Soothing Sympathy

Hello folks and happy Friday! I hope the sun is shining and air is light in your neck of the woods! It was back to school week for us here and man, was I NOT ready for a schedule! After sleeping through her alarm, it appeared my daughter wasn't either! ;-)

Moving on, I have a Power Poppy card to share on this Bloom Brigade Parade Friday and it's one that already has a stamp on it ready to be put in the mail. I really hate having to make sympathy cards but do love that I can put a piecce of myself in each one I make so that the recipient knows it was truly sent from the heart. On to my creation... 

This card is being sent to one of the ladies I met while watching our sons play football together. Her husband lost his fight to cancer after several years in the battle. Even on his worst days, he would be in the stands. Even in the midst of her pain, she always had a smile on her face and an unshakable faith. It was and is so inspiring. So, even though we weren't terribly close, I really wanted to share just how much her love for him and her faith touched my heart. 

I picked up Power Poppy's set Soothing Sympathy and colored up the peony in the set using soft peach tones. I honestly don't remember which ones but if I had a guess I would say I used R21, R01, RV00 for the flower and G20, G21 and G24 for the leaves. I kept the background crisp and simple and didn't even add any shading around the image. I put it together using a clean layout and added a bit of bling thanks to a row of rhinestones. 

Here's a close up for you....

And here's a peek inside. You might not be able to see but I did stamp the rosemary sprig from the stamp set on the inside using a super soft green ink. 

And that, my friends, is it! Some of my fellow Bloomies have some fun things to share for this little Friday show and tell! So, click on over and see these fine ladies....

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

Thanks for stopping by and spending a bit of your morning with me! I hope you have a wonderful weekend ahead and I'll see you back here real soon!

~Julie

Let the Trout Fly!

Hello all! If you are looking for a little creative inspiration to kick off your week, head on over to the Power Poppy Blog HERE! Why? Well today, yours truly is sharing four cards using four different sketches with only 1 digital stamp! Here's a little sneaky peek for you!

If you click on over, you'll see why these cards are great ideas to stash away when you need just the right "man card!" :-)

See you back here real soon!
~Julie

The BIG DAY is HERE!

Well after being tempted and teased with sneaky peeks all week, the day has finally arrived when all of those fun and fabulous new sets are there for the buying at the Power Poppy Shop! You just need to click HERE to see the Nature & Nurture Collection LIVE in the store! Woo Hoo!

And, just like every release, the Bloom Brigade uses this unveil day to share one more creation using one of the new sets! So.... on to my creation!

Since I didn't get in on the sneaky peek hop for In Praise of Sunflowers, I decided to take this image for a test drive. I absolutely love the flouncy nature of the blossoms Marcy drew and did I mention that sunflowers are my absolute favorite flower? They make me happy with their larger than life "faces" and sunshiney colors. In fact, wild sunflowers grow in the field behind our home and there are times when I am blessed to capture them on my evening walks... See? ;-)

But,  I digress! I guess you can tell why I 1. love this set and 2. had fun coloring it all up! After I stamped the image, I reached for the orange range of colors to make it even more bright and bold. I used Y35, Y38, YR04, YR07 and Y01 for the petals, G20, G21, G24 and G28 for the leaves and B60, B63 and B66 for the vase. E23, E25 and E31 were the colors that I used for the center of my flowers. I grabbed W00, W01 and W03 to add a little shading at the base of the image and BG0000 to add a little shading around the floral portion. You can see that when I was done coloring, I did add some white paint pen spots. I seem to be addicted to my white paint pen lately!

And here's a look at the inside. I decided to use the other image in the set to create almost a watermark on the inside of my card and then, matted up the sentiment as well. I figure when it comes to writing on this baby, I have the whole top of the 5-1/4" card. I'll probably leave this space alone! ;-)

And Power Poppy Peeps, like I said, the rest of the Bloomies are ready and waiting for your visit so that they could show you some of their extra special release week creations! So, don't leave them hanging! Head on over and see...

