Power Poppy Day 4 Enchanted Garden Sneaky Peeks!

Hello all! It's day 4 of the fabulous week of sneaky peeks featuring Power Poppy's new Enchanted Garden release!  Today the Bloom Brigade and Instant Gardeners are serving up a fresh dose of summer with delish and delightful images that I'm sure you'll adore!

This summer-centric set -- Summer Berries -- offers stampers a tumbling vine of ripe raspberries providing the juiciest of focal points! A sweet bird among strawberry stems creates a gentle and whimsical image that you can color up in minutes. Add in a strawberry cluster that can be a focal point or fun accent to create a repeat border or even add a bit of pizzazz to an envelope and you've got a set that is sure to please all year round! 

On to my creation! 

I have to say, of this release, this card was the quickest of the bunch. Marcella was right when she said you can color up that little birdie vignette in minutes! I even took time to "Google" birds and knew I wanted one with a little pop of yellow on him. So, off I went and I found this guy below. Isn't he so cute!????

After I stamped him and colored him up with Copics (I used the range of W markers W1, W3, W5 and W7 and then paired with Y11, Y13 and Y15), I added some accents with a white gel pen and then got to coloring up the strawberries. I added the raspberries from the set as a background on the red strip using Brick colored Vivid Ink. Add a little yellow ribbon, a doily and a little red gem and... Voila! Done!

Here's a closeup for you!

This one is just about as simple as you can get and I think it's just as sweet! Speaking of sweet, I know some of the Bloomies and Instant Gardeners whipped up creations using this summer loving set! So, pop on over and say "hi" to.....

Allison Cope

Christine Okken

Julie Koerber

Kathy Jones

Stacy Morgan

Broni Holcombe

Barb Walker

Nancy Sheads

Leslie Miller

Power Poppy Blog

Tomorrow the fun continues with our last set to sneak. This one offers not only a bevy of blossoms but a fun little creature flitting about the scene. You'll love it. Trust me! Thanks so much for stopping by. Hopefully, I will see you all back here tomorrow! 

So, until then!
~Julie 

Power Poppy Day 3 Enchanted Garden Release!

Hello all! Are you enjoying our little trip through Power Poppy's Enchanted Garden so far? We sure hope so! Today's offering features an illustration you might have seen before but now, clear stamp lovers will be able to have this beauty in their stash as well!

Whether colored to the nines or stamped in a single ink, Power Poppy's new set - Strong and Beautiful - makes a gorgeous statement. An unfurling peony bloom is offset with ferns, lenten roses, and bluebells in a combination you won't find anywhere but Power Poppy! No matter how you rotate or crop this exuberant floral, you’ll come out on top! Five sentiments have clear letters so that you can color them in to coordinate with your palette, and, in true Power Poppy style, each one carries an empowering or uplifting message! 💗

On to my creation! 

If you checked out the Power Poppy Creative Confetti Challenge this week, you got a little sneaky peek to my card! The challenge was to .... JUST COLOR! And I grabbed some watercolor paints and inks and got down to business! 

Here's a peek at the supplies I started with -- a watercolor palette that had never been used. It was actually from one of my daughter's old art classes. Guess she didn't dabble with it either! ;-) For a more subdued color range, I chose a few Distress Inks too! 

And, after a couple hours just getting lost in the process, here's how my floral display turned out! I added a little purple and green watercolor wash behind it to help the color pop just a wee bit more. I am really playing around with adding colors that are a part of my main image to the background. It's been a fun experiment!

And here's a peek at my card! You can see I didn't do a complicated layout because this image doesn't need one -- just a simple matting, a little twine and a sentiment from the set, colored up to match. 

Here's a little closeup for you!

And that, my friends, is it! Now, you'll have to make the rounds to see what these fine ladies below did with this new Strong and Beautiful set! 

Allison Cope

Christine Okken

Julie Koerber >> you are here! 

Kathy Jones

Stacy Morgan

Broni Holcombe
Barb Walker

Nancy Sheads

Leslie Miller

Power Poppy Blog 

Coming up tomorrow, Marcella offers up the juiciest of focal points in a charming new set that really celebrates a little of summer's best! So.... swing on back and see what it's all about! 

Until then!
~Julie 

Power Poppy: Day 2 Enchanted Garden Release!

Hello folks, and welcome to DAY TWO of Power Poppy's Enchanted Garden release! This little sneaky peek of five new sets this week is sure to have you "ooooo"ing and "ahhhhhh"ing. There is so much to this release, Marcella's pen definitely drew something for everyone!

Today's set delivers that feeling of walking through a woodland area, just waiting to find natural treasures!

Power Poppy's new set Woodland Carpet features flora, fauna and ... fungi! Treasures of the forest floor are celebrated in this unique new 4" by 8" clear stamp set. Five images and five sentiments provide you with so many opportunities for both masculine AND feminine cards. The vignettes are just large enough to be a beautiful focal image. Each image reminds us to look down on your next outing, you just might miss a miraculous, mossy mound bursting with life!

On to my creation!

While I love the vignettes in this set, there was something about that Luna Moth that had me wanting to create a card with it as the focal point! After thinking about it for a bit, I realized I wanted to have that little guy lifted from the page. So, I drew a circle and started to stamp one of the leafy images in the set around the circle to form a kind of wreath. I stamped the sentiment in the middle and then stamped the moth where I wanted him to "land" on my card. I did this so that I wouldn't have to fussy cut those antennae!

