A Little Friday FUN!

Goodness, gracious! Doesn't it seem weird to be talking about when you're going to carve pumpkins one minute and then, sharing a card you've already got in the bag for Christmas? Well, I think it is! But, that's exactly why I am here today!

While Power Poppy popped the lid off its 2016 Happiest Holiday Collection, I did have a card I made for release, and can you believe it, forgot to share! Fully Stocked is one set that has a mix of whimsical, elegant and earthy all packed into one stamp set. I love that! So, here's my take on the stocked stuffed for those who are young and... young at heart!

I just love this little teddy bear popping out the top! I had a blast coloring this image up and then fussy cutting it so that it took center stage on a holiday-themed piece of background paper. I used Copics, of course, and reached for nearly every family of green and red that I had! After I was done coloring, I added some sparkle thanks to a Spica glitter pen and some accents thanks to a white paint pen. You can't see the glitter, but trust me, it's there! 

Here's a close up view for you!

From there, I just matted it all up, added some grosgrain ribbon and gold cording and then stamped the little cluster of buttons from the stamp set on strips of kraft cardstock to create my own kind of decorative paper. It's all ready to be stuffed in an envelope and mailed to someone across the way!

Want to check out what some of my fellow Bloomies whipped up this week... just for you? Well, head on over and see these fine ladies, will you?

Ally Cope
Cindy Lawrence
Julie Koerber >> you are here!
Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker


Thanks so much for stopping by and spending a snippet of your day with me! I so appreciate and enjoy it! I'll be back Monday with a little teaser of a holiday gift giving idea that you can literally make in minutes!

See you back here then!
~Julie

The Happiest Holiday Collection is HERE with a Power Poppy Hop!

Hello folks and welcome to RELEASE DAY for Power Poppy! After teasing you for five days, the Bloomies are on standby, ready to show you one more fabulous creation from the 2016 Happiest Holiday Collection. WARNING: It's designed to release sudden cheer and evoke feelings of instense Christmas joy so... watch out! ;-)

On to my creation!

I had colored up this little mason jar full of goodies on a recent color fest and decided -- it needed a home on the front of a card! I used Power Poppy's new set Holly Golightly and I think this set is full of simple, classy charm! After stamping, I grabbed my Copic markers of course and went to town coloring in the leaves, berries and accenting that darling little mason jar.

After coloring and die cutting with a double stitched oval die, the rest is just matting it all up! I used a decorative paper pack I picked up from Hobby Lobby and just used three coordinating papers. Add a little red and white twine and an ink-sponged, scallop-edged circle perfect for a sentiment and.. ta da! I kept this layout sweet and simple! I am really loving sweet and simple these days! ;-)

Here's a close up for you!

And that, my friends, is it! You will have to truly take in this Power Poppy Hop and see the rest of these fine ladies as well!

Allison Cope

Christine Okken

Cindy Lawrence

Julie Koerber >>> you are here!

Kathy Jones

Katie Sims

Stacy Morgan

Tosha Leyendekker

BEFORE I LET YOU GO -- TAKE A GANDER AT THIS SUPER SWEET SPECIAL! Just to "enable" you a wee bit more, check out this fabulous deal Marcella is offering up through October 25th at midnight CST!

That's right! There are two special offers.... just for YOU! Buy ANY 4 clear stamps and get the 5th clear set free!  Enter discount code: INTHECLEAR at checkout. - OR - Buy ANY 5 digital sets and get the 6th one free!  Enter discount code: DIGILOVE at checkout!

These promotions are good on all in-stock stamp sets at PowerPoppy.com. Promotions cannot be combined in the same transaction. However, customers can complete one transaction for clear stamps, and one transaction for digital stamps if they would like to take advantage of both specials. Now isn't that special??? What are you waiting for? Click HERE to visit the brand new Happiest Holiday Collection and while you're there, shop around and see what stamp sets you'd like to stock up on and... save! 

Thanks for spending a bit of your week with me -- hope you had fun! I know I did! 

~Julie

Sneak Peeks Day 5: Glistening Paperwhites!

Hello folks and welcome back to the sneaks for Power Poppy's Happiest Holiday 2016 Collection! Today, imagine one of the most glorious and elegant Christmas botanicals and then, set your sights on Marcella's take on these beautiful blossoms.....

You can't have Christmas without boughs of beautiful greenery. This special grouping will breathe a whoosh of fresh winter air into your card making, with an illustration of classic Paperwhites paired with Juniper and Seeded Eucalyptus. The natural elements in this brand new set -- Glistening Paperwhites -- would be shimmeringly lovely embossed in metallics, dusted with glitter, or colored in cool shades of green, blue, and ivory. What's even more wonderful is the fact that this set comes with a handful of  accent images and six sentiments to help you make cards for the most wonderful time of the year!

On to my creation!

