Hopping By

Hi friends! I'm hopping in with a quick little card I made with a sentiment from the Hip Hop Bunnies stamp set and the Wings & Petals Printable that is free with puchase of the Wings & Petals die set. These butterflies have always been a favorite of mine. The release that they were originally in back in 2008 was a turning point for me. It was the first time I started to feel like I was a "real" artist.

We had hired a local graphic designer to redesign our logo and complete a branding package when we switched our name from Verve Visual to Verve Stamps. Let's say it was an epic fail. The gal was late, did not complete any of the designs we had discussed and when she finally sent a working proof of the logo it was nothing usable. That's when I realized I really should just do it myself. Unfortunately, the gal made me pay up front and we never received anything for our money. A tough lesson learned, but I dug in and created our logo myself and then designed our new packaging , which I still love 10 years later (a few little tweaks through the years, but still basically the same).

Anyhow, the butterflies are colored with Zig clean color real brush markers and a Wink of Stella glitter pen. I cut them with the coordinating Wings & Petals die set and then accented with  white enamel drops and some flatback pearls.

The sentiment is stamped on white, then cut out and accented with black enamel dots and matted with black. For the background I masked off a regtangle in the center, then stenciled the plaid layering stencil with squeezed lemonade and fossilized amber distress oxide. I thne did another layer with dot fade layering stencil in peacock feathers.  I added a thin black mat to the panel and finished off by layering it all together. Easy peasy and super fun!

In other news, I've been working on making printables for the dies who no longer have matching stamp sets, and I pulled together a few new DIGITAL sets that are available in the store and 55% off.  I haven't yet had a chance to create with them, but hope to do a little creating this weekend!

Land of Liberty is a completely new Americana themed set, which was slated to be a stamp set, but plans changed when I decided to close the shop. The smaller cups in this set coordinate with the Cup of Cheer Die Set. Three Cheers is a digital set we offered for a limited time in the summer of 2016, but I had planned to bring it back this summer. Coffee or Tea is a redesign of the popular One Cup stamp set, adding in sentiments for coffee lovers as well as tea lovers.  It also coordinates with the Cuppa Tea Die Set.

Okay, that's all for today! I hope you have a fantastic start to your weekend!

Enabler's List
Stamps: Hip Hop Bunnies, Wings & Petals Printable (Verve Stamps)
Paper: smooth bristol (Canson) Basic Black (SU!)
Ink: squeezed lemonade, fossilized amber, peacock feathers (Ranger Distress Oxides), intense black (Hero Arts), clear Wink of Stella glitter pen, Kuretake Clean Color Real Brush markers (Zig)
Accessories: Wings & Petals die set (A Cut Above by VERVE), plaid and dot fade layering stencils (Tim Holtz), flat back pearls, nuvo enamel drops, enamel dots

Take Joy

Hi friends! It's Monday again and time for a new sketch over at Mojo Monday.  This week has some fun skewed panels and lots of layers, perfect for playing with pretty papers. After 7 weeks of respiratory infection, I'm so DONE with winter, and thought I'd bring a little spring to my studio, even if it's still trying to snow outside.

I pulled out some super fabulous plaid papers and the Petals & Wings stamp set and got to work, cutting each layer and matting with white.  If you like measurements, here's what I used... the largest designer paper panel is 2.5" x 4.5" the vertical rectangle is 2.25" x 3.25" and the square is 2.25" x 2.25"  My aqua horizontal piece is 1" x 5.5". The card base is embossed with a polka dot embossing folder and I wrapped a bit of white linen thread in a bow and accented with a dew drop.

The butterflies and sentiment from Petals & Wings are stamped directly onto patterned paper and I cut with the coordinating Wings & Petals Die Set.  I stamped the antennae onto a piece of white cardstock cut with the circle die from the Springtime Stitches die set, then layered it all together, finishing off with some black pearls for the butterfly bodies.

If  you're like me and wishing to bring a little spring to your crafting, Verve has a fabulous little Wishing for Spring sale going on right now.  30% off a whole bunch of springtime classics.

