June Guest Divas

Happy Friday! Today I get to announce our two fabulous June Guest Divas!

First up is a stamper I've been hoping to work with for quite some time...

Christina Fischer has a gorgeously finished style with a great eye for unique color combinations and beautiful embellishments. I find myself drawn to her cards whenever I'm out bopping about SCS and the blogosphere. I'm honored to have Christina put her fabulous spin on my little stamps. Welcome Christina!

Joining Christina is the winner of our Special Guest Sketch Contest.

There were some outstanding entries in our contest and I had a lot of fun cruising through all the links to pick my favorite card! Thank you to everyone who participated! I've included a slideshow of my top ten faves at the end of this post. I'm sure we'll be having more contests like this in the future, so don't lose hope if you didn't get selected this time! Okay, time to let the cat out of the bag...

The winner of the contest and our June Special Guest is:

Kerri Michaud with this gorgeous card!



I simply loved the way Kerri combined the stems from Miracles Blossom with the flowers from Wishful Elegance. And the whimsical way the outer flowers extend beyond the edges of the panel just seems so carefree and happy. Added details like stitching, the Swiss Dots embossing on the horizontal strip and the sparkles and dimension on the flowers really took this simple sketch to another level. I emailed Kerri yesterday to make sure she was up for being a guest and she said a resounding YES! So congrats, Kerri! We can't wait to work with you for the upcoming release.

Okay, now for the slideshow of my top ten faves from the sketch contest...



Okay, we'll have another special announcement on Monday so be sure to check back! Then our June Project Parade will start on Friday, June 5 with all new Diva creations!

New Releases and a Sale!

Our latest releases are available in the Verve Store! We've added six sets perfect for the men in your life. Whether you're looking for a bit of whimsy and adventure, or just the perfect words for that special dad or grad, our six new sets have something for everyone!

Memorial Day SALE now through May 31!

ALL stamps are 10 - 20% off!

Thanks to everyone who participated in our release party! We had so much fun hanging out with you! If you missed it and are looking to see if you're a winner of one of our sneak peek giveaways, check out the winners post in our SCS forum.

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Sneak Preview - Day 3

Happy Friday, Verve Fans! It's Shannan here, wavin' howdy from Texas. Today is the final day of the Sneak Previews for our May Release, and boy, did we save the best for last! Ok, well at least my favorite, anyway. *wink* We have previews for two more sets today - Up, Up & Away and Dare to Be You, both of which will be available to order tonight (May 22nd) after the Release Party in the Verve Forum. Let's get the eye candy started, shall we?


From Diva Lynda Benden:

Oh my gosh, can I tell you how much I LOVE the NEW Up, Up and Away set?!?!? When I saw it, I immediately thought how perfect bright, primary colors would look on the balloons and then I started my card and ended up using blue and brown!!! LOL!!! I will definitely use primary colors in the future but for today’s Father’s Day card, the blue and brown are perfect! I wanted a masculine feel so I pulled out one of my favorite SU! DP collections, Parisian Breeze. I used the Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip and Whisper White CS that matched the striped DP. The layout is from Julee’s Mojo Monday sketch #87. The tree (I stamped it one time and then masked it in order to stamp the second), the clouds (stamped using Baja Breeze ink and then I added fine clear Martha Stewart glitter) and hot air balloon (balloon was paper pieced, basket colored with Prismacolor pencils) are ALL included in the new Up, Up and Away set! On the inside, I added the NEW Plain Jane ~ Happy Father’s Day sentiment using Chocolate Chip ink.


From Diva Jackie Pedro:

I may sound like a broken record, but Julee has done it again with these fabulous new sets! For today's card I used the new set Up, Up and Away along with a sentiment from Dare To Be You. I used just ONE of the Three hot air balloons from the set! Not only is this set beautiful, but I think it is also whimsical at the same time. I really wanted to capture the whimsical nature of this set so I used some fun papers to get the look I wanted. This set would be perfect for so many occasions....graduation, birthdays, thinking of you....the possibilities are really endless!


