Viva la Verve March Week 4

Hi there and happy Friday!

I just wanted to let you know that I am posting over on the Viva la Verve sketch challenge blog with this week's sketch. Have you played along with each challenge in March? There is still time!

Hop over and see this week's sketch!

Have a great day!

Creative Blog Hop

Well hello there!

Today I am hopping along with the Creative Blog Hop. My sweet friend Jeanne Jachna nominated me to share a few things about myself and how I create.

Jeanne is the type of person that you know right off the bat that the girl has talent. She has a way with color and I will never forget the first time I came across her work: I was choosing favorites for the WMS Sketch Challenge and Jeanne had created a Christmas card in pink and purple. Her card was the perfect mix of shades and complimentary elements and I remember thinking that I was sure to see more fabulous creations from this lady - and I was right. We hit it off and she is a superstar, I am so lucky to be able to work with her on the WMS Design Team, bounce ideas off of her and share in her amazing accomplishments!

So on to the hop - here are the questions she's asked me:

1. What are you working on now?

At the moment, I am finishing up a recap for the Viva la Verve sketch challenge for this week.

I like to have challenges to join because otherwise the days start to add up when I don't make time to make cards. Something is always going on around the farmhouse... we have two woodworking projects, a few home improvements, and some painting started, so something is always vying for my time.

I love the Fusion and Tag You're It Challenges as well. I feel pretty lucky to be able to sit down and make a card just for the heck of it, but sometimes I get something in my head and have to get it out.

I created this card after seeing a wedding set in a Paper Source catalog. It really got the wheels rolling, and I just needed to see it through.

2. How does your work differ from others in your genre? 

I have to laugh at this question because I worry that it doesn't! I sometimes find that for me to make a card, I fall back to that old familiar and happy style that makes me feel comfortable. I love Wplus9's Oatmeal cardstock, I love to fussy cut things, and I love to give them a dose of Antique Linen Distress Ink.

I sometimes feel like my cards have those three things in common.. but I guess that I am consistent in my style!

3. Why do your create what you do?

I feel lucky when I can create for no reason. Usually my work is done for a Design Team or because I refuse to buy someone a birthday card! I always try to make sure to put that extra effort towards a celebration or a hello - hand making things is my love language!

4. How does your creative process work?  

I almost always start with some sort of inspiration. Sketches and color challenges are my most favorite, and from there, I pick something I would like to work with. I try to not let new supplies sit unused for too long, so I turn to them first. Sometimes, though, an old favorite helps to get my creative juices flowing. The Old Country Roses set from Waltzingmouse Stamps is a real jolt for me.

Sometimes creating is really a struggle for me - but when I feel stuck I like to flip through other cards that I have created. It helps to reinforce what I like about cardmaking and helps to remind me that having a comfortable style is ok!

Jeanne, thank you for giving me the opportunity to share a bit more about me and my process, and thank you for stopping in today!

Serendipity Stamps Blog Hop

Hello, hello!

Today I am excited to be a part of the Serendipity Stamps blog hop.

You should have arrived here from Mary's blog - I hope you'll take a minute a take a peek at what I have made, and then be sure to head over to Miriam's blog.

These stamp sets are a little extra special to me because I helped design them! Mary had been looking to add some retro themed sets to the Serendipity lineup and shared some ideas. I worked on two sets - the Retro Rectangles set and the Retro Starburst set.

These images are perfect for creating your own patterns, with lots of options for layering and building.

First up, a little something with Retro Rectangles.

I just love rainbows, don't you? The Retro Rectangles set has a larger image comprised of three overlapping rectangle outlines. The other solid rectangles in the set then coordinate with the outlines, allow you to 'fill' or layer inside the frames. For this card, I started by stamping the large rectangle outline down the side of my card. I rotated the image each time I stamped it to change up the pattern. Then I went back in with the solid rectangles and stamped my rainbow, allowing the colors to overlap where the rectangles did. This card was simple to create and pretty cheery if you ask me!

My next two cards were made using the Retro Starburst set.

For this card I have used every image in the set, layering the different circles and accents. Isn't it fun? I also used the super fabulous woodgrain sequins that Serendipity is carrying. These are the Beech sequins.

My final card is unabashedly my favorite. I just love the colors and really adore this cathedral window pattern.

I used the diamond image from the set and stamped it repeatedly. I used an acrylic block with a grid on it to help keep things lined up. I didn't want to cover the pattern up, so I topped this off with a little bit of vellum and the Thanks Die. I trimmed the little swirly off the bottom for a more casual feel. Love this!

Thanks for sticking with me this far - be sure to leave a comment, you could be the lucky winner of a $20 gift certificate to shop Serendipity! You have through Sunday 3/15 to comment; the winner will be announced on Mary's blog on Monday.

Miriam's blog is your next stop, here is the full list if you're just popping in!

