Bloomie Friday: A treat for you!

Hi all! Since it's Bloomie Friday at Power Poppy, I thought just in case you missed my little tutorial on the Power Poppy Blog, I thought I'd share a snippet here and then, if you like, you can click HERE to see the step by step tutorial! I was the hostess this past Monday for Inspire Me Monday! I figured with the 'Night of Fright' upon us, I would share a SUPER EASY, SUPER CUTE project that you can literally whip up in a jiffy! The folding portion of this project takes less than a minute -- no joke -- allowing you to just take your time and enjoy dolling up this little treat bag for the little ghosts and goblins in your life!

Here's a peek at the finished project 

It's made with a square piece of paper --- really any size! It just depends on how big you want your pocket to be when you are done! The one I made, above is from 8" by 8" piece of paper and as you can see, it creates the perfect little pocket for fun-sized candy bars!

It's just the right size! 

I wanted to show you just how big or small you could go with this treat bag! I started with a 6" by 6" piece of paper and honestly, this is small enough for a few Hershey's kisses, a Ghiradelli square, or one fun-size candy bar. Maybe this one would be best for dollar bills? ;-) As you go up in size, the more you can fit! I actually started with a 12" by 12" piece of paper but when I was done, I thought, wow -- that's pretty big! That might actually make a nice little gift bag in a jiffy for smaller gifts? So easy! 

After seeing Instant Gardener Nancy Sheads color up this cute kitty from Power Poppy's Feeling Fall stamp set, I knew I wanted to give her video coloring tutorial a try - so I stamped with Memento Ink Tuxedo Black and cued up the video and colored away following all her cues! If you missed this tutorial, you need to check it out HERE. It was so fun to follow along! Just a little note, if you want instant gratification, Power Poppy just released this cat image in a Halloween digital stamp set called Boo Cat and Pumpkins.  So many fun images in this digital set!

So, when I was done, this is what my treat bag looked like! You can stuff it with candy -- I chose mini Ghiradelli squares -- and even hang this little treat on a doorknob as a sweet surprise!

I hope you like this little tutorial (click HERE to see the step-by-step version) and I hope you give it a try yourself! It can be used for so many different occasions --- Christmas (maybe you use these instead of an Advent calendar?), Easter, Valentine's Day, May Day! So many opportunities!

Be sure to stop by these ladies' homes on the web to see what crafty awesomeness they've whipped up for you this week!

Stacy Morgan

Ally Cope

Thanks so much for stopping by! Hope you have a wonderful and creative weekend ahead!
~Julie 

Just Take Ten!

Hello All! Happy Friday! Did you happen to checkout this week's Creative Confetti Challenge? It's a fun... and easy one and involves a kind of card that we should ALL love to create. What card is that? The quickie kind of cards that are fun to whip up but don't exactly look like you just took 10 minutes to assemble! And that, my friends, is what this week's Creative Confetti Challenge is all about!

Let's get on to my creation! 

You can see above that my MISTI stamping tool and Power Poppy's Big Scripts stamp set (on sale now for $9.99)  are two things at the center of my 10-minute card. I also decided to focus on my colors - card stock, ink, embellishments - before I got to creating. I wanted to make sure that everything was a perfect match before I got creating. 

Once I narrowed that all down, I lined up my cardstock in the MISTI and then, after every color, I wiped off my stamp and moved my paper down three lines on my MISTI, keeping my paper vertically even as I went. These inks are all really old colors. Do you remember Vivid! ink? Well, I have the whole line with reinkers and I swear, I have had them for close to 20 years. I remember when I started stamping saving up to buy a few ink pads a month to build up my collection. ;-) Ahhh... memories!

Here's a closeup! You can see, when I was done with the linear stamping, I die cut my wonky rectangle and trimmed the coordinating cardstock to give me 1/8" around the outside. Add some decorative polka dot paper, add a sentiment from the Poppy XL clear set. Add some sequins and... ta da! Done!

This one is an easy peasy design that you can do in almost any color scheme to let a friend know that you are thinking about her! Sometimes the message is more important than the time it took to create a handmade card, don't you think?

So, why don't you try your hand at a quickie card and join me this week? Remember, each and every link up with our linky ON THIS POST HERE is one more chance at a $25 gift certificate to the Power Poppy Shop!  



I know my stamping sister STACY MORGAN has some fun to share with you all! And, if you haven't been over to the POWER POPPY blog yet, Marcy has some exciting news to share, so you'll want to click on over and check that out! Hope you have a wonderful and creative weekend!


Until next time!

~Julie

Bloomie Friday, just for YOU!

Hi all! How has your week shaped up? While the week was good, we got a major snow storm a few days ago and man, I was not ready for it! One day it was 72 degrees, the next, 31. No joke! So, needless to say, coloring in my craft room was a joy - a warm, toasty joy! ;-)

Speaking of joys -- did you check out Power Poppy's Creative Confetti this week? It was hosted by the creative Lisa Johansen! And, she put an interesting spin on the challenge this week! Check it out! 

