Creative Confetti: Time to Sketch it Out!

Hello all and Happy Tuesday! Hope your week is off to a great start! Because we all love a good sketch every now and then, I thought I'd dig through to find one of my favorite cards recently and make it the center of a brand new sketch for Creative Confetti! So, are you ready sweet peeps?

HOW TO PLAY: It's as easy as using the sketch below! Use it as your inspiration and share your creation using the linky below! Here's the fun part -- you can flip the sketch any which way. Use it upside down, on its side, the world is your oyster! You can also use any shape -- no need to stick with an oval! Simply use the sketch as a launching point! If you want to stick to the basic sketch, that's perfect too. That's why I love sketches, it takes the guesswork out of creating!

On to my creation!

I should mention, this was a card I made last fall for World Cardmaking Day. While I created it a few months back, I loved this layout and through it would make a great sketch challenge. 

For my card, I downloaded one of Power Poppy's digital images called Dazzling Display! Some of these images were well-loved in the Power Poppy clear set called So Grateful. I absolutely adore these illustrations! I decided to blow up the dahlia image, change the color to burnt orange and then print on a piece of orange dotted decorative paper to create my own bit of coordinating decorative paper. Then, I pulled the corner image into Photoshop Elements and used two of them to form an oval shape that I later die cut using a stitched oval die. I colored it all up with Copic markers, accenting with a bit of white gel pen!

I should mention that the sentiment was stamped using Nautical Navy Memento ink and adorned with two little enamel dots. Because I wanted a linear sentiment, I stamped this one from the Olive and Oak Expanded clear set.

And that, my friends, is it! An easy peasy sketch that you can flip, twist, turn and make using whatever shape you like! So, now it's your turn! Let's see you "Sketch it Out!" 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! 

Until next time! 

~Julie
Creative Confetti Thrower

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Creative Confetti: Alter It!

Hello Power Poppy Peeps and Happy Tuesday! This week, we are going to have a little fun looking around our homes and seeing what fun things we can add a little stamping magic too! It's getting close to the season of giving and don't you just love adding a little crafty touch to gifts or ... actually making those crafty touches a gift in an of itself? Before I share too much about this challenge, take a look for yourself!

HOW TO PLAY: It's as simple as altering an item! Stamp on a box, deck out a gift bag or tag. The world is your oyster! After you are finished creating, simply link up your creation on the linky below for a chance to win....

A $25 Gift Code to the Power Poppy Shop! 

Isn't that fun? The good news is, the linky is up all month long, giving you lots of chances to win!

On to My Creation! 

I had this little gold journal in my craft room with the thought of altering it literally years ago. Recently, I decided to embark on not one, but two Bible studies and one will require heavy-duty notes. So, I thought, no time like the present to pull out that gold journal and start decking it out!

If you remember THIS digital tutorial, you might recognize this digital image! It's the digital stamp set Monarchs & Milkweed. When I did that little tutorial, I printed off a few extras for times just like this!

I started by coloring up the butterflies and, while I didn't take a picture of the butterflies on white, trust me, it just looked too stark! I ended up using Broken China and Stormy Sky Distress Inks to sponge ink all over my image. Yes. I was nervous. I am not the best "sponger" and so I worried I might ruin my coloring. Note to self, sponge before you color next time!  

After I was done sponging, I did take a water brush and go over the leaves and then spritzed my paper with a few water sprays to get that dappled look. Adding a brush of water to the leaves gave it that dreamy muted look that helped define the leaves a bit without color. I wanted it to look like a scene taken almost at dusk with just that bold pop of orange taking center stage.

After I was done, I took some super strong tacky tape and taped my image to my front cover, making sure to line up the tape right along that outer edge as close as I possibly could so that the edge would be tacked down quite well to prevent the sides from curling.

And here it is! The sentiment was from the stamp set Olive and Oak Expanded. I just love that Bible Verse -- one of my absolute faves!

