It's a Power Poppy Kind of Friday!

Hello all and happy spring to you. As I type these words, the sun is streaming in and the grass looks just a little bit greener out my window here in Montana. Yay! I hope you are all feeling the sunshine and watching those spring flowers take root and blossom -- even if it is only in your heart! 

Boy, oh boy, the talent was sure blossoming all over the web this week and we can't wait to show off just SOME of the Power Poppy goodness that we picked up on! Be ready to be wowed! Get set to be amazed! 

LET'S GET THIS POWER POPPY PARTY STARTED! 

Mindy Baxter of My Creative Scoop is sharing a gorgeous process peek of artwork she's working on for a soon-to-debut coloring class. Would you like to learn to shade and blend your Copics like THIS? Go see what Mindy’s up to with Hellebores, Power Poppy's digital set that’s long been a favorite for many. Taking your coloring to next-level realism and dimension is just a weekend away...

Stampin' Rock Star Michelle Boyer was spotted using Power Poppy's digital stamp set Cuppa Buttercups. I love the sweet simplicity of Michelle's design and all that absolutely fabulous shading! Sigh.... love.

Okay, Okay. I know I share a TON of Nancy Sturtz' stuff here on the blog. so much so, she might actually wonder if I am a stalker. (I am not Nancy, promise!) But honestly, look at this card! It is simply too sweet NOT to share. Everything about it just has a welcoming and charming vibe -- from the decorative paper to the way she so perfectly cut out those stamped and colored images,  to the alignment of all those darling dishes! If this was real life sitting area, I would have to spend an afternoon there with a cuppa somethin' good! p.s. Nancy used Artful Display by Power Poppy for this creation.

The creativity that’s happening in the card making world right now is just off the charts, and we love to see how you all are stretching yourselves. Jo Ann Danchik has come up with a personal challenge to use the same arrangement of stamps — we’re excited to see that it is our new Succulent Singles — in a series of cards, with different shades of cardstock and completely different coloring methods and color schemes. The results are absolutely breathtaking! Visit Jo Ann (@jadanchik on Instagram) to see her beautiful studies.

Need a super dose of happy? Direct your eyes above please to this colorful wonder created by Maria Sabina, who happens to hail from a small Romanian town. All I have is... WOW! Look at that no-line coloring (Maria used Inktense watercolor pencils) in so many sweet springy hues! She used Power Poppy's new clear set Peony Muse along with a few Narcissus blooms and Eucalyptus leaves from Glistening Paperwhites in such a unique way, I almost didn't recognize the stamp sets! Well done Maria, well done!

Alright -- one more for you!!!  Here's another version of no-line coloring, this time using colored pencils and Power Poppy's new set Sweet Memories. Essie's card has such a dreamy quality about it, don't you think? It's almost like those beautiful little flowers were just picked and placed so perfectly on a table, capturing the natural light just streaming over them. So sweet and beautiful!

I happen to know a few more lovely ladies who would like to share their artful endeavors with all of you! It's the Bloom Brigade and they are all on stand-by, waiting for your visit!

Allison Cope

Christine Okken

Cindy Lawrence

Julie Koerber

Before we go, have you checked out our new challenge for April?

Yours truly is the hostess and all you have to do is pick one of three sketches and then... CREATE! You can flip flop the sketch, set it on its side, use different shapes. The whole idea is to use these sketches as a launching pad! Learn more HERE and be sure to check out all the fabulous entries that have already linked up to the challenge! Of course, we would love to see YOUR take on these card layouts! ;-)

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to tune in next Monday when we'll have another Inspire Me Monday post to kick off your creative week. By the way, if you missed last Monday with Ally, hop back HERE to check it out. I can't wait to give some of her experimenting a try!

Check back at the end of the day, when Marcella will announce the winners of the two $25 shopping codes from last week’s Power Poppy/MISTI blog hop. We LOVED reading all of your comments, thank you so much for the love!

For those that celebrate this beautiful holiday, have a fabulous Easter Weekend!
Julie

It's a Fantastic Friday Affair!

Howdy Power Poppy Peeps and welcome to another colorful edition of Power Poppy Friday! It's the day of the week when we love sharing the best on the web in the hopes of sparking a bit of creativity and inspiration in your own crafty spaces!  

