Anni~Verve~sary Blog Hop with Cake and Candles

Welcome back to Day 5 of the Anni-VERVE-sary Spotlight Hops!  It's an exciting day as there's new Verve in the store this morning! 4 beautiful new sets and 2 coordinating die sets just released and they're all available to order right now. To celebrate this special 10th Anni-VERVE-sary release, we're putting on another blog hop, with a pretty cool prize!

I'm super excited to share the card I made today using Verve's new set called Cake and Candles!!  I knew as soon as I saw the "Happy Cake and Candles" sentiment, that I was going to try something I have wanted to for quite some time.  I just needed the right image.

I bought a Chibi Lights kit quite awhile back and never got around to using it....until today that is!!  It was super easy too.  I used the "Light up Interactive Card" tutorial by Jennifer McGuire and it came together perfectly.  Seriously...no mishaps.  And for me...that is seriously rare!!

In this close up, you can see the candle lighting up with a push on the sentiment.  Isn't that just super fun?  And the background was just as easy.  I just sprayed some Peacock Feathers and Twisted Citron Distress spray Stain onto my craft mat, and added some spritzes of water to it.  I then laid some cardstock over the ink and voila...a beautiful splotchy background!!  This card was so easy and super fun!!!

That about sums up my project for today's hop.

So, want to win some shiny new Verve? Today's prize is a BIG one. We'll be picking a random commenter on one of the hop spots below to win our ENTIRE new release! So be sure to leave a little comment on all the blogs below to increase your chances! 

Check out the Verve Blog today for all the prize info and deadlines!

1. Julee	9. Lesley
2. Maureen	10. Christyne
3. Betty	11. Laurie
4. Charmaine	12. Kelly (Guest)
5. Marisa	13. Laurie W. (Alumni)
6. Amy S.(Alumni)	14. Tosha L. (Alumni)---you are here
7. Amy K.(Alumni)	15. Tiffany S.(Alumni)
8. Michelle W. (Alumni)

Thank you so much for dropping by and for sharing your kind comments!  You are a blessing!!

  Happy Stamping!

_________________________________________________________

Stamps:  Cake and Candles (Verve)

Paper:   White (PTI), Vellum

Ink:  Tuxedo Black (Memento)

Dies:  Classic Square, Lacey Square (Spellbinders)

Accessories:  Copics, Peacock Feathers and Twisted Citron (Distress Spray Stain), Chibi Lights kit, Dimensional Tap

Cake and Candles ~ Verve Anniversary Hop

Welcome to Day 3 of the Anni-VERVE-sary Spotlight Hops!  It's time for another day of spotlighting the Verve release with the Verve Divas and special guests! I am super excited to be guest designing for Verve to help celebrate it's 10 year Anniversary.  How awesome is that.  I had the privilege of being on the Verve Design Team from 2009-2012, and it was seriously an honor.  

Today we're sharing our first projects featuring the Cake and Candles stamp set, another fusion of old and new. This birthday themed compilation includes some brand new birthday sentiments with a classy modern font pairing, as well as a few re-introductions of previous sentiments and plain janes.

I decided to go a bit vintage with the cupcake in this set.  I stamped the cupcake with Gray Flannel Memento Ink, onto X-Press It cardstock and colored it with Copics.  I cut it out and burnished it to give it some texture and dimension, and popped it up on some Rossi Belle Prima Cardstock.

Below is a close up so you can see the dimension of the cupcake a bit better.  If you click on the photo, you can see how the frosting is puffed up, and the cupcake wrapper is pleated.

That's it for my project today.
 
Everything previewed this week will be available to order in the Verve online store on Monday, August 28. If you just can't wait, you can pre-order the entire release now as the August 2017 Buy it All Bundle at a 30% discount through August 27.

If you haven't already, check out today's hop list.  You won't want to miss a stop!!

1. Julee	7. Lesley
2. Maureen	8. Christyne
3. Betty	9. Laurie
4. Charmaine	10. Kelly (Guest)
5. Marisa	11. Michelle W. (Alumni)
6. Tosha L.(Alumni)---you are here

Thanks a bunch for dropping by!!  I hope you are enjoying the Verve previews!!

Happy Stamping!

Verve's No Matter What Blog Hop

Welcome to our No Matter What Hop!  Today we're releasing a lovely little set that you might have spied during Verve's Thanksgiving weekend sale. It's officially available for sale now, along with three brand new color collections of seam binding! There's a lot of eye candy today, so hop along with us for a chance to win some brand new Verve!