Mojo Monday 486 Card Sketch

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you have a fabulously creative start to your week. For a little more inspiration, be sure to hop on over to the Mojo Monday blog to see what the other designers are sharing today.

Enabler's List
Stamps: Petals & Wings (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Perfectly Plaid (Lawn Fawn), white (Neenah)
Ink: onyx black (Versafine)
Accessories: Wings & Petals Die Set, Springtime Stitches Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), linen thread, dew drop, flatback pearls, dots embossing folder (QuicKutz)

White Out Thanks

Hi friends!  Happy Friday!  It's a new Viva la Verve week and Janelle has a fabulous sketch for you over on the VLV blog today.  But since work took precedence over stamping this week, I'm sharing one last card made with the May Week 1 sketch + colors and will hopefully get  a chance to play with Janelle's sketch this weekend.

I pulled out  Petals & Wings for this one and stamped tons of petals in smoky slate on a white square, then the centers in so saffron.  I wiped on a bit of gesso for a white-out effect and then decided to mute things a bit by layering a piece of vellum with the Being Awesome sentiment stamped on it.  The flowers are cut with the Wings & Petals Die Set and stamped with the coordinating stamps from  Petals & Wings.  A bit of gesso is swiped onto my soft sky piece and I layered everything together with washi tape.

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

Enabler's List
Stamps:  Petals & Wings, Being Awesome (Verve Stamps)
Paper: soft sky, smoky slate (SU!), white, vellum
Ink: soft sky, so saffron (SU!), black
Accessories:  Wings & Petals Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), hole punch, washi tape, gesso, embossing powder, glossy glaze, glitter

A Simple Hello and Complete Set

Happy Thursday, friends!  I'm popping in with another card using this week's Viva la Verve! sketch.  It's actually one I made for the latest Verve release and the card that inspired the sketch, but I never posted it, so today's the day!  {grin}

It's a super simple card, just a white square stamped with the Hello Friend plain jane and the two polka dot butterflies from Petals & Wings.  I colored the butterflies with copic markers, then added some black rhinestones for the butterfly bodies.  The square is attached to a black cardstock panel with washi tape and then mounted on a white card base.

And, there was one more card in that card set I made for the release, so I might as well show it now.

Here, I've stamped the flowers and stems from Petals & Wings on a white rectangle and added just a portion of one of the borders from the Scalloped Trim Trio Die Set in pistachio pudding.  The sentiment is the new Being Awesome plain jane and it's stamped in the vintage oval frame from  Die Sidekicks and cut with the coordinating Vintage Oval Die.  I added some faux enamel dots to the centers of the flower by taking some small circle punches, stamping with the polka dot flower center stamp in the coordinating ink and then covering with a thick layer of glossy glaze.  It's hard to see, but the card base is a pretty embossed polka dot background.

Here's the whole set of cards from the release in one (not so great) photo...

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Have a wonderful day!

Enabler's List
1st card
Stamps: Hello Friend, Petals & Wings (Verve Stamps)
Paper: black, white
Ink: black (TCP Studios)
Accessories: washi tape, bling

2nd card
Stamps: Being Awesome, Die Sidekicks, Petals & Wings (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Black, white
Ink: blushing bride, soft sky, pistachio pudding (SU!), black
Accessories: Vintage Oval Die, Scalloped Trim Trio Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), polka dot embossing folder, ribbon, glossy glaze

The Joy of Grunge

If you're here for my Diva Inspirations Hop post, click here or scroll down.

Hi friends!  I mentioned last Friday that I made a few cards with this week's Viva la Verve sketch, so I'm back today sharing another one.  A bit on the grungy subway side of things, but I sure had a lot of fun with it.

One of the things I love most about mixed-media is that there ends up being all these hidden layers peeking through that add so much texture and meaning.  Here I started with a white square of cardstock, wiped with a bit of gesso.  Then I stamped the flowers from Petals & Wings several times around the corners in smoky slate and the flower centers in so saffron.  This seemed a bit bright, so I ended up adding a watered down layer of gesso over  some of the stamping, then sponging with pumice stone and tumbled glass distress ink, then went around the edges with a black gelato and blended with a wet cloth.

