Plum Sympathy

Hi friends!  It's the final Monday of the month and that means it's time for a tall and skinny sketch over at Mojo Monday.  This one came together super quick for me.

I started with the New Mercies set and the Antique Lost & Found papers I had out from a previous project.  I stamped the smaller leaves silhouette in Perfect Plum on designer paper, then highlighted with a Perfect Plum marker and a white gel pen.  I added the with heartfelt sympathy sentiment at the top in black and accented with a butterfly die cut.  All of the patterned paper pieces are sponged lightly with vintage photo and black soot, and I added a touch of perfect plum to the bigger panels to pull the color throughout the design.

The embossed background is a paisley folder from Anna Griffin, lightly sponged with vintage photo and black soot and I embellished the card with a bit of black lace trim and some black rhinestones for the butterfly body.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you have a fabulous week!

Mojo Monday 395 Sketch

Enabler's List
Stamps:  New Mercies (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Lost & Found - Antique (MME), basic black (SU!), cream (Neenah)
Ink: perfect plum (SU!), black archival, black soot and vintage photo distress (Ranger), white gel pen
Accessories:  Mini Exotic Butterflies Dies, Classic Circles Nestabilities (Spellbinders), black rhinestones, paisley embossing folder (Anna Griffin for Cuttlebug), black lace trim

Cup of Tea

Hi friends!  It's Friday again and time for a brand new sketch over on the Viva la Verve blog.  This week's hostess is the lovely Stacey.

I received a shipment of out of stock stamps this week, so couldn't wait to pull out the One Cup set for a little inky time.  Although my cough has finally subsided, I still have a very scratchy throat (probably from months of continuous coughing), so I've been drinking less coffee and more tea lately. The Lost & Found Antique paper pad from My Mind's Eye caught my eye when I was looking through paper, so pulled it out and went with a black, cream and red theme.

I'm also on a kick to use some of the mountains of washi I keep collecting.  So a washi banner up top was a must, just folded over a piece of twine and adhered to the card.  Next I stamped the sentiment from One Cup on a Rounded Rectangle die cut and colored with Copics.  I also colored a piece of cream cardstock with Copics and cut out with the Award Banner Trim die to match my colored tea cup.  I finished off with some bows on the ends of my banner and a little matching washi on the sides of my sentiment panel.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you have a fabulous start to your weekend!

VLV April Week 4 Sketch

Enabler's List
Stamps: One Cup (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Lost & Found Antique (MME), cream
Ink: black archival (Ranger), copic markers
Accessories: Rounded Rectangle Die, Award Banner Trim Die (A Cut Above by Verve), washi tape, tiny attacher, baker's twine

Aqua Sunshine

Hi friends! It's Monday again and time for a brand new Mojo Monday sketch from yours truly. I had a bit of fun playing with stencils and distress inks last week, and am continuing on this week. Here I used broken china and mermaid lagoon distress inks with a Donna Downey stencil and the stencil monoprint technique.

Both the background and the flowers from Button Best are done with this technique. I fussy cut the flowers and their centers, then added some white gel pen accents to each petal to lighten things up. The sentiment is the Psalm 94:18 verse and I stamped the larger flower from Button Best in the corner with so saffron, then again on so saffron paper for the yellow panel. A few leaves cut from black using the Sprightly Sprigs Die Set and a few little rhinestone flower centers finish things off.

That's all for me today! I hope you have a wonderfully creative start to your week. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Mojo Monday 394 Sketch

Enabler's List
Stamps: Button Best, Psalm 94:18 plain jane (Verve Stamps)
Paper: white, black, watercolor distress paper
Ink: mermaid lagoon, broken china distress inks, black archival ink (Ranger), so saffon (SU!), white gel pen
Accessories: Sprightly Sprigs Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), black glimmer ribbon, Poppy Collage stencil (Donna Downey), twinkle goosebumps (Queen & Co)

Without Fear

Hi friends! It's Friday and time for a new sketch over at Viva la Verve! This week's hostess is the lovely Sarah.

For my card, I went with a very loose interpretation of the sketch. {grin} I made another background using the stencil monoprint technique I used on my last card, this time with cracked pistachio and peeled paint. I didn't want to cover up too much of the background, so stamped the Proverbs 31:25 plain jane directly on the background as my vertical panel.

