Power Poppy: The Final Day!

Hi all and welcome to the final day of the Power Poppy Digi Release! Today's image -- Countryside Bouquet -- is such a beauty don't you think? Those vibrant flowers are just screaming to be added to your next creation! What a delightful mix of California Poppy, Cosmos and Russian Sage! And this digi set comes with a beautiful sentiment. See? It's just one more addition to Power Poppy's fantastic Digital Sets!

On to my creation! Just like the past two days, I wanted to challenge myself a bit to be inspired by something out of the norm when creating. So, I challenged myself to pick three decorative papers -- use only those three (other than a card base) and then, use those colors dominantly in my creation! So, here's what I picked....

I chose a mix of purples, rich oranges and light blues for my image and I really love how my card turned out! I wish I could share the Copic markers I used but honestly, I forgot to write them down! Sorry! After printing off my image on to Cougar Opaque White Card Stock, I took my time to color this beauty up! I used a Spellbinders Classic Circle die to cut out my image and then, I used a Grand Scalloped Square die for my plaid mat. Add a button, some twine, a bit of seam binding white ribbon, a bit of orange lace, a wee bit of paper piecing and... ta da! Easy peasy! I chose a really simple layout because I really wanted my image to take center stage!

Wait 'til you see what the rest of the Bloom Brigade created with this image! I know some of your jaws are going to drop for sure!

Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Danielle Kennedy
Dawn Burnworth
Julie Koerber
Kathy Jones
Katie Sims
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker
Power Poppy Blog >>> stop by to see some of Marcella's inspiration for this set!


Tomorrow, we'll wrap up the festivities with an all out Power Poppy Hop with all of the design team! So, be sure to tune back in for some more fantastic creative inspiration! See you then!

~Julie

Power Poppy Digi Release: Day 2!

Hi all! Hope you loved yesterdays Power Poppy creations as much as I did! It's day two of the Power Poppy All Digi Release and today offers a floral that is personally one of my favorites! Take a peek at this new digi set!

Ahh..... isn't this one gorgeous image? And, I love that sentiment -- so beautifully done! The fun thing about this release is the fact that if you purchase this image - you don't need to wait - it's a digi, which means buy, download, create! You can visit the Power Poppy shop HERE to see this new image & sentiment combo. And, while you're there, if you love digis, Power Poppy has a handful you can use to create with --- right now! Just click onto the Digital Stamps page HERE!
On to my creation! Just like yesterday, I wanted to challenge myself a bit to be inspired by something when creating. For this "self challenge," I didn't have to travel any farther than my own back yard! This is one of the geraniums sitting on a pot on my patio!

I wanted to be inspired by the color! So, after printing my digi image onto Cougar Opaque White Card Stock,  I dug through my Copic markers and picked up a range of hot pinks! RV00, RV21, RV23, and RV25. The leaves were done with G20, G40, G43 and G46. Since I knew that getting that marbled effect on the petals would be really impossible (I'm not that good!) -- I chose to instead accent the petals with some dots from a Molotow white paint pen. 

After I colored it all up, I did take E50, E51 and E53 and add some rustic and antique looking shading around my flowers and leaves. I printed the sentiment and then using a 1-3/4" punch, punched it out for my card front. Add a punched border, some paper piercing and mat it all up! The decorative papers are pretty much all Stampin' Up! 

Be sure to see what kind of geranium goodness the rest of the Bloom Brigade created! 

Allison Cope
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Danielle Kennedy
Dawn Burnworth
Julie Koerber
Katie Sims
Leslie Miller
Tosha Leyendekker
Power Poppy Blog >>> stop by to see some of Marcella's inspiration for this set!

Tomorrow's digi is one that is so vibrant and full of life, we know it will be an image you'll quickly fall in love with! See you back here tomorrow!

~Julie

Power Poppy Digi Release: Day 1!

