Sun and Stars

I got caught up on my first two weeks of Viva la Verve challenges for March, just in time to share them in Verve's Fan Blog Hop. I made a pair of cheerful cards with similar color schemes, focusing on some of Verve's great sentiments.

Here's my card for week one's sketch. I used one of the quotes from the Always on My Mind set, stamped in blue ink, as the focal image. The set's dangling star image is stamped next to the sentiment. I filled the open image in with some Distress Stickles for a subtle sparkle.

I used a trio of glittery patterned papers from a My Mind's Eye stack for the panels on the cardfront. The color inspiration for the card came from the bold stripes on one of the papers. After I arranged all the panels, I ran a strip of orange grosgrain ribbon across the card, layering the sentiment panel over it. An orange star, embossed with a dot pattern and embellished with a button, adds a nice, bold pop of color to finish the card.

Materials Used:

Always on My Mind stamp set (Verve Stamps); Baja Breeze Classic ink, Baja Breeze and Pumpkin Pie cardstock (Stampin' Up!); Spring Moss cardstock, Seeing Stars die collection, Simply Chartreuse button (Papertrey Ink); designer paper (My Mind's Eye); Polka Dots embossing folder (QuicKutz); orange grosgrain ribbon (Michaels); Wild Honey Distress Stickles (Ranger); baker's twine (Timeless Twine); foam tape

And, here's my card for week two's sketch. As soon as I saw it, a sun came to mind--and so did the colors in Heather's latest Totally Hues challenge. The mix of oranges and blues was perfect for a card featuring a sun!

I made my sun from a pair of die cuts--a Summer Sunrise orange circle, embossed with a dotted pattern, and a slightly larger Orange Zest pinking-edged circle. It's set on a Hawaiian Shores panel. A strip of Aqua Mist star patterned paper extends from the top of the sun to the top of the card. A strip of orange satin ribbon, dressed up with a bow, runs over both of the pieces.

I stamped the "hello sunshine" sentiment from the Accent Notes set on an Aqua Mist panel and layered it on an Orange Zest panel for a nice pop. It's set on the card with some foam tape.

I'm hoping I'll see at least enough sunshine today to get Chloe the cutie puppy out for a nice, long walk in the morning and maybe a stop at the dog park for some playtime later in the afternoon. It sounds like we'll be having rain for the rest of the weekend, so we need to get in our outdoor time while we can!

Materials Used:

Accent Notes stamp set (Verve Stamps); Hawaiian Shores ink, Hawaiian Shores, Aqua Mist, Summer Sunrise, and Orange Zest cardstock, Aqua Mist Bitty Star Basics patterned paper, Orange Zest satin ribbon (Papertrey Ink); circle and pinking circle dies (Spellbinders); Polka Dots embossing folder (QuicKutz); foam tape