Being a lover of Paperwhites, I knew that I wanted to play off the icy shades of blue to bring to life the juniper berries and add a little cool shades to the flowers themselves. I used B60, B63 and B65 for the berries, accented the flower with BG0000, RV0000, and then colored the centers with Y11, Y13 and added dots of Y15. The Eucalyptus seeds were colored up with G20 and BG72 and the leaves were colored with G20, G21, G24 and G28. Add a little shading around the image with RV00 and ... ta da! Here's a close up!

The rest is just matting it up! I added some rock candy glitter to parts of the berries. You can't really see it in any of the photos because it is more of a textural glitter but it does add a little shimmer in real life. The sentiment from the set was added to a banner die cut. The pale pink decorative paper and blue strips were just a part of my stash. Add a little glittery ribbon and some bling and that's it my friends!

I know with an image this beautiful that my fellow members of the Bloom Brigade will make jaws drop with their creations! So, see for yourself and hop on over to pay these fine ladies a visit! 

Allison Cope

Christine Okken

Cindy Lawrence

Julie Koerber >>> you are here!

Kathy Jones

Stacy Morgan

Tosha Leyendekker

Tomorrow is the big day my friends! Tomorrow we get to roll out the entire collection with a big party -- showcasing more of the sets and letting you know how you just might be able to get your hands on this swoon-worthy designs! Can't wait? Me neither! 

See you back here tomorrow!

~Julie

Happiest Holiday Sneak Peeks Day 3!

Hello all! If the thought of cheerful packages covered in bright berries and greenery make you swoon, then today's stamp set reveal showcasing Power Poppy's Happiest Holiday 2016 Collection has its sights set on YOU!

Check out the latest sneaky peek.....

With Holly Golightly, what you have is an essential ingredient of Christmas cheer: Holly! Done up three ways, will you go with the hollyberry branch, used as a focal point, a bough, or a pattern piece? What about the sweet little Mason jar with boxwood and holly for a humble holiday scene? Or, you can try the happiest holly tag that you ever did see with a whole bunch of Holly Jolly sentiments! This set offers so many mix and match opporutnities with 12 stamps total in this fabulously merry set!

On to my creation!

I started by stamping my image and then, reaching for my Copic markers in shades of neutral browns, greens and, of course, reds! I used G05, G07 and G09, blending with G20. The reds were R24, R27 and I blended with R20 and R01. I added a little E55 to the stem and then the tag was done up with E81, E50, E51 adn E53. I also accented with a little white gel pen. And... ta da! Oh, I should mention that when it came to inking up and stamping the sentiment I selectively added ink using a Memento Dew Drop to get the inner phrase with Ladybug Red and the outer portion with Cottage Ivy. 

Here's a little close up! I matted this little tag up with a decorative paper stack that I picked up at Hobby Lobby along with a kraft colored doily. Sweet.. and ... simple! 

And that, my friends, is it! There are so many cute elements in this set that you'll have to make the rounds to the lovely ladies below to see their creative take using this new Power Poppy set -- Holly Golightly! 

Allison Cope

Cindy Lawrence

Julie Koerber

Kathy Jones

Stacy Morgan

Thanks for stopping in today, be sure to hit up the Power Poppy Blog tomorrow  for the next sneaky peek. This one is stocked full of fun and just can't wait to be hung by the chimney with care! Yep, that's your little hint! ;-)

See you back here soon!

~Julie

Happiest Holiday Sneaky Peek Day 2!

Hello all and welcome to Day 2 of the sneaky peeks for Power Poppy's 2016 Happiest Holiday Collection! I can't tell you just how much I adore the set that's being revealed today! I mean, just take a look at this, will ya??

So what does Santa do when he's not overseeing all of the hustle and bustle at the North Pole? Well, he doesn't always take his trusty sleigh to get packages to the good little boys and girls world wide. He's a 21st century kind of guy! At least that's the vision Marcella had when she whipped up this new offering -- Action Santa! This chocked-full-of-cheer clear stamp set offers two whimsical views of Santa on his way paired with five holiday greetings and several little accents to help set the scene!

On to my creation!

Since this little stamp set tells Santa to get a move on, I decided to take Ally Cope's Make It Move Power & Spark Challenge and put 'Ski Santa' in a snow covered winter wonderland a.k.a. a shaker card! ;-) If you've never made a shaker card, Ally offers a fabulous tutorial HERE to get you started. It's a good one to pin for later! 

After stamping my Santa, I have to tell you that I used pretty much every marker in my stash to bring Ole Saint Nick to life! I wish I could name them all but honestly, there are far, far too many! After I was done coloring, I used the tips and tricks Ally offered to make my shaker, added different sized sequins for a little snowy sparkle and... ta da! Add some twine, a sentiment from the set and some sparkly decorative paper!

Here's a little close up to show you "what's shakin'" with this creation!

And that, my friends, is it! If you want to read up on the inspiration behind this set and see some of the other fabulous creations from my fellow Bloomies, just head on over to...

THE POWER POPPY BLOG!