Hi all and welcome to a brand new release for the fabulous Power Poppy! Over the next three days, Marcella Hawley's illustrations are SURE to WOW! And... the Bloom Brigade cannot wait to show you what we've been up to creatively! The card above is the first little glimpse of what is available now with Power Poppy's all digi release!

This beautiful image is paired with that fabulously scripted sentiment above and all you need to do it go HERE to the Power Poppy Shop, purchase the file and download in minutes! Just that easy! While you're at the shop, click HERE to check out all the digital "fabulousness" that Power Poppy has! Instant gratification I say!

For my creation today, I wanted to challenge myself a bit. So, I decided that I would be inspired by one of my other loves -- knitting! How can a card maker be inspired by knitting? Well, just you wait and see my inspiration....

I loved the tonal nature of this yarn and so, I decided that not only would I use these shades as inspiration, I could ONLY use these shades as inspiration. I picked 5 Copic Markers: R0000, R01, R81, R83, and R85 and that was it! 

I printed my image on Cougar Opaque White Card Stock and then, let the coloring begin! Afterward, I die cut my image with THIS beautiful Spellbinder die called A-2 Fancy Ribbon Threader. I weaved in some cotton satin ribbon, added a Queen & Co. bit of bling and layered up my image. It is really a super easy peasy creation! And that, my friends, is it!

Be sure to hop on over to see what the rest of the Bloom Brigade created with this darling set! I know you are going to love what they have in store!

Allison Cope

Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Danielle Kennedy
Dawn Burnworth
Julie Koerber
Kathy Jones
Katie Sims
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker

Power Poppy Blog  >>> see some of Marcy's inspiration for this set!

Be sure to stop back by tomorrow for more florals that will tickle your fancy! Tomorrow's set is actually of a blossom that graces my yard each year -- so excited to share! See you then!

~Julie

3 Cards, 1 Stamp -- part 3!

Hello all! Hope your week is finishing off strong! We are getting ready for another round of stiff fastpitch softball competition this weekend.... but before I skip on out, have you checked out this fun little feature over on the Power Poppy Blog?

It's a day when Power Poppy fans can show off some of their recent Power Poppy creations! Each week's faves from the Bloom Brigade will even be showcased on the Power Poppy Blog HERE but on our Pinterest Power Poppy Peeps Customer Creations Board! At the end of the month, we'll draw a winner for one free stamp set! Check out the deets HERE!

On to my creation! You could call this one the finale of my three cards, one stamp set challenge. Granted, it was a challenge I issued myself! HA! But, if you want to see all three cards... here goes!

So you can see, I used two decorative papers throughout all three creations to make sure I had a unified feel. I used similar embellishments and added rustic accents by stamping or sponging Antique Linen Distress Ink. It's a fun set to have on hand or give to a friend!

For this final creation, I also turned to one of Pagemaps.com's Cardmaps sketches! See? I transformed it into an A2 size though, and kind of in the end made it my own. BUT, it was inspired by the sketch below!

And, here's my card! I stamped my image from Power Poppy's Lavender set using Espresso Truffle Memento ink onto Cougar Opaque White card stock, cut it out using a Spellbinders Blossom Die and while the die was still on, I sponged (and stamped using Flourished old set called So Distressed!) on some Antique Linen Distress Ink. 

From there, I colored up my image using Copic Markers and I used E50, E51, E53, G43, G23, BV01, BV00, and BV04. The shading below my image was done with W00, W01, and W03. The rest is just matting it all up! I added a wooden button, rounded some corners with a corner rounder punch, added some May Arts twine and a little punched border thanks to a Martha Stewart border punch.

Here's a close up!

And that, my friends is it! Have you created something fun with Power Poppy images recently? Or do you have plans to? If so, hop on over HERE and check out this weeks "Anything Goes" kind of challenge where we love to see what YOU create and maybe make YOU our next Power Poppy Peep of the Week!

This wasn't the only thing created this week in my stamp room! Want a peek at Power Poppy's upcoming release? SO FUN! Here's a gander...

