It's a COLOR Explosion!

Hello all! There's a fun and exciting new way to spark creativity over at the Power Poppy Blog and "yours truly" is the hostess today! You'll have to hop, skip and jump over to see the new feature designed to bring a color explosion to your crafting spaces!

This week starts us off on a road trip of sorts where we find these three shades along US 62 in Eureka Springs, Arkansas! 

Want to see my take on these three peppy colors? Just click HERE to see how I was inspired!
See you back here real soon!
~Julie

Cards For Sale!

Hello All! I just updated my Cards for Sale page and put some new ones on for the taking! I will be adding new creations each time I post, so feel free to grab them up as we go!

All the details about buying one of my cards can be found at the top of the page here....

CARD FOR SALE 

Thanks for looking! ;-)
~Julie

Inspired By..... A Porch Pillow!

Hello all and Happy FRIDAY! I hope your week is ending on a high note and that you have glorious plans ahead for the weekend! If you missed stopping by my place here last week, you might have missed something new on the Power Poppy blog. Marcella is putting together the Good Vibe 5 -- a hit list of inspiration to get that crafty mojo flowing!

This week, I helped her with one of her Mood Board "cues" and didn't have to look very far for my inspiration. I was sitting on my patio!

Immediately I knew I could do fun things if I mixed a graphic pattern background with a digital stamp. If you are cocking your head and wondering -- how did she do that?? Well, we have a tutorial over on the Power Poppy blog that shows you how to do that with your digital images! Just click HERE to see!

I started by searching for a black and white graphic background that I could use as my base and found this one.....

From there, I decided I would lighten up the background to more of a charcoal gray and then, following the digital tutorial, do an overlay using Power Poppy's Flowers, Always digital stamp set! 

After erasing the background of the digital stamp, I got to coloring. As you can see, I had fun just pulling my Copic Markers out -- left and right! ;-)

Also, after I was finished with a section, I did go back and add some accents with a white gel pen just for "funsies!"

And here's a look at the finished card! Sure, I could have really tried to imitate the flower from the pillow -- my goodness Marcy has a plethora of flouncy flowers that would have fit that vibe -- think Tree Peony, Camellias, or even just the flower portion of Hellebores -- but I wanted to use this image for it's whimsical and free-flowing effect!

I love the graphical punch! As you can see I added a sentiment from the Countryside Bouquet Deluxe stamp set and there's also a little bit of shading that I did around the flowers with a C3 Copic Marker just to give the image just a little bit more depth. Mat this baby up and... Voila! Done!

Now it's time for the....

Be sure to hit these ladies' blogs up to see what wonderfully artistic things they've created to share with YOU!

Allison Cope
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence

Stacy Morgan

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to swing back by Tuesday because I'll have a special little creative kick start post that's super fun! Can't wait! 

~Julie

What's your MOOD?

Hello all and Happy Friday! Power Poppy is unveiling a little experiment in the creativity department and I decided to jump in with both feet. If you haven't stopped by the Power Poppy Blog yet, you really need to! Marcy is unveiling her Friday Good Vibe 5! What's that, you say? Five little nuggets of inspiration to serve as your creative kickstart for the weekend. Look for this post to change up from week to week sharing all kinds of goodness to get your mojo-a-flowin'! 

One of the first good vibes was Marcella's Mood Board -- a "trigger" if you will -- to get that creativity rolling. She wants us to use this photo and see how we can morph this vibe into a card!

Look at those yellows, the movement in the tile, and the pattern created just from the tile's grout lines. I took this image and used it to spark this below!

I used Power Poppy's stamp set Sweet Memories to make a frame around my sentiment and here's how! I just used one of the single stems and thanks to some Post-It Notes, was able to mask and fit my image perfectly into my die cut shape! 

While the die was still on my paper, I used this as a mask helping me to sponge some Dandelion Memento ink around the edge.

Before lifting the die, I traced a very light pencil line around the inside of the die. I wanted to use my same die cut shape as a mat (as you'll see), so tracing this line was important to serve as a cut line for my detail scissors. 

And from there, I made one-inch squares using a kind of "tile inspired" decorative paper and then set them all down on a black mat for my card front! You can see how the mat came together. I used a sentiment from Power Poppy's Dynamic Duos Foxglove and Ranunculus stamp set. I colored this image up with Copic Markers and used Y00, Y02, Y13, Y15, YG00, G21, G24 and YG63.  

