Hi everyone! It's the official end to our January Viva la Verve challenges and I'm here to announce our two random winners! Thanks to all who played along! Our January 2016 Viva la Divas are: 15. Heidi such a gloriously colorful creation with our Petals & Wings set 63. Cimbacreations love the dramatic colors and polka dot hearts on this pretty Valentine Congrats girls! Send an email to [email protected] to receive your $40 e-gift voucher to the Verve store. No new sketch this week, as there's an extra week in January, but we'll be back next Friday to kick off our February challenges! In the meantime, here's a recap of a few of my favorite cards added to the linky this week. beautiful journal cover by Amy White using the Luke 1:45 plain jane classy valentine by Hillary Harris using the Stronger Love set birthday goodness by Lori Tecler using the Better Together set gorgeously shabby wall hanging by Carrie Sheridan Here's a look back at all of our January VLV entries! Thanks so much for playing along with us this month! We'll see you next Friday! And if you're in the mood to shop, we just added a brand new sequin mix, plus moved a few more things to our sale category!

Happy Friday! It is a new month and a new Viva La Verve Sketch Challenge. I have a card to share using May's Viva La Verve Sketch. I combined Verve's Scripture Medley 3 and Wonderful Marvelous stamp sets for the sentiment panel. I gold embossed the word "Mom" for added effect. I used the grid image from Making a Statement stamp set to add some slight texture to the green panel. I combined Verve's Lacey Trim duo, Falling Leaves, and Heart Quartet die sets for this card. I combined DCWV pattern papers. I mixed white and cream card stock with some embossed vellum to create dimension and texture. I finished my card with some clear sequins. I am playing along with Just Add Ink Challenge to add an "O." I added olive to my card. As always thanks so much for stopping by!

Hello, Verve fans, Julee here, with a little recap of the January VLV sketch entries so far, and a spotlight on a few of the beautiful cards in the linkup already. Our challenge is open all month long, so you have until February 1 to link your creations to our Entry Form link list for a chance to win. We'll choose a random winner at the end of the challenge to win a $40 gift voucher to Verve. For a fresh dose of inspiration, Maureen, Betty and I have some new inspiration to share using the sketch. Card by Maureen Plut using More than Love and the Wavy Hearts Die Set Card by Betty Wright using Small Packages and the Falling Leaves, Flourised Tag, Starry Die and Wavy Hearts die sets Card by Julee Tilman using the new Love From Me DIGITAL SET and the previously released Happiness in a Cup and Falling Leaves die sets Here is the January sketch Link up your creations here: Click here for our January Challenge Entry Form And a little shout-out to just a few of the lovely cards that have caught my eye in the past couple weeks. by Christine Miller by Julie Gearinger by Lisa Blastick by Rosemary D Thanks so much for sharing your cards! We so enjoy seeing you create!

Hi friends! Are you ready for another Mojo sketch? As always, you're free to play along with any papercrafting products your heart desires and enter as many creations as you like. Use the sketch as inspiration for your creation, then come link it up below so I can come take a look! The linky for this challenge will close on September 6, 2020. I have included dimensions on the graphic later in this post, but feel free to change them up to suit your needs. For today's card, I went a little farmhouse shabby with the Like a Sunflower stamp set from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps. I have more autumn paper pads than I'll ever know what to do with, so this sketch was a good way to use up some of it! I stamped the sunflower and leaf images and colored with Zig clean color real brush markers before fussy cutting. I accented the sunflower dots with some chocolate liquid pearls and set aside to dry. Next I chose my papers. These are from the Autumn Splendor collection from Simple Stories. I did a bit of distressing with antique linen and gathered twigs distress oxide to each of the panels. Next I stamped the sentiment on cream cardstock and blended with the same brown inks. For the background, I dry embossed with the chicken wire embossing folder and blended with browns to finish things off. Alrighty, now it's your turn! I hope you enjoy creating with this sketch! Thanks so much for stopping by! Please join me for Mojo Monday! Click here to enter Compensated affiliate links are used where possible. When you place an order after clicking one of my links, I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks so much for using my links and supporting this blog. 💙

