Hello (#8)

Slowly but surely, I will get all of the Anni-Verve-sary cards shared with you all. This is another one of my favorites. I used Bazzill Black and White cs. I stamped and embossed the floral image (Dandy from Penny Black) in black and cut out with my oval nesties. I colored the flower with a Copic (G99-Olive) marker and then added a little glitter glue.

The satin ribbon was white and I wanted it to match, so I colored it with my Copic (G99-Olive) marker also. The word "hello" is from the Stampendous Sunny Flowers set.

I ran the white background panel through the Cuttlebug first with the Swiss Dots folder for the bottom and then the Leafy Branch folder for the top.

Finished it off with some green bling from Me and My Big Ideas.

I gotta run, we are off to a friends for a BBQ/Swim Party.

Hugs,

Mr. Owl's Heart

Here is card #7 from the Anni-Verve-sary (August 7). This turned out to be one of my favorites also. The green base layer for this card is from Bazzill, the purple layer is some paper that I had in my stash from ???. The white dots on the purple are embossed. I wish I could remember where I got this paper from. The print paper is from the first Karen Neuberger paper collection that was released from Paper Adventures. The verse is from Verve, the branch from Impress and Mr. Owl is from Hero Arts.

It is kinda hard to see, but Mr. Owl was paper pieced and I managed to get a heart from the paper for his chest. Too cute! For the verse panel, I cut the panel and scalloped panel with my nesties. The scallops on the purple panel were also cut with my nesties. I just layed the paper on the die so that only one edge would cut. The ribbons are from Amuse and they are so yummy too!

The branch stamp is a solid image and I took a hint from Julie Ebersole (JulieHRR) about outlining solid images with a fine black pen (Pigma Micron .005) to give it more definition. I used Prisma pencils and Copic markers to color, shade and define the branch and leaves.

Well, I should go and get ready for work. TTFN!

Little Lily

Wow, am I behind or what? By now, you all know that I made cards from all twelve of the Anni-Verve-sary sketches and that the contest has been over for a week now. I didn't win anything from Verve, but I am still a winner. I have twelve wonderful cards to add to my stash!

This was the sketch and card from Day 6 (August 6th). Keeping with the idea of using stuff that I already had in my stash, I pulled out the green print paper from the Paper Salon/Karen Neuberger/Sorbet collection. I really wanted to use the other side of this cardstock, but it just didn't come together the way I wanted. This sketch has a circle as the main image, so I changed it up a bit to use an oval instead. The stamp is an oldie, but not moldy from PSX. It is the Lily from the Botanicals collection. I wish I still had all of my Botanical stamps (have you seen what some are going for on Ebay?) I embossed the image with gold ep onto white shimmer cs and colored with Copic markers. It is hard to tell in the pic, but the shimmer from the cs comes through the color of the image. So pretty in person!

I used the Spellbinders tag set to make the strips for the eyelet brads (yes, eyelet brads) that my sister gave me some time ago. Thanks sis, I knew the orange would come in handy some day.

The corners are pierce with what seems to be my favorite design. Who am I kidding, it is the only design I know how to make. :) If you have designs or know of someone who does, leave me a comment with a link. I would love to check them out!

I will try to post again tomorrow with #7.

hugs to all,

This Day

Here is sketch and card #5 for the Anni-Verve-sary. I know I said I liked the way #4 turned out but this one really is my favorite of all of them. The base card is brown Bazzill and then a layer of aqua cardstock and then green Madeira cardstock. I used my Textile CB folder for the top brown panel with a smidge of the aqua behind the brown panel. The scallop edging was created using my Wrought Iron punch. You need to remove the guard from the punch to get the continuous edge. The phrase image is from Penny Black and the ribbon is aqua grosgrain from PTI. I used 3 aqua Dew Drops to finish off the phrase panel. If you have any questions about any of the card, leave me a comment and I will do my best to answer right away.

