Friday fun with our designers

Hi everybody. While we’re all getting anxious for spring to kick in (well, I know that I have been stalking my fledgling Hellebore plants and lifting up last year’s leaves to see if fresh Daffodil stalks are emerging...) our designers have been coloring up some beautiful  new creations to share with you! 

I can’t get over all of the springy colors, the bounty of flowers, the fun watercolor techniques. You’re in for a special trip.

Let’s see what’s in store to boost our creativity this week...

Stacy Morgan

Julie Koerber

Broni Holcombe

Christine Okken

Barbara Campbell

Barbara Walker

Jessie Banks » featuring a video tutorial

Thank you so much for stopping by the Power Poppy blog today!

Creative Confetti: Frame It Up!

Happy Tuesday friends! I hope your week is off to a beautiful start. It's time for another fun-filled challenge to kick start a little creativity! This week's challenge is one that you could take in so many different directions. And, it all involves putting your main image in the spotlight... with a frame!

Check it out...

HOW TO PLAY: This challenge is as simple as putting a frame on your card. Yes, just that easy! I mentioned the main image but you could frame up the sentiment as well. Up to you!

On to my creation

I was going through some of my pre-stamped images and found these little die cut flowers from the Abundant Petals stamp set, using the coordinating Die Set as well.  And, after I "auditioned" them together, I decided that I had just the right combination to create a bit of color in a card corner. So, I colored it up using Copic markers - R81, R83, RV00, and RV0000 for the petals and YG00, YG23, and YG25 for the leaves. 

I took some decorative paper and created a frame by lining up two stitched rectangle dies and, using a Post-It Note, situated and tacked them down on the paper before running them through my die cut machine. 

After I cut out the frame, I cut another panel using only the largest die out of this cream and green graph style paper so that it would layer up perfectly. I used the 'Thank You' sentiment from the set and heat embossed it with gold detail powder. 

After I was done with my card, I wondered if it looked a little too plain? So, I did dig into my sequin stash and added a little bit of bling. Not sure which one I like better. What do YOU think?

Like I said, if you leave a comment, let me know which version you like better -- clean or with a little extra bling!

Now it's your turn Creative Confetti fans!  Let's see how you frame up your image to create a design splash! After you're done creating, don't forget to link up your creation using the linky below. Everyone who plays along gets a shot at our monthly random drawing for a $25 gift code to the Power Poppy Shop! So, get those fingers inky! We'd love it if YOU won!

Until next time!
Julie

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Inspire Me Monday - Breathe in Life

Hello Power Poppy Fans! Nancy here with this week's edition of Inspire Me Monday. I'm back today with a new coloring video featuring the Breathe In Life Digital Stamp (image also available i the Lavender Clear Stamp Set). Lavender is one of my favorite flowers so I love this image.

Coloring tutorials for metals usually show a straight white line down the center of the object to indicate shine, but I decided that I wanted to make that reflection more fluid so that the can would appear weathered and textured. So I created a shine that zig zags down the center which just felt more realistic than a straight white line. Those flowers are so tiny that I didn't worry about coloring them individually. Instead, I focused on the flower clusters, dotting in color to add some variety to the clusters.

So grab a beverage and get comfortable. It's time to roll the video!

STAMPS

Breathe In Life Digital Stamp Set
Lavender Clear Stamp Set (sentiment)

COPICS

BV20, BV23, BV25 (can); V01, V04, V09 (flowers); YG00, YG03, G46 (leaves); E21, E25 (shadow)

Be sure you check out my Power Poppy coloring videos on YouTube.

Thanks for joining me today! See you again soon!

Fresh Digi Releases Today!

Hello my friends ~ and welcome to our first Instant Garden introduction of 2020. The TWO digital downloads we are ushering in today made a brief appearance last year as the subjects of a coloring class with Kit & Clowder. And now I’m happy to make them available to everrrrrrybody! 

Lisa Johansen created a butterfly card bursting with candy shop colors!

These two images explore several themes. Among them are change, transformation, and self realization. And we’ve brought in the concepts of time and flight. I originally composed these images along with Alyce Keegan, whose insights into what might be fun and challenging for colorers and crafters is fabulously spot-on. 2020’s introductions include a few more twists.

It’s Time to Fly...

Time to Fly in watercolor by Jessie Banks

and here is Shimmering Flight!

Shimmering Flight captured beautifully in markers and pencils by Allison Cope

Turquoise gem version by Barbara Campbell

Can you even? Our designers brought these images to life so beautifully, filled with spirit and vibrancy! The illustrations are filled with details and interesting areas to add your unique spin.

With butterflies, anemones, and the gears of time, Time to Fly comes with three variations in the download: One as seen above, one with the butterfly wings much simplified, and one with more simple watch hands for a crisp look. 

Shimmering Flight a juicy stalk of hollyhocks (as seen all over the place in New Mexico on my trip last summer), and nestled inside is a jewel where a dragonfly has landed. A second option has a wonderful turquoise-and-silver pendant in the style of Native American jewelry. This image comes both with and without the dragonfly friend. 

Each digital download comes with a few variations and all images are in both black and very light grey for “no-line” coloring.