From Diva Amy Sheffer:

I'm especially excited to preview Up, Up & Away! A while back I was browsing home decor catalogs when a trio of hot air balloon wall hangings caught my eye. There was something so sweet and magical about the balloons, and, as we stampers so often do, I thought "wouldn't that make a cute stamp?" I shared the idea with the Divas, and Julee ran with it. I don't know how she does it, but once again, she's created a set with the perfect balance between whimsy and elegance. I couldn't be happier with "my" hot air balloons! This set will be perfect for so many occasions - congratulations, pick-me-up, encouragement, even baby and travel. The other set we're previewing today is Dare to Be You. The title sentiment, Dare to Be You, jumped out at me as a fantastic message for a new graduate. Paired with the balloons, it makes a great send-off for someone entering "the real world"! If only life were always blue skies and smooth sailing (or should I say smooth floating?). I hope you'll fall for these two sets every bit as much as I have!

From Diva Shannan Teubner:

Sometimes when you see a stamp set, a special little magic happens...your mind immediately sees exactly what you want to create with it. That's what happened when I saw Up, Up and Away. I could picture a group of balloons floating through the air together, so I thought I'd create that scene on paper. All it took was a little masking (save those masks...you can re-use them!), coloring, liquid applique, and voila! Exactly how I pictured it. I didn't want the card to be too fussy, so I let the images and colors do all the work here. The sentiment from Sweet on You went with it just perfectly. I love the time and effort that Julee takes to make all of her sets so versatile. I can see using these balloons for all sorts of occasions!

So, how would you like to win these two new Verve sets? We have one of each set (Up, Up & Away and Dare to Be You) to give away to one lucky reader! All you have to do is leave a comment with your answer to the following question before 8 PM Eastern on Friday, May 22nd!

What is the most adventurous thing you've done with your family?

We hope you'll join us for the release party tonight, May 22nd at 9pm Eastern in the Verve Forum. The sets will be shown in their entirety during the party, and afterwards will be available to order from The Verve Store. We hope see you there!

Sneak Peek - Day 2

Hey there Verve fans! Jen Tapler here with another look at some of the FABULOUS new stamps Julee has created!! Today the divas are sharing projects using Dad's Day and Protector, which will be available after the Release Party on Friday, May 22nd.

From Diva Susan Liles:
Howdy!! Well, I must say I got a little spring in my giddy-up when Julee first revealed all the new sets coming out to us (and just in time for Father's Day!). However, this one won my heart. It's called Protector and it's a set of two stamps, the big "Dad" and the words one that I used here to make my own patterned paper. I think it has a real "western" feel to it, so I couldn't help myself but to "grunge" it up with lots of sponging and brads - it's a heavy card! I even "duded" up the "Dad" sentiment with a little piercing and more brads. I also paired it up with some of my favorite elements - STARS!! These are from one of my old must-have of Verve's called Seeing Stars. Well, I guess I need to head 'em up and move 'em out. I hope you are loving these new set reveals!!

From Diva Laurie Schmidlin:

You all know how I feel about Verve's AMAZING sentiments and fonts! Well...Julee has done it again! She's created several "must have" Dad sets! They are perfect for Father's Day...but would also work well for birthdays, thinking of you's, scrapbooking, and altered projects (like frames)! I took inspiration from the slightly rustic font, and created a rugged masculine card. I used Protector, World's Best (one of the sets that was peeked yesterday), and Seeing Stars Verve sets.