And now, this old journal has been given new life thanks to some inks and stamps! It was a fun and quick project that will serve me very well in the weeks to come! Just a note -- if you need a little extra inspiration, I dug up a little for you so you get the gist of this challenge!

Stacy's Altered Gift Tins
Ally's Phone Case - think of this in holiday style! 

So, let's see what you can do by nipping, tucking and altering some of the fun things around your home! After you're done, don't forget to link up your creation below for the chance to win a $25 shopping trip to the Power Poppy Shop! We can't wait to see what you come up with!

Oh, and before I let you go... get ready for a Holiday Blitz! Starting TOMORROW! Check it out!

You'll want to stay tuned for new digital stamp sets, highlights of some of Power Poppy's most well-loved clear holiday sets, Black Friday specials & more!
See you back here tomorrow! 
~Julie

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Creative Confetti: Feeling Fall

Hello all and happiest of Tuesdays to you! Well, yesterday we ushered in the first day of Fall. So now, we can officially love all things pumpkin spice, spicy scented candles and, of course, sweater weather! In honor of this change of seasons, I thought there was no better time than now to have a kick-off celebration and use Creative Confetti to really ramp up our use of fall-themed stamps or color schemes! So, without further ado, check out this week's challenge!

HOW TO PLAY: It's just as simple as the graphic suggests, create with Fall in mind! It could be an image. It could be a color scheme. It could be using fall themed embellishments! It's just as easy as that!

On to our creations for the week!


Because this season is so beautiful, I thought I would share some fall-themed creations, not just from me but from some of the Bloomies to show you just how far you can take the challenge this week!

I absolutely love this creation from Ally Cope using Power Poppy's Fortunes of Fall  stamp set! For those digi lovers, this beautiful-for-fall stamp also comes in a digital format and it's called Maize for Days! This card is a perfect reminder to not only celebrate the season but to show some love to the shades of colored pencils that might not get a ton of use! 

Check out this masterpiece by Christine Okken, using Power Poppy's Olive and Oak digital stamp set.  I love how Christine can make any Copic creation almost have that dreamy watercolor feel. Sigh.... just too pretty!

This image above that Stacy Morgan captured so well called Fall Wellies is a heart-warming homage to autumn -- a time when we kick up our rain boots, taking a few fallen leaves with them! I adore how she not only colored up the fall leaves on the image perfectly but added a few as embellishments to boot! (pun intended).

For my creation, (which is one I actually did a while back), I chose to use just some bits of the Olive and Oak expanded stamp set.  I kept the design rather simple, letting the mix of patterns work their magic. I let the sentiment be the focal point and then adorned the die-cut and sponged panel with the cluster of leaves and acorns in this set. The Bible verse in this set is one of my absolute favorites!

Okay folks,  now it's your turn to enjoy "Feeling Fall!" Remember, after you create and play along, link up your project using the linky below so we can all see. Every entry is one more shot at a $25 gift code to the Power Poppy Shop! Woo hoo!

AND... a little teaser for you! You're going to want to check in on October 1st! Marcy will have a digital extravaganza -- releasing more fall-themed images for you to enjoy!

Also, I mentioned this last week! DO YOU HAVE AN IDEA FOR AN UPCOMING CHALLENGE? Email me at juliekoerber@gmail.com and fill me in! If your idea is used, we'll honor you on our blog for the week! Now don't be shy! I can't wait to hear your ideas! We already got a couple of emails and we can't wait to share!

Until next time,

~Julie 

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Good Vibe WEEKEND!

Hello sweet peeps! This little post is so late this Friday that I am just going to rename today's post the....

So, sit back, relax, take a sip of your favorite beverage and get ready to be WOWED by good vibes and fun crafty stuff!

Your Good Vibe 5 Hit List

1. Giving Thanks I have to say that Stacy nailed it on the autumnal feel of her Friday creation! You'll have to hop on over HERE and see the beautiful way she used Power Poppy's Olive & Oak Expanded set. I can almost smell the spiced cider and hear the crunch of fallen leaves underfoot when looking at this beauty!

