Simple Birthday

Hi friends!  Happy Thursday!  It's the end of the month and that means our May Viva la Verve! contest is drawing to a close.  This year, the Divas started adding a clean & simple sketch the final week of the month, which always a fun way to challenge myself. Here's my take on the May Week 5 VLV sketch...

I was drawn to this Pretty in Pink line of papers by Glitz because of the text on the far left panel which reads, "Something Good Will Happen Today". I decided to layer the three pattern I chose using the dotted wave punch and adding some stitched accents and distressed edges. The sentiment is from the Love Deepens set and is stamped onto the center panel of designer paper and I adorned with a simple seam binding bow. Super quick, but really fun.

Okay, that's all the time I have for today.  Hope you're having an absolutely fabulous week.  Thanks so much for stopping by.


Enabler's List:
Stamps: Love Deepens (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Pretty in Pink (Glitz), Crumb Cake (SU!)
Ink: Vintage Photo, Brushed Corduroy (Ranger Distress)
Accessories: Seam binding ribbon (SU!), Corner Chomper (WRMK), sewing machine, dotted wave border punch (EK Success)

Growing

Hi everyone!  It's Monday again and a long weekend here!  Mark and I have been tackling our garage and all the remaining stuff that didn't get processed after our move and before the babies.  It's exhausting, but it's also a nice sanity break from the twins, who love having grandma and grandpa here to hold them and squeeze them.  I snuck into my studio this morning to play along with this week's Mojo Monday 243 sketch and here's what I came up with.

I love making round or square cards, so this is always my favorite sketch of the month.  The sketch was based on a set of cards I made a while back, with a few tweaks.  For my stamp inspiration, I paired the new Joyful Blooms Die Set and Ribbon Banner Die with the older Bloom & Grow set and Elegant Leaves Die.  I loved the fun vibe to this Celebrate paper by Authentique, so used that for my color scheme and added a little distressing.  I grunged things up with a bit of paper crimping, staples, and inked and roughed up edges.  Then I finished off with some black scrappers floss accented with a rhinestone from Pizzazz Aplenty.

I think I'm becoming a much faster stamper now that I know I only have limited time.  This card came together in about 20 minutes, where before the twins I might have fussed with it for about 2 hours.  LOL

Well, that's all for today.  I hope you have a wonderful start to your week and if you're looking for a little creative inspiration head on over to the Mojo Monday blog to check out every one's take on this week's sketch.

Enabler's List:
Stamps: Bloom & Grow (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Celebrate (Authentique), Black, White
Ink: Soot Black, Barn Door, Pumice Stone (Ranger Distress), White Dye Ink (Memories)
Accessories: Joyful Blooms Die Set, Ribbon Banner Die, Elegant Leaves Die (A Cut Above by VERVE), Tiny attacher, paper distresser (Tim Holtz), scrapper's floss (Karen Foster), flatback rhinestone (Pizzazz Aplenty), paper crimper (Fiskars)

Surfer Dad

Hi friends!  Happy Thursday!  It's crazy how fast (and slowly) the weeks fly by with twins!  Each colic spell seems to last FOREVER, but then a week goes by and I have no idea how.  Anyhow, today I'm sharing a card I made 2 weekends ago.  I thought it was for that week's Mojo Monday sketch, but after I finished it I realized it was one of the April sketches {Mojo 236}, not the May ones!  Doh!  Oh well, it just gave me an excuse to spend a little more time in the studio making a sample for that week.  Plus, I love the way this masculine card turned out, so it was a win win!

The papers are from the WRMK Down the Boardwalk collection and I just love them!  Polka dot surfboards make me smile.  I've never surfed before, but I do love to watch it on TV.  I love just about anything to do with the ocean, except sharks.  I've never even seen Jaws.  Probably the only person in America.  LOL  Oh my, I'm rambling this morning... my second cup of coffee has kicked in.

