Serving Up a Bit of Pretty!

I apologize for the slight delay in posting today’s blog — we had some excitement/distraction when our kitty cat, who has been missing all week, showed up at home! Turned our morning upsidedown in a wonderful way! Thank you for your patience! ~marcella ... turning it back over to Julie Koerber ...

Hello all and happy Friday!

I hope the grass is getting a wee bit greener and the spring flowers are starting to sprout in your neck of the woods! Don’t you just love the smell of spring in the air? If you’re still waiting for that lush smell to sprout -- good news! You can always “grow” a bit of floral fancy on your cards and even color it up yourself!

In fact, if you keep on reading, not only will you have a reason to be inspired, but the Bloom Brigade is on stand by, ready to show off their weekly bit of eye candy to get that creative mojo a flowin’!

If you missed us last week, you might have missed YOUR chance to get in on our latest fun-filled challenge hosted by Ally Cope!

Play along in our “POP OF PASTEL” CHALLENGE  and you could be the lucky winner to land a Power Poppy stamp set of YOUR choice! I mean, who wouldn’t want another fabulous stamp set to add to their stamp room mix? Clickety clack those keys HERE to see what this latest challenge is all about! Psst, you don’t have to use Power Poppy stamps to enter or win.

AND BY THE WAY......

The entries are already starting to stream in! And, goodness, I just have to share one that personally took my breath away! Check out this beauty that Linda K. created for this challenge! Don't you just love the soft as can be colors and the exquisitely colored image from Power Poppy's Dancing with Daffodils Digital Stamp Set? Oh  my! Feast your eyes!

Before we hit the Bloom Brigade link list...

We have a bit of a confession! What started as a cute contest to have YOU — our beloved peeps — travel to our Bloomies’ blogs and count the candles for our very FIRST Birthday Celebration at Power Poppy ended up with a quirky candle miscalculation! There was a lone hidden candle that — low and behold — was overlooked when we gave it a count! So, because we are numerically challenged, Ms. Marcella decided to SPREAD EVEN MORE LOVE by awarding one of those who guessed the correct number of “20” with a $100 gift certificate. We apologize for the candle confusion! So, without further ado, that randomly chosen lucky winner is......

AMBER MILONE

Amber, please email us at bloom@powerpoppy.com to claim your prize. We’ll be providing you with a gift code to use on your next shopping trip to powerpoppy.com!

Now to the moment that you have all been waiting for! It’s time to share the latest creations crafted by the fabulous Bloom Brigade!

Christine Okken

Cindy Lawrence

Leslie Miller

Stacy Morgan

Tosha Leyendekker

Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing a bit of your day with us! Your visits and comments are like sunshine for the soul! What kind of creativity do you plan to cook up this weekend? We’d love to hear! :-)

~Julie 

Inspire Me Monday: Creating Seeds of Love!

Hello all and welcome to a fun-filled Inspire Me Monday with yours truly, Julie!  With Mother's Day close to a month away, I thought I would get started on a fun little surprise for the moms in your life! It's something small but packed with meaning that will literally "grow" on the person you give this little gift to! 

Here's a look at what we'll be making today! 

OOoooOOOooo.... want to make a little seed packet yourself? Well, the fun news is, packed in this blog post, you'll find not only a freebie cut file, but a template for the seed packet if you don't have a cutting machine AND digi images that you can use to custom create and stylishly pair with Power Poppy clear or digital stamp sets!

LET'S GET ON WITH THE SHOW! 

I started my creating a Silhouette cut file of a Seed Packet, sent to my Silhouette and cut out of decorative paper. (You'll find the cut file to download at the end of this post!)

This will serve as my base. From there, I scored along the places that I would use as my fold lines. I scored on the back side of the paper so that when folded, my decorative paper wouldn't break and show the paper's white core. 

Here's a peek at all the pieces for my Seed Packet! I used the Countryside Bouquet Digital Stamp by Power Poppy as my focal point and digitally inserted it into my seed packet frame....

