Fun & Fancy Frame

This was such fun to create! It's a small framed piece, with the opening in the frame only 5" across by 3-1/2" high. It would make a great gift or a nice element up on a mantle for the holidays.



No, by 'fancy frame' I do not mean the pretty gold frame that houses this cute home decor piece. What I mean is the cool frames we can create using the circles from Seasonal Circles and a circle paper punch. This technique is a great way to add a fancy accent to a frame around another circle.

I stamped the open poinsettia ring onto a distressed beige piece of the Be Good paper from Cosmo Cricket. Then, I punched a 1-3/8" circle into the center of the stamp. As you can see, the circle punch snipped about a third of each of the little flowers off. Not a big portion, but just enough to create a cool frame around a second (in this case, solid) circle of 1-1/4". Try this with the other three circles in the Seasonal Circles set. I bet you'll like how the other patterns look, too!


Stamps: Seasonal Circles (Verve Visual)
Paper: Be Good (Cosmo Cricket), Pine Cardstock (Archiver's)
Ink: Warm Green ColorBox Chalk (Clearsnap), VersaMark (Tsukineko)
Accessories: Paper Shaper Punches in 1-3/8" and 1-1/4" circles (EK Success), Gold Embossing Powder (Ranger), Gold Picture Frame (Quality Art Boise), Dimensional Foam Squares (3L)

For those of you who have already received your new Verve Visual stamp sets, I hope you're enjoying them and finding lots of extra inspiration both here and in the gallery. And guess what? The countdown to two more NEW sets kicks off in just a few more days, so check here for those sneak peeks!

Happy Stamping!
Kim R.

One sheet Winter Wonder

When I first saw the Winder Wonder and Seasonal Circles stamp sets, I knew that I wanted to try a OSW. I'd never attempted a one sheet wonder before so I was scared!

It was so simple! I could kick myself for not having done them before now. These stamps lend themselves so easily to random stamping patterns, and I managed to make 10 simple, quick, yet pretty cards from one 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of stamped paper.

I wanted to keep them simple, so I used no embellishments other than more cardstock and some ribbon. They could easily be stepped up a notch with more matting, some paper piercing, and some metal! I kept thinking of all the possibilities while I was creating.

I decided upon grey, sky blue and pomegranate for my ink and CS colors. I randomly stamped the OSW using only the Winter Wonder stamps and then cut it apart into pieces.

I made my card bases from the same colors and then used the Seasonal Circles stamp set to add highlights and a sentiment to each card. A touch of ribbon was the perfect ending.

I'm so pleased with the outcome and plan on using these stamps to do this over and over again until I have all the holiday cards I need. Just imagine the possibilities!

Stamps: Winter Wonder & Seasonal Circles (Verve Visual)

Paper: Pomegranate, Soft Sky, Basic Grey, Whisper White (SU!)

Ink: Pomegranate, Soft sky, Basic Grey (SU!)

Accessories: Pomegranate and soft sky stitched ribbon (SU!), grey velvet ribbon (SU!), white grosgrain dyed grey with ink (Offray), Scalloped circle punch.

Re-Creating Creativity

On October 10th Verve Visual released 2 new sets, Winter Wonder and Seasonal Circles, and WOW!!... These have been so much fun to work with! The other night I sat down to create a few projects for this article and without even realizing it I used my circle punches on each one. Does this mean that my mojo is in a slump and I am finding it difficult to think outside the box? Or does it mean that these sentiments fit perfectly in circle punches and this is a fun way to display them? Of course, I would like to think that the latter is true, especially since I used the some focal panel layout (on purpose) on the "Make the Season Bright" card and the "Comfort and Joy" box. This takes me to my point on what I like to call "re-creating creativity". What in the world is that you ask? Well, to me it's when you find something that you like on a project. In this case, I really liked the focal panel on this card.


