April Diva Inspirations Blog Hop

Hi Verve fans!  Welcome to our April Diva Inspirations Hop! It's the 5th of the month and that means it's time for the Verve Inspiration Team to breathe new life into some much-loved stamps and dies. And there's a PRIZE up for grabs! So be sure to leave a little shout out in the comment section of each blog as you hop about to be entered in a drawing for a $30 gift certificate to Verve Stamps! Deadline for the comment drawing is 8PM MDT on Wednesday, April 10.

This month we're also saying a fond farewell to Jen del Muro, as this is her last hop as a Verve Diva. She's been such an inspiration in her 5+ years with Verve both with her creations and her fabulous ideas.  You can thank her creative little mind for the concepts and inspiration behind the sets & dies pictured below and even a brand new set in our next release!  She's already made a tremendous impact on Verve and the stamping world and we're excited to see what she has in store for us as she starts her own stamp company.  Congrats, Jen!  We wish you a world of success!!!

Love's Flower	Loopy Blooms Die Set	Making a Statement	Rounded Scallop Frame Die
Text Objects	To the Moon	Treasured Words

Okay, on with the HOPPING!!! Here's the master hop list, it all starts over at my personal blog, Poetic Artistry.

	1. Julee	7. Sankari
	2. Amy	8. Sarah
	3. Anya	9. Sony
	4. Jen d.	10. Susan
	5. Jessica	11. Tiffany
	6. Karen

While you're hopping around, you might just notice a few sets that are on sale...

With a new month comes a new sale! This month we're clearing a little room in the stock room for our newest release {coming sometime in May}, so we've marked down almost 100 sets and dies 30% off! Prices are valid while supplies last, so be sure to check it out before your favorites are gone. We've also got a 10% sale on our newly released stamps and dies and the sets inspired by Jen! Methinks it might be time to buy yourself a little something to celebrate the changing of the seasons!  {grin}

Winter Release Project Parade ~ Day 7

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Happy Black Friday!  Hopefully you had a wonderful Thanksgiving that was stuffed with family and fun!  If you're shopping today, don't forget to stop by the Verve store to see the great sale that Julee has set up for all Verve fans!  It's a trio of savings!

During the holiday season, I like to give out little somethings from my kitchen to friends and neighbors. This year I made homemade caramel dipping sauce...DELISH!  Of course, I couldn't just give them a jar of caramel sauce, I had to give them a PRETTY jar of caramel sauce!  Here are the 3 jars decorated up in the spirit of the Thanksgiving season.  You could switch up the color scheme and add more "Christmas-y" sentiments to make these as Christmas gifties.  Details follow the below the pics.

{{CLICK ON IMAGES FOR LARGER VIEW}}

JAR ONE...

 

JAR TWO...

 JAR THREE...

 

Recipe for Caramel Sauce posted HERE.

For the first jar, I created a simple rosette that is topped with a Prima flower, buttons and a sentiment from the MERRY WISHES set.

The second jar features a sentiment from the GLAD TIDINGS set and the cutie patootie mittens are from the WINTER MITTENS sets.  I love that there are little additions, like the heart that you can adorn the mittens with!

The third jar uses a sentiment from the GLAD TIDINGS set paired with both the SWEET SCALLOP TAG stamp and die.

I'm looking forward to making a bunch more of these for Christmas.  Hopefully I will find the time to decorate some bags and make cards to coordinate with the jars...a new trio, if you will!

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---- One lucky contestant who plays along with the Triple Play Challenge, will receive the entire January Release AND will be our Guest Diva for the month of January!!! WOOHOO!!!

---- As always, we've hidden a little prize along the parade. A lucky random commenter on one of the official Parade posts (11/17 through 12/7) will receive a $25 Verve gift certificate!!

--- View all the challenge and prize details and submit your Triple Play Challenge projects using the official Project Parade Entry Form and check out all the details of this month's project parade!!!!

August Release Project Parade: Day One

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Greetings Verve Fans!  It's time for some more inspiration using your Verve stamps with this month's Project Parade...

The theme for this Project Parade is "Something Old, Something New."  You might be thinking "wedding," but it's actually something just a little different.  We have challenged ourselves and YOU to use a previously released Verve set with one of the sets that was released on August 20th.  If you don't have both a new and an older Verve set, don't worry.  Just mix an older set from your stash with a new-to-you set and join the fun!  We'd love for everyone to play along!

