A Whole Latte Love ~ Coffee Lovers Blog Hop

Good Monday morning, everyone!  What better way to start the week than with a latte!  This card is for the Coffee Lovers Blog Hop using the Verve exclusive Latte Love Digi freebie that’s available until October 15th.

I picked up some new Fall paper and had a leftover watercolour leaf on my desk so that’s what inspired the Fall theme along with these fun little latte cups!  I’m low on Birthday cards again so I added the little “happy birthday” tag at the bottom!  Thanks for stopping by and have a great start to your week!

stamps: Latte Love Digi freebie, Small Phrases (Verve)

accessories: Shine Bright Sequin Mix, Flourished Tag Die Set, Flag it Die Set (Verve)

In Your Heart & Some Exciting News

Hi everyone!  I’m popping in with a card I made with the last Viva La Verve sketch of the month.  I wanted to add a little colour to the sentiment panel so I smooshed some distress ink.  Be sure to head over to the VLV blog for more inspiration and all the details on how you could win some fantastic Verve!

I have “baby” on the brain again with the exciting news that Tony and I will be grandparents again!  Tony’s son, Brian, (and his wife) are expecting and we are allowed to tell everyone now!  A few weeks ago, they had their first ultra sound and we were told that BOTH heartbeats were strong and healthy!  Yes, TWINS!  Brian said they did it for us as we always fight over who gets to hold the baby…now we’ll each have one! LOL  Here’s how they announced the wonderful news to everyone this week…

Oh, March babies!  Twins are known to come early, but it would be fun to have them in my birthday month, also Ashlee’s :)  Have a great weekend!

Stamp:  Smallest Things Plain Jane (Verve)

A Thousand Miracles ~ PTI Blog Hop

Hello and TGIF!  What a great day for the PTI Blog Hop this month…FRIDAY!  I’m very excited about the inspiration photo this month!  I love me a chalkboard, even before it was in!  I played “school” when I was little and had a little black chalkboard I wrote on.  Fast forward to now and I still have a chalkboard in my class, not wanting to replace it with the more modern whiteboard.

My Leaf Prints dies were still out from my last few projects so I used them on today’s card.  Thanks for stopping by and see you on the hop!

STAMPtember with Clearly Besotted

Good morning!  I received some happy mail a few weeks ago…the BRAND new special stamp set designed by Clearly Besotted Stamps for the Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember celebration!  This is one of the new perks of being back on the design team!  LOVE!  Here’s the stamp set that is available now over in the Simon Says Stamp store…



I created a water colour background with my Zig Real Colour brushes and flicked some gold paint on top after the watercolour had dried. Then I embossed the snowflake circle with gold powder, punched it out with my 1 1/4 inch circle punch, and adhered it to the green banner with a foam square. Before I mounted the banner on the card, I created a gold thread nest to add some more sparkle and shine :)

Check out this exclusive stamp set over at the Simon Says store!  Thanks for stopping by and happy shopping!

 

Goodness Gracious!

Hello!  Goodness gracious, I’m still in my jammies loitering in the studio this morning.  After this I’m off to my classroom to try and get through the long “to do” list I left on my desk last night at 5:00.  I’ve been waiting to make this card all week for PTI’s Create Along with Us.  I can’t resist the beautiful card Dawn made for the release and am happy to say that her gorgeous maple leaf die is finally on its way to me after waiting for it to come back in stock.   Here’s Dawn’s original card that I CASEd… AMAZING X 2!

I was living dangerously as I watercoloured my leaves.  I foolishly had my coffee cup right next to my water cup! LOL  TWICE I almost dipped my water brush in my coffee! HA!  Fortunately, I caught myself both times and finished my coffee because I didn’t trust myself a THIRD time!

Thanks for stopping by!  I’m off to work :)

Belated Birthday Wishes ~ Viva La Verve!

