Verve Stamps Merry and Bright ~ Hop Day 2

 

I've been so excited to get inky with this set and yet not sure how to show the emotion of the whole set. I watched a video on SHEart the other day and decided, "that's it!".  It is a set that calls out holiday, happy, and cheerful with an all around great set of sentiments with the fonts known well with Verve stamps.

Fast forward to the end of the post and you'll see a hop list. It's for the Verve Holiday Release that is going on all week. Just start here with my post and then jump back to the beginning of the list with Julee, because there is a little Rize-pay for the Ake-tay everyday. Just hop and comment and find out on Friday. Details and more are at the bottom of this post, but for now you can look at the project. Can you imagine this started with white paper and two pieces of scrap pattern paper? 

The inky sentiments and snowflakes come from the Merry and Bright set being featured today. I created all of this on Neenah Smooth White card stock and then secured it onto the card base with super sticky red tape.

I pulled a couple of older Verve items into this card for the embellishment collage. The tree is from the Winter Fun die set and brushed and splattered with acrylic paint, then given it's special bling with pink rhinestones. I can't wait to tell you how I made that flower. I think I've hit the jackpot!

I had a stamped flower from Dream Big on yellow cardstock and die cut with the Scalloped Flowers die set leftover from another project.  I thought if I cut it in a spiral the way you do for a rolled flower, I could make a simple flower. I added some acrylic paints to match the colors of the card and glued it down around the base of the tree.  Another fun element is some DIY washi tape using the snowflakes from Merry and Bright set. Look at the top of the card and just above the lace ribbon to find them.

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1. Julee 6. Amber 2. Laurie 7. Amy 3. Maureen 8. Andrea 4. Teresa 9. Charmaine 5. Tosh 10. Janelle

Today is Day 2 of 4 with Verve's Holiday Spotlight Hops where the Diva's are showcasing 4 new sets and one plain jane. We would love for you to join us each day and take a look at our inspired projects. Everyday there is going to be secret blog where one commenter will win the set featured that day. So as you hop along take a moment to give a comment on each blog. The winner's will be announced at the Release Party Friday night, 9:00 - 11:00 pm ET. Check out the details on any of this week's post for Verve Stamps.

See you again tomorrow!

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Details:
Stamps: Merry and Bright (Verve Stamps), Dream Big (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Smooth White (Neenah), pattern paper scraps
Ink: Jet Black (Archival Ink, Ranger), acrylic paints (leaf green, Blue Mist, Passionfruit, metallic lavender, white)
Accessories: Winter Fun die set (A Cut Above, Verve), Scalloped Flowers die set (A Cut Above, Verve), lace edging ribbon (Walmart brand), medical paper tape (Dollar Store), paper doily, rhinestones (Kaisercrafts and Queen and Co.), snowflake punch (Martha Stewart), Distressing tools (corrugate board, sponge, heart chipboard negative, bubble wrap), Micron black pen

Just about time for some new Verve goodness

 

Hi Verve fans! I'm wrapping up our Holiday 2012 Spotlight Hop for day 1, and I know you all love what you've seen so far. If you are just getting started with the hop here on my blog I'll let you in on the details. 

Verve will be releasing four new stamp sets and one plain jane this Friday, November 2, but who can wait that long! So, we would love for you to join us this week as we spotlight a new set each day. All of the stamps you see featured will be available in the Verve store following our release party from 9-11pm Eastern on Friday, November 2! Hop on through the Diva's blogs for tons of inspiration and a chance for some 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 stamps. Check out the Verve Blog for all the prize details and deadlines.

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So here's my little showcase of today's featured set, Peace on Earth. This set has wonderful traditional sayings in our favorite Verve style, gorgeous! I sat down for this set, for two reasons.  I stand when I craft and I was going to use every stamp on one project. I'll be getting ready for gift giving with a set of gift tags, but I'm holding back showing a few tags so that I can still be able to call this a sneak peek. 

I'll be showing all the tags in this set at the release party, so mark your calendar for "Verve and Me Time" and I'll see you there! In the meantime, we'll be back tomorrow with some more new Verve.

