March Power & Spark: Inspired by Fabric!

Are you ready? Seriously, are you ready for a brand new challenge this month that just might have you perusing Pinterest for just a wee bit longer than normal? We love a good inspiration challenge around here and one of our queens of creativity, Ally Cope, dreamt up a super fun way to get some colorful ideas for your next creative cardmaking session. Check it out peeps!

HOW TO PLAY: Here's what Ms. Ally has to say....

We find inspiration all around us! I always am gawking at the amazing fabrics we wear, fabrics we use to upholster our furniture and the fabrics we lay over us at night. So this month, take a look at some fabric swatches that inspire you and use them as a stepping stone to create a fun card.

When it comes to inspiration, Ally DOES NOT disappoint. First up, she had a fabulous link to a board she created on Pinterest FULL of inspiration for you.

CHECK OUT ALLY'S INSPIRATION BOARD HERE

And here's a look at the swatches of fabric that sparked this amazing creation! (Just CLICK HERE to see in the link directly in Pinterest) Oh my gosh, how fun are these sunset shades? 

Now let’s take a look at the card Ally created too using Power Poppy’s clear stamp set Pure Prairie Spirit. (We should mention this amazing illustration also comes as a digital stamp set - Pure Prairie Bouquet - as well...). Notice how Ally picked up on the blue flowers with hints of yellows and violets? What a lovely kickstart to a project. I know you are all going to have a blast playing along with us for this challenge. 

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 March 31 @ 8:00 PM EST. At that point, we’ll draw the winner randomly and make the announcement right here on the first Friday in March. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

So, drum roll please, time now to draw that winning name from our February Power & Spark Love to Sparkle Challenge! If you missed this month's entries, you have to click HERE to see them for yourself... 

Moving on to our winner! After random.org put all of the names in the virtual hat, the number drawn was....

And that means our lucky winner is.... 

SONJA VAN LAAR!

Check out the fabulous creation she whipped up using Power Poppy's Layer Cake digital stamp set (you can also create with the clear set by using Power Poppy's set Party Time!)

I personally love how Sonja created a little personalized gift certificate and included the code to the Power Poppy Shop for her crafty friend. I might have to do that sometime soon! It's way too fun, perky and colorful! Love!

 CONGRATS, Sonja! You've won a $50 Shopping Spree! Contact us at bloom@powerpoppy.com and we'll send you your shopping code!

Thanks for joining us sweet peeps! Before you go, you can't leave without hitting up these links below and seeing what some of our fabulous members of the Bloom Brigade have to share!

Allison Cope
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Julie Koerber
Stacy Morgan

And swing back by Monday when Marcella will reveal a brand new addition to the Power Poppy Instant Garden a.k.a. digital stamp collection. We can't wait for you to see!

Until next time!
Julie 

An InLinkz Link-up

Abundance Preview, Day 2: Pure Prairie Spirit

Hey hey hey! Have you been following along on our Abundance stamp collection sneak peeks? We got underway yesterday with a versatile floral set called Vibrant Thanks, and today we’re jumping back into the world of flowers for a bouquet that’s been on our best seller list since as a digital stamp.

I often go for walks in a park nearby that’s designated as a “prairie restoration” — landscapers took what was once a grassy field and totally revamped the area into rolling hills of native wildflowers. Now, I’ve drawn a lot of wildflowers in my time, but there is something about prairie fields buzzing with local color that really brings a smile!

Getting out my illustration go-tos (Bristol illustration board and a pencil) I concocted a free-flowing bouquet based on prairie-esque stems picked from my garden, and then I whittled around, got out the eraser, and supplemented areas with flowers more common to prairies out west. After doing a little research, I brought in favorites like little bluestem, New England asters, purple prairie clover, and Indian paintbrush.

This bouquet may look a bit familiar, because the digital stamp form, Pure Prairie Bouquet, has been quite popular with our digi-loving customers, and NOW we are offering this image (updated and enhanced a bit here and there!) for our clear stamp-loving customers. It is so much fun to bring this image to life with color — whether you stick to the true shades of the flowers, or go rogue and bring in your own imaginative palette! Introducing: Pure Prairie Spirit.

