Inspire Me Monday - Change Up Your Holiday Color Palette!

Hello Power Poppy Fans! I'm Nancy Sheads from the Bloom Brigade here with this week's edition of Inspire Me Monday.

 

For today's project, I have a holiday card featuring Power Poppy's Bough Wow Wow clear stamp set.  If digital images are your thing, Power Poppy has you covered! This image is also available in digital format as Mittens and Merriment. 

What's your favorite holiday color combination? I like non-traditional color schemes for holiday cards, although the combination of teal blue with red and/or pink has become so popular that it's become a common holiday palette as well. But the color combination is one of my favorites and I've been using it a lot for this season's holiday cards.

I started by stamping the image with Amalgam Ink in Obsidian by Gina K. Designs on Hammermill Color Copy Digital Cover. Although this ink is Copic compatible, make sure that it is completely dry before you start coloring so that it doesn't smear on your page or rub off on your marker nib.

This image is really easy to color and the finish results pack a lot of punch. I've added a coloring video to show just how simple it can be. The markers I used are listed at the bottom of the page.

After coloring the image, I rummaged through my stash of dies to come up with a pair of oval dies that would layer together. I always have a hard time mixing and matching different colors and patterns of design paper, but it happened that I found a doubled sided design paper in my stash where both sides worked together to give me the final result that I wanted.

COPICS USED:

G24, G46 (leaves)

G20, G21 (pom poms)

R24, R37, R59 (heart)

BG11, BG32, BG72, BG75 (ribbon)

BV000, BV00, R37 (snowflake mitten)

BV000, BV00, BG11, BG32, BG72, BG75 (striped mitten)

Thanks for joining me today! See you back here soon!

~ Nancy 

Inspire Me Monday: Turnaround Stamping

Howdy and happy Monday everyone!  I'm Allison Cope and I'm your hostess this week for Inspire Me Monday. I hope you had a great weekend and took some time to create.

One my favorite parts of stamping is finding fun uses for all the smaller images surrounding the large and glorious images on a stamp set.  Sometimes I think these images are forgotten about.  So today we’re going to get lots of littles inky!

Today’s tutorial is all based around the a new stamping trend in the market, a turnabout stamp. These are large format stamps that include a variety of stamps all attached to one another and are designed to be inked up and  rotated to produce a fun back ground image.

I wanted to show you that you can create your very own version of a turnabout stamp by using a grid system and multiple smaller stamp images.

So come and join me at my crafty desk and learn about how to recreate this fun technique!  Grab a cup of your favorite warm beverage and I’ll meet you there!

Click here to see the video in HD.

This is the first turnaround back ground I stamped in my video.  I stamped all of my images with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and then colored everything in using Copic Markers.

Stamps Used: Fully Stocked (bell), Bough Wow Wow (knit snowflake), Merry Littles (Peace, mug, tree), Wreaths Plain & Fancy (reindeer), Botanical Tree (poinsettia), Artful Display (plate)

I split my large 6x6 panel into two equal sides and created these 2 cards…

Added Sentiment Used: Holly Golightly (Love * Joy * Peace to You)

Here is the second panel I stamped on the video using a variety of fun colored inks. I chose to only color in the odd item on the panel and I also added some fun Stickles for some holiday shimmer and shine.

Stamps Used: Merry Littles (bow, candy canes), Wreaths Plain & Fancy (church, Joy, Warm Thoughts), Action Santa (hillside, snowflakes), Fully Stocked (mistletoe), Bough Wow Wow (heart)

I managed to create 3 cards using this 6x6 panel as I decided to die cut some of the elements or at least use smaller pieces of the back ground on my cards.

Off camera I created this fun sentiment stamp only back ground using my grid technique.  I had a ball finding fun sentiments that fit like puzzle pieces together and using some bright festive holiday colored inks.

Stamps Used: Wreaths Plain & Fancy (Happy Holidays), Heaven & Nature Sing (Be Joyful), Botanical Tree (Peace, Merry Christmas), Action Santa (Sending a Flurry), Bottlebrush Holiday (Falalala, Warm Wishes), Cozy Cupfuls (Good Tidings), Holly Golightly (Love * Joy * Peace to You) 

I created two fun holiday cards using this sentiment panel.  I die cut some the edges into fun shapes.

Stamps Used for the Red Back Ground: Merry Littles (large poinsettia), 

Botanical Tree (small poinsettias)

I decided to keep my final panel quite simple and only use one shade of blue ink and add just a slight bit of shading using a single shade of Copic Marker.  So simple but so pretty!