From Diva Michelle Woerner:

I LOVE masculine cards! Crazy, I know. I think I am one of the few stampers who actually loves to make masculine cards! For those of you like me, this month's releases won't disappoint. Julee designed several fun masculine sentiment sets - woohoo! My card uses both sets we are peeking today. The sentiment is from Dad's Day and I used the large stamp from Protector for that cool background.
To make it, I stamped the large Protector sentiment stamp repeatedly in Soft Sky. I then stamped it separately in chocolate chip and cut out a couple words I wanted to highlight. I used my go to "guy" embellishments - all my star punches and aged copper brads. Just play around with their placement and you can turn about any card into a guy card! This card will be from my boys to my husband. The fun colors of this card are some of my boys' favorites and both of them will "write" their name below their hand prints on the inside.

And from me, Diva Jen Tapler:
I am so thrilled with the new masculine sets Julee has created! So many of us struggle with masculine cards and these new sets will make that painful process so much easier!! For my project, I created a Keepsake box, using the new Protector stamp set, to hold little momentos and handwritten notes of memories of my Dad. My Dad has Alzheimer's Disease and sometimes when I'm feeling overwhelmed by the sadness of watching the man who raised me slip away from me, I will take a minute and journal about some little special memory of my father before the illness struck. My biggest fear with this illness is that after he's gone I will not be able to remember him as the amazing man he once was, but instead I will only remember this shell of a man I see now. Caring for someone with Alzheimer's Disease is a heartbreaking, frustrating, maddening experience - My hope is that this little keepsake box will help me hold on to those precious memories of happier times and that it will be a comfort to me when I need to feel a connection to my Dad as the wonderful man he once was.

So, how would you like to win these two Verve sets? If you're feeling lucky, one lucky commenter on this post will win the two sets we've shared today! Just leave a comment with your answer to the following question before 8PM Eastern on Friday, May 22nd!

What special way do you have or have you seen of preserving your family's memories?

Don't forget to check back tomorrow to see the final sneak peeks! We hope you'll join us for the release party this Friday, May 22nd at 9pm EDT in the Verve Forum

Sneak Preview - Day One

It's time again for another Verve release! Are you excited? We sure are! We think you're really going to like what you'll see in the next three days, so stay tuned!

Today, you get to see two new sets being released on Friday, May 22nd. . .Sweet On You and World's Best. Enjoy!

from Diva Jen del Muro:

What better way to say thanks to Dad for all the things he does by giving him a "World's Best Dad" award. Those dads that are the best will proudly wear this paper ribbon...at least on Father's Day. The top part of the ribbon was created with Nestabilities pinked circles and regular circle dies. The hanging part of the ribbon was embossed with the Houndstooth Cuttlebug embossing folder. I placed a pin on the back of the ribbon and attached with a tab on the card. The top part of the tab has repositionable double sided, so that the ribbon can be placed back on the card when not in use.

from Diva Amber Hight:

Julee has gone and done it again and come up with a FABULOUS sentiment set! This stamp set is sure to have sentiments that you'll reach for over and over again! I chose the "You Color My World" sentiment. The card base is So Saffron. I stamped the background stamp from Wishful Elegance in Chocolate Chip on a piece of Close to Cocoa cardstock and rounded one corner. Next, I stamped the sentiment in Chocolate Chip on a piece of Regal Rose. I added some threaded buttons to the sentiment panel and then cut a piece of scalloped Purely Pomegranate cardstock and adhered it to the bottom. I also cut a piece of Purely Pomegrate for the bottom of the card. The ribbon is by Making Memories and of course my beloved butterfly punch by Martha Stewart! Last but not least, I cut a flourish from the Basics 3 cartridge for my Slice machine.

from Guest Diva Teresa Kline:

Hello everyone, it's Teresa and I am truly honored to be able to bring you a sneak peek card for the month of May. Julee continues to bring us some fabulous stamps and the May Release sets are no different. For my card I used the new sets Worlds Best and Sweet On You. I stamped the stars in SU kiwi kiss, they are from an older set called Seeing Stars. The colors of cs are SU kiwi kiss, black, and SU urban oasis dp. I used my Janome to sew around the back panel, added black checkered ribbon, added black brads, and I used my glitter pen to outline the stars. I punched the sentiment out with SU oval punch, the back layer behind the sentiment I cut out with scissors. I also finished the inside of my card. I hope you enjoy the sneak peeks and the totally awesome creations the divas have brought to you.

