Wish YOU Luck!

Hello all and happy Friday! You have had to have been really sharp to catch one of the little surprises in the Power Poppy shop that dropped yesterday! Since it was the 25th, that means Power Poppy added another beautiful digital image to its Instant Garden Collection. And, just like when we were kids, you kind of had to hunt for it, just to get a glimpse of its lucky charm! Say hello to....

Wish You Luck is Marcella’s interpretation of a gathering of clover with bitty blossoms intermixed. Wrap it with ribbon and adorn it with a trio of pearl-head pins and you have a bouquet that’s ready and waiting to deliver a little bit of luck! If you missed it, our Instant Gardener Jennifer Dove had a darling creation using this new digi HERE in shades of — wait for it --- pink! Creatively cute is what that is! Check it out my dear stamping friends!

Before you gallivant off for your day, we've got more fun stuff to share! Only a few more days to get in on the action of this month's Power & Spark Switch Up Your Shades Challenge! Check out all the official rules and the linky LINKY HERE and make time for play time so that this challenge doesn't pass you by! Winner gets to pick out a stamp set of choice from the Power Poppy Shop!

BEFORE WE GO.... 

With each Friday comes a chance for a little Power Poppy Peeps Show & Tell! Copic Coloring Queen Helen Airton decided to dabble in this month's challenge, which meant, she had to turn to another medium besides her beloved markers to get in on this action. And, once again, her artistry did not disappoint! She used Power Poppy’s Poppies stamp set and brought it to life in beautiful hues of blue! Oh la la! Magnifique!

So, switch up your shades and get those fingers inky! Linky closes on the 29th at 8PM EST! 

Time now for a little Bloom Brigade Parade folks! I happen to know that some of the gals reached for fun new sets while others dipped a little bit into the Power Poppy past! So, hop, skip and jump your way through this week's link list to see just what these fine ladies have in store -- just for YOU!

Allison Cope

Christine Okken

Julie Koerber

Leslie Miller

We’ll see you back here real soon! Enjoy your weekend!
~Julie

Repeat After Me

We’ve had a wonderful whirlwind week of New Releases in our Grow Everyday collection!  Today I’m going to bring you some fabulous ways to use these new sets with the theme of Repeat Stamping.   It’s a really fun way to see your stamps differently.

There are so many ways you can use repeated elements in your stamping emphasizing colour, medium, background and focal point.  Let’s take a look at a few ideas!

First I’m starting off with the use of colour and repeated stamping.  Here I’m playing with the milagro in our Folk Heart stamp set.  In Spanish milagro actually translates to “miracle”.  It’s a folk art piece created in Mexican culture to decorate - but also to represent a person’s need they are asking for God to meet.  They are usually very colourful, often made of shiny coloured tin, like I’ve shown below.  

(source)

On this card I took 3 Memento Ink colours, Bahama Blue, Rose Bud and Pear Tart and stamped the milago going in different directions, then I added a little bit of Wink of Stella pen onto the hearts to make them shine, just like they do in tin form.   It creates a fun colourful statement for the card.  

Simple accents include the popped up sentiment from the set, a stitched heart and some fun baker’s twine wound underneath.  

Next I wanted to show you how repeat stamping can also be used with different mediums.  I love the messages in the new Small But Mighty Affirmations set.  There are so many times in this life that we need to be reminded of core truths that anchor and inspire us.  

On this design I took several of the messages that are meaningful to me and stamped them onto watercolour paper.  Then I took several re-inkers and a palette and after spritzing the paper with water, I let the reinkers bleed onto the paper and then washed in the colour as well.  It makes a great ‘galaxy-like’ background where these little messages look like they are floating.  I did the same treatment for the sentiment that I think anchors the card.  (If all those background messages are true - “I can do hard things, all is well and I am fearless”, then I can Go Rock This Day!).  I think it would be a fantastic reminder to a friend.  

Vellum behind the sentiment with a kapowee sort of spashy feel (I’m sort of making up my own words here), and some twine and a button.  I also added some glitter pen to the tiny stars stamped throughout.  Go rock this day girlfriend!  

Next I have a design that showcases how repeat stamping can give you a toile effect.  Super easy to do!  On this card I’m showing off My English Rose.  

Here are some supplies you’ll need, waterbased inks, a little bit of water, your stamp and a paint brush.  

