Creative Confetti: Sketch It Out

Hello all and happy Tuesday! Being that so many of you love a good sketch, it's time for another one! Are you ready as I reach down into my bag of tricks and throw out this week's Creative Confetti???

HOW TO PLAY: It's as simple as following the sketch below! And, to give you a little creative license, feel free to change shapes or flip the sketch any which way. It's doesn't matter as long as we can "see" the sketch and feel your inspiration! Maybe you want to flip it so that the sentiment flag is more toward the top? Your call! Maybe you want to flip the sketch on its side? You do that! Maybe you want to use a shape other than an oval? Feel free! 

Here's a peek at the sketch!

And here's a look at my creation! 

So, this creation MAY look a little familiar to you if you followed along on my Inspire Me Monday, ways to get inspired tutorial HERE! I showed you all how you can create for those times when inspiration is lacking and one of my tricks was to create a layout ahead of time without actually stamping! See?

I shared how I followed a sketch, gathered up some papers and then, put them in a baggie with everything needed to save for a creative rainy day!

So, I pulled out all the pieces and decided to put them to use and encourage you to do the same by using this very sketch!

For my card, I used a retired set called Prairie Cheer. Sadly, I didn't know it was retired when I chose to create my card! But, if you like this look, there are so many slender florals that Power Poppy has in the shop, you can really create a similar look with stamp sets like:

Asters Abuzz
Black Eyed Susan
Bubbles and Fizz (this would make a cute and different creation!)
Easy Breezy Coneflowers
Graceful Still Life
Lavender Sprigs

And there are so many more to pick from if you just scroll through the Flowers Category on the Power Poppy Shop!

Moving on! I colored up my main image using just a few Copic Markers. I am trying to be more of a minimalist when I color because I think it is just so much easier than layering on color after color. Of course, there are times when the beauty of the art requires it but because this image is so simple and clean, it isn't required for this illustration.

Here's a close up for y'all! Yep, I added Stickles. I swear, I am addicted and have been for 20 plus years! ;-)

The sentiment above is one of my recent favorites. It's from the Cheerful Columbine stamp set, which is currently sold out. Sorry folks! I seem to not be a great enabler today! ;-)

And that, my friends, is it! Want to join me this week? Simply create, post and then link up using the linky below! As we always say, if you get those fingers inky and play along, each and every link is an opportunity to win a $25 gift code to the Power Poppy Shop! Woo Hoo!

Until next time!

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Inspire Me Monday ~ Rainbow Accessories!

Hello everyone and happy Monday!  Welcome to Inspire Me Monday. I'm your hostess this week, Allison Cope. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

I'm here with you to share a fun project that isn't a card!  Oh my!  You heard me right!  Today I'm going to stamp and color a panel for my clear cell phone case.

First I used my paper template that I keep in my desk and I cut out a new thin cardstock panel to stamp and color.  Of course, every phone is different so you're going to have to create your own.  It's about trial and error until you get a good fit for your panel in your case.

Then I stamped my panel with Copic safe ink using the "Folk Heart" stamp set.  Now, be aware!  This stamp set is retiring but there are still a few left.  PLUS it's on SALE!!!!

I colored in my back ground first.  I used a rainbow of delicious Copic colors.

To finish of my cell phone panel I then coloured in my main image and all the adorable sunflowers.  I even added a little bit of black paint splatter to the surface just for a little more interest.

I have done project before and if you missed that tutorial, you can CLICK HERE.

Thanks for stopping by!  What do you think of this project?  Would you make one for your phone?

~ Ally ~

stamps: Power Poppy (Folk Heart)

cardstock: Recollections (#65 White cardstock)

inks: Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps (Wicked Black), Copic Markers

paint: DecoArt (Ebony Black)

Creative Confetti - Change it up!

Hello and welcome to another weekly boost of creative ideas for your cardmaking skills! My routine hasn't changed much for the last four months. My daily routine, after I stumble out of bed, is to get a cup of coffee. Then I carry that cup to my computer and check my email. By then, it's been an hour. I look at that cup of coffee, and it's gone! I must have finished it, but I am not sure! Then, I go for my daily walk. So I decided to change it up. I went for that walk first and enjoyed the scenery and the quiet and the cool morning, and planned my day. Then I had my coffee outside on the patio. I sure enjoyed that cup. Still, plenty of time to get to those emails! It was a good change for me.

