April Diva Dare - Day 6

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Hi Verve fans, Andrea here!  Welcome to the April Diva Dare!

For those of you that are new to this challenge, here is how it works...following each release, we will post a theme that we dare you with, and you'll have two weeks to complete the challenge.  During those two weeks, the release team will post their creations and tell you how they answered the dare!

This month we dare you to make a card, project, layout, or whatever fits your stamping style using this month's theme - April Showers Bring May Flowers!  With the warmer weather, new growth, and all the fresh and beautiful blooms that abound, it is easy to be inspired by Spring!  How you interpret the dare is completely up to you!  To sweeten up the challenge, stay tuned to learn how you could win some brand new Verve!

I chose to answer the dare with a project. I was browsing through Good Housekeeping magazine and saw these adorable home-made lamp shades! Using some simple items from around the house and just a tad of creativeness, you can make these adorable accoutrements for your table. Take a look here:

This project was so incredibly easy to make, all I did was take a 12" X 12" sheet of white card stock and stamp the leaves and flowers from Verve's Bloom & Grow set in a random fashion. Then I printed out the template from this website here and cut out the shade shape. I border punched the bottom edge and decorated it with Liquid pearls. Lastly, I attached the ends with some Scor-tape (you do need a strong adhesive). I used a wine glass from my china cabinet and added a battery operated tea light. So simple AND easy!

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Want to know how you can win some fabulous new VERVE GOODIES?

1. Play along with us and link up your new April Showers Bring May Flowers creation (posted April 22nd or later) to the linky widget on the DAY ONE post before midnight MST on Saturday, May 7th. One lucky stamper will win a $30.00 gift certificate to the Verve Store. Verve Stamps are not required, but if you've got 'em we would  LOVE to see ‘em!
2. For another chance to win, be sure to give the Divas a little shout-out in the comments section as we share our April Showers Bring May Flowers creations. One lucky commenter will win the Verve stamp set of his or her choosing!  Winners will be announced on Monday, May 9th right here on the Verve blog.

Now it's YOUR turn!  We DARE you to show us your creations!

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April Verve Diva Dare ~ Day 5

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Good morning Verve fans!  It's Maureen and Day 5 of the April Diva Dare!  For those of you that are new to this challenge, here is how it works...following each release, we will post a theme that we dare you with, and you'll have two weeks to complete the challenge.  During those two weeks, the release team will post their creations and tell you how they answered the dare!

This month we dare you to make a card, project, layout, or whatever fits your stamping style using this month's theme - April Showers Bring May Flowers!  With the warmer weather, new growth, and all the fresh and beautiful blooms that abound, it is easy to be inspired by Spring!  How you interpret the dare is completely up to you!  To sweeten up the challenge, stay tuned to learn how you could win some brand new Verve!  Okay, here’s how I answered the DARE…

I have been having a ball lately making paper flowers with my stash of sheet music paper (from Janelle!).  So I cut out 4 layers of paper with the large and medium Floral Circle dies, scrunched and inked them up with a bit of tea dye ink and attached all the layers with some crystal brads.  For the leaves, I die cut some balsa wood with the Elegant Leaves die and stamped the matching image from Bloom and Grow in chocolate chip.  I found that green wasn’t bold enough to show up against this fabulous Basicgrey paper.  The Classy Label die with matching stamp image from Love Notes was the perfect shape and size to hold the Love Deepens sentiment.  Now, I just couldn’t stop at a card…remember these flower pots on Splitcoast Stampers?  LOL  I saw these 2 years ago and fell in love with the idea so I thought I’d revisit it!

I tried keeping the flowers relatively flat so that this could eventually be used as a book mark.  Again, I made the flowers using the Floral Circle dies and stamped the bookmark with 2 sentiments from Love Deepens.  This time, however, the Elegant Leaves are just die cut from cardstock….balsa wood is very fragile, especially after being flattened in the Cuttlebug so it wouldn’t last very long on a book mark (my little FYI to you! lol). 

Want to know how you can win some fabulous new VERVE GOODIES?