To begin with, slightly dampen the watercolour paper, sweeping the brush with water over the page.  Let that dry  - or more so - soak in just slightly.  Then stamp your image one by one onto the watercolour paper.  After you’ve stamped each rose, using a damp brush, slightly move the colour around a bit on the petals.  The stamped lines will “let go” slightly and you’ll be able to add a soft, subtle watercolouring effect.  I only did the petals on each flower, but the softness you can get is so lovely!  Once you’ve stamped and watercoloured one, you can move on and stamp the next flower and do the same.  Doesn’t it make a great background for this gorgeous rose?  

To finish off this one I surrounded the stitched oval with cotton lace in cream, added a vellum sentiment from the set that I had embossed and some sweet pearls. Honestly this design was probably the quickest of the whole lot.  

Next up is my favourite magnolia from our Planning for Magnolias set.  I was thinking about another card I had done a couple of years ago with the Azaleas set and I wanted to see if I could make it work with this set too.  I absolutely love how white prismacolour pencil looks on Kraft cardstock.  Throw that in with my favourite magnolia variety - the tulip magnolia, who’s petals go from white to deep pink in each bloom, and this medium is perfect to create that effect.  

I stamped the magnolias onto Kraft paper and then coloured all my petals with white prismacolour pencils.  The white of the pencil coats the paper and it’s really easy then to blend other colour into that.  Next I came in with a deep pink pencil and added some soft strokes of colour into the flowers blending with a blending stump.  You don’t even need any OMS or baby oil to blend, the colour moves beautifully, and it echos the beauty of a tulip magnolia perfectly!  

On the finished design I embossed over the background magnolias to give it some texture and also added a focal magnolia branch that I had added a little bit deeper colour to.  I fussy cut that out to add on the focal circle.  

On this last card I wanted to show you that repeat stamping doesn’t just have to be for a background, it can be center stage too!  It’s perfect for showing off smaller stamps to their best potential.  

On this adorable little card I’ve stamped three of the little sunflower-type blooms from the Folk Heart set, coloured them, cut them out and then popped them up onto some Kraft cardstock.  They are so sweet!  And I love the simple message from our Bloomin’ Wonderful set.  It seemed the perfect touch to this little card.  

I’ve also used other repeated elements on this card too - the scored lines on each side of the design also help anchor it and tie it all together. 

So...repeat after me!  Try it today!  

Thanks for joining me friends!  Christine

The Grow Everyday Collection is Here!

After five days of fun-filled sneaks with explosions of color and ingenuity, the Bloom Brigade is sparking a Power Poppy Hop, helping us to roll out five new sets that will keep you coloring and creating your heart out! Welcome to the official release day of The Grow Everyday Collection!

Have  you checked out the Bloomies’ creations this week? If not, I strongly encourage you to traipse back through this week's posts to play a little bit of catch up. Those gals were on creative overdrive and I know you won’t be disappointed that you took the time! With all of that inspiration out there in the blogosphere, now it's your turn to get those fingers inky with these brand new sets! Each set comes with a style all its own and--- guess what? They are all available now in the Power Poppy Shop!

My English Rose

Bloomin’ Wonderful

Small But Mighty Affirmations

Folk Heart

Planning For Magnolias

And, in the spirit of this special day, the Bloomies have yet another card to share for a full-fledged, color infused Power Poppy Pop in honor of this new release! Woot Woot! Way to take this one into overtime ladies! 

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

Thanks for stopping by and spending a wee bit of your day with us! I have to say that I hope you had a chance to play along in our February Power & Spark Challenge. Last call is coming your way, just 8 days from now! The good news is leap year does give us one extra day in February to let your creative mojo flow! Take advantage of it my stampin’ peeps! 

Until then, why not hop over to the Power Poppy Shop to stock up on a fresh crop of clear stamp sets? All the best to you and yours on this fine Sunday! 

~Julie

It’s Bloomin’ Wonderful to have a set this versatile...

Today we’re gonna jump right in. Not going to spin a yarn about my childhood or how I discovered that affirmations can change your life. I’m not going to yank stuff out of my inspiration files or show snapshots of my desk, or scroll through the photos on my iPhone to find that sweet shot of snowdrops or ...

... well, maybe just one sweet snowdrop shot.

I took this yesterday during a little jaunt/escape. I think you know where... my home away from home, the Missouri Botanical Garden. I need to ask them if they will adopt me.

