October 2015 Verve Retrospective Blog Hop

Welcome to Verve's October Release Retrospective!  It's been a wonderful week of release celebration and the Divas and Guest Divas are back with one last look at the brand new release! Everything spotlighted is available to order in the Verve Store and is currently 20% off! Plus, we've got a sweet hop prize in store, so read on for more!

For my card today, I wanted to share how the Just Breath stamp set can be used in ways other than Breast Cancer Awareness...

I had a ton of fun on this card! I created the background with a variety of Distress Stains and Inks. I started out by spraying a butterfly stencil by Heidi Swapp in Mermaid Lagoon Distress Spray, then I layed it down on a piece of Canson watercolor paper. When I lifted the stencil up, I had this amazing watery butterfly background. I dried it with my heat tool and then made some puddles of Rusty Hinge ink and then dabbled the watercolor paper in it to create the splats and sprays you see. 

I heat embossed the sentiment on black cardstock in white and then cut the sentiement apart so I could layer it like this. The hearts and corners are also from the Just Breath stamp set, I just cut those out by hand. To finish off the card, I added some floss and some Harvest Gold Sequins! I also added some splatters of Heidi Swapp Gold spray ink, it looks so gorgeous IRL!

Want to win some shiny new Verve? Julee will be picking a random commenter on one of the hop spots below to win a $50 gift voucher to Verve! So be sure to leave a little comment on all the blogs below to increase your chances! Check out the Verve Blog today for a little more about the new products and all the prize info and deadlines!

1. Julee 8. Amber 2. Teresa 9. Andrea 3. Charmaine 10. Laurie 4. Marisa 11. Christyne 5. Amy {Guest} 12. Rosemary {Guest} 6. KellyJean {Guest) 13. Lori {Guest) 7. Maureen

Verve Stamps October 2015 Spotlight Hop - Day 2

Welcome back to Day 2 of Verve's October 2015 Spotlight Hops!  The Verve Divas are back for another day of spotlighting the new release! It's release day and everything you've seen spotlighted yesterday and today is available to order in the Verve store! Due to manufacturing delays the Good Work set is available as a pre-order only. The Just Breathe set has limited quantities with more on the way very soon. Stay tuned next week on the Verve Blog for four days of spotlights from some very special Guest Divas, then we'll wrap things up with a Release in Review Hop next Friday!

Today's spotlight is shining on the Good Work set, coordinating Good Work Flower Die Set and the Psalm 150:6 plain jane. Also releasing today is our beautiful Frosted Snowfall Sequin Mix.

I couldn't help it, played with my watercolors again :) I stamped the sentiment from Good Work on a tag cut out using the Flourished Tag die. I stamped the flowers from Good Work on some scraps of paper I had water colored, I wanted to get this artsy splatter kind of flower! The leaves were cut out with the Elegant Leaves die and stamped with the coordinating stamp from Bloom & Grow. I was using this leaf for a different project which never worked, but I kept the leaves. That's why they're a bit grungier than the rest of my card, but I still like them that way :) I finished the card off with some twine and some of the gorgeous new sequins from the Frosted Snowfall Sequin Mix!

***Andrea is next on the hop!***

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 below to increase your chances! Check out the Verve Blog today for a little more about our new products and all the prize info and deadlines!

1. Julee 6. Maureen 2. Teresa 7. Amber 3. Charmaine 8. Andrea 4. Marisa 9. Laurie 5. Stacey 10. Christyne

Verve Stamps October 2015 Spotlight Hop - Day 1

Welcome to Verve's October 2015 Spotlight Hops! 

It's almost time for some new Verve to hit the store, and the Verve Divas are hopping today to share our first looks at a brand new set filled to the brim with encouragement called Just Breathe.

I just love this set, the sentiments are amazing, and can be used in more ways than just Breast Cancer Awareness, though that is of course the main focus! My card today shows how it can be used to send encouragement to a friend or family member battling this terrible disease...

