Verve New Release Spotlight: Richly Blessed

I'm back with Day Two of Verve's New Release Spotlights. Today the Divas will be showing two new sets, Richly Blessed and Joy for the Journey, as well as a single image, Vintage Oval Frame. My favorite Christmas cards are those with a clear religious sentiment, so I couldn't wait to ink up Richly Blessed for today's spotlight card.

The set includes a beautiful cross image, which I stamped in Ranger Old Paper Distress Ink onto a pattern from Webster's Pages' Waiting for Santa Petite Papers collection, along with some Scripture and other holiday sentiments. I chose to feature Isaiah 9:6, which I stamped in Stampin' Up's Bravo Burgundy. The frame around the cross and Scripture was done with Stampin Up's Top Note die and a Spellbinders Classic Oval Nestabilities die. Finishing touches are a little crocheted trim, crinkled seam binding, a Webster's Pages sparkler, a punched border, and some gold pearls and cord.

AND ... check out the finished inside:

Oh, how I love this set!

Here's the official link list of today's spotlight hops.
Happy hopping!

1. Jackie	6. Sankari
2. Laurie	7. Teresa
3. Lynda	8. Andrea
4. Amy	9. Julee
5. Mercy

Be sure to leave some comments along the way
for a chance to win!
Have fun, and see you again tomorrow!

Thanks for visiting!

Verve New Release Spotlight: Christmas Blessings

It's New Release Spotlight time at Verve this week, and friends, oh my, are you in for a treat! The new sets are amazing, and I can't wait for you to see them! Before I get too ahead of myself, be sure to mark your calendars for this Friday, 9 -11 pm EST. That's when Verve will be hosting its Release Party in the Verve Forum at SCS, and I sure hope you'll join us if you can!

Today, the Divas are spotlighting four mini sets and two Plain Janes, so you're sure to see quite a variety. My sample features Christmas Blessings Plain Jane. Isn't that font so classy and elegant? I colored the stamp with markers for the two-color effect, then die-cut with a Labels Ten Nestabilities die. The loopy frame behind the sentiment was done with a Sizzix Frame Back Ornate #6 Bigz die. You could stop right there and have a nice tag to use with your Christmas packaging. I went ahead and turned it into a card by adhering the tag to a simple card base. All of the patterned papers are from the Tinsel & Twig collection by The Girls' Paperie.

I lightly misted the whole card front with some Sparkle Pssst shimmer spray. In this detail shot, you can see a hint of the sparkle (click for an even closer look). So festive!

Here's the official link list of today's spotlight hops.
Happy hopping!

1. Lynda	8. Sankari
2. Michelle	9. Tosh
3. Mercy	10. Susan
4. Amy	11. Amber
5. Shannan	12. Jen d.
6. Laurie	13. Andrea
7. Teresa	14. Julee

Be sure to leave some comments along the way
for a chance to win!
Have fun and we'll see ya tomorrow!

Thanks ever so much for stopping by today!

Lil' Inker SFYTT

Good morning, friends! Today's Sketch For You To Try is being sponsored by Lil' Inker Designs. The owner, Laura Pryor, has created an adorable, sweet and wonderfully *practical* flag/banner stamp set with coordinating steel die. Be sure to check out the Sentiment Flags combo in the Lil' Inker Designs store. This is sure to be something you'll reach for again and again and again! And just by playing along in today's sketch, you'll have a chance to win a Sentiment Flags stamp/die combo. Be sure to link your creation to today's sketch challenge post at Jen's blog. Good luck!

Here's the sketch:

For more sketch inspiration, visit the SFYTT sisters:

Jen del Muro with guest designer Lesa Smaligo
Amber Hight
Amy Rohl
Carole Burrage
Jenn Diercks
Jodi Collins
Kelly Lunceford
Megan Lock
Sonja Christoph
Susan Liles

For my sample, I've stamped one of the flag outline images and the Happy Birthday sentiment onto a flag cut with the matching die, then colored inside the flag outline with a light aqua Copic marker. The balloons are from Verve's Birthday Bash, the papers are Cosmo Cricket's Togtherness, the decorative square behind the circle was cut with a Spellbinders Labels Sixteen Nestabilities die, and the open scallop border was cut with one of MFT's Die-namics dies. The dark brown stitching was done by hand.




