Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge - Clearly Christmas Reminder

We are half way through the current Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge.  I am still giddy over this fabulous inspiration picture and colour combination!  Hmmm, hmmm good :)

Kept things CAS as I wanted this fabulous, big, bold "Christmas" sentiment to do all the talking.  Think it worked LOL!

A scatter of clear sequins for some sparkle and a bit of silver cording and a bow for a little something, something.

Love for you to come and play along with us!

What's In It?
Stamps:   The Big, The Bold and the Merry (Winnie&Walter)    
Ink:  Green Galore, Tempting Turquoise (Stampin' Up)
Accessories:  Stitched Rectangles (Lil' Inkers), Silver Cording (Michael's), Sequins (Verve), Button, Glue Dots, Dimensionals  Twine, Button, Purple Half Pearl, Glue Dot, Dimensionals

Verve Holiday Release Retrospective Hop

Welcome to Verve's Holiday Release Retrospective Blog Hop! The Verve Divas and special guests are hopping today and serving up some more inspiration using our Holiday Release stamps & dies! Besides a look-see at some really lovely cards, there's also a comment prize up for grabs!

If you have come here from Chaitali's blog you are right on track.  If you just happened up on the hop, you can check the hop list below and get caught up.

I love Weary World.  So many fabulous snippets from wonderful Christmas carols that have me humming away all day long every time I use this set!

Couldn't resist using these 'Tis The Season papers from Echo Park - such a fun mix of colours!  The sentiment is over-stamped with this beautiful cross image from Richly Blessed, because you can't celebrate the birth of Christ without reflecting on His death on the cross.  It's a package deal which continues to have me standing in awe of the depth of His love as well as the depth of His amazing grace. 

1. Julee	7. Charmaine
2. Laurie	8. Teresa
3. Chaitali	9. Andrea
4. Marisa	10. Christyne
5. Amber	11. Maureen
6. Diana	12. Nancy

 
Want to win some shiny new Verve? We'll be picking a random commenter on one of the hop spots below to win a $50 gift voucher to Verve! So be sure to leave a little comment on all the blogs below to increase your chances! Check out the Verve Blog today for all the details.

Time to head on over to Amber's blog to see her wonderful creation!

What's In It?
Stamps:  Weary World, Richly Blessed (Verve Stamps)    
Paper:  'Tis The Season (Echo Park) 
Ink:  Black, Going Grey (Stampin' Up)
Accessories:  Poinsettia Die (Spellbinders), Black Seam Binding, Button, Silver Twine, Black Half Pearls, Glue Dots, Dimensionals

Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge - Clearly Christmas

photo source: bhg.com

We have a new sponsor, Winnie&Walter, for the Curtain Call Inspiration: Clearly Christmas!  A randomly selected participant in the Clearly Christmas challenge will receive a $30 Winnie&Walter  shopping code, while the LEAD will be invited as a Guest Designer in a future challenge!

I just love this colour combination - perfect for a non-traditional Christmas card.  I added a vellum snowflake in the background to pick up the glass, and some sparkly sequins and silver cording for a splash of sparkle.  The sentiment is from Winnie&Walter's The Big, The Bold and the Merry set.  Adore the selection of large sentiments you can use as stand alones, or in combinations with the slew of smaller words to create a longer sentiment.

Below is the hop list of our wonderful design team as well as our Guest Designer, Amy!

Clearly Christmas Designers

Guest Designer: Amy White
Amy Kolling
Amy Sheffer
Amy Tsuruta
Gayatri Murali
Kim Singdahlsen
Laurie Willison
Lisa Henke
Marisa Ritzen
Maureen Plut
Monika Davis
Sarah Gough
Sheri Gilson
Stacey Schafer
Tenia Nelson
Tracey McNeely

Thanks for the visit and I look forward to seeing your creations.

Challenges:  Simon Says

What's In It?
Stamps:   The Big, The Bold, and the Merry (Winnie and Walter)
Paper:  Garden Green, Tempting Turquoise, Going Grey, Vellum (Stampin' Up)  
Ink:   Black
Accessories:   Snowflake Die (PTI), Snowflake Die (Cuttlebug), Swiss Dots Embossing Folder (Provo Craft), Button and Silver Cording (Michael's), Sequins (Verve), Glue Dots

Mojo Monday #374

It's contest week over at the Mojo Monday blog and today we have this fabulous sketch by Julee to work with.

