Coffee Buzz

Hi friends!  It's Friday and time for another Viva la Verve Sketch.  This is the final sketch in our July series, so be sure to link up your entries by next Thursday for a chance to win our $100 Verve gift voucher prize drawing!  This week's fun sketch is from Jen!

I originally planned to do a card with soft pastel scraps, stitch them together and go all shabby chic. But when I sat down to stamp all I could think about was coffee and the first pad I pulled out was this World Traveler collection of papers, so my theme was set.

I cut the strips of paper randomly, then pieced them together and glued onto a 4 x 5.25" piece of cardstock, sponging each panel with tip top taupe.  The sentiment is from The Buzz and I added the coffee cup from Get Together above, then paper pieced it in coordinating papers.  The steam is from the Coffee set and I stamped it on tip top taupe, then colored with a copic and a white gel pen.  After a little stamp surgery, I used one of the coffee beans from the Coffee set to randomly stamp around my background, then finished off my stitched circle with a black mat and black liquid pearl accents.

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

VLV July 2015 Week 5 Sketch

Enabler's List
Stamps: Coffee, Get Together, The Buzz (Verve Stamps)
Paper: World Traveler (Teresa Collins), tip top taupe, basic black (SU!)
Ink: tip top taupe (SU!), black, Copic markers, white gel pen
Accessories: Stitched Circles Stax (MFT)

Mint Serenity

Hi friends!  I found a little time to sneak into my stamp studio last night, so thought I'd pop in and share.  The layout is this week's SCS551 sketch challenge and since I had the new in-colors on my desk and never used, decided to take them for a spin!

I started by stamping the serenity prayer from the Sparkly Dreams set in black on tiptop taupe, then sponging around the edges of the panel with tip top taupe and matting with black. Next I randomly stamped the butterfly from the same set in mint macaron on the same color paper for a subtle background, and sponged the edges with mint macaron and then tip top taupe.

I cut a strip of black for the top diagonal strip and used the Award Banner Trim Die for the second diagonal.  The butterfly is stamped in mint macaron and cut with the coordinating Butterfly Dreams Die Set.  I finished off with black liquid pearl accents on the flourish part of the sentiment as well as on the diagonal strip.  Also added flat back pearls to the butterfly body and in between each loop on the Award Banner trim.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Enabler's List
Stamps: Sparkly Dreams (Verve Stamps)
Paper: tiptop taupe, mint macaron, basic black (SU!)
Ink: tip top taupe, mint macaron (SU!), black
Accessories: Butterfly Dreams Die Set, Award Banner Trim Die (A Cut Above by VERVE), black flat back pearls (Pizzazz Aplenty), black liquid pearls (Ranger)

Silvery Note

Hi friends!  It's the last Monday of the month and that means it's tall & skinny week at Mojo Monday. I love the challenge of thinking outside my typical box, so these weeks are always super fun for me to create for.

I had a jam packed weekend filled with birthday fun, so my card for today is a super quick one made from scraps.  I picked out a green paper I loved and used it as the background and also for cutting the butterflies with the Butterfly Dreams Die Set.  I added a woodgrain doily scrap of dp for the horizontal piece, then stitched on a piece of silver polka dotted vellum.  The sentiment is from the Floral Notes set and is cut and matted with the stitched circles dies, then I finished off with a teeny clothespin and a bit of lace trim. Finished card size is 3.5" x 5.5".

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

Mojo Monday 408 Sketch

Enabler's List
Stamps: Floral Notes (Verve Stamps)
Paper: dp scraps, silver vellum, basic black (SU!), white (neenah)
Ink: black
Accessories: Butterfly Dreams Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), lace trim, wooden clothespin, stitched circles stax (MFT), sewing machine

Birthday Balloons

Hi friends!  It's Friday and time for a brand new sketch over at Viva la Verve.  This week's layout is brought to us by the lovely Maureen.  We're attending a birthday party for one of the boys' friends tomorrow morning, so I thought it was the perfect excuse to pull out some birthday stamps!

I started by cutting the Tagged Rectangle, then stamping the sentiment from Birthday Bots in archival black, then coloring with Copics in colors that matched the party invite. I placed a strip of washi tape over the sentiment to mask it off, then stamped the balloons from Birthday Bash and highlighted with a grey Copic.  I stamped the balloons again on white and colored with Copics, hand cutting to pop over the tag.