Stamps: Sentiment Flags (Lil' Inker Designs), Birthday Bash (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Papertrey Kraft, Vintage Cream and Dark Chocolate card stock, Cosmo Cricket Togetherness Mini Deck
Ink: Ranger Walnut Stain Distress Ink
Accessories: Spellbinders Labels Sixteen and Classic Circles Nestabilities, Cuttlebug Seeing Spots embossing folder, Lil' Inker Designs steel die, Papertrey button and twine, hemp twine, My Favorite Things Open Scallop Border Die-namics die, paper piercer, needle, thread, foam adhesive, BG000 Copic marker

Three Wise Men

Today's card features the amazing To Follow Star image by Penny Black. I stamped in Ranger Walnut Stain Distress Ink onto Neenah Classic Crest Solar White card stock, then die-cut the image into a circle. The two white mats are cut with Spellbinders dies (classic square and Labels Sixteen). To the left and the right of the image, I added white bracket accents using one of the tags from Spellbinders Fancy Tags. The light blue pearls are by Kaisercraft. I added some white trim, aqua satin ribbon, and a Webster's Pages Sparkler, all placed on a background of My Mind's Eye Holly Jolly designer papers.

Thanks for stopping by!

Candy Corn Hanging Treat Holder

Before Halloween comes and goes, I wanted to show you a little project I put together a while back for Through the Craftroom Door. My friend Marti, one of the founders/publishers, asked if I'd do a little tutorial for the magazine on coloring with Tombow Dual Brush-Pen markers. As soon as Marti mentioned a Halloween project, I thought about this adorable Stampendous Hang Out Spider set. I know, I know, I've posted with this set a few times already this fall, and each time that bloomin' image is colored nearly the exact same way - fancy that! But that's what happens with tutorials - you end up with a jillion extras of the exact same image. So please bear with me and yet another spooky green watercolored background for this cute little arachnid.

In addition to a candy-corn-themed card, I was inspired by the sentiment in this set ("Let's 'Hang Out' This Halloween") to make a tussie-mussie-style candy corn hanging treat holder. Wouldn't these make cute party favors? Or teacher treats?

For step-by-step Tombow coloring instructions, check out my tutorial in Through the Craft Room Door. I haven't seen the current issue yet, but I do know it's featuring all different coloring mediums, plus tons of other papercrafting content!

Thanks for popping in today!

Li'l Pumpkin

My Favorite Things has done it again! Just when you think the Pure Innocence girls cannot possibly get any cuter, along comes a whole new batch to sweep you off your feet! This one is Li'l Pumpkin, and she is just beyond precious! You all know I love to color, but this time, I couldn't wait to paper piece that darling pumpkin (and her dress while I was at it). Both patterns are from the K&Co Cut 'N Paste Mat Pad, which I found on a recent trip to Michael's.

Naturally, I worked in quite a few of my favorite dies and punches. The sentiment is stamped on a portion of a Spellbinders Labels Sixteen Nestabilities die-cut. The brown piece behind it is a portion of a Spellbinders Labels Fourteen die-cut. The ivory border is punched with Martha Stewart's Scallop Dot border punch. And last, both the grass and the large open scallop border are done with MFT's Die-namics dies.

Stamper's Dream carries a large selection of MFT's Pure Innocence images, as well as some of the Die-namics dies and a whole host of Spellbinders dies.

Thanks so much for stopping by!



Stamps: Li'l Pumpkin Pure Innocence (My Favorite Things)
Paper: K&Co Cut 'N Paste Mat Pad, Neenah Classic Crest Natural White card stock, Bazzill brown card stock, Papertrey Kraft card stock
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accesories: Prismacolor pencils, odorless mineral spirits, paper blending stump, Stampin' Up 3/8" twill, Papertrey chocolate baker's twine and button, Martha Stewart Scallop Dot border punch, Spellbinders Classic Oval, Labels Fourteen and Labels Sixteen Nestabilities dies, My Favorite Things grass and open scallop border Die-namics dies, paper piercer, needle and thread

Nature

Some gorgeous BoBunny designer paper arrived by mail last week (came in my Paper Posies monthly kit), and I couldn't wait one second to make something with it! Once upon a time teal was THE color, and I was *all* about it! Maybe it was the teal velvet dresses I forced my bridesmaids to wear. Or the teal floral arrangements on the tables at the reception (really ... can you imagine anything more unnatural?). In any case, I overdosed (badly) on teal. Fast-forward nearly 17 years. I'm having a hard time believing it, but I absolutely LOVE this BoBunny pattern, teal and all!

By the way, I had a similar color overdose in the late '80s, that time it was "mauve." I can assure you I will never recover from that one. It's far too indelibly seared into my memory of an awful freshman year experience with my assigned roommate and my unassigned roommate (her boyfriend). A co-ed dorm was cool, a co-ed room was not {eyeroll}. What about you? Is there a particular color to which you have a strong emotional response, either positive or negative?

Anyhoo ... back to the card. Beautiful paper needs a beautiful sentiment, which is when I always turn to my beloved Verve. This sentiment is the new Every Season Plain Jane from the current Autumn 2010 Release. I stamped in Ranger Walnut Stain, die-cut with a Spellbinders Labels Sixteen Nestabilities die, then sponged on a little Old Paper Distress Ink before removing the die.  A sweet, looped ribbon treatment and some lace trim create a base for the sentiment. A little distressing on the edges because, well, it makes me happy :)

Have a great day, friends!