September Diva Dare ~ Final Day!

Hi everyone!  It's Jackie here and thanks to a major mix up on my part I am bringing you the final day of the September Diva Dare!  You see, I confused my post day and completely missed it so I am the cabooose on the September Diva Dare train!

This month, we've come up with a fun challenge, we DARE you to Case-a-Diva!  With nineteen Divas (see the photos and links on the right sidebar), the inspiration is vast!  For those of you that are wondering...CASE means to copy and share everything.  And that is just fancy talk for copying!  What you copy is up to you!  It can be a layout, color scheme, or even something more subtle like a certain embellishment cluster!    

You will find the links to all the Diva's blogs on the right sidebar, or you can visit their individual Verve galleries!


I had the PLEASURE of CASEing my friend, Charmie, or Charmaine to all of you!  Charmaine has such a fun style, always using fun colors and layouts!  It was a toughie trying to choose a card, but I finally settled on this card.  I just loved the layout and all the pink she used!  Hope I did Charmie proud!

So I followed the sketch almost exactly!  LOVE how Charmaine overlapped two of the Tagged Rectangles!  I kept my overall color pink, but added in some of my fave Chocolate Brown.  I also changed up the image, using my favorite flower and sentiment from Sunny Days.  I stamped the flower twice, cutting out a portion of the second and popping it up for dimension.  An ivory linen thread tied button tops the flower.  I used some chocolate crinkled seam binding for my bow.  Some machine stitching and some scallops finish the card!

Well, that's all from me today!  I hope I've inspired you to play along!  There's still time!

Here are the details:

1. Play along with us and link up your new Case-a-Diva creation (posted September 16 or later) to the linky widget below before 9pm Mountain on Sunday,October 2nd. 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 Case-a-Diva creations. One lucky commenter will win the Verve stamp set of his or her choosing! Winners will be announced on Monday,October 3rd right here on the Verve blog.

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

You can post your card here.

September Diva Dare ~ Day 10

Hi!  It's Charmaine with Day 10 of the September Diva Dare!  This month, we DARE you to Case-a-Diva!  With nineteen Divas (see the photos and links on the right sidebar), the inspiration is vast! For those of you who don't know...CASE means to copy and share everything. And that is just fancy talk for copying! What you copy is up to you! It can be a layout, color scheme, or even something more subtle like a certain embellishment cluster!

You will find the links to all the Diva's blogs on the right sidebar, or you can visit their individual Verve galleries!

Stay tuned for info on how you could win some brand new Verve goodies!

I had the absolute pleasure (not without intimidation) to CASE the extremely talented Amy!  Ummm. . .have you spent any time in her gallery?   If you have, you know that there is TONS of inspiration!  I had a very difficult time choosing a card to CASE, but I finally settled on this one.  I absolutely LOVED the colors and the layout was really cool, and the embellishing. . .well, it was just SO Amy! :)  She always embellishes in ways I never think of.  When I think of Amy, I think of pearls, lace, layers, unique embellishments and fabulous layouts.  Lace didn't make it onto my card, but hopefully I've "done Amy proud" with my creation.  ;) 

I loved how she used the swirl from the Happy Days set, so I kept that!  :)  For the sentiment and the "butterfly", I used the Fancy Florals Remixed set.  I dug WAY back into my Verve stash for that set.  I love it, but it hasn't seen ink in a long time!  The papers are from the Life of the Party Collection from My Mind's Eye.  I started by diecutting the card base with my Scallop Square Grand Nestabilities.  The sentiment circle was die cut using the Plain Circle Nestabilities.  In creating the "butterfly", I wanted to embellish in a "unique" way following in Amy's footsteps, so I created a flight trail and antennae for the butterfly using button twine.  For the flight trail, I curled the button twine using some stickles and wrapping the twine around a paint brush handle until it dried.  Of course, I couldn't create an "Amy card" without using pearls!

I hope to see you playing along!  There's still time!

1. Play along with us and link up your new Case-a-Diva creation (posted September 16 or later) to the linky widget below before 9pm Mountain on Sunday,October 2nd. 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 Case-a-Diva creations. One lucky commenter will win the Verve stamp set of his or her choosing! Winners will be announced on Monday,October 3rd right here on the Verve blog.

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

You can post your card here.

