March's Viva La Verve

The deadline for this month's Viva La Verve is fast approaching!  There is still time to play along with these fabulous sketches.  There are five in all.  The one I have used today was created by Verve Diva, Amber!  You can find it here.  

I pulled this color combination straight from my SU Color Coach.  I used Blushing Bride, Perfect Plum and Sahara Sand.  I threw in some Certainly Celery for my greens!

It looks to be a busy week for me and I just got some news that I will be Coordinating the next VSN!!!  Check out the details here and here!

Thanks for stopping by!

Details - Stamps: Because of You (Verve); Paper: Whisper White, In Color patterns pack, Patterns Pack III, PC dsp, Certainly Celery; Ink: Sahara Sand, Regal Rose; Accessories: Corner chomper, SU pearls, Boho Blossom punch, Floral Fusion sizzlit, Little Leaves sizzlit, glue dots, stampin' dimensionals, pretties kit.

Papertrey March Blog Hop Challenge

The Papertrey March Blog Hop focuses on embroidery floss this month.  I attempted (and this is a first attempt) to make french knots where the berries would go in this fabulous wreath! 

I gained a new respect for all the embroidery that my mother does when I was fighting with those little knots!


I went clean and simple for this one.  I didn't have much time this afternoon!  I only used three layers on this number and I'll definitely be trying this again soon! 

I have to tend to my sick little on now.  Thanks for stopping by!

Details - Stamps: A Wreath for All Seasons (PTI); Paper: Confetti White, Cherry Cobbler; Ink: Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler; Accessories: embroidery thread, needle, stampin' dimensionals.

Viva La Dance

I just love Verve sketches.  This is is authored by Maureen.  She seems like a real spunky gal that I would love to meet!  Maureen had the third sketch this month for Viva La Verve.  Sometimes I find tilted panels difficult to work around, but this one wasn't so bad. 

I did have a hard time deciding on the embellishments.  Finally, I went with pearls.  I had to hem and haw about which color and finally went with a cream color.  I did a lot of sponging here and adding some stitching with a zig zag stitch stamp.  I really think that this might be the first time I have used that stamp so much.  You know, everything looks great...when you pair it with Verve!

Hubby surprised me with band practice tonight so that left me with some crafty time.  That is good though as he told me I would be able to take our 4 year old to see him play Friday night.  I hope to catch up on some more Verve sketches this weekend!

Have a fabulous day and thanks for stopping by!

Details - Stamps: Beautiful You (Verve), Stitched Ribbon (Hero Arts); Paper: Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Sweet Pea dsp, library card; Ink: Chocolate Chip, Close To Cocoa, Creamy Caramel; Accessories: Sweet Pea stitched felt, Mark Richards pearls, pink taffeta ribbon, sponge dauber, Tasteful Trims die, stampin' dimensionals.

Don't You Hate It...

when you miss the deadline?  I missed the deadline on this one.  It was for a Flourishes speed challenge.  They provided this sketch and I went rather simple.  Anyway, I missed the deadline because I had to go to work?  Can you believe that?  Well, I guess I may need the money to support my stamp habit. 

I had never used this lace, but really like it.  It pairs very nicely with the Vanilla and pastels.  My card is so simple that I just don't have much more to say. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Details - Stamps: Taglines (Flourishes), Beauty in Nature (Flourishes); Paper: Very Vanilla, Early Espresso, Sweet Pea dsp, Welcome Neighbor dsp; Ink: Bordering Blue, Old Olive, Early Espresso; Accessories: Nestabilities, small oval punch, SU lace, M's self adhesive pearls.

Friends

Ah, rejection, my friend!  It's not so bad when I consider the company I am likely to keep with rejection.  I am going to befriend rejection because I am sure there is something for me to learn here.

So....this is a little number I created for a recent Papercraft's Magazine submission.  You see, I would like to have my work published one day.  It's a dream.  In order to me to ever get there, I must submit.  So I have been submitting for a few months now.  I believe it will likely be a long road!

Eyelets seem like they are a bit dated, but I love the look they give here.  They are almost like little portholes!

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you had a fabulous weekend.

Details: Stamps: Text Objects (Verve); Paper: Whisper White, Daffodil Delight, Not Quite Navy, Bashful Blue; Ink: Versamark, Daffodil Delight, Bashful Blue, Soft Suede; Accessories: Black ep, heat tool, Nestabilities, MM black eyelets, MAMBI twine, D'Vine Swirls ef, stampin' dimensionals.

Got You Diva On?

There is time left for you to get your Diva on too!  This month's Get Your Diva On challenge is hostessed by Tosh.   She is challenging crafters to make a project using neutrals and a splash of color to represent the arrival of Spring. 

I used kraft and white as my neutrals and used red for my pop of color!  I also used Karen's sketch to get me going. 

I'm not sure where the nautical theme came from.  I really tried to carry it throughout the card though.  I hope you see it in my embossing and embellishing as well as my choice of focal image!

Thanks for stopping by!

