Tuesday, April 20, 2010

New Release Spotlight - Day 1

Hey there! Jen Tapler here and I'm soooo excited to be sharing the first day of New Release Spotlights with you for this Totally Rad Verve Beach Party Release!! I know I say it every time, but this time I really do mean it - this is my absolute favorite release Julee has put together. I don't know, maybe it's the Maui Surfer Girl in me *wink*, but this entire release has me SO excited!! I've been bugging Julee for just about forever for some tropical-ish stamps and boy did she deliver!! But don't worry, not ALL of the sets this release are beachy - they are all super fabulous though! Some of the Divas and I will be sharing a few projects with you using the new Relax set, which is a totally "beachin" (ha! get it?) set of 19 stamps that will have those of you on the mainland even more anxious for summer than you already are (and those of us on Maui just anxious for the weekend!).

Take a look at what we've done...

From Diva Jackie Pedro:

Have you been yearning for warmer weather? Well, hold onto your sun hat ladies, because Verve is going tropical with this month's release! Julee has come out with some fun, whimsical and beautiful stamps for this month's release! You will not be disappointed! I couldn't wait to give you a sneak peek of the set we are previewing for you today called Relax. I created a fun beachy scene using the palm tree, sun and two of the five surfboards that are included in the set. The sand is a cool new product that I recently picked up at my local Scrap Store. It's called Sand Paste (by Mudd Puddles) and this particular sand is called Jamaican Beach. I cut the image out with a Labels One Nestability and before removing it from the die sponged Cool Caribbean ink around the edges. I added some fun sugared glitter (Doodlebug) to the coconuts and the center of the sun. The patterned paper is Thrift Shop by October Afternoon and the sketch is from our own Diva, Mercy Kerin (MTSC70). The inside reads simply "Relax". Can you see yourself relaxing on this beach? I sure can!!


From Diva Susan Liles:
Well, Aloha! Susan here and I'm so excited about the newest release from Verve! These stamps are going to fill the void a lot of us have when it comes to masculine stamps. And the fear of making masculine cards? Well, kiss it good-bye! These stamps will make handsome, manly cards a breeze! Speaking of which - making a handsome, manly card was my first thought when it came time to create this project, but I was inspired to go a different direction as I was browsing the Target "dollar-to-two-dollar-and-fifty-cents" spot a couple of days ago. They had some adorable wooden signs that were perfect for a sunroom, pool area or any room decorated in an island or Hawaiian theme. So I took a picture (I'm old and needed that to remember) and came came home and put my own spin on it solely from stamps, paper and cardstock - well, and a little cork! I used 8 stamps from the new set, Relax. There are so many fun elements to it, I just couldn't stop myself! I'm sure ya'll are already drooling at what Jen and the other girls made, too, but hold onto your surfboards, because you're going to love "hangin' ten" with all the stamps coming your way with this new release!

From Diva Lynda Benden:

Oh my gosh, I LOVE this set and believe me, you are going to as well! I had such a great time putting this card together!! The card base is Select White and is 5 1/2" square. I also used True Black and Pumpkin Pie CS. The decorative orange paper is from Fancy Pants and the "sand" paper is some old stuff I had in my stash!! I cut an oval in the Fnacy Pants DP using my oval Nesties and then added a Prima Say it in Crystals Frame. To make the sunset in the window, I sponged Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Summer Sun and Barely Banana ink on glossy whiteCS for the sky and Night of Navy, Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze and Soft Sky for the water. I also added some Clear Ranger Crackle paint on the water to make it look more realistic! I then tore the sand paper, sponged Frayed Burlap (Ranger) ink and layered it toward the bottom of the "window". I stamped the AWESOME palm trees on Select White CS, colored using my Copics, cut them out, added brown flock to the coconuts and adhered them using dimensionals. The DARLING sun was stamped on Select White as well, colored using Copics, cut out and then added Yellow Stickles because there HAS to be glitter on the sun!! LOL! The final step was to add the black Pink Paislee ruffled ribbon and topped it off with some linen thread.

And from me, Diva Jen Tapler:
I think I already pointed out that I am totally in love with this Relax set!! Living on Maui, I am constantly on the lookout for a stamp set like this! I know what a shortage of cute tropical / Hawaiiana / Beach themed stamp sets there are out there and Julee totally nailed it with this set! And I can see so many uses for this set besides just summer cards - it's the PERFECT set for those vacation scrapbook pages, for a fun beach-themed birthday party, and I have about a gazillion little gift ideas planned! For my sneak peek I created a bright a cheerful hybrid card using 3 of the 5 surfboard images in the set and the Relax sentiment. I used Kraft and Chocolate Chip CS along with printed digi papers (the label is a printed digi embellishment too) from the Color Me Crazy kit by Melissa Bennett (Sweet Shoppe). The card sketch is an old Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge by Karen Giron (SSSC52). I finished it up by adding some messy stitching around the perimeter of the card.

Like what you've seen so far? Just leave a comment on this post and tell us at what Tropical Destination you dream of finding yourself RELAX-ing. Comment before 6:00 PM Eastern on Friday, April 23 and you'll be put in a drawing to win this set! The lucky winner will be announced at our Beach Party Release Party Friday night. And for even more chances to win some new Verve, be sure to check out the Beach Party Challenges going on in our forum! Stay tuned tomorrow for another fabulous new release spotlight!