September Diva Dare ~ Day 9

Happy Wednesday, Verve fans! It's Amy here today, checking in with Day 9 of our September Diva Dare! This month, we've come up with a fun challenge, we DARE you to Case-a-Diva!  With nineteen Divas (see the photos and links on the right sidebar), the inspiration is vast!  For those of you that are wondering...CASE means to copy and share everything.  And that is just fancy talk for copying!  What you copy is up to you!  It can be a layout, color scheme, or even something more subtle like a certain embellishment cluster!   

You will find the links to all the Diva's blogs on the right sidebar, or you can visit their individual Verve galleries!

I am honored to be CASEing the amazing Tosha! Her style is elegant and gracious and always filled with expert details. And she can seriously do it ALL! Multi-layered and dimensional, clean and simple, heavily distressed, crisp and clean all-white, 3D/altered -- it's all there! 

Some things that jump out most when looking through her gallery: distressing, vintage elegance, sheer beauty, layers, and lots of embellishing (we're kindred spirits there!). She's a genius with stamps and dies, using them in surprising and uber-creative ways that leave me scratching my head wondering why I didn't think of that.


Here's what I came up with ...  

... based on this recent beauty in Tosh's gallery. I used Tosh's overall layout and combination of elements, changing the colors and theme to Christmas. Tosh is a big fan of My Mind's Eye papers, so I stuck with MME, just a different line than the one she used. I love Tosh's punched border along the bottom and was tickled to have the same Martha Stewart punch in my aresenal. 

For the focal point, I started with a Rounded Scallop Frame that I die-cut from one of the rich burgundy patterns in My Mind's Eye's Lost & Found Christmas collection. On top of that is a Curvy Bookplate diecut that I stamped with the matching frame in Tag Time and a sentiment from Merry Wishes. As a CASE of Tosh's out-of-the-box thinking, I used the larger of Verve's Leafy Sprigs dies, the corresponding leafy sprig image from Sunny Days, and some white pearls to creative a mistletoe accent for the tag cluster (at least I hope it looks like mistletoe!):

That's it for me today! I can't wait to catching up on all of your gorgeous challenge entries so far! If you haven't played along yet, there's still plenty of time!

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

1. Play along with us and link up your new Case-a-Diva creation (posted September 16 or later) to the linky widget on the DAY ONE post before 9pm Mountain on Sunday,October 2nd. 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 Case-a-Diva  creations. One lucky commenter will win the Verve stamp set of his or her choosing!  Winners will be announced on Monday,October 3rd right here on the Verve blog.

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

Have a fabulous day!!

September Diva Dare ~ Day 8!

Hi everyone!! Maureen here to give you Day 8 of the September Diva Dare!  This month, we've come up with a fun challenge, we DARE you to Case-a-Diva!  With nineteen Divas (see the photos and links on the right sidebar), the inspiration is vast!  For those of you that are wondering...CASE means to copy and share everything.  And that is just fancy talk for copying!  What you copy is up to you!  It can be a layout, color scheme, or even something more subtle like a certain embellishment cluster!   


You will find the links to all the Diva's blogs on the right sidebar, or you can visit their individual Verve galleries!

I LOVED this challenge as soon as I heard about it, I thought, “EEK!!!  How will I ever choose?”  Lucky for us Divas, Andrea came up with the fabulous “draw a Diva” idea.  Phew!!  It didn’t matter who I got as I LOVE all the Divas and their work and would be honoured to CASE any one of them!!  My draw?  The super sweet and ultra talented Diva Teresa Kline!!  Oh, my!!  Love her!  No, seriously, L-O-V-E her!!  So off to her Verve Gallery I went to TRY and NARROW down one card I could CASE and do her proud.  And like me, I had to pick 3 projects ( HERE 1, HERE 2, HERE 3) lol.   BUT, I put them into one card here :)  So, this is what I know about Teresa’s style…gorgeous, muted papers, LOADS of distressing, fun stitching, lace, seam binding and lots of elegant details.  Yes, DETAILS, DETAILS, DETAILS.  I think I’ve done that using the You and I and Love Notes sets along with the Jotted Heart and I {heart} U dies.

I love adding a little bookmark as a little added bonus in an envelope.  Here it is using a fabulous quote from Words of Wisdom on the Sweet Scallop Tag die.

