A Color-Filled Friday!

Howdy Stampers & Happy Friday! How’s your spring shaping up? Well, if April showers have yet to bring May flowers to your neck of the woods, we have a treat for you today. We have a digital dose of happy faced pretty petals, just for you!

In a little less than 2 weeks, the curtain will close on this.....

Goodness gracious, the entries so far this month for Katie Sims’ challenge have been blissfully pleasing to the eye! Each one just as unique as their counterparts in nature. You'll have to click on over HERE to see for yourself. That's also where you can link up your own personal creations and read up on how you can win a Power Poppy stamp set, just for playing along!

NOW FOR A LITTLE SHOW & TELL! 

One of my favorite things about Friday is taking time to show off some of the beauty that sprouted during the past seven days. And this week, is full of some new and different looks and techniques!

Check out Heidi's raindrop-kissed background bathed in a dreamy shade of blue. She used Power Poppy's Simply Camellias embossed in white to add a bit of drama. I might have to give this background using Distress Inks and a bit of water a try because Heidi's card is a stunner, don't you think?

The next "must see customer creation" is by the one and only Jessie Banks. We featured one of her cards last week as well but we had to show off this one too because she did WONDERS with Power Poppy's Sunflower Power digital stamp. Oh. My. Goodness. See?

I just had to share this one not only because of the depth of Jessie's coloring but because she went above and beyond and did a video showcasing just how she colored up this bodacious blossom! All you need to do is click and watch her work her magic! She even added some snappy little music that just might have you whistling along!

Just dreamy! You can bet your bottom dollar that the Bloomies’ creations this week are just as dreamy, so be sure to check out the blog list below to see their cards with your own eyes!

Allison Cope

Christine Okken

Cindy Lawrence

Katie Sims

Stacy Morgan

Tosha Leyendekker

Be sure to tune back in here for the next Inspire Me Monday! Ms. Christine is on deck and she has some colorful tips to have your cards and creations looking anything but predictable. Once again, Christine’s work is off the charts creative, so you are not going to want to miss this one my friends!

See you back here soon!

~Julie

Inspire Me Monday - Easy Watercoloring with Kathy

Hello Friends, How are you today? I, Kathy Racoosin will be your guest today for another "Inspire Me Monday" post. I am super excited to be back on the blog to share a watercoloring video using some distress ink.

I live on the east coast and we have had sooo many cloudy rainy days ... about 14 days in a row. However, in the scheme of things this is nothing compared to the devastating weather around the globe. (I hope this post finds you all safe and sound) 

Power Poppy's "Best Day Ever" stamp set was the perfect stamp to remind me that the lazy days of summer might be around the corner.  Click here to see the video in HD. 

Try using a super fine white embossing powder for a softer look on your cards. 

Add a pop of color on the inside with a complimentary color. 

Add a little bit of bling with a few sequins that are glued down with some Matte Medium from Ranger. 

I hope you picked up a few tips today & I have to give a shout out to OnLine Card Classes and Dawn for teaching me some nuggets to pass along to you. 

Thanks for your visit today and I hope you have a wonderful week. 

Hugs, Kathy from The Daily Marker 

“Seeds of Today” just planted in May’s Instant Garden

 

Sometimes quotes and proverbs just speak to you, ya know? I have collected so many through the years, ones that uplift and inspire me, ones that make me smile. I have to think that I first got started enjoying quotes paired with illustration in the work of my childhood idol, Mary Engelbreit, whose wit and style was awe-inspiring to me. All through high school, my closest girlfriends and I would make eachother cards and draw our own cartoons, but it was the card designing and quote-scouring that really stuck with me. Later in college, I would get out my watercolors and pens and make cards pairing quotes with illustrations as a part of my classwork, and to send home to my family.