Some of the other Bloom Brigaders are showing off peeks today as well. If you want to be tempted by their fabulousness, click on over and pay them a visit!

Allison Cope

Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Danielle Kennedy
Dawn Burnworth
Julie Koerber >>> you are here!
Kathy Jones
Katie Sims
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker

And remember, if you need some sketchy inspiration, it's a click away HERE at pagemaps.com! Thanks for stopping by stamping friends! Hope you have a wonderful weekend! See you back here tomorrow for a look at Power Poppy's fresh new release!

~Julie

Hello There Friend!

Hi all and Happy PageMaps Monday! It's a day when I flip through the Cardmaps sketches looking for inspiration to kick off the week! This sketch went all the way back to March of 2010! And here it is!

And, here's my take on it! I stayed pretty darn true to this sketch this time! ;-) I stamped the tulip in a bucket image from Penny Black's Friendship Flowers set (designed by Becky Fleck) using Espresso Truffle Memento Ink and then I colored up my image with Copic Markers. I used G20, G21, G24, R81, R83, and R85, C00, C01, C03 and C05 and then shaded using BG000 and BG11. 

Here's a peek!

From there, the rest is just matting it all up! I used a mix of My Mind's eye papers and that fun little ruffle up at the top was done just by literally cutting off strips of a doily and attaching it to create a scalloped edge. I wanted an easy breezy look that picked up on the doily design of the wood grain paper. Add some paper piercing, a little sentiment tag with a Stampin' Up clip and... ta da!! Done!

Here's a close up!

And, as I always say, inspiration is just a click away over at Pagemaps!! Hope your week is already off to a fabulous start! I'll see you back here soon! :-)

Happy stamping!

~Julie

Three Cards, 1 Stamp Set Part 2!

Hello folks! Last week I told you about a fun new venture over at the Power Poppy Blog....

What's this you say? It's an opportunity for you to show off some of your Power Poppy Creations and let the design team see the wonderfully creative ways you've used these fabulous images! Each Friday the Bloom Brigade will pick their faves and we'll highlight them, not only on the Power Poppy Blog HERE but on our Pinterest Power Poppy Peeps Customer Creations Board! At the end of the month, we'll draw a winner for one free stamp set! Fun stuff! 

For my creation this week, I'm continuing on the three cards, one stamp set challenge! If you missed the intro to this whole challenge, just click HERE to read/see last week's post! In a nutshell, I am using the stamp set Lavender each Friday of this month so that by the end of the month, I'll have three coordinating cards for one card set! I am also using sketches from Pagemap's Cardmaps! Click HERE for literally hundreds of sketches!

So, here's my sketch!

And, here's my card! You can see I made a few changes. For starters, I made my card an A2 size and secondly, instead of a ribbon threaded tag, I chose to add a sentiment with just a pennant styled strip of decorative paper!

So, I stamped the Lavender image using Espresso Truffle Memento Ink and then picked up my Copic Markers to give it some color. I used C00, C01, C03, C05, E31, BV00, BV01, BV04, G20, G21 and G24. The shading around the base of the image was done with W00, W01 and W03. After I was done stamping, I did add a bit of distressed stamping using Antique Linen Distress Ink and a background stamp from Flourishes' old set called So Distressed! I used that background on my first card and I thought that it would be fun to tie all of my images together with papers and similar "feels!" The rest is just matting it all up! The paper is a mix of Basic Grey and The Paper Studio. The stamp for the top of my white panel was from Stampin' Up as were the little lavender faux brads! 

Here's a close up!

And that, my friends is it! Have you created something fun with Power Poppy images recently? Or do you have plans to? If so, hop on over HERE and check out this weeks "Anything Goes" kind of challenge where we love to see what YOU create and maybe make YOU our next Power Poppy Peep of the Week!

If you need some fun inspiration, the Bloom Brigade has been at it again! Hop on over and see...

Allison Cope
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Dawn Burnworth
Julie Koerber >>> you are here!
Leslie Miller
Tosha Leyendekker

Thanks for stopping by stamping friends! Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

~Julie

I'd Pick YOU!