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

1. Play along with us and link up your new Case-a-Diva creation (posted September 16 or later) to the linky widget on the DAY ONE post before 9pm Mountain on Sunday,October 2nd. 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 Case-a-Diva  creations. One lucky commenter will win the Verve stamp set of his or her choosing!  Winners will be announced on Monday,October 3rd right here on the Verve blog.

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

Have a fabulous day!!

September Diva Dare-Day 6

Good morning Verve fans it is Teresa, welcome to day 5 of this month's Diva Dare. This month, we DARE you to Case-a-Diva! With nineteen Divas (see the photos and links on the right sidebar), the inspiration is vast! For those of you that are wondering...CASE means to copy and share everything. And that is just fancy talk for copying! What you copy is up to you! It can be a layout, color scheme, or even something more subtle like a certain embellishment cluster!

You will find the links to all the Diva's blogs on the right sidebar, or you can visit their individual Verve galleries!

I am thrilled to be casing the one and only Sankari, her style is amazing and set apart....you can view her amazing gallery here.  I knew I wanted to use liquid pearls on my card and was drawn to this stunning card here.  I luv the yellow and kept that in my card.  Sankari also uses lots of hearts, I am a fan of hearts too....I knew I wanted to keep that element as well.  I made my paper pleats at the bottom where she has the banners. I wanted to use lots of liquid pearl dots to honor Sankari, it is her signature style.  I used the verve sentiment from the set Great Friend, the heart is the Jotted Heart Die....luv!  I luv the way my card turned out, I sure hope Sankari likes it!  This was a super fun challenge I hope you will join us and Case-a-Diva this month too.  It is definitely worth playing for, Verve goodness is the prize.

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

1. Play along with us and link up your new Case-a-Diva creation (posted September 16 or later) to the linky widget below before 9pm Mountain on Sunday,October 2nd. 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 Case-a-Diva creations. One lucky commenter will win the Verve stamp set of his or her choosing! Winners will be announced on Monday,October 3rd right here on the Verve blog.

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

You can post your card here.
 

September Diva Dare - Day 5

Hi Everyone! It's Sankari here and welcome to day 5 of this month's Diva Dare. This month, we DARE you to Case-a-Diva! With nineteen Divas (see the photos and links on the right sidebar), the inspiration is vast! For those of you that are wondering...CASE means to copy and share everything. And that is just fancy talk for copying!  What you copy is up to you! It can be a layout, color scheme, or even something more subtle like a certain embellishment cluster!

You will find the links to all the Diva's blogs on the right sidebar, or you can visit their individual Verve galleries!

I was so excited to CASE Ms. Andrea and try to channel her Ewen Style - holy smokes - can I just say that all I have been doing is drooling over her cards and trying to figure which one I could possibly CASE - wowza - each card is so beautiful and lovely - it was hard to pick just one! Andrea has such an amazing way of creating dimension, depth and texture and creating beauty with everything she touches! This card that I made was CASED from THIS beauty that Andrea made - and wow - what a great layout and love the colors and the ribbon in her card! I tried my best to make Andrea proud in making my card and tried to do justice to her gorgeous creation.  I used the This and That paper collection from LilyBee Designs and tried to get my Ewen Style on :) and used the sweet and inspiring sentiment that I paired together from the Tag Time stamp set. 

Card Ingredients:

Stamps: Tag Time from Verve Stamps

Paper: LilyBee Designs (This and That 6x6 paper pad), Bazzil cardstocks

Inks: Memento Ladybug Red and Rich Cocoa

Accessories: Martha Stewart border punch, Spellbinder's circle punch and lacy nesties, butterfly punch from Martha Stewart, Pearls from Want2Scrap, BoBunny ribbon center treatment, May Arts silk ribbon, heart pins, MME ribbon, liqud pearls and dimensionals. 

I love the side curvy bracket shape that Andrea used and not having that die, I tried to draw out the squiggley shape and cut it out. I added two little butterflies on either side with a little pearl in the center and had to add a scallopy edge to the tops and bottom of the card in tribute to Andrea's amazing way of working with punches - that girl has such a way with punches I tell ya! And I couldn't stop until I had added a couple of lines of liquid pearls around the edges of the card ;) 

This was such a fun challenge and I look forward everyday to see how everyone is CASing each other! And you can play along too and Case-A-Diva and score some yummy new Verve!