Hi friends! It's the first Friday of a new month and that means it's time for me to share a new Viva la Verve sketch with you. The layout for the sketch came from this card I shared in January. I loved how it turned out and thought it would be fun to use for the challenge this month. I hope you agree! Back when I first started blogging, a friend of mine asked me to guest blog for her, and she picked St. Patrick's Day as one of the themes. I had absolutely zero products on hand and had a very hard time finding anything near me, so ordered some fabulous ones from The Cat's Pajamas (if you want a giggle and a peek at the card I made way back when, here's my post) and thus began a love affair with collecting St. Patrick's Day stamps and papers! I feel like a broken record when I say I had planned to have St. Patrick's Day physical stamps to release but I missed my production deadlines again. If having kids has taught me anything, it's that my life is not all about me {wink} and my time is never my own. So I'm offering myself the gift of grace and today there's a brand new digi (and a re-released digi) in the Verve shop. I do, however, promise that some non St. Patrick's Day brand new physical stamp and die designs are at the manufacturer as we speak. Yippee! The Irish Coffee digi is filled with fun Irish themed coffee loving sentiments and images. And the cup images match up with the Happiness in a Cup Die Set. If you're tech savvy, you can manipulate the individual files, or if you'd rather not figure all that out, there's a hand dandy PDF printable already sized for cardmaking to print all the images on one 8.5x11" sheet. For the card, I had to pull out my Minc machine again. I just love the look of gold foiling (although I'm not so fond of photographing it!), so foiled both the sentiment and the cup (which I colored with Copics before I foiled). The cup is cut with the coordinating die and then I layered some fun papers from Authentique and die cuts with shiny gold cardstock. I found an old QuicKutz flourishes die in my stash and thought it would be perfect as steam, to replace the twine element in the sketch. If you're heading over to the shop, be sure to check out our sale. Since my boys think March is the BEST month of the year (birthday, St. Patrick's Day and March Madness!), we're letting the little leprechauns celebrate with 30% off storewide! I'd love for you to play along with the sketch this month. Head on over to the Viva la Verve blog for more inspiration from the design team and all the details on how to enter to win some Verve! VLV March 2018 Sketch Enabler's List Stamps: Irish Coffee DIGITAL Set (Verve) Paper: Emerald (Authentique), gold cardstock (Recollections) Ink: Laser printer, copic markers Accessories: Happiness in a Cup Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), Minc machine, gold foil (Heidi Swapp), Lacey Circles (Spellbinders), Flourishes (QuicKutz), scallop border (MFT), circle dies

I'm baaaaaack. After a very busy past six months, I think my card making hiatus is over. Living the sandwich generation is not easy or for the faint of heart....with older teens in the house and aging parents with health issues on both sides, it has been a very, very busy and exhausting time. I had very little time to myself and absolutely no energy to be creative so reading a good book always won out. Withe the dust starting to settle the past few weeks, when I saw Julee bringing back the Mojo Monday sketches, I was very, very excited and it was the perfect impetus to create a card. I have always loved her sketches and they were the perfect jump start I needed to get crafty again :) With Christmas a month away, the timing was perfect to make a Christmas card. I have always loved this Echo Park Winter Time paper and these Reverse Confetti trees were crying out to be used. I paired them with some dark brown and avocado green paper, a pop of silver and topped things off with some silver cording and two silver bells. Happy sigh... :) :) What's In It? Stamps: Verve (retired) Paper: Winter Time (Echo Park), Early Espresso, Always Artichoke, Going Grey (Stampin' Up) Ink: Black Accessories: Lacy Circle and Circle Nestabilities, Branch Out Confetti Cuts (Reverse Confetti), Silver Twine, Silver Bells, Dimensionals

Hi there! It's time for this week's Viva la Verve recap and Viewfinder. A chance for us to spotlight a few fabulous creations gracing the challenge gallery. Here is my take on this week's sketch. I decided to go with a nautical theme for this sketch, as the anchor and wheel images from Strong Anchor and matching Nautical Die set for them were the perfect size for the circles. It also let me take the opportunity to turn this into a Father's Day card for my hubby by using this wonderful sentiment from the set. The Pennant Trim die provided the banners to complete the nautical theme, and a few brads and some twine became my "masculine embellishments" in lieu of ribbon. Here is Janelle's wonderful sketch for this week's challenge. Click here for our May Challenge Entry Form Now on to the cards in the gallery which caught my eye. First up is Narelle. Adore the black and turquoise colour combo, her flower/bow cluster and lovely touch of distressing. Next is this adorable card by Kathy. Just adore how she used these cute critters from To The Moon and added the hanging sentiment. Third, is this Father's Day card by Joanna. Her touch of embossing in the background, fabulous use of colours, and coral as the background for her two toned fish makes for a great card. If you haven't yet joined in this week's challenge, we hope you'll squeeze us in - thanks to the ladies who have shared their lovely creations already! Frequently Asked Questions... Are Verve stamps required? Nope. We do love to see them, though! ;) Where can I buy Verve Stamps? Verve Stamps are available online only through our website. Can I combine challenges? Yes. As long as your card meets the challenge criteria, feel free to do a two-for-one. Where do I link my card? There's an entry form tab at the top of the blog where the link list for the entire month resides. Or you can click the Viva la Verve Link Up badge on the side bar. Or you can click this Entry Form link right here. Can I still link up my card after Tuesday? Yep. You can link up your challenge cards in any order until the deadline at the end of the month. One link list to rule them all! :) What are the rules? You can read the full list of rules here. Basically follow the challenge, link back to us in your blog or gallery post and HAVE FUN!

It's recap time for the second Viva La Verve sketch of the month created by Maureen. If you know Maureen you know she loves using doilies on her cards, so I die cut one out to use on my card. Used the Rounded Scalloped Frame Die for my sentiment panel, choosing to have the frame in white and sentiment panel with the Happy Birthday Plain Jane in kraft. My beloved Flutterby butterfly die, Sprightly Sprigs die and some additional punched butterflies to keep my rule of three going. A touch of twine finished things off. If you need added inspiration for the sketch, head on over to the Viva La Verve gallery. In addition, you will see who I have spotlighted for this sketch. Have a fabulous Friday and weekend ahead and thanks for popping by :) What's In It? Stamps: Happy Birthday Plain Jane (Verve Stamps) Paper: Stella and Rose (My Mind's Eye), Kraft, Elegant Eggplant (Stampin' Up) Ink: Black Accessories: Scalloped Framed Rectangle, Flutterby, Sprightly Springs (A Cut Above by Verve), Doily Die (Top Dog Dies), Butterfly Punches (Martha Stewart), Twine, Button, Black Half Pearls, Glue Dots, Dimensionals

Hi there and Happy Friday! I had a little time yesterday so I sat down to make a card using today's Viva la Verve Sketch over in the Verve ...