from Diva Charmaine Ikach:

When I first saw this sentiment in the Sweet On You set, I immediately thought of this picture of my son Isaac from last Halloween. Having two older sisters, he didn't have an appropriate costume that could have been "handed down", so we came up with this. As you could imagine, he didn't keep the headband on too long! This was one of the very few pictures I was able to get with him wearing it. This sentiment was PERFECT and I'm sure you'll think the others in the set are too!

So, how would you like to win these two Verve sets? If you're feeling lucky, one lucky commenter on this post will win the two sets we've shared today! Just leave a comment with your answer to the following question before 8PM Eastern on Friday, May 22nd!

What's your favorite memory of "that special someone"?

Don't forget to check back in the next two days to see even more sneak peeks! We hope you'll join us for the release party this Friday, May 22nd at 9pm EDT in the Verve Forum!

It's a Girl Thing: Project Parade WINNERS

Did you enjoy the It's A Girl Thing Project Parade as much as I did? Oh my goodness, the Divas are constantly amazing me with their creativity and just general FABULOUSNESS! If you haven't taken a look at all the posts, be sure to take a little time this weekend to check out their amazing work with this theme - they rocked the stamposphere this month!

And we had some fabulous entries too! I loved taking a peek at all of your beautiful creations and reading about the wonderful women in your lives that you picked to celebrate. Thanks to everyone who played!!! I've got a couple winners to announce later in the post, but first I wanted to let you all in on a secret...

Verve has a new release coming in just one week!
We'll be partying it up in our SCS forum next Friday, May 22 from 9 to 11 Eastern. Come join us as we count down to the release of 6 new sets and the start of our Memorial Day Sale. Sneak peeks of the new sets will start here on Wednesday, May 20 so be sure to check back!

Okay, on with the winners announcement....

Here are your random numbers:

34 Timestamp: 2009-05-15 03:41:32 UTC
12 Timestamp: 2009-05-15 03:41:51 UTC

A big Verve-a-licious congrats to...

#34. Stephanie Kraft


#12. Regina (The Stampin' Bean)


Congrats Stephanie and Regina! Just email me to claim your $25 gift certificate! And we'll see you all next week!

Project Parade - The Finale

It's the last day of our parade, and we're finishing off strong with a special little project by Guest Diva Teresa Kline. Remember, you still have until tomorrow night (5/14) to get your entries in to be eligible to win a $25 Verve gift certificate! Here's a little bit about Teresa's project in her own words...

Hello girls, it's Teresa and I am so honored to bring you the last project of the It's A Girl Thing Project Parade. Haven't the divas brought you some fabulous creations? I chose my Mother to honor, she has taught me so much and for that I am grateful. She started encouraging me as a young girl to write notes of care and thank you notes. I collected the pretty boxes full of stationary made by the gold crown company when I was very young. I would send notes to my friends, always send thank you notes after birthdays and holidays, and greetings cards to relatives as I got older.



I have always been attracted to boxes, tins and keepsake holders; which brings me to my keepsake box full of handmade cards. These boxes are totally awesome, I got them from Taylored Expessions. I used Verve's Because of You and Circular Sayings sets as well as the Matthew 11:28 and Psalm 46:10 Plain Jane stamps to embellish the box and create my cards. I used this beautiful dp from My Minds Eye called French Flea Market, a checkered brown ribbon and the gorgeous chocolate pearls from Kaiser. I hope you like my girly keepsake box, it was fun to create and reminisce about the past and the things my Mom has taught me.



It's been so exciting to be a Verve guest diva this month and I'm so excited that Julee asked me to stay as a guest diva for the May release as well! I'll see ya at the next release party!

