Verve Stamps February 2016 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 until March 5 to link up, so feel free to play as often as you like.

The pop of color in this industrial style loft speaks of the hope of spring in the midst of winter. Kind of like February... it's still cold and wintry, but new life is on the horizon. Feel free to take your inspiration from the photo or the color combo, whatever suits your fancy! We can't wait to see what you create.

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


Oh boy, I know it's been like a million years since I've posted! I'm slowly working my way back into my craft room, I sure have missed all my stamps and ink and paper and glitter and markers and dies, oy! This inspiration challenge this month was just the ticket to get me out of my funk! I just love this color combo!

I started by laying a stencil on the card base and rubbing some green Distress Ink over the stencil. I cut out three flowers using the Pointed Flowers Die Set and then embossed the matching stamps from Lean on Me in white embossing powder. I colored them in with my Tombow markers and then blended with a water brush. I stamped and embossed the sentiment from Floral Notes in white on soft gray cardstock. I rounded one of the corners on the sentiment to add a little interest, and rounded that same corner on the card base. Last detail was to add some Shine Bright sequins and some twine.

Here on this photo, you can see the sparkly background. I ran my glitter pen over the green parts of the stenciled leaves, I also added the shimmer to the water-colored flowers, it's so sparkly IRL!!

Amy's blog is up next, don't miss it!!

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! 

	1. Julee	8. Marisa
	2. Amber	9. Maureen
	3. Amy	10. Sankari
	4. Betty	11. Stacey
	5. Charmaine	12. Susan
	6. Christyne	13. Teresa
	7. Laurie

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

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 January Diva Inspirations Hop

Welcome to Verve's January Diva Inspirations Hop. It's the 5th of the month and that means it's hopping time! This year we're spicing up our monthly hops with the addition of a challenge! So in addition to a comment prize hidden along the hop, you can play along with the challenge and link up your creation for a chance to win another prize! Woohoo!

Our January challenge is:

The year is shiny and new, so let's add shimmer and shine to our cards.
Think glitter, sequins, rhinestones, pearls, heat embossing - anything with some gloss.

Here's a card I made with some glittery cardstock hearts!

The hearts and sentiment are from my favorite Valentine set, Chevron Love!

I stamped part of the sentiment on a doily, and the other part on a tab I cut out with the Flag It die set.

The black heart was cut out with the Jotted Heart die and the red with the Wavy Hearts die set.

The silver glitter hearts were cut out with the Heart Quartet die set and the red arrow is from a package of MME ephemera.

I did my best to use the January Week 1 Viva la Verve sketch challenge! Make sure to check out our BRAND NEW CHALLENGE BLOG!

Need a little more inspiration? Check out the blogs linked below to see what our 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. Sarah	10. Tiffany
	2. Amy	11. Maureen
	3. Anya	12. Stacey
	4. Betty	13. Amber *YOU ARE HERE!*
	5. Jessica	14. Teresa
	6. Karen	15. Marisa
	7. Sankari	16. Charmaine
	8. Sony	17. Verve Blog
	9. Susan

Verve October Inspiration Hop

Welcome to the World Card Making Day edition of Verve's Diva Inspirations Hop! It's the 5th of the month and that means it's hopping time. Along today's hop you'll see some fresh new ideas for some beloved older sets, as well as some fantastic pairings of our latest release with existing sets. It's sure to be a treat, and we've got treats to give away, too!

I dug deep this week and found a couple oldie but GREATY (I know, I went to far with that one) stamp sets that haven't seen the light of day in awhile. I used the sweet ornaments and sentiment from Holly Jolly and the bow from O Christmas Tree! I paired it with this weeks Viva la Verve sketch and the inspiration picture! You'll also see the newly released Award Banner Trim die :-)

Here's my card--

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I loved working with Sarah's sketch and these gorgeous colors from the inspiration photo!

Want to win Verve's ENTIRE September Release? Jut leave comments on all of the blogs on today's hop to be entered in the drawing! 

	1. Julee	10. Marisa
	2. Amy	11. Teresa
	3. Betty	12. Maureen
	4. Jessica	13. Charmaine
	5. Karen	14. Christyne
	6. Sankari	15. Andrea
	7. Sarah	16. Amber <---you are="" here="" strong="">
	9. Susan	17. Stacey {Guest}
	9. Tiffany

Want to win Verve's ENTIRE September Release? Jut leave comments on all of the blogs on today's hop to be entered in the drawing! 

And since World Card Making Day is the official start to the holiday card making season, Verve has a 25% off sale on Christmas stamps this weekend only!

Thanks for stopping by today, enjoy your weekend!!

August Verve Diva Inspirations Hop

Welcome to Verve's August Diva Inspirations Hop! It's the 5th of the month and that means it's time for the Verve Divas to breathe new life into some much-loved stamps and dies. And there's a PRIZE up for grabs, so be sure to leave a little shout out in the comment section of each blog as you hop about to be entered in a drawing for a $30 gift voucher to Verve Stamps! Check out all the details and prize info over at the Verve Blog.

I played with the new Mojo Monday sketch and my Take Note and Borderline stamp sets...

