Friday Fun: Small & Sassy!

Hello all! Since it's Friday, I have some Power Poppy fun to share! If you didn't catch it, I helped usher in a new challenge over on the Power Poppy blog earlier this week and I hope you'll click HERE to check it out! 

Recently, I was in my craft room trying to scale back and organize and I stumbled upon some 4-1/2" square envelopes. They were so cute really. I know, it's an illness when we call an envelope cute but bear with me because those square little envies sparked this challenge! 

To play, all you need to do is, just as the graphic suggests, create a card that's smaller than the typical A-2 size, which is 4.25" by 5.5". Anything goes! You can even choose a different shape. Make it square. Use a die-cut to create a circle card, whatever your little heart desires. Just do one thing -- make it small and sassy! ;-) 

On to my creations!

Being that I had a stack of these envelopes, I thought it might be fun to create not one, but a whole set of cards that maybe I could give as a gift. I have a few friends who really love these for birthdays and low and behold, one of them has a birthday coming up! So, winner, winner, chicken dinner!

I started with the digital stamp set by Power Poppy called Forget-Me-Not Heart. I love this image because the flowers are just as sweet as can be and you can color it up in a jiffy. It made creating four of these cards a breeze! I started by opening up the file and used the heart with the sentiment "Thank You" already placed inside. I grabbed my Copic Markers and went to town coloring! All four cards had leaves colored up with YG00, YG23 and YG25. For the flowers below, I used R81, R83 and R85. All centers of the flowers were colored with Y11 and Y17. Then, when all was done, the centers were dabbed with a wee bit of white gel pen, just for a little extra something!

The petals on this card were colored with B60, B63 and B66. Using the blank Forget Me Not Heart, I added different sentiments to each of the remaining cards. For this one, I used the sentiment from the digital stamp set Pure Prairie Bouquet. 

The petals here took on Y02 and Y11 and the sentiment was from Power Poppy's Easy Breezy Coneflower digital stamp set. 

And this one was colored with BG11, BG13 and BG15. The sentiment was from the Camellias digital stamp set. 

The fun part of creating this little four-card set was that I used four base cards from a set I bought at Michaels that offered up all kinds of colors and patterns in one box set with envelopes. I simply trimmed them all down to create a 4-1/4 by 4-1/4" square -- perfect for my little 4-1/2" envelopes! What I trimmed off the cards, I used as accents on the others. It couldn't have worked out any better! I added some little enamel dots and popped some of the die-cut hearts with foam tape and.. ta-da! I was done! All in all, it only took me a little more than an hour to whip up these four cards and now, I have some on hand for a friend! I will probably make a little coordinating box for these, perfect for gifting!

Want a little more fun this Friday? Be sure to hop on over to Nancy Sheads' home on the web to see what crafty things she's conjured up for you all! 

Until next time, 

~Julie

Hello all and welcome to a giant dose of happy today on my blog! Why? Well, today is the very first day of the Power Poppy Sneak Peeks for our March Release. And, I have to say, we have so many surprises that you will be doing the happy dance before the week is over! ;-)

Today's stamp set is a literally a breath of spring! Check it out, will you please?

When Marcella put her ever-so-talented pen to paper to create the new set Natural Beauties, she envisioned a border of garden goodies -- think primroses, daffodils, cowslips, tulips along with other woodland flowers and foliage. Goodness, this one is a feast for the eyes and GUESS WHAT? This set also comes with coordinating dies that will soon be available for pre-order! Also, look for a special bundle price when you purchase both the stamp and die set together! Woot! Woot! 

On to my creation! First up, you can see another card using this new set HERE but for today's post, I thought I'd share a trio of little cards whipped up using these darling and dainty illustrations! I had bought some of those little bankers envelopes (coin envelopes #7) because I thought they would make up cute card sets! So here's the trio of cards I made up! 

Sweet and simple! Don't you absolutely love that Trillium with those darling little mushrooms? Sigh... just makes me happy it's so cute! I love that this set has fun little sentiments perfect for everyday cards. Senties like "Just a Note," "Hello Friend" and "Sending Happy Wishes!" So perfect! 

Here's a peek at the first card! 

 Second card for you!

And the third featuring a little bunch of Lily of the Valley!

And that, my friends, is it! You'll have to make the rounds to see how the rest of the Bloom Brigade put their own creative spin on this brand new set -- Natural Beauties!!

