Sing us a song, you're the piano man...sing us a song tonight...

If you're here looking for the Skipping Stones Design 

Sketch card, please click HERE. 

Welcome to the November Diva Inspirations Blog Hop! The fabulous Diva Inspirations team is here to start your month off right with a little Verve inspiration! I decided to get started on some Christmas tags...ok, so maybe I'm a little behind. Has anyone out there NOT started on Christmas/Holiday stuff yet? Please don't tell me I'm alone! Here's what I worked on:


We just got these Kraft Tags in at Googly Eyes for one of my upcoming classes, and I snatched a few of them up to play with. I got out my Poinsettia Christmas and Ornamental Christmas sets...two of my favorites! Here's a closeup of each tag:






Very simple and easy...I think it took me longer to cut out 5 Poinsettias than it did to finish all three tags! I loved this pattern from Basic Grey's Picadilly 6x6 Paper Pad, so I added it to each tag, as well as a little Houndstooth digital paper from Crystal Wilkerson. The flowers were stamped, cut out, and then covered with Stardust Stickles, Coarse Glitter, and finished off with Liquid Pearls in the centers. You know I gotta have some bling! These will look great attached to Christmas Gifts, I think.

Now that you've endured my blabbering, it's time to visit SONY! Don't forget to leave a little comment love for each of the girls on the list below for a chance to win some Vervey goodness of your very own!

1. Julee 6. Lynda 2. Betty 7. Shannan 3. Dawn 8. Sony 4. Jen d. 9. Susan 5. Jen T.

We've hidden a little mystery prize on one of today's hop spots, so be sure to leave a little comment love as you hop around for a chance to win!
Comment Deadline: 11:59pm Mountain, November 7
Prize: $30 gift certificate to Verve

Save the Date! Our next release is just around the corner! Come countdown to our holiday release by joining us at our Release Party on Friday, November 11 from 9-11pm Eastern in our SCS Member Company Forum. Look for our New Release Spotlight Hops starting Wednesday, November 9 on the Verve Blog!

Poinsettia Christmas Stamp Set Verve	Ornamental Christmas Stamp Set Verve	Versamark Watermark Ink	Detail Embossing Powder by Ranger	Distress Ink
Stickles	Liquid Pearls	Coarse Crystal Glitter by Martha Stewart Crafts	Picadilly 6x6 Pad Basic Grey	Kraft Tags by Ranger

InLinkz.com

So we are history...the shadow covers me...the sky above ablaze that lonley lovers see...

Welcome to the September Diva Inspirations Blog Hop! We are all coming out to play and showing a little Verve inspiration! You can see all the participants at the bottom of this post, as well as some details on how to win yourself some free stuff. We all like free stuff, right? Just make sure you leave some love for everyone as you hop along today...you never know where Julee has hidden the mystery prize. She is sneaky, I'm telling you!

This card started out to be for this week's Sketch Challenge over on Splitcoast. But my brain had other plans. *wink* When I my You and I set first arrived, I wanted to see what would happen if I cut the letters out of patterned paper and then embossed the stamped image in white. So cool! I've been holding on to these letters since the release, and I wanted to use them today.



I loved the look of the dark grey with the yellow, so I went with that. At first I started with a heart cut from the Jotted Heart Die, but once I started looking at the negative image I had a light bulb moment. I couldn't cut off the tabs that come attached to the die, so using the actual negative image didn't work this time. (Don't think I won't figure out how to cut them off!) So I decided to line up the pattern on the heart to the background panel to give the illusion of an empty space. Clear as mud? Here's a closer look:



Once I had the heart cut out, I decided it would be fun to stamp the word "LOVE" from all the different Verve sets. Oh, how much fun this was!! I have to tell you, some stamps had minor surgery during this process. This is not for the faint of heart. But I was committed at this point and had to translate my idea onto paper. Here are the sets I used: You and I, Small Phrases, Love Story, Love's Flower, Heart's Desire, & Heart to Heart. They are all stamped with black Stazon. I went over the center "love" with my two-way glue pen, and then covered it with Martha Stewart Black Glitter. Love that stuff!

