April Diva Dare - Day 12

Hi Verve fans!  I'm here wrapping up this month's Diva Dare mash-up of Charmaine and Marisa.  If you haven't played along you still have until Wednesday, May 1 to join in the fun for a chance to win some new Verve!  I'll add the linky form to the bottom of this post so it will be easy to find when you come back to link up. {grin}  And don't forget there's a comment prize picked from all the comments along the Diva Dare blog posts!  You can find links to each post in the series over on the sidebar. -->

For my little homage to Charmaine, I picked an embossing folder (which I'm pretty sure Charmaine has enabled me to buy every single one in my collection!) and a clean fun layout, with lots of white space and contrasting bold colors.  For Marisa, I went with a butterfly die, some super flowery paper, a fun little bow and an angled square because she's learning to embrace tilted panels so well!  {grin}.

The butterfly was the start to my card, stamping the butterfly from So Fluttery in gumball green and cutting out with the Flutterby Die.  I've been on a washi kick lately, so I adhered a fun colorful bity of it to a patterned paper square, doodled a little frame around it and stamped the hello sentiment from Remember This directly on the tape in archival ink.  The ribbon is from SU! and I added a button, twine and a fun little stick pin for embellishment.  Liquid pearls and some rhinestones finish my accents and the card base is embossed in chevron for just a hint of texture.

All of the stamps and dies I've used on today's card are on sale!  If you haven't seen it, be sure to check out the April SALE going on at Verve through the end of this month!  There's a whole bunch of stamps & dies marked 10 - 30% off! 
   
Enabler's List
Stamps: So Fluttery, Remember This (Verve Stamps)
Paper: On Trend (Crate Paper), Gumball Green (SU!), white
Ink: Black, Gumball Green (SU!)
Accessories:  Flutterby Die (A Cut Above by VERVE), Classic & Scallop Square Nestabilities (Spellbinders), ribbon & button, Chevron embossing folder (SU!), white linen thread (TCP), rhinestones (My Mind's Eye), liquid pearls (Ranger), crystal clear stick pin (Pizzazz Aplenty)

And as a little re-cap here are two ways you can win some shiny new Verve! 

1. Win a $40 Verve gift certificate! Play along with our March Diva Dare and link up your creation to the linky widget entry form.  A winner will be chosen by random draw. To be eligible, your entry must:
• Be a new creation - posted April 12th or later.
• Be a card or project using bright colours and having a flower and/or butterfly (or other die shape) as your focal point.
• Use at least one Verve product.
• Be added to the linky widget before 5pm Mountain on Wednesday, May 1.
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 this month's dare weekdays through April 29th.  A random comment winner will be chosen from all the comments over the course of the Dare.
3. Winners will be announced on Friday, May 3rd.

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

April Diva Dare-Day 11

Hey there!  It's Laurie here with Day 11 of the Diva Dare!  I have a card today using Andrea's amazing sketch for week 4 of Viva La Verve.  You can check that out on SCS and play along too!  :)



Here is my take on the sketch...

This month the Diva Dare is to find inspiration from two of our Divas - Marisa and Charmaine.  The theme for the month is "Bright Blooms and Butterflies"!  I thought some fun bright springy colors and a some butterflies on my card would totally do the trick!  :)  I stamped this amazing PJ called Beautiful on to white card stock and then layered it up with some fun papers from Studio Calico.  I added in some butterflies and bling as well!  

Wanna win some Verve?  Check this out...

1. Win a $40 Verve gift certificate! Play along with our March Diva Dare and link up your creation to the linky widget entry form.  A winner will be chosen by random draw. To be eligible, your entry must:
• Be a new creation - posted April 12th or later.
• Be a card or project using bright colours and having a flower and/or butterfly (or other die shape) as your focal point.
• Use at least one Verve product.
• Be added to the linky widget before 5pm Mountain on Wednesday, May 1.
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 this month's dare weekdays through April 29th.  A random comment winner will be chosen from all the comments over the course of the Dare.
3. Winners will be announced on Friday, May 3rd.