1. Play along with us and link up your new April Showers Bring May Flowers creation (posted April 22nd or later) to the linky widget on the DAY ONE post before midnight MST on Saturday, May 7th. One lucky stamper will win a $30.00 gift certificate to the Verve Store. Verve Stamps are not required, but if you've got 'em we would  LOVE to see ‘em!
2. For another chance to win, be sure to give the Divas a little shout-out in the comments section as we share our April Showers Bring May Flowers creations. One lucky commenter will win the Verve stamp set of his or her choosing!  Winners will be announced on Monday, May 9th right here on the Verve blog.

Now it's YOUR turn!  We DARE you to show us your creations!

April Diva Dare - Day 4

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Hi there!  It's Charmaine with Day 4 of this month's Diva Dare!

For those of you that are new to this challenge, here is how it works...following each release, we will post a theme that we dare you with, and you'll have two weeks to complete the challenge.  During those two weeks, the release team will post their creations and tell you how they answered the dare!

This month we dare you to make a card, project, layout, or whatever fits your stamping style using this month's theme - April Showers Bring May Flowers!  With the warmer weather, new growth, and all the fresh and beautiful blooms that abound, it is easy to be inspired by Spring!  How you interpret the dare is completely up to you!  To sweeten up the challenge, stay tuned to learn how you could win some brand new Verve!

Here is my answer to this month's dare.  When I think of Spring, I think fresh, clean and colorful.  All of the leafless trees and dull grass become alive with colorful buds that seem to sprout overnight.  The now muddy and wet yard suddenly has plush, dry grass.  I went with a white card base to signify the "clean", "fresh" Spring air.  I layered different colors for the flowers from Bloom & Grow and die cut them using the Floral Circles Die Set.  I added some glitter and rhinestones to make the flowers glisten.  The leaves were stamped and die cut using the Elegant Leaves Die.

I stamped the sentiment and then drew a frame with a ruler and black pen.  I matted the focal piece on black cardstock.  The card base is embossed with the Dots Embossing Folder by Darice. 

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Want to know how you can win some fabulous new VERVE GOODIES?

1. Play along with us and link up your new April Showers Bring May Flowers creation (posted April 22nd or later) to the linky widget on THIS POST before midnight MST on Saturday, May 7th. One lucky stamper will win a $30.00 gift certificate to the Verve Store. Verve Stamps are not required, but if you've got 'em we would  LOVE to see ‘em!
2. For another chance to win, be sure to give the Divas a little shout-out in the comments section as we share our April Showers Bring May Flowers creations. One lucky commenter will win the Verve stamp set of his or her choosing!  Winners will be announced on Monday, May 9th right here on the Verve blog.

Now it's YOUR turn!  We DARE you to show us your creations!

April Diva Dare-Day 3

Hi Verve fans!  It's Teresa here and I want to welcome you to Day 3 of the April Diva Dare!
For those of you that are new to this challenge, here is how it works...following each release, we will post a theme that we dare you with, and you'll have two weeks to complete the challenge.  During those two weeks, the release team will post their creations and tell you how they answered the dare!
This month we dare you to make a card, project, layout, or whatever fits your stamping style using this month's theme - April Showers Bring May Flowers!  With the warmer weather, new growth, and all the fresh and beautiful blooms that abound, it is easy to be inspired by Spring!  How you interpret the dare is completely up to you!  To sweeten up the challenge, stay tuned to learn how you could win some brand new Verve!

For my turn at the dare, I knew I wanted to use the flowers from Hope Blooms.  I luv layering these and making them shabby.  I stamped them onto Stella Rose designer paper by My Mind's Eye and then randomly cut part the way down the blooms.  Then I took my stylus and curled the edges. I kept the rest of my card super simple, because I wanted the flowers to pop in the gorgeous red!  I added a little stitching, distressing, and bakers twine.  The Hope Blooms set is full of wonderful sentiments, the "life is good" is also from that set.  I cannot wait to see what you create, have a wonderful day...enjoy!

Want to know how you can win some fabulous new VERVE GOODIES?

1. Play along with us and link up your new April Showers Bring May Flowers creation (posted April 22nd or later) to the linky widget below before midnight MST on Saturday, May 7th. One lucky stamper will win a $30.00 gift certificate to the Verve Store. Verve Stamps are not required, but if you've got 'em we would  LOVE to see ‘em!
2. For another chance to win, be sure to give the Divas a little shout-out in the comments section as we share our April Showers Bring May Flowers creations. One lucky commenter will win the Verve stamp set of his or her choosing!  Winners will be announced on Monday, May 9th right here on the Verve blog.

