August Diva Dare-Day 2

Pile On the Sweetness, August Diva Dare

Good morning Verve fans, it is Teresa and I am sharing my take on this months Diva Dare; Pile On The Sweetness! What is not sweet about Verve flower stamps? I did kick it up a notch and added the flowers to honor Andrea and added a "sweet" sentiment to honor Christyne! Both divas are amazing and it was a pleasure to show tribute to their styles!

This month's dare pays tribute to Diva Andrea (Ewen Style), and Diva Christyne (Stampin' with Sugar).  Both Divas are known for the wonderful way they can add layer upon layer on a card.  So what we're daring you to create this month is a card using lots of layers.   

If you want to kick this month's dare up a notch, you can add a flower cluster as per Diva Andrea, or go with a "sweet" theme as per Diva Christyne's blog name "Stamping with Sugar".  These are not required elements, but fun options should you wish to use them.  Just remember to use at least one Verve product on your creation!  

Here is how I answered the dare:

I have used today's Mojo Monday Sketch and I must say it was perfect for layering; and layering I did...fun! I even added the lace trim and seam binding layers to the sketch. I layer stamped the flowers too, you can never have to many layers...tehehehehe. I used the stamp sets Bloom and Grow and Sweet Valentine. I have used these A Cut Above Verve Dies; Charming Ovals, Elegant Leaves, and Floral Circles. I had a blast with this months Diva Dare, I sure hope you join us and I cannot wait to see how you answer the dare!

Deadline to link your cards is 8PM Mountain on Wednesday, August 28th.  Entries must be new (posted 8/9 or later), include at least one Verve product, include multiple layers, and be linked up to the linky widget by 8pm Mountain on 8/28/13.

During this month's Diva Dare, there are 2 prizes up for grabs!

Win a $40 Gift voucher to Verve Stamps! Take our "Pile on the Sweetness" Dare and link up your card (created August 9th 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 "Pile on the Sweetness" 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 August 28, 2013.

Winners will be announced on August 29, 2013.

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

January Project Parade Valentine "In-Box"

Hi there! It's Laura, and I'm here with my take on the "Kid at Heart" challenge! I have to tell you I was really stumped with this challenge and it took me a while before I finally decided that my youngest who is in grade three could probably use a Valentine "In-Box" to collect all her Valentines. I didn't want to purchase a mailbox, because like you I am a compulsive keeper and collector off all things that could be altered! This little box is what my dishwasher soap comes in, and it opens and closes tight and is just a handy little container. But it's not very pretty...yet!

I had soaked the container to remove the labels but the adhesive still remained, so a little Goo-Gone took care of it nicely! Since the lid was anything but a Valentine colour, I painted it with pink acrylic paint...two coats to cover up the green. I painted inside and out.

I chose double sided papers since the container was clear, I wanted the inside to look nice too. They were adhered with Modge Podge and covered with Modge Podge to give it a bit more sturdiness in the hands of an eight year old. I thought it would make a good little storage container for all those things an eight year old seems to collect once Valentines was over.

On the front I stamped the sentiment from "A Hundred Hearts", which seemed so appropriate for a Valentine "In Box". The row of double hearts was stamped below it and I added some pink heart gems to the centre of every 3rd heart. DD loves them! I stamped the large and small hearts in pink and brown and cut them out and adhered them above the sentiment. Since I had thought this little box might make it beyond Valentines, I didn't adhere the sentiment panel, instead, threaded ribbon through the sides and tied it with a bow.

Atop the box I added "Happy Valentines Day" from "Sweet Valentine", and would you believe the luck...I had purchased these little epoxy hearts last year, and they fit perfectly inside the hearts on the sentiment! I did have to make a little cut out on one, but it's so cute and so perfect for an eight year old who has yet to appreciate the wonderful colouring skills I have honed so well!

I added ribbon along the edge and the box still closes tight! DD has already seen it and this kid is after my heart! She thinks it's the best ever and hopes that they aren't making mailboxes in art, so she can use this! I love her so!

Want to play along and be "A Kid At Heart?" To play, just link your project to THIS POST and you'll be entered to win a $25 gift certificate to Verve Stamps. Please be sure that your entries are linked there no later than 8PM (Mountain) on February 5th. The winner will be announced here on February 6th. Have fun and good luck!