Have a nice evening,

Just for You

Here is card #4 in the 12 sketch Anni-Verve-sary. I really like the way this one came out. Throughout these sketches I have been using papers/stamps/embellies that I have had on hand. The base card (brown) and blue cardstocks are from Bazzill and the print is from Moxxie. The boot image is from Inkadinkado and the words are from Hero Arts. The button/brads are from my stash. The ribbons are from May Arts (brown check) and Creative Impressions (Blue Swirl). Something new for me is using Copics. I used them to color the boot and the rhinestones! These teeny blingies were clear and I was happy to have the right color of marker to make them match.

Well, I am off to watch Walsh/May play Vollyball in the Olympics. Go USA!!!!

Hugs,

Fancy Floral -- Sketch #3

Here is card #3 for the big Anni-Verve-sary. I must admit, this one was a toughie for me. You know when you can see something in your head and as hard as you try, it just isn't the same when you put it to ink/paper. No special techniques on this one. Just some embossing and layering. The stamps are from the Verve (link on the left) Fancy Florals set. The inks are: Orchid and Old Rose VersaColor for the pink flower and Canary and Vanilla Versacolor for the yellow looking flowers. The base cardstock is Bazzill. The prints are Babydoll (dot) and Tricycle (stripe) from Crate Paper.

Tha's all for now. I am off to work on Sketch #7 and watch the Olympics.

Hugs to all,

Untie the Ribbons

Here is the second sketch and card that I made for the Anni-Verve-sary. You can read all about it here. All cardstock for this card is from my 6 x 6 paper pad from the SEI Poppy collection. The phrase and butterfly stamps are from the Verve Asian Flair set. Imagine that, I bought an Asian set! Those of you close to me, know that as much as I like the Asian look, it is just not something I do well. Asian cards are Ginger's specialty! The beautiful red ribbon is from Midori, the gold cord is from my stash. The ink used was VersaColor-Cardinal.

TTFN!

Happy Birthday Kelly!

Happy 30th Birthday to my oldest niece, Kelly. Kelly lives in Texas (outside of Dallas) and I haven't see her for quite awhile. When I talked to her today, she was at work and I didn't have much time to talk to her. When I heard her voice it reminded me how much I miss her.

So, Kelly, I hope you have the happiest of birthdays.

I love you very much,

Auntie M

Many Thanks

Many thanks! That sums it up for me. I know it is not Thanksgiving, but as I post this card I am reminded of many of the things that I am thankful for.

At this time last year I was spending each day at the hospital with my Dad. Some days good, some days bad. One week from today, he passed away and as sad as it made me, I was thankful that he was no longer suffering and in pain. During this last year I have had many changes in my life and I am thankful for my family, extended family and friends as you have all made it a better year for me. Hugs to all of you!

Now, personal stuff aside, let me tell you about this card. Over the last year I have been admiring a new little stamp company that was called Verve Visuals, now known as Verve. As many of you know, I work/teach at my local stamp store and am thankful to have access to many of the different companies. I had started out by doing a few of Julee Tillman's Mojo Monday sketches and finally decided to bite the bullet and order a couple of stamp sets. Heck, who doesn't like receiving stuff in the mail (sister?). Now, if only Julee would sell wholesale, I could be using her stamps in my classes. (hint, hint Julee)

Verve is celebrating their first Anniversary and each day starting August 1 and going through August 12, (my b-day) Julee will post a sketch challenge over at her forum on SCS. SCS stands for Splitcoaststampers. SCS is a place where stampers from all over the world can mingle and share their works. She will continue each day through the 8th and then she will upload the rest of the sketches and give us all the weekend to work on them and get them uploaded by the 12th. Why would we do this? Julee will be releasing several stamps/sets this month and if you do all of her sketch challenges, you could be randomly chosen to win the entire release. Whew, that would be a great gift!

For this card, I used the Fancy Florals set. The solid cardstocks are from Bazzill and the print is from My Minds Eye's Signature Christmas line from last year. The ribbon is from Amuse and we just got all eight colors in at the store. YUM-O! No fancy techniques were used, however I did stamp the flowers onto print paper with red ink and emboss with clear powder.

So, this card was for the Aug 1 challenge and I have managed to do all of them so far. I will post the next one tomorrow night.

Stay tuned and hug the ones you love,