A Friendly Challenge with Verve

So at the most recent Verve Stamps release... i was hemming and hawing over what stamps to get. And i was thinking, i do have so many stamps that need to see some ink... but man these are so cah-uuuuuute! I NEEEEEED them. We've all been there right? Trying to decide whether or not we truly need to have another flower set? Well... my dear friend Tina is ever the enabler. She said, oh you HAVE to get them, because i am going to challenge you to use them! And challenge she did! She issued 2 challenges... one to use a sketch based off of THIS CARD and then to make a tag. We ended up getting the same stamp sets, so this was a fun "challenge". I can't wait to see what she came up with! She issued these challenges the night of the verve release, but we both had so much going on with other releases (included both of us with PMS) that we decided September 12th would be OUR challenge day! It's a bit of a...um.... throwdown if you will!

So here's what i did with the sketch challenge...

I used Verve's set, Great Friend. I LOVE those flowers! And i mean LOVE! I love that there are both outlines and solids. I even created my own background paper with them. I was 100% the stamper for this card! :D And look what else fun you can do with this set...

Layers GALORE! I love giving added dimension to a card or scrapbook layout and foam adhesive just rocks! Plus it doesnt add a lot of weight but it does give depth!!! I did add both blind and stickles to the top most layer to so there is some mega depth. It's a good thing i hand delivered this card yesterday (i had a friend having a bummer of a day so i had her in mind for this card the whole time anyway!)

Ok... next challenge was to make a tag. Easy enough, right? Well i stamped the front of this um, maybe 7 or 8 times? Or MORE. I just couldnt get it right. The ink wouldnt do what i wanted to, and then the embossing wouldnt work the way i wanted. I finally figured out my perfect combo and then i was very pleased with the result. I think this tag would make a great bookmark and i have just the person in mind to send it to. :D Oh yeah, you have to see it right?

I had a really hard time photographing it after everything. The embossing powder really reflected the light. hahahaha. It does look prettier in real life, but you get the idea.

Ok... so now you have to see what tina did. No doubt they are STUNNING!

Read more...

Verve is having an AnniVERVEsary!!!!

One of the first non hostess stamp companies (and one of the ones that truly got me hooked on this "little hobby") is Verve Stamps. I adored them back in the day when they were verve visuals. ahhh.... memories. Well this month they are celebrating 3 years of extreme success in the stamping industry! WAY TO GO! It's no wonder since they have a ROCKIN' design team, fantabulous stamp designs and wonderful quality stamps. But i still admit, i'm jealous! hahaha!

There are 5 awesome sketches that Julee has put out for the occassion (and you know i love her sketches!). If you complete them all, you are entered to win the whole release and from the sneak peeks... oh i want this release!!!!

Here is just the first of the 5 sketches. We'll see if i'm lucky enough to get them all done! But the party is TONIGHT at 8! I hope to see you there! Join in the fun HERE.

SO here's my first vervie verve card!

I used the set ENJOY. It's just such a fun set because the butterfly when turned upside down

and stamped with the stem, looks like this really cool flower. I love it when a stamp set can have multiple uses!

The body and antennae are 2 separate stamps which since Verve stamps are clear are very easy to place exactly where you want them. If you arent a "colorer" then there is also a solid version of the stamp.

But I am a colorer. hahaha. I used copics here

R000, R00, R02, R05 and R08 to be exact!

I wanted to do something a little different with my organza trim than just tie a bow. So i started playing around with it and while i could get the organza to curl a bit just by using the ol' run scissors thru it trick, of course it would STAY where i wanted it. So i trimmed itsy bitsy pieces of scor tape (i'm sure a mini glue dot would have worked, but i knew where my scor tape was!) and put it just on the end of each curl and then placed it exactly where i wanted it on my card. Now looking at it perhaps i should have covered the knot. Oh well, it is what it is. hahahahaha!

All of my edges of cardstock from the white to the darker purple/maroon shade have been sponged with Tattered Rose distress ink. It's more noticeable in person than in the photos, but you can definitely see it on the white.

Paper Details: Patterened Paper is from the Marrakech collection from Basic Grey. Maroon cardstock is PTI (sorry, i totally cant remember the name!), Orange is Harvest by Bazzill and Red is Tulip from Close to My Heart stamped with the solid butterfly/flower image in tulip ink.

