It's a wrap!

Hello folks! Yesterday, I was one leg on the 30 Day Coloring Challenge hop with the gals over at Power Poppy! If you click back to THIS post, you'll see that while I set aside an hour to color up a gorgeous image -- Power Poppy's Springtime Love Roundel digital stamp -- I didn't quite finish! One of the things I heard was... "Show us the finished product!" So, here goes! With a little Saturday downtime, a cup of coffee and some jazzy tunes to fuel my spirit, my colored up roundel is done!

I love the soft look that I was able to achieve with the no-line coloring and I love that Marcella is now offering no-line digis, which certainly takes the guesswork out of printing at the right grayscale!

Also, as I was coloring up this bouquet, I really struggled with trying to choose the right colors that would meld well together. As I was hopping through the link list, guess what Christine Okken was talking about? Using the right colors in a multi-flower bouquet! No joke! So, if you are like me and struggle, click HERE to check out her post and video on the topic!

And.... afterward, be sure to join so many crafters from far and wide for this!

Just click HERE to learn more about  thedailymarker.com's 30 Day Coloring Challenge! It's a fun way to disconnect for a while and if you link up your creations, there are some super fun prizes on the line!

And.... today is the last day for this little Power Poppy Special!

*** SPECIAL SALE ***

Burst of Kindness clear - $12.99 - save $5

 Spring Meadow Bouquet digital - $2.99 - save $3

Sale price ends Saturday, June 9.

And if you do get those fingers inky and color up some beauty -- don't forget to post your images on Instagram (use hashtag #thedailymarker30day in your post)!

Have a great weekend everyone!

~Julie 

Time Lapse Coloring

Hello my happy stamping friends! If you hit up the Power Poppy Blog, then you know there's a 30 Day Coloring Challenge Fest going on with the Power Poppy crew! We decided to use this day to show you all how we decided to take the coloring challenge! While I have only played along with this challenge behind the scenes and not very well, I promised myself that I would give it a go at least a handful of times during the 30 days. You might say -- well you color several times a month, don't you? Yes. But it will be those times that I said, let's take a little coloring diversion today -- the times that I didn't intend to -- that I will count! ;-)

If you need a little help getting off the ground with this challenge, just click HERE to learn more about  thedailymarker.com's 30 Day Coloring Challenge! It's a fun way to disconnect for a while and if you link up your creations, there are some super fun prizes on the line!

For my creation, I decided to extend my time to one hour and see what happened. I printed off  Power Poppy's Springtime Love Roundel digital stamp (using the no-line version) and just started grabbing Copic markers left and right! And here's what my little image looked like throughout the hour!

As I was coloring, I was going for a super soft look that was light and airy and I *think* that is what I've got so far! The reason why I stopped was the fact that I was honestly stumped as to what color the rest of the flowers might be. I didn't want anything too bold. I didn't want to repeat a color but I wanted these last flowers to compliment what I already had. So... the dilemma! I'll figure it out!

Now, you might say, "You didn't finish!" That's right! And, that's the beauty of the 30 Day Coloring Challenge! You use what time you have. It might only be ten minutes a day. So, over the next day, I'll finish up this little springtime joy and maybe, just maybe, it will be made into a card someday. :-)

Before I move on, I wanted to share another little bunch of fun! Did you see this little promo Marcy is running to try to help kick off some colorful creativity? Check it out sweet peeps!

*** SPECIAL SALE ***

Burst of Kindness clear - $12.99 - save $5

 Spring Meadow Bouquet digital - $2.99 - save $3

Sale price ends Saturday, June 9.

And if you do get those fingers inky and color up some beauty -- don't forget to post your images on Instagram (use hashtag #thedailymarker30day in your post) or share a link with us here in the comments. We would love to see what you all create!

The Bloomies .... and some members of the Instant Garden .... are getting in on today's fun! So, be sure to hop on over and see what colorific creations these fine ladies have created... just for you!

Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Julie Koerber
Kathy Jones
Katie Sims
Tosha Leyendekker
Barb Walker
Nancy Sheads
Elizabeth Zaffarano


And don't forget to check out Kathy Racoosin's thedailymarker.com. Every day, Ms. Kathy is sharing some color-infused fun, designed to spark inspiration and help you cultivate that creative side of yours!

Thanks for stopping by and spending a little bit of your day with me! Happy stamping! ;-)

~Julie 

Color YOUR World!

Hello Folks! Are you ready to grab your markers, your colored pencils or paints and color your world? 

Kathy Racoosin of The Daily Marker is unleashing a world of color on her blog and Instagram (@kathyrac) this month, and she wants all of us to join her in the fun!