I started with a piece of watercolor paper cut down to a 4-bar size. I am really loving this little bit smaller canvas, so much fun :) Next, I stamped the sentiment in black ink and watercolored some pink over the sentiment. Next, I stamped the boxing gloves and hand cut them. I colored them in with the same pink watercolor (Tombow Markers). I stamped "hope" on the glove. Next, cut out the black hearts. I stamped the little corner stamp in the corners of the sentiment and then adhered the boxing gloves and hearts. I stamped a couple other sentiments in light pink ink around the sentiment and splattered some black watercolor paint. To finish it up, I scattered some Shine Bright sequins randomly and then tied the twine bow.

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 below to increase your chances! Check out the Verve Blog today for a little more about our new products and all the prize info and deadlines!

1. Julee 5. Stacey 2. Teresa 6. Maureen 3. Charmaine 7. Amber 4. Marisa 8. Andrea

October 2015 Diva Inspirations Challenge and Blog Hop

It's time for the Verve Divas to bring you our monthly Diva Inspirations Challenge and Blog Hop! There are two ways to win Verve prizes: comment on the design team's blog hop posts (linked below) to see their take on the inspiration, then go get inky and link up your take on the challenge to be eligible in our prize drawings! You have the until November 5 to link up, so feel free to play as often as you like.

Our October challenge is Black, White and Glam

October always has a bit of glamour and intrigue to it. A stroll through the craft store this time of year brings visions of glitzy pumpkins, gilded candelabras and rhinestones galore. So this month we’re challenging you to to get glamorous with black, white and metallics. Use the inspiration graphic or go off on your own tangent, just share a little bit of glam with us!

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

I created a fun mixed media tag for this inspiration challenge using the fabulous Masquerade stamp set and matching dies!

I started with a tag from Ranger and then applied a layer of black gesso. After letting that dry, I added white modeling past through a stencil and let that dry, then rubbed a layer of gold Texture Effects. After adding my layers, that part of the tag kind of got hidden which makes me sad, haha!

I cut the mask and handle out with the Mask dies, and then embossed the mask with Liquid Platinum embossing powder. I stamped the sentiment on a gold tag in black Stazon and to finish up added some cheese cloth under the sentiment tag piece, added some Golden Glam sequins, and a twine bow!

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	7. Maureen
	2. Amy	8. Stacey
	3. Betty	9. Charmaine
	4. Sankari	10. Amber
	5. Sarah	11. Marisa
	6. Susan

September Diva Inspirations Hop

It's time for the Verve Divas to bring you our monthly Diva Inspirations Challenge and Blog Hop! There are two ways to win Verve prizes: comment on the design team's blog hop posts (linked below) to see their take on the inspiration, then go get inky and link up your take on the challenge to be eligible in our prize drawings! You have the until October 5 to link up, so feel free to play as often as you like.

Our September challenge is Autumn Lovelies
September brings to mind crisp apples, bouquets of sharpened pencils, baked pumpkin delights, rainbows of fallen leaves and don't forget Pumpkin Spice Lattes and Salted Caramel Mochas! This month we're challenging you to to show us your autumn inspired creations. Use the inspiration graphic or go off on your own tangent, just share a little autumn loveliness with us!

For my challenge card, I took inspiration from the colors and pattern of the blanket. I loved those chevrons and decided I wanted copy that pattern

To create the background, I cut a piece of watercolor paper down to 3.25 x 4.5. I grabbed one of my stencils and some versmark and rubbed the versamark ink pad through the stencil. When I removed the stencil, I poured on some white embossing powder and heated it and came up with this amazing embossed chevron background! I pulled out my Gansai Tambi watercolors and added a variation of oranges, yellows, and reds. I dried between layers and then added more paint, trying to make it as "painterly" as I could, I sure love how it came out!

The stamps are from Sparkly Dreams, using the matching Butterfly Dreams Die Set and Flourished Tag Die Set.

Click here to link up your challenge entries
Challenge deadline: Monday, October 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'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	7. Susan
	2. Amy	8. Maureen
	3. Betty	9. Amber
	4. Jen	10. Stacey
	5. Sankari	11. Marisa
	6. Sarah

Thanks for stopping by!! Have a great Thursday :)

Thank you Kindly

I had a productive 3 day weekend, made lots of cards and watched lots of Netflix, how about you? 

