Quick and Easy Christmas!

Hello all and happy Friday! Well, I don't know about you, but I am sure excited for this weekend. There's pumpkin carvin', apple cider drinkin', trick or treatin' fun to be had in the family! We have a ton of kids in our neighborhood, so we always stock up on the candy and usually run out by 8PM. It's crazy! I love this time of year, nothing like the crisp fall air paired with darling kiddos smiling and just looking for goodies! It's priceless. So, HAPPY HALLOWEEN to you all!

I'm going to switch gears from one holiday.... to another! I recently stumbled upon a tutorial on the web that I actually *thunk* smacked my head and said, after 15 years of stamping, why didn't I think of that!?!???!?

Let's take a peek at my card first and then I'll share how it's done! Here's the card, and I mean to tell you, this technique is so easy that you could mass produce this idea and make dozens of cards in an hour --- easy!

And, here's how it's done! I used the poinsettia stamp from the Power Poppy set Merry Littles and paired it up with Love Letter Memento Ink.

Now to the fun part. When you add your stamp to the acrylic block, don't put it face up. Put it face down! Just like this. The image you would normally stamp is what is attached to your block.

Now, why do this? Because, inking the wrong side of the stamp will give you a shadow of your main image! I inked with Love Letter Memento ink, stamped, and then huffed on the stamp and stamped again to get a second generation color on my panel. I did this all over the card and then did a second generation stamp for my little sentiment tag there. The sentiment is from Power Poppy's new stamp set called Wreaths Plain and Fancy! That little sentie was the perfect size!

After I was done stamping the shadows, I went back over each one by stamping with the right side of the stamp this time using Versafine Black Onyx ink for a crisp, black effect. Afterward, I added a little glitz to the center of all my flowers thanks to some glitter glue! See?

Mat it up on some sparkly paper and then again on some red decorative paper. Add a little red metallic cording and... ta da! Done! So easy peasy lemon squeezy it is NOT even funny! That's all there is to it!

And now it's time to shine the spotlight on the ever-so-fabulous crew of Power Poppy Bloomies! Make sure you stop by their "places" to give them a shout!


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

Before I go -- one last reminder! Power Poppy's fun-filled Power and Spark Challenge called Bits & Pieces ends tomorrow at 8PM EST! So, grab whatever bit or piece of a stamped image you'd like to play up on a card and get those last minute entries in! Winner gets a stamp set of choice and that, sweet stamping friends!

Thanks for stopping by and spending a little of your day with me! Hope you have a wonderful weekend and I will see you back here real soon!

~Julie

A little bit of holiday flair!

Hello all and Happy Friday! With all the festive fanfare with Power Poppy's  Happiest Holiday release last week, I decided to stay on a holiday kick in my craft room! So, let's get to my creation!

With all the focus on polymer this past week, I decided to mix things up and print off one of Power Poppy's newest digital stamp sets -- Glittering Glass Santa! After printing it off, I did pick up my Copic Markers and used these markers: B0000, B000, B00, B01, R24, R27, R29, G40, G43, G46, YG13, YG06, and G20. I did add a little bit of sparkle thanks to a bit of glitter glue!

Here's a close up! As you can see, I did add a little bit of white paint pen to make the little glass ornaments look as if they are shiny.....

And, here's a peek at the inside! I actually used the sentiment and stitched heart from the Bough Wow Wow stamp set!

While I wanted to add another card to my Christmas card pile, I also wanted to take part in one of the Splitcoaststampers' Hope You Can Cling To  Challenges! I decided to give HYCCT1507 a try. The challenge? T.R.A.S.H. Cancer! You have to use each letter of the word TRASH as an element. To break it down for you-- I have a Tree branch for T. Rhinestone for R. Antique ornament for A. Sparkle for S. And, Holiday creation for H! There you have it! If you want to read up on the challenge you can click HERE. You can click HERE for the entire SCS Hope You Can Cling to Challenge Forum or HERE for the HYCCT1507 Gallery!

