Verve Project Parade

Verve has issued another Project Parade Challenge: Triple Play. The idea is to create a trio of matching items. Since Christmas tags seem to be everywhere in the blogosphere right now, I figured it was high time I joined in on the fun. Mostly because it gave me an excuse to play with one of my new Verve dies! Oh, how I'm in love with this tag die! Nice and petite, cuts like a dream, and matching stamps to go with it!

I took some matching dp, colors, a Christmas theme, and ran with it. Here's my little tag trio. :)

The first tag uses an old Verve Christmas set, Ornamental Christmas. This lovely little set only gets used a few times a year, so it was practically begging to be used on these tags. I thought the snowflake one matched the dp pretty well. I stamped the ornament in Pure Puppy and then used some Frosted Lace stickles to outline the sentiment and circumference. It's so shiny and wonderful!

The second tag is very quick and simple. I used my scallop circle punch along with two other circle punches to create the main image and stamped a simple "To, From" in the center. Some red stickles added some sparkle on this one.

The last tag is my favorite! I just love how it turned out. I used some nesties behind the tag itself, stamped a gorgeous snowflake from Glad Tidings, and then popped it up with a button in the middle. And isn't the font on the Christmas Blessings sentiment gorgeous?! I just had to have this set for that one font (well, and the snowflakes, and the tag...).

And there ya have it. My tag trio! Head on over to the Verve website to play along as well! Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely evening!

Supplies-

Stamps- Verve: Ornamental Christmas, Glad Tidings, Sweet Scallop Tag

Paper- Pure Poppy, Whisper White, Spring Moss, Rustic Snowflakes dp

Ink- Pure Poppy, Basic Black

Accessories- twine, buttons, stickles, dimensionals, scallop circle punch, circle punches, nestabilities, sweet scallop tag die (Verve)

Mojo Monday

Good morning and Happy Thanksgiving to all of my US friends! It's an absolutely gorgeous morning here in So Cal. A little bit on the chilly side, but the sun is out and the sky is blue. Gotta love it! The main theme for my day today is FOOD! Well, food and family. Lots of turkey coming my way today and I couldn't be more excited! Though, I'm pretty excited to have some gravy and mashed potatoes. In that order. :)


There are so many things I need to take the time to stop and be grateful for today. I am so incredibly thankful for my amazing family, my dear friends, a job that I love, and a great country to live in. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

I used this week's Mojo Monday sketch for my card today. I really was trying to create a "thank you" card to share today, but for some reason, once I pulled these colors out "happy birthday" called my name. I can't win! I pulled out some old SU dp, a brown marker, and some stickles to finish off this card.

Thanks a bunch for stopping by today!

Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: Happy Birthday PJ
Paper- Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Summer Sunrise, SU Good Morning Sunshine dp
Ink- Old Olive
Accessories- ribbon, jewels, nestabilities, dimensionals, tea dye stains, stickles, brown stampin' write marker

Mercy's Tuesday Sketch #101

Good morning! It's been a few weeks since I've had the time to play along with Mercy's Tuesday Sketches, and oh, how I've missed them! This week's sketch is phenomenal and I just had to play along. The only problem was that long rectangle image. I just don't own many long, tall rectangle shaped stamps. So, when in doubt, pull out the trusty tree/branch image from Beyond Basic Borders. So simple, but I love it!


I use a blue theme on this card with yellow accents. Mostly Baja Breeze, Night of Navy, and some more October Afternoon dp. I added some golden jewels to the tips of the tree/branch to give it a little sparkle and keep the focus centered on the card. I went back and forth between blue buttons and yellow buttons... I just love buttons too much! It's too hard to choose colors! But, I ended up with yellow to try and stay with the element of three: jewels, paper, and buttons.

Today is prep day here at the house. Lots of baking! It's all warm and cozy in the kitchen with the oven cranking. :) I'm cranking out a few soy milk pumpkin pies today (I'm allergic to dairy... and this pie tastes exactly like the real deal! I've even served it without telling people it contained no milk and they never knew. hehe) to serve at Thanksgiving meals tomorrow.

