Psalm 3:3

Lots to share today, so I'll get right to it. Verve's next release is this Friday, June 25! As usual, we're having some release week challenges for a chance to win Verve gift certificates and, for one lucky winner, the full release! Challenge details are posted HERE in the Verve Forum on SCS. Better get crackin' - the deadline is Friday. Winners will be announced at the Release Party, which takes place from 9-11 EST, also in the Verve Forum. New set peeks begin on the Verve Stamps blog tomorrow.

After you've cranked out release week challenge cards, you might want to try this month's Viva La Verve challenges also. Amber's got some beautiful sketches and some amazing kids room phtoos to use for inspiration. I've played along with two of this month's VLV sketches. My favorite one is shown above.

I used this sketch from the Week 4 Challenge:



and this inspiration photo:



My first thought when seeing the inspiration picture was how feminine and romantic, which reminded me of these beautiful Girls Paperie papers that I purchased recently. I added some ruffled seam binding, some Prima trim, and pretty scallops to help with the soft, romantic look and feel. (Speaking of ruffled seam binding, how could it not work its way onto my card after seeing this amazing card by Sarah Martina.) The Scripture stamp, Psalm 3:3, is a new Plain Jane coming Friday!

Next is a card I made a couple of weeks ago:



using the Week 2 sketch...



and this inspiration photo...



This card gave me fits, and I never did get to a place where I'm happy with it. Happens sometimes, right? One thing I do love about it is the sentiment, which is from Verve's One Person.

Remember, complete all of any given month's Viva La Verve sketches, and you'll be entered into a drawing to win the entire next release. VLV details are posted with each sketch thread. A little roomier deadline for the June VLV's -- midnight, July 3.

Thanks so much for visiting!

Three Great Companies, One Great Cause

[This post will stay at the top for the weekend.
To see this week's Sketch For You To Try, scroll down one post or go HERE -- thanks!]

If you haven't heard, there's a fantastic benefit sale going on this weekend! Many of you know that Eric Liles, husband of our stamping sister Susan Liles, has been battling a very aggressive form of cancer the past few months. Susan's cheery, upbeat attitude during this ordeal has been such an inspiration. Behind that, however, is the worry of such a diagnosis, not to mention the worry over mounting medical bills, especially with Eric now out of sick leave at work.

Here's how you can help! Three amazing companies that Susan designs for, My Favorite Things, The Cat's Pajamas, and Verve, have teamed up for a fundraiser to benefit the Liles family. You save 10% storewide with all three companies, and as you shop, the Liles family benefits by receiving a portion of all weekend sales revenue. It's a win-win! Use coupon code SUSIEQ at My Favorite Things. No code needed at The Cat's Pajamas and Verve. The sale runs from today, Friday, June 18, through Sunday, June 20.

Susan's sister and and a good friend have also set up a donate button on Susan's blog if you'd prefer to make an outright donation.

Hugs and thanks!

Today I Celebrate You

I've done something today that I rarely do -- I've used purple (blech)! Not only that, but I like it! This beautiful crocus image is from A Year of Flowers Calendar Set 1 by Flourishes, and the sentiment is from the new Birthday Centers set by JustRite Stamps. Both sets, along with many of the supplies I used, are available at Stamper's Dream.

The layout is Jen's Sketch For You To Try for this week:



Check out the fabby SFYTT sisters for more inspiration using today's sketch:

Jen del Muro with guest designer Andrea Ewen
Amber Hight
Amy Rohl
Jenn Diercks
Jodi Collins
Kelly Lunceford
Leigh O'Brien
Megan Lock
Sonja Christoph
Susan Liles (sitting out this week)

To play along, upload your card to Jen's blog using the linking tool at the end of her post. Use keyword SFYTT when uploading to online galleries. Play along and you'll have a chance to be a future SFYTT guest designer! Want a head start? Look for the sketch Friday nights on Facebook!

Here's the inside:



Thanks for visiting!



