




So the challenge for this parade is Tags, Tins & Treats - perfect for all those Valentine goodies that will soon be on the top of everyone's to-do list. To participate, just make a NEW tag, alter a tin, package some treats or do all three if you’re really feeling creative!
I've included a little photo above that I found for inspiration, but it’s totally optional. If it inspires you, use it, if not, let your mojo do the talking!
For my project, I was inspired by the colors in the photo, and used them to create a tag and alter a little pail of treats. The little rose on the vintage tin reminded me of this beautiful rose ribbon I got at the $1 store on my last visit. The pail I used was 40% off at Jo-Ann's and I thought the painted polka dots would tie in with the coaster in the photo, and look awesome with little added rhinestones. And I brought in a touch of purple with milk chocolate Bliss candies (so yummy).
For the tag, I embossed a tag cut from confetti cardstock with the Hearts Cuttlebug folder, then added a bottom border of pink punched with the SU! Scallop Trim Border. I stamped the pink panel lightly with stamps from Accent Notes for a background and used the same technique for the Primitive Heart die cut (Sizzix). I used scallop decorative scissors to cut a little cool carribbean mat, then stamped the Be Mine plain jane in Rose Red and used some pink fun flock on the arrow.
For the pail, I added rhinestones to the painted polka dots, then created a band (also stamped with the Accent Notes set) and some layered Nestabilities Labels 4 stamped with a sentiment from Heart's Desire. And for the final touch, I stamped a little white tissue paper with one of the heart clusters from Heart's Desire.




I randomly stamped some of the floral elements all over the frame in Pitch Black ink by Adirondack. I also used my Scalloped Edge punch by US! on some Lavender Moona nd Lemon Tart cardstock! I picked a couple of my favorite photos of DH and I and glued them to the back of the frame. The sentiment (which I LOVE!) was stamped and then cut out using a fun tag die by Spellbinders!
One of my favorite things about Verve Stamps is their adaptability to so many different styles. Vintage, whimsical, funky, modern, elegant or something more eclectic - Verve stamps will shine in any setting! When I first saw Heart's Desire, I fell in love with the combination of more formal and more casual images and, even more, with the stylish fonts Julee used for the sentiments. How about this funky font treatment for "be mine"? LOVE IT!! I started with my card base designed from different shabbied up Basic Grey Sugar Rush patterns, then added some ribbon and a gorgeous crystal and pearl flourish by Prima. On that backdrop, I added the stamped sentiment and two stamped hearts. At the last minute, I swapped out one of the stamped hearts for a glittered chipboard heart to go along with Michelle's current chipboard challenge. A truly fun set to play with! And, like so many of Verve's sets, this new set plays well with some old friends that may already be in your collection! Note how the heart in Heart's Desire is a bigger version of the hearts in the recently released Thankful Hearts and Thankful Accents sets. Gotta love all the mix-n-match opportunities!"
"When I saw the Heart's Desire set, it immediately reminded me of both my mother and my mother-in-law. I decided to make little Valentine treats that were perfect for them. The Heart's Desire set has such a classic look with a touch of whimsy. I love the dainty frames included in the set as well as the different fonts. My project is perfect for my two mothers and really captures their decorating style, but this stamp set can easily be used to create cute and whimsical projects as well! I just LOVE how versatile it is and I know you will to!"
"Oh my gosh. Aren't you just LOVING the sneak peeks so far?!?!? Julee has definitely done it again! My card today is VERY simple. The base of this card is Basic Black with a mat of Vintage Cream and then a mat of Tan Bazzill CS. The heart decorative paper is from Pink Paislee's new Cupid line. I added the strip toward the bottom and then the Zva rhinstone flourish. I stamped the beautiful circle of hearts on the same Pink Paislee decorative paper using Basic Black ink and then cut it out using my circle Nestabilities. The "thinking of you" sentiment is included in ANOTHER new set being released called Accent Notes and was stamped in the center of the circle of hearts using Basic Black ink. I matted it on a black scalloped circle."