You still have one more day to play along with us! Just make a project or card that fits your style and celebrates a woman in your life. It can be any woman ... mom, grandmother, daughter, sister, aunt, friend, teacher - you get the idea! To enter, add your project link to the Mr. Linky form IN THIS POST before 8PM Mountain on Thursday, May 14th. Two random participants will be chosen and win $25 gift certificates to the Verve Store. Have fun and good luck!

Thanks for stopping by!

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Project Parade - Day 12!

Happy Tuesday, Verve Fans! I hope you're enjoying all the eye candy from my fellow Divas...I know I am! The project I created was my gift to my Mom this Mother's Day. I managed to talk her into taking a quick photo for me, but when I get some photos myself, I'll come back and post them here. Sound good?

When I created this plaque back in November, I bought a whole slew of them, probably 30 or so. I painted them all with acrylic paint, and in a bag they sit in the floor of my stamp room, waiting for someone to decorate them and give them a loving home. As I was creating cards using Because of You, the idea for this project popped into my head, so I thought it would be perfect to share with you!

These 3 plaques were painted with Cream acrylic paint, and after they dried, I applied some Cosmo Cricket Dutch Girl papers to the front. I sanded around the edges to remove any excess paper and also on parts of the plaques for a distressed look. Once my adhesive was dry, I painted a small area with the same Cream color in the center of the paper, just large enough to have an area to stamp on. After that dried, I stamped the three sentiments from Because of You, one on each plaque, in Versafine Onyx Black ink. I added a few buttons to each one, and dry brushed some brown acrylic paint around the edges of the plaques to make them a little more distressed. As a finishing touch, I adhered a strip of Riding Hood Red striped ribbon to the back of each plaque with Score Tape and created a hanging loop at the top. The plaques are a little heavy, so I had to reinforce the very top and bottom of each one with a little staple to keep them from tilting forward.

This whole project, start to finish, took me about 25 minutes to make, and I had a nice, handmade gift to give. When I start to stress about purchasing "just the right thing," I remember what my grandmother said once. "The best gifts come from the heart and not the pocketbook." Even though this project was fairly quick, it was definitely heartfelt. This set is probably one of my all-time favorites.

So, do you want to play along with us? Just make a project or card that fits your style and celebrates a woman in your life. It can be any woman ... mom, grandmother, daughter, sister, aunt, friend, teacher - you get the idea! Just add your project link to the Mr. Linky form IN THIS POST before 8PM Mountain on Thursday, May 14th. Two random participants will be chosen and win $25 gift certificates to the Verve Store. Have fun and good luck!

Project Parade~Day 11!

Happy Mother's Day to all the momma's out there! That goes for REAL kid momma's and FURR kid momma's (like me, hee!) Hope you all had a wonderful, relaxing day and that your family's treated you like the queen's you are:)

Ready to get back to some more "It's a Girl Thing" projects? I made this little ensemble for my mom.

I made her this card and a matching magnet for her refrigerator! My folks live up north and I know from experience that people in the north have a habit of COVERING their fridge's in magnets and photos, lol! So I know this magnet will be loved:) For the magnet, I cut a piece of Melon Berry cardstock with my Labels 1 die and then sewed some patterned paper on top. I stamped the flourishy corner from Because of You in Espresso ink and then stamped it again and cut out the flower and popped it up on dimensionals. The sentiment was stamped off once and then I stamped it on the main panel so it would show up behind the "Mom" stamp. The bottom of the melon berry piece was stamped with the background stamp from Wishful Elegance. Also, I added rhinestones cause I love some bling:)

The card I created using the same main elements and another stamp from Because of You.

Would you like to play along with us? Just make a project or card that fits your style and celebrates a woman in your life. It can be any woman ... mom, grandmother, daughter, sister, aunt, friend, teacher - you get the idea! Just add your project link to the Mr. Linky form IN THIS POST before 8PM Mountain on Thursday, May 14th. Two random participants will be chosen and win $25 gift certificates to the Verve Store. Have fun and good luck!

