January 2014 Diva Dare - Day 4

"Smitten", January Diva Dare

Hi Verve fans!  It's Charmaine and I get to share my "smitten" Diva Dare project with you today! 

What we're daring you to do this month is to make a card or project with a heart, whether it's for the one you love, a sweet Valentine or a lunch note for a child.  Let's get smitten! 

I just LOVE creating things for Valentine's Day.  Hearts make me happy. . .and so do the colors associated with Valentine's Day.  For my card, I used the Yours Truly Collection from Pebbles because my card also plays along with the current (all new!!) Viva la Verve Challenge and these colors worked for the color portion of the challenge.  :)

I used the Heart's Desire set from Verve for the "be mine" sentiment as well as the heart arrows.  I also used the I Heart U Die set for the letters and heart trailing down the left side of the card and the Jotted Heart Die for the big heart behind the "U".  "Be Mine" is stamped on a piece that was die cut using the Flag It Die Set.  The arrows are covered in Ruby Slipper Glitz Stickles for some fun sparkle.  So, now it's YOUR turn to get smitten!!

Deadline to link your cards is 8PM Mountain on Wednesday, January 22nd.  Entries must be posted 1/3 or later, include at least one Verve product, include a heart, and be linked up to the linky widget by 8pm Mountain on 1/22/14.  

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

Win a $40 Gift voucher to Verve Stamps! Take our "Smitten" Dare and link up your card (created January 3rd or later) to the linky widget 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 "Smitten" 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 January 22, 2014.

Winners will be announced on January 23, 2014. 

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

Project Parade: Final Day

It's the last day of this month's Project Parade: Tags, Tins and Treats. Hopefully you are loving what all of the Verve Divas have come up with this month. I know that I have been in awe of many of the jaw-dropping projects! As for me, I have created a mini clear paint can that features a stamped embellishment with a small tag coming off of it...


This paint can uses stamps from the new Heart's Desire set on both the flower, tag and ribbon embellishment on the handle. I created a band around the bottom of the can by punching a strip of red cardstock with my border punch and then adhering pearl baubles to the insides of the punched eyelets. I thought that it looked a little "blah," so I cut a very thin strip of pink cardstock and wrapped in around the bottom of the red cardstock band.



You can easily create and customize your own embellishments with small images like I did with this flower and heart image stamp. I cut 3 flowers using my Slice machine, but these can even be cut by hand. I then stamped the heart image multiple times and then sponged the edges. I adhered them together using dimensional glue dots and topped them off with a flag ended tag and heart images with a button.


Now for the important part: We want you to play along with us! Are you ready to show your Tags, Tins & Treats projects? I hope so! Verve stamps are not required, but if you've got 'em why not show 'em some love?

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

1. Link up your new creation (posted January 25th or later) to the Mr. Linky widget on the Day 1 post before Midnight on Monday February 15th. One lucky stamper will win a $25.00 gift certificate to the Verve Store.

2. Be sure to leave the Diva's 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 (Jan 25 - Feb 15) will win his/her choice of any Verve stamp set!

Tags, Tins & Treats ~ Day 15

Hi there! It's Jackie here with the next stop on the Tags, Tins & Treats Project Parade! Haven't the Diva's done a FABULOUS job so far? I'm in awe of all of their beautiful projects!! Now it's my turn so let's get started!

While walking to pick my girls up from school a few weeks ago, I passed a cute little kitchen store window that had these adorable packages filled with bubble gum. I knew in that moment that I had to buy a couple to use for this project parade! They had a tag and a prima wrapped around the top but I simply took them off so I could alter them!

And here's what I came up with! Aren't they cute? I simply wrapped them with a large circle of DP from Papertrey Ink called Simple Valentine. You can see I used a different pattern for each cone. I slipped the bubble gum inside the cone and wrapped the top of the bubble gum bag with some Pure Poppy Stitched Ribbon and finished it off with a bow. Then I went to work on the tag!

