Verve Diva Dare April 2014

This month's Diva Dare is entitled "Little Things".  In honor Spring's arrival, this month's Dare is to create a baby or kid's themed card.

I love making baby cards, and since the last one I made was for a boy, this one had to be for a girl so my stash is even LOL!  used one of my favorite colour combos for this card and of course, Verve's To The Moon baby set - a must have!  Paper pieced Emerietta (my female name for Emery), double punched the heart border, stuck it together and added some ruffled ribbon down the middle to create my "lace" and then had fun with pearl accents.

Where there is a Verve Diva Dare, there are prizes, and this month's dare provides two prizes: one for a randomly selected participant and one for a randomly selected commenter! 

Want to get all the details on how you can win some Verve Stamps?  Simply head on over to the Verve Blog to get all the challenge details - I dare you!

What's In It?
Stamps:   To The Moon (Verve Stamps) 
Paper:  Style Essentials (Echo Park), Certainly Celery, Designer Series Paper (Stampin' Up)
Ink:  Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Accessories:   Heart Border Punch (Martha Stewart), Label and Button Dies (PTI), Lacy Scalloped Nestabilitiets (Spellbinders), 1/4" Yellow Satin Ribbon, Double Sided Tape, White and Black Half Pearls, Pink Bling, Twine, Dimensionals

Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge - Baby Booties

This week's Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge is entitled "Baby Booties"  and our sponsor is Newton's Nook Designs.

The LEAD of this challenge will receive a gift certificate to the Newton's Nook Designs store.

Since I am not a colourer, I paper pieced the onesies on this adorable image along with the birds with some Stampin' Up DSP.  The sentiment was created using three different stamps in the set and I added a cloud in the sky to complete the scene.  

The Crew was given the adorable set called Winged Wishes to work with.

Baby Booties Designers

Jennifer Jackson, Newton's Nook

Amber Kroening

Amy Kolling

Amy Tsuruta

Gayatri Murali

Kim Singdahlsen

Laurie Willison
Lisa Henke

Marisa Ritzen

Maureen Plut

Monika Davis

Sheri Gilson

Sarah Gough

Stacey Schafer

Tenia Nelson

Tracey McNeely

You have until April 10th at 8:00 a.m. CST to complete a new card/project using the inspiration picture and linking it up accordingly.  The Lead and Show Stoppers will be announced on April 14th.

Thanks for popping by and hope you can play along.

 
 
What's In It? 
Stamps:   Winged Wishes (Newton's Nook)
Paper:  Pretty in Pink, Brocade Blue, So Saffron, DSP (Stampin' Up)
Ink:  Black
Accessories:  Stitched Rectangle Dies (Lil' Inkers), Dimensionals 

Mojo Monday #339

It's the last Monday of the month so it's Tall and Skinny week over on the Mojo Monday blog.  I am totally loving this size card and trusting you are too.

I kept things pretty clean and simple this week, as Spring Break just finished and I was going full tilt with both kids home for the past two weeks so not a lot of extra crafting time.

With the magnolia trees in the neighbourhood starting to bloom along with the cherry trees just shy of bursting to do so too, I have Spring on my mind - even if the weather isn't cooperating.  I used one of my favorite color combos for spring - pink and green and played along with this week's Dynamic Duo's.

The sentiment is from Let It Be.  Just adore this sentiment - a great reminder to enjoy the many little joys of life we are blessed with every day.   I'm practicing this very thing again this year as I do Ann Voskamp's 1000 Gifts.  You write down three gifts you are thankful for each day and by the end of the year you will have 1000 gifts - love it :)   It is a fabulous way to truly enjoy the little things and brings loads of joy into your life no matter what your circumstances may be.  I even have my kids doing it with me so they learn to look for things to be thankful for every day, and by doing so, I hope to model and develop this wonderful habit in their lives so they will remember there is always, always, something to be thankful for.

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

Early wake up time today was not fun, especially after two weeks of being able to sleep an extra hour or more.  Thankfully, the days are getting longer and with any luck, Spring will decide to show up sooner than later.  

Have a fabulous day and look forward to seeing your Tall and Skinny cards!

