Verve Release Challenge Card #5

Ah, at last we've reached the fifth and final day of the Verve World Cardmaking Celebration Release! Well, at least the last day here on my blog. Things are just kicking off over on the Verve blog with the first sneaky peaks of the new stamps! Yay! I've made a little room in my Verve binder to house my anticipated new goodies. :)

For some reason, this fifth sketch was an absolute stumper. And not because of the tilted panels, but because of the number of panels. That's a whole heck a lot of dp, or papers, or colors, etc. I was having a hard time visualizing this one (which is usually my first step in card-making. I see a sketch and the papers speak to me.). I finally settled on a tried and true paper combo (with some more of the yummo kraft polka dotted dp for good measure). October Afternoon dp never lets me down. hehe

I kept things a bit more on the simple side, with a big panel of plain cream cardstock. I tried stamping a patter onto it, but it just began to feel too busy in my mind. The cream let the other colors do all of the talking.

And thank goodness for kraft ribbon! I tied it in yet another double bow (really beginning to like these! Single bows are beginning to look... wimpy). I also finally made my way over to etsy and purchased some seam binding ribbon in a few colors to really master this double bow technique. Now I just need some pins to stick into them... Any advice on where to find those?

I had a blast playing along once again, Julee! Thanks for a week of fun (that isn't over yet! Yay!). And thanks to everyone for stopping by!

Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: Forever in Our Hearts
Paper- Very Vanilla, Kraft, October Afternoon Fly a Kite dp, Bitty Dots dp
Ink- More Mustard
Accessories-ribbon, jewels, dimensionals

Verve Release Challenge Card #4

Phew! Four down, one more to go! It's still challenge time over on the Verve blog to help celebrate World Card Making Day and Verve's new release. I'm so excited for the sneak peaks to start tomorrow! I always love me some new Verve. :)

This fourth card was a little difficult in its conception, but once I started working it went really quickly! I think I finished this in 20 minutes flat. That quite possibly could be a new record. The color combo was inspired by this card that Maureen posted a few days ago on her blog. Purple is one of my favorite colors, and then mixed with some More Mustard/Summer Sunrise it becomes all the more heavenly!

It's a fairly self-explanatory card. Lots of Pretty Pastels dp, some EK Success edge punching, a bow, and some sparklie jewels. Nothing fancy. Just nice, clean, crisp lines and beautiful colors. Oh, and I finally inked up another new Verve set: Framed Wishes. This was the free set at the last release, and if you didn't get it, shame on you! It's lovely! Though, I did switch out the sentiment that came with it for this little Plain Jane. Doesn't Julee (Verve owner/designer extraordinaire) create the most beautiful fonts?!

Have a wonderful Tuesday! See you back here tomorrow for the final card. Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: Framed Wishes, Give Thanks PJ
Paper- Kraft, Plum Pudding, More Mustard, Whisper White, Pretty Pastels dp
Ink- Plum Pudding, More Mustard
Accessories- ribbon, jewels, dimensionals, EK Success edge punch

Verve Release Challenge Card #3

Good morning. And Happy Monday! (I'm trying to be excited about waking up early... Is it working?!) Presenting Verve's World Card Making Release Challenge #3. What's the fun in presenting cards to you in order? That's predictable. Boring. Been done before.

Now, presenting them out of order keeps you guessing as to what will come next. Ah, the mystery. The surprise. The anticipation of what the next reveal will be. That's way more fun!


So, here is my card for the third challenge. I pulled out some favorite dp, Turning a New Leaf, and some lovely greens and browns for the cardstock. I had this little Plain Jane from the last release that had yet to see any inkage, so it was high time to use it. This little sentiment square felt like the perfect opportunity. I stamped it in Old Olive and did some heavy tea dye staining around the edges. Some ribbon, button, twine action finished it up. Though, now that I look at it, I think I should have used a brown ribbon.... But I'm out! Ack! Don't panic. Don't worry, I've ordered more and it will be here this week. :)

I have an SST meeting after school today, so it's going to be a later night that usually as far as getting home from work goes. But it's all for a good reason. We're going to get this wonderful kiddo some help. :)

Well, enough out of me. Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: Psalm 46:1 PJ
Paper- Spring Moss, Dark Chocolate, Whisper White, Turning a New Leaf dp
Ink- Old Olive
Accessories- ribbon, button, twine, dimensionals, tea dye stains

Verve Release Challenge Card #1

Good afternoon! I'm back with Day 2 of my cards for Verve's Release and World Card Making Day Celebration. Two of my favorite things!

