Our July Instant Garden Introduction: Sunshine of My Life

At this point in the summer, our tables and windowsills are consistently dotted with garden-clipped bouquets. And is there anything that says “summer” more than a big bunch of sunflowers? I guess a few things maybe, but sunflowers are right up there. And these stalks of sunshine have long provided inspiration for artists, most notably, Vincent Van Gogh. He became known for his sunflowers after painting a large series of them in Arles, in the south of France, in the late 1880s. Van Gogh suggested to an artist friend that sunflowers could be “his” flower. I love this:

“It is a kind of painting that rather changes in character, and takes on a richness the longer you look at it. Besides, you know, Gauguin likes them extraordinarily. He said to me among other things – ‘That... it’s... the flower.’ You know that the peony is Jeannin’s, the hollyhock belongs to Quost, but the sunflower is somewhat my own.”

I hadn’t realized this the last time we introduced our Sunflower Power illustration as a digital stamp, when I shared several favorite Van Gogh Sunflower paintings, which have long been an inspiration to me as a painter. He painted them over and over and over, attempting to truly master the changes in color. He used the new discoveries in pigment development to create new shades of yellow (thus leading to new shades of orange!) and was able to capture variances in the flowers that are captivating.

I encourage you to do a bit of research on Van Gogh’s Sunflower series for the fun of it. A wonderful resource is right on Wikipedia, they have their own page, click here, where you can see the paintings and read all about what was happening with Van Gogh and Gauguin at the time they were painting them.

Another quote that strikes me:

“Now that I hope to live with Gauguin in a studio of our own, I want to make decorations for the studio. Nothing but big flowers.”

Taking inspiration from the pure saturation of flowers and the Van Gogh attitude, I’d like to introduce you to our newest digital stamp introduction, Sunshine of My Life:

This digital stamp set includes one large main image and two sentiments, and is ready to be downloaded and printed in an instant, so you can get right to coloring.

A quick note for clear stamp lovers. If you like this Sunshine of My Life image, you may be interested in our next clear stamp release in August. Just sayin’!

Today we are SO FORTUNATE to have a giant team of BOTH teams to help showcase our new digital set, the Instant Gardeners and the Bloom Brigade are out in force! There are a few other fun digital sets sprinkled in, too, so be sure to stop by everyone’s blogs to see what glorious and colorful imagery they are providing....

Barb Walker
Debbie Olson
Nancy Sheads
Cheryl Scrivens
 Broni Holcombe 
Stacy Morgan
Cindy Lawrence
 Allison Cope 
Tosha Leyendekker (two cards today!)
 Christine Okken 
Kathy Jones

I hope you find this an inspiring part of your Friday! We are so happy you came by the Power Poppy Blog to see what’s new. Have a great weekend, everyone.

Inspire Me Monday: Inspired by Rainbows!

Howdy Power Poppy lovers!  It's Allison Cope here today for Inspire Me Monday!

Today I'm going to share some simple and fun cards, all inspired by RAINBOWS! As you probably already know, rainbows are super trending in the crafty world right now so I thought I would make a few to share with you this fun trend!

Come and join me at my crafting desk today for some bold & colorful fun...

Watch in HD here.

Here's another close up of all four of my rainbow inspired cards... more simple to more detailed...

Featuring Big Scripts and Small But Mighty Affirmations.   

Featuring Party Time and Nice Things to Say.  

Featuring Wish You Luck (digital) and Nice Things to Say. 

Featuring Simply Camellias.

A complete list of supplies for each card can be found on my blog.

I hope I've inspired you today to grab some of your favorite coloring mediums and have a ball using LOTS of cool colors!  Happy creating everyone!

~ Allison Cope ~

So MUCH Inspiration!

Sunny, festive and fun -- that’s the vibe today on the Power Poppy blog my friends and here's why: You are all knocking it out of the park when you pick up Power Poppy stamps or print off our digis! When I searched blogland, I didn't have to go far to see some gorgeous examples of what some of you have done recently! 

Soooo, let’s get on with this fun-filled Friday
POWER POPPY PARADE! 

First up, from across the pond in the UK, Lynne Jardine whipped up this sunny delight using Power Poppy’s Countryside Bouquet digital stamp. Look at that fussy cutting folks! I absolutely adore the doodled border and the way the gorgeously colored up blossoms just pop out of that decorative frame. Well done, Ms. Lynne!