We are previewing a new set today with two large images, which I love to offer you, because I put in so many details that I want the stamps to be large enough to color each and every bit! You may recognize one of the images — think snowdrops! — as it was a very popular digital stamp we introduced last winter called Winter Pick-Me-Up. Remember that one? I have gotten many requests for this one in clear, and well, how can I say no? You’re going to find that this is a versatile set, a lilting, gentle stamp set. It is a sort of sentimental buffer from Winter to early Spring, with so many sentiments designed in a vintage-inspired typeface, you might think it’s pretty bloomin’ wonderful.

Without further chitchat or fussery, may I introduce Bloomin’ Wonderful.

We’ve been showing off new sets all week long, and today is the day we showcase the springy flings the Bloom Brigade have designed. Then tomorrow, well, it’s a HUGE BLOG HOP and all the sets will be available to buy. How’s that for a wild weekend?

  Cindy Lawrence
Tosha Leyendekker
Christine Okken

Leslie Miller

Allison Cope

Kathy Jones

See y’all back here tomorrow? Is it a date? Ok, it’s a date. Looking forward to hoppin’ with you guys!

 

You Get to Choose!

I learned this affirmation from Louise L. Hay, and created a card to share with my Mom as she was going through her treatments. (p.s. at the very top is Orchids Rock, which I stamped and watercolored.)

I was enlightened several years ago. It happened as my husband and I were going through a separation. Man, that stuff is a rollercoaster. I was trying to figure out how to keep my wits about me and stay focused on my work, be there for my kids, to find time for myself, and to do all the paperwork and negotiations that go along with divorce. Some days I was like, “I got this!” Other days I was a big blob of blah. Confused, resentful, sad, etc, etc... all the emotions you might expect.

My Mom shared with me (have I told you lately how awesome she was?) that I might find peace and inspiration reading the writings or listening to PBS specials by the spiritual leader Dr. Wayne Dyer. Well, that pretty much changed the direction of my life. Because on top of all the 9 million things I feel that I have since learned from Wayne Dyer, the main takeaway for me was: YOU GET TO CHOOSE HOW YOU RESPOND IN LIFE.

You get to choose.

You do not get to choose your emotions or your feelings. Most of the those will just rise up in us because we are human. But the funny thing is that when you realize that you CAN choose your response and your reaction to those feelings, and you choose a calm, peaceful, even joyful response, it changes the whole dynamic. It changes YOU. Dr. Wayne (as I affectionately refer to him, and sadly he passed away last year — we’ve really lost some of the greats in 2015-16) has another mantra that I loooooove: When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.

I can tell that I am about to go into a rabbit hole of musing about all the wonderful things that Wayne Dyer taught me about behavior, spirituality, and being. Gotta stick to the point here! And we have a stamp set to preview today, and lots of inspiring creations to share!

During that rollercoastery time I was going through, I started a practice of writing down the marvelous thoughts and perspectives I learned from Dr. Wayne. I put them on Post-It notes as soon as I would hear one in a talk he was giving, or in an audio book I’d downloaded. Soon, my entire computer monitor was edged in a border of colorful, inspiring sticky notes! I would sit down and see a big note saying, “YOU CAN CHOOSE PEACE!” (as opposed to whatever you are feeling right now, stress, sadness, irritation.) What a liberating thought. I started to make more sticky notes for other areas of the house. I adapted the affirmations of Louise L. Hay — she is an awesome conversation for another day, whew is she inspiring, and added “All is Well.” to my list of things to remind myself. Because really, all is well. No matter what manufactured drama you think you have going on in life, most of the time, you can remind yourself that God has got this. There is a plan, and we may not understand what it is, but All is Well, and you just need to chill.

Note the tiny “Circumstances do not make the man, they reveal him.” - that one’s from the philosopher Epictetus.

I posted this graphic with my very first blog post, see my lil Post-Its? That was just the tiniest smattering I shared in that shot! I’ve got ’em all over the place!

I’ve created a set of stamps that feature some of my favorite positive affirmations. They are written in the first person. We call that “I am” statements. (as in, I am peaceful. I am a child of God, a divine creation and a piece of His work. I can do any task I set my mind to with ease and comfort.) These statements really truly help to ease your mind, and to encourage you to shift your thoughts to a positive, can-do spirit. Here are a few of them, stamped onto 2" x 2" sticky notes. I could decorate my whole house in these things!