I chose to pair the new Super Dad set with the previously released Happy Days set to go with the surfer theme of the papers.  I stamped the wave frame from Happy Days in Tumbled Glass, then highlighted with an Antique Linen distress marker.  The sentiment from Super Dad is stamped in Vintage Photo and I added the trio of stars below it for accent.  For embellishment, I made my own using the SU! small star punch and accenting the centers with the single star from Super Dad, then layering to look more like a compass.  Twine always seems to be a good masculine embellishment, so I wrapped a little around, then distressed the edges of everything to match the look of the papers.

Okay, that's all from me today!  I hope you have a fabulous rest of the day.  And a little reminder that Verve is having a For the Boys sale this month.  Since my life is 100% surrounded by boys now, it seemed a good reason to have a sale!  {grin}  All the sets I used on this card, plus a whole bunch of others are on sale.  Check it out..

Enabler's List:
Stamps: Super Dad, Happy Days (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Down the Boardwalk (WRMK), Cream
Ink: Tumbled Glass, Vintage Photo, Antique Linen (Ranger Distress)
Accessories:  Small Star Punch, linen thread (SU!), Dotted Wave punch (EK Success), liquid pearls (Ranger), paper distresser (Tonic)

Joyful Set

Hi friends!  It's Monday again, so that means it's time for a new Mojo Monday sketch.  I used this sketch to make my Mom a set of cards for Mother's Day. 

Above is the whole set and below I've shown individual photos of each card.  I used a different scripture Plain Jane for each card and colored the flowers with PanPastels.  I used good old fashioned stamping, with no patterned paper for all of the cards and deliberately kept them pretty simple and flat so they'd be easy for my mom to mail.

Uses Psalm 63:3-4 Plain Jane, Joyful Blooms and the Leafy Sprigs Die Set.  Cardstock and ink colors are Blushing Bride.

Uses Zephaniah 3:17 Plain Jane, Joyful Blooms and the Leafy Sprigs Die Set.  Cardstock and ink colors are Pool Party.

 

Uses Psalm 3:3 Plain Jane, Joyful Blooms and the Leafy Sprigs Die Set.  Cardstock and ink colors are Rose Red.

Uses Jeremiah 33:3 Plain Jane, Joyful Blooms and the Leafy Sprigs Die Set.  Cardstock and ink colors are Daffodil Delight.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Be sure to hop on over to the Mojo Monday blog to see how the design team interpreted the sketch, then play along for a little bit of creative fun to start your week!

Enabler's List:
Stamps: Psalm 63:3-4 Plain Jane, Zephaniah 3:17 Plain Jane, Psalm 3:3 Plain Jane, Jeremiah 33:3 Plain Jane, Joyful Blooms (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Blushing Bride, Pool Party, Rose Red, Daffodil Delight, Basic Black (SU!), white
Ink: Blushing Bride, Pool Party, Rose Red, Daffodil Delight (SU!), Black (Versafine), PanPastels
Accessories: Leafy Sprigs Die Set  (A Cut Above by VERVE), Doily Lace Punch (Martha Stewart), corner rounder

Dream Big

Hi friends!  Happy Friday!  It's time for the  Viva la Verve! May Week 4 sketch and this week's hostess is Moe!  I had lots of ideas for the big circle element, so I just might be trying this sketch again sometime.

Since Words of Wisdom was still on my desk, I decided to pair this dream big sentiment with some fabulous prints from the aptly named {Fabulous} collection by Simple Stories.  The card really came together very quickly.  I stamped the sentiment on the circle, outlined the word big with distress markers, sponged some edges with distress inks, then accented with a butterfly charm and orange rhinestones from Pizzazz Aplenty.  I finished off with a little chocolate bow and the butterfly from Twitterpated cut with the All Aflutter Die Set.

Okay, that's all from me today.  Remember, if you play along with all 5 of the May Viva la Verve! sketches you'll be entered to win a $100 gift certificate to Verve!  Woohoo!  Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by!

