September 2014 Diva Dare ~ Day 10

Terrific Trios - September Diva Dare

Hi Verve fans and welcome to September's Diva Dare!  It's Andrea here with you bringing this month's dare which is entitled Terrific Trios.  Back to school time usually means life is a 3 ring circus, so this month we're daring you to add 3 of something to your card or project. 

I started off by cutting out the focal frame with Verve's Rounded Scallop Frame. I took the outside scalloped edge, distressed the edge with ink and then sprayed it with Elmer's glue. I then sprinkled some coarse glitter over it. The sentiment is from Wonderful Marvelous and for that frame I inked the edges and then added some White Opal liquid pearls. Turns out that the liquid pearls interacted with the ink and they turned green! Ugh! In a fit of mild anger, I scraped off the dots with my finger nail. It actually adds to the distressed look so we'll chalk that up to a happy mistake. :) The floral accent consists of silk ribbon with paper flowers attached. I added some pulled apart gauze to the base of the card and then added strips of paper.

Two ways to win prizes for double the fun!

Win a $40 gift voucher to Verve! Take our Terrific Trios dare and link your card up to be eligible to win.  Entries must have 3 of something on your card or project, be posted 9/12 or later, include at least one Verve product and be linked up to the linky widget by 8pm Mountain on 10/01/14.  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 Verve set of your choice! For another chance to win some new Verve, leave a little comment love on our design team's Celebrate Good Times 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 October 1, 2014.

Winners will be announced on October 2, 2014.

August 2014 Diva Dare - Day 10

Hello, Friends! Amber here! Long time no blog:) Just getting settled in to my new home here in Washington and have had a little trouble tracking down my mojo. Have you seen it? It's still missing so if you see it, please send it back home, ha!

So this month, our Diva Dare is to Celebrate Good Times! 

Verve is turning 7 this month and we’d love to see your celebration cards.  Think wedding, birthday, anniversary… anything that brings the confetti out!

For my card, I pulled out my Peaceful Medallions and Poppy Birthday sets. I got some new Impress Fresh Inks this week in coral and mint, so I knew that's what color combo I wanted to go with. I stamped the largest medallion in coral ink and then a smaller medallion in mint. The three gold medallions are gold embossed, and then the smallest medallions are again stamped in coral Fresh Ink. I scattered some sequins randomly. The orange sequins are from a multi pack I got at Michaels, and the gorgeous shiny sequins are from the Shine Bright collection from Verve. The scalloped frame is the Rounded Scallop Frame. 

My card is loosely based on this week's new Viva la Verve sketch! Pop on over to the VLV Sketch Blog to play along with the sketch.

The sentiment is from Poppy Birthday. Well that's all I have to share today, hope you can get inky today and play along! 

 

Two ways to win prizes for double the fun!

Win a $40 gift voucher to Verve! Take our Celebrate Good Times dare and link your card up to be eligible to win.  Entries must have a celebration theme:  birthday, wedding, anniversary, confirmation, new job, retirement, new baby, new home - anything you can celebrate, be posted 8/8 or later, include at least one Verve product and be linked up to the linky widget by 8pm Mountain on 8/23/14.  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 Verve set of your choice! For another chance to win some new Verve, leave a little comment love on our design team's Celebrate Good Times 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 23, 2014.

Winners will be announced on August 24, 2014.

Go forth and get inky...we dare you!

May 2014 Diva Dare - Day 5

Good Morning! Christyne here welcoming you to Day 5 of this month's Diva Dare 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. 

Flowers and butterflies are two of my favorite card elements and there are so many Verve selections to choose from that it was difficult to find a place to begin with this challenge.  I ultimately chose the refreshed Petals and Wings set as the lines are soft and they really gave me an "early spring" vibe.  I paired the beautiful images from this set  and the coordinating Petals and Wings Dies with this week's Mojo Monday sketch (#344), incorporating a few other unique elements including the Die Sidekicks stamps set, Sweet Scalloped Tag Die, the Flag It Die Set, the Rounded Frame Scallop Die and the Shine Bright Sequins Mix.  I hope you are all feelin' some spring in your local weather lately, as it is certainly welcome in my neck of the woods!!

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. 

Fanspiration Diva Dare ~ Day 7

Hi there!  It's Charmaine bringing you Day 7 of our Fanspiration Diva Dare. This month, we "dare" you to show us your new creations inspired by projects made by Verve fans! You can pick any little Verve project to inspire you, as long as it is not by one of our design team members (or yourself!) {grin}. To get your wheels a turnin', the Divas will be posting their Fanspiration creations using our newly released products right here each weekday!

I really had a tough time with this dare because I couldn't decide on A card.  It took me a while just to narrow it down from all the fabulous Verve Fan creations in the gallery. . .but I still ended up with two that I just couldn't decide between!  One of the cards I was so inspired by is THIS CARD from girlgeek101.  This card is totally my style.  I LOVE how Audrie used the embossing to add detail to this simple but elegant card along with that pop of color with the flower image.  I created my card using the Learning To Sail set.  Since the stamps I used to stamp behind the sentiment were line stamps and not silhouette, I added a border of cardstock in the same color as the ship to bring it out a little more. 

I used the Beaded Oval Nestabilities for my focal piece.  I'm not sure how well it shows in the picture, but I added a tranparent pearl on each "bead" with a Viva Pearl Pen.  I thought it would be a neat detail that added to the water theme.  :)

The other card that I just couldn't decide between was THIS CARD from Jen Mitchell.  I just LOVED the colors that Jen used in her card.  I LOVE the warm, Fall colors with a pop of red!  I also loved Jen's layout.  I just changed the stamps and the papers for my card and added a sentiment using the Lean On Me set with the leaves from Dream Big. 