Next I stamped the butterflies in smoky slate on so saffron and cut with the matching Wings & Petals Die Set.  I accented them with grey rhinestones, then stamped the sentiment in the white area of my square and layered the butterflies on top.  

The smoky slate layer behind is stamped randomly with more Petals & Wings flowers, then more black gelato and some distressed edges.  I added some fun washi, then did some more gelato grunging to the soft sky card base.  I finished off with a bit of moistened gelato over a stencil.

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

Enabler's List

Stamps: Petals & Wings (Verve Stamps)

Paper: soft sky, so saffron, smoky slate (SU!), white

Ink: smoky slate, so saffron (SU!), tumbled seaglass (Ranger Distress), Tuxedo Black (Memento Luxe), black gelato (Faber-Castell), gesso

Accessories: Wings & Petals Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), Dot Fade layering stencil (Tim Holtz), washi tape, rhinestones (MME)

Mixing It Up VLV Style

Hi friends!  Happy Friday!  It's time for a new series of VLV sketches and that means it's my turn again to kick the month off with a sketch + color challenge.  I went with a sweet little CAS sketch that I've already made 3 cards with and a dreamy little color palette of aqua, gray and yellow. Super fun and the sketch lets me use some of the outrageous amounts of washi tape I've been hoarding! {grin}

So the other morning while the twins were engrossed with a Curious George episode (thank goodness they're finally broadening their horizons from just Mickey Mouse Clubhouse!), I had a little time to do some blog surfing and came across a fun little re-post from Lori Vliegen using Gesso and Distress inks.  It stuck in my mind and the minute I got a little crafty time (days later, of course), I had to test it out.  Here, I swiped gesso on white cardstock, in varying thicknesses and then let it dry.  Once dry, I sponged on squeezed lemonade, tumbled glass and pumice stone.  I went back over it with a wet cloth to remove a little of the ink and a fun background was born.  I just love the painterly look to it.

Next I stamped the butterfly from  Petals & Wings in Smoky Slate on a cut out from the Wings & Petals coordinating die set.  I used just regular white copy paper because I wanted a distressed look to the image and then sponged with tumbled glass and squeezed lemonade, popping up on my background with dimensionals.  A couple strips of washi and a sweet little sentiment on the card base and I was done.  {I just realized as I was typing up this post that I forgot a panel. Doh!  I'll just have to share one of my other cards using the sketch later this weekend.  And here I thought I'd finally followed all the rules!}

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you have a fun and creative weekend. If you've got some time, be sure to hop on over to the VLV Sketches blog and see what the Divas cooked up with the sketch + colors.

Enabler's List
Stamps: Petals & Wings (Verve Stamps)
Paper: white, smoky slate (SU!)
Ink: black, squeezed lemonade, tumbled glass, pumice stone (Ranger Distress), white Gesso
Accessories: Wings & Petals Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), washi tape

Bright Butterflies

Hi friends!  Happy Wednesday!  Can you believe it's the end of April already?  How did that happen?  It's been a busy month for me, that's for sure.  Today I'm popping in with a project I made for the latest Verve release but haven't had a chance to post yet.

It was the first card I made when the stamps hit my studio and I just love the fun whimsical feel to it.  Pretty simple stamping.  I stamped one butterfly from Petals & Wings, then made a mask and used it to stamp the other two butterflies so it looks like they're overlapping.  I colored them in with Copic markers, then embossed the polka dot butterfly onto vellum and cut out just the inner section to pop up over the color.  Some big black rhinestones adorn the bodies and I added the little antennae to the base layer of each butterfly as well.  A sweet little sentiment and a ginormous polka dot bow finish things off.

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I hope your day turns out on the bright side.

Enabler's List
Stamps: Petals & Wings (Verve Stamps)
Paper: white, black, vellum
Ink: black (TPC Studios), Copics
Accessories: ribbon (May Arts), bling

Vintage Petals

Hi friends!  It's Monday again and time for a new sketch over at Mojo Monday!  This week is tall & skinny week and I made a 3.5" x 5.5" card with the sketch using the newly released Petals & Wings and coordinating Wings & Petals Die Set.