Allison Cope
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Julie Koerber >> you are here!
Kathy Jones
Katie Sims
Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker
Power Poppy Blog -- see Marcella's inspiration for this set! 

Be sure to come back tomorrow for day two of the sneaky peeks when the Bloomies will showcase not one, but TWO new stamp sets that will soon hit the shelves at the Power Poppy Shop!


See you soon!

~Julie

Christmas? In July? Why YES!

Hello folks and Happy Monday! Just a little heads up. Yours truly is the hostess today over on the Power Poppy Blog with a fun and festive creation that's perfect for..... Christmas in JULY! Not only do I share not one, not two, but FOUR different card ideas, I have a step-by-step tutorial for a card caddy that's perfect for gift giving all year long! Here's a peek at one of the cards and the fun card holder!

If you want to see more, just hop on over HERE and check out the Inspire Me Monday fun!

Happy Monday!

~Julie

3 Cards, 1 Stamp -- part 3!

Hello all! Hope your week is finishing off strong! We are getting ready for another round of stiff fastpitch softball competition this weekend.... but before I skip on out, have you checked out this fun little feature over on the Power Poppy Blog?

It's a day when Power Poppy fans can show off some of their recent Power Poppy creations! Each week's faves from the Bloom Brigade will even be showcased on the Power Poppy Blog HERE but on our Pinterest Power Poppy Peeps Customer Creations Board! At the end of the month, we'll draw a winner for one free stamp set! Check out the deets HERE!

On to my creation! You could call this one the finale of my three cards, one stamp set challenge. Granted, it was a challenge I issued myself! HA! But, if you want to see all three cards... here goes!

So you can see, I used two decorative papers throughout all three creations to make sure I had a unified feel. I used similar embellishments and added rustic accents by stamping or sponging Antique Linen Distress Ink. It's a fun set to have on hand or give to a friend!

For this final creation, I also turned to one of Pagemaps.com's Cardmaps sketches! See? I transformed it into an A2 size though, and kind of in the end made it my own. BUT, it was inspired by the sketch below!

And, here's my card! I stamped my image from Power Poppy's Lavender set using Espresso Truffle Memento ink onto Cougar Opaque White card stock, cut it out using a Spellbinders Blossom Die and while the die was still on, I sponged (and stamped using Flourished old set called So Distressed!) on some Antique Linen Distress Ink. 

From there, I colored up my image using Copic Markers and I used E50, E51, E53, G43, G23, BV01, BV00, and BV04. The shading below my image was done with W00, W01, and W03. The rest is just matting it all up! I added a wooden button, rounded some corners with a corner rounder punch, added some May Arts twine and a little punched border thanks to a Martha Stewart border punch.

Here's a close up!

And that, my friends is it! Have you created something fun with Power Poppy images recently? Or do you have plans to? If so, hop on over HERE and check out this weeks "Anything Goes" kind of challenge where we love to see what YOU create and maybe make YOU our next Power Poppy Peep of the Week!

This wasn't the only thing created this week in my stamp room! Want a peek at Power Poppy's upcoming release? SO FUN! Here's a gander...

Some of the other Bloom Brigaders are showing off peeks today as well. If you want to be tempted by their fabulousness, click on over and pay them a visit!

Allison Cope

Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Danielle Kennedy
Dawn Burnworth
Julie Koerber >>> you are here!
Kathy Jones
Katie Sims
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker

And remember, if you need some sketchy inspiration, it's a click away HERE at pagemaps.com! Thanks for stopping by stamping friends! Hope you have a wonderful weekend! See you back here tomorrow for a look at Power Poppy's fresh new release!

~Julie

Three Cards, 1 Stamp Set Part 2!

Hello folks! Last week I told you about a fun new venture over at the Power Poppy Blog....

What's this you say? It's an opportunity for you to show off some of your Power Poppy Creations and let the design team see the wonderfully creative ways you've used these fabulous images! Each Friday the Bloom Brigade will pick their faves and we'll highlight them, not only on the Power Poppy Blog HERE but on our Pinterest Power Poppy Peeps Customer Creations Board! At the end of the month, we'll draw a winner for one free stamp set! Fun stuff! 