This evening I am off to my parents' So Cal house to partake in some early turkey, mashed potatoes, and gravy! Apparently, dad has complained that when we only do Thanksgiving with extended family there is no left-over turkey to eat on the days after. So, Mom has made a small turkey to remedy that situation. I couldn't say no to the early invitation! Turkey today, turkey tomorrow, and more on Saturday! Oh, how I love Thanksgiving! Good food, good company... It's a beautiful combination.

Thank you so much for stopping by today! Stay warm, wherever you are! Is it just me, or is it cold everywhere right now?!

Supplies-
Stamps- PTI: Beyond Basic Borders
Paper- Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy, Very Vanilla, October Afternoon Thrift Shop dp
Ink- Not Quite Navy
Accessories- ribbon, Taylor's Tiny Twinkles, buttons, dimensionals, tea dye stains

Viva la Verve!

Good afternoon! I have a Viva la Verve card to share with you on this chilly day. I'm still enjoying my week of vacation (sooo much!) and sat down to some quality stamp time today. Oh, how I've missed my stamps. Darn report cards and colds just had to take priority for a little bit there.


This card is a bit of a departure from my norm. When I looked at the inspiration pictures Julee posted, I pretty much discarded them all and headed straight to the website to find my own inspiration. But then, a weird thing happened.... The third inspiration picture began to keep popping back into my head. The mixture of the pinks and melons... The charcoal gray... I suppose it was just meant to be. I also pulled such much neglected brads. Remember when these were all the rage?! I have a whole colorful collection of them and so seldom use them anymore. So sad. But I felt like this card needed a little something, well, "more." Some shiny silver brads felt like the correct course of action. I also colored in th sentiment with my copics to make the word sun match the color theme. Such a fun trick!

My birthday was absolutely wonderful yesterday. Definitely one of the best in years! I consider myself immensely blessed to have been surrounded by friends and family for the day. My mom and I had a blast visiting California Adventure for the day. It was extremely crowded due to the holiday week, but it was still worth it! Dad was able to meet up with us in Downtown Disney for lunch which truly was the icing on the cake for the day. Oh, and my roomie surprised me with Michael Buble concert tickets!!! So stinkin' excited!!! Would it be all right if we just jumped straight to December 13th?! We ended the evening at my parents' house for some cake (angel food, of course) and roasted chestnuts (no open fire, but open flames on the stove, lol).

Today, it's an official "be at home and do whatever I want" day. Love! So far, I did a little catching up with the DVR on shows I've missed over the last week, read a bunch of my book club book (The Friday Night Knitting Club... quite good so far!), and made a few cards. It's looking like rain outside which just makes me happy. And the frosting on today's cake? It's Taco Tuesday! A local Mexican restraunt has dollar tacos every Tuesday. Who can pass THAT up?! Chips and salsa, here I come!

Phew! I guess I'm a bit chatty today, lol! I think I'll quit now before I get started up again. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: Psalm 84:11 PJ
Paper-Smokey Shadow, Raspberry Fizz, Melon Berry, Whisper White, Bitty Dots dp, Bitty Box dp, In Bloom dp
Ink- Basic Gray
Accessories- ribbon, sewing machine, copics, brads, dimensionals, nestabilities, EK Success edge punch

Sweet Sunday Sketch #94

Good morning! It's going to be a beautiful day today simply because it is my birthday. I am 28 today, and am so blessed to have another year to look forward to. God has been so good! And to celebrate, my mom and I are off to California Adventure (at the Disneyland Resort) to have a little fun. Mom has never been there before, so I get the joy of showing her around. We are most definitely getting pins to wear. When you get a birthday pin, Disney employees are required to say "Happy birthday" to you. So much fun!

I always love taking new people to the park! It's fun to watch the experience through their eyes. After California Adventure, the plan is to have a little bit of birthday cake. Yum! And did I mention that we have the whole week off of work for Thanksgiving?! Hello sleeping in every day! Such a happy camper right now!

I had a few minutes to stamp yesterday and managed to whip up a card to cover a few challenges. First up, Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch. I loved the giant circle in the middle (I know, weird) and immediatly knew I wanted to use my blooming button bits. Secondly, I used Maureen's Wild and Wacky Color Challenge from a few days ago. There were not one, but two greens in the challenge this week. The easiest way to deal with that? Leaves! Love that rock-n-roll technique to add a few shades of green to the leaves. I also used one shade of green dp and the other in a button. Sneak, sneaky. Thirdly, I used the CARDS blog challenge to create a thank you card this week. I am always going through thank you cards due to the nature of my job. With so many parent helpers, staff, and teammates I pretty much need an endless supply of them. I kept this one simple with a little floating "merci."

Thanks all from me today. Have a wonderful Monday!

Supplies-
Stamps- PTI: Blooming Button Bits, Mega Mixed Messages
Paper- Dark Chocolate, Terracotta Tile, Whisper White, Bitty Dots dp (Simply Chartreuse), Bitty Box dp (Dark Chocolate)
Ink- Simply Chartreuse, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip
Accessories- buttons, twine, nestabilities, tea dye stains, seam binding ribbon, dimensionals

Fall to Layout

Good evening! I'm resurfacing from the land of the lost to post a little card I whipped up this evening in a few minutes of free time. The last week or so has been so crazy! Holidays, report cards, this darn cold that I can't seem to shake.... Stamping time just got squeezed out by extra sleep, rereading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (I gotta be prepared, lol), and did I mention sleeping? I hate how colds zap all of the energy out of me.

Anyways, I had a lovely, but tiring (are you sensing a theme?!) day with my mom today. We went and got our hair cut together, and absolutely made sure to stop at Cantor's Deli for some yummy matza ball soup and latkes. Now I'm home, and after a quick nap, found myself with a tiny bit of energy to stamp.

This week's Fall to Layout sketch had me intrigued. I don't pull out my Top Note die nearly enough, so it was a welcome tool on this card. My color combo was inspired by a room makeover I watched on HGTV this evening. Ever seen the show Divine Design? I don't think that designer has ever created a room I have not liked. They're all gorgeous! Whenever I purchase my first home, I am most definitely putting in a bid for her to come redo one of my rooms. Anyways, she made over a basement last night with this color theme: cream, gray, spring moss, and steely blues. I immediately saw a card with this combo in my head. :) Oh, and the kraft came from the wood floors in the room.

I am officially out of energy again, so this post is going to be cut a wee bit shorter than normal. Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: Glad Tidings
Paper- Kraft, Very Vanilla, Smokey Shadow, Spring Moss, Distressed Dots dp
Ink- Basic Gray
Accessories- seam binding ribbon, button, twine, glitter, double sided tape, top not die (SU), jewels

Sweet Sunday Sketch #91

Good morning! I have a two-for-one card to share with you this morning. I've double up on Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch and Maureen's Wild Card Color Challenge from a few days ago.


I did manage to keep this card a bit more on the simple side, but I think I went a little crazy with the buttons, lol. I pulled out my trusty Everyday Button Bits stamp set and stamped the flower stems twice to fill the oval. I ended up taking a bunch of medium sized buttons off and putting tiny ones to help it feel not so overcrowded. It's just a lot of flowers! I also refrained from sewing on this card (harder than I thought it would be!)

Looking at it a second time, I wondering if I should have stamped the stems a little lower and moved the sentiment to the bottom right corner... Hmmm... Maybe it's time for a version #2 of this card. ;)

Well, that's it out of me for today. Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-
Stamps- PTI: Everyday Button Bits
Paper- Dark Chocolate, Spring Moss, Whisper White, Bitty Box dp
Ink- Spring Moss, Chocolate Chip
Accessories- ribbon, buttons, dimensionals, nestabilities, sponge

CARDS Challenge

Good morning! I have a two-for-one display to share with you today. I was cruising through my blog roll a few days ago when I came across the CARDS Magazine blog (which is combined now with their other publications, but still great!). There is a weekly card challenge issued, and this week's was too hard to resist!