I've tackled three of the five so far and have plans to work on at least one more of them this afternoon. The second challenge card I'm sharing with you is actually the third card I made. I finished it after church this morning. So, here's the story. At church, there was a gal sitting across the isle from me with the most adorable dark blue, bright green, and white floral print shirt. It was very flowy, with the background being white and the blue and green flowers almost blurred/flowing across the shirt. Adorable. And what does my brain think? CARD!

Night of Navy, Simply Chartreuse, Whisper White... Colors made in heaven. Have I mentioned before how much I love blues and greens together? I whipped out my Great Friends set and stamped some alternating green/blue flowers to create my own background dp. After a mis-stamp on the sentiment panel, I flipped it over, stamped again, and added a glittery frame around the white. One of my favorite things to do. :) I felt that it needed a little something more, so I took a nod from Maureen and added a few little jewels to the corner. The ribbon is some older ribbon I picked up at Michael's in the dollar bin. It has been tied in a double bow. :)

That's it for now! Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-

Stamps- Verve: Great Friend, Anais Nin

Paper- Whisper White, Night of Navy, Simply Chartreuse, Bitty Dots dp

Ink- Night of Navy, Kiwi Kiss

Accessories- ribbon, jewels, glitter, nestablities, dimensionals

Verve Release Challenge Card #2

Good afternoon! It's that wonderful time of month when Verve is preparing to release some new stamps, as well as celebrating World Card Making Day (today!), and we all get 5 fun challenges to complete! Thank goodness this month's challenges include a weekend to work on them. I always get more card making done on the weekends, for obvious reasons.

I sat down with some cardstock and dp already on my desk and got right to work on the second challenge. Why can I never start with the first challenge? It's like I'm first challenge phobic, lol. I decided to try creating my own dp for the large square panel and pulled out Great Friend (so loving this set!!). I stamped the three branch images in Aqua Mist, Spring Moss, and Creamy Caramel. A simple bow, button, twine combo adorns the top of the oval. I actually stayed away from tea dye staining this one, as I really wanted the crisp white to stand out rather than fade away. And check out that Kraft polka dot dp! LOVE!

Well, that's it for today. Short and sweet. I'm off to bake some fall-themed sugar cookies with the roomie. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamp- Verve: Great Friend

Paper- Aqua Mist, Spring Moss, Whisper White, Bitty Dots dp

Ink- Aqua Mist, Spring Moss, Creamy Caramel

Accessories- ribbon, button, twine, jewels, nestablities, dimensionals

Verve Release Challenge Card- A

Good afternoon! Yesterday's card is off in the mail on its way to Grandma. The mailman literally just picked it up. :) Unlike yesterday's card (which ran away with me, apparently), today's card turned out exactly as I pictured it. I'm always a little bit giddy when that happens. This card is my very last for the Verve Release Challenges, but uses the very first of the sketches.

I stuck to a very simple color scheme, and relied on some more of my fabulous October Afternoon dp. Seriously, are you sick of this stuff yet?! 'Cause I'm not!!! I embossed the gorgeous frame in black and the popped up the whole thing on dimensionals. Some beautiful rippled ribbon (perhaps a new favorite ribbon treatment!), and lastly added some Taylor's Tiny Twinkles to the base of each flourish around the circle. So elegant with a little pop of polka dotted fun!