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

April Diva Dare ~ Day 10

Hey there!! Amber here with the next Diva Dare project! Have you been hopping along with us each day so far? Aren't the projects amazing? I love what these Diva's pull out of their sleeves every month, they're truly amazing!!

This month, we are being inspired by two of our Divas - Marisa and Charmaine and our theme for the month is "Bright Blooms and Butterflies"!  Think bright colors, flowers, butterflies...basically all of my favorite things, ha! Add some ribbon and some bling and I'm a happy girl:)

I have a little bit of all of our challenge requirements on this fun card! I had so much fun with it, just stampin', die cuttin, and glueing away!! The sentiment and flowers are from Surely Goodness. I stamped the sentiment in Melon Mambo ink on a banner cut out using my Banner Bundle Die Set. I cut some flowers out with the Goodness Flowers die set and stamped the coordinating flowers from Surely Goodness. The leaves are from Bloom and Grow and cut out with the Elegant Leaves die. You can also see where I used the scalloped heart border die from the Scalloped Trim Trio die, SUCH a fun die!! The butterfly is from So Fluttery and is cut out with the coordinating Flutterby die.

Well that's it from me! Want details on how you can win BIG??? 

1. Win a $40 Verve gift certificate! Play along with our March Diva Dare and link up your creation to the linky widget entry form.  A winner will be chosen by random draw. To be eligible, your entry must:
• Be a new creation - posted April 12th or later.
• Be a card or project using bright colours and having a flower and/or butterfly (or other die shape) as your focal point.
• Use at least one Verve product.
• Be added to the linky widget before 5pm Mountain on Wednesday, May 1.
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 this month's dare weekdays through April 29th.  A random comment winner will be chosen from all the comments over the course of the Dare.
3. Winners will be announced on Friday, May 3rd.

April Diva Dare - Day 9

Hi Verve fans!  Laurie here, and it's my turn to share with you how I answered this month's dare! 
This month, we are being inspired by two of our Divas - Marisa and Charmaine!  The theme is actually called "Bright Blooms and Butterflies"! 

So, I admit to being a bit of a Diva Dare rebel.  Yep.  It's true.  LOL!  As I was browsing through Marisa and Charmaine's  blogs I was so smitten with  some of their cards they made using the new Shining Star set!  You can see the card Marisa made HERE and the one Charmaine made HERE.

I was also so taken with how they both liked to use white card bases, so that is what inspired how I started my card!  I chose some brightly colored patterned paper and also added in some dry embossing (two things that Charmaine is known for).

To embellish my card, I added some vellum stars that I made using the new Starry Die as well as some bling...gotta have some bling!  :-)


Now it's time for you to take this dare to your crafty space and you know if you do there are two ways you can win some shiny new Verve!  Yay!

1. Win a $40 Verve gift certificate! Play along with our March Diva Dare and link up your creation to the linky widget entry form.  A winner will be chosen by random draw. To be eligible, your entry must:
• Be a new creation - posted April 12th or later.
• Be a card or project using bright colours and having a flower and/or butterfly (or other die shape) as your focal point.
• Use at least one Verve product.
• Be added to the linky widget before 5pm Mountain on Wednesday, May 1.
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 this month's dare weekdays through April 29th.  A random comment winner will be chosen from all the comments over the course of the Dare.
3. Winners will be announced on Friday, May 3rd.

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

 

April Diva Dare - Day 8

Hey there, Diva Dare fans! It's such a fun challenge this month with our Diva duo Charmaine and Marisa to look to for inspiration. How have you been dared in the challenge so far? It's a delightful combination with these two talented Divas and this is how I took the dare.

