June 2015 New Release Spotlight Hops Day 4

Welcome to Day FOUR of Verve's June 2015 Spotlight Hops!  Wasn't yesterday's hop just lovely? I can't wait to see what the Divas have come up with today! If you're just popping in, you can click these links for our Day 1 and Day 2, and Day 3 hops.  Commenting on all of our spotlight hops is open until June 21. There's a chance to win new products each day, so be sure to hop around and leave a little love for the oh-so-talented Divas and special guests this week!  Everything we preview this week will be available in the Verve online store tomorrow, 6/19. So come hop along with us and see what's new at Verve!

I intended to make another card for today's hop, but time has just not been on my side this week. Release weeks are always super busy, but my toddlers are having a rough week as well and I'm spending a lot more time holding them instead of working.  :)  I did however make another post-it note holder like the ones I shared yesterday, this time featuring The Buzz stamp and coordinating die set.

The base is crumb cake, and I stamped the front with the BE and BLESSED sentiments in opposing corners, leaving room in the center for some ribbon to tie the folder shut.  Next I stamped the bee in black, and cut with the coordinating die from The Buzz Die Set.  I colored the bee with markers, then accented with glossy glaze and dusted some glitter on the wings before it dried. I then stamped the teeny bee from the set on crumbcake, colored with colored pencils and then punched out with a 3/4" circle punch, matted with black and added some white gel pen accents.

The bee die in this set is an exact cut of the stamped image (no border) in The Buzz stamp set.  I've made a short little rambling of a video showing an easy trick for lining up dies that don't have alignment holes, especially tricky ones that are solid (like the honeycomb) or that have little to no border (like the bee).  Hope you enjoy it! Sorry about the low video quality.  It was high def when I recorded it, so not sure what went wrong.  A great big huge thanks to Mr. Verve who got it working (despite much technical difficulty) when I was ready to scrap it all!  :)  View below or directly on YouTube at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blD_Oo2FNJk

Want to win some shiny new Verve? We'll be picking a random commenter on one of the Day 4 Hop spots to win today's featured products!   Our prize drawing will be open until 8pm Mountain on Sunday, June 21.  Just leave a comment on the blogs linked below and you'll be entered to win!

The hop starts over on my blog, Poetic Artistry.  

1. Julee 7. Charmaine 2. Stacey 8. Andrea 3. Teresa 9. Christyne 4. Amber 10. Maureen 5. Laurie 11. Shantaie 6. Marisa

Today's spotlight is shining on The Buzz illustrated by Julee Tilman and the coordinating The Buzz Die Set.

The Buzz is a 4" x 8" set of  15 clear stamps and will retail for $18.  

I've had a bee set on my mind almost as long as Verve has been around.  I didn't want it to be like all the other bee sets, so I kept thinking.  Then I ran across a beautiful art deco piece of jewelry with a bee image that made me stop and stare.  I HAD to illustrate it, and the set grew from there.  Honeycomb needed to be involved and I wanted some sentiments that were both congratulatory and fit some occasions that would pair nicely with our other art deco set.  The beehive image was one I illustrated way, way back while I was designing the now retired Cupcake Affair.  This particular cupcake attempt looked more like a bee hive to me, so I filed it away for future use, along with the all things are possible sentiment.

Coordinating dies for the large bee, honeycomb and beehive are available in The Buzz Die Set (sold separately).

The Buzz Die Set is a set of 3 open style dies and will retail for $17. 

Two of the dies in our The Buzz Die Set are open style in the center, so you can just lay them on top of  your stamped image for easy alignment.  The bee die is an exact cut of the stamped image (no border when cut), the beehive leaves a 1/16" border all around the coordinating image.  The honeycomb is an exact cut on the inner hexagons and leaves a 1/16" border around the outer image.

The Proverbs 16:24 plain jane  will retail for $3

That's all for today!  We'll see you back here tomorrow for the big release and another day of hopping! 

September Spotlight Hops - Day 4

Hi Verve fans!  We're back with day 4 of our release week previews and today we're shining our spotlights on a new set called Poppy Birthday.

Since we LOVE to share our Verve, we've got a giveaway every day this week!  Just hop around to the blogs on today's hop and tell us what you think in the comments at each stop and you'll be entered in a drawing to win today's featured stamps!  Woohoo!

The first thing from the release I pulled out to try was the Poppy Birthday set and coordinating Build a Poppy Die Set.  I was just so giddy to play with them, and they did not disappoint!  I made a super simple card in about 5 minutes and that's the card that inspired this one..  If you want to see the Poppy Birthday set and dies in action, I made a short little video yesterday as I started on this card. I've embedded it below, or you can click this link to view it on YouTube.  After I finished the video, I added the Award Banner Trim, a few more sequins and some liquid pearl accents to dress it up a bit.