Hi all and happy Monday! I'm kicking off the week with another PageMaps Monday -- a day when I scour the galleries over at PageMaps' Cardmaps and look for just the right sketch to set off one of my stamped images. 

I don't know about you, but I love to stamp a bunch of images, color and then stick those colored images in a drawer for a day when I want to make a card but don't have a ton of time to color! This card was done just that way! 

So, here's a peek at the sketch I picked......

And here's my card! As you can see, even though this sketch is long and lean, I chose to squish it and make it fit with an A2 card. Like I always say -- that's the beauty of a sketch!  

I started by stamping the pail of flowers -- from Penny Black's Friendship Flowers stamp set --with Espresso Truffle Memento Ink and then I colored it all up with Copic Markers. I used E23, E25, E27, Y21, Y18, C00, C01, C03, C05, E33 and then I shaded with Y000, BG000, W00, W01 and W03. The little accents were created thanks to a Molotow White Paint Pen.  

Here's a close up!

And as you can see, I added some paper piercing, a silver ribbon slide (Stampin' Up), some May Arts Ribbon, and mix of My Mind's Eye paper. Just that simple! The sentiment was also a part of the set and I stamped it on a Spellbinders Petite Labels One die cut shape and then added some Antique Linen Distress Ink sponging.

And that, my friends, is it! If you are ever in need of some sketchy inspiration -- it's just a click away at Pagemaps.com's Cardmaps! Grab a cuppa joe or tea, make yourself comfy and have fun looking!

See you back here soon!

~Julie

Want to be a Power Poppy Peep?

Hello happy crafters! It's Friday and this week there is a brand new "feature" over on the Power Poppy Hot Spot i.e. the blog! This is not only a day when the Bloom Brigade will show you some of their latest creations, it's a day when the team asks YOU to show us your stuff! That's right -- we want to see YOUR creations!

HERE'S HOW TO PLAY: All you need to do is use the linky below and share a new Power Poppy creation. Just that simple! It can be anything -- a card, an altered item, a 3D creation, a set of cards, ANYTHING! For the official rules, all you need to do is click HERE! Winners of this weeks' anything goes challenge will be announced next Friday as we unveil our top cards (which will then be added to our Power Poppy Peeps of the Week customer gallery on Pinterest!) Fun stuff!

On to my creation!

This card is actually one of three. One of my favorite things to do when I was a stamp instructor at my local stamp store was to teach a class I called 3 Cards, One Stamp Set. I loved looking at the stamp set and coming up with fun and different ways to use the same images. I thought -- what better way to get more mileage out of pretty images??? So, for the next few weeks, I'll be sharing coordinating creations using the set Lavender! At the end of the month, you'll have three ways to use the set -- in addition to all THESE ideas over on the Power Poppy Pinterest Board!

So... here goes card #1! For starters.... I used THIS sketch below from Pagemaps CardMaps! Did I mention how much I love sketches??? ;-)

And this is my card!

You might notice that my sketch is square but I took all the elements and stretched them into a standard A2 size. That's the beauty of sketches -- they are a starting point and you can morph them into something else to better accomodate your stamped image! So, here's how I created my card -- I stamped the lavender sprig on Cougar Opaque White Card Stock and then colored it up with Copic Markers using G20, G21, G24, BV00, BV01, BV04, and dots of B63. I cut out my image, rounding the lower right corer and then I sponged on some Antique Linen Distress Ink. I also took one of my grungy stamps (from Flourishes, So Distressed) and added splotches using Lavender Vivid Ink. I matted it all up using some Paper Studio Papers. My sentiment was embossed with White Detail Powder and I added some faux stitching thanks to a white gel pen. Add some Hug Snug Ribbon and a little wooden button and.... ta da!!!! Done! 

Here's a close up!

And here's the sentiment and faux stitching!

