December Diva Dare ~ Day 10

"Playing Favorites", December Diva Dare

Welcome to the last Diva Dare of 2013!  This month's Dare is entitled "Playing Favorites" and it is a fun one indeed!

What we're daring you to do this month is to post your favorite Verve Stamps 2013 creation OR make a new card using your favorite Verve stamp set.  

Hello Verve lovelies! It's Andrea here with you today! Over the past few years at the end of the year, I've posted my favorite cards, month by month as a recap. I have to say that probably 11 out of 12 of those cards feature Verve stamps..only because they are my VERY FAVORITE! I'm going to narrow down my list just a little so I hope you enjoy!

This card features the No Matter What set...which was a new release in January. Here's the original post.

Guess what?! I love No Matter What so much, I used it again in February. Here's the post from my blog with the deets.

This card came about from our March Diva Dare challenge. I created this beauty with the Beautiful Plain Jane merged with Maureen's Buttons and Bling and Laurie's Just Give Me Stamps. A very nice marriage...I must say!

 This card was Pinterest inspired (one of my very favorite inspiration sites!) I love the type-written font from the Twitterpated set. This is how I made it.

 A bold burst of color for me...the idea was to feature yellow, so I had this bright gingham ribbon and matched it up with some pretty yellow and green flowers. The Verve set I used is Take Note. Here's the original post.

And...lastly...another Diva Dare creation! This one paid homage to our wonderful leader, Julee and the always uplifting Teresa! I inked up Words of Wisdom and shabbed up some Truly Madly Deeply seam binding to make this vintage gem. Here's where you can find the original post.

Ok, time for a little Q & A:

What are your three favorite Verve products?
Like my fellow Diva sisters...how do you pick just three (or just one hundred)? Let me see...I really love Julee's stamps, dies and ribbon...but to be a tad more specific...I do reach for the Pennant Trim Die quite often, the Truly Madly Deeply ribbon collection is the most cut into and my inkiest stamp set would have to be Celebration of Thanks.

What is your current go-to colour combo?
Ah, that's easy. Every color, though muted down to almost colorlessness. Well, not that extreme, but I do love my pastels and almost every card I make has earthy tones, brown, tan, cream with muted accent colors.

What is your current go-to embellishment?
Past, present and future will always be flowers. I absolutely adore the sweet, delicate feminine look of flowers...in truth, they just make me happy. :)

What is your favorite stamping or organizational tool?
Currently...two pencils. What? I've devised a way (my resourceful side coming out) to make the tightest, prettiest bows using two pencils. I have a tutorial for that here. Of course, this card features a beautiful Verve stamp...Harvest Blessings.

What is your favorite treat to eat while stamping?
That's easy. Life cereal. Yummy wheat squares with a smidge of sugar in the middle. I can put those things away by the handful!

I hope you all have a wonderfully Merry Christmas and Happiest of New Years!

Deadline to link your cards is 8PM Mountain on Thursday, December 26th.  Entries must be posted 12/6 or later, include at least one Verve product, be your favorite Verve Stamps creation of 2013 or a new creation using your favorite Verve Stamps set, and be linked up to the linky widget by 8pm Mountain on 12/26/13.   As an reminder, last month's $40 gift certificate winner did not use any Verve stamps on her card so she was not eligible to win and we had to draw another winner.

During this month's Diva Dare, there are 2 prizes up for grabs!

Win a $40 Gift voucher to Verve Stamps! Take our "Playing Favorites" Dare and link up your card (created December 6th or later) to the linky widget below to be eligible to win.  One participant will be randomly selected to win the gift voucher.  You can enter as many times as you like, but each card needs to be in a separate post.

Win a set of your choice! For another chance to win some new Verve, leave a little comment love on our design team's "Playing Favorites" Diva Dare posts!  One lucky commenter will win a Verve stamp set of his or her choice, so be sure to tune in each day!  Comment deadline to be entered in our prize drawing is December 26, 2013.

Winners will be announced on December 27, 2013.