I used the new Verve set Heart's Desire for the tag. I stamped the round heart flourish in Pure Poppy on PTI White and cut it out with Classic Circle Nestabilities. It was layered on a Hibiscus Burst scallop circle and then adhered to the bottom portion of the tag with dimensionals. The sentiment tag was cut with the Modern Label punch. The heart is also from Heart's Desire and was layered over the sentiment with dimensionals and topped with a twine tied Pure Poppy button. The bottom portion of the tag was cut with Labels One Nestabilities. Finally, I attached the tag to the bubble gum cone with some twine. I just love the way they turned out!

Now for the important part: We want you to play along with us! Are you ready to show your Tags, Tins & Treats projects? I hope so! Verve stamps are not required, but if you've got 'em why not show 'em some love?

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

1. Link up your new creation (posted January 25th or later) to the Mr. Linky widget on the Day 1 post before Midnight on Monday February 15th. One lucky stamper will win a $25.00 gift certificate to the Verve Store.

2. Be sure to leave the Diva's 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 (Jan 25 - Feb 15) will win his/her choice of any Verve stamp set!

Tags, Tins and Treats - Day 13

Hi Verve fans, it's Amy here with you today! What a great Project Parade theme we have going on this month! I have been so amazed with all the Tags, Tins & Treats creations so far, both from the Divas and from those of you who've already played along with us! Keep those entries comin'! (More on that at the end of my post.)

Last week, after I finished a different project involving a lunch-box-style tin, my 6-year-old daughter (and biggest cheerleader when it comes to papercrafting) begged and pleaded, would I please make her a lunch box, too. I happily obliged, knowing I had the perfect tin on hand for a girlie-girl gift - Provo Craft's hat-box shaped, handled tin.



I covered the tin with various patterns from Pink Paislee's Cupid designer paper collection, adhering the paper to the tin with 1/4" Scor-Tape. For the focal point, I stamped the large filigree heart from Heart's Desire in Ranger's Walnut Stain Distress Ink onto one of the Cupid patterns, then outlined with a Stampin' Up Chocolate Chip marker for a little more definition. I die-cut the image into a circle, matted with a scalloped circle, and adhered clear rhinestones between each scallop. Next I stamped two of the medium lined hearts (also from Heart's Desire) in red pigment ink and two of the stack of three small hearts (again, Heart's Desire) in Papertrey Spring Moss ink and trimmed them out. I fashioned an arrow out of the light green hearts and a long hat pin, stuck it through the pair of red hearts, and adhered the whole thing to the large brown heart image using foam tape. From the arrow, I hung a tag that I stamped with "beautiful you" from Celebrating You.

I further embellished with some different ribbons and ribbon treatments. I love how boxes and tins look when they're elevated on little "feet," so I painted some wooden 1" candle cups (purchased in the wood craft section at Michael's) with white acrylic paint, then hot glued them to the bottom. Love the pedestal effect they add!

Here's a close-up of the stamped and stacked hearts:



The tin is filled with various small Valentine-themed goodies and trinkets - heart hair clips, Valentine jewelry, some craft items, and of course, a little bit of candy. My daughter has already caught me working on this and has given her enthusiastic two thumbs up ... she knows it's for her and can't wait to find out what's inside. Only a few more sleeps!

Now for the important part: we want YOU to play along with us! Are you ready to show us your Tags, Tins, and Treats? I hope so! Verve stamps are not required, but if you've got 'em, why not show 'em a little love?

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

There are two different chances to win:

1. Link up your NEW creation (posted January 25 or later) to the Mr. Linky widge on THIS POST before midnight, Monday, February 15. One lucky stamper will win a $25 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 (Jan 25-Feb 14) will win her (or his) choice of any Verve stamp set.