It all started with the trim. I tell ya my Scalloped Trim Trio Die Set has been missing in action so when I found it just in time for today, the rest of my card was wrapped around it. I'm so happy to have my Trim Trio back. I pulled out some pattern paper from the Miss Caroline Dolled Up paper pad by My Mind's Eye and layered it with some Night of Navy cardstock. The papers were layered and paper pierced where I then added my two Circle Trim dies. {happy grin}

The largest die from the Banner Bundle Set was used for the sentiment panel stamped in Tuxedo Black from the Surely Goodness Set. The So Fluttery butterfly is also stamped in Tuxedo Black and colored with Copic markers then fussy cut out. The next part is a little silly. I wanted to test out the flowers from the Loopy Blooms Die Set so I cut them out from white copy paper. I like the thin look to them and added enamel dots from the MME Honey Love set. I added the twine last, navigating all the flowers like a butterfly and strategically gluing it down in three spots. My card is definitely dolled up. 

My card is inspired by the Mojo Monday sketch 290 and loosely resembles it because those flowers and butterfly had a mind of their own.

Now it's time for you to take this dare to your crafty space and you know if you do there are two ways you can win some shiny new Verve!  Yay!

1. Win a $40 Verve gift certificate! Play along with our March Diva Dare and link up your creation to the linky widget entry form.  A winner will be chosen by random draw. To be eligible, your entry must:
• Be a new creation - posted April 12th or later.
• Be a card or project using bright colours and having a flower and/or butterfly (or other die shape) as your focal point.
• Use at least one Verve product.
• Be added to the linky widget before 5pm Mountain on Wednesday, May 1.
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 this month's dare weekdays through April 29th.  A random comment winner will be chosen from all the comments over the course of the Dare.
3. Winners will be announced on Friday, May 3rd.

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

April Diva Dare - Day 7

Hey there everyone, Christyne here on this wonderful Monday morning bringing you some inspiration for this this month's Diva Dare over at Verve.  During April we are featuring the styles of Diva Charmaine (Oodabug Alley) and Diva Marisa (Rosemary Reflections).  Combining the cheerful, bright colors of Charmaine and the butterflies of Marisa'a work, we arrive at a "Bright Blooms and Butterflies" theme.  

To start my card, I decided to use the My Mind's Eye - Happer paper collection because the little bugs reminded my of Charmaine's blog theme and this paper is very "bright" by my standards.  To highlight Marisa'a use of butterflies, I have two from the new Verve So Fluttery set, all done up with pearls!! I also decided to keep my card clean, unsponged, and undistressed as a nod to these two ladies' clean styles.  The sentiment panel was created using the Scroll PJ and the Scroll die.  The "With Love" sentiment from the With Love set was just a perfect fit for inside the scroll PJ.  I also fit in a little piece of the Banner Bundle die set since that set no sooner gets put away before it's back on the stamp desk again (can you say addicted to pennants!).  I  decided to pair the Diva Dare theme with the April week four Viva la Verve! sketch and inspiration piece from Andrea (below).  Well, that's a bunch of challenges that we're throwing at you but who doesn't love "Bright Blooms and Butterflies" in the spring!!  I can't wait to see what you all come up with!!

Click Here To Link Up Your Creation!

Finally, noted below are two ways you can win some shiny new Verve!  

1. Win a $40 Verve gift certificate! Play along with our March Diva Dare and link up your creation to the linky widget entry form.  A winner will be chosen by random draw. To be eligible, your entry must:
• Be a new creation - posted April 12th or later.
• Be a card or project using bright colours and having a flower and/or butterfly (or other die shape) as your focal point.
• Use at least one Verve product.
• Be added to the linky widget before 5pm Mountain on Wednesday, May 1.
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 this month's dare weekdays through April 29th.  A random comment winner will be chosen from all the comments over the course of the Dare.
3. Winners will be announced on Friday, May 3rd.

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

April Diva Dare -Day 6

Hello Verve friends! Andrea posting here today with not one but two challenges...rolled into one! Not only is today my day to share my Diva Dare project, but I've also combined it with this week's Viva La Verve sketch which I'm hosting!
When I heard the name of this month's Diva Dare "Bright Blooms and Butterflies" I knew it would be a great combination as Charmaine whips those bright colors together in short order to make some delightfully cheery, uplifting cards and Marisa...'Queen of Darling Die Cuts'... I mean have you seen how she assembles paper flowers? Don't even get me started on her fondness for maple leaves! :)
Here's my combo card, using bright colors (by my standards :) and lots {and I mean LOTS} of Verve die-cuts:

I generally use muted, neutrals on my cards so this was really a step out the box for me. It felt refreshing to add some good old-fashioned color to my card (thanks, Charmaine!). I also wanted to duplicate the small rolled flowers that Marisa expertly creates for her cards, so my project also shows my attempt at those sweet things.

