It's Bloomie Friday!

Hey all! Just a little note to pop in and say a couple of the Bloomies have been busy in their creative spaces (including ME)! So, you'll want to run, not walk, over to their places to see what they've been up to!

Julie Koerber 

Stacy Morgan

And, just a note! Kathy Racoosin will be in the house next week for another edition of Inspire Me Monday!  Don't you want to see what the peep in chief over at The Daily Marker has been up to? I sure do!

Until next time! 

~Julie 

Creative Confetti: Over the Edge

Hello! I bet you came here looking for Julie and a new Creative Confetti challenge? Surprise! I am your guest hostess for the challenge today.  I am a card maker who loves to color, my name is Barbara Campbell. I am very happy to say that I will be hosting here every so often. I am honored to be joining Julie in this new journey and over the top excited to challenge you today! Let’s get started.

HOW TO PLAY: There are a lot of ways that you can do this challenge and bring your main image off the edge. That's why I have two examples for you.

My first example uses the digital stamp Countryside Bouquet. It's one of my favorites. I am pretty proud that I have been working with digital stamps lately and was able to use part of this stamp and merge it with another part to take my main image off the side off my card or... "over the edge." The sentiment is from the same stamp set and after printing it out, I colored it with my Copic markers. Then, I added a blue border to the base card and a matching envelope.

 

For those of you that what to kick it up a notch, I have this second idea for you!

 I sure would like to challenge you to do one like this, where I used a die to take the image off the main portion of my card. It is not hard at all. Let me you how I did this one!

On a piece of card stock that is 5-1/2" by 8-1/2", I marked a line at 4-1/4". This is where your fold would be for a top folding card. The line is barely visible here, but it helps to know where to stamp my image. I used Power Poppy's Chrysanthemum XL. Then I placed the coordinating die over it to cut it out.

I used a partial die cut for  placing my Big Shot clear cutting plate so that I only cut the top of the flower. See? 

This is how it looks after cutting the Chrysanthemum XL out. It is folded on the line and I cut off the bottom to make sure that it was only 4 1/4 inches high.

Next, I colored it up...

To make the flower stand out, I used Distress ink sponged around it and then highlighted it with my Copic markers with B10. I used a stencil to get the lines on the top right and a copper envelope seemed to fit for this card.

Ok, crafty people, I have challenged you to go "Over the Edge!" Let's see what you create. Remember to link up your creation below for your chance to win a $25 gift code to Power Poppy! 

Thanks for stopping by!

~Barbara

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Inspire Me Monday: Hitting a Home Run with Depth & Dimension

 

Hello everyone! Amy Shulke here from Vanilla Arts. Thanks for joining me for Inspire Me Monday. 

Do you get bogged down by the color selection process? Do you question those Copic blending combinations that other stampers swear by because they don't seem to deliver the realism you're looking for? Today, I am going to tell you a little bit about what it takes to create that depth and dimension -- especially when it comes to monochromatic coloring. 

Take a look at the finished piece before we get started. 

And now, let's delve into the image, starting with that warm, antique background. I used Power Poppy's Baseball Vignette for this creation. 

Tip 1: Antique Linen is a very subtle color and when applied with a Lifechanging Brush, the application is flawless. I’ve tried to get these faded backgrounds for years and my success rate was really low. The brush (which looks kind of like a makeup brush) makes it so simple to fade color seamlessly to white paper. 

Tip 2: I can already tell I’m going to have problems between the bats and the glove. It’s a lot of the same value range (W4, W6 & W8 Copics), so separating them will be tricky. That’s the challenge of monochromatic coloring, it’s easy to separate something when you can make it a brighter color. I’ll be doing some subtle bat adjustments later with my pencils.

Tip 3: Don’t let a stereotype ruin the realism! When I squint my eyes at real grass, I see small patches of color. So many people think “oh, it’s grass, I should make long grassy strokes”. But long marker strokes would be way out of scale for the image here. It’s grass, not a bamboo jungle. I’m doing the grass in two phases. Right now, I’m working on that patchy color. Later, I can add correctly scaled blades of grass with a finely sharpened pencil. 

Tip 4: Honesty time- I colored all the peanuts light but it just felt too boring. Then I realized peanut skins are darker. So I colored two dark. Luckily, I took a break and when I returned to color another one dark I realize that two was enough. Be willing to let the drawing change your mind. It will tell you what it needs if you listen.

Tip 5: I still haven’t used a white pencil yet. Why not? Because nothing I’ve colored here is white. Again, stop falling for coloring stereotypes, highlights are rarely white. They’re lighter but lighter is not white.

