Verve October 2017 Release Hop

Welcome to Verve's October Mini Release Spotlight Hop! There's something new in the Verve shop today, and we're celebrating with a blog hop. Along the hop you'll see the Divas' first looks at the new Autumn Leaves stamp set and Falling Leaves die set. We're also hosting a little giveaway,so why not join in the fun and hop along with us? Just leave a little shout out in the comments at each stop and you'll be in the prize drawing for the new products. Check out the Verve Blog today for a little more about the new goodies and all the prize info and deadlines.

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

For my first card, I used these wonderful Verve pumpkins and of course the maple leaves - happy sigh :)  Plus, our Thanksgiving was this past weekend, so the the sentiment fit as well.  I have always loooved maple leaves, and being Canadian, it is a good thing, after all, we do have one on our flag LOL!   We have lots of maple trees of various varieties on our street and a few in our back yard as well, so this time of year their beauty against a blue sky or evergreens often takes my breath away.   We also have various pumpkin fields in the area so I combined both elements on my card.  An embossed woodgrain background and some delicious autumn colours (my favorite to work with), and some twine and a few brown half pearls brought things together nicely.

For my second card, I continued with the maple leaf theme, only added latte's to the mix {grin}.  Another mix of fall colours and more opportunities for thankfulness.

1. Julee 6. Betty 2. Charmaine 7. Teresa 3. Maureen 8. Lesley 4. Marisa 9. Laurie 5. Christyne

Time to head on over to our Alumni Christyne's blog to see her fabulous creation and then carry on with the hop for a chance to win today's set. 
  

      

What's In It?
CARD 1

Stamps:   Autumn Leaves (Verve Stamps) 

Paper:  Stella and Rose (My Minds Eye), Early Espresso (Stampin' Up), Cream (LSS)
Ink:  Black, Rudy Red (Stampin' Up) 
Accessories:  Falling Leaves Die Set (A Cut Above by Verve),  Scalloped Circle and Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Woodgrain Embossing Folder (Provo Craft), Twinkling H2Os, Twine, Brown Half Pearls, Glue Dots, Dimensionals


What's In It?
CARD 2

Stamps:  Autumn Leaves (Verve Stamps), Woodgrain (Echo Park)

Paper:  Stella and Rose (My Mind's Eye), Kraft, Cream (Stampin' Up)  
Ink:   Black (Momento), VersaMark
Accessories:  Falling Leaves Die Set (A Cut Above by Verve), Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders),   Twinkling H2Os, Sequins, Twine, Ribbon, Glue Dot, Dimensionals

Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge - Iced Coffee

Now this inspiration picture makes me a happy girl!  I can literally smell and taste the coffee {grin}. 

For my card I used two of Verve's coffee sets:  Always Time and Get Together along with the matching Cup of Cheer die set.  I stamped various sentiments from Always Time to create the kraft background panel and used Get Together for the focal sentiment and latte cups.  A few sequins and twine finished things off.

ICED COFFEE

Betty Wright

 Kim Singdahlsen

Leigh Penner

Lisa Henke
Lori Tecler 
Lynn Magnan

Marisa Ritzen

Maureen Plut

Melody Rupple

Monika Davis

Sheri Gilson
Silk Ledlow

Stacey Schafer

Tammy Hershberger

Tara Godfrey 

    
Big celebrations in our house this week as my son passed his "N" drivers test with flying colours so he can now drive himself to many of his soccer reffing gigs - happy sigh :)   He still needs to drive to some of the further away locations with us a few more times before we give him full reign, but having him drive to the local fields will be a huge help and free up a ton of our time.   A bit of a catch 22 as I am thrilled for him and yet now scared to have him driving on his own as he is a teenage boy - once a mom always a mom {grin}. 

Wishing you a wonderful week, and I look forward to seeing your creations in the gallery!