I picked out an old favorite paper pack and thought the red black and cream would pair well with Petals & Wings for a vintage feel.  The papers are all sponged lightly with antique linen and matted with black cardstock.  The two sizes of flowers in the set are stamped onto designer paper and cut with the Wings & Petals Die Set.  I then stamped the flower center and punched out with a 3/8" circle punch, then layered it all on dimensionals.  The stem is stamped on book paper and then hand trimmed and tucked into my border piece, cut with the Scalloped Trim Trio Die Set.  I added the sentiment on a piece of cream and then accented the side with three of the dots left over from cutting the border.  I added a little black Enamel Accents to each dot to make them look like enamel dots.  The card base is cream and I randomly stamped the dotted flower centers in antique linen for a subtle background.  My finishing touch was a sprinkling of sequins from the new Shine Bright Sequin Mix.

That's all from me today.  If you haven't checked out Verve's new release, be sure to hop on over!

Enabler's List

Mojo 343

Stamps:  Petals & Wings (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Sidewalks (October Afternoon), basic black, cream
Ink: black, antique linen (Ranger Distress)
Accessories:  Wings & Petals Die Set, Scalloped Trim Trio Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), Shine Bright Sequin Mix (Verve), Enamel Accents (Inkssentials)

Petals Just Because

If you're looking for my Classic Verve {revisited} Blog Hop post, click here.

Happy Saturday, blog friends!  I'm popping in with my card for this week's Viva la Verve sketch. It's the final week of the month, so if you're playing along with us, the deadline for our monthly $100 gift voucher drawing is Thursday.  Check out all the deets on the VLV Sketches blog.

I had some leftovers sitting on my desk from making my Mojo Monday card earlier this week and I that woodgrain paper was just calling out to me again.  I adjusted the VLV sketch to a 3.5 x 5.5" card because, well, I'm just sort of loving on this size right now!  I added some faux stitching to a couple panels with a paper piercer and a pen.  The flower from the new Petals & Wings is stamped onto book paper and cut with the coordinating Wings & Petals Die Set.  I added a bit of watercolor crayon goodness to brighten things up a bit, then stamped one of the dotted flower centers and punched out with a 3/8" circle punch.  The heart shape is cut from the woodgrain paper with the Wavy Hearts Die Set.  The sentiment is stamped onto sahara sand and then I wrapped some linen thread around the panel and embellished with one of the super sparkly sequins from the new Shine Bright Sequin Mix.  A couple of rounded corners and my card was finished.  Easy peasy!

I hope you have a fabulous weekend.  If you haven't checked out the new products at Verve yet, head on over.  We've also started our May sale a wee bit early and have a fantastic assortment of stamps & dies marked down 25%.

Petals & Wings	Wings & Petals Die Set	Shine Bright Sequin Mix	Wavy Hearts Die Set

Enabler's List

Stamps: Petals & Wings (Verve Stamps)
Paper: dp scraps, sahara sand
Ink: black, Neocolor II watercolor crayons (caran d'ache)
Accessories:  Wings & Petals Die Set, Wavy Hearts Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), Shine Bright Sequin Mix (Verve), linen thread, 3/8" circle punch (SU!), Classic Circles Nestabilities (Spellbinders), corner rounder, paper piercer

Being Awesome and a HOP!

Hi friends!  Happy Friday!  There's a "new again" Verve release today and the Divas are hopping to celebrate! I'm the first stop on the hop, so grab a treat and let your fingers do the clicking! {grin} We've hidden a prize along the hop, so be sure to leave a little comment love as you hop about!

For my card, I pulled out the just re-released Petals & Wings set and Being Awesome Plain Jane. I stamped the polka dot flower centers as a fun little background in soft sky, pistachio pudding and blushing bride.  Next I stamped over the background with the  Being Awesome Plain Jane.  The separate antennae stamp is stamped directly on the background, then I stamped the big butterfly and hand trimmed (because the coordinating die set hadn't arrived yet when I was making my samples last week).  I finished off with some of the new Shine Bright Sequin Mix (so sparkly!) and a soft sky bow.

