Inspiring cards to kick off your weekend!

Hello, peeps! Hope you have had a wonderful week so far — did you catch our midweek Get Wool Soon digi stamp introduction? — and are looking forward to seizing the weekend as well. We have a bouquet of creative talent to share with you all today and I just cannot wait! I grabbed a cuppa joe a few days ago and went on the hunt for some of the latest cards using a little Power Poppy goodness. And, boy did I find a treasure trove of inspiration!

LET’S GET TO THIS WEEK’S SHOW & TELL, SHALL WE?

Our first cards are by Jo Ann Danchik, whose recent flurry of Christmas cards on Instagram showcase a gallery of clever ideas (follow her at @jadanchik). She is definitely looking at her stamps with fresh eyes and pairing up images and techniques with a total wow factor. Always, she accompanies her posts with a sweet story and the thoughts behind her ideas. Check out how Jo Ann made a background with Power Poppy’s Frosted Gingerbread border stamp. Pop over to her account to see the full background, and how she mustered up the courage to slice it in TWO to make double the cards.




Elizabeth Zaffarano (follow her at @saffronkingfisher on Instagram) took our own Allison Cope’s lead when creating this sprig of glowing Chinese Lanterns from our Sunny Harvest clear stamp set. Go look at Ally’s original card HERE along with her step-by-step tutorial on how to create this look. While you can see Ally’s influence, Elizabeth definitely put her own spin on the composition with gorgeous results! How sparkly, multi-dimensional, and just outta sight! Incredible work, Elizabeth, we were so excited to see what you’d made.

This last card by Annie Rosenstiel is one where I literally had to pick my jaw up from off of the floor. Armed with the diamond-shaped citrus pomander stamp from Power Poppy’s Spice It Up stamp set, Annie created a background absolutely awash in sunset hues. This alone is awesome (she posted the process photo on Instagram which was impressive to see — follow Annie at @annie.rose.makes.things) but THEN she used the singular pomander image from this set, and added some razzle dazzle by making it into a shaker card! Adding the crinkly ribbon and kraft-paper tag set off the whole thing in rustic, but showy, style. All I can say is... WOW! 

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I hope you agree that this was quite the display of artistry this week, loads of ideas to get your motors running for a weekend of crafting! And, guess what? We have more! Some of the finest designers in the land, a.k.a. the Bloom Brigade, are on standby to show you some of what THEY have been up to in their crafty spaces! So, stop by and see....

Christine Okken

Cindy Lawrence

Julie Koerber

Stacy Morgan

Tosha Leyendekker

Don’t forget to get your PINK ON and join us in this month’s...

You can click HERE for all the details! And then, be sure to swing back by for another edition of Inspire Me Monday when Ally Cope hosts and kicks off your creative week with a colorful explosion! See you back here soon!

~Julie

New Digi: Get Wool Soon

Hello my friends! On the 15th of each month, we introduce brand new digital stamp sets for the Instant Garden Collection. Today, though, we have a remixed introduction. I am holding on to the all-new morsel to share with you on November 25th, which will coincide with our Black Friday sale. I think you can bet that there will be fresh artwork to color — and a deal to boot!

So today, I’m sharing one of my favorite drawings, remixed with all new sentiments, and available today to purchase, download, and color. I hope you’ll find strikes a cozy chord... not unlike this scene:

Are you feeling me? It is time for afghans! It is time for coffee and afghans! It is time for fireplaces, coffee and afghans. And what goes really, really well with fireplaces, coffee, and afghans? Well, for me, the answer is something fulfilling to DO that you can work on right in your lap. Like, you know, with art supplies. Wouldn’t you like do do some coloring?

My newest digital stamp set is called Get Wool Soon, and it is a cozy vignette that’s all about the comforts of knitting, crocheting, and making things with yarn. I got out my old tubes of gouache for this one, and I noticed that some of them are ones I bought in the 1990s, and they are still going, offering me precious pigment. Others have dried up, but you can still carve out some color if you peel the packaging apart. My packrat ways can cause me major headaches (too much stuff everywhere, no room for new stuff!) but other times they delight me, like when I find an old tube of Winsor & Newton Orange Lake, which takes me straight back to being a kid in my mom’s upstairs art studio, painting next to her as she painted her dough ornaments.

