Inspire Me Monday: A little “Winter Pick-Me-Up” with How-to Video

Welcome once again to Power Poppy’s Inspire Me Monday with Rhea Weigand. Today I am sharing Winter Pick-Me-Up with an instructional video on how I do the backgrounds of florals.

I printed the digital image at 150% of its original size, and at 30% opacity. It is framed in a 5x7 very old frame passed down through the family. I chose it because it really helped pop the fluffy willow twigs from the project.

Enjoy the video. My voice is a little low so you may want to turn up the volume. Beware to turn the volume DOWN when the music starts...lol. It may startle you.   

Here are the colors used to create this piece.

Thanks for visiting today!

CHEERS TO 2016!!!

Hello all and Happy Friday! We hope your days have been nothing short of Merry & Bright! On this first day of 2016, let us be one of the first to say.....

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU! 

With the holidays winding down and most of us falling into winter nesting mode, let's not forget that we are only on the 8th day of Christmas! Remember? There are 12! So, given that, don't miss out on the final days of Power Poppy's Holiday Stamp Sale! Simply enter the code HOLIDAY10 at the time of checkout to cash in on your savings!

With the close of 2015, came the close of our final Power & Spark Challenge for the year -- one where we let you hop scotch all through our past challenges to pick your favorite from the last 12 months! We called it the Power & Spark Rewind Challenge! And guess what? It's time to announce the lucky stamper who will get her pick of a Power Power Stamp Set! 

Random.org threw all the names in their computerized hat and drew the number.....

... meaning our winner is.....

MELANIE ANN MACKENZIE!

Melanie chose Cindy Lawrence's Shabby & Chic challenge and the results were stunning! I love the antique cream feel she's got going on with the distresed and sponged edges! Just delightful! I also love that she colored up the blooms from Power Poppy's Simply Camellias stamp set with just a bit of Ranger Distress Ink -- phenominal! 

Congrats Melanie! All you need to do is email us at bloom@powerpoppy.com and share which set you'd like us to send your way! Don't forget your address and we'll pop those goodies in the mail to you right quick!

That's it from us here today! The Bloomies will be back next week after their holiday respite to showcase brand new creations and help kick off a brand new Power & Spark Challenge! Be sure to tune in on Monday when Rhea Weigand brings us the first Inspire Me Monday of the new year with a video tutorial that will KNOCK YOUR SOCKS OFF! 

See you then sweet stamping friends!
~Julie

Time to Show Off Some Creative FUN!

Hello all and welcome to another Friday when we  hand out a little love by showcasing a customer creation, share a little news about our most recent challenge, and of course, give you all the links to a whole lot of eye candy courtesy of the Power Poppy Bloom Brigade! So, you ask, what am I waiting for? Well, YOU, of course! ;-)

First things first, the entries are REALLY rolling in for our Power & Spark Rewind challenge! I guess folks love the fact that you can pick and choose one of your favorites from over the past year! If you haven't played along yet, check out all the official deets HERE!  If you have played along already, guess what? You can enter as many times as you like! So, let's see what else you got! ;-) After all, the winner gets to choose any stamp set they want for their prize! It's like an extra Christmas present!

Want to see just a couple of the entries that have popped up on the linky so far? Both of these fine stamping ladies decided to follow along with Katie Sims' challenge called Gifts From the Heart.

Donna Phelan made an adorable hanging tag for a wine bottle to give as a gift. I just love the design and how she used Power Poppy's Short Stacks stamp set to deck this one out! The sentiment "Enjoy Life, Sip by Sip," is pretty much PERFECT! It's a festive and fun design from top to bottom!

Next up is Heidi, who made this adorable little gift tag below --- also using Power Poppy's Short Stacks stamp set -- combined not only Katie's Gifts from the Heart Challenge, but Tosha's Go for the Gold Challenge as well! Way to combine 'em Heidi! I love the soft watercolor feel of this tag and the fun texture she addded by combining different kinds of ribbon and yarn -- too fun! 

And that, my stamping friends, shows two different twists on our Power & Spark Rewind Challenge! There's plenty of time to get in on the fun -- you have until December 31st at 8PM EST to enter.