Anyway, once that was all done, I adhered the heart and letters to the grey panel, then mounted that onto my card base. A little white banner strip and some black scalloped edges finished it off. This was one of those YILM (yes, I love myself) moments!

Ok, now that I have jabbered all day long, it's time to go visit my girl Sony! I'm sure she has something gorgeous to show you. Have a fabulous day...and check out the Verve Blog for all the Sale and Stamp of the Month details! See you tomorrow with some fun news! *grin*

1. Julee 8. Susan 2. Betty 9. Andrea 3. Dawn 10. Sankari 4. Jen d. 11. Teresa 5. Lynda 12. Tosh 6. Shannan 13. Charmaine 7. Sony 14. Maureen

We've hidden a little mystery prize on one of today's hop spots, so be sure to leave a little comment love as you hop around for a chance to win!
Comment Deadline: 11:59pm Mountain, September 12
Prize: $30 gift certificate to Verve

Sunny Day, Sweepin' the clouds away...On my way to where the air is sweet...Can you tell me how to get, How to get to Sesame Street...

Welcome to our Anni-VERVE-sary Spotlight Hop!  The Divas are hopping all week long to share previews of some new Verve to be released on Friday night!  One lucky commenter from each day's hop will win the sets and dies featured that day, so be sure and leave a little love in the Divasphere! Check out the Verve Blog today for all the prize details and deadlines.

1. Julee 8. Marisa {Guest} 2. Charmaine 9. Laurie 3. Tosha 10. Maureen 4. Andrea 11. Amy 5. Teresa 12. Shannan 6. Jackie 13. Lynda 7. Sarah {Guest}

Are y'all ready for some new Verve goodness? I am so excited!! I also can't believe we are starting YEAR FIVE with Verve. It doesn't seem that long ago that these cute little sentiments came out. What an amazing journey, and I have to say I am so proud to be a part of such a wonderful company with a wonderful owner and friend.

Now...enough sappy stuff for now...on with the card! *grin* I wanted to create a bright, happy card for a special friend who is fighting a tough battle right now. I used a sentiment from Believe, an older Verve set that is still a favorite. (and $10 from the sale of every Believe set is donated to Susan G Komen for the Cure!) I paired the sentiment with two different sizes of flowers from the new Sunny Days set and the Leafy Sprigs Die set. So adorable!!



The flowers were stamped twice in Versamark and heat embossed with Clear embossing powder. Before I cut them out, I sponged a little Tea Dye ink in the centers to make the embossing stand out. And here's a closer look:



All of the papers are from Crystal Wilkerson's Spring/Summer 2011 Collection...I love the bright happy colors, too. Thanks so much for swinging by to see me today...I hope you have a fabulous Sunday! Now it's time to hop on over to my girl Lynda, who I'm sure has something amazing for you! See ya tomorrow!

Ingredients:
Stamps: Believe, Sunny Days (Verve)
Paper: Kraft, Black (PTI), Polka Dots XS & Opposites Attract Spring/Summer 2011 Collection (Crystal Wilkerson)
Ink: Versamark (Tsukineko), Distress Tea Dye (Ranger)
Accessories: Leafy Sprigs Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), Dimensionals (SU), Buttons (PTI), Black & Clear Embossing Powder

Happy July!

Welcome to the July Diva Inspirations Blog Hop! Our Diva Inspirations team and several special guests from the Release team are here to start your month off right with a little Verve inspiration! Take a little peek at each of the fabulous blogs below for some Verve-alicious eye candy and you just might win some Vervey goodness of your very own! So here's some eye candy for you, now that my camera has a fully functioning battery! *sigh* I used Carpe Cupcake, July's Stamp of the month. So cute!! The sentiment is from Birthday Bash (which is on sale, too!), and I added some flowers from Hope Blooms, stamped in Black Stazon on Vellum, then colored with Copic Markers. Here's a closer look at the details: Just in case you haven't yet...please check out the fabulous creations from my fellow divas: 1. Julee 9. Susan 2. Betty 10. Andrea 3. Dawn 11. Charmaine 4. Jen d. 12. Teresa 5. Jen T. 13. Maureen 6. Lynda 14. Amber 7. Shannan 15. Amy 8. Sony We've hidden a little mystery prize on one of today's hop spots, so be sure to leave a little comment love as you hop around for a chance to win! Comment Deadline: 11:59pm Mountain, July 5 Prize: $30 gift certificate to Verve July is birthday time here at Verve, with five Diva birthdays, including JULEE's! To start the celebration in style, our July Stamp of the Month is one of my absolute favorites... Carpe Cupcake! And at 40% off during the month of July, Carpe Cupcake is one SWEET deal!