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

And, that's not all sweet stamping friends! Power Poppy has a special promotion on top of all of this! Friday through Monday, you'll get FREE SHIPPING on all domestic orders when you spend $50 or more (or $5 off international orders). There will be select discounts on clear stamps throughout the shop. Just click HERE to see for yourself and... get this... take advantage of Power Poppy's DOWNLOAD FRENZY with 25% off all digital stamps! Click HERE to check out the more than 50 digital stamp sets that are ready for you to buy up, download, print and color up in a jiffy! 

And there you have it friends! Hope you had fun this week and like what you see when it comes to Power Poppy's newest offerings! I know I am already in love with these images and see many, many crafty days ahead with them! 

Thanks for stopping by & I'll see you back here real soon!

~Julie

Power Poppy Sneaky Peek Day 3: Feeling Fall!

Hi all! Sure hope you've been enjoying all the sneaky peeks this week from the fabulous group of Power Poppy designers! If you missed the action click HERE to see day one of the peeks and HERE to check out day 2!

Today brings a fantabulous offering that's perfect to usher in those crisp days where you just want to curl up and enjoy the colors of the season around you. Take a gander at.....

Welly, welly, well... what do we have here? Power Poppy's brand new set -- Feeling Fall -- showcases three sweet vignettes with pumpkin, maple, and a plucky plaid! It's all meant to get that fall vibe kickin’ on your craft table. You'll find fun sentiments plus a stack of decorated pumpkins with a mysterious black cat, a trio of gourds, fall berries, and what has GOT to be a pumpkin spice latte PLUS stylish plaid wellies perfect for a day of raking the leaves of that gorgeous Maple tree in the yard. So incredibly fun and so very much in season, don't you think?

On to my creation! When I saw this pair of cute and dapper wellies in this set, I knew that I HAD to pick that image to start with. I loved the plaid that's worked into the image and wanted to play off that timeless burberry plaid. So, I put my markers to the test and here's what I got! 

After I was done coloring the stripes of black, red and pale yellow, I did use my fine Copic multiliner to add some stripes. From there, I used an array of autmn hues to give life to those beautiful Japanese Maple leaves. Add a little distress ink, sponged to the back of the image and.. voila! 

Here's a close up....

And here's a peek at the inside where I used some of the single leaves in the set with fall colored Memento inks to dress it all up! Don't you just love that sentiment?

And that, my friends, is it! A cute-as-can-be fall image perfect to share the feeling of fall with friends far and wide! 

Speaking of friends far and wide, my sistahs in the Bloom Brigade are here to share their Feeling Fall creations. The gang's all here so stop on by and visit...

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

And -- by the way -- you won't want to miss tomorrow's post! It's our Power Poppy Hop -- a roundup of the release. It's also the day when all these fine fall stamp sets will be there for the buying at the Power Poppy Shop! Yippeeeee! See you back here then! 

~Julie

Power Poppy Sneaks Day 1: Prairie Cheer

Hello all and welcome to a week that's full of color, style and creative inspiration! Why? Because Power Poppy is unveiling a brand new crop of clear stamps and this one is designed to usher in a little bit of nurturing nature!

Check out the very first sneaky peek, will you?

This little number -- Prairie Cheer -- offers a trio of prairie-plucked stems which truly complement our newest Instant Garden digital release, Pure Prairie Bouquet. Did you see the Instant Garden show off this showy bouquet Monday over on the Power Poppy blog? If you missed it, click on over HERE to see this bunch of blossoms and how these gals caused this beauty to explode with color! I digress! This new clear set is all about spreading an easy-going vibe along with some good feelings. From wheat lazily blowing in the breeze to those prairie populists coneflower and smooth aster, this set offers approachable imagery and sentiments that just plain cheer folks up!

On to my creation!

