Verve Diva Dare ~ April 2013

Today is the start of Verve's April Diva Dare!  The Diva's have cooked up a dare entitled "Bright Blooms and Butterflies" and it is a perfect theme for Spring.  Here is a little sneak peek of my take on the dare.

Best part is there are two ways you can win come Verve prizes.  One prize will be awareded to a random commenter, and another prize will be awarded to a random participant in this month's dare.  So head on over to the Verve Blog to check out all the challenge details -- I "dare" you!!

Quick and Easy Mother's Day Card

Another quick and easy Mother's Day card for you today using this wonderful MFT sketch.

This Penny Black flower is one of my favorites and I haven't used it forever, so out it came.   Plus I am continuing my tribute to retiring Stampin' Up colours by using Mellow Moss and Regal Rose.   What is a flower girl to do when they keep retiring fabulous greens (Mellow Moss and Certainly Celery) and now two of my most used pinks (Regal Rose and Pretty in Pink)!!  I'm in deep, mourning and also very miffed!

Okay temper tantrum is over - at least for now LOL.  I'm giddy about tomorrow as I get to hook up with Sue Kohler from Australia tomorrow!!  Can't believe we live half way around the world from each other and get to actually meet face to face!  Eeeek!!   We served on a DT together a fwe years back and have kept in touch once our terms were done.  I'm taking her to Michael's as it is on her bucket list and will enable her with an extra coupon wink, wink.  Can't wait!

Tomorrow is also the start of April's Diva Dare so come back to see what the Diva's are daring you to do this month. 

Thanks for popping by today!



What's In It?
Stamps:  Penny Black (flower), Because of You (Verve)
Paper:  Garden Florals Recollections DP Pack (Michael's), Kraft, Pretty in Pink (Stampin' Up)
Ink: Mellow Moss, So Saffron, Sahara Sand, Black (Stampin' Up)
Accessories: Butterfly Punch (Martha Stewart), Dimensionals

Mom

Made my first Mother's Day card of the year and it's a very CAS one as I have to duplicate it quite a few times. 

In an ode to one of my favorite colour combos of pink and green, and a tribute to three of my favorite colors that are being retired by Stampin' Up, Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose and Sage Shadow (a few years back but I have a stockpile LOL).  The other heart breaker they are retiring is Certainly Celery, one of my favorite greens ever!!

Enough howling by the moon on my part and on to the card!  Love Verve's Mother's Day sets - fabulous fonts and great sentiments.  I paired Because of You with Joyful Blooms (the flowers have matching dies) and added a touch of ribbon.  Easy peasy :)

Short and quick today as there is a ton on the agenda today.



What's In It?
Stamps: Joyful Blooms and Because of You (Verve) 
Paper: Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Sage Shadow (Stampin' Up), Cream Linen 
Ink:  Black 
Accessories: Joyful Blooms Die Set (A Cut Above by Verve), Leaf Punch (Martha Stewart), Threading Water Punch (Fiskars), 3/8" Sage Grosgrain Ribbon, Black Half Pearls, Dimensionals 

You Are Never Too Old

This week is CAS week over at the Verve Forum and Diva Laurie has provided the sketch.  CAS is not an easy go for me, but I enjoy the challenge of making it look somewhat acceptable - yes, I'm a glutton for punishment :)

I just "had" to use this fabulous sentiment from Words of Wisdom.  It is so, so true and a great way to stay young, keep learning, not get lazy, and to make sure you get the most out of life.  As the saying goes, if you aim at nothing you are sure to hit it.

Interestingly enough,  I recently spoke to a friend of my mother's who said the last 20 years of her life have been the most rewarding and she was 80 years old!  Love it!  I definitely want to be counted among those types of people :)   In the meantime, I've been asking myself what dream or goal I have been putting on the shelf or been too scared to strive for.  Great food for thought!  How about you!  Do you have any dream or goal you have or want to reach for or have laid aside?

Wishign you a great day and may your dreams and goals become realities! 



What's In It?
Stamps:  Words of Wisdom (Verve) 
Paper: Kraft, Certainly Celery
 Ink: Black 
Accessories:  Button Die (PTI), Twine (Twinery), Dimensionals

Mojo Monday #288

Good Monday morning everyone :)   Today's Mojo sketch is brought to us by Sarah and offers you a wonderful opportunity to stretch those creative juices - at least it did me ;)

I went bold in the background paper for this card (think subliminally I was showing this sketch who was boss LOL!) and pulled the rest of the colours from there. In addition, I was also able to use up a plethora of small white half pearls that have been multiplying exponentially in my box so life is good {grin}! 

The sentiment is from Lean On Me, a set in which I absolutely adore the mix of fonts!  They make a nice bold statement which catches your eye so it was a perfect fit for the background paper.