As we're saying hello to a few new products today,  I'm stepping down from the Verve Design Team. I've truly enjoyed designing for Julee for the past 3 1/2 years.  Her stamps are always top quality, and she and Mark are true genuine people.  I'm very grateful to them for allowing me to be a part of such a fabulously warm, generous and talented team!!  I have been, and truly am blessed!!

So... want to know about the prizes? We're picking THREE mystery blogs from today's hop to select a random commenter to win No Matter What plus one of our three new collections of ribbon! So be sure to give a litle shout out in the comment section as you hop around to each blog on the list. Winners will be drawn from all of the comments on the mystery blogs. Check out the Verve Blog for all the prize details and deadlines.

I used this week's Mojo Monday sketch along with the No Matter What set.  The hearts were stamped with Fresh Snow (PTI), and were embossed with white embossing powder.

I stamped the sentiment with Smokey Gray Versafine.

That's it for my project today.  Be sure to check out what the other divas have to share.  Next up on the hop is the super sweet and talented Amber.

1. Julee 7. Amy 2. Laurie 8. Andrea 3. Maureen 9. Betty 4. Teresa 10. Charmaine 5. Tosh 11. Janelle 6. Amber 12. Jen d.

Verve has a lot of darling sets and dies on sale too.  Click HERE to see everything that's 20% off!!

_________________________________________________________________________

Stamps:  No Matter What (Verve)

Paper:  Lucky in Love (MME), Vintage Cream (PTI)

Ink:  Fresh Snow (PTI), Smokey Gray (Versafine)

Accessories:  Lacey Square, Circle and Petite Scallop Circle dies (Spellbinders), Quickie Glue Pen, Crystal Glitter, Rhinestones (Pizzazz Aplenty), Sewing Machine, Seam Binding ribbon, Distrezz-it-All (Zutter)

Seasons Giving Blog Hop

Welcome to the Seasons Givings Blog Hop!  This hop is going to be a little bit different, in the fact that every single person on the list below, is giving something away.  All you need to do, is go to their blog, leave a comment, and you will be entered to win the blog candy shown on their blog.  Really, really easy.  Now grab a cup of coffee, or tea, or maybe some hot chocolate, whatever your favorite is, and start hopping.  

Here is to starting off the year 2013 in a fun way!

I made a card using a new Verve set called No Matter What (releasing in Jan.) and the Anja's Large Oval die.  I had an extra die and thought I would share it, along with some Zva Creative self adhesive crystals, Indigo Bleu PinkPaislee paper and London Market Chipboard Buttons.

I thought I might share a little something else with you too.  As you read this, we're in Pasadena for the Tournament of Roses Parade.   If you get a chance to watch it New Year's morning, (We record HGTV) look for two things:  The Grand Marshall, Jane Goodall will be riding in my Father-in-law's antique carriage which he is driving with 4 of his Friesian horses.  (They'll be 9th in the parade) and my Brother-in-law will be pulling the president of the Valley Hunt club and his family using Leyendekker Friesians and one of my FIL's antique carriages.  My FIL has been driving for the Valley Hunt club for 30 years.  Quite a fun milestone.  It's always interesting to be behind the scenes.  We get to go out in the middle of the night (usually around 2 am) and look at all the floats lining up for the parade.  You can get really close and see all the fabulous fine details.

edited to add:  Rose Parade Photos post

Okay...now for the real reason you're here.  :)

Blog Candy!!

This blog candy is over $50 in value.  Fun stuff!!  You have until 7:00 am PT, Jan. 7 to enter.  I will announce the winner sometime Jan. 8.  Good luck, and happy hopping!  :)

(will ship anywhere)

Paper Crafts magazine

Kelly Marie Alvarez/Lawn Fawn

Unity Design Team

Avocado Arts

GinaK Designs

Latisha Yoast

Lee Murphy

Laurie Schmidlin

AJ Otto

Michelle Woerner

Jocelyn Olson

Cindy Lawrence

Amy Tsuruta

Jessie Rone

Karen Baker

Lori Tecler

Jodi Collins

Kim Kesti

                      Tosha Leyendekker  (you are here)

Lisa Henke 

Tonya Dirk

Ann Cox

Jimmi Mayo

Cristal (Pinky) Hobbs

Vera W. Yates

Jennifer Gallacher

Emily Leiphart

Lori Craig

Melody Rupple

Kim Hughes/Paper Smooches

Lynnette Kauffman

Beate Johns

Ashley Marcu

Becky Olsen

Jessica Diedrich

Alice Wertz

Joanne Basile

Carolyn King

Teri Anderson

Isha Gupta

Melissa Mann

Lydia Fiedler

Beth Pingry

 Jaclyn Miller

Glenda Wyatt

Julia Stainton

Angie Blom

Sharon Harnist

Karolyn Loncon

Julie Overby

Tenia Nelson

Thanks for dropping by!