I'm feeling rather helpless sitting here at home today. Believe me, as much as I want summer to never end, I'm am dying to get into my classroom and start preparing everything. I have a few things here at the house that I can work on, but it's so small and unimportant compared to everything else that needs to be done. I think I've already checked my work e-mail about 4 times today hoping my principal has e-mailed to give me a time estimate. Alas, no luck so far. But I'm sure I'll still check it another 10 times today. :) I could always redirect all of this energy into some card making!!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: Accent Notes, Thankful Hearts
Paper- Very Vanilla, Basic Black, Kraft, October Afternoon dp
Ink- Basic Black, Versamark
Accessories- ribbon, black ep, dimensionals, Taylor's Tiny Twinkles, scallop edge punch (SU!), nestabilities, circle punches

Verve Release Challenge Card- B

Prepare yourself. Today's card is just a little... well, sweet. I don't know how it ended up that way. I had the papers out, was crafting away, and when I finished... This was the end result:



See what I mean? Doesn't it just have a "awfully cute grandma" feel to it? hehe. Maybe it's the pearls. It's always the beautiful little old ladies and pearls. :) This might be a card I actually send to my grandma. It just makes me think of her (and we've been talking a lot these past few day. She called to check in on me... Isn't she amazing?!... and we chatted for a while. Then in the midst of our conversation I gathered that she needed a few things done around the house, including the purchase of a new phone for her bedroom (Apparently, the old one stopped ringing.), and a ride to AAA to get a new sticker for her license plate. A quick trip to Walmart and a scheduled date for AAA and we're good to go!). Seriously, my grandma is the most amazing woman. Heading towards 92 and still as bright and cheery as ever.

...Or perhaps it's the dp. Doesn't that flowery paper make you think of an old antique wallpaper?

How was that for a tangent? Back on topic. The card. I used the second Verve Release Challenge sketch to help this one along. I played with a new die from PTI that has been calling my name for the last week or so, added some contrasting ribbon, and lastly a few pearls. I just love this verse. It's just one of those verses you (and I) can cling to in all times, good or bad.

And today I am especially thankful because my jury duty was cancelled! Yahoo! I was really stressing over how to set up my classroom in the midst of jury duty. But it turns out I'm on hold with my classroom anyways. The room I'm moving to is not ready yet (it needs some serious alterations... They're dividing one huge room into two classrooms. This involves putting up a dividing wall, tearing down a bathroom, and adding sinks.). I can't move until there is a classroom to move to. Crazy, eh? And as of today, there was no timetable for this to occur. Never mind that the kiddos are coming in less than two weeks. Never mind that I still have to pack, move, unpack, and prepare in that time period. It's going to be a crazy time when all this does get started. Any bored volunteers out there that I can draft into slavery? I'm sure it's just a short drive from wherever you are to So Cal, lol. ;)

Phew! I'm chatty tonight! Must be the heat. It was a cooker here today. Our poor little AC is working its heart out. I'm just going to stop typing now and let you enjoy the grandma card. :) Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: 1 Chronicles 16:34 PJ
Paper- Kraft, Very Vanilla, October Afternoon dp, Bitty Dots dp
Ink- Close to Cocoa
Accessories- ribbon, Mat Stack #1 die (PTI), pearls, tea dye stains, dimensionals

Verve Release Challenge Card- C

Good evening! I've been a busy little bee in the stamping studio today trying to crank out the remainder of my Verve Release Challenge cards. I'm officially heading back in to my classroom tomorrow to begin preparing for the new school year. I just found out (literally!) that I'm moving classrooms, so the take-down of walls and gathering of belongings needs to happen asap. This would be one of those time when a husband would be really great, lol. Alas, it's just me (and my roommate whom doesn't know that she's going to be forced into slavery very shortly, mwahahaha!), and the moving must be done. My room is going to be a Kinder room this coming school year. The tricky thing about all of this is that the room I am moving to isn't ready yet. Yikes! I can pack, but I can't move until they finish the alterations to the classroom. I'm really hoping they will finish that sooner rather than later. School starts two weeks from today. Ready or not, they're coming.
But, anyways, I do have a card to share with you today! And some for tomorrow, and the day after. Did I mention I was busy in my studio today? hehe

I figured I might as well finish posting my Verve Release Challenges in opposite order. So today I present to you my card for the Challenge C. LOVED this sketch! I stamped the flower twice, cut out the blossoms, and popped them up on dimensionals. I pulled out some yummy October Afternoon dp, matched it with some Bitty Dots dp, did a whole lot of tea dye staining, ruffled some ribbon, added some sparkle, and tahdah! My card! I am loving the bright colors on this card... May be a new favorite dp combo. I wouldn't be too surprise to see more of these in the future. ;)