 
What's In It?
Stamps:   Let It Be (Verve Stamps)
Paper:  Cut and Paste (MME), My Girl (Pebbles), Wild Wasabi, Pretty in Pink (Stampin' Up) 
Ink:  Black    
Accessories:  Flutterby Die (A Cut Above by Verve), Scalloped Oval and Oval Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Crimper (Fiskars), Flower Punch (Michael's Dollar Bin), Black Half Pearls, Button, Twine, Bling, Glue Dot, Dimensionals 

Just Us Girls #234 - Wild Card

Since we have five Friday's in March, this week's challenge is a Wild Card challenge and I get to host.   This week, our challenge is to make a "Tall and Skinny" card.  Dimensions can be 3 1/2" x 5 1/2" or 3 1/2" x 6".  Or you could go all our and do a 3 1/2" x 8" card which will fit in a regular business sized envelope.

If you want to browse a few Tall and Skinny sketches, you can head over to the Mojo Monday blog and look for the fourth sketch of the past three months or modify a sketch you have to fit the dimensions of "tall and skinny".

I chose to use a Mojo Monday sketch from a few weeks back and alter the dimensions to make a 3 1/2' x 5 1/2" card.    Love this Reverse Confetti tag die so had to use it on the sketch and added an MFT flower and butterfly as I still hoping for Spring to arrive!

The rest of the  JUGS team, along with our March Guest Designer Calypso Basitan (who gets an extra week with us do to having five Fridays this month), have some wonderful samples to get your inspiration going, so head on over to the Just Us Girls blog and check out what they've created.  Then put your creative genes to work and add your card/project to the challenge post on the JUGS blog for the chance to be chosen as the Chic of the Week.  Plus if you are chosen as Chic of the Week, you could be invited to be a Guest Designer.

Hard to believe Spring Break is almost over.   The two weeks just flew by and we had many wonderful family times together as well as a good mix of activities and down time.  Back at it full force on Monday - darn early wake up time LOL!

Have a fabulous weekend!

 
 
What's In It?
Paper:  In Bloom (My  Mind's Eye), Cameo Coral, Basic Grey, Going Grey (Stampin' Up)   
Accessories:  Tag Die (Reverse Confetti), Butterfly and Pretty Posies Dies (My Favorite Things), Leaf Die (Sizzix), Corner Rounder, 5/8" Yellow Satin Ribbon, Button, Twine, Half Pearls, Glue Dot, Dimensionals 

Mojo Monday #338

Wondering why I am posting a St. Patrick's Day card a week late?  Let me explain.... I had this card all finished and ready to go, being all excited that it was a St. Patrick's Day card to be posted on St. Patrick's Day itself as a happy birthday wish to Diva Maureen.  How perfect is that!  Thankfully, I woke up and smelled the coffee Sunday afternoon when I was preparing my post and was able to make a card for the right sketch!   So here you go, Moe, a week late so your birthday can stretch into birthday week :)

This week's sketch is brought to us by Debbie and was a fun sketch to work with.  Lots of Verve goodness on this card too:  Lucky You and the matching Shamrock die set, my beloved "U" die from the I Heart You die set, and one of the banner dies from the Flag It die set.  Couldn't resist using polka dots as well as this month's Verve Diva Dare is to use polka dots.

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 had a fabulous weekend over on Vancouver Island visiting my hubby's parents and being able to have dinner with our old neighbours.  Not to mention the added bonus of finally meeting Lesley Croghan face to face - meep!  So nice to meet cyber stamping friends in real life and though our visit was briefer due to our dinner plans with friends, we had a wonderful visit :)  Thank you Lesley for a wonderful visit ((hugs))!

Have a great day and enjoy the sketch! 

 
What's In It?
Stamps:   Lucky You (Verve Stamps)
Paper:  Bots and Stripes (Echo Park), Real red, Kraft (Stampin' Up) 
Ink:  Black, Garden Green (Stampin' Up), VersaMark   
Accessories:  Shamrock Die Set, I Heart You Die Set, Flag It Die Set (A Cut Above by Verve), Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Twine, Button, Black Half Pearls, Glue Dot, Dimensionals 

Just Us Girls #233

First off I want to thank Calypso for being such a fabulous Guest Designer this month.  Her work is amazing and it has been great fun  having her join us.