I have to say this stamp set arrived just in time. I have a friend who often snaps up my cards. Well, she mentioned needing one to send to a friend who was a little under the weather. What's nice about this set is that is offers simple and sweet illustrations that really do stand on their own without a lot of extra fluff, if you know what I mean. Because I wanted to get this card whipped up in record time, I opted to let the coloring be the main focus and keep the layout rather simple. After I was done coloring this up with Copics (V0000, V01, V04, V06, Y35, Y38, Y21, YR0000, YR01, RV00, G20, G21, G24), I added in the little details -- decorative paper, a punched circle with the sentiment from the set attached with foam tape and accented with silver cording. Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

And here, sweet friends, is a close up! You can see I accented the centers of these little flowers with a little white paint pen and the fuzzy little bumble bee's wings with some Wink of Stella clear glitter pen. 

I  have to laugh because when I talked to Ms. Marcella about this image and how I loved the sweet simplicity of the set she said you could play up the images or let them sing all on their own. In her words -- "The world is your aster!" Ha! Gotta love that girl. 

And with that -- here are the Bloomies! Check out what they colored up using the brand new Prairie Cheer set!

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

Be sure to stop on by The Power Poppy Blog today to read up on what inspired Marcy to bring this set to life! And, I have to say that tomorrow's sneaky peek is sure to add a little sunshine to your days. So much fun! So... stay tuned! 

Until then!

Julie

Going All C.S.I.!!

Hello Friends & Stampers! Are you ready for a wild and creative ride? I have a bit of one in store today! I am sharing some news about a brand new addition to the Power Poppy Instant Garden and yours truly is the hostess today over on the Power Poppy blog for this month's Power and Spark Challenge! Woo hoo!

First things first, a little something new from Power Poppy to help you savor the flavors of fall!

INTRODUCING.....

Look at that lusciousness just ready and waiting to be colored up! You can find Apples in Season HERE in the Power Poppy shop and I have to admit, this little number is beautifully paired with hot apple cider when you break out for a coloring session! ;-) Stay tuned because I happen to know for a fact that some of the Bloomies and Instant Gardeners used this delish image for their creations that they are showing off today!

Before we get to that fab link list, we have a brand new challenge to unveil for August and this one is a super duper fun one! Why? Because you get to.....

HOW TO PLAY: What? Am I actually encouraging theft here? No, not really. I want you to surf the rolling waves of creativity here in the blogosphere and find some Power Poppy inspiration. Once you've picked a card to be inspired by -- go all C.S.I. and Copy, Steal and Inspire. Copy the original layout, Steal the idea and then Inspire with your own take on the original. What I love about this challenge is the fact that it encourages us to share and then let other card designers know when something they've done really strikes a creative chord! How fun is that? We can't wait to see what you choose to copy and how you make it your own. You can click HERE to read up on all the Official Rules!

On to my C.S.I. creation! First, I have to mention that THIS creation by the lovely Stacy Morgan was my inspiration. As you click on over to see her card, you'll see that it was a HUGE influence right down to the placement of the bling! I just loved the sweet result and wanted to have a little fun copying her design.

I started with some Bo Bunny coordinating decorative paper and really let that be my guide. I have to tell you that I don't do this often enough. I mean, they make those paper packs like that for a reason, right? ;-) I used the birthday gift image from the new Party Time stamp set and then took my Copic Markers out to match the papers' color! I used R32, R20, RV00, G12, G0000, G24, W05, W03 an W00. Then, I accented with some white gell pen! 

Here's a close up for you! 

The enamel dots and bling were just some that I had in my stash but they worked wonderfully and were just the right colors! Add a little Hug Snug Melon seam binding and BAM! Done! Thanks Stace for the fun inspriation! The Bloomies and Instant Gardeners have a bit more for you all! So, hop on over and see.....


Allison Cope
Cindy Lawrence
Julie Koerber >>> you are here!
Katie Sims
Kathy Jones
Stacy Morgan
Rhea Weigand
Debbie Olson
Nancy Sheads


Thanks so much for stopping by and spending a bit of your day with me! I'll see you all back here real soon!


~Julie