Skipping Stones Design Blog Hop and New Release!!

 

Welcome to the Skipping Stones Design Sketch Challenge 89 and the release of Everyday Blessings! If you just came from Tamera’s blog, you are in the right place. If you just happened along my blog today, start at the beginning of the hop at Skipping Stones Design. The entire hop order is there and you can hop from blog to blog with ease. Today’s beautiful set inspired me to create another one of my favourite stamped backgrounds on kraft.  I used 2 different colours to stamp the leaf image, then went back with brown and stamped the smaller leaf image.  As you all know, I don’t colour (yes, a teacher that doesn’t colour!) so I paper pieced this gorgeous bird using some lovely Sweet Threads dp.  I love this sketch!! It looks like an old Polaroid photo! LOL  All that lovely space at the bottom is the perfect place for any one of the sweet sentiments in this set :)

Be sure to hop along and leave comments on all the fabulous designers’ blogs. This month we are welcoming  Karen Baker, me(!),  Stephanie Mino and Kryssi Ng to our team as Guest Designers!  Teri Anderson will be providing all the fabulous sketch inspiration this month including the sketch we're using in today's hop!

Head over to Amy's blog for some more Skipping Stones Design inspiration!

Thanks for visiting!! Hey, I’ve got a Skipping Stones stamp set in my Blogiversary Blog Candy…see HERE for all the details :)

 

what’s in it?

stamps: Skipping Stones Design Everyday Blessings

paper: pti kraft, cream, su sand, espresso, basicgrey sweet threads and out of print

ink: su real red, pumpkin, choc chip, versafine onyx

accessories: SU  bird punch, SB cup sleeve, twill ribbon, twine, buttons, gems, pti woodgrain impression plate, pearl

After the Verve Release Party Favourite

Hi everyone!! I’m back for a few seconds with one of my favourite cards from the August Verve Release.  I actually have FOUR favourites, but I thought this one really showcases the fun dies!!  I’ve first I’ve used the graph paper and interlined paper from Making a Statement.  I die cut the curvy bookplate out, stamped it with the graph paper, then stamped again with the curvy bookplate stamp from Tag Time :)  For the circle, I did the same process…cut the circle, stamped the interlined image then the sentiment.  For the cork frame, I used the rounded scalloped  frame die to get a scalloped frame.  Then I ran the same frame die through with a piece of chipboard.  I usually have to run it through about 3 times for chipboard because of the thickness.  This time, however, 3 times wasn’t enough  HOWEVER, I really liked the look of the 2 pieces together (frame and inside rectangle) so I kept them together, glued the cork frame onto the chipboard and then added the silver brads to the inside chipboard that never got punched out!! LOVE it!!  Hope you do too :)  To see all the Verve Diva favourites, go to the Verve Blog!! Hold onto your lounge pants!! LOL

Don’t forget the amazing sale going on over in the Verve Store!!! Julee is celebrating this 4th Anniversary BIG TIME with BIG savings…check it out!

 

what’s in it?

stamps: You and I, Making a Statement, Tag Time (Verve)

paper: rustic cream, springmoss, black, white (PTI), soft sky, basic grey (SU!), Schoolhouse (October Afternoon)

ink: onyx (Versafine), soft sky (SU!)

accessories: Rounded Scallop Frame Die, Curvy Bookplate Die (A Cut Above by Verve), scallop border die (PTI), circle and scallop circle dies (Spellbinders), cork (Quartet), brads (Making Memories),chipboard coaster, ribbon (Michaels)

A Day (Release) to Remember!

Good morning!! Just popping in with a card I made for the Verve Anniversary release this past Friday!!  This was the first card I made with the new stamps :)  I’m a sucker for stamping on kraft…oh my!!  Those colours just pop!  It was a release to remember for sure!! Check out all the lusciousness HERE as well as the super savings Julee always adds for a new release!!  This cheery card uses stamps from Sunny Days.  I love the little button centres on the flowers AND on my patterned paper!! LOL  Totally done on purpose!!  Hope you are having a wonderful Sunday…remember to check out my BLOG CANDY!! Yahoooooo!!!

 

what’s in it?

stamps: Sunny Days (Verve)

paper: kraft, rustic cream (PTI), pumpkin (SU!), lime twist (My Mind's Eye),

ink: onyx (Versafine), kiwi, pumpkin, razzleberry, bermuda (SU!)

accessories: scallop border (PTI), ribbon (May Arts), buttons, twine (PTI), embossing folder (Cuttlebug), corner chomper (We R Memory Keepers), stitching

Friends ‘Til the End and Blog Candy!!

