...Verve September Sneak Peeks ~ Day One

It's Release Week at Verve...and we are having a blast with the new images that debut this Friday, September 18! Verve will be releasing 6 new sets and a scripture Plain Jane immediately following the Release Party @ 9:00 p.m Eastern. The Divas will also be sharing sneak peeks starting today at the Verve Blog, and also on their individual blogs. There are also some Release Week Challenges at the Verve Forum that you can play along with for a chance to win some FREE STAMPS. So to get things started, I have a couple of sets to show you today!


This first set is my favorite of this release...it's called Swan Song. The swans were stamped with Basic Black Craft Ink, embossed with Clear Embossing Powder, then watercolored with an Aquapainter. I added some Lemon Stickles to the dark areas for some sparkle. The Crushed Curry Cardstock was paired with some Basic Black Cardstock, Whisper White Cardstock, and Night & Day Specialty Designer Series Paper. The panels were pierced using a Mat Pack and Paper Piercer, and Kaiser Black Rhinestones were added to cover the diagonal seam between the two pieces of patterned paper. The sentiment panel was created by punching out black and curry cardstock with the Curly Label Punch and Small Oval Punch. Isn't this set stunning? I absolutely love these swans...love, love, love them!

This next peek is of the new sentiment set, Wishing You. I really like this set because the "wishing you" is one stamp, and there are several other stamps you can use to complete your desired sentiment...I used "the best day ever" stamp for this particular card. It was stamped in Glorious Green Classic Ink, and the oval focal panel was created using Spellbinders' Classic Oval Nesties and my Big Shot. I sponged the panel with a Sponge Dauber and Pumpkin Pie Classic Ink. I punched the Glorious Green Cardstock with a Fiskar's border punch, and embossed the vertical Pumpkin Pie Cardstock panel with my Scor-pal. I used a Mat Pack and Paper Piercer to add some holes along side the pumpkin panel, then embellished with a piece of Pumpkin Pie Striped Ribbon, and Kaiser Green Rhinestones.

***Let me also take a moment to tell you how wonderful these clear stamps are! I was able to stamp these words in the perfect place without using a stamp-a-ma-jig or other placement tool. There is nothing like clear acrylic stamps...and you can't beat Julee's fonts that she uses for her words either!***

That's it for me today! Thanks for stopping by to see me, and I will see you back here tomorrow with another September release sneak peek. Until then...

...Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge #39 (MTSC39)

Happy Tuesday, everyone! It's time for another sketch challenge, but I wanted to take a moment to thank you all for taking part in last week's challenge! We had over 70 creations at last count, and I am just blown away by your enthusiasm and participation! Thank you so much for making my Tuesday sketches such a success...you guys are wonderful!

On a sadder note...our Muse, Shannan Teubner, lost a dear friend this week. She has gone to help and comfort the family, so she will not be participating in today's sketch. Please remember her and this family at this time of loss. We love you, Shannan, and pray for the Lord's strength and peace to be with you all in the days ahead.

Now for this week's Tuesday Sketch #39:


My Sample:

Suzy Tyler's Sample:

Now let's go see what these lovely ladies have in store for us today:

• Pam Speidel
• Cindy Haffner
• Pam Varnell
• Julie Lacey
• Crystal Birr
• Jackie Pedro
• Jessica Diedrich
• Shannan Teubner
• Suzy Tyler (September Guest Muse)

Now it's your turn! Create a card or scrapbook layout using the sketch above, and link your creation below in Mister Linky. Be sure to use the keyword MTSC39 when uploading to a public gallery. I will be checking out each submission, so don't be surprised if I contact you about being a guest designer for an entire month of Tuesdays...I already have a wish list of future guests!

Happy Stamping!!!

...How Do I Keep Up?

I have often been asked how I keep up with all of the challenges that are out there, and my answer is easy...I have a "Challenge Calendar" {seen below}! I purchased this Mead At-A-Glance Planner at Office Depot, and they usually run between $12-$20 depending on the size you want to get. The one I use is a little bigger than 8-1/2 X 11, but I needed a larger one for the way that I organize each challenge. Below is a picture of my planner for this week, September 14-September 20. The very first time slot on each day is designated for the Splitcoast challenges, then I add other challenges starting at the 10:00 a.m. slot and skipping to the next hour if there are multiple challenges for that day. For instance, Monday is a busy day...I have the Technique Lovers' Challenge, Mojo Monday sketch, Clean & Simple Challenge, Little Paper Shop sketch, and Card Positioning System sketch. I find that having a vertical planning area is the best solution for me {being OCD and all}, but you can use any configuration that works best for you.

Once I have completed a challenge/sketch I highlight it in yellow. Most of the time I post the challenge on my blog the same day I complete it, so I also add a note in red stating the date that the challenge was posted {as seen below}. Note the reminder about the Verve Project Parade in the lower right-hand corner...I can also use my planner to remind me what is due the next day.

