Hey There, Sunshine

Over the weekend, I put together two encouraging cards based on the first two Viva la Verve sketches for September.  These will be perfect for brightening someone's day!

Here’s my card for week 1’s sketch. I made the large half circle panel into a sun so I could use Verve’s Sunshine Plain Jane sentiment.  It's one of my favorites!

My sun is made from a yellow pinking edged die cut circle topped with a cheery yellow gingham pierced circle die cut. The sun is set on a cloud patterned paper panel and topped with a strip of orange dotted patterned paper. Originally, I used just a plain piece of light blue patterned paper underneath the sun, but the design seemed to be missing something. Once I switched it out for the cloud pattern, I liked the card much better!

The sentiment is stamped in orange ink on a white panel. I matted it on an orange panel, then added it to the card, overlapping both the sun and the patterned paper panel. A small golden yellow ribbon tab is tucked underneath the bottom edge of the sentiment for a little texture.

Materials Used:
Sunshine Plain Jane (Verve Stamps); Vivid Butterscotch ink (Clearsnap); Soft Sky and Whisper White cardstock (Stampin’ Up!); Orange Fizz cardstock, Die-namics pierced circle die (My Favorite Things); Harvest Gold cardstock, Lemon Tart patterned paper, Harvest Gold grosgrain ribbon (Papertrey Ink); About a Boy 6x6 paper pad (Echo Park); Lime Twist-Fly a Kite "Genuine" Sky designer paper (My Mind's Eye); pinking circle die (My Favorite Things)

Here’s my card for week 2’s sketch. It also doubles as my entry for this month’s tic tac toe inspired Verve Diva Dare. I incorporated a grid element as well as a circle (O) panel in my school themed design.

I used Verve’s Teachers Count set for this one. I made my own patterned papers for the cad, using the chalkboard technique and the set’s number block image to create the strip for across the bottom of the card and using the grid image from the Making a Statement set to make the panel that runs from the top of the card to the bottom. Both panels are matted with red cardstock to set them off from the kraft card base. I stamped the “best teacher ever” sentiment on a black panel and heat embossed it before adhering it to the cardfront with a die cut apple as an accent.

Materials Used:
Teachers Count and Making a Statement stamp sets, Apples die (Verve Stamps); white pigment ink (WPlus9); Sno Cone, Wild Cherry, and Jellybean Green inks, Die-namics pierced circle die (My Favorite Things); Real Red, Basic Black, and Whisper White cardstock (Stampin’ Up!); Kraft cardstock (Papertrey Ink); white embossing powder (Michaels); foam tape