When I first saw Heart's Desire, I knew immediately that I wanted to create a set of fun little whimsical "Love Notes" to have on hand for my son, husband and Mom. I used several of the stamps included in the new set and also incorporated a few old sets - the polka dots from Bountiful Backgrounds and one of the hearts from Thankful Accents. Going with a fun color combo of Kraft (of course!), chocolate, aqua and hot pink, I used a variety of embellishments including ribbons, glitter, buttons, heat embossing and my Apron Lace punch from Fiskars. I love how they each turned out unique and yet they all managed to have the sentiment in the bottom right corner as a focal point. I still think the sentiments are my favorite part of the new Heart's Desire set (but it's a tough call)!! So much fun!
"Smitten. That's what I was when I first saw Heart's Desire. (Either that or I was still over the moon excited to be selected as a Verve Guest Diva...probably a combination of both!!!) My eyes were immediately drawn to all of those softly drawn hearts and how they were incorporated into every single image! Every time I would look at them, it was as if they floated right off the page and into my heart! I just love it! It is romance in its purest form...and when I think of romance, I immediately think of soft shabby colors and images that can literally make your heart sing. I knew just what I wanted...no, NEEDED to do, when I got this. I needed to create a "tussy mussy." Tussy Mussy's are a Victorian style bouquet of flowers held together in a metal vase, much like the kinds you see at weddings. I began with my focal image by stamping the circular frame with dainty hearts in - how appropriate - Rose Romance ink. The image fit inside a scalloped circle nestability just beautifully! I distressed the edges and then stamped my large heart onto a piece of cardstock that was then adhered to chipboard. I cut that out and "sugared" it up, vintage style. Small rhinestones were added just for fun and a delicate flower was placed right in the corner of my heart. That was it! I could have just ended it there! I decided to go ahead and finish decorating the tussy mussy with cinched crepe paper, vintage trim, luscious satin ribbon, and an old vintage earring from my mother-in-law's grammy. Ahhh, sweet love! I've gotta say, it has been an EXTREME honor to stamp among these ladies and I cannot express my gratitude enough for even eing allowed to be here. Thanks to Julee, and thank you to the rest of the Divas
Oh my goodness!! Just when I think Julee can't top her other images, she comes up with another set of the most gorgeous stamps ever!! I just gasped when I saw the Accent Notes set. Seriously!! So I'm thrilled to be able to share this card with you today. I inked up the gorgeous frame with Jumbo Java Versamagic ink and added a bit of sparkle to make it pop. I then framed it with a Labels 3 Nestabilities die and added a Martha Stewart Punched flower to the center. The bg panel was embossed with a Sizzix embossing folder, and the side band was embossed with a cuttlebug embossing folder. The sentiments are from the Celebrating You set, that I cut with two tags from Spellbinders' Tag Trio. Finally, I finished it off with a button, some copic colored string and pearls, and a couple of border punches.
Hi everyone!!! It's Sankari here and can I just tell you HOW thrilled I am with each and every set in this release! Seriously, I don't know how Julee creates such beautiful sets each and everytime!! I was beyond excited when I saw the sentiment "hello sunshine" and the beautiful circle motif and all of the different swirls and whirls of beauty in the Accent Notes stamps set! I absolutely love anything to do with the sun and sunshine (hence my blog name :) and couldn't wait to make a sunny card, especially because it has been freezing here in Iowa! The stamped the background with one of the filigree stamps in this set and then stamped the circle motif and cut it out with my Spellbinders. The sentiment is punched out and the popped up with dimensionals. I also added some of my fave embellishments: some liquid pearls and finished it off with some bling, faux stitching and some yummy organdy ribbon. Hope you are enjoying all of the sneak peeks!!! Wishing each of you a day that is full of sunshine!!! Hugs!
Accent Notes…what a fun set to play with! As soon as Julee showed it to us, I couldn’t wait to mix and match the images to see how I could build different patterns. The pattern I created here uses three different stamps, two of which are from Accent Notes. The little heart stamp is from Thankful Accents, and it fits in the center of the design so perfectly. I wanted to keep my card simple to highlight the pattern, so I just added a little scalloped border, some black twill ribbon, and some pearls. The sentiment is from Thankful Hearts. That's one of my favorite things about my Verve stamps - they all coordinate so perfectly!
