Friday's Good Vibe 5

Hello my dear friends! We’re wrapping up a busy and fulfilling week and kicking off a sunny Friday here in St. Louis — hope you have a great one wherever you happen to hang your hat.

No. 1 

What can I say about this photo? It makes me tear up a little bit, quite frankly. This past weekend I was so proud to get to share St. Louis with 7/8 of my beloved Bloom Brigade, who came to visit and see what this place is all about! Such a whirlwind. We kicked off with dinner at my house, and filled in the weekend with jaunts to the Missouri Botanical Garden, Forest Park, a St. Louis Cardinals baseball game, night out to see an R&B/soul band, spin through my favorite nursery Bowood Farms, and, as shown in the photo above, a memorable trip to my parents’ beautiful home and garden, where my stepdad, Steve, gave us an incredible tour. What a group of amazing people, I won’t ever forget our visit! You can see more photos from our adventures on some of the Bloomies’ blogs today!

Above, left to right: Marcella Hawley, Christine Okken, Allison Cope, Katie Sims, Julie Koerber, Cindy Lawrence, Tosha Leyendekker, Stacy Morgan. 

No. 2 

Hard to imagine a sweeter card featuring our Sweet Memories stamp set — and a fluttery friend who happens to make this card eligible for our JUNE Power & Spark Challenge — go read all about it! Leslie Miller is the artist behind this lovely card, and we are especially loving Leslie’s tiny polka dots sprinkled all around the blooms and tendrils — it gives her card a real liveliness, don’t you think? In addition to incredibly rich coloring in the “no-line” style. Hope you’ll try your hand at creating a card featuring a little butterfly, bee, beetle, or any 6-legged friend in our June Bug Challenge this month. Remember, you could win a $50 Shopping Spree at Power Poppy!

No. 3 

Every now and again, I get very, very special mail from my friends/customers (the line is so blurry sometimes!) — and during my birthday week, I was so touched by the cards I received!! One of the beauties was this watercolored Camellias card by Jennifer Colacicco @soulbyte. I have it right on my desk, and just marvel at how Jenny’s light touch with her paints brightens up the canvas. Lovely delicate shading, and a perfectly placed bronze-embossed sentiment just melted me! Thank you so much, Jenny, I love my card, sweet little giftie, and especially loved your daughter’s artistic creation tucked in, TOO!!! I am one lucky lady!

No. 4 

Looking for a few stamps to make simply smashing cards — and save at the same time? I’m offering Potted Primroses clear stamp for just $11.99 (save $6 off retail) and Juicy Strawberries digital stamp set (save $4 off retail) until Sunday at midnight. Swoop in and grab these for your collection before the price goes back up! 

No. 5 

But wait — there’s MORE!! In honor of Father’s Day on Sunday, you can grab two of our most popular masculine-themed sets for a super steal! Move the Soul clear stamp set is a perfect for those motorcycle-lovin’ men in your life with lots of sentiments and oil-stained elements, and is $6 off at $11.99! Leaping Trout is a digital stamp that colors up beautifully and will be so appreciated by those fish-wrangling fathers — save $4 on this one. Offer ends Sunday at midnight.

The Bloom Brigade got back from their St. Louis sojourn and set right to creating!! Can’t wait to share what they’ve made, everything from birthdays to bugs to cards featuring our NEWEST digital introductions, Luminous Bouquet and Old Time Hollyhocks. Take a peek:

Allison Cope

Christine Okken

Cindy Lawrence

Julie Koerber

Stacy Morgan

Tosha Leyendekker

Thank you so much, Bloomies!!! Be sure to leave some love for our super sweet team!

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Be SURE to check out Allison Cope’s tutorial on Inspire Me Monday, for a glowingly gorgeous card that I happen to have been given IN PERSON! I can verify that this is one of the coolest cards I’ve ever seen in my life. And Ally shows you how to make it right HERE.

MONDAY: Be sure to circle back with us as Kathy Racoosin hosts Inspire Me Monday! And an all-new Instant Garden digital stamp set will be arriving on June 25th! Yeehoooooooo

Buzzin' With Color!

Hi all! Are you ready for another trio of colors designed to inspire and give you a creative kickstart when popping in to make a card? Well, you've come to the right place! It's Tuesday, which means it's time for another edition of......

