January Diva Dare-Day 6

---

Good morning everyone!  It's Charmaine.  I hope you've been inspired by the beautiful creations thus far for the Diva Dare!  I know I have!  :)  Today it's my turn to share what I've created.  This month's theme was Baby Love! 

We dare you to make a card, project, layout, or whatever fits your stamping style using this month's theme - Baby Love! The baby part could be for a new little someone...or a special someone! Be sure to look for the details on how you can win some new Verve goodies at the end of this post!

I created something for my "babies" for Valentine's Day.  It's funny because I always call my kids "my babies" (when I'm not calling them "my little bugs", of course) and my girls will say "we're not babies, Mom" and I'll say "you'll ALWAYS be MY baby!" and they just smile and shrug their shoulders.  It's true, though.  No matter how old they are, they'll always be my babies!  So, in keeping with this month's theme, I created little Valentine treats for them.

I started off with the Baskets and Blooms die from Stampin' Up to create the little basket.  I filled it with matching filler and some candy and then decorated the outside.  The heart was die cut using the Jotted Heart Die from Verve along with the Love Notes set. 

The butterfly was also created using the Jotted Heart Die!  I cut two hearts out of pink felt and sewed them together.  Then, I added pearls for the body of the butterfly and some wire for the antennae.  The girls haven't seen these yet because I want them to be a little surprise on Valentine morning!  :) 

So......will you answer the dare? If so, here are some details:

1. Play along with us and link up your new Baby Love creation (posted January 14th or later) to the linky widget on the DAY ONE Diva Dare post before midnight MST on January 29th. One lucky stamper will win a $30.00 gift certificate to the Verve Store. Verve Stamps are not required, but if you've got 'em we would LOVE to see ‘em!

2. For another chance to win, be sure to give the Divas a little shout-out in the comments section as we share our Baby Love creations. One lucky commenter will win the Verve stamp set of his or her choosing! Winners will be announced on Monday, January 31st right here on the Verve blog.

So go ahead and show us your Baby Love creations...we DARE you!

Hope you enjoyed my project!  I can't wait to see your creations!

Tags, Tins and Treats: Day 4

Good morning everyone! It's Charmaine and it's my turn to share with you my take on this month's Project Parade. I just LOVED the inspiration photo Julee posted and was inspired right away. I just LOVE creating treats for any occasion. Most of the time I'm creating them for my daughers' classmates, but I also love to create them for my friends or family. I know I'd love to receive a little Valentine treat bag like this!

I used the Heart's Desire set along with Bountiful Backgrounds for the polka dots. Everything was embossed using white embossing powder. I stamped a cluster of the hearts from Heart's Desire and cut a couple out to glue over top of hearts in the heart frame to tie in the color of the vintage lettering in the photo. The box was created using the Fancy Favor die from Stampin' Up. The final touch was adding the organdy polka dot ribbon for a handle and filling the box with some delicious truffles.

So, now it's your turn! We'd love for you to play along with us and show us your Tags, Tins & Treats! Verve stamps are not required, but if you've got 'em, why not show 'em a little love? ;)

And, as with all of our project parades, we've got prizes!

To enter, just link up your NEW creation (posted Jan. 25 or later) to the Mr. Linky widget below before midnight MST on Monday, February 15. One lucky stamper will win a $25 gift certificate to the Verve Store. And for another chance to win, be sure to give the Divas a little shout out in the comments as they parade their fabulous creations inspired by this month's theme. One lucky commenter during the course of the parade (Jan 25 - Feb 14) will win their choice of any Verve set.

Can't wait to see what you create!

January Project Parade - Day Two

When I thought about the theme for this month's Project Parade, "A Kid at Heart", I thought it was a great opportunity to involve my daughter in the making of the project. :) What better project to involve her in than making her own Valentine treats for her preschool class? Savannah and I put together these little upside down matchbook lollipop covers. I made them to fit the Jolly Rancher heart-shaped lollipops. Here's a little tutorial for you to follow and create your own "kid-at-heart" lollipop covers! :)

Step 1

Stamp sentiment on cardstock. For these covers, I used the Sweet Valentine set and stamped the sentiment on a 2" square piece of white cardstock.

Step 2

Have your child color in the hearts (or other part of the stamped image) while you cut the 2 1/8" mattes out of black cardstock.

Step 3

Have your child attach the stamped pieces to the black matte pieces while you cut the paper for the matchbooks. Your paper for the matchbooks should measure 6.5"x 2.75".

Step 4

Score the matchbook pieces at 5/8" and 3 5/8" and fold on score lines.

Step 5

Punch a hole on the 3 5/8" score line (while folded).

Step 6

Add a scalloped trim to the inside of the top flap using a 2.75" wide piece of black cardstock and decorative scissors.

Step 7

Fold the top flap down and staple in the middle. Put lollipop stick through the hole you punched on the 3 5/8" score line.

Step 8

Attach stamped and colored pieces to the front of your matchbook for a finished Valentine treat!

Want to play along and be "A Kid At Heart?" Each participant that links their project to THIS POST will be entered to win a $25 gift certificate to Verve Stamps. Please be sure that your entries are linked there no later than 8PM (Mountain) on February 5th. The winner will be announced here on February 6th. Have fun and good luck!