Now it's off to figure out something for dinner. It's a cooker outside today, so the thought of turning on the stove or over is, quite frankly, repulsive. I'm thinking nice, cool salads for dinner this evening. Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: Everlasting Life, Circular Sayings
Paper- Kraft, Very Vanilla, October Afternoon Thrift Shop dp, Bitty Dots dp
Ink- Memento Rich Cocoa
Accessories- ribbon, medium scallop die (PTI), copics, dimensionals, tea dye stains, circle punch, nestabilities, jewels

Verve Release Challenge Card- D

Good afternoon! It's warming up to be a little bit hotter day here in So Cal. Not happy. I was enjoying this unusually mild and cool summer. I guess all good things have to come to an end eventually.

It was so wonderful to head on back to church this morning. You never know how much you miss something until you don't have it for a while. And, oh, I love my church. Afterwards, it was time for a little pedicure, a car wash, and a quick trick to WalMart to pick up a new phone for my grandma. Apparently, the phone in her bedroom stopped ringing and she can't make it to the one in the living room fast enough. It's always nice to help out when I can. :) I love my grandma!
Finally, it was home. To a hot house. :( I have serious plans to bake some snickerdoodle cookies this evening once it cools off. Gotta satisfy the craving. lol

Now, on to the card. I'm still working backwards on my Verve Release Cards. This is using the fourth sketch. My color combo was inspired in a little bit different way. I ordered a cute skirt through a mail order clothing company, and it came with this adorable tag attached to it. As soon as I saw the tag, I knew I had to convert those colors and polka dots into a card.

The polka dots were stamped in Moonlight white onto the Going Gray paper. I added some glitter to the green frame around the sentiment, and colored that gorgeous sun/flower with my copics. I also stamped some repetitive flourishes across the green in white ink to mimic the beautiful flourishes above the company's label. Oh, and the border punch is a Martha Stewart punch, but I hit most of it under the green layer.I'm really pleased with how this turned out! Hooray for inspiration in weird places. :)

That's it for now. Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-
Stamps-Verve: Psalm 84:11 PJ, Feel the Sun, PTI: Polka Dot Basics, Fancy Flourishes
Paper- Going Gray, Berry Sorbet, Simply Chartreuse, Whisper White
Ink- Going Gray, Moonlight White
Accessories- ribbon, copics, glitter, MS border punch, dimensionals

Verve Release Challenge Card- E

Good afternoon! It's release time over on the Verve blog and forum! My favorite times of the year. :) And from the sneak peaks that began today, a very dangerous time of the year (for my wallet! Eek!). I'm started backwards today with the challenges. Sometimes the latter sketches speak before the earlier ones. It's just the way it works.

This is a little bit different for me. The background is so busy! But I think I kinda like it. I stuck with some favorite colors, added some glitter around the white circle, stamped the flower twice, once in green, and a second time in Rich Razzleberry. I popped up the blossoms, added some ribbon, and voila! Fini!

Lots more Verve-y goodness to come over the next week. Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: Bountiful Backgrounds, Budding Blossoms, Filigree Fantasy
Paper- Rich Razzleberry, Ripe Avocado, Whisper White
Ink- Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive
Accessories- ribbon, glitter, nestabilities, dimensionals

Verve Release Challenge Card #4

Here's card number three for challenge number 4! I'm still celebrating (and trying to score some free Verve goodness) Verve's stamp release this Friday. I'm going to miss the release party, but I'll be out doing something even better!

My bf, Heather, is flying down for a conference this weekend, and is going to extend her stay down here in So Cal so that we can visit for two days. Friday night, the old college roomies are getting together (along with her fiancee, Josh) to have dinner. Then, we girls are stealing Heather for a night of giggles and lingerie! Yup, Heather herself told me that this would be our one and only shot to embarrass her before her wedding in June. And that we full-on plan to do. After a few round of mini golf, of course! And we have one more HUGE surprise up our sleeves for Heather, but juuuuust in case she's reading this, I can't reveal what that is until after Friday night. :) Saturday, we're all heading to Disneyland. It's going to be a wonderful weekend!

