Excitement Abounds!

Hello all, Julie here, standing in for Mrs. Marcella, who just so happens to STILL be on Cloud 9 after her weekend nuptials. I won't spill any beans or share any pictures, even though I would LOVE to because that is hers to share. I can't wait for her to chime in and tell us all about it and share some of her favorite memories of an oh-so-memorable event! What a beautiful night for one amazing and beautiful couple! 💗

So, until then, let's share some creative excitement, shall we? Before Marcy headed off to say "I do," she did decide to polish up a digital remix that is ripe for fall card making! Will you look at this?

Mum's definitely the word when you color up Autumn's Opulence -- three mums to be precise! Add in a mixture of fall favorites like Asters, Daisies, Oak Leaves, and Berries and you have a large scale image that's ideal for making a statement on big, bold cards! What's even better about this image is -- because it is digital -- you can downsize the image (who would really want to though!) or enlarge it to become an entire background! Or, maybe you want to just focus on a few of the flowers and leave the rest as delicate outlines? Goodness, we can't wait to see what fall-inspired creations you come up with using this bouquet of abundant beauty, illustrated by Marcella herself!

I happen to know that the ever-so-talented Nancy Sheads colored up this image and has a card to share, so please click on the link above and pay her a visit and look out, I know printers were busy this weekend when Marce shared this Instant Garden newbie -- so, let's just say, more to come!

Speaking of more to come, did you know that Passionate Paper Creations & Friends is having a week-long extravaganza dedicated to... 

POWER POPPY?

Well, they are!!! Are you a member? If not, what are you waiting for? Become a member... TODAY! All you need to do is click HERE to their Passionate Paper Creations & Friends Facebook Page, and ask to join. Why would you want to do this now? Well, all this week, PPC&F will be showing off Power Poppy creations and a little birdie told me there's a member's only special!!

If you become a member and hit up their Facebook page, you'll be able to take advantage of that member's only special by seeing the special member's only code -- NOT TO MENTION -- you'll be inspired by all kinds of crafty people that are going to be sharing a whole lot of Power Poppy goodness! 

So, how's that for a burst of fun for a Monday? I think we did pretty good here behind the scenes at Power Poppy! Be sure to swing back by tomorrow because your's truly will be back with another color blast of fun with this week's Hues to Use! Can't wait!

See you back here then!

~Julie 

Marcy & Doug are Tying the Knot!

We interrupt our scheduled Friday explosion of creativity to bring you something a little closer to all of our hearts here at Power Poppy.

If you missed some of the pre-gala rumblings HERE on the Power Poppy Blog, well, we're happy to report that TOMORROW, our fearless leader, the Power Poppy Peep in Chief Ms. Marcella Hawley will officially be....

MRS. DOUGLAS SCRONCE! 

We could not be happier for her.... we really, honestly couldn't because we would surely burst from all that joy. Just take a look at these two, will you???? Those little shots of fern and woodland style decor is just a teeny weeny glimpse of what Marce fashioned for the big day. It's just so "her" - so unique and whimsical! Don't you think?

So, on this eve of a very special day, your Bloomies and Instant Gardners would love to send you off with some wishes from the heart. We all would have loved nothing more than to be there in person to watch this momentous and beautiful occasion. We know it's going to be the event of the century! That's why we have orchestrated our own kind of fanfare.....

Check out our Bloom Brigade and Instant Gardener Team creations and heartfelt words as they help celebrate this happy and beautiful couple!

Allison Cope

Christine Okken

Cindy Lawrence

Julie Koerber

Kathy Jones

Katie Sims

Stacy Morgan

Tosha Leyendekker

Jennifer Dove

Broni Holcombe

Cheryl Scrivens

Barb Walker

Nancy Sheads

Jessie Banks

Elizabeth Zaffarano

And, if YOU want to send Marcella away wishing her a lifetime of happiness, please leave your sentiments in the comment section! I happen to know she reads each and every comment and this would just be icing on her wedding cake knowing you care enough to share the very best with her! 

💗💗💗All the best to you Marcella & Doug! 💗💗💗

~Julie

Autumn Inspired Hues...

Hello peeps! Today's most pressing question for all of you ⇒ Have you had your first Pumpkin Spice Latte of the season yet?  HA! I just finished mine so that I could get in the mood for fall as I wrote up today's fabulous fall inspired post! So, scroll down and take a gander at those absolutely yummy shades that we'll work with this week! While the color scheme pays homage to autumn, the subject matter is still all summer! Marcy snapped this photo showcasing peaches grabbed from a friend's backyard peach tree. She said, 'Each bite is the sweetest summer candy! With Zinnias from my garden in a zany bouquet -- you can never plant too many Zinnias and you must always pick bouquets for indoors to brighten up life!" I personally love not only the flowers but that gorgeous plate to just make it all POP!  So, how about we use this color scheme for Hues to Use  and do a little brightening up of life! 