Tip 6: I’ve tried my hardest to keep that darned baseball round but man, it’s impossible. I’ve used a 90% French gray pencil to recarve the shape. The ball is smaller than when I started and I still don’t think it’s totally round, but it’s better than it was. But be honest, I can see the ball is off-round but if I hadn’t said anything, would you have noticed? Often the things that bug us the most are minor or even invisible to viewers.

 

Tip 7: Finally the grass. I don’t try to draw every single blade of grass. Of everything in this image, the grass might be the least important, so it doesn’t really deserve a ton of time. My strokes are short, about the same length that the grass would naturally be. Be sure to overlap a bit of the main image BUT ONLY if the object is actually sitting IN the grass. The bat is not in the grass, it’s hovering over the grass, so no overlapping grass on the bat.

You can see, I only used a few markers and a few colored pencils but the result is full of depth and dimension. The key is choosing those shades wisely and then accenting areas with highlights and shadows to bring those images to the foreground or background. 

I hope seeing this vintage image in action helps you to "see" things in a new light in your own crafting spaces. If you enjoyed these little tidbits, you can join me over at Vanilla Arts for a complete lesson on creating depth and dimension when looking at your marker's values. I taught the class live last Friday but, as always, it will be available in the Vanilla Arts archives for several months to enjoy repeatedly. Just click HERE to learn how to tap into these classes. 

Thanks so much for joining me. Hopefully, I will see you again over at Vanilla Arts!

Ready for a Bloom Brigade Parade?

Hey all! Just a little note to pop in and say a couple of the Bloomies have been busy in their creative spaces (including ME)! Before we get to all that fun stuff, I did want to share just a few things with y'all!

First up, did you see this amazing class Amy Shulke is ushering using a bit of Power Poppy at the center of it all?

Wowza! Look at that coloring, will you? Well, you can join Amy for an entertaining yet valuable lesson on how to visualize and use accurate values in all your coloring projects. This lesson will not only improve the depth of your projects but it will simplify the color selection process for you in the future! And, she uses Power Poppy's Baseball Vignette -- just in time to get some fun colored up before the race toward the World Series begins! Want to learn a little more about what Amy will cover? Click HERE! The class will be LIVE...

Saturday, September 14th at 11am EDT

And if you can't join the class, the recorded version will be available after the class when you become a member through the Vanilla Arts website! Also, rumor has it that Amy will be in the house on Monday with a few of her tips for our next episode of Inspire Me Monday! 

Before I leave you with a little Bloomie Link List, wonder what Ms. Marce has been up to these days??? Well, if you've checked in on her IG feed lately, you can see she has been busy living life in full bloom!

She's baking fresh peach pie right down to that delish looking bubbly crust! She's hand lettering correspondence for the garden club she belongs to -- she's the secretary of the club and in her words, "correspondence has to be cute!" We agree Ms. Marce! And she's been taking in a little fall ball with her darling son at the center of all the slugging action! These are the times, eh?

So, with that bit of news and good vibes, shall we turn things over to our beloved Bloomies? I think so!

Ally Cope

Julie Koerber 

Stacy Morgan

And, just like I mentioned, Amy Shulke will be in the house next week for another edition of Inspire Me Monday!  Don't you want to see what the peep in chief over at Vanilla Arts has been up to? I sure do!

Until next time! 

~Julie 

Creative Confetti: Say it with Sepia!

Hello all and happiest of Tuesdays to you! Is Fall in the air in your neck of the woods? It's starting to feel a little like that where I am -- it's a little crisp -- and so, I have thankfully had a little extra time in my crafting space. (Did I mention I hate being chilly? I really should not live in the northwest!)

Moving on! Because I love trying new things, I decided to cue up THIS Inspire Me Monday tutorial from Ally Cope on Partial Die Cutting. Since it had been forever and a day since I have used a diffuser, I decided to try to recreate the technique -- I even picked up the same image and shapes! The only real difference is I chose to take the look down a different path and that path is the inspiration for this week's Creative Confetti! Check it out peeps!

HOW TO PLAY: It's just as simple as the graphic suggests, create with that antique feel, use sepia shades and keep your color scheme somewhat faded.

On to my creation!

If you look HERE and see Ally's card, you can see I really did CASE her (Copy And Steal Everything), except for the color scheme. I also used Power Poppy's Natural Beauties both the stamp and the coordinating Natural Beauties die set! I love the soft sepia look in cards. It is so easy to achieve and the serene feel it creates is just perfect for snail mail. I did a similar look for a card a while back HERE using Power Poppy's Countryside Bouquet. I love the effect!

Now the trick to this card (other than Ally's Partial Die Cut technique) was choosing the right Copic markers. I decided to go super light and used G20, YG0000, V0000, V00, Y0000, Y11, YR0000, YR01, R0000, R01, W1, G0000. So with the exception of just a few markers, all of them were either 0000, 00 or 01 in their value. The result was a super soft color scheme that did take on an antiqued feel.