Details - Stamps: Text Objects (Verve); Paper: Whisper White, Real Red, Crumb Cake, BG basics white, Pattern Pack dsp , Welcome Neighbor dsp; Ink: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso; Accessories: D'Vine Swirls ef, MM edge distressor, Nestabilities, MM wire, SU basic eyelets, linen thread, stampin' dimensionals.

Flashing Back Once Again

Have you played along with Flashback Friday yet?  This go around, Jana is the hostess and she challenged all takers to post their first window card.  I think this might have been one of the first cards I made with my first two sets of Nestabilities. 

This card was made for a VSN challenge in May of 2009 called Bellagio.   The challenge was to make a card with a transparency and flowers.  On my card, you can see my window and my flowers, as well as my punched transparency flowers. 

This card also illustrates how my photography has shaped up over the last couple of years!  I really do enjoy the perspective that Flashback Friday offers!

Thanks for stopping by!

Details - Stamps: Thinking of You Messages (Hero Arts); Paper: Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Acetate; Ink: Chocolate Chip, StazOn Timber Brown; Accessories: Nestabilities, gold mini brads, Boho blossoms punch, sponge dauber, glue dots, art flowers (Hero Arts).

Colors

Rarely, do I stray from tried and true colors for me.  I did this time and couldn't be happier.  I used an SU color tool to decide my colors and I absolutely love this.  I really love Sahara Sand for all of its softness.  I softened it even more by brayering white over the top and heat setting it!  I'm going to do that again soon!

This little darling netted me a new GKD stamp set, which I promise to preview soon.  This card used the sketch from Stamp TV's Sketch Spotlight Challenge number 15.  Lucky for me or lucky that I used a GKD set, my name was drawn. 

My plan is to play along a little more with Stamp TV challenges as I am accumulating a larger GKD collection!

Today was a fun family evening.  After work, I picked up my daughter and ran about 5 errands.  We raced home to pick up hubby and head out for dinner.  It's a treat when we get to eat out, even if it is Burger King!  We didn't tell my 4 year old and she was thrilled.  We tempted her even further by saying if she did a good job eating all her dinner and using her table manners we would take her to another surprise.  She did it and we attended preschool math night at a local church.  What fun!  I swear my daughter is the golden child.  She won a load of Teddy Grahams at the estimation station for guessing there were 155 teddies in the jar when the real count was 153.  She was so excited!

Thanks for stopping by!

Details - Stamps: Fun Year Round (GKD); Paper: Whisper White, Bravo Burgundy, Sahara Sand; Ink: White Craft ink, Pink Pirouette, Bravo Burgundy; Accessories: Leafy Branch ef, baby brayer, pink satin ribbon, M's self adhesive pearls, stampin' dimensionals, glue dot.

A Real Fun-gi!

I had to play along, last minute with the Stamping with Shimmer Sprays Challenge in the Moxie Fab World.   I went ahead and embossed my fungi on vanilla with clear embossing powder and then spritzed the whole thing with some smooch spritz.  I colored in heart and embossed the cap and stem, leaving the underside to absorb some more spritz.  I was hoping for a darker look, but the clean embossing on the cap and stem darkened up just a bit more!  I really do love the spotted look it gave my shroom!

How do you like my growing medium?  I wish I could take credit (or give proper credit), but I can't remember exactly where I saw that fun look! 

Thanks for stopping by!

Details - Stamps: You're a Real Fun-gi (Unity); Paper: Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel;  Ink: Versamark, Chocolate Chip; Accessories: clear ep, heat tool, Log Cabin Smooch Spritz, M's self-adhesive rhinestones, Red Sharpie, Natural burlap string, square lattice ef, sponge dauber.

A Wild Thing Post

Yep,  "wild thing, you make my heart sing"! Don't you just love fun stamps??  Verve puts out some great stamps.  They are about to have another release and honestly I can't wait!  I bought the whole release last time because everything was fabulous and fit the theme of the upcoming VSN!  I was a hostess, so that really worked well for me.

This card was made for Theresa's challenge called Wild Thing, an inspiration challenge related to the song.  I'm not an animal print type girl, but surprised myself by finding this Basic Grey pattern in my stash.  I thought it was perfect!  I also used some really old, funky fibers on this card too!

I hope your day is going amazingly well and that the time change hasn't wiped you out!  Thanks for stopping by :)

Details - Stamps: Sweet Treats (Verve), Swirling Hearts (Verve), Love Notes (Verve); Paper: Very Vanilla, Early Espresso, BG Granola; Ink: Early Espresso,Versamark, Creamy Caramel; Accessories: Sweet Scallop Tag die (Verve), 1 1/4" circle punch, M's brown satin ribbon, glue dots, stampin' dimensionals, M's fibers, MM eyelet, clear ep, heat tool.

A Little Butterfly with Pizzazz

I created this and decided to upload with just a few minutes to spare for Mojo Monday 181.  This is an out of my box, color combination that I tried today.  I used Rich Razzleberry, Pear Pizzazz and Turquoise.  Thoughts, anyone?  Maybe I am feeling green as St. Patrick's Day is approaching quickly.  Lord knows the green cookies I made today were fun also!