You may want to make a change in your routine like I did or why not try something new in your crafting space? Knowing how rare these kinds of cards are, here's my challenge for this week!

HOW TO PLAY: I challenge you to do a slimline card. I know that you have seen them out there, so let's do one here. This style is long and skinny and can fit in a business-sized envelope. So, get creating and once you are done, don't forget to link it up using the linky below. Every entry is one shot at winning a $25 code to the Power Poppy Shop!

On to my creation!

My card measures 3-3/4" by 7".  This isn't the standard size, you can make yours larger if you wish. Just make sure the finished card appears long and skinny. I used Power Poppy's stamp set Glistening Paperwhites  -- both the clear stamp set and the digi (called Paperwhites & Juniper) are on sale! My image is colored with Copic markers and Prismacolor pencils and I did a pointillism design around the image to bring it forward. The card base is Gina K Designs in Wild Wisteria and a panel of silver and then the image panel. I added some Glossy Accents to the berries as well. 

This card fits easily into a regular business envelope after cutting off one inch on both sides. Then I used 1/4 score tape to seal it off the sides that I cut. I kind of like the blue inside of the envelope. 

Don't forget to complete the inside! Here, I just repeated the layering panels and stamped a sentiment from the same stamp set. Added the flower, masked it off, and stamped the branches with berries. 

You don't have to finish off the inside to qualify in the challenge.  It's just a fun idea!

So, let's see you take it "slim" and make a slimline card this week. They are fun and just like those money cards you can find at Hallmark, a creation like this might come in handy for gift giving. Speaking of gift-giving, if you are the lucky name drawn at the end of the month like I said, you could win a $25 gift code to the Power Poppy Shop!   What a fun way to win a shopping trip. 

Until next time!

~Barbara

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Creative Confetti: Rock that Mojo!

Hello everyone and happy Tuesday! If you checked in yesterday for my guest post on Inspire Me Monday, you know that I've been having an issue as of late with my mojo! I got a few emails after I posted that column and, it turns out, a lot of YOU are suffering as well - wondering where your mojo went! So, I thought it would be fun to have you read THIS POST and hopefully it will inspire because that is the basis of this week's Creative Confetti Challenge!

HOW TO PLAY: Find a source of inspiration - a blog, a Pinterest gallery, a sketch website, a catalog, a magazine -- you name it! Whatever inspires you, take some time to really let that mojo bubble up to the surface to create! All you need to do is create using that source and then share a link or photo of your inspiration source!

Once you are done with your creation, don't forget to link it up using the linky below. Every entry is one shot at winning a $25 code to the Power Poppy Shop!

On to my creation!

So, this sketch below from Paper Play Sketches was my source of inspiration. I loved the simplicity of it and as soon as I set my sights on it, I knew exactly what I would do to bring it to life!

I started by cutting out all my pieces first, like I did in my post yesterday, just to speed up the creative process. As you can see, after I die cut my rectangles, I stamped using the Power Poppy clear stamp Summer Berries. 

From there, it was just coloring it up with Copics and assembling! Before I added the strip of green decorative paper, I decided to add some pizazz by wrapping it with some silver cording. To color, I used R30, R32, R35 and R37 for the berries and accented in spots with Y11 and YG00. The leaves were colored up with YG00, YG03, YG13, YG17. I accented with Y00 and YG0000 around the outside of the image and then accented the berries with a white gel pen. And... ta da!

 Here's a little closeup for you!

And as you can see, I did use the "Hello Friend" sentiment, also from the stamp set and accented my creation like the sketch did with some bling in the upper right corner! I have to say, I love the simplicity of following a sketch and helping take some of the guesswork out of creating -- especially when you feel like you are in a creative slump! 

MOVING ON! Since we are about to embark on a new month, we have a winner to share from all of our June Creative Confetti entries! If you missed the action, just click HERE to see some of the beautiful creations submitted! After we put all the entries into the virtual hat, Random.org drew this number!

