about for a chance to win today's featured products!

In the spotlight today is a set called Happy Place, illustrated by me.  I was so inspired when I was working with Chaitali's illustrations to get them ready for our manufacturer that I snuck a tiny bit of time out to just play around.  Those peacock wings were just calling out to be a whimsical little butterfly and I loved the look of the feathery images so much, I created a fun multi-petaled flower.  And I threw in a few doodled flowers, adding in touches of the petals for leaves in order to tie all the designs together.

Mark is always the first person to see my designs and a few releases ago he told me that he always reads the sentiments as if they were written about him.  So when I sat down to choose sentiments for this set, I just had to include the next to you is my happy place sentiment just for him.  As soon as he read it on the set, he looked up and said, "So TRUE!".  {sigh}

Anyhow, on with the card.  Another crumb cake creation (although I think I hit my last sheet so the streak might not continue for very long).  I started with my favorite image from Happy Place, the flower duo, embossing it in black onto crumb cake and then cutting with the coordinating Happy Doodles Die Set.  Next I pulled out the cloud and grass cut-ups from The Cat's Pajamas to create a little scene.  I cut one grass diagonally from lucky limeade paper and then did another one and cut off just the portion I wanted to layer over the bottom grass.  Next I stamped the big flower and the sprig of feathery leaves randomly all over to give the grass some texture and depth.  I cut the clouds down to just two, sponged the bottoms lightly with soft sky and then tucked them behind the flowers.  The flowers are colored with prismacolor pencils and then highlighted with a white gel pen.

The sentiment is stamped onto a kraft panel, sponged with walnut stain ink and then I finished with a pink polka dot bow from the Pastel Polka Ribbon Collection.

Want to win some shiny new Verve? We'll be picking a random commenter on one of the hop spots below to win today's featured products! So be sure to leave a little comment on all the blogs along the way to increase your chances! Check out the Verve Blog today for a full set reveal and all the prize info and deadlines!

Okay, next up on the hop is the talented Stacey!
Oh and by the way it's her birthday, so be sure to give her an extra little shout out!

Today's Prize: Happy Place, 2 Corinthians 12:9 (illustrated by Julee Tilman)
and Happy Doodles Die Set 

1. Julee 9. Charmaine 2. Stacey 10. Jen 3. Maureen 11. Sheri {Guest} 4. Chaitali 12. Laurie 5. Marisa 13. Andrea 6. Teresa 14. Amber 7. Kay {Guest} 15. Christyne 8. Janelle

Enabler's List
Stamps: Happy Place (releasing 7/11/14 from Verve Stamps)
Paper: crumb cake, lucky limeade (SU!), white
Ink: lucky limeade, soft sky (SU!), black, prismacolor pencils
Accessories: Happy Doodles Die Set (A Cut Above by Verve), Pastel Polka Ribbon Collection (Verve), Cloud Border and Grass CutUps (TCP)

Sneaky Joy and a Blog Hop

Hi friends!  I'm back today with the start of Verve's Day 2 Spotlight Hops!  Leave a little comment love as you're checking out the Diva's first looks of the new Peaceful Medallions set and you'll be entered into our blog hop prize drawing!

Today's featured set is an elegant Indian inspired medallions set illustrated by Chaitali Narla. We worked together to make sure the set had lots of layering capabilities with common sizes of circle punches and dies and the possibilities with this set are endless.

For my card, I pulled out more crumb cake.  I've totally been on a little crumb cake streak lately, haven't I? I cut two circles with classic circles Nestabilities and then stamped the large medallion on one in island indigo.  On the other, I built the sentiment, then stamped the small circle medallion twice and then a smaller star image in Versamark.  I then used the same small circle medallion punched out and matted on a 1.25" punch of island indigo to pop up in the center of my large medallion.  These two pieces were then sponged with walnut ink distress stain and then matted on pinking circles Nestabilities.

For the background of the card, I stamped in VersaMark ink the other large medallion image randomly over the entire piece of crumbcake, then went back and stamped the smaller loopy medallion in the center of each medallion and embossed with clear embossing powder.  I sponged the edges, added some island indigo ribbon, layered my two medallions and then accented with a beautiful butterfly from my stash.

Want to win some shiny new Verve? We'll be picking a random commenter on one of the hop spots below to win today's featured products! So be sure to leave a little comment on all the blogs along the way to increase your chances! Check out the Verve Blog today for a full set reveal and all the prize info and deadlines!

Okay, next up on the hop is the talented Stacey!

Today's Prize: Peaceful Medallions (illustrated by Chaitali Narla)

1. Julee 9. Charmaine 2. Stacey 10. Jen 3. Maureen 11. Sheri {Guest} 4. Chaitali 12. Laurie 5. Marisa 13. Andrea 6. Teresa 14. Amber 7. Kay {Guest} 15. Christyne 8. Janelle

Enabler's List
Stamps: Peaceful Medallions (releasing 7/11/14 from Verve Stamps)
Paper: crumb cake, island indigo (SU!)
Ink: island indigo (SU!), VersaMark (Tsukineko), walnut stain (Ranger Distress)
Accessories: Classic & Pinking Circles Nestabilities (Spellbinders), circle punches (EK Success), butterfly (Prima), island indigo ribbon (SU!), clear embossing powder (JudiKins)

Be the Change and a Spotlight Hop

Hi friends!  It's Verve release week and today is the start of our July Spotlight Hops!  We've got 3 new sets, a plain jane and a coordinating die set releasing on Friday, July 11, so we'll be hopping all week long!  I'm the start of the hop, so grab yourself a little something refreshing and settle in for some wonderful inspiration from the Verve Divas and our super awesome Guest Divas, Sheri Gilson and Kay Miller.

Today's spotlight is on a set illustrated by Chaitali Narla, with a little of my font flair added to the sentiments. It's a super fun set, and this Gandhi quote has been a favorite of mine for a very long time.  So glad to be adding it to Verve's offerings.

To begin my card, I stamped and embossed the peacock image from Moments Remembered  in early espresso twice on white card stock and then colored with Copic markers.  I wanted a bit of dimension, so I cut a loose border around the full image, then fussy cut the head/neck section and the front wing and popped them up on different layers of dimensionals for a paper tole effect.  I finished the piece off by adding some glossy accents over the feathers and swirls.

Next I stamped the two feathery accent images tone on tone in lucky limeade for a fun background.  The Gandhi quote is stamped onto crumb cake and then I distressed all the edges with a bit of walnut stain ink.  My only embellishment was a piece of island indigo ribbon as I wanted the peacock to take center stage.

Want to win some shiny new Verve? We'll be picking a random commenter on one of the hop spots below to win today's featured products! So be sure to leave a little comment on all the blogs along the way to increase your chances! Check out the Verve Blog today for full set reveal, an introduction of our 2 lovely guest divas, and all the prize info and deadlines!

Okay, next up on the hop is the talented Stacey!

Today's Prize: Moments Remembered (illustrated by Chaitali Narla)

1. Julee 8. Janelle 2. Stacey 9. Charmaine 3. Maureen 10. Jen 4. Chaitali 11. Sheri {Guest} 5. Marisa 12. Andrea 6. Teresa 13. Amber 7. Kay {Guest} 14. Christyne

Enabler's List
Stamps: Moments Remembered (releasing 7/11/14 from Verve Stamps)
Paper: lucky limeade, crumb cake (SU!), white (Neenah)
Ink: early espresso, lucky limeade (SU!), walnut stain (Ranger Distress), copic markers
Accessories: clear embossing powder (Judikins), glossy accents (Ranger), island indigo ribbon (SU!)