Next I stamped one of the bots from birthday bots and colored with Copics, popping up parts of the head, and tucking him behind the tag.  The 3 is a die cut from TCP, which I cut in white, then colored with a Copic marker and accented with a white gel pen.  I also offset a basic black mat for it.  The stitched circle behind is colored with a copic to match the orange and matted with a pinking circle.

I added in some stripes for the current Sensational Stripes Diva Inspiration challenge with some paper from the Scoot collection.  I chose a coordinating red paper for the vertical strip and stamped it randomly with the balloons image from Birthday Bash, then colored with a copic and accented with a white gel pen.  Finally, I added the star border from the Scalloped Trim Trio Die Set and then adhered to a panel embossed with my favorite stars & swirls folder.

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

VLV July Week 4 Sketch

Enabler's List
Stamps: Birthday Bots, Birthday Bash (Verve)
Paper: white, basic black, Scoot (Echo Park)
Ink: archival black (Ranger), white gel pen, Copic markers
Accessories: Tagged Rectangle Die, Scalloped Trim Trio Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), stitched circles stax (MFT), pinking circles nestabilities (Spellbinders), corner rounder, stars & swirls embossing folder (Sizzix), Numbers Plate Cutups (TCP)

Pink Poinsettias

Hi friends!  It's Monday again and time for another Mojo Monday sketch.  I'm a little late with my sample today because I was hit with a severe cluster headache yesterday afternoon and couldn't do anything.  I tried everything from creams to migraine meds to essential oils and NOTHING helped.  I finally fell asleep in the wee hours and woke up only feeling bludgeoned instead of like someone was stabbing my eyeball with an ice pick repeatedly.  So had enough of a reprieve this morning to make this card, but am starting to feel twinges of pain in my eye returning.  Yuck!

Anyhow, it's time for Verve's Christmas in July Birthday Sale (because Christmas in July is my birthday)!  Lots of fabulous products are 30% off, so be sure to check it out!  I pulled out the Pinecone Christmas set and matching Poinsettia Pinecones Die Set for my card.  The poinsettia images are stamped in archival ink, then I added a bit of festive berries ink to the center of the solid poinsettia stamp with a distress marker and spritzed with water and stamped.  Next I inked the solid poinsettia again with pink pirouette and stamped over the top.  I fussy cut the images, then matted with black mats cut with the Poinsettia Pinecones Die Set.  The background paper is smooshed with a bit of festive berries and spun sugar distress ink and water.  I then added a bit of white paint over the top with the doilies layering stencil.

The sentiment is also from Pinecone Christmas and embossed in white on a stitched circle, then accented with a seam binding bow.  I distressed the edges of my panels with old paper and brushed corduroy distress inks, then finished off with some chamagne glass glitter accents.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you have a fabulous headache-free start to your week!

Mojo Monday 407 Sketch

Enabler's List
Stamps: Pinecone Christmas (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Peaceful (Authentique), cream, basic black
Ink: worn lipstick, spun sugar, old paper, brushed corduroy distress ink, black archival ink (Ranger), pink pirouette (SU!), versamark
Accessories:  Poinsettia Pinecones Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), stitched circles stax (MFT), champagne glass glitter and seam binding (SU!), white embossing powder, paint, doilies layering stencil (Tim Holtz)

On My Mind

Hi friends!  It's Friday again and time for another installment in our July Viva la Verve sketch series. This week's sketch comes from the fabulous Stacey.  I loved the little file folder accent, so that's where I started on my card.

I pulled out some My Mind's Eye papers, sponged them with pumice stone and layered them together. The file folder was cut with my envelope punch board and I accented below it with a strip of black rhinestones.  I stamped the large poppies image from Floral Notes on white cardstock and cut out with the coordinating Floral Notes Die Set.  Then I stamped the image again on yellow dp and paper pieced the flowers, coloring the leaves with a copic marker and then sponging with antique linen ink.  The sentiment is also from the Floral Notes sentiment and I finished off with some black square rhinestones down the side.  To give a bit of definition, but not add any bulk, I then traced around most of the layers with a basic black marker.

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

VLV July Week 3 Sketch

Enabler's List
Stamps: Floral Notes (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Dolled Up (MME), white, cream
Ink: antique linen, pumice stone, scattered straw distress, black archival (Ranger),  copic markers
Accessories: Floral Notes Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), rhinestones, envelope punch board

So Swell

Hi friends!  I'm popping in to change up the scenery with a card that's been sitting on my desk half-finished for a couple weeks now. I decided to finish it up this afternoon while I was clearing off my desk.

