May 2014 Diva Dare - Day 12

Hi everyone! It's Chaitali here with my very first Diva Dare ever!  In honor of the newest release, this month's Dare is entitled "Petals and Wings".    

What we're daring you to do this month is create a card with both a flower and a butterfly on it.

Now I had a situation here. I don't have a single Verve butterfly stamp! Not one! How did that happen?! Don't ask me! But I assure you the situation is under control and some butterfly stamps have been ordered!

For this card I pulled out On Occasion (can you tell its my favorite?!) and had to improvise a bit for the butterfly! Here is my card...

I started with white cardstock and sprayed it with water generously then went over it with a brush to be sure it was evenly wet. Then I smooshed down my distress inkpads on it, Frayed Burlap on the left and Stormy Sky on the right. Since the paper was very wet, it spread nicely. I blended in the middle with a brush. Dried it all off with a heat gun because I'm too impatient :)

The frame, sentiment and flower are all from the On Occasion set. The flower is stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black and colored with Copics then cut out. Covered it with some diamond stickles in the middle.

The butterfly I cut on my Silhouette Cameo on white cardstock. Then colored it with copics and outlined it with a black sharpie. The swirly pattern is from On Occasion. Some diamond stickles to add glitter and you have a butterfly ready!

Hope you enjoyed the card! Have a great day and do join us in the Diva Dare!

 

Deadline to link your cards is 8PM Mountain on Wednesday, May 21st.  Entries must be posted 5/2 or later, include at least one Verve product, both a flower and a butterfly, and be linked up to the linky widget by 8pm Mountain on 5/21/14.   

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

Win a $40 Gift voucher to Verve Stamps! Take our "Petals and Wings" Dare and link up your card (created May 2nd 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 "Petals and Wings" 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 May 21, 2014.

Winners will be announced on May 22, 2014. 

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

---

May Special
The birds are chirping and the flowers are blooming here in Idaho, so we're having a 25% of sale on pretty little sets with flowers and butterflies and birds and all things spring.  Check it out on our Deals page.

And last but not least, we'll be releasing some brand new Verve later this month!  Woohoo!

August Diva Dare ~ Day 3

Pile On the Sweetness, August Diva Dare

Hello friends!  Maureen here today to bring you Day 3 of this month's "Pile on the Sweetness" Diva Dare.

This month's dare pays tribute to Diva Andrea (Ewen Style), and Diva Christyne (Stampin' with Sugar).  Both Divas are known for the wonderful way they can add layer upon layer on a card.  So what we're daring you to create this month is a card using lots of layers.   

If you want to kick this month's dare up a notch, you can add a flower cluster as per Diva Andrea, or go with a "sweet" theme as per Diva Christyne's blog name "Stamping with Sugar".  These are not required elements, but fun options should you wish to use them.  Just remember to use at least one Verve product on your creation!  

Here's how I answered the dare...

I've combined lots of layers with some super sweet papers, some lace, ribbon, pins and a flower!  After visiting both Divas' blogs, I was inspired to create a baby girl card...can't get any sweeter than that, right?  In keeping with my favourite (at the mo') Chalkboard technique, I paired up a couple of sentiments from To the Moon with the Occasions Frame and matching On Occasion  frame image.  I love the way the sentiment fonts make it look like one big sentiment, but it was made with two!  I used the flower from On Occasion to make a two layered flower to tuck under the chalkboard.  I finished off with some hot pink Truly Madly Deeply ribbon to add a girlish pop! Ready for the Dare Deets?

 Deadline to link your cards is 8PM Mountain on Wednesday, August 28th.  Entries must be new (posted 8/9 or later), include at least one Verve product, include multiple layers, and be linked up to the linky widget by 8pm Mountain on 8/28/13.

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

Win a $40 Gift voucher to Verve Stamps! Take our "Pile on the Sweetness" Dare and link up your card (created August 9th 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 "Pile on the Sweetness" 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 August 28, 2013.

Winners will be announced on August 29, 2013.

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

July Diva Dare - Day 12

Hi Verve fans!  It's Julee here, wrapping up the final day of our Tattered Pages July Diva Dare with my take on a shabby, uplifting creation.