Good morning!! Well, here I am  with a bit of a hang over from all that crazy fun on the Verve Forum last night as we celebrated 4 years of fabulous Verve Stamps :)  Julee is number one in throwing parties and this was no exception!! But I digress because I have 2 important things to share with you today.  First up is this super fun card with the fabulous ColourQ colours this week. I had a few ideas floating around in my head, but this is what came out :)  I hadn’t used my beloved button card for awhile, so it was time to dig it out :)  The sentiment is hot off the press, coming from one of the newest Verve sets, Making a Statement.  It fits perfectly at the bottom of my button card!  I have been on a “white” kick lately…I just love the clean, crisp look of it :)  Okay, now onto the second item…with most of my Diva duties winding down for now I thought it would be a great time to post my belated Blogiversary Blog Candy.  I thought for this year, I would make it a stamp set giveaway. I have 2 Papertrey Ink sets, Forest Friends and Forest Friends Sentiments, one Skipping Stones Design set, Heartsong, and one $25.00 Verve gift certificate, just in time for all the amazing sets released last night!!

So how can you win?  Leave a comment here on this post giving me your best moving tip!! That’s right! I’ve sold my townhouse and we are moving in with my dad for 3 months until the new house is ready (Heaven help us!! LOL).  The studio will be the last to be moved and I’m hoping hooking up to the internet at my dad’s will be smooth sailing…final date here is the 20th :)  I’ll randomly pick a number next Sunday, August 21 around 12:00 noon and hopefully post the winner’s name later that day, so check back.  The winner will have 3 days to contact me with their mailing address (for the stamp sets) as well as their email (for the Verve gc). Good luck and thanks for stopping by!!
  

what’s in it?

stamps: verve making a statement, pti button boutique, hello, friend

ink: versafine onyx, pti raspberry fizz

paper: pti white, black , dotty biscotti and autumn abundance dps

accessories: pti scallop border, button boutique, friendly flower dies, ribbon, button, twine

Anni-Verve-sary Spotlight ~ Day 6

Welcome to the last day of our Anni-VERVE-sary Spotlight Hops!  I hope you have been hopping along with the Divas all week long as we’ve been sharing our first looks at a few of the new products releasing from Verve TONIGHT (9 PM Eastern, 6 PM Pacific or Beautiful British Columbia time)!!
Today’s first card was inspired by the mini card set I made for the Day 3 Spotlight and my husband.  Many of you know that I married for the first time at age 40 (I was the “something old” in the wedding rhyme..lol).  But I know that things work out for the best and it took that long for me to find the man God meant for me :)  So here’s a little card that will definitely find it’s way into my dh’s suitcase on his next trip out of town :)  We are both not perfect, but we are perfect for each other.  I’ve used one of the several sweet sentiments from the Making a Statement set, as well as the lined paper image stamp.  The rectangle was cut with the Rounded Rectangle Die from the Day 3 Spotlights.  Up next is a card I made for my son’s girlfriend.  They were up visiting for my dad’s 80th birthday and she brought me a beautiful bag full of Body Shop products as a hostess/thank you gift :)  I just LOVED the bag and had to create a card with the colours
 

I’ve used the Rounded Rectangle Die again for the sentiment label…it’s the perfect width for this stamp!  See those white flowers?  I created them with the loopy leaf die being spotlighted today :)  I wanted to try something different with those dies…here’s how I did it (so you don’t have to spend an hour like me trying to figure out the easiest way!! LOL) 
1) I die cut 15 of the small leaves out of white cardstock and punched out 3  half inch circles with my punch.

  2) I put some repositional dotto tape on the circle and placed each leaf around, repositioning at times to get an even look.

3)  Then I threaded the buttons, put a glue dot on the middle of the flowers to keep the leaves in place and stuck the buttons on top.  This is a picture of the materials I used…the stylo was to push the tips of the leaves down so my inky fingers didn’t wreck anything!


You’ve got one last bit of a day to comment because 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              10. Laurie

2. Charmaine      11. Maureen

3. Tosha             12. Amber

4. Andrea            13. Amy

5. Sankari           14. Jen d.

6. Teresa            15. Betty

7. Jackie            16. Lynda

8. Sarah {Guest} 17. Susan

9. Marisa {Guest}

what’s in them?