Now it's YOUR turn!  We DARE you to show us your creations!

 

April Diva Dare ~ Day 2

Hi Verve fans!  It's Jackie here and I want to welcome you to Day 2 of the April Diva Dare!

For those of you that are new to this challenge, here is how it works...following each release, we will post a theme that we dare you with, and you'll have two weeks to complete the challenge.  During those two weeks, the release team will post their creations and tell you how they answered the dare!

This month we dare you to make a card, project, layout, or whatever fits your stamping style using this month's theme - April Showers Bring May Flowers!  With the warmer weather, new growth, and all the fresh and beautiful blooms that abound, it is easy to be inspired by Spring!  How you interpret the dare is completely up to you!  To sweeten up the challenge, stay tuned to learn how you could win some brand new Verve!

This is how I answered this month's dare!  I took the flowers part of the dare serious!  LOL!  I used the new set, Bloom andGrow and paired it with some fun Jillibean Soup Blossom Soup papers.  The flowers were stamped in Cherry Cobbler and Peach Parfait inks and were cut out with the new A Cut Above Floral Circle Dies.  The leaves were stamped in Old Olive and were cut out with the A Cut Above Elegant Leaves Die.  The sentiment was stamped in Cherry Cobbler Ink and was cut out with Oval Nestabilities.  Some adhesive pearls and a couple rounded corners finish the card!

Want to know how you can win some fabulous new VERVE GOODIES?

1. Play along with us and link up your new April Showers Bring May Flowers creation (posted April 22nd or later) to the linky widget below before midnight MST on Saturday, May 7th. One lucky stamper will win a $30.00 gift certificate to the Verve Store. Verve Stamps are not required, but if you've got 'em we would  LOVE to see ‘em!
2. For another chance to win, be sure to give the Divas a little shout-out in the comments section as we share our April Showers Bring May Flowers creations. One lucky commenter will win the Verve stamp set of his or her choosing!  Winners will be announced on Monday, May 9th right here on the Verve blog.

Now it's YOUR turn!  We DARE you to show us your creations!

April Diva Dare - Day 1

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Hi Verve fans!  Welcome to the April Diva Dare!

For those of you that are new to this challenge, here is how it works...following each release, we will post a theme that we dare you with, and you'll have two weeks to complete the challenge.  During those two weeks, the release team will post their creations and tell you how they answered the dare!

This month we dare you to make a card, project, layout, or whatever fits your stamping style using this month's theme - April Showers Bring May Flowers!  With the warmer weather, new growth, and all the fresh and beautiful blooms that abound, it is easy to be inspired by Spring!  How you interpret the dare is completely up to you!  To sweeten up the challenge, stay tuned to learn how you could win some brand new Verve!

This is how I answered the dare!  No, your eyes are not playing tricks on you.  I actually made a clean and simple card!  :-)  I adore this flower (from the newly released Hope Blooms set) so much and wanted to give it center stage on my card.

I started with a small 4 x 4 square card base.  I then stamped the sentiment Enjoy Life (also from the Hope Blooms set) four times and then connected them with a thin black marker.  The flower is colored with Copics and then glitterfied (teeheehee)!  To finish it off, I added a button and some string!

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Want to know how you can win some fabulous new VERVE GOODIES?

1. Play along with us and link up your new April Showers Bring May Flowers creation (posted April 22nd or later) to the linky widget below before midnight MST on Sunday, May 8th. One lucky stamper will win a $30.00 gift certificate to the Verve Store. Verve Stamps are not required, but if you've got 'em we would  LOVE to see ‘em!
2. For another chance to win, be sure to give the Divas a little shout-out in the comments section as we share our April Showers Bring May Flowers creations. One lucky commenter will win the Verve stamp set of his or her choosing!  Winners will be announced on Monday, May 9th right here on the Verve blog.

Now it's YOUR turn!  We DARE you to show us your creations!

April After Party!

Welcome to the April After Party!  The Monday after each release, we will share all the latest sale info and some of our favorite Diva creations using the newly released stamps! 

