February 2014 Diva Dare - Day 4

"Perk Up", February Diva Dare

Welcome to Day 4 of the February Diva Dare!  It's Maureen and I can't wait to share my take on this month's "Perk Up" dare!

What we're daring you to do this month is make a card or project to perk someone up, whether it’s with a warm beverage or just a heartfelt sentiment to brighten someone’s day.  No shortage of options as Verve has some wonderful coffee and tea sets as well as a plethora of uplifting/heartfelt sentiments.

 This challenge was easier said than done.  As I looked through all the beautiful Verve sentiments, I found it very difficult to choose just one.  However, I finally settled on the poem I love to use on graduation cards.  It's from the Believe set (on SALE right now!) and the little "be you" is from Words of Wisdom.  I've accented the card with buttons, twine, a resin flower, my favourite little journal tab, a doily, and some sweet little sequins from the Pastel Sequins Mix (on SALE right now!). Are you ready to play along?

Deadline to link your cards is 8PM Mountain on Wednesday, February 26th.  Entries must be posted 2/7 or later,include at least one Verve product, a warm beverage or heartfelt sentiment, and be linked up to the linky widget by 8pm Mountain on 2/26/14.   

During this month's Diva Dare, there are 2 prizes up for grabs!

Win a $40 Gift voucher to Verve Stamps! Take our "Perk Up" Dare and link up your card (created February 7th or later) to the linky widget below to be eligible to win.  One participant will be randomly selected to win the gift voucher.  You can enter as many times as you like, but each card needs to be in a separate post. 

Win a set of your choice! For another chance to win some new Verve, leave a little comment love on our design team's "Perk Up" Diva Dare posts!  One lucky commenter will win a Verve stamp set of his or her choice, so be sure to tune in each day!  Comment deadline to be entered in our prize drawing is February 26, 2014.

Winners will be announced on February 27, 2014. 

- Go forth and get inky! We DARE you! -

August Release Project Parade: Day 5

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Happy Tuesday, Verve Fans!! It's Shannan here, coming by to share my project for this August's parade. This month we are mixing it up with the theme "Something Old, Something New" and let me just tell you...pulling out my older Verve sets has totally kick-started my mojo! This theme doesn't necessarily mean wedding (but of course it could) - its a challenge for anyone who would like to play along to use a previously released Verve stamp set with one of the new sets that was just released this August 20th. (If you don't have the newest Verve sets - no worries, just mix an older set from your stash with a "new to you" stamp set and join the fun!)

As I was going through all my stamp sets to choose something to work with, I couldn't decide on just one! So I made a little set of 3 cards, each using a new and an old set.




For the first card, I chose the large and small leafy image from Great Friend. I stamped them in Versamark Ink onto a piece of Kraft cardstock and added a few accents of patterned paper and lace trim. The sentiment from Believe was stamped in Memento Rich Cocoa ink.





The next card I created showcases a sentiment from Framed Wishes (a special gift with purchase) and flower from Dream Big. I stamped one of my favorite Verve backgrounds ever, from Artful Elegance, in Versamark on Kraft cardstock. Some sponging and coordinating patterned paper finish this one off beautifully.




Last but not least, I created a card using the circle image from Happy Hello along with this gorgeous image and sentiment from Let it Shine. I punched different parts of the sunny flower image out with my circle punch, then popped them up over the stamped circles. To finish this one off, I added another touch of coordinating patterned paper, some Diamond Stickles, and some paper piercing.

I had a blast dusting off some of my older Verve sets...I hope you decide to give it a try! There's also a chance to win some Verve stamps - check out how you can score some:

1. Play along with us and link up your new SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW creation (posted August 25th or later) to the linky widget on the DAY 1 PARADE POST before midnight on Wednesday, September 15th. One lucky stamper will win a $30.00 gift certificate to the Verve Store.

2. For another chance to win, be sure to give the Divas a little shout-out in the comments section as we parade our SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW creations. One lucky commenter during the course of the parade will win the Verve stamp set of their choosing!
We hope you'll play along! We LOVE to see your creations!

 

Have a fabulous day!

March Project Parade ~ Day 10

Hi Verve Fans it's Lynda and I'm here to share with you my "Fun with Flowers" project!! This was an easy theme since Verve has the most beautiful flower stamps around!

I bought the memo holder at Target on clearance for about $5 some time ago. I made this for a friends birthday. All she needs to do is to add a picture of her beautiful family and put it on her desk at work! Luckily, she likes bling as much as I do!!! LOL!!!

Above is a picture of the note holder closed. The sentiment is an SU! rub on. I added some small Martha Stewart butterflies which I punched using dark pink and light blue K&Co. glitter paper. I added some small Zva rhinestones in the centers of each butterfly to tie in with the Zva rhinestone flourish. For the flowers ~ you know the blue glitter tissue paper Julee sends her stamps in??? Well, I used that and stamped the 2 flowers from the Feel the Sun set using Basic Black ink, multiple times. The top flower has both sizes layered and the bottom flower is just the smaller image. After cutting out the images, I squished them in to a ball, unraveled them and then layered them. I have a closer look at the flower further down in this post.

