More to love from the countryside

Hello, it’s good to see you yet again. Feeling bright eyed, bushy tailed, and ready to soak up the sneaky peeks for our August release this Friday, I hope! And we aren’t even close to wrapping up for the week, because that’s how much good stuff is blooming. With the fabulous mild weather we’ve been having of late, I can tell you, things are spreading like WILDFLOWERS! Oh, wait. Is the phrase spreading like wildfire? Hm. Let’s just go with it!

Now, last month I released a set here at Power Poppy called Countryside Bouquet. You all understand that I do so love that nature. Love. It. Right before creating the images for last month’s release, I’d spent a lot of time outside: in private gardens, large public gardens, in wildflower preserves, and even a weekend with one of my dearest old friends at her family’s place at the lake, which is surrounded by woods, paths, and native wildflowers.

 

Here am I at the lake with my little Lulu, who, at 11 years old, is nearly as tall as I am. (I guess that’s not the craziest thing in the world, seeing as how I stand at a towering five feet. :)  We got a big kick out of walking miles at dusk, and between spotting turtles and a spotted fawn, I was taking in every wildflower that passed my eyeballs! May apple, jack-in-the-pulpit, phlox. Viva la countryside!

 

Ok, back to my stamp set. When conjuring the Countryside Bouquet that I first offered as a digital image, I only grew one of the plants in my garden, Hummingbird Sage, or Salvia (the tall spikey one in the back of the bouquet image). The other flowers: Cosmos and California Poppies, aren’t in my postage-stamp, sun-starved garden. So, when it came time to draw this image, I plucked a few posies that were blooming, and plunked them in a vase next to me, just to get myself in the groove. My menagerie included another Salvia variety, Windflower (Anemone canadensis) and a magenta-colored Clematis — I’m not sure which one this is, because it was mislabeled when I bought it several years ago.

Seeing these single sprigs of several plants got me thinking. “What if I drew just one stem of each of these flowers? Wonder if my crafty friends would like them?” And after seeing the popularity of the Countryside Bouquet set—truly, you all have IMPRESSED THE SOCKS OFF OF ME with your creations that I’ve seen—I thought it would be fun to create a “deluxe” version of this set, and introduce it in clear photopolymer. Only this time, it would have the single sprigs of each of the components of the bouquet!! This way, you can mix, match, mingle, and mangle the flowers to your heart’s content. PLUS, I’ve added a bunch of single word sentiments (well, one has two words, if you must know) that are just fun and fanciful.

Presenting: Countryside Bouquet Deluxe! 

This set affords you the ability to create impressive cards with the intricate and showy wildflower bouquet — OR — and this is an important OR: Simple cards with a single stem or a single word! Simplicity!! Did you ever think you’d hear the word simplicity come out of my mouth? (It doesn’t often, just so you know). Countryside Bouquet Deluxe is so deluxe, it's actually simple.

 

Wouldn’t you like to see a few of the ways this set has been used, by some of the most creative and crafty gals I know? 

Take it away, BLOOM BRIGADE!

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

Thanks for coming by and listening to my ramblings! I hope you’ll give this set a try. I know there are soooo many things you can do with it!