Punch along the side is from Fiskars. Circles were cut using Classic and Petite Scallop dies by Spellbinders.

Thanks for stopping by today!!

Read more...

Verve's Spring Fling Sketch Challenge

Holy cow - i got a card done! Normally it's this time of the month where i disappear for a few days. Well, I was a little ahead of schedule today and I noticed that the deadline wasnt until midnight today for the Verve Spring Fling Challenges. Sooooo, i thought, ya know, i have a spare 20 minutes to do the sketch challenge. So i put together this card. man, cards come together so fast when you just follow the sketch and dont have something to color!

I was pleased with the outcome as well...

I used a sentiment from the Beautiful You set which was the 2nd verve stamp set I ever bought (my very first set was starlight starbright which is retired and no longer available, sniff)

I used a butterfly from Prima to serve as my second circle. Only 2 come in a pack, but man are they pretty!

Here's a close up shot...

Ok, i spent most of my extra minutes on my card so not much time to type before the deadline! :)

Ok, if you dont hear from me for a few days, know i'm ok, just taking a breather from sneak peeks and releases!!! :) But i'll be back soon, i promise!

Read more...

Random post for the day with some VERVE

Ok, so i totally already posted once today. And if you are looking for my sneak peek from Paper Makeup Stamps, just scroll down. :) And i actually have a lot of crafting to get done. Like deadlines, stuff for classes, videos to edit, etc. But today is Verve's release! And they are partying all day with challenges on their blog and sneaks and fun-ness! And you know i looooooooove me some verve. So i just HAAAAAAD to play. So i did. ;)

The first challenge of the day was to create a CAS (clean and simple) card using something floral. That seemed easy enough! And i wanted to play with a copic technique i'll be using in a class later this month so i had the perfect idea and knew exactly which stamp i wanted to use for it!

I used Verve's Elegant flower. It's a "plain jane" which means it comes by itself and is only 3 bucks. But it pairs perfectly with Because of You (which is probably my favorite verve set ever) and grateful elegance which i dont own and i'm really really thinking that i should!

Here's a closeup of the flower...

Isnt it fun? I used copic markers BV02, BV04, BV08 to blend into YR61, YR65 and YR68. A simple rhinestone for the center finished it off.

For my sentiment i used onee from Here For You. I just love the fonts that verve uses! LOVE them! I stamped it out, then used the Labels 8 nestie and then used my copic airbrush (i know, i'm sooooo original from card to card... hahahahaha)

So thats my fun CAS card for Verve!

Now to finish up my sneak peek card for tomorrow. Yep, i have my priorities straight. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!

Read more...

A little verve for you...

Is it really tuesday already?! Where does the time go!

Well, I have been hard at work getting some samples made up for you, which of course since they cant be posted yet, always drives me bonkers!

I did realize however that I have a Viva La Verve card that was never posted here on my blog!

I made the card for a friend who i didnt want to see the card, and then i kinda forgot about it!

Whoopsie! Well, at least that means i have something to show you today!

Here's my card...

If you have never played along with the Viva La Verve challenges on splitcoast, Amber gives you a sketch and then a twist! To go along with this sketch, her challenge was a 1, 2 3 challenge, i cant firmly remember the 1 (it may have been 1 thickness of additional cardstock other than the image??), 2 cardstock colors in addition to your neutral and then 3 stamps. It was a fun CHALLENGE thats for sure!

Ok, off to pick the kiddo up from school!!!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Read more...

Stirring up some mojo!

It's time for a little mojo curteosy of Mojo Monday!

For those that don't know about Mojo Monday, Julee Tillman create amazing sketches to stir up a little mojo! Most weeks are just for fun but the first week of the month she gives away prizes. AHEM, it's the first week of the month, so if you would like to try to win, you have a week to play!

Here is my take on the sketch...

Here's

Stamps
Verve Stamps - Christmas is in the Air

Inks:
Wild Wasabi (retired SU), Black Onyx (Versafine)

Paper
Patterned Paper by SEI
Cardstock by SU

Tools and Accessories
Nestabilities (Standard Circle and Petite Scallop circle)
Saddlestitched Grosgrain Ribbon - Pure Poppy (PTI)
Rhinestones (Basic Grey Bling it in Ruby)

Read more...

A little verve for you...

I have another verve card that i did last week for the Viva La Verve challenges. For those that followed their release last friday with their challenges... Julee has extended the deadline to tonight at midnight. Unfortunately for me I still have too much catch up to do! So i doubt i'll get in on the action, but check out the Verve Stamps Blog for details. :)

Here is my card...

Sorry for my not standard card set up. I was at my parents house so i didnt have more normal ghetto fab card picture taking equipment. hahahaha.

And another sorry, i dont have many details for this post since i was using my mom's papercrafting scraps! I can say that the stamp is from Verve's Beautiful You set. :)

Have a wonderful day!

Read more...

Viva La Verve challenge card

I'm going to keep this post quick since this is my last day visiting my parents and my 10 year high school reunion is tonight!

This is a card i did about a week ago but just hadnt found the time to post yet. WOOPS, i'm getting a little behind! AcK!

Every friday verve posts a challenge with a twist in their forum on splitcoast. This past month was the first month i did all 4 challenges! Granted i did them kinda back to back minus this card, but i still did them all! I did not win though. Oh well. haha.

Here is my card...

Ok, time to go meet up with an old friend for lunch, so i'll chat with everyone soon!!!!

Read more...

Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Anniversary AND a card! :)

Hello Everyone! I wanted to be sure to wish everyone a fantastic Thanksgiving today! We traveled yesterday and it took 2 hours longer in the car than normal due to a rockslide! No fun. But the boys were great. :)

Today is a double holiday for me! Not only is it Thanksgiving... but it's also my anniversary!

4 years ago today my hubby and i were married! And today we are back in the same town. He says our anniversary landing on Thanksigiving is completely unromatic. I think it's kinda fun that we are in the same town we got married in though (since we were living in LA when we got married, but the wedding was in Indiana where i'm from).

So indeed today I have a lot to be thankful for!

In honor of the day, I wanted to list some other things that I am truly thankful for...

My Family

Our good health

My friends

The success of my new stamp company

the support of the paper crafting world in so many ways

Here is the card I made for my hubby. I also used a technique i've never done (because in order to get anything accomplished in my life, i must double task! I made this card using the Viva La Verve challenge number 2! :)

Using the cracked glass technique... here is my card...

Since Verve has some fantastic clear stamps, i was able to curve the sentiment to go along the oval. I love that you can change the shape of clear stamps!

I really wanted a lovey dovey image, but *GASP* i dont any hearts from verve! So i've heard, i'm going to "heart" the next release from Verve which is TOMORROW, so i see some buying in my future! Since i dont own any heart stamps, i just drew some hearts and colored them in with copics.

BUT, speaking of the Verve release...

Verve is going to be having a super fun blog party tomorrow for their release...

Thanks for stopping by today and perhaps i'll see ya tomorrow!

Read more...

Home for the Holidays with Verve!

My subject title is multi purposeful! I really am going home for the holidays! Well, the thanksgiving holidays anyway! :) We're packing up the kiddos into the truck and making a very long 9 hour drive to Indiana. Please pray for me with no potty accidents and boys who dont try to poke each other!

The other reason for my post is Verve's Project Parade for the month! Now if it no small secret that I'm in love with verve's stamps along with the sketches, challenges, and delicious inspiration from the design team. It truly is the best place for me to go to work up the crafty mojo! And each month they have a project parade showing off the releases from that month fit with a prize at the end!

This month's project parade was to make a holiday gift. The samples from the design team were all less than $10! Well i followed suit making a gift for less than $5. Go me!!!!

I simply altered a candle jar. I love giving candles, and AC Moore has these fabulously smelling candles for only $4! All the paper and ribbon used on my candle were scraps! (the paper is actually baby boy paper! shh, dont tell the candle it's not christmas paper!)

Here is my gift...


Now of course since it's around the jar of the candle it was hard for me to photograph the scene. So here's a couple other shots...






This was super easy and quick to make! I always have these jar candles around (because we always have them lit in the house, and at 4 bucks a piece and them going on sale for 2 for $5 often, i buy them a lot!) So all i needed was a 3.5 strip of patterened paper, whatever other scraps and bit you want to embellish with and then maybe some ribbon. You could easily add other 3D embellishments. I stuck to paper piecing to make the images stand out. And since they were pieced onto the main patterned paper, i didnt want to distract from them so i kept the entire thing pretty flat.