2. Colored Pencil Magic Okay, so I might just be on a fall theme kick here today but my jaw dropped when I saw this colored pencil creation from Frankie Bell. Oh. My. Gosh. Isn't it just delish? She used Power Poppy's Maize for Days digital stamp. Sigh... just too pretty. Click HERE to check it out in full glory!

3. The Sunshine of Life Want a little freebie lesson on how to color up Power Poppy's Sunflower Power digital stamp set? Well, Cynde Whitlow is doing just that! Just look at that colorful depth folks? I know... pretty amazing, right? Click HERE to check out all the deets!

4. Miraculous Mushrooms! Our own Bloomie Tosha brought out the absolute best in Power Poppy's Miraculous Mushrooms digital stamp and she did it while taking one of Jennifer Dove's Copic Bootcamps! Yes, THE Jennifer Dove who is on Power Poppy's Instant Garden team. Doesn't it just give you warm fuzzies to think of those two in a room together sharing creative vibes? Click HERE to see all of Tosh's ab fab creation!

5. Marce Hits the Bright Lights, Big City! Check out this little photo snapped by Ms. Marcella herself entering The Beatles LOVE by Cirque du Solei in Vegas. Can you imagine? She'll have to jump on here and tell us all about it because it looks pretty incredible. Live shows with good friends, that is indeed a good vibe! I hope she comes back! ;-)

Now we have one more GOOD VIBE to share with you! If you didn't know it, Marcy snuck a brand new holiday image under the radar and released it earlier this week! It's called Ultimate Poinsettia, and just because I know you'll want to SEE... take a gander my friends!

If it looks familiar, you're good! You know your Power Poppy images! This absolutely breathtaking illustration was released last holiday season in clear. It's the Winter Wonderland stamp set. Well, after it's release, Marcella got note after note from digi lovers begging her to release the image in digital form. So, this Christmas, your wishes were granted! It's a bouquet with a flouncy poinsettia surrounded by anemones, pepperberries and the leaves of dusty miller. Breathe it in people!

And with every Digis on the 5s release, we have that fabulous gang of gals known as the Instant Gardeners who lend their creativity to bring these images to life! So, be sure to stop by and see the gorgeous ways they colored up Power Poppy's Ultimate Poinsettia! 

Barbara Walker

Broni Holcombe

Leslie Miller

Rhea Weigand

Thanks for popping in to share in this week's Good Vibes! Ally Cope will be in the house as we kick off the week for another edition of Inspire Me Monday! You'll want to swing back by for that because, as we ALL know, that girl has mad skills!

See you then!
Julie 

Hues that Give Thanks!

Hello fine folks! It's that time in the week when we spin the color wheel and see what "Hues to Use" for our creative endeavors! Since this week brings a special holiday here in the States, I thought I would cue up a charming little photo from Marcella's IG Feed that truly shares the mojo of the Thanksgiving Holiday! Take a look at the shot below and *try* not to lick your computer screen! I know it will be tempting, but please try! ;-) 

To play along, all you have to do is use these rich shades of pumpkin, latte and cocoa in one of your creations! Then, don't forget to link it up below and share with us all! We LOVE to see your take on our weekly trio of colors! 

With that treat, I get to usher in yet another! We have a fabulous guest designer who's making this trip over to the Power Poppy blog from the eastern half of the states. Say "hello" will you to......

Hi, my name is Julie Gearinger and I live in Frederick, Maryland with my wonderful husband of 34+ years and two beautiful kitties, Angel and Victoria. Since childhood, I have been artistic and was always drawing and/or painting- my mother would have to pry me away from my artwork to help with the housework- lol!!

In 1999 I attended my very first stamping home party and was immediately hooked! I love the fact that with stamping, we can create something beautiful that will encourage others in addition to sharing with them how they can be artists as well!

I started my blog Stamping with Julie Gearinger in 2010 and have enjoyed being on several Design Teams over the years. I feel so honored to be the Guest Designer for this challenge at Power Poppy and hope that --- after you see my card -- you'll be inspired to join us!