This is how I put these colors into play....

As you can see, I used Power Poppy's clear stamp set Fall Haul. I absolutely adore this set for it's whimsical fall illustrations, all of which are perfect for those autumn inspired thinking of you cards and creations! And, here's a look at this in progress, a close-up if you will as I was coloring this harvest bounty up! 

From there, it really was just matting up my finished card. I used a mix of autumn-hued decorative papers and added that fun large copper button with some gingham ribbon. I did manage to stamp something on the inside of my creation as well. Check it out peeps -- I even used this week's color scheme for the inside of my card as well! 

And that, my friends, is it! So dig into these shades and get crack-a-lackin' with your craftin'! Once you're done, don't forget to link up your creation below. And, like we've been sharing in week's past, if you play along, you might grab our attention so much that we ask you to take center stage here as the guest hostess with the mostess! So get those fingers inky and join us in the fun!

Until next week!
~Julie

An InLinkz Link-up

Inspire Me Monday - Mixed Media

Hello Everyone! How are you today? I am back for another Inspire Me Monday installment. My name is Kathy Racoosin and I am always delighted to be back on the Power Poppy blog. 

I am not sure if you have heard of "The Daily Marker 30 Day Coloring Challenge". If you have heard about it .... a big yah hoo from me lol. If you haven't you can click here for more info.  This current challenge is right in the middle of the 30 days and it's a great time to jump in and give it a try. 

One of the great things about the challenge is that there isn't that "pressure" to finish a card and to color just for the joy of coloring. That brings me to today ... I have been gone since Wednesday and have been coloring on the road. Usually it's not a challenge for me but, I have been finding myself with dark hotel rooms & barley a surface to create on. 

We just got home late Sunday night and I scattered my packed supplies on the kitchen table to do this post. (I usually always pack some Zig watercolor markers, a few stamps, ink, paper, sharpie, gel pen & colored pencils.)

I find it easier to start with the background. (The lily was stamped with Ranger Archival Jet Black Ink on Tim Holtz watercolor paper) 

First I scribble the marker around a portion of the flower then ...

 I wet my brush and paper to pull the color down working in sections on my paper. This jumbo Tiger Lily has always been a favorite of mine and it's fantastic to stamp and make shaped cards like I did in this post. 

Pink was my choice to start with ... so I added a purple watercolor marker to the Tiger Lily trying to keep some white areas on each petal. (the other lily's I will finish on another day)

To be honest this is looking flat without any pizazz don't you think? It's ok to be honest because I happen to agree with you. This is where the mixed media comes into play. 

Mixing different mediums on your coloring adds so much in my book. Doing this adds interest plus dimension with only three essential tools ... a white gel pen, a fine tip sharpie marker & a black colored pencil. 

 I like to point out that you don't need to know where the light source is coming from (unless that's important to you) I have heard many times that so many of you worry about the light source and where to place the darker areas on your images. You can still get dimension and interest with no stress.

 Adding some shading with a black pencil to the lines that intersect ... will really enhance your coloring with barely any effort I promise. I like to refer to this as coloring the "nooks and crannies"  The petals with the arrows are the areas that I darkened with the black pencil using a light hand and not pressing hard with my pencil. 

 


I thought a side by side might be helpful to see the difference and how adding few touches to your coloring makes a difference.

Pick up some pencils and a white gel pen to add a few highlights and see how it works for you. Thanks for your visit to day and I hope to see what you are coloring during the challenge. If you are sharing use the hashtag #thedailymarker30day so I can find your work on IG. Click here to find other ways to share. Have a great start to your week!

Hugs, Kathy

A Special Note from Marcella... 

I am offering the Tiger Lily XL for $13.99 this week only! SAVE $4 OFF RETAIL

And...

Use code 30DAYCOLORING during your checkout at powerpoppy.com to receive 30% OFF all digital stamp sets — now through the end of the Daily Marker Coloring Challenge!

Good Vibe Five - WEEKEND!

Whoa, baby! This Good Vibe 5 is coming atcha on a Saturday!! AND I have more than FIVE Good Vibes.... I’m literally bursting with them. Did I mention I’m getting married next weekend, and we have been planning the entire thing in about two weeks? Here’s a little peek at part of our handpainted invitation, which of course I had to send out online due to the madhouse last-minuteness. Get a load of all the ferny woodland bits — that’s going to be our theme! But with vintage motorcycles mixed in! I’ve been calling the motif “Riding your old motorcycle through a ferny woodland”. Hey, folks, we are a little different over here. For a second marriage, it’s a blast to rev up the fun factor, because when you are 46 and finally marrying your true love, just put your heart into it, no matter how oddball it might seem.

