Mojo Monday 503

I'm baaaaaack.   After a very busy past six months, I think my card making hiatus is over.  Living the sandwich generation is not easy or for the faint of heart....with older teens in the house and aging parents with health issues on both sides, it has been a very, very busy and exhausting time.  I had very little time to myself and absolutely no energy to be creative so reading a good book always won out.  Withe the dust starting to settle the past few weeks, when I saw Julee bringing back the Mojo Monday sketches, I was very, very excited and it was the perfect impetus to create a card.  I have always loved her sketches and they were the perfect jump start I needed to get crafty again :)

With Christmas a month away, the timing was perfect to make a Christmas card.   I have always loved this Echo Park Winter Time paper and these Reverse Confetti trees were crying out to be used.  I paired them with some dark brown and avocado green paper, a pop of silver and topped things off with some silver cording and two silver bells.  Happy sigh... :) :)







What's In It?
Stamps: Verve (retired)
Paper: Winter Time (Echo Park), Early Espresso, Always Artichoke, Going Grey (Stampin' Up)
Ink: Black
Accessories: Lacy Circle and Circle Nestabilities, Branch Out Confetti Cuts (Reverse Confetti), Silver Twine, Silver Bells, Dimensionals

May Viva La Verve Sketch

It is May which means it is time for a new Viva La Verve sketch!  I have been so busy the past six weeks packing and moving my mom into a retirement home and then staging and trying to sell her townhouse that sitting and creating a card was wonderful therapy!

Julee has provided another fabulous sketch and I used it to create a Mother's Day card for my mom.  Love this verse from Proverbs from Scripture Medley 3, as it truly does describe my wonderful mother ♥  She is 84 and a real trooper.  We had a limited window of time to get things done before she moved and she rose to the challenge and then some.  Glad to say she is settled and loving her room and living at the retirement home which brings me great joy!!

Mixed a few papers for the sketch, and needed a pop of contrast so did some accents in black and added the butterfly from Butterfly Grace for good measure {grin}.  I apologize for the poor lighting.  Still very busy and being home for good lighting has been a bit of a challenge!

Come and join us over on the Viva La Verve blog!  Enter a card using the above sketch and you could win some new Verve!

Have a fabulous day!

 
What's In It?
Stamps:  Scripture Medley 3, Butterfly Grace (Verve Stamps)
Paper:   Gardinia (American Crafts), Essential Elements (Echo Park), Recollections (Michael's), Vellum (Stampin' Up)
Ink:  Black, VersaMark
Accessories:  Graceful Butterflies Die Set (A Cut Above by Verve), Scalloped and Circle Nestabilties (Spellbinders), Daisy Punch (Martha Stewart), White Embossing Powder, Sequins, Black Half Pearls, Twine,  Glue Dots, Dimensionals

Thinking of You

Love this Sentimental Wishes set!! So many fabulous sentiments and wonderful word fort art - Julee is the master at this!!  Had this card started for the recent release and ran out of time to complete it so posting it now.

I've had this MME Lime Twist paper forever and have had a hard time using it so this was the card to get it under control LOL.  I used the paper as the background flowers, the circle die from the Lacy Frames die set (adore this dainty lacy scallop!!), stamped a sentiment on it and added two hearts to fill in the panel and paired it with a pink frame and polka dotted pink middle using the Rounded Scalloped Frame die.  With Spring in the air, a flowered background and a Verve butterfly to use, it was a match made in heaven.  I embossed two of the butterflies from Hope Lifts on vellum (case from Diva Moe) for a soft, airy feel and used the matching die from the Lifted Hope die set to cut them out.  A few sequins and some grosgrain ribbon (remember that stuff....been a while since I used it but the twine didn't match so decided to bring it out of retirement ;) to finish things off.

Have a fabulous day and thanks for popping by today!

 
What's In It?
Stamps:  Sentimental Wishes, Hope Lifts (Verve Stamps)
Paper:   Lime Twist (My Mind's Eye), Burgundy, Pretty in Pink, Cool Caribbean, Vellum (Stampin' Up), Small Dots (Recollections)
Ink:  Black, VersaMark
Accessories:  Lacey Frames, Lifted Hope, Rounded Scalloped Frame Die Sets (A Cut Above by Verve), Crimper (Fiskars), White Embossing Powder, Sequins, Pink Grosgrain Ribbon, Twine,  Glue Dots, Dimensionals

Verve April 2018 Release Hop ~ Day 4

Welcome back to Day 4 of Verve's April Release Spotlight Hops!  This month we're combining our release hop with our monthly Diva Inspirations Hop Challenge.  We're stamping with a yellow color scheme this month and would love to see what you create. Hop along to see our takes on the challenge, then get inky and show us your take!

And since this is our April release hop, there's new Verve in the store this morning with a fabulous prize along our hop! Three beautiful new sets and coordinating die sets just released and the entire April collection is up for grabs to one lucky commenter on our hop today!

Today's featured focus is designer's choice combined with our April inspiration, so you might just sneak a peek at a whole bunch of must-haves! Check out all the challenge details on the Verve blog today.

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

I adore yellow and with the lack of sunshine and abundance of rainfall in our neck of the woods it was a sheer joy working with some wonderful yellow papers :)    I pulled in some orange from the balloons and green from the field of flowers as well.  The sentiment and butterfly are from Hope Lifts and butterfly die from Lifted Hope.  Added a touch of foliage using Sprightly Springs to ground my butterfly, and a few sequins and twine to finish things off nicely.  Can't wait to see yellow daffodils in my garden!!

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!

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1. Julee	5. Laurie
2. Michele (Guest)	6. Marisa
3. Betty	7. Maureen
4. Charmaine	8. Teresa

Time to head on over to Maureen's blog to see her wonderful creation which will be a feast for your eyes :)   

Have a wonderful day, and make sure to pop on over to the Verve Blog to check out the new sets or do a little Mother's Day shopping wink, wink :)   

 
What's In It?
Stamps:  Hope Lifts (Verve Stamps)
Paper:   Spring Time, Dots and Stripes (Echo Park), Certainly Celery, Only Orange (Stampin' Up)
Ink:  Black, Only Orange (Stampin' Up)`
Accessories:  Lifted Hope, Sprightly Springs (A Cut Above by Verve), Scalloped Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Stitched Circles (Lil' Inkers), Chicken wire Embossing Folder (Provo Craft), Sequins, Twine, Glue Dots, Dimensionals   

Verve April 2018 Release Hop ~ Day 3