Mary's Blog
Anya Schrier - you are here!

Miriam Napier
Vickie Zimmer
Jeanne Jachna
Jenny Gropp
Julie Warner
Karen Amidon
Marybeth Lopez

Take care!


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Hello Rainbow Card
STAMPS: Retro Rectangles, Hello - Serendipity Stamps
CARDSTOCK: Oatmeal - Wplus9; Smokey Shadow - PTI
INK: Poppy Parade, Peach Parfait, Daffodil Delight, Lucky Limeade, Wild Wasabi, Pool Party, Bermuda Bay, Pacific Point, Blackberry Bliss - SU!; Onyx Black Versafine - Tsukineko

Great Team
STAMPS: Retro Starburst, Tandem Bicycle Set - Serendipity Stamps
CARDSTOCK: Midnight Muse - SU!; Lake House, Oatmeal - Wplus9
INK: Lake House, Sweet Nectar, Fairy Dust, Ocean Drive, Nautical Navy, Little Piggy, Falling Star, Wild Mango - Wplus9
OTHER: Beech sequins - Serendipity Stamps; Woodgrain embossing folder - Darice

Retro Thanks
STAMPS: Retro Starburst - Serendipity Stamps
CARDSTOCK: White - Wplus9; Kraft, Paper Vellum - SU!
INK: Blushing Bride, Poppy Parade, Pumpkin Pie, Crushed Curry, Hello Honey, Coastal Cabana, Pacific Point - SU!
OTHER: Thanks Die - Serendipity Stamps; Rhinestones - Recollections

Friendship

Hi there!
I was so excited today to finally be able to walk our dogs again! The weather has finally warmed up to the point that the trails have cleared enough for us to safely take them out. I missed it.

I have a card to share that I made for the Wplus9 Throwback Thursday challenge. This month's challenge was highlighting the Guiding Light set.

I started by using some Distress Inks to watercolor some cardstock. I like how Maureen created a blended background and I went for the same thing only used the Guiding Light Dies and die cut elements from the cardstock I had watercolored. On such a small scale they weren't great representations of how pretty the watercoloring was, but it was fun nonetheless. It was great to pull this set out again.

Thanks for stopping by!

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STAMPS: Guiding Light, Guiding Light Sentiments - Wplus9
CARDSTOCK: Oatmeal, Honeydew - Wplus9; Sahara Sand - SU!
PATTERNED PAPER: Woodgrain - Amuse|Studio
INK: Silver Lining - Wplus9; Various Distress Inks - Ranger
OTHER: Guiding Light Dies - Wplus9; Canvas Impression Plate - PTI; Corner rounder

Happy Place

Hello there, just popping in to share my take on this week's Viva la Verve sketch.

Julee is the hostess this week, and here is her sketch:

And my take...

I am on a mint green kick! For this card I used the Happy Place stamp set with the coordinating Happy Doodles Die Set. This was a fun sketch, a great way to bring lots of different elements together. Won't you join us? Head over to the Viva la Verve blog to link up your creation!

Have a great rest of your Sunday!

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STAMPS: Happy Place - Verve Stamps
CARDSTOCK: Coastal Cabana, Pistachio Pudding - SU!; Oatmeal - Wplus9
PATTERNED PAPER: Burlap & Bouquets - Fancy Pants
INK: Rich Cocoa Memento - Tsukineko
OTHER: Happy Doodles Die Set - Verve Stamps; Circle Die - Spellbinders; Corner rounder - We R Memory Keepers; Copic markers; button

Halftone Thank You

Happy Friday!

Do you have any plans for the weekend? We have a handful of projects around here that have hit that 90% hurdle. It always seems like they sit there for ages. I am hoping we can hammer some of them out and move on to other projects (my hubby will love that!).

I am popping in today to share a card made for this week's Fusion Card Challenge.

I used the sketch as my main source of inspiration and incorporated some of the colors from the photo.

I used one of the larger circle images from the newly released Halftone Backgrounds set from WMS. A simple sentiment was added vertically to the panel along with a few gold sequins. Someone take these away from me!

I love how quick this one came together - I need that sometimes! Hope you enjoy your day, thanks for visiting!

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STAMPS: Halftone Backgrounds - WMS; Just My Type - My Favorite Things
CARDSTOCK: Oatmeal - Wplus9
PATTERNED PAPER: Woodgrain - Amuse|Studio
INK: Soft Sky, Crumb Cake, Pool Party, Tangerine Tango, Strawberry Slush - SU!
OTHER: Holiday Sequin Mix - Verve Stamps

March Verve Diva Inspirations Hop

Wow! It's the 5th of the month already and time for the Verve Divas to bring you our monthly Diva Inspirations Challenge and Blog Hop! There are two ways to win Verve prizes: comment on the design team's blog hop posts (linked below) to see their take on the inspiration, then go get inky and link up your take on the challenge to be eligible in our prize drawings!