You can check out all the challenge details over on the Mojo Monday blog and also get a chance to view all the wonderful Mojo Makers samples!  Should you wish more details on their 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

Stephanie Kraft

Wanda Cullen

The beginning of another busy week is at hand but softened by all the amazing cherry trees that are in full bloom!  Soon it will be snowing pink :)   A word to the wise, do not park your card under one of them because you'll have pink petals blowing out of your vents for weeks - dont' ask me how I know LOL!

BTW, the Verve Store is having a big sale right now - up to 30% off on 100 wonderful sets!!  A great way to stock up or get yourself some Mother's Day goodies from your family wink, wink!  





What's In It?
Stamps:  Lean On Me (Verve),  Itty Bitty Backgrounds (Stampin' Up)
Paper: Mosaic Memories (Recollections at Michaels), So Saffron, Old Olive, Early Espresso (Stampin' Up)
Ink: Black, VersaMark
Accessories:  Scalloped Circle and Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders) Button, Twine, White Half Pearls, Glue Dot, Dimensioanls

Just Us Girls #183 - Sketch Challenge

First off, I want to give a warm welcome our newest Just Us Girls member, Nancy Leppek.   Welcome Nancy :)   

This week's sketch challenge is brought to us by Tangii and she has a wonderful sketch for us to work with.

With wishes of spring in the forefront of my mind, as well as my not so patiently waiting for tulips and daffodils to bloom in my garden, I decided to create spring on a card.

Out came some of my flower and butterfly dies and the sentiment is an ode to spring as it definitely does makes me smile year after year :)  I just love how colour begins to pop out of the ground and on the magnolia and cherry trees and in what seems an overnight venture, all of a sudden the trees have leaves on them again.  New life is everywhere and I just love it!! 

The rest of the  JUGS team has some wonderful samples to get your inspiration going, so just hop on over to the Just Us Girls blog, and check out what the Design Team has 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 selected as Chic of the Week.  
 
Have a fabulous weekend everyone!
 


What's In It?
Stamps:  Dream Big and Fabulous You (Verve) 
Paper: Almost Amethyst, Night of Navy, Old Olive, So Saffron, Kraft (Stampin' Up), Recollections DP (Michael's) 
Ink:  Black, VersaMark 
Accessories: Flutterby and Dreamy Leaves Dies (A Cut Above by Verve), Flower Die and Medium Scalloped Border Dies (PTI), Border Punch (Sttampin' Up), Tag Die (My Favorite Things), 5/8" Saffron Satin Ribbon, Buttons, Black and White Half Pearls, Glue Dots, Twine, Dimensionals 

Some Housekeeping and Pictures from Seattle

No stamping post today, just some housework to take care of and pictures of our trip to Seattle over Spring Break.

First off, as many of you know Google Reader will be no more as of July 1, 2013.  So sad, as I loved and used Reader all the time.  There are various replacement options out there.  Here is a link to an article noting a few of the options.  I have played around with Feedly but am  having a hard time with it, so decided to go with Bloglovin' (for now anyway).  You can transfer all your Reader info to them very easily and I like their format.  For those of you who wish to follow me via that route can do so via the widget on my sidebar (believe you have to sign up for the service to do so - but it's free).  Otherwise, you can follow me via e-mail by signing up via the Feedburner icon on my sidebar.  Clear as mud?!  Will be an interesting ride via this transition I'm sure!

Now on  to the pictures of our trip!  I need to get some of my daughter's pictures up here too as she took some amazing ones with her new camera.  She has such an eye for photography - wish I could say I had the same!

Think the highlight of our sightseeing was our trip to the Seattle Aquarium.  I was curious to see it as we have a great aquarium in Vancouver, and it did not disappoint.  Their Coastal Water exhibits were amazing!   What you see here is what is found off the Pacific Northwest Coast!  Can't believe vibrant colours of the starfish (the sunburst ones are amazing with all their legs - see the orange one in the bottom right hand corner) and I was loving that fabulous green colour of the sea anemones!!

This is a picture of my kids having fun with the "photo opp octopus".

  

Absolutely loves this otter logo!

Otters are my favorite animal and I could have stayed and watched them for hours. These are a few pictures I was able to get while at their second feeding of the day (they have four a day).

Did you know sea otters eat 20% of their body weight in food every day because they don't have a layer of blubber to keep them warm so they burn calories like crazy!!  The large male eats 20 pounds of seafood a day and they have three females as well, so that is one big bill for high end seafood LOL!

As you can see we had a simply glorious day to tour the city with.  Hard to beat the Pacific Northwest on a sunny day - yes, I am biased LOL!

This is my gorgeous daughter.