From there, I colored my scene up with Copic Markers and while I doubt you can see it, I added a little Wink of Stella to the wings to help them shimmer.

Here's a closeup for you!

I matted it all up, added a button and some twine and created layers using circle dies to bring a little extra color and a "frame" to my scene.

Here's a peek at the inside where I added a sentiment, a colored version of that fabulous Luna Moth and then I drew in some little dots to let my moth take flight! :-) 

Want to see how some of the Bloomies and Instant Gardeners chose to delve into a little woodland wonder with this set? You will have to stop by these fine ladies below and see their creations. My jaw dropped more than a few times looking at them!

 

Allison Cope

Christine Okken

Julie Koerber

Kathy Jones

Stacy Morgan

Barbara Walker

Leslie Miller

Nancy Sheads

Rhea Weigand

Coming up tomorrow for day three of the Enchanted Garden release, Marcella releases an image that can make more than cards. It can make a gorgeous statement! Can you say another exuberant floral? You'll just have to swing back to see for yourself tomorrow!

Until then!
~Julie

Power Poppy: Day 1 Enchanted Garden Release!

Well folks, I am so excited that I can hardly contain myself! Why? Well, it's been a bit since Power Poppy released a fresh crop of polymer stamp offerings and this week, Marcella is unveiling not one, not two, but FIVE brand new stamp sets to tickle your creative taste buds! Today's stamp set is the first in the Enchanted Garden release and it's big and bold -- a perfect way to make a statement with just one stamp! Check it out!

Create a garden of Gerberas in seconds with Power Poppy's very first flower-filled background stamp -- Big Sexy Blooms! Hand-drawn details indicate where to place your shadows, mid-tones, and highlights — so you can make a masterpiece with every impression! Did I mention that this stamp is nearly 5" x 6"? So big and lush, one stamp covers an entire card front! 

On to my creation! 

I started by stamping this big and bold background on some white card stock and then picked out a section to fussy cut, so that the petals just hung on the page. What's fun is, my black Copic marker was the same color as the paper so in the white voids in the other part of the stamped image, I colored so that it would look like it was all just on a black piece of card stock with that big pop of white from the petals! I accented with some BG0000, BG11, BV01 and BV0000. The centers of the flowers were done with a mix of deep yellow and light orange. Then, I stamped the sentiment using Versamark ink and embossed with white detail embossing powder. The stamp is actually from the stamp set Hellebore and Hyacinth.  Add a few rhinestones and some fun stitched yellow ribbon and.. BAM! Done!

Here's a little closeup for you!

Before I let you go, you should take a little trip around blogland to see what some of the other Bloomies and Instant Gardeners did with this lush and bodacious stamp!

Allison Cope

Stacy Morgan

Christine Okken

Kathy Jones

Julie Koerber>> you are here! 

Leslie Miller

Nancy Sheads

Barbara Walker

Jennifer Dove

Power Poppy Blog

Be sure to stop back by tomorrow for day two! That's when flora, fauna and... fungi take center stage in a set that really celebrates the treasures of the forest floor! Doesn't that just sound delightful? I think so!

See you then!
~Julie

It's Flag Day!

Hello sweet stampers! Here in the States, it's Flag Day! And that's why earlier this week, I ushered in a fun-filled, flag inspired challenge to help you get that creativity rolling a bit. If you want to see what I mean, just clickety-clack on over HERE to check out this week's Creative Confetti Challenge! 

So the basic gist of the challenge was to pick the flag of any country as your launching pad for creativity! And, here's the clincher! Don't use your home country as inspiration! Use the flag of someplace you want to visit! Use the flag of one of your ancestors! Use the flag that just... "speaks to you!" Have fun with it and don't forget to share which flag inspired your creation.

ON TO MY INSPIRATION!

Being that Ms. Marce took a little Norwegian adventure, I decided to use Norway as my focus. I was inspired simply by the energy in the photos she posted. I mean, come on! Doesn't she look like she is having an absolute blast?

So, in honor of sweet Marce, here's a peek at the flag of Norway!

Knowing red and blue would be my focal colors, I went a flipping through all my clear and digital stamp sets! I stopped when I found this one --- Flower Bomb  --- a digital stamp set by Power Poppy. It was perfect! Roses are red, Violets are blue. I like the Norway flag, how about you? ;-) 

After printing, I used a stitched circle die to cut out my image and then went hunting for just the right colors of Copic markers! Here's a peek at what I used:

Roses: RV00, R00, R30. R32 R35, R39

Violets: V01, B60, B63, B66

Greenery: YG63, YG67 for Rose Leaves & YG00, YG06, YG17 for Violets

Here's a closeup! You can see that I did add some shading/color around my image and the edge of the die, for that I used R0000, R00 and R01 just for a soft glow. 

Add some fun blue and red decorative paper, a little bit of bling and a fun sentiment from the Power Poppy stamp set Juicy Strawberries (also a digital stamp set)

And that, my friends, is it! So, why don't you join me this week for a little world travel! Get to "Googling" and find that fun flag to inspire your next creation! After you finish up your card, don't forget to link it up HERE ON THIS POST! Every entry is one more shot at a $25 gift code to the Power Poppy Shop!   

Since you are hippity hopping around today, Make sure to pay this fine lady a visit -- Christine Okken -- to see the absolutely amazing card she did using one of Power Poppy's Peony illustrations. It's WOW!!!

Happy Stamping!

~Julie