September Diva Dare-Day 4

Good morning!!  It's Charmaine and it's my turn to share my take on this month's Diva Dare entitled "Tic-Tac-Toe". What we're daring you to create this month is a card or project using inspiration from a tic-tac-toe board.  For example:  x’s and o’s, hugs & kisses, squares, circles, grids, you get the idea.

When I started thinking about my card, I looked through some of my Verve stamps trying to decide which set to use.  I came across an old one that I can't even remember the last time I used. . .Artful Elegance.   I thought the background stamp from the set would make a neat "grid" and that circle/medallion stamp would work well for some "Os".

So, I started by stamping and embossing the background image three times on red cardstock to give me my "grid" base.  Next I stamped and embossed the circle image three times and punched them out using a circle punch.  After aligning the circles in different formations on the card, I decided on the simple, straight across placement and then used the sentiment to "cross" my consecutive Os!  LOL  I laugh because when my kids play TicTacToe, they take such joy in crossing their consecutive Xs or Os.  You would think the race of the game was to cross the consecutive Xs or Os regardless of which are yours!  :)

I used a white gel pen to add some interest to the sentiment panel and then finished the card with some ribbon from the Black Beauty Collection.  Now it's your turn!!

Deadline to link your cards is 8PM Mountain on Wednesday, September 25th.  Entries must be new (posted 9/6 or later), include at least one Verve product, include inspiration from a tic-tac-toe board, and be linked up to the linky widget by 8pm Mountain on 9/25/13.

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

Win a $40 Gift voucher to Verve Stamps! Take our "Tic-Tac-Toe" Dare and link up your card (created September 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 "Tic-Tac-Toe" 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 September 25, 2013.

You can link up your take on the dare here.

Winners will be announced on September 26, 2013.

August Release Project Parade: Day 5

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Happy Tuesday, Verve Fans!! It's Shannan here, coming by to share my project for this August's parade. This month we are mixing it up with the theme "Something Old, Something New" and let me just tell you...pulling out my older Verve sets has totally kick-started my mojo! This theme doesn't necessarily mean wedding (but of course it could) - its a challenge for anyone who would like to play along to use a previously released Verve stamp set with one of the new sets that was just released this August 20th. (If you don't have the newest Verve sets - no worries, just mix an older set from your stash with a "new to you" stamp set and join the fun!)

As I was going through all my stamp sets to choose something to work with, I couldn't decide on just one! So I made a little set of 3 cards, each using a new and an old set.




For the first card, I chose the large and small leafy image from Great Friend. I stamped them in Versamark Ink onto a piece of Kraft cardstock and added a few accents of patterned paper and lace trim. The sentiment from Believe was stamped in Memento Rich Cocoa ink.





The next card I created showcases a sentiment from Framed Wishes (a special gift with purchase) and flower from Dream Big. I stamped one of my favorite Verve backgrounds ever, from Artful Elegance, in Versamark on Kraft cardstock. Some sponging and coordinating patterned paper finish this one off beautifully.




Last but not least, I created a card using the circle image from Happy Hello along with this gorgeous image and sentiment from Let it Shine. I punched different parts of the sunny flower image out with my circle punch, then popped them up over the stamped circles. To finish this one off, I added another touch of coordinating patterned paper, some Diamond Stickles, and some paper piercing.

I had a blast dusting off some of my older Verve sets...I hope you decide to give it a try! There's also a chance to win some Verve stamps - check out how you can score some:

1. Play along with us and link up your new SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW creation (posted August 25th or later) to the linky widget on the DAY 1 PARADE POST before midnight on Wednesday, September 15th. One lucky stamper will win a $30.00 gift certificate to the Verve Store.

2. For another chance to win, be sure to give the Divas a little shout-out in the comments section as we parade our SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW creations. One lucky commenter during the course of the parade will win the Verve stamp set of their choosing!
We hope you'll play along! We LOVE to see your creations!

 

Have a fabulous day!

October Project Parade - Day 4

Hi everyone, it's Michelle! Welcome to Day 4 of the Project Parade. If you are following along, you know the challenge this month is to emboss, wet or dry.

I needed to make a very special thank you card using my new Creative Memories DP Bountiful. The colors on this paper are so peaceful and rich I decided to emboss everything with copper and use the Abundant Blessings set again. I just LOVE the cat tails image, there is something so graceful about it. The butterflies are from Petals and Stems and the sentiment is from Artful Elegance. I cut out the butterflies and watercolored them with reinkers and used copper brads for the little heads. The ribbon bow was shot a few seconds with my heat gun, and it curls ever so slightly. This is a REALLY cool effect. Until recently, I didn't have a decent heat tool, so it never worked before. But now, I am happy as a clam :-). Some small piercing in the corners and sponging finishes off panels.