Challenges:  Simon Says





 
What's In It?
Stamps:  Always Time, Get Together (Verve Stamps)
Paper:   Dots and Stripes (Echo Park), Kraft 
Ink:  VersaMark, Black  
Accessories:  Cup of Cheer Die Set (A Cut Above by Verve), Stitched Rectangle Dies (Lil' Inker), Twine, Sequins, Glue Dots, Dimensionals

Viva La Verve - Septmeber Sketch

Cutting it down to the wire here with this month's Viva La Verve sketch.  Been a crazy busy month, and the need for some down time and available down time aligned for this card - happy sigh :) 

Fall colours are my favorite to work with and always make my heart sing.  Toss in some maple leaves and coffee (decaf latte please) and I feel like I have won the lottery {grin}.  

Used Verve's new digi set Coffee Please for the sentiment and added maple leaves to frame it. 

Want a chance to win some free Verve, simply play along with our monthly Viva La Verve sketches!

Thanks for popping by and have a wonderful day!

Challenges:  Simon Says






What's In It?
Stamps:  Coffee Please (Verve Stamps Digi), Leaf Prints (PTI)
Paper:   Stella and Rose (MME), For The Record (Paper Loft), Kraft   
Ink:  Black, Always Artichoke, Mellow Moss, Really Rust, Rudy Red (Stampin' Up) 
Accessories:  Stitched Rectangles (Lil Inkers), Crimper (Fiskars), Buttons, Twine, Glue Dots, Dimensionals

Coffee Lover's Fall Blog Hop

It is time for the Fall Coffee Lover's Blog Hop and I played along using last month's Viva la Verve sketch and images from the  new Verve Digi set called Coffee Please available for purchase on the Verve website.  

I absolutely love Fall colours and the Just Us Girls challenge this week had some lovely Autumn colours so I used them and and added a pop of turquoise/teal for some colour.   Added an  embossed wood grain background, coloured the pumpkin mug and added a corrugated maple leaf using a Starbuck's sleeve, because after all, they are the Pumpkin Spice coffee capital.

Thank for popping by and have a fabulous day!

Challenge:  Just Us Girls 






What's In It?
Stamps:  Coffee Please (Verve Stamps Digi)
Paper:   Kraft, Stella and Rose (MME), Floral Chic (Fancy Pants), Recollections Paper (Michael's)  
Ink:  Black 
Accessories:  Circle Nestability (Spellbinders), Woodgrain Embossing Folder (Provo Craft), Maple Leaf and Button Dies (PTI), Arches Border Punch (Martha Stewart), Ribbon, Twine, Glue Dots, Dimensionals  

Verve Release July 2017 Spotlight Hop ~ Day 3

Welcome back to Day 3 of Verve's July Release Spotlight Hops!  The Verve Divas and special guests are back for another day of spotlighting our new release! Everything previewed this week will be available to order in the Verve online shop on Monday, July 10. And if you just can't wait, you can pre-order our July Release Collection at a 25% discount through tonight.

Today we're sharing our first projects featuring the Fill My Cup stamp set. This set also coordinates with the Happiness in a Cup Die Set we shared yesterday.

If you have come here from Charmaine's blog you are right on track.  If you just happened upon the Hop, check out the hop list below so you can get caught up.

So many fabulous sentiments in this set, and a perfect pairing for Jesus loving coffee drinkers - that be me :)   I will often have a coffee while reading my Bible in the morning and it is indeed a wonderful combination! Found a piece of this old Basic Grey paper I had been hoarding and pulled the rest of the colours from there.  Added some Stickles to the heart on the drink for a little pop of sparkle :) 

A quick and easy card with this great sentiment from today's set and the cups from Get Together.   Love how there are quite a few coffee/tea themed Verve sets you can mix and match!  Polka Dots and hearts are two of my favorite things so this card, albeit simple, made me smile :)   

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 the full hop list, a little more about our new products and all the prize info and deadlines!