I made this anniversary card for a couple at church using May Viva la Verve sketch. I love this sketch and will be using it again. I used pattern paper from a Recollections Garden Party pad and added thin black mats. The sentiment is from Verve's Love Story (no longer available) and the flowers are from Verve's Kindness Matters. I colored the flowers with Copics and fussy cut them. I made slits between the flower petals and shaped tham a little. I mounted them with foam tape. I them added some punched leaves with a SU punch. The heart border is cut with one of Verve's Scallop Trim Trio dies. As a final touch I added 3 pink rhinestones to the sentiment panel which is mounted with foam tape. Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a wonderful day. Happy Stamping, JoAnn

Hi friends! It's Monday again already and time for a new Mojo Monday sketch. After an entire week of sick kiddos at home, I'm definitely ready to have them spend a little time at school today. Not only have they been home, but with the wildfires around here, the smoke is so bad we haven't even been able to take them outside. Poor things (and Mama) are completely stir crazy! :) Anyhow, here's my Mojo Monday sample, frenetically made during "rest" time (which is actually more like a 3 ring circus) yesterday. It uses the Making a Statement set and coordinating Loopy Blooms Die Set. I went old school and used colored cardstock and stamped and sponged backgrounds for my layers. Thanks so much for stopping by today! Hope you have a fabulous start to your week. Mojo Monday 411 Sketch Enabler's List Stamps: Making a Statement (Verve Stamps) Paper: mint macaron, watermelon wonder, basic black (SU!), cream (Neenah) Ink: tip top taupe, watermelon wonder, mint macaron (SU!), black Accessories: Loopy Blooms Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), sponges, black enamel dots

Hi there and Happy Friday! I'm happy it's almost the weekend! We don't have many plans this weekend, just hanging out at the in-laws tomo...

Welcome to our April Viva la Verve Sketch challenge! Welcome to another month of Viva la Verve, friends!Are you ready to get your sketch on again? We're kicking off a new month long sketch challenge and we'd love for you to play along with us and link your challenge creations to our Entry Form link list for a chance to win! The link list will be up for the whole month and we'll choose a winner on May 3 to win a $40 gift voucher to Verve. Here is our April sketch Link up your creations here: Click here for our April Challenge Entry Form The dimensions listed are just for reference, feel free to make your card your own and work with whatever dimensions fit your images. We love to see your creative style! And feel free to substitute shapes so you can work with what you have. We're just a little excited about the new Lacey Frames die that's part of our April 10 release! Be sure to tune in over on the Verve Blog Saturday April 7 - Tuesday April 10 for our new release spotlight hops. For my card, I'm sneaking a peek at the soon to be released Hope Lifts set... Card by Julee Tilman using Hope Lifts and the Lifted Hope, Butterfly Dreams and Lacey Trim Duo dies And to sneak a little more inspiration your way, here are some fabulous creations by the Divas.... Card by Teresa Kline using the Hope Lifts and the Lifted Hope and Lacey Trim Duo dies Card by Maureen Plut using Hope Lifts, Sentimental Wishes and the Lacey Frames, Lacey Trim Duo and Lifted Hope dies Card by Betty Wright using Hope Lifts, Words of Wisdom and the Lacey Frames, Lacey Trim Duo and Lifted Hope dies Card by Marisa Ritzen using Risen Savior and the Lacey Frames die set Okay, now it's your turn to ink up and link up. We can't wait to see what you create! An InLinkz Link-up

Well that weekend zoomed by! The fun ones always do! I really enjoyed myself and spent some time in my craft room. I tidied and purged. Sure helped me to get my creative MOJO back. It was a bit "tired" lately but I can see now that the cleaning of my room has really helped!!! I thought the Viva la Verve Sketch was simply awesome and super HARD! That is why I just HAD to tackle it! Ha! I inked up two of my favourite stamp sets Floral Notes (LOVE the sentiment font in this one) and Great Friend (best blooms ever). The circles are from SugarPea Designs called Zig Zag Stitched Circles. I LOVE them! Thank you so much for stopping by my blog! I hope you have a great week!

