July SFYTT Reminder

 

Just a reminder that there are just a few days left to play along with the July Sketch For You To Try! And don't forget about our fabulous sponsor this month, My Favorite Things! Here's a final look at this month's sketch:

 

And a look back at my July SFYTT creations with links to my original blog posts for product details. First this hybrid and super scrappy Miss U card:

Next, this Best Grandma card using a fun stamp & die combo set from MFT:

 

All details and upload information can be found on THIS POST on Jen's blog. I hope you find time to play along this month!

Happy Birthday Julee!

Today is the super sweet and ultra fabulous Head Verve Diva Julee Tilman's birthday! Several of the Verve Divas (well, those of us who aren't off doing exciting summer things like traveling) are sharing special Birthday Cards on our blogs today just for Julee. Or, you can head on over to the Verve Blog (we hijacked it today) to see a big post full of Verve-y Birthday Cheer for our amazing Julee! And don't forget to stop by Julee's blog and wish her an extra special Happy Birthday!

Julee, you really are amazing! I hope you have a super awesome Birthday!! 

I was a little strapped for time when throwing my card together, so I decided to CASE myself! I always did love this card in my Verve Gallery and thought I could make it a little more Julee-friendly (read: slightly more feminine) but also keep it Jen-friendly too (read: not TOO feminine! ha!). This is what I came up with:

That works, right? I started off with some fun new printed digi papers from the Preppy collection by Robyn Meierotto. Then I pulled out a few old favorite stamp sets from my Verve Stash and got to work. The frame is actually from the Dad's Day set - I love mixing that frame with all kinds of different sentiments, it's so versatile! (and no, I'm not going to pass up another opportunity to nag Julee about a coordinating die. I'm still waiting Julee...). The birthday sentiment is from the Making a Statement set and fit inside that frame perfectly! It's like they were made for each other (and just so you know, all the sentiments from Making a Statement fit inside that Dad's Day frame!). I added a few of my "Jen Stand-bys" for embellishments - pom pom trim and a glittered star from the Memrie Mare etsy shop. I also added something new for me - those stick pin things. I don't normally use those because I don't like having sharp pokey eye gouging hazards sticking out from the front of my card, but I got smart this time and raided Joel's tool box and just snipped those suckers right off, then glued the stick stumps down! Presto chango, no more sharp pokey things!

So that's it. As is pretty standard for me and my terrible card-mailing ways, Julee will be receiving this card well past her actual birthday. Because I pretty much suck at actually putting cards in the mail. So just act surprised when you get it Julee! ;-)

Don't forget to stop by the Verve Blog for more eye candy! And remember there's a pretty sweet sale going on in the Verve Shop this month (20% off ALL stamps!!!).

Hello Friend

Hi there! Do you ever see a card out there in blogland, fall in love with it, and just know that you'll be reproducing it with similar supplies from your own stash as soon as you have a free hour to sit down and stamp? Well, I've had THIS CARD by the talented Jodi Collins bookmarked for almost a year now and finally found that free hour this week to sit down and CASE it!! And man, I'm so glad I did because I just love the way my card turned out!! I changed things up a bit, but my version was completely and totally inspired by Jodi's original fabulousness. Here's a look at my creation:

I went with a vertical card using a Kraft base, but still stamped my fun coffee cup images on crisp white cardstock. I also used different stamps than Jodi. My coffee cups are from Verve's Better With You set, but I still colored them very much like Jodi's originals. The cute little solid heart on the sleeve is from the smaller coordinating Sip and Savor set. And the sentiment is from the fun little Friendly Phrases set. Like Jodi, I added a simple strand of Baker's Twine around the top of the card as a finishing touch and was done!

I have a few friends with birthdays coming up and can't wait to tuck a Starbuck's gift card inside and give this card to someone!

July SFYTT Post #2

It's the 3rd Saturday of July and that means it's time for some more Sketch For You To Try Inspiration from a few of the SFYTT Sisters! Have you had a chance to play along with this month's sketch yet? You've got until July 31st at midnight, so there's still plenty of time to create something and it's a SUPER fun sketch this month! And don't forget we have another amazing sponsor this month - My Favorite Things!!

Today, half of the SFYTT Sisters are posting another sample on their blogs using this month's sketch.  I decided to create a fun hybrid card with a brand-new digi kit and some fun MFT stamps and dies from my stash. Notice I rotated the sketch this week, but I think I still managed to stay true to the basic design. What do you think?

