Inspire Me Monday ~ Take The Challenge!

 

Hello everyone!  Gloria here!  Today is a special day for Inspire Me Monday!  Instead of just one Bloomie, you get two!  Bloomie Allison and I are having a friendly challenge.  We each sent each other a challenge. We each picked a stamp set, a coloring medium and a sketch for each other!

The challenge that Allison sent me was:

• to use either Forest Friends or Gifts of the Sea stamp set,
• use Copic Markers and Colored Pencils as a combined coloring medium
• use the sketch provided (by Mojo Monday)

Well, not too big a challenge!  I really wanted to use the Gifts of the Sea image as I live in California and thought a beach-themed Christmas card would be awesome. However, I could not color such a detailed image to fit the small size needed for the card sketch! 

 

I ended up printing the digital version of Forest Fellas: Maximo Moose to color for my project. I colored Maximo with Copics and Prismacolor Pencils. 

 

I followed the sketch very closely and created a slimline card (tall and skinny is what we used to call these in the "old days"). My card is 8" tall and 4" wide. 

 

I had fun digging into my vast stash of 6x6 paper pads for some moose appropriate patterns for my card! I was thinking lumber jacks and log cabins! I love how it turned out!

I stamped the clear version of the sentiment in brown ink. A bit of twine and a few enamel dots finish off the card.

I had fun doing Allison's challenge! I hope the Bloomies can do more of these! Thanks for looking and make sure to visit me at Scraps of Life blog.

******

Howdy all!  Ally here now!  Isn't Gloria's card creation magnificent!??  I just love that moose paired with that plaid!!!

The challenge that Gloria sent me was:

• to use either Garden of Gratitude or Maize for Days stamp set,
• use Watercolor and Colored Pencils as a combined coloring medium
• use the sketch provided (by Mojo Monday)

I chose to use the bloom filled wellies image from the Garden of Gratitude stamp set.  I stamped the image using Antique Linen Distress ink for a no-line effect and then I water colored them using Derwent Intense Pencils.  Then to add all the fine detail back into my image, I used my Polychromos Pencils.

I haven't watercolored in a long time so it was a great challenge that Gloria had me using this medium.  It was super fun to create this holiday card.

I hope Gloria and I have inspired to get creating.  Why don't you take a wack at each of our challenges and join us!??! We'd love to see what you create!  Share with us below in the comments.

Have a great week everyone!

~ Gloria & Ally ~

12 Days of Christmas Day ~ 10

Good morning and welcome to day 10! Stacy here to share gift tags for the season. You can add a little extra something special to any gift with a homemade tag. It tells the person that you really want to show them how special they are and I believe they don't have to be elaborate to be sweet and thoughtful. So let's get started... 

I am working with Mossy Pots with Paperwhites since I knew the balls and little flower in the set would be perfect for tags. The sentiment would be pretty easy for any gift and anyone really, so versatile I think. No need to fret if you have not gotten the stamp set yet. Marcy has two different Digi versions you can work with until then. 

Mossy Pots with Paperwhites: Tureen

Mossy Posts with Paperwhites

Mossy Pots with Paperwhites: Accent Pieces

First thing I always try to do is pick the colors and die shapes.  Let's work with the colors first. Using designer paper usually helps pick the color theme. You can go traditional or light and fresh. As you can see I choose light and fresh for both sets of tags. I picked two different papers but kept with similar colors so the ribbon would go with them all.  

Next would be the die cut shapes that I wanted to use. They both use the similar die shapes but I switched up the designer paper and the solid for each one. Each one of these the little ball ornaments from the stamp set or digi version is colored with various Copic markers. I then delicately cut around them and added a dimensional to the back so they would pop up off the tags.

These round ones have added flourished pearl accent to the one on the left, where as the right one has an embossed snowflake die and sparkle for texture. Tied the ribbon and button to the top and added sparkle all around. 

Then my other two same thing but instead of the flourished pearls it is rhinestones. Same embossed snowflakes with sparkles to the left one. See they are all pretty simple but sweet and make a thoughtful addition to any gift. 

Be sure to check back on Day 1 for details of our SALE, Case A Bloomie and all the PRIZES! 

I hope you have a Merry Christmas and enjoy all the blessings of the season. 

See you back here tomorrow as Jenny has a wonderful surprise for you. 

Have a wonderful day! 

12 Days of Christmas Challenge ~ Day 8: Joy to the World Bouquet

 

Welcome to Day 8 of the 12 Days of Christmas December Challenge Event! It's Gloria with you today! 

I am so lucky to be able to share the lovely Joy to the World Bouquet stamp set with you! This is my absolute favorite of the entire Quiet Christmas Release!

For my release project I used the digital version of this set (See Below), but for today's project I decided to use the clear version. I don't stamp very often these days, so it was fun to actually get out some inks and have a play...and boy did I play!

I had fully expected to color this image with Copic markers or with colored pencils. But, when I shared my original project with some folks, they all said, "That is very pretty, but I don't/can't color like that!" So I thought, maybe there are lots of folks who don't enjoy coloring or don't have the time to devote to coloring a complicated image like this one.

I would like for everyone to feel that they can make this image shine! This image IS stunning colored with markers, pencils, or watercolor paints. But, I think it is just as stunning with a more simple inked background!

I created a bunch of backgrounds FIRST, then allowed them to dry before stamping. For some of the backgrounds, I blended distress ink and other dye inks onto white cardstock panels with a blender brush. 

For other panels, I used a wet technique. I smudged the distress into onto my craft mat, added water, then smooshed the paper around in the ink. I did several layers, drying in between color families.

After allowing the ink to dry, I stamped onto the panels with various inks and embossed with various powders. Some of the examples turned out very well...others did not. But, that is the point of having a play! Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

I chose a few panels that I thought looked the best, and decided to try to make some cards with them. I wanted to keep the cards pretty simple, and I wanted them to be mostly flat for easy mailing.

I ended up making three cards, but I put the rest of the panels aside for further projects.

This card is my favorite of all the cards I made! I used the "wet" ink technique to drag a white cardstock panel through different colors of pink ink. I allowed the ink to dry then repeated the process with blue ink and with a deep magenta ink.

I love the speckled look of the paper! After the ink was dry, I stamped the image onto the panel with black permanent ink, which also needed to dry! (Watching ink dry is boring!)

I printed the sentiment from the Forest Finds digital stamp set onto another piece of white cardstock. I used a die template to cut out the sentiment, making sure to line the die up with the bottom edge. 

I then used the same die to cut my image panel to fit the top portion of the white panel. I added ribbon and a few enamel dots before attaching the finished panel to the black card base. I created a card base that is roughly 6" x 4 3/4", which is not a very standard size! I will have to make an envelope to fit! 

The next two cards were made using the "dry" ink method.

This version has a background of distress inks added to white cardstock using a blender brush. I layered on various pink and lavender inks and allowed them to dry.

I stamped the image onto the panel with watermark ink, and then heat embossed with sparkly black embossing powder! I stamped the sentiment with black dye ink.

You can see how the embossing powder sparkles. It is black powder with iridescent flecks in it. I flicked on some white paint to add some "snow," and the card is finished! This is a standard A2 card, and flat for easy mailing!

I also wanted to try a blue and white version, so I repeated the process of using a blender brush to add various blue inks to a white panel. 

I stamped with watermark ink and heat embossed with white embossing powder. This is a very detailed image, so you need to use a very fine embossing powder.

I almost wish I had stamped the sentiment in a blue ink, rather than black. I created another A2 card, plus I added some sparkly enamel dots to the card front.

The Joy to the World Bouquet set also comes in a digital version.

You can print the digital version at any size you with. For my original project, I printed the image at just smaller than 10" X 8"!

You can see how different the image looks at a larger size, and all colored in with markers and pencils. To see this version, click HERE.

Remember, the 12 Days of Christmas December Challenge continues through December 12th!

Don't forget to check out all the festive fun on our Day 1 post on the Power Poppy Blog, HERE.

Merry Christmas!