- Go forth and get inky! We DARE you! -

June Diva Dare - Day 4

Puddles of Colour, June Diva Dare

Hey there summer crafters! It's Janelle here for Day 4 of our Diva Dare challenge this month. Puddles of Colour is our theme and it's about using wonderful color from two Diva styles! 

This month's dare pays tribute to Diva Jen (Deconstructing Jen) who is an amazing colourist and me, Diva Janelle (Rain Puddles Design) who is hopefully known to have a Copic in one hand and paintbrush in the other.

So what we're daring you to create this month is a card using colouring and/or painting.  If you want to kick the dare up a notch, you can add kraft card stock to the mix (Jen's specialty) and/or make a mixed media card (Janelle's specialty).  Here is the link to Splitcoast Stamper's "Mix-Ability" Forum for some tutorials and ideas on Mixed Media should you want to try it out.  This is not a requirement but a fun "extra" should you wish to add it to your card. Just remember to use at least one Verve product on your creation!   

Here's my take on this month's dare. I created background paper with acrylic paint, bubble wrap, paper doily and punchinello for stencils and Verve's On Occasion and Take Note stamp sets. (You can sponge acrylic paint on your stamp, stamp it quickly and brush them off without harming the stamp. I use water and an old toothbrush to clean them.) Next I used a credit card to smear white gesso paint on an old text book page before stamping the flowers from On Occasion. Those flowers were colored with vibrant water soluble oil pastels and fussy cut out to put on the stamped frame from the same set. I stamped the sentiment from the Let It Be set onto the frame and used the coordinating Occasion Frame Die to cut it out.

I added two hand cut banners from black cardstock to go along with the week three Viva La Verve sketch. The ribbon is a great match to the acrylic paint I used and is from the Summer Sailing Ribbon Collection. All of this is happily put onto a kraft cardstock base. There's a subtle shading with graphite pencils, any pencil will do really, and then a black pen to create a border. That's it!

Here's a quick little plug if you are thinking about having a go with mixed media.  Any project that uses more than two mediums is considered mixed media! Easy! If you take a look at the Mix-Ability Challenges Shopping List thread you'll find that you already have most of them in your crafty stash. 

Deadline to link your cards is 5PM Mountain on Thursday, June 27.  Entries must be new (posted 6/11 or later), include at least one Verve product, include some type of colouring/painting (with an option of adding kraft cardstock or mixed media, but this is notrequired) and be linked up to the linky widget by 5pm Mountain on 6/27/13.

During this month's Diva Dare, there are 2 prizes up for grabs!

Win a $40 Gift Certificate to Verve Stamps! Take our Puddles of Colour Dare and link up your card (created June 11th or later) to the linky widget to be eligible to win.  One participant will be randomly selected to win the gift certificate.  You can enter as many times as you like, but each card needs to be in a separate post. 

Win a set of your choice! For another chance to win some new Verve, leave a little comment love on our design team's "Puddles of Colour" Diva Dare posts! One lucky commenter will win a Verve stamp set of his or her choice, so be sure to tune in each day!  Comment deadline to be entered in our prize drawing is June 27, 2013.

Winners will be announced on June 28, 2013.

- Go forth and get inky! We DARE you! -

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There's also a new Viva La Verve challenge today with Diva Teresa who has a sweet little duet in a sketch and inspiration photo. Join in for a chance to win some shiny new Verve!  Details are over at the Viva La Verve forum on SplitcoastStampers.

May Diva Dare ~ Day 5

Hi there friends! Have you been loving the challenge so far this week? There is lots more fun to be had so keep on following our daily posts! Here's a little update on what this whole challenge is all about:)

Stars & Stripes May Diva Dare

This month's dare pays tribute to Diva Amber's (Stamping Scrapbooker) military service and Diva Laurie Willison's (Soapbox Creations) wonderful use of stripes on her cards.  So we're daring you to create a card using stars and/or stripes.  While the title may conjure up visions of red, white and blue any stars and stripes will do! If you're feeling pretty in pink, go for it! Just remember to use at least one Verve product on your creation!  If you want to get really daring, you can add the extra challenge of making it a CAS card with stars and/or stripes, as that is Diva Laurie's signature style.  However, that is not a requirement, just an optional twist to the Dare if you're feeling daring!

