Verve Diva Inspirations August 2012 Blog Hop

It's August 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!! It's an extra special month here at Verve - Anni-Verve-Sary!! In celebration, the Inspiration Team has some special guests playing along with us this month. Several of the Release Team Divas as well as a few other guests are joining us on this hop. You won't want to miss it!!

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! Just in case, here's a look at the Master Hop List:

 

	1. Betty	9. Andrea
	2. Jen d.	10. Janelle
	3. Jen T.	11. Laurie
	4. Julee	12. Maureen
	5. Sankari	13. Teresa
	6. Sony	14. Charmaine
	7. Susan	15. Christyne
	8. Amber	16. Laurie

Most of my regular followers know that I periodically create special cards to give to my son, Dean. I started doing this when he was a baby, filling the inside of each card with a handwritten note / letter - just some of my thoughts about being his Mom at this particular time in his life. Sometimes they're full of encouragement and pride and lots of love, sometimes they're full of frustration at whatever latest parenting struggle we're dealing with. I don't always give him these cards, but I do tuck each of them into a special keepsake box - hopefully someday they'll be really special to him. He gets a card for all major special events and holidays and then a few random "just because" cards each year too. The card I made for today's hop is a special card for Dean as he started First Grade this past Monday. I really can't believe I'm the mother of a First Grader!! Anyway, this important milestone called for a Dean card...

 First I have to say that the design of this card was loosely based on a very old Sweet Sunday Sketch, one of my favorites actually. All of the patterned paper is printed digi paper from the Hit the Books kit by Robyn Meierotto (Design House Digital). I stamped one of my favorite and most-used stamps, the classy label stamp from Love Notes and then cut it out with the Classy Label Die. The "Dream Big" sentiment is from the Words of Wisdom set and those stars? They're from one of the very first Verve sets I ever purchased, way back before I became a Diva - Seeing Stars! Still love that classic set!! Once again, I tried adding some splattered Mister Huey's ink, which I do think I'm getting a little better at. I think the messiness of this is sometimes appropriate for boy cards, if I could just master the technique so it didn't look quite so much like a big mistake! I think I'm getting there.

And now for my proud Mommy Moment. My First Grader:

And 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!

With a new month comes a new sale, and this month we're celebrating FIVE wonderful years of Verve! So in proper celebratory style, we've made some fantastic discounts on some wonderful product! Through August 31, save 10 - 50% off select stamps and dies. Everything is on sale while supplies last, so go ahead and treat yourself to one or two, or even FIVE stampy pleasures! {grin}