Here's a closeup for you! 

I just love the soft look, the clean and simple design and how after you got the hang of the partial die cut, this is a super quick and easy creation! You should really cue up her tutorial and take it for a spin!

Okay folks,  now it's your turn to "Say it with Sepia!" Remember, after you create and play along, link up your project using the linky below so we can all see. Every entry is one more shot at a $25 gift code to the Power Poppy Shop! Woo hoo!

Also, I mentioned this last week! DO YOU HAVE AN IDEA FOR AN UPCOMING CHALLENGE? Email me at juliekoerber@gmail.com and fill me in! If your idea is used, we'll honor you on our blog for the week! Now don't be shy! I can't wait to hear your ideas! We already got a couple of emails and we can't wait to share!

Until next time,

~Julie 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Inspire Me Monday: Brusho & Copic Markers

Howdy and welcome to another Inspire Me Monday!  I’m Allison Cope and I’m your hostess this week.

Today I’m going to share a fun Fall card featuring the “Chrysanthemum XL” stamp set and some Brusho and Copic Marker coloring.

So grab a mug of your favorite warm drink and join me in my craftroom!

Click here to watch in HD.

For my sentiment, I used the “Giving Thanks” from the “Fortunes of Fall” stamp set.  Here’s a look at the final card…

Thanks for stopping by today!  I hope you get inspired and go and create something fun this week!

~ Ally ~


stamps: Power Poppy (Chrysanthemum XL, Fortunes of Fall)
cardstock: Strathmore (Cold Press Watercolor), Recollections (110# White)
ink: Versamark, Catherine Pooler (Peppermint Scrub), Copic Markers
dies: MFT (Stitched Rectangles), Elizabeth Crafts (Happy Birthday)
dots: Kraftin’ Kimmie (Lovey Dots)

Creative Confetti: Out of the Ordinary!

Hello all and happiest of Tuesdays to you! Sorry, this post is up a little late! Gosh, we just rolled into town late last night and to say I have been flying by the seat of my pants since I got home is, well, an understatement! I did, however, kind of hint yesterday at what today's challenge might look like! So, if you joined me HERE for Inspire Me Monday, our Creative Confetti might not be much of a surprise!

To play is simple! Just think a little out of the box and use something out of the ordinary to create your background. Or, use a stamping supply maybe in a way that's not intended? Maybe figure out how to use an acrylic block for something other than holding onto a stamp? There are so many fun things you can try!

As I mentioned, this idea came from my Inspire Me Monday tutorial HERE that was posted yesterday. You can get the step by step insight if you click on over but here's a quick peek at some of what I covered!

I wrapped yarn around a small acrylic block to "stamp" a basketweave background!

I used a star stencil to apply Versamark ink and emboss my stenciled design!

I used a plastic sandwich bag to smoosh different shades of ink on a grey piece of cardstock for a marbled metal look!

I inked up a large scale piece of bubble wrap and pressed it onto some burnt orange cardstock for a mod geometric background. There you have it! Using things that are "out of the ordinary" to make an impact on a handmade creation! Now, it's your turn! And, like I said, I can't wait to see what you come up with! 

Since this is the first Tuesday of the month, we get to have a little extra fun! We get to throw all the names into the virtual hat of those who played along with us during the month of August and see who gets a mini-shopping trip -- a $25 gift code -- to the Power Poppy Shop! 

And that means the winner is.... 

*** Traci Major!!! ***

Traci played along with us for our Free For All week where I challenged you to just use whatever image your little heart desired! And, man, her creation was humming with beauty! 

She used one of Marcella's illustrations from years ago. It's one of my absolute favorites called Humming Along. While that image is long gone from the stamping landscape, Marcy does have THIS illustration called Floribunda that features a beautiful hummingbird and all kinds of flowery foliage. But I digress! I loved the dreamy look Traci created here with the fun background and watercolor washed image. 

Traci, congrats to you! To claim your $25 gift code, all you need to do is email us at bloom@powerpoppy.com. Marcy will get your code right to you! 

Thanks everyone for stopping by today to check out our latest Creative Confetti challenge! Remember, after you create and play along, link up your project using the linky below so we can all see. Every entry is one more shot at a $25 gift code to the Power Poppy Shop! Woo hoo! 

Also, I mentioned this last week! DO YOU HAVE AN IDEA FOR AN UPCOMING CHALLENGE? Email me at juliekoerber@gmail.com and fill me in! If your idea is used, we'll honor you on our blog for the week! Now don't be shy! I can't wait to hear your ideas! We already got a couple of emails and we can't wait to share! 

Until next time,

~Julie 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter