Friday, July 27, 2018

Happy Friday Folks!

Okay... who is ready for a weekend out there? I know I am! And, on this Friday, I have some pint-sized fun to share! Recently, some friends had a baby shower for my niece who is due to have her second baby girl any day now! Well, with Power Poppy's stamp set Precious Baby hot off the production line, I thought I would break it in and make a card for the shower.

But, I had a problem....

I only had 15 minutes to make one! Yes, I am "that" woman who leaves almost everything to the last minute. EEK! So, I scrounged and found some things that I had already cut out -- namely a die cut that I had already sponged with pink ink. How perfect was that find? So, I gathered up a snippet of ribbon, a punched circle for a sentiment and went to town!


So, after stamping my little "Sweet Pea" on white cardstock and punching out with a 2-1/2" circle punch (no time for die cuts), it fit perfectly on my previously die cut and sponged circle! Whew! I colored up the little lady with just a few Copic markers -- RV00, RV02, R81, R83, YG03, YG15, G20, Y21, and Y35.

Here's a little closeup! You can see that I also added a few dots of white gel pen to the eyes to make them "sparkle!" :-)


I also took the sentiment from the set, stamped using Black Onyx Versafine ink. I punched out with another circle, added a hole at the top to string some silver cord and then attached to my die cut circle through one of the cutouts.


Add some pink satin ribbon and some decorative paper that I dug out of my scrap bin and... Ta Da! I did make it in 15 minutes and was able to get out the door in record time! Winning! This just goes to show that if you cut something out for another card and it doesn't work -- set those little snippets and die cuts aside in a special spot that you can look through when you need them in a hurry. :-)


I know these fine ladies will be bringing on their own heavy dose of eye candy and inspiration! So, be sure to roll through this link list and see what they have in store!


Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Julie Koerber >>> you are here!
Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker



And that, my friends, is it! I hope you have some fun things planned in the days ahead. Thanks, as always, for stopping by my place here on the web to see what I've been up to! Love your visits!

~Julie

Monday, July 23, 2018

More Days of Digis!

Hi all! I sure hope you've been checking in over that the Power Poppy Blog because there's been a ton of excitement brewing -- especially if you love Marcella's digital stamp sets! It's day four of the....


Today's offering is one that makes my heart skip a beat! I may be landlocked in Montana but I do love, love, love the beach. I love the sand in my feet, the sound of the waves and above all, just the way it makes me feel -- I know you know what I mean! So, it goes without saying that I absolutely adore this darling little vignette with shells, fern, plumeria and a handwritten note. Introducing Gifts From the Sea!




Doesn't your blood pressure lower just looking at this lovely little scene? I know mine does! Makes me want to "Seas the Day!" ;-)

On to my creation!

After I printed off the image, I reached for my Copic markers and just went to town. I wish I could share ALL the markers I used but honestly, I just grabbed on the go. There was a healthy mix of earthy shades with the rosy colors that I tried to bring out in some of the seashells. I grabbed some BV markers to color up the glass inkwell. I love Marcella's vignettes -- just such a joy to color up! 

And, here's a closeup!


I wasn't the only one that took this image for a spin. We have some of the Bloomies and Instant Gardners joining me today! And... I can't wait to see what they whipped up! 


Barbara
Christine
Cheryl


And, my friends, tomorrow is the last day of the 5 Days of  Digis and it brings another fun illustration that can be colored up in an instant! So... be sure to tune into the Power Poppy Blog to see how this all wraps up! 

Thanks for stopping by -- I'll see you all back here real soon! 
~Julie

Friday, July 20, 2018

Who wants a digital freebie???


Hi all! Are you ready for a super dooper fun surprise? Well, brace yourself! Power Poppy is kicking off 5 Days of Digis! And... it all starts TODAY!  This first release is one that literally everyone can enjoy! Why? Well, because it is FREE! Check it out, will you?



Kindness Is The Way is Power Poppy's first 100% FREE botanical themed digital download! Whether you've never worked with digital stamps before and want to give it a try -- risk-free -- or you are an experienced digital download aficionado in search of new flowers to color, this image is here for you! Marcella has prepared an allover pattern of Gerbera Daisies in black and no-line versions. Then you also get two versions of the background with the phrase "Kindness is the Way" superimposed, using lettering that you can color in. Lastly, a single Gerbera Daisy is included in case you want to just keep things sweet and simple.