Broni Holcombe even paired her stunning watercolor of Time to Fly — isn’t this a fun color combo? — with a sentiment printed onto vellum from another of our digital sets.

Gloria Stengel’s Time to Fly progress

I always love to see a process shot, and was thrilled to see Gloria Stengel’s work as she adds tiny details in pencil. Look at those gear details and the tiny dots on the butterflies! 

Enjoy working with these images, and if you purchased them while taking the Kit and Clowder classes, you should have gotten an email with links to download the updated variations.

Happy weekend, everyone!

Creative Confetti: Inspired by a Song

Happy Tuesday friends! This week's Creative Confetti is all about being inspired by song. Music plays a big part in my life and, like a lot of people, I associate certain songs with certain events or people in my life. Sometimes it's a melody that will make me think of my dad or a song title that takes me back to a summer night, the scent of lilacs moving through the air. How has the magic of song inspired you?

HOW TO PLAY: Make a card inspired by a song! Maybe the title of the song has a flower mentioned in it, maybe a certain melody reminds you of flowers received on a special date? Let your imagination run wild with this!

On to my creation!

I had a few ideas going through my head for this. I originally had The Rose by Bette Midler as my inspiration but then I was listening to the 60's music station on my TV when Crimson and Clover by Tommy James and the Shondells came on. I absolutely love that song and it reminds me of being a kid and sitting on the stairs that led to our family room. My parents had a pool table down there and on Saturday nights they would play pool with their best friends while listening to oldies on the radio. To this day I can still picture my dad standing there with his pool stick waiting to take his shot, his head bobbing to the tunes.

With St.Patrick's Day not too far away I decided to use the digital stamp Shamrock 'n' Roll. I'm a pretty literal person so the image is perfect for the song title plus the title of the stamp set goes nicely with the theme this week :)

After coloring the shamrocks I decided to do the clover in pink. There is a crimson clover that is native to Europe and which has been introduced to the US but I thought that going that deep of red would make the card look too Christmassy. The pink pairs nicely with the green, giving off a nice spring feel!

I had the patterned paper in my stash and it was the perfect mix of greens to go with my image! I wanted to bring in a tad more of that pink so I die cut a panel of pink card stock and angled it underneath a piece of olive green card stock that I embossed with an argyle pattern. I printed out the sentiment from the set and then popped that up across the bottom portion of the card to complete things!

Now it's your turn Creative Confetti fans! Let's see how music inspires you!  Don't forget to link up your creation below so we can ALL see what you've whipped up and you'll be entered into our monthly drawing for a $25 gift code to the Power Poppy Shop. You have all month to play along!

See you soon!
Lisa

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Inspire Me Monday: YouTube LIVE Watercolor Painting

Howdy everyone!  Allison Cope here!

Today we're going to do something a little different!  Later today I'm going to go LIVE on YouTube (HERE) with a watercoloring project for a last minute Valentine's Day card.

You will also be able to see it after the live as well on the same link above.

Please join me at 2:00pm EST on YouTube and we'll have some fun together!

See you then!

~ Ally ~

Creative Confetti: Anything but a Heart!

Hello! I am so happy to be here on this challenge for you! Can you believe that it is February? It was a busy month in January and now we are looking at Valentine's month. Certainly, crafty people think of it that way and that made me think of a challenge for you! I know that we all associate Valentine's Day with hearts, so let's think outside the (candy hearts) box and use no hearts at all.

HOW TO PLAY: Make a card, you should be able to recognize it as a valentine, but use something other than a heart. I can think of lots of things that you can find in the Power Poppy shop. Cherries, berries, red poppies, red roses or any flower. Use your Valentine colors or any color that makes you think Valentine!

On to my creation! 

I chose the strawberries from the digital set called Cherries and Berries. Just by using red and a red gingham panel, it was already looking like a Valentine! I just needed to change the sentiment. I used the phrase from Juicy Strawberries' digital stamp set and changed the word Friend to Valentine. It was easy!

To complete the card, I used a panel of red gingham and I die cut the strawberry panel that I colored with my Copic markers with Paper Trey Ink Mix and Match die called Pretty Brackets. The shading and the touches of white gel pen really make them look juicy! So, you see, a Valentine, without a heart! Now it's your turn to give this challenge a try.

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Since it's a new month, we get to find out who was our lucky winner of last month's random drawing! So, without further ado....

That means, the winner is....

 * * * Theresa Pollack * * *

Want to take a look at Theresa's winning creation? It's clean and classy and beautiful! 

Theresa played along in our Life Imitating Art challenge and was inspired by a Georgia O'Keefe print to create this beauty above. You might not be able to tell, but she mixed the Ultimate Poppy (no line version) and Juicy Strawberries digital sets to and then printed them on a background of green leaves. She added a little color to the poppy's petals to add a little more dimension. Wow! Check out all the details and even a second creation HERE! 

Congrats Theresa! To claim your prize, all you need to do is email us at bloom@powerpoppy.com and Marcy will get your winning code to you!

So now it is your turn! I am so excited to see what you come up with for this challenge.  Don't forget to link up your creations using the linky below to this challenge below and remember, every entry is one shot at winning a $25 gift code to the Power Poppy Shop. You have all month long to play!

Until then,
 

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Click here to enter