Imagine Marcella knowing where a garden sprouting with ideas might exist just like this one -- a whimsical wonder! This one is tucked away near the University of Illinois and is an "Idea Garden" full of the skilled handiwork of the Master Gardeners of Champaign County. It's a spot, they say, that's a "delightful place to walk, get ideas for your own garden, or just to relax in the gazebo with a friend." Ahh.... what a lush and colorful delight for the eyes! Breathe it in people! When Marcella shared this sweet photo on Intsagram, her eyes locked on those beautiful purple puffs that just appeared to stand at attention and said, "Ever-charming Allium Lollipops -- always stealing the show!" And, she's right! So, this is how our color palette sprouted with shades of vibrant violet, weathered grey, and leafy green. See? 

This is how my creation began! I used Power Poppy's Asters Abuzz digital stamp set and colored it up with my Copic markers using a mix of leafy greens in G21, G24, G28, YG00, a bit of vibrant violet using V00, V01, V04 and V06, and the grey, I saved for my card layout. You can see I used some light blue Copic markers to add some pop and fizz with some stippled accents! 

So, I have a confession to make. It's actually a tragedy to share! :-( So, I colored up this image above and decided that I needed to cut out this image with a die cut circle. So, I put my little image in my Spellbinders "sandwich" and started cranking! Well, when I opened it all up, I didn't see the die that had been stuck to the other side of my die machine plate. OH. MY. GOSH!

THERE WAS A SCALLOPED EDGE DIE THAT CUT OFF THE TOP PART OF MY IMAGE! Ohhhhhhhh NooooooOOooOOOoooo! 

So, instead of throwing away my colored up and cut up image, I decided to make lemonade out of lemons! After staring at it for what seemed like an eternity, I decided the only thing I could do was to cut it up further with a 1-1/4" circle punch. So, with one eye closed, I worked to "save" what was left!

And this is what I came up with!

I have to admit, It was tough "recovering" from my mishap! HA! But, I actually do love how this turned out and made the image more of an accent to the sentiment than the other way around. 

Here's a closeup of those little fuzzy bumbles....

And, did you notice that my card is two-fold? This little creation also could be in the running for this little challenge!

So, my sweet stamping friends, now you have TWO ways to challenge yourself this week! Hues to Use.... and this month's Power & Spark Junebug Challenge, which urges you to add a little bug to your card or creation!

Thanks for stopping by my friends! I'd love to see you put vibrant violet, weathered grey and leafy green to the test! When you do, make sure to link up your creation below! I cannot wait to see what you come up with! Seeing you share your creative endeavors makes my heart smile! ;-)

Have a fabulous rest of your week creative peeps!
~Julie

An InLinkz Link-up

Inspire Me Monday: Light It Up!

Welcome to Inspire Me Monday!  I'm your hostess Allison Cope and today we're going to have some fun with some cool stamped and embossed images and some even more cool LED light kit.

In order for you to better follow along with the steps of this card, I have a video tutorial made up for you today.  This video is a little bit longer than my typical videos but I think in order to see and understand the steps, it was necessary.

Grab a cuppa your favorite beverage and join me at my desk...

View in HD.

I hope you'll take a moment and click the thumbs up on the video to let me know you'd like to see more card making videos just like this one.  Take a moment and leave a comment either here on the blog or over on YouTube.

Here's a final peek at the final card.  I used the amazingly gorgeous Sunny Harvest clear stamp set for my card today.

Copics: BV31, E70, E71, R14, Y11, Y15, Y17, YG01, YG03, YG13, YG17, YG93, YR15

 And here is my card all lit up...

Thanks for joining me here today.  I sure hope you enjoyed the card making process using the fun Chibitronics LED light kit.  If you get a chance to try it, I'd love a link to your project!

Have a great weekend everyone and happy card making!

~ Allison Cope ~


Stamps: Power Poppy (Sunny Harvest)
Cardstock: Strathmore (Bristol Smooth White Watercolor Paper), Recollections (110# White), My Favorite Things (Vellum), DCWV (Foiled – Copper)
Dies: SugarPea Designs (Stitched Flags), Lawn Fawn (Stitched Rectangles), Spellbinders (A2 Scalloped Borders 1)
Tools: Chibitronics (LED Lights, Copper Tape, Battery)
Embossing Powder: Stampendous! (Copper Detail)
Patterned Papers: Authentique (Gathering 6x6)
Inks: Versamark, Copic Markers

Berry-licious!

