Holiday Diva Dare - Day 5

Monday Greetings everyone!!  I hope you had a wonderful SUPER LONG Thanksgiving Day weekend.  This Canadian Diva is always a little jealous of the way you celebrate Thanksgiving right!  Now onto Day 5 of the Holiday Diva Dare!  For those of you who are new to this challenge, here is how it works...following each release, we will post a theme that we dare you with, and you'll have two weeks to complete the challenge. During those two weeks, the release team will post their creations and tell you how they answered the dare!

This month's theme is A Handmade Christmas! The theme is pretty broad and can be interpreted in so many different ways...from a lovingly made card, to heartfelt gifts and homemade decorations!  With the Holidays right around the corner, this will be the perfect time to get a jump start on your card and gift making!

So, we DARE you to make a Handmade Christmas card or gift!  Oops!! Did you hear Christmas?  I'm working a little backwards...so stay with me!  Today just happens to be my son's 23rd birthday (AND btw Diva Andrea's!! Happy B-Day sistah!).  I wanted to make him a birthday card that would house a Starbucks card and a "little" cheque from Mom :)  I used a Small Phrases sentiment to let Jake know, once again, how deeply loved he is by his Mama.

 

Here is the inside of the gift card holder, using 2 stamps from Birthday Bash along with the leaves from Bloom and Grow.

Okay, here's where the "Christmas" comes in.  It's a busy time of year and I wanted to show you how you can save time (and hair pulling) by using a card layout you've used or seen before and just change it for the present occasion.  With full time work, the pending move to the new house, Jake's birthday AND Christmas, this Diva is more than willing to save a bit of time by reusing a card design...here's the Christmas version...

 

I just changed the papers, dies and sentiment and voila!  Christmas Gift Card card done!  Here's a peek inside...

I had a fun time mixing last year's stamp sets (Glad Tidings, Frosty Flakes, Christmas in the Air) on the outside with the latest stamp set, Bright Spirits, on the inside....they all work together so well! Here's a last photo with both cards so you can see how similar and different they are...

Thanks so much for sharing a special day with me...now onto the details of the DARE!

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Want to know how you can win some fabulous new VERVE GOODIES?

1. Play along with us and link up your new A Handmade Christmas creation (posted November 18 or later) to the linky widget on the DAY ONE post before 9PM Mountain on Thursday, December 8. 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 A Handmade Christmas creations. One lucky commenter will win the Verve stamp set of his or her choosing! Winners will be announced on Friday, December 9 right here on the Verve blog.

Now it's YOUR turn! We DARE you to show us your creations!

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August Diva Dare ~ Day 10

Hello there! TGIF, right? Amber here with Day 10 of the August Diva Dare! For those of you who are new to this challenge, here is how it works...following each release, we will post a theme that we dare you with, and you'll have two weeks to complete the challenge. During those two weeks, the release team will post their creations and tell you how they answered the dare!

This month, our theme is Sending Some Sunshine! Isn't that fun? This dare is totally open to any interpretations you might have, so jump right in and play with us!

I have a friend I've been missing a whole lot lately, and I thought it would be fun to send her a card to let her know!

There were SO many amazing stamps and dies released this past month, so I knew it was a bit of a chore deciding which ones I wanted to use. I decided on You and I and it's companion die set, I Heart YOu. All of the stamps on this card are from You and I, plus the matching dies, in addition to the Jotted Heart die and the smallest banner from the Charming Banner die set...

I clear embossed the "i" and "u" and used the heart for the dot instead of the regular dot...make sense? LOL! I tied a bit of twine around the "i" for some added interest.

Here you can see that I stamped "you" on the Charming Banner die and slid it into the opening on the "u"! I love how easy these dies make a card! Seriously, this card took me less than 20 minutes. I love that! The paper is from BG's new line, Indie Bloom! I love the bright *sunny* colors and patterns in this pad:)

1. Play along with us and link up your new Sending Some Sunshine creation (posted August 26 or later) to the linky widget at the bottom of THE DAY 1 POST before 9PM Mountain on Sunday, September 11. 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 Sending Some Sunshine creations. One lucky commenter will win the Verve stamp set of his or her choosing! Winners will be announced on Monday, September 12 right here on the Verve blog.

Now it's YOUR turn! We DARE you to show us your creations!

And then DARE you to send it away!!

August Diva Dare ~ Day 8

Hi everyone!  It's Jackie here and today is my day to answer this month's Diva Dare!  But before I get to my card, haven't the projects from the Diva's been amazing?  I tell you, these are a talented bunch of ladies!  They make me want to do my best everytime I sit at my craft table!!  They are an uplifting and encouraging bunch of ladies, just as all of you are!  But I digress.....

For those of you that are new to this challenge, here is how it works...following each release, we will post a theme that we dare you with, and you'll have two weeks to complete the challenge. During those two weeks, the release team will post their creations and tell you how they answered the dare!

This month's theme is Sending Some Sunshine!  If you all are anything like me, you have tons of cards sitting at home all piled up!  I thought it would be fun to make an uplifting & cheerful card and actually send it to someone!  There's nothing like opening your mailbox and seeing a handmade card...especially with some of Verve's encouraging sentiments on it!  :-)

So, we DARE you to make an uplifting and encouraging card AND send it to someone in need of a little pick-me-up!