Kind of fun, yeah? It's another scrappy one, but I think I like it. All of the papers and lots of the embellishments are actually printed digi goodness from the new Cleared For Takeoff kit by Libby Pritchett and Julie Billingsley (Sweet Shoppe). Such a versatile kit that I plan on using for a few hybrid cards as well as several travel and boy themed scrapbook pages! I also used the combination Say What die / stamp set from this month's SFYTT sponsor, My Favorite Things. And finally, I added a few of my new go-to embellishments - wood veneer shapes (an airplane and a few tiny stars).

Be sure to stop by these other SFYTT Sisters' blogs to see what they're sharing today with this month's sketch!

Jen del Muro
Carole Burrage - taking a break
Jodi Collins
Susan Liles
Tracy Schultz

OK, that's it from me. Enjoy your weekend everyone! My Father-in-Law is in town, so we're on the go playing tourist! Fun Times!! Aloha!

July 2012 SFYTT

 
Well, it's that time again already - first Saturday of the month and time for another fabulous Sketch For You to Try!! I hope you all had a chance to play along with us last month - Lots of exciting things in store for participants of the monthly SFYTT this year, including a chance to win another fabulous huge prize package at the end of the year!! All of the details can be found on today's post over on Jen's blog, with some of the details outlined in the "In a Nutshell" graphic at the end of this post. We have another amazing sponsor this month  - My Favorite Things!

First, here's a look at this month's awesome sketch:

As for my sample card, I have to tell you, I really struggled with this one. I don't know what my problem is, but man! This did not turn out like it looked in my mind. I honestly don't think it's the sketch or the stamp set I chose to work with, but I think my Mojo is just off!! I'm actually embarrassed to post this card, but in true Jen fashion, I finished it up at the last minute and just don't have time to throw anything else together. So, it's just gonna have to do for now...

 

I really do love this First Place Award Ribbon Die and Stamp Set and think it can work great with this sketch, so I think I'll give it another go in a week or 2. Maybe rotate the sketch? Or use some ribbon or something for that skinny vertical strip? This card is definitely missing something, but for the life of me I couldn't make anything work. (Or maybe that dark saturated pink was a bad choice for the award ribbon?) When I visualized this stamp set with the sketch, I definitely pictured some stitching, but my trusty Janome Sew Mini crapped out on me 2 days ago! Won't work at all. I'm so bummed! I love that thing. And you know how it is when you're kind of set on something and then it doesn't work out, you can't seem to get anything else to work? I think that's what happened here. And maybe it's really not that bad, but because it's not what I had in mind I hate it. I don't know. But one thing's for sure - I'll definitely be using this stamp / die combo again! There are so many different combinations that the uses are endless! And I'm determined to make it work with this sketch!

Be sure to stop by the rest of the SFYTT Sisters' blogs to see what they've done with this month's sketch! And a very warm welcome to our Designer of the Month, Holly Flores! Don't forget to stop by her blog to see what she's created as well.

Jen del Muro
Amber Hight
Amy Sheffer
Becky Carafa
Carole Burrage - taking a break
Jodi Collins
Kerry Johnson
Megan Lock
Susan Liles
Tracy Schultz

 

Verve Diva Inspirations July 2012 Blog Hop

It's July 5th and that means it's time for another Verve Divas Inspirations Blog Hop! On the 5th of each month, the Verve Divas Inspirations Team will be sharing creations using some of our favorite Verve sets from both past and present, and as always, there are PRIZES!!

You can start the hop at the beginning on the Verve Blog and continue on through each fabulous blog - be sure to leave a little comment love along the way and you just might win some Verve goodies of your own! If you arrived here from the talented Jen d's blog, then you're on the right track!


I kept things pretty simple this time. My birthday card stash is getting low, and so is my free time stash, so I whipped up a quick and easy girly birthday card - I have several girlfriends with birthdays coming up and know I'll be needing a few of these (unlike most people, flowery / girly cards are actually much harder for me to create than masculine / boy cards).

I used some of the papers from the new Heydey line from Studio Calico and practiced a little more with splattering my Mister Huey's mists - I think I'm getting a little better at it? Then I pulled out my Great Friend stamp set and used all three of those amazing flowers, layering them on top of each other. The sentiment is from the newer coordinating Joyful Blooms set. After adding a quick baker's-twine-tied button to the flower center, I was done! Like I said, quick and easy!


That's it from me today. Julee is next up on the hop, so head on over to see what kind of fabulousness she's created and then keep on hopping along! Thanks for stopping by! Don't forget to stop by the Verve Blog as well to check out the new specials going on this month!! Believe me, you won't want to miss it!!