Viva la Verve

Good morning! Oh how blissfully happy I am to have a four day weekend!  I know I've been out of the classroom for 6 of the last 9 school days for a Common Core training, but good golly! My brain is TIRED! I can't think anymore.

Obviously, the perfect solution for break deadness is making cards. :)

I pulled up this week's Viva la Verve sketch and immediately formed a plan in my head. A very monochromatic plan in my head.  I knew I wanted to use some flowers from Joyful Blooms (hooray for the awesome matching dies!) and decided to pull out some plum pudding card stock to give the winter wisteria a little bit of contrast. I embossed them with clear ep and then popped up the larger of the two with dimensionals.

The bow was calling for a gorgeous bow/button/twine combo and thank goodness I had ordered some lilac twine a month or so back!  The sentiment is a Plain Jane and I added some lavender pearls under them to make it pop just a wee bit more.

Hooray for finishing another Viva la Verve card!

I'm off to go help a friend get moved into her new apartment today!  The process of moving and unpacking, as we all know, is miserable. But the company of good friends not only makes the process faster, but definitely more fun!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: Joyful Blooms, Everything Plain Jane
Paper- Soft Stone, Winter Wisteria dp pack, Plum Pudding
Ink- Versamark, Winter Wisteria
Accessories- ribbon, button, twine, clear ep, dimensionals, nestabilities, pearls

Viva la Verve

Happy Super Bowl Sunday!

Go Ravens!!!

(Just had to get that in.)

I'm off to a friend's house to celebrate this annual holiday and cheer on Baltimore. Food, friends, football. It's a trifecta. :)

Now on to the card.

I used this week's Viva la Verve sketch, which was sweet and simple. I pulled out some spring/Valentine's colored papers and got to work. I'm heading to baby shower this time next week and thought I should whip up a card for the occasion.  My bf is having a little girl next month and these colors screamed girly.

I sewed around the outside panel, but left the others plain.  I stamped the larger of the two hearts from Text Objects, fussy cut it, and then added a little sentiment from Over the Moon.  I also added some glitter to the heart to make it the focal image when looking at the card.

Have a wonderful Sunday!

And Go Ravens!

Thanks for stopping by.

Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: Over the Moon, Text Objects
Paper- Kraft, Whisper White, My Mind's Eye Miss Caroline- Howdy Doody
Ink- Ruby Red
Accessories- sewing machine, glitter, dimensionals, apron lace punch, tea dye stain, nestablities

Viva la Verve

Good morning!

Can I just begin with the fact that I am so in love with the weather we are having today! Instead of the sun blaring through my window and already being in the 90s by ten o'clock, it is gloomy, heavy drizzling, water dripping from our roof... I am in heaven!!!

Fall, please stick around for good this time!

I loved this week's Viva la Verve sketch (still staring at the other two... Help!).  I couldn't get the idea of using a doily behind the middle panel out of my mind.  It's always a good day when a doily sneaks its way onto a card.

I popped up the oval sentiment and put a double bow of seam binding ribbon behind it.  I finished the card and felt it was missing a little something, so I added some bling around the oval to make the sentiment pop just a little bit more.  The sewing machine had a little dust blown off of it as well to add some stitching to the main panel.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: New Mercies
Paper- Sahara Sand, Whisper White, Lily Bee Design Buttercup dp
Ink- Basic Black
Accessories- seam binding ribbon, button, twine, Taylor's tiny twinkles, dimensionals, doily, scallop edge punch, sewing machine

 

Viva la Verve

Good morning!  It's Sunday and my first thought today was, "Yay! I get to go work in my classroom tomorrow!"

Is something wrong with me?  It's summer. I love summer. I love my summer break.  But I also love the unobstructed time to just work in my classroom. No kids. No deadlines (well, not of the impending doom kind).  Just the time to work. And prep. And plan.  And bring all of those ideas and inspirations into reality.

Please tell me I am not the only one out there that feels this way.  So many of my team and staff are the, "They're not paying me, and, therefore, I am not going in until the last possible moment" variety.  I am more of the "I need to organize and get ready to maintain my sanity" variety.  Because we all know that the moment school starts, we're behind.  And you never catch up. As hard as you try.  It's impossible.

Enough school talk.  On to the card.

I played along with this week's Viva la Verve sketch.  It's the first of the new month.  And I am determined, DETERMINED to finish the whole month's worth of sketches.  It's a bit on the sad side that I cannot remember the last time I finished all four or five sketches in the month.  I used to never miss one.  Why does life get in the way of stamping?!