As far as sketches are concerned, I am a stickler when it comes to following the layout exactly. So I always save a picture of the sketch in my documents on my laptop, open it up in Adobe Photoshop Elements, crop it, resize it to actual size, print it off, then measure each layer {as seen below}. I warned you that I was OCD! LOL! I also add the date above the sketch so I can keep them in order.

Some times you might find a piece of paper clipped into my planner. This would indicate my "urgent to-do list"...I have to get these things finished before I can start on anything else. For example, below I have a list of what I have to do for the next Verve Release...WHICH IS THIS WEEK! As you can see I have five uploads due before Thursday, and then four more are due before October 11th. I also have a Project Parade post to get ready for the September Release, so I have noted it below the uploads that are due. I also have to make a Mojo card, and Viva La Verve card, an MTSC card, and a Crazy 4 Challenges card. I will be out of town on a stamping retreat starting Friday, so I have to get everything that is due this weekend completed and posted to my blog before I leave.

That's it for me today! Thanks for stopping by, and I hope this sheds some light on the sickness that is my way of organizing! LOL! As I mentioned before it is Release Week for the new September Verve Stamps! Be sure to stop by the Verve Forum to check out the Release Week Challenges , and for your chance to win some FREE STAMPS. The next release is this Friday, September 18 @ 9:00 p.m. Eastern. Verve will be releasing 6 new sets and a scripture Plain Jane immediately following the Release Party. The Divas will begin sharing sneak peeks starting Wednesday morning on the Verve Blog, and also on their individual blogs...me included! I will see you back here tomorrow for this week's Tuesday Sketch Challenge, so until then...

...Crazy 4 Earthling Greetings!

Happy Saturday, everyone! Are you all ready for another wonderful challenge from Ms. Cindy Haffner this week? If so, you are definitely in the right place! Today is the second challenge issued by the Crazy 4 Challenges blog and design team...and boy, do we have some wonderful samples by our DT members. You have to check them out, and show them some love:

• Barbara Anders
• Cindy Haffner
• Frances Byrne
• Jessica Diedrich
• Jessie Rone
• Joanne Grzelak
• Joycelyn Turner
• Lori Boyd
• Lynda Benden
• Robin Willis
• Vicki Garrett
  

That's it for me today! Thanks for stopping by to see me...now hop on over to C4C, and join us in this amazing sketch challenge! I will actually be in Atlanta most of the day celebrating the birthdays of my hubby and my best friend, Pam Varnell! Pam, her hubby, me, and my hubby will all be going to eat at Joe's Crab Shack...can you say YUMMO?!? You know we have to make an Archiver's run while we're that close to it, too! LOL! I will see you all back here tomorrow with a couple of cards for the Mojo Monday Sketch, and for the Viva La Verve Sketch! Until later...

Supplies

Stamps: Greetings, Earthling! (Stampin' Up!)

Papers: Basic Black, Kraft, Kiwi Kiss, Watercolor, Urban Oasis DSP

Inks: Basic Black Craft, Old Olive, Bashful Blue, Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss

Accessories: embossing buddy, clear embossing powder, heat gun, aquapainter, mat pack, paper piercer, ribbon, scissors, dimensionals, black sharpie marker

...Happiness for Hostesses

Happy Thursday, everyone! It has been Project Parade time over at the Verve Blog the last few days, and the Divas have been cranking out some amazing work! This month's theme is "Happiness For Hostesses", and I wanted to showcase a gift for the hostess of our Writers' Club. Each month I get together with a few of my girlfriends to read poetry and/or short stories that we have written the month before. I thought these would be wonderful gifts for next month's hostess...here is the whole ensemble:
I altered a writer's journal, and covered it with Chocolate Chip and Baja Breeze Cardstock and Parisian Breeze Specialty Designer Series Paper. I added a lock assembly for privacy, and then stamped the flower from Enjoy in Chocolate Chip Craft Ink and Baja Breeze Classic Ink. I added some Stardust Stickles and Brown Kaiser Rhinestones to the flower, then created the focal panel using my Big Shot and Spellbinders' Classic Rectangle Nesties. The sentiment in the lower right-hand corner was from Express Yourself, and was embossed with White Embossing Powder. Each panel was pierced using a Mat Pack and Paper Piercer, and some Baja Breeze Striped Ribbon was added to complete the project.

My friend has never been to our county library, so I purchased one for her to use this next year. I needed something cute to put it in, so I made a gift card holder. The polka dots and sentiment on the front are from Bountiful Backgrounds, the flowers are from Budding Blossoms, and the butterflies were from Enjoy. I repeated the butterfly on the pull tab that goes in front of the library card. Isn't this cute?!?