Thanks so much for being awesome readers and customers!  Next up on the hop is Amber!

Want to win some shiny new Verve? We'll be picking a random commenter on one of the hop spots below to win a $40 gift voucher to the Verve store! So be sure to leave a little comment on all the blogs below to increase your chances! Check out the Verve Blog today for all the prize info and deadlines and a little back story on our new{ish} products!

	Hop List: 1. Julee 7. Jen 2. Amber 8. Marisa 3. Andrea 9. Maureen 4. Charmaine 10. Stacey 5. Christyne 11. Teresa 6. Janelle

Stamps: Being Awesome Plain Jane, Petals & Wings (Verve Stamps)

Paper: black, white

Ink: blushing bride, pistachio pudding, soft sky (SU!), black

Accessories: Shine Bright Sequin Mix (Verve), soft sky ribbon (SU!)

Take Joy

Hi friends!  It's Mojo Monday on Tuesday again for me!  What a fun (and exhausting) time we had with the twins over Easter weekend.  By the end of it, I just didn't have anything more in me but to curl up in bed and hope that I'd find a bit of time later in the week to stamp a Mojo Monday card. Well, that time happened this morning when I woke up early and the boys slept late and everything aligned for me to play with neocolor II watercolor crayons and paper!

Verve is having a Classic Verve {re-visited} release and blog hop this Friday. One of the sets releasing is called Petals & Wings and it's a compilation of the former Petals & Stems and Fluttering By sets (on clearance and being retired when our current inventory runs out).  I've made the antennae for the butterflies a separate stamp in the new compilation and created a die set to match, but kept everything else the same.

For my card, I pulled out the Petals & Wings set and the coordinating Wings & Petals Die Set and had a little fun.  I love the look of watercolors over book print, so started with some book print designer paper and cut the die set from it.  Next I stamped the small flower and the big butterfly on the matching die cuts and colored with watercolor crayons and a waterbrush pen. The flower center is stamped on the book print as well and punched out with a 3/8" circle punch to layer over the flower.  The sentiment is stamped onto a circle die cut and then I also watercolored the bookprint square behind it.  My border piece is a Flourished Trim Die cut layered over one of the dies from the Scalloped Trim Trio Die Set.  I finished with a polka dot embossing folder, some black liquid pearl accents on the flourished trim and butterfly body and a bunch of distressed edges.

Enabler's List
Stamps: Petals & Wings (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Walnut Grove (Pebbles), dp scrap (Prima), sahara sand, basic black (SU)
Ink: black, Neocolor II crayons (Caran d'ache)
Accessories: Scalloped Trim Trio Die Set, Flourished Trim Die, Wings & Petals Die Set {releases 4/25} (A Cut Above by VERVE), Classic Circles Nestabilities (Spellbinders), 3/8" circle punch (SU!), Polka Dot embossing folder (Cuttlebug), liquid pearls (Ranger), paper distresser, waterbrush

Joyful Little Things

How's your week going?  Mine has been filled with lots of "little things".  Seems like every time I think I'm going to get a chance to just kick back and enjoy the sun, I find some other little thing that's long overdue to fill up my day. So often it seems like I just keep pushing through all the little things while I'm waiting for the big things in life to happen.  Then I look up and realize that life's happening all around me, and I should pay attention!  :)  That's why I love the sentiment on today's card.  I'm always needing a reminder to stop and enjoy the little things.

So last night I stopped everything I was doing, and enjoyed one of my favorite little things... stamping!  I've been showing cards I made at Laurie's the last couple weeks and I still have a few more to show, but I realized last night that today will have been 2 weeks since I last stamped!  Eeek!  I almost didn't even know where to begin!  Since I always think it's best to ease in after a stamping break, I pulled out this week's Viva la Verve! sketch and inspiration photo and got to work.  The bedding in the photo reminded me of Petals & Stems, so I dusted it off and got to work with some fun new Sweet Summertime paper by Echo Park.