Project Parade Day 10 ~ It's a Girl Thing!

Hi! Laurie here, and it's my turn to share with you what I've created for this month's Project Parade! I created a Card Organizer for my mom...and plan on filling it for her throughout the year!

I used THIS tutorial on Splitcoast, some K & Co. papers, & Verve's Beautiful You stamps to create an ensemble that I hope she will love!



Here's a peek at the inside...


Instead of using 12 x 12 cardstock for the inside pages as the tutorial directed, I decided to use some coordinating patterned paper (from the same K & Co collection as I used on the card and outside of the organizer).

Would you like to play along with us? Just make a project or card that fits your style and celebrates a woman in your life. It can be any woman ... mom, grandmother, daughter, sister, aunt, friend, teacher - you get the idea! Just add your project link to the Mr. Linky form IN THIS POST before 8PM Mountain on Thursday, May 14th. Two random participants will be chosen and win $25 gift certificates to the Verve Store. Have fun and good luck!
Thanks for stopping by!

Project Parade Day 9

Hi there! It's Laura, and welcome to day nine of our Project Parade. I'm quite excited to share my project with you today. You see, Jen's challenge this month to create something to honour the women in our lives, was just the push I needed to tackle a project that I'd had in the back of my mind for some time now.

I made this for my sister, who is not a cardmaker, despite many attempts to lure her over to the world of stamping. Now, she does like and appreciate handmade cards, and I don't think she buys store bought cards, because Mom keeps her supplied with as many cards as she might ever need. Except, what about the cards she gives Mom? I know she often pulls out a card Mom made and gives it right back to her, so I thought I would give her a selection of cards that covered all the occasions she might want to give Mom a card for.

I pulled out some old designer paper from my stash, and stamped the flowers from Wishful Elegance on a 4 1/4" x 12" panel. I pulled the stem from Thankful Blossoms one of my favorite Verve sets to create a garden effect. The flowers were coloured in with an SU! marker, then adhered to the tin with Modge Podge. I filled the flower centres with Gunmetal Stickles, and added some black trim to the top.

The lid was covered in the same manner, using two 2"x7" pieces of the designer paper, with small cut outs for the handle attachments. I added some flowers to the top and ribbon around the handle. The word "cards" are chipboard letters covered in Gunmetal Stickles. In hindsight, I wish I had coloured them black first, but the sparkles is still there, although it doesn't show well in the photograph.

I couldn't finish without creating a matching card, so using a scrap of the left over designer paper, I created the same scene on the lower portion with Wishful Elegance and Thankful Blossoms, and added the sentiment from Because of You above. I separated the two components with a strip of black satin ribbon. The flowers were coloured with a marker again, and their centres filled with Gunmetal Stickles.

I am looking so forward to giving this to my sister, and I think I met Jen's challenge head on! After all this honours two amazing women in my life!

So are you gonna play too? Just make a project or card that fits your style and celebrates a woman in your life. It can be any woman ... mom, grandmother, daughter, sister, aunt, friend, teacher - you get the idea! Just add your project link to the Mr. Linky form IN THIS POST before 8PM Mountain on Thursday, May 14th. Two random participants will be chosen and win $25 gift certificates to the Verve Store. Have fun and good luck!

Have a fabulous day, and thanks for popping by!

Project Parade Day 8: It's a Girl Thing!

Hi everyone, it's Michelle! Welcome to Day 8 of this month's project parade. I have sooo been loving all the projects the Divas have shown so far, haven't they been amazing?!?

I love the idea of doing a project to honor the women in our lives. I chose to make a project for my sister! She is my best friend and my rock. I am lucky enough to live 4 miles away from her and what a blessing that is. It was fun to make a little something for her with these rockin' new stamps this month.

