Anni-Verve-sary Blog Hop 2010

Welcome to the Anni-VERVE-sary Blog Hop! Verve turns three today and we’re celebrating with a hop, hop, hop! If you've already been hopping along, you arrived here from the very talented Verve Diva Shannan's blog. If not, head on over to Julee's Blog (owner of Verve), for all the info on how to win prizes (after all, what's a party without presents?), and to start hopping from the beginning. If there's a hiccup along the hop, you can always head to the Master Hop List to get the full list of links.

My Grandmother has been my idol and inspiration all of my life. She and I have always been very close. Grandma is 96 years old and is still as quick witted as ever. She is a very "hip" Grandma and has always been with the times. But sadly, Grandma's heart is now failing. She loves receiving my cards so I wanted to make her a special card before she passed.

There is no way I could ever be exactly like her, but I hope that I have retained some of her wonderful qualities. I wanted to convey a little something to her along those lines, that's why I chose this very special sentiment.

At the very last minute I decided to add this to the inside. I wanted to keep it fairly simple so that I can write her a note. Hope you enjoyed my card. It might take me all day long, but I'll be visiting and commenting on every blog on the Hop for sure! Have fun hopping!

Stamps: Verve's Because of You, Grateful Elegance

Ink: Versamagic Turquoise Gem, Versamark

Paper: PTI Aqua Mist, Hawaiian Shores,  Vintage Cream

Misc: Clear Embossing Powder, Cream Embossing Powder, Flat back pearls, Pop Dot, SU Top Note Die, PTI Hawaiian Shores Satin Ribbon

Thanks for hopping by! Now it's time to hop on over to the Sweet and Fabulous Terri E’s blog for a little more Verve-y goodness.

Little Bundle

A very good friend of mine asked me to make her a baby card for her friend. I am really not good at coming up with something without any direction. But thanks to a sleepless night I was able to sketch this card out in my head. I tried to keep it simple but let the elements pop out.

I decided to try out a window technique that I've seen before but never did myself. For this card I had to work from the inside out. I cut out the Top Note shape and stamped the sentiment on it. Then I adhered it to the inside of the card. Next I took a scrap piece of cardstock the exact size of the card. Found the center with my T Ruler and traced around the nestabilities circle in the center. I cut it out to make sure it would line up properly. I wanted to make sure you could read most of the sentiment from the outside. Once I was sure it would, I then lined up the Nestabilities circle in the center of the front of the card and cut.

I used an old PTI stamp box for the clear acetate window. After I cut the openings in the front, I cut out a piece of the plastic box and laid it between the cardstock layers. Used my ATG gun to adhere it all down. Then I added the cute little baby and Prima Roses.

Inside you can see the cute little butterflies I added next to the sentiment. I hope the new Momma enjoys it as much as I enjoyed making it! Thanks for stopping by!!























Stamps: Dress Up Sweet Pea by Pink Cat Studio
Ink: MS Chalk Ink in Pink Geranium, Memento Black
Paper: PTI Vintage Cream, SU Certainly Celery, Rosy Cheeks by Imaginisce
Misc: SU Top Note Die, MS Butterfly Punch, Clear PTI Stamp box for clear cardstock, Prima Roses, PTI Silk Ribbon, PTI Sweet Blush Button, SU Certainly Celery Twill Ribbon, Nestabilities, Copic Markers, Pop Dots

Clothesline Easel Card

My cousin and his wife just recently had twins. A boy and a girl. They had them through a surrogate so I wanted to make an extra special card. I got this great Unity stamp as a RAK from my friend Chrissy a while back. I thought it would be perfect!

I colored the clothes with copic markers and popped them up. Then I glued down some twine for the clothesline. I made it look like an outdoor scene using some cloud paper and the fence punch. I cut the grass myself with scissors even though I could have easily used the Silhouette. I was on a roll and didn't want to stop by using the computer! I found the PERFECT sentiment to go on the front of the card. I was so excited once I pulled it together.

I had decided to make this an easel card just to give it more pop. I don't have many baby sets so I struggled to find a sentiment for Twins. Luckily I was able to use this sentiment from Signature Greetings and add an "S" to the word bundle. For the "S" I just inked up a letter from another sentiment in the set.  The Memento Dew drops work perfectly for these tight areas!




I added a couple of strips of patterned paper at the bottom to finish off the card. I am working on a picture frame to send with the card. I'll post it when I'm done. :) Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you enjoyed your weekend!

Stamps: Unity, PTI Everyday Button Bits & Signature Greetings
Ink: Memento Black, Colorbox Night Sky, Distress Ink, Copics
Paper: PTI Vintage Cream, Hibiscus Burst, Summer Sunrise, October Afternoon Patterned  Paper
Misc: EKSuccess Punch, MS Fence Punch, PTI Hawaiian Shores Buttons, Twine, pop dots, Stickles, sewing machine

Pink & Gray Love

I thought I'd try another CAS card. I'm not sure where I found this layout. I had it scribbled on a post it note and it sat on my desk for a very long time. I'm guessing it's from the CAS Blog, probably the Fall to Layout Sketch #85. This is another swap card I made for the SCS PTI swap that I'm in. I made 8 of these. They came together quickly but tying bows still gives me such a fit!!Apparently I am bow tying impaired.

Stamps: PTI Delightful Dahlia & Signature Greetings
Ink: PTI Smokey Shadow, Memento
Paper: PTI White, Bazzill Grey
Misc: EK Success Scallop Punch, Pink satin ribbon, MS Butterfly Punch

Soaring By

I'm stunned! I won an honorable mention on The Playdate Cafe's blog for my Argyle card. Wow! I'm the one who feels honored. So how appropriate that today's card is in the clouds. Exactly how I'm feeling. :)




I'm in a PTI swap over on SCS hosted by my good friend Amy. We were to make a square card. I chose to try making one of those "scene-like" type of cards that have been popping up all over the place. They are by far my favorite, followed closely by the Clean and Simple designs. Weird combo, huh? Yep, that's me.

I had a ton of fun creating this card. It was sooooo nice to have some alone time in my craft room after a week of entertaining the In-Laws. So much so that I made 6 of these cards plus another one for me to keep for myself. :) Crafting is so therapeutic for me. I really need to make more time to craft. Hope you get some crafting time in soon!


Stamps: PTI Everyday button Bits, Text Background
Ink: Memento Black & Rose Bud, Colorbox Sky Blue
Paper: SU Bashful Blue, PTI Green Leaf & Hibiscus Burst
Misc: PTI Lemon Tart, New Leaf, Hawaiian Shores & Hibiscus Burst Buttons, pop dots, felt, felt glue, sewing, copics

Cherry Blossom Tree & Elegant Chick

I had a vision of making a Cherry Blossom Tree. But I didn't have the right stamps and ink. Or so I thought! (I'm in the process of getting rid of all of my PTI inks and supplementing with other manufacturers so my ink selection is limited right now.) I used the tree from SU's Branch Out set and the flowers are from PTI's Floral Fusion. I inked a group of 3 blossoms and stamped off on some scrap paper so I could get just the right color of pink. I added some darker flowers to add some depth. Then I used a Copic Marker for the center of the flowers. That's one of the great things about the Memento ink, you can use Copic markers right on top of them!! I tried making the tree look like it was losing some blossoms in the wind. Not sure if I accomplished it, but I tried. I made 6 of them for a swap held by my good friend Jen. It's a clean and simple design but it was A LOT of stamping. Sure was fun though and that's what matters! :)

Stamps: SU Branch Out, PTI Floral Fusion
Ink: Memento Rose Red, Palette Burnt Umber
Paper: Gina K Luxury White Cardstock, PTI Hibiscus Burst
Misc: PTI Hibiscus Burst Button, misc ribbon, twine, pop dots, copic marker

The next card is for the same swap. My wonderful and generous friend Banu sent me her extra PTI Anniversary set, Round and Round. (Does anyone else sing that eighties song in your head when you read the name of this set? heehee! Who sings that anyway?) This was the first time I was able to use it. It's such a nice set. I especially love the big flourish with the circle in the center. So many things you can do with it!!

I didn't use ANY pink on this card!! I know Chris will be proud of me. It was tough, let me tell you. I think for me, pink is what Kraft is for most people. It's my neutral. :) But it's nice creating out of my box. Once in a while.

Stamps: PTI Round and Round, Everyday Button Bits, Polka Dots 2
Ink: PTI Hawaiian Shores, Versamagic Olive
Paper: PTI Hawaiian Shores, Aqua Mist, Select White, SU Old Olive
Misc: PTI Lemon Tart buttons, flat back pearls, nestabilities, pop dots, EK Success Scallop Punch

Busy Bug

I made this card for my best friend. I hope to visit her next month. I haven't seen her in years and years. We've both been very busy living in different states and raising our kids. I promised her that I'd drive all the way up to see her if I had to. Even if it means 14 hours in a car with 2 kids with no DVD player. Oh the horror! But she is definitely worth it.