LET'S GET RIGHT TO THE ARTSY ACTION, 

SHALL WE? 

Oh, Elizabeth Zafferano -- what a colorific creation you whipped up! Elizabeth used a die cut and one of Power Poppy's newest members of the Instant Garden -- Flower Bomb -- to create this absolute masterpiece of an envelope! If you want to see the card she tucked inside, click HERE and check out this Insta post HERE sharing one of her little projects she's taking with her when she hits the road on spring break! Sigh..... can't wait to see that one finished!

Let's get some applause please for the coloring queen herself Ms. Kathy Racoosin! Holy COW that girl is on fire with the markers, pencils, and paints this month with her 30 Day Coloring Challenge (#thedailymarker30day) I just love the clean and classy design using Power Poppy's new set Succulent Singles along with one of my favorite sentiments of all time! ;-)

Nancy Sturtz fashioned an absolutely elegant splash of peonies in full bloom with this blue-hued beauty! I love the way she fussy cut each element in the Peony Muse stamp set and then accented it with a gorgeously detailed die cut and pearls! Speaking of die cuts! Our first four die sets that coordinate with the Spring Fling Collection stamp sets are IN-DA-HOUSE and have already begun shipping. So, if you ordered them, you can start stalking your mailman now! :-)

The designing phenom behind ES Cards created a real eye-catcher using Power Poppy's new set Tiger Lily XL!! She called it a Power Poppy puzzle and you can see why with stitched die cut squares situated this way and that way! I love the contemporary feel of this card paired with that bold pop of color!

Guess what? While we featured four, fantabulous, festive and fun creations here, you have to know that more inspiration is just a click away at #powerpoppy on Instagram or on our dozens upon dozens of Pinterest boards HERE!  If you are ever in a creative dry spell, these two spots bring a bevy of great ideas to get that mojo a flowin' again!

Before I get to our fabulous list showcasing some of the best card designers in the WORLD -- a few reminders for you! First up, don't forget about this FUN challenge! Click over to the deets HERE! 

And, you only have a week left of this fantabulous sale!!! Click HERE to see all of the fanciful members of the Instant Garden a.k.a. our digital stamp sets!

The Bloom Brigade is chocked full of mojo and boy, oh boy, do they have some goodies to share with all of you! So, stop on by and see these fine ladies!

Allison Cope

Christine Okken

Cindy Lawrence

Julie Koerber

Katie Sims

Stacy Morgan

Tosha Leyendekker

And be sure to swing back by on Monday when the amazing Jessie Banks will be the hostess of the latest edition of....  Inspire Me Monday!

Have a wonderful weekend and we'll see you back here soon!
~Julie 

Spring Fling's Final Reveal - All Sets Available NOW

Well guys, it’s been a MOST delightful week sharing special peeks at our new collection of stamps. Today, we’re going to recap one that you got to see earlier this month when Kathy Racoosin of the Daily Marker created a showstopping group of cards with a stamp I designed at her special request! Did you happen to see Tiger Lily XL? It is the FIRST stamp in a new collection we’re starting featuring super-sized flowers in clear polymer. Lots of detail, large areas to color to really have room to fit your marker and pencil tips! These guys are large and in charge — they come on a 5" x 5" stamp canvas, and in this case, the flower itself is over 4" wide!

Kathy’s video coloring tutorial using Tiger Lily XL was a huge hit, and a revelation to many, as she colored it up with Sharpies, that clever lass. Then a few days later, she was back at it again, this time with colored pencils and a whole new color scheme. Be sure to go give this a peek, too, then pick up the stamp for yourself to add your own unique spin.

I’m just about to get right to the blog roll here for today’s final reveal by the hardest working team in the stamp business, The Bloom Brigade! Can we get a round of applause for them? Or even better, a standing ovation? Or wait, the BEST thing: stopping by their blogs to leave a cheery note. They have truly outdone themselves on this release, I’m sure you agree. But first, a brief announcement:

Today the entire Spring Fling Collection of stamps is in the Power Poppy Shop! 

I’m offering a lil special offer now through Saturday:

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

FREE SHIPPING 

when you purchase 3 or more clear stamp sets

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

US and Canada: Select "FREE SHIPPING" from the dropdown menu when you are checking out.

