Merry & Bright

I have for you today yet another holiday card, combining two of this week's challenges.  The layout is from the Viva La Verve December 2012 week 3 sketch and the colors are from the fabulous combo that The Play Date Cafe had this week (PDCC161).   

About the Card
The base is an A2 in Riding Hood Red followed by layers of white and DP from Teresa COllins - Christmas Cottage paper pad.  The red and pink DP is from My Mind's Eye - Be Merry paper pad.  The sentiment from Verve's Ornamental Christmas set was stamped on with with Olympia Green Versamark ink, cut out with Spellbinders Nestabilities circle dies, and sponged with Rose Romance ink.  Rhinestones and some snowflakes cut out with Spellbinders Create-A-Flake 4 dies were used to accent the sentiment.  Finally, brads, red Divine twine, and some jingle bells were added for bling and ring!!

Materials
Stamps: Verve Ornamental Christmas
Paper: White, Riding Hood Red, My Mind's Eye - Be Merry DP, Teresa Collins - Christmas Cottage DP
Ink: Olympia Green Versafine, Rose Romance
Accessories: red rhinestones, Red Divine Twine, jingle bells, brads, red glitter brad
Tools: Spellbinders Nestabilities circle dies, Spellbinders Create-A-Flake 4 dies

Happy Holidays

Another holiday card finishing up two more challenges this week.  This card satisfy the Color Throwdown challenge (CTD221) colors and uses the sketch from Viva La Verve December 2012 week 1.  The sketch was designed for a square card, but I went with an A2 since I don't have any square envelopes.  However, in the end I'm not quite sure those jingle bells will fit in the envelope!  

About the Card
The base is an A2 in kraft (didn't have Crumb Cake)  followed by layers of black and DP from Teresa Collins - Christmas Cottage paper pad.  The circle panel was cut out with spellbinders nestabilities circle dies and the corners on the long panel were punched with the SU large corner rounder.  The black filigre at the bottom was punched out of black using Spellbinders Fancy Tags 1 dies.  The sentiment from Verve's Santa's Helper was printed on Kraft with Onyx Versafine ink and cut out with Verve Mini Vintage oval dies.  The image was printed on white with Onyx Versafine, colored with Prismacolor pencils and Goo Gone and cut out.  The image was embellished with a red rhinestone and Xmas Red Stickles before mounting on dimensionals.  Finally, ribbon, 10lb. twine, and green jingle bells were added for bling!!

Materials 
Stamps: Verve Santa's Helper
Paper: 110lb. white, Kraft, black, Teresa Collins - Christmas Cottage  DP 
Ink: Onyx Versafine
Accessories: red rhinestone, Xmas Red Stickles, ribbon, 10lb. twine, jingle bells
Tools: Verve Mini Vintage Oval Dies, Spellbinder Nestabilities circles & Fancy Tags 1 dies, Prismacolor Pencils, SU large corner rounder punch

Joy

Here is another holiday card combining two different challenges, The Play Date Cafe's color challenge (#160) and the Viva La Verve December 2012 week 2 sketch.  The colors from PDC(below) were really tricky for me and I had to combine prints from two different paper pads to get the cool holiday look.  I also had some fun playing with felt and die cuts to accent that sentiment.

About the Card
The base is an A2 in Cream followed by layers of Not Quite Navy and DP from Teresa Collins Christmas Cottage paper pad and My Mind's Eye - Indie Chic "Citron" paper pad.  The edges were sponged with Antique Linen distress ink and distressed. The main sentiment from Verve's Glad tidings was stamped on cream with Vintage Sepia Versafine and cut out, embossed and sponged with Bordering Blue inks using Spellbinders  Labels 25 dies.  The mount was cut out of Not Quite Navy using Spellbinder Ironwork accents dies before embellishing with rhinestones.  The Snowflake was cut out of white felt using Verve's Snowflake Tidings dies before sponging with Antique linen distress ink.  The Snowflake was stamped with Bordering blue on cream and also distressed.  Buttons, 10lb. twine, seam binding and brads were added for bling!