Here is a picture of the note holder open. The top of the box folds in to an easel to display the photo. Not only did I decorate the front but I stamped the blank memo papers inside.

My friend is the head nurse for a local Hematology ~ Oncology group of Doctors so I chose the Believe in Miracles sentiment from Verve's Believe set and paired it with the smaller flower from the Feel the Sun set for some of the blank notes. I stamped some other sentiments as well which you can find further down in this post. The flower was stamped using Cool Caribbean ink which matched Julee's blue tissue paper perfectly!

Here is a closer look at my fluffy flower and bling!!! You didn't think I would make something without bling did you? LOLOLOL!!!!

The silver flowers in the centers of the fluffy flowers are from SU!. I then added a Basic Grey large clear rhinestone for the centers of the silver metal flowers.

Here are 3 of the sentiments and flowers on more of the blank memo's. For these, I used both the Feel the Sun set as well as the Let it Shine set.

As with all of our Project Parades, we've got prizes! There are two ways to win:

1. Link up your new creation (posted March 22 or later) to the Mr. Linky widget on THIS POST before Midnight on April 8th. One lucky stamper will win a $25.00 gift certificate to the Verve Store.

2. Be sure to leave the Divas a little shout out in the comments as we parade our creations inspired by this month's theme. One lucky commenter during the course of the parade (March 22 - April 7) will win his/her choice of any Verve stamp set!

~Lynda

Believe Sneak Preview

Hi there! It's Julee, here to kick off the first day of sneak peeks for another Verve Release!! It's the start of the giving season and most of our new release is focused on the upcoming holidays, but we have one special set that's focused on giving back. Today the Divas and I are sharing a few projects using a new set called Believe, which I designed in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness. Verve will be donating $10 from the sale of every Believe set to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation. There are very few lives that haven't been touched in some way by breast cancer, and we believe strongly in giving back...in making a difference...in keeping up the fight to find a cure. Believe will be available for purchase along with the rest of our release immediately following our Release Party this Friday night. For a chance to win this meaningful set, be sure to read all the way to the end of this post!

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From the desk of Lynda Benden


I am thrilled to share with you my sample for Julee’s new Breast Cancer Awareness set called Believe. This set is truly amazing and a portion of all proceeds will go to the Susan G Komen fund. My card today is REALLY a simple card! The base of the card is Pink Pirouette CS. I punched the bottom of the front panel using my Martha Stewart Doily punch. I made another complete card from Vellum CS and covered the Pink Pirouette card. Prior to adhering the vellum to the pink card, I stamped the largest flower on the front using White Stazon ink. I added some clear rhinestones to the centers of the flowers, white satin ribbon, glitter butterflies and one of the beautiful sentiments using one of my Lots of Tags dies.

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From the desk of Teresa Kline


Hello gals, Teresa here. I am so very excited about this new Verve set Believe. There are so many woman affected by breast cancer and this will be a perfect set for encouraging those ladies. I used today's VSOCT09B Sketch, be sure to play along you could win free Verve. I knew I wanted to use pink and decided to pair it with black. I used Prism card stock, October Afternoon Cherry Hill dp and the yummy My Mind's Eye Just Dreamy 2 dp. I stamped the awesome flower bloom and colored it with copics, I then ran a glitter pen all around the outside of the petals. I added a lone sliver bead to the center. I used the fun fancy flourish as my stem. I then added black checkered ribbon, a button with twine and the sentiment that was cut from the SU tag dies. I stamped the tiny pink ribbon in the corner, outlined it with a glitter, and added several more silver beads. This set is a must have, it really touches my heart. Get ready for a fun filled week of sketches, the divas will be bringing some beautiful sneak peak creations!

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From the desk of Julee Tilman

Okay, so I had planned to share a different card, but when Teresa sent me her sneak peek, I realized they were so similar that I just *had* to head back to my studio to make another card. See how much arm twisting that took?!? LOL Since I've been a little loopy from cough medicine, I thought I'd make it easy on myself and start with a good sketch. Here I used Karen Giron's Sweet Sunday Sketch #40, flipped lengthwise. I stamped the flower repeatedly in 3 different pinks, then punched out and layered on a swiss dot embossed square of white. Another flower from the set is stamped tone on tone in Basic Grey and I embossed part of the Believe in Miracles sentiment in white. A beautiful prima rose, some rhinestones and a wide velvet bow finished off the card.

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Like what you’ve seen so far? Just leave a comment here on this post before 6 PM Eastern on Friday, October 23 and you’ll be put in a drawing to win this set! Winners will be announced at our release party that night.

And for even more chances to win, be sure to check out the Release Week challenges going on in the Verve Forum for your chance to win our entire release! Okay, that’s it for today, we’ll see you back here tomorrow for another peek at some more new sets!