Tuesday

Holiday 2015 Collection... Sneak Peeks Start Today!

Hello, hello! I couldn’t be more tickled to begin sharing our Holiday 2015 clear stamp preview with you. My friends, we are adding FIVE NEW SETS to our Happiest Holiday Collection! In fact, it’s been so hard to keep it under wraps, I’ve already shared peeks of my sketches on my Instagram feed (@marcellahawley if you’d care to join me over there).

I tell you, concocting the ideas for the collection, doing loads of research (what an awesome “job”), drawing the images, styling the sentiments, and all that jolly jazz is an affair in its own right, but ladies, you ain’t seen nuthin’ until you see how the Bloom Brigade design team has transformed my artwork into showstopping Holiday cards.

And we absolutely cannot wait to see what YOU will do with them! Oh, goodness me. The possibilities with these sets are pretty great... from elegant to homespun, and lots of variety in between. Here is a teensy sampling of today’s set just to give you an inkling of what I mean...

Details from gorgeous new cards by Leslie Miller, Cindy Lawrence, and Tosha Leyendekker

The artwork style for the stamp above is inspired by an ancient design technique known as arabesque. According to the dictionary, arabesque is “an ornamental design consisting of intertwined flowing lines, originally found in Arabic or Moorish decoration,” and the style was adapted into Greek, Medieval, Renaissance... there isn’t really an art form that hasn’t used it! I’m sure you’ve got a few images with scrolling lines and shapes in your stamp arsenal.

But what really got me into this vibe was the idea that you can start with a shape or “ornament” and then fill it with your own variety of flowers, vines, berries, fruits, what have you — to come up with an image that holds a lot of interest whether it’s shown in a single color or shaded to the nines!

From the Handbook of Ornament by Franz Sales Meyer, 1957, Dover Publications, Inc.

Here is a neat example from a wonderful resource called Handbook of Ornament, which is a collection of ornamental designs, both 2- and 3-dimensional, throughout history. It’s basically a go-to tome of decorative design, and I pull it out on occasion as a jumping off point for ideas. There’s an entire chapter on flat designs rendered inside a shape, and here I’ve shared a snippet from the Oblong Panel page. Now as you can see, the designs of these ornaments are repeat patterns. The same design elements (leaf, vine, fleurette, scroll) are repeated in each area of the panel to created a unified whole design. NIFTY! And also, it’s something I see done beautifully in the crafting world. So, to make it my own, I decided to take the concept of creating several design elements (poinsettias, berry clusters, roses, lilies, mistletoe, leaves, and vines) and put them together into a tree-shaped ornament, but with an organic structure, so each area of the tree is unique! I saw a wonderful embroidery pattern of spring flowers inside a tree ornament that captured my heart, and I knew that holiday botanicals would be something fun to try! Take a peek at my pencil sketch, which I then went in and fine-tuned and redrew with a Pigma Micron pen...


With the mix of flowers and fruits, seeds, leaves, and berries, you can use this set for the Holidays, or really, for any time of the year! Introducing our first Holiday set of the 2015 release... Botanical Tree.

http://powerpoppy.com/collections/happiest-holiday-collection/products/botanical-tree

I have kept you here waaaaaay too long, because what is truly spectacular about our arabesque set is what you can DO with it! Just take a look at what our Bloom Brigade has created for today’s kick-off:


I do hope we’ll see you back here tomorrow for another fresh new Holiday set peek! ALL SETS WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE on Sunday, October 18th!!!

Have an absolutely awesome day everyone!

15 comments:

CherylQuilts said...

Well, I am so delighted to read this post, Marcy, and I even had my DH read it and watched his face as he smiled and commented about your enthusiasm and amazing talent as an artist. Being a history buff, he really appreciated what inspired you. And I am so delighted to read about the ornamental design artwork and see a copy of the page from your book. I always get such delight to see your work in progress with your precious hands and pencil...what amazing gifts you have. And, wow, the possibilities of this image and how wonderfully the Bloomies inspired us. I can hardly wait to see the whole set (and release). I loved the blog hop...it was a blast! Looking forward to tomorrow's delight! Hugs!

Marcella Hawley said...

How thoughtful are you, Cheryl? What an awesome comment — I mean, all of your comments are as sweet as can be, but this one really got me. I appreciate it so much that you (and your husbie!) care enough to read about my process and get a little charge from it. Thank you for sharing all of these wonderful thoughts with me, and know that it brought me a nice warm feeling this morning!! Big hugs to both of you. xoxo

Barb said...

I marked today in my planner as a 'special day'. I wanted to make sure I didn't forget about the sneak peeks of the new Holiday Collection. And I tell you what, you did not disappoint this girl! Oh my goodness! What a way to start us off! This is a gorgeous tree, I love all the little details. So many different flowers! This really can be used all year round!

Thank you for sharing a peek into your creative process, as well. I agree with Cheryl, there really is something special about seeing your works in progress and the hands that create them. You are truly blessed and you're blessing us!

I'm looking forward to all of the sneaks this week and then the full reveal! Now I'm off to see the beauty that the Bloomies have to share.

Good day to you!

Hugs,
Barb:)

Marcella Hawley said...

Barb! You are making me get tears in my eyes. Thank you so much for making a point to come by today, and for sharing all of this fabulous feedback! I sure hope you are enjoying a lovely time seeing everything from the designers... how did I get to be surrounded by such greatness? I feel lucky every day! I know I just love to see what you do with my stamps, too!! Still can't get over that cute Glittering Glass Santa card I saw on Instagram today! xo!

Rhea Weigand said...

Seriously! Marcella you've outdone yourself with this amazing masterpiece! I am so in love! I will be ordering this asap! xoxoxo my friend! Rhea

Unknown said...

YOWZA!!!

Leslie Miller said...

You did not keep me too long at all, Marcy! Your creative process makes a fascinating read and you could have gone on MUCH longer giving us a glimpse of what makes you tick. My mom had a library of books for inspiration for her art. Oils and acrylics and myrtlewood and canvases. Paint brushes in turpentine. Rags covered with colorful paint smears. Your photos always bring all that back. Is this a job? I hope you never grow tired of it!

Candy's Creations Blog said...

Beautiful work!

Kathy Jones said...

Marc, I just love the peek into your sketch book and reading about your inspiration and thoughts - you are one in a million!! MWAH!!!!

Jenny Colacicco said...

I just discovered your site after Kathy Racoosin (The Daiky Marker) posted a card made with one of your stamps. When I came here I was breathtaken with the unbelievable detail and skill that has gone into the design of all of your images. They are truly stunning. To then see the thought and consideration from this post alone that goes into the images is wonderful. This tree is completely brilliant and versatile. All the very best and I have already started my credit cards pain 😉

Teresa Doyle said...

A beautiful image. I'd love to see the rest of this sketch book if this is any indication of how it looks. LOL

Lee said...

What I really like about this stamp is yes it's totally Christmas but it's also a romantic image to me. It's all in the way you color it I suppose. Wonderful stamp and awesome history lesson! Thanks so much for sharing.

Tam said...

I do not know where you got your design team but man they have some talent. I have seen some of the best cards ever going through this collection. Good job ladies. Love the stamps.

Berina RGA said...

Wow!! It's very interesting to read the how you were inspired to draw the image and your involvement in it! This post has inspired me to try drawing :) Your pencil sketch is so beautiful!! It's very carefully planned and executed! Love the image.
-Berina
Moxie Craftie

Shari said...

Such an absolutely beautiful stamp.