This week, Nancy has provided us with this fabulous image as our inspiration photo to work from.  I went with the monochromatic theme and the hot air balloon as this image from Lawn Fawn is perfect.   As fate would have it, I had just purchased this fun cloud paper at my LSS and it worked perfectly with the balloon image from Lawn Fawn.  I paper pieced the balloon and added the "hi" sentiment as it was rather blah without a pop of black.  Had to go with the "rule of three" so added two other black accents and called it a card.

The rest of the  JUGS team, along with our March Guest Designer Calypso Basitan, have some wonderful samples to get your inspiration going, so head on over to the Just Us Girls blog and check out what they've created.  Then put your creative genes to work and add your card/project to the challenge post on the JUGS blog for the chance to be chosen as the Chic of the Week.  Plus if you are chosen as Chic of the Week, you could be invited to be a Guest Designer.

Week one of Spring Break was great, and I'm looking forward to week two.  Time as a family and with kids home all day has cut into my stamping time, thus the lack of posts this week, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.  So glad my kids still like to hang with mom :)   My son and I are off to see Divergent this weekend and I can't wait! 

Have a fabulous weekend!

 
 
What's In It?
Stamps:   Blue Skies (Lawn Fawn) 
Paper:  Love and Marriage (Bella Blvd), Ballet Blue, Bashful Blue and Black (Stampin' Up)    
Ink:  Black
Accessories:  Happy Hellos (MFT Dynamics), 5/8" Turquoise Stain Ribbon (Michael's), Button, White Half Pearls, Twine, Glue Dot, Dimensionals

Curtain Call Farm Fresh Reminder

We are half way through the current Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge entitled Farm Fresh and Taylored Expressions is our sponsor.

Still love the colour combination in this inspiration picture so I did a do-over, chicken wire included.  Added some burlap - I always think burlap when I think of farms as the feed and grain often comes in burlap bags - and a tag along with the feathers.

 You can check out all the challenge details over on the Curtain Call Inspirations Challenge.  You have until March 25th at 8:00 a.m. CST to complete a new card/project using the inspiration picture and linking it up accordingly.  The Lead and Show Stoppers will be announced on March 31st.

Thanks for popping by and hope you can find some time to play along with us!


 
What's In It? 
Stamps:   Light as a Feather (Taylored Expressions)
Paper:   Kraft, Baroque Burgundy, Sage Shadow, Brilliant Blue (Stampin' Up)
Ink:  Black, VersaMark
Accessories:  Light as a Feather Dies (Taylored Expressions), Stitched Rectangles (Lil' Inkers), Chicken Wire Embossing Folder (Provo Craft), Tag Die (PTI), Burlap Ribbon, Buttons, Twine, 5/8" Yellow Satin Ribbon, Glue Dots, Dimensionals

Mojo Monday #337

Loved working with this week's Mojo Monday sketch by Teresa.  So many wonderful ways you can go with it.

I'm still smitten with Verve's latest release, Better Together.  Simply adore the sentiments and mix of fonts Julee has put together for this set.  Hmmm, hmmmm good :)

A scrap of Basic Grey paper was the springboard for my card.  Haven't used these flowers from Bloom and Grow and the matching Floral Circle dies for what seems forever so it was good to dig them out again.  Love the Dreamy Leaves dies which match the leaf images from Dream Big, and I just "had" to use the heart die from the Scalloped Trim Trio set as I never get enough of it.  Managed to find a peachy coloured button in my stash to finish things off.

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 had another very wet weekend, and it was definitely not fun weather for the soccer tournament my son's team was in.  Four games in two days in the pouring rain is not my idea of a good time!  The boys are okay as they are running around playing and keeping warm, but as for the spectators, let's just say it is far from ideal.  Oh the "joys" of being a soccer mom - not!  Life and times when you live on the West Coast LOL! 

Kids are off for two weeks for Spring Break and I am looking forward to spending time with them, as well as enjoying a slower schedule, not to mention being able to sleep in on days I'm not working!  Now all we need is the sun to show up!

Have a great day and enjoy the sketch! 