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

1. Play along with us and link up your new Case-a-Diva creation (posted September 16 or later) to the linky widget below before 9pm Mountain on Sunday,October 2nd. 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 Case-a-Diva creations. One lucky commenter will win the Verve stamp set of his or her choosing! Winners will be announced on Monday,October 3rd right here on the Verve blog.

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

September Diva Dare - Day Four

Welcome to day 4 of this month's Diva Dare. This month, we DARE you to Case-a-Diva! With nineteen Divas (see the photos and links on the right sidebar), the inspiration is vast! For those of you that are wondering...CASE means to copy and share everything. And that is just fancy talk for copying! What you copy is up to you! It can be a layout, color scheme, or even something more subtle like a certain embellishment cluster!

You will find the links to all the Diva's blogs on the right sidebar, or you can visit their individual Verve galleries!

I have the distinct honor of CASEing Jackie. What fun to be "Jackie" for awhile. Channeling her diva skills, using her sketch...and ideas....*grin*. Pure stamping fun!!

Now comes the really hard part. Choosing one of Jackie's stunning cards. No easy task, let me tell you. I finally settled on THIS ONE, because I liked the layout and shapes she used. I don't normally think vertical like her sketch suggests, so it was fun to work with. She also has a fabulous way of working with colors and patterns. I loved the horizontal striped panel in the back.

Here's what I came up with.

I used the same set, Sunny Days, for the flowers and leaves, and added a sentiment from the set Making a Statement. I changed my shapes up a bit, and added some Webster's Pages flocked netting behind the main panel. I also changed my color palette.

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

1. Play along with us and link up your new Case-a-Diva creation (posted September 16 or later) to the linky widget below before 9pm Mountain on Sunday,October 2nd. 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 Case-a-Diva creations. One lucky commenter will win the Verve stamp set of his or her choosing! Winners will be announced on Monday,October 3rd right here on the Verve blog.

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

September Diva Dare - Day Three!

Hello and welcome to September's Diva Dare!  This month, we've come up with a fun challenge, we DARE you to Case-a-Diva!  With nineteen Divas (see the photos and links on the right sidebar), the inspiration is vast!  For those of you that are wondering...CASE means to copy and share everything.  And that is just fancy talk for copying!  What you copy is up to you!  It can be a layout, color scheme, or even something more subtle like a certain embellishment cluster!   


You will find the links to all the Diva's blogs on the right sidebar, or you can visit their individual Verve galleries!


So, Andrea had the task of matching all of us Diva's up to the talented girl we'd be case'ing. No matter who we got paired up with was going to be a challenge because every single one of these Diva's is full of talent. I happened to get Laurie! OMG, right? Nothing like a little pressure to get your mojo going, haha! I always love her elegant, distressed, shabby style. I was MUCHO intimidated, but as I started going through Laurie's gallery, I was also MUCHO inspired:) After alot of "hmmmm'ing" and "haw'ing" I decided on THIS beauty! I loved the diagonal panel and wanted to see what I could do with it!

I knew I had to have distressing, inked edges, and fabulous sewing to even come CLOSE to making Laurie proud! The sentiment is from "Making a Statement" and the leaves are from "Sunny Days" and cut out with the "Leafy Springs Die Set".  The heart behind the sentiment is cut out using the Jotted Heart die. The diagonal panel is paper from MME's Lost and Found Two line. I also used some fabulous SU! ribbon and a Recollections rose! 

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

1. Play along with us and link up your new Case-a-Diva creation (posted September 16 or later) to the linky widget on the DAY ONE post before 9pm Mountain on Sunday,October 2nd. 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 Case-a-Diva  creations. One lucky commenter will win the Verve stamp set of his or her choosing!  Winners will be announced on Monday,October 3rd right here on the Verve blog.

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

September Diva Dare - Day 2

Hello and welcome to September's Diva Dare!  This month, we've come up with a fun challenge, we DARE you to Case-a-Diva!  With nineteen Divas (see the photos and links on the right sidebar), the inspiration is vast!  For those of you that are wondering...CASE means to copy and share everything.  And that is just fancy talk for copying!  What you copy is up to you!  It can be a layout, color scheme, or even something more subtle like a certain embellishment cluster!  

You will find the links to all the Diva's blogs on the right sidebar, or you can visit their individual Verve galleries!