Materials
Stamps: Verve Glad Tidings
Paper: Cream, Not Quite Navy, My Mind's Eye - Indie Chic "Citron" DP, Teresa COllins - Christmas Cottage DP
Ink: Vintage Sepia Versafine, Bordering Blue, Antique Linen distress ink
Accessories: rhinestones, seam binding, buttons, 10lb. twine, brads, felt
Tools: Verve Snowflake Tidings dies, Spellbinders Labels 25 dies, Spellbinders Ironwork accent dies

Christmas Delivery

Finally all done with the October Viva la Verve sketches!!  This card uses sketch #5 and the adorable Santa's Helper stamp set.  This guy is just so cute, I had to color his up for this simple sketch.  

About the Card
The base is an A2 in Riding Hood Red followed by layers of kraft and DP from Simple Stories - Handmade Holiday paper pad.  The edges were sponged with Antique Linen distress ink, distressed, and stitched with natural thread.  The main image was printed on 110lb. white and colored with Prismacolor pencils.  Xmas Red Stickles were used for the nose and a 3mm rhinestone was used to accent the hat.  The sentiment was stamped in Onyx Versafine on white and cut out using Verve's Ribbon Banner die.  The image was mounted over a Rosette made from DP using TCP's Easy Rosette CutUps.  This was mounted over Riding Hood Red  cut out with Spellbinders lacy circles dies and accented with Platinum Pearl Liquid Pearls.  Finally, brads were added for some more bling!!

Materials 
Stamps: Verve Santa's Helper
Paper: 110lb. white, Kraft, Riding Hood Red, Simple Stories - Handmade Holiday  DP 
Ink: Antique Linen distress ink, Onyx Versafine
Accessories: brads, red rhinestone, Xmas Red Stickles, Platinum Pearl Liquid Pearls
Tools: TCP Easy Rosette CutUps, Spellbinder lacy circles dies, Verve Ribbon Banner die, Prismacolor Pencils, sewing machine

Joy

I'm finally all caught up with this month's Viva la Verve sketches.  This card uses the sketch from week #2 (below).  To pair some more inspiration with this fabulous sketch, I decided to try the current Runway Inspired Challenge fashion piece (RIC22) (below).  I really loved the neutral tones combined with the bold stripes of the outfit, so I tried to incorporate those into the card.

About the Card
The base is an A2 in kraft followed by layers of Riding Hood Red and DP from Teresa Collins - Christmas Cottage paper pad.  The images from Verve's Glad Tidings were printed onto kraft using Fired Brick distress ink and cut out by hand or using Verve's Snowflake Tidings dies.  They were further embellished with red rhinestones.  The sentiment, also from Verve's Glad Tididngs, was stamped on DP and cut out with Verve's Mini Vintage Oval dies.  Brads and some rich satin ribbon were added for bling!!

Materials 
Stamps: Verve Glad Tidings
Paper: Kraft, Riding Hood Red, Teresa Collins - Christmas Cottage  DP 
Ink: Fired Brick distress ink
Accessories: dimensionals, brads, red rhinestones, satin ribbon
Tools: Verve Snowflake Tidings & Mini Vintage Oval dies

Happy Haunting

Another card down using this month's Viva la Verve sketches!!  This card features the sketch from week #4 (below).  A couple years ago I saw some white pumpkin Halloween decorations on the Martha Stewart website.  Lately, I have noticed a surge in white pumpkins at the local farm stands.  These super cute squashes along with The Ribbon Carousel's Halloween Spirit Challenge (RCC73) were the inspiration for this card, hoping to switch up the conventional!!