My friend, Susan, created a super fun card with a spinning monkey a little while back and I just got an order for a girl's birthday card using a monkey.  I called Susan up and asked if she minded if I copied her for the Project Parade, since a certain 7.5 month old has been beating the creativity out of me (yep, I said that out loud!).  This is what I came up...

Detail shot of a wild birthday monkey...

The new set that I used is BIRTHDAY BASH and the previously released set, LOVE MONKEY.  Both are playful and fun and the images work well together.  I stamped the balloons slightly off the page.  We'll say that was completely on purpose and wasn't an accident that worked in my favor...that's my story and I'm sticking to it!  Both the monkey and the balloons look great paper pieced.  I thought it would be a little much if I did both, so I just stuck with the balloons.  All in all, it's a fun and simple card that I hope will be the perfect one for the little girl it's made for.

1. Play along with us and link up your new SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW creation (posted August 25th or later) to the linky widget on TODAY'S (Day 1) parade post before midnight on Wednesday, September 15th. One lucky stamper will win a $30.00 gift certificate to the Verve Store.

2. For another chance to win, be sure to give the Divas a little shout-out in the comments section as we parade our SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW creations. One lucky commenter during the course of the parade will win the Verve stamp set of their choosing!

July Project Parade~Day One...

Welcome to Verve's July Project Parade!!  This month's theme is very fun and spirited...

. . . . . MY HERO . . . . .

This may be a person serving your country, a family member or a friend.  For mine, I was inspired by 2 things...people who in general make my life happy and those fighting for our freedom.  When brainstorming for this project, I knew that I wanted something fun, festive, a 3D project and, of course, a little chocolate always makes it better...right!!??  So this is what I came up with using the new Verve release, American Hero...

Are you looking at this and questioning "what in the world are those?"  They are chocolate dipped and sprinkled marshmallows on lollipop sticks. YUMMY!

I created the base of the box by cutting out 4 Nestabilities die cuts from red cardstock and scoring them on each side, as well as along the bottom.  I then attached another piece of cardstock to the bottom, creating a box.  I cut out 4 more of the Nestabilities from white cardstock and then just cut out a strip about an inch wide from the middle portion.  I used a styrofoam sphere that I cut flat on one side and adhered to the inside of the box using hot glue to hold the lollipop sticks in place.  The ribbons were tied around the lollipop sticks and are supposed to reminiscent of fireworks.  I placed a stamped and punched star with a shiny rhinestone over the knot to give it a little something "extra."

To make the marshmallows you need:

Large marshmallows
Dipping Chocolate (I used Baker's in it's own microwavable container)
Sprinkles
Lollipop Sticks

To make them...
Heat chocolate according to packaging instructions.  Place a marshmallow on a lollipop stick and dip into chocolate.  Shake excess chocolate off (I actually twisted it off so there wouldn't be too much on the marshmallow).  Roll in the sprinkles and place stick upright  (I used a stryofoam block) and place in refrigerator to harden.

Here are a few more shots of the marshmallows and supplies...

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And as with all of our project parades, there are prizes!!!!


1. Play along with us and link up your new My Hero creation (posted July 12th or later) to the linky widget on TODAY'S (Day 1) parade post before midnight on July 30th. One lucky stamper will win a $30.00 gift certificate to the Verve Store. Verve Stamps are not required, but we 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 parade our My Hero creations. One lucky commenter during the course of the parade (July 12 ~ July 28) will win the Verve stamp set of their choosing!

New Release Spotlight - Day 2!

Hello everyone, it's Teresa and I am thrilled to be able to introduce the new set Always On My Mind.  Jen d, Mercy, Sankari, and myself are bringing you the peeks for today.  This release is amazing, full of great quotes and sentiments using fantastic fonts.  Be sure to leave a comment for a chance to win this set!

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From Diva Jen d.


I just {heart} this set!  It's inspirational, caring and fun all in one.  I thought that this sentiment would make a good baby card and since baby blue decorates most of my house these days, I went ahead and made a boy{ish} card.

I used my pinked circle and star Nesties to create the focal point with the sentiment.  Each of the rectangular panels is stitched around the edge...I love doing that on baby cards!  And how about this FONT!!...oh my!  I love it and will be reaching for this set often because of it! 