Hello all and welcome to another edition of....

Today's little color exploration features a favorite of Ms. Marcella's! Just set your sights on this little firecracker on two wheels below!

If you didn't know it, Marcella's beau, Doug, loves to fix up vintage bikes. If you scroll through Marce's Ista-stream, man-oh-man you see the passion those two have -- and the soirees that they organize -- all for the love of the vintage bike! So, I thought it especially fitting since Marce just celebrated a birthday yesterday (she's not 46 -- she's forty-sassy!), that we'd honor this little number in this week's Hues to Use! Check-check-check-ity it out! So grab those shades of firecracker red, electric yellow and go-go green --- and get to creating!

On to my creation! Okay, I have a confession to make! When summer rolls around, my family literally hits the road following my daughter's softball team all over the place! Recently we were in Steamboat Springs, CO., which meant, I was hundreds of miles from my craft room! So, sweet stamping friends, I just had time to color up, but not make a card with, some Juicy Strawberries!  

Just in case you wondered, I grabbed my Copic markers for this little number and reached for YG03, YG17 and YG67 for the go-go greens! I used Y13 and Y35 for the electric yellows and then reached for R20, R32, R27 and R29 for the firecracker red strawberries! As you can see, I accented with some white gel pen and then highlighted my image with Y00 and YG0000 just to add a bit of glow!

Now, if you want to see these lush berries taking center stage on a card, all you need to do is check back to my blog HERE on Friday when I finish it up and post with the Bloomies! ;-)

Until then, let's see where this trio of colors takes you? Is it around the bend looking for adventure? Or, is it more like a peaceful, easy Sunday drive through the rolling hills? Take this challenge for a spin and.... then link up your creation below!

See you back here soon!
~Julie

An InLinkz Link-up

It's My Birthday: New Digis and Goodies

Girrrrrrrl, we have a lot going on over here, for a number of reasons, it’s kind of an exciting day... tee hee, it’s my birthday!

Yep, 46 years old, and in need of my son Finn’s hand to hold up my double chin for our selfie. Ain’t life grand? I sure think so! We have a few announcements for today... first of all, our May Instant Garden digi is finally ready — in June. We’ll still bring you an all-new illustration for coloring on June 15, but to keep you entertained and inspired until then, we have a pretty special one today.

Say hello to Luminous Bouquet — a rich and wild cluster comprised of so many dynamic flowers. At the very center is a Japanese-type Peony — as you can see in Cheryl’s wonderful card above, you can really have fun with coloring this one!! The center is comprised of “petaloids” — spikey, wispy, wild petals that radiate coolness! They come in all the regular Peony shades from white to yellow to pink to red and every mixture in between. Then we have several species Clematis, which Cheryl has done in brilliant blue. The tiny flowers flittering about are Hydrangea (in purple above). Several leaves of Oxalis (clover) peek from behind the Peony. These leaves are SO fun to color in two-tone — you’ll have to do some Googling for ideas. Lastly, sprigs of Periwinkle (Vinca minor) curl around the perimeter of the bouquet. Doesn’t this look fun? I cannot wait to get my paints out to take on this one!! But wait, there’s more....

Seeing as how it’s the 5th of the month, it’s also time to introduce a few “Digis on the 5s” for our wonderful coloring and cardmaking community. One is a very detailed country scene with Hollyhock flowers called Old Time Hollyhocks. I’ve gotten a lot of requests for this one, and am thrilled to share it with you as a digital stamp set — it comes with a neat sentiment by Emily Dickinson, as well! 

We are also sharing a remixed set called Bubbles & Fizz — do any of my dear Aussies see a resemblance to the Australian native tree Golden Wattle? This stylized version of Acacia pycnantha is as bubbly and fanciful as they come, and Nancy has done this one up in pink, which I just LOVE! This image is just a breeze to color, and would be fun done in any manner of fun flower/leaf combinations. Stretch your imagination with Bubbles & Fizz, and be sure to check out the upbeat sentiment that comes with it.

So, in total, we have THREE new digital stamp sets for you to play with — all landing in the shop on the same day! Want to know how you can get a BIG discount on these stamp sets? You’ll have to come with me on a little trip over to Facebook....

