September Diva Inspirations Hop

It's the 5th of the month, so Verve is bringing you its monthly Inspirations Hop! Although we just had a huge new release, the main purpose of the inspiration hop is to show love to previously released sets. Our hope is to inspire you to take out those stamps you've had for a while and use them!

I couldn't wait to play around with the sweet ghost twins in last Fall's Boo To You stamp set. I also just finished up a big batch of back-to-school teacher treats for the PTO, so I've got little gifties on the brain. I found this darling tombstone treat box in the Silhouette store and knew it would be perfect. This couldn't get much simpler! Other than the hand-trimmed ghosts (which aren't even colored), it's just the box, some grass, twine, and a sentiment. Don't know what I'll fill this with yet, but I'm sure I won't have to look too far :)

Boo To You is just one of the many Verve stamp sets and dies that are ON SALE this month. Save 20% while supplies last!

Be sure to visit each of the Divas along the hop and leave comments for a chance to win yourself some Verve!

	1. Betty	8. Amber
	2. Jen d.	9. Amy
	3. Jen T.	10. Andrea
	4. Julee	11. Janelle
	5. Sankari	12. Maureen
	6. Sony	13. Teresa
	7. Susan	14. Tosha

Enjoy the hop!

 

Exciting News: i{heart}papers!

I'm super excited that for the month of September, I'll be guest designing for i{heart}papers!

I do happen to {heart} me some paper ...  and stamps and ribbon and trim and Copics and cute embellishments and and and ... i{heart}papers has it all! I look forward to sharing my creations with you this month! In the meantime, thanks for sharing in my happy news :)

September SFYTT - Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps

Happy Saturday and Happy September! (September is always happy, as it's my birthday month!) It's the first Saturday of the month, which means we have a brand-new Sketch For You To Try. I'm soooo excited to be sponsored this month by none other than Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps! Woohoo!

First, here's the sketch:

And here's some inspiration from the SFYTT sisters:

Jen del Muro with Designer of the Month Leslie Good (welcome, Leslie!)

Amber Hight
Becky Carafa
Carole Burrage
Jen Tapler
Jodi Collins
Kerry Johnson
Megan Lock
Susan Liles
Tracy Schultz

I used an adorable image from the new Too Cute To Spook 2 set, illustrated by Emilie Goulet. I colored with Copics and the papers are all from My Mind's Eye's Lost & Found Halloween collection.

My favorite part of this month's SFYTT -- our sponsor! I love to color, and realize I haven't done a coloring-intense image in a very long time. The Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps images are perfect!

We'd love to see you play along with our sketch! Link up your creation to Jen's September SFYTT post. You have all month to play.

Thanks for stopping by!

So Happy For You - DS67

It's Deconstructed Sketch day, and I just had to do some more playing with Verve's amazing new release. Today's card features a sentiment from Treasured Words -- love the sentiments and font treatments in this set! I've also used the new Pennant Trim die, and "old" favorites, the Sweet Scallop  and a darling heart from From The Heart.

Here's the sketch:

And here's the crew, with some gorgeous sketch inspiration:

• Amber Hight
• Arielle Gordon
• Donna Wardle
• Jen Shults
• Jessica Diedrich
• Judy Rozema, Guest Designer
• Kadie Ensley
• Lori Boyd
• Sheri Gilson
• Tracey Pickersgill

To play along, link up to Jen's blog. Thanks for stopping by!

Whale of A Friend - TCPTues225

Whale of a Time was one of the very first Cat's Pajamas stamp sets I just had to have. The whale image is so cute and puts a smile on my face every time I see it. Crazy thing is, other than one of the sentiments in the set, it hasn't been inked. Until today! Lucky for me, the whale was a perfect fit for this week's TCP Tuesday Challenge #225, which I'm hosting in TCP's forum. Let's have a look at the sketch:

I envisioned more of a CAS (clean and simple) card when I designed this sketch, but you could also go crazy with layers and embellishments. I kind of did both with today's card - a plain card base, but lots of details within that focal panel. I also moved the pair of embellishments from the lower left of the focal panel over to the accent strip to the right - it just worked better that way! Those washers are jumbo eyelets that I flattened first, then tied on with hemp cord.