Since I still had a scrap of my hoarded, glittery, snowflake paper out on my desk, I decided to use it.  Paired it with two other snowflake papers and this fabulous sentiment.  Two silver snowflakes, some silver twine and two silver bells added a bit of extra sparkle to go.

All the challenge details are over on the Mojo Monday blog and you can also view all the wonderful Mojo Makers samples.  Should you wish more details on the Mojo Maker's cards, you can also visit their individual blogs noted below.

  Debbie Carriere

Julee Tilman (Owner)

Marisa Ritzen (you are here)

Mary Fish

Sarah Biglow

Teresa Kline

Wanda Cullen

We were surprised by a bit of snow this weekend. Nothing much but it is lovely to have a bit of white on the ground :) Temps are below freezing so it will stick around for a day or so - at least where the sun doesn't shine on it.  Soccer got cancelled and the weather had me in the mood to decorate the house for Christmas and decorate we did :)   Love how festive the house looks and always enjoy turning on the tree at night with the lights off and just drink in the beauty of the lights.  For extra fun, I take of my glasses and the lights look like big dandelions on the tree LOL!

Thank for popping by, and wishing you a fabulous day :)

Challenges: Simon Says

What's In It?
Stamps:  Christmas In The Air (Verve Stamps)
Paper:  Snowfall Blizzard (Bo Bunny), Tis the Season (Echo Park), Winter Frost (We R Memory Keepers), Going Grey, Silver (Stampin' Up)
Ink:  Black
Accessories:   Snowflake Punch and Arched Border Punch (Martha Stewart), Snowflake Punch (Marvy), Silver Cording, Silver Bells, Bling, Glue Dots (Michael's), Dimensionals

Viva La Verve November 2014 Week 4 Sketch

It's time for another Viva La Verve sketch and I get to be your hostess this week!

Continuing on my Christmas card run, I had great fun making this card.  Loved the colour combination of the patterned paper, and just had to use this fabulous tree die from the Winter Fun Set as it is one of my favorites.  The star die from the Scalloped Trim Trio set added a nice trim across the top and a few sequins from the newly released Holiday Sequin Mix along with some gold twine and bells added some sparkle.  I did move things around a bit to make the card work - a little artistic license was a must LOL.

Remember, the more VLV sketches you complete each month, the greater your chance of winning the $100 Verve gift certificate!  A great way to do some Christmas shopping for yourself wink, wink!  You can check out all the challenge details over on the Viva La Verve blog.

Hope you enjoy the sketch!

What's In It?
Paper:  Cozy Christmas (Simple Stories), Baroque Burgundy, Creamy Caramel, Kraft, Real Red, Early Espresso, Always Artichoke (Stampin' Up)  
Ink:  VersaMark
Accessories:   Winter Fun Set and Scalloped Trim Trio Set (A Cut Above by Verve), Holiday Sequin Mix (Verve Stamps), Wet Pain Christmas Dies (PTI), Chicken Wire Embossing Folder (Cuttlebug), Scalloped Circle and Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Crimper (Fiskars), Gold Cording and Gold Bells (Michael's), Glue Dots, Dimensionals

Banner Birthday

Ever get so excited about making a card for a challenge and when you are done you realize you goofed and didn't fulfill the challenge requirements!  Well, such was the case with this card.  I got so excited about using this fabulous MME paper pad again that I totally forgot about the inspiration picture and was nowhere near the proper colour combination LOL!  Upside:  I have an extra card to post :)

A quick and easy card with banners which is a great way to use up some scraps - that is unless you "should be" using a "certain" colour scheme pffffft! 

Have a fabulous day!

What's In It?
Stamps:  Sentiment Sampler (Paper Smooches)   
Paper:  In Bloom (My Mind's Eye)
Ink:  Black
Accessories:  Stitched Rectangles (Lil' Inkers), 5/8" Grey Satin Ribbon, Button, Twine, Glue Dot, Dimensionals. Dimensioanls

Mojo Monday #373

It's Tall and Skinny week over on the Mojo Monday blog.  I just love making this size of card - it changes up the layout size and it's amazing how lopping off 1/2" can make such a dramatic difference in the card's appearance.  That being said, my brain was going a hundred miles an hour the day I made this card, thinking about all I had to get done etc., when thankfully it idled just long enough to make me realize I had cut my card base a regular A2 size.  A quick 1/2" trim down the right side and I was back on track - phew!

