Verve's 10th Anni-VERVE-sary Spotlight Hop ~ Release Day!

Welcome back to Day 5 of our Anni-VERVE-sary Spotlight Hops!  It's an exciting day as there's new Verve in the store this morning! 4 beautiful new sets and 2 coordinating die sets just released and they're all available to order right now. To celebrate this special 10th Anni-VERVE-sary release, we're putting on another blog hop, with a pretty cool prize!

Today's featured focus is designer's choice, so you might just sneak a peek at a whole bunch of must-haves, especially since we've got a full line-up of Divas, guests and Alumni today!

When I first got the "Cake and Candles" set out, I thought it would be cool to make a background with the stamps as they were on the acetate sheet.  So I turned the whole stamp set over, inked it up with versamark, stamped it onto some sweet blush cardstock, poured white embossing powder on it, then heated it up.  Below is the finished result before I put my card together. (hey, how do you like my new Canada EH? mug?!).  This card was snatched up by my sister as one of her birthday card set selection...I give my sister's a set of 10 cards as birthday presents.

Want to win some shiny new Verve? Today's prize is a BIG one. We'll be picking a random commenter on one of the hop spots below to win our ENTIRE new release! So be sure to leave a little comment on all the blogs below to increase your chances! Check out the Verve Blog today for the full hop list and all the prize info and deadlines!

1. Julee 9. Lesley 2. Maureen 10. Christyne 3. Betty 11. Laurie 4. Charmaine 12. Kelly (Guest) 5. Marisa 13. Laurie W. (Alumni) 6. Amy S.(Alumni) 14. Tosha L. (Alumni) 7. Amy K.(Alumni) 15. Tiffany S.(Alumni) 8. Michelle W. (Alumni)

what's in it?
stamps: Cake and Candles (Verve)
paper: white, sweet blush, black, gold and white stripes (PTI)
ink: onyx (Versafine), versamark
accessories: scalloped circle die (PTI), stitched circle die (MFT), bakers twine, white embossing powder

Verve's 10th Anni-VERVE-sary Spotlight Hop ~ Day 3

Welcome to Day 3 of the Anni-VERVE-sary Spotlight Hops!  It's time for another day of spotlighting the Verve release with the Verve Divas and special guests! We're super excited to have a couple very special Diva Alumni joining us for the hop today. Everything previewed this week will be available to order in the Verve online store on Monday, August 28. If you just can't wait, you can pre-order the entire release now as the August 2017 Buy it All Bundle at a 30% discount through August 27.

Today we're sharing our first projects featuring the Cake and Candles stamp set, another fusion of old and new. This birthday themed compilation includes some brand new birthday sentiments with a classy modern font pairing, as well as a few re-introductions of previous sentiments and plain janes.

I was just tickled pink (and aqua and purple and green and yellow) when Julee included my favourite birthday greeting into her new birthday set AND even made it the title of the set, "Happy cake and candles."  Honestly, though, I did not make it up.  I heard it somewhere eons ago and just loved it instead of the same ol' "Happy Birthday," (not that there's anything wrong with that sentiment either).  The spell predictor on my iPhone now adds "and candles" whenever I type in "cake." HA!  I made a card with things I love, a water coloured rainbow cut into a doily...perfection in my world!

Want to win some shiny new Verve? We'll be picking a random commenter on one of the hop spots below to win today's featured products! So be sure to leave a little comment on all the blogs below to increase your chances! Check out the Verve Blog today for the full hop list, a little more about our new products and all the prize info and deadlines!

1. Julee	7. Lesley
2. Maureen	8. Christyne
3. Betty	9. Laurie
4. Charmaine	10. Kelly (Guest)
5. Marisa	11. Michelle W. (Alumni)
6. Tosha L.(Alumni)

what's in it?
stamps: Cake and Candles (Verve)
ink: onyx (versafine)
paper: white (PTI), Perfectly Plaid - Winter (Lawn Fawn)
accessories: Zig Watercolour pens, doily die (PTI), circle die (MFT), bakers twine, sequins (craft supply), stitching

Verve May Spotlight Hop ~ Release Day!!

