Cozy Little Hues to Use!

Hello and welcome to another happy little color combo that you can use to inspire creativity in your own stamping spaces! Welcome to.... Hues to Use! This week's color combo is a fun one showcasing a photo Marcella snapped on a recent trip to the Idea Garden in Urbana Illinois! When she posted this little number to her Instagram, she said, "A red river of hens and chicks. Wish I could dedicate part of my garden to be a rock garden!"

Well, Marce, instead we'll dedicate a little space on your blog for this yummy little color explosion! Take a look at those pale pinks, vibrant shades of raspberry and that smidge of olive green!

HOW TO PLAY: Playing is super duper simple, just use this color combo above in one of your creations and then link it up on the Linky below! Remember, each and every entry is seen by our eyes which means, if you WOW us with your creation, you just might end up becoming one of our future guest hostesses here on the Power Poppy Blog for one of our upcoming Hues to Use posts! 

ON TO MY CREATION....

I have to say, with fall here, I had a hankering to use Power Poppy's Get Wool Soon digital stamp set. Can you believe that I.... a knitter.... had never used this little number before? Oh my! What's wrong with me?!?!?!! The good news is that I tend to knit quite a bit in the fall for others, for gifts, so this little digi is going to be used quite a bit!

Do you want to see what I just took off the needles this week? Check it out! This is a slouchy hat done up in a chevron pattern for my son's girlfriend, who loves purple tones. I used the Loops & Threads yarn from Michaels in the color Baroque. I like the way it turned out and the hat is super soft!

And, if you enjoy knitting and want to give this pattern a try, HERE is a link to the free pattern from Plymouth Yarns.

Ok, I digress! For my creation, I printed the Get Wool Soon digital stamp set off and then grabbed my Copic Markers and went to town, using these colors below. I will point out that the E40 and E0000 were used to shade around the bottom of my image. The rest were used to color up the image itself. I did add a little glitter pen to the silver knitting needles as well as the steam above the coffee cup to add just a bit of sparkle!

And, here's a close-up for you!

And, here's a peek on the inside! I did color up portions of the sentiment and accented with a few white dots. See?

And that, my friends, is it! So dig into these hues and let's see what you've got! Once you're done, don't forget to link up your creation below. Get those fingers inky and join us in the fun!


Until next week!
~Julie

An InLinkz Link-up

A Cozy Kind of Hues to Use!

Hello Friends! And welcome to another fun-filled edition of Hues to Use! I am going to warn you, if you scrolled down to get a glimpse of this week's color inspiration, it might have flat out busted your "cute meter!" I mean, look at that face, will you?

If you missed the MONDO news at Power Poppy Headquarters -- here goes!! Below, my sweet friends, is our Power Puppy-in-Chief, Tibbs! I know. I know. You just can't stand how darn cute he is, can you? This little multicolored furry wonder is a Welsh Corgi that might be small in stature but he's pretty BIG in personality! Since we've been overrun by totally adorable photos of Tibbs in action on Marcella's Instagram and Facebook pages, why not share some of that cuteness to make the card making world smile a bit bigger today? So, my friends, Tibbs is our color inspiration! To add a pop of color, we borrowed from Ms. Clara’s wardrobe and added a POP of hot pink!

Moving On! We are so blessed to have another ever-so-talented guest designer at the helm of 'Hues' today, who is sharing her design prowess and giving us a chance to get to know her a little bit better! So, would you please give a warm Power Poppy welcome to.....

It’s such a privilege to be sharing a card with you today from my studio in Wisconsin! My name is Tricia and I have enjoyed stamping ever since my sister-in-law gave me my first stamp set and catalog for Christmas somewhere around 20 years ago. Yes… I started stamping when I was 9. SNORT!!!! Hmm -- I guess that age thing doesn’t quite work since I just celebrated my 30th anniversary with my husband! OK, so I’m a forty-something stay-at-home mom and wife with three grown children, a daughter-in-love, a very adorable but paranoid mini Schnauzer, and the most wonderful husband in the world. To keep me busy I enjoy cross stitching, blogging about my cards and helping women manage their time and their homes through my online planning company - GraceWorks Purpose Planners. My stamping style is mostly clean and layered, I love to color, and I love to make cards to encourage people. But enough about me! Let’s stamp!

I just love the picture of Tibbs, don’t you?? I loved the pop of pink and decided to use the image from the Get Wool Soon digi set. I thought it would look warm and cozy… like when you are inside during a Wisconsin winter!

