Sneak Preview - Hearts on Fire

We have yet another Verve preview today! Are you as excited as I am? This stunning set of THIRTEEN stamps...that's right, THIRTEEN...is called Hearts on Fire and will be available following Friday night's release party.

Here's my sample using both the big, gorgeous, scrolly heart (technical terms, LOL), as well as one of the patterned designs. You're going to love all of the choices given to you for patterns and sizes in this set.

From design Diva Jackie Pedro:

When I first saw the new Hearts on Fire set I was instantly drawn to the heart with the scrolls image. I knew that would be the first stamp to see ink! LOL! I just love the elegance of this set. And don't think you are limited to just Valentine's Day! Hearts are timeless and can be used on many projects such as wedding, love or just because! It also pairs beautifully with some of the other Verve sets such as Grateful Elegance and Artful Elegance. I know I will get so much use out of this set. It's possibilities are endless! For my card I stamped the main image heart/scroll in Chocolate Chip ink and then stamped another of the heart images from the set in Riding Hood Red ink, cut it out and popped it up on a dimensional. To dress it up a bit I added some Chocolate adhesive pearls to a few of the scrolls and then to the corners of the main image. The embossed swirls on the Blush cardstock was done with the Swirl embossing folder from ProvoCraft, and I think it finished off the card perfectly.

From design Diva Jen del Muro:

Valentine's Day is one of the most fun holidays to make treat holders for...well, in my opinion at least. To make this box a little more fun, I created a swinging heart window so that the recipient can peek into the box to see the contents. The ribbon at the top keeps the whole thing secure enough so that no chocolates can escape.

Box base dimensions and score marks:

11" x 6" piece of cardstock
Along the 11" side, score at 4", 5", 9" and 10"
Along the 6" side, score at 1"

Like what you see? Well, this Verve-alicious set could be coming home to you! Just leave us a comment with the answer to the following question (see below) by Friday January 9 at Noon (Mountain Time) and you could be the lucky winner. And for even more Verve-alicious party favors, be sure to check out tomorrow's sneaky peek here on the blog as well as the Lookin' For Love Release Party Challenge on our SCS Forum. Winners will be announced at our release party on Friday night (it starts at 8 PM EST in the Verve Forum on SCS--mark your calendar NOW)!

Here's your question that goes along with the "Looking For Love" theme: What was your best or worst date ever? Share which ever you'd like.

Sneak Previews - Jeremiah 29:11 & Sweet Valentine

Happy Tuesday, Verve fans! It's Shannan here, and boy do I have some awesome stuff to show you! Today we're previewing not one, but two sets! I know...good stuff! This release is really fabulous. I know, I say that every time, but I'm serious!

I chose to work with Jeremiah 29:11, which is a set of 2 stamps. This is one of my all-time favorite verses, so I was over the moon when Julee showed it to us. I created this card based on the colors in the October Afternoon paper. After stamping the verse and embossing it with black detail embossing powder, I cut the panel with my Rectangle Nestabilities and sponged the edges with Old Olive ink. Stamping the cross over the verse was a last minute touch, but I really like it. A few brads, some ribbon, and I was done!

From Fabulous Guest Diva Lynda Benden:
What an awesome honor to be Julee's guest designer this month!!! I got even MORE excited when I saw the BEAUTIFUL stamps included in this months release!!! When I the saw Jeremiah 29:11 stamp in Julee's new release, I felt a bit intimidated since I don't usually use Religious stamps. Oh, don't get me wrong, I have ALWAYS admired the beautiful creations others have made and thought, I hope I can do this stamp set justice! Of course the first colors that came to mind were Silver, White, Vanilla, Black....etc.... I wanted to make something different and you know what, I LOVE how it turned out and will be giving it to my Mother in Law. I wanted to make just a generic, subtle all occasion card and chose decorative papers from K& Co. and Webster's Pages as well as Artichoke and Chocolate Chip cardstock. The cross was heat embossed using Gold Glory embossing powder, cut out and then mounted using dimensionals on top of some leaves punched from my Martha Stewart punch. The little Auburn rhinestones are from Kaiser Craft and added just a little shine to a very simple card.

From Diva Amy Sheffer:
If you're looking for a totally adorable Valentine set that won't break your bank, Sweet Valentine is for you! But don't be fooled by the set's name -- three of the four stamps work just as well year-round as they do for Valentine's Day. I know I {heart} my hearts all year long! And at only $9 ... what's not to love?