If you prefer, you can always print this file, mask and use a clear stamp image on the inside! From here, I used Copic markers and picked up these shades.....

But wait, there's more! There's also a darling downloadable sentiment you can use for your seed packet front as well! We have two different senties for you. One is perfect for the mothers and a second can be given to your grandmothers! Here's a peek at the sentiment for moms. Both downloadable files can be found at the end of this post.

I printed, trimmed the panel, added a little paper piercing, some silver cording and a fun little heart charm. To add it to the front of my seed packet, I actually folded and wrapped it around the entire packet like a belly band. And.... ta da, DONE! Just that simple!

Here's another look!

All that's left to do is find some fun seeds to stick inside and give as a gift! I have the flap up at the top still open as you can see. When it comes time to give this away, I'll likely add the seeds inside in a bit of wax paper and then use a silver foil sticker to seal it up.

Want to create a Seeds of Love little gift of your own? Well, it's just as simple as cutting, printing, coloring and then, best of all, giving!

HERE ARE THE LINKS TO OUR DOWNLOADABLE FILES! 

Silhouette Studio Seed Packet File

Seed Packet PDF File

Seed Packet Front

Mother's Sentiment

Grandmother's Sentiment

I hope you have as much fun as I did with this project! If you do end up making one of these cuties, please leave a link to your project in the comment section! I'd love to see!

~Julie

It’s a POP of Pastel Challenge!

Hello everyone and oh my—we’re already three days into April! As you know, every first Friday on the Power Poppy blog, we unveil a new way to inspire you with a bit of design power and a surge of creative spark in your craft rooms!

As we usher in spring, here’s our next Power & Spark Challenge, hosted by the ever-so-talented Ally Cope!

HOW TO PLAY OUR “POP OF PASTEL” CHALLENGE: 

“With Spring slowly making its way across the land, it reveals the beautiful of so many gorgeous blooms and buds: blooms of soft buttery yellows, light lavender purples and pastel rosy pinks. So for this month’s challenge, I want to see you create with a soft, subtle color palette of PASTELS. Let’s see those creamy oranges, delicate grassy greens, and beautiful soft shades of color on your cards and creations. I was inspired to create a card using the subtle palette of watercolor on my bouquet. I can’t wait to see what you create!”  ~ Ally 

OFFICIAL RULES:

• Use Power Poppy stamps if you have them, but if you don’t, this is a great way to WIN them!
• Link your creation below using our Linky
• Please mention Power Poppy in YOUR blog or gallery post with a link back to our challenge
• The winner will receive a free clear or digital stamp set of your choice from the Power Poppy Shop
• You may enter as many cards as you’d like as long as they fit the theme of the challenge.
• Deadline to enter is April 30th at 8:00pm EST. The winner will be randomly selected from the entries, and announced here the first Friday of  May

Want a little peek of what Ally whipped up for this POP of PASTEL Challenge? WARNING — it’s pretty dreamy!

Now, sweet stamping friends, it’s YOUR turn to take this delicate color palette and put it to use on your creations! We can’t wait to see that pop of pink, those gorgeous pale greens and lovely lavenders!

Before we hit the Bloom Brigade link list...

 we have some WINNERS to announce!

You wowed us with your bits of glitz and glamor in our March GO FOR THE GOLD Power & Spark Challenge! We loved to see the gilded beauties that ended up on our link list! If you missed the fun, just click HERE to see all the fabulous entries!

After all the cards were tallied, Random.org whipped up the winning number.....

..... and that means BARBARA CAMPBELL is the lucky lady who will get to pick a stamp set of her choice! Here’s a look at her golden creation! We love the slight shimmer that the gold embossing added to her fabulously colored sunflower! Congrats Barbara!!!

 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

But wait, we’re not finished with the winner’s circle yet! Last week, we lit the candle on Power Poppy’s first birthday cake and asked you to hop along and check out the Bloom Brigade’s blogs in search of the lone birthday candle hidden in their posts. 

