Did someone say... FRIDAY?

Hello all and hApPy.... FrIdAy!!!! It is supposed to be really nice in  my neck of the woods and so, rest assured, I will be out enjoying SPRING! Hope you will too!

Speaking of spring, I had to feel the season in my craft room! That's why it was super easy to reach for Power Poppy's Potted Primroses. On to my creation for this, Power Poppy Friday!

I picked some patterned paper from my scrap bin, made some scrappy pennants, added a little doily and then, colored up the main image from the set and one of the sentiments that I had cut out thanks to my Silhouette Cameo. I wish I could tell you the colors that I used but honestly, I had all my pinks and greens sprawled out on my desk and just did a grab and go coloring session! I can guess that I used RV52, and RV55 in there! For greens, I normally reach for G20, G21, G24 and G28. The yellows are likely Y21, Y23, Y35 and a little YG00 and YG03 for good measure! 

Here's a close up! You can see I added a wee bit of razzle dazzle to the centers with some glitter glue!

And that, my friends, is it! Oh, and before I forget.... have you played along in Power Poppy's Power & Spark Challenge??? All you need to do is add a POP of PASTEL to your card or creation and you could win a Power Poppy stamp set of choice! What FUN! (Click on the Pop of Pastel link to find out more!)

Before I go, a few of the other Bloomies are sharing some of their creations this Friday as well. If you're looking for weekend inspiration, I guarantee you'll find it on this hop!

Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker

Thanks for stopping by and saying "hi!" I hope you have the bestest of weekends and I will see you back here soon!

~Julie

Celebrating Spring!

Hello all! Exciting day here on the ole blog! Why, you ask? Because just a couple days ago, (Wednesday to be exact) Power Poppy released it's latest beauty in the Instant Garden Collection! It's a bit of flowering perfection that, if you love it as much as I do, you can visit powerpoppy.com HERE, buy, download and start coloring -- right away!

Check out the latest offering in their digital stamp set collection!

While Flowering Branches can be resized to be as small or as large as you like, at full size this baby is about 5" tall and a little less than 4" wide. That means this bit of lovliness can cover your entire card front! And, sweet stamping friends, my printed image nearly does!

On to my creation!

Did you catch Ally Cope's tutorial HERE from last Monday? Oh my, what a good reminder for all the coloring enthusiasts out there. You don't have to take hours and hours to color each and every image that you stamp. In fact, with her guidelines, you can do it in minutes! She might have used a water brush and some distress inks to get the color on her image but I wanted to be inspired to just "scribble" color on my image. Ally scribbled on the color on her final card that she made in 15 minutes. So, that was my guide -- 15 minutes -- only I scribbled with Copic markers. I literally set a timer and went to town, coloring with wreckless abandon! I could have likely cut that down if I had a little more of the abandon part! ;-) 

I started by printing my Flowering Branches on white card stock, cut it out with Spellbinders Labels Seventeen and while the die was still on, I sponged on some Spun Sugar Distress Ink. After I took the die off, I took a mister that had some of the reinker in it and gave the paper a spritz as well. I let it dry, and then grabbed the markers! 

Here's a peek at the colors that I used.....

If you take a close look at my sample you see -- I scribbled in and out of the lines. some areas look blended, others do not. And, that's what I love about it. It's a free flowing expression of color! After I was done, you can see I did go back in and add a wee bit of razzle dazzle thanks to some glitter glue!

I also took the sentiment from the set, cut it out using a die and added the spun sugar distress ink again while the die was still on my sentiment. Add some bling and sparkle edged ribbon and.... ta da! Easy peasy! Now, I am sure you'll have a feast for the eyes if you check out what the rest of the Bloomies did with this amazingly detailed and gorgeous bit of Flowering Branches! So, stop on by and say "Hi!"

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

Thanks all! Hope you have a fabulous and creative weekend ahead! My son has his senior prom so, I'll be busy getting him dapper and being part of the parental papparazzi! ;-) Have a good one & I will see you back here soon!