Come visit Passionate Paper Creations and Friends, the Facebook community run by our very own hilariously wonderful, insanely talented friends, (and an Instant Gardener!), Rhea Weigand. Power Poppy is the sponsor of the week, and if you go over to THIS PAGE on Facebook, you can join in on the fun and get a discount code to use in our store all week. PLUS, we’re having a coloring contest where you can win a $30 shopping code at powerpoppy.com — get on over there and join the group!

A recap of the images we are releasing today for your creative enjoyment.... all three of them! Which one will you dive into first?

Luminous Bouquet

Old Time Hollyhocks

Bubbles & Fizz

ALL WEEK LONG we’ll be revealing cards made with these fun new downloadable sets. Today we have a few to share from these amazing Instant Gardeners. Pop by their blogs and read all about their lively cards, always made with passion and an abundance of creativity:

Cheryl Scrivens

Nancy Sheads

Rhea Weigand

Thank you so much for spending part of my birthday with me! I’m just happy to be here to celebrate another sunshiney morning. As the visionary man Thich Nhat Hanh loves to say, “BREATHE! You are alive!!” 

I hope you’ll come join the party over at Passionate Paper Creations on Facebook... more excitement to come. Take care, my dear ones!

Friday's Good Vibe 5

Hey guys!! We made it to Friday... is it time for a nap yet? Here are FIVE fun topics to snap you awake and get you creatively ready to take on the weekend.

No. 1 

Be sure to read about our JUNE Power & Spark Challenge — JUST ANNOUNCED this very morning! There’s a hint about the challenge topic if you look closely at the little visitor in Ally Cope’s super creative card above... Plus, find out who won the $50 Shopping Spree at Power Poppy. CLICK HERE for that post.

No. 2 

I’m hoping to put you in a state of orange madness with today’s Mood Board photo. Instagrammer Philipa Stanton @5ftinf supplies a steady stream of color-coordinated collages in her feed, and the inspiration from her images is somewhat limitless. But this week, I’d love to see you reach for everything ORANGE in your stash, then throw it together to make a card with zip and zing! As you can see, the rustic natural elements help balance out the exuberant shades of orange. Everything from burnt umber to electric tangerine are going strong in this composition. Let’s see what ya got! Hashtag #powerpoppymoodboard or link your creation below!

An InLinkz Link-up

No. 3 

Whatever you do, be sure to catch up with our guest host Elizabeth Zaffarano (@saffronkingfisher) for this week’s Inspire Me Monday. Filled with EXCELLENT tips for taking on large-scale projects and coloring multiple images, plus showing step-by-step photos of how she made a commemorative Poppy wreath for Memorial Day, this is a post for the ages!

NOTE: The Poppies clear stamp set used in this tutorial is on sale for $12.99 for a limited time!

No. 4 

Bloomie Stacy Morgan spied this fanciful, richly detailed card by Laine Webb over on Splitcoast, and was totally taken by Laine’s coloring, expert use of layering, and her creamy punched flowers. We couldn’t agree more! Beautiful card by Laine featuring our Rose and Chamomile digi.

No. 5 

Should you ever find yourself just about smack dab in the center of the USA in St. Louis, Missouri (my beloved hometown and the headquarters for Power Poppy!), you simply must, must, MUST spend some time at the City Museum downtown. Conceived and built by Bob Cassily, it is a wonderland of imagination, ingenuity, renewal, cleverness, and total FUN!! (I won't say “good clean fun, because if you climb around the tunnels and catwalks of this magical place, you’ll come out a bit dusty.) This is the place to go if you want to indulge your inner child, inner artist, or inner daredevil. We took our kids for my soon-to-be step-daughter Sylvia’s 15th birthday, and had a total blast!

Let’s see what the Bloomies have been up to this week... there’s definitely some beauty buzzing around the world wide web:

Allison Cope

Julie Koerber

Stacy Morgan

Thank you so much, Bloomies!!! Be sure to leave some love for our super sweet team!

Feel free to share the images on this page on social media, and as always, we would love for you to tag us!