The flowers are from the Button Best set, and cut with the coordinating Petal Points Die Set. The coral pieces are all cut from a piece of cardstock that I smooshed abandoned coral and dried marigold ink onto and watered down, then brayered with a small heart brayer in abandoned coral, adding more water, then blotting off. Did a similar technique for the greenery, which is cut with the Sprightly Sprigs Die Set. The banner is the Pennant Trim Die, accented with some silver pearls and I finished off with a butterfly embellie (drifted a bit in place of the heart in the sketch), a couple flower centers and some white gel pen accents.

I think my favorite part of the card is the happy accident of a wayward splash of abandoned coral ink that hit the "v" in Proverbs exactly right to make it look like a heart.  Little things like that just make my heart happy!  {grin}

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Hope you have a super creative weekend!

VLV April Week 3 Sketch

Enabler's List
Stamps: Button Best, Proverbs 31:25 plain jane (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Watercolor Distress Paper (Ranger)
Ink: abandoned coral, cracked pistachio, dried marigold, peeled paint distress ink, black archival ink (Ranger), white gel pen (Signo Uniball)
Accessories: Pennant Trim Die, Petal Points Die Set, Sprightly Sprigs Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), silver pearls, butterfly, flower center rhinestones, hearts brayer (American Crafts)

Flying By

Hi friends!  It's a mid-day, just for fun post!  Hooray!  I've been in need of a little recharge lately, so took a bit of time this afternoon to do something entirely fun and unrelated to work!  I had a couple things in mind, and they came together just how I'd imagined.

First off, I wanted to play along with the spring blog hop over at The Cat's Pajamas.  The deadline to link up is tomorrow, so I'm so happy I found a little time today!  I've had this adorable Flying By set on my desk for quite a while without seeing ink, so today was it's day.

I also wanted to test out the stencil monoprints technique in this week's Splitcoaststampers newsletter, so that's where I started.  I pulled out cracked pistachio and abandoned coral distress inks, a spray bottle and the Poppy Collage stencil from Donna Downey and followed the tutorial.  Oh my word was it so easy to get such a cool background!  I loved my first attempt and knew I had to make a card that allowed the background to shine.

So I stamped Sprinkle flying directly on the background, then stamped it on some texty scraps twice to do the wings and propeller.  I sponged those with matching distress inks, fussy cut and layered over the image on the card base.  I also cut a couple strips of the Cloud Border Cutups and stamped and embossed the coordinating cloud stamp on vellum in white to add to the card.  I finished off with a bit of Stardust Stickles on the clouds and a seam binding bow at the top.

Thanks so much for stopping by today to peek into my craft room!

Enabler's List
Stamps: Flying By (The Cat's Pajamas)
Paper: watercolor distress paper (Ranger), dp scraps (BasicGrey)
Ink: abandoned coral, cracked pistachio distress inks, black archival ink (Ranger)
Accessories:  Cloud Border Cutups (The Cat's Pajamas), Poppy Collage stencil (Donna Downey), seam binding, Stardust Stickles

Oh Boy

Hi friends!  It's Monday again and that means it's time for a new Mojo Monday sketch.  This week is a fun one you can keep clean & simple or dress up, plus it's perfect for using up some scraps from your pile.

I paired my sketch card with the current Bunnies & Babies Diva Dare challenge and made a card for a baby boy expected later this year.  The stamps are from To the Moon and I used scraps of paper I found in my box mountain of scraps.  Added a bit of linen thread for accent and my favorite Stars & Swirls embossing folder for the background and it was done.

I hope you have a wonderful start to your week.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Mojo Monday 393 Sketch

Enabler's List
Stamps: To the Moon (Verve Stamps)
Paper: scraps, white
Ink: soft sky (SU!), black (Archival Ranger)
Accessories:  linen thread, classic circles nestabilities (Spellbinders), button, stars & swirls embossing folder (Sizzix)

No Worries

Hi friends!  Happy Saturday!  I'm popping in rather late with this week's Mojo Monday sample, but better late than never, right?  It's contest week, and that means there are Verve prizes up for grabs.  So why not come play along?  And if you use some Verve on your card, and are on Facebook, link it up in the comments on my post on the Verve Stamps page on Facebook for a chance to win a $25 gift voucher to Verve!  I'll be picking a random winner from the Facebook linkups on Monday.