My card features one of my most favorite Verve sentiments, the  Be Okay plain jane.  I am often taking little "mama time outs" to breathe deeply and tell myself everything IS going to be okay, everything is going to be okay, so this stamp is near and dear to my heart.  I paired it with the frame from On Occasion  which is embossed in white onto vellum and then layered over soft sky cardstock.  Both layers are cut with the coordinating Occasion Frame Die and I added a bit of antique linen sponging for an aged look.

The lines between shabby chic and mixed-media always seem to blur when I'm working in my style, so I started by using a piece of punchinella (sequin waste) as a stencil to add some white paint dots to the soft sky vertical panel.  I then layered the doily on top of this, adding a bit of distressing with antique linen and vintage photo ink.  These panels are adhered to some brown paper bag cardstock that I stamped with the straight loopy border from On Occasion, then I cut the whole thing with the Circles Grand Nestabilities.

I made a little accent with a flower, a stick pin, a bead and some soft sky grosgrain ribbon that I've been hoarding.  Next up I fingerpainted some surf paint and some white paint randomly around the card.  I forgot that I usually tone down the surf by mixing in some white before applying it.  But since I'd already applied it, I decided to use some dry wall tape as a stencil to apply some white dots to the surf, so it wasn't quite so bright.  Lots more distressing with ink, a paper distresser, then a coating of champagne glass glitter and some liquid pearls and scattered bling finish things off.

The base is made from die cut Scalloped Grand Nestabilities layered together for a clamshell type opening.  I sponged the scallops with Vintage Photo ink and then added some more liquid pearls.  The finished size of the card is 5.5" in diameter.

Supply List
Stamps: Be Okay Plain Jane, On Occasion (Verve Stamps)
Paper: soft sky, brown paper bag, vellum, paper doily
Ink: VersaMark, blank canvas paint, surf paint
Accessories:  Occasion Frame Die (A Cut Above by VERVE), Grand Circles and Scalloped Circles Nestabilities (Spellbinders), soft sky ribbon (SU!), flower, rhinestones, punchinella, dry wall tape, liquid pearls, champagne glass glitter, bead, stick pin, hot glue

 


Deadline to link your cards is 8PM Mountain on Wednesday, July 31st.  Entries must be new (posted 7/12 or later), include at least one Verve product, an uplifting sentiment, and some distressing or shabbiness and be linked up to the linky widget by 8pm Mountain on 7/31/13.

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

Win a $40 Gift voucher to Verve Stamps! Take our Tattered Pages Dare and link up your card (created July 12th 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 "Tattered Pages" 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 July 31, 2013.

Winners will be announced on August 1, 2013.

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

July Diva Dare - Day 11

Tattered Pages, July Diva Dare

Hello Verve fans!! Christyne here bringing you some inspiration on day 11 of this month's Diva Dare entitled "Tattered Pages".

This month's dare pays tribute to Julee (Poetic Artistry), owner and creator of Verve Stamps and Diva Teresa (Paperie Blooms).  Julee has created countless, uplifting sentiments which have become one of Verve's trademarks, and Teresa knows how to rock distressing and "shabbiness" on her cards.  So what we're daring you to create this month is a card using an uplifting sentiment and some distressing and/or shabby element to it.  Kind of like an encouraging card you have received which you have read so many times the edges are a bit tattered.  Just remember to use at least one Verve product on your creation!

For my card, I decided to use the Flowers of Tomorrow Plain Jane as my sentiment.  I love to garden, so this sentiment is very uplifting to me!  I printed the sentiment in black ink and paired that with black cardstock accents as a nod to both fabulous Divas who frequently use black accents so well in their creations.  To highlight Julee's amazing talents, I tried to add background stamp accents from the Borderline set on the sentiment as well as some loopy accents from On Occasion along the page borders.  I just love how she always utilizes the entire stamp set in her projects.  To highlight Teresa's awesome style, I used some shabby pastels, added a giant, bold loopy bow with Verve's Truly Madly, Deeply Ribbon Collection, as well as a bunch of distressed DP-only panels.  

Additionally, the sketch used for this card was last week's Viva la Verve sketch (July 2013 week 4).  To highlight this unique sketch, I used the Flourish Trim Die as a border.  

  

Deadline to link your cards is 8PM Mountain on Wednesday, July 31st.  Entries must be new (posted 7/12 or later), include at least one Verve product, an uplifting sentiment, and some distressing or shabbiness and be linked up to the linky widget by 8pm Mountain on 7/31/13.