To paper piece the trees and snowflakes i just stamped them onto paper and cut them out. I also stamped onto the main paper and glued the cutouts inside the stamped images. Also stamping on the background helps to give the paper pieced image a little more oompf.

I hope that everyone has a fantastically wonderful thanksgiving holiday and for those traveling, please be safe!

Read more...

A little mojo for your weekend

Well it's no secret i'm in love with Julee's sketches for mojo mondays. My new goal is to do the mojo challenge each week. Ok, so that was my goal starting this month and i think i've done 2. hahaha. Well, in my defense, the middle of this month got a little rough on me.

In any case, i have a fun card to share with you using this week's mojo sketch...

My tree image is one that I used to teach my copic club class at Funkie Munkie this month. I taught about the cone shape, how it relates to images we color often and then in addition, how to add a little more shape to a cone. For this this example, we took the shape of a cone for the pine tree, but then by using some shading of copic markers, helped to make the branches stand out. It was a super fun class! And now since i have about 6 trees colored in, i figured, why not work on some christmas cards! :)

Here's my card...

I used the Christmas in the Air set by Verve Stamps. As you may see if you clickie on that link there, that the tree in the set is a very 2 dimensional tree. It's fantastic for paper piecing (which is the next thing i plan to do with it!!!) but I wanted to show everyone in the class how you can really make a 2d image stand out with a little shading. I was very pleased with the outcome!

I used various snowflakes from the set (there are 5 different sizes!) to create other aspects of my card, like background paper, etc. And i outlined everything with a spica pen which you can kinda see in this picture...

Well, thanks for stopping by and I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!!

Read more...

A card for my Mama!

Yesterday was my Mama's borthday! I love my mama! She is the most influencial person of my life! She's a wonderful grandma too! All around, she is one awesome woman!

Here is the card i made for her...



I used Verve Stamps for my card. Everytime i use Verve i'm in awe of how beautiful they are! The quality is great as well. Just an FYI if you didn't know... there is a release party tonight in the Verve Forum on splitcoast.

The set i used here is called Because of You. It's a really fantab set because it can be used for mother, sister, grandma, friend, etc.

Here are...

Stamps: Because of You by Verve Stamps

Copics: R32, R35, R37

Inks: Rich Cocoa by Memento

Papers: Perfect Day by Close to My Heart

Tools and Accessories:
Pearls by Kaisercraft
Rivermist Ribbon by PaperTrey Ink
Nestabilies

Read more...

Mojo89 and the staying power of kaisercraft bling

First of all... yesterday was a baaaad day! I hate the post office. I am not pleased with 3 year old "attitude". And i really dislike when stores dont honor the signs they've left up (unless there is a date on the sign of when the sale ends... in this case, there wasnt). So yeah, not a fun day. So last night I told my hubby i needed some mind calming time with my stamps! And there was an adorable Mojo Sketch yesterday with the bonus of it being the first mojo sketch of the month which means not only a cute sketch but a prize attached to it. ahhhh. nothing like mind calming crafting when you know you just might win something to boot. :)

So here's my card...


I'm actually pretty pleased with the turn out but then i usually am when i use one of Julee's sketches. She kind of does all the hard part for you! :) here's a quick view of her sketch...


For the card i used some patterned paper that a friend, Carri D sent to me. Actually, she sent it all folded up in a super cute envelope style, but i couldnt bear to just let it never be used so i just pieces out of it to use on the card! Unfortunately i had no idea what company it's from. I've emailed her and will edit the post to add that information later! :) ETA: It's Martha Stewart paper! Nice and thick, double sided and available at walmart. I'm on my way!

Here's a close view of the butterfly, i dont think you can tell that it's popped up from the front view!


I used a martha stewart butterfly punch to punch a negative space in the white circle but also punched out of the brown cardstock to pop it up above the negative space. And i'm not sure if this is a good thing or not, but my 3 year old saw the card this morning and asked "mama, is that stickles on that butterfly" to which i said, why yes it is! Should my 3 year old know what stickles look like?