If you are on the hunt for additional challenges, don't forget about Power Poppy's  Bits & Pieces Power and Spark Challenge. You only have 8 days to get in on the action for your chance to win some Power Poppy stamps! Read all about it HERE!

And that, my friends, is it! Now it's time to take a trip through Bloom Brigade land to check out what some of the Bloomies whipped up for your viewing pleasure this week!

Christine Okken

Cindy Lawrence

Julie Koerber >>> you are here!

Stacy Morgan

Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing a little time this Friday! Hope you have the bestest of the best weekends ahead! 

~Julie

Cozy Cupfuls!

Hi all -- it's a happy day here on the ole blog! Why? Because today is the official release of Power Poppy's  Happiest Holiday 2015 Collection! After seeing sneaky peeks from the Bloom Brigade all week, the day has officially come when YOU can get your mitts on these beautiful holiday stamp sets right HERE! And just like every other Power Poppy Hop day -- the Bloomies are here in full force to show off some of their favorite creations using these new stamp sets!

On to my creation!

When I saw Marcella's illustrations for this new stamp set called Cozy Cupfuls, I was instantly charmed by it. Not only is this darling cardinal couple as sweet as can be, there are two other vignettes that are perfect for the holidays -- a woodsy stack of packages and a darling mini tree planted in a Christmas tea cup. You will love this set, I am sure of it!

So, to create my card, I stamped in black and then grabbed my Copics to color. I knew that I wanted this to be a male/female pair because that is just too cute, right? And so I had to google what a female cardinal actually looked like! I was clueless, but found THIS super helpful! Gotta love "the Googles!" ;-) Add some fun Christmas inspired decorative paper, a stitched border die, some Stampin' Up Candy Dots, some May Arts ruffle trim and... ta da! I should mention that the sentiment is actually from another one of the sets in the collection called Wreaths Plain and Fancy. 

Here's a close up for you! 

And that, my friends, is it! Now you'll have to hop through to see the rest of the Bloom Brigade Parade that's being ushered along today! And, don't forget to check out these beauties in the Power Poppy Shop HERE! 

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


Thanks for hanging out with me this week! Hope you had as much fun as I did and..... I'll see you all back here soon!

~Julie

Sneaks Day 4: Olive & Oak Extended!

Hello all and happy Friday! I hope you are having a wonderful week and are looking forward to a restful weekend ahead! It's been so nice in my neck of the woods and for once, it seems like we are truly experiencing... FALL! In seasons' past, we've had early snow and that just makes the leaves fall instead of change colors. This year is different and we are being surrounded by shades of rust and gold! So, we feel blessed this year!

And, speaking of blessings, today with the fourth day of the Power Poppy sneak peeks, we have a set that once was just a digital stamp set and now it's getting a new life in polymer!

This set -- Olive & Oak Expanded -- is full of rich, natural beauty! After releasing this image above in digital form, Marcella had so many requests for it to be in polymer, she thought, why make folks wait until next year? This set offers clusters of greenery and sentiments that work not just for fall but Thanksgiving as well! The Bible verse in this set is one of my all time favorites so I had to use it on my creation for today.

On to my card!

I kept the design rather simple, letting the mix of patterns work their magic. I let the sentiment be the focal point and then adorned the die cut and sponged panel with the cluster of leaves and acorns in this set. I colored the image up with Copics and used E23, E25, E27, E33, E55, E81, Y17, Y21, Y32, YR27, E08, and E97. After I was done coloring, I did accent the clusters with a bit of white gel pen. Fussy cut around your colored image, pop it up and.... voila! See?

And that, my friends, is it! You'll have to stop by to see my fellow bloomie Christine Okken to get a glimpse of what she whipped up with this set and then, hop on over to Marcella's place on the Power Poppy Blog to see not only the inspiration behind this set but some of her favorite creations using it!