 I used Crate Paper's colorful Farmhouse collection and added loads of Verve dies, namely the Curvy Bookplate die which encompasses both a Mini Bookplate die and a Flag-It die for the sentiment. That overlays two Banner Bundle dies, matted and attached to the sentiment panel. Also tucked in there is an All Aflutter die. There are also Dreamy Leaves dies which were stamped with the greenery from the Dream Big set. The 'hello' sentiment is from Remember This, part of Verve's latest release.

{By far not a mailable card, by normal standards anyway, but then it wouldn't be an Andrea card if it were flat...  :)}

Here's the Viva La Verve sketch for this week:

And an inspiration pic to get your creative juices flowing:

(For the Viva La Verve challenge, you can use just the sketch, just the inspiration (pick colors, a layout, a theme, etc from the inspiration picture), or you can combine both challenges into one card!)

Below are two ways you can win some shiny new Verve!  

1. Win a $40 Verve gift certificate! Play along with our March Diva Dare and link up your creation to the linky widget entry form.  A winner will be chosen by random draw. To be eligible, your entry must:
• Be a new creation - posted April 12th or later.
• Be a card or project using bright colours and having a flower and/or butterfly (or other die shape) as your focal point.
• Use at least one Verve product.
• Be added to the linky widget before 5pm Mountain on Wednesday, May 1.
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 this month's dare weekdays through April 29th.  A random comment winner will be chosen from all the comments over the course of the Dare.
3. Winners will be announced on Friday, May 3rd.

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

April Diva Dare ~ Day 5

Greetings Verve fans!  Maureen here with you this morning for Day 5 of this month's Diva Dare!   This month we are challenging you to "Bright Blooms and Butterflies", a combination of Diva Charmaine's (Oodabug Alley) and Marisa's (Rosemary Reflections) signature styles. Charmaine often uses wonderful, bright colours on her cards and Marisa uses lots of flowers and butterflies. So this month, we dare you to create a colourful card using either a flower or butterfly image, (or if you'd prefer... a fun die shape) as the focal element. 

When I visit Charmaine's blog, her colour and paper choices always make me smile :)  I noticed she used this particular patterned paper on her sweet creation HERE.  So that was my starting point.  I also wanted to put one of the  sentiments from Remember This onto gray cardstock with white embossing powder for a chalkboard-ish look like Charmaine has done a few times.  The other sentiment was stamped onto the small banner image which fits perfectly onto one of the banners in the Banner Bundle Die set.  I also tucked two Flag It banners onto the side of the note page panel.  Marisa loves butterflies so it was easy to reach for the Flutterby die again using balsa wood.  AND to make things a little more sparkly, I stamped the coordinating image from So Fluttery with Stampin' Up's heat and stick.  Then I sprinkled on some pink glitter and heat set it.  Some sparkly stars from the Starry die and some more of that delicious, buttery Spring Fling seam binding were fun additions to these 2 Divas' styles.  This is how I answered the Dare, how will YOU?

Click Here To Link Up Your Creation!

Finally, noted below are two ways you can win some shiny new Verve!  

1. Win a $40 Verve gift certificate! Play along with our March Diva Dare and link up your creation to the linky widget entry form.  A winner will be chosen by random draw. To be eligible, your entry must:
• Be a new creation - posted April 12th or later.
• Be a card or project using bright colours and having a flower and/or butterfly (or other die shape) as your focal point.
• Use at least one Verve product.
• Be added to the linky widget before 5pm Mountain on Wednesday, May 1.
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 this month's dare weekdays through April 29th.  A random comment winner will be chosen from all the comments over the course of the Dare.
3. Winners will be announced on Friday, May 3rd.