Tags, Tins and Treats: Day 12

Hi everyone! It's Michelle here and WOW, the Divas are pulling out all the stops this month. TONS of Tags, Tins and Treats goodness so far, huh? I have a very simple take on the challenge. Last year on clearance, I bought a box of Martha Stewart Hearts Favor Bags (20 pieces) for $2.00! Yeah baby, and I have been saving them this whole time JUST for this year's Valentine treats!! Here is what I started with. I just loved Julee's inspiration picture, but it just didn't jive with the brown/pink combo I had to play with -bummer.
The bags are super cute on their own and always being short on time, I merely stamped on them, added a bit of bling and ribbon! Bam -DONE! Easy peasy. First, I dusted the bottom of the bag with my Embossing Buddy (THE key to embossing onto dark paper). I stamped and embossed the sentiment first. Then I stamped the flowers or row of hearts along side and on the pink heart flap. Next, I added some rhinestones and tied a piece of silk ribbon to the handle. And last, I punched a small heart or flower and glued to the center of the bow.

Here is a close up of a couple bags. I chose to stamp flowers on some because these are going to teachers and I thought flowers were cute for casual aquaintences. The sentiment came from used the Heart's Desire set along with, the tiny hearts came from the Thankful Hearts set, and the little flower came from the Love's Flower set. I love how bling can come sooo super tiny, to fit into the little hearts -happy sigh...


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 Mr. Linky on THIS post 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.

Tags, Treats and Tins--Day 11

Well, it's me, Susan here! I'm ready to start your week off with another installment of the Verve Project Parade--Tags, Treats and Tins! I've been admiring all the fabulous projects each Diva has come up with so far. Haven't ya'll? There are so many great creations and so much talent here!


If ya'll will recall, the inspiration piece from Julee, found HERE, was brought about by her recollection of her grandmother's house and the fun candy jars and tins she had in her entryway, just inviting Julee to partake of the candy goodness. (Possibly where she got her sweet tooth!?) My fondest recollection of my grandmother's house was that she lived in a high-rise building in Houston with my granddad and I loved to sit and spin in her sewing room chair until I was sick. I'm sure she gave me candy, too, but probably learned to wait until I was done spinning for very good reasons that we won't talk about here.


Anyway, I do know that she liked to cook and I also had a great aunt that made the best fig preserves in the whole United States of America and that's where I was reminded of these canning jars with the tin lids, and homemade goodness of all sorts.


Upon brainstorming for my project, a sweet blogging friend told me you could actually bake right in them after she had figured out that it was a great way to send baked goods overseas. So, like her, I made some blueberry muffins and "canned" them! I then added my crafty touch, drawing from the vintage feel of the inspiration piece.


I first made some soft background paper on cream cardstock using the Accent Notes set to mock the beige pattern of the tins in the picture. Then I added the heart shapes from Heart's Desire and the Heart Flutter Plain Jane and was sure to clear emboss over them to make the color more intense. The little tag sentiments were cut with my Basics 1 card and my Slice machine. I even made a little "lacy" ruffle around the band on the larger jar using a strip of tissue paper that I rumpled up A LOT, ran some gold ink over and taped it to the back. In fact, everything is accented in the sparkly Galaxy Gold ink from Tsukineko. I think these will make the perfect teacher gifts for my girls' Valentine's parties this week! Of course there was enough mix to make extra blueberry muffins (hello, breakfast!). Now if only I has some of Aunt Nellie's fig preserves....

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 on THIS post 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.