Stamps: A Year of Flowers Calendar Set 1 (Flourishes); Birthday Centers (JustRite Stamps)
Paper: Neenah Classic Crest Solar White card stock, Papertrey Plum Pudding card stock, Memory Box Frond dp
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Versafine Onyx Black
Accessories: Copic markers, Spellbinders circle nestabilities and Fleur-de-Lis Pendant dies, Tim Holtz Alterations Plaque & Postage die, May Arts white crochet trim, Papertrey Plum Pudding saddle stitch ribbon, bling ribbon slide (unknown), Kaisercraft Bliss adhesive pearls
Size: 5 1/2" square

Teacher Gift Card Tin - Take Two

Yesterday, I showed the first of two accordion-fold booklets that I made for my daughter's kindergarten teachers. Instead of creating an exact duplicate of the first booklet, I thought I'd just change out the papers. Instead, I found my groove and ended up adding all sorts of little extras.




This is the hinged, window tin I packaged the booklets in. I went simple - just a piece of patterned paper inside and some twill tied around the outside.





The first page, like yesterday's booklet, has a stamped quote from Make the Grade by Taylored Expressions.




The second page is for the restaurant gift card. Instead of the "Bon Appetit" tag like I did for yesterday's book, I created a scrappy "D is for dinner" label using a "Dd" from the manuscript pattern in October Afternoon's Report Card collection along with some Making Memories mini alpha stickers.




Next is the Barnes & Noble gift card with "B is for books." I love the banner treatments that are so popular right now. This was my first go at one - so fun!




"S is for shop" goes with the Visa gift card. Notice how the bit of dp in the background also includes "s" words? "Scene" peeks out at the top and "scissors" peeks out at the bottom. I didn't plan it that way - just noticed it as I was adhering the gift card envie. Love happy little surprises like that!




And the last page is a message to the teacher along with the student names.

This is the gift bag I put the tin in. I just added a strip of one of the Report Card patterns to the top, then tied on a pencil-shaped tag. The pencil was made by lining up the various colored pieces of card stock (pink, aluminum foil, gold, kraft, dark grey) and then trimming the lead end to a point and slightly rounding the corners of the eraser end.

I had so much fun making these gift card holders! Although I liked the first one just fine, this one was by far my favorite. The Report Card papers were so perfect (why didn't I think of them first?), and once the inspiration hit for the envelope titles, I had so much fun figuring out how to arrange the little title collages. If it wasn't 3 AM when I finished, I would have made a third, so that both teachers could get this version. How nice, though, that dd liked the other one best - that way I felt like each teacher got a favorite.

Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Make the Grade (Taylored Expressions)

Paper: Papertrey Kraft and Rustic Cream card stock; October Afternoon Report Card 8x8 designer papers, Basic Grey Basics White

Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Ranger Antique Linen, Vintage Photo, Frayed Burlap Distress Inks

Accessories: hinged window tin, wood buttons, 5/8" natural twill, Spellbinders Long Rectangle Nestabilities, May Arts burlap string, Making Memories mini letter stickers, Prima flower, Stampin' Up circle, large oval, and key tag punches, staple

Teacher Gift Card Tin - Warm-Up

My older two kids are finishing up school this week, and I'm finishing up all of my end-of-year gifties. I volunteered to take up a collection from my daughter's kindergarten class, so that the teachers could get nice gift cards instead of fifteen or twenty more candles each. I always appreciate it when a fellow parent organizes a group collection, so this year I figured it was my turn.

Secretly though, I had ulterior motives .... this:



I made each teacher an accordian-fold booklet with sleeves to hold three different gift cards: a favorite restaurant, a book store, and a Visa gift card for whatever their hearts desire. I packaged the booklet in a hinged, windowed tin.



On the opening page I stamped a quote from Make the Grade by Taylored Expressions.





The second page has the dinner card. Sentiment from Clearly Sentimental About Food by My Favorite Things.





The next page has a Barnes & Noble gift card. The sentiment stamp is from I {Heart} Books by My Favorite Things.





Next is the Visa card. Sentiment is from Say Charge by My Favorite Things.