Spring has sprung here at Verve!  The April release is bursting with beautiful blossoms, elegant leaves, and sentiments galore!  Right now through the end of April, you can save 15% when you purchase the April 2011 Stamp Collection!

And now, prepare yourselves for eye-popping inspiration as we share our favorite projects made with the newly released stamps and dies...

Created by Amber Hight, using Proverbs 16:9 Plain Jane, Swirling Hearts, and the Charming Oval die.

Created by Amy Sheffer, using Happy Phrases and the Charming Oval Die set.

Created by Andrea Ewen, using Proverbs 16:9 Plain Jane, Bloom & Grow, Elegant Leaves Die, Floral Circles Die set, & the Classy Label Die.

Created by Charmaine Ikach, using Happy Phrases and the Charming Banner Die set.

Created by Jackie Pedro, using Bloom & Grow, Love Deepens, Elegant Leaves Die, & the Floral Circles Die set.

Created by Julee Tilman, using Bloom & Grow and the Elegant Leaves Die.

Created by Laurie Schmidlin, using Bloom & Grow, Elegant Leaves Die, and the Floral Circles Die set.

Created by Maureen Plut, using Hope Blooms and the Floral Circles Die set.

Created by Sankari Wegman, using Boom & Grow, Elegant Leaves Die, and the Jotted Heart Die.

Created by Teresa Kline, using Hope Blooms.

Created by Tosha Leyendekker, using Love Deepens and the Floral Circles Die set.

We sure hope you have enjoyed seeing some of our favorites!  We would love to hear what were some of your favorite products from this release! 

Want a chance to win some shiny new Verve?  Participants that enter all of the April Viva la Verve Challenges will be entered to win the ENTIRE next release! 

New Stamps and Dies

Hey Verve fans! Weren't the hops this week just fabulous? Those Divas sure know how to party and we had a blast sharing our creations last night! If you missed the release party, the Spotlight Hop winners and full set reveals are posted in this thread on our forum.  Otherwise, here's a recap with shopping links for what just released!  Hooray for new Verve!

We've just released 7 new sets, 2 plain janes and 2 new dies! Now through April 30, buy the April 2011 Stamp Collection and save15%!

Bloom & Grow Love Deepens Hope Blooms Bunny Shake Birthday Phrases Faithful Phrases Happy Phrases Proverbs 16:9 And we've released new dies, too!!! (Dies not included in April Stamp Collection) Proverbs 31:28 Elegant Leaves Die Floral Circles Die Set

April Spotlight Hops - Day 4

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Hi Verve fans! Are you ready for more Verve?  It’s the final day of our April Spotlight Hops leading up to our new release TONIGHT {4/15}!  Come join the fun tonight in our SCS forum as we countdown to the new release from 9-11PM Eastern!

Okay, now that the invites are out of the way, let's get on with the hopping!!!  Today the Divas are shining their spotlights on Hope Blooms (a new $18 set) and the new Proverbs 16:9 Plain Jane.

Once again there's a PRIZE to be won, so let's hop to it!  {grin}  Leave a little shout-out in the comments at each stop for a chance to win today's featured stamps and dies!  Deadline for commenting is 6PM Mountain on Friday, April 15 {that's TONIGHT, tonight, TONIGHT!}. Winners will be announced during our Release Party .

1. Julee 8. Jackie 2. Tosh 9. Charmaine 3. Amber 10. Janelle 4. Amy 11. Teresa 5. Maureen 12. Laurie 6. Cresta 13. Sankari 7. Andrea 14. Melissa TODAY'S PRIZE: Hope Blooms, Proverbs 16:9 Plain Jane and Floral Circles Die Set

Want to know more about today's featured stamps?  Read on...
Hope Blooms is an all-occasion set of 13 clear stamps. With three fabulous blooms and 10 mixed font sentiments, the name of the game is versatility.  Congratulations, encouragement, birthday, baby, miss you, feel better... we've got it covered, all in the beautiful font combinations you've come to expect from a Verve set!

With three sizes of blooms, the flowers in this set make stunning focal images, but also are fabulous for background building.  Use the set alone, or pair it with our new Elegant Leaves and Floral Circles dies.