I went with something that had bright and fun colors. Recognize my candy box? It is actually a Prima Essentials box that I covered over. I was all set to make a box with acetate and instructions off SCS, then seriously, I looked in my recycle bin and there it was -my empty prima box!! I covered the bottom and top with Basic Grey Urban Prairie DP. All the flowers are from the Wishful Elegance set. I love, love, and I mean LOVE these starburst shaped flowers. They are fun to color and very easy to cut out. I used copic markers to color them and all the centers have some rhinestone bling in them. The sentiment on both the card and the box are from Because of You. Don't these Hershey's Kisses look yummy? Confession, I have eaten 4 since I started typing this post! LOL!

Here is the little card I made to coordinate. It measures 4 1/4" square. It's hard to see in the picture, but there are scored lines in between each DP panel. I think it adds just the right amount of umph!

Would you like to play along with us? Just make a project or card that fits your style and celebrates a woman in your life. It can be any woman ... mom, grandmother, daughter, sister, aunt, friend, teacher - you get the idea! Just add your project link to the Mr. Linky form IN THIS POST before 8PM Mountain on Thursday, May 14th. Two random participants will be chosen and win $25 gift certificates to the Verve Store. Have fun and good luck!

Thanks for stopping by!

Project Parade Day 7: It's a Girl Thing!

Hello Verve Addicts, Lynda here!!! Today is day 7 of this month's SPECTACULAR Project Parade and it is my turn to post!!! I hope you have enjoyed the awesome projects so far, I sure have!!!

I LOVE all of the stamps included in this release so it was difficult to decide which to use for my project!!! I took Jen's "It's a Girl Thing" challenge in a little different direction. Because I no longer have my Wonderfule Mom or MUCH LOVED Grandmother to make gifts for, I decided to make something for MYSELF for Mother's Day!!! LOL!!! I know there has been some disappointment that Because of You is sold out and won't be available for purchase until after Mother's Day, do not despair, Because of You is appropriate for ALL occasions and is a VERY versatile set! Here, I'll prove it to you!!! LOL!!!

I really need to stick to stamping because flower arranging is definitely not my thing! For the vase, I made a box out of a 12x12 piece of pink Bazzill CS by scoring at 3 7/8" on all 4 sides. I used Sticky Strip to hold the box together. I then added Making Memories Vintage Hip ivory frames on all 4 sides. Here is a closer look at the "Because of You" sentiment ~

I stamped the the corner flower bouquet on Vanilla Bazzill CS using my Versamark and then heat embossing with Silver EP. I stamped it again as well as the single large and small flowers included in the set again using the Versamark and embossing with Silver EP on MME Bella Bella DP. I cut all the pink flowers out, added some pink Taylors Tiny Twinkles and adhered them using a combination of Tacky Tape and dimensionals. The sentiment was stamped on a piece of vellum paper and then again on the frame itself using Timber Brown Stazon. I stamped the smaller floral silhouette included in the set, using Pink Pirouette ink, directly on the box so it would show through under the vellum. I LOVE this sentiment and thought it was PERFECT for my Mother's Day present!!! LOL!!!

Here is a picture of another side ~

I did the same with the flower bouquet on this side as the previous side.

Here is another side which I used the hearts from Hearts on Fire ~

I stamped the large and small hearts using Versamark and heat embossed with the same Silver EP. The sentiment is from the Because of You set which I used my Close to Cocoa marker to ink it up since the sentiment is in a straight line and I needed it to fit inside the small heart. I then cut the hearts out and adhered them using Tacky Tape and dimensionals. I added some ribbon because there was an empty space!!! LOL!!!

Here is a picture of the final side ~

It actually looks better IRL!! LOL!!! The heart is from Hearts on Fire, the chipboard was sponged with Chocolate Chip ink and Vanilla ink and then heat embossed with pink and silver EP. The charms are from Making Memories.

Here is my last picture ~ I promise!!!! I just have to show you the darling glitter Prima butterfly!