JULIE'S CARD

I know, many of you may cringe at the thought of digital stamps and feel that digital images are too intimidating, but trust me, they are so easy to use!! You can import them into photo editing software (I generally use the retired Stampin’ Up! My Digital Studio™ program or Word) or you can use another word processing program. You can enlarge or reduce the image, flip it and/or crop it, then print it out on cardstock, watercolor or other paper. Then you just color as you would a stamped image. It is so easy to create different looks with just one image plus another major benefit for me is that they do not take up space in my stamping studio :-)

This week’s "Hues to Use" neutral palette is perfect for so many different types of cards and with the celebration of Thanksgiving this week here in the States, I decided to use the main image from the Olive and Oak digital stamp set and the sentiment from the Bittersweet Wreath digital stamp set.

TO CREATE THIS CARD:

1). Open an 8 ½” x 11” document in your word processing/photo software program, import or insert the Olive & Oak image into the blank document (I enlarged it a bit) and import the sentiment from Bittersweet Wreath into another area of the document. I positioned them both on the same page but made sure I had enough room to cut out the main image panel and that the sentiment would be the correct size for the 4 ¼” card (again, this is what I love about digital images!!). Print the images using black printer ink onto white cardstock. FYI- you can use watercolor paper or other colored cardstock as well – just as long as your printer will handle the weight. I tend to use an 80lb weight white cardstock that has a very smooth surface.

2). Use a water brush with antique linen distress ink, watercolor the entire image. Use a heat tool to speed up the drying and continue to color the image using watercolor pencils, distress ink and markers and shadows with a water-soluble graphite pencil until you are satisfied with the results. I also used an alcohol marker for the background (to try to achieve an antique paper look). Use a stencil with antique linen distress ink to lightly stencil in the background.

3). Die cut the image with a rectangle stitched die, mount onto rust cardstock, trim close to the die cut edge and mount onto espresso cardstock. Create the photo corners using a square punch from rust cardstock and trim the edges for the photo corner. Add the chocolate brads in the corners and mount the entire panel onto a piece of rust cardstock.

4). Using a tutorial from Splitcoaststampers for an easel card (see tutorial here), I cut a piece of espresso cardstock to 4 ¼” x 11” and scored at 5 ½” and 8 ¼”. I folded on the score lines to create the easel.

5). Hand trim the sentiment to approx. 3 ¾” wide, watercolor with the antique linen distress ink and watercolor pencils for a wash over the sentiment panel and stencil around the edges with the same stencil as used above for the main image panel. Mount the sentiment onto rust cardstock, trim and mount onto espresso cardstock, trim and mount onto rust cardstock again for the layers.

6). On a separate piece of espresso cardstock (approx. 4 ¼” wide by 5” tall), add the crochet lace and chocolate ribbon. Wrap the ribbon ends behind this panel and adhere the panel to the lower portion of the easel card. Mount the sentiment with dimensional foam (this is the part of the card that will help keep the easel portion open).

7). Adhere the front panel onto the small flap of the easel card, test out the easel movement to make sure that it will work smoothly.

8).To finish off the card, add shimmer to the main oak leaf with a clear shimmer pen.

Stamp Sets: Olive and Oak, Bittersweet Wreath (both digital stamps from PowerPoppy)

Ink/Mediums: Inkjet Printer- Black Ink, Tim Holtz® (TH) Antique Linen Distress Ink, TH Gathered Twigs Distress Marker, Stampin’ Up! (SU!) Markers- Cajun Craze, Early Espresso, Rexel Derwent® Watercolor Pencils-#53 Sepia, #57 Brown Ochre, #62 Burnt Sienna, #64 Terra Cotta; Derwent® Water Soluble Graphite Pencil- HB Light Wash; Spectrum Noir™ GV1 Alcohol Marker & Clear Glitter Pen

Cardstock/Paper: Whisper White, Cajun Craze, Early Espresso (all Stampin’ Up!)