• Instagram: @powerpoppy and #powerpoppy allows others to find your post
• Facebook: @powerpoppyrocks and #powerpoppy allows others to find your post
• Pinterest: @powerpoppyrocks and #powerpoppy allows others to find your post

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A few more quick notes... did you happen to catch our new Tuesday column, Hues to Use? Go check it out and get your color-pickin’ wheels kickin’! Every Tuesday, Julie Koerber curates a palette to delight and inspire. This week, she made a beautiful Peony card inspired by this peony from my garden. Go see Julie’s STEPPED-OUT tutorial on masking and create a cascading card like this today!

MONDAY: We’ll have a FEW very special digis to introduce for your coloring pleasure! Thank you for hanging on out there, life has been so busy the last several weeks (months?) I’m trying to get caught up on all my drawings. I can’t wait to share what I’ve been working on!

Power & Spark JUNE Challenge: Go Ahead -- Bug Me!

Hello folks and Happiest of Fridays to YOU! Are you ready to take flight with a brand spankin' new challenge designed just for all our Power Poppy Creative PEEPS? Well, being that it is a new month, there's a new Power & Spark Challenge and this one already earned its wings! Yours truly is the hostess this month so I invite to take a creative step back and... check it out!

HOW TO PLAY: This little challenge has us in search of digital and polymer winged creatures to help our creations soar! For our Junebug Challenge, all you need to do is use a 'bug' on your card! Just that simple -- ladybug, buzzy little bumble, fluttering butterfly, it's up to you! Just in case you were wondering what Power Poppy stamp sets serve the purpose, I did a little research just for you! Look at all these fantastic and whimsical wonders just waiting to take center stage in this challenge! Some are digital wonders meaning you can purchase, download, print, and color in an instant! 

Asters Abuzz

Bees in Foxglove

Burst of Kindness

Climbing Clematis

Dynamic Duos: Foxglove & Ranunculus

French Lilac

Lilac Time

Prairie Cheer

Pure Prairie Bouquet

Soothing Sympathy

Spring Meadow Bouquet

Sunset Sway

On to my creation! I had this digital stamp set  -- Climbing Clematis -- printed and ready to go and had it laying on a stack just waiting to be colored so I thought -- no time like the present! 

If you want details on how I created this card with my color "recipe" of Copic Markers used, just hop, skip or fly on over to my site HERE!

Oh, I almost forgot! If you get your fingers inky and your lucky name is drawn at the end of June that you win a......

$50 SHOPPING SPREE

AT THE POWER POPPY SHOP! WOOT WOOT!

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THE OFFICIAL RULES:

• Use Power Poppy stamps if you have them. If not, it is a great way 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 $50 SHOPPING SPREE TO 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 June 30th @ 8:00 PM EST. At that point, we’ll draw the winner randomly and make the announcement right here on the first Friday in June. 

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Each and every month, we literally have to pick our jaws up from the floor at all the amazing entries you link up! And, my friends, this challenge was no exception. In fact, this past month ushered in more entries than Power Poppy has ever seen before! What? I know! Crazy! Some of my faves? THIS water splashed beauty by Mamie Carson. THIS card that's sure to be "Scent with Love" by Annie Rosenstiel! THIS sun-kissed beauty by A J Bodine! And another fave would have to be THIS gorgeously framed bunch of blossoms by Irene Rhodes. Wow. All beautiful and the truth is, there were dozens upon dozens more that were equally as noteworthy! You'll have to click on over HERE to see all of the entries in their vibrant and colorful glory!

In the meantime, we have a winning name to draw! After random.org put all of the names in the virtual hat, the winner was...

which means the winner is.....

TRICIA TRAXLER!!! 

CONGRATS to you -- you talented lady! You've won a $50 Shopping Spree — contact us and we'll send you the code!

If you didn't see Tricia's sweet creation, oh my, check this out! She used Power Poppy's Short Stacks stamp set to create this absolutely darling and perky card! 

And that, my friends, is it! There's so much going on at the Power Poppy Shop this weekend that you just might need to buckle yourself in for a few days! First up, if you missed the Good Vibe 5 for this week, just click HERE to see ALL the ab fab inspiration that Marcella has rounded up for you! It's a post that is always BIG on the warm fuzzies! And then, mark your calendar for next Monday, June 5th. That oh-so-special day just so happens to be Ms. Marcella's BIRTHDAY! And boy does she have a digital party planned! Look for a sprinkling of new sprouts in the Instant Garden, ready to download, print and create with! I CANNOT WAIT! Can you?

See you back here real soon!
~Julie

An InLinkz Link-up