Digging through my Poetry 101 college tome, I earmarked gobs of potential bits of prose for my work. In Lithography class, every stone I etched had a quote—the work of Keats and of Shakespeare, Anaïs Nin and D.H. Lawrence—paired with an illustration. As I discovered new poetic muses, I practiced various illustration styles. This was well before I got into botanical art. I was taking figure drawing, glass blowing, all manner of design classes, and learning how to use the very first version of Photoshop on one of the early Mac computers, so even digital artwork was not safe from my quote-frenzy! Any boy I dated was surely the recipient of my handmade quote-y cards. (Wonder if they kept them?) My teachers were sort of baffled, but I knew what I wanted to do in my heart. It wasn’t the cutting edge design that they were teaching in school.

For a final class project in typography where we were instructed to use motion design on a computer, I animated the lyrics of “Night and Day” by the brilliant Cole Porter. I listened to the song over and over and over (the version I had was sung by Fred Astaire, so it is his voice in my head when I think about that project to this day!). There’s just something about beautiful language, inspiring thought, and wordplay that makes me wanna MAKE THINGS!

To that end...  I’m creating more images for the Power Poppy shop that are a pairing of words and image. I will always give you a “blank” image without the quote to insert your own sentiment or design. But you will also get an image with my interpretation of the lettering. The first time I shared something along these lines, it was the Created to Create digital set for our April Instant Garden release. All of you clever artistas have been making the coolest projects with that set — whether using the quote I designed for the little sketchbook, or using the “blank” canvas to give the image a whole new look.

So, let’s see what you might do with this one, our May introduction: Seeds of Today!

I came across this quote, a proverb, at the website Tiny Buddha, which features all kinds of calming zen wonderfulness. It spoke to me. Do ya think it was the gardener in me that felt such a tinge when I read it? Or is it the human nature aspect, because wow, I think the words resonate!

In Seeds of Today, you get three images. One is the large quote with the sprouting vine encircling it. The second is the “blank” version of the flowerpot and vine, sans quote. The third is a little sentiment for a graduate, that you can tuck inside a card. It isn’t designed to fit inside the viney image, sorry folks, but you can pop something else if there if you’d like!

Three of our talented Instant Gardeners graciously created beautiful cards with my newest offering, which you can get lickity split, since it’s a digi set! Let’s go see what they’ve made!

Cheryl Scrivens

Barb Walker

Rhea Weigand

Enjoy your tour, and maybe we can all take this proverb to heart... “All the flowers of all the tomorrows are planted in the seeds of today.” I’m using this for a graduation program to help out at my child’s grade school, because I think it will be just perfect. I’ll share it here after I get it all wrapped up today! (Always at the last minute...)

 

Addendum updated at 7:10pm: Between watching the kiddos’ baseball and softball games today, I got out my watercolors and sat in the garden to color this up! See photo at the very top of the post.

In Photoshop, I changed the opacity to 50%. Then when I printed onto Neenah Exact Vellum Bristol (from Office Depot in bulk!), I enlarged it 150%. I used my stepdad’s awesome set of Penguin watercolors that are dated 1974 on the exterior. They paint just as saturated and lush as can be; good as new! Or maybe even better.

A Different Kind of Peep Show! ;-)

Another Friday, another time for a little Power Poppy show & tell featuring our Peeps (our wonderful customers) and our Bloom Brigade, too! This week was a fun one because the entries for our brand new Power & Spark Challenge are starting to trickle in. I always love those first few cards that are linked up because already you can see the creativity behind each one!

What challenge are we talking about? Why, this one, of course!

Katie is the hostess this month and she wants you to pull out your favorite Power Poppy blooms and make them the centerpiece of your card or creation. What image is your fave? We cannot wait to see! When you're done, don't forget to link it up HERE on this month's challenge post! While you're there, you can read up on all the official rules to find out how YOU can be in the running for a free Power Poppy stamp set of choice! Woo Hoo! 

For our little show and tell bit, I wanted to share two creations that I thought were almost polar opposites, but lovely just the same!

This first card is from the talented Jessie Banks. Look at all that AMAZING depth she added to Power Poppy's digital stamp set Everything’s Rosy with the flick of a Copic pen. I could stare at this one for DAYZ! ;-) 

While Jessie’s card is bathed in more earthy delights, Alba’s card below just grabs your attention with powerful pops of purple, lime green and turquoise. Don't you love the little white dots she added to make the centers of those flowers be the stand outs that they most certainly are! Albita used distress inks to bring Power Poppy’s Gerberas to life in such a perfectly pretty way! 