I'm sure everyone knows by now (I talk about it alot, lol!) I was in the Air Force for 11 years, and my sweet hubby is still in the Air Force! The US military is so much a party of my life, I can't imagine not being around it. Scary to think of it actually! I do love my stars and stripes! So I had no problem with this challenge:) As with all challenges, they're meant to "challenge" you, so I didn't go the red, white, and blue path...I probably should have also challenged myself to CAS but that just isn't gonna happen, lol!

I used this beautiful pink striped paper from Simple Stories and some fabulous goodies from Verve!

The stamps are from "Take Note". I just cut the envelope out by hand, no die for that one! I also used the scalloped star border die from the Scalloped Trim Trio die set, and the small bracket tag from the Flag It die set.

I also used the Wrinkled Crepe ribbon from the new Black Beauty Ribbon Collection! This ribbon ties like a dream, I can't talk it up enough:) GOOOOOD STUFF! You need it;)

I used Charmaine's sketch for our Viva la Verve challenge this week!

Click HERE to play along!

During this month's Diva Dare, there are 4 prizes up for grabs!

 Win Verve's ENTIRE May Release! Take our Stars & Stripes Dare and link up your card (created 5/13 or later) to the linky widget ON THIS POST. One random participant will be drawn to win all of the stamps, dies and ribbons in our May 2013 release. You can enter as many times as you like, but each card needs to be in a separate post.  Here's a little look-see at what the winner will receive..

May Stamp Collection	May Die Collection	Black Beauty Ribbon Collection	Polka Dot Basics Ribbon Collection
Deadline to link your cards is 5PM Mountain on Thursday, May 30. Entries must be new (posted 5/13 or later), include at least one Verve product, use stars and stripes and be linked up to the linky widget by 5pm Mountain on 5/30/13.

Win a set of your choice! For another chance to win some new Verve, leave a little comment love on our design team's Stars & Stripes Diva Dare posts! THREE lucky commenters will win a Verve stamp set of his or her choice, so be sure to tune in each day! Comment deadline to be entered in our prize drawing is May 30.

Winners will be announced on May 31, 2013.

May Diva Dare - Day 3

Hello Verve Fans!  It's Jen S. with Day 2 of this month's Diva Dare entitled "Stars & Stripes".



Stars & Stripes May Diva Dare
This month's dare pays tribute to Diva Amber's (Stamping Scrapbooker) military service and Diva Laurie Willison's (Soapbox Creations) wonderful use of stripes on her cards.  So we're daring you to create a card using stars and/or stripes.  While the title may conjure up visions of red, white and blue any stars and stripes will do! If you're feeling pretty in pink, go for it! Just remember to use at least one Verve product on your creation!  If you want to get really daring, you can add the extra challenge of making it a CAS card with stars and/or stripes, as that is Diva Laurie's signature style.  However, that is not a requirement, just an optional twist to the Dare if you're feeling daring!

Here's my take on this months dare:

 

I chose the choose to shine sentiment from the super amazing Let It Be stamp set with a little help from Take Note for the tiny little star. I used MOJO293 was my layout and MME's The Sweetest Thing Tangerine paper. To add a few more stars I used the star border from the Trim Trio die set as well as the stars from the Starry Die. My stripes are over in the patterned paper and are maybe a bit of a stretch but it's what works. :) In keeping with the them I tried to capture a little of Amber's rich layers and papers with Laurie's amazing use of white space. I hope I pulled it off because the two are opposites on the design spectrum but I do just love how it came out! I even backed off my traditional distressing and sponging a little to mesh the two style better. :)

During this month's Diva Dare, there are 4 prizes up for grabs!
 Win Verve's ENTIRE May Release! Take our Stars & Stripes Dare and link up your card (created 5/13 or later) to the linky widget ON THIS POST. One random participant will be drawn to win all of the stamps, dies and ribbons in our May 2013 release. You can enter as many times as you like, but each card needs to be in a separate post.  Here's a little look-see at what the winner will receive..

