Verve Stamps March Spotlight Hop - Day 3

Welcome back to Day 3 of Verve's March Spotlight Hops!  The Verve Divas and special guests are back for another day of spotlighting our new release! Everything previewed this week is available to order in the Verve online store. So come hop along and take a closer look at Hip Hop Bunnies, the Bunny Hop die set and the Welcome plain jane.

This was such a fun stamp set to play with, I just adore these bunnies!!

I cut the bunnies out with the matching dies (this is so slick, I just love matching dies!!!) and then colored them with my Tombow watercolor markers. You may be looking at my bunnies thinking "gosh, I can see the crispy watercolor lines and blowouts all over the place, goll!" and you know what? I love that :) I love crispy watercolor edges, they're so artsy to me! I don't necessarily always want my image to look realistic, I love the watercolor look! The papers I used are from Fancy Pants. For the layout, I just took papers and started layering them. The scalloped edge die is not Verve, I can't remember who it's from, maybe PPP?  I embossed the sentiment in white on black cardstock and added that on dimensionals. I also added some twine and a button and some faux stitching.

Want to win some shiny new Verve? We'll be picking a random commenter on one of the hop spots below to win today's featured products! So be sure to leave a little comment on all the blogs below to increase your chances! Check out the Verve Blog today for the full hop list, a little more about our new products and all the prize info and deadlines!

Your next stop on the hop is the lovely Betty!!

1. Julee 7. Mackie 2. Amber 8. Marisa 3. Betty 9. Maureen 4. Charmaine 10. Stacey 5. Christyne 11. Teresa 6. Lee-Anne 12. Vicki

Verve Stamps March Spotlight Hop - Day 2

Welcome back to Day 2 of Verve's March Spotlight Hops!  The Verve Divas and special guests are back for another day of spotlighting our new release! Everything previewed this week is available to order in theVerve online store. So come hop along and take a closer look at the Coffee Helps and Cup for All Seasons die set.

I don't know about you, but I don't think you can ever have enough coffee sets! Kinda like flowers, right? This is a big stamp set, full of wonderful sentiments and cute little coffee cup designs and some fun little filler stamps, you'll have fun with this one for hours, and with a matching die set? Match made in heaven :)

I started with a white card base and layered some white, chocolate, mint, and kraft chevron papers. I thought it needed a little extra depth so I found a scrap piece of text paper and added that also. For the sentiment panel, I cut a piece of watercolor paper with the circle nestabilities and then layed down a light layer of Cracked Pistachio Distress Ink and moved it around with a bunch of water. I hit that with my heat gun (because I'm impatient, I can't wait for nature to dry things) and then stamped the sentiment in Versafine black ink. I cut the coffee cup out with the die and then stamped the matching coffee cup and colored the cup with Tombow watercolor markers. To finish the card up, I tied a twine bow and added some tan sequins. I also spritzed a little bit of Espresso Distress Ink on the sentiment piece to grunge it up *just a little* :)

Want to win some shiny new Verve? We'll be picking a random commenter on one of the hop spots below to win today's featured products! So be sure to leave a little comment on all the blogs below to increase your chances! Check out the Verve Blog today for the full hop list, a little more about our new products and all the prize info and deadlines!

Now you're on your way to Betty's beautiful blog! Thanks so much for stopping by today, see you back here same time tomorrow ;)

1. Julee 8. Mackie 2. Amber 9. Marisa 3. Betty 10. Maureen 4. Charmaine 11. Stacey 5. Christyne 12. Teresa 6. Laurie 13. Vicki 7. Lee-Anne

Verve Stamps February 2016 Diva Inspirations Challenge and Blog Hop!

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 until March 5 to link up, so feel free to play as often as you like.

The pop of color in this industrial style loft speaks of the hope of spring in the midst of winter. Kind of like February... it's still cold and wintry, but new life is on the horizon. Feel free to take your inspiration from the photo or the color combo, whatever suits your fancy! We can't wait to see what you create.

