Out of the Box Beautiful

Hi friends!  Today I'm hopping along with an all-star list of stampers celebrating the 2nd anniversary of the CASE Study challenge.  If you've come here from the blog of Joy Taylor you're on the right track! If not and you want to start from the beginning, you can view the whole list of designers over on the CASE Study blog.  You'll definitely want to check it out and leave a little shout out on each blog, since there are PRIZES to be won (including a little Verve)!

The challenge for today is Out of the Box, and we were tasked with trying something we've never done before.  At first I kind of scratched my head a bit, and then headed straight to You Tube!  LOL  Isn't the Internet great?  I found this SUPER easy tutorial on making tissue paper flowers (something I've always wanted to do, but for some reason thought it was a much more involved process!) and decided to give it a go with some of the sparkly tissue paper we use to package orders at Verve.

I used circle punches for the flower layers and followed the tutorial, using some decorative brads and  finishing off with some Mister Huey Shine spray for a super shimmery look.  While the flowers were drying, I decided they would look great with a mixed media style of card, so I pulled out some paints and Gelatos.

And I got to do something else I've never tried before... baby wipes and Gelatos!  I LOVE the effect, it blends so beautifully and easily.  I've never had a reason to have baby wipes around the house until now and it always seemed a little weird to go buy some just for a craft project.  But now with the twins, we've got baby wipes galore, and I can try all the baby wipe techniques!!! {grin}

I dug deep into the back of my craft closet and tried to pick embellishments that I hadn't used in a long time, like these patterned ribbons, the pearl string (from Pizzazz Aplenty) and the binder clip from Tim Holtz.  I even added a little bit of accent with an old pack of rub-ons.  The stamping on the card (the sentiment and leaves) are from the Sunny Days set and are cut with the Leafy Sprigs Die Set, both by Verve.

Oh, and if you recognize the layout, it's Jen's Sketch For You To Try for August, which I turned into a 5.25" square card to fit my elements.

Okay, that's all from me today.  Thanks so much for stopping by!  Next up on the hop is Amy Wanford.

Enabler's List:
Stamps: Sunny Days (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Classic Calico Vol. 2 (Studio Calico), Basic Gray, Basic Black (SU!), aqua gemstone tissue paper
Ink: Black Mix'd Media Ink (Color Box), Pumice Stone Distress (Ranger) Black Gelato (Faber Castell) Dark Turquoise acrylic paint (DecoArt), blank canvas Studio paint (Claudine Hellmuth)
Accessories: Leafy Sprigs Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE) ribbons, decorative brads, binder clip and tiny attacher (Tim Holtz), circle punches (SU!), Mister Huey's Shine spray (Studio Calico), silver pearls on a cord (Pizzazz Aplenty), rub-ons (BasicGrey)

Sip and Savor

Hi friends!  Happy Tuesday!  I can't believe it's almost the end of February.  Time seems to be flying by.  I've been wanting to play along with Jen's Sketch For You to Try all month, and this was the first chance I got.  I decided to pull out Sip and Savor and Better with You for this card.  I was super freaked out when I found out that I was pregnant that I wouldn't be able to give up coffee.  But as luck would have it, coffee has tasted SO bad to me throughout the pregnancy that I haven't had more than a sip here and there, which promptly got spit out.  I still dream about it, though, so I'm hoping once the pregnancy is over I'll be able to enjoy a mocha now and then.

Anyhow, you're probably here more for the card than for my ramblings, so here's the scoop...  I started by stamping the little java mugs from Sip and Savor on white cardstock 3 times, then on brown paper bag cardstock three times.  I punched out the white ones, and cut the little java jacket sleeves from the paper bag ones, to piece over the white cups, adding a little shading with a Copic marker.  These circles are matted with black, then glued to a piece of brown paper bag cardstock that I ran through my paper crimper.

For the sentiment piece, I randomly stamped the coffee stain image from Better with You in Crumb Cake on a white circle, then stamped the Sip and Savor sentiment, matted on a black pinking circle and added some liquid pearl accents.  The real red layer is stamped repeatedly with the java background stamp from Better With You.  I added a burlap square, a bit of ribbon and some black star rhinestones for embellishment.