So, you wanna play along with us and have a chance to win $15 in Verve Bucks? Just upload your creation to this post by noon on Friday, October 24th. If you upload to SCS, use the keyword VVPP07 so we can see all the embossed creations in one place! A random participant will be drawn on October 25th to receive $15 in Verve Bucks to spend at the Verve Stamps store! Thanks for stopping by!

Card Deets:

Stamps - Abundant Blessings, Artful Elegance, Petals and Stems

Paper - soft sky, very vanilla, Tawny Dark prism paper, Creative Memories DP Bountiful

Ink - Versamark, soft sky and blue bayou reinkers

Accessories - copper brads, organdy ribbon, paper piercer, sponge, copper EP

October Project Parade - Day Two

Welcome to Day Two of this month's Project Parade on the Verve blog.  Our parade this month focuses on embossing.  I can honestly say that I am not much of a technique person, but embossing (both heat and dry) is something that I immensely enjoy.  I decided to go ahead and make a sprinkle-ly mess and break out the embossing powder for this project.  I started with a Kraft base and stamped the long filigree image from the Artful Elegance set twice in VersaMark.  I then sprinkled bronze embossing powder and heat embossed.  I then created the other heat embossed pieces with the same bronze embossing powder on black paper.  I really like this color combo, as I think it would be perfect for many occasions including everyday cards, birthday, wedding and sympathy.

 

Here is a detail shot of the embossing...

 

 

Wanna play along with us and have a chance to win $15 in Verve Bucks?  Here's how:

Just upload your creation to this post by noon on Friday, October 24th. If you upload to SCS, please use the keyword VVPP07 so we don't miss your creations! A random participant will be drawn on October 25th to receive $15 in Verve Bucks to spend at the Verve Stamps store!

Good Luck!!

Just add Water!

I had a wink of an idea ever since the Fairy Tales stamp set was released. The sentiment "Make your own Happiness" seemed to lend itself to some type of pick me up gift. I sat on the idea for a while and let it gestate. Verve's Project Parade this month was to get Krafty...so I put two and two together and came up with this!

I thought it would be such a cute idea to have a gift that the recipient would "make" ! You know, Make your own Happiness! Something cute and sweet that you could drop on the table over coffee, or leave on their desk at work.


The little box was inspired by Lauren Meader's box here. This is slightly different, as I modeled mine based on the size of a votive candle, and it uses only one piece of paper. This little pick me up includes bath salts and a scented votive candle! Inside the little gift tag on the bath salts it says "Just add Water!" Is there a better way to happiness than a luxurious soak by candlelight?


The box is stamped with the filigree border stamp from "Artful Elegance" in Bashful Blue. I used the filigree circle stamp in Bashful Blue as the base of the sentiment, which is from "Fairy Tales". A scalloped border and scalloped circles bring it all together along with some Bashful Blue ribbon.

Now if you give a gift you need a card, so I created a really simple little 3x3" card to go along with it. There is something about Kraft paper that really makes me think simple! For this, I scalloped the border and added three rows of piercing, before the same sentiment treatment and ribbon was added.

Well, this wraps up the Gettin' Krafty Project Parade...the rest is up to you! If you want to Get Krafty with us, create a card or project using Kraft paper and-or any natural fibers like hemp for example. Then link your creation to THIS POST no later than noon on September 30th. If you upload to SCS, please use keyword VVPP06, so we can all drool over your Krafty creation! A random participant will be drawn on October 1st to receive $15 in Verve Bucks to spend at the Verve Stamps store! Good luck and go get Krafty!

Supplies: Stamps: Artful Elegance, Fairy Tales Paper: Kraft, Bashful Blue, white Ink: Bashful Blue, Chocolate Chip Accessories: scallop circle & border punches, paper piercer, Bashful Blue striped ribbon, circle punches, dimensionals.

Project Parade - Day 10

Hello Verve friends, isn't this month's inspiration photo just divine? I was inspired all right ... inspired to hop in the car and head to my coffee shop. If you've been following our project parade from the beginning, dare I ask how many coffee shop runs you've made in the last two weeks?!

I knew right away I wanted to use the cupcakes from Cupcake Affair - they're so perfect for this pink and brown challenge! I chose to work with Chocolate Chip as my dominant color - dark and strong, just the way I like my coffee. Fancy drinks, not to mention fancy cupcakes, call for a fancy background, and the background strip from Artful Elegance was perfect!