I got a box of goodies I had ordered yesterday, so had to pull out some new Distress inks for this one. Did the background strips by spraying some cracked pistachio and mermaid lagoon distress stain on my craft sheet, and then wiping it onto cream card stock with a baby wipe.  I then added a bit of gesso, scraped on with an old credit card, then sponged on some gathered twigs ink around the edges.  I used some of the excess from my piece to stamp the butterfly from Each Day in gathered twigs.  Then I totally forgot it was distress ink and used a water brush, effectively muddying the whole butterfly.  So I added some more mermaid lagoon and cracked pistachio, then once it was dry stamped the butterfly over it again. I hand cut the butterfly and finished off it's body and antennae with some cinnamon Stickles.

The do not worry sentiment is stamped onto a nestabilities circle, sponged with gathered twigs.  The card base is embossed with an Anna Griffin embossing folder and I finished off by tucking a bit of vintage lace trim behind my vertical panel.

That's all from me today.  Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you're having a super awesome start to your weekend!

Mojo Monday 392 Sketch

Enabler's List
Stamps: Each Day (Verve Stamps)
Paper: cream (Neenah)
Ink: cracked pistachio, mermaid lagoon, gathered twigs (Ranger Distress), gesso
Accessories:  Classic Circles Nestabilities (Spellbinders), vintage lace trim, cinnamon Stickles (Ranger), Anna Griffin Paisley Dance embossing folder (Cuttlebug)

Most Days

Hi friends!  It's Friday and time for another Viva la Verve challenge.  This week's sketch is from the lovely Anya, and I'm pretty excited about it, because I love square cards and I adore little nests of thread/twine.

I'm a bit later posting than usual.  We're all still sick at my house and the boys didn't fall asleep until almost midnight last night, meaning there was no crafty time.  So I woke up early and headed into my neglected studio.

I pulled out the new Chocolate set and coordinating Chocolate Word Die,, stamping the milkshake image in Early Espresso and then coloring with Copic markers.  I stamped the sentiment in strawberry slush, then also cut a flag from the Flag It Die Set from strawberry slush and stamped repeatedly with the small chocolate word stamp from the set.  Then I went looking for paper.  Loved the look of this mint paper and let out a little squee when I saw that the tiny text on it spells the days of the week... a perfect match for my sentiment!

Finished with the Chocolate Word Die, and a bow using the Polka Dot Basics Ribbon Collection.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  This was the first morning in several weeks I didn't wake up feeling like I'd been run over by a MACK truck, so I think I'm on the mend.

If you're feeling like a little shopping this weekend, I finally refreshed the website this week and our April sale is 20% off all stamps AND dies!  Yay!  The past 7 weeks of sickness has really taken a hit on my momentum with Verve.  Unfortunately the sweet little bunnies and egg stamps that were almost ready to be sent to manufacturing are now just early for next year.  I did get a chance to do a little stamp designing yesterday and am hoping to finish up something new for Verve very soon!

Viva la Verve April Week 2 Sketch

Enabler's List
Stamps: Chocolate (Verve Stamps)
Paper: strawberry slush, early espresso (SU!),
Ink: strawberry slush, early espresso (SU!), white gel pen
Accessories:  Chocolate Word Die, Flag It Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), Polka Dot Basics Ribbon Collection (Verve), scrapper's floss (Karen Foster)

April Bunnies and Babies Blog Hop and Challenge

Hi friends!  Happy Easter!  It's the 5th of the month and time to announce our new inspiration challenge and welcome you to Verve's April Diva Inspirations Hop!  I'm the first stop on the hop, so settle in and let's get hopping!

So, as fate would have it, my boys are both sick again leading up to the hop.  They were running fevers over 104 earlier in the weekend and now hubby and myself are sick as well.  So, crafty time just didn't happen again.  Instead, I pulled out this card I made several years ago that happens to be one of the favorite baby cards I've ever made.  Hope you enjoy this little re-run and sorry for not having a new card two hops in a row!

