Just Give Me Stamps...

Keep Fighting...

 Happy, happy Friday!!!  Today is our last day in Oregon and we will be traveling home tomorrow.  While it's been a lot of fun visiting my family, this has been quite a stressful trip!  On our first day here, we were rear-ended by an SUV pulling a large boat.  SOOOOO not fun!!  We were driving our Toyota Sienna mini van and I have to say that I am very impressed with it!  It definitely did it's job, absorbed all of the impact (which was substantial) and kept us all safe (I was driving, my DH was in the passenger seat, and our four children were in the back seats)!  Trying to figure out all of the details with the insurance has not been fun, but thankfully they are taking care of us and we will be able to return home tomorrow (in a rental vehicle) like scheduled.  The best thing about all of this, that aside from being sore and a few headaches, we all are OK!! 

Continuing on that happy note...today kicks off the August Diva Dare over at the Verve Blog!  This month's theme is Sending Some Sunshine!  The dare is to create an uplifting and encouraging card AND send it to someone!  Oh yeah, this is THE perfect challenge for me!  I am notorious for making all sorts of cards (with the best intentions of sending them out) and having them pile up on my stamp desk! 

 

Here is how I answered the dare...  I knew I wanted my card to be encouraging, and I do love me some vintage colors...so I combined them together!  I used the Curvy Bookplate and hope stamps from the Tag Time set, the Keep Fighting sentiment from the Words of Wisdom set, and the matching Curvy Bookplate die.  To carry out the vintage theme, I distressed all of the edges!

If you want to play along, check out the Verve Blog for all of the details!  There IS a $30 Verve gift certificate up for grabs for one lucky participant!

Thanks so much for visiting today!  Have a fun (and safe) day!  Hugs, Laurie

August Paper Smooches DT blog hop!

It's Pep Rally week and we are here today to share a sampling of the Paper Smooches September stamp release with you!  The Three NEW clear stamp sets will be available to purchase on September 1st.  You will find them HERE.  Follow the Paper Smooches blog for more sneak peeks.

To add extra fun to our blog hop...we are offering up a prize!  Just leave a comment on any of the five design team blogs listed below for your chance to win one of the three new September stamp sets!  (you do not need to comment on all blogs to qualify)  You have until midnight MT on Friday, August 26th to leave a comment.  Please check all five blogs on Saturday, August 27th to see if you are one of the five lucky winners.

We are joined this month by the very talented Karolyn Loncon.  Heather has her hands full this month, so Karolyn is stepping in for her.  Heather will be back for our next blog hop on Sept. 22.

• Heidi Van Laar
• Karolyn Loncon
• Kryssi Ng
• Laurie Schmidlin
• Teri Anderson

To increase your chances of winning:

1. leave a comment on this blog post

2. tell us that you Facebooked about our blog hop

3. tell us that you Tweeted about our blog hop

4. tell us that you posted on your blog about our blog hop

(which means that you have up to four chances to win on each blog)

For my card today, I used the soon to be released Perpetual Bliss set!  I paper pieced four of love lightbulbs (isn't that image the caaautest??), and popped them up to add a little more dimension.  I wanted to keep the background fairly simple so the light bulbs would pop!

I'm so glad you stopped by!  Big hugs, Laurie

Nothing is Impossible...

 Good morning!  I'll bet you've noticed how quiet things are around here...  My family and I are actually in Oregon visiting my mom, brother, and sister-in-law!  I thought I would stop in here quickly and change up the scenery for you though...  :-)

Remember THIS card I made a while ago?  I loved the papers, colors, and heart shape (made with the From the Heart Die Set) so I quick made up another one!  Teeheee!  This card features a Verve sentiment from the newly released Words of Wisdom set!

Well, that's all from me today!  I hope your day is filled with lots of smiles!  Hugs, Laurie

A Couple of Uplifting Cards...

Good morning!  One of my favorite reasons for giving cards is to encourage and uplift someone!  It brings me so much joy to know that something I create could make a difference in someone else's life!  I love that!

My first card is a soft, floral card that could be used for any occasion.  I think any occasion is the perfect one to let someone know they are treasured!  :-)  The soft, warm tones of the Laced with Grace collection add to the lovely vintage feel so nicely!

