Merry Monday #255 {Joy to the World}

 Hello and welcome to a NEW Merry Monday challenge!! I am so excited to have been asked to be a part of this amazing Design Team! I was feeling really sad when "The Challenge" ended and I am so glad for this opportunity and you ALL know how much I LOVE Christmas!! I really hope you get a chance to play along! Nothing says "Happy Labor Day" like sharing a Holiday Design! LOL!
                   
You can read all about it HERE! I just love this inspiration photo and as much as I wanted to take an absolute literal approach, I resisted so I could challenge myself as well as try some new ideas! As soon as I knew what the challenge would include, I  searched online stores for a  "JOY" stamp set because I wanted something new. There are a TON of fabulous sets out there, but I ultimately decided on Concord and 9th's JOY stamp set and coordinating die. I really like the style as well as the many possibilities that it holds. 

 During the design process, I also decided to use Fair Isle Motifs to enhance the word JOY and the Spruce and Sprigs stamp set as well as the coordinating DIES. It's a potpourri of products, but I love how they all work together!

To begin, I die cut 5 of the JOY words from Kraft cardstock so that I could stack them up for a nice focal point. 

 Once they were all cut, I placed one of the words BACK into the negative space in my MISTI. I placed the fair isle image that I wanted directly onto the center of the "O" so I would have proper placement. Now, you might be wondering why I didn't just stamp it first and then die cut it? Well, I knew that I was going to be doing some heat embossing and I didn't want to run the embossed piece through my Cuttlebug. I didn't want to run the risk of smashing the raised detail or tarnishing the shine. So...I stamped it like this and then sprinkled gold embossing powder over each piece and used tweezers to heat them so I didn't burn my fingers or smudge the intricate design.

Once that was done, I was able to glue all 5 of each letter on top of each other using Tombow Mono Multi for a strong bond. While those were drying, I created a die cut circle piece as a base for the die cut JOY. I stamped the same image as I did for the letters and heat embossed it using gold as well. Once that was done, it was very easy to line up the letters over the top for perfect alignment. Even though the letters are so thick, I also popped them up using foam squares for even more dimension. I just love how they look floating above the circle. The inspiration piece used a snowflake in the center, but I thought this fair isle pattern was a perfect alternative!

 I like the wood of the sign on the inspiration piece as well, so I thought a wood background would be nice as well. I used the Wood Grain Impression Plate on a piece of green paper for some nice texture. I cut it into two pieces and adhered it to a base of white flecked paper. It is super old from SU! and I can't remember what it is called...rustic something or other, maybe? It is my last piece and I am sad. I also used this same paper for the circle detail. The "to the world" sentiment is gold embossed onto a strip of the same green paper and then glued over the top of "JOY".

 The gold embossed lined strip uses another image from the "JOY" stamp set and I adhered that to the card in between the two green pieces, but I popped it up. I can see lots of possibilities with those lines. I almost left the card just as it was, without the sprigs of greenery. It felt done with the design in a CAS way, but felt it needed something else.

I added a few sprigs of greenery as well for a festive touch. Each of the pieces were spritzed with just a hint of shimmer spray and then some Wink of Stella on the holly leaves. The trio of berries got a nice coating of Nuvo Crystal Glaze for some added shine. I arranged them in a little cluster and then added them to the card front using foam squares. Of course, I just HAD to add some Bright Gold Nuvo Drops for some fun detail! I had so much fun with this challenge and I hope you will all find some time to play and get a head start on your holiday cards! Thanks for fluttering by!

Keeping Christmas {Die cut tags-4 ways}

"I will honor Christmas in my heart...and try to keep it all the year long!" ~Charles Dickens

And now back to our regularly scheduled program...LOL! I had so much fun being a guest for the Verve release this last week! I'm sorry if there were some of you looking for my Keeping Christmas post back on the 25th. I didn't want to bombard you all with any more posts than I already was posting.

 Not gonna lie...this month was rough for me as far as getting my project done. I just kept stressing about it and in the end I had to remind myself that I started this to #1 Have fun #2 Make things that I wanted and needed for this coming Christmas #3 Have fun! LOL! There are quite a few ideas I have that I am planning on executing, but unfortunately they are things that will have to wait until October or November.

Well, to be honest...I don't think I need any more tags but I FINALLY got the Tremendous Treats Die Set. I have had the Stamp Set for YEARS and ended up by not using a lot of the images because I felt they were a little small and I couldn't give them much presence, but with the die cuts it makes it a lot easier to make them a little more special. I die cut each of the images twice, stamped them using Palette Noir ink and then colored them using Copic Markers. I colored them assembly line style by coloring each color on each image as I went along...so, all the red on all the images, all the black, and so on. I like doing it that way so I don't end up with a pile of markers rolling around on my desk.

Once they were all colored, I added some Nuvo Glaze to bits and pieces of each image as well as a generous amount of Wink of Stella. I set them aside to dry while I got to work on the tag bases for each image. I thought it would be fun to use the Fancy Flakes die as the base for some of the smaller images. I really like how they turned out and I like how easy it was to add the twine to one of the open spaces on the snowflake pattern.

