December Diva Dare ~ Day 10

"Playing Favorites", December Diva Dare

Welcome to the last Diva Dare of 2013!  This month's Dare is entitled "Playing Favorites" and it is a fun one indeed!

What we're daring you to do this month is to post your favorite Verve Stamps 2013 creation OR make a new card using your favorite Verve stamp set.  

Hello Verve lovelies! It's Andrea here with you today! Over the past few years at the end of the year, I've posted my favorite cards, month by month as a recap. I have to say that probably 11 out of 12 of those cards feature Verve stamps..only because they are my VERY FAVORITE! I'm going to narrow down my list just a little so I hope you enjoy!

This card features the No Matter What set...which was a new release in January. Here's the original post.

Guess what?! I love No Matter What so much, I used it again in February. Here's the post from my blog with the deets.

This card came about from our March Diva Dare challenge. I created this beauty with the Beautiful Plain Jane merged with Maureen's Buttons and Bling and Laurie's Just Give Me Stamps. A very nice marriage...I must say!

 This card was Pinterest inspired (one of my very favorite inspiration sites!) I love the type-written font from the Twitterpated set. This is how I made it.

 A bold burst of color for me...the idea was to feature yellow, so I had this bright gingham ribbon and matched it up with some pretty yellow and green flowers. The Verve set I used is Take Note. Here's the original post.

And...lastly...another Diva Dare creation! This one paid homage to our wonderful leader, Julee and the always uplifting Teresa! I inked up Words of Wisdom and shabbed up some Truly Madly Deeply seam binding to make this vintage gem. Here's where you can find the original post.

Ok, time for a little Q & A:

What are your three favorite Verve products?
Like my fellow Diva sisters...how do you pick just three (or just one hundred)? Let me see...I really love Julee's stamps, dies and ribbon...but to be a tad more specific...I do reach for the Pennant Trim Die quite often, the Truly Madly Deeply ribbon collection is the most cut into and my inkiest stamp set would have to be Celebration of Thanks.

What is your current go-to colour combo?
Ah, that's easy. Every color, though muted down to almost colorlessness. Well, not that extreme, but I do love my pastels and almost every card I make has earthy tones, brown, tan, cream with muted accent colors.

What is your current go-to embellishment?
Past, present and future will always be flowers. I absolutely adore the sweet, delicate feminine look of flowers...in truth, they just make me happy. :)

What is your favorite stamping or organizational tool?
Currently...two pencils. What? I've devised a way (my resourceful side coming out) to make the tightest, prettiest bows using two pencils. I have a tutorial for that here. Of course, this card features a beautiful Verve stamp...Harvest Blessings.

What is your favorite treat to eat while stamping?
That's easy. Life cereal. Yummy wheat squares with a smidge of sugar in the middle. I can put those things away by the handful!

I hope you all have a wonderfully Merry Christmas and Happiest of New Years!

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! -

July Diva Dare - Day 3

Tattered Pages, July Diva Dare

Hello Verve fans!! It's Charmaine bringing you Day 3 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!

Here is my take on this month's dare:

I used the Hundred Hearts set for my card along with the frame from Twitterpated.  The frame was die cut using the Hearts & Swirls Frame Die.  The papers are from the Blossom Soup Collection from Jillibean Soup.  The heart doily was something I found in the Target Dollar Bin long ago.  :)  The ribbon is from the Spring Fling Ribbon Collection.   You can see a little peek of the heart border from the Scalloped Trim Trio Die Set. I sponged a little ink around the edges of the card, the frame and doily to give a little more of that distressed look.  The patterned papers were "roughed up" with the edge of my scissors.  This isn't a style that I normally "do", but I had a lot of fun creating today's card!

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 post 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 2012 - Day 4

Hi there!  It's Charmaine bringing you Day 4 of the July Diva Dare!!  I don't know about you, but I've really been enjoying what the Divas have been posting so far! 

This month, we dare you to make a card or project using a BIRTHDAY theme. July happens to be 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, shall we? We can't wait to see how you answer the dare! (Stay tuned to see how you could win some shiny new Verve!)

I love to create little birthday packages.  The smallest things can seem THAT much bigger just by how they're packaged, don't you think?  ;)  I created this little scalloped basket using my Silhouette.  I stuffed it with some filler so it's all ready for a gift of some kind.  The papers are from the Alphabet Soup Collection from My Mind's Eye.  I started with the Hearts & Swirls Frame Die and the coordinating frame stamp from Twitterpated.  I stamped the Happy Birthday Plain Jane sentiment onto the die cut frame.  Then I got out my Bloom & Grow set and coordinating Elegant Leaves Die and Floral Circles Die Set to stamp and die cut some flowers and leaves.  I added some glitter, bling and ribbon to finish off the birthday basket. 

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 ON THE DAY 1 POST 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.

Can't wait to see what you create!

April Diva Dare 2012 - Day 10

It's the Diva's last day bringing you our take on the All Aboard! theme. Are you bursting with ideas, yet? I can't wait to show you how I met the challenge, but first here's the deets... 

This month we dare you to make a card, project, layout, or whatever fits your stamping style using this month's theme - All Aboard! It has been Grand Central Station around the Verve nest lately, Julee and Mark have welcomed two beautiful baby boys into their family and have had their hands full! So on that note, we are challenging you to use chipboard, corrugated cardboard, or kraft on your creation or project! We can't wait to see how you answer the dare! Stay tuned to learn how you could win some shiny new Verve!!

My house seems to run a little different than the well organized Grand Central Station... more like a circus! LOL So that's where my take on the challenge started with a couple animal car box cutting files using my favorite challenge item, KRAFT cardstock. After that the color just started jumping to join in! Take a look...

I used the darling monkey from To the Moon who loves to hang out of the car...

A giraffe and elephant too! The billboard sets the theme of this circus with the sentiment from Super Dad and is framed and die cut from Love Story set and the Lovely Marquee A Cut Above Die set. These animals just couldn't get anywhere without a ring leader and leading lady so Verve's recent couple from Twitterpated stepped into the center ring.

And all together with some Winter Trees die cut with the Winter Fun Die Set makes for an exciting day!

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

1. Play along with us and link up your new All Aboard creation (posted April 20 or later) to the linky widget on THIS POST before 6:00PM MST on Thursday May 3. 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 All Aboard creations. One lucky commenter will win the Verve stamp set of his or her choosing! Winners will be announced on Friday, May 4th right here on the Verve blog.

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