{you + me}

stamps: Making a Statement, To the Moon (Verve)

paper: rustic cream (PTI), sand (SU!), out of print (Basicgrey)

ink: onyx (Versafine), sahara sand, groovy guava (SU!)

accessories: rounded rectangle die (Verve A Cut Above Dies), twine (PTI), stitching

 

{thanks so very much}

stamps: making a statement (Verve)

paper: kraft, white (PTI), Lime Twist (My Mind’s Eye), Lauderdale (BasicGrey)

ink: onyx (Versafine)

accessories: loopy blooms die (Verve A Cut Above Dies), buttons (PTI), border punch (Fiskars), ribbon (Michaels), stitching

Anni-Verve-sary Spotlight ~ Day 5

Welcome to Day 5 of the Anni-VERVE-sary Spotlight Hops!  Hop along with the Divas all week long as we share our first looks at a few of the new products releasing from Verve on Friday night (eek! Tomorrow!)!  Today’s set is Tag Time!! Wowza!! Who doesn’t love a sweet little tag?  PLUS 3 dies to go with the set, two of which I’m sharing with you today :)

My tag and gift bag were inspired by the sweet little mini card set I teased you with on Tuesday.  If I WERE going to give (because I might keep them myself to give to coworkers or my dh) this set to someone, I would package them up in this mini kraft bag that’s been spruced up a bit :)  I took my colour scheme from the papers used on the card, layered some of the new tags…including the Mini Me version of the Sweet Scallop Die (suh-WEET!) to create the perfect little gift ensemble :)  Here’s a close up…as you can see, I’m starting to mix and match the stamp sets…oh, yeah! Love to do that!

 

Up next is the card I made for this month’s Get Your Diva On challenge, which is ON right now!?  Have you entered yet for the chance to be an upcoming Verve Guest Diva?  Diva Jackie’s challenge this month is “Tag, You’re It!”  I’ve used the Tag Time graph paper tag stamp with the coordinating die and layered it onto a journal tag.  The leaves are from Sunny Day (Day 1 Spotlight) and the sentiment is from last month’s release…New Mercies. 

Guess what?!  One lucky commenter from today's hop will win the set and dies featured today, so be sure and leave a little love in the Divasphere! Check out the Verve Blog today for all the prize details and deadlines for the whole week. Thanks for stopping by…you know what tomorrow is!!!

1. Julee            9. Marisa {Guest}

2. Charmaine   10. Laurie

3. Tosha          11. Amber

4. Andrea         12. Amy

5. Sankari        13. Lynda

6. Teresa         14. Susan

7. Jackie         15. Maureen

8. Sarah {Guest}

 

what’s in them?

{thank you tag and bag}

stamps: tag time, you and I (Verve)

paper: raspberry fizz, rustic cream (PTI)

ink: onyx (Versafine), bermuda, pumpkin, kiwi (SU!), raspberry fizz (PTI)

accessories: tiny sweet scallop, tagged rectangle dies (Verve A Cut Above Dies), flower (prima), gems (Kaisercraft), bakers twine (craft supply), ribbon (May Arts), small kraft bag (Walmart)

{with heartfelt sympathy}

stamps: Sunny Days, Tag Time, New Mercies (Verve)

paper: springmoss, kraft, rustic cream (PTI), odds and ends (Cosmo Cricket), Stella and Rose (My Mind's Eye)

ink: onyx (Versafine), soft sky (SU!)

accessories: Tagged Rectangle Die (A Cut Above by VERVE), label tag (Maya Road), flower (Prima), twill (May Arts and PTI), gems (Kaisercraft), stitching

Anni-Verve-sary Spotlights ~ Day 4

Welcome to Day 4 of the Anni-VERVE-sary Spotlight Hops!  Hop along with the Divas all week long as we share our first looks at a few of the new products releasing from Verve on Friday night! 

Okay, true story…when I first saw the preview of this set, I was so overwhelmed and excited.  I thought that Julee had taken the story of how I met my dh and created a “love” set around it.  She even included wedding rings!  Funny what the mind sees!  No, it’s just a fabulous coffee set with fun little coffee and tea sayings and the image of coffee rings, not wedding rings!  LOL  Those first reactions to sets can be interesting.  The truth is the dh and I did meet 6 years ago at Starbucks.  So I let this be the inspiration for this card.  I turned those coffee rings into our wedding rings…complete with the 7 diamonds on my engagement ring :)  The background panel was stamped using the java stamp in dark brown ink and the same “rings” in sand ink.  The 4 layered hearts  were die cut with 2 different reds for some visual interest :)  (btw…the From the Heart Die Set is our Anni-VERVE-sary special. It will be available exclusively as a free gift with orders $35 and over through August 31, while supplies last. From the Heart will be available for purchase in September.)  This may very well be his Valentine card next year or maybe a little love note when he travels for work.  Want to win this set?  Here are the details. 

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          7. Sarah {Guest}

2. Charmaine   8. Marisa {Guest}

3. Tosha          9. Laurie

4. Andrea       10. Maureen

5. Sankari       11. Amy

6. Teresa       

what’s in it?

stamps: better with you (Verve)

paper: rustic cream (PTI), espresso, sand, red, ruby red (SU!)

ink: onyx (Versafine), chocolate chip, sahara sand (SU!), versamark, tea dye duo (PTI)

accessories: from the heart die set (Verve A Cut Above Dies), border punch (EK Success), gems (Kaisercraft), stitching