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From Diva Mercy

Julee always has such a great eye for design, and always comes up with the best fonts in the whole world! This release is very whimsical and fun with lots of swirly fonts and fantastic images. Every set is a winner, but I wanted to peek one of my favorite sets called Always On My Mind.

I stamped one of the hanging elements three times in Black Ink onto a piece of PTI Cream Cardstock, then colored them with Copics Sketch Markers.  I stamped one of the sentiments in the set into the lower right corner, then added some Hot Pink Rhinestones for a little sparkle.  I reached for my October Afternoon Farm Fresh and Fly A Kite paper pads to coordinate with the colors of my little hearts.  A little stitching, distressing, numerous Dimensionals, and Spiral Punch later...you have my completed card.

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From Diva Sankari

HI Verve Fans - its Sankari here - and I simply adore this awesome release that Julee has created! The sentiments in this (like every) release are so perfect - they express exactly what is in your heart! I loved this sentiment "You're in every one of my thoughts today" - it really expresses something so heartfelt and full of love and its almost like you are sending a piece of your heart when you give this to someone.

I wanted to create a feeling of the love from my heart emanating outwards - so I created little rays and waves flowing out by curing some paper and popping it up with dimensionals - of course I had to add a little liquid pearls to embellish (what can I say - I am addicted to liquid pearls and Verve :)) I love this sentiment - and can't wait to create more cards with the beautiful stamps in this lovely set!

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From Diva Teresa


This set is a must have, but hey all Verve is a must have, don't ya think?  I adore the sentiments, they are perfect for lots of occasions.  I could not help but think about those men and woman who are serving in the Armed Forces and the family members who are back home waiting for there safe return while making this card.  I had to add the heart from Hundred Hearts, I even made it blue to symbolize the missing you.  

I used one of the sketches for the Verve Release Challenges, this is from Viva la Verve Archives May '10 Week 1.  I used Chloe's Closet designer paper from Making Memories, I stamped the sentiment and flower onto the designer paper and heat embossed them.  I added a gemstone to the center of the flower and to the blue heart.  Enjoy!

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To celebrate this new release, there are some Release Week Challenges going on over at the Verve Forum!  Not only are they a fun way to jump start your creativity, but if you complete all of them, you will be entered for a chance to win the ENTIRE VERVE JUNE RELEASE!  OH yeah, that's what I'm talking about!  :-)

Speaking of the new release, we would love for you to join us for the Release Party over at the Verve Forum this Friday (June 25th) at 9 p.m. ET!!  We will be there chatting it up, sharing projects made with the new stamps, announcing all the contest winners, and of course revealing the new sets!

Like what you’ve seen so far? Just leave a comment here on this post before 6 PM Eastern on Friday, June 25th and you’ll be put in a drawing to win this set! Winners will be announced at our release party that night.

Project Parade~ Day Two

Welcome to day two of this month's Project Parade.  All of the Divas have great "Sizzlin' Summer Fun" projects to share in the upcoming days.  Did you see Charmaine's yesterday?  WOWZAS is that ever cuu-uute and creative!

I have been loving all of the fabric flowers that have been sprinkling the blogs over the past weeks.  I first really started to notice them about a month ago and went to You Tube and found a couple tutorials.  Here are a couple of the ones that I found that helped me create my flower....

Fabric Flower tutorial #1

Fabric Flower tutorial #2

Now that I have totally gotten into making these, I headed to Hancock Fabric this past weekend and picked up some fun summer-y type fabrics to create these fabric flowers.  I did mine in two layers; using 2 different sizes of scallop circle Nestabilities.  This is the flower that I came up with...

I thought this would be a fun gifty to someone going on vacation.  It's the perfect addition to a little sundress, sweater, purse, beach bag or you could even attach it to a headband for a cute hair accessory.  I attached the flower to a tag with coordinating papers and ribbon to complete the gift ensemble...

It's hard to tell from the photo above, but I added some clear embossing using the wave/flourish image from the set HAPPY DAYS to give it a little added dimension and texture...

Here are a couple more shots of the flower that I created...

Tag, you're it!  Come play along with the Divas for a chance at an awesome prize!