On with the hop.  I'm the first stop with another card using this fun set! 
Day 4 PRIZE: Poppy Birthday, Build a Poppy Die Set

Comment Deadline:  Sunday, September 29 @ 5PM Mountain

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

I'm a huge fan of poppies.  When I art journal, I really enjoy creating them with paper shapes and doodling around them, so I decided to create a stamp set and die set that I could use both for mixed-media projects and cards.  The set includes sketchy poppies in three sizes and solid blooms in 5 sizes, creating a myriad of options for layering, 2-step stamping, paper piecing or coloring.  I've included some super fun scripty sentiments perfect for birthdays, too!

May 2013 Spotlight Hops - Day 3

Hi there Verve fans!  Welcome to Day 3 of our new release spotlight hops!  We'll be releasing 5 new sets, 4 plain janes, 3 dies and 2 ribbon collections this Friday, May 10.  As we countdown to our release, the Divas and our 2 special guests are strutting their new Verve with daily blog hops now through Friday!

And since we LOVE to share our Verve, we've got a giveaway every day this week!  Just hop around to the blogs on today's hop and tell us what you think in the comments at each stop and you'll be entered in a drawing to win today's featured stamps!  Woohoo!

Day 3 PRIZE: Strong Anchor, Adjusted Sails Plain Jane and Nautical Die Set
Comment Deadline:  Sunday, May 12 @ 5PM Mountain

1. Julee 8. Andrea 2. Charmaine 9. Jen M. 3. Teresa 10. Laurie W. 4. Stacey 11. Laurie S. 5. Amber 12. Janelle 6. Christyne 13. Maureen 7. Marisa 14. Jen S.

Before I get to the reveals, I have a little announcement about our dies.

As of this release, we will no longer include plastic alignment tools with our A Cut Above dies.  Anything that is in our inventory that has plastic tools will be shipped with the tools until we run out, but we will not be re-ordering any tools or including them with our new dies.


Our manufacturer originally included these tools for free, but have since added a charge for each plastic piece, and I'd rather keep our costs affordable than have you pay for something that you could just as easily do without.  The plastic tools are easy to lose and not as accurate as the new method I'm excited to show you, especially for the smaller, more intricate dies.  I've been making my own die alignment templates from scratch paper for the past year and I think it is so much easier and more accurate. Here's my first ever video explaining this method along with a sneak peek of the Strong Anchor and the Nautical Die Set...

Okay, on with the reveals...
 
Strong Anchor is an $18 set of 12 nautical themed sentiments and images.  I've been a long time fan of anything nautical, collecting lighthouses for many years and planning my dream retirement by the beach.  I'm so excited to see the paper crafting industry trending on everything anchors lately!  I couldn't wait to add my take on this fun theme and expand our masculine set offerings in the process.  It's perfect for Father's Day, masculine birthdays and for anyone who's a guiding force or solid anchor in your life.  And of course, it was the perfect excuse to put one of my favorite scripture verses into stamp form... Hebrews 6:19.

Production Note:  We discovered a typo in the scripture reference on this set after the set had gone to production.  I'm blaming it on two sweet little twin boys that are always stealing me away from the task at hand. {grin}  Anyhow, our replacement stamps should be in-house early next week, so if you order this set, just know that it might be delayed a few days so we can include the corrected stamp.


Here's the sweet little CAS card I made in the video featuring Strong Anchor and the Nautical Die Set.

Our plain jane feature today is the Adjusted Sails plain jane.  Coordinating beautifully with Strong Anchor, I just love this quote and the hope and perseverance it symbolizes.  I can't wait to add a page to my art journal with this stamp and I know I'll be using it for encouragement cards for some of the amazingly strong women who have crossed my path.  This stamp measures 1.75" (w) x 2.25" (h) and will retail for $3.

Stamp reads, "She stood in the storm, and when the wind did not blow her away, she adjusted her sails. - Edwards".

To finish off our nautical theme, we're releasing a Nautical Die Set that coordinates with the anchor and ship's wheel images in the Strong Anchor set.  This die set will retail for $6.

Size reference:  Anchor 1" (w) x 1.5" (h), Ship wheel 1.375" (w) x 1.375"(h)

All of the stamps, dies and ribbons featured this week will be available for purchase in the Verve Store on Friday, May 10.

Thanks so much for hopping with us today!  Have a great day and we'll see you back here tomorrow for some more fresh new looks at VERVE!