Mojo Monday #395

It's Tall and Skinny week over on the Mojo Monday blog and as always, a great sketch to work with.

Love this flowered Echo Park paper and paired it with Verve's Happy Place.  I adore this flower image and having the matching Happy Doodles die set is a match made in heaven.

I heat embossed the sentiment and used a white gel pen to colour in the tops of the flowers to draw them out and balance things off a bit.

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

Had a wonderful visit with a friend I haven't seen for three years.  We met when our oldest kids were in the same Kindergarten class and became fast friends.  They switched schools half way through elementary school and we managed to keep in touch quite regularly, but once the kids hit high school, our paths never crossed.  Crazy thing is we live less than a mile apart!  Thankfully, we managed to connect last week by getting together for a walk to Starbucks and back (4 miles round trip at a good pace so it was a good work out too LOL!) and 4.5 hours later we realized what time it was and had to stop talking so we could get on with the rest of our days!  

Only confirms the depth of this wonderful friendship as it felt like weeks not years since we had last seen each other.  My heart is full and I am feeling very blessed :)  Needless to say, we have committed to not waiting another three years to get together again no matter how crazy busy our lives are!

Challenges:  The Pink Elephant

What's In It?
Stamps:   Happy Place (Verve Stamps)
Paper:   For The Record (Echo Park), A Charmed Life (Simple Stories), Old Olive, Early Espresso, Kraft (Stampin' Up) 

Ink:  Versamark    
Accessories:  Happy Doodles and Banner Bundle Die Sets (A Cut Above by Verve), Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Crimper (Fiskars), Butterfly Punch (Martha Stewart), 3/8 Brown Grosgrain Ribbon, White Embossing Powder, White Half Pearls, Dimensionals

Viva La Verve April Week 4 Sketch

Stacey has brought us this week's Viva La Verve sketch and it showcases her wonderful use of layers and skewed panels - once a horrible nemesis of mine! Thankfully, many sketches with skewed panels later, I embrace them willingly LOL.

The banners on the sketch reminded me of a celebratory event, so I chose this wonderful sentiment from Let It Be to take center stage.  And, since I still had these MME Chalkboard papers out on my desk from my Mojo Monday card, I decided to use them again.

The sentiment is framed with the Rounded Scallop Frame die, and I  used the Pennant Trim die to cut out a black and a purple banner as the black banner alone was a bit too over powering and had to be dulled down a bit, especially in lieu of the sentiment!  Last time I checked, black and brighter do not exactly go together LOL!  The Award Banner die created the secondary banner and a touch of twine with a button finished things off. 

For more inspiration using this week's sketch, head on over to the Viva La Verve blog.

Wishing you a fabulous day!

What's In It?
Stamps:   Let It Be (Verve Stamps)
Paper:   Chalkboard (MME), Black, Almost Amethyst (Stampin' Up)

Ink:  Black    
Accessories:  Pennant Trim, Award Banner and Rounded Scalloped Frame (A Cut Above by Verve), Black, Half Pearls, Twine, Button, Glue Dots, Dimensionals

Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge - Bouquet Reminder

We are half way through the current Bouquet Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge with Penny Black as our sponsor.  

This time round, I decided to go with the main colours in the photo.  I inked up Penny Black's Promise Me stamp with the corresponding colours, then misted my stamp with water and stamped it to get a bit of a water colour effect on the image.

Unfortunately, I don't own watercolour paper so the effect isn't quite as dramatic as it could be.  Should have done a second spray of water before stamping my image - gotta love hind sight LOL!  Added a blue sentiment and a touch of twine to finish things off.

If you haven't played along yet, we would love to have you join us!  The winner gets a Penny Black gift certificate and the LEAD for this challenge gets to join us as a Guest Designer in a future challenge.

Wishing you a glorious day!

 

What's In It?
Stamps:  Promise Me (Penny Black)   
Paper:  Cool Caribbean (Stampin' Up)

Ink:  Marvelous Magenta, Old Olive, Orchid Opulence (Stampin' Up) 
 Accessories:  Friends Word Die (PTI), Twine, Button

Viva La Verve April Week 3 - Sketch Recap

It's recap time over on the Viva La Verve blog and this my take on Sarah's fabulous sketch.