Enabler's List:
Stamps: Words of Wisdom, Twitterpated (Verve Stamps)
Paper: {Fabulous} (Simple Stories), Pumpkin Pie (SU!), Cream
Ink: Coffee Archival, Antique Linen and Vintage Photo Distress (Ranger)
Accessories:  All Aflutter Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), Classic Circles and Blossoms Nestabilities (Spellbinders), bracket border punch (Fiskars), orange flatback rhinestones, butterfly charm (Pizzazz Aplenty), ribbon, corner rounder

An Imperfect Life

Hi friends!  It's Monday again and that means it's time for another Mojo Monday sketch.  I had a couple hours while the grandparents were here this weekend to spend a little time in my studio, and boy do I miss stamping!  {grin}

The Making of:
I haven't been able to do much art journaling lately, so I decided to do a little mixed-media treatment on this card with some distress stains, distress markers and some scraped on white paint.  I clipped on a little heart shape die cut using the From the Heart Die Set and added a texture rub-on in the corner that seemed to go with the splotchy circles on this Anthologie paper.  I'm pretty sure I've had this notebook border punch forever and only used it once, so I thought I'd turn the rectangle from the sketch into a little notepad look.  And because life isn't perfect, I had to give it a little tilt when I glued it on.

The Inspiration:
This sentiment from Words of Wisdom really speaks to my heart.  There is nothing perfect about my life right now.  I'm stressed out, sleep deprived, depressed and generally wondering why God thinks I can handle all the things life has thrown my way recently.  But every now and then, even on the darkest days, there are still glimpses of wonderful.  And I realize that even though my life isn't the picture of perfection I had planned, it's going to be okay.  Life is what it is... and every now and then it surprises you with a bit of wonderful.

Okay, that's all from me today.  Thanks so much for stopping by and remember to hop on by the Mojo blog to see the inspiration from the rest of the design team!  Have a great week!

Enabler's List:
Stamps: Words of Wisdom (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Anthologie (WRMK), Wild Wasabi, Crumb Cake (SU!)
Ink: Coffee Archival Ink, Brushed Corduroy, Walnut Stain, Vintage Photo, Dried Marigold, Spiced Marmalade Distress inks (Ranger), white paint (Golden)
Accessories: From the Heart Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), Classic Circles Nestabilities (Spellbinders), notebook punch (EK Success), Corner Chomper (WRMK), mini library clip (SU!), Artsy Textures Rub-ons (Christy Tomlinson Designs), ribbon

Mother's Day

Hi friends!  Happy Saturday!  I can't believe how quickly this past week has gone.  There's so much change going on in our lives right now it seems "normal" is a word I'll never use again.  We had to say goodbye to my feline companion of 13 years this week and the house (although noisier than it's ever been with these twin boys) seems so quiet without Katie around.  I miss her so much, but am comforted to know she's no longer in pain. 

But, I'm not here about that, so let's move on.  I'm sharing a card I  made last weekend and this is the first bit of time I've had to blog about it.  When I created the Bloom & Grow set I envisioned it working with a lot of different flower dies, so I couldn't wait to pair it with the new Joyful Blooms Die.  The leaf is cut with the Elegant Leaves Die and stamped with the coordinating stamp from Bloom & Grow.  I don't often mat layers with cream, but I liked the contrast it gave with the pastel papers and thought it would be fun to add a little border to each mat.  I finished off with a double bow and a cabbage rose, then stamped the sentiment from Happy Phrases in the corner.

And for those of you asking for more photos of Kellan & Trevor, here they are in their Easter outfits, which read... "Chicks Adore Me".  {grin}  They're both doing fine and weighed in at just over 10 pounds each at their 2 month checkup last week.  Okay, that's all from me.  Hope you have a fabulous rest of the weekend!