Next up, this creation that’s so pretty in pink from Susan Lankford. You can almost hear those little bees buzzing away when you take a gander at this one, can’t you? Susan sweetly colored up Power Poppy’s digital stamp Asters Abuzz and then added the little extras to make these little bumbles sing! 

Finally, being a sucker for summer, I just soaked in this lovely from Linda, a.k.a. Holstein over on SplitcoastStampers.com. The embossed sunshine background is just the perfect complement to our beachy scene from the Best Day Ever stamp set. I also love taking a peek at the hand-lettering that Linda so masterfully does! She had another card HERE using this set that I just fell in love with as well! I kind of want to be Ava after seeing that card! ;-)

Honestly, I can’t believe I stopped sharing at only three cards because I stumbled upon SO MUCH Power Poppy inspiration — plus EVERY entry into this month's B Happy Power & Spark Challenge is just as beautiful as the next. I loved Tricia’s card HERE and oh my, who could not love Donna’s card HERE?

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B-fore I let you go, have you checked out our B Happy Power & Spark Challenge yet? If not, this one is super fun, super easy AND, you could win a mini shopping trip to the Power Poppy Shop if your number is drawn at the end of the the month! So, click HERE to read all about it and then, let’s see you B Creative! ;-)

Did you see that we revealed a freshly remixed digital stamp set called Sweet Simple Things? If you missed the blog hop earlier this week featuring a dazzling roster of Instant Gardeners, be sure to make the rounds.

Time now to turn things over to our beloved Bloom Brigade, who are going to share what they’ve been working on this week, and wanted to see what the buzz was all about with Sweet Simple Things.... check ’em out:

Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
 

Thanks for stopping by and spending a bit of your day with us! We love to read your comments, see YOUR creations and know that we are all a part of a pretty fun community here in the stamping and card making world!

p.s. If you want a little extra inspiration and motivation ALL MONTH LONG, head over to The Daily Marker, where our friend Kathy has a BRAND NEW 30 Day Coloring Challenge! Fun stuff peeps!

Enjoy your weekend!
~Julie

Remixed Digi for July 5 is Here! Sweet, Simple Things

Hello to you! Hoping everyone had a fantastic holiday weekend, and if you were taking a holiday from the internet, I hope you’ll take a few moments to peek at yesterday’s Inspire Me Monday post by Rhea Weigand. I’m still reeling from how neat her card it was!!

We are ready to reveal a newly remixed digital stamp set for you, one that focuses on the buzzing beauty of nature. My sweet little vintage bee skep originally was situated among a mix of wildflowers, and now it is home to the honeybees collecting the nectar of cottage garden foxgloves and cosmos. May I introduce you to: Sweet Simple Things.

This digital stamp sets comes with one small “You’re so sweet” sentiment that would be nice on a tag for the outside of a card, and a beautiful one for the inside by Laura Ingalls Wilder, “It is the sweet, simple things of life that are the real ones, after all.”

What is a bee skep? Well, they are only about the most ancient forms of beekeeping, with a history going back to the year 500 in Ireland. They are made from straw, and are basically a basket, except upsidedown. I learned some fascinating facts about skeps just by doing a little Googling. (Here’s a link that was quite interesting offering some bee skep history.) My introduction to bee skeps came from seeing them illustrated in British illustrator Sara Midda’s enchanting book, In and Out of the Garden, growing up. My mother framed two of the illustrations for our upstairs bathroom, and I enjoyed peeking at them every time I turned on or off the light. :)

I am enchanted by the cards made for today’s release — the Instant Gardeners brought this image to life with such artistry and bright summer color! Who would think that a humble line drawing could end up looking so bountiful and downright delightful? Just WOW! I’m continually amazed. Won’t you come see?

Cheryl Scrivens

Debbie Olson

Jenn Dove

Nancy Sheads

Barb Walker

This new digital set is available now in the Power Poppy Shop! Have a wonderful day, my friends! I’m off to the garden to continue to shore up the straggling tendrils of the tomato plants that seem to be taking over everything in their path — it’s our first year growing them, and they were started from seed by Lulu in her bedroom windowsill in very early spring. I’d better go read up on tomato plants...

Take care!

Gone Fishing....

Welcome back to Power Poppy Blog!  This is Rhea hoping to inspire you with with a 

 newer digital stamp called Fly Guy.  You can find so many beautiful Digital Images and Clear Stamps at Power Poppy.  It's so inspiring to visit and use Marcella's images!