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1. Julee 6. Amber 2. Laurie 7. Andrea 3. Maureen 8. Charmaine 4. Teresa 9. Janelle 5. Tosh

Details:
Stamps: Peace on Earth (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Victoria Gardens (Echo Park), white cardstock
Ink: Going Grey (SU!), Old Paper, Tea Dye and Crushed Corduroy (Ranger Distress Ink Pads)
Accessories: Curvy Bookplate die (A Cut Above, Verve), Mini Bookplate die (A Cut Above, Verve), Tagged Rectangle die (A Cut Above, Verve), gold and lime green glitter glue (Stickles), masking tape, lace and vintage thread. (The berry basket in the background is a die from Lifestyle Crafts)

Holiday Gift Giving

Good morning to many and to those on the east coast I pray your home, family and friends are prepared for what nature is throwing your way. I'll be thinking specially of my design teammates that have mentioned all the preparations and the uncertainty the comes from hurricane weather.

I'm bringing my last Fabulous Floral challenge project to you today. There are only a few more days to play along before the new challenge is introduced on Saturday over at the Stampendous blog.

For the July catalog, I attempted to make a holiday decorated bag. The result was beautiful in real life, but when you go to take pictures of items that are larger than your light box and mostly black against white, the result is a little less spectacular. I wanted to show off the Jumbo Poinsettia in a non-traditional color so here it is. The whole bag. :)

The poinsettia is embossed with Midnight Black Embossing Powder and then colored with a darker shade of marker than the paper. After that, I sprinkled Aged Gold Embossing Enamel over the center of the flower. The last step is a few drops of Zip Dry glue in the center and cover it with Fun Flock from the Over the Rainbow kit.

During the holidays, you can never be without gift tags, so I cut out a few with a die cut (sorry I don't know the source for this one since it was gifted to me) and repeated all the steps. Lots of fun contrast and glimmer. A few thin strips of May Arts ribbon and button thread finish off these great little tags. Make extra for friends. They might use one on your holiday giftie!

Link up to the Fabulous Floral Party with your flower creation. Using Stampendous only doubles your chances of the challenge prize (but not required).

Note: At the time of each post I check the online store for their products. If it is not available in the store (it's a popular item!), then I'll direct you to a place where you can find a store in your area. This means you should be able to find these products at most local crafting stores or online.
Details:
Stamps: Jumbo Poinsettia Set (Stampendous)
Paper: Teal Textured cardstock (Bazzill), black gift bag
Ink: Versamark Watermark Stamp Pad (Tsukineko), Copic Markers
Accessories: Aged Teal Embossing Enamel (Stampendous), Midnight Black Embossing Powder (Stampendous), Over the Rainbow kit (Stampendous), ribbon (May Arts)

Closing the Book on Catalog Release Week

It's the last day of our fabulous Stampendous Catalog release. Have you enjoyed all the catalog samples?

It's amazing to see how everyone uses the same image so differently and with each one. I have a compassion for creativity for sure. So with that said, I'll show you a couple of my cards that I spent more time on because it stirred up the colorist in me.

Who doesn't love a distracted boy, let's say about 5 years old, getting his first kiss from a friend smitten with him. Well, my son is that age and he's already been kissed. This Stampendous Kissin Kiddos stamp is exactly how I picture it. It's an adorable image and a fun one to color at that. I paired it with a some hand drawn scallop border and gingham ribbon, but the fun part was turning some plain textured cardstock into a fun patterned one with Essentials. I laid out all the elements and sprinkled my elements around the edges than lifted off the image and scallop to heat the Essential from the back side of the paper. 

Enabler's List

Kissin Kiddos stamp

Aged Black Embossing Enamel

Aged Scarlet Embossing Enamel

Copic Markers

Gingham Ribbon

Scallop die cut

Circle die cuts

Now for my next card:

Now this stamp was a dream for me. Fairy Garden might seem daunting to a few, but I love to get lost in coloring and this image just does it for me. I was done in no time at all and then I added Fun Flock and Glitter to the image. The card base has a wonderful sprinkling of Vintage Lilac Tinsel Powder and Lavender Glass Glitter which I heat embossed from the back side of the card. All that was left to add was a simple and glittery May Arts Ribbon. You can glance at the details of the image at the beginning of the post.

Enabler's List

Fairy Garden Cling Stamp

Vintage Lilac Tinsel Embossing Powder

Crushed Lavender Glass Glitter

Over the Rainbow Fun Flock and Glitter Kit

May Arts Ribbon

Bazzill Core card stock

Here is the link to Stampendous' October Catalog (click the image). Take a look at it, download it to view later and see all of the samples again and again for inspiration.