I thought this card was too busy with the patterned paper and then I paper pieced the car. I played around and even used a copic colored car instead but it just didn't look right. So I'm not thrilled with this but I'm hoping my friend will be.

Stamps: Clear Dollar Stamps
Ink: Memento black
Paper: October Afternoon, PTI Hawaiian Shores & Summer Sunrise, Raspberry Fizz Dots Patterned Paper
Misc: PTI Raspberry Fizz Satin Ribbon, PTI Lemon Tart button, PTI Cream Twine, pop dots, acetate for windshield

The Play Date Challenge {with no kids involved!!}

This is my first time trying the Play Date Cafe Challenge. Actually I just happened to stumble upon the blog today. I loved the combo so I just had to play!

I loosely based my sketch on the Fall to Layout Sketch #96. Well, it started out CAS with just the argyle. Then I made a mistake so I thought I should cover it up with some ribbon. But the ribbon was too high up so I added the butterfly to try to balance it out. Then it still didn't look right so I added some more ribbon to give it a gift box effect. It's funny how the end result can sometimes be something that you did not have in mind at all. Gotta love those mistakes. ;)

Usually ofter playdates I am exhausted and need some alone time. Preferably in my craft room. But this play date was kid free and just what I needed after a long weekend. Happy Monday!

Stamps: PTI A Little Argyle, Butterfly Dreams, Signature Greetings
Ink: Memento Angel Pink, Lady Bug
Paper: Gina K Luxury White Cardstock, PTI Pure Poppy
Misc: PTI Butterfly Die, stickles, white satin ribbon, pop dots

Here to give you a Lift

Hello my poor little deserted blog. I've missed you!! I had some free time the other day so I created this card just for fun.  I also had some time to create another 15 cards. However, 12 of them are swap cards that need to mailed out. Stop by tomorrow to see some more! Hope you are having a wonderful weekend.


Stamps: PTI Everyday Button Bits, Text Background
Ink: Memento Rose Bud & Tangelo, Versamagic Turquoise Gem, PTI Hawaiian Shores, SU Garden Green, Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Peeled Paint
Paper: PTI Vintage Cream, New Leaf
Misc: PTI Buttons, Vintage Cream Felt & Vintage Cream Twill, Shearing scissors, Felt Glue

Long time no SEE!!!

Hello everyone! Long time no "see". It's been exactly one month. Pathetic!! Kids home from school, a puppy to train, in-laws due here any day and a computer crash has kept me busy. I've missed blogging and creating so much!! I hope to get back on track soon. Especially since I ordered some new PTI goodies. :)

This week I posted a Paper Piecing challenge over at the Papertrey Chicks blog. Check it out and join us if you feel inspired to do so. I thought I'd post the photo and deets over here just to give you some eye candy.

The first card I made using some October Afternoon Paper and PTI's Baby Button Bits. It's a very simple card, but I wanted to showcase the paper piecing aspect of it.

This next card is a cute 3x3 that literally took seconds to make. I'm going to make 5 more of these babies  in varying colors and make them a complete set. When that will be? Who knows...lol!

This last project was something that I have been itching to do for a long time. SCRAPBOOK!!! I used to scrap every week and I need to get back into it. I've even considered getting rid of all of my stamps  and stop card making just to force myself back into it. Crazy talk, I know. Don't worry, I still have plenty of stamps and many reasons to keep making cards.

Well that's it for now. Must feed kids, dog, self and shower. But hey, I got to play with my toys this morning. Yay!!

Project Details:

Baby Card:

Stamps: PTI Baby Button Bits, Honey Bee, Little Lady

Ink: Ranger Distress Ink, PTI Dark Chocolate

Paper: PTI Summer Sunrise, Hawaiian Shores, Lemon Tart Bitty Dot paper, October Afternoon

Misc: PTI button, misc satin ribbon, PTI twine, pop dot

3x3 Card:

Stamps: PTI Delightful Dahlia, Through the Trees

Ink: Black Memento

Paper: PTI Hibiscus burst, Summer Sunrise, Aqua Mist Bitty Dots

Scrapbook Page:

Stamps: PTI Butterfly Dreams, Delightful Dahlia, Fresh Alphabet, Polka Dot 2, Impression Obsession Journaling 1

Ink: PTI Hawaiian Shores, Memento London Fog & Black, Versamagic Dew Drops

Paper: PTI Hawaiian Shores, Spring Moss, White Select, SU Certainly Celery, misc blue

Misc: PTI Buttons, MS white twill ribbon