Here is how I answered the dare:

I just loved the the last release and couldn't wait to get a couple of the sets inky again.  For my card I used the new Sunny Days and You and I along with the I Heart U die set.  The "U" was stamped in Riding Hood Red ink and was cut out with the coordinating die.  The flowers were stamped in Dark Chocolate, were cut out and finsihed with a wooden button, the center flower being tied with some thick linen thread.  The sentiment was cut out with Charming Banner die set.  The sketch is September's Sketch For You To Try from Jen del Muro.  I didn't round all corners as her sketch was, but rounded only one.....kind of my thing lately!  The card was finished with some machine stitching.

A detail shot....

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Want to know how you can win some fabulous new VERVE GOODIES?

1. Play along with us and link up your new Sending Some Sunshine creation (posted August 26 or later) to the linky widget below before 9PM Mountain on Sunday, September 11. 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 Sending Some Sunshine creations. One lucky commenter will win the Verve stamp set of his or her choosing!  Winners will be announced on Monday, September 12 right here on the Verve blog.

Now it's YOUR turn!  We DARE you to show us your creations!
You can link to Day 1 here to add your creation.

March Diva Dare - Day 5

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Hi!  It's Charmaine and welcome to Day 5 of the March Diva Dare!! Here's how our Diva Dare works... following each release, we post a theme we dare you with, and you'll have two weeks to complete the challenge. During those two weeks, the release team will post their creations and tell you how they answered the dare!

This month we dare you to make a card, project, layout, or whatever fits your stamping style using this month's theme - Color Me Spring! Whether you are shoveling snow off of your sidewalks and only dreaming of warmer weather or you are already enjoying the first blooms of the season, this challenge is sure to put a spring in your step! How you interpret the challenge is up to you! Stay tuned to learn how you could win some shiny new Verve!!

This is how I answered the dare...

When I think of Spring I think of little baby peeps.  I used to LOVE when we would have an incubator in our grade school classroom with eggs in it.  I loved checking on the eggs every day to see how much bigger that "black dot" inside had gotten.  :)  And eventually seeing that first peck through the shell.  Those little peeps were so adorable!  So, I thought I'd make a little placard featuring MY little peeps.  :)

I used part of the sentiment from Chicks Rule, leaving off the "to one of" so that I was just left with "My Favorite Peeps".  I stamped it and then die cut using the Charming Oval Die Set.  For the names, I simply typed the names in a Word Document and printed them out, then die cut them using the Charming Banner Die Set.  I colored my peeps using Copic markers and added some bling to the name plates. 

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Want to know how you can win some fabulous new VERVE GOODIES?

1. Play along with us and link up your new Color Me Spring creation (posted March 28 or later) to the linky widget on the DAY 1 POST before midnight MST on Sunday, April 10. 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 Color Me Spring creations. One lucky commenter will win the Verve stamp set of his or her choosing!  Winners will be announced on Monday, April 11th right here on the Verve blog.

Now it's YOUR turn!  We DARE you to show us your creations!

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March Diva Dare - Day 3

Welcome to Day 3 of the March Diva Dare!! Here's how our Diva Dare works... following each release, we post a theme we dare you with, and you'll have two weeks to complete the challenge. During those two weeks, the release team will post their creations and tell you how they answered the dare!

This month we dare you to make a card, project, layout, or whatever fits your stamping style using this month's theme - Color Me Spring! Whether you are shoveling snow off of your sidewalks and only dreaming of warmer weather or you are already enjoying the first blooms of the season, this challenge is sure to put a spring in your step! How you interpret the challenge is up to you! Stay tuned to learn how you could win some shiny new Verve!!

This is how I answered the dare...


Spring is one of my favorite seasons. Not too hot, and color everywhere!! When I think spring, I think of flowers, birds, butterflies, and new life. So, I made a wedding card (new life together) with flowers and butterflies. And since I was thinking about all things new, I thought I'd try a new technique. Now, I've made easel cards before, but never a Circle Easel. So this was fun!

I'm a die and punch-a-holic, so while designing this card, I knew I was going to use the new A Cut Above dies. Julee thinks of everything when she designs. I LOVE how each die in the Charming Oval and Charming Banner dies works with each other. I have a perfect mat around each shape (no more cutting...ye-haw!!), and the banners fit perfectly inside the ovals. How sweet is that!!! Then there's the sweeeeeeeet Flutterby die!! Love the two sizes of these butterflies too. You can find the large one in the Chicks Rule set, and the smaller one in the Egg-stra Special set. I added a bit of Stardust Stickles to the centers to make these flying beauties pop. And, since I wanted to make this a wedding card I combined images and dies from the newest release with sentiments from a previous release called Love Story. Julee's designs work that way...mixing and matching is not only a breeze, but oh so fun!!

Here's a close up of the smaller Charming Banner Die paired with the Charming Oval Dies, along with the sweet Flutterby image that I cut with the Flutterby die.



And here's a close up of the Charming Oval dies that I included on the inside of the card.

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Want to know how you can win some fabulous new VERVE GOODIES?

1. Play along with us and link up your new Color Me Spring creation (posted March 28 or later) to the linky widget on the DAY 1 POST before midnight MST on Sunday, April 10. 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 Color Me Spring creations. One lucky commenter will win the Verve stamp set of his or her choosing! Winners will be announced on Monday, April 11th right here on the Verve blog.

Now it's YOUR turn! We DARE you to show us your creations!

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