I here there are some prizes in the mix for today. Three to be exact, so make sure you comment all along the way!
There is lots more to see! Your next stop along our hop today is Jennifer Ingle!

Annette Witherspoon
Asia King
Barb Turpin
Cyndi Bundy
Janelle Stollfus (you're here)
Jennifer Ingle
Jennifer Dove
Kristine Reynolds
Mary Dawn Quirindongo
Melinda Gleissner
Suzanne Czosek
Wendy Jordan
Wendy Price
Taylor Usry
Tenia Nelson

Play Date with Color and Sketch

It's Friday! I'm happy it's here. I've got some exciting things to work on and it's going to take the weekend get them all into place. So I'm officially marking it the weekend and time for a play date with my craft studio.

I've combined Friday's Viva La Verve Sketch hosted by Laurie Schmidlin with this week's The Play Date Cafe color challenge. What a fun combination!

Details:
Stamps: Tag Time (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Kraft cardstock (Wausau), Madeleine Paper Pack (Prima Marketing)
Ink: Antique Linen, Crushed Corduroy, Walnut Stain (Ranger) 
Accessories: Curvy Bookplate die (A Cut Above, Verve), Scalloped Flower Die, (A Cut Above, Verve), Jotted Heart Die (A Cut Above, Verve), edge punches (Martha Stewart), Paper Studio embossing folder and Sissix Flower Embossing Folder, Nightfall rhinestone, (Queen, and Co.), sewing machine, tag sale vintage crochet thread

Exciting new Stamps from Stampendous October Catalog

 

Only a few days left of our release week reveals. I know you've seen some wonderful samples from the days so far. It's a fantastic release of ephemera style stamps and those coloring qualified Kiddos. I have two stylish cards today that have a lot of bling in a clean and simple style. Here we go!

Some of the joys of  artistic stamps is bringing character to life of the image. This is Sir Toad. He's quite the gent and I think just perfect for an all-occasion card or those masculine cards we all have so much trouble putting together. I coupled his muted toad tones with the Stampendous Color Fragments for texture and it all gets nicely tied together with the embossed Leaf Sprig stamp.

Here is the enabler list for Sir Toad card.

Sir Toad Stamp

Leaf Sprig Stamp

Fresh Green Color Fragments

Ochre Color Fragments

Versamark Watermark Ink Pad

Aged Green Embossing Enamel

Pirate's Gold Embossing Enamel

Aged Gold Embossing Enamel

button

May Arts Ribbon

Beacon Zip-Dry Glue

Kraft card stock

Treasured Sage card stock

Copic Markers

Here's another card with focus to embossing. I loved the bold sketch lines of Running Horse and wanted to enhance them by embossing with Midnight Black powder. I wanted to show the racing motion so I went to being inspired by Fran's signature Encrusted Jewel technique. She has a few sample cards that I fell in love with using only embossing as a frame! It was perfect for a rustic card like this one.

Here's the enabler's list for this card.
Running Horse Stamp
Versamark Watermark Stamp Pad
Aged Copper Embossing Powder
Chunky Black Embossing Powder
Chiffon Color Fragments
May Arts Burlap Ribbon

To make the embossed border, lightly mark with pencil a desired border. Dab onto the edges with the stamp pad and then pour the embossing powder around the edges. Brush off any areas that might have been covered with the border powder. Check often as some of the chunky essentials like Color Fragments may move across the paper as you emboss and get stuck in the horses mane. :) I know what I'm talking about. Whenever the Encrusted Jewelry Technique is mentioned we always mean to heat from the back side of the paper, but even then sometimes the air can vibrate the paper enough to move some Essentials around on the paper. That's just part of the art in the technique.

For more fantastic samples hop over to these Designer blogs.

Asia King

Janelle Stollfus

Jennifer Dove

Kristine Reynolds

Melinda Gleissner

Suzanne Czosek

Tenia Nelson

Wendy Price
Lea Kimmel

Thanks for staying through my post this long and if you want to see more delicious stamps and Essentials you can flip through the October catalog by clicking on the cover below. You can also print or download a pdf of it to your computer for future reference.

Stampendous October Catalog Release Week

It's Stampendous Catalog release week! The design team has been waiting quite a few weeks to show you all the goodies in the new catalog. You'll be able to spot most of them at your favorite local and online crafting stores. Sit back and enjoy the new products!