And what woman wouldn't love something sweet while she is in deep concentration?!? LOL! I created an acetate box, and filled it with Werther's Original candies. The sentiment was from Delightful & Delicious, and the panel was created using Spellbinders' Nesties. The same butterfly from the previous projects was used as an accent for this one. Chocolate Chip Silk Ribbon was added to the top of the box in order to hang the sentiment tag from it.

As hostess, she will also get to invite three of her friends to the next club date, so I made three simple invitations. These 3X3 cards were created using the sentiment from A Cup of Life, and the circle panels were made using Spellbinders' Classic Circle Nesties. Brown Kaiser Rhinestones were added under the sentiment, and some piercing was added above the patterned paper panel. I added the same butterfly from the other projects to the outside of the envelopes.

That's it for me today! Do you have a fabulous hostess gift idea? We would love to see it! To play along, just make a project or card that shows us your take on the Happiness for Hostesses theme. Verve Stamps are not required, but if you've got 'em we love to see 'em! Just add a link to your creation in the Mr Linky form in DAY ONE's POST before 8PM Mountain, September 12th. Two lucky participants will win a stamp set of their choice from the Verve Store. We've also hidden another $25 gift certificate somewhere along the parade for a random commenter. So if you like what you see, be sure and give a little shout out in the comments of each post!

This flu has really kicked my butt, and I am still not back to 100%...but I hope to get back to my daily posts any time now! Thanks for stopping by, and I will see you all again tomorrow!

Supplies

Stamps: Enjoy, Express Yourself, Bountiful Backgrounds, Budding Blossoms, Delightful & Delicious, A Cup of Life (Verve)

Papers: Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, Whisper White, Parisian Breeze Specialty Designer Series Paper

Inks: Chocolate Chip Craft, Baja Breeze, Whisper White Craft

Accessories: writer's journal, scor-pal, stickles, rhinestones, lock assembly, dimensionals, linen thread, ribbon, mat pack, paper piercer, nesties, big shot, clear embossing powder, white embossing powder, heat gun, embossing buddy, circle punches, brad, acetate, scallop border punch, Martha Stewart border punch, red-line tape, candies, eyelet, scissors

...Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge #38 (MTSC38)

Happy Tuesday, everyone! It's time for another sketch challenge, but before we get started I want to announce the lucky winner of the Butterfly Wishes stamp set from The Greeting Farm ...and designed by Jessica Diedrich................................#26, LeAnne! Congratulations, LeAnne! Please email your shipping address to me at mkstampin74 at bellsouth dot net, and I will be sure to pass it along to Jessica and Maria. Thanks to all of the participants for their beautiful work. We will be having more prizes at the beginning of each month...so be sure to play along!

Now for this week's Tuesday Sketch #38:

My Sample:

Suzy Tyler's Sample:

Now let's go see what these lovely ladies have in store for us today:

• Pam Speidel
• Cindy Haffner
• Pam Varnell
• Julie Lacey
• Crystal Birr
• Jackie Pedro
• Jessica Diedrich
• Shannan Teubner
• Suzy Tyler (September Guest Muse)
  

Now it's your turn! Create a card or scrapbook layout using the sketch above, and link your creation below in Mister Linky. Be sure to use the keyword MTSC38 when uploading to a public gallery. I will be checking out each submission, so don't be surprised if I contact you about being a guest designer for an entire month of Tuesdays...I already have a wish list of future guests!

Happy Stamping!!!

...Crazy 4 Challenges #1

Happy Saturday, everyone! Are you all ready for some of the greatest challenges in the whole wide world? If so, you are definitely in the right place! Today is the very first challenge issued by the Crazy 4 Challenges blog and design team...and boy, do we have some wonderful samples by our DT members. You have to check them out:

• Barbara Anders
• Cindy Haffner
• Frances Byrne
• Jessica Diedrich
• Jessie Rone
• Joanne Grzelak
• Joycelyn Turner
• Lori Boyd
• Lynda Benden
• Robin Willis
• Vicki Garrett

That's it for me today! Hop on over to C4C, and join us in this amazing sketch challenge! I am home with the flu, and feeling pretty icky...so I will be doing alot of resting over this long weekend. Until later...

Supplies

Stamps: Fly Away (The Greeting Farm)

Papers: Kiwi Kiss, Taken With Teal, Whisper White, Watercolor, Bloom & Grow (My Mind's Eye), Just Dreamy (My Mind's Eye)

Inks: Basic Black Craft, Bashful Blue, Kiwi Kiss, Taken With Teal, Ruby Red, Pumpkin Pie, So Saffron

Accessories: mat pack, paper piercer, rhinestones, rhinestone, dimensionals, sponge dauber, clear embossing powder, heat gun, big shot, nesties, scissors, aquapainter

...Bloom & Grow Mojo

This is my submission for this week's Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge #102. I stamped one of the sentiments from the Verve set Just For You in white craft ink, then embossed it with white embossing powder on baja cardstock. The patterned papers were from the Bloom & Grow patterned paper pack from The Paper Studio. The edges of the striped panel were pierced with a paper piercer and piercing guide. The circle focal panels were created using my Big Shot and Spellbinders' Classic Circle Nestablilities. I added silver brads, baja ribbon, and a celery button with linen thread to finish off the card.