I have to tell you, I had such a tough time choosing cards this week! I mean, did you see Lisa Lara’s creation HERE? Or, how about Gail's? You really need to click on over to the Power Poppy blog to see the entries for yourself. They are ALL truly exquisite!

Speaking of exquisite, our Bloomies are just that! And, they have some visual treats for you to see over at their places on the blogosphere! So, check 'em out, will ya?

Christine Okken

Julie Koerber

Stacy Morgan

Tosha Leyendekker

And that, my friends, is it for this week! We do have a bit of fun coming up in the next few days! Sunday will bring another new addition to the Power Poppy Instant Garden. This brand new illustration from our Peep-in-Chief Marcella is one that offers a little somethin’ somethin’ for those cardmakers with grads on their list! And Monday, we’ll have another edition of Inspire Me Monday. So swing back to make sure you don’t miss out!

~Julie

Inspire Me Monday: Colouring Juicy Strawberries

Hello my lovely Power Poppy peeps!  It's Inspire Me Monday and I, Allison Cope, will be your hostess today!

Today I thought I would share with you how I coloured the strawberries for a card I posted a little ways back using the fabulous "Juicy Strawberries" digital stamp.

I had a lot of questions about what colours I had used and what I had done to create such a realistic berry.

So I thought today I would share my colouring process of this beautiful digital stamp and just how I got it to look the way it does!

Grab something delicious to drink and join me in my scrappy room today...

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you enjoyed my tutorial and give this technique a try for your next berry-lious creation. Don't forget to give it a try with our luscious raspberry image, "Berry It", too! 

Happy colouring everyone!

~  Ally ~

Power & Spark Challenge: MAY FLOWERS!

Hola sweet stampers! Boy, do we have a lot to share to-DAY! First, a new challenge! Second, did you miss THIS fresh new digital stamp to hit the Power Poppy Shop? Oh my! Click the link if you missed yesterday's news! Third, we have a WINNER to announce from last month's Power & Spark Challenge. AND, we have some Bloomie creations to celebrate!

SO LET’S GET ON WITH THIS ACTION-PACKED

COLOR-FILLED POST! 

First up, Ms. Katie Sims is here to usher in a little challenge for the next 26 days and it’s one that I promise you’ll love!

HOW TO PLAY: If April showers bring May flowers, what kind of blossoms does this month of beauty deliver for you? To play along in this challenge, simply reach for your favorite Power Poppy stamp floral and make it the centerpiece of your design. 

Don’t have a Power Poppy floral? WHAT? Run over to the Power Poppy Shop and grab yourself a new set or maybe an instant gratification digital stamp set and color it until your heart’s content. With the abundance of gorgeous florals drawn by the Power Poppy Peep in Chief – Marcella Hawley — you might actually have a tough time picking your favorite! When you’re done, simply link it up on the Power Poppy blog and you’ll be in the running to win a Power Poppy stamp set of choice!

Take a gander at Katie's creation. This fine lady who hails from the state of Georgia will make no bones about it -- she LOVES her Azaleas. So, it's not a surprise that she picked Power Poppy's Azalea stamp set to kick off this creative challenge! Just breathe in this beauty, will you?

Thanks Katie girl for some amazingly awesome Azalea inspiration! Now, to the rest of you peeps, go treasure hunting in your craft room in search of your favorite blossoms, create and bring these babies to life and then, link up your art below on our handy dandy linky! Just that simple folks!

THE OFFICIAL RULES:

• Use Power Poppy stamps for this challenge please!
• 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 May 31th @ 8:00pm EST.  At that point, we’ll draw the winner randomly and make the announcement right here on the first Friday of June!

Did you play along in our April Power & Spark You Pick 3 Challenge? Well, listen up folks! Random.org threw all the numbers in their fancy schmancy random number generator thingy and the winner was......

This is the first time in my number picking history that it truly paid to be last! Good job....

 Robyn Oliver! 