Recipe: Stamps: One Hundred Hearts, Sweet Valentine (Verve) Paper: Very Vanilla, Pretty in Pink (SU), Tawny Dark (Prism), Amy Butler designer paper (K&C0) Ink: Vintage Photo (Ranger), Pretty in Pink (SU), Versamark Acccessories: brown embossing powder (?), Regal Rose and Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon, slot punch (SU), Modge Podge, Labels One dies (Spellbinders), Prima Flower, fabric brad (Dollarama), Acrylic Paint (Memory Makers), epoxy stickers (Walmart), Heart rhinestones (Marks Crystal Stickers)

January Project Parade - Day Seven

Hi everyone, it's Michelle! WHOA! Have the Divas have been dazzling us all with their projects so far or what?!? Every day I have been BLOWN AWAY!

Well, I am taking it down a notch. The theme is Kid at Heart and I took it a different direction. You see, my friend's mom is in her 70s and her birthday is ON Valentines Day! Over the years, things get all mangled up as they tend to do when a birthday falls on a holiday. She is a bit tired of the traditional pink Valentine cards doubling as birthday cards. She doesn't mind combining the day celebrations, she justs likes things a bit separate. Hey, she wants her cake and to eat it to! So, keeping this in mind I made her a dual card.

The outside of the card is a Valentine's card (using NO pinks or reds at all) and on the inside is a surprise birthday card (with room to write something)!

The outside of the card uses Sweet Valentine stamped in Chocolate Chip. I colored the hearts with Copic markers and covered them with Crystal Effects. The DP is SU! Baja Breeze DSP. The inside uses Birthday Surprise birdie and sentiment, the balloon strings and bow are from Black Tie Birdie, and the hearts are from Sweet Valentine.

The inside and outside are designed to flow together using lots of the same elements -2 brown brads on the nestie panels, the same blue/green bling, hearts colored the same, and Baja Breeze DSP.

I hope she likes it!

So, you want to play along and be "A Kid At Heart?" Each participant that links their project to THIS POST will be entered to win a $25 gift certificate to Verve Stamps. Please be sure that your entries are linked there no later than 8PM (Mountain) on February 5th. The winner will be announced here on February 6th. Have fun and good luck!

January Project Parade ~ Day Six

When Jen issued the Kid At Heart Project Parade Challenge I went into panic mode! I am a card girl, not a buy it, alter it, make it pretty kind of girl! LOL! I really wanted to step it up for my first project parade as a newbie Verve Diva and I am really pleased with my results! I really wanted this to be a project that involved both of my girls so we searched the web for something that we could make for their best girlfriends for Valentine's Day. We came across this adorable Clearly Creative Card Purse on Nichole Heady's blog and once I got the thumbs up from the girls we got busy!

I took a clear card box (A2 size), cut it in half and then assembled both sides. I then took some of this amazing Making Memories DP from their Love Notes line (I'm going tomorrow to buy some more!!) to make the insert. I cut it to 4 3/8" by 6 5/8", scoring it at 2 7/8" from each end. I adhered it to the bottom on the inside using red line tape. The ribbon handles were attached using red line tape. Last I stamped this fabulous sentiment from Sweet Valentine in Memento Tuxedo Black ink on Vintage Cream cardstock (Papertrey Ink), colored it in with Copic markers and cut it out with Oval Nestabilities. The scalloped layer behind the sentiment is Real Red cardstock by Stampin' Up! I felt it needed a little something more so I added some Crystal Effects to the hearts and a little Linen Thread bow to the strap.

When we were done we stuffed these purses with a bunch of goodies! Some of them are shown in these pictures. My oldest daughter said these are her favorite Valentine's that she's ever done! She can't wait to give them to her friends!

Want to play along and be "A Kid At Heart?" Each participant that links their project to THIS POST will be entered to win a $25 gift certificate to Verve Stamps. Please be sure that your entries are linked there no later than 8PM (Mountain) on February 5th. The winner will be announced here on February 6th. Have fun and good luck!

January Project Parade - Day Two

When I thought about the theme for this month's Project Parade, "A Kid at Heart", I thought it was a great opportunity to involve my daughter in the making of the project. :) What better project to involve her in than making her own Valentine treats for her preschool class? Savannah and I put together these little upside down matchbook lollipop covers. I made them to fit the Jolly Rancher heart-shaped lollipops. Here's a little tutorial for you to follow and create your own "kid-at-heart" lollipop covers! :)

Step 1

Stamp sentiment on cardstock. For these covers, I used the Sweet Valentine set and stamped the sentiment on a 2" square piece of white cardstock.