I have to tell you that it was so hard to narrow down my choice of a Diva (I ended up putting everyone's name in a hat and drawing one out).  I'm CASEing the ultra talented, ultra lovely Amber Hight! Her gallery and blog are so chock full of inspiration and pure gorgeousness, it literally took me all day to find a card that I thought would make her proud. So here is how I answered the dare...

This is a card I made based on this lovely here by Amber.  I used one of my all time favorite stamps from One Person, one that is just beautiful in both words and style. I'm pretty sure I say that about all Verve Stamps but I do have favorites of my favorites :) I lightly sponged the sentiment panel and just changed up the design a bit, making the ribbon accent a flower and moving it to the bottom of the card.

I have to tell you that I REALLY loved CASEing Amber, she rocks so many different styles of card making! Her coloring is phenomenal, the accents she uses are gorgeous, and the pretty papers, Oh, MY!...I couldn't stop at just one so I picked another card, this one, to CASE. Here's my take on her beauty of a card:

On this card, I kept the design pretty much the same, although I used different stamps, these being from Verve's newly released You & I set. The versatility of this set is incredible, you could mix and match words to create endless possibilities of sentiments. I sponged the center of the focal panel and also added some liquid pearls. (I guess I sprinkled a bit of Sankari on here, too...I told you it was hard to narrow it down to one Diva!) The little black heart to the left was made with Verve's A Cut Above dies, this one from the I Heart U set.

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

1. Play along with us and link up your new Case-a-Diva creation (posted September 16 or later) to the linky widget below before 9pm Mountain on Sunday,October 2nd. 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 Case-a-Diva  creations. One lucky commenter will win the Verve stamp set of his or her choosing!  Winners will be announced on Monday,October 3rd right here on the Verve blog.

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

September Diva Dare - Day 1

Hi Verve fans!  Those of you that follow the Diva Dare Challenges (held right here on the Verve Stamps blog) are probably scratching your heads wondering why we are having another Diva Dare Challenge without first having a release!  Normally, the Diva Dare does follow a release but we are breaking with tradition this month...completely throwing caution to the wind...and getting inky with our favorite Verve stamps regardless of protocol!  This month, we are sharing projects made with any previously released Verve stamp set...all while following this month's theme!

What is that theme?  I'm so glad you asked!  :-)  This month, we DARE you to Case-a-Diva!  No, not quesadilla (teeheee!), Case-a-Diva!  With nineteen Divas (see the photos and links on the right sidebar), the inspiration is vast!  For those of you that are wondering...CASE means to copy and share everything.  And that is just fancy talk for copying!  What you copy is up to you!  It can be a layout, color scheme, or even something more subtle like a certain embellishment cluster!  

You will find the links to all the Diva's blogs on the right sidebar, or you can visit their individual Verve galleries!

Stay tuned for info on how you could win some brand new Verve goodies!

This is how I answered the Dare...

I CASE'd the fabulous Maureen!  What a joy it was spending time in her gallery!  That girl can put colors together I tell ya!  Wooowie!  And the fabby sketches she comes up with, wow!  Oh, have you seen all the uber cool colored thread she uses on many of her projects??  I literally wrote fun colored thread on my shopping list...just because of her!  :-)

The card I chose to CASE is this gorgeous round beauty!  I absolutely adore her layout...so I kept that completely the same!  Well, except for the little tag...but that was just because I ran out of room on my circle!  Teehehee!  I used the Bountiful Harvest set (which happens to be 25% off right now!!) to make a Fall/Halloween themed card! 

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

1. Play along with us and link up your new Case-a-Diva creation (posted September 16 or later) to the linky widget below before 9pm Mountain on Sunday,October 2nd. 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 Case-a-Diva  creations. One lucky commenter will win the Verve stamp set of his or her choosing!  Winners will be announced on Monday,October 3rd right here on the Verve blog.

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

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Diva Inspiration Hop WINNER & September Get Your Diva On!

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Hi Verve fans!  It's Julee here, popping in to announce the winner from our September Diva Inspirations Hop!

Tess wins a $30 Gift Certificate to Verve!

Congrats Tess! Email us at contests@vervestamps.com to claim your prize.