  

While my first card was more soft and pretty, this card is more bold with a slight grunge feel to it.  I just adore the Love Games collection and especially love mixing and matching the papers!

I'm so glad you joined me here today!  I hope I have inspired you to share a little encouragement to those around you!  Hugs, Laurie

 

You Are a Treasure Card
Glitz Design Laced With Grace Papers:  Floral, Rose, Plaid
Glitz Design Laced With Grace Journaling Cardstock Stickers
Other:  Sunny Days stamp set (Verve Stamps), Spellbinders dies, Ribbon, Lace trim, Corner rounder punch, Sparkler, Prima flower, Tattered Angels Mist

Never Too Old Card
Glitz Design Love Games Papers:  Stripe, Polka, Poppies
Glitz Design Love Games Clear Stamps
Other:  Words of Wisdom stamp set (Verve Stamps), Checkerboard Texture Fades (Sizzix), Ribbon, Button, String, Heart punch, Clip, Rhinestones, Spellbinders die

Going Bananas...

Hi there!  I'm back today to share a fun card with you!  :-)

But first, I want to share some fabulous news with you!  Paper Smooches and Glue Arts have teamed up this week!  I loved getting to work with some new adhesives...ones that have now become my go-to adhesives!  You've probably noticed that I LOVE to add dimension to many of my cards!  That's probably one of the reasons that I fell in love with the 3-D Combo Pack!  The pack includes both Raisen's® and UCutIt® adhesives!  Love them!  My other favorite is the Glue Glider Pro...a very handy little tool that now lives on my craft desk!

Teeheheee!  I love these bananas!  How could anyone resist those sweet smiling faces?  I used both the Fruitastic and Alphadots sets from Paper Smooches!

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope your day is full of smiles!  ~Laurie

You are a Treasure...

 A great big happy Monday to you!  It's the August After Party over at the Verve Blog today, and all of the Divas' favorite creations using the newly released stamps are being shared!

Here's my favorite...

   

As soon as I saw the From the Heart Die Set, I knew that I wanted to create this card!  I started by lightly drawing a heart on my patterned paper using a pencil.  I then layered on lots of hearts (that I cut out using the From the Heart Die Set), stitched around the layered hearts and added some buttons.  To finish it off, I embossed a sentiment from the Sunny Days set on the bottom corner.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great day!  ~Laurie

 

Stamps: Sunny Days
Paper: Old Olive, Early Espresso (SU!), Harvest Gold, Scarlet Jewel, Ocean Tides, Kraft (PTI), Lost & Found 2 Blush Collection (My Mind's Eye)
Ink: Chocolate Chip Craft Ink (SU!), Walnut Stain Distress Ink
Accessories: From the Heart Die Set (A Cut Above by Verve), Clear Detail e.p., Sewing machine, Buttons, String

Thanks So Very Much...

Yay!!  It's here!  It's the Verve Stamps Anni-VERVE-sary release day!!  I have so enjoyed sharing peeks all week...these stamps are absolutely WONDERFUL!  Don't forget, there is still time to comment on all of the preview Hop posts!  Comment deadline is tonight at 8 pm Eastern!

I hope you join us tonight at the Anni-VERVE-sary Release Party!  Not only can you see the sets before they go live on the website, but all of the Hop winners will be revealed!  :-)

Hop along with the Divas today as we share our first looks at a few of the new products releasing from Verve on Friday night (tonight!  Woohoo!!  One lucky commenter from each day's hop will win the sets and dies featured that day, so be sure and leave a little love in the Divasphere! Check out the Verve Blog today for all the prize details and deadlines.

  Today the Divas are sharing peeks of the Making a Statement set along with the two coordinating dies Rounded Scallop Frame Die and the Loopy Blooms Die Set!

Okay...I'm just going to say it.  This set...Making a Statement...is the BOMB!  If I knew how to say LOVE in several different languages, I would!  :-)  Just you wait until you see it...I know you will be head over heels! 