I knew that I wanted to use it again, but not make it look like a repeat, so I "re-created my creativity" on the box shown below. I changed the orientation of the ribbon and eliminated the bow. Rhinestones where added to the sentiment circle. The base is now scalloped and the panel under the sentiment is stamped. Not to mention, I used it on a completely different project.
The How To:
(I have slighty re-worded the directions that I found from Yvette on SCS.)

• Cut a piece of cardstock to 9x9"
• Score at 3" and 6" on both sides so that you have nine 3x3 squares.
• On the outside corner squares, score across diagonally. Do not score across the center square.
• Fold the box into itself
• Glue, staple or brad the sides together. Also, you can add a handle to make it a little basket.

For the final project I created for this article, I made a Criss Cross Card. You can find the directions HERE on Splitcoast. These cards are so fun and easy to make, but they do take a considerable amount of paper in comparison to other types of cards...just something to think about if you plan on mass producing these. The decorative paper is from Webster's Pages and is available in the Verve Store.


I've been poking around SCS and love what I am seeing done with the Verve stamps!! I can't wait to see more of what is created with these 2 new sets. Also, be sure to be on the lookout for 2 more sets coming next month.

Another Seasonal Circles Project by Shannan Teubner

Lately I have been a fan of using stamps and images for things other that what they were initially designed for. I knew I wanted to do this with the awesome flower from Seasonal Circles, and so this card was born.

The color combo was inspired by an SCS Color Challenge a few weeks ago, which was to use River Rock, Chocolate Chip, and Bayou Blue. I added a little bit of red in there, just cause I wanted to!

I used Pearlized Cream cardstock for my main image. I love that stuff!!! The shimmer is amazing, let me tell ya. I stamped the 3 flowers on the panel, and then stamped them each again on scraps. I cut them out, painted on some Diamond Glaze, and then sprinkled on the glitter. I put a small brad through the center of each flower, and then adhered to the main panel with a Mini Pop Dot.

The stems are from Fancy Florals, and they're stamped in Old Olive. For the greeting, I really didn't want a Holiday greeting, so I chose to ink up just the "Comfort" part of the Comfort and Joy from Winter Wonder with a marker, and stamped it on the corner. You can do this same thing with some of the other sentiments in this set, for example: Joy, Peace, Snow, & Wishes. Those are just a few that come to mind.

I hope you enjoy this card, and hopefully you were inspired to take another look at your stamps using a different perspective. What else could you use them for? Take a good look and try it! You never know what genius will come of it! For more inspiration, stay tuned here for the next few days, and also check out the Verve Gallery for some rockin samples!

Stamps: Winter Wonder, Seasonal Circles, Fancy Florals (Verve Visual)
Paper: Pearlized Cream (Paper Accents), Chocolate Chip, River Rock, Blue Bayou (Stampin Up!)Ink: Ruby Red, Old Olive, Blue Bayou, Chocolate Chip (Stampin! Up)
Accessories: Dark Red Sheer Pinstriped Ribbon (May Arts), Brads (Making Memories), Diamond Glaze (Judikins), Crystal Ultrafine Glitter, Pop Dots, Cuttlebug D'Vine Swirls Folder

Parade of Projects by Lila

It's been easy peasy working on my Christmas and holiday cards the last few weeks. Verve's new Winter Wonder and Seasonal Circles stamp sets have been effortless to work with. I've been able to create simple cards for mass production (maybe with a few slight variations) and more labor (I like to refer to it as more love) intensive - but sometimes more is more.

These samples demonstrate the versatility of "Seasonal Circles". They show three seasons (now I know there are 4 seasons - but Summer was giving me problems - so you can imagine) just by changing the colors that you think of during the season - at least that's what the intent was. I love how the Winter card turned out. I stamped the white poinsettias first, masked and then used my Copic airbrush. Details for papers and inks are posted to each photo in the Seasonal Circles Gallery.

I also have to comment on the awesome Design Team Julee has put together. Each member is very talented and so willing to help and be supportive in any way they can. I encourage you to do two things (1) Go take a peek at the VV Gallery - even if you have already visited there are new projects to get your creative juices flowing and (2) now that you have your stamp sets go make some cards . I'm looking forward to November's release!!! Just you wait.....