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

April Diva Dare Day 4

Howdy everyone! Jen here with you this morning for Day 4 of this month's Diva Dare!   This month we are challenging you to "Bright Blooms and Butterflies", a combination of Diva Charmaine's (Oodabug Alley) and Diva Marisa's (Rosemary Reflections) signature styles. Charmaine often uses wonderful, bright colours on her cards and Marisa uses lots of lowers and butterflies. So this month, we dare you to create a colorful card using either a flower or butterfly image, (or if you'd prefer... a fun die shape) as the focal element. 

 

For my card I started with an old sketch I had sitting around on my desk that I wasn't quite sure what to do with and a background I made a while back but didn't end up using because it was too bright for the card I was making. It just so happens that the two seemed to be meant for each other. :) The background is made using the large flowers from Surely Goodness embossed on watercolor paper with white embossing powder and then I used all the warm yellows, oranges and reds in my Distress Marker set to color over the the entire paper. I activated the ink with a paint brush and water to make the colors flow a little bit. I then used a baby wipe to clean up the white embossing where the color stuck a little extra. The top panel is embossed with a Sizzix embossing folder. The sentiment is from Surely Goodness and die cut with one of the Flag It Dies. The three little flags are a portion of the Pennant Trim Die and the wonderful butterflies are die cut using the Flutterby Die and embossed with a Cuttlebug embossing folder.

That's my take on Charmaine's wonderful bright colors and Marissa's flowers and butterflies! I can't wait to see what YOU make!

Click Here To Link Up Your Creation!

Finally, noted below are two ways you can win some shiny new Verve!  

1. Win a $40 Verve gift certificate! Play along with our March Diva Dare and link up your creation to the linky widget entry form.  A winner will be chosen by random draw. To be eligible, your entry must:
• Be a new creation - posted April 12th or later.
• Be a card or project using bright colours and having a flower and/or butterfly (or other die shape) as your focal point.
• Use at least one Verve product.
• Be added to the linky widget before 5pm Mountain on Wednesday, May 1.
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 this month's dare weekdays through April 29th.  A random comment winner will be chosen from all the comments over the course of the Dare.
3. Winners will be announced on Friday, May 3rd.

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

April Diva Dare-Day 3

Hello Verve Fans!  It's Charmaine and today I'm bringing you Day 3 of this month's Diva Dare!!  This month we are challenging you to "Bright Blooms and Butterflies", a combination of mine (Oodabug Alley) and Diva Marisa's (Rosemary Reflections) signature styles. I often use wonderful, bright colors on my cards and Marisa uses lots of flowers and butterflies. So this month, we dare you to create a colorful card using either a flower or butterfly image, (or if you'd prefer... a fun die shape) as the focal element. 

It's funny. . .when I sat down to make my card, I felt so much pressure!  LOL  The flower and butterfly part of the challenge was easy, but when I thought "make a card in my signature style", for some reason the pressure was on.  I never really thought I had a "signature style".  When I create, I don't usually think "hmmm. . .where's my bright papers?"  So I thought about it and yes I do LOVE color!  I love bright, fun colors. . .I love soft, sweet colors and I really love pops of color.  I decided to go with a pop of color for my card.  I used the So Fluttery set for my card along with a flower from the Surely Goodness set.  The butterflies were die cut using the Flutterby Die and then stamped with the Flannel Kaleidacolor pad.  When I was thinking about "my signature style", I felt like I stamped and embossed in white on black cardstock a lot, so I incorporated that into this card.  The flowers were stamped in Versamark and embossed in black.  

So, that's my take on the April Diva Dare!  Hope you'll play along because we LOVE to see what you create!

Click Here To Link Up Your Creation!

Finally, noted below are two ways you can win some shiny new Verve!  