Accessories: Big Shot™, MFT Stitched Rectangle STAX Dies, AquaPainter™, Ivory Crochet Lace, Chocolate brads, 1” Satin Ribbon from my stash

Thanks again for taking the time to stop by! I hope I have inspired you today and that you will be able to join us for the Power Poppy “Hues to Use” Challenge! Thanks again for the honor of being your Guest Designer for this challenge! Hugs and I hope you have a very blessed Thanksgiving and Christmas!!

Well, thank YOU Julie! You created an absolutely gorgeous easel card that is picture perfect for this time of year. The richness in color truly brings on the WOW factor! We were lucky to have you this week! Remember folks, the "Hues to Use" Challenge is a weekly color challenge that's never ending -- meaning you can create using that color palette any old time and link up whenever your heart desires! I invite you to travel back in Hues to Use time and see what color combos we've already played around with! Then, link up your creation! We also use these linkies to pick future guest designers! All the more reason to play along with us!

Thanks for stopping by! Get those fingers inky & link up your colorific creations below!
~Julie

An InLinkz Link-up

Inspire Me Monday: Interactive Tag Card

Howdy all!  Welcome to Inspire Me Monday!  I'm Allison Cope your hostess today at Power Poppy.

I am a HUGE fan of fun and interactive cards.  I love being able to send a handmade creation where someone physically gets to interact with their card... for example, something pop-s up when you pull a tab or am element rotates or swings on the card front.

So today I thought that I would share a super-duper easy-peasy interactive tag card tutorial with you.

Since Autumn is just around the corner (it's showing it's self here already in Alberta!) I thought I would pull out a stamp set from last year and a brand new one too!  So I grabbed the amazingly gorgeous "Olive & Oak Expanded" stamp collection the "Prairie Cheer" stamp set too!

So first I'm actually going to start you off with how to make this super simple card and then below you'll find a sped-up video if you'd like to see the colouring of my focal image.  Enjoy...

And for those of you that really enjoy colouring, come and check out this video where I coloured the brilliant trio of oak leaves, acorns and olives...

Here's a quick peek of my card...

And here it is with it's tag showing...

I hope I've inspired you today to get out and colour and create!

~ Ally ~

Inspire Me Monday - A Special Treat for a Valentine

Hello Friends, How are you today? It’s Kathy from The Daily Marker and I am back for another installment of Inspire Me Monday.

 I am crossing my fingers that you will enjoy todays post. Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and my goal is to make it meaningful with a sweet treat for my loved ones. Chocolate covered pretzels are easy to make so I thought I would show you how I like to make them with a video today. 

You can also see the video here in HD. If you like the video a thumbs up is always appreciated :)

I wrapped the plastic baggie (gallons size) around the pretzels and taped the sides down to make tidy little bundles like you see here. 

Pre-cut card stock was scored and a window was die cut. 

I am not the measuring type so I took a quick snap of this in case you might ask and hope it helps. Usually I just sorta wing things. 

These pretty olives from the Olive & Oak Expanded stamp set will be turned into Valentine heart berries to decorate my packaging. 

Before I began I wanted to do a quick test to check my colors and to see if turning the olives into hearts would work. 

A fine tip Sharpie marker is Copic-friendly and doesn’t bleed. I drew a heart right on top of the olive and used a white gel pen to cover up the shading on the olive just above the heart.  

You can see how it the tip of the “olive” is white now and it makes it easier to see the heart. 

I didn’t want to spend a lot of time coloring since the packaging will probably go straight in the trash.  Add a line of brown on the leaves. 

Then... add some yellow on top of that brown line and adding more yellow to the other parts of the leaves.

Add some green...any green for that matter. 

Now it’s time to color mash with an "0". Go over the entire leaf with the zero and it will blend all of the colors. 

If you really want the image to pop and have more time trace over the image again with that sharpie marker. Add a white highlight line with a gel pen. Add a coat of glossy accents on the heart shaped berries when you finish them all. 

Since these are for my family I wanted to add some blue around the image to make it pop more. First I traced around the image with BG02 and traced around BG02 with B00. To fade out the line from B00 I traced one more time with a very light color or you could use the "0" but, I used BG0000. 