~Julie

Creating Seeds of Love!

Hi all! Yours truly is hosting Inspire Me Monday over on the Power Poppy Blog! Want to see how you can make this fun little packet full of Seeds of Love?

Just click HERE for all the instructions, plus the downloadable cut and print files! Fun stuff!

Happy Monday!

~Julie

A Pop of Pastel!

Hello all and welcome to April! As you know, every first Friday the Power Poppy Bloom Brigade ushers in a new challenge that's designed to add a bit of design power with a splash of creative spark in your craft rooms! So, as we usher in spring, we give you our next challenge hosted by the ever-so-talented Ally Cope!

HOW TO PLAY OUR 'POP OF PASTELS' CHALLENGE: 

"With Spring slowly making away across the land, it reveals the beautiful of so many gorgeous blooms and buds: blooms of soft buttery yellows, light lavender purples and pastel rosy pinks. So for this month's challenge, I want to see you create with a soft, subtle color palette of PASTELS. Let's see those creamy oranges, delicate grassy greens and beautiful soft shades of color on your cards and creations. I was inspired to create a card using the subtle palette of watercolor on my bouquet. I can't wait to see what you create!"  ~ Ally 

If you want to read up on the official rules, just click HERE and see how you can get in on the action! You could win a Power Poppy stamp set of choice!

On to my creation!

I have a bit of a throwback to share today! It's actually one that I created a while back but never shared! While I didn't craft it specifically for this challenge, it kind of fits! Don't worry, I think I'll be using a lot of pastels this month. Spring is in the air afterall, right?

For this spotlight creation, I stamped the Azalea image from Power Poppy on the decorative paper and then again on white card stock. I figured out which portion of the image I wanted in color and then, using a series of circle dies, cut that portion of the image out and colored it up with Copic markers. I added a little BasicGrey decorative paper, some bling and then added the sentiment thanks to a 1" circle punch. Easy peasy lemon squeezy! And that, my friends, is it!

Now it's time to see the beauties crafted by our talented Bloom Brigade. Stop by their blogs, give them some "love", and check out their latest creations!

Allison Cope
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Julie Koerber
Katie Sims
Stacy Morgan

So, get creative and then link up your creations over on the Power Poppy blog! You could win that Power Poppy stamp set that is on your wish list! For those that celebrate, I hope you have a rejoiceful Easter or blessed Passover weekend! I'll see you back here soon!

~Julie

It's a Power Poppy HOP!

Hi all and welcome to the grand finale -- the BIG day-- of Power Poppy's April Release Extravaganza! All of the stamps that we have been sneak peeking this week are now available in the Power Poppy Shop!  You can check out the full Scents and Sensability release -- with just a click HERE!

Just like the Bloomies do every release, we have a little parade showing off some of our favorites from the release! So, without further ado, my creation!

I had this idea in my mind for this card to be all or mostly white so that my colored image could just POP! The base is a 5" by 5" card (when folded) and the main panel is a 3" by 3" piece matted on a square that is 1/8" larger. I added a wee bit of texture thanks to a Spellbinders Paisley Embossing Folder. When I stamped my image from Lilac Time, I wanted it to be rather soft, so I stamped using Toffee Crunch Memento Ink, which is a light-ish Brown. Then, I went to town using my Copic Markers and used these colors....

After I was done coloring, I added spots of white acrylic paint to the flower's centers. See?

After that, I added a little silver cording, a Queen & Co. rhinestone and... ta da! The sentiment (also from the set) was stamped using Versafine Black Onyx (love that rich black ink!). And that, my friends, is it!

Now be sure to hop on over to see what the rest of the Bloom Brigade has to share in this all out Power Poppy Hop!

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

Be sure to swing back here Friday! Not only is it Power Poppy Friday but I'll be sharing the details on Power Poppy's brand new challenge for April that could land YOU as the winner of one of Power Poppy's stamp sets that you've been eyeing! See you back here then!

~Julie