GOOD VIBE No. 1

I haven’t publicly announced yet the winner of our Daily Marker Coloring Challenge Blog Hop PRIZE!! (Though you can see all the winners from all the various companies who played along that day RIGHT HERE.) We had comments on our blog post, on Instagram, and on Facebook — and let me tell you, we just soaked up allll the love!! Thank you, thank you for sharing your exuberance for Power Poppy!! I hope you know, the feeling is mutual, my loves!!

Our winner of the $30 Gift Code and Merriest Berries digital stamp is the delightful ANN CUSTER. Congratulations, Ann! I contacted Ann the other day to let her know she’d won, and we ended up chatting about how our little puppies run the house. 

GOOD VIBE No. 2

The art and science of the spinner card — explained! Be sure to bookmark this incredibly cool tutorial by the maven of magical cardmaking mystery, Allison Cope. With a hands-on video and THREE seriously stunning cards (each featuring digital stamps, no less!), you will come away spinning circles around everyone else!

GOOD VIBE No. 3

Friends, you asked for it, and we aim to please. Power Poppy has once again paired up with Kit and Clowder to offer two new coloring classes featuring our stamps! JUST ADDED: A markers class with Tulips and Hobnail Pitcher (same image as Loving Tulips clear) - and a colored pencils class for Pure Prairie Bouquet (same as Pure Prairie Spirit clear). You get a special discount on the images if you sign up for the class, and I know that many of you already own these images, so now you can get the tips to color them EXACTLY like Alyce does. She is such a loving, encouraging lady, with talent off the charts. This is a great opportunity to learn, and it's only available to purchase until Oct. 14, so hop on over to kitandclowder.com to find out more and get signed up.

GOOD VIBE No. 4

You know we are always snooping around to see what you guys have been making with Power Poppy. It’s one of our favorite pastimes! From watching newer learners develop their skills to seeing expert colorists strut their stuff, it is all quite exciting. Christine Okken wanted to be sure that we saw this fresh-faced card by Jerri Jimenez featuring our Black-Eyed Susan digital stamp set, and boy, it is something else. Be SURE to visit Jerri Kay’s blog so you can get up close to see the details she put into this creation — from the delicate strokes of her acrylic paints, to the shimmery backgrounds and scalloped edging, this is one for the keepsake chest, for sure! Always a joy to see Jerri’s precious work.

GOOD VIBE No. 5 

You’ve been waiting for this one, I can feel it!! FOR TWO DAYS ONLY: Pick up our iconic fall set, Sunny Harvest in clear for $11.99 (save over $6!). AND GET THIS..... you heard it here first: the Chinese Lantern image is now available AS A DIGI! iiiieeeeeeeeeee! You can come grab it for $1.99 (save over $3 from the regular price). Special pricing ends on Sunday at midnight, so zip over and save up big bucks!

GOOD VIBE No. 6 

I told you we are overflowing with Good Vibes today! I want to be certain that you check out our Power & Spark September Challenge: Cozy Krafty Coloring hosted by Christine Okken. There are already a ton of imaginative submissions, and we would LOVE to see what you would do with Kraft stock. What a perfect backdrop for fall! Come get inspired and then enter your card — remember, you could win a $50 gift code to Power Poppy.

But wait... there’s more!

You just gotta gotta gotta go see this week’s Hues to Use — featuring a guest post by one of my favorite cardmaking/coloring dynamos, Kathleen Sanders. Read a bit about how we got to meet her in person at CHA, and see the zingy inspiration for her delicate and dashing Apples in Season card.

We have ONLY JUST BEGUN, check out what the designers of the Bloom Brigade have made this week. You are going to go bananas!

Allison Cope
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Julie Koerber
Katie Sims
Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker

Do you feel like you need to stop and take a deep breath? That’s a LOT of beauty and inspiration to take in. OK. Now exhale. In, out. In, out. Have you regained your composure? Time to go tackle the weekend!!!

xoxoxo,

Hues to Use: Soaking Up Summer

Hi all! Are you ready for an explosion of color that you can then use to spark your own creativity? Well then, you have come to the right place!

Since we recently celebrated Labor Day, which is the official end of summer, I thought all of us -- as colorista rebels -- would say, "Oh yeah? End of summer? No way Jose!" And we'd just show Mother Nature that we still have a love for this sun-shiny season! And so, I thumbed through Marcella's IG feed and zeroed in on this beauty! In the words of Marce, "When all the things on the table are color coordinated, you gotta take a photo of it!" 

We've got a bit of lime green, a little candy apple red and a splash of grass green for you this week -- one last way to be 'Soakin' Up Summer!! Aren't these hues downright delish? Well, wait until you see what our guest designer did with this color combo! That's right, we have a guest this week and that fine and talented lady is....

KATHLEEN SANDERS A.K.A. COLORIN' KATE! 