I had some new My Mind's Eye papers show up at my house recently and I couldn't wait to dig in!  I combined the Making a Statement set, Rounded Scallop Frame Die, & the Loopy Blooms Die Set with some new Lost & Found Sunshine 6 x 6 papers!  See those notebook lines inside the pretty scalloped rectangle...yeah, that is my favorite part!  LOVE it!!

Well, I could keep going on and on, but I'm sure you want to see some more eye candy!!  Check out what the other Divas have created:

1. Julee 10. Laurie 2. Charmaine 11. Maureen 3. Tosha 12. Amber 4. Andrea 13. Amy 5. Sankari 14. Jen d. 6. Teresa 15. Betty 7. Jackie 16. Lynda 8. Sarah {Guest} 17. Susan 9. Marisa {Guest}

Thanks for stopping by!  ~Laurie

 

Stamps: Making a Statement (Verve)
Paper: Cream, Black, Lost & Found Sunshine 6 x 6 Collection (My Mind's Eye)
Ink: Black Onyx Versamagic, Soft Sued (SU!), Vintage Photo Distress Ink
Accessories: Rounded Scalloped Rectangle Die & Loopy Blooms Die Set (A Cut Above from Verve), Border punch (EK Success), Rhinestones, Corner rounder punch, Ribbon, Burlap trim (My Mind's Eye)

Dream Big...

It's Day 5 of our Anni-VERVE-sary Spotlight Hops!  Hop along with the Divas all week long as we share our first looks at a few of the new products releasing from Verve on Friday night!  One lucky commenter from each day's hop will win the sets and dies featured that day, so be sure and leave a little love in the Divasphere! Check out the Verve Blog today for all the prize details and deadlines.

On the menu today is fun, fun,and more fun as the Divas share projects made with Tag Time, Tagged Rectangle Die, Curvy Bookplate Die, & Tiny Sweet Scallop Die Set!

I was feelin' a little funky when I sat down to make this card!  :-)  I wanted some fun, bright colors...something that would cheer someone up!  I chose to combine Tag Time (a GREAT set with loads of fun tag and shape options!!), Sunny Days, Curvy Bookplate Die, & the Tiny Sweet Scallop Die Set with some of Crate Paper's Restoration paper.  Don't you just love that Curvy Bookplate shape?  I absolutely adore it...I see tons of possibilities!

   

Here's a close-up of the Tiny Sweet Scallop tag.  I do love me some tags!  :-)  In this photo you can also see the embossed leaves I added to the gray cardstock strip (the leaves are from the Sunny Days set).

There is still SO much inspiration ahead!  Check out what the other Divas have been up to:

 

1. Julee 9. Marisa {Guest} 2. Charmaine 10. Laurie 3. Tosha 11. Amber 4. Andrea 12. Amy 5. Sankari 13. Lynda 6. Teresa 14. Susan 7. Jackie 15. Maureen 8. Sarah {Guest}

 

I'm glad you stopped by today!  I hope your day is filled with sunshine and lots of smiles!  ~Laurie

 

Stamps:  Tag Time, Sunny Days (Verve)
Paper:  Vintage Cream (PTI), Smokey Shadow, Restoration Collection (Crate Paper), Vellum c.s.
Ink:  Versmark
Accessories:  Curvy Bookplate Die & Tiny Sweet Scallop Die Set (A Cut Above from Verve), Black Detail e.p., Heart brad, String, Buttons, Rhinestones, Scallop border punch, Sewing machine, Cuttlebug embossing folder

Life Happens Over Coffee...

 Hello again!   Welcome to day 4 of our Anni-VERVE-sary Spotlight Hops!  Hop along with the Divas all week long as we share our first looks at a few of the new products releasing from Verve on Friday night!  One lucky commenter from each day's hop will win the sets and dies featured that day, so be sure and leave a little love in the Divasphere! Check out the Verve Blog today for all the prize details and deadlines.

 Today the Divas are sharing projects made with Better With You, Sip and Savor, and From the Heart die set!  As a coffee lover, I can tell you that I am head over heels withe these new sets!!  LOVE!!  And a heart die set...double LOVE!!  :-)

 
For my project, I used the new Better with You set!  I paper pieced three cups and stacked them on top of each other.  Don't you just love the different designs on the cups?  Me too!!  And there are even MORE included in the set!  I've said it already, but it definitely needs repeating...you are going to be blown clear away when you see all these fabulous sets!!!!