As for the card, I pulled out my new MME dp once more, along with a doily (I always forget to use these things!), and then through in some matching brads at the last minute.

Enjoy your Sunday! And thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: Meditations
Paper- Groovy Guava, Whisper White, MME Indie Chic "Citron" dp
Ink- Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories- ribbon, doily, sewing machine, dimensionals, brads

Viva la Verve

I'm back! In So Cal, that is.  For a little while. For a grand total of six more days. Then I'm off and running again, lol!  For a summer with no plans, it sure is packed. How did that happen?!

I think it has been eons since I have played with Viva la Verve. I loved this week's sketch and had to play along. The other two have been saved on my desktop for weeks. Weeks!  I will play with them... Eventually.  But back to this card and this week's sketch.  I pulled out so MME dp that is uber-feminine (but gorgeous!) and ran with it.

I stitched around the perimeter, adding a little section of zigzagging along the top right, sponged some tea dye stains around the sentiment, went a little wild with some tiny jewels, and added some twine to finish of the girly-yet-slightly-rustic look.  It's very country if I look at it in a decorative sense.  Well, whatever it is, it's done and I like it!


Thanks so much for stopping by!

Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: Thankful Accents
Paper- Kraft, Aqua Mist, Whisper White, My Mind's Eye Howdy Doody Miss Caroline dp
Ink- Chocolate Chip
Accessories- twine, nestabilities, Taylor's Tiny Twinkles, dimensionals, sewing machine, tea dye stains

Viva la Verve!

Good morning! I have a Viva la Verve card to share with you this morning that uses some brand-spankin' new dp that arrived on my porch Saturday. I love the spring colors in this pack, especially the mix of the teals and pinks. In other words, prepare yourselves for a color rut. :)

I pulled out my New Mercies set and used it's namesake verse. And I think I sang the hymn the entire time I was making this card... I stamped the lyrics directly onto some pink polka dotted dp, and popped the whole circle up on some dimensionals. A little added ribbon across the middle tied all of the aqua together. I tried adding a little flower or butterfly with the circle, but it just seemed to throw off the balance of the card. So this one ended up being pretty sweet and simple. And quick!

It's book club night and we're discussing Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. Kingsolver is usually a hit or miss author for me, so I was pleasantly surprised that I actually enjoyed this book. I am not eating completely green, off of my own land or local farmers, but I do cook a whole lot do to some rather tricky food allergies. Reading about her trial, tribulations, and successes of moving from urban Arizona to rural Tennessee was entertaining. Though the book could feel a little "preachy" at times, I found I could move past those moments and just enjoy the story (and this is a non-fiction account of her personal experience). I'm looking forward to finding out our next book (we read one book per month).

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: New Mercies
Paper- Ruby Red, Whisper White, My Mind's Eye Miss Caroline Howdy Doody dp
Ink- Chocolate Chip
Accessories- ribbon, nestabilities, dimensionals

Viva la Verve!

Happy Sunday morning! I had the opportunity to sleep in a bit this morning. I'm attending a later service at church today with my roomie and then we're going to hit our favorite Mexican food restraunt for lunch. Yay! It's kind of a last-hurrah-for-the-summer kind of thing.

But this morning I have another Viva la Verve card to share with you. Remember how yesterday I said that was my new favorite dp? Well, I lied. This is my new favorite dp, lol! Goodness, those pinks, and roses, and browns, and creams. I think I've died and gone to heaven. There's even some black thrown into the dp mix (not on my card, though), for a more French, antique feel. We'll get to those papers another day, I'm sure. :)

The launching point for this card was actually that rose colored floral dp on the square panel. It quite possibly is my favorite paper in the entire paper pad. I just HAD to use it! I put the card together and felt it was missing something (the edges were rather plain), so I added a bunch of straight stitching around every panel. Then, to add just a bit more, some pearls in one corner to balance out the flower in the opposite corner. The flower was color with my copic markers, and a button and twine finished off the top.

Two challenges down and two more to go! Well, that is before another one is added on Friday. I'd better get busy, lol.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-
Stamps- Verve- Anais Nin PJ, Feel the Sun
Paper- Scarlett Jewel, Vintage Cream, MME Lost & Found- Blush dp
Ink- Close to Cocoa, Memento Rich Cocoa
Accessories- twine, button, copics, pearls, sewing maching, dimensionals, scallop edge punch

Viva la Verve!

Good morning!