I know that these guys aren’t your typical stamp set. But maybe they should be! Why can’t we create sets of these positive words and do a little bit to help encourage ourselves, and one another, to be a little bit better. DARE TO BE GREAT! :) Because you know what, you can choose to be great. And you gotta start somewhere.

This new set is called Small But Mighty Affirmations... part of our Grow Everyday collection of clear stamps.

This is a set PACKED with stamps — there are 15 in all. I see using them not just for ourselves (though that part is key) but maybe creating a set of affirmations to give to a friend who is going through a hard time. What about stamping “I CAN DO HARD THINGS” a whole bunch of times, in a rainbow of colors, for an encouraging poster for your kid on the day of the big test? Or a simple “Go Rock this Day!” on your husband’s brown paper lunch bag? (I seriously could stamp that on my hand and look at it throughout the day, and it would keep me motivated!)

The Bloom Brigade has gone above the call to come up with some really cool projects using these little nuggets of positive thought. Let’s go see!!

Allison Cope
Cindy Lawrence
Julie Koerber
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker

Thank you so much for sharing all this goodness with me today. We will all be back tomorrow for one more stamp set in our new collection, and it’s gonna have flowers in it. That’s all I’m going to say...

Grow Everyday: Introducing My English Rose

Let’s cut to the chase here, everyone loves a rose! They are basically irresistible to most folks, and are so layered with meaning, you can find a color of rose to symbolize any occasion.

I myself don’t grow roses, due to lack of sunshiney space in my garden. WAIT — I take that back, Uncle Bob gave me a beautiful yellow rose for Mother’s Day several years ago, and I set it, still in its pot, near my potted herb garden in the sun. I thought surely in the next month or so I would get around to clearing out a place in the garden for it to be planted.

If not that month, then surely the next month.

Or the next month? Definitely the next month.

Well, we’re heading in to that rose’s fifth season still in its pot, as its roots must’ve shot through the bottom of the plastic tub and found their earthy connection between the bricks. It’s healthy and happy! Last year, the rose sent out canes hither and yon, extending all along the fence with our sweet neighbors, and and it had about 200 blooms. Turns out the cultivar reverted from yellow to red, but it was such a wonderful show. Thank you, Uncle Bob!

The photos of inspiration I’m sharing here today are from the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Rose Garden. I had gone to the garden to do some walking and reflection, and couldn’t help but stop and photograph these beauties. I know this is crazy, but I didn't write down which varieties these all are! You all know how I like to keep track of things like that. Well, we’ll just have to bask in their glow and be content not to know. (Unless anyone can eyeball ID them, and if yes, please message me!)

Our newest clear stamp set coming down the line sprouted from a digital offering I brought out last year called La Vie en Rose. (Which basically translates to ‘life through rose-colored glasses’ — which, you know, I might be accused of doing, but hey .... )

I want to share a few cards made with that set, because you can see here that La Vie en Rose is a set that has a little “tag” attached to the rose. Then folks could stamp a message inside the tag, like our wonderful Allison Cope did here (paired with Hello stamp from Big Scripts):

And here’s a very sweet one by Julie Koerber, using the ‘I Love You’ I handlettered for the digital version of the La Vie En Rose set:

After this rose digi set had been out for a bit, I noticed that several of our designers had started using the rose without the tag (we can say ‘sans tag’ since we are speaking French) — they had done a little Photoshop pruning! By the way, I endorse this practice, as I love to see people stretch their creativity and take things beyond my original vision. With this new clear rose set, I have done the pruning for you. Now you get one superfrilly rose with the tag, complete with buds and leaves going every which way, and THEN you get a larger single rose without so much fluffery.

Sometimes you want fluffery, sometimes ya don’t, know what I’m sayin’? Introducing, My English Rose:

We’ve got several NEW sentiments that fit into the tag that is attached to the fluffy rose cluster, and then we’ve got several more sentiments that are more general. Most of them have a loving feel to them, because we are such an amorous type, aren’t we?

One more quick tidbit... I named this set after a very lovely song by The Jam, a British band headed by Paul Weller, who is just basically the coolest dude ever. This is his ode to his homeland of England, and when Doug and I first started dating, he put My English Rose on a mix-tape (CD) for me. Here’s a link if you care to hear the tune...

With that beautiful soundtrack playing, let’s go see what the Bloomies have made with My English Rose today!