The challenge? To use ruffles on our cards. So fun! Ruffled paper, ruffled ribbon, crepe paper... Ruffles! I immediately knew I wanted to play with some more faux book print ruffles. Not having any books that I want to destroy (I really need to get to the thrift store one of these days...), I opted to make my own book print using my PTI Text Style stamp set. I stamped the plain text in Chocolate Chip to keep it a little more mellow and did some heavy distressing along the edges. I curled them up, smothered them with tea dye stain, and even crinkled them a bit.

I played around with more Holiday Button Bits, creating a few button ornaments with a whole lot more tea dye staining around the edges. A few little jewels in the corner, a bow, and jolly sentiment and this card was done.

The only problem? Which dp do I like more? I created one card and then thought the other Cosmo Cricket Mitten Weather dp would also look fabulous. Now I don't know which one I love more! They really have completely opposite feels to them. Any opinions?


Thanks so much for stopping by! To all my US friends, get out and vote today! I'm off to the polling place after work today. I'm all studied up on my propositions and candidates, and my sample ballot is marked so I don't forget what I chose. :)

Supplies-
Stamps- PTI: Holiday Button Bits, Text Style
Paper- Plum Pudding (PTI), Very Vanilla (SU), Cosmo Cricket Mitten Weather dp
Ink- Chocolate Chip (SU)
Accessories- ribbon, buttons, tea dye stains (PTI), scallop edge punch, dimensionals (SU), jewels

Sketch For You To Try

Good morning and happy post-Halloween! Can you believe that today is the first day of November? November may be my favorite month of the year! It's fall, for one. I love the crisper air with a warm sun. I love the vibrant colors that the leaves turn. I love Thanksgiving and turkey! And, well, it's my birthday month. :)

We had a nice handful of trick-or-treaters last night at our house. It was so fun to see them all dressed in their adorable costumes. I love watching their methodical picking-out of the candy. Truly, being the person answering the door is almost as good as being the trick-or-treater! And we have a bit of left-over candy, which is always all right with me! We put our carved pumpkins out on the porch along with our Mr. Potato Head pumpkins (the best idea ever!). My carved pumpkin unfortunately didn't make it to Halloween before getting to rotten and squishy. So sad!

It's back to the work grind for me today, being Monday. The month of November is absolutely going to fly by. We have so many holidays this month, I think we really only have about 13 days of school total. Crazy! And somehow I have to fit fall, Veteran's Day, and Thanksgiving into those 13 days. It's going to be hectic, but fun!

The card I have to share with you today is from Jen's Sketch for You to Try. I loved the various panels on it and vowed to try and play along this week. Plus, my Mitten Weather dp was still begging to be playing with. This little mini deck isn't going to last! I might need to order a few more to hold me over!

I mixed in some Distressed Dots dp with the Mitten Weather. I think the Fine Linen color looks lovely! I need to order some matching ribbon for future use. My scalloped circle nestie with some pearls finished it off. That's another thing I need to get one of these days: liquid pearls. There have been so many gorgeous cards made lately with liquid pearls that I'm really beginning to wonder why I don't own any already, lol. In the meantime, I'll keep using my half pearls.

I also delved into one of my new Verve stamps. This was actually from the last release at the beginning of the month, but I had not had a chance to ink it up as of yet. It fit perfectly in this little circle, thank goodness. And isn't that font gorgeous? Love.

So, that's all for today! Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: Psalm 46:1 PJ
Paper- Red Riding Hood, Very Vanilla, Aqua Mist, Cosmo Cricket Mitten Weather dp, Distressed Dots dp (PTI)
Ink- Red Riding Hood
Accessories- ribbon, button, twine, tea dye stains, dimensionals, pearls, nestabilities

Mojo Monday on a Sunday

Good morning and Happy Halloween! There are no parties in store for me today, which really is all right. I love being home to hand out candy to the trick or treaters. :) It's one of the little joys of being an adult on Halloween. One year ago today I was at Halloween and missed handing out candy (though, I think it was a pretty win-win situation overall).