Tomorrow brings the final sneaky peek and then -- we let loose and have a Bloom Brigade Parade on Sunday with all of the stamp sets available in the Power Poppy Shop! Can't wait!!!

See you back here soon!

~Julie

Sneaky Peeks Day 2: Spice It Up!

Hello all and welcome to day 2 of the Power Poppy Happiest of Holidays Collection Sneaky Peaks! Today's set is one that, if you look at it long enough, you'll be smelling the scents of citrus and clove. I remember as a teen going over to a friend's house and learning how to make these sweet smelling goodies! So, without further ado, take a gander at......

This set called Spice It Up features clove-speckled orange pomanders, star anise and cinnamon, mistletoe, berries, and pinecones -- as Marcella said after she drew this one -- it's beginning to smell like Christmas!

On to my creation! When I looked at this cluster, I knew that I wanted to shake it up a bit and show folks how you don't need to make these festive globes oranges, you can make them look like glittered ornaments too! See?

After stamping my image, I grabbed just about every Copic marker in the BG color family that I own to color up each ornament just a wee bit differently. After I got the ornaments colored, I knew I wanted to keep it pretty monochromatic. I added the berries for just a pop of color and I am glad I did. The ribbon, I wanted to look like silver, so I colored them all up with a Sakura Stardust Gel Pel. I also used the pen to add dots of glitter to the cloves, opting instead for the glittered look! See?

From here, the rest is just matting it all up! I used a few Spellbinders Labels dies, some sheer ribbon, a bit of bling and I used a Stampin' Up snowflake embossing folder to add a little texture that I later sanded down to reveal the paper's white core. And that, my friends, is it!

Now it's time to take a trip through the rest of Power Poppy Land to see how the Bloom Brigade used this sweet-smelling and spicy set!

Allison Cope
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Julie Koerber >>> you are here!
Kathy Jones
Leslie Miller
Tosha Leyendekker
Power Poppy Blog>>> see more of the inspiration behind this set from Marcella!


Thank you so much for stopping by! Tomorrow's set is has a air of festivity that just loves to "hang out!" Yes, that's your clue. See you back here soon!

~Julie

Sneaky Peeks Day 1:Botaical Tree

Hello all! I sure hope you are in the holiday spirit because this week, Power Poppy is unveiling it's newest additions to the Happiest of Holidays Collection! I can't tell you too much because we obviously want you to SEE the collection, but this series of stamp sets is creative, out-of-the box, beautiful -- oh my -- all of the above!

Today's sneak peek is no exception. Wait until you feast your eyes on this set!

This brand new stamp set called Botanical Tree offers a stylized tree made up of meandering holiday botanicals --- from Poinsettias and Christmas Roses to Mistletoe, Lilies, Rosehips, and bits of berry clusters! Whether colored in or stamped in a single ink and embossed, this image is big on impact! While I grabbed my Copic Markers to color this intricate design, I can't wait to stamp and emboss in gold for a card with a bit of Christmas bling!

 
On to my creation!

Because of the detail in this image, I knew I wanted a white background to truly make all the colors in this image POP! After stamping, I colored with Copics and literally grabbed every green marker I had and colored with gradations mixing up the tone of green with each varying plant. I didn't want one green to be more prominent than the next. I did the same with the reds varying from light, almost pink to deep reds. 

Here's a close up. You *might* be able to see that I added a bit of sparkle thanks to a Sakura Stardust Gel Pen to the stamens of those fun pinkish flowers.....

From there, its simply fussy cutting my image, matting it up, adding a crystal button with some gold cording, some fun sheer ribbon and an embossed background! And that, my friends, is it!

I am so excited to share the rest of the holiday collection with all of you! Hope you stop back and see what I've been up to! For now, make sure you hop on over and see the rest of the Bloom Brigade and what they whipped up with this breathtaking illustration!


Cindy Lawrence
Julie Koerber >>> you are here!
Kathy Jones
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker

Power Poppy Blog -- read all that inspired marcella's latest set!