Allison Cope
Christine Okken
Kathy Jones
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan

I hope to see you all back here tomorrow... we’ve got a set that is unlike anything I’ve shared with you before. It’s superfun, and we’re going to have some fun with it! Have a great day,

What goes in to an illustration? Find out, and peek at my new Folk Heart stamps

When you start breaking down what really inspires one to create a certain work, it can be difficult to pinpoint. When somebody says, “I ‘CASE’d so-and-so’s card for my design,” do they just copy down to the last sequin and marker stroke what the other person created? No way, man, they bring their own spin to it. They bring their surroundings to it. They bring whatever music they may have been listening to at the time. They might bring in the colors of the sweater they happen to be wearing that day that perhaps inspired the color scheme or the decision to add fibers or texture. They bring a lifetime of acquired memories and visual references, from childhood coloring books, a first visit to an Art Museum to see Monet’s Waterlilies, a torn-out magazine page with that darling fabric that would really be perfect for the living room curtains. All of this random stuff can have an impact. Isn’t that cool?

We all bring so much to every work that we do. We just don’t stop to think that we’re storing all that info up there, just waiting to use it in a creative way! Thank you, Brain, for allowing me to stuff you so full with visual inspiration and information, that when I’m ready to go to town creating new things, I can draw from your vast archives!

Why am I going in to all of this? Well, when I started culling the images I wanted to share with you today about how I got from point A to point B with my newest stamp set, Folk Heart, I realized that my sets might be primarily influenced by one thing or another... but many of them are the culmination of years of looking, years of gathering, years of appreciating beauty. Then that trusty brain churns it all around and allows me to put pencil to paper, and bring the images and words to life.

So, it all might have started with seeing images like this:

Scandanavian designer Josef Frank’s “Aralia” linen fabric, designed in 1928

Josef Frank “Vegetable Tree” fabric, designed mid-1940s

“La Plata” by Josef Frank screenprinted on linen, designed mid-1940s

Vintage Mexican Milagros. Source, Susanne Duda

Vintage Advertising. Source, sheaff-ephemera.com

Jacobean Crewel Embroidery by Elsa Williams, 1974. Source, www.austintatiousofferings.com

Crewel Embroidery found on Pinterest ... I'm so sorry I cannot place the source! Will update when I do.

Modern Crewel Embroidery by Bucilla / Bernhard Ulman. Source, www.austintatiousofferings.com

My OH My, that is a lot of stuff to look at!! Are you still with me?? These shapes and sinewy lines and vines got me going in all kinds of directions. And while what I came up with for my final sets (which I split into TWO sets - one is the new digital offering, Flowers, Always and one is the new clear set, Folk Heart... also, I shared some of the inspiration from wool hooked rugs in my post about Flowers, Always, and you can see that HERE) was a bit more folksy and cute than some of my influences, I couldn’t help but bring it back to my own design style, which puts my Marcella stamp on it! :)

I got to sketching out my potted plants, because even though you can look at visual references all the live long day, you are going to have an idea of what it is you want to draw. Y’all know I cannot resist a potted plant!

And that drawing turned into this, the Flowers, Always digital stamp, shown here expertly colored and made into a card by Cheryl Scrivens!

Isn’t that fantastic? I hope you will run around to be sure you see all the cards created with that set by the Instant Gardeners, they are ALL so different!!! I love those ladies.

I drew so many various images, I couldn’t fit them all into the clear set version. So this one really is packed with a LOT of cute stuff to use, inspired by all of the above Scandinavian fabrics, milagros, primitive folk art and rug hooking, crewel embroidery, and my overall love of curious-looking plants. Let’s take a look at Folk Heart! It will be available for purchase in the Power Poppy Shop on Sunday as part of the Grow Everyday collection.

Oh wait, did I forget to show you photos of all the little birdies that I have admired? Do you think I aim to keep you here all day? Maybe we’ll save birdies for next time, eh? Because right now I really think you should go see what the Bloom Brigade has created to share with you today.

Get ready for some exuberant color and fun... go Bloomies!

Julie Koerber
 Tosha Leyendekker

 Allison Cope
Katie Sims
Christine Okken
Stacy Morgan

Cindy Lawrence

Thank you so much for sticking with me through this long post! Too much to share, and posted a little bit late due to inability to stop talking. I come by it honestly. Love to all and see you back here tomorrow!! We have MORE new sets to come...