May Stamp Collection	May Die Collection	Black Beauty Ribbon Collection	Polka Dot Basics Ribbon Collection
Deadline to link your cards is 5PM Mountain on Thursday, May 30. Entries must be new (posted 5/13 or later), include at least one Verve product, use stars and stripes and be linked up to the linky widget by 5pm Mountain on 5/30/13.

Win a set of your choice! For another chance to win some new Verve, leave a little comment love on our design team's Stars & Stripes Diva Dare posts! THREE lucky commenters will win a Verve stamp set of his or her choice, so be sure to tune in each day! Comment deadline to be entered in our prize drawing is May 30.

Winners will be announced on May 31, 2013.

- Go forth and get inky! We DARE you! -

 

May 2013 Spotlight Hops - Day 1

Hi there Verve fans!  I'm so excited that it's ALMOST time to release some new Verve into the world!  We'll be releasing 5 new sets, 4 plain janes, 3 dies and 2 ribbon collections on Friday, May 10.  And as we countdown to our release, the Divas are strutting their new Verve with daily blog hops now through Friday!

And since we LOVE to share our Verve, we've got a giveaway every day this week!  Just hop around to the blogs on today's hop and tell us what you think in the comments at each stop and you'll be entered in a drawing to win today's featured stamps!  Woohoo!

Day 1 PRIZE: Take Note and Graduation Plain Jane
Comment Deadline:  Sunday, May 12 @ 5PM Mountain

1. Julee 8. Andrea 2. Charmaine 9. Jen M. 3. Teresa 10. Laurie W. 4. Stacey 11. Laurie S. 5. Amber 12. Janelle 6. Christyne 13. Maureen 7. Marisa

Hopping along with us this week are two very special Guest Divas!  I've been watching these gals for quite some time with coffee, an iPad and a twin or two in tow.  I love their different styles, bold uses of color and often find myself completely inspired to go stamp after checking out their posts.  Here's a peek at their smiling faces and some of my favorite Verve creations from their blogs.  They've got some fabulous cards to share with you using this release, so be sure to give them a shout out when you hop through the list!

Jen Mitchell blogs at I-Create.  Image Credits: {Card 1}, {Card 2}, {Card 3}

 Stacey Schafer blogs at Stacey's Stamping Stage.  Image Credits: {Card 1}, {Card 2}, {Card 3}

Okay, now that you know the who... it's time for the what.  Check out the reveals and a little back story on today's featured stamps below...
 

Take Note is our first feature of the day.  This $24 set takes buildable sentiments to a whole new level with 32 mix and match sentiments, alphabet strip backgrounds, and a few "this and that" images.  Whether you're scrapbooking or cardmaking, there's a little something for everyone here.

Quite a while ago Jen del Muro sent me a couple sentiment set concepts, including an idea for a just because set with a darling little heartstring image to hang from the B in because.  I started in on designing it right away, and then pregnancy and twins and just general life put a hold on my design queue. When Jen told me she was starting her own company, I figured I better get back to finishing up that set (with her permission, of course).  That's when the idea struck to combine two of the set concepts to make a super-mondo-always-have-the-right-words-to-say, sort of sentiment set!

I'm particularly excited to use the typewritten alpha strip to do some ransome note kind of sentiments.  I think it would be fun to just cut up the letters and glue them together. {grin} And a little envelope with star or heart seals?  What's not to love?  And with so many sentiment combinations, I can see myself pulling for this set over and over again.

Our plain jane feature today is the Happy Graduation plain jane.  My nephew is graduating from high school this year and I just had to have a big Happy Graduation stamp to make a card for him.  I think that's one of the best things about owning my own stamp company... getting to make exactly the stamps I need in my own arsenal!  I purposely used a font combination that could work for either gender, and at approximately 2.25" x 1" tall, this graduation sentiment is perfect as either a focal point to your card front, or a message inside your card.

Mix Happy Graduation with Take Note, or with our new teacher appreciation set that's being revealed later this week, and you can turn this plain jane into a graduation card fit for any age group.


All of the stamps and dies featured this week will be available for purchase in the Verve Store on Friday, May 10.

Thanks so much for hopping with us today!  Have a great day and we'll see you back here tomorrow for some more fresh new looks at VERVE!