I am hoarding this Bo Bunny snowflake paper as I just love it.  Got it a few years ago at my LSS and it only comes out to play on special occasions LOL!  Perfect for a Mojo card as it has Verve's signature colours of brown and aqua :)   The sentiment is from the newly released Weary World, my favorite set from this last release as it is full of quotes from some of my favorite Christmas carols.  Have caught myself humming more than once while working with this set.

All the challenge details are over on the Mojo Monday blog and you can also view all the wonderful Mojo Makers samples.  Should you wish more details on the Mojo Maker's cards, you can also visit their individual blogs noted below.

Carole Burrage

Debbie Carriere

Julee Tilman (Owner)

Marisa Ritzen (you are here)

Mary Fish

Sarah Biglow

Teresa Kline

Wanda Cullen

Wishing you a fabulous week ahead, and look forward to seeing your creations.

Challenge:  The Pink Elephant

What's In It?
Stamps:  Weary World (Verve Stamps), French Script (Stampin' Up)
Paper:  Snowfall Blizzard (Bo Bunny), Early Espresso, Cool Caribbean, Creamy Caramel (Stampin' Up), Cream Linen
Ink:  Black, VersaMark
Accessories:   Snowflake Die (My Favorite Things), Crimper (Fiskars), Silver Cording, Bling, Silver Bells (Michael's), Dimensioanls

25 Days of Christmas Tags

Today  I'm playing along with Tracey McNeely's 25 Days of Christmas Tags.

I simply love making tags!  They are quick and easy, and you can keep them CAS or dress them up as much as you like.  They really do dress up a gift, especially if you wrap your gifts in butcher paper or white paper because that lets the tag do the talking :)   I know some families who keep recycling gift tags year after year and people wait to see which one they will get, or there is a certain tag that gets you a special something if it is one your gift.  Needless to say, you can have loads of fun with them!

The flip side is it can be excruciatingly painful to see your tag end up in the recycle bin with all the Christmas paper.  Think that is why I only  make them for hostess gifts now!  The anal crafter in me wants to shake some people and say "Did you not notice it was hand made, with lots of fun details and papers as an extra special something on your gift?!"  As you can guess, it took just one Christmas of making tags for gifts and I was cured LOL!  However, fear not, these will be put to good use on gifts for co-workers, teachers, coaches etc. as I don't have to witness what they do with them!  Okay, enough about my anal retentive side!  Time to move on to my tags.  I couldn't just stop at just one so I made two!

 

This tag uses two of my favorite things about Christmas:  Snowflakes and "JOY"!  Went for big, bold and in your face so you don't miss it LOL!  Love it!  Five dies and some dimensionals made for a quick and easy tag.  Thinking this would be great on a card too so may have to go round two with it.

For my second tag, I used the current Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge for this tag and pulled the colours from one of the pin cushions.  This adorable Christmas tree die from  Lil' Inkers was calling my name and I couldn't resist making it a gingham as per the pin cushion pattern.

By the way, there are some pretty amazing prizes to be had over on Tracey's blog.  Sponsors include:

  

 

   

Plus you have an opportunity to win by simply leaving a comment on my post!  You can check out all the contest details HERE.

Thanks for popping by today!

What's In It?
TAG 1

Paper:  The Sweetest Thing (MME), Kraft, So Saffron, Early Espresso (Stampin' Up)
Ink:  VersaMark 
Accessories:  Tag Die (MFT), Tree Die (Lil' Inkers), Christmas Word (PTI), Crimper (Fiskars), 5/8" Saffron Satin Ribbon and 1/4" Red Satin Ribbon (Michael's) Dimensionals

  
TAG 2
Paper:  Real Red (Stampin' Up)
Accessories: Tag Die (MFT), Snowflake Die (PTI), Joy Die (WPlus9), Silver Half Pearl, Silver Twine, Dimensionals

Verve Stamps Holiday Release ~ Day 4

It's release day at Verve and we're celebrating with Day 4 of our November 2014 Spotlight Hops!  Have you enjoyed the spotlights we've been sharing this week? Well, the wait is over and everything previewed this week is available in the Verve online store now! And to cap off this release, we're giving away the entire release to one lucky commenter along today's hop, so come along with us as we share one last look-see at our holiday spotlights!