This new yarn-centric digi would be fun done up in a myriad of colorways — use your imagination and just go for it! I would like to paint up a few to coordinate with my treasured handknit afghans given to me by my Grandma Bonnie and Granny Jean. And oh, I especially hope to devote a Get Wool Soon digi coloring session to the afghan shown above, which is currently on my lap — a true work of art knitted by my Aunt Joan. Joanie is one of the most talented yarnmasters I know of, such an ARTIST in her approach to all things knit, and at one time she had her own yarn shop in Edmond, Oklahoma. Joanie is Australian, and is one of the most fashionable, stylish, gracious, and highly adorable people in this whole world!

Admire with me this afghan, knit by Joanie knit for me many years ago, knowing that I love all things botanical. It is so highly detailed, using many different fancy woolen yards and threads, and features irises, poppies, and wildflowers — even a hummingbird! I cozy up with this beauty whenever possible, it surrounds me with inspiration, warmth, and most importantly, the feeling of LOVE.

Just look at the beautiful variations in the yarns and the stitches!

Whew!! Is that not a work of art? It is so special, just like the lady who made it. Our knitting digi could be perfect to make into a card for the knitter in your life, wouldn’t it?

To help us usher Get Wool Soon on the scene, come see the supersweet card Nancy Sheads of Rowhouse Greetings has made with this little vignette and a few of the swirly sentiments.

Thank you for stopping by, my dears! Enjoy your day, and I do hope you’ll take a moment to scroll through the blog and be sure to see this week’s Inspire Me Monday post — you can win a bursting goodie bag from Kathy Racoosin at the Daily Marker just for commenting, but you’ll also learn some fun tips for “coloring on the go”. And stay tuned for another new introduction coming next Friday...

Inspire Me Monday - Watercoloring on the go

Hello all, I am so happy to be back for another Inspire Me Monday. Currently I am in the middle of a 30 day coloring challenge so I thought it would be fun to share how I work on the go. (more on the challenge at the end of this post)

 Planning ahead for a road trip can fun and easy when you have an empty antique crate and a car with spare room. Deciding if I wanted to pack Copics or watercolor markers was the hardest part. I settled on my Tombow watercolor markers & Spectrum Noir sparkle watercolor pens. A towel, collapsable paint cup, brushes, foam tape, watercolor paper, a few colored pencils, ink and stamps were some of the supplies I packed plus my essentials.

My essentials are a mini misti, fine tip sharpie marker, white gel pen, scissors, glossy accents, ink, paper, stamps and a coloring medium. 

I was hoping you might want to see my antique crate before I painted it.

I measured and cut part of a box for the bottom of the crate and painted everything with a can of graffiti paint. I love to mix antiques in my studio because they add character and warmth to my space.

When everyone was settled in and watching a movie I was able to do my coloring in for the day. 

  

When you watercolor do you always have a towel on hand? I do and I love how colorful it becomes the more I use it... this particular towel I have had for over a year? Above the towel I used a stamp storage pocket to scribble the watercolor marker on. Using my brush I would pick up the color from the stamp storage pocket mixed with a little water and then paint on my stamped image.

 *next time I will remember to pack a palette* 

Ahhh Marcy's illustrations are such a joy to color and the details are always spectacular. 

On a later date I will add some white gel pen accents and create a card with my watercolored images. 

Here is a close up of the bouquet. It's hard to tell but, I colored, cut and popped a flower for the center. Later I will cut around the blue line on the image out and pop it on a card. 

I hope you will consider traveling with a few supplies and I hope you see how wonderful it is to color on the go. 

*If I was flying I would take everything mentioned with a few less watercolor markers and put everything in a tote. No matter where I go I always have coloring supplies with me. *

Today is day 14. of the “The Daily Marker 30 Day Coloring Challenge". This is a good time to jump in if you are new to the challenge, love to color or if you just want to get your feet wet and give the 30 day coloring challenge a try. The idea is to color something daily with any medium. Just five minutes, that’s it. I keep hearing how relaxing it is to color and instead of making a full card. The 30 day challenge is really about carving out a little time your day for something that makes you happy. (You are free to jump in and out as time permits). Basically it’s any thing goes challenge and whatever you feel inspired to do. If you want to hear more click here. 

Wishing a colorful week & thanks to Power Poppy for letting me share my coloring on the go with you today. Thanks, Kathy :)

A Bevy of Beauty

Happy Friday, Power Poppy Peeps! Get ready for, like I said above, a bevy of beauty coming your way. It’s the day we share some of the jewels we’ve found in the blogosphere, on Instagram, and beyond, after seeking out super crafty doses of inspiration, just in time to kick off your weekend!