It's time for the Verve Divas to bring you our monthly Diva Inspirations Challenge and Blog Hop! There are TWO $30 gift vouchers to the Verve store up for grabs this month and two ways to win! First, comment on the design team's blog hop posts (linked below) for an entry in the first giveaway. Then to be entered into our challenge prize drawing, go get inky and link up your take on the challenge. You have until July 5 to link up. Feel free to play along with the challenge as many times as you like. Verve stamps aren't required to play, but we do smile a little brighter when we see them! Summertime is on the way and a soft beachy vibe is our inspiration this month. Soft neutrals and bold pops of color are sure to bring a bit of summer flair to your projects. Take your inspiration from the graphic or follow the color pattern, just have fun stamping. We can't wait to see what you create! Click here to link up your challenge entries Challenge deadline: Tuesday, July 5. Prize: $30 gift voucher to the Verve online store! If you have come here from our newest Lesley's blog you are right on track. If not, you can go to the Verve blog for the hop list to get caught up. What a fun colour combination!! I love orange and turquoise together, but in this case, I have a bit more grey than turquoise because that is the way my paper patterns worked! I used this week's Viva La Verve sketch for my card, and since I am desperately low on birthday cards, I pulled out one of my favorite birthday stamps, the Happy Birthday Plain Jane. Used the Stitched Pennant Die Set for the turquoise banner, and the smallest leaf die from the Beautiful Flowers Die Set to help create a bit more sustenance to the butterfly and upper half of the card. Need a little inspiration? Check out the blogs linked below to see what the other Divas did with the challenge! It's sure to be a treat, and speaking of treats, we're giving away a $30 gift voucher to Verve to one random commenter along the hop. Just leave a little love as you hop about for a chance to win! 1. Julee 7. Marisa 2. Betty 8. Maureen 3. Charmaine 9. Stacey 4. Christyne 10. Susan 5. Laurie 11. Teresa 6. Lesley Time to head on over to Maureen's blog to see her take on the inspiration photo :) What's In It? Stamps: Happy Birthday Plain Jane (Verve Stamps) Paper: On The Bright Side (My Mind's Eye), Recollections (Michael's) Ink: Black Accessories: Beautiful Flowers and Stitched Pennant Die Sets (A Cut Above by Verve), Lacy Square and Square Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Butterfly and Daisy Border Punches (Martha Stewart), Twine, Black Half Pearls, Dimensionals

Have you seen the great sketch at Viva la Verve? Oh it's a fun one...simple yet elegant! I decided to ink up my newest Verve set called the Autumn Leaves stamp set and the Falling Leaves die set. I stamped the leave in Burgundy, Yellow and Green and then stamped their veins in a dark gray overtop...I purposely did not line up the leaves with their veins as I wanted to give the card a more "freestyle" whimsical feel. You should come and join the fun at Viva la Verve! There is a great prize up for grabs! The link list will be up for the whole month and we'll choose a winner on November 2 to win a $40 gift voucher to Verve.

Hi friends! It's the first Friday in November and that means it's time for a brand new Viva la Verve sketch. This month's sketch has lots of straight lines for those of you who like them, and it's easy to dress up or down depending on your style. I went a little shabby for my sample card, so more is more! I get lot of requests for sketch measurements, and I've kind of shied away from doing it for a couple of reasons. 1. I don't like to measure things. Unless I'm making a treat box where measurements are imperative, I just wing it. 2. I don't want anyone to feel they have to make their card the same way I did. The sketches are open to interpretation so that you can make the sketch fit the images and stamps you want to use, not the other way around. However, I'm trying out adding the measurements to the sketch image this month. Let me know if you like to have them. If not, there's no reason for me to have to measure each month. {grin} My card started with this stamped panel that was in my leftovers bin from a previous stamping session. The Psalm 34:18 verse and the flower from Scripture Medley 5 were embossed in early espresso ink with clear embossing powder. I decided to go for an autumn feel to the card, so colored the flower with copics and then sponged the edges with distress ink. Next I started on the background. I stenciled a leaf stencil (quite messily, if I do say so myself) with modeling paste. I got a new craft mat a while ago which I absolutely love, but unfortunately washi tape won't stay stuck to it, so my stencil slipped a bunch. I sprayed with some Lindy's sprays, then sponged with distress oxide inks until I had a nice warm background. A piece of vintage lace is wrapped around this layer as my horizontal panel, then I just layered some scraps of Amber Moon paper behind the sentiment and added a bunch of upholstery thread. The finishing touch was a metal embellishment in the corner. Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you have a splendidly creative November. We'd love to have you play along with the sketch this month. Verve stamps aren't required, but there is a monthly prize up for grabs! Play as long as often as you like. I love to see what you create! Enabler's List Stamps: Scripture Medley 5 (Verve Stamps) Paper: amber moon (Prima Marketing), cream (Neenah) Ink: antique photo, vintage photo, walnut stain, wild honey, fossilized amber distress and oxide inks (Ranger), spray ink (Lindy's Stamp Gang), early espresso (SU!) Accessories: leaf stencil (Carta Bella), upholstery thread, embossing powder, metal embellishment (The Funkie Junkie Boutique), modeling paste (Prima Marketing), vintage lace trim, paper distresser Other Links November 2017 Viva la Verve Sketch Best Ever Craft Mat by Ken Oliver (Amazon)

Hello, Verve fans, Marisa here, recapping Julee's sketch. But before we get to that, please take a moment to think about and thank those who have served our countries, many at the cost of their lives, to grant us our freedom. To those of you who have served, thank you!! It's a brand new month and we'll have 2 November challenges... play along with us and link your challenge creations to our Entry Form link list for a chance to win. The link list will be up for the whole month and we'll choose TWO random winners at the end of the month to win a $40 gift voucher to Verve. We'll also be highlighting a couple of our favorite link-ups next Friday, so be sure to come back and link up! With three newly released Christmas sets, it was an easy decision what to use for the sketch. I decided on Jolly Jingles and the Winter Friends die set. "Hung my stockings" off some gold cording, added some gold half pearls to the stockings to give them a bit of sparkle, and looped my ribbon and added a button for some interest. Finished things off by using a double sentiment. Here is the first November sketch Link up your creations here: Click here for our November Challenge Entry Form Below are the gallery entries that caught my eye. Christine created this very timely card using Poppy Birthday and American Hero. Charlotte created a lovely thank you card. Lori's fabulous Fall card using Bountiful Harvest. Come back next Friday for our second sketch of the month.