After I printed my image, I decided I would try using a combination of alcohol markers and watercolor pencils for my coloring. I started by laying down a layer of color with a variety of different markers… Copics, Spectrum Noir, Chameleon, Pro Markers, I combine them all!… and then I pulled out my Staedtler Karat Aquarelle pencils to add the final touches.

After I finished my coloring, I cut a few mats with some petite scalloped circle dies and layered my matted image over a background that I had cut out with a stitched rectangle die and then embossed with a wire fence pattern. I stamped the sentiment on a stitched strip and attached it to the card with foam dots. And then, really, I couldn’t help myself, I added Stickles to the steam and some glittery enamel dots to the sentiment strip. I like fairly simple cards, but I just have to have some sparkle!!

Thanks so much for walking through my card with me! I hope you’ll be able to play along!!

Thanks Tricia -- we love our sparkle too and... we love your "Tibbs-inspired" creation!  Just in case you want to keep tabs on Tricia, you can find her blog -- Simply Stamping -- HERE!  I am sure you won't be disappointed if you hop by and see what she's been up to! Her work is stellar folks! So, take a gander at Tibbs and join Tricia in this week's challenge! Who knows, your card could turn a few heads -- so much so that you could be our next guest designer for the week!

Get those fingers inky and then link up your creation below!

~Julie

An InLinkz Link-up

New Digi: Get Wool Soon

Hello my friends! On the 15th of each month, we introduce brand new digital stamp sets for the Instant Garden Collection. Today, though, we have a remixed introduction. I am holding on to the all-new morsel to share with you on November 25th, which will coincide with our Black Friday sale. I think you can bet that there will be fresh artwork to color — and a deal to boot!

So today, I’m sharing one of my favorite drawings, remixed with all new sentiments, and available today to purchase, download, and color. I hope you’ll find strikes a cozy chord... not unlike this scene:

Are you feeling me? It is time for afghans! It is time for coffee and afghans! It is time for fireplaces, coffee and afghans. And what goes really, really well with fireplaces, coffee, and afghans? Well, for me, the answer is something fulfilling to DO that you can work on right in your lap. Like, you know, with art supplies. Wouldn’t you like do do some coloring?

My newest digital stamp set is called Get Wool Soon, and it is a cozy vignette that’s all about the comforts of knitting, crocheting, and making things with yarn. I got out my old tubes of gouache for this one, and I noticed that some of them are ones I bought in the 1990s, and they are still going, offering me precious pigment. Others have dried up, but you can still carve out some color if you peel the packaging apart. My packrat ways can cause me major headaches (too much stuff everywhere, no room for new stuff!) but other times they delight me, like when I find an old tube of Winsor & Newton Orange Lake, which takes me straight back to being a kid in my mom’s upstairs art studio, painting next to her as she painted her dough ornaments.

This new yarn-centric digi would be fun done up in a myriad of colorways — use your imagination and just go for it! I would like to paint up a few to coordinate with my treasured handknit afghans given to me by my Grandma Bonnie and Granny Jean. And oh, I especially hope to devote a Get Wool Soon digi coloring session to the afghan shown above, which is currently on my lap — a true work of art knitted by my Aunt Joan. Joanie is one of the most talented yarnmasters I know of, such an ARTIST in her approach to all things knit, and at one time she had her own yarn shop in Edmond, Oklahoma. Joanie is Australian, and is one of the most fashionable, stylish, gracious, and highly adorable people in this whole world!

Admire with me this afghan, knit by Joanie knit for me many years ago, knowing that I love all things botanical. It is so highly detailed, using many different fancy woolen yards and threads, and features irises, poppies, and wildflowers — even a hummingbird! I cozy up with this beauty whenever possible, it surrounds me with inspiration, warmth, and most importantly, the feeling of LOVE.

Just look at the beautiful variations in the yarns and the stitches!

Whew!! Is that not a work of art? It is so special, just like the lady who made it. Our knitting digi could be perfect to make into a card for the knitter in your life, wouldn’t it?

To help us usher Get Wool Soon on the scene, come see the supersweet card Nancy Sheads of Rowhouse Greetings has made with this little vignette and a few of the swirly sentiments.

Thank you for stopping by, my dears! Enjoy your day, and I do hope you’ll take a moment to scroll through the blog and be sure to see this week’s Inspire Me Monday post — you can win a bursting goodie bag from Kathy Racoosin at the Daily Marker just for commenting, but you’ll also learn some fun tips for “coloring on the go”. And stay tuned for another new introduction coming next Friday...