Enjoy, Lila

The Big Unveiling!

Release day is finally here! Are you as excited as I am? You can now purchase Seasonal Circles and Winter Wonder at the Verve Store. Each set is only $10 and includes a CD case with printed index sheet for easy storage. In addition, I've added the option to purchase a 1/4 sheet of EZ Mount with your set for just $1 more! And to kick your mojo into gear, the design team has uploaded over 30 fabulous projects using Winter Wonder and Seasonal Circles to the Verve Visual Gallery.


Winter Wonder is a set of 9 classic snowflakes and 6 sentiment stamps on a 4.25" x 5.5" sheet of unmounted rubber. This is a set you'll reach for time and time again as you start in on your winter projects. The sentiments read Winter Wishes, Comfort and Joy, Merry and Bright, Peace on Earth, Joy to the World, Let it Snow and Winter Wonderland. The six larger sentiments are designed to fit perfectly in the circle frames of Seasonal Circles and the Winter Wonderland sentiment fits inside the Word Window punch.


Seasonal Circles includes four circle frame stamps that are designed to coordinate with the sentiments from the Winter Wonder set. Two of the circle designs match the snowflakes from Winter Wonder and the other two match the solid and outlined flower included in this set. The sentiment reads Make the Season Bright. Just by changing the colors you use with these gorgeous flowers, you can have a card for any season. Seasonal Circles comes as a 4.25" x 5.5" sheet of unmounted red rubber, with a CD storage case and printed index sheet.


This month's guest designer is the oh-so-talented Taylor Van Bruggen. Many of you know her from her blog, Taylored Expressions, or as a former "Dirty Girl" on the SCS Dirty Dozen Design team. She's a busy girl, doing design work for Stampendous, My Favorite Things and Papertrey Ink. We are so fortunate to have her as a Guest Designer this month to highlight these great new sets. Her projects are postively gorgeous...



Let it Snow by Taylor Van Bruggen
Stamps: Seasonal Circles, Winter Wonder
Ink: Stampin' Up Not Quite Navy, Bashful Blue, Encore Silver, VersaMagic
Paper: Stampin' Up Not Quite Navy, Whisper White
Other: Ribbon, Stampendous dot sparklers, Stamp N Stuff Silver Tinsel EP, Creative Memories Circle Cutting system, dimensionals



Peace on Earth by Taylor Van Bruggen
Stamps: Seasonal Circles, Winter Wonder
Ink: Stampin' Up Purely Pomegranate, Old Olive
Paper: Stampin' Up Purely Pomegranate, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla
Other: Ribbon, Stampendous dot sparklers, Crystal Stickles, dimensionals, Cuttlebug Textile A2 folder, Tonic paper distresser, copper brads, dog tag punch, oval punches, Chocolate Chip marker



Winter Wishes by Taylor Van Bruggen
Stamps: Seasonal Circles, Winter Wonder
Ink: Stampin' Up Real Red
Paper: Stampin' Up Bashful Blue, Whisper White, SEI patterned paper
Other: Ribbon, Stampendous dot sparklers, snowflake charm, silver cording, dimensionals, white ric rac, Creative Memories Circle Cutting system

New Design Team Member

I'm super geeked to announce Verve Visual's newest Design Team member, Charmaine Ikach!

If you've been hanging around Splitcoaststampers (she's Charmwarm there) or at her fabulous blog, Oodabug Alley, you know that Charmaine is a gold mine of talent. Creativity just oozes from her, and she's just as sweet as can be! Who wouldn't be honored to have her on their team? Her fabulous work speaks for itself - whether you're a long time fan of her work or just discovering her, we know you're going to love her projects.