Happy Stamping!!

______________________________________________________________________

Stamps:  No Matter What (Verve)

Paper:  White and Kraft (PTI)

Ink:  Smokey Gray (Versafine), Fresh Snow (a muse)

Accessories:  Anja's Large Oval die (Marianne's Designs), Rose Creations Die (Spellbinders), Wrinkled Ribbon, Ice White Pearl Pen, Crystal Glitter, Lace Stickles, Copics, Embossing Folder (Sizzix), Natural Burlap String, Quickie Glue Pen

I'm hosting the Viva la Verve sketch challenge this week.  And since it's the 4th week it's a CAS sketch.  However, I did add a couple of things.  CAS is such a challenge for me at times.  ;)

After the Holidays, thank you cards or notes are in high demand, so I thought I'd use this sketch to make a thank you card.  I love fabulously fonted sentiments from the Verve set Treasured Words, and thought the thank you sentiment would work beautifully.

I made the flower using the tutorial by Lisa Nazario-Gregory found HERE.  It has to be one of my all time favorites.

The rest is pretty self-explanatory.  Be sure to stop by the Viva la Verve Forum.  There's a chance you could win Verve Stamps!!

Thanks for stopping by!!
Happy Stamping!

____________________________________________________________________

Stamps:  Treasured Words (Verve)

Paper:  Prairie Hill (Pink Paislie), White and Smokey gray (PTI)

Ink:  Onyx Black (Versafine), Dried Marigold (Ranger Distress)

Accessories:  Rose Creations die (Spellbinders), Flower (Punch Bunch), White Liquid Applique, 1 1/2" and 1 3/8" Circle Punches (SU!), Wire Pins (Tim Holtz), Black Burlap String (May Arts), Button (PTI), Ribbon and Lace, Lace Stickles, Alpine Ice Rose (Starburst ~ Lindy's Stamp Gang), Butternut Squash (Tattered Angels)

Verve/Ribbon Carousel Blog Hop

Hello Verve fans! We have a special treat for you today, the sweet Verve Divas have partnered up with the talented Ribbon Carousel Crew to bring you some beautiful eye candy in the form of a joint blog hop! This hop promises to be overflowing with crafty goodness and lots of "loving" inspiration! 

The Ribbon Carousel Designers are using Verve's Stronger Love and Wings of Love stamp sets in addition to the Arrow die. Corinna, owner of the Ribbon Carousel, sent us all some beautiful ribbons in whites, pinks and reds to use in conjunction with our 'lovey' stamps. We'd love for you to participate and hop along with us...do you know why? It's almost Christmas time and who wouldn't love some crafty gifts just for themselves!

I chose to use 2 new Verve sets:  Joyous Noel and Holiday Greetings

The pointsettia and sentiment are from Joyous Noel

The sweet trio, of ribbon and lace in the corner, is from the Ribbon Carousel, as well as that gorgeous trimmed red grossgrain ribbon.  I just sewed it along the center and gathered it to ruffle it up a bit.

The tree and packages are from Holiday Greetings.  They're both paper pieced and the tree is layered so each section curls a bit to give it a little more dimension.

Now, lets talk prizes!   

Hop along with us today and leave some blog love for the Verve Divas and the Ribbon Carousel Crewmates to be eligible to win one of the 2 prizes up for grabs!  We'll select 2 random commenters from 2 randomly selected designer's blogs, so be sure to spread the love around!

The Verve Stamps prize is the ENTIRE November Release, and the RC prize is a NEW Ribbon Carousel with your choice of knob color!

       

Ready to Hop?!

;

Thanks for dropping by!
Happy Stamping!

 

____________________________________________________________________

Stamps:  Joyous Noel and Holiday Greetings (Verve)

Paper:  Ruby (Lost & Found MME), Vintage Cream and Smokey Gray (PTI)

Ink:  Versamark, Smokey Gray (Versafine), Vintage Cream (PTI)

Accessories:  Ribbon (Ribbon Carousel), Circle and Petite Scallop Circle dies (Spellbinders), Frame One (D-Lites dies Spellbinders), Rhinestone Heart Sparklets (Kaisercraft), Pearls (Pizzazz Aplenty and Zva Creative), Buttons (PTI), Silver Embossing Powder (SU!), Liquid Pearls (Viva Decor), Quickie Glue Pen, Crystal Glitter, Embroidery Thread

Viva la Verve Week 4

Teresa has a sweet Viva la Verve sketch designed for this week.  Check it out HERE.

