It's a BIRTHDAY Celebration!

Howdy Ho there fellow stampers! Boy do I have a ton of fun to share today. Today is a pretty special day! Not only is it the start of a new month with a new Power Poppy Power & Spark Challenge to unveil, it's actually, the start of a new year for Power Poppy! Yes, TODAY marks the 2nd birthday of this fine, fun, FANTASTIC company!

To help us mark this momentous occasion, Marcella has a few gifts up her sleeve! Isn’t that just like her? It’s her company’s birthday and she wants to give YOU the gifts! ;-) So, stay tuned for the deets on that at the end of this post...

With the mark of a new month, we have a brand-spankin’-new Power & Spark Challenge and this one will have you stretching the bounds of your coloring creativity! 

Ms. Christine Okken is the hostess for this colorific quest to create something wonderful with — just THREE markers! Did I hear you gasp? You can’t fathom picking just three? Yes, I know, it sounds like a true (and FUN) challenge! Here’s how Christine explains HERE (that's also where you'll find the official rules and the linky to link up your creation!). In a nutshell, choose three markers by picking three in the same color family, pick three from complementary color families, or, BE COURAGEOUS, close your eyes and choose three randomly! Not sure I am brave enough to do that, but we'll see, the month isn't over yet! ;-)

On to my 3-color creation! Not only did I choose just three colors, I paired it up with one of the latest Pagemaps.com CardMaps sketches! The Power Poppy Bloom Brigade was asked to design cards using these fresh and fun new card recipes and you can find all TEN of the sketches HERE! 

Here was my sketch.....

And, here's my take on it!

As you can see, I kept pretty close to the sketch and, I'll admit, I had a lot of fun doing it! I had some dies that I honestly, haven't put my hands on in a long time -- like the fun edge die and the file folder die with the decorative tabs. It was a great excuse to use a few different tools to get creative! 

And, in line with Christine's challenge to use ONLY three markers, here's the three I picked. You can see I took my inspiration right from the challenge graphic! ;-)

I used BG15, YG23 and R81. You might look at my creation and say, "Hey, how did you get the color range with just three markers?" Here's a tip for you. 1. Grab an acryllic block or plastic palette, scribble off a little color and 2. Use your blender pen to pick up that color. Draw the excess ink off the nib by scribbling on a scrap piece of paper too! I colored dark to light and after I added all the dark that I wanted, used the scribble technique to add lighter layers of color. You can see below what I'm talking about! See the variations of green? Of pink? and of blue? I even used this scribble technique to add the blue shadows around my heart shaped wreath! After I was done, I did add a wee bit of razzle dazzle thanks to some glitter glue too! 

Here's a close up for you! 

And that, my friends, is it! :-) Fun stuff on a few different levels! Speaking of fun -- before we get to the Bloomies and their wonderful weekly creations, we interrupt this blog post to bring you a birthday special from the Chief Peep — Marcella Hawley herself! Since Power Poppy is 2, she wanted to kick off another flowering and empowering year by sharing with all of you! Check out these fun deets! 

Well after all that fun, it's time to pass the baton to my fellow Bloomies. Be sure to check out these fine ladies below and see what they whipped up for your viewing pleasure! I should point out that along the way, you'll see not only a few 3- color creations but some of the sketches in play from the April edition of CardMaps over at Pagemaps.com!  You can find all of the inspiration HERE!

Christine Okken

Cindy Lawrence

Julie Koerber >>> you are here!

Katie Sims

Leslie Miller

Stacy Morgan

Tosha Leyendekker

Cheryl Scrivens

Thanks for stopping by and spending a little piece of your day with me! :-) Have a great weekend!

~Julie