On to my creation! While I absolutely love the words Marcy used to set inside the image, I wanted to free fly and just use the Gerbera Daisy background. I thought I would "scribble color" the background but then got caught up adding flicks of color here and splashes there. What I thought would be a quick color turned into more than an hour -- actually I have no idea how long it took because I was listening to an audio book and just got lost in time! So here goes!


I am not sure if you can tell but I tried to print off the digital background with just regular black ink. Well, my printer decided that I was out of ink and printed it kind of a sage green instead. So, instead of fret about it, I went with it! I colored the background behind the flowers with Copics and reached for G0000 and highlighted areas with BG70 and BG10. The flowers were colored with B60 and B63 for the petals and YG03, Y02, Y17 and accented with white gel pen and glitter glue. The sentiment was stamped in a light green ink and is from the Power Poppy clear set called Always Here. 

Here's a closeup! 


I know this isn't terribly realistic in the color scheme but it made me happy so.. there you have it! ;-)  I wasn't the only one to color up this little bundle of blossoms! Be sure to stop by these lovely ladies places too! 







Since today is only day one of the 5 days of Digis -- what's coming up? Well, here's a little sneaky peek! The theme of this release is kindness, love, peace, curiosity, and meaning. Each of these images was created from the heart, with the intention of Marcella sharing parts of herself with.. ALL OF YOU, a little more than usual. We can't wait to unveil them to you in the hopes that each will bring a new kind of joy to you in your crafty endeavors! So, be sure to stay tuned to the Power Poppy blog for the latest! 

Until next time!
~Julie


Friday, July 6, 2018

Inspire Me!

Hello stamping friends!This month over on the Power Poppy Blog, yours truly had the chance to dream up the challenge for the latest Power & Spark Challenge! And.... I can't wait to see how you take it to the next explosive level! ;-)

Are you ready? Let's see what's in store!


HOW TO PLAY: Every Monday here on the Power Poppy blog we invite the best of the best creative minds to share a little bit of their creative process. The hope is that they will "inspire" and spark a crafty revolution! Each Inspire Me Monday feature offers either a coloring lesson, a technique or maybe even a fun little digital "how to!" You can find all of our Inspire Me Monday features HERE on this link. Once you scroll through all these fun and informative posts, to take on this challenge, all you need to do is pick one as your source of inspiration and give that coloring lesson, technique or tutorial a try! Just that simple!

On to my creation! Goodness, this was a tough one. I literally went through every Inspire Me Monday. Did you know we've had this feature on the blog since April of 2014? WOW! That's a lot of inspiration waiting in the wings! So, after going through and revisiting a ton of fun posts, I chose THIS post by Ally Cope -- Fun With Masks! I had just bought some masking sheets and wanted an "excuse" to rip them out of the package and give them a try! 

First up, here's a peek at one of Ally's cards so you get the gist of what I did when I followed in her creative footsteps! 


I loved just how fun and easy this technique looked! While Ally used some masking sheets made by another stamping company, I found these online a few weeks back and wanted to have them in my stash for masking digital stamps. I figured if I printed the digi on the paper and cut it out, I'd be able to do some of the cool ink background techniques that Amy Shulke takes on in some of her classes! (Click the link to see for yourself!)


I realized after I took the picture above, that you can't really see the label number -- it's 6465 and I bought it on Amazon HERE, just in case you were curious! ;-)

So, as you can see below I used Power Poppy's Abundant Petals Stamp Set and after I stamped all over my 4" by 5-1/4" piece of white cardstock, I used the Abundant Petals Coordinating Dies to cut out my masks! I like the fact that when you put the mask down, you can kind of still see the stamped image below so you know that you are in the right spot!


From there, I took two daubers and started creating my sponged background. As you can see, I used Spiced Marmalade and Picked Raspberry Distress Inks. Now, please don't look too close at my sponging, I am not the greatest at sponging ink on backgrounds! But, I never stop trying! ;-) I will say I was impressed at how well my masks stayed put! 


From there, I lifted the masks, added a stitched scallop frame die and the sentiment that I embossed in white from the M-Powering Words stamp set.   


All in all, this was a super easy card to create and a fun technique that I am pretty sure I'll give a try again soon! Now it's YOUR TURN to take one of these Inspire Me Mondays for a spin! When you do, don't forget to link up your creation below! 

If you want to read up on the Official Rules.... just click HERE! 




Before you go, you can't leave without hitting up these links below and seeing what some of our fabulous members of the Bloom Brigade have to share! Get ready, as always, to be WOWED!


Christine Okken
Julie Koerber >>> you are here!
Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker




Thanks for popping by! I hope you all enjoy your weekends my sweet stamping friends!

~Julie