HOW TO PLAY: Just pick a flower that you think best represents your personality and color away! Are you a demure Easter lily? Maybe you are a fun-loving daffodil or a wild and crazy dahlia? There are so many possibilities with this challenge!

On to my creation!

When I thought about this challenge, I thought long and hard about what flower I might be. I'm not a rose -- beautiful and temperamental. I'm not a Dahlia - big and bold. After letting it all simmer a bit, I said, 'I'm a sunflower - a wild one.' It's not a flower that often takes center stage but it's one that loves being out in nature - wild and free. It loves sharing sunshine and grows wherever it's called to sprout. It's there, hopefully, bringing joy to those who pass by.

Now, I know my image is supposed to be a Gerber Daisy, but I colored it up like a sunflower because wild sunflowers are a little smaller than their seedy cousins. I colored the background the same as my patterned paper using Copic markers and then just let that yellow pop off the page, adding pops of black for contrast.

Here's a closeup....  

You can see above that I did add a little glitter glue. I always seem to want to add a little to the flowers' centers because it makes me happy! ;-)

And here's a photo of the wild sunflowers that grow right behind my house. I love these flowers. They just love showing up where you least expect them, always with their face to the sun!

Okay folks, now it's your turn to show us what flower represents YOUR personality! Remember, after you create and play along, link up your project OVER HERE on the Power Poppy Blog so we can all see. Since this linky is up all month, every entry with our weekly challenge is one more shot at a $25 gift code to the Power Poppy Shop! Woo hoo!

Oh.... and there's still time to take advantage of this fun little sale below! Use the code and take $5.00 off your purchase of $15.00 or more. If you haven't grabbed this great deal yet -- now is a perfect time! It's good until Oct.14th!

And, since it's Friday, that means some of my fellow Bloomies are on standby to show you some of what they've been working on this week! You'll have to stop by and see this sweet lady!

Christine Okken

Thanks everyone for hopping on over to say "hi!" I hope you have a beautiful weekend and I'll see you back here real soon!

~Julie 

It's a Celebration!

Hello sweet peeps! Are you excited to get into your crafting spaces today to let the creativity swirl?

It's World Card Making Day!

And.... to help you get in the groove, Power Poppy just released 10 -- yes TEN -- new digital stamp sets yesterday full of fall flair! CLICK HERE to see the gorgeous sets and CLICK HERE to see Marcella's post yesterday showing off some of the beautiful creations that some of the Bloomies and Instant Gardeners created for this release! Maybe I can even help enable you to pick a few up at the Power Poppy Shop to create some autumnal masterpieces in your own stamping spaces!

To help you creatively enjoy this beautiful season and add some beautiful fall-themed cards to your stash, Power Poppy is ushering in a little WORLD CARD MAKING DAY CHALLENGE! 

HOW TO PLAY

• Create on this World Card Making day with a fall theme in mind!
• Enter your card twice if you create with fall in mind and use a sentiment that shares a theme of gratitude!
• Enter your card three times if you create with fall in mind, use a sentiment of gratitude AND use a Power Poppy stamp!
• Link up your creation below so we can all see!

On to my creation!

For my card, I downloaded one of Power Poppy's new images called Dazzling Display! Some of these images were well-loved in the Power Poppy clear set called So Grateful.  I absolutely adore these illustrations! I decided to blow up the dahlia image, change the color to burnt orange and then print on a piece of orange dotted decorative paper to create my own bit of coordinating decorative paper. Then, I pulled the corner image into Photoshop Elements and used two of them to form an oval shape that I later die cut using a stitched oval die. I colored it all up with Copic markers, accenting with a bit of white gel pen! 

I should mention that the sentiment was stamped using Nautical Navy Memento ink and adorned with two little enamel dots. Because I wanted a linear sentiment, I stamped this one from the Olive and Oak Expanded clear set. 

So, just as the challenge suggested, I used a fall theme, sprinkled in a little gratitude and, of course, reached for Power Poppy digital and clear stamps to get the job done!

Play along with me in this challenge! Once you link up HERE, you'll be entered to win a $25 gift code to the Power Poppy Shop! And, if you do decide to load up on some of the new sets, here's an extra little incentive for you!

Just use the coupon code above to get five bucks off any purchase of $15 or more! Woot Woot! What a deal!

In honor of World Card Making Day, some of the Bloomies and Instant Gardeners are on standby to give you a shot of inspiration before you get crafting! So, be sure you stop by and say "hey" to these lovely ladies!

Ally Cope

Nancy Sheads

Julie Koerber >>> you are here!

Thanks for stopping by on this special day! Play along with me in this fun-filled challenge -- you have until Thursday night at 8PM EST! Power Poppy will draw a winner and announce next Friday on the Power Poppy blog! So, even if you don't have time this weekend, you still have plenty of time to take part!
Happy World Card Making Day Everyone!
~Julie