a holiday full of thanks!

Hello all! Goodness, it's been two weeks since I've posted here on my little ole place in the blogosphere! I got caught up with Christmas spirit and literally spent the last two weeks trying to round up some holiday cheer with shopping and baking and decking the halls! It's been nice to just be with family and enjoy all that this time of year has to offer.I hope you are enjoying the season as well!

Today, I thought I'd share a card I whipped up last night. I have to have some holiday "thank yous" on hand and so this will be the first of many to come! ;-)

On to my creation!

I have to say that I was in a bit of a food coma from eating toooooooo much on Christmas day, so when I set out to color up this grouping of Lenten Rose from the Power Poppy stamp set Heaven and Nature Sing, I needed a "blue print" for my card a.k.a. a sketch! I started this this little Sweet Sunday Sketch from Karen Giron. This sketch is a few weeks old (from November 30th) but I loved it, so I decided to use it as my inspiration! 

To start, I stamped my image using Memento Tuxedo Black and then grabbed some Distress Markers and used these ones to color up my flowers, leaved and berries!

And, here's a close up! 

For my card, I sponged on some Antique Linen Distress Ink, added some paper piercing and bling. You can see too that with my coloring, I really just scribbled on the color. I took an acrylic block, scribbled the marker on the surface and then picked the color up with a Dove Blender pen, again, scribbling on the color. I like the uneven and unpredictable look. ;-) The paper is a mix of Teresa Collins and Echo Park papers that I had in my scrap bin. The "Thanks" stamp is actually from Power Poppy's Play Ball set!

And that, my friends, is it! Some of my fellow Bloom Brigade members whipped up some craftiness thi week too! You'll have to stop on by and say "hi!"

Allison Cope
Christine Okken
Julie Koerber >>>> you are here!
Katie Sims


Thanks for spending a part of your day with me! Hope you have a wonderful weekend ahead and I'll see you back here soon!

~Julie

Sh-Sh-Sh-Shake It Up!

Hi all and happy Friday! I'm here with another dose of Power Poppy snappy happiness! How's that to describe a bit of cardmaking? ;-) Actually, the card that I am going to share today is one that I have had in my head for AWHILE! 

I envisioned this pretty church scene (from the O Holy Night stamp set) bathed in red! And, I had also seen some very cool creations using this stamp set and making it a shaker card. I immediately said, "Ooooo, I wanna try that!" So, my dear friends, here's my creation!

I stamped the church image using Love Letter Memento Ink, cut it out using a circle die from Spellbinders and then, I used one of the Shake It Pouches from Impression Obsession. These little numbers not only make shaker cards easy but they have adhesive on the back of them to make assembly a breeze! Before I attached it over my stamped image, I did add glitter, sequins, and snowflake confetti. See? (I have to mention my stamp room is so dry I had an issue with static. I am hoping that the glitter stuck on my shaker eventually falls off!)

The rest is just matting it up! I used (for the most part) decorative paper from the Candy Cane Lane collection from Teresa Collins. I added some rhinestone swirls, some May Arts Ribbon, a Queen and Co. bit of bling and a little tag featuring the word "Peace" from the Merry Littles stamp set from Power Poppy! Even though it looks like there's a lot going on with this card, it was really quite fast and easy! One more Christmas card done! Now they just need to sign and address themselves so I can get them in the mail! ;-)

Need a little more inspiration to get your wheels spilling for weekend creating? Never fear, the Bloom Brigade is here! Stop on by and say "hello" to these lovely ladies!

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

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you have some fun things planned for the weekend! I am going to go watch my daughter play basketball and HOPEFULLY get some Christmas shopping done. To date, I have one present, YES ONE purchased for the big day. Need to get moving, shopping and baking before the big day arrives! ;-)

~Julie

Celebrate the Season!

Hello all! Hope your week is ending on a high note! I have to tell you, I am looking forward to a little down time this weekend! ;-)

Being that it's Friday, that means the Bloom Brigade is here to share a little Power Poppy goodness! Even though Power Poppy just released some AMAZING digi stamps HERE, I decided I really need to keep going on my Christmas cards! So, here's my card!

I picked up the Bough Wow Wow stamp set for this one! The beauty of this card is the fact that the image is one I actually colored up a few weeks back during some coffee talk with my mom. I stamped using Espresso Truffle Memento ink and then, grabbed a WHOLE BUNCH of Copic markers! Here are the colors I used: B00, B02, B04, YG28, YG26, YG21, G20, G43, G40, G46, R20, R24, R27, V01, V04, V06, Y21, Y35, Y38, YR0000, E42 and BG0000. 

My image was cut out with Majestic Labels Twenty Five and the rest.... is just matting it all up! I actually found my card base in a package on clearance at Michaels -- I loved the mod design and the fact that the pack came with five different colors! I added a strip of decorative red, a strip of gold bling, some May Arts ribbon, gold cording and then a Stampin' Up button! I needed (of course) a little extra razz-a-mat-azz, so I added some glitter glue (Stickles Diamond), on to the berries. See?

And that, my friend, is it! A colorful card ushering in Christmas well wishes! I'm not the only "Bloomer" sharing the fabulous illustrations from Power Poppy, check out these ladies creations too!

Allison Cope
Christine Okken
Julie Koerber >>> you are here!
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan

Thanks so much for stopping by this Friday! I'll see you back here soon!

~Julie

It's a Winter Blitz Power Poppy Hop!

Are you ready for an all out Power Poppy Hop? Well, I am! The past two days, the Bloom Brigade has been showing off Marcella Hawley's latest illustrations and the fun thing about this release? It's all digital-- meaning you can order, print, color and ENJOY immediately! 

And here's a peek at the florals you can cherish.... right now!

Camellias and Winter Pick-Me-Up are both digi images that come with beautifully scripted sentiments to help you in your card making all year long! 

So to honor this oh-so-special hop, the Bloom Brigade is joining forces to show off another take on this mini digi release! And the fun news? If you comment on all of the designers' blogs today, you'll be in the running to WIN this entire digi release! FUN!

On to my creation!

Doesn't this little bouquet of winter blooms just make you SWOON? It sure made me and I have to say, I could not wait to print this beauty off to color it up! I printed, grabbed my Copic markers and had a blast just trying to bring this floral burst to life. I used these Copic colors: R01, R0000, E23, E25, BV01, BV0000, B61, B63, B66, V01, YG21, YG23, G20, YG0000, YG01, Y35, Y38, Y21, E40, E42. E0000. 

The rest is just matting this all up! I kept my layout rather simple. I used Spellbinders Labels Fourteen for my main image and while my die was still on the stamped image, I took a sponge dauber and sponged on some Cool Peri Ranger Adirondack Ink. I also added (while you can't really see it) some glitter glue to the base of each pussy willow for a little splash of fun. The sentiment was punched out with a Stampin' Up punch and accented with some tiny gold embellishments. Add a kraft doily, some May Arts lace and gold cording and... ta da! Done!

What did the rest of the Bloom Brigade whip up for this Winter Blitz Power Poppy Hop? Well, you'll have to see for yourself! I know you won't be disappointed! And remember, every comment you make on their blogs is one more chance to win this digi release!

Allison Cope
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Julie Koerber >>> you are here!
Kathy Jones
Katie Sims
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker

Thanks so much for stopping by! I'll be back with more.... SOON!

~Julie