December Diva Dare - Day 3

"Playing Favorites", December Diva Dare

Welcome to the last Diva Dare of 2013!  This month's Dare is entitled "Playing Favorites" and it is a fun one indeed!

What we're daring you to do this month is to post your favorite Verve Stamps 2013 creation OR make a new card using your favorite Verve stamp set.  

Stacey here!  I'm having ball as the Fall/Winter Guest Designer here at Verve!   Thanks a "latte," Julee, for having me here for the holiday season...it has been a thrill to work with you, your amazing team and those fabulous Verve goodies!

Here are a few other favorite projects that I've created this year using Verve goodness!

All Things

Goodness of Life

Cup of Cheer

Remembering You

Merry Christmas

As a fun extra this month, the Divas are answering "The Diva Fab Five Questionnaire."  Here goes!

What are your three favorite Verve products?

Tough question!  There are so many favorite Verve products that I can't possible choose only three!  I'll choose three favorite Verve products that first come to mind...they are Holiday Treats (of course), Award Banner Trim Die (use it on almost every Verve creation), and the Sweet Scallop Tag (a fantastic basic tag).

What is your current go-to color combo?

I LOVE color/pattern, bold and contrasting color/pattern!  I adore aqua, kraft and pink together...but notice there's an additional splash or coral on my card today, too!  There are so many fabulous color combinations, I have several favorite combos?!  Many times, I take a 6x6 paper pad and find a yummy combination of color and pattern right from there!  The coordinating papers take some of the guess work out of putting colors together.  

What is your current go-to embellishment?
I use loads of SEQUINS and TWINE...so, you can imagine how excited I was when Verve began offering their own sequins!  Sequins and twine are definitely my go-to embellishments these days!  Just a few months ago, my answer would have been seam binding and buttons...but, I still LOVE them, too!

What is your favorite stamping or organizational tool?

I don't think I could live without my Fiskars Paper Cutter, My Scor-Pal and Big Shot (though, I just bought a Vegabond and can't wait to see if I love it).

What is your favorite treat to eat while stamping? 

I don't usually snack on anything while I'm creating, but I do enjoy a cup of coffee with french vanilla creamer!

My card features those coffee/latte cups from one of my favorite stamp sets, Holiday Treats.  and the coordinating Cup of Cheer Die Set!  I adore the chevron rectangle image that fits snuggly into the Tagged Rectangle Die!  The Award Banner Trim Die peeks out from behind the focal panel and there's a sprinkling of the delicate Pastel Sequins Mix.

Deadline to link your cards is 8PM Mountain on Thursday, December 26th.  Entries must be posted 12/6 or later, include at least one Verve product, be your favorite Verve Stamps creation of 2013 or a new creation using your favorite Verve Stamps set, and be linked up to the linky widget by 8pm Mountain on 12/26/13.   As an reminder, last month's $40 gift certificate winner did not use any Verve stamps on her card so she was not eligible to win and we had to draw another winner.

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

Win a $40 Gift voucher to Verve Stamps! Take our "Playing Favorites" Dare and link up your card (created December 6th 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 "Playing Favorites" 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 December 26, 2013.

Winners will be announced on December 27, 2013.

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

November Diva Dare ~ Day 9

"Shape Up", November Diva Dare

What day is it? It's Day NINE of our Dare and I'm so excited to share how I took the challenge this month.

What we're daring you to do is to create a card or project including a common shape.  For example:  hexagons, chevrons, arrows, triangles, hearts, stars etc.  Lots of fun ways you can go with this dare and I can't wait to see what you create!

For me the shape of a coffee take-out cup is pretty common and I'm in the mind set for money gift card holders, so I've combined those two for my take on the dare to "Shape Up".

It helps that my inspiration is the new Holiday Treats stamp set and it's Cup of Cheer coordinating die set and I loved the idea of the card holder in the same shape as a take-out coffee cup. I used my Pazzles Inspiration Cutter and one of the Library cutting files to make the card base and cut out the Bundled Up pattern paper by Crate Paper. Then it was time to embellish with Verve goodness.