Enabler's List
Stamps: Sip and Savor, Better with You (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Real Red, Basic Black (SU!), brown paper bag (Paper Accents), white
Ink: Real Red, Crumb Cake (SU!), Black, Copic marker
Accessories:  Classic & Pinking Circles Nestabilities (Spellbinders), circle punches (SU!), burlap square, ribbon (May Arts), liquid pearls (Ranger), star rhinestones

Love Always

Hi friends!  Happy Tuesday!  I can't believe it's already the final day of January.  I've been intending to play along with Jen's SFYTT challenge all month, and now I'm just barely squeaking it in with a little TCP goodness, making it a two-fer as I participate in the TCP Valentine Blog Hop.

I got this fun little Idols stamp set before the move and am just now getting a chance to ink it up.  I thought it would be perfect for Mark's valentine card this year.  I added three little hearts from the Ewe Complete Me set to the front of the drum.

Next up I pulled out the Love Letters set and its coordinating Stamps Trio CutUps to make the vertical panel.  The Icing CutUps matched the sweet Be Loved paper I had selected, and I finished off with part of the Heart Trio CutUps and accented with some hand drawn dots.


Enabler's List:
Stamps:  Idols,  Ewe Complete Me, Love Letters (The Cat's Pajamas)
Paper:  Be Loved (My Mind's Eye), Black, Cherry Cobbler, Pool Party (SU!)
Ink: Black, Cherry Cobbler, Pool Party (SU!), Antique Linen (Ranger), Copic markers
Accessories: Stamp Trio, Hearts Trio and Icing CutUps (TCP). Dotted Wave Border Punch (EK Success), stardust glitter pen, black marker, Classic and Pinking Circles Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Stardust Stickles (Ranger)

Winter Tree, SFYTT and a Spotlight Hop

Hi friends!  Did y'all have a blast hopping along with the Day 1 Hop?  It's a brand new day and time for the Day 2 Verve Spotlight Hop, where the Divas are shining their sneaky little spotlights on some new stamps and dies for the holidays.  Leave a little comment love as you hop around the Divasphere, and you just might win today's featured stamps and dies for your very own!  All the prize info, details and deadlines can be found over on the Verve blog.  Products previewed today will be available following our release party on Friday night, 11/11/11.

For my spotlight card, I'm highlighting the Winter Tree plain jane, Bright Spirits set and the Love Birds Die Set.  To start, I paper pieced the Winter Tree plain jane with different holiday prints.  The tree is an updated version of the tree from Christmas in the Air, adding in some branch segments.  Both trees coordinate with the new Winter Fun Die Set (although I didn't use the die on this card, I'm sure you'll see it featured during the hop).  I stamped the smaller snowflake from Bright Spirits in Antique Linen randomly on my lighter background, then accented each center with liquid pearls.  The little birds are from the Bright Spirits set and are outline images of the solid birds from Love Story.  They also have a coordinating die, Love Birds Die Set, which I've used here to cut the birds out and hang some tiny rusty jingle bells from.  The sentiment from Bright Spirits is embossed in Early Espresso.

The layout for this card is Jen's Sketch For You To Try sketch for November.  Verve is sponsoring the sketch this month, so I hope you'll play along.  And if you play along with Verve, you just might win a Verve set of your choosing!  Check out Jen's blog for all the details.


Enabler's List:
Stamps: Bright Spirits, Winter Tree Plain Jane (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Season's Greetings (Echo Park), Early Espresso (SU!), cream
Ink: Antique Linen, Shabby Shutters (Ranger Distress ink), Early Espresso (SU!)
Accessories: Love Birds Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), rusty jingle bells (Frost it Pink), linen thread, vanilla seam binding ribbon (SU!), paper distresser, bristle brush, bisque liquid pearls (Ranger), clear embossing powder

Okay, it's time to get hopping... have an awesome day!

1. Julee 8. Andrea 2. Jackie 9. Vickie {Guest} 3. Teresa 10. Amy 4. Charmaine 11. Laurie 5. Maureen 12. Gretchen {Guest} 6. Tosha 13. Sankari 7. Wanda {Guest}

A Man's Heart

Happy Tuesday! Today' I've got a masculine card to share with you. I'm not usually a very technique-y kind of stamper, but boy-oh-boy did I have fun getting my grunge on with this card! {grin}

It all started with the new Proverbs 16:9 Plain Jane.  I embossed it onto an ivory cut out of the Vintage Oval Die.  Then I sponged the edges and then started swiping antique linen and vintage photo ink pads across it, for an aged look.  Next I rubbed my clear Versamark pad over the entire surface coated with clear embossing powder and embossed, then repeated a second time.  I loved the glossy look so much, I decided to use the same technique on the next panel, adding in some Broken China ink to match the designer papers I was using on the other panels.  This background square is also embossed with clear embossing powder, then I wrapped some twine around  it and knotted the ends, layering the vintage oval over the top.