From my original post:  Chloe and her basket from Chicks Rule had a little play date with the gang from To the Moon, and this is their little play date portrait. The basket from Chicks Rule is colored and cut out.  I stamped the handle on a long panel, then Emery the Elephant and JayJay the Giraffe from to the Moon and Chloe from Chicks Rule piled  inside and I placed the cut-out basket over them.  Since they're peeking over the sides, I was able to move the basket a ways below the end of the handle, giving more room for JayJay to peek his long neck out.

The sentiment is from To the Moon and I stamped it on an Embossed Oval Die cut.  Then to jazz it up, I cut and layered four of the Charming Oval Die cuts, then arranged them as a backdrop for the Embossed Oval.  LOVE the look of it!   I tied a bit of Sahara Gold Metallic Dream String from Pizzazz Aplenty around the long rectangle. This stuff is so shiny and fun to work with!  A few little buttons and a whole lot of liquid pearls finished everything off.

Okay, on with the challenge and hop details...

There are two ways to win Verve prizes: (1) comment on the design team's blog hop posts (linked below) to see their take on the inspiration and (2) go get inky and link up your take on the challenge to be eligible in our prize drawings!

Our April challenge is Babies & Bunnies

Spring is a time of birth and renewal - celebrate the season by creating a card for Easter or a bouncing new baby. Use the inspiration graphic as a starting point, or head off in your own direction - just show us your sprightly spring creations!

Click here to link up your challenge entries
Challenge deadline: Sunday, Apr 19.
Prize: $40 gift voucher to the Verve online store

Thanks so much for stopping by today!
Next up on the hop is Amy.

Need a little inspiration? Check out the blogs linked below to see what the other Divas did with the challenge! It's sure to be a treat, and speaking of treats, we've got a prize for one lucky commenter along the hop! Check out the Verve Blog today for all the prize info and deadlines!

	1. Julee	7. Sankari
	2. Amy	8. Sarah
	3. Anya	9. Susan
	4. Betty	10. Maureen
	5. Jen	11. Stacey
	6. Karen	12. Chaitali

Shaker Grad Card

Hi friends! It's the first Friday of the month and my turn to host a Viva la Verve sketch.  Last month at this time I was typing up my post at the hospital during Kellan's hospital stay.  This month I'm stealing a few minutes away from him as he's sick again with a 103 degree temp and a bad cough.  It's been a long month,  I tell ya!

Anyhow, I had a bit of fun making a shaker card with the Rounded Scallop Frame Die, the Golden Glam Shaker Mix and the Happy Graduation plain jane.  The background for the card is my favorite part and I was a little sad to cover up so much of it.  Last week during the HSN craft event, I ordered a boxed set of Anna Griffin embossing folders and dies and I am in LOVE!  Seriously, every single one is divine.  This one is called Pomegranate Paisley.  I embossed cream card stock with the folder, then scribbled gelatos in green and turquoise all over it, blended with a baby wipe and then lightly rubbed a black oil pastel over the entire thing.  A bit more blending with the baby wipe and it just popped off the page.

The flowers and leaves are from the Bloom & Grow set, embossed on black paper with gold embossing paper and cut with the coordinating Floral Circles Die Set and Elegant Leaves Die.  I lightly rolled some versamark ink around the edges of the two flowers and added a bit more embossing powder for a gilded edge.

The top piece is black cardstock with the distresssed polka dots from Better Together embossed in gold, and then I took a Flourished Trim Die, dipped it in versamark and embossed with gold to match my card.  A bit of ribbon and some liquid pearls around my shaker and I was done.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you have a fabulous start to your Easter weekend!

VLV April Week 1 Sketch

Enabler's List
Stamps: Bloom & Grow, Happy Graduation, Better Together (Verve Stamps)
Paper: black, cream, random designer paper scraps, acetate
Ink: versamark, archival black, gelatos, oil pastel
Accessories:  Rounded Scallop Frame Die, Rounded Rectangle Die, Floral Circles Die Set, Elegant Leaves Die, Flourished Trim Die (A Cut Above by VERVE), Golden Glam Shaker Mix (Verve), Anna Griffin Pomegranate Paisley Embossing Folder (Cuttlebug), gold embossing powder, ribbon, liquid pearls