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

Win a $40 Gift voucher to Verve Stamps! Take our Tattered Pages Dare and link up your card (created July 12th or later) to the linky widget on the day one postto 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 "Tattered Pages" 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 July 31, 2013.

Winners will be announced on August 1, 2013.

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

June Diva Dare - Day 10

Hey everyone! Jen here bringing you day 10 of this month's Diva Dare "Puddles of Color".

This month's dare pays tribute to Diva Jen (Deconstructing Jen) (that's me) who loves to color and Diva Janelle (Rain Puddles Design) who also colors beautifully, often uses paint on her cards and is a wonderful mixed media artist. So what we're daring you to create this month is a card using coloring and/or painting. If you want to kick the dare up a notch, you can add kraft card stock to the mix (Jen's specialty) and/or make a mixed media card (Janelle's specialty). Here is the link to Splitcoast Stamper's "Mix-Ability" Forum for some tutorials and ideas on Mixed Media should you want to try it out. This is not a requirement but a fun "extra" should you wish to add it to your card. Just remember to use at least one Verve product on your creation!

Here's my take on the dare:

For my card I started with what I typically start with - a kraft cardbase and I roughed up the edges a bit with a distress tool. Next I layered up a the background with patterned paper from my scrap pile (I believe it's MME's Nostalgia). I edged the patterned paper with Picket Fence Distress Paint (a la Janelle) but once it dried it was pretty sheer and didn't pick up in the photo, it shows up more in person. Lastly I stitched the edges. For the middle panel I embossed a rectangle of kraft with a quatrefoil embossing folder, distressed it, edged it with Picket Fence Distress Paint, edged with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and stitched the edges. Over this I layered a thin strip of patterned paper, also edged with Vintage Photo and adhered this to the background and wrapped it with twine thread. The sentiment panel is stamped using the frame from On Occasion  the small flower and sentiment from Let It Be and die cut using the Occasion Frame Die. This was adhered with foam tape.

Deadline to link your cards is 5PM Mountain on Thursday, June 27.  Entries must be new (posted 6/11 or later), include at least one Verve product, include some type of colouring/painting (with an option of adding kraft cardstock or mixed media, but this is not required) and be linked up to thelinky widget by 5pm Mountain on 6/27/13. 

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

Win a $40 Gift Certificate to Verve Stamps! Take our Puddles of Colour Dare and link up your card (created June 11th or later) to the linky widget to be eligible to win.  One participant will be randomly selected to win the gift certificate.  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 "Puddles of Colour" 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 June 27, 2013.

Winners will be announced on June 28, 2013.

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

~Jen~

June Diva Dare ~ Day 5

Puddles of Colour, June Diva Dare

Hello Verve fans!!  Maureen here starting a fabulous new week of inspiration for this month's Diva Dare.
 

 This month's dare pays tribute to Diva Jen (Deconstructing Jen) and Diva Janelle (Rain Puddles Design) both have an amazing eye for colour. Jen's colouring is phenomenal and Janelle's showcases mixed media like no other. So what we're daring you to create this month is a card using colouring and/or painting.  If you want to kick the dare up a notch, you can add kraft card stock to the mix (Jen's specialty) and/or make a mixed media card (Janelle's specialty).  Here is the link to Splitcoast Stamper's "Mix-Ability" Forum for some tutorials and ideas on Mixed Media should you want to try it out.  This is not a requirement but a fun "extra" should you wish to add it to your card. Just remember to use at least one Verve product on your creation!

Today's card is for a retiring teacher at our school.  My school's P.A.C. (Parent Advisory Council) approached me last week to make 2 commissioned cards for retiring staff members.  I knew that the Teachers Count set would be perfect for our Grade 7 teacher, finishing a career full of dedication, enthusiasm, caring and love.   Answering this month's Diva Dare was a thrill!  Jen's use of kraft with colour is always yummy!  So that's where I started with the base of my card along with some My Mind's Eye Kraft Funday paper.  Then I chose some alphabet paper with gorgeous colours.  THEN it was play time channelling Janelle with making the little faux chalkboard using The Occasion Frame die and coordinating frame image from On Occasion.  I embossed the frame and sentiment with white embossing powder, then smudged some white craft ink over everything to give it a chalky look.  Then I took a white pencil crayon and added some light colouring details.  I tucked 2 golden delicious apples under the frame using the Apples Die set, tied some lovely Signature Collection seam binding ribbon with a scrap of pink ribbon around the card and let all those twine and thread ends run wild! LOL  Now it's YOUR turn...