Step 2

Have your child color in the hearts (or other part of the stamped image) while you cut the 2 1/8" mattes out of black cardstock.

Step 3

Have your child attach the stamped pieces to the black matte pieces while you cut the paper for the matchbooks. Your paper for the matchbooks should measure 6.5"x 2.75".

Step 4

Score the matchbook pieces at 5/8" and 3 5/8" and fold on score lines.

Step 5

Punch a hole on the 3 5/8" score line (while folded).

Step 6

Add a scalloped trim to the inside of the top flap using a 2.75" wide piece of black cardstock and decorative scissors.

Step 7

Fold the top flap down and staple in the middle. Put lollipop stick through the hole you punched on the 3 5/8" score line.

Step 8

Attach stamped and colored pieces to the front of your matchbook for a finished Valentine treat!

Want to play along and be "A Kid At Heart?" Each participant that links their project to THIS POST will be entered to win a $25 gift certificate to Verve Stamps. Please be sure that your entries are linked there no later than 8PM (Mountain) on February 5th. The winner will be announced here on February 6th. Have fun and good luck!

Sneak Previews - Jeremiah 29:11 & Sweet Valentine

Happy Tuesday, Verve fans! It's Shannan here, and boy do I have some awesome stuff to show you! Today we're previewing not one, but two sets! I know...good stuff! This release is really fabulous. I know, I say that every time, but I'm serious!

I chose to work with Jeremiah 29:11, which is a set of 2 stamps. This is one of my all-time favorite verses, so I was over the moon when Julee showed it to us. I created this card based on the colors in the October Afternoon paper. After stamping the verse and embossing it with black detail embossing powder, I cut the panel with my Rectangle Nestabilities and sponged the edges with Old Olive ink. Stamping the cross over the verse was a last minute touch, but I really like it. A few brads, some ribbon, and I was done!

From Fabulous Guest Diva Lynda Benden:
What an awesome honor to be Julee's guest designer this month!!! I got even MORE excited when I saw the BEAUTIFUL stamps included in this months release!!! When I the saw Jeremiah 29:11 stamp in Julee's new release, I felt a bit intimidated since I don't usually use Religious stamps. Oh, don't get me wrong, I have ALWAYS admired the beautiful creations others have made and thought, I hope I can do this stamp set justice! Of course the first colors that came to mind were Silver, White, Vanilla, Black....etc.... I wanted to make something different and you know what, I LOVE how it turned out and will be giving it to my Mother in Law. I wanted to make just a generic, subtle all occasion card and chose decorative papers from K& Co. and Webster's Pages as well as Artichoke and Chocolate Chip cardstock. The cross was heat embossed using Gold Glory embossing powder, cut out and then mounted using dimensionals on top of some leaves punched from my Martha Stewart punch. The little Auburn rhinestones are from Kaiser Craft and added just a little shine to a very simple card.

From Diva Amy Sheffer:
If you're looking for a totally adorable Valentine set that won't break your bank, Sweet Valentine is for you! But don't be fooled by the set's name -- three of the four stamps work just as well year-round as they do for Valentine's Day. I know I {heart} my hearts all year long! And at only $9 ... what's not to love?

From Diva Laura Fredrickson:
I didn't start out with a clean and simple card in mind.
In fact there was a whole lot going on at the beginning of it's journey. But, as I started removing the things that didn't work, I was left with a clean and simple Thank-you that did! I popped up the double hearts and added some Burgundy Stickles to the tiny hearts on the sentiment to balance. A sweet Thank-You with big heart!








Like what you see? Well, this Verve-alicious set could be coming home to you! Just leave us a comment with the answer to the following question (see below) by Friday January 9 at Noon (Mountain Time) and you could be the lucky winner. And for even more Verve-alicious party favors, be sure to check out tomorrow's sneaky peek here on the blog as well as the Lookin' For Love Release Party Challenge on our SCS Forum. Winners will be announced at our release party on Friday night (it starts at 8 PM EST in the Verve Forum on SCS--mark your calendar NOW)!

Here's your question that goes along with the "Looking For Love" theme: My son told me he has his first crush...he's in 3rd grade. It made me remember my first boyfriend, Drew. I was in 1st grade and he was in 3rd, and he always brought me presents. So tell me how old were you when you had your first crush?