Click here to link up your challenge entries
Challenge deadline: Saturday, March 5.
Prize: $30 gift voucher to the Verve online store!


Oh boy, I know it's been like a million years since I've posted! I'm slowly working my way back into my craft room, I sure have missed all my stamps and ink and paper and glitter and markers and dies, oy! This inspiration challenge this month was just the ticket to get me out of my funk! I just love this color combo!

I started by laying a stencil on the card base and rubbing some green Distress Ink over the stencil. I cut out three flowers using the Pointed Flowers Die Set and then embossed the matching stamps from Lean on Me in white embossing powder. I colored them in with my Tombow markers and then blended with a water brush. I stamped and embossed the sentiment from Floral Notes in white on soft gray cardstock. I rounded one of the corners on the sentiment to add a little interest, and rounded that same corner on the card base. Last detail was to add some Shine Bright sequins and some twine.

Here on this photo, you can see the sparkly background. I ran my glitter pen over the green parts of the stenciled leaves, I also added the shimmer to the water-colored flowers, it's so sparkly IRL!!

Amy's blog is up next, don't miss it!!

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're giving away a $30 gift voucher to Verve to one random commenter along the hop! 

	1. Julee	8. Marisa
	2. Amber	9. Maureen
	3. Amy	10. Sankari
	4. Betty	11. Stacey
	5. Charmaine	12. Susan
	6. Christyne	13. Teresa
	7. Laurie

October 2015 Verve Retrospective Blog Hop

Welcome to Verve's October Release Retrospective!  It's been a wonderful week of release celebration and the Divas and Guest Divas are back with one last look at the brand new release! Everything spotlighted is available to order in the Verve Store and is currently 20% off! Plus, we've got a sweet hop prize in store, so read on for more!

For my card today, I wanted to share how the Just Breath stamp set can be used in ways other than Breast Cancer Awareness...

I had a ton of fun on this card! I created the background with a variety of Distress Stains and Inks. I started out by spraying a butterfly stencil by Heidi Swapp in Mermaid Lagoon Distress Spray, then I layed it down on a piece of Canson watercolor paper. When I lifted the stencil up, I had this amazing watery butterfly background. I dried it with my heat tool and then made some puddles of Rusty Hinge ink and then dabbled the watercolor paper in it to create the splats and sprays you see. 

I heat embossed the sentiment on black cardstock in white and then cut the sentiement apart so I could layer it like this. The hearts and corners are also from the Just Breath stamp set, I just cut those out by hand. To finish off the card, I added some floss and some Harvest Gold Sequins! I also added some splatters of Heidi Swapp Gold spray ink, it looks so gorgeous IRL!

Want to win some shiny new Verve? Julee will be picking a random commenter on one of the hop spots below to win a $50 gift voucher to Verve! So be sure to leave a little comment on all the blogs below to increase your chances! Check out the Verve Blog today for a little more about the new products and all the prize info and deadlines!

1. Julee 8. Amber 2. Teresa 9. Andrea 3. Charmaine 10. Laurie 4. Marisa 11. Christyne 5. Amy {Guest} 12. Rosemary {Guest} 6. KellyJean {Guest) 13. Lori {Guest) 7. Maureen

Verve Stamps October 2015 Spotlight Hop - Day 2

Welcome back to Day 2 of Verve's October 2015 Spotlight Hops!  The Verve Divas are back for another day of spotlighting the new release! It's release day and everything you've seen spotlighted yesterday and today is available to order in the Verve store! Due to manufacturing delays the Good Work set is available as a pre-order only. The Just Breathe set has limited quantities with more on the way very soon. Stay tuned next week on the Verve Blog for four days of spotlights from some very special Guest Divas, then we'll wrap things up with a Release in Review Hop next Friday!

Today's spotlight is shining on the Good Work set, coordinating Good Work Flower Die Set and the Psalm 150:6 plain jane. Also releasing today is our beautiful Frosted Snowfall Sequin Mix.