Here's the enabler's list  (in stores nearby or online) with instructions: 

Lil Joker Print
Medium Rectangle Acrylic Handle
Silver Halo Glitter Mix – Large Jar
Crystal Embossing Powder
Versa Marker Watermark Pen
Detail Black Embossing Powder
Mohawk White cardstock
Green cardstock
Pink cardstock
Memento Tuxedo Black Stamp Pad
Alcohol Markers
Corner Rounder punch
Ruler
India Ink Black Pen and Pencil
Foam Adhesive dots
Stamp-a-majig or stamp aligning tool

1. Use green cardstock for the card base and round bottom corners of card. Add a pink square of cardstock with two corners torn away.
2. Stamp three Lil Joker Print images in a row on white cardstock with the Medium Rectangle Acrylic Handle.  Round the corners of the image panel.
3. Add a border with a black pen and c-thru ruler. Color stamped images.
4. Add Crystal embossing powder by coloring with the Versa Marker Watermark Pen inside the border for a glittery background to the three Lil Joker images. Before heating the embossing powder sprinkle the Silver Halo Glitter Mix over the top. Heat from the back side of the image.  Add to the card base centered on the pink cardstock.
5. Stamp the sentiment with black ink and quickly emboss with Detail Gold embossing powder on white cardstock. Carefully pencil a banner around image and then trace with black ink pen.
6. Cut out sentiment and add to card base with foam adhesive dots.

Now it's time to see more goodies with your next hop to Jennifer Ingle.

Janelle Stollfus {here}

Jennifer Ingle

Jennifer Dove

Melinda Gleissner

Rhea Weigand

Suzanne Czosek

Taylor Usry

Wendy Price

PLUS Kristine Reynolds who got left off yesterday but has a great project!!

And, of course, we welcome you to flip through our newest catalog by clicking on the cover below. You can also print or download a pdf of it to your computer.

Surprise Hop for Miss Paper Craft Planet

Today, October 22nd, we are celebrating our PCP leader, Susanna Boyd's, birthday with a week-long Blog Hop celebration that every member on the Planet can participate in!

The Super Novas got together and each made a special birthday gift for Susanna's birthday.  In honor of this momentous occasion, we invite everyone to join in the hop and post a birthday greeting on each of their blogs for a chance to win some fun blog candy!  Extra points for commenting on the designers’ projects too!

So, join us for Susanna’s birthday party celebration from October 22^nd that ends on October 28^th.  Random winners will be announced on Monday, October 29^th  on each designer’s blog.

If you'd like to play along and give Susanna some birthday wishes, just create a card or a little giftie, post it to your photo gallery with the tag SBOCT22 (exactly as typed).  We'll create a slideshow on the Planet Blog post that you can refer back to.  We'll also be posting all the random winners on the same blog post on Monday, Oct. 29th!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUSANNA!

 Wendy Price

Lori Tecler

Amy Park

Lyn Bernatovich

Pam Hornshu

Deb Felts

Lisa Sommerville

Janelle Stollfus

Steph Lee

Wendy Jordan

Join me also in the Fabulous Florals challenge with Stampendous. Details here to link your floral project.

Details:
Stamps: Jumbo Dahlia (Stampendous), Birthday Assortment (Stampendous)
Paper: Everyday Eclectic (Echo Park), Charcoal (Wausau), white (Neenah), Pumpkin card stock scrap
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento, Tsukineko), Copic Markers
Accessories: zigzag rotary blade, orange cream ribbon (Offray)

Viva La Verve with Tosha

I'm showing a quick card today for the Viva La Verve challenge hosted by Verve Diva Tosha. It's a fun one!

I used some new goodies on this card. The new Verve Loopy Medaillion Plain Jane is pillar in this card as it supports the stamped Borderline sentiment and frame set. I'm dusting off my embossing folders, it just seems like the right time of year to add those textures into my designing, so are those edge punches! Check out the detailed supply list for your enabling pleasure. :)

Check out the details for this months challenge details over on Viva La Verve's SCS forum. Say hi to Tosha when you get there!