Stamps Used: Artful Display (plates), Wreaths Plain & Fancy (candle),  

Action Santa (Snowflakes), Merry Littles (poinsettia), Botanical Tree (card sentiments) 

Here are the two holiday cards I created with this last panel...

I thoroughly enjoyed creating all these fun turnaround stamped back grounds for you today!  Don’t forget to try this with embossing powders too… you could get a very cool effect!  Think shiny and shimmery for the holidays.

Take a quick moment and visit my personal blog today for a fun birthday card version of this technique.  Click here!

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you enjoyed my tutorial today.  I'd love to hear what you think about this fun technique... leave me a comment! Ta ta everyone!

~ Allison Cope ~


Cardstock: Recollections (110# White), My Favorite Things (vellum) 
Patterned Paper: My Favorite Things (Painted Prints Smitten 6x6, Tiny Check Brights 6x6), Simple Stories (Very Merry 6x8), Doodlebug Designs (Frosty Friends 6x6), Crate Paper (Falala 6x6), Your Next Stamp (Winter Knits 6x6, Winter Plaid 6x6) 
Inks: Memento (Tuxedo Black), Catherine Pooler Designs (Rockin’ Red, Grass Green, Lime Rickey, Garden Party, It’s a Girl, Something Borrowed), Versamark, Copic Markers, Sakura (Pen-touch Gold, White Gel Pen) 
Dies: My Favorite Things (Stitched Rectangles STAX 2, Stitched Scalloped Basic Edges, Scalloped Ovals), Spellbinders (Curved Borders 2, A2 Scalloped Borders 1, A2 Curved Borders 1, PageMaps On the Edge), Pretty Pink Posh (Mini Tags) 
Sequins: Pretty Pink Posh (Sparkling Clear 6mm, 4mm)
Embossing Powder: Stampendous! (Detail White)  
Ribbon: Offray (Thin Green)
Other: Sulky Thread (Metallic Gold), Christmas Twine (Michaels), Stickles (Star Dust)

The Good Vibe 5 Keeps Flowin'!

Hello all and Happy Friday folks! Are you ready to be hit up with a hefty dose of GOOD VIBES? Well, we have five of them for you! ;-) . We found quite a bit to be inspired by this week in blog land and we cannot wait to share these crafty finds with YOU! 

GOOD VIBE No. 1

Ahhh.... Our friend from the Netherlands -- Misseke -- is at it again with gorgeous coloring in her little corner of the social media world. Just take a peek at her take on Power Poppy's Flower Bomb digital stamp set. Not only do we love the depth of her coloring but we love the fact that -- just in case you want to see her coloring in action -- she has a speed coloring video just for you! Just click HERE to see it all -- up close and personal.

GOOD VIBE No. 2

ENABLER ALERT!!! Just in case you missed it, we have some fresh-picked digis to share. If that isn't enough of a tickler for you to check out Cherries & Berries, maybe Christine Okken's colored up card above will be the push you need to grab up these lush digital delights for your own fruit-filled cards and creations.

GOOD VIBE No. 3

If you're anything like me, when you get to coloring with Copic markers, you tend to reach for pretty much every marker you own! Well, that’s why this week's Inspire Me Monday is pure creative genius. Mindy Baxter uses amazing restraint and shows us how we CAN make beautiful things with 10 markers or less! Check out her ab fab tutorial HERE.

GOOD VIBE No. 4

There are times in life when you need a little reminder about how wonderful you are! Don’t we all need to follow these little words of wisdom above and not only let our light shine but surround ourselves with others who actually love our “light?” Words to live by, my friends.

GOOD VIBE No. 5 

OK, everybody — here’s a set that’s a REAL FAVORITE with our customers and our designers alike, and it’s on sale for three days only!! Pick up Simply Camellias in clear for $11.99, or the single-image digital download of Camellias for only $1.99. Special pricing ends on Sunday at midnight, so hop to it to save up to $6.


There you have it folks! Are you full of all kinds of warm fuzzies? We surely hope so! And, if you need a little inspiration to get through your creative weekend, be sure to check out this week's.....

Essie Swartz is our guest hostess this week and, if you ask me, she creatively slayed it! ;-) So, follow her lead, take a cue from Hues to Use,  and then, be sure to share by adding a link to YOUR card on THIS POST. We love to see all the ways you put Power Poppy in the spotlight!

Now it’s time for the all-star line up, the Bloomies are back...

Come see what cards are in the limelight this week, beautifully crafted by our designers.