Our March challenge is B is for Birthday...

Don't be caught short - make a fabulous birthday card to keep in your stash or give away! 
Use the inspiration graphic as a starting point, or head off in your own direction - just show us your birthday creations!

I always find myself scrambling for a birthday card, so this was the perfect challenge for me!  

I thought this was a fabulous inspiration photo and just what I needed to create this card for my niece's upcoming 5th birthday.  Do you see what jumped out at me from the photo?  I loved the black and white stripes combined with the soft peach and teal with a smattering of polka dots and gold!

I used the Petals & Wings stamp set along with the coordinating Wings & Petals die set.  I arranged them together, overlapping a bit and framing the sentiment from Better Together. 

I hope you are inspired to join us!
Click here to link up your challenge entries

Challenge deadline: Thursday, Mar. 19.
Prize: $40 gift voucher to the Verve online store!

Need a little inspiration? Check out the blogs linked below to see what the other Divas did with the challenge! It's sure to be a treat, and speaking of treats, we've got a prize for one lucky commenter along the hop! Check out the Verve Blog today for all the prize info and deadlines!

	1. Julee	7. Sankari
	2. Amy	8. Sarah
	3. Anya	9. Susan
	4. Betty	10. Marisa
	5. Jen	11. Maureen
	6. Karen	12. Stacey

Thanks for stopping by to see me today, I hope you have a great day!


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STAMPS: Petals & Wings, Better Together - Verve Stamps
CARDSTOCK: Soft Sky, Pool Party - SU!; Oatmeal - Wplus9
PATTERNED PAPER: Portrait Collection - Crate Paper
INK: Crisp Cantaloupe, Soft Sky, Pool Party - SU!; Onyx Black Versafine - Tsukineko; Antique Linen Distress Ink - Ranger
OTHER: Wings & Petals die set, Holiday Sequin Mix - Verve Stamps; Polka Dots Embossing Folder - Provo Craft; Corner rounder - We R Memory Keepers

Waltzingmouse Stamps February Release Day Hop

Hi there - you've made it!

Today we are still holding our traditional 'release day' blog hop, even though these sets have been available for a few days. Have you been enjoying our inspiration? Are you patiently waiting for some of these sets to wing their way to your craft room?

You should have arrived here from sweet Laurie Schmidlin's blog. The waltz starts over on Claire's blog, so be sure to head there if you're just popping in.

I have two more cards to share with you today, kind of a mash up of stamps and dies.

This card uses the Kaboom stamp set and Kaboom word die in a flirty color scheme that just screams tween.

The word die was stamped with the coordinating image from the stamp set. This is a great way to add even more to the versatility of these sets, the stamp just adds some oomph! I think this might be one of my favorite cards of the release.

My next card features a combo of Halftone Backgrounds, the Pretty Circles Die (here I used the surplus between the two circles) and the freebie Hello die. I am crushing on that gold embossed halftone stripe!

I hope you have enjoyed the DT showcase of this month's release and I look forward to seeing these sets popping up in your creations. All the details about the release and the information for the Pin It contest is available on the WMS blog.

My sweet friend Jeanne Jachna will be your next stop along the hop! Take care!

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You Nailed It Card
STAMPS: Kaboom - WMS
CARDSTOCK: Soft Sky - SU!; Dove Gray, Black - Wplus9
PATTERNED PAPER: Restoration Collection - Crate Paper
INK: Sweet Gelato, Wild Mango, Fairy Dust, Sweet Nectar, Falling Star, Silver Lining, Ocean Drive, Lake House - Wplus9; Onyx Black Versafine - Tsukineko
OTHER: Kaboom Word Die - WMS; Twine - PTI; Clip - SU!; Rhinestones - Recollections

Hello Card
STAMPS: Halftone Backgrounds - WMS
CARDSTOCK: Kraft - SU!; Oatmeal, Ballet Slippers - Wplus9
PATTERNED PAPER: Fly a Kite - October Afternoon
INK: Pigment White - Wplus9
OTHER: Pretty Circles Die, Hello Die - WMS; Detail Gold Embossing Powder - Stewart Superior; Sequins - Verve; Buttons

Waltzingmouse Stamps February Release, Day 3

Hi there,

I hope your week is off to a good start. Welcome to Day 3 of the February Release at Waltzingmouse Stamps. Remember, the stamps and die sets that we are showcasing are now available for purchase in the WMS Store! Tomorrow we will wrap things up with our traditional blog hop.

Today we are showcasing the Halftone Backgrounds stamp set and the Easter word die.

Halftone Backgrounds is a staple set if you like the graphic and mixed media styles, but with a little creativity, is a great accent to any style!