1. Julee 7. Teresa 2. Kathy (Guest) 8. Maureen 3. Sheri (Guest) 9. Betty 4. Wanda (Guest) 10. Christyne 5. Charmaine 11. Laurie 6. Marisa 12. Lesley

Time to head on over to Teresa's blog to see her fabulous creation - she always has such gorgeous cards!
 
      

First Card:
What's In It?

Stamps:   Fill My Cup (Verve Stamps) 

Paper:  Kioshi (Basic Grey), Lime Twist (My Mind's Eye), Perfect Plum (Stampin' Up)  
Ink:  Black
Accessories:  Happiness In A Cup (A Cut Above by Verve), Scalloped Square and Square Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Twinkling H2Os, Button, Twine,  Glue Dots, Dimensionals

Second Card:
What's In It?

Stamps:   Fill My Cup (Verve Stamps) 

Paper:  I Heart Summer (Simple Stories), Back To Basics (Bo Bunny), Old Olive (Stampin' Up)
Ink:  Black 
Accessories:  Happiness In A Cup (A Cut Above by Verve),  Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Crimper (Fiskars), Mini Heart Punch (Michael's Dollar Bin), Button, Twine, Sequins, Dimensionals

Verve Release July 2017 Spotlight Hop ~ Day 2

Welcome back to Day 2 of Verve's July Release Spotlight Hops!  The Verve Divas and special guests are back for another day of spotlighting our new release! Everything previewed this week will be available to order in the Verve online shop on Monday, July 10. And if you just can't wait, you can pre-order our July Release Collection at a 25% discount through July 9!

Today we're sharing our first projects featuring the Happiness Is stamp set and coordinating Happiness in a Cup Die Set.

If you have come here from Charmaine's blog you are right on track.  If you just happened upon the Hop, check out the hop list below so you can get caught up.

I just love this set!! So many fabulous sentiments, and as usual, Julee as worked her font magic!  Love the big, bold words and how you can pair sentiments or just one them individually.  So much flexibility with this set!  I used some earthy colours for this card as I always associate them with coffee. 

A fun story for you...I grew up in Costa Rica, a major coffee producing country even back then (cough, cough....yes I am feeling my age so it will remain unmentioned LOL).  The neighbouring property had a small coffee plantation on it and we used to jump the fence and pick the ripe coffee beans.  The pods they are in turn a lovely shade of dark read when they are ripe, and we would open the pod and then pop the beans in our mouth and suck the sugary substance around them off the beans and then spit the beans out (most likely contributing to the growth of some new coffee trees).

My father also figured out a way to retrofit steam turbines on to sugar mills and by doing so quadruple their production capacity.  Many of the sugar mills also had small side line of coffee and I remember them spreading the coffee beans out on huge concrete slabs to dry the "slime we used to eat LOL" off the coffee beans before they were either sold and shipped to a roasting facility or done on site.

This second card is so me :)  I love reading, and I love coffee (although now I only drink decaf as I burned my adrenals out in my 30s at a high stress job) and if I can find a quiet corner with a good book and a nice cup of coffee I am a very happy lady.  I originally wanted to add the "a teensy bit of silence" between these two sentiments as that is nirvana {grin}, but with three bold sentiments one after the other, it was a bit overpowering.  Maybe I need to have a little card I can hold up with all three of them on it when I want just that on a weekend - ha!  May have to try it ;)

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 the full hop list, a little more about our new products and all the prize info and deadlines!

1. Julee 7. Teresa 2. Kathy (Guest) 8. Maureen 3. Sheri (Guest) 9. Betty 4. Wanda (Guest) 10. Christyne 5. Charmaine 11. Laurie 6. Marisa 12. Lesley

Time to head on over to Teresa's blog to see her fabulous creation - she always has such gorgeous cards!

      

First Card:
What's In It?