Welcome back to Viva La Verve sketches! After a December hiatus, we are back in action with a few tweaks for 2016. This week I am recapping Charmaine's sketch. I used some scraps from MME's Love Me collection (always a bonus to use scraps!) and as per Charmaine's card, I accented with hearts using the Heart Quartet die. The sentiment is from Stronger Love. This year, we are switching things up a bit...there will be only two sketches per month, and each month there will be a draw for two winners to receive a $40 gift certificate to the Verve Store - that doubles your chances of winning! The new schedule will be as follows: 1st Friday: Sketch 1 2nd Friday: Recap of Sketch 1 3rd Friday: Sketch 2 posted 4th Friday: Recap of Sketch 2 5th Friday: Winners posted If a month only has four Fridays, winners will be posted on the 1st Friday of the following month. Other than that all the same RULES apply. Feel free to link up as often as you like. Verve Stamps are not required, but we do LOVE to see them! :) If you want to see who I showcased in my recap post, or if you simply want to enjoy some card candy or added inspiration, head on over to the Viva La Verve blog - the gallery is full of it! Have a fabulous day! What's In It? Stamps: Stronger Love (Verve Stamps) Paper: Love Me (My Mind's Eye), Going Grey, Rose Romance (Stampin' Up) Ink: Black Accessories: Heart Quartet (A Cut Above by Verve Stamps), Stitched Rectangle Dies (Lil' Inker), Circle Nestabilties (Spellbinders), Bling, Twine, Dimensionals

Hi friends! Are you ready for another Mojo sketch? As always, you're free to play along with any papercrafting products your heart desires and enter as many creations as you like. Use the sketch as inspiration for your creation, then come link it up below so I can come take a look! The linky for this challenge will close on September 20, 2020. I have included dimensions on the graphic later in this post, but feel free to change them up to suit your needs. For today's card, I pulled out some goodies I won back in the Spring/Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop, but hadn't had a chance to play with. I fell in love with these flowers and of course the coffee cups! Such fun images. I stamped them both with copic safe ink and then colored with Copic markers and cut with the coordinating dies. The papers I used for my layout are from a discontinued 49 and Market Paper collection. This one was called Sweet Reflections. I trimmed my paper pieces to size, then inked lightly with weathered wood distress oxide to give a little depth. The verse is from the Great Faith set that the flowers are from and I embossed it in copper on a vellum die cut circle. I substituted the coffee mug/flower ensemble for the bottom circle, then finished off with a seam binding bow up top. Alrighty, now it's your turn! I hope you enjoy creating with this sketch! Thanks so much for stopping by! Join me for Mojo Monday! Click here to enter Compensated affiliate links are used where possible. When you place an order after clicking one of my links, I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks so much for using my links and supporting this blog. 💙

Welcome to our April Viva la Verve Sketch challenge! Welcome to another month of Viva la Verve, friends!Are you ready to get your sketch on again? We're kicking off a new month long sketch challenge and we'd love for you to play along with us and link your challenge creations to our Entry Form link list for a chance to win! The link list will be up for the whole month and we'll choose a winner on May 3 to win a $40 gift voucher to Verve. Here is our April sketch Link up your creations here: Click here for our April Challenge Entry Form The dimensions listed are just for reference, feel free to make your card your own and work with whatever dimensions fit your images. We love to see your creative style! And feel free to substitute shapes so you can work with what you have. We're just a little excited about the new Lacey Frames die that's part of our April 10 release! Be sure to tune in over on the Verve Blog Saturday April 7 - Tuesday April 10 for our new release spotlight hops. For my card, I'm sneaking a peek at the soon to be released Hope Lifts set... Card by Julee Tilman using Hope Lifts and the Lifted Hope, Butterfly Dreams and Lacey Trim Duo dies And to sneak a little more inspiration your way, here are some fabulous creations by the Divas.... Card by Teresa Kline using the Hope Lifts and the Lifted Hope and Lacey Trim Duo dies Card by Maureen Plut using Hope Lifts, Sentimental Wishes and the Lacey Frames, Lacey Trim Duo and Lifted Hope dies Card by Betty Wright using Hope Lifts, Words of Wisdom and the Lacey Frames, Lacey Trim Duo and Lifted Hope dies Card by Marisa Ritzen using Risen Savior and the Lacey Frames die set Okay, now it's your turn to ink up and link up. We can't wait to see what you create! An InLinkz Link-up