It was inspired by the Sensational Stripes Diva Inspiration challenge.  (The challenge runs through the end of the month, so there's still plenty of time to play along!)  I stamped the big stripey star from Seeing Stars twice on sahara sand and three times on smoky slate and then punched out with the large star punch from SU!  Next I ran the starry die through my machine twice with bashful blue and stamped the medium stripey star on the two biggest stars on the die.  The slate and sand stars are stitched to a piece of white cardstock embossed with stripes and I popped the blue stars up on dimensionals.

The slate background is embossed with my favorite stars and swirls embossing folder, then I cut a bashful blue stitched circle and then a vellum stitched circle and stamped the Congrats that's swell sentiment from The Buzz on the vellum and layered everything together.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

July 2015 Inspiration Challenge

Enabler's List
Stamps: Seeing Stars, The Buzz (Verve Stamps)
Paper: bashful blue, sahara sand, smoky slate (SU!), vellum, white
Ink: bashful blue, sahara sand, smoky slate (SU!), archival black (Ranger)
Accessories: Starry Die (A Cut Above by VERVE), stars & swirls embossing folder (Sizzix), large star punch (SU!), stitched circles stax (MFT), sewing machine

Wild and Perfect Bees

Hi friends!  I had a little time to myself last night and decided to do a little stamping.  Some of Verve's out of stock dies arrived back in stock yesterday, and after packaging them up, I was inspired to pull out The Buzz Die Set and make some colorful bees to go with the All things are possible sentiment in The Buzz.  The Splitcoast Wild and Perfect Sky color challenge was the perfect jumping off point, so I pulled out some perfect plum, soft sky and wild wasabi and got right to work.

I started by stamping the bee in soft sky, then perfect plum, then wild wasabi on coordinating card stock and then cutting with the bee in The Buzz Die Set.  Next I stamped the sentiment in archival black on white card stock, then stenciled over it with the same inks first with the doily layering stencil and then with the gothic layering stencil.  I then placed two stitched circle dies together and taped them down so I could cut a circle frame and the inner circle.  I offset these a bit, then popped up the colorful bees around the edges.  I finished off with a white embossed layer using the chicken wire embossing folder.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you have a wonderful day!

Enabler's List
Stamps: The Buzz (Verve Stamps)
Paper: soft sky, perfect plum, wild wasabi (SU!), white (neenah)
Ink: soft sky, perfect plum, wild wasabi (SU!), archival black (Ranger)
Accessories: The Buzz Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), stitched circle stax (MFT), chicken wire embossing folder (Cuttlebug), doily and gothic layering stencils (Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous)

Simple Birthday

Hi friends!  It's Monday again and time for a brand new Mojo Monday sketch.  This week I went with a simple masculine card, making the papers do most of the work.

Each layer is distressed with antique linen and vintage photo and I stamped the banners and the {happy} and birthday sentiments from Wonderful Marvelous in coffee archival ink, then colored the banners with Copic markers.  My star accent is a star cut with the Starry Die, then matted on a large star SU! punch.  I covered a wood veneer pennant with some coordinating paper and layered it underneath as weel, then accented the star with the happy metal embellishment.  Super simple, but perfect for it's intended recipient.  :)  And with the stripes on the paper and banners, I'm adding this to the Sensational Stripes Diva Inspirations challenge.

Head on over to the Mojo Monday blog today to see the rest of the team's take on the sketch, then grab some stamps and play along with us.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Hope you have a wonderful start to your week!

Mojo Monday 406 Sketch

Enabler's List
Stamps: Wonderful Marvelous
Paper: On the Sunny Side (MME), crumb cake (SU!), cream (Neenah)
Ink: coffee archival, antique linen and vintage photo distress (Ranger), copic markers
Accessories: Starry Die (A Cut Above by VERVE), metal embellishment (Making Memories), large star punch (SU!), wood veneer banner

Sensational Stripes and a Hop

Hi friends!  It's time for the Verve Divas to bring you our monthly Diva Inspirations Challenge and Blog Hop! There are two ways to win Verve prizes: comment on the design team's blog hop posts (linked below) to see their take on the inspiration, then go get inky and link up your take on the challenge to be eligible in our prize drawings! You have the rest of the month to link up, so feel free to play as often as you like.

I'm the first stop on today's hop, so grab your favorite refreshment and settle in for a hopping good time!  It's also Friday, so this is my sample for the July Week 2 Viva la Verve sketch hosted by Marisa.