I love the look of an embossed stamped background (especially crisp white on kraft)! This stamp set is perfect for that. This one is in the clean and simple category. Some stamping, brads, ribbon and a tiny rhinestone and you are done! The possibilities are endless with this set.
Julee is at it again!! She has created another series of wonderful image stamps and sentiments for this release. For this card, I used the new set, Celebrating You, which will be released on the 15th. I first created an ATC and then used it as a focal point on the card. This is kind of a new way for me to create a card. I usually work from the base up on a card, but using this design "technique" I work from the top to the base. It's a fun way to get the mojo going since you really only have to concentrate on a 2.5" x 3.5" focal point.
Hi Everyone! It's Mercy, and I'm here with a little peek at one of the new sets being released this month called "Love Monkey". If you're looking for a cutie-patootie and whimsical set, then this one is for you! I adore this little monkey, and there are also several sentiments to choose from in order to convey your particular thought or wish. I stamped and embossed this sweet little fella in chocolate onto watercolor paper, then colored him with blush and caramel inks. I created a chipboard frame to showcase him, and covered it with a piece of paper from the Love Me Do patterned paper collection by My Mind's Eye. I added some sewing around the large kraft background panel, and pierced one edge of the plaid patterned paper strip at the bottom of the card. I punched out three heart sections from one of the pieces of patterned paper with a 1/2" Circle Punch, and added some sparkle to each one with some Christmas Red Stickles. I added another patterned paper heart to the lower left corner using the Heart-to-Heart Punch, and sponged the edges in red ink. A little distressing, numerous Dimensionals, and a whimsical sentiment later...you have my completed card. I hope you've enjoyed this sneak peek, and I hope that you will be back tomorrow to see what some of the other Divas have up their sleeves!
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From Susan Liles...

Hello Verve fans! It’s me, Susan. Are ya’ll ready for another Verve release? If so, hold on tight, because it’s going to be a wild ride! The stamps this time are exquisite, but we don’t expect anything less from Julee, now, do we? I’m sharing a card with you today using the new Celebrate You set. It consists of 7 stamps; 6 of which are some fabulous and unique sentiments and the last one is that fun flourish I used to make an awesome handcut border on this card. I thought the sentiment called for a masculine look, so that’s the direction I took (this time!). The sentiment and border is heat embossed. It reminded me of the trendy “tattoo” look in menswear, as I paired it with argyle paper and a little fleur de lis texture with some shimmer on the black panel. I can almost smell the cologne counter in Macy’s! Hunky!_____________________________________________________________
From Laurie Schmidlin...
Woooowie! That's what I said when I saw these new stamps!! Seriously...I was giddy with new stamp excitement! Julee has outdone herself...and I can't WAIT for you to see them!! There is something so unique about Julee's style...fun and whimsical meets grown-up elegance and sophistication! Even this sweet, sweet monkey...I mean, HOW CUTE IS HE!?!?!!! I tell ya, he stole my heart the minute I saw him!
I created my card with a masculine theme in mind...something I could give to my DH. Because I had to refrain from using my beloved lace, pearls, and bling I came up with another way to add interest to my card - a pull-out tag! I used some string to "hold" the tag in place and added just a few embellishments - all fitting my "non-frilly" guy theme!
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Like what you’ve seen so far? Just leave a comment here on this post before 6 PM Eastern on Friday, January 15 and you’ll be put in a drawing to win this set! Winners will be announced at our release party Friday night.
And for even more chances to win some Vervey goodness, be sure to check out the Release Week Challenges going on in the Verve Forum this week!

The Divas are helping us party all week long, with 5 fabulous release week challenges! Play along by this Friday, January 15 at 6PM Eastern for your chance to win our ENTIRE release! We're also giving out $25 gift certificates in the individual challenges, so if you can't do them all, be sure to at least get what you can uploaded. You can check out all the challenges and details on THIS THREAD in our SCS forum.
Our release party will be this Friday night (January 15) at 9PM Eastern. We'll be revealing 5 new sets and 2 plain jane singles, as well as chatting and announcing all of our release week winners. Be there or be square! Oh, WHERE you ask? Over on the Release Party thread in our forum!