Another fabulous sketch by Julee this week, and I get to recap it :) While digging through my paper stash I tripped across this Basic Grey paper I got a few years back and decided to use it (amazing what you find when you sort through things!). Paired it with one of my favorite sets, Kind Words. Adore this sentiment from the set and the flower is always a great one to shadow stamp in the background. A touch of seam binding from Verve's Signature Collection and a touch of sponging around the edges to soften things up a bit called it a card. You can check out who I have spotlighted this week as well as get additional inspiration for the sketch over on the Viva La Verve blog. Thanks for popping in and have a fabulous day! What's In It? Stamps: Kind Words (Verve Stamps) Paper: Capella (Basic Grey), So Saffron, Kraft (Stampin' Up) Ink: Black, Antique Linen Distress Ink (Tim Holtz) Accessories: Lacy Squares Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Signature Series Seam Binding (Verve Stamps), Button, Twine, Sequins, Glue Dots, Dimensionals

Welcome to our first Viva la Verve sketch of November! Are you ready to get sketchy again? It's a brand new month and we'll have 2 November challenges... play along with us and link your challenge creations to our Entry Form link list for a chance to win. The link list will be up for the whole month and we'll choose TWO random winners at the end of the month to win a $40 gift voucher to Verve. We'll also be highlighting a couple of our favorite link-ups next Friday, so be sure to come back and link up! Here is the first November sketch Link up your creations here: Click here for our November Challenge Entry Form I went with a clean and simple sketch since it's the beginning of such a busy time of the year. This one worked great with the new stamps that just released today, so I made two samples. For those who like measurements, my designer paper strips are 1.75" x 5.25" and 2.25" x 5.25" and I used a 0.25" strip, hand snipped with scissors to make the pennant. My square panel is a die that measures just over 2.5" square. by Julee Tilman featuring the Beyond Measure stamp set and coordinating Christmas Spirit Die Set by Julee Tilman featuring the Beyond Measure stamp set And here's an adorable creation from Christyne... by Christyne Kane featuring Jolly Jingles, Winter Friends Die Set and the Rounded Scallop Frame Die Okay, now it's your turn! We can't wait to see what you create! An InLinkz Link-up

Welcome back to our second Viva la Verve sketch of May! We'll have 2 May challenges... play along with us and link your challenge creations to our Entry Form link list. The link list will be up for the whole month and we'll choose TWO random winners at the end of the month to win a $40 gift voucher to Verve. We'll also be highlighting a couple of our favorite link-ups next Friday, so be sure to come back and link up! Here is the second May Sketch Link up your creations here: Click here for our May Challenge Entry Form Here's some inspiration from me, Marisa, Christyne, and Lesley, our newest Diva! by Maureen featuring the brand new Beautiful Things, Beautiful Flowers Die Set, and Stitched Pennants Die Set. by Lesley featuring Peace on Earth by Marisa featuring the brand new Beautiful Things, Beautiful Flowers Die Set, and Stitched Pennants Die Set by Christyne featuring the brand new Love Everlasting and Everlasting Heart Die Set \We can't wait to see what you create! But first, make sure you check out the NEW Verve release! Yes, brand new Verve is in da house store!

It's Marisa here with Viva La Verve's March Week 1 sketch recap and Viewfinder. Julee posted a fabulous sketch on Friday for our crafty enjoyment. We'll have 4 March challenges... play along with us and link each of your challenge creations to our Entry Form link list. The link list will be up for the whole month and we'll choose a random winner at the end of the month to win a $100 gift voucher to Verve. Challenge rules can be found on the Rules tab at the top of the blog or by clicking here. You don't have to complete all of the sketches to win, but the more cards you enter, the greater your odds of winning. Verve stamps are not required to play, but we do love to see 'em! We'll also be highlighting a couple of our favorite link-ups each Tuesday, so be sure to get your links in if you're crafting over the weekend. Here is the Week 1 sketch.... Click here for our March Challenge Entry Form And here is the card that I created using this week's sketch. I just had to use the newly released Chocolate set again as it is just too much fun. I have many chocolate lovers in my life and I can't wait to give this card to my daughter :) I created a background on the artichoke panel by stamping the word chocolate in VersaMark - though it is hard to see in the picture - and used early espresso for the Chocolate Word Die - dark chocolate lovers unite! A heart to reinforce the sentiment and I was good to go. Here are a few fabulous creations that I noticed in the gallery this week! First up is Rosemary's card using Small Packages. A great neutral pallet with a subtle pop of colour. Next is Lori's card using Better Together (such a fabulous set for masculine cards) and a great mix of papers. My third selection was Lisa Lynn's cute panda bear card. Love how she used the branch as the horizontal element on the sketch. Beautiful cards, ladies! Thank you for joining us for this week's sketch challenge. Frequently Asked Questions... Are Verve stamps required? Nope. We do love to see them, though! ;) Where can I buy Verve Stamps? Verve Stamps are available online only through our website. Can I combine challenges? Yes. As long as your card meets the challenge criteria, feel free to do a two-for-one. Where do I link my card? There's an entry form tab at the top of the blog where the link list for the entire month resides. Or you can click the Viva la Verve Link Up badge on the side bar. Or you can click this Entry Form link right here. Can I still link up my card after Tuesday? Yep. You can link up your challenge cards in any order until the deadline at the end of the month. One link list to rule them all! :) What are the rules? You can read the full list of rules here. Basically follow the challenge, link back to us in your blog or gallery post and HAVE FUN!