As you can tell, polka dots are the theme LOL!  More LSS sale goodies on this card - this time MME papers.  Love the fun, happy colours and the Award Banner Die was a perfect fit.

Had to turn this into a birthday card because all those polka dots reminded me of falling confetti.  The sentiment and cute party hats are from Treasured Words.

You don't need to use Verve Stamps to join in the challenge, but we love to see them if you have them.  All the challenge details are on the  Viva La Verve blog.  Would love to have you join in on the fun and the chance to win a $100 gift certificate to Verve  Stamps!  

 

What's In It?
Stamps:   Treasured Words (Verve Stamps)
Paper:  The Sweetest Thing (My Mind's Eye), Going Grey, Pretty in Pink (Stampin' Up)  
Ink:  Black, Marvelous Magenta (Stampin' Up)    
Accessories:  Award Banner Die (A Cut Above by Verve), Lacy Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders),  Heart Punch (Marvy), Pink Half Pearls , Button, Twine, Glue Dot, Dimensionals

Mojo Monday #394

My LSS was blowing out some We R Memory Keeper papers so I snagged a bunch and had great fun using a few of my newly acquired treasures with this fabulous sketch.

Always enjoy the pop black adds to a card, and I gleefully enjoyed using three of my favorite Verve dies: Heart Quartet, I Heart You and Elegant Leaves.  The sentiment is the Happy Birthday Plain Jane.  A little side "to" tab to balance things off along with a few pearls for a bit of something, something.
 
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

This card was going to be for a friend's birthday party this weekend, but she got sick with a nasty migraine so it was cancelled.  Such a shame!  Her daughters planned to celebrate with an outdoor tea party, with attendees having to wear flowered dresses, hats and gloves - a tribute to her English heritage.  Even the weather was on board with loads of sunshine and warm temperatures.  Hopefully they will reschedule.  In the meantime, my kids are very happy to have a ton of biscuits to eat with their choice of jams!

What's In It?
Stamps:   Happy Birthday Plain Jane (Verve Stamps)
Paper:   Chalkboard (We Are Memory Keepers), Pretty in Pink, Rose Romance, Certainly Celery, Black (Stampin' Up) 

Ink:  Black    
Accessories:  Elegant Leaves, Heart Quartet, I Heart You Dies (A Cut Above by Verve), Crimper (Fiskars), Button, Twine, White Half Pearls, Glue Dots, Dimensionals 

Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge - Bouquet

 

photo source:  designlovefest.com

We have a new sponsor, Penny Black, for the Curtain Call Inspiration: Bouquet!  A randomly selected participant in the Bouquet challenge will have their choice of a Penny Black gift certificate, while the LEAD will be invited as a Guest Designer in a future challenge!

For my card I honed in on the gorgeous red flower in the bouquet.  I used Penny Black's Promise Me tulip stamp, which I adore as tulips are my favorite flower!  I framed the image with a punched border and added a sentiment and two butterflies to pull it all together.  

Listed below is a list of all designers' blogs to provide you with more inspiration!

Bouquet Designers

Guest Designer, Marcie Sharp
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

Have a fabulous day and I look forward to seeing your creations.

Challenge:  AAA Cards

 




What's In It?
Stamps:   Promise Me (Penny Black)
Paper:   White 
Ink:  Real Red, Old Olive (Stampin' Up)   
Accessories:  Border and Butterfly Punches (Martha Stewart), White Half Pearls, Dimensionals 

Viva La Verve Sketches - April Week 1

I have been dying to use this fabulous sketch by Julee and finally had a little window of time to do so.

I gleefully used some new Echo Park papers along with Verve's Flourish Trim, Rounded Scalloped Frame and Heart Quartet dies.  The sentiment is the Birthday To You Plain Jane.  A touch of twine and a button called it a card.

Want a chance at winning a $100 gift certificate to the Verve Store?!  Then simply play along with the Viva La Verve sketches for your chance to win.  Contest details are posted on the Viva La Verve blog.