I did some more ink pad swiping on the patterned paper layers, then stamped the verse repeatedly on a couple Bermuda Bay strips and crimped with my paper corrugator.  A few espresso mats, some large jumbo eyelets and a couple dogeared corners and I was done!

The layout for this card is Jen del Muro's April Sketch For You To Try and this month I actually played along before the last day of the month!  Go me!!!  {grin}

Well, that's all for today here on the ole' blog.  Hope you have a fabulous day and thanks so much for stopping by!

Enabler's List:
Stamps: Proverbs 16:9 Plain Jane (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Gabrielle Collection (Bo Bunny), map print (Heidi Swapp), Bermuda Bay, Early Espresso (SU!), Natural White (Neenah)
Ink: Broken China, Vintage Photo, Antique Linen (Ranger Distress), Early Espresso (SU!), VersaMark (Tsukineko)
Accessories: Vintage Oval Die (A Cut Above by Verve), Clear Detail embossing powder (JudiKins), jumbo eyelets (SU!), twine, paper corrugator

Photo Shoot

Hi there peeps!  I was cruising along and realized it's the last day of the month and I hadn't shown my March Sketch For You to Try entry yet.  Oops!  For this card Dax the Duck got all dressed up (because what duck doesn't want a sparkly orange bill?) and went to one of those photo booth vending machines!

I couldn't wait to try this sketch, because I love a  tilted panel.  And the only thing more fun than a tilted panel is... a wonky titlted panel!  LOL  Little Dax from Lucky Ducky is stamped repeatedly on strips of white cardstock, then I colored his bill with a copic marker and matted on black.  The striped paper is from the Echo Park Springtime collection.   For the main panel, I cut the wonky rectangle, sponged around the inner edges with barely banana, then made a tag with the Sweet Scallop Tag Die, and the Charming Oval Die Set and Charming Banner Die Set.  I split the sentiment from Lucky Ducky up to fit the banner, then stapled the banner to the charming oval die cut.  I finished off with liquid pearls, stickles, and divine twine.  Oh, and that fabby little double bow uses gingham ribbon from Pizzazz Aplenty.  It's a dream to tie!  Love it!

Well, there you have it!  There's still a few more hours to get your cards in for Jen's Sketch For You to Try this month.  Tune in tomorrow morning for our April Diva Inspirations Hop!!!

Enabler's List:
Stamps:  Lucky Ducky (Verve)
Paper: Springtime collection (Echo Park), Black, White
Ink: Black Dye Ink (A Muse), Copic Marker
Accessories:  Sweet Scallop Tag Die, Charming Oval Die Set, Charming Banner Die Set (A Cut Above Dies by Verve), Wonky Rectangles Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Orange Peel Stickles, Lemon Liquid Pearls (Ranger), Black Licorice  Divine Twine (TCP), 3/8" Black & White Gingham Ribbon (Pizzazz Aplenty), flower center (Prima)

For the Birthday Girl

Hi everyone.  This week has been a rough one for me.  My grandmother passed away, so I've been laying low, trying to process things.  And so I missed a very special birthday yesterday... my best friend, Laurie's!  I actually made the card earlier this week and squeaked it in under the wire for the February SFYTT challenge.  Jen's sketch got my creative juices going and I only strayed a little when making this little number for Laurie!

Laurie loves leafy designs... like crazy love... so I stamped the basic gray, cherry cobbler and basic black layers with the leafy sprigs (embossing the black on black, which is something Laurie does and I always think it looks amazing!).

Next I went for the flower.  I stamped all three sizes of the line art flower from Great Friend on white, then cut out, sponged with a bit of Pumice Stone, curled the edges and layered on dimensionals.  Then I added a little German glass glitter, a prima flower center and a nice coating of glitter/diamond glaze mixture on everything.  It's so super sparkly in real life!