Tags, Tins and Treats - Day 7

Hey there! Jen Tapler here with my take on the Tags, Tins and Treats Project Parade. So what do you think of the Divas' creations so far? Pretty amazing, huh? If you've been paying attention to my holiday creations for these Project Parades over the past year+, you may have noticed it's kind of "my thing" to do some sort of keepsake mini album for my son, Dean, who is now a little over 3 yrs old. Well, with this parade so close to Valentine's Day and these FABULOUS new love-themed stamps calling my name - I couldn't resist the temptation to create another very special keepsake gift set for my little man. But don't worry, I think I still managed to stick with the theme of the Project Parade by packaging the album inside a TIN and attaching a cute little gift TAG!! LOL!
I used about a gazillion Verve stamps on this project, so I'll try to give you the Cliff Notes version of what I did instead of the novel!! All of the papers I used on this project are printed digital papers from the Kitschy Sweet digi kit by Traci Reed and Scrapkitchen Designs (Sweet Shoppe). I started out by altering a Maya Road Coffee Break Tin with papers, pom pom trim and lots of fun ribbon. Next, I altered a single "page" from a Maya Road chipboard Luggage Tag Album, using it as a gift tag attached to the handle of the tin. I stamped the "be mine" sentiment from Heart's Desire directly onto the tag, then stamped the "Happy Valentine's Day" sentiment onto a printed digi embellishment. I stamped the small individual hearts from Thankful Accents. The larger heart is also from Heart's Desire.
Finally, the keepsake mini album is a Maya Road Coffee Break book. I designed the pages digitally in Photoshop, then printed them on double-sided matte presentation paper. I used Mod Podge to glue them to the book, then started stamping!! The cover of the album features the Be Mine Plain Jane and a trio of buttons.
I kept the inside pages very very simple, wanting the focus to be on the sentiments of love and the photos. I used a different sentiment on each left-hand page with a black-and-white photo on each facing page. I chose sentiments from Celebrating You, Love Monkey, Thankful Accents and Accent Notes - stamping each on a printed digital scalloped circle embellishment and adding the same trio of stamped individual hearts from Thankful Accents. I am so pleased with how this album turned out and hope it isn't too girly for a special keepsake for a 3-yr-old boy!!
You should be able to click on the photo above to see a closer view of the individual pages. But here's a detail shot of one of the pages just in case:
And the best part? The little mini album fits perfectly right inside the tin!! Pretty cool, huh? I just love that my son is going to have a collection of little {Verve-y} keepsake albums from his childhood!

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 in Julee's post HERE 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.

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!

Tags, Tins, and Treats: Day 3

Hey, Verve Fans! It's Shannan posting today, and I'm so excited to share my project with you! When the Project Parade theme was announced, I instantly thought of my Great Grandmother, who, when I was a little girl, kept a stash of candy just for when the grandkids came to visit. The candy was always on the buffet in her dining room, stored in Fostoria Blue & Amber Coin Glass canisters. In my mind's memory (I was four), those canisters were 3-4 feet tall!! Now I know better, but a girl can dream, right? *wink*

Anyway, I was inspired by the colors of the Amber & Blue glass, and decided to create a non-candy Valentine's gift set. I hope you like it!

I used a printable template to create the box, then stamped the heart strip from Hundred Hearts in Versamark on my Kraft template. I sponged the edges with Chocolate Chip ink to age them a bit and then assembled my box.

For the top of the box, I stamped a the Celebrate sentiment and heart flourishy image from Love's Flower. After sponging the edges and adding a Chocolate Chip mat, I adhered a gorgeous Prima flower to the top with Glue Dots.

The card is an odd little guy...he measures 3" x 4 1/4". I originally started with a 4 1/4" card base, but cut it down to use some scraps I had from the box. The stamps on the card are all from Heart's Desire...LOVE that set! I cut a few circles with my Nestabilities, then sponged the edges and layered them onto the card. I also wrapped some teal trim around the card base before popping up the circle layers.

This last picture shows the yummy ribbon and lace wrapped around the box, as well as what's hiding inside! I used Basic Grey magnets to hold the box closed. Now the hard part...actually GIVING this away! Heehee!

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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.

Tags Tins and Treats: Day 2

Good morning, it's Teresa. I am so excited about this months project parade, I adore tags, tin, and treats. My grandmother kept cakes, candy, cookies, and pies in tins on the back porch where it was cool. I would walk to the porch in anticipation as to what chewy goodness she had tucked away. As I thought of those days gone by and admired the inspiration photo it all reminded me of a girly tea party, so I wanted my tin to be girly and fun. I have put in my tin my favorite Valentine candy, chewy jelly cinnamon hearts, yummy.

I started by heat embossing the square pendant from the set Accent Notes in SU riding hood ink on the bottom of Bazzil pink cardstock. I then heat embossed the tiny hearts from the Hearts Desire set in SU pretty in pink ink above the pendants. I tied red fibers around the tin and then added the white boa fibers, I had envisioned this as soon as I thought of my girly tea party. I used the SU punch to punch the scrolls on the top and bottom using Prism blush red dark cardstock. I then added tiny gemstones to the scallops. I stamped on the tag Valentine Be Mine from the Hearts Desire set and used Tag Nesties to cut it out, I also sponged it with SU pretty in pink ink. I added a button and the glittery pink chipboard heart. I topped it off with a paper flower and ribbon. I made a card to set along side it using the same sets, the sentiment treat yourself is from the set Celebrating You.
