That's it for today! My oldest son has his first JV football game of the season, and I am helping feed the whole team after school...so I have to get all of my housework finished before leaving. I would love to stamp all day, but it doesn't look like that will happen today! LOL! Don't forget to stop by Verve to get a 10% discount on your order when you use the discount code MercyRocks. Thanks for stopping by, and I will see you again tomorrow! Until then...

Supplies
Stamps: Just For You (Verve)
Papers: Certainly Celery, Tangerine Tango, Baja Breeze, Bloom & Grow by The Paper Studio
Inks: Whisper White Craft
Accessories: embossing buddy, white embossing powder, heat gun, foam square adhesive, silver brads, button, linen thread, paper piercer, piercing guide, baja ribbon, big shot, nesties

...Some More Big News From Me

This has been such a crazy and exciting week for me! I am so proud and honored to let you all know that I have been asked to be on the Fall Gardener Design Team for The Greeting Farm! I have been a fan of TGF since they were Pink Poison, and I love their cutesy and fun stamp sets. I am also ecstatic to be working with three other talented designers during this three month assignment that begins October 1st, and continues until December 31st:

• Lisa Futch
• Lynda Nielsen
• Sandra MacLean

I wanted to share the card that I created for my TGF design team submission that had to be CIRCUS THEMED...so what do you think?

This image is actually from the Wild Sprout Series of stamps, and she is called Bree...I turned her into a clown! I drew her a new mouth, added red clown cheeks, turned her envelope into a folded cloth, added a big flower to her hat, and created a springy flower arrangement to pop out of her hand. I also added a computer-generated sentiment that says, "Just Clownin' Around". I do NOT like clowns in real life...they totally freak me out, so this card was a definitely a stretch for me! LOL!

That's it for me today! Thanks for stopping by, and for celebrating my wonderful news with me! I will see you all back here tomorrow with a Mojo Monday Sketch card, and a SCS Sketch Card. Until then...

Supplies

Stamps: WS Bree, Pretty Hat (The Greeting Farm)

Papers: Turquoise, Red, Yellow, Green, Watercolor, Cosmo Cricket DP

Inks: turquoise, red, green, yellow, mustard, black

Accessories: paper piercer, piercing guide, silver brads, water-filled paintbrush, big shot, nesties, window punch, foam square adhesive, black hemp, scissors, stickles, black staz-on pen, clear embossing powder, heat gun, Martha Stewart border punch

...Up, Up, and Away

Don't Forget To Play Along With This Week's Tuesday Sketch Challenge HERE!

Happy Wednesday, everyone! It has been a whirlwind couple of days, and yesterday's announcement from Stampin' Up didn't help matters. If you are one of my customers, I must tell you that I WILL NOT be selling SU effective immediately. They have pushed through some very demanding and outrageous rules and guidelines that not only restrict the use and/or mentioning of different products, but also restrict what demonstrators can and can't say on their personal blogs and other online forums. They are also going to restrict any demo from being a part of a design team for any other company besides them. I will not be party to a company that behaves this way in order to strong arm their workers, nor will I give that company FREE publicity on my blog. So from here on out, if I use any SU products they will not be mentioned by name...only as a very generic item. Hosta la vista, SU!

With that being said, I would like to move on to the card I created for yesterday's Color Challenge #234 at SCS, and the CPS Sketch Challenge #131. I used the Verve set Up, Up, and Away, and I created my own patterned paper with the concave squares stamp from the same set. The hot air balloon, sentiment, and clouds were embossed, then watercolored before being popped up off the focal panel with foam squares. I added some Stickles to give the balloon some sparkle, and placed three Silver Brads on the focal panel as well. Some melon-colored dotted ribbon was tied above the focal panel to complete the card.

That's it for now! Thanks for stopping by to see me, but I am headed to bed now. I will see you all in a bit with another card or project. Don't forget to visit Verve before September 9th to get a 10% discount on your order by simply using the discount code MercyRocks. Happy Shopping!

Supplies

Stamps: Up, Up, and Away (Verve)

Inks: black, pink, yellow, teal

Paper: pink, teal, black, white, watercolor

Accessories: paper piercer, piercing guide, clear embossing powder, heat gun, ribbon, foam square adhesive, water-filled paintbrush, brads, stickles, scissors