Wanna play along with our Pink and Brown challenge? You still have time!! Just upload your creation to this post no later than noon on September 5th (that's tomorrow, folks!). If you upload to SCS, use keyword VVPP05 so we can see all your delicious creations together. A random participant will be drawn on September 5 and will receive $15 in Verve Bucks. Happy creating!!

Perfectly Pink

When I first saw saw Julee's inspiration photo for this month's Project Parade, I too thought it looked like ice cream! But that's probably because I'm not a coffee drinker...{{{gasp}}}}! I think I just might be the only one left on Planet Earth who isn't a coffee drinker! Regardless if you imagine coffee or ice cream when you see the photo, the colors are scrumptious, aren't they?

I chose to work with two different shades of pink (light and dark), a deep brown, and a tan. I stamped the medallion from Artful Elegance in each color only once (doesn't it seem like more than that when you look at the card?). The secret is that I cut each medallion in half! Before I cut them in half, I matted them with a metallic chocolate brown cardstock. I fiddled and fiddled with the layout of the medallions until I finally came up with something that worked.

The ribbon near the bottom that divides the pink from the brown was actually just a straight piece of pink grosgrain ribbon. I gave it a gathered, frilly look by sewing a straight stitch down the middle of the ribbon with my Janome Sew Mini, and then pulled on one string gathering up the ribbon as I pulled. It really is an easy thing to do. I did my ribbon this way because the whipped cream on the coffees looks all ruffly!

So, do you want to win Verve bucks? Who wouldn't, right? All you have to do to win is upload your project for the project parade on THIS post! You have until September 5th, noon, to upload your card.

Blissful Thanks...

As soon as I saw the "Inspiration Piece" for this month's Project Parade Challenge, I immediately started to brainstorm ideas on how to convince my DH that we need to move to Boise, Idaho (Julee mentioned that the coffee shop there serves these)! I am a HUGE coffee lover as it is, but these scrumptious creations almost look too good to be true! :-) You'd think (as much as I loved this inspiration piece) that when I sat down to stamp my pink & brown card that the ideas would just flow right? Sigh... That was so not the case! All I could think about was how far away I am from getting one of these...LOL! So, I turned to one of Julee's amazing sketches (Anni-Verve-ary sketch # 9) to get the ideas rolling...



Once I decided on the sketch, I immediately knew I wanted to use the background stamp from Grateful Elegance to create the smaller square layer. I then thought the larger scroll background from Artful Elegance would look great on the pink background layer. For the focal piece, I stamped the flower from Beautiful You first on Vanilla c.s. and then onto Pink Pirouette c.s...cut them out and then layered them for added dimension. After highlighting some of the petals, I added some sparkle with my Clear Spica Glitter pen and then applied Crystal Effects to those highlighted parts. For the sentiment tag, I embossed "thanks a bunch" (from Grateful Elegance) onto Pink Pirouette c.s. and then punched it out with my Large Oval punch.



Don't forget...you can win $15 in Verve Bucks just by playing along! Link your pink & brown inspired card to THIS post before noon on September 5th!

Supplies
Stamps: Grateful Elegance, Artful Elegance, Beautiful You
Paper: Vanilla c.s., Pink Pirouette (Stampin' Up!), Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Inc.)
Ink: Versamark, Chocolate Chip craft ink (Stampin' Up!), Close to Cocoa
Accessories: Clear detail e.p. (Judikins), Vanilla e.p. (Stampin' Up!), Nestabilities, Lg. Oval punch (Stampin' Up), Dark Chocolate Satin ribbon (Papertrey Inc), Pink taffeta ribbon (Stampin' Up!), Paper Piercer, Dew Drops

August Project Parade... Day One

I'm pretty sure that you will be making a run to your local gourmet coffee shop today. How do I know? Because the power that this inspiration piece may have on you. "Oh YUM" are the exact words that came out of my mouth as I peered at this picture of not-so-diet-friendly heaven. Let me know if you agree...

Ok, so here I am having to think about stamping and not sipping while viewing this. By the way, that is harder said than done! Where do I start? It's just so pretty and yummy I kept thinking...LOL. Ok, so I write down the word "sweet" followed by several others that included "pinks," "browns," and, of course, "coffee." This is what I came up with, a coffee lover's gift set...

To start, I took one of the clear plastic card boxes that have gained immense popularity in the past year. I cut and scored my pieces for the bottom and top. Then, I clear embossed the filigree image from Artful Elegance on the brown Prism paper. Along the edges, I ran white ruffle edged ribbon from May Arts and a piece of scalloped pink paper. The topper and bottom can slide right off with a little tug.

