It's Bloomie Friday!

Hello all! Hope you have had a wonderful week! I don't know how many of you move and sway between your favorite crafts, but I know I do. During some seasons of life, I might spend most of my time stamping. During others, I might whip out the old sewing machine and start a quilting project. Or, most nights, when I watch TV, I have a knitting project in hand. So, for this week's Creative Confetti Challenge, I decided to mix it up and share two of my crafting loves! So, if you want to read all the deets on this week's Creative Confetti Challenge, all you have to do is click HERE!  I share how I not only combined stamping and knitting but did so for charity. And.... I encouraged you guys to give that a try!

On to my creation! 

You might be asking yourself what on earth does a knitting project have to do with this week's challenge? Let me explain! Last Friday, I got a note from my local yarn shop saying that they were going to start taking donations for a program called Casting For Recovery.  The non-profit hosts retreats -- fly fishing retreats -- for women with breast cancer who are on the road to recovery. Just a little bit about Casting for Recovery, did you know that fly fishing -- the gentle motion of casting can be a little like physical therapy? That, along with being with other women going through the same thing, AND being out in some gorgeous countryside is what the program is all about. 

So, to make a long story even longer, my local yarn shop was collecting cowls that the women could be gifted during their September retreat in Bozeman, Montana. So, I got knitting right away and whipped up this cowl using THIS pattern (Broken Rib Cowl) and it came together after just a few nights of TV watching. I will mention, the color scheme is not what I would have chosen but the yarn shop owner said it was earthy and even had some of the same colors as a brown trout -- so, I snatched it up! I am going to raid my yarn stash and whip up a few more. I'm thinking THIS one looks fun too! Or, maybe THIS one! ;-) 

And you can see, this is where my challenge comes into play! I wanted to make a tag to go along with my gift and I chose Power Poppy's Leapin' Trout digital stamp. I sized it so that I could use my 2-1/2" circle punch and added the words "Handmake just for you!" 

I colored the fish up with Copic Markers using YG91, YG91, Y32, R81, R83 R85, and BG72 and BG000 for the water. I also added some white gel pen for the splashes! 

And here's what I printed on the other side. Since the yarn is 100% Merino, I wanted them to know that this is a hand wash in cool, lay flat to dry kind of accessory. The good news is, it's soft to the touch and hopefully nice around a woman's neck! I will also add a nice little note letting her know I am sending blessings for her on her road to recovery. 

And that, my friends, is it. Just a little project that is super quick but from the heart none the less! So, take my lead -- create with nature in mind (like my leaping trout!), create a tag, or create with a charity in mind! Just that simple!

Thanks for stopping by y'all! I hope you have a fabulous week and remember, to play along, all you need to do is create, link up your card HERE. Once a month, Power Poppy draws one random and lucky stamper to win $25! Can't wait to see what you come up with.  

Want to see what one of my fellow Bloomies whipped up for all of you this week? Stop on over and see.....

Stacy Morgan!

I know you won't be disappointed that you did! 

Until next time!
~Julie 

Make it Shimmer!

Hi all and Happy Friday!  I have a little something to share today that was in the spotlight over on the Power Poppy blog earlier this week! Did you catch the latest Creative Confetti Challenge? It not, you can click HERE for the linky so that you can play along with me! The challenge is based on Ally Cope's tutorial she ushered in last Monday. It's right up my alley because you know I love my glitter and sparkle! Check it out HERE as she shows us a fun way to add a little glimmer! 

And with her fabulous tutorial in mind, I decided we should ALL add a little shimmer to our projects this week! Check it out! 

On to my creation!  

You might look at this card above using Power Poppy's Vibrant Thanks and say, "Wait a minute here... where's the sparkle!?!?" And, I would agree -- it's hard to see, until you tilt it to the light! The little tutorial I am going to share today gives your stamped images a pearlescent look that's just too lovely! And, you use this fine stuff... Pearl Ex! How many of you have a gazillion mica powders that haven't seen the light of day in a while? Yes, I see you! I am with you too! 

So, I started by grabbing Pearl White Pearl Ex, it is just a plain white shimmer. They have so many though -- Duo Blue Green, Duo Blue Pink, White Gold, it's crazy all the colors! 