I did some faux sewing with the border stamp from Borderline and the rest of the stamps are from Take Note! I tried to do some doodling on the oval sentiment piece, but it was a fail, lol! I should have left well enough alone, but I thought it would turn out better, oh well! I still like the card:)

Your next stop is going to be Andrea's beautiful blog, so hop to it! Thanks for stopping by today:)

	1. Julee	9. Teresa
	2. Amy	10. Charmaine
	3. Anya	11. Christyne
	4. Betty	12. Maureen
	5. Karen	13. Marisa
	6. Sarah	14. Amber
	7. Susan	15. Andrea
	8. Tiffany

Don't forget to take advantage of the Anni-VERVE-sary sale we have going on right now!! Click the banner below:)

September Diva Inspirations Blog Hop!

Hello! If you've never been a part of our monthly inspiration hops, you are missing out! The divas all pull out some of our favorite sets that haven't seen ink in awhile and show them some love! 

I'm sure if you've been around, you know we just had a release, right? Well a few of our new stamps coordinate with an older set, Dream Big! I just had to pull Dream Big out again so I could play with my  

new stuff too!

I used the new Scalloped Flowers die to cut the flowers out and then I stamped the flowers from Dream Big in Crumb Cake and Bermuda Bay ink. I cut some leaves out with the new Dreamy Leaves die and then stamped the leaves from Dream Big in Memento Lettuce ink. I added some buttons to the flower centers because a flower just doesn't seem finished until I do, haha!

The sentiment is from Dream Big and the faux stitches are from the new set Borderline.

I cut a banner out with my Ribbon Banner die and then added the new Pennant Trim die to the sides of the banner. Add a couple more buttons and that's all she wrote! I used last week's Colour Q challenge for the color combo and this week's CPS sketch for the layout!

I hope you find some time this week to pull out some of your beloved stamps that haven't see any ink for awhile and breathe new life into them! 

Check out what my Diva sisters were inspired to create! 

	1. Betty	8. Amber
	2. Jen d.	9. Amy
	3. Jen T.	10. Andrea
	4. Julee	11. Janelle
	5. Sankari	12. Maureen
	6. Sony	13. Teresa
	7. Susan	14. Tosha

August Diva Inspirations Blog Hop!!

Hi there! I'm back today with more lovely VERVE inspiration! The Inspiration Diva's have a monthly hop, on the 5th of every month and extend the invitation to the rest of us Divas so I jumped on this one! I love pulling out older, unloved sets and putting a new spin on them. 

Today, I have a card to share using this past week's Mojo Monday sketch and the Joyful Blooms stamp set.

I've really been loving this Teresa Collins paper pad lately and don't plan on putting this paper away anytime soon, haha! I thought the flowers on the floral piece looked really close to our Joyful Blooms set, so that's why I went with that stamp set. 

I cut out three blooms with the Joyful Blooms die set and then stamped coordinating flowers from the Joyful Blooms stamp set. On the big pink one, I cut around the small flower a bit and popped those petals out. You gotta be careful doing this because it almost cut that middle flower out all the way, when I only meant to pop some of the petals out, haha. I added some buttons to the centers and then popped them up on dimensionals. I used a couple other Verve dies, you can see the Ribbon Banner die in the back (I actually cut two, so I could elongate the banner) and the Classy Label die behind the circular sentiment piece. 

Well, that's it from me! I hope you enjoyed my card using an oldie but a goodie:) Hopefully you're inspired to pull out some older sets that haven't see the daylight for awhile and give 'em a workout:) 

Thanks for stopping by today! Now hop on to ANDREA'S beautiful blog!

Here's the hop list in case you get bounced around a bit:)

	1. Betty	9. Andrea
	2. Jen d.	10. Janelle
	3. Jen T.	11. Laurie
	4. Julee	12. Maureen
	5. Sankari	13. Teresa
	6. Sony	14. Charmaine
	7. Susan	15. Christyne
	8. Amber *<---you are here*	16. Laurie

With a new month comes a new sale, and this month we're celebrating FIVE wonderful years of Verve! So in proper celebratory style, we've made some fantastic discounts on some wonderful product! Through August 31, save 10 - 50% off select stamps and dies. Everything is on sale while supplies last, so go ahead and treat yourself to one or two, or even FIVE stampy pleasures! {grin}

July Verve Diva Inspirations Hop!

Hi there! This is my 2nd post today! If you're looking for my Deconstructed Sketch post, please scroll down a bit! Thanks so much:)

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So, today, I have the pleasure of joining the Inspiration Diva's on their monthly hop! We've all picked out some oldie-but-goodie Verve stamp sets and hope to inspire you to pull out your older, unloved stamps as well! New stamps are great, but sometimes those old ones just never lose their sparkle:)

For today's card, I decided to pull out Abundant Blessings! I have always loved this set and don't play with it often enough!

Here's my card!

I went pretty simple as far as the design goes, and I love how it turned out! I used my square nestabilities to create the brown and yellow frames. I also did a bit of paper piercing around the corners and some sewing to add interest to the frames. All in all, this card turned out just how I was hoping! 

Are you ready to see more? You can start the Hop at the Verve blog and continue through and comment on each fabulous blog and leave a little comment love and you just might win some Vervey goodness of your very own!  If you got here from the Susan's Blog you are in the right place.  Be sure to check out the awesome line up of diva inspiration we have for you this month and also check out the sale happening in the store all month long! Your next stop on this hop is the lovely ANDREA!!

	1. Betty	8. Amber
	2. Jen d.	9. Andrea
	3. Jen T.	10. Charmaine
	4. Julee	11. Janelle
	5. Sankari	12. Maureen
	6. Sony	13. Teresa
	7. Susan

It's Julee's (owner & illustrator of Verve) birth month, so we're having a SALE!

Through July 31, ALL stamps are 20% off!