For my creation this week, I'm continuing on the three cards, one stamp set challenge! If you missed the intro to this whole challenge, just click HERE to read/see last week's post! In a nutshell, I am using the stamp set Lavender each Friday of this month so that by the end of the month, I'll have three coordinating cards for one card set! I am also using sketches from Pagemap's Cardmaps! Click HERE for literally hundreds of sketches!

So, here's my sketch!

And, here's my card! You can see I made a few changes. For starters, I made my card an A2 size and secondly, instead of a ribbon threaded tag, I chose to add a sentiment with just a pennant styled strip of decorative paper!

So, I stamped the Lavender image using Espresso Truffle Memento Ink and then picked up my Copic Markers to give it some color. I used C00, C01, C03, C05, E31, BV00, BV01, BV04, G20, G21 and G24. The shading around the base of the image was done with W00, W01 and W03. After I was done stamping, I did add a bit of distressed stamping using Antique Linen Distress Ink and a background stamp from Flourishes' old set called So Distressed! I used that background on my first card and I thought that it would be fun to tie all of my images together with papers and similar "feels!" The rest is just matting it all up! The paper is a mix of Basic Grey and The Paper Studio. The stamp for the top of my white panel was from Stampin' Up as were the little lavender faux brads! 

Here's a close up!

And that, my friends is it! Have you created something fun with Power Poppy images recently? Or do you have plans to? If so, hop on over HERE and check out this weeks "Anything Goes" kind of challenge where we love to see what YOU create and maybe make YOU our next Power Poppy Peep of the Week!

If you need some fun inspiration, the Bloom Brigade has been at it again! Hop on over and see...

Allison Cope
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Dawn Burnworth
Julie Koerber >>> you are here!
Leslie Miller
Tosha Leyendekker

Thanks for stopping by stamping friends! Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

~Julie

Want to be a Power Poppy Peep?

Hello happy crafters! It's Friday and this week there is a brand new "feature" over on the Power Poppy Hot Spot i.e. the blog! This is not only a day when the Bloom Brigade will show you some of their latest creations, it's a day when the team asks YOU to show us your stuff! That's right -- we want to see YOUR creations!

HERE'S HOW TO PLAY: All you need to do is use the linky below and share a new Power Poppy creation. Just that simple! It can be anything -- a card, an altered item, a 3D creation, a set of cards, ANYTHING! For the official rules, all you need to do is click HERE! Winners of this weeks' anything goes challenge will be announced next Friday as we unveil our top cards (which will then be added to our Power Poppy Peeps of the Week customer gallery on Pinterest!) Fun stuff!

On to my creation!

This card is actually one of three. One of my favorite things to do when I was a stamp instructor at my local stamp store was to teach a class I called 3 Cards, One Stamp Set. I loved looking at the stamp set and coming up with fun and different ways to use the same images. I thought -- what better way to get more mileage out of pretty images??? So, for the next few weeks, I'll be sharing coordinating creations using the set Lavender! At the end of the month, you'll have three ways to use the set -- in addition to all THESE ideas over on the Power Poppy Pinterest Board!

So... here goes card #1! For starters.... I used THIS sketch below from Pagemaps CardMaps! Did I mention how much I love sketches??? ;-)

And this is my card!

You might notice that my sketch is square but I took all the elements and stretched them into a standard A2 size. That's the beauty of sketches -- they are a starting point and you can morph them into something else to better accomodate your stamped image! So, here's how I created my card -- I stamped the lavender sprig on Cougar Opaque White Card Stock and then colored it up with Copic Markers using G20, G21, G24, BV00, BV01, BV04, and dots of B63. I cut out my image, rounding the lower right corer and then I sponged on some Antique Linen Distress Ink. I also took one of my grungy stamps (from Flourishes, So Distressed) and added splotches using Lavender Vivid Ink. I matted it all up using some Paper Studio Papers. My sentiment was embossed with White Detail Powder and I added some faux stitching thanks to a white gel pen. Add some Hug Snug Ribbon and a little wooden button and.... ta da!!!! Done! 

Here's a close up!

And here's the sentiment and faux stitching!

And that, my friends, is it! Need a little more inspiration to get those creative juices flowing? Be sure to stop on by and see what these lovely ladies on our Bloom Brigade created this week!

Allison Cope
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Dawn Burnworth
Danielle Kennedy

Julie Koerber >>>>> you are here!
Katie Sims
Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker

Thanks for stopping by! We can't wait to see what you create!

~Julie