I couldn't help it, played with my watercolors again :) I stamped the sentiment from Good Work on a tag cut out using the Flourished Tag die. I stamped the flowers from Good Work on some scraps of paper I had water colored, I wanted to get this artsy splatter kind of flower! The leaves were cut out with the Elegant Leaves die and stamped with the coordinating stamp from Bloom & Grow. I was using this leaf for a different project which never worked, but I kept the leaves. That's why they're a bit grungier than the rest of my card, but I still like them that way :) I finished the card off with some twine and some of the gorgeous new sequins from the Frosted Snowfall Sequin Mix!

***Andrea is next on the hop!***

Want to win some shiny new Verve? We'll be picking a random commenter on one of the hop spots below to win today's featured products! So be sure to leave a little comment on all the blogs below to increase your chances! Check out the Verve Blog today for a little more about our new products and all the prize info and deadlines!

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

Verve Stamps October 2015 Spotlight Hop - Day 1

Welcome to Verve's October 2015 Spotlight Hops! 

It's almost time for some new Verve to hit the store, and the Verve Divas are hopping today to share our first looks at a brand new set filled to the brim with encouragement called Just Breathe.

I just love this set, the sentiments are amazing, and can be used in more ways than just Breast Cancer Awareness, though that is of course the main focus! My card today shows how it can be used to send encouragement to a friend or family member battling this terrible disease...

I started with a piece of watercolor paper cut down to a 4-bar size. I am really loving this little bit smaller canvas, so much fun :) Next, I stamped the sentiment in black ink and watercolored some pink over the sentiment. Next, I stamped the boxing gloves and hand cut them. I colored them in with the same pink watercolor (Tombow Markers). I stamped "hope" on the glove. Next, cut out the black hearts. I stamped the little corner stamp in the corners of the sentiment and then adhered the boxing gloves and hearts. I stamped a couple other sentiments in light pink ink around the sentiment and splattered some black watercolor paint. To finish it up, I scattered some Shine Bright sequins randomly and then tied the twine bow.

Want to win some shiny new Verve? We'll be picking a random commenter on one of the hop spots below to win today's featured products! So be sure to leave a little comment on all the blogs below to increase your chances! Check out the Verve Blog today for a little more about our new products and all the prize info and deadlines!

1. Julee 5. Stacey 2. Teresa 6. Maureen 3. Charmaine 7. Amber 4. Marisa 8. Andrea

September Diva Inspirations Hop

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 until October 5 to link up, so feel free to play as often as you like.

Our September challenge is Autumn Lovelies
September brings to mind crisp apples, bouquets of sharpened pencils, baked pumpkin delights, rainbows of fallen leaves and don't forget Pumpkin Spice Lattes and Salted Caramel Mochas! This month we're challenging you to to show us your autumn inspired creations. Use the inspiration graphic or go off on your own tangent, just share a little autumn loveliness with us!

For my challenge card, I took inspiration from the colors and pattern of the blanket. I loved those chevrons and decided I wanted copy that pattern

To create the background, I cut a piece of watercolor paper down to 3.25 x 4.5. I grabbed one of my stencils and some versmark and rubbed the versamark ink pad through the stencil. When I removed the stencil, I poured on some white embossing powder and heated it and came up with this amazing embossed chevron background! I pulled out my Gansai Tambi watercolors and added a variation of oranges, yellows, and reds. I dried between layers and then added more paint, trying to make it as "painterly" as I could, I sure love how it came out!

The stamps are from Sparkly Dreams, using the matching Butterfly Dreams Die Set and Flourished Tag Die Set.

Click here to link up your challenge entries
Challenge deadline: Monday, October 5.
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	7. Susan
	2. Amy	8. Maureen
	3. Betty	9. Amber
	4. Jen	10. Stacey
	5. Sankari	11. Marisa
	6. Sarah

Thanks for stopping by!! Have a great Thursday :)