This third card for the fourth challenge (phew!), was also a sketch challenge. I'm still loving my Hawaiian Shores paper, as well as Julee's inspirational colors, and figured I might as well keep working with them. I also pulled out more Green Boutique dp, stamped the sentiment (love this font!), and glittered the rim of the oval (which is really hard to tell from the picture... But I'm tellin' ya... This thing sparkles!). I love how this one turned out. I might make a few more of these and box 'em up as a gift in the future. It was quick and easy.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-

Stamps- Verve: Happy Birthday

Paper- Hawaiian Shore, Whisper White, Green Boutique dp

Ink- Basic Black

Accessories- ribbon, apron lace punch, glitter, nestabilities

Verve Release Challenge Card #1

Good morning and welcome back for my onslaught of cards created in honor of Verve's Release Week Challenges aka the Beach Party! The first of five challenges is a color challenge... So summery and fun! I think I might do all of my challenge cards with this combo, hehe. I pulled out more Hawaiian Shores cardstock (the more I use it, the more I love it!), some Orange Zest, and the perfect matched Green Boutique dp.

First off, you should know that this card was heavily influenced by this amazing card created by Dawn McVey a few weeks ago. (In other words, this is a very obvious case.) I kept the layout, stamped my own bookprint with PTI's Text Style, added some orange framing, and orange flower, and some orange ribbon. Of course, other than the text stamp, the flower and sentiment are Verve. :) I was really in the mood to do some coloring when I made this card, so a big flower was an easy choice. And I'm always looking for an excuse to pull my copics out.

I did lots of staining/antiquing on this card as well. I used my tea dye stains on the scallops, still didn't feel it was dark enough, and eventually pulled out my Creamy Caramel ink and rubbed it all over the scalloped edges! Love how it turned out! I also distressed and curled up the edges of the scallops to make them stick up a bit.

Soooo happy with how this turned out! I am in love with this flower Feel the Sun. I'm not a huge cutting-it-out fan, but I love to do this flower and pop up that center. And I couldn't resist sticking a big Hawaiian Shores button in the middle of it. I had to sneak a bow onto this card somehow!

Thanks for stopping by!
Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: Accent Notes, Feel the Sun, PTI: Background Basics: Text Style
Paper- Hawaiian Shores, Orange Zest, Whisper White, Green Boutique dp
Ink- Memento Tuxedo Black, Wild Wasabi, Orange Zest, Creamy Caramel (rubbed on)
Accessories- ribbon, scallop edge punch, copics, dimensionals, tea dye stains, button, twine

Verve Release Challenge Card #3

Good morning! It's release time for Verve, and that means 5 fun challenges to play along with this week! And even better? No projects!!! All cards. Phew! I might actually finish all five this month (never finished last month, eek!).

I'm starting off with the third of five challenges, and it just so happens to be a sketch challenge. I also went with the literal interpretation (if ya hadn't noticed...) of the sketch. I loved the colors so much that I just had to do that exact thing. Plus, it made my life a little bit more simple.

I stamped some polka dots on the aqua in white, and embossed the vertical panels with some Swiss Dots. The verse was stamped twice, once in black and the second time in Hawaiian Shores. I punched out the HS center and popped it up on dimensionals. I then went around with an orange copic marker to color in the outside circle.

Lots more Verve-y goodness to come! Thanks for stopping by!
Supplies- Stamps- Verve: 1 Peter 5:7, PTI: Polka Dot Basics
Paper- Whisper White, Hawaiian Shores, Tangerine Tango, Wild Wasabi, Basic Black
Ink- Basic Black, Hawaiian Shores, Moonlight White
Accessories- ribbon, nestabilities, copic, swiss dots embossing folder

Verve Release Challenge Card #4

Good afternoon! Here comes challenge #4 for Verve's March release. This one was to create a tag... Something I have never done before, lol. So, I just kind of jumped in with both feet. I don't have a cricut or slice, so I just used my Top Note die as my base. It's a little on the large side.... I think I would like it better (my tag, that is) if it was a little bit smaller.