 

 

 

 

Deadline to link your cards is 5PM Mountain on Thursday, June 27.  Entries must be new (posted 6/11 or later), include at least one Verve product, include some type of colouring/painting (with an option of adding kraft cardstock or mixed media, but this is not required) and be linked up to the linky widget by 5pm Mountain on 6/27/13. 

 

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

Win a $40 Gift Certificate to Verve Stamps! Take our Puddles of Colour Dare and link up your card (created June 11th or later) to the linky widget to be eligible to win.  One participant will be randomly selected to win the gift certificate.  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 "Puddles of Colour" 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 June 27, 2013.

Winners will be announced on June 28, 2013.

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

June Diva Dare - Day 4

Puddles of Colour, June Diva Dare

Hey there summer crafters! It's Janelle here for Day 4 of our Diva Dare challenge this month. Puddles of Colour is our theme and it's about using wonderful color from two Diva styles! 

This month's dare pays tribute to Diva Jen (Deconstructing Jen) who is an amazing colourist and me, Diva Janelle (Rain Puddles Design) who is hopefully known to have a Copic in one hand and paintbrush in the other.

So what we're daring you to create this month is a card using colouring and/or painting.  If you want to kick the dare up a notch, you can add kraft card stock to the mix (Jen's specialty) and/or make a mixed media card (Janelle's specialty).  Here is the link to Splitcoast Stamper's "Mix-Ability" Forum for some tutorials and ideas on Mixed Media should you want to try it out.  This is not a requirement but a fun "extra" should you wish to add it to your card. Just remember to use at least one Verve product on your creation!   

Here's my take on this month's dare. I created background paper with acrylic paint, bubble wrap, paper doily and punchinello for stencils and Verve's On Occasion and Take Note stamp sets. (You can sponge acrylic paint on your stamp, stamp it quickly and brush them off without harming the stamp. I use water and an old toothbrush to clean them.) Next I used a credit card to smear white gesso paint on an old text book page before stamping the flowers from On Occasion. Those flowers were colored with vibrant water soluble oil pastels and fussy cut out to put on the stamped frame from the same set. I stamped the sentiment from the Let It Be set onto the frame and used the coordinating Occasion Frame Die to cut it out.

I added two hand cut banners from black cardstock to go along with the week three Viva La Verve sketch. The ribbon is a great match to the acrylic paint I used and is from the Summer Sailing Ribbon Collection. All of this is happily put onto a kraft cardstock base. There's a subtle shading with graphite pencils, any pencil will do really, and then a black pen to create a border. That's it!

Here's a quick little plug if you are thinking about having a go with mixed media.  Any project that uses more than two mediums is considered mixed media! Easy! If you take a look at the Mix-Ability Challenges Shopping List thread you'll find that you already have most of them in your crafty stash. 

Deadline to link your cards is 5PM Mountain on Thursday, June 27.  Entries must be new (posted 6/11 or later), include at least one Verve product, include some type of colouring/painting (with an option of adding kraft cardstock or mixed media, but this is notrequired) and be linked up to the linky widget by 5pm Mountain on 6/27/13.

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

Win a $40 Gift Certificate to Verve Stamps! Take our Puddles of Colour Dare and link up your card (created June 11th or later) to the linky widget to be eligible to win.  One participant will be randomly selected to win the gift certificate.  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 "Puddles of Colour" 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 June 27, 2013.

Winners will be announced on June 28, 2013.

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

---

There's also a new Viva La Verve challenge today with Diva Teresa who has a sweet little duet in a sketch and inspiration photo. Join in for a chance to win some shiny new Verve!  Details are over at the Viva La Verve forum on SplitcoastStampers.