Oh, and here's my funny story about the staying power of kaisercraft bling and pearls (just skip down if you only want the details of the card!). So last night when making this card, i was using chocolate pearls by kaisercraft. I LOVE these! They are so pretty and i can barely keep them in stock on the PMS website! :) Well, i was opening a new package and pulled a little too hard to get them out and a few went flying off. I found all of them but 1. I looked all over the ground, nothing. Oh well, they are very affordable bling and i figured no biggie that i couldnt find one. This morning, i noticed something on my toenail. I looked closer and it was a chocolate pearl! That means it lasted all night in bed and thru my shower this morning without falling off. AND i didnt stick it on there, it just must have landed there when it fell. Now thats some strong adhesive!

Dont forget sneak peeks for the PMS summer release start tomorrow! :)
Read on for more specific details of this card...



Stamps:
Verve Stamps, Beautiful You

Paper:
Patterned Paper: Martha Stewart
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip by Stampin' Up

Tools & Accessories:
Chocolate Ribbon by PaperTrey Ink
Chocolate Pearls by Kaisercraft
Nestabilities Scallop Large Square by Spellbinder
Nestabilties Petite Scallop Circle Large by Spellbinder

Read more...

We did it!

Yippie for Jen Tapler and Susanna Boyd! The Stampin' Out Alzheimer's event reached it's goal IN ONE DAY! 1 DAY!!!! Thats amazing. For anyone who is participating in the event, or plan to sometime this week, thank you! As a sponsor, I thank you. As a member, I thank you. As a friend, I thank you!

If you havent joined up yet, what are you waiting for?! Go to http://www.stampinoutalzheimers.ning.com
You dont know what you're missing! There are prizes out the waaaazoooooooo! :)

Yesterday i participated in some vervie verve challenges! I love my Verve Visuals stamps. They dont get nearly the love and appreciation they should. They are also having a sale! Woot Woot! my current cart is at 52.60. Now if only i could win that $50 gift certificate Julee is giving away at SOA. Or even one of the many free sets. *sigh* (have i enticed you to go over to the site yet? i'll keep trying if i havent, hehehehe)

The 2 challenges going on are the Mojo Monday challenge and a Verve Visuals challenge.

Here's my verve sketch challenge card...


and my Mojo Monday card (which i'm not ecstatic about, but thats ok, it grows on me)



I will say that i was pretty excited that i happened to have Dr. Suess paper in my stash!



Verve Sketch Card (1st card)
STAMPS:
Petals and Stems by Verve Stamps

PAPER:
White is Neenah Solar White, Cardstocks are Soft Sky (SU), Creamy Caramel (SU), Chocolate Chip (SU) and Sorbet (CTMH)

INKS: Sorbet (CTMH), Sweet Leaf (CTMH), Soft Sky (SU), Creamy Caramel (SU)


Mojo Sketch Card (2nd card)
Stamps:
Beautiful You by Verve Stamps

Paper: is a hodge podge of scraps really. I'm pretty sure the dr suess is by Sandy Lion though. :)



Thanks for stopping by again! Now go play over at the SOA site! :)

Read more...

Mojo Monday

This is actually for LAST weeks Mojo Monday. I'm a little behind. But you have until 12 noon mountain time today so i'm cutting it to the wire! It's a great sketch though, so check it out here

Here's my card...



Card Details
STAMPS USED: Beautiful You set by Verve and my Petals & Stems set also by Verve.
PATTERNED PAPER: Unforgettable by Close to My Heart
CARDSTOCK: Sorbet (CTMH), Tulip (CMTH), Teal (DCWV), White (GP)
INKS: Sorbet (CTMH), Tulip (CTMH), Dune (Colorbox)
ACCESSORIES: Ribbon (stash), Button (Creative Cafe)

Read more...

not feeling well...

Just when i am finally making headway in my craft room and can almost dive back into the crafting world... it hits. Yesterday it started with a headache and then before i knew it, it felt like a MACH TRUCK had run over me. And i know the pain all too well from my first child... i have mastitis. And of course today of all days my hubby has a fishing trip. He said he's not going, but he does have some stuff he simply has to take care of this morning (he does) so i'm flying solo with the 2 kiddos when i'm not even supposed to get out of bed. Fun, huh? I do have a card i realized yesterday that i never posted from the big Verve Sketch Goddess week so at least i have something crafty to share.



Its a fairly simple card. I wanted to make it suitable to send to a boy or any male really. I used Verve's Starlight Starbright which was my very first verve set. I love it because there is just so much versatility with the sentiments. I paired it with paper from the Close To My Heart Goodtimes collection.