That means the winner is....

* * * * * BONNIE KLASS! * * * *

Bonnie had several breathtaking entries this past month, but this one below was our lucky winner!

I love the bold pop of color on the white textured base and just a hint of black in the twine and sentiment! Just perfect! Just in case you wondered, Bonnie used Power Poppy's Garden Fireworks digital stamp set for this creation. 

Bonnie, to claim your $25 gift code to the Power Poppy Shop, just email us at bloom@powerpoppy.com and Marcella will get your code right to you! So glad you played along and shared your talents with us! 

Okay, sweet stamping friends, now it's your turn to show us your spark of inspiration! As I mentioned, each entry gets you a chance at winning a little shopping trip with $25 to spend in the Power Poppy Shop! So... what are you waiting for? Let's see you get those fingers inky!

Until next time!
~Julie 

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Inspire Me Monday: Finding Inspiration!

Hi all and welcome to a brand new week with brand new ideas bubbling to the surface to help spark a little creative flair! For this week's Inspire Me Monday, I thought I would share a few tips and tricks that I have up my sleeve for those weeks when the mojo is just not flowing. None of these ideas, mind you, are earth shattering but they have definitely helped pull me out of a creative slump and they are fun to do. Call these techniques creatively saving for a "rainy day!" 

Since this is my view today, it's fitting. ;-) 

And here's a peek at some of the ways I try to counter those creative rainy days. 

1. Keep inspiring and colorful catalogs for just this time! I am a catalog saver. I have nearly every Stampin' Up catalog from the past ten years and I purchase books too that might spark some inspiration. This book put out years ago from Paper Crafts magazine has 365 card samples inside. Sure, some of the stamps might look dated but I think if the "bones" are good in a layout, you can freshen it up with new trending colors and images. 

2. Scribble down your own ideas whenever they come to you! I love having a blank notebook handy for when I am looking at catalogs, other people's blogs, or even at stamp sets that I want to put to good use. If I see a card layout in my head, I NEED to write it down. I have probably 50 pages with my chicken scratch all over it just like these pages above that I pull out when I am in a creative slump.

3. Pin or print off sketches from sketch websites. There are so many out there and I know so many of you are familiar with the hot spots! Years ago, I took an afternoon and copied and pasted sketches from one of my favorite sketch blogs. Mojo Monday was one of my absolute favorites and I was so sad when Julee Tilman stopped the blog back in 2018. BUT ALAS, in doing research for this Inspire Me Monday, I discovered that Mojo Monday is back, only on Julee's personal blog - Poetic Artistry.  And, if you want to find all of her recent sketches, she has a Pinterest Page with links to all of them! You can find it HERE! 

What are some of my other faves?

• Power Poppy's Pinterest Page, lots of cards on our boards plus, sketches HERE!
• PageMaps Card Maps 
• Paper Play Sketches: this blog is no longer active but has inspiration sheets you can print
• The Best Things In Life are Pink: Kristie Marcotte is a sketch wizard and not only does she share gazillion layouts, but many times she will share the dimensions needed to create that sketch. So, you can go to town cutting papers and looking for the right die cuts instead of trying to copy a sketch only to have the dimensions wrong in the end. 
• The Deconstructed Sketch: Jen Shultz did this series for years and while it is over, you can find 200 of her sketches archived HERE! 
• I've pinned a ton of sketches on my own Pinterest Board called Get Sketchy. You can find it HERE if you want instant and easy access to some of my favorite sketches! 

I know there are SO many more! So, if you have a favorite, would you mind sharing your favorite sketch hot spot in the comment section of this post? I'd love it if you did and I am sure others would too! 

4. Take a sketch next level. Now, I don't practice this all the time but I have to say, there was a time when I had about twenty of these little sketch packs stored in an old photo storage box. I cannot tell you how fun that was. I would spend an afternoon being inspired by sketches, pulling out coordinating card stock and doo-dads and then, create just like I have done above!

Want to see the process? 