For the little horizontal strip, I used an SU! border punch, stamped the For You sentiment from Great Friend across it three times, then added some German glass glitter, red rhinestones and some of that polka dot ribbon I love so much.  And since Laurie got me hooked on those tiny library clips, I had to add the sentiment circle (from Birthday Bash) with a silver library clip, then accented with a couple star trinket pins, because Laurie's such a star!

Okay, that's all from me.  Have a fabulous weekend!  And here's a refresher of what's going on in Verveland...
March Diva Inspiration Hop: Deadline to comment is Saturday night
Verve Fan Hop: Deadline to link up your creation is noon (Mountain) on Saturday
Verve Fan Hop Commenting:  Commenting is open until Sunday night
Viva la Verve! March Week 2:  Charmaine's this week's hostess

Enabler's List:
Stamps: Great Friend, Birthday Bash (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Basic Gray, Basic Black, Cherry Cobbler (SU!), Natural White (Neenah)
Ink: Basic Gray, Cherry Cobbler (SU!), Pumice Stone (Ranger Distress), Frost VersaMark
Accessories: circle punches, glass glitter, mini library clip, eyelet border punch (SU!), star stick pins (Maya Road), diamond glaze and glitter mixture, flower center (prima), rhinestones (Pizzazz Aplenty), paper distresser (Tonic), polka dot ribbon, file folder die

The Nicest Place

Hey y'all! Happy Saturday! Today I've got a just for the fun of it card for you. This one's wild and crazy and full of {heart}! I was completely smitten the minute I saw this new Love Letters set from The Cat's Pajamas! I've got a bit of a thing for postage stamps. Maybe it's having to explain to everyone I meet that I design stamps (not the postage kind), but I love the idea of a stamp of a stamp! And being given all the pieces and parts to design them myself... heaven!

Yesterday my order from TCP arrived in my mailbox, so as soon as work was over I headed up to do a little stamping! My only plan at the outset was to have fun using as many new goodies as possible and to use this month's Sketch For You To Try by Jen del Muro. This year her Saturday sketch has become a monthly sketch, with super cool sponsors and prizes. This month's sponsor is TCP, so I just had to bust out my brand new TCP for it! I took a little poetic license here and there, but I think you can still see the bones of the sketch there if you look hard enough! Right???   :)

To start, I cut a rectangle and started stamping my heart out with the Love Letters set. I'm pretty sure I used all but about 2 stamps from the set creating my little collage of love stamps. WAY too much fun! I also got the fabulous new Heart Trio die and had to give it a go, adding two layers of it as my "circle" in the sketch, then clipping the innermost heart on with a mini paper clip and a sentiment from the Ewe Complete Me set.  Isn't it just the sweetest... Together is the nicest place to be.  {sigh}  I stamped the little postmark stamp all over the kraft background, then used some fun little Love Birds paper by Fancy Pants for the horizontal and vertical panels.  There's a little bit of the apron border die in there too, although most of it is covered up.  That fabulous little trim up top is some pretty Sabrina Trim from Pizzazz Aplenty and I added some red flatback rhinestones to the gathered part to spice it up!  Some liquid pearl accents squiggled on the heart, a little cherry Divine Twine and a whole lot of distressing finished off this little number.

I think today's card was more than a little inspired by my new coffee mug.  What do you think?  Love this mug!!!  I'm hoping to get some more time in my studio this weekend, plus finally take down the Christmas decorations.  {I know, we're kind of late, but our artificial tree turned out so pretty this year that I haven't wanted to take it down! }  What's on your list this weekend?   I hope you enjoy yourself, whatever you do! And remember that together is the nicest place to be!


Enabler's List
Stamps:  Love Letters, Ewe Complete Me (The Cat's Pajamas)
Paper: Love Birds (Fancy Pants), brown paper bag cardstock (Paper Accents), Cherry Cobbler (SU!)
Ink: Fired Brick, Vintage Photo, Black Soot (Ranger Distress)
Accessories:  Heart Trio, Stamp Trio and Apron border CutUps and Cherry Divine Twine (TCP), liquid pearls (Ranger), mini paper clip (Tim Holtz), Sabrina trim and red rhinestones (Pizzazz Aplenty), Distrezz-it-All (Zutter),