Good morning and welcome to Release Day!!  All the new stamps and dies are ready to purchase in the Verve Store today!  Woohoo!  I’ve been anxiously waiting for today’s stamps and dies for almost 2 months when Julee let us preview the new stamp sets.  Way back when I sent Julee an idea for a Verve style Teacher Set.  I searched for some sweet sentiments that I hadn’t seen in other teacher sets and sent her the idea along with a request for apples that you could stamp in different colours (‘cause this Diva doesn’t colour! {wink!}).  So you can understand my excitement (and tears) when I saw the Teachers Count set for the first time.  I’m one of those people who wanted to be a teacher since she was a little girl playing “school.”  Truth be told, I was a little intimidated when I came to make my cards for today’s post.  I wanted so much to do this set justice.  The first idea came to me as I thought about the tilted trend.  Wouldn’t it be fun to have a repeated apple pattern?  So I drew a pencil line on my paper (black in the photo below so you can see it). Then stamped the large apple all the way across with the line as a guide.  Then I repeated each tilted line until the whole panel was full.  Here’s what a ended up with.

Then I just stamped the apples (Red Delicious, Ambrosia and Granny Smith!) and leaves.  This teacher eats an apple a day for an after school snack :)  With a CAS design done, I went for a more frilly vintage style look on the next one.  This quote gives me goose bumps :)  We have a teacher retiring this year and she’ll be finding it on her desk very soon ;)

Are you still with me?  Sorry…but I just couldn’t leave this set alone!  One more stop on Jen S.’s blog…and then you can do some shopping! Woohoo!

But wait! Want to win some shiny new Verve? We'll be picking a random commenter on one of the hop spots below to win today's featured products! So be sure to leave a little comment on all the blogs below to increase your chances! Check out the Verve Blog for all the prize details and deadlines.

Today's Prize: Teachers Count, Apple Die Set, All Occasion, Occasion Frame Die, Promoted Plain Jane

1. Julee            8. Andrea

2. Charmaine    9. Jen M.

3. Teresa        10. Laurie W.

4. Stacey         11. Laurie S.

5. Amber         12. Janelle

6. Christyne     13. Maureen

7. Marisa         14. Jen S.

 

what’s in them?

{teachers live forever}

stamps: Teachers Count (Verve)

paper: kraft, white (PTI), red glitter cardstock (craft supply)

ink: onyx (Versafine), summer sun, real red, gumball green (SU), lime (SEI)

accessories: rounded rectangle and From the Heart dies (A Cut Above by Verve), library clip (SU)

 

{The Way You Made them Feel}

stamps: Teachers Count (Verve)

Paper: rustic white, sweet blush (PTI), Kneehighs (Basicgrey)

ink: onyx (Versafine), going gray, mellow moss, barely banana (SU)

accessories: Flag It Die Set (A Cut Above by Verve), Signature Ribbon Collection(Verve), string of hearts die (Simon Says Stamps), circle dies (Spellbinders), doily (Etsy Shop), buttons (PTI), mini paper clip (Tim Holtz), bakers twine (Doodlebug), stitching, staple

Anni-VERVE-sary Release ABC Challenge

Hi everyone!  I’m sneaking this post in before today’s Spotlight Hop goes live.  There’s one more Anni-VERVE-sary Release Challenge today and my project has a few extra pictures so I thought it deserved its own post :)  My twin niece and nephew from Texas are here with my sister and brother in law.  When they come to visit, I like to get them GCs to our local bookstore, Chapters.  They are old enough now that they love to pick out their own books or paraphernalia.  Once I had these colourful GCs, I thought it would be fun to make matching bookmarks  to dress up the gift card sleeves.

 

On the back, I stamped a background with stamps used on the front and added their names. Funny story…when Ava was little and people asked her name, she would answer, “Ava.”  Then they’d ask her what her other name was and she’d say, “JackandAva.” 