I die cut the flowers using the Pointed Flowers Die Set, stamped them in red ink and then used a blender pen with the ink pad to color them.  The leaves were die cut using the Dreamy Leaves Die Set.  I also used the Rounded Rectangle Die as well as the Rounded Scallop Frame Die with the border stamp from the Treasured Words set. 

How fun is this Dare? Don't know where to start? Head over to the Verve Fan Gallery to peruse some projects, pick one then join in the fun...here are the details...

There are two ways to win...

1. Win a $50 Verve gift certificate! Play along with our Fanspiration Diva Dare and link up your creation to the linky widget entry form. Winner will be chosen by random draw. To be eligible, your entry must:
• Be a new creation - posted September 7 or later
• Be inspired by a non-design team created Verve card or project
• Include a link to the inspiration piece you used, as well as a brief explanation of what inspired you
• Use at least one Verve product
• Be added to the linky widget before 5pm Mountain on Sunday, September 23.
2. Win a Verve set of your choosing! Leave a little shout-out for the Divas in the comments section as we post our answers to the Fanspiration dare each weekday through September 20. A random comment winner will be chosen from all the comments over the course of the Dare.

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

July Diva Dare 2012 - Day 5

Happy Friday Verve fans! It's me, Janelle, here for another take on this month's Diva Dare right before the weekend! 

This month, we dare you to make a card or project using a BIRTHDAY theme. Did you know that July is a big birthday month here at Verve? Five of our Divas have July birthdays, including the boss lady, Julee. Let's celebrate with some fun birthday projects!  We can't wait to see how you answer the dare! (Stay tuned to see how you could win some shiny new Verve!)

So, this is how I took the dare.

There is always a need for a card to send your girlfriends (or man-friends), but sending a card sometimes just isn't enough. So I created a brown gift bag with a tea bag and special note slipped inside. It's just under the size of an A6 envelope so I can still send it in the regular mail. You know the size of those outer envies when sending traditional wedding invitations or announcements? That's the size!
This birthday card is brimming with Verve goodness. I colored flowers from Feel the Sun Stamp Set with Copic markers and fussy cut them out. They are warming up next to A Cut Above Rounded Scallop Frame die and tagged with a tea cup and tag combo from the Cup of Life stamp set and the A Cut Above Tiny Sweet Scallop Tag die. The Happy Birthday wishes is from the Hope Blooms Stamp Set. I added some lace ribbon under the tea cup and across the band to complete the bag. Inside the bag is tea bag nestled in some tissue paper edge punched with a lace pattern. The insert is labeled with a tea bag tag and sentiment from the Cup of Life set. A little shaved ice sparkle around the band is the last touch on this challenge project. All the pattern paper is from Pretty Party paper pad by Crate Paper.

Have a wonderful weekend and be sure to come back on Monday to see another week of Diva Dare takes on the challenge!

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Would you like a chance to win some fabulous new VERVE GOODIES? There are two ways to win:

1. Play along with our Birthday Diva Dare. Link up your creation (posted July 16 or later) to the linky widget below before 6:00 pm MT on Sunday, July 29. One lucky stamper will win a $30 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 birthday creations. One lucky commenter will win the Verve stamp set of his or her choosing.

Winners will be announced on Monday, July 30 right here on the Verve blog.

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Click the "Click here to enter" link at the bottom of this post for the Diva Dare entry form. Please type your name or screen name in the Caption or Title field, then choose the link and photo you'd like to enter.  Please link directly to the specific blog post or gallery page where we can view your creation.  If you're having problems linking, try entering the link to your card, then choosing From File instead of From Web. Then just browse to where your picture is saved on your computer to get your thumbnail.

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Holiday Diva Dare - Day 7

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Welcome to Day 7 of the Holiday Diva Dare!  It's Charmaine and today is my turn to bring you my take on this month's challenge! 

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 then have two weeks to complete the challenge. During those two weeks, the release team will be posting their creations and sharing how they answered the dare!

This month's theme is A Handmade Christmas! The theme is pretty broad and can be interpreted in so many different ways...from a lovingly made card, to heartfelt gifts and homemade decorations! With the Holidays right around the corner, this will be the perfect time to get a jump start on your card and gift making!

So, we DARE you to make a Handmade Christmas card or gift!

When I was thinking about what to create for the challenge, I started thinking of things that my kids could help with since they LOVE to create gifts. . .especially my two oldest.  I came across these adorable ornaments at marthastewart.com made with a pipecleaner and buttons!  They are SO simple and perfect for kids to create!  I don't know about you, but I have a TON of buttons, so the girls had their pick and it was a great way to use up some surplus!  ;) 

So, my answer to the dare was the ornaments and some pretty packaging for the ornaments!  I created the snowman box using a downloadable template, and the Santa box was created with a die.  I stamped each box with the snowflakes from Glad Tidings.  I stamped the snowflakes on the box in white craft ink, then I stamped some on white cardstock in Crumb Cake ink and die cut them using the Snowflake Tidings Die Set.  The sentiment panel uses the frame from Tag Time, a sentiment from Bright Spirits and the Curvy Bookplate Die.  The window in the snowman box was die cut using the Rounded Scallop Frame Die.  The snowman is suspended from the lid of the box.  I added tissue paper to the bottoms of both boxes. 

Hope you've been inspired today!  There's more Diva Inspiration to come, so stop back tomorrow!

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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 A Handmade Christmas creation (posted November 18 or later) to the linky widget on the DAY ONE post before 9PM Mountain on Thursday, December 8. 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 A Handmade Christmas creations. One lucky commenter will win the Verve stamp set of his or her choosing! Winners will be announced on Friday, December 9 right here on the Verve blog.

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

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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!!