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Have you had your heart set on being a Guest Diva for Verve?  Well, now's your chance.  Our monthly Get Your Diva On challenge is under way!  Play along for your chance to be a Guest Diva for one of our future releases.  It's a whole lot of fun working with the Verve Divas behind the scenes and all you have to do to be eligible is submit an entry with this month's theme, Pick a color, any color... and go monochromatic! It could be a one color - color scheme, or a bunch of neutrals, or a mixing of similar shades of color... you decide! The deadline is Sunday, September 18, so it's time to get your stamp on if you're planning to enter.  You can find all the details over in the GYDO challenge thread on our forum.  And to get your creative wheels a'turning, here are a few inspirations from our design team:

Click the photos above to view these cards in their natural habitat. {grin}

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That's all folks!  Stay tuned this Friday, September 16 for the beginning of our September Diva Dare series!

Diva Dare WINNERS

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Hi Verve fans!  It's Julee here, popping in to announce the winners from our Sending Some Sunshine Diva Dare! I just loved checking out out all of your heartfelt creations. Thanks to everyone who played along! And now, here are your winners...

Steph wins a $30 gift certificate to Verve!

Dori wins a Verve set of her choosing!

Congrats Steph and Dori! Email us at contests@vervestamps.com to claim your prize.

There's still a little time to leave your comments for our September Diva Inspirations Hop. The comment deadline is tonight. I'll be popping in tomorrow with the winner announcement.

August Diva Dare ~ Day 10

Hello there! TGIF, right? Amber here with Day 10 of the August Diva Dare! For those of you who 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, our theme is Sending Some Sunshine! Isn't that fun? This dare is totally open to any interpretations you might have, so jump right in and play with us!

I have a friend I've been missing a whole lot lately, and I thought it would be fun to send her a card to let her know!

There were SO many amazing stamps and dies released this past month, so I knew it was a bit of a chore deciding which ones I wanted to use. I decided on You and I and it's companion die set, I Heart YOu. All of the stamps on this card are from You and I, plus the matching dies, in addition to the Jotted Heart die and the smallest banner from the Charming Banner die set...

I clear embossed the "i" and "u" and used the heart for the dot instead of the regular dot...make sense? LOL! I tied a bit of twine around the "i" for some added interest.

Here you can see that I stamped "you" on the Charming Banner die and slid it into the opening on the "u"! I love how easy these dies make a card! Seriously, this card took me less than 20 minutes. I love that! The paper is from BG's new line, Indie Bloom! I love the bright *sunny* colors and patterns in this pad:)

1. Play along with us and link up your new Sending Some Sunshine creation (posted August 26 or later) to the linky widget at the bottom of THE DAY 1 POST before 9PM Mountain on Sunday, September 11. 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 Sending Some Sunshine creations. One lucky commenter will win the Verve stamp set of his or her choosing! Winners will be announced on Monday, September 12 right here on the Verve blog.

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

And then DARE you to send it away!!

August Diva Dare ~ Day 9

Good morning, it's Maureen with the ninth installment of our August Diva Dare! For those of you who 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's theme is Sending Some Sunshine: we DARE you to make an uplifting and encouraging card AND send it to someone in need of a little pick-me-up! There's nothing like opening your mailbox and seeing a handmade card...especially with some of Verve's encouraging sentiments on it!  :-)  I'm actually pretty good about sending birthday and thank you cards out, but as soon as I heard this month's dare, I knew I wanted to make a very special project and send it to my dear blog friend, Janelle, who has a very serious medical condition.  Back in March, Janelle made this VERY cool project for a coworker.  I fell in love with it and tucked the idea in the back in my mind.  Little did I know I would bring it out for Janelle.  So here's the set of inspiring tags along with the card I made for her (both of which are already on their way to her :)

I started with deciding on the papers I would use on the card, then chose the colours for the tags.  There are 12 altogether. Then I went through my Verve Plaine Janes and a few other sets (Hope Blooms and Serenity) for the inspiring tags that were eventually put together with a little key chain and decorated with some coordinating ribbon.  Here are all the tags before I put them together. I also used the Blessings, Believe, and  New Mercies sets to decorate the tags a bit.  Everything was kept simple and flat so that they wouldn't be too bulky when put together.

As you can see, I used several different die cut shapes including Verve's Rounded Rectangle and Curvy Bookplate Dies.  And here they are all tied up together.

