Birthday, Baby, and More

Over the weekend, I got all caught up on this month’s Viva la Verve sketches.  I came up with a mix of cards for a variety of occasions.

Here’s my card for week 1. I made a cheery birthday card using one of the sentiments from Verve's Treasured Words set. It’s becoming one of my favorite sentiment sets—I love the mix of sentiments and the fabulous font, too.

The large circle element on my card is made from a striped patterned paper circle that I adhered to a paper doily to get a dainty, decorative edge. The patterned paper circle is edged with a clear crystal circle. The circle was a perfect match for the round panel and adds such a fun sparkle.

The “happy birthday” sentiment is stamped at the top of a pink strip that I partially embossed with a dotted pattern. The strip is matted on a red panel and set on top of the circle on the cardfront. To visually divide the sentiment from the embossing, I added a pretty pink bow instead of a rectangle element.  The pieces are arranged on a piece of pink dotted paper, then set on a blue card base.

Materials Used:
Treasured Words stamp set (Verve Stamps); Memento Rhubarb Stalk ink (Tsukineko); Baja Breeze, Riding Hood Red, and Pink Pirouette cardstock (Stampin’ Up!); Time for Spring 6x6 paper pad (Fancy Pants); Paper Studio pink dotted paper (Hobby Lobby); circle die (Spellbinders); Polka Dot embossing folder (Cuttlebug); clear crystal circle (Michaels); paper doily (Wilton); pink grosgrain ribbon (Morex); Bow Easy

For my card for week 2, I went clean and simple—and wintery. For the sketch’s trio of elements, I used three different sized felt snowflakes. The snowflakes are arranged on a silver strip that I set on a white cardstock panel. Each snowflake has a clear crystal at the center for extra sparkle.

The “winter wishes” sentiment from the Winter Mittens set is stamped in gray ink at the bottom of the white panel. I like the softer look of the gray (instead of black) alongside the shimmery silver paper. The panel is set on a blue card base to match the blues of the snowflakes.  This one ended up being just my style!

Materials Used:
Winter Mittens stamp set (Verve Stamps); Memento Gray Flannel ink (Tsukineko); Bashful Blue and Whisper White cardstock (Stampin’ Up!); silver paper, clear crystals (Michaels); felt snowflakes (American Crafts)

I kept my Winter Mittens set out for my card for week 3’s sketch. This time I used the mittens and the sentiment. The mittens are paper pieced using a fun blue and green pattern. I used a solid olive green for the cuffs for some contrast. A piece of twine strings the mitten together. I attached them to an oval panel with foam tape, then stamped the “winter wishes” set at the bottom of the panel.

I used the same paper as I used for the mittens to make the strip that runs across the cardfront. It’s edged with olive cardstock to set it off from the cardfront. For the panel that is layered behind the mittens and the patterned paper strip, I cut a die cut decorative edged circle in half. This let me “stretch” the circular shape into more of an oval to better fit my design.

Materials Used:
Winter Mittens stamp set (Verve Stamps); Memento Tuxedo Black ink (Tsukineko); Marina Mist, Old Olive, and Whisper White cardstock (Stampin’ Up!); oval dies (Spellbinders); Nesting Doily Circle die (Lifestyle Crafts); hemp twine (Hemptique); foam tape

And, while I had my Verve stamps out, I squeezed in one more card for Verve’s World Card Making Day sketch challenge. I made a girly baby card using one of the sentiments from Treasured Words and a pair of coordinating patterned papers.

I machine stitched together two patterned paper strips to make the background for my sentiment. A strip of wide white grosgrain ribbon runs down the center of the stitched panel. The ribbon’s mostly covered by a trio of narrow pink stitched velvet ribbon strips—love all the texture this adds! I stamped the “sweet baby” sentiment on a circle in pale pink ink, then layered it on a pale pink circle. It’s attached to the card with foam tape to hold it in place over the ribbon pieces. I added another piece of pink velvet ribbon at the top of the panel as an accent.

Materials Used:
Treasured Words stamp set (Verve Stamps); Sweet Blush ink, Sweet Blush cardstock (Papertrey Ink); Whisper White cardstock (Stampin’ Up!); Cakewalk 8x8 paper pad (October Afternoon); circle dies (Spellbinders); pink velvet stitched ribbon (Michaels); white grosgrain ribbon (?); sewing machine; foam tape