Charmaine spent most of her life as a Musical Theater performer, singing and dancing in shows from national tours and regional theaters to cruise ships. Once Charmaine started having children, the traveling performer's life became very difficult. She was introduced to rubber stamping about 7 years ago and it quickly became a new and exciting creative outlet for her. Charmaine lives in Pittsburgh, PA with her husband of 7 years, their two daughters, 4 and 15 months, and is awaiting the arrival of their newest little one. In addition to being a member of the Verve Visual Design Team, Charmaine is also part of the Design Team for Paper Pretties.

Here's a sampling of Charmaine's work with Seasonal Circles & Winter Wonder. For more gorgeous samples, check out her album in the Verve Visual Gallery.

Stamps: Winter Wonder, Thoughtful Phrases
Paper- Glossy White CS, Whisper White
Ink- Basic Black, Blue Breeze Kaleidacolor
Accessories- white organdy ribbon by Darice, bling from Walmart, Stampendous Glitter, Tsukineko Glue Pad, Word Window punch, clear embossing powder, brayer.
Technique used: Bouncing Brayer



Stamps: Seasonal Circles
Paper: Purely Pomegranate, Papertrey White CS, DCWV olive
Ink: Purely Pomegranate, Old Olive, Basic Black
Accessories: clear rhinestone brads, Cuttlebug Flower die, 1", 1 1/4", 1 3/8" circle punches, dimensionals, Old Olive and Basic Black markers, duo satin ribbon by Darice.

Stamps: Winter Wonder
Ink: Regal Rose, Craft White
Paper: Regal Rose, Whisper White, DCWV rose
Accessories: white organdy ribbon by Darice, small mason jar.
Technique used: Faux Dry Embossing

Only One More Day...

Have you been enjoying all the gorgeous "Sneak Peek" projects the Verve Visual Design Team have posted over the last several days? Well, only one more day to wait and you will be able to see these two new wonderful sets for yourself!

I love how Seasonal Circles (set of 7) and Winter Wonder (set of 16) can be used alone or together! I used both sets in my Vintage Snowflakes card below. For the main image, I stamped one of the snowflake circles (from Seasonal Circles) onto Vanilla c.s. in Sage Shadow ink. Then, I stamped the Linen background stamp (inked in Creamy Caramel) over that to "age" it a little. I embossed the "Make The Season Bright" sentiment (also from Seasonal Circles) in the center with Ivory embossing powder and then used my Dauber (it's like a little sponge) to add just a hint of Sage Shadow behind it.

For the Sage Shadow layer, I stamped one of the snowflakes from the Winter Wonder set (it matches the snowflakes in the circle!) randomly, all over. I then duplicated the "aged" feel of the circle and stamped the Linen stamp over the snowflakes. I layered them on to a piece of patterned paper (from the Be Good collection by Cosmo Cricket). I have to tell you, I think this is my most favorite Christmas patterned paper....ever! It's heavy weight, double sided, has amazing vintage-like patterns....and the best part is that it will also be available from Verve Visual! This paper is what inspired my whole card. I just loved the soft vintage look of it, and thought by sewing around the edges of the card, stitching through the snowflakes (around the sentiment), and sponging/distressing the edges a bit would add to that "Days gone by" look.

If you haven't already, make sure you check out Kim's post below (she has made a beautiful snowflake card that you won't want to miss)!

Have a wonderful day...and make sure to visit the Verve Visual store tomorrow! ~Laurie

Stamps: Seasonal Circles, Winter Wonder (Verve Visual), Linen (Stampin' Up!) Paper: Very Vanilla, Sage Shadow (Stampin' Up!), Be Good (Cosmo Cricket) Ink: Sage Shadow, Creamy Caramel (Stampin' Up!), Versamark (Tsukineko) Accessories: Ivory e.p., Ivory Buttons, Vanilla 5/8" grosgrain ribbon (Stampin' Up!), Sewing machine, Thread, Coluzzle

Sneak Peak: Just Two More Days

Have you been enjoying the fabulous sneak peaks by the Verve design team? They're all so talented. Well, here's my contribution to the countdown.