The Daily Marker 30 Day Coloring Challenge energizes us to color something every day — even if only for a few minutes. Whether your love markers or prefer paints, colored pencils or crayons, all media is welcome! CLICK HERE to find out where to share what you are coloring and join the encouraging community of happy colorists. You'll also find answers to questions you may have along the way, participate in contests and more! If you share your work on social media, don't forget the hashtag: #thedailymarker30day and if you use Power Poppy stamps or digis, add the hashtag #powerpoppy

On to my colorific creation! 

When Kathy announced that she would be kicking off her 30 Day Coloring Challenge in grand style, I knew I wanted to grab one of Power Poppy's soon-to-be released stamp sets -- just to tease you all a little bit! ;-) 

This stamp set -- called Natural Beauties -- is a part of Power Poppy's March Release, which will start being unveiled on March 10th! That stamp is actually designed as a repeating border, allowing you to stamp and keep on stamping this illustration in one beautiful row... to infinity and beyond! 

I stamped in Tuxedo Black Memento Ink and then grabbed close to every color of Copic marker that I own to doll this image up! I stamped it on an angle, just to give it a little extra interest and then added the sentiment from the set below, also on an angle! Add some paper piercing, a scalloped edge and some minimal, yet fun decorative papers and.... Voila! 

Here's a close-up! 

Guess what? You have a chance to win this set, along with 7 other never-before-seen clear stamp sets as well! How? With this.....

GET READY FOR A POWER POPPY GIVEAWAY!

To kick off the challenge, Power Poppy’s Marcella Hawley has a surprise of epic proportions! She’s giving away Power Poppy’s SOON-TO-BE-UNVEILED MARCH CLEAR STAMP SET RELEASE! That means EIGHT of the freshest, most fun Power Poppy designs to hit the market yet. It's a $144 value! Plus you can enter a friend to win.

Read all the details here!

Winners will be announced on the Power Poppy Blog/Instagram/Facebook on Sunday, March 12th, and also over on thedailymarker.com.

THERE'S ALSO A SUPER SPECIAL DEAL THIS ENTIRE MONTH AS WELL! 

Power Poppy is offering 25% off all digital stamps for folks all month long to tie in with the Daily Marker's 30 Day Coloring Challenge! Just enter the code COLORMEHAPPY at checkout! This is good on digis only to help you enjoy this beautifully colorful month!

Some of my fellow Bloomies are joining in the fun today, so be sure to pay them a visit.....


Allison Cope
Cindy Lawrence
Christine Okken
Julie Koerber >>> you are here!
Kathy Jones
Katie Sims
Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker


AND THEN -- pop back over to the Power Poppy Blog for the full link list of today's huge 30 Day Coloring Challenge Hop! Kathy Racoosin assembled a HUGE hop to give your creativity a jump start with some of her favorite stamp companies and Online Card Class Partners -- you won't want to miss out!

Thanks for stopping by -- remember to mark your calendar for Power Poppy's HUGE MARCH RELEASE, which will kick off March 10th! 

See you back here soon!

~Julie

Happy Friday!

Hello all! Boy, do I have a short and sweet post for you today! It's been one of those weeks that I really didn't have a ton of time to stamp and so, instead of sacrificing crafty time, I colored! And, I had a good excuse!

If you haven't heard or played along with Kathy Racoosin's 30-Day Coloring Challenge over at The Daily Marker, you're missing out! It's her "schtick" that all it takes is 10 minutes each day if that is all you have! So, I took her up on the challenge and colored up an image that I had been longing to color since it was released -- CHICKADEE IN BARBERRY -- by, of course, Power Poppy. 

And here's how it turned out!

I do love that little guy, don't you? I colored him up using these colors below (sorry for the not so great photo!) and shading with the BV markers shown. You can also "kind of" see that I added glitter to the snow as well as streaks of white gel pen to accent the birdie's feathers. 

I have to say that the reason why I haven't had a ton of time to craft is because of this.....

Right now, we're building this place. Take a peek at our basement! I could move in right now, don't you think? Well, long story short, we are living in my MOM'S basement as our new abode comes into being. So, living out of boxes doesn't really lend itself to crafty endeavors. Thank goodness my mom crafts too and she carved out some space for me in her craft room. Pretty sweet of her, huh? I think so!

Okay, that's enough of my jabber. Hope you take some time to color and join in Kathy's 30-day Challenge. Coloring-- it is good for the soul, don't you know? 

Have a fabulous weekend and I'll see you back here soon!

~Julie