So, do you see the graphic below that Sarah chose for this month's inspiration?  I just love a sandy beach and was so inspired by the colors I got right to work. I started by stamping the Deco Borders trim on the Flourished Tag die cut.  I also cut the tag in crumb cake and clear acetate.  Next I stamped the same border in smoky slate on smoky slate, then cut with stitched circles.  I made a frame by layering two stitched circles dies and cut from bashful blue.  I cut another smaller stitched circle from bashful blue to layer under my flowers (totally inspired by Wanda's Mojo card this week). Next I pulled out the smaller poppy image from Floral Notes, cut it with the coordinating die from the Floral Notes Die Set and then watercolored with marina mist ink, adding a bit of glue and glitter to make the centers stand out.

For my stripes I added a layer of crumb cake embossed with stripes and then I used a white pencil to color the stripes to give a sandy sort of look.  The next cream layer is embossed with an SU! frame embossing folder and I matted again with crumb cake and layered onto a cream card base.

Finally, I stamped the birthday blessings sentiment from Floral Notes in archival black on the acetate Flourished Tag.  I layered everything togethr and punched a hole in the tags with my cropadile, then threaded some ribbon from the Signature Ribbon Collection through the hole and tied in a bow.

Okay, next up on the hop is Amy!  You can find the full hop list below.

Our July challenge is Sensational Stripes

Stripes go with everything! Make them nautical, or pair with florals for a graphic look. Use stripes however you're inspired! Use the inspiration graphic or head off in your own direction, just show us your stripes! 

Click here to link up your challenge entries
Challenge deadline: Friday, July 31.
Prize: $30 gift voucher to the Verve online store!

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	8. Susan
	2. Amy	9. Maureen
	3. Betty	10. Marisa
	4. Jen	11. Stacey
	5. Karen	12. Laurie
	6. Sankari	13. Amber
	7. Sarah

July Week 2 Viva la Verve Sketch

Enabler's List
Stamps: Floral Notes, Deco Borders (Verve Stamps)
Paper: bashful blue, crumb cake (SU!), cream (Neenah), acetate
Ink: crumb cake, smoky slate, marina mist (SU!),  black archival (Ranger), white pencil
Accessories: Floral Notes Die Set, Flourished Tag Die Set, Signature Ribbon Collection (A Cut Above by VERVE), (Verve), Stitched Circles stax (MFT), embossing folders (EK Success), glitter

Butterfly Future

Hi friends!  I'm popping in today to change up the scenery.  I've had this graduation card sitting on my desk for a few weeks and I finally remembered to take a photo of it.  It's now one step closer to actually getting in the mail!

Anyhow, it's been so long, I don't remember my exact process, but I know I used distress inks on some neutral patterned papers, embossing with a butterfly embossing folder and then splattering watered down gesso all around.  I added the Flourished Trim Die to the bottom of my background, accenting with liquid pearls.   The Eleanor Roosevelt quote from Sparkly Dreams is stamped in archival black, and I added a bit of pumice stone and black soot inks to give it a little depth.  The butterfly stamp was inked up with distress markers and then stamped for a variegated effect. I cut it with the coordinating Butterfly Dreams Die Set and then added some glossy glaze and glitter.

I embellished the bottom of the sentiment panel with two of the leaf images in the Butterfly Dreams Die Set and added an enamel star to the center.  I finished by masking off a stamp so that just the Graduation stamped, then added the 2015 using the Calendar Countdown  set.

Well, that's all for me today.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Enabler's List
Stamps: Sparkly Dreams, Calendar Countdown (Verve Stamps)
Paper: back to basics (basicgrey), basic black (SU!), white (neenah)
Ink: mowed lawn, peacock feathers, tumbled grass, vintage photo, pumice stone, black soot distress, black archival (Ranger)
Accessories: Butterfly Dreams Die Set, Flourished Trim Die (A Cut Above by VERVE), corner rounder, glossy glaze, glitter, liquid pearls, enamel star, butterfly embossing folder (Darice), gesso

Possibilities

Hi friends!  It's the first Monday of the month and that means it's time to kick off our Mojo Monday contest week.  Play along with this week's sketch for a chance to win a stamp set of your choice from Verve!  We add another winner for every 50 entries, so enter as many times as you like to improve your chances!

We had a great big, busy weekend.  We hosted a big 4th of July barbecue on Saturday and then headed to my sister's house yesterday to celebrate my parents' 50th anniversary.  It was great to visit with friends of my parents that I hadn't seen since I graduated high school and was a super special day. Today my little ones are off to their first day of pre-school. So for my card today, I picked a sentiment that kind of summed up how I was feeling....  so many possibilities surrounding me with actually having time to truly devote to Verve and my own creative life.  Overwhelming optimism and heartbreaking sadness are at war in my head space right now and I'm pretty sure this is going to be a roller coaster of a week for me.