I stamped one of the flowers and flower centers from Petals & Stems in Perfect Plum, Regal Rose and Cool Caribbean, then cut them out and embellished with some Oregon Rain Drops and Stardust Stickles.  Then I just cut the papers for the sketch layers, added a little scallop rectangle mat, then stamped my sentiment and punched out with the SU! Modern Label Punch.  To jazz things up a bit, I added a bit of ribbon up top and a fun little butterfly brad, then finished off with some Liquid Pearls on the scallops and a couple opposing rounded corners.  Light, springy, and oh-so-much-fun!  It felt so good to stamp again!  :)

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Your comments always bring a smile in between all the little things that make up my day!  Speaking of making me smile, Lisa sent me a photo yesterday that made me grin from ear to ear.  I thought I'd share....

isn't that AWESOME???  Made my little Hello Kitty want monster roar!  LOL  Okay, that's all folks.  Hope your day is fantastic!

Petals & Mojo

Today's card is another attempt at this week's mojo sketch, only flipped. This one didn't translate to paper as well as I thought it would in my head. Ever have days like that? I think the patterned paper might just be a little overwhelming to cover the whole card. I've been on a kick recently where I haven't been using patterned paper (mainly because it's all packed neatly away in boxes), so maybe I'm just out of practice in the DP department. :)

Anyhow, here's the deets on how it came about... I started by stamping the stem from Petals & Stems in Versafine Onyx black on a Nestabilities rectangle and the stamping the small butterfly beside it. I colored these with Copic markers and then stamped the flower on Pretty in Pink cardstock, cut out and added over the stem with a pop dot. Next I stamped the sentiment from Fluttering By and then added three little black brads to the corner. The background is American Crafts paper cut into strips and matted on a Pretty in Pink card base.

15 Minute Mojo

Okay, I had a little pocket of time, so I created this super simple sample card for this week's mojo sketch. This sketch was inspired by the bed railing in the Verve Project Parade Inspiration Challenge photo, and so I decided to go with a flourishy patterned paper, in keeping with the inspiration piece. The designer paper is from Chatterbox and to do the panels, I simply started with a 4" square of designer paper. I then cut four strips 1/2 inch wide and then one strip 3/8" wide (which gets thrown away) to account for the gutters in between each strip. If you want bigger gutters, you just cut a bigger strip. Next I mounted the strips on a 4 1/8" square piece of black cardstock.

The rectangle is cut and embossed with Nestabilities Classic Rectangle dies and mounted on a black Nestabilities scallop rectangle. I stamped the plain butterfly from Fluttering By in Versafine Onyx Black and then colored with a Copic {BG10} marker and covered with a mixture of Dazzling Diamonds/Diamond Glaze. I finished off with three rhinestones in the corner and the sentiment from Petals & Stems in the corner. Finished card size is 4.25" square. Easy peasey! :)

VERVE Peek: Petals & Stems and Fluttering By

Hi everyone! Today's card is a super easy one using two of the new sets releasing tomorrow, Petals & Stems and Fluttering By. I kind of just let this cool paper from the We R Memory Keepers White Out Collection do all the work.

The flower, small butterfly and stem are from the Petals & Stems set. I started by stamping the flower in Versafine Crimson Red and then stamped the polka dot center in the same color ink and colored with Copic markers. The stem is stamped in Old Olive, colored in with Copic markers, and then I sketched a ltitle grass in on the bottom of the panel. Next I stamped the small butterfly off the panel in Pumpkin Pie. I then stamped another butterfly and cut it out, coloring with a yellow Copic marker and then adding black with a marker to the antennae and body. I popped up the cut out butterfly and added some stardust Stickles to the wings. I finished off with the Always look on the bright side of life sentiment from the Fluttering By set.

Like what you see? Check out the Verve Blog for more previews of these two sets and a chance to win them for your very own. But hurry, you have to enter before midnight ET tonight to be eligible. Winners will be announced along with our new release on May 16.