good morning friends, it is time for this weeks mojo monday sketch and I am sharing a little sneak peek....shhhhh, of a new verve stamp and die set that is releasing this tuesday, may 9. I simply adore this cute set and I know you will too. I have made a fun little watercolor splash background and then stamped the sentiment using my misti to get a super black coverage. The butterfly is stamped and then I covered her with stickles for a little shimmer. Some twine, and clear droplets complete my card. Be sure to stop by the rest of the teams blogs to see what they have created with this weeks sketch! Julee Tilman Justin Krieger Lori Tecler Marisa Ritzen Sarah Bigelow Teresa Kline:ME Wanda Cullen words with meaning - you will never have this day again, so make it count! mojo monday: sketch/mojo496

Viva la Verve November Week 1 Recap and Viewfinder Viva la Verve - November Week 1 Sketch! Hello Verve fans, Marisa here recapping Julee's fabulous Week 1 sketch and shining a spotlight on a few creations that caught my eye in the gallery this week. We'll have 4 November challenges... play along with us and link each of your challenge creations to our Entry Form link list. The link list will be up for the whole month and we'll choose a random winner at the end of the month to win a $100 gift voucher to Verve. Challenge rules can be found on the Rules tab at the top of the blog or by clicking here. You don't have to complete all of the sketches to win, but the more cards you enter, the greater your odds of winning. Verve stamps are not required to play, but we do love to see 'em! We'll also be highlighting a couple of our favorite link-ups each Tuesday, so be sure to get your links in if you're crafting over the weekend. Here is the Week 1 sketch.... Click here for our October Challenge Entry Form Here's my sample card... I'm doing a little double dipping today as I am also using this card for this month's Diva Inspiration Hop. Getting crazy busy here so I'm piggy backing/multi-tasking as much as I can. Love mixing brown and blue together (remember when that was a huge faux pas - yes, I am dating myself LOL!). I gleefully used my favorite Christmas tree die from the Winter Fun die set, along with the reindeer image from Unto Us and the sentiment from Pinecone Christmas. Lightly sponged the edges to give it a more rustic look and added some pops of red with the bell and sequins from the Holiday Sequin Mix to give it a bit of colour. Final touch, a few boughs by the bell. Here are a few beautiful cards I spied in the link-up this week... Ellen created this lovely Christmas card with tons of texture. Love the twine ribbon, her sprakly ornament and the touch of greenery at the top of it. Vickie used the newly released Just Breathe and love the hints of black she added with the background stamp from Better Together. Sandi created a fabulous Christmas chalkboard on her card! Be sure to come back on Friday for our second November sketch!

I seem to have had pastel colors out a lot lately - and I am really not a pastel person. I just had to get a fix of rich, autumn colors. S...

I have been playing along with MOJO Monday the past two weeks and here are my cards! My first card uses the pretty Verve set called Lean on Me. Love colouring the flowers in this set and the sentiments stamp so well. Then I made a card using this week's sketch! I used the set called Bloom & Grow. It's another favourite set of mine. I just love the flowers and the fun stamping you can do with this set. I used score lines to create the diagonal piece in the background.

The Art of Scrapbooking

The third Viva la Verve sketch for March is posted! This week's hostess is Maureen, and since she's a St. Patrick's Day baby, she has a sham-rockin' sketch to inspire you this week. As always, if you don't have a particular shape, feel free to substitute. Play along with each of the four March sketches (new sketch posted each Friday in our forum) to be entered into our monthly drawing for a $100 gift certificate to Verve! All the details can be found on the weekly challenge thread. Link to VLVMAR2012 Week 3 Challenge Thread And to get you inspired here are a few Diva takes on this week's sketch.. Click the photos above to view these cards in their natural habitat. {grin} Until next time... happy stamping!

Welcome back to July's Viva la Verve sketches! Marisa here with this week's recap and Viewfinder for July's Viva La Verve Week 4 sketch by Maureen. We'll have 5 July challenges... play along with u

A quick post here before the link closes! It's for the Mojo Monday challenge. I love this sketch.....I've played along with this one before and it's one of my favorites! And who can pass up a contest? Go check out the many many beautiful cards! I recently purchased this wonderful set from Verve........Dream Big. I love the sentiments in this set.....live, love, laugh....is one of my favorite quotes. ****I'm sending this over to the Card Creations: Favorite Occasions Week Thank You Challenge in the Moxie Fab World Come along and play! There is still time!****  Thanks for stopping by tonight! {Thank You} Stamps: Dream Big (Verve) Paper: Fine Linen, Dark Chocolate, Ocean Tides, Rustic White (all PTI) Ink: Tea Dye Duo, Haystack Palette, Dark Chocolate (all PTI), Ocean Tides color (Versamagic) Misc: Fine Linen Buttons (PTI), Button Twine (PTI), Polka Dot Basics IP, Brown Satin Ribbon and Brown Pearls (M's)

Hi Verve fans, Marisa here with this week's Recap and Viewfinder for Charmaine's Week 3 sketch. We'll have 4 June challenges... play along with us and link each of your challenge creations to our Ent