I stamped the chevron tag and gorgeous "From Our House to Yours" sentiment from the stamp set in Crumb Cake then die cut the tag out with the Tagged Rectangle Die. A flag makes for a more festive look so I added a second "Have a Cup of Cheer" sentiment and cut it out with the Flag It Die Set.

This all sits on top of the sleeve over the cup shaped card base and that is even Verve embellished with the Award Banner Trim Die and a bow made with Grapefruit color seam binding ribbon from Truly Madly Deeply Ribbon Collection.

Love the chevron latte cup a whole "latte"! Stamped in Garden Green the latte cup is die cut out using the coordinating A Cut Above, Cup of Cheer Die Set

Add a sleeve for a gift card or money and there's still enough room for a personal note.

That's it from me! Now here's the details to get your Dare in shape.

Deadline to link your cards is 8PM Mountain on Wednesday, November 27th.  Entries must be new (posted 11/8 or later), include at least one Verve product, include a common shape, and be linked up to the linky widget by 8pm Mountain on 11/27/13. 

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

Win a $40 Gift voucher to Verve Stamps! Take our "Shape Up" Dare and link up your card (created November 8th 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 "Shape 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 November 27, 2013.

Winners will be announced on November 28, 2013.

Verve October Spotlight Hops - Day 2

Hi Verve fans!  We're back with Day 2 of our 4 day blog hop series celebrating our release that's schedule for this Friday night, October 25.  Today the Divas are shining their sneaky little spotlights on a new set called Holiday Treats.  Like yesterday's set, you'll see some images that work well with existing dies, as well as the brand new coordinating Cup of Cheer Die Set.  So grab a cup of cheer and settle in for another inspirational hop... with PRIZES! 

We'll be drawing a random comment winner from all of the comments along today's hop, so be sure to leave a little shout out at each stop as you hop around!

Today's Blog Hop Prize:  Holiday Treats + Cup of Cheer Die Set

Comment Deadline for Prize Drawing:  Sunday, 10/27 at 5pm Mountain

1. Julee 8. Amber 2. Jen 9. Janelle 3. Marisa 10. Andrea 4. Teresa 11. Laurie W. 5. Charmaine 12. Maureen 6. Christyne 13. Verve Blog 7. Stacey {Guest}

For my card today, I've used the chevron tag from Holiday Treats and a couple different snowflake images for a soft, wintery Christmas card. The chevron tag image coordinates with the Tagged Rectangle Die  which I used as my focal point, adding a soft sky snowflake in the center and then overstamping with the Merry Christmas sentiment in black.   For the horizontal panel, I stamped two of the tags side by side, overlapping the rounded parts, then cut out with scissors for a fun little background strip.  A couple snowflakes on each side balance things out and then I used the pointed snowflake from the set and the coordinating die in the Winter Fun Die Set for the snowflake embellishing the tag. I accented with ribbon from the Stormy Skies Ribbon Collection, some Pastel Sequin Mix and soft grey pearls.  The soft sky layer is embossed with a snowflake flurries embossing folder from Darice.

Supply List:
Stamps: Holiday Treats (Verve Stamps)
Paper: soft sky, white
Ink: soft sky, basic grey
Accessories: Tagged Rectangle Die, Winter Fun Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), Stormy Skies Ribbon Collection (Verve), Pastel Sequin Mix (Verve), grey pearls (Pizzazz Aplenty), snowflake embossing folder (Darice), glossy accents, glitter

Holiday Treats is a super fun holiday set perfect for packaging treats, but also great for card making.  Chevron mugs and java cups are perfect for coffee or tea lovers and with our coordinating Cup of Cheer Die Set, they're so easy to add to your project.  Add in some snowflakes, which can work with the Frosty Snowflakes Die Set, Floral Circles Die Set or the Winter Fun Die Set (pointy snowflake) and you've got the perfect wintery creation.  Lots of holiday sentiments and a chevron tag that coordinates with the Tagged Rectangle Die round out the set.

 Thanks so much for stopping by today!  We'll be back again tomorrow with our first looks at another new set and die!  Until then, be sure to hop around if you haven't already!