TGIF everyone!  Oh this girl needs a weekend in a bad way.  It’s the same every year, but I’m still never prepared for the first week of school, especially with a very full class of 5 and 6 year olds, God bless them!  Every day gets a little better, but YIKES, this first week is a doozy!  I had to take a little inky sanity break Wednesday night.  Stacey’s super cute Viva La Verve sketch was the perfect thing to get my mind off of work.  It’s a belated card for a very special friend, but it’s WAAAAAYYY overdue.  How long after one’s birthday can you still send a birthday card?  I’d like to know!  I’ve used some cool foil Project Life, Desktop Edition paper (those dots are foil gold) from Becky Higgins  Head over to the Viva La Verve sketch blog to see more samples and then join in the fun!  There’s a huge Verve prize up for grabs at the end of the month!  Have a wonderful weekend!

stamps: Dream Big, Small Packages, Tag Time (Verve)

dies: Scalloped Flowers Die Set, Dreamy Leaves Die Set (Verve)

I Love the Way You Shine ~ Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge

Good morning!  There’s a new Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge up and this time we’re inspired by this photo…

Okay, I’m not sure why, but this big bowl of popcorn made me think of a shaker card!  LOL  Maybe it’s because you have to “shake” the pot of kernels on the stove when making popcorn, I’m don’t know! HA!  I pulled some colours from the photo to make this fun shaker card with my new Enclosed Sun die from Papertrey Ink.  I’ve been collecting a lot of the dies in this series.

I also couldn’t help but put this song, Everything Shines, on by “Great Big Sea,” one of my favourite Canadian bands.  Check it out!

Want to play along?  Head over to the Curtain Call blog for more inspiration and then join in the fun! Thanks for “popping by!”  Pun intended!
 

Bundle of Joy ~ Viva la Verve and TGIF!

Oh, TGIF!  Yes, it’s my first Friday of a brand new school year and I always relish the first Friday!  This one is even more sweet because the last two years on this first Friday found me at my Master’s class.  But no more!  Now that I’m done every weekend is mine again!  Actually, if I think of it, I will be in class again, except this time with food and advice, welcoming the new Gonzaga cohort who start their journey tonight.  My cohort is passing the torch by bringing dinner in for the new group to wish them well. 

This card is for the new Viva La Verve sketch.  Head over to the VLV blog for more inspiration and all the deets on how you could win some VERVE!  Have a great Friday and a wonderful weekend!

stamps: Sunny Days, Treasured Words
accessories: Rounded Rectangle Die,Pink Sparkle Sequin Mix

Verve Diva Inspiration Challenge and Hop

It's time for the Verve Divas to bring you our monthly Diva Inspirations Challenge and Blog Hop! There are two ways to win Verve prizes: comment on the design team's blog hop posts (linked below) to see their take on the inspiration, then go get inky and link up your take on the challenge to be eligible in our prize drawings! You have the until October 5 to link up, so feel free to play as often as you like.

Our September challenge is Autumn Lovelies

September brings to mind crisp apples, bouquets of sharpened pencils, baked pumpkin delights, rainbows of fallen leaves and don't forget Pumpkin Spice Lattes and Salted Caramel Mochas! This month we're challenging you to to show us your autumn inspired creations. Use the inspiration graphic or go off on your own tangent, just share a little autumn loveliness with us!

Click here to link up your challenge entries
Challenge deadline: Monday, October 5.
Prize: $30 gift voucher to the Verve online store!

This Autumn Lovelies challenge is right up my ally and another reason to break out my favourite Teachers Count set!  Who am I kidding…I need no reason at all to bring out those fun apples and sweet sentiments to make another teacher card.  They are my favourite to make! 

Need a little inspiration? Check out the blogs linked below to see what the other Divas did with the challenge! It's sure to be a treat, and speaking of treats, we've got a prize for one lucky commenter along the hop! Check out the Verve Blog today for all the prize info and deadlines!