Here’s a close up with some sneaky sneak peeks of new Verve being released in one week…yes, 7 more days!  ACK! Can you wait?!

Bookmarks are a perfect gift for the twins…they have ALWAYS loved books.  Truly, they could sit through a whole book since they were babies.  And one was never enough.  Here they are during one of my visits to Texas…I think they are about 2 or 3 here :)  Hey, they are even wearing colours that would match the book marks! LOL

They were also the flower girl and ring bearer (or ring man as Jack would say) at my wedding 5 years ago.  Jack has his “game face” on.

Pretty little flower girl…

Here’s Jack getting ready at my place before the wedding…not impressed and I’m sure rethinking the “ring man” gig.

The twins joined my in the studio Wednesday for a little stamping session.  They were so cute!  Will post about that next week :)  Okay, come back in a few hours for today’s Spotlight Hop and join in the fun!  There are a TON of prizes with all the celebrations going on…all the details are on the Verve Blog! Thanks for visiting :)

what’s in them?

stamps: Learning to Sail, Doodled Occasions (Verve)

paper: white, lavender (PTI), razzleberry, bliss blue, curry, pumpkin (SU), Fun Day dp (MME), polkadot (PTI)

ink: onyx (Versafine), mustard, razzleberry, blue bliss (SU)

accessories: Frosty Snowflakes (A Cut Above by Verve), tag and letter dies, buttons, rustic twine (PTI), ribbon (Michaels and May Arts), bakers twine (Twinery), stitching

Anni-Verve-sary Spotlight Hop ~ Day 1

Welcome to our Anni-VERVE-sary Spotlight Hops!  As many of you know, Verve is celebrating its 5th anniversary this month and the party is just getting started! If you’ve arrived from Laurie S.’s blog, you are right on track…if not, you can check the master list over on the Verve Blog to make sure you don’t miss anyone!

On my card today, I’ve used a sentiment and image from the With Love stamp set.  This set is a collection of stamps that have been those sweet little gifts you always receive when you order from Verve.  Don’t have them all?  Well now you can!  I’m also sneaking in a new Plain Jane, Thatched Banner, that coordinates with our popular Ribbon Banner Die!  It adds just the right texture in any colour you like! LOVE!

Come join us over the next 9 days as we showcase the 23 new stamps and dies releasing from Verve! We'll be counting down the minutes and revealing all the new sets in our forum from 9-11pm Eastern on Friday, August 24, so make plans now to join us for our release party!

In the meantime, we've got a fun filled hop for you today! So let your fingers do the clicking and peek into the creative minds of Verve's talented Divas and Guest Divas as they give you a little tour of what's to come! Inspiration abounds, and so do the PRIZES!

That's right! We've picked a mystery blog from today's hop and hidden a prize! So be sure to give a little shout out in the comment section as you hop around to each blog on the list. We’ll draw a random winner from all of the comments on the mystery blog to win today's featured sets and dies. Check out the Verve Blog for all the prize details and deadlines.

Want even more chances to win? Head on over to the Verve SCS forum and play along in our Anni-VERVE-sary release challenges. Or hop on over to the Verve Blog to find out about our Verve Card Carnival, for a chance to win the entire new release (a $300+ value)!  Now before you head over to Teresa’s blog, here’s one more sneaky peek on the card I made for today’s CAS Challenge over on the Verve SCS Forum. Thanks for visiting! See you tomorrow :)

what’s in them?

{Thank You}

stamps: With Love, Thatched Banner PJ (Verve)

paper: kraft, white  (PTI), pink, peach (SU), Hey Day (Studio Calico), Fun Day (My Mind’s Eye)

ink: onyx (versafine), aquamist (PTI), bermuda bay (SU)

accessories: Ribbon Banner die (A Cut Above by Verve), bakers twine (Twinery), stitching

{Happy Birthday}

stamps: Treasured Words (Verve)

paper: white (PTI), Take Note & Abroad (Studio Calico)

ink: onyx (versafine)

accessories: button, blossom dies (PTI), circle punches (SU), gems (Kaisercraft)