(read this to a non crafty friend and they will wonder what the heck you are taking about lol)

At first I was going to leave the circle open in the center but decided to add it. I like the way the sprinkles from the pretzels resembles a shaker card. Thanks for letting me share something that I enjoy doing with you today and have a great week.
Hugs, Kathy

Holiday 2015 Collection: Olive & Oak ... Expanded!

Hello friends! Today’s sneak peek is a set you’ve already had a peek at. Some of you might even have the main image as a digital stamp. When we introduced Olive and Oak set a digi in September, we were absolutely blown away at the positive response. (Not to mention slack-jawed at the GEE-OR-GEE-OUS creations made by both the Instant Gardeners and the Bloom Brigade design teams!!) I immediately received inquiries about this one coming out in clear polymer.... so after adding extra clusters of acorns and olives, and some versatile fall sentiments of thanks and giving, I’m happy to say that Olive and Oak Expanded has arrived!

So, Olive and Oak is a part of our Holiday collection... because quite frankly, I think this set can be used for celebrations throughout the year, whether it’s Thanksgiving or Christmas (add gold, silver, or bronze accents or stamp in a single color!), or heralding a birthday in June. The main idea behind the set is the intertwining of the Olive branches and the Oak leaves — for a combined message of PEACE and STRENGTH — which I believe I may have mentioned when we launched the digital version, we can all use now and then. :)

I thought I’d share a few images from my sketchbook before I introduce the Bloom Brigade’s beautiful cards using this set, as you guys seemed to get a kick out of it the other day when I shared my pencil-sketched Botanical Tree. I so appreciated reading all of your kind messages about seeing my process! Thank you to everyone who took a moment to share their thoughts.

When starting out with my illustrations, one of the big considerations is orientation and composition. I may know in my head that I want to do something with Olive branches and Oak leaves (and don’t forget the cute lil acorns!), but how to go about it? Is a bouquet of leaves the right direction? What about a few wisps wafting across the page? Maybe a tight boutonniere arrangement? I spend a little while sketching through the various concepts in pencil in my sketchbook until I get the feel for the various components. For this image, for a time, I messed around with adding Rosehips to the bouquet for a little sweetness... but then decided to leave them out (you’ll see they appear in a more stylized manner in the Botanical Tree arabesque!).

I think about how the stamper may want to use the image. Is there a fun little spot where a sentiment can be tucked? Should it be loose and open or packed tight with excitement? Would horizontal or vertical work better for this image? I think about these things and about 100 other random details. Ever wonder why I’m always talking about mindfulness and taking breaks outside to relax? My mind is usually going on overdrive. :)

Speaking of all of these little details... I’m quite certain that our design teams consider many of these questions and more when determining how to go about a card design. When you add color, that is a whole new ballgame!! And pattern, too? And ribbon, sequins, sparkle? Forget about it. It’s just too cool. Have I told you all lately how much I admire the talents that you have for creating the awesome cards and creations that you do?

Endlessly wowed.

PLEASE join me in skipping over to see what these two dears have created for today’s clear stamp peek at Olive and Oak Expanded:

Christine Okken 

Julie Koerber  

There will be even more designer card samples to see on our Blog Hop on Sunday, so you’ll have loads of ideas to get you going! And if you just can’t wait, I want to remind you of what was created with the digital version of this set just within the last month... tiptoe over to see:

Tosha Leyendekker

Stacy Morgan

Allison Cope

Leslie Miller

Jennifer Dove

Cheryl Scrivens

Debbie Olson

Rhea Weigand

Broni Holcombe

and... another card by these fab chicks:

Christine Okken

Julie Koerber

Is that enough inspiration for ya? We aim to please!! This set will be available in the shop on Sunday, October 18th, along with the entire collection. But wait... TOMORROW we have one more new set to spring on you... and it’s a CUTE ONE!!

Have a wonderful day, and for those of us needing a little extra peace and strength, I hope you find some today.