International Customers: Select "SPECIAL OFFER SHIPPING" from the dropdown menu, and you will receive the same discount as our domestic customers.

Stamps do NOT have to be from the new release, they can be any sets that are available for purchase, even SALE stamps (I’ve put a bunch on sale for a limited time only!)

Offer ends March 18, 2017 at midnight central.

Would you like to see the Bloomies’ last cards featuring this collection? Come take a look... I seriously hope you have a hankie nearby, because these are so creative they could bring a person to tears!

Allison Cope

Christine Okken

Cindy Lawrence

Julie Koerber

Kathy Jones

Katie Sims

Stacy Morgan

Tosha Leyendekker

Thank youuuuuu ladies! You totally kicked a-double-ess on this release and I am SO excited to work with each of you, my sweets!!

And now.... let’s reveal all of the sets, and remember, a few of them have coordinating dies now available!

Natural Beauties

Be sure to check out the Coordinating Dies for Natural Beauties, limited quantities, pre-order and your stamps and dies will ship after March 20.

Succulent Singles

Be sure to check out the Coordinating Dies for Succulent Singles, limited quantities, pre-order and your stamps and dies will ship after March 20.

Burst of Kindness

Loving Tulips

Be sure to check out the Coordinating Dies for Loving Tulips, limited quantities, pre-order and your stamps and dies will ship after March 20.

Sweet Memories

Artful Display

Peony Muse

Be sure to check out the Coordinating Dies for Peony Muse, limited quantities, pre-order and your stamps and dies will ship after March 20.

Tiger Lily XL

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

WHEW!!! I think that’s it!! If I think of anything else, I’ll circle back. I think I need a nap. But no time, I gotta go start packing up orders! 

Thanks so much for your beautiful comments all week, you are such kind and generous people, each of you. xoxoxo!!

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!

Spring Fling Day Three: Loving Tulips and Sweet Memories

Just a note here before we begin. I did not mess up Daylight Savings time! But I did oversleep... because I was up until 3 am going through all the Giveaway entries... good golly was that exciting. More on that later.

OOoooooOOoooooOOO we just keep on keeping on with the fun this week, are you loving it as much as I am? Two full days of Spring Fling previews are under our belt, three sweet stamp sets have been shared, and today we have two more to add to the stack of temptation! If you haven’t seen any of the other sets yet, take a moment to scroll through our blog to catch up on the juicy cards and creations the Bloomies have been whipping up! Plus you can see my new haircut. Yes, the breaking news and most important information can be found here, including the status of my out of control mane.

ON TO THE STAMP PREVIEWS...

Have ya seen our little peeks at this set yet? The one I spent some time coloring one beautiful morning, and was so excited playing with my tubes of paint that I decided to make a photo shoot on my dining room table with all my “little stuff”...

I woke up and had this vision in my head of arranging the stamps around an inspiring blurb, and for me, this verse is helpful. It’s hand-lettered, not a part of the set, but you could add anything you want inside a scattered circle of Sweet Peas! I shot a few details of the process as the image was coming alive on my watercolor block...

These are the stamps from our new clear stamp set that I think is one of most fun things I’ve played with in a while!! To create this set, I started with our digital version, Sweet Pea Show, which I drew earlier this year. It has been quite the hit with colorists across the world much to my delight, with a rainbow of colors and creative approaches. But the fun part of this clear version is that I took some computer-aided clippers to the vines! The result is a stamp set with a whole BUNCH of single sweet peas in various lengths with subtle variance in scale, along with new drawings of pea pods, tendrils, peas, and a fresh batch of small curlicue sentiments that go with it. It’s all too sweet! Introducing Sweet Memories.

You can do so much with this set, and I know it’s one that I will return to agin and again because it’s gosh darn FUN to play with the twisting, twirling tendrils and our flouncy, fancy hybrid sweet peas. These are no standard peas, my dears. These are special, just like you! hehe! :) Seriously I mean it, though. Special peas for special peeps.

On to the NEXT new stamp set preview for today... let’s just hop right in, shall we? Isn’t everybody everywhere just Loving Tulips? Find me one person who does not like a tulip. The simplest ones are hard to pass up, and the French, Parrot, and species tulips are downright jaw-dropping. So let’s check out this set that might ring a bell with ya....

