Spring Fling Day 4: Peony Muse and Artful Display

Hi friends! Yesterday was such a whirlwind of activity, it almost feels like a blur. We announced the winners of our jumbo stamp Giveaway (did you see who won? So fun!) along with two flower-filled stamp sets. Today we’re sharing two more sets, and we’re THISCLOSE to tomorrow’s final set and release day! 

So are you guys into decorating? Along with staring at plants, decorating is my favorite sport! I like to dream about how I’m going to decorate perhaps even more than the physical act of decorating. Paging through magazines voraciously, stopping, staring, dreaming, planning... and sometimes actually following through to bring the beauty I see in magazines into our home. Here are photos of a few spaces in our house that make me happy. You may notice a theme... check out the walls for groupings of objects. We’ll return to that topic shortly...

Our “entryway” — or more aptly called “the stuff you see when you walk in the door that’s behind the couch”. Often piled with backpacks, musical instruments, soccer bags, shoes, rollerblades, you get the picture. Where are they in the above photo? Why, I shoved them into the area behind me to take this nice photo. Because I wanted you to look at the grouping of the frames and plates on the wall. Aren’t they fun? This scene is composed of framed images that all have meaning to me: a Majolica asparagus plate given to me by my mom years ago, a framed print of seashells (again from my mom, boy was her decorating game strong!), an old French lithograph from a chair catalog that I picked up on Portobello Road in London over 20 years ago, and on the bottom row, a very cool photo of my Auntie Bea when she was a child in Poplar Bluff, MO, and a vintage plate from my Grandma Bonnie. 

In this entry area, all of the objects have a color theme of brown, cream, and turquoise — and the various shapes of the items make them all work together. Yay!

Next up is this shot from my living room leading in to our dining room. Old plates and vintage Minton tiles arch their way up the wall, and when I walk under it, I feel so happy. The colors of the objects all have that turquoise theme, but on this wall, things also have a bit of green or yellow. I purposely looked for items with turquoise accents any time I was out bebopping around antiques shops or trolling eBay. Note that we have another grouping of art and plates in the dining room. Clusters of visual beauty with colors that complement and shapes that aren’t exactly alike, but echo one another as you move room to room. And yes, we currently have an old sofa in the dining room... it’s a long story.

Hey look, more plates and framed antique-y stuff! The oyster plate up top is one of my favorite things in the house. Each oyster-cradle looks as if it’s been edged in a gilded blanket stitch. I don’t like oysters but I LOVE oyster plates!

From the dining room into the sunroom (psst... it is no longer a sunroom; last year we transformed it into a bedroom for one of our four kids). But still, check out deez plates and platters and frames! A collection of vintage lemon juicers, Portmerion botanical plates, and framed vintage prints makes my heart sing.

Upstairs in my refreshed office space, and look, more stacks of cute stuff. I haven’t finished putting up the artwork on the walls, but you can pretty much rest assured that there are going to be framed images and plates! It’s just so fun to arrange them in all different ways.

One thing I wanted you to gaze upon... do you see the doggie in the window? I mean, doggie on the shelf? That guy is a Staffordshire spaniel from the late 1800s, part of a pair (the other one is downstairs manning another vignette somewhere). These pottery figurines have been collectible for years, and my Grandmother Dorothy was a dealer of English antiques, so I inherited some doggies from her. They are quirky but eternally cool. My mother also gave me a set of Staffordshire dogs that I cherish, ones she bought at auction when she and my dad were first married. You’ve got to do a Google image search to see all of the interesting variations!

So.... was that enough decorating for you? Are you ready for something crazy? I have brought my obsession with creating arrangements of plates and artful objects into the stamping realm. Introducing: Artful Display.

The stamps in this set are like what you’d find after a day of thrift store shopping or a lucky binge at an estate sale — all the makings for fanciful cards that will delight you AND the person who gets your card. I know if I received a papercrafted treat with decoratively arranged plates, I would think to myself, “The person who sent this is quite possibly the coolest person ever.” 

Wait till you see the Bloomies’ cards!!!! You may have seen them already since I’m a a few hours late posting this blog. :) 

On to the next stamp set preview. Is it fair to say that this one ALSO tugs at my ever-lovin’ heartstrings? Yep. Due to this simple fact: I. LOVE. PEONIES.

They’re the best, no need to debate it. Above is a handful of ’em from my garden, featuring such cultivars as ‘Do Tell’, ‘Lights Out’, ‘Coral Charm’, and ‘Sarah Bernhardt’. (That sweet white plant dotting the background is Anemone canadensis, also called windflower, which I willfully allow to roam all over my yard as you can see...)

So I already have a few digital and clear stamp sets featuring Peonies. Why another one? Well, folks, because this time, I went BIG. Also, you can never, ever, ever, EVER have enough Peonies. Introducing Peony Muse...!!

Composed of two lush peonies in various phases of opening, plus a tight bud, leaf clusters, and hand-drawn sentiments offering love, light, and prayers, this set is really pretty great. You can create a whole hedge of peonies or just a single focal point. I confess to playing with these for a few hours just trying different combinations.

And.... IT HAS COORDINATING DIES!! They'll be in the shop by early next week. Happy dance, anyone?

I’ve gone on talking for WAY too long... and what I REALLY want you to see are the cards made by my artistic, adorable, highly imaginative design team, the BLOOM BRIGADE! Popping from blog to blog seeing their work is truly one of the highlights of my life — it’s a thrill to see what they do with a humble drawing to turn it into a card-sized masterpiece. Go girls, go!

Allison Cope

Christine Okken

Cindy Lawrence

Julie Koerber

Kathy Jones

Katie Sims

Stacy Morgan

Tosha Leyendekker

Awrighty.... tomorrow, the final reveal (which many of you have already pre-ordered, tee-hee) and ALL the sets will be available for purchase! Be sure to wait till tomorrow, because we just might be having a special offer so you can save if you buy multiple sets.... :)

P.S.: Today is last day you can get in on the Kit and Clowder Online Coloring Class featuring Power Poppy. I have literally seen peoples’ coloring ability get turned on their heads — AMP UP your skills! Alyce has all kinds of package discounts and I can guarantee, you will love the feeling of community and support offered by the other students, the “Clowdies” - so cute! Visit their Facebook Group to check out some of the results of taking the class. You’ll freak out, and then realize that you could take this class and draw in this style, too. Why not? Once you sign up, you can take the class whenever you want. Just have to sign up by March 15 (which is actually March 14 in the US, Alyce is based in Australia. Oi Oi Oi)

Sending out LOVE and good vibes to you today!