This weeks Viva La Verve Sketch is brought to us by Sarah and it also has an inspiration photo. You can use just the sketch, just the photo or both, so lots of flexibility. This time round I just focused on the sketch. In reality I got going on my card and totally forgot about the inspiration picture - yah....was that kind of day...brain just didn't function at full speed LOL! Regardless, I am happy with the outcome. Thought of a masculine card right away and the Say Cheese Simple Stories papers were perfect and I couldn't resist using the chicken wire embossing folder again - love that thing! The sentiment is the Birthday To You Plain Jane and I used a teeny bit of the star Scalloped Trim Trio die at the top to balance things off. This will no doubt end up being my son, hubby or brother's birthday card. You don't have to complete all the sketches to entered to win the $100 Verve Stamps gift certificate, but the more sketches you enter the more chances you have of winning. In addition, Verve has a sale going on right now - you can check out all the details here. Enjoy the sketch and have a fabulous weekend. What's In It? Stamps: Birthday To You Plain Jane (Verve Stamps) Paper: Say Cheese (Simple Stories), Kraft, Bashful Blue (Stampin' Up) Ink: Black Accessories: Starry Die, Scalloped Trim Trio Set (A Cut Above by Verve), Stitched Circles (Lil' Inker Designs), Chicken Wire Embossing Folder (Cuttblebug), Buttons, Twine, Glue Dots, Dimensionals

Hello there! It's a new week, and I hope yours has started off well. I had a nice surprise this morning, when I learned that my Friendship card was chosen as one of the Terrific Top 3 in the CR84FN36 color challenge! It will be so exciting to have the TT3 badge in my sidebar! All the cards in that challenge were beautiful--you should go check them out. While you're at it, you might want to head over to the CR84FN37 challenge. The blues for this one are so pretty. I love color challenges. I get to use color combinations that I might not otherwise try. Okay, now on to my card for today. It's for the Viva la Verve August sketch challenge-Week 3 (I turned it 90 degrees counterclockwise) and also for the Crazy 4 Challenges theme #102--a "male card." What a great sketch this was to work with! Look at all the different layers. I am crazy about layers! (Some say I'm plain crazy, but that's just not true, I tell ya) *~D For this card, I used yet more digital paper. This time I used Dinner Party, from the Shabby Princess website--FREE! I love FREE! First, I glued some red hemp cord around the perimeter of the large circle die cut with Glossy Accents (it dries a lot faster than white glue). Then I put all the rectangular layers on with foam dots. When I was finished with that, it still needed something, so I tried putting a bead of white Liquid Pearls around the hemp, but that was a near disaster! You need a steady hand for that kind of thing, and I don't possess one of those. :) To try to remedy that, I used more Liquid Pearls, in yellow, and put dots around the circle. Much better. I've still got a long way to go with learning how to use Liquid Pearls, but I am liking it more and more. Since I wanted this to be a masculine card for the Crazy 4 Challenges male theme, I decided to use the manly "carpe diem" sentiment from Verve's new Words of Wisdom set. I did have a little chuckle when I looked up the phrase to make sure I knew what it meant. According to Merriam-Webster, the Latin origin literally means "pluck the day." I'm good about ignoring things I don't care for, so I'm going with the translation of "seize the day" instead. (I know it doesn't really matter what I think it means, just what the recipient thinks, but I'm funny about knowing stuff like that). Anyway, I think if I told a man, "pluck the day," he might be insulted (or think I'm a nutcase), and I wouldn't want either of those things to happen. For my embellie, I just used 3 black rhinestones. On the inside, I used the same papers as on the front of the card, except the black and white paper has the colors reversed. All in all, I think it's a fairly manly card. I'll have to get my husband's opinion on that later. I just won't tell him about that "pluck the day" thing. *~D Hope you have a great day today! Thanks for visiting!!! Stamps: Words of Wisdom (Verve) Paper: Dinner Party-digital (Shabby Princess); The Paper Studio Ink: Staz-on; Tim Holtz Distress Ink Accessories: Standard Circles Lg die (Spellbinders); Hemp Jewelry Cord (Hobby Lobby); rhinestones; Liquid Pearls Size: 4.25" x 4.25" Thanks for visiting my blog! To have Ink Up delivered to your inbox, subscribe in the box at the top right of the page.

Hi everyone! I wanted to share this card I made during my Stamping Away weekend! My did we have fun! I'll come back soon and edit this post but want to get my card linked up before the link expires. Here is this week's Mojo Monday sketch: EDIT: I recently purchased this Verve stamp set......I couldn't hold out any longer. Isn't that how it is though? You see it used constantly and then you need it! Now I don't know what took me so long......these flowers are gorgeous for paper piecing and that is one of my favorite techniques! I am so excited to show you all more of what I created this weekend as well as some photos but I'll leave that for another post. Thanks for stopping by! ****I also want to thank everyone for visiting my blog lately......what great blog friends!! I truly appreciate the time you spend to come visit and leave comments. I have been so busy and I am ashamed to say that I may for the first time, have to hit the "mark all as read" button in my GR. :( {Just Because} Stamps: Great Friend (Verve) Paper: Rustic White and Dark Chocolate (PTI), Stella and Rose Hazel (MME) Ink: True Black, Dark Chocolate, and Tea Dye (PTI) Misc: Berry Sorbet Ribbon (PTI), Double Ended Banner Die (PTI), Pearls (KaiserCraft), Dizzy Border Dienamics (MFT)