One of the cards I created was for this week's MFT Sketch Challenge, such a fun sketch! I stretched it a little bit, but am really pleased with how it came out:)

First the sketch!

And next, my card using the new Delicate Pretty Poppies. I love this set sooo much and don't think it's going to be leaving my desk anytime soon :)

I stamped the poppies on a piece of Ranger watercolor paper and watercolored the flowers with my Tombow markers. I added a little blue shading around the flowers and then flicked some black paint randomly around the card and added the sentiment. The last details were to add the scalloped border (I think from PPP?) and the twine bow. 

Thanks for stopping by, hope you have a great week!

Happy Place

Hello friends! As you can see, I haven't been stamping a whole lot since July. My loss of creativity has really been bothering me lately, and I'm determined to get back in my zone. I need to create a little each day, for my own happiness! So here's to starting over :)

I thought I'd play with the Week 4 Viva la Verve Sketch Challenge, check out this fun sketch!

Today is the last day to play in this sketch challenge, and we'll have a new one up tomorrow!

Here's my card!

I had this scrap of paper on my desk, and knew I wanted to use it, but I don't remember which collection it came from. The flowers and sentiment are from Happy Place. The flower stamp was cut out with the coordinating Happy Doodles dies, and the sentiment was stamped on a piece cut out with the Cupcake Frame die and cut down to fit the sentiment.

The Verve Annivervsary Sale has been extended! Click below to see the steals and deals! :) Thanks for stopping by!

July 2015 Diva Inspirations Challenge and Blog Hop

It's time for the Verve Divas to bring you our monthly Diva Inspirations Challenge and Blog Hop! There are two ways to win Verve prizes: comment on the design team's blog hop posts (linked below) to see their take on the inspiration, then go get inky and link up your take on the challenge to be eligible in our prize drawings! You have the rest of the month to link up, so feel free to play as often as you like.

Our July challenge is Sensational Stripes
Stripes go with everything! Make them nautical, or pair with florals for a graphic look. Use stripes however you're inspired! Use the inspiration graphic or head off in your own direction, just show us your stripes! 

I used the stripes in the color inspiration piece as my inspiration! I cut out four strips of cardstock and layed them down at alternating heights, then stamped the background from Deco Borders in Versamark ink for a tone on tone look. I adhered the pieces down with foam tape. Next, I cut out some flowers with the Floral Notes Die Set and stamped the coordinating floral images from Floral Notes and colored them in with Tombow markers. The sentiment is also from Floral Notes!

Click here to link up your challenge entries
Challenge deadline: Friday, July 31.
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'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	8. Susan
	2. Amy	9. Maureen
	3. Betty	10. Marisa
	4. Jen	11. Stacey
	5. Karen	12. Laurie
	6. Sankari	13. Amber
	7. Sarah

Verve Stamps June Release Blog Hop

It's the final day of our June 2015 Verve Spotlight Hops! All of the stamps and dies you've seen this week are available in the Verve online store now! Sit back and relax for one last inspirational stroll as our sneaky Verve spotlight lands on Diva's choice today. And to cap off this release, we're giving away the entire release to one lucky commenter along today's hop, so come along with us as we share one last look-see at our newest release!

Today's spotlight is on the entire June 2015 Release, so grab a treat and hop along!

I absolutely adore this whole release, it is so fun, isn't it??? The Buzz may be one of my favorites though, I just *LOVE* these bees, the honeycomb, the fonts, GAH!!  Can't take the cuteness:)

Want to win some shiny new Verve? We'll be picking a random commenter on one of the hop spots below to win our ENTIRE June 2015 Release! 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 shopping and prize info and deadlines!

1. Julee 7. Charmaine 2. Stacey 8. Christyne 3. Teresa 9. Maureen 4. Amber 10. Amy 5. Laurie 11. Janelle 6. Marisa 12. Shantaie