Thats just about it. Nothing else spectacular going on here. haha. Maybe later i'll get the energy to finish putting everything away in my room and take some pictures. For now i'm going to go lay back down!

Read more...

Mojo 59

Ok, so i created this last night during the Verve Visuals release party. By the way - i'm in deep trouble because i want ALL of their new releases!

Anyhoo - this card was created for Julee's Monday Mojo sketch from last week. And bonus - she's giving away 1 set to 2 lucky winners! You have until noon today to upload your card and link it to THIS POST

And without further ado - here's my card


I was super pleased with how this turned out. Usually i'm thinking there is just something that needs to be added, but this one i'm very happy with. Maybe it's because Julee makes the sketches so easy or maybe it's just because the verve stamps are so beautiful but i'm lovin how this turned out!

I used one of verve's Plain Janes. I adore this scripture! It has gotten me thru many a tough time! I stitched all the way around each piece twice. Thats right... used my sewing machine. Which means it's fixed! Thank goodness for my mom. She called me the day i posted that it broke down on me and walked me thru how to fix it! Phew. Ok, back to the card. The white thread from my machine wasnt the exact look i wanted for my card. I really wanted a beaten look to it to symbolize the depths of the scripture. To acheive this look, after stitching i took some gray/brown chalk and a poof ball and ran it over the stitching. i chalk inked all of my edges (SHOCKER!) and i even sponged my flowers and brads! I love sponging!

The patterned paper is from basic Grey's Periphery line and the cardstock is all Bazzill. The paper flowers are from prima and i *think* the brads are from a set from making memories but they were just in my brad organizer so i could be wrong. :)

Thanks for stopping bY!

Read more...

some more vervie verve & a bella!

Before i get to my cards... my hubby and i made a discovery tonight. Blueberry and Granola frozen yogurt by mayfield. HOLY COW! It so good! We ate the entire thing. And, 1 serving... less calories from fat than a class of 1% milk. Man it was good. Probably not good that we ate the whole thing. but man was it good.

Ok. Back to my posts. You know i've been doing the verve visual challenges this week in the splitcoast forum. Well, i have Thursday's and Friday's cards for you! With any luck i will get done the last one today after the wedding i'm working on today. I'm sure the hubbster wont love me racing up to my craft room as soon as i get home but i just dont see myself getting to it before i have to leave. Hmmmmmmm. We shall see.

Ok... here are my cards for the sketches...

The first i am so excited about. I love my Beautiful You set. But one of the quotes that drew me to it was this one. I love winnie the pooh. Everything about winnie the pooh! And i always have. This quote has been a long time fav as well and it always makes me think of my bff since the womb. We have rarely even lived in the same state, but we have this uncanny friendship. We can go a month (and it's been more in our busier times!) without talking. But one of us will have a bad day and the other just knows to call. Very cool. She too, loves winnie the pooh. So this card is for her!



Now, no paper says pooh bear to me like crate paper! :) I just love the whimsy yet somewhat rustic quality of crate paper. The pooh bear stamp is by All Night Media.

My next card i'm still having some issues with. I love Julee's sketches and i think this one is stunning. But my card needs something. Just not sure what. haha. I dont have a lot of verve images, so i decided to combo this challenge with another challenge from my BellaholicsAnonymous group. LeAnne (one of our lovely bella queens!) challenged us to make a bella card with no patterned paper but to emboss the background. So thats what i did. I love this bella. It was another precolored bella, so i was just working off of the colors that i already used. I embossed my background paper with the pretty paisley embossing folder and my cuddlebug. My sentiment is from Verve's Fairy Tales. There are so many good uses for this set! Very fun. This card could be saved and used for a great many things. I am stamping a thank you on the inside and including it with my cards for my Cause of the Month ! If you havent read about my Cause of the Month please do so! Every cause is a good one, but i'd love it if you'd help me out with mine!
Ok, here's the card...


Hope everyone has a fantastic day!!!

Read more...

A post before bed - Verve Visuals day 2 of holiday release challenges

Ok... so i'm making a post before bed and then i must sleep! I've been ready to fall over all day. Where was my hubby today? Working hard? Nope. fishing. all day. FISHING! I called to check in at 4 ish and he said about an hour. So i said ok. Then he called later to just let me know it was taking them longer (issues with the boat, then stopping for food, etc). He got home around 7 and thought i hated him. I said no hate... just a looooooong day. He felt bad. So maybe at some point this weekend i'll get some me time.