Well, sweet friends, out of nearly 200 entries, we drew a name from the 19 folks who answered correctly, and that lucky lady is now the recipient of $100 to spend in the Power Poppy Shop:

MARY HABAK

Congrats to both Mary and Barbara! WoooooOOOoo HooooOOOoo! 

Ladies, please email us at bloom@powerpoppy.com to claim your prize! Barbara, let us know your stamp set choice, and Mary, we’ll be providing you with a gift code to use on your next shopping trip to powerpoppy.com!

Now to the Grand Finale of this post — a time when we share the beauties crafted by our talented Bloom Brigade. Stop by their blogs, give them some “love”, and check out their latest creations!

Allison Cope

Christine Okken

Cindy Lawrence

Julie Koerber

Katie Sims

Stacy Morgan

So, get creative and then link up your creations below. You could win that Power Poppy stamp set that is on your wish list! For those that celebrate, we hope you have a rejoiceful Easter or blessed Passover weekend! We'll see you back here soon!

~Julie

An InLinkz Link-up

April stamps: Available today! Plus a hop down the bunny trail...

Hellooooooo!!! I’m peeking out from behind a large tower of brand new stamps, can you seeee meeeee?

It’s the day we’ve been looking forward to all week, all the new clear photopolymer sets are available in the Power Poppy Shop, and girls. I have to tell you, when I stamped them out for the first time, I confess that I squealed a little bit—these might be some of the best I’ve done. I’m not a squealing type normally, more of a “Woo Hoo!” kinda gal. But I squealed because I couldn't believe how awesome and really true to my original drawings they are. PRETTY COOL. We have three showstoppers for you:

Lilac Time

Simply Camellias

Daffodils

And now they can be yours if ya tiptoe on over (by way of the conservatory, past the Camellias, past the Meyer Lemon trees, past the potted Aloes and cacti) to the Scents & Sensibility Collection. Have fun there.

Oh hold on, I have one more little route I’d like you to take time to walk through, before you head through the greenhouse of goodness..... because every member of the Bloom Brigade has one more card to share today. Can you stand it??!!! I might just squeal again!

Allison Cope
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Dawn Burnworth
Kathy Jones
Katie Sims
Julie Koerber
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker

Who am I kidding... I have some photos to share tooooo! (“Woo Hoo”) Since Easter completely snuck up on me and is THIS Sunday, and since this release has a celebration of daffodils and spring flowers, I wanted to share a few images from Easter several years ago. My folks put on the most glorious egg hunt for Doug’s children and mine in their garden, lined with meandering brick pathways that my stepdad Steve designed and paved himself when I was back in highschool. My mom’s baskets for the kids were filled with carefully chosen goodies — and she has done this for the kids every single year since. Can you say luckiest daughter ever? I can:

I AM THE LUCKIEST DAUGHTER EVER! Thank you, Mom! I think you’ll see what I mean... p.s. All of these photos were taken by my true love, Doug. xoxo thank you, honey!

Clara with an eagle eye trained for exquisite egg-hunting

Annnnnnd they’re off down the bunny trail

Finners happy to show us the chocolate-y contents of one of his finds!

Mama Marcella busy snapping photos of all the cuteness while Clara plucks the perfect egg

Hello from my Mom, Susan Smith, from her lofty vantage point in “the Treehouse” that Steve designed and built. Someday we’ll do an entire post about the treehouse. Steve is a renaissance man!

Our oldest girls looking pretty in pink as they round up the goods in the back garden

The fantastic four... five years ago! :)

Wishing everyone a joyful, love-filled, very Happy Easter!