When used in combination with the Floral Circles dies, pairing the three sizes straight across (large to large, etc.) will result in the outer edges of the flowers being cut off, giving a really fun natural look. Or, if you'd like a border around your flower, you can pair the blooms with the dies as shown in the photo.  Either way, this set is a whole lot of blooming fun!

And last but not least, we have our final sneak preview, the Proverbs 16:9 Plain Jane.  One of my favorite verses, I envision it for encouragement cards as well as a perfect verse for Father's Day, masculine birthdays, new jobs and graduations.


Thanks so much for hopping along with us this week!  We've had such a blast sharing our new creations with you and we hope to "see" you tonight at the party!


Happy hopping!

April Spotlight Hops - Day 3

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Hi Verve fans! It’s the third day of our April Spotlight Hops leading up to our new release this Friday night!  Today the Divas are shining their spotlights on Love Deepens (a new $24 set) and the new Proverbs 31:28 Plain Jane.

Today's hop is on and there's a PRIZE to be won!  So hop along with us and leave a little shout-out in the comments at each stop for a chance to win! One lucky commenter on one of today's hop spots will win today's featured stamps and dies!  Deadline for commenting is 6PM Mountain on Friday, April 15. Winners will be announced during our Release Party this Friday night {4/15} from 9-11pm Eastern.

	1. Tosh 8. Janelle 2. Teresa 9. Jackie 3. Maureen 10. Charmaine 4. Laurie 11. Andrea 5. Julee 12. Amber 6. Cresta 13. Melissa 7. Sankari 14. Amy
TODAY'S PRIZE: Love Deepens, Proverbs 31:28 Plain Jane and Elegant Leaves Die

Want to know more about today's featured set?  Read on...
Love Deepens is a set of 26 stamps centered around the women in our lives. A sentiment set extraordinaire, this set has just about all the girls covered... moms, mums, nanas, grandmas, in-laws, nieces, daughters, cousins, sisters and friends, just to name a few! And with heartfelt sentiments that you can personalize for Mother's Day, birthdays and just because, you'll be reaching for this set throughout the year.

And to continue our celebration of women, today's plain jane, Proverbs 31:28 is the perfect verse for moms.  Hop along with us to see what the Divas have created with these fabulous new stamps!

April Spotlight Hops - Day 2

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Hi Verve fans! It’s the second day of our April Spotlight Hops leading up to our new release this Friday night!  Today the Divas are shining their spotlights on Bloom & Grow (a new $24 set) and two coordinating A Cut Above Dies, Elegant Leaves and the Floral Circles Die Set.

So the hop is on and there's a big PRIZE today!  So hop along with us and leave a little shout-out in the comments at each stop for a chance to win! One lucky commenter on one of today's hop spots will win today's featured sets and dies!  Deadline for commenting is 6PM Mountain on Friday, April 15. Winners will be announced during our Release Party this Friday night {4/15} from 9-11pm Eastern.

	1. Amber 8. Julee 2. Amy 9. Laurie 3. Andrea 10. Maureen 4. Charmaine 11. Teresa 5. Cresta 12. Tosh 6. Jackie 13. Sankari 7. Janelle 14. Melissa
TODAY'S PRIZE: Bloom & Grow, Elegant Leaves Die and Floral Circles Die Set

Want to know more about today's featured set and dies?  Read on...

Bloom & Grow is a set of 20 flower-themed stamps.  With flowers of several different sizes, there's lots of fun to be had with this set.  You can use the images as flower centers with your favorite dies m including our new coordinating Floral Circles Dies. Or you can layer them together for 2-step stamping fun.  With four classy sentiments and a bit of greenery, beautiful cards are only an ink pad away!  And did I mention that the largest leaf stamp in this set coordinates with the new Elegant Leaves Die for an easy way to add some dimension and greenery?

But the best thing is the dies can be used on their own, too!  Here's a little size reference for the Floral Circle Die Set.  The dies are a solid shape (the blue circles are shown just for illustration) and layer together beautifully.  I've shown here what they would look like layered with circle punches, making them perfect little friends for sets like Happy Hello, Thankful Hearts and Circular Sayings. 
 

I used both the Elegant Leaves and the Floral Circles Dies on my hop card yesterday.  No stamping here (except for the background stamping I did on the paper before cutting), just plain old fashioned die-cut fun!  Here's a little close-up...