Christine Okken

Katie Sims

Stacy Morgan

Have a fabulously colorful weekend, and we’ll see you back here in a few days, you won’t want to miss awesome Ally Cope’s newest Inspire Me Monday tutorial!

~Julie

Inspire Me Monday: Coloring using only 10 Copic Markers

Coloring using only 10 Copic Markers

Hi everyone. It's Mindy here from My Creative Scoop! Today I'm sharing a fun tutorial which is absolutely perfect if you don't have many Copic Markers in your collection. I'll be listing my Copic Markers used throughout the tutorial but please keep in mind you can use whatever 2 coordinating colors you have. In this tutorial, I'm using the Power Poppy stamp set Bough Wow Wow. 

Alright, let's get start coloring! I've stamped my image using Memento Desert Sand Ink onto my Copic Xpress it cardstock to get that no line technique. So take your lightest green and color in all the little leaves on the vine.

Then, take your darker green and make a tiny line, or flick going up the center of the leaves. There's not enough room for any detailed shading. 

Then take your N3 and trace along one side of the fuzzy snow puffs.

Using the N0, go along the side of the N3, blending it out.

Then, using N0 create small dots in the fuzzy snow puffs, we want to give them some texture so they look fuzzy.

Then again with the N3, make some more dots for texture in the fuzzy snow puffs. Stay closer to the shaded side of the snow puff so that side appears shadowed -- but still add small dots all over. Then take the N3 and shadow the starting point of the ribbon intertwining throughout the image. Afterward, take your N0 and blend out the N3. Still, leave a white area.

Then with your lightest brown shade the mittens. You want to make a harsh shadow at first then flick towards the center of the mitt. Notice the shadowed areas and don't just outline the mitten.

Then add some details with your darker brown, and define the shadows and the design in the mitten. 

Trace over with the lighter brown again, blending out that harsh line between the 2 colors. Notice there is still some white into the center part of the mittens.

Then take both colors and by adding some dots to the mittens you'll give that yarn - texture look. With the darker color, make more dots at the shadowed areas and fewer in the lighter area.

Then take a light pink (or any other color) and trace the heart but notice on the left side I went a little thicker. We want to create that round 3D look to this heart.

Then on the shadowed side, trace using the darker pink.

Then, flicking the darker pink out towards the center, pull through filling in the heart.

Depending on how dark you want your heart to be, you may want to repeat the 2 previous steps. Once you are happy with your heart's definition, take the darker color and trace the stitches all around the heart.

I wanted my ribbon to pop out a little more, so I added some more N3. Depending on how heavy you go, you may need to re-soften using your N0 again.

Once finished, I wanted to add a little something around the image. So, I added some dots using G0000, filling in the white areas inside and gradually coming out around the image.

I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial and it inspires you to create a color, even if you don't have many Copic Markers to work with.

For more tutorials, classes, and inspiration please visit my blog, My Creative Scoop!

♥ Mindy

Inspire Me Monday: Fun Grid Back Ground Building

Howdy all!  Welcome to another Inspire Me Monday here at Power Poppy! 

I’m your hostess Ally and today I’m sharing an easy tutorial on how to make some fun back grounds using a grid technique.

Last Friday I introduced two fun cards showcasing some cool hand made back ground paper.  Check them out…

These two cards showcase the “Cozy Cupfuls”, “So Grateful” and “Good Thinking: Love Notes” stamp sets. Sooo cute, right?

So today, I thought I’d share how I made that back ground.  All you’ll need is some paper, a few smaller sized stamps, a pencil, a ruler, an eraser and some imagination!

Grab a cup of your favorite beverage and join me in my scraproom.

Here’s another close up of our grid inspired back ground card featuring the stamp sets “Good Thinking: Love Notes”, “Bough Wow Wow” and “Potted Primroses”.

Take a look at the layered vellum blooms…

And the cute little peek-a-boo window to show off the sentiment…

Thanks for joining me today.  I hope my tutorial and cards inspire you try this fun technique on your next card.

~ Allison Cope ~


Supplies
stamps: Power Poppy (Good Thinking: Love Notes, Bough Wow Wow, Potted Primroses)
inks:  Memento (Tuxedo Black), Versamark, Copic Markers
embossing powder:  Stampendous! (Detail White)
cardstock:  Neenah (Solar White), Recollections (110lb White), Vellum
patterned paper:  Lawn Fawn (Let’s Polka Mon Amie 6x6)
dies:  Avery Elle (Dotted Die), Simon Says Stamp (Stitched Squares)
sequins:  CraftMedley
other:  ribbon