1. Win a $40 Verve gift certificate! Play along with our March Diva Dare and link up your creation to the linky widget entry form.  A winner will be chosen by random draw. To be eligible, your entry must:
• Be a new creation - posted April 12th or later.
• Be a card or project using bright colours and having a flower and/or butterfly (or other die shape) as your focal point.
• Use at least one Verve product.
• Be added to the linky widget before 5pm Mountain on Wednesday, May 1.
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 this month's dare weekdays through April 29th.  A random comment winner will be chosen from all the comments over the course of the Dare.
3. Winners will be announced on Friday, May 3rd.

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

April Diva Dare-Day 2

Good morning Verve fans, Teresa here with you this morning for Day 2 of this month's Diva Dare!   This month we are challenging you to "Bright Blooms and Butterflies", a combination of Diva Charmaine's (Oodabug Alley) and Diva Marisa's (Rosemary Reflections) signature styles. Charmaine often uses wonderful, bright colours on her cards and Marisa uses lots of lowers and butterflies. So this month, we dare you to create a colorful card using either a flower or butterfly image, (or if you'd prefer... a fun die shape) as the focal element. 

I have used today's Mojo Monday Sketch to start and then I went for the bright colored patterned papers.  I used the gorgeous flower from the Surely Goodness set and the matching die to cut it out; Goodness Flowers Die Set.  I used the Plain Jane birthday sentiment Birthday To You.  I scattered a few butterflies with sweet gemstones added and a few matching buttons.  This is how I answered this month's dare, can't wait to see how you answer the dare....have fun!

Click Here To Link Up Your Creation!

Finally, noted below are two ways you can win some shiny new Verve!  

1. Win a $40 Verve gift certificate! Play along with our March Diva Dare and link up your creation to the linky widget entry form.  A winner will be chosen by random draw. To be eligible, your entry must:
• Be a new creation - posted April 12th or later.
• Be a card or project using bright colours and having a flower and/or butterfly (or other die shape) as your focal point.
• Use at least one Verve product.
• Be added to the linky widget before 5pm Mountain on Wednesday, May 1.
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 this month's dare weekdays through April 29th.  A random comment winner will be chosen from all the comments over the course of the Dare.
3. Winners will be announced on Friday, May 3rd.

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

April Diva Dare - Day 1

Hello Verve Fans!  It's Marisa here, kicking off this month's Diva Dare entitled "Bright Blooms and Butterflies".  This month's dare combines a bit of Diva Charmaine's (Oodabug Alley) and Diva Marisa's (Rosemary Reflections) signature styles:  Charmaine often uses wonderful, bright colours on her cards, and I use a plethora of flowers and butterflies on mine.  So this month, we dare you to create a colorful card using either a flower or butterfly image, (or if you'd prefer... a fun die shape) as the focal element.   Here is the card I created for this month's dare.

Bright colours and bold patterns are not something I use very often on my cards so this was a stretch for me!  I dug around in my paper stash and opted to go with this chevron paper from MME's Happy Day.  I used the circle die from the  Scalloped Trim Trio set to create a border and then heat embossed the fabulous flower from Surely Goodness in white on both Only Orange and Certainly Celery paper and then used the matching Goodness Flower Die Set to cut them out.  Of course, where there is a flower there needs to be a butterfly so I out came my beloved Flutterby Die.  I VersaMarked the solid image from So Fluttery on to the cut out and added some black pearls for the body.   A yellow ribbon finished things off nicely.

I must say this card is definitely growing on me.  It is always good to stretch yourself out of your comfort zone so you don't get stuck in a rut, and who knows, you may find you like what you tried -- I did :) 
 
Finally, noted below are two ways you can win some shiny new Verve! 

1. Win a $40 Verve gift certificate! Play along with our March Diva Dare and link up your creation to the linky widget entry form.  A winner will be chosen by random draw. To be eligible, your entry must:
• Be a new creation - posted April 12th or later.
• Be a card or project using bright colours and having a flower and/or butterfly (or other die shape) as your focal point.
• Use at least one Verve product.
• Be added to the linky widget before 5pm Mountain on Wednesday, May 1.
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 this month's dare weekdays through April 29th.  A random comment winner will be chosen from all the comments over the course of the Dare.
3. Winners will be announced on Friday, May 3rd.

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