Monday, August 11, 2008

Day Three: Artful Elegance and Notes Of Prayer...

WOW! Are we having fun yet? All of the Anni-VERVE-sary sketches and sneak peeks over on SCS are really exciting for me, so I am sure that you are all having a blast, too. The release is just a couple days away and here we are today with even more peeks to whet your appetite! Not only do you get to see one set featured today, but TWO!
Let's start off with ARTFUL ELEGANCE. Simply ornate, clean and pretty are the best words to describe this set. Let me know if you agree.
Here is a sample Jen del Muro (hey, that's me) created using this set in combination with Grateful Elegance...

I {heart} mini cards and one day when I was sitting at my desk these colors all seemed to just line up. It was the perfect inspiration for this 3x3 set. I used a cello bag with a tag for a minimalist approach to the packaging, so that cards inside could be seen, too.


Amy Sheffer shows off this set with her own stamping BRILLIANCE...

Everyone should own a few stamps that are so striking and beautiful they pretty much stand on their own. Artful Elegance is one of those sets for sure -- simple elegance at its best! The scroll pattern in this set reminded me of the ornate wrought-iron fencing that surrounds the historic homes and immaculate gardens of the French Quarter in New Orleans. I chose my earthy greens with those gardens in mind, then added black satin ribbon and a little bling to finish off my more formal look.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If your jaw isn't on the floor yet, it will be momentarily. This next set is called NOTES OF PRAYER. Simply ornate, clean and pretty apply here, as well. I absolutely love how striking the cross is and the sentiments are not only beautiful in verse, but are in the perfect font.
Julee, Verve Stamps' head Diva herself created this stunning creation...

A few months ago, Susan made this cross card with the Filigree Fantasy set and I thought, “Hey, I should make a stamp like that!” Well, when I actually started designing the stamp set I couldn’t find the card again, so this cross is what I came up with from memory. I love the elegance of this delicate cross, and have paired it with a few of the background elements from Artful Elegance for a frilly, feminine look.
I also made a sample using this set.
Both the cross and the filigree from the Artful Elegance set are clear embossed. This card contains a lot of texture, yet remains quite simple.
Last, but certainly not least, Janine Tinklenberg (one of August's Guest Designers) shows off this set in such a beautiful way.
This card uses a beautiful embossing resist technique, but instead of using dye ink with the embossed image, this technique uses pigment inks softly rubbed into the background...it really pops the white embossed image! I love the Verve Notes of Prayer set; as a church secretary, I'm always looking for a great set for sending cards to members of our church family. And since it coordinates so beautifully with the Artful Elegance and Grateful Elegance sets, it's a win/win if you get one or both of them when you buy this set!

I hope that you have enjoyed all of these samples. More to come tomorrow! Be sure to join us in the Verve Forum Tuesday night for our release party. It will be our first and it is sure to be a blast!