So, you know those papers full of sketched out designs that I showed you at the top of this post? Well, I dug through them to find one that I thought might be a good one to replicate in a jiffy!

From there, I chose a paper pack that still needed some love. I have had this one for YEARS and there are still so many papers tucked inside. I know you share my "paper-holic" ways, so, you get it, right? ;-)

And here are the three pieces I picked! From there, I just started to figure out which one I wanted to be my dominant piece and which pieces might have a "supporting role!"

And these are the pieces that I ended up stuffing in a sandwich bag to use for another day! So, when creativity is lacking, all I have to do is reach for this, pick a stamp set, and stamp and color! Taking what I think is the tricky part of card making out of the equation helps me to get that mojo flowing again and doing what I love - coloring so that I can then share some joy with a handmade card!

I hope you had fun joining me for a bit of my creative process and like I said, if you have some tips and tricks to get through those days when you don't have a lot of mojo, please make sure you leave your suggestions in the comments section!

Until next time! 
~Julie 

Creative Confetti: Shape Up!

Hello everyone and happy Tuesday!  Is everyone ready for a new challenge to help kick start your creative week? Well, I am! Today's challenge is all about thinking out of the box and using shapes in different ways in your card designs! So often, we take a main image, trim it up, mat it and then add our doo-dads to create personality. What if the front of the card showcased a bit of shape personality? That's what this week's challenge is all about! 

HOW TO PLAY: To play along, just get a little creative with shapes on your card. Make your card base a different shape, use shapes for your main panel or just accent with little die-cut shapes. This week's challenge is REALLY open to interpretation folks! Once you are done with your creation, don't forget to link it up using the linky below. Every entry is one shot at winning a $25 code to the Power Poppy Shop!

On to my creation!

If you checked in last week, you saw some cards that I was creating for a local non-profit. Yep, all baby cards! While I cut all of them out...

I didn't get a chance to make all of them into cards yet! So, bear with me, you might be seeing baby cards for while! HA! This one is using Power Poppy's Precious Baby stamp set.  It's the perfect set to have on hand for this occasion because it has three vignettes all with a baby theme.

When I started coloring the main image on my card, I saw bubbles of color. No idea why, I just had that idea rolling around in my head! So, I colored up my image in greens and blues and then started to scour my patterned paper stash, looking for the right shades of blue and green. And... viola! I took different sizes of circle punches and just started layering it all up in a staggered design. After I was done, I thought it needed more, so I added the sentiment bubble and the little heart. On the sentiment, I added a little light blue Copic (BG0000) around the outside to help it to pop, added rhinestones and ta da!

I just love this set and all the good feels you get when you make a baby card! Don't you?

Okay, sweet stamping friends, now it's your turn! Let's see you Shape Up and create with shapes as the main focus! Each entry gets you a chance at winning a little shopping trip with $25 to spend in the Power Poppy Shop! So... what are you waiting for? Let's see you get those fingers inky!

Until next time!
~Julie 

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Inspire Me Monday - Printing Digital Stamps

HELLO POWER POPPY PEEPS! I'm back today for Inspire Me Monday with a different kind of tutorial. I get a lot of questions asking me how I print my digital stamps for Copic coloring. So I decided that this would be a good time to put together a short video on using Microsoft Word to arrange, resize, and print digital stamps.

Just a note upfront - this method works for me because:

• I have a Copic compatible printer.
• My printer has an adjustable rear sheet feed.
• I precut my Copic cardstock to 4.25 inches x 5.5 inches.

The related question I often get is about printers - which one should I buy? I never recommend a particular model because they vary widely in compatibility and availability. So I'm just going to leave you with a few tips to consider when selecting a printer for digital images with alcohol markers:

• Laser jet printers are Copic compatible since the toner is heat set on the paper. 
• Some inkjet printers appear to be Copic compatible, but many are not. 
• The only way to know if your printer is compatible is to test it by printing an image and running a marker over it. If the ink smears, then it is not compatible. 
• You can't transform an unsafe ink by heat setting it, spraying with fixers, printing in draft mode, etc. The ink is either Copic safe or it's not. 

Well that's it for today! Thanks for watching and see you next time!

Nancy