Do you recognize that pitcher of prettiness? It’s based on one of our most popular digis everrrr, Tulips in Hobnail Pitcher. But I refined the clear stamp version a bit, and it’s just as awesome and fun to color as the digi. PLUS, this one comes with a spotty sentiment that I hope will win your heart as it did mine. The swoopy scripty “Hello!” is based on a vintage greeting card I found, and attempted to recreate — but with a polka-dotty vibe just to be extra lively.

This new set will also have COORDINATING DIES — yes, I am going there — and they will be in the shop next week!

ADDENDUM: Our alert cardmaking friend Maria V. inquired as to whether the dies for Loving Tulips will fit the digital stamp. I’d like to report that they will fit with a small adjustment. The digital stamp needs to be slightly reduced when you go to print. You'll just change the size to 97% in the print dialog box and the artwork should nestle right in. This was not my intention, but due to variance needed when manufacturing the clear stamps, the digital image is not a perfect match. If this becomes too tricky for folks, we may upload a "die-friendly update" to be available to anyone who has purchased Tulips in Hobnail Pitcher. Stay tuned, darlings!

Now let’s run ’round and see what creative cards are on display for today by the talented Bloom Brigade design team, who are just totally outdoing themselves on this release, I’m sure you’ll agree:

Allison Cope

Christine Okken

Cindy Lawrence

Julie Koerber

Kathy Jones

Katie Sims

Stacy Morgan

Tosha Leyendekker

Thank you sooooo much, Bloomies!! And thank you so much to my wonderful customers who have been burning up the internet with their kind comments so far during our previews.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

And now it’s time to announce the winner of the Power Poppy Giveaway — you know, the one where we are giving away the ENTIRE SPRING FLING COLLECTION of 8 stamps to one entrant and a friend who was tagged.

We got approximately 80 ba-jillion entries from our blog, Facebook, and Instagram — and I want to tell you that by the end of going through all of them (I was awake until 3 am!!) I wish I could give them to every single one of you. If I ever win the lottery, I’m totally going to. 

But for this time around, we have one winner, who tagged one friend...

*** BARB ENGLER ***

Barb, Congratulations to you!

You win all 8 stamps in our collection, and the friend you tagged wins 8 stamps, too. That friend is Lisa Tilson.

Please send us a note at bloom@powerpoppy.com with both of your addresses so we can get those stamps on their way to both of you lickity split. Can't wait to see what you make with them, ladies, I hope you’ll share photos of your work with us.

THANK YOU ALL so much for entering, for your beautiful, loving, and sometimes very moving comments... this was great fun and I think we’ll have to do it again!!

See you back here tomorrow, yes? TWO MORE stamp sets will be coming out to play, and we’ll be one day closer to everything being available to purchase on March 14. 

Enjoy your day,

Spring Fling Day Two: Burst of Kindness, Succulent Singles

Here’s where things start to get nuts. Yesterday we shared the preview of the Natural Beauties set (thank you guys SOOO MUCH for your lovely comments! I am reading them ALL and smiling so big at your reactions, my sweet peeps!). Hold on to your hats, though, because today we’re introducing TWO new stamp designs, tomorrow another TWO, and TWO on Monday, and then a final set on Tuesday when all the Spring Fling stamps will be available to buy in the store! Let’s try not to go cross-eyed during this process, but instead, GET STOKED! Eight new stamp sets (some with coordinating dies, yes ma’am) that will bring you hours of coloring fun, plus, cherished artwork at the end of it all.

Don’t believe me? Dude, I totally spent time coloring these and can confirm the joy. I actually posted on Instagram about it because the feelings derived from coloring up one of today’s sets was so robust. It all started with these beautiful babies...

Sometimes we go a little crazy at the nursery. I know I’m not alone. (Please tell me I’m not alone.) In gathering the SUCCULENT source material to draw today’s sets, which I knoooooooow I could have drawn from photographs or the few lil plants I overwintered in the windowsills, but running out for a fresh supply was too enticing for me to pass up and injected some color into a grey winter’s day. After I sketched everything out, took it to final ink, and had our stamp proofs made, I was able to do a little stamping myself.