1. Play along with us and link up your new Sizzlin’ Summer Fun creation (posted May 17 or later) to the linky widget on Yesterday's (DAY ONE) parade post before midnight on June 7th. One lucky stamper will win a $30.00 gift certificate to the Verve Store. Verve Stamps are not required, but we 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 parade our Sizzlin’ Summer Fun creations. One lucky commenter during the course of the parade (May 17 ~ June 4) will win the Verve stamp set of their choosing!

New Release Spotlight - Day Three

Hey there!  It's Charmaine and today I get to introduce another new Verve set to you!  This set is called Blessings. Blessings is a set of 12 including wonderful sentiments and a few flourishes!  It's just beautiful!  You'll especially love this set if you're Irish!  :)  So let's see what the Divas have to share with you!

From Diva Laurie Schmidlin: 

Amazingly uplifting sentiments, beautiful fonts, & stunning images that coordinate perfectly...yes, Julee has done it again! Blessings is one of those "must-have" sets that can be used to create one-of-a-kind projects for so many different occasions! I just adore the unique flourishes that accompany the sentiments...ones that I will be reaching for over and over!



From Diva Jen del Muro:

I love what some refer to as "wedding season." All the pretty fresh colors and love in the air just makes for the perfect inspiration for a wedding card. This uses the soon to be released set, Blessings. Not only does this set have wedding wishes, but can be used for several other occasions. I look forward to making many more cards using this very versatile and fun set.



From Diva Shannan Teubner:

Hey, y'all! I'm so glad to finally be back with my fellow divas to showcase the upcoming release for April. Like I told Charmaine, it was good to finally get back into my stamp room and get messy...and boy did I!

I have been in love with the new Blessings set since I first laid eyes on it. This particular stamp in the set is especially close to my heart...our choir sang it many times in high school, and it is very special to me. My choir director is retiring this year, so I decided to make a special little gift for him to display in his office. Using the front page of a Basic Grey chipboard book as my starting point, I added Jillibean Soup papers, acrylic paint, jute, and buttons to create a wall hanging that would work just as well in a kitchen or bathroom as it would in an office or study. Now the hard part...letting it go!
 
 
 
From Diva Charmaine Ikach:
 

As you know from a previous Verve set, Beautiful You, this is one of my absolute favorite sentiments.  I was SO excited to see it in this set in another font!  This sentiment has always been a reminder to for me to "not sweat the small stuff."  Life is too short!  I also used the Hibiscus Plain Jane paired with one of the flourishes from Blessings.  I used Glossy Accents on the flower, so it really jumps out at you! 

From Guest Diva Christi Thorsen:

 

Blessed is a word that really describes me right now. I have a wonderful family, I am able to stay at home with my boys and do what I love, and I'm a guest Diva for my all-time favorite stamp companies. That's why I'm so excited to be showing off this gorgeous new set called Blessings. My stepdad recently lost his uncle so this set came at the perfect time. I based the colors of my card off of my new Marrakech dp from Basic Grey. I stamped my sentiment in Elegant Eggplant ink and one of the gorgeous flourishes from this set in Baja Breeze ink on either side of my sentiment, and cut it out using my circle Nestabilities and Cuttlebug. I cut out three panels from different patterns from the Marrikech pack, sponged the edges in Colorbox Chestnut Roan ink, and matted them onto PTI white cardstock. I added a strip of navy cardstock across the card and added some gray organdy ribbon and some silver beads along the outer edge of the circle to frame the sentiment a bit more. You are going to LOVE the elegance of this set. The flourishes and sentiments are just amazing.

Like what you’ve seen so far? Just leave a comment here on this post before 6:00 PM Eastern on Friday, April 23, and you’ll be put in a drawing to win this fabulous 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 release spotlight!

March Project Parade ~ Day One

Happy Spring Everyone! Saturday officially marked the first day of spring and all of the Verve Divas are preparing some great spring-y {sure, it's a word!} projects for you to see. This month's theme is...

. . . . .FUN WITH FLOWERS. . . . .

This is a pretty broad theme, so I know that you can play along!

I decided to create a project using die cut flowers {from my Slice Wedding Design Card} stamped with Polka Dots from the Verve Bountiful Backgrounds as the main part of my project.