Before we get to her AH-MAZE-ING creation, let's hear a little bit about this cardmaker who just so happens to have mad multi-media coloring skills! 

"Hello, I'm Kate. I have two adult boys. I live in the Midwest/ Wisconsin. For the last 20 years, I have been blessed to be able to teach coloring classes at my local stamp stores and work as a demonstrator at various trade shows.  My love for coloring started as a young girl with coloring books and was rekindled when introduced to the world of stamping.  I use whatever medium I feel best lends itself to the art I am working on.

Let's take a look at what I created using Power Poppy's digital stamp set Apples in Season...

For this card, I used the mixed media approach that has been my standard since I started stamping, that is an alcohol marker and colored pencil combo.  

Thanks so much for taking a look at my take on the Hues to Use Challenge for the week. I feel so honored to have been given the opportunity to be a guest among an extremely talented group of designers whose work I have greatly admired for years."

We thank YOU, Kate, for sharing this gorgeous creation. Your coloring on that apple not only looks delish but it is so realistic! I might just have to "pin" this one so that I can give this kind of shading a try the next time I print off this digi! Fabulous job!!

I have to say, Marcella and I had the distinct pleasure of meeting Kate last winter at CHA as she worked at the Tonic Studios booth. She's just as darling in real life as her coloring is breathtaking. We sat and talked for quite a bit and it was so fun to meet crafters who shared your love for all things Power Poppy! 

So, what are you waiting for peeps? Dig into these summery shades and then, link up your creation below! And as we always say, your creation could spark an invitation for YOU to be a guest designer for one of our upcoming Hues to Use blog posts! We put you in the spotlight and you get a fun new digital image to create with! And if that doesn't "get" you, consider this! It's too much fun not to try your hand at this color combo! ;-)

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


~Julie

An InLinkz Link-up

Inspire Me Monday: You Spin Me Around!

Howdy Power Poppy Peeps!  It’s time another Inspire Me Monday! I’m your hostess Allison Cope and today we’re going to talk about creating a fun spinner card using digital stamps.

As most of you know, there is nothing I like better than to create cards that have interactive elements to them. So today, I’m going to share with you all how to create a card using a digital image as your focal interactive element.

Grab a cup of something icy and join me in my craft room…

Click here to see it in HD.

Thanks for joining me at my crafty desk.  Here’s a little replay of all three of our spinner cards featured today…

First off, the card we created together, it features the digital stamp “Sunflower Power”.

Here’s a close up of our sunflower.

Copics: Flower: Y32, YR21, YR12, YR15, Y08, E70, E71, E74, E77  Leaves: YG93, YG95, YG97

Here’s our Santa Snowglobe featuring the digital image “Snowglobe Greetings” and some fun clear stamps too; holly from Heaven & Nature Sing.

Here’s a gander at all that sparkle…

And finally, our extremely simple spinner card featuring the clear stamp set, Pure Prairie Spirit.

And here’s a quick glance showcasing those iridescent Fine Tech Metallic paints…

Thank you so much for joining me today.  I hope you enjoyed my tutorial.  I’d love to know if you’d give making a spinner card a go in the comments!  Have a week everyone!

~ Allison Cope ~


Plaid Sunfflower
Stamps: Power Poppy (Sunflower Power)
Cardstock: Copic X-Press It, Strathmore (Bristol Smooth Watercolor), Recollections (110# White)
Dies:  My Favorite Things (Stitched Circles), Lawn Fawn (Stitched Rectangles)
Ink: Copic Markers, Ranger Distress (Tumbled Glass, Peacock Feathers, Blueprint Sketch, Black Soot)
Patterned Paper:  My Favorite Things (Farm Fresh Gingham 6x6)
Ribbon: Basic Narrows (White)
Twine: Darice (Hemp)
Thread:  Other.

Metallic Pool Bouquet
Stamps: Power Poppy (Pure Prairie Spirit)
Cardstock: Copic X-Press It, Stampin’ Up! (Pool Party)
Dies:  Catherine Pooler Designs (Circles
Ink: Catherine Pooler Designs (Mint to Be), Fine Tec Metallic Watercolors (Blue-Green, Silver Pearl, Fine Gold, Shining Pink, Green Pearl)
Embossing Powder:  Zing (Powder), Stampendous! (Detail White)
Thread:  Gutermann.
 
Santa Snow Globe
Stamps: Power Poppy (Snowglobe Greetings, Heaven & Nature Sing)
Cardstock: Copic X-Press It, Stampin’ Up! (Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler)
Dies:  My Favorite Things (Stitched Mini Scalloped Oval Stax
Ink: Memento (Rich Cocoa), Copic Markers, Primsacolor Premier Colored Pencils (White), Zig (Wink of Stella – Clear) 
Misc.:  Silver Thread.