As with any good hop, there is inspiration galore awaiting you!  Check out what the other Divas created:

1. Julee 7. Sarah {Guest} 2. Charmaine 8. Marisa {Guest} 3. Tosha 9. Laurie 4. Andrea 10. Maureen 5. Sankari 11. Amy 6. Teresa

Thanks so much for dropping by today!  Huge hugs, Laurie

Stamps: Better With You
Paper: Kraft (PTI), Marjolaine patterned paper (Basic Grey)
Ink: Chocolate Chip Craft ink (SU!), Walnut Stain Distress Ink, Soft Sky (SU!)
Accessories: Clear Detail e.p. (Judikins), Circle Nestabilities die, Crimper, Lace, String, Buttons, Rhinestone

Courageous Bookmarks...

 Welcome to day 3 of our Anni-VERVE-sary Spotlight Hops!  Hop along with the Divas all week long as we share our first looks at a few of the new products releasing from Verve on Friday night!  One lucky commenter from each day's hop will win the sets and dies featured that day, so be sure and leave a little love in the Divasphere! Check out the Verve Blog today for all the prize details and deadlines.

Today the Divas are spotlighting Words of Wisdom, Notebook and Graph paper PJ's, and the Rounded rectangle die!

 

As soon as I saw this set, I knew it would be PERFECT for making bookmarks!  With school fast approaching for us, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to make all four of my kiddos some new bookmarks! 

This first bookmark is for my daughter.  This is definitely going to be a banner year for her!  She has been through (and triumphed) over SO much these past three years.  After having a brain tumor removed two years ago, she has been in constant therapy.  Well, she will be continuing with the physical therapy but academically she is all caught up (one of the side effects of the tumor bleeding was a cognitive loss)!  She is actually going to be entering high school as a sophomore at the end of this month!  She has worked SO hard!  Dh & I could not be more proud of her!!  Not only is she starting this new chapter of her life, but she has a very clear idea of what she wants to do with her life!  Get this...she wants to be a pediatric nurse!  Man, I can't even tell you how much I love her!  :-)  So this sentiment just seemed appropriate for her and I'm SOOO glad Julee included it in the Words of Wisdom set!

    

This next bookmark is the one I made for our middle son (who is 7)!  B is such a great kid...loves to laugh and is an outstanding student!  He's got some crazy good math skills and I'm sure he could do just about anything he put his mind to! 

I embossed the dream big sentiment (from the Words of Wisdom set) onto the graph paper (eeeeek, don't you just LOVE that stamp!!!) that I made with the Graph Paper PJ and Rounded Rectangle die!

    

This is the bookmark I made for my oldest son (who is 12).  J is one of those kids that sees things in black or white.  Either it's wrong, or it isn't...but there is rarely ever gray area for him.  He has such a strong sense of justice, and that is something I admire so much about him!  This past year was his first year in public school (we home schooled before that) and it was a joy to see the kind of character he has developed!

For his bookmark, I used the Notebook PJ, Rounded Rectangle die, and a sentiment from the Words of Wisdom set.

  

And this bookmark is the one I made for our youngest son (who is 5)!  D will be starting Kindergarten in a few weeks and is SO excited to be going to school like his big brothers!  :-)  D is one of those guys that is absolutely full to the brim with life, love, and laughter...the life of the party!  Ach, I can't even tell you how blessed I feel to have these kids in my life!

For his bookmark, I embossed the sentiment from the Words of Wisdom set and then used my circle punches to punch them out.

Thanks so much for putting up with my long post today!  Make sure to check out what the other Divas have created...I KNOW they will blow you away!!

1. Julee 8. Sarah {Guest} 2. Charmaine 9. Marisa {Guest} 3. Tosha 10. Laurie 4. Andrea 11. Amy 5. Sankari 12. Shannan 6. Teresa 13. Betty 7. Jackie 14. Maureen

 

I'm so glad you stopped by today!  Have a great day!  ~Laurie