But FIRST, we want to take a moment on this Veterans’ Day to share huge amounts of gratitude to the men and women who serve, and have served, our country. You are the bravest of the brave, true superheroes, and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your service. 

Now, have you heard about this brand new theme for our monthly Power & Spark challenge? If not, here it is sweet peeps! 

Tosha Leyendekker is challenging us to think positively pink when it comes to our holiday creations! Simply craft a card with a holiday flair, making sure it's awash in that hue, link up your creation HERE and you'll be in the running for a Power Poppy stamp set of your choice! With all the holiday buying you're thinking about at the moment, this little gift would be JUST FOR YOU! 

Even though we just kicked off the challenge last Friday, already the entries are starting to pop in! I simply adore seeing different designers' artistic takes on these challenges. So inspiring! Check out this one below by Anita Madden, While pink is her dominant color, I love the pops of blue and green to just set her card off in style! Anita used Power Poppy’s Bottlebrush Holiday for this little number. She also used one of my favorite things in the whole world.... GLITTER! Check it out....

Are YOU playing along in the Daily Marker’s 30 Day Coloring Challenge?

These fine ladies below have and we couldn't be happier that they reached for their Power Poppy digis and stamps to get their color on! If you have no idea what the 30 Day Coloring Challenge is -- let me fill you in! Our friend Kathy Racoosin of The Daily Marker started this fun and stress-busting challenge to get us out of the day-to-day grind and instead do something we love -- COLOR -- even if it is just for 10 minutes each day! What’s better than that? Well, chocolate might be better, but still! ;-) You can check out the details HERE and then, join in the fun!

Jenny Colacicco used Power Poppy’s Flowers, Always digi and made it awash with color for her daily dose. Love that dreamy look Jenny! 

Vivien Lee enlarged the image from Power Poppy’s Spring Meadow Bouquet digital set and colored it up in such a striking way. I mean, can you just smell those lilacs? It’s honestly one you have to stop, take a deep breath, and just take it all in! 

Thanks, Peeps, for making our week shine with your talent & awesomeness!

Now it's time to turn things over to a few of our Bloomies who also have sweet things to share this Friday! Hop through this little linky list and I know you'll leave their little places on the web inspired! ;-)

Christine Okken 

Julie Koerber 

Stacy Morgan

Be sure to tune back in on Monday when we offer up another edition of Inspire Me Monday! Kathy Racoosin will  be in the house to share a little more about her 30-day Coloring Challenge and give you a snippet of one of her latest color fests! Hopefully seeing her world in color will help you pick up your favorite medium and join in on her challenge!

See you back here soon!

~Julie 

Inspire Me Monday - Enhance It with Black!

Hey all! Jessie here today to share a simple way to enhance your copic colouring, I personally love mixing my coloured pencils and copics together, but for a quick easy way to enhance those copics and make those shadows nice and dark is with nothing more then a black coloured pencil (for this project I used a Faber-Castell Polychromos black, but any black coloured pencil will work!)

I started off by printing the Acorn Ornaments Digital Stamp on Copic X-press it blending card. I coloured it up with my copic markers. 

Copics used:

E79, E77, E74, E71, E70

BG09, BG07, BG05, BG02, BG01, BG000

RV29, RV25, RV23, RV21, RV10

Now I am going to come in with my black coloured pencil and slowly add in the darkest shadowns to make it really pop and read as 3D. I have a series of pictures showing you as it gets added in.

I then took these little acorns and fussy cut them out and they are ready to be put on a sweet Christmas card.

I have always loved how much dimension adding that little bit of black can give an image. 

Thanks for stopping by,

Hugz,

Jessie

New Digi on the 5s: Acorn Ornaments

What’s even better than vintage glass ornaments? Vintage glass ornaments that replicate nature, that’s what! Acorns, pinecones, anything nut-like or seed-pod-esque that could dangle from a tree and be used for splendid Christmas decorating is fair game for my fancy. Obsessing over glass-glitter dusted pinecones and acorns is practically a national pastime around here. I want to hang them from everything in my house! Just check out the cuteness factor on these little reproduction mercury glass ones (photo via Pinterest).