And this above is my foundation! I stamped one of the flowers from the Vibrant Thanks set using Memento Tuxedo Black and then went to town with my Copic markers, using a range of greens and purples. I wanted to bring some of the purple into my backdrop, so I highlighted using BG0000 and then went over the top with V0000 to give it more of a purple-ish glow. 

And here's where it gets fun! This is what I grabbed - a large soft brush, Versamark Ink and the Pearl Ex. 

I took the Versamark ink pad and just covered my image with it. This was NOT easy at first because I honestly wasn't sure this would turn out so covering something I just spent time coloring was a bit of a "close one eye and let's see what happens" moment. After my image was completely covered with ink, I took my wide, soft brush, dipped it into the Pearl White Pearl Ex and then brushed it over top. After I was done, I took a dry Swiffer sheet and burnished the Pearl Ex into the ink. This releases the extra powder and helps it to stay put.  This effect is one that makes it appear like you stamped and colored on pearlescent paper. It's kind of dreamy! 

If you have a Workable Fixatif on hand in your craft room, it's not a bad idea to seal this with a light spray. It helps the powder from rubbing off, even if it is just slightly. 

And, here's a close up for you! You can see I matted it up, playing up the green and purple and adding just a few accents. The sentiment was from the Power Poppy set Potted Primrose. I love that sentiment -- one of my favorites! 

And, one last look at my card! 

Thanks for stopping by y'all! I hope you have a fabulous week and remember, to play along, all you need to do is add a little shimmer to your creation, link up your card below and then, once a month, we draw one random and lucky stamper to win $25! Woo HOOOO! So, as I love to say, go ahead and get those fingers inky! 

Some of my fellow Bloomies have been busy in their crafting spaces so you'll need to run over to their spaces on the web to see for yourself! I know you won't be disappointed! ;-) 

Allison Cope

Christine Okken

Julie Koerber >>> you are here! 

Stacy Morgan

Thanks for sharing a little time with me! I so enjoy your visits!

Until next time!

~Julie 

Gettin' Krafty on a Friday!

Hello all and happy Friday! How is your week wrapping up? I tell ya, mine sped by. It seems summer has a way of doing that, eh? This week was a tough one for me because my firstborn, who I still consider my baby boy, officially flew the coop. This was a picture of him just before he pulled away en route to Portland -- new city, new job. Meanwhile, I was truly testing the strength of my waterproof mascara. Ugh.... doesn't matter how old they get, they are still your babies!

Needless to say, I decided earlier this week to spend a little time in my craft room -- after all it is kind of like the comfort food of rooms in my home. Don't you think? I had fun ushering in the Creative Confetti Challenge earlier this week and urged everyone to Get Krafty! You can check out all the deets HERE but the long and short of it is that in order to play along, you just have to use kraft colored cardstock on your creation or, in my case, as the base for my main image!

So... on to my creation! 

For my challenge card, I decided to color up the floral vase grouping from Power Poppy's Fortune of Fall stamp set! It's just such a warm and inviting illustration that I think it will be great to have on hand for cards this upcoming fall.

I started by stamping on my kraft cardstock by using Versafine Black Onyx ink and then heat set it before I dove in and started to color with my Prismacolor pencils. Here is a trick that I did to start. I used my MISTI stamping tool to stamp my initial image. Then, I took time to color. You can see with the image below, some of the crispness of the image was lost. You can really see on the white petals and white vase....

That's why I love the MISTI stamping tool folks! Because, I just lined up my image again right up in the corner, inked up my stamp and stamped right on top! Look at those crisp lines emerge once again!

I will say that because I was using pigment ink, and I had a waxed base medium with my colored pencils, I did have to lay a scrap paper overtop to rub off some of the ink that was just sitting on top of my image. See?

It ended up picking up quite a bit of ink. I thought that If I didn't do this, I might actually have enough ink laying on top that it could either muddy my image or smear. Neither one is a good thing! After that, I layered everything up, keeping my layout simple. I added a little sentiment flag as well using one of the sentiments from the set and... tada! Fini!

Here's a closeup of the coloring for you all!

And that, my friends, is it! So, let's see what you've got in this little "krafty" challenge! Remember to click the link above for all the details. Hope you join me!

Allison Cope

Christine Okken

Julie Koerber >> you are here! 

Stacy Morgan

Thanks for stopping by! Until next time, happy stamping! 

~Julie