Enabler's List:
Stamps:  Bloom & Grow, Happy Phrases (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Dolled Up (My Mind's Eye), Blushing Bride, Pear Pizzazz (SU!) Cream
Ink: Pear Pizzazz, Blushing Bride, Regal Rose, Melon Mambo (SU!)
Accessories:  Elegant Leaves Die, Joyful Blooms Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), pink liquid pearls (Ranger), loopy border punch (Martha Stewart), seam binding ribbon (SU!), cabbage rose (Prima)

Birthday Mojo

Hi friends! It's a new month of Mojo Monday and that means it's contest week! Play along with this week's sketch for a chance to win a Verve set of your choice. I got a little bit of time to play with Verve's new release a few weeks back and this was my favorite card I made so I turned it into this week's Mojo sketch. It uses a bit of older Verve mixed with some of the newest sets and dies.

Now that I'm constantly attached to two little infants, I don't get much "me" time and one of the things I miss most is heading to the craft stores to check out what's new. So I signed up for the Scarlet Lime Mixed-Media Kit so I could get a little surprise in my mailbox each month. The papers and rub-ons used on this card are both from the She-Art line that was included in the March kit. So I was inspired to do a bit of a mixed-media look to the card with some distressed edges and some White Picket Fence distress stain to grunge things up.

The circle frame stamp is an old favorite from the Thankful Accents set and I stamped the sentiment from Small Celebrations inside the ribbon banner from Super Dad and cut out with the Ribbon Banner Die. Then I cut out the Fringe Flower Plain Jane colored with Copics and popped up over everything. A few embellishments and this fun little card was finished.

Okay, that's all from me.  Hope you have a fantastic start to your week!  Be sure to hop on over to the Mojo Blog to see the inspiration from the design team, then play along for a chance to win!  Oh, and if you missed it on Saturday, be sure to hit the Verve Blog for the Diva Inspirations Hop list!


Enabler's List:
Stamps: Fringe Flower Plain Jane, Small Celebrations, Super Dad, Thankful Accents (Verve Stamps)
Paper: She Art (Christy Tomlinson Designs), Groovy Guava, Basic Black (SU!)
Ink: Onyx Black (Versafine), Groovy Guava (SU!), Antique Linen, Black Soot (Ranger Distress), white paint (Adirondack), Copic markers
Accessories: Ribbon Banner Die (A Cut Above by VERVE), She Art Rub-ons (Christy Tomlinson), mini library clip (SU!), bling, Classic Circles Nestabilities (Spellbinders), ribbon

Hello Sunshine

Hi friends!  Happy Cinco de Mayo!  It's the 5th of the month and that means it's time for the Diva Inspirations team to inspire you with some of our previously released Verve sets.  I love pulling out old favorites and making them feel brand new, so for my card I pulled out a set I hadn't used for a while... Let it Shine.  After all, who couldn't use a little sunshine to start the day?

My inspiration started with the May Week 2 Viva la Verve sketch by Charmaine.  I just realized I left a panel off, but I just count it a victory that I was able to make a card with 2 newborns!  {grin}  The sun from Let it Shine is stamped once on the circle, then again on white paper, colored with Prismacolor pencils and cut out to pop up for some dimension.  I used the Ribbon Banner Die to add the sentiment and then a little wide striped ribbon, black twin and a die cut border finish things off.

Okay, that's all from me.  Next up on the hop is our sweet Shannan.  This is her farewell hop as a Diva and she will be truly missed!  Be sure to leave a little comment love as you hop about for a chance to win some Verve!  Woohoo!

	1. Betty	5. Julee
	2. Jackie	6. Shannan
	3. Jen d.	7. Sony
	4. Jen T.	8. Susan

Enabler's List:
Stamps: Let it Shine (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Daffodil Delight, Basic Black (SU!), white
Ink: Black, Prismacolor colored pencils
Accessories:  Ribbon Banner Die (A Cut Above by VERVE), Queen of Hearts CutUps (TCP), Classic & Pinking Circles Nestabilities (Spellbinders), wide striped ribbon and Square Lattice embossing folder (SU!)