Apparently, I'm in a shabby chique mood today as you will see with this card. I distressed the heck out of this card! Weird. I ripped up paper, distressed edges, stained, used lace, buttons, twine. Everything but the kitchen sink!

This card uses the second Viva la Verve sketch for this week as well as a beautiful Plain Jane from Verve. This is one of those stamps that has me singing while stamping. Remember that old worship song? It was always one of my favorites. The lace is from Stampin' Up, and was begging to be used. It's been sitting all lonely on my ribbon shelf for a few months.

Well, I guess I'm not so chatty today. That's all out of me today, lol. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: Psalm 121:1-2
Paper- Kraft, Vintage Cream, Bitty Dot Basics dp, Distressed Dots dp
Ink- Close to Cocoa
Accessories- lace, nestabilities, twine, button, tea dye stains, pearls, dimensionals

Viva la Verve!

Good morning! I'm dropping in to post this card before I hit the road once more. Yup, I'm leaving this crazy heatwave behind and headed home to the mountains. I really couldn't be more excited! My plans for the next week include: going for a morning kayak ride (or two, or three...), reading on the front porch overlooking the roaring waterfall, enjoying the Mountain Music Festival, taking some pictures with the camera, avoiding the rabid mosquitoes, and spending some quality time with family and friends. Not a bad week in the making, eh? It's alright to be jealous. ;)

Before I go, here is my final Viva la Verve card for the month of July. I finished all four! Woohoo! I pulled out some recently neglected PTI dps, stuck with a monochromatic theme (apparently I was in a purple mood... hmmm..), and relied on my computer once more to create the heart. To do: Order star and heart die cuts. Goodness! When it rains it pours! I've never needed stars or hearts before, and now I've used them both in one week. It could be a sign. I drew, traced, and cut out a heart off of my computer. Then I stenciled it onto my patterned paper. Covered it liberally with glossy accents and sprinkled some glitter over it to make it really shiny. :)

The tag was also hand cut (really, this must be "use shapes Kristina doesn't have" week). I added some purple bling along the bottom which is cut a bit concave. I haven't used the 'ole ribbon/button/twine/bow combo for a while, so it's also making its grand reappearance.

This card also qualifies for this month's Diva Dare over on the Verve blog. This month's challenge was to give our dp and sentiments some love. No images, just words. Well, with my gorgeous Verve stamps, with THE most gorgeous fonts, that wasn't hard to do!

Well, that's it for me. It's going to be a little quiet here on the blog until next Tuesday-ish. I'll see you back here then!

Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: Enjoy Today
Paper- PTI: Pretty Pastels, Polka Dot Basics; Echo Park: Little Girl dp
Ink- Plum Pudding
Accessories- ribbon, button, baker's twine, nestabilities, jewels, glossy accents, glitter, computer

Viva la Verve!

Good evening! I spent an unusual amount of time today putting together this card and felt it only fair (to myself and the time spent!) to post it right away. It's a little out of my normal style (read: LOTS of details, distressing, layers...), but I'm kind of smitten with the result. This card uses last week's Viva la Verve sketch, by the one and only Maureen! LOVE this sketch!

I started with some of the gorgeous Stella & Rose Hattie dp, pulled out a few coordinating papers, and went a little crazy with the stitching. Next, I liberally stained every conceivable edge with my tea dye stains. Twine was lovingly wrapped around two of the corners. And of course, I added a little bow for good measure. The flower from Great friends was stamped twice with some blues and popped up the layers to add some dimension. Lastly, a few different sized pearls decorated the center of the flower to add just a little bit more of the shabby elegance to the card.

I think this card is going to head out to my cousin and his wife. She was just diagnosed with thyroid cancer, but amidst the scariness of this all, God really has been bringing victory after victory! Surgery is scheduled for next month, and Lord-willing, she will be cancer free by October! If you have a spare minute, please keep them in your prayers and they go through these next few months. :)

That's it for me today. Now that I've finished this card, I'm itching to try my hand at another sketch, which hopefully won't take as long! Not to mention, I've been playing around with the HTML codes for the blog, trying to make it a little wider and the pictures just a little larger. And I am in no way, shape, or form a computer techie. Google is my friend. :)

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: 1 Cor. 15:57, Great Friend
Paper- Kraft, Vintage Cream, MME's Stella & Rose Hattie dp
Ink- Night of Navy, Baja Breeze, So Saffron
Accessories- twine, pearls, tea dye stains, nestabilities, sewing machine, dimensionals

Viva la Verve!