Tomorrow's set is on the "spicy" side! So, be sure to tune in and see! Have a fabulous day!

~Julie

Color YOUR World!

Wouldn't it be nice to take a little respite, a little break from the day-to-day grind to do something that adds joy and color to your life? Well, me and my peeps over at Power Poppy dedicated at least ONE DAY to coloring our worlds and we're joining the ever-talented Kathy Racoosin over at The Daily Marker in her challenge to color up something every day -- YES -- every day for 30 days! She's even sharing prizes for those who participate (Pssst, Power Poppy is giving a way a stamp set of choice for one lucky colorista!)! It may be the 9th and we may be joining the party fashionably late, but you can join in at any time at all!

And so, here's a creation from one of my recent colorfests!

I have to admit that when I colored up this little pumpkin, I wasn't even anywhere near my craft room. When fall hits, there's nothing better than grabbing my markers, a stamped image and a clipboard and then nestling into the couch to color and watch some TV. I am strange. I can't watch TV without "doing something!" So, I color or knit almost 90% of the time! And this was one image from Power Poppy's stamp set called So Grateful that I got lost in!

I forgot to write down which markers I used to color up this image so I am going to "attempt" to remember them all! I know I used warm neutrals for the chair -- W00, W01, W03 and W05. I used my favorite greens for the leaves and grass -- G20, G40, G43, G47. I used the rustic yellows for the black eyed susans -- Y21, Y23, Y32 and Y35. The purple tones for the Dahlias were V01, V04, V06 and just a smidge of V09. The berries were a mix of R24 and R27.

When I was done coloring, I grabbed some scraps from my decorative paper scrap bin and went to town adding a glitzy button and some twine! the border is a Spellbinders die called Scalloped Borders Two!

I wanted to add a little "sumpin' sumpin" to the inside and so I used Potters Clay Memento Ink and stamped the larger Dahlia from the set as well as one of the sentiments.

See?

And that my friends is it! So, after you color up something fun, make sure you link your creation RIGHT HERE on the linky for a chance at some prizes! Keep in mind Kathy is urging us all to share our colorific skills -- not necessarily a finished card! Just show off what you colored! You can check HERE for all the details!

So, with all of that fun swirling in your heads, why not hop, skip and jump your way through our link list to see what my fellow Bloomies created during one of their own personal coloring sessions!

Allison Cope

Christine Okken

Cindy Lawrence

Julie Koerber >>> you are here!
Katie Sims

Leslie Miller

Stacy Morgan

Tosha Leyendekker

Want to combine this challenge with another? YOU CAN! There is so much going on at Power Poppy you have a plethora of ways to double, triple even quadruple your chances of winning some Power Poppy stamps! You have until Saturday night to play along in the World Cardmaking Day Sketch Challenge! You can nip and snip and play along in the Power and Spark Bits & Pieces Challenge! Or, you can hop on over to Splitcoaststampers and play along in their month long Hope You Can Cling To event. 

So there you have it peeps, a handful of reasons to take time to create a little happy and color up some fun!

~Julie

Happy World Card Making Day!

Welcome to a momentous occasion here in the card making world! It’s a day devoted completely to... US!

That’s right folks — for today we get to create with reckless abandon watching that ink flow, paper fly, and glitter float through the air like fairy dust! 

In honor of this oh-so-special day, Power Poppy thought it would be fantabulous (fantastic plus fabulous = fantabulous) to offer up a fun challenge that would give you a reason to create and also give us a reason to give away a little Power Poppy goodness! So, here goes! 

HOW TO PLAY:  MAKE SURE YOU USE ALL 3 ELEMENTS

#1: USE THIS SKETCH AS INSPIRATION

#2: USE NON-TRADITIONAL COLORS TO CREATE A HOLIDAY CARD

Here’s a little peek at how I used the sketch! Okay, I hope I don’t get “fired” for sharing this top secret look at an upcoming Power Poppy Holiday set. ;-) Take a gander at Power Poppy’s soon-to-be-released stamp set called Cozy Cupfuls! You can watch for upcoming Power Poppy Holiday Collection sneaky peeks starting October 13th with the full release on the 18th of October! You are definitely going to want to mark your calendar. This collection is buzz-worthy!!!