I have to admit that Fly Guy is beyond cool!  And way fun to color!  I did use a lot of Copic Markers to complete this image but that's just me.  I like to blend colors together on the paper which take more  colors.  For example the 40's with the W's for the rocks.  The different BG's for the water with a Colorless Blender Marker in certain areas.  Yellows with Green for the foliage and B's with BG's and Colorless Blender for the sky.  

Now this is just an A2 size card so it's the perfect size for any guy in your life.  It reminds me so much of where we live.   You see this all the time driving through the country side and on the banks of the vast lakes we are surrounded by.  

Here are all the colors I used if you want to give it a go.....Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by!  Feel free to share, pin, leave us a comment and sign up to receive emails of the Power Poppy Blog!   There is always so much inspiration going on at Power Poppy you don't want to miss any of it!  Also you would enjoy joining Passionate Paper Creations and Friends Facebook Group where Power Poppy is a Sponsor! 

Q & A with Ms. Marcy.....

OH MY GOSH...... Don't you want to know what snack Marcy just can't get enough of? Or... what cartoon character was and is her fave? Or, how about if she would ACTUALLY consider swimming in a cave with sharks? Oh goodness, these questions and so many more are answered in a kind of wacky interview over with the gang at Crafting Circle for their Spotlight Series. Goodness gracious -- even I learned something reading that fun little interview and I've known Ms. Marce for more than 8 years!

So hop on over by clicking HERE, get ready for a little chuckle and maybe you'll even find a few surprises when you get to the end of the post! ;-)

Have a fabulous weekend!
~Julie

Time to... B Happy!

Hello folks and for those of you living here in the good 'ole U.S. of A. -- happy early Fourth of July wishes to you! I hope your day is full of fireworks, American pie and plenty of RED, WHITE & BLUE! We should also wish our friends to the north a very happy CANADA DAY today! Lots to celebrate this weekend!

We have our own version of a fireworks celebration each and every Friday here on the Power Poppy blog and today is extra special. Do you know why? Well folks, it is the first Friday of the month, which means we get to release a brand new challenge for all of you to take part in! This one is hosted by our fabulous and creative Aussie darling! Take a peek at the....

HOW TO PLAY: Here’s what Ms. Kathy Jones has to say about this month's uber fun challenge....

Hello Everyone! It’s the first Friday in July and that means it’s time for another Power Poppy Power and Spark Challenge! This month I’m challenging you to B Happy! What does that mean? Get searching and find things that start with B and make them the focus of your card! There are sooooooo many things to choose from, think Birthday Cake, Bunting, Banners, Bouquets, Butterflies, Bees, Buttercups, Backpack, Berries, Blue, Brown, Beige, Bow, Bling, Buttons, Brads, Border Punch and so on! Let your imagination run wild, have some fun, link up to the challenge below and most of all...... Be Happy!

Here’s a peek at Kathy’s creation just to share a little bit of inspiration for this month’s challenge!

Hhhmm... what "B" things can you spot? A bouquet of flowers (from the Spring Meadow Bouquet digital stamp set), that stamp also happens to have a butterfly and a bee! There’s a banner die, bracket border punch, buttons, blue and... it's a birthday card! Woah... I think Kathy nailed this one, don’t you?  Now it's time to dig deep into that creative brain of yours and see just how you can “B” happy on your card or creation!

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 July 31@ 8:00pm EST.  At that point, we’ll draw the winner randomly and make the announcement right here on the first Friday of August!

WE HAVE A WINNER!

Time to go back to last month’s Power & Spark Happy Mail Challenge, throw all the names in a hat and see who is our winner for June! So, let's get to it! Random.org says....

That means the lucky lady this month is.....

LIZ WILLIAMS!!!

Liz, simply email us HERE and let us know which stamp set you'd like us to send your way! CONGRATS to you!! And, just because we love to share, here’s Liz’s winning creation all decked out in such pretty fashion with Power Poppy’s Flowering Branches digital stamp. I just love all the little extras that Liz added to make this card "SING!"

Now it‘s your turn to join us this month to B Happy! You can even clap your hands if you like! ;-) No matter how you show you're happy, be sure to link up your creation below so we can see your take on this fun-filled challenge!

Before we go, time to turn things over to a couple of the Bloomies who are doing a little “Happy Dance” this Friday!

Christine Okken

Kathy Jones  >>> stop by Kathy’s place for the details on her creation!

Thanks so much for stopping by and helping us kick off a brand new month with a brand new challenge! We'll see you back here real soon!

~Julie

p.s. and one last note! TIME IS RUNNING OUT ON YOUR CHANCE TO SAVE! This sale ends July 1st at midnight!

An InLinkz Link-up