Hubby and my son as we rode the Seattle version of the London Eye.  It was a large Ferris wheel with Plexiglas on all sides except the floor and the view was amazing!

 

Thanks for popping in.  Back later today/early tomorrow morning with my Just Us Girls post.

Have a wonderful Friday :)

Beautiful You A La Verve

Catching up on my Verve sketches and this week's sketch is brought to us by Amber.

I do enjoy making square cards as they are very easy to balance.   Since I don't own any doilies, I dug into my "to be used later" pile and gleefully used three items from the bin - score!   Now I just have to make about 50 more cards to use up the rest of the scraps from that bin!

Just love this sentiment and the elegant font!  Dressed it up a bit with pearls, bling and a rose.  Had to giggle too, as red seems to be my accent colour of choice this week.

My body is adjusting to early rising again so I'm not quite firing on all pistons today!  Kids had a harsh reality with their wake up times too so I'm in good company LOL!  Glad it's a short week and I'm sure we will all sleep in a bit on Saturday.

Have a great day and thanks for popping by!



What's In It?
Stamps:  Fabulous You (Verve) 
Paper: Early Espresso, Sahara Sand, Real Red, Always Artichoke, Costco DP Pack 
Ink: Black
Accessories: Lacy Circle and Oval Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Leaf Punch (Martha Stewart), Rolled Rose Die (My Favorite Things), 5/8" Red Satin Ribbon, Button, Glue Dot, White Half Pearls, Bling, Dimensionals

Let's Get Together

This week's sketch is brought to us by Diva Anya from the Verve Inspiration Team.  When I first saw the sketch it reminded me of a coffee cup (mug with a handle) so I decided to make a coffee themed card using Verve's Java Joy and Sip and Savor sets.  I recently had a five hour coffee (yes you read right!) with a very good friend of mine and wanted to send her this card as a thank you.  Our life does happen over coffee because we don't get to see each other nearly as often as we would like to so we literally do get caught up on life over coffee.

I created my own patterned paper using the Java stamp and combined the sentiments from the two sets.  An arrow was a fun way of highlighting the "let's get together" sentiment which I faux stitched on to the focal panel.  I paper pieced the coffee cup, added some ribbon and was good to go.  Now I have a rather large craving for a decaf latte!  May have to indulge in a quick trip to Starbucks for one.

The kids are back in school again and we are all settling back into our regular routines again.  Soccer for my son, piano for my daughter, some working for hubby for me and a bit more regular stamping time once again - yeah!  

Any friend you need to share life with over coffee?  Go for it!



What's In It?
Stamps: Java Joy and Sip and Savor (Verve) 
Paper: Early Espresso, Blush Blossom, Cameo Coral and Designer DSP (Stampin' Up), Cream Linen 
Ink: Black 
Accessories: Arrow Die (A Cut Above by Verve), Scalloped Border Punch (Stampin' Up), Tab Die (My Favorite Things), Scalloped Circle and Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), 5/8" Brown Satin Ribbon, Button, Twine, Glue Dot, Dimensionals

Mojo Monday #287 - Contest Week

Hard to believe it is April 1st!  The first quarter of the year has flown by and spring is on its way :)   It is also the first Monday of the month and that means it is contest week over on the Mojo Monday blog!  Julee has once again provided us with a wonderful sketch to work with.

I chose some paper with daffodils on it as I am anxiously waiting for mine to bloom in our garden.   The wishing theme continued through to the sentiment LOL.  I pulled out Wishing You, a great Verve set I haven't used for some time, and then created a flower using the Joyful Blooms dies.  I was in desperate need of some colour on this somewhat monochromatic card, so I added some pops of red.

You can check out all the challenge details over on the Mojo Monday blog and also get a chance to view all the wonderful Mojo Makers samples!  Should you wish more details on their 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

Stephanie Kraft

Wanda Cullen

Today is our last day of  Spring Break!  The two weeks flew by and we had some great family time together (Wii Sports doubles tennis and fitness test took top place I think), got to visit relatives in Seattle as well as dear friends we don't get to see that often, put a big dint in my "to do" list, and enjoyed spending many hours with my kids.  Doesn't get much better than that :) 



What's In It?
Stamps:  Wishing You, Dream Big and Small Phrases, (Verve), French Script (Stampin' Up)
Paper: Garden Florals (Recollections), Kraft, So Saffron, Real Red and Going Grey (Stampin' Up)
Ink: Black, Going Grey and So Saffron (Stampin' Up)
Accessories: Joyful Blooms and Dreamy Leaves Die Sets, Flag It (A Cut Above by Verve), Lacy Heart Nestabilities (Spellbinders) Butterfly Punch (Martha Stewart) Button, Twine, Black Half Pearls, Glue Dots, Dimensioanls