After I was done die cutting the snowflakes, I thought it would be cute to emboss the snowflake onto a circle die cut. I like how it has a cohesive feel,but a little more subtle than the tags using the snowflake die cut as the base. To execute this, I used my brown embossing pad in my Cuttlebug that makes it possible to dry emboss with a die cut.

Then...I thought it would be nice to try the die cut snowflake added to the die cut circle to step it up a notch. I really like all of the different ways that I tried for these tags and depending on the time you have, you can tailor it to your needs. The die cut snowflake was by far the quickest, obviously and then they work their way up from there. Each tag base is spritzed with Shimmer spray for some extra shine!

I've used the coordinating sentiments that come with the stamp set forever and for today's tags I thought I would change it up and use the Cozy Critters sentiment set. I really like how nicely they pair up with the different images. They are all stamped in white...some directly on the tag and others on a sentiment strip.

Each tag is tied up with some black baker' twine. I got a HUGE roll half off at Hallmark in July and I have used pretty much the ENTIRE roll. I'm thinking of heading back to see if they have another roll because it ended up being $2.50 for a 25 yard roll. 

My daughter auditioned for Ballet West's production of The Nutcracker and she made it! I am so excited for her! That is part of the craziness of August as well as my 7 year old playing his first year of football and my oldest playing his Senior year of football! Things have been crazy around here to say the least, but it's all fun stuff! Thanks for fluttering by!

Verve's 10th Anni-verve-sary Day 5- a few of my favorites

Welcome back to Day 5 of our Anni-VERVE-sary Spotlight Hops!  It's an exciting day as there's new Verve in the store this morning! 4 beautiful new sets and 2 coordinating die sets just released and they're all available to order right now. To celebrate this special 10th Anni-VERVE-sary release, we're putting on another blog hop, with a pretty cool prize!
Today's featured focus is designer's choice, so you might just sneak a peek at a whole bunch of must-haves, especially since we've got a full line-up of Divas, guests and Alumni today!

Want to win some shiny new Verve? Today's prize is a BIG one. We'll be picking a random commenter on one of the hop spots below to win our ENTIRE new 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 the full hop list and all the prize info and deadlines!

1. Julee 9. Lesley 2. Maureen 10. Christyne 3. Betty 11. Laurie 4. Charmaine 12. Kelly (Guest) 5. Marisa 13. Laurie W. (Alumni) 6. Amy S.(Alumni) 14. Tosha L. (Alumni) 7. Amy K.(Alumni) 15. Tiffany S.(Alumni) 8. Michelle W. (Alumni)

I'm back today for the final day of the new Verve release. It has been so much fun! I appreciate ALL of your SWEET comments over the last few days! You know how to make a girl's day! Don't forget that you can head over to the Verve site today to purchase these amazing sets. The link to the store is included above! I'm sharing two cards today to finish off the release. This first design is a combination of the "Cakes and Candles" set and the fabulous "Bloom Brighter" set. I seriously love these flowers. They are so easy to use and the coordinating die cuts make them a breeze to create easy embellishments.

For this design, I heat embossed three of the large blooms using white powder onto Bristol paper since I did ink blending. After I heat set them, I blended some distress ink using Peacock Feathers, Raspberry Preserves and the straw color ( I can't remember the name). I just love how the emboss resist looks with these flowers. 
For the base, I blended some more ink onto a piece of Bristol paper. I stamped the black sentiment from the "Cake and Candles" set at the bottom using my MISTI for perfect placement and a saturated image.

The "enjoy today" sentiment strip was heat embossed onto black paper using white powder. I was only planning on using one of the sentiments horizontally, but as I was aiming for the "perfect" embossed piece, I realized how cool it would be to use multiple images across the entire strip. I just love how it turned out. Creating a sentiment strip like this makes it easy to incorporate a smaller image while still using a bold sentiment as well, like I did at the bottom.

I saved this card for the end because it is hands down, one of my favorite sentiment images from Verve. I used it years ago on THIS card that I made for my daughter. I re-read that whole post and I was just laughing! Such fond memories...
To begin, I sponged some Antique Linen distress oxide ink onto some Bristol paper. Once that was done, I heat embossed the sentiment with white powder onto a circle of Bristol paper and then used Peacock Feathers distress ink to blend over the top. 

I adhered the stenciled background onto a Kraft A2 card base and added a strip of bitty dot patter paper on the side. The black twine is threaded through a punched hole on the fold of the card and then tied in a bow. The circle sentiment piece is added to the card front using foam squares.

I love that the coordinating die set includes the heart. I die cut it 5 times out of white cardstock and then stamped one of them with Candied Apple distress oxide ink. I stacked them using Tombow Mono and added some Nuvo glaze over the top for some shine. A few sequins finish this simple design off. Once again, I had so much fun being a guest for this release! Thank you, Julee! I love my stamping friends so much!!! I am so grateful for the friendships I have made over the years that have continued even though I have been "missing" for a few (or more) years! I think that sentiment fits perfectly with how I am feeling! Thanks for fluttering by!!!