#3: ADD A LITTLE SPARKLE OR BLING

Anyone that knows me --- KNOWS --- I love my bling. It makes me happy! So, as you can see here, I have a plethora! I have a little rhinestone for my deer's nose, a little sparkle gel pen on the cup’s steamy drink and a little razzle dazzle on the package thanks to some glitter glue, see?

So, there you have it! Use the sketch, non-traditional colors for a holiday card and add a little sparkle! Then, link up your creation HERE ON THIS POST! You have a whole WEEK to play along! Contest will close next Saturday, October 10th and Power Poppy will announce a winner sometime on Sunday, October 11th. Random winner will receive their choice of three digital stamp sets or one polymer stamp set of choice! 

Want to see how some of my fellow Bloomies took this sketch for a spin?

Cindy Lawrence

Julie Koerber >>> that's me!

Christine Okken

Tosha Leyendekker

There you have it Card Making Comrades — get those fingers inky, have some fun, create and then link up your creation below! HAPPY WORLD CARD MAKING DAY!

~Julie

Power & Spark!

Hello all and Happy Friday! It is the dawn of a new Power Poppy challenge, one designed to add a bit of design power and pair it with a zap of creative spark! This one is a fun one because it challenges us all to see a stamped image just a wee bit differently! So, without further ado, take a peek at new challenge for October...

HOW TO PLAY: Yours truly is hosting this month and here’s the gist of our Bits & Pieces Challenge. Start with a stamped image or a digital stamp print out and only use a piece of it. Nip it, cut it, crop it, punch it — doesn’t matter! We want to see what you can do with a partial image. If you take a gander at the photo above you can see what I mean!

On to my creation! I have to say that my creation was definitely inspired by the fabulous Nancy over at Rowhouse Greetings. I saw THIS sweet card here and I was captivated by it. I loved the mostly white card and how those little bees and flowers just seemed to pop off the front of her card! So, I used her card to “CASE” it (copy and steal everything)! I did ask Ms. Nancy’s permission and thankfully, she was a-okay with it!

Here’s my card...

Nancy may have used squares, but I opted to let my windows to these little Crabapple bits from Power Poppy’s clear stamp set Happy Crabapples be circles! I should mention that I cut my strip first, measured the distance between the circles and then punched using a 1-1/4" circle punch. I have to say I just eye balled it. When that was done, I traced the circles on a second strip and then used that to stamp pieces of the set on the strip using black ink. Trim and then lay the punched strip over top with the help of some foam tape.  Before I assembled, I did color my flowers up with Copic Markers and used these colors: G20, G21, G24, G28, RV00, RV02, R81, R83, R21, R24, R27, E33, E55.

Here’s a close up of those little windows!

And, as always, I had to add a little sparkle!!! So that, my friends, is it! I hope you join me this month for Power Poppy's Power and Spark Challenge! And, I hope you find a new way to look at some of those larger stamp images to highlight just a bit or piece! You can click HERE for all the official rules! You have until October 31st to enter for your shot at winning a stamp set of choice from the Power Poppy Shop! 

Ant that, my friends, is it! Now it's time to turn things over to some of my stampin' sistahs in Power Poppy's Bloom Brigade! It’s always a Friday treat to check in and see what they’ve been up to in their stamp rooms! So, hop on over and say “hello” while you're there!

Allison Cope
Julie Koerber  >>>> you are here!
Kathy Jones
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker


Before I go, don’t forget to tune back in tomorrow for --- WORLD CARD MAKING DAY! I'll share a fun little challenge that I'm a part of in honor of this special day! See you back here then!

~Julie