Here's a little close-up for you!

And that, my friends, is it! Like I said, be sure to check out the Power Poppy Blog for even MORE inspiration to kick off your weekend in creative style! And, while you're hopping, don't forget to pay these lovely ladies-- The Bloomies -- below a visit! 

Allison Cope

Julie Koerber >>> you are here! 

Katie Sims

Stacy Morgan

Tosha Leyendekker

And before you go! Check this out -- a little Mother's Day Surprise over at the Power Poppy Shop!

Squeee! Who doesn't love a fun stamping "Steal & Deal!" And.... if you want to try your hand at winning some goodies from the Power Poppy Shop, don't forget this month's Power & Spark Challenge!

Read all about this month's challenge by hopping over to the Power Poppy blog HERE! Hope you have a wonderful weekend ahead. Thanks so much for stopping by and spending just a bit of your day with..... little 'ole me! ;-) 

~Julie

Sharing a Little Power & Spark!

Hello all and welcome to another fun-filled Friday! I have to say, this day is proving to be my favorite day of the week for so many reasons. One of which is sharing a little bit of Power Poppy inspiration with you to help jumpstart your creative weekend! 

Before I forget, did you know that Power Poppy has a brand new 'sprout' in their Instant Garden? If you want to take a peek, just click HERE to see one of Marcella's newest illustrations that you can download, print and then color up right quick! Squeee! I am using this new digital stamp for my card today so you'll be able to see it in full color first! ;-) Here's a little peek at the new set Plant Kindness! 

This fanciful set offers flower-filled seed packs and heirloom plant listings, rosy-faced journals and calico garden gloves — these are a few of Marcella's favorite things! Color up this cheery gardening vignette for a quick card and plant a little kindness along the way! Just click HERE to see! 

While you're here, however, you need to check out our latest Power & Spark Challenge hosted by the most fab Aussie I know- Ms. Kathy Jones! 

HOW TO PLAY: This challenge is just as it sounds -- it's all about FRAMES! Just hear what Ms. Kathy has to say about her challenge to us all!

"This challenge is as easy as Framing It Up! Simply frame your image on a card, decorate a frame or frame your stamped piece as a bit of home decor!"

Do you want to know something super fun? When it comes to the Power & Spark Challenge, Ms. Marcella has UPPED THE ANTE when it comes to the winnings! Now, instead of winning a stamp set of choice you actually win a.....

$50 SHOPPING SPREE AT THE POWER POPPY SHOP! 

Just click HERE for all the official details!

Okay moving on! Because I just couldn't wait to color up Power Poppy's newest digital offering, I decided to mix it up and use it while playing along in Kathy's new Frame It Up Challenge! I had so much fun, I decided to make TWO projects for today!

This first one is pretty self-explanatory. Print the digital image, color with Copic markers (too many to list!) use a pair of rectangle die cuts to create a frame for around your image, distress/sand the frame (used C'ordination cardstock) for an earthy feel, sponge main image with Ranger's Antique Linen Distress Ink for a little added depth, mat onto card decked out in bright, springy colors and accented with candy dots and a bit of jute! 

Here's a close up! 

And here's how I decked out the inside! The little strip of herbs along the left side of my card was done using some Memento Cottage Ivy ink and one of the stamps from the Sage Advice clear stamp set! 

 Now one funny thing happened while crafting the card. I had printed this image below to use on the inside of my card but I printed the Plant Kindness sentiment entirely too large! So, I grabbed more stamps from the Sage Advice stamp set and stamped those around the sentiment, decked it out with some paper piercing and added a dark green mat and voila!

Now you might ask, what are you going to do with that? Well, I am following Kathy's lead in this Frame It Up Challenge and using this as a statement to ponder in a space on my work desk! I had this little easel and thought it just fit perfectly there! 

And that, my friends is it -- a card and a little reminder to live each day planting and sharing a little bit of kindness and love! 💗

Now, it's time to pay a visit to some of the sweetest stampin' sisters a gal could ask for.... THE BLOOMIES! Just click on through our linky list and see what kinds of wonderful they've been up to!

Allison Cope

Christine Okken

Cindy Lawrence

Julie Koerber >> you are here! 

Kathy Jones 

Stacy Morgan

Tosha Leyendekker

Thanks for stopping by and spending a bit of your day with me!

~Julie