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

Friday Fun Day!

Hello folks & Happy Friday! I have a little bit of fun to share today and it just so happens to involve the challenge I hosted earlier this week on the Power Poppy blog. With a roll of the dice, those wanting to play along got to see just which challenge they would partake in for the week! If you are confused, don't worry, all the details can be found HERE! 

Since my challenge was to CASE one of my old creations, I spent some time scrolling through the Power Poppy blog and decided that THIS card would be a fun one to copy. And so.... off I went! Here's a peek at the finished card....

You can see I kept the composition and the colors pretty much the same. I used Power Poppy's Vibrant Thanks stamp set too! The only real difference is one of the papers and the shape of the punched sentiment accent. I also colored this all up with Copic Markers. In my first card, I used waterbased markers and a Wink of Stella glitter pen to color it all up. Here's a little closeup for you!

And here's another fun fact for you! I might have mentioned a few weeks ago that right now most of my craft room is boxed up while I get situated in a new room. Well, that's still the case folks! We have some painting to do and counters to install so, I am still in limbo! So, as I was searching for some gold paper and not finding it, I decided to make my own! I punched a circle, covered it with Versamark ink and then covered it in gold embossing powder! Just that simple!  

And GUESS WHAT? This isn't the only card I created! I actually created a trio using Power Poppy's Vibrant Thanks stamp set. Want to see?

Here's the second card....

Here's the third. This one might just be my favorite since I love purple. ;-)

And, here's a peek at all three together! 

Hope you join me by playing along with me this week! Just click HERE to find out all about this week's challenge and remember, every time you play along during the month, it's one more chance to win a $25 trip to the Power Poppy Shop! Who wouldn't want that?

Since it's Friday, some of my fellow Bloomies are on standby ready and waiting to show you what they've been working on this week. So, without further ado, please pay these fine ladies a visit!

Ally Cope
Christine Okken

Be sure to stop by the Power Poppy Blog for a fun little Weekend Stamp Steal announcement featuring a beautiful array of... ORCHIDS! You'll want to check out that post for sure! ;-) 

Thanks for stopping by everyone & happy creating!

~Julie

Friday Power Poppy Fun!

Hello folks! Hope your week is ending on a high note! Since it's Friday, that means I'm here with some Bloom Brigade action for Power Poppy and I'm sharing a little challenge that I ushered in earlier this week on the Power Poppy blog!  It's based on a tutorial I did forever ago and it is super duper fun. If you want to check out the tutorial, all you need to do is click HERE.  I used this tutorial for the heart of this week's Creative Confetti challenge!

So, let's get to it! 

HOW TO PLAY: Simply use the resist technique we spotlighted in our Inspire Me Monday this week HERE or use another resist technique to create something with us this week! If you need a little more inspiration, all you need to do is click HERE! I went over to Splitcoaststampers to see what kind of resist tutorials they had and, man, they have a lot! Tons to pick from! 

When I first did this tutorial, I used a Christmas set -- Power Poppy's Poinsettia set.  Well, I thought it would be nice to take this tutorial for another test drive and, instead, make it a birthday creation! I wanted to use most of the same supplies, just put a new spin on it! And so.... that's what I did! 

Just like in the first tutorial, I used Versamark ink and white embossing powder, only this time, I reached for the stamp set My English Rose.  After stamping and embossing with fine detail powder, I used my Distress Markers and did the palette pick up technique where you scribble marker on a palette and then pick it up using a water brush. This gives it a more subdued look, more of a watercolor wash.  

I also created a border, like I did in my first card using Post-It Notes and then colored the edge with a light Copic marker. I used RV0000 and R0000. 

After I was done, I did iron my image like in the first card -- using NO steam and sandwiched between two pieces of typing paper until all the embossing powder was essentially melted off my creation. You can't tell, but this image is completely flat and so, when the white powder is melted, it vanishes and looks like a true resist!

After I was done, I stamped the sentiment from the Artistic Bouquet set using Versafine Onyx Black Ink. After that, mat it all up, add some rhinestones and... ta da! Finished! Hope you join me this week for Power Poppy's Creative Confetti challenge! I'd love to see your take on it and what resist technique you pull out of your little bag of tricks! ;-)

Want to see what one of my fellow Bloomies has up her creative sleeve? Check out this fine lady! Word has it she is serving up some Mother's Day inspiration for you all!

Christine Okken

Thanks for stopping by everyone & happy creating! For all the moms out there, I hope you have the most amazing weekend surrounded by all those you love!

~Julie

Spread a little kindness!

Hello Power Poppy Fans! Hope you've had a wonderful week! Being that it is Bloomie Friday, I thought I would share a creation I posted earlier this week over on the Power Poppy blog. It's for our Creative Confetti challenge and there are still a few days left to get in on the fun! 