I used the Peace On Earth set.  I thought this sentiment fit beautifully centered in the Resplendent Rectangles Spellbinders die.

I added some Martha Stewart Punched Holly Leaves, some Zva Creative Rhinestones, ribbon and button.  Pretty easy peasy.

Hope you had a fabulous week, and that those of you who celebrated Thanksgiving are too stuffed and miserable today!  :)

Happy Stamping!

___________________________________________________________________________

Stamps:  Peace On Earth (Verve)

Paper:  Wonder (Authentique), White and Black (PTI)

Ink:  Onyx Black (Versafine)

Accessories:  Resplendent Rectangles die (Spellbinders), Holly Punch (Martha Stewart), Button and Ribbon (PTI), Rhinestones (Zva Creative), Black Burlap String, Quickie Glue Pen, Crystal Glitter, Copics

Viva la Verve ~ Merry Christmas CAS

Janelle has designed a fabulously fun sketch for the Viva la Verve Sketch Challenge this week.  I combined sentiments from the two Verve sets Joyous Noel and Merry and Bright, as well as the Ribbon Banner Die and the poinsettia from the Joyous Noel set.  

I embossed the bg using a Holly Sizzix Embossing Folder, and made some Scored lines along the horizontal panel using my Scor-Buddy.

Pretty CAS and straight forward.  Be sure to check out the Viva la Verve Sketch Challenge.  You could win some beautiful Verve sets.

Hope you had a fantastic week and are looking forward to a fun weekend!!

Happy Stamping!!

_______________________________________________________________________

Stamps:  Joyous Noel and Merry and Bright (Verve)

Paper:  Pure Poppy and White (PTI_

Ink:  Versamark and Onyx Black (Versafine)

Accessories:  Ribbon Banner Die (Verve), Holly Embossing Folder (Sizzix), Border and Chevron Punch (EK Success), Rhinestones (Pizzaz Aplenty), Silver Embossing Powder (SU!), Scor-Buddy

Gift Bag Topper ~ Winter Wishes

Hello my friends!  I have another Gift Bag Topper to share with you.  I made a few of these last year too.  They're so easy and it's like giving a gift inside a gift...kwim?  (Gift Bag Topper Tutorial)  In my previous post I made some little felt goody bags, and I didn't want to transport them in a plastic baggy or plain 'ole paper bag.  So I doctored a handled paper bag up a bit using some beautiful images from the Verve set Holiday Greetings.

I love the beautifully elegant snowflakes in this set and thought they'd look fabulous adorning to top of my bag topper.  I also added the itty-bitty stars.  I added some Washi Tape to the border, along with some fabulous sparkly icicles that I punched using a Martha Stewart Punch.

Isn't this chevron tree just super awesome?!?!  I stamped it with Fresh Snow (a muse) and with my Quickie Glue Pen, I added some Crystal Glitter to the Cheveron centers.  I colored the pot with Copics,     and framed the image using the embossed rectangle from Spellbinders' Mix'd Media Elements.

The sentiment was framed using Spellbinders' new 2012 Heirloom Ornaments die.  I stamped the snowflake while the kraft paper was still in the die, and added some punched holly (Martha Stewart), some Tinsel ribbon (Webster's Pages), and some beautiful Rhinestones (Pizzaz Aplenty).

The border around the main panel was punched using a Martha Stewart Punch, and a Fiskars Wavy Crimper was used on the white.

That about sums this project all up.
Thanks for dropping by!
Happy Stamping!

____________________________________________________________________

Stamps:  Holiday Greetings (Verve)

Paper:  Kraft and White (PTI)

Ink:  Fresh Snow (a muse), Onyx Black (Versafine), Turquoise Gem (VersaMagic)

Accessories:  2012 Heirloom Ornaments and Mix'd Media Elements dies (Spellbinders), Holly and Border  Punches and Snowflake Sticker (Martha Stewart), Tinsel Ribbon (Webster's Pages), Rhinestones (Pizzaz Aplenty), Washi Tape, Quickie Glue Pen, Crystal Glitter, Copics