We'd love for you to play along with this theme! Just make a project or card that fits your style and celebrates a woman in your life. It can be any woman ... mom, grandmother, daughter, sister, aunt, friend, teacher - you get the idea! Then add your project link to the Mr. Linky form IN THIS POST before 8PM Mountain on Thursday, May 14. Two random participants will be chosen and win $25 gift certificates to the Verve Store. Have fun and good luck!

Project Parade - Day 6: It's a Girl Thing!

Hey there Verve Fans!! It's Jen Tapler here with Day 6 of this month's Project Parade. The other Divas have been showing off some pretty amazing projects, huh?

When Jen d. challenged us with this month's "It's a Girl Thing" theme and I still had a Mother's Day Gift to make for my Mother-In-Law, I knew just what I wanted to do - this cute little keepsake photo block and matching card:

I had picked up a wooden block at my local craft store several months ago and hadn't used it yet, but it was begging to be painted and altered for this project!!! So I broke out some Chocolate acrylic paint and gave it a good once-over before covering each side with a piece of printed digi paper from the Hello Mutha, Hello Fatha kit by Libby Weifenbach & Christy Lyle (Sweet Shoppe Designs).

I used the Mother's Day Plain Jane combined with some of the flowers from Because of You on both the card and one side of the block. I added large and small Very Vanilla brads (SU) to the flower centers and popped them up on dimensionals for depth. I sponged the edges of the digi papers and printed the photos in a sepia tone to go with the "shabby" feel of the digi kit I used. And finally, I printed out the dates for each of the photos I used, punched them with my Word Window punch (SU), and attached with dimensionals. When it comes to gifts for my Mother-in-Law, I'm pretty much guaranteed a hit as long as it involves photos of my son Dean (her only grandchild)!!

We'd love for you to play along with this theme! Just make a project or card that fits your style and celebrates a woman in your life. It can be any woman ... mom, grandmother, daughter, sister, aunt, friend, teacher - you get the idea! Then add your project link to the Mr. Linky form IN THIS POST before 8PM Mountain on Thursday, May 14. Two random participants will be chosen and win $25 gift certificates to the Verve Store. Have fun and good luck!

Project Parade Day Five: It's A Girl Thing

Hi Verve friends, it's Amy here today with another "It's A Girl Thing" project. What a fun parade this month! I've loved all the wonderful ideas the Divas have shared so far! Have you started on your creation yet? You'll find details on how to participate at the end of this post.

I decided to make a bookmark for my mom highlighting one of the quotes from Because of You. My mom is an avid reader, and I love the thought that every time she picks up her book, she'll be reminded of the influence she's had in my life.

This was a super easy and quick project to make. First I die-cut the different shapes from Basic Grey Porcelain designer paper. I used the Mega Curved Rectangle Nestabilities for the base, and Labels 4 Nestabilities for the two nested horizontal pieces. Each piece is mounted onto the same shape cut from heavy card stock (for added durability), and then sponged around the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

Next I added the long ribbon tail. With this bookmark style, it's the ribbon that slips between the pages, and the stamped piece rests on the book's cover. A ribbon length of about 12-15" will fit most hardbound books. The sentiment is stamped in Stampin' Up Always Artichoke craft ink onto the smaller of the Labels 4 shapes, heat embossed with clear powder, and popped up on foam tape. Last, I sewed and tied on some of Papertrey's Sweet Blush vintage buttons using a natural-colored burlap string, including one button at the end of the ribbon.

We'd love for you to play along with this theme! Just make a project or card that fits your style and celebrates a woman in your life. It can be any woman ... mom, grandmother, daughter, sister, aunt, friend, teacher - you get the idea! Then add your project link to the Mr. Linky form IN THIS POST before 8PM Mountain on Thursday, May 14. Two random participants will be chosen and win $25 gift certificates to the Verve Store. Have fun and good luck!