Before we bid you adieu, let's go on our weekly Bloom Brigade Parade, when the Bloomies show off some of their latest (and I'm sure greatest) creations to wow and inspire!

Allison Cope

Christine Okken

Julie Koerber

Kathy Jones

Katie Sims

Leslie Miller

AND A FEW FINAL NOTES! If you still need to add a few holiday stamps to your cache, anything from the Power Poppy Happiest of Holidays Collection is still on sale! They are 10% off when you use the code HOLIDAY10 at check out!

Also, don't be surprised if things get a little quiet here on the ole Power Poppy blog! Inspire Me Monday is taking a break until after the first of the year. We'll also be taking next Friday off here on the 'ole blog to honor the Christmas holiday. We'll be back the following Friday to share some last minute fun as we bid a fond farewell to 2015 and welcome in the New Year! See you all then!

Have a fabulous week!
~Julie

Inspire Me Monday: Gingerbread, Greetings & Giggles!

Howdy all!  Welcome to Inspire Me Monday!

I'm your hostess Allison Cope and today not only am I going to teach you how not to make a fun interactive card using the fabulous "Frosted Gingerbread" stamp set but I promise to make you laugh too!  Honest!  Boo-boos happen to the best of us... even people who have been making cards for years and so I thought I'd show you my "oopsy-daisy video " today!

So grab a cup of coffee and join me in my scraproom.  You won't regret it!  LOL!

Direct Link

Here is my final card for you. As you can see I did stamp the remainder of the greeting and attached it onto the bottom of the focal panel.

Here's the card closed...

And here is it with the the slider pulled-up...

Thanks for joining me!  I hope I made you giggle... heck, I made myself giggle!

Happy Holidays everyone!

~ Ally ~

Supplies:
stamps:  Power Poppy (Frosted Gingerbread)
ink:  Memento (Flannel Grey), Copic Markers
patterned paper:  Fancy Pants Designs (Timbergrove)
cardstock:  Neenah Solar White, Bazzill (Light Kraft), Stamping Up! (Cherry Cobbler)

dies:  My Favorite Things (Cross Stitched Rectangles STAX, Stitched Ovals)
other:  thread

Sharing the Joy!

Hello Sweet Stamping Friends, I hope you are feeling the joy of the season and cherishing all the beauty that it has to offer! I have heard from some of those in the stamping world that cardmaking has been cranked up a notch and that you are using your talents in this arena to deck out boxes and tags and bags! We'd love to see! If you have anything you've blogged about or put on Facebook or shared in a gallery, share a link in the comments section here! Sharing is what this craft is all about, isn't it?

And, speaking of sharing, we are trying to share a little design power to give you that creative spark in Power Poppy's latest Power & Spark Challenge! Check it out!  

HOW TO PLAY: Call this challenge Power & Spark Rewind! Why? Because to play along, all you need to do is play along with one of your favorite Power & Spark Challenges of 2015, rewind, and give it another go! Just that simple! You can read up on all the official rules in THIS challenge post as well as check out the links to past challenges! 

This challenge kicked off last Friday and already the entries are starting to pile up! Yippeeeee! So much eye candy! Like I love to do, I had to pick an artist to feature here on the ole Friday blog! 

So, let’s get to it!

I have to say that I absolutely adored these two creations from Barbara Walker of The Buzz! They are clean, colorful, crisp and downright lovely. Gold embossing is the perfect accent on a card being sent to usher in Christmas Greetings! Barbara used Power Poppy’s clear stamp set Botanical Tree and she truly brought out the best in this image in multiple cards she shared.

Here’s Barbara’s first version...

And then the second version in shades of red. I love the little star sequins she sprinkled on too! And, check out the homemade envelope. Well done Ms. Barbara!!

Be sure to stop by Barbara’s blog and read about all the details and her vision behind these card designs. 

And that, my friends is almost it for us this week. As you know, it wouldn't be a Friday without sharing some of the cards and creations from our talented design team The Bloom Brigade! And, like I always say, hop on over, say “hi” and ’'m sure you'll be wowed with what they came up with this week! 