I have my little girly tin setting on our table with the card inviting you to treat yourself to a yummy cinnamon jelly heart candy. I hope that you are
inspired to get started on your project and have a great day! Enjoy.

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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.

Tags Tins and Treats: Day 1

This month we've been walking through foyers and entryways in the Viva la Verve! challenges, so as I was thinking about a theme for this month's project parade, my thoughts kept turning to fond memories of the vintage candy tins and jars my grandmother always kept filled with hard candy inside her entryway. I LOVED opening the lids to see what sweet treat I might find – and then choosing just the ONE I wanted! Those were special memories - a tradition I've kept going in my own house, mostly because I've got a tiny little eensy weensy bit of a sweet tooth!

So the challenge for this parade is Tags, Tins & Treats - perfect for all those Valentine goodies that will soon be on the top of everyone's to-do list. To participate, just make a NEW tag, alter a tin, package some treats or do all three if you’re really feeling creative! I've included a little photo above that I found for inspiration, but it’s totally optional. If it inspires you, use it, if not, let your mojo do the talking!


For my project, I was inspired by the colors in the photo, and used them to create a tag and alter a little pail of treats. The little rose on the vintage tin reminded me of this beautiful rose ribbon I got at the $1 store on my last visit. The pail I used was 40% off at Jo-Ann's and I thought the painted polka dots would tie in with the coaster in the photo, and look awesome with little added rhinestones. And I brought in a touch of purple with milk chocolate Bliss candies (so yummy).


For the tag, I embossed a tag cut from confetti cardstock with the Hearts Cuttlebug folder, then added a bottom border of pink punched with the SU! Scallop Trim Border. I stamped the pink panel lightly with stamps from Accent Notes for a background and used the same technique for the Primitive Heart die cut (Sizzix). I used scallop decorative scissors to cut a little cool carribbean mat, then stamped the Be Mine plain jane in Rose Red and used some pink fun flock on the arrow.

For the pail, I added rhinestones to the painted polka dots, then created a band (also stamped with the Accent Notes set) and some layered Nestabilities Labels 4 stamped with a sentiment from Heart's Desire. And for the final touch, I stamped a little white tissue paper with one of the heart clusters from Heart's Desire.

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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 15) will win their choice of any Verve set.

Happy stamping!
We can't wait to see what you create!

Sneak Peek Day 3 - Heart's Desire

Hey there Verve Fans! Jen Tapler here with a peek at another fabulous new Verve set, Heart's Desire! I seriously think this set might be new favorite seasonal Verve set for the same reason I say that about every new Verve set - I just love the versatility of 14 stamps in this set!! From wide variety of new fonts in the fun sentiments to the fun new circular frame that is quickly becoming a Verve fan favorite to the "sketchy" hearts that coordinate so perfectly with some of the other Verve sets that have released recently - this is definitely a MUST-HAVE not just for Valentine's Day, but for any love or heart-themed projects you have planned.

Check out what the Divas have created with the awesome Heart's Desire...

From Diva Amy Sheffer:
One of my favorite things about Verve Stamps is their adaptability to so many different styles. Vintage, whimsical, funky, modern, elegant or something more eclectic - Verve stamps will shine in any setting! When I first saw Heart's Desire, I fell in love with the combination of more formal and more casual images and, even more, with the stylish fonts Julee used for the sentiments. How about this funky font treatment for "be mine"? LOVE IT!! I started with my card base designed from different shabbied up Basic Grey Sugar Rush patterns, then added some ribbon and a gorgeous crystal and pearl flourish by Prima. On that backdrop, I added the stamped sentiment and two stamped hearts. At the last minute, I swapped out one of the stamped hearts for a glittered chipboard heart to go along with Michelle's current chipboard challenge. A truly fun set to play with! And, like so many of Verve's sets, this new set plays well with some old friends that may already be in your collection! Note how the heart in Heart's Desire is a bigger version of the hearts in the recently released Thankful Hearts and Thankful Accents sets. Gotta love all the mix-n-match opportunities!"