1. Julee      7. Susan

2. Amy      8. Maureen

3. Betty      9. Amber

4. Jen       10. Stacey

5. Sankari 11. Marisa

6. Sarah

Stamps: Teachers Count

Dies: Apples Die Set, Tagged Rectangle Die

Sunshine and Laughter

Good morning friends!  Well, it’s the day after Labour Day in BC, which means yours truly is back at work, pining for her summer mornings in the studio.  Actually, I’m excited to be back and have been feverishly working away in my classroom these past 2 weeks reorganizing, repurposing, repositioning, and purchasing items to create a new space now that my new flooring is in.  It looks like a brand new classroom and I know my kids will love it.  With all that happening, I’m a few days late with the Viva La Verve sketch to start off September.  Better late than never, right?  My son, Jake, and his girlfriend, Joyce, were up this past weekend and asked me if I would make a card for Joyce’s Grandma who is not feeling well at the moment.  I love those requests!  I thought Julee’s sketch would be perfect for creating this cheery card.  Head over to the Viva La Verve blog to see more inspiration and read about how you could win a fantastic Verve prize at the end of the month by participating in the sketch challenges all month.  Thanks for stopping by and wish me luck!  EEK!

stamps: Brighter Days, On Occasion

dies: Occasion Frame Die

Clearly Besotted September Release

Hi everyone!  I’m back with my last card for the Clearly Besotted Stamps September Release.  All the stamps and dies are on sale today over in the CBS shop so be sure to go and check everything out!  I’ve used the sweet and adorable Arctic Animals set for this wintery card.  I just love this saying!  I think I might give it to our secretary just before Christmas holidays :)  We’ve got a 3 day weekend here and then it’s back to work for this girl.   Enjoy the weekend!

Clearly Besotted September Teaser Time ~ Day 3

Hey friends!  I’m back today with another little Clearly Besotted Stamps teaser as we count down to the September release on the 5th.  For my third sneak peek, I’m playing with the Believe stamp set.  I was experimenting with my distress inks and blender tool, can you tell?  HA!  I embossed the berry branch with white embossing powder so I could ink over it.  I was feeling girly girly that day so had to add some pink and purple washi tape to the top! LOL The next card was a watercolour experiment.  It looked so dreamy that I decided to use words from the Believe set to create an inspirational piece.  The “dream” had a little surgery from the rest of the sentiment, but everyone survived are are back together on the acetate sheet!  No worries!

Thanks for stopping by!  Head over to Stephanie’s blog for some more inspiration and peeks!

Clearly Besotted September Teaser Time ~ Day 2

Hey friends!  I’m back today with another little Clearly Besotted Stamps teaser as we count down to the September release on the 5th.  For my second sneak peek, I’m playing with the Little Things stamps set and matching dies.  I created the background using clear embossing paste and a leaf stencil.  Once everything was dry, I rubbed distress inks on with a Tim Holtz blender sponge. Thanks for stopping by!  Head over to Stephanie’s blog for some more inspiration and peeks!

Happy New Year ~ Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge

 

Scroll down to see my Clearly Besotted Stamps post!

Good morning!  There’s a new Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge up and this time we’re inspired by this photo…

These shades made me think of some fun patterned paper I had.  Then I thought I’d make a “Happy New Year” card for our lovely secretary.  The new school year starts next Tuesday for us here in BC but I left this card with some candy for the office candy jar by her computer this week as she always starts a week early :)  Don’t you just love that ribbon!? EEK!  It’s actually fabric cut into ribbon strips and I got a whack of it over in Michelle Wooderson’s shop.  I ordered extra, of course!

Head over to the Curtain Call blog for more inspiration and then play along! Have a great weekend!

Clearly Besotted Teaser Time Day 1 and Exciting News!

Hi everyone!  Well, I guess I kind of gave the exciting news away at the start of that blog post title.  It’s been 2 years since I made the decision to step down from the CBS design team so I could focus on my Masters.  Well, the 2 years is UP and the Masters is done!  Wow, time does fly!  So a few months ago, I asked for my old job back! HA!  Stephanie was so gracious and said, “Yes!”  So for my first sneak peek, I’m playing with the In Stitches: Autumn set soon to be released on September 5th.  Oh, it’s so good to be back using these gorgeous stamps :)  Thanks for stopping by!  Head over to Stephanie’s blog for some more inspiration and peeks!