The tubes are from Impress, and can be found HERE. The labels were created by printing out the contents on a label, then stamping over it and punching it out. Four of these tubes fit perfectly across one of these boxes (YAY!).

**Please note, I am not sure if these are actually food grade. If you plan to purchase and use these for this kind of purpose, that is something that should be looked into.

Detail shot of the center panel, which matches the labels on the tubes (for the most part, at least). Sentiment is from the new Fairy Tales set...

Template:
Note, that this is not to scale. Red marks indicate where to cut.

Wanna play along with this fun Pink and Brown inspiration piece? Just upload your creation to this post no later than noon on September 5th. If you upload to SCS, please use keyword VVPP05, so we can see all your lovely creations in one happy place! A random participant will be drawn on September 5th and receive $15 in Verve Bucks...that's cash to spend at the Verve Stamps store! Good luck!

New Releases and a New Diva!

Last night we held our first ever release party on the Verve forum and it was so much fun! There were plenty of prizes, tons of chatting, early reveals of the new sets and Mr. Verve (my sweet husband) even logged onto SCS and kept up with all us crazy chatters! If you missed out on this release party, our next one will be Tuesday, September 9, so mark your calendars!

Okay, on with the NEWS!
First off, I want to officially introduce you to the newest Verve Diva, Michelle Woerner! You might know her as sf9erfan on SCS or from her blog, Stop and Stamp the Roses. I've been watching Michelle's gallery for quite some time now, and the Verve cards she's posted on SCS have just knocked my socks off. So when we had an unexpected opening on our design team I knew Michelle would be the perfect fit. She has a gorgeous, classy style with lots of layers and a touch of elegance. We're so glad to welcome her to the Verve family and I know you're going to love seeing her awesome cards! And to give you just a taste, here's a fabulous card she made with Artful Elegance, one of our new releases. Check out her Verve gallery, to see the other gorgeous projects she's created with the August releases.

So, we had a huge release today! Six new sets and 5 individual scripture stamps. Included in our release is Beautiful You, a set designed in collaboration with my design team. Each Diva contributed a favorite saying or quote and the resulting set is a really unique must-have stamp set. You can check out Beautiful You and the rest of the new releases at the Verve store.

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

WOW! Are we having fun yet? All of the Anni-VERVE-sary sketches and sneak peeks over on SCS are really exciting for me, so I am sure that you are all having a blast, too. The release is just a couple days away and here we are today with even more peeks to whet your appetite! Not only do you get to see one set featured today, but TWO!

Let's start off with ARTFUL ELEGANCE. Simply ornate, clean and pretty are the best words to describe this set. Let me know if you agree.

Here is a sample Jen del Muro (hey, that's me) created using this set in combination with Grateful Elegance...

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

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

Everyone should own a few stamps that are so striking and beautiful they pretty much stand on their own. Artful Elegance is one of those sets for sure -- simple elegance at its best! The scroll pattern in this set reminded me of the ornate wrought-iron fencing that surrounds the historic homes and immaculate gardens of the French Quarter in New Orleans. I chose my earthy greens with those gardens in mind, then added black satin ribbon and a little bling to finish off my more formal look.

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If your jaw isn't on the floor yet, it will be momentarily. This next set is called NOTES OF PRAYER. Simply ornate, clean and pretty apply here, as well. I absolutely love how striking the cross is and the sentiments are not only beautiful in verse, but are in the perfect font.

Julee, Verve Stamps' head Diva herself created this stunning creation...

A few months ago, Susan made this cross card with the Filigree Fantasy set and I thought, “Hey, I should make a stamp like that!” Well, when I actually started designing the stamp set I couldn’t find the card again, so this cross is what I came up with from memory. I love the elegance of this delicate cross, and have paired it with a few of the background elements from Artful Elegance for a frilly, feminine look.

I also made a sample using this set.

Both the cross and the filigree from the Artful Elegance set are clear embossed. This card contains a lot of texture, yet remains quite simple.

Last, but certainly not least, Janine Tinklenberg (one of August's Guest Designers) shows off this set in such a beautiful way.

This card uses a beautiful embossing resist technique, but instead of using dye ink with the embossed image, this technique uses pigment inks softly rubbed into the background...it really pops the white embossed image! I love the Verve Notes of Prayer set; as a church secretary, I'm always looking for a great set for sending cards to members of our church family. And since it coordinates so beautifully with the Artful Elegance and Grateful Elegance sets, it's a win/win if you get one or both of them when you buy this set!

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