And apparently I was in a pink mood, because this is definitely a monochromatic card... On the pink side. I embellished with some buttons, ribbon, and twine. Oh, and a little line of jewels. :) It's feeling a little empty up at the top, but I couldn't figure out what else to do. Again, I think if the whole tag had been a bit smaller this would have solved this problem. Oh well... Next time. But for now, I'm calling this one done!

It's been a pretty productive day so far. It's one of those rare days where I woke up determined to conquer the world, lol. I woke up at 7:30 on my own (weird!), got ready, went grocery shopping, baked a banana cake for a friend's birthday, washed all the dishes, and did a load of laundry.... All before 10:30. Not too bad! My roomie and I went off to church shortly after. After a yummy lunch at In-n-Out, I came home to conquer some more Verve (and another load of laundry, hehe). I'm slightly stumped on the final Verve challenge- to reuse something in the house and repurpose it in a craft manner. I don't really have anything laying around. Does repurposing paper scraps count, lol?!

Well, back to report cards for a little while, then off to have cake with my old college roomie. :) Banana cake with peanut butter frosting. Yum!

Thanks for stopping by!
Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: Thanks
Paper- Sweet Blush, Berry Sorbet, Vintage White, Pretty Pastels dp
Ink- Chocolate Chip
Accessories- ribbon, twine, buttons, apron lace punch, jewels, top note die, circle punch

Verve Release Challenge Card #1

Good morning! I'm back with my second of five cards to help celebrate Verve's March release. This challenge was a clean and simple card, and it had to use a flower. Well, clean and simple I can do! But as soon as I sat down, layouts completely alluded me... I was stumped! So, I made my way over to the Clean and Simple blog to use a Fall to Layout as inspiration. I have to admit this was the first time I've ever used one of their layouts, but I visit that blog occasionally when I need color inspiration, etc. It was so fun to finally get to play along with a sketch!

I did alter the sketch a bit, turning it into a square card instead of a standard A2 card. Mine is a 4.25x4.25 square. I popped up the flower after cutting it out, and added some stickles in the middle. I could so hear Nichole Heady's voice in my head going "the element of three...." lol Pink flower, pink bow, pink sentiment. Three! Woohoo!

Well, I'm definitely all rested up after a good night of sleep. I must be getting older, because I went to bed at 7:45 on a Friday night, lol. I read and finished my book, Handle With Care, which only took about 20 minutes and then I was out cold. I woke up at 7:30 this morning. Guess I was tired! By the way, the book was fabulous. I love Jodi Piccoult's books, and this one was no exception. If you haven't checked her out yet, do it now!

Report cards are glaring me in the face, so I'd better get back to work on them. Amy and I are heading down to Disneyland in the rain later today to meet up with one of our old college roommates. Today's her birthday, and she and her husband are moving up the bay area on Tuesday, so this is like our last hurrah before they go. Maybe Disneyland will be less crowded because of the rain....

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-

Stamps- Verve: Believe, Circular Sayings

Paper- Rustic White, Dark Chocolate, Bitty Dots dp, Bitty Box dp, In Bloom dp (all PTI)

Ink- Purely Pomegranate, Memento Rich Cocoa

Accessories- copics, ribbon, stickles, dimensionals

Verve Release Challenge Card #3

Good evening! Just a quick post tonight as I am completely and utterly exhausted. It was an uber stressful week at work with Distinguished School visitations, and then having a late night with the ballet on top of everything. It's only seven o'clock here and I'm already dying. My bed is calling my name.....

This is the first card I whipped up to help celebrate Verve's March release. I started with the third of five challenges, and for some reason had this picture in my head of doing strips of different dp to make the colors. I really wanted something more in the grass-green shade, but had to settle for more of an olive. Oh well. :)

I kept everything pretty simple so it would come together quickly. Tomorrow morning, I have to work on report cards for a while, but I'm sure a stamping break will be in order, hehe. There has to be reward for good behavior!

Thanks for stopping by!
Supplies- Stamps- Verve: Circular Sayings
Paper- Whisper White, Dark Chocolate, Pretty Pastels dp, Bitty Box dp, In Bloom dp
Ink- Old Olive
Accessories- ribbon, dimensionals, branch die cut