The sentiment is from the new set, Let It Shine, and is framed with a scalloped circle covered in glazed glitter. The flower panel could have easily been mounted on a card or even added to a scrapbook page, but I thought that it would be fun to create a gift-able project with it. I tried out both real and paper flower pots before I just stuck it in a bad of candy. I think this particular one looks best this way, but it would certainly be fun to create bouquets.








It would be a lot of fun to make this for a gift or other special occasions, too. Just a few ideas that come to mind...

• Teacher Appreciation
• Wedding Favors
• Table Numbers at Receptions
• Baby Shower Favors
• Congratulations or...

...Just Because for friends, family or neighbors

As with all of our Project Parades, we've got prizes! There are two ways to win:

1. Link up your new creation (posted March 22 or later) to the Mr. Linky widget on THIS POST before Midnight on April 8th

2. One lucky stamper will win a $25.00 gift certificate to the Verve Store.

3. Be sure to leave the Diva's a little shout out in the comments as we parade our creations inspired by this month's theme. One lucky commenter during the course of the parade (March 22 - April 7) will win his/her choice of any Verve stamp set!

Spring Fling: Sneak Peek 3 Feel The Sun

Good afternoon Verve peeps, this is Teresa and I have the privilege of peeking the Feel The Sun set. Jen del Muro has brought to you this fabulous card below. I adore the colors and dimension on the flower...wow! Here is more in Jen's own words.

I'm guessing that many of you feel the same as me...Spring, get here already! The new releases from Verve just put me in the mood for Easter and warmer spring weather. Of course, in North Texas spring means lots of rain and crazy storms, but I won't bother thinking too much of those right now. I hope that you all are enjoying all the sneak peeks. I love all the creations that the fellow DT members have come up with. My card uses the Feel The Sun set and I just love this sentiment. It's perfect for just letting someone you know that you are thinking of them and care. Enjoy the rest of the peeks and have fun at the release party! Hope you always feel the sun from both sides!

It has been a long cold winter and Julee has brought some fabulous new stamp sets to get you feeling energetic and excited. Here is my peek of the set Feel The Sun, I adore the wildflowers in this set. I paired the flowers in this card with the sunshine verse. There is nothing more beautiful than a field full of wildflowers and the sun brightly shining. I distressed and stitched on this card, added a butterfly and twill ribbon.

I know you will not be disappointed with the full release, I hope that you can find time to join in on the challenges. I always enjoying gazing at everyone's creations! Enjoy the sunshine!

Like what you’ve seen so far? Just leave a comment here on this post before 11:59 PM Mountain on Monday, March 8 and you’ll be put in a drawing to win this set! The lucky winner will be announced Tuesday evening, {March 10} on the Verve Blog.

Project Parade: Final Day

It's the last day of this month's Project Parade: Tags, Tins and Treats. Hopefully you are loving what all of the Verve Divas have come up with this month. I know that I have been in awe of many of the jaw-dropping projects! As for me, I have created a mini clear paint can that features a stamped embellishment with a small tag coming off of it...


This paint can uses stamps from the new Heart's Desire set on both the flower, tag and ribbon embellishment on the handle. I created a band around the bottom of the can by punching a strip of red cardstock with my border punch and then adhering pearl baubles to the insides of the punched eyelets. I thought that it looked a little "blah," so I cut a very thin strip of pink cardstock and wrapped in around the bottom of the red cardstock band.



You can easily create and customize your own embellishments with small images like I did with this flower and heart image stamp. I cut 3 flowers using my Slice machine, but these can even be cut by hand. I then stamped the heart image multiple times and then sponged the edges. I adhered them together using dimensional glue dots and topped them off with a flag ended tag and heart images with a button.


Now for the important part: We want you to play along with us! Are you ready to show your Tags, Tins & Treats projects? I hope so! Verve stamps are not required, but if you've got 'em why not show 'em some love?

As with all of our Project Parades, we've got prizes! There are two ways to win:

1. Link up your new creation (posted January 25th or later) to the Mr. Linky widget on the Day 1 post before Midnight on Monday February 15th. One lucky stamper will win a $25.00 gift certificate to the Verve Store.

2. Be sure to leave the Diva's a little shout out in the comments as we parade our creations inspired by this month's theme. One lucky commenter during the course of the parade (Jan 25 - Feb 15) will win his/her choice of any Verve stamp set!