I have a little thank you card to share with you today using last Monday's Mojo Monday sketch. I chose to work with the square sketch this time, as corners really are my comfort zone. I pulled out some of the purples and aqua colors and got down to business. I fixed my threading snafoo on my sewing machine so it worked flawlessly on this card. Ah, that little zigzag just makes me happy. The sentiment was feeling a little lonely, so I took a nod from Maureen and added a few little sparkles. :)

We had a lovely evening last night. My dad ended up coming over for dinner (he just can't say no to Swiss Steak, hehe). It's always good to visit and catch up. This morning, it's off to church, perhaps a stop at Grandma's to fix her Internet (when did I become the techie in the family?!), then home to more cards! Well, cards, studying my voter guide so I'm prepared for Tuesday, and working on school stuff for a while. But cards are definitely on the agenda.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: Thankful Hearts
Paper- Kraft, Very Vanilla, Cosmo Cricket Mitten Weather dp
Ink- Perfect Plum
Accessories- ribbon, nestabilities, tea dye stain, dimensionals, jewels, medium scallop die (PTI), sewing machine

Viva la Verve!

Can you believe we're already into the first week of November for Viva la Verve?! This year has absolutely flown by. Tomorrow is Halloween, Veteran's Day is knocking on the door, Thanksgiving will be here before we know it, then we'll blink and it will be Christmas. Crazy!

Amber had a great sketch for us and some amazing inspiration. I immediately jumped all over the first inspiration picture. Something about all that red, cream, quilting, and apples just made me happy. I attempted to recreate my own quilted pattern on my card using various dps and background stamps. I'm relatively pleased with how it turned out.

And please try to ignore the wonky sewing around the edges. For some reason my sewing machine began to sew a bit strangely in the middle of my card. It took me just a minute too long to realize that it wasn't sewing the normal zigzag pattern before I fixed it. I'm pleased to report that it's all fixed and happy now that the card is done. Oh well!

It's a truly lazy Saturday here around the house. I most definitely fought to sleep in this morning (I hate that my body gets used to waking up at 6:30 and thinks it should do that on Saturdays as well). But I won the fight and woke up nice and refreshed. It rained pretty hard last night, but the sun was out and shining this morning! It's so crisp and clean outside. Love it! I've got some Swiss Steak cooking in the crock pot, potatoes sitting on the counter waiting for my roommate to come home and make mashed potatoes (She seriously make the best mashed potatoes). I have one card down and many more to go. I have the itch to create. Some new dp (Mitten Weather!) is also helping that crafty mojo along.

I'll leave you today with a few pictures from school yesterday. I wish I could post pictures of my kiddos! They were soooo cute! Just imagine 20 five and six year olds running around at school in full Halloween costume. Adorable!

The First Grade Teaching Team

Have a lovely Saturday!


Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: Thanks so Much, PTI: Background Basics Retro, Text Style
Paper- Pure Poppy, Vintage Cream, Bitty Dots dp, Distressed Dots dp, In Bloom dp
Ink- Pure Poppy, Vintage Cream, Tea Dye Stain
Accessories- ribbon, button, twine, nestablities, jewels, dimensionals, tea dye stains, sewing machine

Sweet Sunday Sketch #90

Good morning! The sun is out and shining for the first time in 8 days, and it looks to be building to a gorgeous day! Only the high 60s to low 70s today. It doesn't get more perfect than that!

I'm sitting at home this morning due to some crock pot food that didn't finish cooking overnight. One of my ministries at church is that I cook for families in need (sickness, emergencies, etc.). I new I needed to drop the food off after church while I was out their way this morning, so I put the meal in a crock pot to cook overnight. Not wanting to leave it on high for 12 hours, I set it on low and crossed my fingers. Well, apparently I should have crossed my arms, legs, and toes as well. Still not done. So, I've got it cranked up to high, sent my roomie off to church, and am hoping it finishes up sometime in the near future. Boo!