Looking forward to meeting with the Social Studies teacher both my kids have this semester.  I missed parent/teacher interviews due to work, and after hearing so many wonderful stories about his class, I just have to meet him.  Each day I look forward to hearing what happened in Mr. T's class as every day is an adventure in his class.  My son told me one day a girl skipped and when someone in class said they saw her in the cafeteria he walked the whole class to the cafeteria to get her LOL!  He is an amazing teacher who works them hard but teaches history in such creative and fun ways that they don't realize how hard they are working or how much they actually remember.

What's In It?
Stamps:   Birthday To You Plain Jane (Verve Stamps)
Paper:   Simple Life (Echo Park), Basic Grey, Gonig Grey, Real Red (Stampin' Up) 

Ink:  Black    
Accessories:  Flourish Die Trim, Rounded Scalloped Fram, Heart Quartet (A Cut Above by Verve), Chevron Embossing Folder (Darice), Twine, Button, Glue Dots, Dimensionals

Mojo Monday #393

I must say, Mondays are always brighter because of Mojo Monday sketches :)

This week's sketch has some great angles in it and allows for a twist from the traditional banner shape - love it!

My LSS had some We R Memory Keepers papers which I tripped across last Friday and I had to use them {grin}.  Orange is a bit of an under loved colour so I jumped at the chance to showcase it on my card.   The sentiment is Verve's Feel Better Plain Jane and you are already very well acquainted with their Flutterby die wink, wink.  A few accessories to dress things up a bit and I was good 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. 

Carole Burrage

Debbie Carriere

Julee Tilman (Owner)

Marisa Ritzen (you are here)

Mary Fish

Sarah Biglow

Teresa Kline

Wanda Cullen

Got my moss hanging baskets from Costco this weekend and it was so nice to actually have some colour on them this year so you know what you are getting!   Last year, we had such a cold, wet winter that they were basically moss baskets with greenery in them so you were picking blind as to what colour combination you would get once they bloomed LOL!  Happy to see our rhododendrons starting to bloom, and I can't wait to plant my outdoor baskets in a month or so!  Yes, my love for flowers is not only limited to cards :) 

Have a fabulous week and enjoy the sketch!

What's In It?
Stamps:   Feel Better Plain Jane (Verve Stamps)
Paper:   Farmer's Market (We Are Memory Keepers), Cameo Coral, Mint Medley, Always Artichoke (Stampin' Up) 

Ink:  Black    
Accessories:  Flutterby Die (A Cut Above by Verve), Scalloped Circle and Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Crimper (Fiskars), Button, Twine, Sequins, Brads, Glue Dots, Dimensionals

You might also like:

April Verve Diva Inspirations Challenge

Due to a total brain fart, had a card all made up for this month's Diva Inspirations Challenge and Blog Hop but totally forgot to sign up to be included at Diva Headquarters! Yes, it has been a crazy few weeks, and needless to say, I am very thankful for the restful, Easter weekend we enjoyed, as I obviously needed it - oh my!

Regardless of my ineptness, there are two ways to win Verve prizes: comment on the design team's blog hop posts (linked below) to see their take on the inspiration, then go get inky and link up your take on the challenge to be eligible in our prize drawings!

Our April challenge is Bunnies & Babies


Spring is a time of birth and renewal - celebrate the season by creating a card for Easter or a bouncing new baby. Use the inspiration graphic as a starting point, or head off in your own direction - just show us your sprightly spring creations!

Click here to link up your challenge entries
Challenge deadline: Sunday, Apr. 19.
Prize: $40 gift voucher to the Verve online store!

Loved the mix of colours in this month's picture!  It screams spring and that lead to orange flowers.  I actually quite like the colour orange, so I and wanted to give it some love as it is not a popular colour of choice.

I used Be Blessed and the matching Petal Points and Sprightly Springs die sets to create my focal flower cluster as per the sketch.  The sentiments is from another floral set called Surely Goodness.  A bit of crimping as per my usual {grin} and a scatter of pearls for a little something, something.

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've got a prize for one lucky commenter along the hop! Check out the Verve Blog today for all the prize info and deadlines!

	1. Julee	7. Sankari
	2. Amy	8. Sarah
	3. Anya	9. Susan
	4. Betty	10. Maureen
	5. Jen	11. Stacey
	6. Karen	12. Chaitali

Have a great day!