Anyhoo -

today is day 2 of the verve challeges over at splitcoast. Can i just say that i LOVE Julee's sketches? They look beautiful themself and they arent even a card! I'm jealous, i'll say it. You can see the sketch and challenge for today here as well as check out everyone else's cards.

Here's mine...


I actually had my grandmother in mind as i made this card. Dont think this looks very grandmother-ish? You've never met my grandmother! She's about a Sassy McFrassy as they come. Pins her hair just right every morning and puts on her face (makeup). She's turns 94 this november. I cant believe it! She's actually ailing from a broken rib right now, so maybe i should have made it a get well card! Anyhoo - this is my new set from verve and i wanted to use it anyway. :)

The set is Birthday Surprise. I colored in my bird and birthday package with copic markers. Then just for the kick of it, i tried shading around the entire edge of white cardstock and faded it out with the blender. You cant see too much of it (especially in the photo) but you can see it a smidge in person. I was just curious to see what the effect would be. :) I then doodled around the edge ust for fun. I layered my image piece of a piece of cardstock (scrap, so i dont know what color, sorry) that i ran thru the cuddlebig using the divine swirl embossing folder. And placed some brads from spare parts. The purple patterned paper is by american crafts. Everything else is pretty self explainatory! :)

Check back in tomorrow morning (which no one will probably read this before then!) because it's thursday which means it's time to HIP HOP!) I'll post my unity wednesday challenge card while caffienating in the morning. Then it'll be off to take jack to school, grocery shop, go to the TuTu doctor and THEN i'll get to be back to hip hop! YIPPIEE!

Read more...

Verve Visuals Holiday Release Sketch 1

Julee of Verve Visuals has the best sketches! They are always so easy, but turn out so great! Love em!

Verve Visuals is getting ready to release some new sets! So in gearing up for this, There are sketches everyday this week over in their splitcoast forum! And each day she uses her sketch to provide a sneak peek of one of the new sets. What a fun way to do sneakie peeks, right? Bonus, they will give a set away to 1 person for each sketch! AND if you do all 5 (which is my goal) you get put in another entry to win ALL the new releases!

Ok, so here's day one... you can read about it here and here's my card...



I decided i wanted to use this card to add to the collection for my CAUSE OF THE MONTH. If you dont know about my cause of the month, please read this post! I could really use your help in getting thank you cards ready for this fabulous organization! When thinking of what verve set to use for this sketch, this sentiment really stood out to me! What better way to say thank you but to tell someone what a huge difference they've made! I can really see this as becoming one of my new fav sentiments! It came from Verve Visuals Fairy Tales set. First let me say i adore the font that Verve uses on the majority of their sets. It's so beautiful! Top that with the superb quality of their stamps and get you such a fantastic detailed image. Love it! The sentiment and underlying flourish are separate and since their stamps are clear, you can get a perfect placement. And ya gotta love that!

Other deets for the card...
The patterened paper is from Basic Grey's Ambrosia line. Man i love this paper. I've been so afraid to use it! But this sketch of Julee's was perfect because it really showcases the paper. She designed this sketch to make quick holiday cards. It's an easy one to mass produce. but i think it's a great way to show some pretty paper! For my sentiment i wanted it to match the slightly distressed color in the patterened paper so i pulled out some inks that i thought were similar to those found in the paper (CTMH's baby pink, créme brulee and a wee bit of juniper) and sponged them in. I think it made it match pretty nicely! All of my edges from the card base to the mats to the patterened paper is inked with cat's eye chalk ink in charcoal. I can rarely get away from not using cat's eye chalks on anything! Love them! And it always gives the perfect edge in my book.
Since i deviated from the sketch a bit and did not put a sentiment in the lower left hand corner, i decided to add a punched butterfly (from my fav martha stewart punch). I also used stampin up's photo corner punch to adorn the top of my card and some black grosgrain ribbon. And thats my card!

Thanks for looking! Keep checking back - i've got lots going on today! I still want to do the Unity Pre Hip Hop challenge and i need to do my own sketch still!!!! Dont forget to enter my blog candy!!!! :)

Read more...