12 Days of Christmas ~ Day 7~ Let It Glow

 

Hello, Friends and welcome to Day 7 of the 12 Days of Christmas!  It’s Barbara W. here and today I am showcasing the Let It Glow clear stamp set and the Let It Glow: Lights digital stamp set from the Quiet Christmas release. 

 

I am sharing a clean and simple design that can easily be mass produced using a digital image and minimal supplies. I elected to go with no embellishments so the card is not only easy to make, it’s also easy to mail. Let me show you what I've done here...

I printed the string of lights and the sentiment from the Let It Glow digital set onto a piece of white card stock. Then I colored it using just a few Copic markers. I didn’t bother to use shading or to leave highlights on the bulbs because I went over them with a shimmer pen and then added a clear glaze, which gives the bulbs a natural highlight. I used the little light rays stamps from the Let It Glow clear stamp set for the accents around three of the bulbs and then I used a glitter pen on the lines to add a bit more sparkle. I matted the focal image with holographic card stock and adhered that onto my card base. And that's all there was to it!

 

 

When I make clean and simple cards, I incorporate details that add interest, like the stitching, the glitter pen and the embossing on the background panel. And just LOOK at the sparkle, shine and dimension the clear glaze gives those Christmas lights! And the holographic card stock matting really makes the simple design pop.  The focal panel is popped up with foam tape but it's not bulky and will still be easy to mail. If I were to mass produce these, I would approach it assembly line style, completing all of one task at a time; die cutting all of the focal panels, embossing all of the background panels, adding the shimmer pen to all of the pieces, etc. That way things stay organized and move along swiftly.

 

The holographic card stock is really showing off in this photo!  But imagine it with a glitter card stock, or with red or green or whatever colors you choose! Oooo..how about non-traditional colors? Pink and teal. Black and gold. Or all of the colors of the rainbow! Will you try it? I hope you do. Whatever you decide, just have fun with it!

Now here's something I think you'll really like...There's a lot going on!

 

You can read all of the details on our Day One post, linked HERE. Please stop by tomorrow for Day 8 to see what my Bloomin' Buddy, Gloria has created to share with you.

Thank you for visiting with me today!  I hope you had fun and got inspired!

Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas!

 

 

 

 

12 Days of Christmas - Day 5 Forest Fellas

 Hello everyone, and welcome to Day 5 of the 12 Days of Christmas!  It's Broni and I'm so happy to be here to share with you some Christmas cheer using the awesome new Forest Fellas from the recent Quiet Christmas release.

I am totally in love with this set!  All of these "fellas" are so fun to color and to play with. And I have a few cards to share with you today using them.

To start with, I used the Moose to create Christmas cards for all the young ones in my life.  Each year I create the same card for all 8 of them with just a little variation from card to card.

For each card I used a small portion of a stencil and some ink blending to create the small background panel. Each one is also outlined with sparkly glitter glue, with the same sentiment being stamped on each.  I colored and cut out each of the moose, adding glossy accents to all the berries and eyes.  They were popped up on the stenciled panel with some foam mounting tape.  Here are a couple of the individual cards.

And here's another shot showing all of the cards together.

Up next are a few birthday cards that I had already created and mailed to the recipients.  These fellas are perfect to send wintry birthday wishes.

I used the Owl for a couple of girl friends' cards.

The background is actually some wrapping from a makeup order that I received.  I loved the color and the sentiments on it and thought it worked well for birthday greetings. I framed a different sentiment on each of the cards, using the wreath die cuts.

And lastly I used the Bear for a masculine birthday card.  He is just perfect!

Like on all of the fellas, I used Copic markers, but for the bear I used the dotted method to mimic fur and I used some Copic blending solution on a rag to dab some of the color from the overalls creating a textured look.

See, I told you these guys were fun!

I used the clear set for all of my cards, but each of the Forest Fellas is also available in digital format.  Buy them HERE in the Power Poppy store.

Don't forget to check out the Power Poppy blog tomorrow for even more 12 Days of Christmas fun!

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

Broni

Don't forget to check out all the festive fun on our Day 1 post on the Power Poppy Blog, HERE.