Not only are acorns symbols for good luck and prosperity, but for renewal and growth. I think they are the perfect subject matter for crafting for the Thanksgiving-to-Christmas season, as every time you step outside, you could potentially stumble over a pile of them. Little treasures dropping from the trees!

It was only natural that I had to draw a few of them, and I’ve remixed a couple sweet ones and added a new one for our Happiest Holidays digital download collection. May I present Acorn Ornaments!

This digital set is composed of four images — two variations of the acorns (one with ribbon cords, one without) and two sentiments that take you from our grateful harvest season straight into the holidays. Acorn Ornaments would be sweet featured individually, and with a little Photoshop tweaking, you can come up with bushels of ideas for them.

We have some enchanting cards made with these special gems, and I hope to add mine to the list a bit later today. For now I hope you’ll run around and see the adorable acorn cards by these talented designers!

Tosha Leyendekker
Stacy Morgan
Nancy Sheads
Barbara Walker

You’ve heard about the kinds of ornaments that make my heart sing. What ornaments strike YOUR fancy? Let me know in the comments. I love to hear about your passions and nostalgic memories, and I may take inspiration for an upcoming collection! Ta ta, my dears!

We're dreaming of a Pink Christmas!

Hello all, and welcome to a whole new month of excitement here on the Power Poppy blog. With the arrival of November comes a whole new Power & Spark challenge, new digital stamps (Get ready — one is coming at you on Saturday) among so many other fun things to share! Also, stay tuned because if you played along with us for the Power & Spark challenge for October, you might be this month's winner of a free stamp set -- WOO HOO! 

If you are looking for design power to ignite that creative spark, check it out peeps!

HOW TO PLAY: This month, we’re not dreaming of a white Christmas, we are positively pink! Tosha Leyendekker is our hostess with the mostess and here’s what she has to say about this little challenge she’s ushering in for all of us:

“I love vintage, so I often think of white and pink for Christmas décor. I thought it would be fun to feature pink on a Christmas Card. So, for this month’s challenge, let’s THINK PINK and make it a Pink Christmas.”

THE OFFICIAL RULES:

• Use Power Poppy stamps for this challenge if you have them. If not, it’s a great chance for you to WIN some! 
• 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 November 30 @ 8:00pm EST. At that point, we’ll draw the winner randomly and make the announcement right here on the first Friday of December!

And for that bit of inspiration to get you on your crafty way, check out how Tosh put her challenge in play! Just look at all that sparkle, will you? And those die cut accents that make her whole card grab your attention! I personally love how she took a very traditional image from the Holly Golightly stamp set, turned it on its head colorwise and fashioned this striking display for the holidays! You can visit Tosha's blog (see link below) to read up on how she created this wonder!

Did you play along with us this past month for October’s Make It Move Challenge with Ally Cope? The entries were INCREDIBLE. Such creativity across the board! Well, cross your fingers now because Random.org threw all the entries into a big virtual hat and this is the number it pulled....

Which means the winner is.......

* LOUISE from JemLou Productions! *

This card is fun on so many levels. For starters, Louise created a wreath using greenery from Power Poppy’s digi stamp, Glittering Glass Santa (how clever!) and a vignette from the clear stamp Bottlebrush Holiday as the base for her shaker card. The second fun fact was that she was inspired by our friend Kathy Racoosin's Inspire Me Monday post HERE to create the card this way. Well, we are super fans of Kathy, so that's a cool little tidbit. And third, just check out Louise’s coloring and design!

Thanks, Louise for playing along! To claim your prize, all you need to do is shoot us an email at bloom@powerpoppy.com and let us know what clear or digital stamp set you would like us to send your way!

Now it is time to turn things over to our colorful cast of creative characters also known as the Bloom Brigade so they can show you some of the crafty fun they’ve been stirring up this week!

Ally Cope

Christine Okken

Cindy Lawrence

Katie Sims

Stacy Morgan

Tosha Leyendekker

Thanks for stopping by and seeing what we were up to today. Like I mentioned at the beginning of this post, be sure to check back here tomorrow for another addition to our Power Poppy Instant Garden! This set is cute, quirky with just the right dash of whimsy to share a little of the holiday spirit with others! PLUS, coming up Monday, another edition of Inspire Me Monday to kick off your creative week with the talented Colorista Jessie Banks! Hope to see you all back here soon!

~Julie

An InLinkz Link-up