I got to use some new to my Nestabilities to create my pinking-type border.  Those flowers from the Kind Word set just scream for rhinestones, so I indulged!  I had to play fair so the butterfly and the corner got some bling as well.

Thanks for stopping by!

Details - Stamps: Blue Skies (Verve), Kind Words (Verve), Thank you sentiment (Verve); Paper: Whisper White, Garden Green, Razzleberry Lemonade dsp, Print Pack In Color dsp, BG Urban Prairie; Ink: Pear Pizzazz, Rich Razzleberry, Basic Gray, Tempting Turquoise; Accessories: Nestabilities, M's self-adhesive rhinestones, stampin' dimensionals, paper snips, sponge dauber.

How Do You Feel About Buttons?

Me?  I just have a hard time with naked buttons.  Buttonholes just beg to have something through them or be covered up.  I hope that doesn't make me a prude!  I do tend to be more on the modest side :)

This card was made for another Stamp 2 Spend challenge offered up by Kelly.  She asked us to go into our favorites and remake one of the oldest in our stash!  I found this card by Becky Oehlers that I had tucked away for just this kind of inspiration. 

It's a pretty clean and simple design.  I went with pinks and red to compliment the love theme.  I embossed the stitched heart image and then cut it out.  Then I used a buttonhole punch and threaded some thin satin ribbon through it.  I tried to tie a bow, but I just couldn't make it work.  So I resorted to a knot.  I added a little faux stitching on my die cut shape to mimic the heart image.

Thanks for stopping by!

Details - Stamps: Text Objects (Verve), Swirling Hearts (Verve); Paper:  Whisper White, Real Red, Pretty in Pink, Print Pack dsp, Pattern Pack dsp; Ink: Real Red, Regal Rose, Versamark; Accessories: white ep, heat tool, Nestabilities, corner chomper, wide red grosgrain ribbon, thin satin ribbon, buttonhole punch, paper snips, stampin' dimensionals.

Happy To Revisit

I am happy to revisit this little gem from VSN!
I made this card for Alison's challenge called Love Is...., which was to create a card based on one of four quotes.  I chose this quote by Dr. Suess, "You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better
than your dreams".  Nice, huh?

I keyed in on the dream aspect of his quote and found a lovely Verve quote to use on my card!  Then, I build the rest of my card around this Basic Grey designer paper that felt rather dreamy to me!

I stamped my sentiment first, then embossed those heart over it.  I found I used tons of hearts or love-y type images and phrases for this last VSN.  It was  a good thing!

Have a fabulous day!

Details:  Stamps: Blue Skies (Verve), Love Notes (Verve); Paper: Whisper White, Soft Suede, Blush Blossom, BG Lilykate dp; Ink: Soft Suede, Versamark, Blush Blossom; Accessories: Nestabilities, clear ep, heat tool, white organza ribbon, MS Arch Lattice punch, glue dots.

It Must Be Spring

It just must be spring because there is a bird on my blog!  Just kidding!  I am hoping that spring is right around the corner, though.

I made this card for a couple of different challenges.  First,  Kelly challenged us in the Stamp 2 Spend challenge to make a card inspired by a robin.  It had to include black and rust and have a bird or curve on it.  Check, check, check!  Second, I cased a card by Neva, this week's Featured Stamper on SCS. 

I punched my bird from some black and white designer paper and sponged some rust ink over the belly of the bird and around the edges of the wing.  I used a rub-on for my sentiment!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!


Details - Paper: Really Rust, Basic Black, Whisper White, Night and Day specialty dsp; Ink: Really Rust; Accessories: rub-ons, XL bird punch, birds and swirls ef, Nestabilities, M's self adhesive rhinestones, sponge dauber, stampin' dimensionals. 

Making Do

I'm just making do over here in my corner of the world.  I have to say that it's more than a little frustrating to not be able to get to my craft room when I want to!  We are having electrical issues upstairs.  The issue...we have no power upstairs, which mean I can craft by lantern or headlight or by daylight.  I happen to work days, so today is the first day in better than a week that I have been able to make a card and I think it shows. 

So I made this little number for a few challenges.  First, I wanted to participate in the Verve Fan hop so I pulled out some of my favorite new Verve for this card.  This cute little Emery just begs to be paper pieced, so I was happy to oblige!  That brings me to the next challenge, The Moxie Fab World Paper Piecing Challenge.  I drew in some lines on Emery's feet to do a little more piecing.  (I hope it doesn't offend Julee that I altered her art a bit!)  Finally, I used this week's sketch from the Limelight Papercraft's Sketch and Product Challenge.

Thanks for stopping by!  Hopefully, I will get a few more daylight hours in my craft room today to create a bit more.

Details - Stamps: To The Moon (Verve), Emery PJ (Verve); Paper: Whisper White (base), Welcome Neighbor dsp, vellum; Ink: Basic Gray, Versamark, Old Olive, Bermuda Bay; Accessories: Nestabilities, scallop circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, paper snips, white ep, heat tool, stampin' dimensionals, glue pen.