Anni-VERVE-sary Release Sketch Challenge

Good morning!  Are you enjoying the pre sneak peaks of new Verve?  Have you been able to join in on any of the challenges over on the Verve Forum yet?  Remember, you have until August 24th to complete all five…so no panicking (yet!).  Today, Julee and Laurie are challenging us to make a card with this fun sketch :)  Thanks for coming over for a visit!  See you tonight for my CASE Study card and another sneaky peek of you-know-what! {wink}

   

what’s in it?

stamps: Treasured Words, Doodled Occasions (Verve)

paper: kraft, rustic cream, aquamist (PTI), espresso (SU), Memoir and Hey Day (Studio Calico)

ink: onyx (Versafine),

accessories: circle and scalloped circle dies (Spellbinders), scallop border punch (Martha Stewart), bakers twine (Twinery), ribbon, buttons (PTI), gem (Kaisercraft) stitching

Anni-VERVE-sary Card Challenge!

Good morning dear friends!  I’m so excited about today’s post!  Diva Andrea and I are hosting today’s Anni-VERVE-sary challenge over on the Verve Forum!  When Julee asked us to create a challenge for the Anni-VERVE-sary release, I couldn’t help but be inspired by my own 5th Anniversary this year.  I also know (only too well!) that the Traditional Gift for a 5th Anniversary is “wood” and the Modern Gift is “silverware.”  Check out the REAL inspiration for the challenge…Tony’s gift to me this year :)  Three wood beads on a silver bracelet…yup, he’s a keeper!

So you can see how my challenge came about…teehee…
I’ve used both wood and silver on my card.  The jotted heart was die cut out of balsa wood and the coordinating image was stamped with Sahara Sand.  Now, the Divas are also giving some pre sneak peeks of the new sets.  I was thrilled when Julee said one of the sets was inspired by some of my ideas :)  And here it is in stamp form!  This is a sentiment I either write in Tony’s cards or say to him (awww, I know!).  LOL, so no mistaking Julee’s inspiration this time, unlike last year’s Better with You set! LOL  Now head over to the Verve Forum to see how you could win the WHOLE release by playing along with all our challenges!  Thanks for coming by! Have a lovely day :)
 

what’s in it?

stamps: Stronger Love, Love Notes (Verve)

paper: rustic white, soft stone (PTI), Loyal (Authentique)

ink: onyx (versafine), sahara sand (SU)

accessories: jotted heart die (A Cut Above by Verve), limitless layers dies (PTI), seam binding ribbon (Etsy store), silver button (Jolee’s), silver cord (Pizzazz Aplenty), balsa wood (Michaels), lace trim (The Funkie Junkie), gems (Kaisercraft), paper doily (Wilton)

Anni-VERVE-sary Release Colour Challenge

 

To see my CASE Study Blog Hop card, click HERE

EEK!! Good morning!  I’m squealing this morning with excitement as the Verve Anni-VERVE-sary challenges start!  Every day this week, the Divas will thrill you with a new challenge over in the Verve Forum.  Play along with all 5 challenges and you have the chance to win the WHOLE, yes the WHOLE new release!  And it’s a BIG one! EEK! First up are Teresa and Amber challenging us to make a card with green, pink, and brown.  We were also given the go ahead from Julee to sneak in some pre sneak peeks of the new sets being released on August 24th.  See anything gorgeous and new?  Yep, the flowers and sentiment mixed in with the leaf stamp from Bloom and Grow.  Thanks for stopping by!  Now head over to the Verve Forum and check out all the fun..

 

what’s in it?

stamps: Lean on Me, Bloom and Grow (Verve)

paper: white, soft stone (PTI), espresso (SU)

ink: onyx (Versafine), autumn rose, spring moss (PTI), choc chip (SU)

accessories: Joyful Blooms die (A Cut Above by Verve), circle die (Spellbinders), scallop edger die, buttons (PTI), bakers twine (Twinery), ribbon (SU), seeing spots embossing folder (cuttlebug), gems (Kaisercraft), stitching