I used the Seasonal Circles set with some non-seasonal, but fun, colors. I masked off a thin border with Post-It Notes, before stamping the outline flower in Timber Brown StazOn on pearlized white by Paper Accents. I stamped just one of the flowers from a circle in the set by coloring the stamp directly with a chocolate marker. After I colored the flowers with an aquapainter and dye-based inks, I drew in the free-hand squiggly border. The background paper is from the Cosmo Cricket: Be Good six pack. I did the scallops with my slit punch on both River Rock and Chocolate Chip, so I could layer them. The tiny rhinestones are just from the craft store, and I adhered them with glue. This is only my second time using Rub-Ons, and I could really get used to these. They show up great on colored card stock and are really easy to apply. Here, I used a sentiment from Crate Words.

Stamps: Seasonal Circles (Verve Visual)
Paper: Chocolate Chip, River Rock (Stampin' Up!); Pearlized white (Paper Accents); Be Good (Cosmo Cricket)
Ink: Timber Brown (StazOn); Certainly Celery, Sage Shadow, Not Quite Navy, Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Rub-On (Crate Words); Circle Punches, Slit Punch (Stampin' Up!); Ribbon (American Crafts); large rhinestone (Darice); small rhinestones (misc.)

Stop by again tomorrow for another Sneak Peak double dose with Laurie and Kim. And October 10 will be the big release date, when BOTH of the gorgeous new Verve Visual stamp sets will be available for purchase.

Fourth Sneak Peak!

Happy World Card Making Day! Are you out there creating a card? Don't you wish you had some new stamps? Wait until you see the newest releases from Verve Visual!
These new stamp sets are just so exciting! I can't seem to stop creating with them. Today's card uses the Seasonal Circles set that will be released on October 10th.

When I saw this set, it just cried out "Christmas" to me! ( This is strange because I'm not a Christmas-y type of person.) I started by creating my own patterned paper using the flower wreath and the larger matching flower stamped in red. Then I over-stamped the large open flower in olive green on top.

After matting with some coordinating CS (SU), I knew it needed some sparkle, so I adhered tiny gemstone blings to the center of each red flower. Paper piercing also helps to draw the attention to the stamped pattern, as does the deckled edge of the olive mat. A red textured (Bazzill) card base brought it all together.
The sentiment was stamped in black and tiny gems were added near it also, to highlight the concept of "Merry and BRIGHT!" This was then ringed with the open flower wreath in olive and matted on a scalloped black circle.

This card only took about 15 minutes to create (including the design) so to mass produce them for the holiday would be quite simple in an assembly-line fashion. 5 minutes per card, TOPS! And the colors are easily interchangeable.

Keep watching for some more AMAZING designs using the soon-to-be released stamps from Verve Visual! And have a great WCMD!

October Sneak Peek: Day 2

Today's Sneak Peak features Seasonal Circles, a set of 7 individual stamps. I love this set because it has so many possibilities. You could use the florals for any season just by simply changing your color choices. This sample was created using reds, greens and gold making it a traditional Christmas holiday card.

The layout is one I often use when incorporating pattern papers. The focal point of the card is the little outline flower (colored with reds making them poinsettias) and the framed and popped up sentiment.

Stamps: Seasonal Circles (Verve Visual) and Pine Bough wheel (SU)
Paper: Shimmer, Old Olive, Confetti Cream (SU); Winter Wonderland Collection "Candy Cane" (Webster's Pages); St Nick double sided "Hollyberry Stripe" (Making Memories)
Ink: Noir Black (Palette); True Thyme and Always Artichoke (SU); Krylon 18 kt Gold Leafing; Copic R37 and R39
Accessories: Oval Punch (EK Success); mini scallop scissors (Provo Craft); Dimensional (pop dots SU); mini adhesive pearls (K&Co Wedding Collection) painted with gold leafing pen

Check back tomorrow for another sneak peek from the Verve Design Team!

-Lila