...your just-in-the-nick-of*time creation is the PRIZE WINNER! And, for the rest who missed her creation in the link up line up, here it is in all its purple glory! Robyn also used Power Poppy's Azalea stamp set and fussy cut it for even more of an impact! I love seeing two different takes on a stamp set -- just shows all the creative possibilities!

With a brand new month, we can't wait to see what you come up with. Join in the fun and know we love seeing each and every one of your creations! Speaking of creations, the Bloomies have served up some Friday fun for y'all to see! Hop through the link list to see for yourself!

Allison Cope

Christine Okken

Cindy Lawrence

Julie Koerber

Katie Sims — hostess

Stacy Morgan

Don’t forget to swing by for another edition of Inspire Me Monday with the uber talented and sweet Ally Cope! See you back here then!

~Julie

An InLinkz Link-up

Peony Love, the latest digital set from Marcella Hawley

Well, hello there! We’re so happy to see you today for the release of one of my favorite illustrations as a digital stamp set — it’s our “Digis on the 5s” for May 5th. Anyone who knows me knows my affinity for Peonies, and if you share that love, that passion, that .... dare I say, addiction .... then this set could be just for you! Plus, it’s highly versatile, because you get two images and two sentiments, all sized at a generous size that can be enlarged to easily make a frameable print, or reduced a bit to make an A2-sized card.

A little background from my garden, because that is the place from which so much of my inspiration springs. Every year when the peonies bloom, I am compelled to run out there and take photos of them in all their various stages of opening, it fascinates me, my good friends!

In my terrarium-like garden, where peonies have to duke it out for space with purple columbine, daylilies, ferns, celandine poppy, and lots of wonderful hardy geraniums.

Here’s a tender moment with Peony ‘Festiva Maxima’ and Geranium phaeum ‘Samobor’ — which just takes over everywhere, but it is so very precious and its variegated foliage is practically evergreen. We need plants like that in our Midwestern winters!

I’ve shared many of these images in the past, so I won’t go on and on about it, but here’s a snap I particularly like, featuring a number of Klehm Nursery peonies, that I’m holding over a field of wild anemones that are trying to take over my yard. (They are so darn sweet that I’m letting them...)

If you see above that I’ve mentioned Klehm peonies — and we know that I love, love, love the Klehm family and was involved with creating their catalogs for many years. Here is one of the first illustrations I created for the Peony section of the catalog, which I art directed, designed, and illustrated, in 1994. (Right now you can get your Klehm fix here at Klehm’s Song Sparrow — the BEST mailorder plants and the largest selection of hybrid peonies. This is an unpaid testimonial, they truly are the best people with the most unique and wonderful plants.)

I was having some fun with that lettering and the artistic tilt to the petals...  even though I had yet to ever grow a peony on my own, or to truly inspect one up close at that point.

Well, since the early 90s, I’ve come a long way, baby! Presenting: Peony Love, a luscious halo of blooming peonies in every shape, form, and fashion!

In this digital package, you’ll get a total of four images: two sentiments, the gigantic and highly detailed peony wreath, and then a small accent peony. Folks, the images are large enough to blow up and retain a lot of detail, but I have sized these larger so that you can really get in there and shade with your markers, pencils, and paintbrushes! Feel free to use the single peony on a card by itself, as a few of our designers have done. Or, spend an afternoon coloring the wreath and bring it into glorious, colorful life. Peony Love is one of my favorite illustrations of all time, and it was truly a labor of love to draw and stipple and assemble in my mind and on my drawing board.

Oh and hey! Since we have an international group of customers, we have a special ALTERNATE sentiment that is available upon request if you buy this set. You will automatically get “To the world’s most awesome Mom” — but if you put a note in with your order, you will also get “To the world’s most awesome Mum”.

Come and see some lovely examples of the possibilities of this set with our infectiously fabulous Instant Gardener Cheryl, and two bubbly Bloomies, Kathy and Christine!

 

Cheryl Scrivens

Kathy Jones

Christine Okken

Be sure to check back on FRIDAY for even more cards using this set! Thank you so much for coming by today, now I’d better run out to the garden and see what new peonies are opening up to share their gifts with us!