Mmm...pumpkin:

About the Card
The base is an A2 in Cream followed by layers of black and DP from Authentique - Enchanted paper pad.  The edges were sponged wit black soot distress ink, distressed, and stitched with black thread.  The main image from Verve's Boo to You was paper pierced using DP and Onyx Versafine ink.  The panel was cut out with Spellbinders Nestabilities circle dies, embossed, and sponged with Pumpkin Pie ink.  The mount was cut from black cardstock using Spellbinders big scalloped circle dies.  3mm black rhinestones were added to accent.  The sentiment was printed on 5/8" black satin ribbon using Whisper White craft ink.  Black 10lb. twine and an ornamental brad were added for bling!!

Materials
Stamps: Verve Boo to You
Paper: Cream, Black, Authentique - Enchanted DP
Ink: Onyx Versafine, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White craft ink, Black Soot distress ink 
Accessories: 3mm black rhinestones, ribbon, ornamental brad, black 10lb. twine, black brads
Tools: Spellbinders Nestabilities circleand big scalloped circle dies, Verve Pennant Trim die, sewing machine

Harvest

Still on my quest to complete the October Viva La Verve sketches, here is my card using the sketch from week 1 (below).  This was kind of a difficult sketch for me as I just couldn't figure out what to do with it.  In the end, I settled with a Thanksgiving-themed card.  And yes, there is yet another dyed doilie.  I am apparently suffering from a small doilie addiction which I blame completely on all these fabulous sketches with large circular elements.  

About the Card
The base is an A2 in More Mustard followed by layers of Early Espresso and DP from FarmHouse - Sugar Hill paper pad.  The edges were sponged with Vintage photo distress ink, distressed, and stitched with natural thread.  Brads were added for some hardware.  The doilie was sponged with Walnut Stain distress ink to dye it brown.  The circular DP was cut using Spellbinders Nestabilities circle dies.  The sentiment, Verve's Galatians 6:9 PJ was printed in Vintage Sepia on white cardstock.  The panel was cut out, embossed and sponged with More Mustard  and Vintage Photo distress inks using Spellbinders Labels 25 dies.  The acorns from Verve's Tall Oaks stamp set were printed on white with Vintage Sepia Versafine ink and colored with Prismacolor pencils.  Finally, 10lb. twine and a wooden button were added for bling!!

Materials
Stamps: Verve Galatians 6:9 PJ, Verve Tall Oaks
Paper: Early Espresso, More Mustard, FarmHouse - Sugar Hill DP
Ink: Vintage Sepia Versafine, More Mustard, Walnut Stain & Vintage Photo distress inks 
Accessories: 10lb. twine, brads, doilie, wooden button
Tools: Spellbinders Nestabilities circle and Labels 25 dies, sewing machine, Prismacolor Pencils

Trick or Treat

Trying to get caught up with this month's Viva La Verve sketches, here is my creation using the sketch from week #3.  Halloween cards are one of my absolute favorite cards to create as they are so rich and bold and I get to use all the black I want!!

About the Card
The base is an A2 in Sahara Sand followed by layers of black and DP from Echo Park - Chillingsworth Manor paper pad.  The edges were inked with black soot distress ink, distressed, and stitched with black thread.  Copper brads were added to the corners to accent.  The doilie was sponged with black soot distress ink and mounted under the sentiment.  The sentiment from Verve's Boo to You was printed on white with Onyx Versafine ink and was cut out with Spellbinders Nestabilities oval dies.  This panel was embossed and sponged with Kiwi Kiss, Gumball Green, and black soot inks.  The panel was mounted over a panel of DP cut out with Spellbinders Labels 22 dies.  black satin ribbon and rhinestones were added for bling.  Finally, the spider was punched from black cardstock using a MS spider punch.  A 3D glue dot was added and the spider was covered in black MS glitter.  


Materials
Stamps: Verve Boo to You
Paper: Sahara Sand, Black,  Echo Park - Chillingsworth Manor DP
Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Gumball Green, Onyx Versafine, Black Soot distress ink 
Accessories: 3D dots, 3mm smoke rhinestones, satin ribbon, copper brads, doilie, black MS glitter
Tools:  Spellbinders Nestabilities oval and Labels 22 dies, sewing machine, MS spider punch