From Diva Charmaine Ikach:
"When I saw the Heart's Desire set, it immediately reminded me of both my mother and my mother-in-law. I decided to make little Valentine treats that were perfect for them. The Heart's Desire set has such a classic look with a touch of whimsy. I love the dainty frames included in the set as well as the different fonts. My project is perfect for my two mothers and really captures their decorating style, but this stamp set can easily be used to create cute and whimsical projects as well! I just LOVE how versatile it is and I know you will to!"

From Diva Lynda Benden:
"Oh my gosh. Aren't you just LOVING the sneak peeks so far?!?!? Julee has definitely done it again! My card today is VERY simple. The base of this card is Basic Black with a mat of Vintage Cream and then a mat of Tan Bazzill CS. The heart decorative paper is from Pink Paislee's new Cupid line. I added the strip toward the bottom and then the Zva rhinstone flourish. I stamped the beautiful circle of hearts on the same Pink Paislee decorative paper using Basic Black ink and then cut it out using my circle Nestabilities. The "thinking of you" sentiment is included in ANOTHER new set being released called Accent Notes and was stamped in the center of the circle of hearts using Basic Black ink. I matted it on a black scalloped circle."

From Diva Jen Tapler:
When I first saw Heart's Desire, I knew immediately that I wanted to create a set of fun little whimsical "Love Notes" to have on hand for my son, husband and Mom. I used several of the stamps included in the new set and also incorporated a few old sets - the polka dots from Bountiful Backgrounds and one of the hearts from Thankful Accents. Going with a fun color combo of Kraft (of course!), chocolate, aqua and hot pink, I used a variety of embellishments including ribbons, glitter, buttons, heat embossing and my Apron Lace punch from Fiskars. I love how they each turned out unique and yet they all managed to have the sentiment in the bottom right corner as a focal point. I still think the sentiments are my favorite part of the new Heart's Desire set (but it's a tough call)!! So much fun!

And last, but certainly not least, from our Guest Diva, Melissa Sauls:
"Smitten. That's what I was when I first saw Heart's Desire. (Either that or I was still over the moon excited to be selected as a Verve Guest Diva...probably a combination of both!!!) My eyes were immediately drawn to all of those softly drawn hearts and how they were incorporated into every single image! Every time I would look at them, it was as if they floated right off the page and into my heart! I just love it! It is romance in its purest form...and when I think of romance, I immediately think of soft shabby colors and images that can literally make your heart sing. I knew just what I wanted...no, NEEDED to do, when I got this. I needed to create a "tussy mussy." Tussy Mussy's are a Victorian style bouquet of flowers held together in a metal vase, much like the kinds you see at weddings. I began with my focal image by stamping the circular frame with dainty hearts in - how appropriate - Rose Romance ink. The image fit inside a scalloped circle nestability just beautifully! I distressed the edges and then stamped my large heart onto a piece of cardstock that was then adhered to chipboard. I cut that out and "sugared" it up, vintage style. Small rhinestones were added just for fun and a delicate flower was placed right in the corner of my heart. That was it! I could have just ended it there! I decided to go ahead and finish decorating the tussy mussy with cinched crepe paper, vintage trim, luscious satin ribbon, and an old vintage earring from my mother-in-law's grammy. Ahhh, sweet love! I've gotta say, it has been an EXTREME honor to stamp among these ladies and I cannot express my gratitude enough for even eing allowed to be here. Thanks to Julee, and thank you to the rest of the Divas

Like what you’ve seen so far? Just leave a comment here on this post before 6 PM Eastern on Friday, January 15 and you’ll be put in a drawing to win this set! Winners will be announced at our release party Friday night.

And for even more chances to win some Vervey goodness, be sure to check out the Release Week Challenges going on in the Verve Forum this week!