Nothing too fancy on this card, just some bold colors and lots of image layering. Here's a trick: I flipped the long strip stamp over and inked up the back side to add a solid shape to the mix. Any of the images in this set would be perfect candidates for this technique. The little chevrons are a fun accent, I stamped a few in a row and cut them out, adhering them to my card with dimensional adhesive. The sentiment is from the Kaboom stamp set, these two sets make a great pair!

My second card for the day features the Easter word die.

So pretty! The watercolor background was created using Distress Inks - nothing difficult, just some watercolor paper and a wet brush. The inks are very forgiving, and I was just going for something light and springy.

The word die was adhered to a strip of paper vellum and then to my card base. The 'He is Risen' is from the Nestie Eggs set.

That's all I have for today, please be sure to visit the rest of the Design Team, as well as Claire on the WMS Blog. Don't forget that the entire February release is available for purchase NOW in the Waltzingmouse Stamps Store!

Anya Schrier - you are here!

Becca Feeken

Jeanne Jachna

Julia Aston

Laurie Schmidlin

Lynn Mercurio

Sandie Dunne

Tosha Leyendekker

Claire Brennan

So glad you stopped by! See you tomorrow!

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You Did It Card
STAMPS: Halftone Backgrounds, Kaboom - WMS
CARDSTOCK: Midnight Muse - PTI; Oatmeal - Wplus9; Crushed Curry - SU!
INK: Crisp Cantaloupe, Pool Party, Night of Navy, Crushed Curry - SU!
OTHER: Tin Type Sprinklers - October Afternoon

Easter Card
STAMPS: Nestie Eggs - WMS
CARDSTOCK: Paper Vellum - SU!; 90lb Watercolor Paper - Canson
INK: Picked Raspberry, Dried Marigold, Squeezed Lemonade, Peacock Feathers Distress Ink - Ranger; Onyx Black Versafine - Tsukineko
OTHER: Easter word die - WMS; Butterfly Chip Shapes, Mister Huey's Calico Shine - Studio Calico

Waltzingmouse Stamps February Release, Day 2

Hello there!

Welcome back to Day 2 of the February Release at Waltzingmouse Stamps. This month, the Design Team is sharing inspiration and showcasing the sets that are NOW available for purchase in the WMS Store. We will conclude with our traditional blog hop on March 3rd, so I hope you will continue to visit to see what is new each day.

Today we are showcasing the Kaboom stamp set and Kaboom Die.

I can't see this set without immediately thinking of the vintage Batman comics:

image source

Channeling my inner fangirl, here's what's up for today:

This card features all images and sentiments from Kaboom. I stamped and colored the words and word 'bubbles' and cut them out, adhering them with dimensional adhesive. One thing I really like about this set is that it can really go in any direction you'd like - just perfect for a younger boy but also perfectly fitting for a girl, an adult, or even your sweetie. I think this next card would make a great card for the superhero in your life.

I started by first die cutting a pinked circle from black cardstock.  Then I centered the Kaboom Die and die cut that from the circle. I trimmed a piece of cardstock big enough to fit in the die cut window and covered it with double sided tape (I used three strips of 1/2" Scor-Tape), then added a different color of glitter to each strip to create an ombre effect. I peeled the backing from one strip of tape at a time and added the glitter before moving to the next.

Then I adhered the Kaboom Die cut word in the center of the window. The die also cuts an outline for the word, and I just put that aside for this project. The additional sentiment is from the Kaboom stamp set and was heat embossed in gold. I think this would make a great Valentine's Day card for my superhero husband.

So that is it for me today, be sure to visit the rest of the Design Team, as well as Claire on the WMS Blog. Don't forget that the entire February release is available for purchase NOW in the Waltzingmouse Stamps Store!

Anya Schrier - you are here!

Becca Feeken

Jeanne Jachna

Julia Aston

Laurie Schmidlin

Lynn Mercurio

Sandie Dunne

Tosha Leyendekker

Claire Brennan

So glad you stopped by! See you tomorrow!

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Bam! Kaboom! Card
STAMPS: Kaboom - WMS
CARDSTOCK: Island Indigo - SU!; White, Black - SU!
PATTERNED PAPER: Rocket Age - October Afternoon
INK: Tuxedo Black Memento - Tsukineko
OTHER: Chevron Embossing Folder - Sizzix; Copic markers

Kaboom - You're the One! Card
STAMPS: Kaboom - WMS
CARDSTOCK: Steel Mill, Black - Wplus9
PATTERNED PAPER: Rocket Age - October Afternoon
INK: Onyx Black Versafine - Tsukineko
OTHER: Kaboom Die - WMS; Pinking Circles Die - Spellbinders; Garnet, Fire Opal, Citrine Glitter - Martha Stewart Crafts; Detail Gold Embossing Powder - Stewart Superior