Warning: I am the world’s worst stamper, so if you notice little smudged bits or double-impressions, reread my aforementioned disclaimer. Leave drawing stamps to me, and I will leave the stamping to you guys, deal? (Unless you want to draw stamps, too, in which case, go for it!!)

Are succulent plants not still the total and complete rage? I’ve been down with ’em since the early 90s when I first discovered the plant called Sedum, which I needed to illustrate for a plant catalog. Head over heels ever since. So I painted them up with my gouache and watercolors, sitting on my sofa, while watching Netflix. That is living! I continued to add layer after layer of color:

I probably won’t make these into cards, because my new thing is leaving some of the stamps uncolored, and coloring in others. For a cool example of this technique, take a look at this floral fabric I recently saw on Instagram, a print called “Sibylla” from British decorating house Designer’s Guild.

Notice how some areas are colored in, and others are left as outlines? That’s a thing!! Try it sometime using Power Poppy botanical stamps for a cool effect.

Today’s first stamp set preview, which you can see across the social media “landscape” today, our new Succulent Singles stamp set, filled with cute lil mix-and-match plants and four fun sentiments.

This one has our new Coordinating Dies to help you make quick work of layering and throw those fussy cutting scissors out the window. Well, maybe don’t do that, because we only have dies for a few sets. ;) Also, fussy cutting can be kind of cathartic. But still, dies = easy button.

NEXT NEW SET..... !!!

I’m going to segue into this one by sharing a photo of my son, Finn, taken yesterday afternoon. We stopped by my stepdad Steve’s house to pick flowers before the frosty tundra descended upon our Midwestern land. Steve sent us home with clipped branches of yellow Magnolia ‘Butterflies‘, deep pink Magnolia ‘Susan’, flowering Quince (they’re stowed in the backseat), gobs of Hellebores of various provenance, and Daffodils GALORE! Finn had to balance three mason jars filled with plants all the way home in my Mini Cooper. He’s a bloomin’ trooper!

We also grabbed a few splashy Begonia leaves from the greenhouse (later these gems would make it into a bouquet to give to Lulu after her opening night performance at her school musical — she did SOOOO AWESOME, incidentally!! So proud of that kid. (See my IG feed for a pic if you are so inclined. Go Lulu!!)

OK, so I go into all of this because today’s second set is along the lines of the kinds of plants I like to grow, draw, and photograph. I have a fascination with plants that are different. That’s why you don’t see too many daisies or sweetheart roses around here. This world is filled with SO MANY delights for the eye, and I crave the outliers. Meet the new clear stamp, Burst of Kindness.

Many have asked for this one to be available in clear, as it has been in digital format since last March. Now I’ve done it, and it’s a biggie! Four inches across and perfect for cropping in to a favorite zone of the bouquet. You’ll see when you tour the Bloomies’ blogs, so many possibilities! I went into great detail about the origins of this set last year, and upon reflection, I’m going to direct you to that first Spring Meadow Bouquet blog post to see how this bouquet of Lilacs, Bleeding Hearts, Checkered Lilies, and Summer Snowflake came to be. Here’s a peek of what I share in that post, my behind the scenes illustrations showing how the final art came to be:

Now, you can go and grab the bouquet for this set RIGHT NOW if you want it as a digital (It is pretty showstopping for The Daily Marker 30 Day Coloring Challenge, gotta say). But if the clear is near and dear, you’ll want to grab this beautiful bounty on March 14! It has new sentiments that are filled with kindness and thankfulness. Which actually sum up how I’m feeling right now, thinking about the Bloom Brigade’s cards for today. Are you ready??

Allison Cope

Christine Okken

Cindy Lawrence
Julie Koerber

Kathy Jones

Katie Sims

Stacy Morgan

Tosha Leyendekker

Whew!! Those ladies are CRUSHING IT, do you agree? Yesterday’s cards were incredz, but you are gonna faint when you see today’s.

As a final ta-da for the day, I’ll leave you with a pic of me with no make-up (oh, thanks, Marc, so special) that I took yesterday morning when the light was coming in my kitchen window and I thought, dang, this light really sets off my new highlights! (If you saw my post from yesterday about the cactus, you will know that I needed a haircut somethin’ fierce). Here tis!

Love you guys!! See you tomorrow for even morrrrrre! I know, it’s a lot to take in. Let’s just go with it!