Verve's 10th Anni-verve-sary Day 4-Scripture Medley 5

Welcome to Day 4 of the Anni-VERVE-sary Spotlight Hops!  It's time for another day of spotlighting the Verve release with the Verve Divas and special guests! We're super excited to have another very special Diva Alumni joining us for the hop today. Everything previewed this week will be available to order in the Verve online store on Monday, August 28. If you know you want it all, today is the final day to pre-order the August 2017 Buy it All Bundle at a 30% discount! Only one more sleep until release!
Today we're sharing our first projects featuring the Scripture Medley 5 stamp set. This set includes the re-introduction of the final 2 scripture plain janes, as well as 9 all new scripture verse stamps.

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 6. Tiffany S. (Alumni) 2. Maureen 8. Lesley 3. Betty 10. Christyne 4. Charmaine 11. Laurie 5. Marisa 12. Kelly (Guest)

I'm so excited to be back today to share a few cards for today's featured stamp set; Scripture Medley 5! There are so many amazing scriptures! They are the perfect combination to create all kinds of cards to send for encouragement, love, service and more! I just love it! I am also loving the hearts that are included in the set as well. They are the perfect addition! In the card above, I used some oxide inks and did some watercoloring with them. The heart  and coordinating die are included in the Little Ones set that was showcased on day one of the hop. It is such a simple design, but I really like how it turned out.

I'm a sucker for anything bee related so I couldn't wait to use this particular scripture. I paired it with the previously showcased floral set from earlier on Day 2. Once again, I watercolored the flowers. They are really addicting to use and embellish with.

This final card for today features the hearts in varying sizes. I really love how easy it is to get a nice arrangement with these. The background is blended using distress inks, but the red hearts are stamped using oxide ink for a nice, saturated, creamy look.

A few sequins and a strip of red pattern paper finish this card off making the sentiment the main focus! Very simple! Join me tomorrow as we wrap up the release! Thanks for fluttering by!

Verve's 10th Anni-verve-sary Day 3-Cake and Candles

Welcome to Day 3 of the Anni-VERVE-sary Spotlight Hops!  It's time for another day of spotlighting the Verve release with the Verve Divas and special guests! We're super excited to have a couple very special Diva Alumni joining us for the hop today. Everything previewed this week will be available to order in the Verve online store on Monday, August 28. If you just can't wait, you can pre-order the entire release now as the August 2017 Buy it All Bundle at a 30% discount through August 27.
Today we're sharing our first projects featuring the Cake and Candles stamp set, another fusion of old and new. This birthday themed compilation includes some brand new birthday sentiments with a classy modern font pairing, as well as a few re-introductions of previous sentiments and plain janes.

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. Lesley 2. Maureen 8. Christyne 3. Betty 9. Laurie 4. Charmaine 10. Kelly (Guest) 5. Marisa 11. Michelle W. (Alumni) 6. Tosha L.(Alumni)

Welcome to day THREE of the 10th Anni-verve-sary for Verve Stamps! I'm having so much fun and I'm so honored that Julee included me on this amazing milestone! She's a rockstar! I'm so beyond proud of her! With that being said, let's get on with the projects for today that showcase the fabulous new "Cake and Candles" set! You can't ever have too many birthday sentiments and this one is sure to become a fast favorite! 

 I actually chose to create a non-traditional birthday card and in all reality, it doesn't even need to BE a birthday card because the sentiment can be used for a generic thinking of you design. I felt like creating something with an organic vibe to it. I think it was those little ferns that got to me again. They are included in the stamp set that was showcased yesterday if you'd like to scroll down to yesterday's post.  Such a sweet little image but it really can pack a punch when it is used in the right way. To begin, I created this background using distress oxide ink and a stencil. I really like how it came out. From there, my mind's eye needed some corrugated Kraft paper. So....I dusted off(literally) the old paper crimper and got to work. I can see my crimper getting a little more attention in the future, too. I used to use it quite a bit.

It created the perfect backdrop for the focal sentiment piece that I turned into a tag by adding an eyelet and some hemp. I diecut a trio of the fern images and scattered them across the card. I matted the corrugated panel onto a piece of black paper for some added contrast.

 My next design showcases a more traditional use of the set as well as a fun, rainbow stenciled background. It was created using an assortment of oxide inks and a stencil. I trimmed it down slightly to fit onto an A2 card base. 

 I stamped the cupcake image onto white paper and then colored it using copic markers. After that was done I punched it out with a circle punch and adhered it to a black  piece of paper that the sentiment had been heat embossed onto previously. The finishing touch is an assortment of rainbow sparkle gems for some shine. I couldn't resist putting one as a cherry on top of the cupcake. 

This last card is a quick one that I decided to make last minute because I just HAD to use this fun saying with the cupcakes! It is a shaker card, but in the end, I didn't add enough sequins. boo hoo! Oh well! It's still cute and gets the point across. I created the windows using square die cuts and then used my MISTI to line up the cupcakes perfectly! They are colored with copic markers and then a litte wink of stella for shine! Thanks for fluttering by!