If you have come here from Laurie's blog you are right on track.  If  you just happened upon the blog, today's hop list is a bit lower down.

Today's spotlight is on the November 2014 Release Collection, so grab a treat and hop along!

I have been humming Amy Grant's song all day after making this card - though I am dating myself by mentioning this song LOL!  Pulled out my dwindling The Sweetest Thing MME paper pad to use up some scraps, and paired it with a tweaked version of a Deconstructed Sketch to create this card. Was a very masculine card initially, so I dressed it up a bit with the pearls and punched daisy chain.


Want to win some shiny new Verve? We'll be picking a random commenter on one of the hop spots below to win our ENTIRE November 2014 Release! So be sure to leave a little comment on all the blogs below to increase your chances! Check out the Verve Blog today for all the shopping and prize info and deadlines!

1. Julee	8. Teresa
2. Laurie	9. Andrea
3. Marisa	10. Christyne
4. Amber	11. Nancy
5. Diana	12. Maureen
6. Charmaine	13. Janelle
7. Stacey

Time to hop on over to Amber's blog to see what wonderful card creation she has for us today, and once you are done the hop, you can head on over to the Verve Store and do a little Christmas shopping wink, wink.

What's In It?
Stamps:   Psalm 119:105 Plain Jane (Verve Stamps) 
Paper:  The Sweetest Thing (My Mind's Eye), Kraft, Real Red, Early Espresso (Stampin' Up)  
Ink:  Black 
Accessories:   Chicken Wire Embossing Folder ( Cuttlebug), Scalloped Circle and Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Daisy Chain Punch (Martha Stewart), Crimper (Fiskars), Twinkling H2Os, Silver and Cream Half Pearls, Twine, Dimensionals

Verve Stamps Holiday Release ~ Day 3

Welcome back to Day 3 of Verve's November 2014 Spotlight Hops!  The Verve Divas and special guests are back for another day of spotlighting the new holiday release! And the wait is almost over... everything previewed this week will be available in the Verve online store tomorrow (Thursday, 11/20). So come hop along with us and see our first looks at today's featured products!

If you have come here from Chaitali's blog you are right on track.  If  you just happened upon the blog, today's hop list is a bit lower down.

Today's spotlight is shining on the Weary World set and Psalm 119:105 Plain Jane illustrated by Julee Tilman, as well as the coordinating Starry Stable Die Set.

I simply adore this Nativity image (as well as the many fabulous sentiments from Christmas carols in this set) so I had to use it.  Since Christ's birth was a very humble birth, I decided to keep things very CAS.  A woodgrain embossing folder in the background to represent the stable he was born in and neutrals for the surroundings.  The star and baby Jesus are in yellow to signify God's glory and the touch of twine added that little something, something.



Want to win some shiny new Verve? We'll be picking a random commenter on one of the hop spots below to win today's featured products! So be sure to leave a little comment on all the blogs below to increase your chances! Check out the Verve Blog today for a little more about our new products and all the prize info and deadlines!

1. Julee 8. Stacey 2. Laurie 9. Teresa 3. Chaitali 10. Andrea 4. Marisa 11. Christyne 5. Amber 12. Nancy 6. Diana 13. Maureen 7. Charmaine

Time to hop on over to Amber's blog to see what wonderful card creation she has for us today.   Then  make sure to come back tomorrow for Day 4 of our Holiday Release Hop!

What's In It?
Stamps:   Weary World (Verve Stamps) 
Paper:  Kraft, Always Artichoke, Sahara Sand, So Saffron (Stampin' Up), Cream Linen 
Ink:  Black, Chocolate Chip  
Accessories:   Woodgrain Embossing Folder (Tim Holtz), Crimper (Fiskars), Twinkling H2Os, Twine, Dimensionals