Can’t stop, won’t stop ... gushing about Daffodils

Daffodils are blooming all over St. Louis, and even though I am overwhelmed with deadlines for this, that, and about fifteen other things, I WILL TAKE TIME TO GUSH ABOUT THE DAFFODILS. And smell them. Admire them. I will study them. I will hold them by their straight stems and stare deeply into their coronas. I will snip several of them, carry ’em into the house, and then do these things all over again, as they look a little different when they are in the house - brighter and poppier and possibly even more beautiful. Here is a bouquet I trimmed last spring in the rain, and then enjoyed for days inside.

Try it sometime. Cut those flowers. Bring them inside or to work with you. Watch and marvel as your day edges up a notch in awesomeness. Or better yet, bring them to a neighbor’s house, and let them enjoy the glow of nature.

After the daffodils are finished, or heck, even while they are blooming, wouldn’t it be wonderful to capture the beauty of a mix of them, and keep it in your cards and creations for days, weeks, years? And to share that joy with your neighbors, friends, and family?

Let’s do this!!! Presenting my newest set in clear: Daffodils!

This set takes the highly popular (I would say I can’t keep it on the shelves, but it’s a digital image, so....) Dancing with Daffodils, presented in clear polymer. And then, a SECOND focal image that I worked and reworked, then reworked some more to get the right balance of daffodils, jonquils, and companion flowers — after erasing and retooling, I finally went with Grape Hyacinth (Muscari armeniacum). With these images I’ve given you some sentiments for those times when somebody needs a hug, and to know that you are there for them. Daffodils in clear is going to be one of those sets you just want to have in your arsenal. I can feel it. ;)

The Bloom Brigade, honestly, has outdone themselves on this one. I feel like I say that each time in some fashion, but people, how do they continue to up the ante on how cool a card can be? GO SEE WHAT I MEAN!!

Allison Cope
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Dawn Burnworth
Julie Koerber
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker

TOMORROW..... everything is available in the Power Poppy Shop - AND - we’re having a massive blog hop with the entire team. What a wonderful April it will be, with all three of the Scents & Sensibility sets to color! I will try to get in on some of the coloring fun in between mulching sessions!

Tip-toe through the conservatory

My new three-set stamp collection for Power Poppy is called Scents & Sensibility, as it features images and sentiments that touch and tingle those aspects of our lives.

Yesterday we previewed a set heavily associated with the “scent” side of that equation—the fragrance of fresh Lilacs sends folks back to fond, vivid memories of childhood or of the air outside their bedroom window—but today I want to share one that really hits the sensibility side! If you can just tiptoe through the conservatory with me for a moment...

Actually, it’s the Linnean House at the Missouri Botanical Garden, the oldest greenhouse west of the Mississippi River, in continuous operation since 1882. (Mighty impressive!)

While these blooms do not hold a scent, the stunning Camellia is a flower associated with a range of themes and significance. As a matter of fact, Camellias come in shades of pink, red, and white, and each color has its own meaning! Pink flowers represent longing. Note how the flowers nod downward on a Camellia plant, almost appearing coy.

It’s not hard to see why red Camellias symbolize passion. Check out this hot number:

White Camellias stand for adoration, loveliness, and perfection. (and, if you can believe it, nary a white flower was in bloom when I visited, so you’ll need to use your imagination to conjure the most perfect white Camellia and insert it right HERE. :)

I did capture this wonderful red and white striped variety, however, so let’s gaze upon this beauty....

Both pink and red Camellias most often symbolize romantic love, the pure white flowers are thought of to express love in many forms, including the love of a parent for a child. When given to a man, camellias represent good luck!

I found all of these so very charming — and with such depth of color and variety in the way the frilly petals open to be almost pom-pomlike! So inspired in fact, I took what started out as an image for our very popular digital set, Camellias, and created an entire set, with new images and sentiments. Introducing the clear version that will infuse your cards with meaning and innate beauty: Simply Camellias!

Oh, the Bloomies have really created a showy tour for you today with Simply Camellias. And I think you’ll see that the new floaty, scripty sentiments really freshen things up! I hope you’ll take some time to travel around their blogs and see what they’ve made!