And that, my friends, is it! Need a little more inspiration to get those creative juices flowing? Be sure to stop on by and see what these lovely ladies on our Bloom Brigade created this week!

Allison Cope
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Dawn Burnworth
Danielle Kennedy

Julie Koerber >>>>> you are here!
Katie Sims
Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker

Thanks for stopping by! We can't wait to see what you create!

~Julie

Just Bloom!

Hello all and Happy Monday! Gosh, I can't believe it is the start to a new week already! I spent the weekend out in the sun watching my DD play softball from Friday night to late Sunday Afternoon. Note to self -- sunscreen, sunscreen, sunscreen! ;-) So before we get to PageMaps Monday, I thought I'd share a Proud Mama moment! Let me introduce you to these little champions! They played amazing and ended up winning their fast pitch softball tourney! Yay!!!! Congrats girls!

Okay, moving on! As I try to do most Mondays, I go into the archives of PageMaps CardMaps greatness, pick a card sketch and use it to influence a fun-filled creation! Here's the sketch I picked from June  2013....

And here's my take on it using one of Penny Black's new stamps from Becky Fleck called Friendship Flowers!

I started by stamping this darling vintage wheel barrow on Cougar Opaque White Card Stock using Espresso Truffle and then colored it up with Copic Markers and used all shades of the Warm Grey markers, G20, G21 and G24 plus R21. R24 and R27. I also shaded with BG0000. I die cut the image with a Spellbinders Classic Oval die and while the die was still on, I did sponge on some Distress Antique Linen ink. I paired it all up with some Stampin' Up and My Mind's Eye decorative paper, some May Arts Crochet lace, and a SU button. I stamped the sentiment on a strip that a notched the ends off of and before I matted it all up, I did add a wee bit of paper piercing. 

Here's a close up!  

And that, my friends, is it! Of course, if you want to grab a little inspiration on the go, all you need to do is click on over HERE to CardMaps! I usually suggest a cup of coffee for the journey because not only will you have some fun sketches to take a gander at -- you'll have samples to spark creativity too! Have fun and even better -- have a wonderful week! I'll see you back here soon! 

~Julie

It's here!

Well, after all the hooplah this week surrounding Power Poppy's Swing Into Summer Release -- I am happy to say -- IT'S HERE!!! The entire release is ready to order now! Isn't that exciting? You just need to head on over to the Power Poppy Shop HERE to see for yourself!

And, to usher in all the new sets, the Bloom Brigade is showing off another card to share even more ways to use these new sets!

On to my creation!

For my creation, I reached for my favorite set in this release -- Lavender! I stamped with Memento Espresso Truffle and then colored it up with my Copic Markers. I used a mix of purples from V0000 to V09. I basically just dotted on the color until I got the look I wanted. The greenery is G20, G40, G43, and G46. And then, the background stippling was done with E50, E51, E53, and E40. I cut using a Spellbinders Labels Twenty-Three. While the die was still on, I did sponge on some Antique Linen ink. I used one of the larger dies on my decorative paper (The Paper Studio) One thing I did too was sand the embossed edges, and then I actually colored the sanded edges with E51 marker to give it a distressed look. I also colored my white enamel dots to match too! Add a sentiment on a 1" punched circle that I matted on a 1-1/4" punched circle. The rest is just matting it up! I have some C'oredinations dot paper and some Stampin' Up green decorative paper. I also added a little paper piercing. 

Here's a close up for you!  

And that, my friends is it! Like I mentioned, all of the stamp sets are available for order right this very minute! Before you head on over to the Power Poppy Shop, you should absolutely, positively head on over to see the rest of the Bloom Brigade -- I know what they have in store today will be like icing on the cake! YUM!

Allison Cope
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Danielle Kennedy
Dawn Burnworth
Kathy Jones
Katie Sims
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker

Thanks for joining me this week. I hope you had as much fun as I did looking at all of these new sets and seeing the creativity from the Bloom Brigade! Enjoy the rest of your weekend and I will see you back here soon!

~Julie