A brand new month also brings along a new sale here at Verve! During the month of July, save 20% on all of our birthday stamps! Check out all the birthday goodness on our SALE page.

Our Gift to YOU! And what's a birthday party without goody bags? We've gathered together some of our favorite things... doilies, My Mind's Eye paper, tags, ribbon, plus a few other goodies and put them in brown paper packages! And during the month of July, if your order is $75 or more, you'll receive one of these goody bags free! There's nothing to add to your cart, we'll just be sure to include it when your order ships! Celebrate good times, c'mon!

You light up my life...you give me hope...to carry on...

Hey, y'all! Happy Sunday, and Happy Easter for those of you that celebrate it. I hope you're having a wonderful weekend. I have a couple of quick little tags to share with you. I have always admired the Easter tags that Heather Nichols makes every year, so I decided to make some of my own this year.


Aren't they fun? I had a blast making them. Here's a closeup of Caleb's tag (using a stamp from the Paper Smooches set Chubby Chums):


The sentiment is from Verve's Egg-stra Special set. I used fun papers from Crystal Wilkerson and a Studio G Alphabet that I picked up at Michael's.

Here's a closer look at Cole's tag:


I used the lightning bug and sentiment from Giddy Bugs...how cute are they?! The antennae are from the Boob Tubes set, and papers are from Crystal Wilkerson.

The boys really enjoyed their tags, and I had a blast making them. Definitely gonna make these next year! Thanks so much for coming to see me today, and have an awesome day!

And when you smile, the whole world stops and stares for a while...cause you're amazing just the way you are...

Happy Thursday, y'all! I hope your week is going wonderfully. I have begun Spring Cleaning...blech. There's no telling how long it will take me...I get so sidetracked! Oh well. It happens.

Anyway, I have been playing around with digi-papers and hybrid stuff, and have become a total Crystal Wilkerson groupie. She's the genius behind some of Echo Park's goodness, and oh my gosh. I love her stuff. I bought her entire Spring/Summer 2011 Collection and printed some papers to play with...here's what I came up with.


I needed some thank-you cards, so I pulled out some of my favorite Verve sentiments and went to work. Pairing them with this week's Clean and Simple Sketch, a punch from Stampin' Up and a little felt/button combo made everything easy! The Heartfelt Thanks sentiment is from Celebration of Thanks.


This card also uses a sentiment from the Celebration of Thanks set, as well as shows off my favorite pattern of the papers I used. It's so bright and happy! I wanted the elements to be on a smaller scale (not to mention the fact that I don't have a 12x12 printer), so I imported them into a document, then resized them to 5" square. That way I could fit 2 patterns on 1 sheet of paper. I used double sided matte brochure paper like my friend Jen recommends.


The last card shows off a sentiment I LOVE from Bountiful Harvest. All of the sentiments were stamped in Black Stazon ink on white cardstock. I wanted a good, rich black that would dry quickly so this one was my pick. I was too lazy to pull out my black embossing powder, but I think these sentiments would look even more amazing with some black heat embossing. Either way, I think the bright colors and the gorgeous sentiments popped nicely off of the Kraft card base.


This is just a closer look at the sentiment panels and the embellishment combo. I die cut some felt and sewed a button to the center with white crochet thread. Quick and easy...I think I'll make a few more of these!

I gotta run...I hope you have a fabulous day!