In honor of this wonderful thing we call card making, Power Poppy thought it would be nice, every now and then, to focus on why this community of creators is so special! Instead of focusing on color, shape or layout or being inspired by a photo or season, let's be inspired simply by the art of making something and sharing it! So, that was this week's challenge! You can read all about it HERE. 

I love that old Aesop quote which reads, "No act of kindness, however small is ever wasted." So, with that beautiful thought in mind, I dug through my stamp sets and got to creating with the pure intent of spreading some kindness.

I ended up using the Well Hello Dahlia digital stamp set and pairing it with the sentiment from the Potted Primroses stamp set.  Orange is my favorite color and so, when I think happy, I think orange. In fact, if you look at color theory -- orange and purple emote the happiest feelings when we see them! So, if you really want to send some kindness and "happy thoughts," think orange and purple! I need to restock my purple stash of decorative paper -- I didn't have the right shade, so I reached instead for a cool, easy blue! 

After printing off my image, I got to work coloring with Copics and used nearly every yellow and orange I own! For the flowers, I picked up:YR68, YR04, YR07, Y02, R14 for the large flower; Y15, Y35, and Y38 for the yellow flower off to the right; BG01, BG04 for the right vase; BG000 and BG10 for the left vase; R01, RV00, and R32 for the left flower; G20, G21, and YG67 for the greenery and B00, B91, B93 and B95 for the center vase. The bottoms of the vases were shaded with BV0000 and BV01. The highlight around my image was done with G0000. Whew! That's a lot of markers! I did have fun though.... 

And here's a peek at the sentiment that I stamped on a dark blue with Versamark ink and then embossed with white detail embossing powder. Mat it all up on some fun blue and orange decorative papers, add a little twine and a button and... ta da!  

So, who will you shower with a little kindness? What will YOU create? I hope you play along with me! After you're done creating, don't forget to link up your creation over on the Power Poppy blog HERE so we can ALL see! Remember, every entry is one more chance at a $25 gift code to the Power Poppy Shop! So, spread some kindness, and maybe, just maybe, have kindness returned when you win! ;-)

Speaking of good things, Power Poppy is offering a little splash of spring as a part of its Weekend Stamp Steal! Check it out!

For inspiration on how to put these sets in bloom in your own crafting spaces, be sure to stop by these fine ladies to see what they've created!

Allison Cope

Christine Okken

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you have a beautifully creative weekend!

~Julie 

On the Grid!

Hello peeps! Earlier this week over on the Power Poppy Blog,  I ushered in a different kind of Creative Confetti Challenge. I hope you check it out and play along with moi! ;-) It was based on a tutorial the talented Ms. Dina Kowal did more than a few years back. Want to see? Click here!  She took us through -- step by step -- on how to create what she called a "9-block card." It was designed to mimic the effects of a quilted square and that, my friends, was the inspiration! You can check out all the details on the challenge HERE but I thought I'd share the process of creating my card here on my blog too! 

So, I wanted to give you a reference point so that you could "see" where I was going through my little step by step tutorial below. I am giving you a tutorial because I did my grid creation just a wee bit differently than Dina. She had a grid die. I wasn't so lucky but in the process of making this card, I remembered a little trick a fellow stamper taught me once. So, I reached into the cobwebbed recesses of my mind and dug that little trick out! 

I started by printing off the brand new digital stamp by Power Poppy called Bowl of Beauty. Man, is it a beauty or what? I did only print off a portion of the image and I did blow it up a bit so that you could "see it" when I cut it up and re-assembled! Here's what it looked like after I finished coloring it with my Copic Markers! I have to admit I had a hard time taking my paper cutter to this one. I actually said to my husband, "I can't do it!" And you know what he said? "Don't complain, you knew you were going to do it when you started. Just do it!" HA! A little tough stamping love for me! ;-)

Now here's the little trick! I cut a few slivers of card stock to measure 1/8" wide. This would serve as my guide for layering all my little 1" squares! I started at the top and side....  

And then kept moving my slivers of paper as I went!

You can see just how easy this made it!

And here's a look again at the final "puzzle" all put back together!

Here's a closeup. Don't look too hard! You can see that I am just a wee bit off on my top three boxes. The paper must have shifted as I was making my little squares. It's okay though. Most people won't notice that hopefully!

And here's the cheery little sentiment that I added onto a punched circle and put on my card thanks to some silver cording! The sentiment is from the Power Poppy set Potted Primroses. Love that set!

So, now it's your turn to color up something, cut it up and piece it all artistically back together! While it was a bit tough cutting up this image, I do love the effect and was glad I cued up Dina's tutorial for inspiration! You should give it a try!

Time to take a little trip to see what these lovely ladies whipped up for us all this week!

Christine Okken
Julie Koerber >>> you are here! 
Katie Sims
Stacy Morgan

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you have an amazing and creative weekend and I'll see y'all back here soon! 💗

~Julie