The last page (no close-up) has a message to the teacher and the list of children who contributed to the group gift.

I like how this turned out, however, straight-up duplicating a project totally gives me hives, so for the second booklet, I changed things up quite a bit, and I have to say the second one turned out to be one of my favorite projects ever. Can't wait to show it to you tomorrow, along with the gift tin and the gift bag tags. Is it Friday yet?? I should mention that my daughter liked this one the best. (We're just not seeing eye to eye these days {grin}.)

Speaking of my daughter, if you visited my MFT July VIP Blog Hop post from Tuesday, you need to see this book she made yesterday. I'm showing you all of the pages as proof that the "bare" family does not garden!





Thanks for stopping by!



Stamps: Make the Grade (Taylored Expressions); Clearly Sentimental About Food, I {Heart} Books, and Say Charge (My Favorite Things)
Paper: Prismatics Island Mist Dark card stock, Papertrey Rustic White cad stock, K&Co dp
Ink: Stampin' Up Not Quite Navy
Accessories: Kaiser pearls, Spellbinders Labels Four Nestabilities and Tags Trio, sponge daubers, SU ribbon and punch, May Arts burlap string

So Sorry!

Hi everyone, unplanned post here. This morning I responded to a friend request at a website called shtyle.fm and during the process of creating an account with them, it seems they sent out friend requests on my behalf to my entire address book! Which means anyone who has left me a blog comment most likely received a friend request from me. I am so very sorry! I value the time my readers take to leave me encouragement via blog comments and would never misuse the associated email addresses deliberately. I don't know anything about the site, and I don't know if I accidentally gave permission to access my address book, or if the site just took it. I deleted my profile and lodged a complaint. Please accept my sincere apology! Note to self: pay more attention!

[ETA: A few of you have asked how to delete an account. It wasn't easy to find. I think I found an FAQ page under the "Account" tab. On the FAQ page was the question "how do I delete my account." You'll find the info there. Warning, you'll have to click through a couple of screens first, while the site encourages you to change to private status instead. Eventually, though, you'll reach a real delete page, where you'll also have a chance to tell the site why you're deleting your account. I told 'em ;) Again, I'm sorry for the inconvenience!]

MFT July VIP Blog Hop

It's VIP day at My Favorite Things - your chance to pick up the July Who's That Girl set, Who's That Gardening Girl, a whole three weeks early. The July VIP kit also includes a free mini set, some white scalloped notecards, and a sweet paper, ribbon, and button bundle. Hurry, the VIP kit is available for one day only.

VIP day also means its blog hop time! It's an especially exciting blog hop because we're announcing three new design team members!! You won't miss a single project or announcement if you start at the beginning with Kim and work your way through to the end.

I plant a modest vegetable garden every year, and would really love a place to record information and photos during the growing season and even from year to year. I can never remember from one year to the next which tomato variety I like best, which cucumbers did the best, and all sorts of other info that would be useful. Who's That Gardening Girl was perfect for my garden album/journal!

This album was originally a mini scrapbook album, so it has clear photo/layout sleeves inside, but I'm excited to add all sorts of other goodies using my bind-it-all ... envelopes to hold seed packets, pages for journaling, canning and freezing how-to, and so on. Having a pretty book should motivate me to keep better records, right?




I love to share the comical observations and commentary I get from my 6-year-old daughter, who loves crafting every bit as much as her mama. When she saw this book, she looked very quietly for some time and seemed puzzled. Finally, in a shy little voice, she asked, "Why isn't she wearing any pants?" LOL - I was going for khaki. Be honest, friends, does it look like khaki or a bare bottom? Instead of skin-tone arms, I gave her a pair of long green (and very snug) garden gloves. Coloring is with Copics. The red and green ric rac strips are cut with MFT's new Jumbo Ric Rac Die-namics out of MFT's felt . The ric rac piece at the top is cut from canvas fabric. Behind the image is a square of burlap.

Your next stop on the hop is Sherrie. Get ready to see all kinds of gorgeousness! Enjoy the rest of the hop!