After making the tags, I started on the card.  I picked this verse from Jeremiah .  I just love the comfort it talks about.  I also added "You inspire me," from Dare to Be because that is exactly what Janelle is doing to me and so many others touched by her story (not to mention the gorgeous projects she creates with love and thoughtfulness).

 

Whew! Are you still with me?  Thanks for letting me share my special gift :) 

Okay now that I'm done, here are the details...

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

1. Play along with us and link up your new Sending Some Sunshine creation (posted August 26 or later) to the linky widget at the bottom of THE DAY 1 POST before 9PM Mountain on Sunday, September 11. 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 Sending Some Sunshine creations. One lucky commenter will win the Verve stamp set of his or her choosing! Winners will be announced on Monday, September 12 right here on the Verve blog.

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

And then DARE you to send it away!!

August Diva Dare ~ Day 8

Hi everyone!  It's Jackie here and today is my day to answer this month's Diva Dare!  But before I get to my card, haven't the projects from the Diva's been amazing?  I tell you, these are a talented bunch of ladies!  They make me want to do my best everytime I sit at my craft table!!  They are an uplifting and encouraging bunch of ladies, just as all of you are!  But I digress.....

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's theme is Sending Some Sunshine!  If you all are anything like me, you have tons of cards sitting at home all piled up!  I thought it would be fun to make an uplifting & cheerful card and actually send it to someone!  There's nothing like opening your mailbox and seeing a handmade card...especially with some of Verve's encouraging sentiments on it!  :-)

So, we DARE you to make an uplifting and encouraging card AND send it to someone in need of a little pick-me-up!

Here is how I answered the dare:

I just loved the the last release and couldn't wait to get a couple of the sets inky again.  For my card I used the new Sunny Days and You and I along with the I Heart U die set.  The "U" was stamped in Riding Hood Red ink and was cut out with the coordinating die.  The flowers were stamped in Dark Chocolate, were cut out and finsihed with a wooden button, the center flower being tied with some thick linen thread.  The sentiment was cut out with Charming Banner die set.  The sketch is September's Sketch For You To Try from Jen del Muro.  I didn't round all corners as her sketch was, but rounded only one.....kind of my thing lately!  The card was finished with some machine stitching.

A detail shot....

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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 Sending Some Sunshine creation (posted August 26 or later) to the linky widget below before 9PM Mountain on Sunday, September 11. 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 Sending Some Sunshine creations. One lucky commenter will win the Verve stamp set of his or her choosing!  Winners will be announced on Monday, September 12 right here on the Verve blog.

Now it's YOUR turn!  We DARE you to show us your creations!
You can link to Day 1 here to add your creation.

August Diva Dare-Day 7

Welcome to the August Diva Dare!  Hi, it is Teresa and I have to tell ya, I luv this months dare!  I try to send as many cards out as I have time.  When this months dare was introduced to us, diva Maureen shared that she was sending her card to a Verve customer and blog friend, Janelle Hayes.  I encourage you to go to her blog and read all about her story, it is uplifting and gives a tremendous amount of hope!  Thank you Maureen for sharing about Janelle and thanks to Janelle for being a trooper and making my day a little brighter.  My card is going out to you.!

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's theme is Sending Some Sunshine!  If you all are anything like me, you have tons of cards sitting at home all piled up!  I thought it would be fun to make an uplifting & cheerful card and actually send it to someone!  There's nothing like opening your mailbox and seeing a handmade card...especially with some of Verve's encouraging sentiments on it!  :-)

So, we DARE you to make an uplifting and encouraging card AND send it to someone in need of a little pick-me-up!
 

I went with pinks and rose colors, so sweet and comforting, I used the darlin flower from the Sunny Days set.  I heat embossed them and then colored in lightly with copics and some sponging, added the cutest leaves evahhh to them and popped them up.  The sentiment is from Words of Wisdom set which is also heat embossed.  That is it from me, I do encourage you to send your wonderful handmade created cards to others, it is a great way to spread love and sunshine to others!

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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 Sending Some Sunshine creation (posted August 26 or later) to the linky widget below before 9PM Mountain on Sunday, September 11. 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 Sending Some Sunshine creations. One lucky commenter will win the Verve stamp set of his or her choosing!  Winners will be announced on Monday, September 12 right here on the Verve blog.

Now it's YOUR turn!  We DARE you to show us your creations!
You can link to Day 1 here to add your creation.