Anni-Verve-sary Blog Hop - Verve turns TWO!

Welcome to the first ever official Anni-VERVE-sary Blog Hop. Verve turns two today and we’re celebrating with a hop, hop, hop! If you just came from Kayla's blog, you're on your way. The party kicked off over on the Verve blog, so if you’ve just happened along, be sure to hop on over there to start from the beginning! And to make this party a real shindig, there’s a mystery jackpot hidden at one of the stops along the hop. One lucky commenter on that blog will win Verve’s entire August release! But of course, it wouldn’t be a mystery if you knew which blog, would it? So if you’re feeling the love give a little shout out to the bloggers in the hop, and you just might have a reason to jump for joy!

The card I'm sharing with you today is one I did for the Viva la Verve challenges over on Splitcoast Stampers. The twist this time was to add texture, and that was fun! I love to use my embossing folders, but sometimes "forget" that I have them. A challenge like this forces me to thumb through my folders.

I really love the graphic boldness of black & white with a little splash of color. The sketch for this challenge did just that, so I decided to roll with it. I also experimented when coloring the flowers. I tried using a blending pen with my Memento dew drop pad. Not a bad result, but I will probably not use it again - I just didn't like the feel of the dry tip scraping over the paper surface. I also thought the sentiment needed just a little something extra, so I inked up only a portion of the leaf part of the flower stamp and used it as a flourish. A few pearls & matting, and the card was done!

supplies ~ cardstock: stash, pearls: Martha Stewart & Michaels, stamps: Verve "Floral Symphony"

Thanks for stopping by! Now it’s time to hop on over to ~Melody's blog~ for a little more Verve-y goodness. Make sure you leave a comment on each blog to enter to win Verve's ENTIRE ANNI-VERVE-SARY RELEASE!