June Diva Dare-Day 2

Puddles of Colour, June Diva Dare

Good morning Verve fans, it is Teresa and I am sharing my take on this months dare. This month's dare pays tribute to Diva Jen (Deconstructing Jen) and Diva Janelle (Rain Puddles Design) both have an amazing eye for color. Jen's coloring is phenomenal and Janelle's showcases mixed media like no other. So what we're daring you to create this month is a card using colouring and/or painting.  If you want to kick the dare up a notch, you can add kraft card stock to the mix (Jen's specialty) and/or make a mixed media card (Janelle's specialty).  Here is the link to Splitcoast Stamper's "Mix-Ability" Forum for some tutorials and ideas on Mixed Media should you want to try it out.  This is not a requirement but a fun "extra" should you wish to add it to your card. Just remember to use at least one Verve product on your creation! 

I have dabbled a tiny bit with mixed media so I answered the dare using mixed media using bolder colors. I have used Tim Holtz distressed paints for the background piece of paper, the color is pickled raspberry, luv that name...lol.  I added a little spun sugar on top to tone it down just a bit, still leaving it with a very rich color. I really like gesso, even though I only know how to use it one way. I made my own stencil by punching out circles from a solid piece of mask. I then rubbed the gesso over the holes, layering it on sorta thick...I luv this look! I  stamped the sentiment using the Verve set Let It Be and the flower was stamped cut out and sponged; it is from the set On Occasion. I completed my card by adding the Verve ribbon from the Black Beauty Collection, and a few gems. The sketch is one of Jen's from Deconstructed Sketch. I hope you are inspired and I cannot wait to see how you answer the Puddles of Color dare!

Deadline to link your cards is 5PM Mountain on Thursday, June 27.  Entries must be new (posted 6/11 or later), include at least one Verve product, include some type of colouring/painting (with an option of adding kraft cardstock or mixed media, but this is notrequired) and be linked up to the linky widget by 5pm Mountain on 6/27/13.

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

Win a $40 Gift Certificate to Verve Stamps! Take our Puddles of Colour Dare and link up your card (created June 11th or later) to the linky widget to be eligible to win.  One participant will be randomly selected to win the gift certificate.  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 "Puddles of Colour" 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 June 27, 2013.

Winners will be announced on June 28, 2013.

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

May Diva Dare ~ Day 7

Hello Verve fans! Andrea comin' to you with my take on this month's Diva Dare! 

Stars & Stripes May Diva Dare

This month's dare pays tribute to Diva Amber's (Stamping Scrapbooker) military service and Diva Laurie Willison's (Soapbox Creations) wonderful use of stripes on her cards.  So we're daring you to create a card using stars and/or stripes.  While the title may conjure up visions of red, white and blue any stars and stripes will do! If you're feeling pretty in pink, go for it! Just remember to use at least one Verve product on your creation!  If you want to get really daring, you can add the extra challenge of making it a CAS card with stars and/or stripes, as that is Diva Laurie's signature style.  However, that is not a requirement, just an optional twist to the Dare if you're feeling daring!

Here is my take on this month's Diva Dare:

I couldn't help myself...as soon as I heard 'stars and stripes' my brain automatically went to the good ol' red, white and blue...so I went with it! The main sentiment is from a previously released Verve set called American Hero. I stamped that on a white panel and raised it up on a Occasion Frame die. I stamped the frame from the On Ocassion set and then heat embossed with white embossing powder. The blue and white star strip were cut with a Verve Ribbon Banner die and the left and right sides were stamped with a border from the Strong Anchor set. At the bottom, I stamped 'thank you for all you do' from the Teacher's Count set, because really that would work for anyone you're thankful for. Lastly I added some stars which were cut out using Verve's Starry die set.

During this month's Diva Dare, there are 4 prizes up for grabs!
 Win Verve's ENTIRE May Release! Take our Stars & Stripes Dare and link up your card (created 5/13 or later) to the linky widget below. One random participant will be drawn to win all of the stamps, dies and ribbons in our May 2013 release. You can enter as many times as you like, but each card needs to be in a separate post.  Here's a little look-see at what the winner will receive..

May Stamp Collection	May Die Collection	Black Beauty Ribbon Collection	Polka Dot Basics Ribbon Collection
Deadline to link your cards is 5PM Mountain on Thursday, May 30. Entries must be new (posted 5/13 or later), include at least one Verve product, use stars and stripes and be linked up to the linky widget by 5pm Mountain on 5/30/13.

Win a set of your choice! For another chance to win some new Verve, leave a little comment love on our design team's Stars & Stripes Diva Dare posts! THREE lucky commenters 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 May 30.

Winners will be announced on May 31, 2013.

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