All of the stamps are from the The Buzz set.  I stamped the sentiment on a stitched circle and matted with black. Then I randomly stamped my own DIY paper with the big and small bee images from the set, coloring the bee stripes with a copic marker and then sponging each layer with antique linen.  The designer paper is from My Mind's Eye and I cut the bee with the coordinating The Buzz Die Set.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Be sure to head on over to the Mojo Monday blog to see what the other designers have cooked up with today's sketch.  Have a great start to your week!

Mojo Monday 405 Sketch

Enabler's List
Stamps: The Buzz (Verve Stamps)
Paper: basic black (SU!), cream (Neenah), Lost & Found Antique (MME)
Ink: black archival, antique linen distress (Ranger), copic marker
Accessories: The Buzz Die Set ( A Cut Above by VERVE), stitched circles stax (MFT), embossing folder (Darice)

Patriotic Butterflies

Hi friends!  It's the first Friday in July and that means it's my turn to host the first sketch in our July series of Viva la Verve sketches.  Come play along for your chance to win some Verve!

I wanted to make some patriotic butterflies, so I stamped the butterfly from Sparkly Dreams two times in archival black and then colored with copics and a white gel pen.  I cut these out with the Butterfly Dreams die set and then layered them onto black die cuts for the antennae and accented with some black pearls.

All the layers of paper are sponged with antique linen and then vintage photo, and I stamped the dream big sentiment in night of navy ink and cut with a stitched circle die cut.  I wrapped some linen thread around my papers and then layered everything together.

That's all from me today.  I hope you have a wonderful 4th of July weekend!

Viva la Verve July Week 1 Sketch

Enabler's List
Stamps: Sparkly Dreams (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Liberty Collection (Bo Bunny, cream (Neenah)
Ink: antique linen, vintage photo distress, black archival (Ranger), night of navy (SU!), copic markers, white gel pen
Accessories: Butterfly Dreams Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), stitched circles stax (MFT), pinking circles nestabilites (Spellbinders), linen thread, black pearls (Pizzazz Aplenty)

Americana Shine

Hi friends!  Happy Thursday!  It's the final day to get your entries in for our June Viva la Verve challenge and I realized I hadn't had a chance to use the June Week 3 sketch yet, so took a little crafty time for myself this morning.

I absolutely love making Americana cards.  I love the 4th of July and all things red, white and blue. I'm as American as...  cotton candy (because I don't really care for apple pie)!  LOL  So I pulled out my patriotic paper drawer and chose some papers from the BoBunny Liberty Collection to get started.  Shining Star is back in stock after a LONG hiatus and I have been really wanting to ink it up.

I started by stamping the trio of hanging stars on a stitched circle die cut, then coloring with Copic markers.  I matted this with a pinking circle die cut that I colored with copics to match the red.  The sentiment is stamped on a die cut from the Flag It Die Set and I cut the stars up top with the Starry Die, then colored with copics and a white gel pen.  I distressed most of the layers with antique linen, frayed burlap and vintage photo, then a paper distresser.  Then I finished off with linen twine and a trio of star rhinestones.

Here are all of my other June VLV cards.

June Week 1 using Get Together

June Week 2 using Get Together and Wonderful Marvelous

June Week 4 using The Buzz and Proverbs 16:24

June Week 4 Recap using Sparkly Dreams

I'm busy with prep for a 4th of July barbecue and just finishing up party favors for my parents' 50th anniversary celebration on the 5th.  Oh, and last minute errands to get everything ready for the boys to start Montessori school on Monday.  I've been waiting for the day I could send them off to regain a little of the me I lost when they were born and now that it's finally here I find myself terribly conflicted. I'm pretty much a big emotional roller coaster right now!

If you're in the mood for a sale, Verve's Red, White & Blue Sale is under way, with 20% off all stamps and dies (excluding new releases, which are 10% off) and 10% off sequins and ribbons! Definitely a great time to stock up!

Viva la Verve June Week 3

Enabler's List
Stamps: Shining Star (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Liberty Collection (Bo Bunny), cream (Neenah)
Ink: black archival, antique linen, frayed burlap, vintage photo distress (Ranger), copic markers, white gel pen
Accessories: Flag It Die Set, Starry Die (A Cut Above by VERVE), stitched circles stax (MFT), pinking circles nestabilities (Spellbinders), linen thread, rhinestones, paper distresser