Sites of the week

I picked up the Christmas Set #6 Sizzix embossing folder on a recent crafty outing and I have been wanting to use it on EVERYTHING! I used it on the Hambo card that I posted a few days ago and I just knew it would be the perfect addition to this clean and simple Verve card…

I tend to over think on a lot of my projects and every now and again it’s great to bring it back to the basics. No crazy layouts, no mixing and matching of several papers, no techniques…just keepin’ it simple! {for the most part} That’s one of the things that I love about Verve. You can make it as fancy or as pretty ‘n plain as you wish. This card still has layers, stitching, embossing and paper piecing going on, but overall it’s a simple design that the elements help to make it more dynamic.

This card uses the set, Autumn Splendor {one of my FAVES}…which just happens to be the Verve set of the month and is on sale for 30% off! Here’s a detail shot of the paper pieced leaves {and you can see more of that embossing folder’s work on the kraft panel}…

I think I might just make a few more of these and put them in a set to give as a hostess gift this fall!

I mentioned this was one of my favorite sets above. HERE is a link to one of my favorite projects that I did with it last year.

Happy Fall Y’all…only 2 more days until it is officially fall! I’m breaking out the cute sweaters already!!

TGIF! I am glad that the weekend is just around the corner! Last Friday the kids and I were involved in a car accident on the way home from Ellie’s school. Needless to say, it was so scary to be in an accident with the kids. Everyone is ok {very thankfully!}, and the Swagger Wagon will hopefully be parked back in our garage in a couple of weeks. That’s just one of a few things that has made me think about being thankful for all my family and friends.

A few week’s ago, I learned that fellow stamper, AJ Otto had been diagnosed with breast cancer. I knew that I wanted to make a card for her to {hopefully} brighten her day. I can’t tell you how hard it was to make this card. I wanted it to be perfect. I cut and placed, and cut and glued and twisted and tweaked. Finally, I was happy with this…

I’ve kinda been getting into using more than one sentiment on a card front lately. Of course, they can’t just be any two sentiments. I thought that these worked well together. The “beautiful you” sentiment is from the set, Celebrating You from Verve Stamps. The larger sentiment seemed so fitting and I was happy to have these words to add to this card. It comes from the Verve set, On My Mind. Of course, I had to add a little more Verve for all the finishing details. The polka dotted polka dots {<--how perfect for me is that!?!} come from the older and much loved set, Petals & Stems. Dies…yes, I certainly had to break out the Verve dies!! The flowers are cut from felt with the Loopy Blooms die set and the pink cardstock panel is cut with the Curvy Bookplate die. That’s a whole lotta Verve-y goodness happening!

I hope everyone has a great weekend! Stay safe and hug the ones that you love!

There is no doubt that my morning cuppa joe gets me kicked into high gear and ready to face the day! After a few sips, I feel like, “Ok, let’s do this!” That being said, I thought this Verve set/sentiment was just perfect…

The sentiment and images {cup and steam} are from the new {appropriately named} set, BETTER WITH YOU.

The main image panel is die cut with the TAGGED RECTANGLE DIE. I have a pretty good feeling that this die is going to be living on my desk for a VERY long time! It’s just what I have been seeking for a tag die! I layered different coordinating papers {in my opinion…LOL!} and then added the tag panel on top.

Detail shot…

Given that I have already had a couple cups today, I am off to conquer! Have a great weekend!

September already? I have to say that it’s actually a welcome “surprise” that September snuck up on us so quickly. I used to think that I was a summer person and that the heat was better than the cold, that taking a dip into the pool was better than a fireside chat. Well, there’s nothing like 50 some odd days of 100+degree heat to beat that out of a person! I am ready for fall…sweater weather, football and Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate from Starbucks to go along with mild days and cool nights. It may be December before that happens around here, but I’m holding on to some hope that it may just come earlier!

In celebration {and hope} that fall truly is just around the corner, I made this card for the September Verve Diva Inspiration Hop…

Detail shot of my paper pieced pumpkins…

Don’t these colors just scream hayride and hot apple cider?

This card uses the fall inspired set, Bountiful Harvest along with the Vintage Oval die and matching Vintage Oval Frame stamp.

I did mention that this was a hop, right?

If you didn’t start at Julee’s blog, go ahead and take a minute to rewind to the beginning so that you don’t miss a thing. She will also have the full list of hoppers there. I’m the 4th stop along the hop and you should have hopped from Dawn’s blog to here. Now, I am sending you on your way to Lynda’s blog.

Happy hopping and don’t forget to leave some love {a comment} at each stop for a chance to win a $30 gift certificate to the Verve store!

So, the first week of Kindergarten has gone well. I can’t believe that she has homework EVERY night, but at least she is having fun with it. Today we go to Nic’s “Meet the Teacher.” He will be starting a Mommy’s Day Out program soon, which I think is very much needed for both him and for me. I am sure that there are moms out there relating to that!

The other day I needed to write Ellie’s teacher a note and I found myself searching for a cute card that didn’t have some sort of theme with it {birthday, thank you, etc.} and I came up with nothing and had to write the note on a blank sheet of paper…boring! That is where I find my inspiration for today. Now, this card might be a little fancier than what I want/need for a “Just a Note” type card, but it was fun to make and I am going to use some of the elements to mass produce {eeek!} some simpler note cards. Plus, it’s made with all Verve stamps and dies, so it was easy to get just a little carried away in my design…

This card uses a medallion and sentiment stamp both from the set ACCENT NOTES, along with the Loopy Blooms and Classy Labels Dies. I chose a mix of papers from My Mind’s Eye to create this palette. I even broke out some vellum that was left on top of my scrap pile from another recently finished project to cut out the loopy bloom in the center. Just for the record…I love that die set! It’s fun, easy to use and super versatile, especially when you mix and match papers and materials.

A couple detail shots…

I’ll leave you with a shot of Ellie’s first day of Kindergarten. I think Nicolas was proud to walk his sister into school…