The papers are from My Mind's Eye's The Sweetest Thing 6x6 collections (primarily Bluebell). The clouds are die-cut with TCP's Cloud CutUps die. The waves were done with the Waves CutUps die, and the white scallop along the bottom was done with the Big Scallop CutUps die.

I combined this TCPTues225 sample with last week's challenge, TCP Tuesday Challenge #224, hosted by Susan. Her theme was "Water, Water Everywhere," and the challenge is to use an image that implies water (including snow or ice), and combine that image with either the Wave Border  or Snowflake CutUps die. Her challenges are always so fun!

Here are all the swanky details on how YOU can play along:

1. Each Tuesday we will give you a challenge.
2. You will have until the end of the month to complete the challenge.
3. Add your entry to the guestbook on Alma's blog and/or upload to the SCS Gallery, using the keyword TCPTUES225 for this week's challenge.
4. TCP stamps/dies are not required, but highly encouraged if you have them.
5. There will be one randomly chosen weekly winner, announced on Tuesdays.
6. There will be one winner, The Swanky Stamper, announced the 1st of each month. That lucky stamper will win several sets from an upcoming release and get to play along with us at our Pajama Party and Blog Hop.


Thanks for visiting!

New Verve + SFYTT Reminder

In case you missed Verve's big Anni-Verve-sary release party last night, just wanted to let you know all of the new stamps and dies we've been spotlighting the past nine days are now available in the Verve store. Pick up your individual favorites, or, if you're a gotta-have-it-all girl, there are discounts on the full Anni-Verve-sary collections. I'd love to hear which things were your favorites!

If you left comments on the spotlight posts and/or participated in the challenges or card carnival, be sure to check out the winners post, too -- maybe your name is on there!

Today I'm sharing one of my personal favorites that I created for this release (and that haven't shared already). I just adore this sentiment from Stronger Love and the way Julee mixed up the fonts for a casual look and feel. In the midst of all the awesome sentiments, including some single words that you can build into your own sentiment, there lives the sweetest little butterfly that I nearly overlooked entirely. Stamped in white onto the kraft background, this little image added just the right touch of doodled whimsy and sweetness.

Also, just a quick reminder about the August SFYTT, sponsored by Verve. You have until the end o the month to link up your entry HERE.

Here's the sketch again:

And here are two samples I made with the sketch:

(Click HERE for the original post)

(Click HERE for the original post)

Thanks for stopping by!

Anni-VERVE-sary Spotlight - Day 9

Welcome to our final day of Anni-VERVE-sary spotlight hops! It's been a super fun week, and I know for many of you, tonight's Release Party can't come soon enough!

Today we're focusing on Treasured Words, which includes a framed rectangle, a few images, and some of Verve's signature mixed-font greetings. I especially love these sentiments because of the casual font combo. Check out all of today's spotlights, and remember to leave comments along the way to win today's featured stamp set.

1. Julee 9. Charmaine 2. Laurie S. 10. Janelle 3. Maureen 11. Betty 4. Teresa 12. Christyne {Guest} 5. Tosh 13. Laurie W. {Guest} 6. Amber 14. Jen S. {Guest} 7. Amy 15. Susan 8. Andrea

My card is doubling as a peek and as my sample for the new Viva La Verve Sketch challenge, which I'm hosting in the Verve Forum. It's the last of the month, so we have a CAS (clean-and-simple) sketch for you. Hope you'll play along. Now would certainly be a great time to complete all of the August sketches and possibly win some of this new release!

Here's the sketch:

Well ... today wraps up the Anni-Verve-sary spotlight hops. Hope you've enjoyed all the peeks and challenges and festivities, and that you'll be able to join us tonight in the Verve forum from 9-11 pm EST. I found out earlier this week that my husband and I have play tickets tonight, but I hope I'll be back home in time to catch the last half of the party! It's gonna be BIG!

Thank you for all the comment love this week! Hugs!