Allison Cope
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Dawn Burnworth
Julie Koerber
Kathy Jones
Katie Sims
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker

And my dears, I do hope you’ll come back tomorrow. I am almost concerned that the juiciness of the set we’re sharing might send some of you to the fainting couch.

A glimpse of April’s release - today!

Well, hello there! First of all, I want to say thank you to everyone for the wonderful notes you’ve sent and comments you’ve left wishing Power Poppy a Happy Birthday, and for participating in the treasure hunt-surprise party thrown by the Bloom Brigade. (It’s not too late to get in on it, and you might win $100 gift certificate in our store - click here!) I continue to marvel at the number of folks we are touching with our message and our stamp designs, and who in turn touch more folks with the cards they make!

It’s a really good feeling, and I do so appreciate you all sharing your happy vibes with us!!

OK - I have the suspicious many of you are awaiting what we have in store for you with our April release. I let you in on a little sneaky peek in the e-newsletter a few weeks ago...

Can you see the frothy blooms blasting out of that pitcher (see, tucked under my camouflage of markers, papers, and ribbon)? Folks went gaga for our French Lilac digi, and that made me very happy because you know, I just wasn’t finished with Lilacs yet. In fact, I actually drew a few other images for this set and couldn’t fit them all onto a 4 x 6" stamp set canvas! They will just live in my sketchbook for a while. But really, who can get enough lilacs?

Not this lady!

As a matter of fact, I’ve tried to grow lilacs on more than one occasion, and unfortunately, I didn’t have the ample daylight sun and space that Lilacs need to thrive (most space filled up by peonies!). But, I am entranced by the inspired lilac hybrids of Father Fiala, and I would reallllly love to have that lush scent in my yard come spring. And, not to get started on too big of a tangent, but let me show you a few of the Lilacs introduced to the world by this renowned and beloved hybridizer. The lilacs shown below can be ordered by mailorder from my favorite, favorite, favorite source for unique perennials and very special trees and shrubs, the lovely family-owned Klehm’s Song Sparrow Farm and Nursery in Wisconsin.

'Little Boy Blue' by Father John Fiala, Available by mailorder from Klehm’s Song Sparrow Farm and Nursery

'Fiala’s Remembrance' by Father John Fiala, Available by mailorder from Klehm’s Song Sparrow Farm and Nursery

'Atheline Wilbur' by Father John Fiala. Available by mailorder from Klehm’s Song Sparrow Farm and Nursery

Here’s a quick bio of the hybridizer Father Fiala, written by Roy G. Klehm. I designed and illustrated Klehm’s catalogs for many years, and Roy told me lovely stories about the man behind these plants, so I appreciate you indulging me in sharing this part of the plant world with you! Klehm’s has more than 20 varieties of hybrid lilacs — go find more inspiration for your coloring, or even better, plant one outside your window — CLICK HERE! :)

Now I think I might have to go pick up a bouquet of these from the flower market, they are going to be all I can think about today, and they’re aren’t even close to blooming yet!

Doh! I did go on a lilac tangent. Because today’s post is about peeking at my new stamp set, isn’t it... SO! Presenting a preview of our newest clear stamp offering, one that I think you will turn to again and again to usher in spring, and share a sense of “enjoying the moment” by slowing down and breathing in the goodness of life: It’s Lilac Time!

Come and see the lilac-y loveliness that our Bloom Brigade has created for today. You may find yourself needing to feel surrounded by the calming spring scent of lilacs, or maybe you’ll order up this set so you can color these up ANY TIME! Even after they finish blooming in the garden...

GO BLOOMIES, GO!

Allison Cope
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Julie Koerber
Kathy Jones
Katie Sims
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan

We’ll see you back here tomorrow... we have more to share and I’m going to tell you now, I’m trying to make it really hard for you to resist any of these sets. I put my heart into each of them! (It’s my way.) Have a spectacular day!