December Diva Dare - Final Day

Hi Verve fans!  Have you enjoyed our Playing Favorites Diva Dare as much as I have?  I just love seeing all the fun things each person chooses to highlight and reading a little bit more about their crafty faves.  A super fun Dare, indeed!  I'm wrapping up the Dare today, but there's still a little bit of time to post your old or new favorite Verve card to be in the running for our prize drawing!  Deadline to play along is Thursday, December 26.

Although I have lots of favorites with Verve, the set I always come back to when I get to stamp just for stamping's sake is Hope Blooms.  I just love these shabby flowers and the fun all occasion sentiments.  So when I stole a few moments to stamp last week, that's the set I reached for.

I stamped the flower twice in Strawbery Slush on designer paper, then hand cut and sponged the edges with the same color of ink.  The leaves are cut with the Elegant Leaves Die from soft sky cardstock and I stamped the coordinating image from Bloom & Grow in soft sky, then highlighted softly with a white prismacolor pencil.  The birthday sentiment is stamped in strawberry slush and I gave it the same sponged treatment as the flowers, handcutting a little banner edge on one side.  I finished off with some pink pearls in varying sizes for the flower center.

Supply List
Stamps: Hope Blooms, Bloom & Grow (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Bundle of Joy Girl (Echo Park), soft sky (SU!), white
Ink: strawberry slush, soft sky (SU!), white pencil (prismacolor)
Accessories: Elegant Leaves Die (A Cut Above by VERVE), sponge, pink pearls

Here are a few of my favorite cards from this year, as well..

using Relax  {original post}

using No Matter What {original post}

using Joyful Blooms {original post}

 As a fun extra this month, the Divas are answering "The Diva Fab Five Questionnaire."  Here goes!

1. My three favorite Verve products...  they all have near and dear spots in my heart, but I'd have to say Hope Blooms, Words of Wisdom and No Matter What are the ones I gravitate toward the most.

2. My current go-to color combination...  I love aqua with just about anything, but particularly love aqua, grey and red together.

3. My current go-to embellishment... I used to be really big on embellishments, but have taken a simpler approach to stamping lately (mostly because naptime doesn't allow me the time to dig through supplies to find the perfect embellishment).  I do love flatback pearls and rhinestones and liquid pearls.  One of those seems to make it on every one of my cards.  Love those little mini library clips SU! used to sell, too.  Now I'm hoarding my last package since they don't carry them anymore.

4. My favorite stamping or organizational tool... I've recently fell in love with the Envelope Punch Board.  Love making little envelopes and gifties.  I also just love my two-tier Clip It Ups.  I have one for for storing my Verve stamp sets and one for storing baggies filled with different seam bindings, lace, ribbon, flowers and other fun embellishments.

5. My favorite treat...  I usually have a mixture of Hot Tamales and Red Hots on my stamping desk.  I also love Lily's Dark Chocolate Coconut bars, but they normally don't stick around the craft studio very long!  LOL  During the holidays, I usually trade in my cinnamon dish for candy canes, peppermint nougats or white chocolate peppermint pretzel crisps.

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

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

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

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

Winners will be announced on December 27, 2013.

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