Details:
Stamps: Loopy Medaillion Plain Jane (Verve Stamps), Borderline (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Pretty Paper (Crate Paper), Kraft card stock (Wausau), Brown and cream card stock
Ink: Chocolate (CTMH), Paper Bag (CTMH), Vintage Photo (Ranger)
Accessories: Mini Bookplate die (A Cut Above, Verve), edge punch (Martha Stewart), brown seam tape ribbon (Martha Stewart), rhinestones (KaiserCraft), Ornate Swirls (LifeStyle Crafts)

Paper Craft Planet Sketch Time

It's going to be a busy weekend! I've got some plans to steal away with some of my crafty friends to create some serious craftiness! Hee-heh! Well, I'm not packed yet and there's the enormous task of packing only what will fit in my Cropper Hopper, but I'm pretty excited about this first time adventure. I'll hopefully be back next week with some photos.

So why I'm posting this morning is because I've got a sketch challenge up for Paper Craft Planet. Here's my card and here's the link to go get the sketch and details for linking up in the Planet's gallery.

Details:
Stamps:  Corset Ladies (Stampendous), Mother’s Love (Stampendous)
Paper: Miss Caroline (MME), Grey and white card stock, old graph paper
Ink: Old Paper, Antique Linen, (Distress Ink Pads, Ranger), Scattered Straw, Wild Honey (Distress Markers, Ranger), soft graphite pencil
Accessories:  Ice Crystal Paint (DecoArt Glamour Dust), stitching tool (Sew Easy Tool, WRMK), embroidery floss (DMC), rhinestones (Kaisercraft), edge punch (Recollections, Michaels), cream seam binding, corner rounder (Corner Chomper 1)

Vintage Card with Aged Elements

I'm playing along with the Do You Stack Up challenge which is to create Something Vintage (#94). My fingers were itchy to try and distress up the Snowy Postcard stamp from Stampendous, so I came up with this card.

It's got something old written all over it with the collage like layers of a postcard. So my assembly went something like this;

• Stamp Snowy Postcard on cream cardstock,
• Distress around edges with Ranger Antiqued Linen and Vintage Photo,
• Color scene by finger smudging oil pastels,
• Add snow with Chunky White Embossing Enamel (heat from the backside so it won't blow away),
• Glue some Guilded Mica Fragments around the scene,
• Add some faux cards behind the postcard with strips of distressed paper scraps,
• Tie a twine bow,
• Glue down onto a red card base stamped with Jumbo Holly Season,
• Burnish postcard edges with soft graphite pencil. Done.

It was a very easy card to put together with all the effects of something old added to it.

Now here's the best part of today's post, Stampendous is sponsoring this challenge, so head on over to DYSU blog and enter your Vintage style project.

Details:
Stamps: Snowy Postcard (Stampendous), Jumbo Holly Season (Stampendous)
Paper:  Cream and Red card stock
Ink:  Tuxedo Black (Memento, Tsukineko), Antique Linen and Vintage Photo (Ranger)
Accessories: Chunky White Embossing Enamel (Stampendous), Guilded Mica Fragments (Stampendous), oil pastels (Pentel), twine (Martha Stewart)

Core'dinating Paper and Stamp-endous Finale Hop

You've found my spot in the hop going on today. It's Stampendous and Core'dination products that combine making fun texture on my project today.  I've had so much fun using Core'dination paper and sanding kit on my projects this week.  (If you have just found out about the hop you can get started from the beginning over on the Stampendous blog and meet me back here.)

No card from me today. I've used some Core'dination Black Magic paper and Stampendous Essentials to create a tabletop tree. You can see the steps I took to create this below the Hop list.

There are prizes hidden somewhere along the way today. Just comment as you go the hop and you'll have a chance to win a prize. Details are available on the Stampendous blog today. Have fun on the rest of your hop!

Stampendous Blog

Core'dinations Blog

Annette Witherspoon

Cyndi Bundy

Janelle Stollfus

Jennifer Ingle

Krissy Fossmeyer

Kristine Reynolds

Lea Kimmel

Mary Dawn Quirindongo

Rhea Weigand

Stephanie Lee (Arty Carty)

Suzanne Czosek

Tenia Nelson

Wendy Jordan

Wendy Price

Melinda Gleissner

Stop on over to Jennifer (Jingle's) blog for some fun holiday inspiration... and now here's my photo steps of how the tree was created.

Details:
Stamps: (no stamps used this time)
Paper: Wizard and Tada Black Magic Core Stock (Core'dination Paper)
Ink: (no ink used this time)
Accessories: Aged Gold Embossing Enamel (Stampendous), Chunky White Embossing Enamel (Stampendous), Crystal Embossing Powder (Stampendous), paper mache cone (Darice), hot glue gun, Silhouette SD