Stamps:   Happiness Is (Verve Stamps), Itty Bitty Pieces (Stampin' Up)

Paper: Stella and Rose (My Mind's Eye), Really Rust, More Mustard, (Stampin' Up)
Ink:  Black, Really Rust, Going Grey, More Mustard (Stampin' Up)
Accessories:  Happiness in a Cup, Heart Quartet (A Cut Above by Verve), Scalloped Circle and Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Twine, Button, Glue Dot, Dimensionals

Second Card:
What's In It?

Stamps:   Happiness Is (Verve Stamps) 

Paper:  Stella and Rose (My Mind's Eye), Real Red, Early Espresso (Stampin' Up)
Ink:  Black, Taken with Teal (Stampin' Up)
Accessories:  Happiness in a Cup, Heart Quartet (A Cut Above by Verve), Twine, White Half Pearls, Dimensionals

Verve Release July 2017 Spotlight Hop ~ Day 1

Welcome to Verve's July Release Spotlight Hops! A new release is just around the corner and for the next few days we'll be shining our creative spotlights on the new Verve sets and dies releasing Monday, July 10.

Today the Divas and special guests are sharing inspiration featuring the new Always Time stamp set and coordinating Kettle Time Die Set. Check out the Verve Blog post today for the full hop list, prize details, reveals and a little more on this fun new set.

If you have come here from Charmaine's blog you are right on track.  If you just happened upon the Hop, check out the hop list below so you can get caught up.

Absolutely love this sentiment!  A nice warm mug of coffee (decaf latte in my case) on a cold winter day, while out with a friend, or after a hectic day is indeed the equivalent of a hug :)    I sneak peeked this wonderful die and mug image from tomorrow's set as it just fit the sentiment perfectly.

For the tea lovers out there, this tea pot and the other one in the set are adorable!! Unfortunately, my colouring skills have much to be desired...sorry!  Such a cute sentiment too.  I cased the flowers around the tea pot from this card by Julee.  Such a wonderful way to ground the teapot.  Layered up the doilies and added black half pearls around the top of the teapot for some dimension.

1. Julee 7. Teresa 2. Kathy (Guest) 8. Maureen 3. Sheri (Guest) 9. Betty 4. Wanda (Guest) 10. Christyne 5. Charmaine 11. Lesley 6. Marisa

Time to head on over to Teresa's blog to see her fabulous creation - she always has such gorgeous cards!

      

First Card:
What's In It?

Stamps:   Always Time and Happiness Is (Verve Stamps), Polka Dot Basics II (PTI)

Paper:  Kraft, Only Orange, Early Espresso (Stampin' Up)  
Ink:  Black, Old Olive, VersaMark
Accessories:  Happiness in a Cup (A Cut Above by Verve),  Reverse Confetti Dies, Stitched Rectangles (Lil' Inker),  Button, Twine, Glue Dots, Dimensionals

Second Card:
What's In It?

Stamps:   Always Time (Verve Stamps) 

Paper:  Kraft, So Saffron, Cameo Coral (Stampin' Up), Dollar Store Paper
Ink:  Black
Accessories:  Kettle Time (A Cut Above by Verve), Lacy Circle and Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Doily Die (Top Dog Dies ), Crimper (Fiskars), Seam Binding, Button, Twine, Black Half Pearls, Dimensionals

Coffee Lover's Summer Blog Hop

Sneaking in under the wire for the Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop!  Thank you Amy for organizing this yet again :)   Love looking at all the wonderful creations!

I used this week's Freshly Made Sketch for my card and Verve's Coffee Helps.  I love lattes so this sentiment is a go to for me :)   Coloured with Twinkling H2Os and needed to ground the latte cups so added a daisy chain border to to bottom of the focal panel. 

 

What's In It?

Stamps:  Coffee Helps (Verve Stamps) 
Paper:  Kraft, Rose Red, Early Espresso (Stampin' Up) 
Ink:  Black 
Accessories:  Stitched Rectangles (Lil' Inker), Daily Edge Punch (Martha Stewart), Twinkling H2Os, Dimensionals