 
What's In It?
Stamps:   Bloom and Grow, Dream Big, Better Together (Verve Stamps)
Paper:  Basic Grey, Blush Blossom, Mellow Moss, Kraft (Stampin' Up) 
Ink:  Black, Sahara Sand (Stampin' Up), VersaMark   
Accessories:  Dreamy Leaves, Floral Circles, Scalloped Trim Trio Set (A Cut Above by Verve), Butterfly Punch (Martha Stewart), Cross My Heart Embossing Folder (Cuttlebug), Square Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Crimper (Fiskars), Twine, Button, Brown Half Pearls, Glue Dots, Dimensionals  

Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge - Farm Fresh

** Second post of the day.  For the Verve Release Hop please see my first post ** 

This week's Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge is entitled "Farm Fresh"  and our sponsor is Taylored Expressions!

The LEAD of this challenge will receive their choice of TWO PETITE SETS from Taylored Expressions!

I chose this fabulous set from Taylored Expressions called Light As A Feather.  Yeah!  I finally have some feathers and feather dies in my collection!

The sketch is from  I Heart Sketches and I immediately pulled out my chicken wire embossing folder - oh how I love this thing!  Such a fun pattern to add to cards and it fit the "farm" theme perfectly.  Chose my colours for the feathers from the inspiration photo and off set them against the kraft.  Added this fun sentiment and a few extra black half pearls for a little something as the focal panel was a bit plain. Finished things off with some orange twine and a button.

You can check out all the challenge details over on the Curtain Call Inspirations Challenge and also get a chance to view all the wonderful Curtain Call Crew samples as well as our two guest designer samples!  Should you wish more details on the Curtain Call Crew's cards, you can also visit their individual blogs noted below. 

Farm Fresh Designers

Amber Kroening

Amy Kolling

Amy Tsuruta

Barb Murphy

Gayatri Murali

Kim Singdahlsen

Laurie Willison

Marisa Ritzen

Maureen Plut

Monika Davis

Sheri Gilson

Sarah Gough

Stacey Schafer

Tenia Nelson

Tracey McNeely

You have until March 25th at 8:00 a.m. CST to complete a new card/project using the inspiration picture and linking it up accordingly.  The Lead and Show Stoppers will be announced on March 31st.

Thanks for popping by and hope you can play along.

 
 
What's In It? 
Stamps:   Light as a Feather (Taylored Expressions)
Paper:  Kraft, So Saffron, Baroque Burgundy, Mellow Moss, Brilliant Blue, Kraft (Stampin' Up)
Ink:  Black, VersaMark
Accessories:  Light as a Feather Dies (Taylored Expressions), Chicken Wire Embossing Folder (Provo Craft), Square Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Scalloped Edge Punch (Stampin' Up), Twine, Button, Black Half Pearls, Button, Glue Dots, Dimensionals

Verve Stamps Better Together Release Hop

Verve Stamps has released a new set called Better With You, and we are celebrating by having a Release Hop.  If you came here from Laurie's blog you are right on track. If you just happened across the hop, you can check out the master Hop List below.

I loved how Teresa used the textured image in Better with You to create a background on her card, and just had to case it.  It creates a subtle texture and adds a fabulous touch to your card.  So many wonderful sentiments in this set it was hard to chose which one to showcase!  I settled on this one and accented it with the arrow image to fill in the sentiment panel.  Some of my favorite Verve dies (Pennant Trim, Flutterby  and Elegant Leaves) were used to embellish the card, and some distressing around the edges finished things off.

Want to win some shiny new Verve? We'll be picking a random commenter on one of the hop spots below to win a $40 gift voucher to the Verve store! 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 prize info and deadlines!

	Hop List: 1. Julee 2. Amber 3. Andrea 4. Charmaine 5. Christyne 6. Janelle 7. Jen 8. Laurie 9. Marisa 10. Maureen 11. Stacey 12. Teresa

Next up is Maureen and she is sure to have something fabulous to showcase this new set!

And if you haven't heard, Verve is having a Spring Cleaning Sale!  Lots of great sets to chose from and 50% off sets which will be retired.

Thanks for popping by today! 












 
 
What's In It?
Stamps:   Better With You (Verve Stamps)
Paper:  Bashful Blue, Perfect Plum, Mint Medley, Pretty in Pink, Basic Grey, Going Grey (Stampin' Up)  
Ink:  Going Grey, Mint Medley, Black (Stamping Up)   
Accessories:  Flutterby, Elegant Leaves and Pennant Trim Die (A Cut Above by Verve), Lacy Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Doily Die (PTI), Crimper (Fiskars), Black Half Pearls, Twine, Button, Glue Dots, Dimensionals