Challenges:  The Paper Players

What's In It?
Stamps:  Be Blessed, Surely Goodness (Verve Stamps), French Script (Stampin' Up)  
Paper:  Certainly Celery, Cool Caribbean, Cameo Coral, Only Orange, Old Olive, Kraft (Stampin' Up), Cream Linen, Tan

Ink:  Cameo Coral, Only Orange, Sahara Sand, Black 
Accessories:  Petal Points and Sprightly Sprigs Die Sets (A Cut Above by Verve), Medium Scalloped Die (PTI), Crimper (Fiskars), Twine, Button, White Half Pearls, Glue Dots, Dimensionals 

Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge - Beginnings Reminder

We are half way through the current Beginnings Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge and this time round I decided to go with the top two pictures of the inspiration photo - honing in on the blue, kraft and cream combo.

I used last week's Freshly Made Sketch and added some flowers - surprise, surprise {grin}.  To boot, my card has absolutely no stamping on it!  Ahhh...the power of the die cut LOL!  Would be lost without them.    

If you haven't played along yet, we would love to have you join us!  Plus, the LEAD for this challenge gets to join us as a Guest Designer in a future challenge.

Back to the grind after a very relaxing weekend and thankfully still enjoying left over lamb hubby made for Easter dinner - hmmm, hmmm good!  So blessed to have a husband who loves to cook and is very good at it too :)

Wishing you a fabulous day and I look forward to seeing your creations in our gallery.

Challenges: The Paper Players
                    The Pink Elephant
 

 

What's In It?
Paper:  Going Grey, Certainly Celery, Cool Caribbean, Kraft, Pretty in Pink (Stampin' Up), Cream Linen   
Accessories:  Doily Die (Top Dog Dies), Word Die (PTI), Pretty Posie Dies (MFT), Twine, Button, Cream Half Pearls, Glue Dots, Dimensionals 

Mojo Monday #392

It's the first Monday of the month and that means it is contest time over on the Mojo Monday blog!  The more people who participate, the greater your chances of winning some Verve, so come on over and join the fun!

With spring in the air, I am still in baby mode so decided to use this fabulous sketch to make a baby card for my stash.  Emery came out to play, and no, he doesn't have the chicken pox {grin} just some co-ordinating polka dots lol.  The sentiment is from To The Moon.

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

Had a fabulous Easter weekend with good family time as well as some much needed down time (I'm still not quite sure where January through March went!).  Easter is always a deeply moving time of reflection for me.  It's the flip side of Christmas - you can't have one without the other as they are intricately tied together.  Without Easter, Christmas would be meaningless.  Each year I am humbled and deeply moved by the sacrificial death of Christ - his gift to me - and tears of thankfulness always flow.  A special time to reflect and drink deep of the life-breathing gift for my soul...undeserved...yet freely given....and so very, very precious....He has risen indeed!

Enjoy the sketch and fingers crossed you are selected as one of the winners this month!

Challenges:  The Paper Players



What's In It?
Stamps:   Emery Plain Jane, To The Moon (Verve Stamps)
Paper:  You Are My Happy (Teresa Collins), Early Espresso, Real Red, Cameo Coral (Stampin' Up)

Ink:  Black    
Accessories:  Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Dimensionals

Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge - Beginnings

Time for another Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge and this week we have an inspiration picture with some lovely spring images.  The LEAD of the Beginnings challenge will be invited as a Guest Designer in a future Curtain Call challenge!

 

For my card I focused on the flowers (surprise, surprise wink, wink)!  I used this fabulous Penny Black stamp and coloured it in yellow and green, the predominant colours in two of the bottom pictures.  I coloured the image with Twinkling H20s, added a raffia bow and a little tag to pull in a touch of kraft.

Make sure you visit each of the designers' blogs for more inspiration!

Beginnings

Amy Kolling
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

Have a fabulous day and I hope you are enjoying some signs of Spring where you live :) 

 




What's In It?
Stamps:   Wind Caressed (Penny Black), Tiny Tags (PTI)
Paper:   Wild Wassabi, White (Stampin' Up) 
Ink:  Black   
Accessories:  Stitched Rectangles (Lil' Inkers), Tiny Tags Die (PTI), Twinkling H20s, Raffia, Dimensionals