From Diva Laura Fredrickson:
I didn't start out with a clean and simple card in mind.
In fact there was a whole lot going on at the beginning of it's journey. But, as I started removing the things that didn't work, I was left with a clean and simple Thank-you that did! I popped up the double hearts and added some Burgundy Stickles to the tiny hearts on the sentiment to balance. A sweet Thank-You with big heart!








Like what you see? Well, this Verve-alicious set could be coming home to you! Just leave us a comment with the answer to the following question (see below) by Friday January 9 at Noon (Mountain Time) and you could be the lucky winner. And for even more Verve-alicious party favors, be sure to check out tomorrow's sneaky peek here on the blog as well as the Lookin' For Love Release Party Challenge on our SCS Forum. Winners will be announced at our release party on Friday night (it starts at 8 PM EST in the Verve Forum on SCS--mark your calendar NOW)!

Here's your question that goes along with the "Looking For Love" theme: My son told me he has his first crush...he's in 3rd grade. It made me remember my first boyfriend, Drew. I was in 1st grade and he was in 3rd, and he always brought me presents. So tell me how old were you when you had your first crush?

Sneak Previews---Meditations

Well, now that the holidays are behind us and the New Year has started, are ya'll ready for some new Verve-aliciousness!?! This month Verve is releasing 6 new sets, and each one is better than the next!!! Ya'll are going to absolutely swoon over them!! So if you're lookin' for some new Verve to love, you came to the right place!
Today I get to kick off the week of Sneak Peeks with the new set called Meditations. Not only does it include one of my favorite verses, but it also has some fabulous flower images that are so fun to emboss, cut out and layer, or just stamp as the main focal image. It also reminds me of a dear friend of mine who taught me this verse and its meaning several years ago...what wonderful words to live by! My flowers here are cut out and layered onto a scallop circle that I stamped the verse onto and then dampened with water to smoosh and create the bottom flower layer. (Wet it on the back, so the ink won't smear.) Once they dry, they pretty much stay in that shape--try it! I also followed the first Viva la Verve sketch challenge (VLVJan01) over on the SCS forum! You don't want to miss playing with us!!
Now check out what Amber did with this new set:

Meditations is one of those sets I can see using for many different reasons. Whether it's for a friend who's a little down, to just a general encouragement, this verse is really comforting! Too bad my card is a little too loud to be comforting, lol! I had fun with it though, and that's what's important.
I started with a piece of Kiwi Kiss cardstock by SU! and layered some of my new October Afternoon dp. I sewed (I KNOW!) around the edges of the card, just cause I was running out of adhesive. Okay, not really! I love the look and texture that sewing adds. The REALLY sparkly flowers were stamped in Night of Navy ink (SU!) on Kiwi Kiss paper and then I went over it with Mint Ice Stickles. I really love that dark sparkly look! I love buttons so I had to add some to the flower centers. I had to.
Then all this card needed was some ribbon (Ripe Avacado-PTI) and some SCALLOPS! Scallops make everything better, doncha think?
Want to see more? Keep reading and see what one of our newest Verve divas, Jen Tapler, did with the set:

I just LOVE the flower images in the Meditations set...not only do they beautifully accent the scripture in the set, but they are just a great "everyday" set of flowers perfect for just about any occasion! I decided to use them to make a simple gift for a friend using this cute mini paint pail I picked up at my craft store a few weeks ago. Using my new fave color combo - Riding Hood Red, Baja Breeze, and Kraft (with a hint of Chocolate Chip) - I made a simple card to go with the altered paint pail filled with Hershey's candies!! Oh, and those flowers emboss GORGEOUSLY!! I added some American Crafts glitter Thickers and paper piercing and that's it!! Those beautiful flowers just don't need much else!

Like what you see? Well, this Verve-alicious set could be coming home to you! Just leave us a comment with the answer to the following question (see below) by Friday January 9 at Noon (Mountain Time) and you could be the lucky winner. And for even more Verve-alicious party favors, be sure to check out tomorrow's sneaky peek here on the blog as well as the Lookin' For Love Release Party Challenge on our SCS Forum. Winners will be announced at our release party on Friday night (it starts at 8 PM EST in the Verve Forum on SCS--mark your calendar NOW)!

Here's your question that goes along with the "Looking For Love" theme: Today my 8 year old daughter, Lindsie, was oogling through her new Tiger Beat magazine that Santa brought her (she's never had one) and acting all "tweenish"; getting giddy and talking about all the teen idols. WHO WAS YOUR TEEN IDOL? Mine was definitely Andy Gibb. I always thought he was so foxy (is that still a word?)!