Allison Cope

Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence

Leslie Miller

Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker

Thanks for spending a bit of your day with us! Ally will be back with another Inspire Me Monday coming up in a few days. She didn't tell me about her project but did give me a hint that there's some hijinx involved that might give you a case of the giggles! Can't wait! We could all use a laugh on a Monday, right? See you then!

~Julie

On The First Day Of Christmas

Hello, Rhea here today to share a little something special.  Partridge in a Pear Tree is a digital stamp available at Power Poppy.

I colored this up at 150% which made it 5.5" x 6.5".  Then placed it inside a wooden cigar box.  I removed the lid and the hinges.  I airbrushed the edges to match the picture and to age the box.

To add more interest large ribbon was added with flowers and buttons to match the image.

If you don't have a cigar box...try a frame and mat it with matching colors and decorate the frame.

It would be a nice little gift for a friend and something that could sit out each holiday season!

Here are the colors I used to color the image...

Thanks for visiting today!  

Time to Rewind!

Hi-dee Ho Stamping Friends! It's the first Friday of the month and.... what does that mean? It means Power Poppy has another way for you to add a little design power and creative spark to your card making and paper crafting projects! It is time for another...... 

HOW TO PLAY: Call this challenge Power & Spark Rewind! Why? Because all you need to do is look at this list below and pick one of your favorite challenges of 2015, rewind, and give it another go! Just that simple! To make it easy for you, here's a listing of our 2015 challenges! Click on the links if you want a sample idea or more info!

 2015 CHALLENGES

• The Sky's the Limit (Sunsets, blue sky, gray sky, use any color found in the sky)
• Go for the Gold (Use gold in any way – color, embellishments, embossing)
• Pop of Pastel (Use soft pastel colors)
• Cut it Out (Fussy cut all or part of your image)
• Pencil Me In (Color with pencils, including watercolor pencils)
• Hang Some Paper (Use at least three different patterns or colors of designer paper)
• Shabby & Chic (Soft, feminine, romantic, the appearance of age and wear)
• Gifts from the Heart (Gifts or gift packaging, tags, etc.)
• Bits & Pieces (Use just a portion of an image. Stamp off the edge or cut it out, etc.)
• Embellish This (Use embellishments)

 THE 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 use the exact URL from your post instead of a generic blog address.)
• Please mention Power Poppy in YOUR blog or gallery post with a link back to THIS challenge
• The winner will receive a free clear or digital stamp set of choice from the Power Poppy Shop
• Enter as many cards as you’d like, as long as they fit the theme of the challenge!
• Deadline to enter is December 31st @ 8:00pm EST. At that point, we'll draw the winner randomly and make the announcement right here on the first Friday of January 2016!

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

Before we move on to our beloved Bloomies, I do have some more fun to share. First, our winner of our November Power & Spark Challenge and second, a little customer eye candy that was just too fun NOT to share!

First things first, Random.org threw all the entries to last month's challenge in their algorhythm of wonder and picked this lucky number....

.... which means our November Power & Spark Embellish This winner is.....

JANIS IN ID!

Janis featured a trio of trees on her creation and added a whole bunch of different kinds of embellishments -- rhinestones and heat embossed accents ---  to help this Christmas creation SPARKLE! Thanks Janis for playing along! To grab your prize simply email us at bloom@powerpoppy.com and let us know which clear stamp set or which three digital stamp sets that you would like us to send your way! CONGRATS!

And now to that bit of promised eye candy! This little snow dude -- part of the Let's Chill digital stamp set --- is hot off the Power Poppy presses and already we are seeing him sprout in creations left and right! I just adored the soft hues Gail Meinen used to color up this frosty pal -- adding bits of bling to boot! She mentioned she needed this little guy becuase of her love affair with snowmen and, well Gail, we are glad you thought our snow guy cute enough to nab!

Even with all of that inspiration before you -- WE HAVE MORE! The Bloom Brigade is on stand by to share some of their recent creations. As always, hop by, say hi, and get a little creative inspiration while you're there!

Allison Cope

Christine Okken

Julie Koerber

Kathy Jones

Katie Sims

Leslie Miller

Stacy Morgan

Thanks for spending a bit of your day with us. We'll be back in a few days with another Inspire Me Monday to kick start your creative week! See you then!

~Julie

An InLinkz Link-up