Tomorrow, you'll have to swing by to see how one festive berry takes on a holly jolly feel as we continue the sneaky peeks for the 2016 Happiest Holiday Collection!

See you back here then!

~Julie

Happiest Holiday Sneak Peek Day 1!

Hello all and welcome to day one of the Happiest Holiday Sneaky Peek Week for Power Poppy! All this week, the Bloom Brigade will be sharing some of their creations with this soon-to-be-released Christmas Collection! And today, we start this kick off with some SIMPLE JOYS! 

Take a gander at this set and you're bound to get that feeling of homespun country charm. A rusty old watering can primed for the Christmas season, a glass ornament hanging cheerfully on an evergreen branch or a fresh-clipped group of holly berries decked out with holiday sparkle and joy. That's what Simple Joys -- a set of vignettes delivers! 

On to my creation!

When I first set my sights on this new set, I just keep seeing blues and reds. Not sure why but I thought of that steely blue that you see so much in country decor. And so, my sweet stamping friends, I grabbed for those colors when I started coloring up this image! I had B91, B93, B95, E31, E33, R27, R29, C00, C01, C03, C05, YR27, YR24 and E81. I shaded the bottom with some of the grey toned BV markers. BV20 BV23. From there, I matted up my card using some scraps in my stash, added some twine and coordinating buttons and... ta da! Fini!

Here's a close up for y'all! 

Easy, peesy, lemon squeezy! I honestly love when a simply designed card and layout can really make an image sing! Oh, I should mention, that darling sentiment is also a part of the Simple Joys stamp set (along with 6 other beautifully scripted greetings!)

When it comes to this day of sneaky peeks, you could say the gang's all here! You'll have to hop on over to see the rest of my beloved Bloomies to see their take on this stamp set full of country charm!

You can find the full linky list over at.....

THE POWER POPPY BLOG

Coming up tomorrow, the fun continues with a set that not only keeps Santa on his toes but on two wheels too! Just wait until you see this cute-as-can-be set! When's the full collection going to be released? Mark your calendars for October 21st! 

Until then!

~Julie

It's Amost Time!

Hello friends! I am giddy as I type this because in just a matter of days, Marcella is going to take the lid off her Happiest Holidays Collection for 2016.  There are so many fun elements to this Power Poppy collection that I just KNOW there is something for every kind of card maker! Check out this little teaser, will you?

And... just to tease you a bit more, here's a little snippet of one of the cards that I am going to share in the coming days....

Just look at that little fuzzy bear peeking out at you all! Can you even stand how cute he is? So here's the rundown my friends. TOMORROW, Power Poppy's Instant Gardeners will be kicking off a heavy dose of holiday spirit sharing the first holiday digital stamp set for the year! SUNDAY OCTOBER 16TH through THURSDAY OCTOBER 20TH, look for sneak peeks of the brand new clear stamp sets and then on FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21st, join us for a Power Poppy Hop, when the Bloom Brigade shares some extra inspiration on release day!

On that bright note, I know some of the other Bloomies have cards and snippets to share so, be sure to hop on over and see.....

Allison Cope
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Julie Koerber
Kathy Jones
Katie Sims
Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker
See you back here Sunday for the start of the holiday cheer -- just in time to get you ready for the Christmas cardmaking season!

Until then!
Julie

Movin' & Groovin'!

Hello happy stampers! Gosh, do I have so much to share with you today! First, I sure hope life is treating you all well and giving you lots of time to pursue all your crafty endeavors! Although, you and I both know there's never enough time for that!! ;-)

Since it's a brand new month, that means there's a brand new challenge over at the Power Poppy blog! Check it out sweet peeps!

Want your cards to jump, jive, move & groove? Well, you're in luck! For this month's Power & Spark Challenge, Ally Cope is encouraging us all to do just that! Here's what this creative phenom had to say.....

"For this month, we want to see You Move It, Move It! That is, we want to see an element of your card move. It could be anything from a pull-out tag, to some sequins in a shaker card to a fun element that jiggles all on its own! Let's see you Move It!"

I know before the month is over I am definitely going to have to give this challenge a try! You can read up on all the official details HERE!

On to my creation this week!

As you can see, I used Power Poppy's new freebie digital stamp set called I Can Do All Things which just so happens to feature one of my favorite Bible verses of all time! That's why I loved coloring this up so very much. When it comes to the Copic Markers that I used, I sadly didn't write down which ones I specifically used, but I can tell you that I chose a light, medium and dark in each of the color families and went from there. After I was finished, I added some shading thanks to E81, E0000 and R0000. As you can see, I also added a few accents here and there with a white gel pen. Here's a little close up for you!

The rest is just matting it up and adding a few candy dots. Easy peasy lemon squeezie! Now it's time to turn things over to my partners in crafting crime -- the Bloomies -- to see what they've been up to this week!

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

Thanks so much for stopping by and spending a bit of your day with me! I hope you have a wonderful weekend planned!

See you back here soon!
~Julie