After I drop the food off, I'm off to an Open House to visit and welcome home (temporarily) a childhood friend of mine that now lives/serves in Kenya as a missionary. It's been about two years since I've seen her, therefore I am so looking forward to seeing her face. :)



Then tonight, it's pumpkin carving time!! A few girlfriends are coming over to our place for some carving fun. I have the pumpkin treats all baked and ready to go! The pumpkin pie was seriously calling my name all night long.... I need to eat it! Soon! lol

Enough rambling... On to the card! I used Karen's fantastic new sketch for this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge. I love the big panel/sweet simplicity of the sketch. I knew immediately that I wanted to use my Blooming Button Bits. I was originally going to do a purple/green color theme, but for some reason the New Leaf cardstock jumped out at me when I went to grab the colors. So green and yellow it was. Very "spring-y" don't you think? Eh, spring, fall... Same thing, hehe.

Well, keep your fingers crossed for me! This food HAS to finish within the next hour so I can get where I'm going on time! Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful Sunday!

Supplies-
Stamps- PTI: Blooming Button Bits
Paper- New Leaf, Whisper White, Bitty Box dp
Ink- Wild Wasabi, Barely Banana
Accessories- ribbon, buttons, ric rac die, sewing machine

Viva la Verve!

I'm a week behind on my Viva la Verve sketches and this is the last week to submit our cards! Needless to say, prepare yourselves for an onslaught of VLV cards. :)

This particular card was created for the third week's challenge: to case Verve's own Jackie Pedro who's found herself getting a little Dirty! Congrats to you, Jackie! It is soooo well deserved! I selected an older card from about one year ago to CASE (copy and share everything). I changed the colors, the stamp, and eliminated one of the rectangular panels. I tried to stay true to the layout for the most part.



I stamped the flowers in Chocolate Chip and colored with my copics. I added a little white gel pen at the last minute to give the flowers a gleaming feeling. Love how that turned out! The flowers are popped up as well.

It's baking day here in the house. We're having some friends over to carve pumpkins tomorrow and promised them "pumpkin treats." Since I finally was able to secure some canned pumpkin (and even a few sugar pumpkins!), I'm going to town with the baking. So far: 2 loaves of pumpking bread, one pumpkin pie, and a bunch of experimental pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. They sure look and smell yummy! I just might "have" to taste test a few of them to make sure that they are absolutely, positively safe to eat. It's only kind of me. Self-sacrificing, really. ;)

Oh, and here's a picture of Jackie Pedro's gorgeous card that was my inspiration launching point. ----->

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: Miracle Blossoms
Paper- Dark Chocolate, Very Vanilla, October Afternoon Thrift Shop dp
Ink- Chocolate Chip
Accessories- ribbon, copics, dimensionals, white gel pen, nestabilities, sewing machine

Mercy's Tuesday Sketch #96

Good evening! I had a few free minutes this evening (with energy to spare) to make a little card. I decided to play along with Mercy's Tuesday sketch. Something about all those corners was making the muse in my happy. :)

Is it just me or is the blogging world inundated with Christmas cards lately? I can't even get through Halloween before Christmas starts staring me in the face (literally!). I even saw my first Christmas-themed commercial on TV on October 19th. That's right, people. A whole 2 months+ before Christmas. Really, what has this world come to?!


So, after all of this ranting, I figured I had better follow trend, lol! Well, that, and my Holiday Button Bits have been calling my name lately. Poor things just sit there all year long waiting for the holidays to come back around.

I just love the look of Simply Chartreuse and Scarlet Jewel together. So rich. So regal. So wonderful. And then you add buttons and twine and they're even more divine! I stamped the holly leaves twice, cut out and popped up the second set. Some wrapped twine and a little snuck on sentiment finished off the card. Easy peasy.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies-
Stamps- PTI: Holiday Button Bits
Paper- Kraft, Simply Chartreuse, Whisper White, Bitty Dot dp, In Bloom dp
Ink- Kiwi Kiss, Cranberry Crisp
Accessories- twine, buttons, dimensionals, tea dye stains