I am on the ball with my Viva la Verve sketches this month! This is going to be only the second or third month this entire year I've finished all of the sketches. It's been a busy year...

When I first saw the sketch, I had a mild panic attack about the number of different panels on it. That's a whole lot of coordinating dp! Fortunately, dp comes in lovely little packs nowadays with papers that already coordinate with themselves. Saved! I pulled out some of this darling Life of the Party dp from My Mind's Eye. I love the sweet girly colors! I stamped a flower from Verve's Many Blessings three times: Once for the stem, and twice for the flower itself. I then colored both with my copics and popped up the center flower on dimensionals. I have to admit that I love how this card turned out. Sweet and simple. The dp does most of the talking. :)

Today is jam-packed, but with all sorts of summer goodness. I'm off to church this morning, and then heading over to my grandma's house to share my pictures from Italy with her. Then I'm off to another friend's house for some swimming and BBQ! With this heat wave, I've been dying to get into someone's pool.

I hope your weekend has been and remains relaxing and enjoyable! Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: Many Blessings, Thankful Accents
Paper- Sweet Blush, Dark Chocolate, Whisper White, MME's Lime Twist Life of the Party dp
Ink- Memento Rich Cocoa
Accessories- ribbon, apron lace punch, nestabilities, copics, dimensionals, jewels, spica glitter pen

Viva la Verve!

Good afternoon, everyone! It's great to be home (though, trekking around the country of Italy is nothing to complain about) and enjoying sleeping in each morning. I finally sat down and whipped up a few cards to share with you. I also have a few that were made back in the madness of May and June that I'll use as fillers.

But first up, we have this week's Viva la Verve challenge from Verve's forum on Splitcoast Stampers. I loved this week sketch, circle and all, and immediately had an idea to put little sailboats in three of the squares and the sentiment in the third. It was perfect! Well, it was was perfect until I actually tried it... And, well, let's just say it didn't quite look like what I had pictured in my head. Ah, welcome back to stamping after a break... Time to jump start the rusty mojo.

As you can see, the sailboats were ditched and buttons took their place! I obviously still have babies on the brain! I just found out two more of my friends are pregnant. Sheesh! But I have to admit, I am so loving cuddling with all these adorable little pudgy bundles!

Some tiny pearls around the edges and little twine bow finished off this card. I know what you're thinking... No ribbon! I KNOW! First card back and I've already ditched the ribbon?! We could be off to a bumpy start, people. LOL

Guess twine will have to do for the time being. Twine with some long ribbon tails....

Thanks so much for stopping by! I'm off to retreat into the air-conditioned portion of our house (it's HOT outside!) and read for a while before Zumba tonight. Gonna get sweaty. Well, I've been sweaty most of the day, so I guess I'm just going to get sweatier! Got to burn off those yummolicious Italian cookies I feasted on while in Italy. I mean, just look at these things! Pinenuts and almond paste?! Um, YES! They were incredible. I've already stock piled the ingredients to try making my own. I've even bookmarked a few recipes to see which will get the closest to the original taste.

Ok. Enough rambling for one day. I think I'm slightly excited to be back. :)

Supplies-
Stamps- PTI: Bitty Baby Blessings
Paper- Not Quite Navy, Terracotta Tile, Whisper White, Fly a Kite dp
Ink- Not Quite Navy
Accessories- twine, buttons, nestabilities, pearls

Viva la Verve!

Good morning. I'm sitting at home today, sick with some bug I'm sure a kid so graciously and kindly passed on to me. Hopefully, I'll be back at work tomorrow. With a field trip on Thursday and Open House only 3 weeks away, I can't afford to be out any more days!

I made this card on Saturday before the bug hit. If you are my mom, turn away now! Don't read! It's in the mail on it's way to you, then you're welcome to come back to the blog. :)

All right. Mom should be gone now. Lol

This card uses the first Viva la Verve challenge for the month of May. I love the elegant layout for this card. It reminds me of a sketch we had waaaay back in year one of VLV.... Back with there were still "twists." And oh how those twists made me nervous each week! Now we just get sketchy, and I had a blast with this one!


I pulled out some more MME Stella & Rose Hattie dp, and was immediately inspired by this mustard and turquoise combo. I'm usually not a big mustard fan (actually, this matched crushed curry really well), but it sure worked when balanced with some baja breeze. With all those pastel colors, I added the sentiment and the ribbon in Dark Chocolate to ground the card a bid. Some stickles gav the little flower in "Mother's" some shine, and a little blue jewel in the middle finished it off. Sweet, simple, and elegant. My kind of card. :)

Thanks for taking the time to stop by today!

Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: Happy Mother's Day PJ
Paper- Baja Breeze, Rustic White, MME Stella & Rose Hattie dp
Ink- Chocolate Chip
Accessories- ribbon, nestabilities, tea dye stains, dimensionals, stickles, jewel

Viva la Verve!

Good afternoon! So sorry for the long absence. Sometimes real life just takes a front seat, right? I've been staring at my stamps and paper for the last month, wishing I had a moment when I wasn't exhausted, running to somewhere else, or working on work (can you say, "Hello impending- Open House?!).

I was able to squeeze out a little stamping today before switching to my sewing machine for a little baby gift. It's about that time of year where I need a million thank you cards for all the parent helpers in my classroom, office staff, janitorial staff, teammates, etc. So, pretty much every card I make from here on out will be a thank you of some sort.

I used this Friday's Viva la Verve sketch to help this card along. I pulled out some more new dp (that has been sitting so neglected!) and got busy. I sewed along the edges of each paper ray, and added some glitter around the pink oval sentiment. It's a pretty simple card, allowing the dp to most of the talking. But it was a great "get my feet wet again" card. This is probably it for me as for cards until next weekend. My weekdays are CRAZY right now!

Thanks so much for sticking with me and stopping by!

Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: Sweet Treats
Paper- Basic Gray, Sweet Blush, Whisper White, MME's Stella & Rose Hazel
Ink- Basic Gray
Accessories- twine, button, glitter, Verve dies, scallop edge punch, sewing machine, dimensionals

Viva la Verve!

Good wet afternoon. I'm trying not to float away, blow away, or be struck by lightning. There hasn't been any lightning for about 20 minutes now, so I figured it might be safe to jump online and post this card to share with you all. But in the meantime, it is absolutely dumping rain and the wind is whipping it around like there's no tomorrow. It's one of those days where I'm glad that I have nowhere to be. I can just stay home, curled up under a blanket, and enjoy the sounds of the rain on the roof, the wind in the trees, and the thunder rattling the windows (aka, a perfect day!).

Uh oh, the thunder just started again, so we're going to make this quick. I played along with this week's Viva la Verve sketch (Which was sooo fun to play with! I'm definitely going to use this sketch again!), and pulled out some new dp while I was at it. The dp is Echo Park's Little Girl mixed in with some Pacific Vineyard from PTI. I stamped three balloons from Verve's Birthday Bash, two onto dp and one onto white cardstock to be colored with my copics. I popped them up with various layerings of dimensionals, added some twine for their ribbons, and a little gingham bow to tie them together. I masked the sentiment, also from Birthday Bash, to split it onto the two banners.

Ok. Enough for today. Gotta get this computer off! Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: Birthday Bash
Paper- Whisper White, Kraft, Echo Park Little Girl, Pacific Vineyard (PTI)
Ink- Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories- twine, apron lace punch, ribbon, corner rounder punch, dimensionals, copics, white gel pen

Viva la Verve!

Good evening! I've known for a day or two that the first sketch I needed to play with this weekend was the new Viva la Verve sketch. Why, you ask? Because it is Maureen's sketch debut!!! Julee even managed to dig up a great little shamrock image for the sketch layout.

Unfortunately, I don't have have any shamrock stamps, embellishments, and I don't even own a heart punch to create my own... Something that may need to be remedied in order to remain friends with Maureen. ;)

Instead, I chose to work with this Irish Blessing from the Verve set, Blessings. It makes the most beautiful wedding cards. Add in some new dp from MME's Stella and Rose Mabel, and this card came together relatively quickly. I had a little trouble with the ribbon placement and size due to the sentiment being so wide. I fudged it a little bit from the sketch.... Shh! Don't tell! Instead of a shamrock, I used another dainty paper flower with a button in the middle. I added some platinum stickles around the edge to give it just a little bit of shimmer. The scallops felt a little lonely once the card was said and done, so I snuck on a row of pearls at the last minute to jazz them up.

LOVED the sketch this week, Maureen! I can't wait to see what you have up your sleeves in the months to come!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: Blessings
Paper- Really Rust, Vintage Cream, MME Stella and Rose Mabel dp
Ink- Tangerine Tango, Really Rust
Accessorie- ribbon, button, nestabilities, tea dye stains, pearls, stickles