Such an eyeful of flowers, I tell ya! As if it was plucked from the prairie fields and brought inside to plunk into a pitcher. You’ll find what makes the Pure Prairie Spirit clear stamp set different from the digital set is that the butterflies (there are 2!) are not a part of the bouquet itself, you can add butterflies, or skip them altogether. There is an array of sentiments — including a fun birthday blurb that really pairs up nicely with the theme of this wild, wonderful set. Want to see how you can use this set? Let’s go see what the Bloom Brigade has created for release day — they have had so many art supplies out for this bouquet, I’m sure craft tables were flooded with color (and marker caps).

Take it away, Bloomies!

Allison Cope

Christine Okken

Cindy Lawrence

Julie Koerber

Kathy Jones

Katie Sims

Stacy Morgan

Tosha Leyendekker

Thank you so much for coming to see the colorful fun we’ve been working on — and hope you’re feeling inspired to create some of your own. Pure Prairie Spirit will be available on July 30, along with the other 4 sets in the Abundance Collection. One more is coming tomorrow, and I promise, it’s a pretty BIG deal!! ;)

August Instant Garden Introduction: Pure Prairie Bouquet

Let’s start our week off with a “bang!”, shall we? How about a power-pack of color born from the flowering gifts of the land’s prairies, meadows, and roadsides. I’ve created a new bouquet for our August Instant Garden digital stamp introduction that will put you into a pure prairie state of mind. I know it did for me!

Inspiration for this new illustration was sparked by trips to our local park, where a prairie restoration has filled a large hillside with wonderful wildflowers, grasses, seedpods, butterflies, and bees. I walk there quite often and marvel at the sights, scents, and sounds. Returning to my own garden, I have planted lots of these prairie beauties, but in much tinier confines. Several weeks ago I went “out back” and plucked a big handful from my garden stash, and while not everything made the cut into the final drawing, I was definitely feeling the pull of these wildflower wonders.

From bee balm and tickseed to coneflower and milkweed, I got my initial bouquet sketched out “just so”. Then, as I do, I ended up erasing and redrawing parts of this thing until sadly, the sweet milkweed (orange flower in the upper left) didn’t make the cut. Maybe another day, milkweed! But I brought in prairie favorites like little bluestem, New England asters, purple prairie clover, and Indian paintbrush.

After getting it all to my liking, I got out my Sakura Micron pens (points ranging from 01 to 03mm), and inked it up. Here is a peek at the drawing before I erased the pencil.

Did I tell you that this one is power-packed? There is a LOT of activity in this bouquet — it almost guarantees a colorful card that will be filled with passion and life!

Introducing our newest digital stamp set, Pure Prairie Bouquet!

I told you that it’s colorful — holy moly! And if you want to see the true definition of the word “awesome”, you have to come see what our Instant Gardener team has come up with using Pure Prairie Bouquet.

Today you’ll get to see even more beauty, because guess what? We are welcoming a new member to our Instant Gardener digital stamp release team. We’ve been admiring her work and ogling her incredible coloring for months now, and we just couldn’t stand by another minute before asking Jessie Banks to join us. Please welcome Jessie over on her blog today, as she is even along for today’s introduction, setting right to work on Pure Prairie Bouquet. And we are so excited to announce that Jessie will also be joining us with helpful tutorials and fresh ideas for Inspire Me Monday here at Power Poppy.

A few words from Jessie:

Hey everyone! I am absolutely thrilled and honoured to be part of the Power Poppy Family. Ironically I coloured my first Power Poppy image in August of last year so its been one year since I first started colouring these images! I have loved the flowers from this company! I enjoy all sorts of mediums, copic, coloured pencils, watercolours, I have recently started dabbling in pastel pencils and I thrilled to be able to share them all with you! I have been colouring and card making for about 5 years now, and enjoy every moment of it!

Visit Jessie Banks’ blog here.


Now, to the full blogroll for today’s digi release... are you ready to roll?

Cheryl Scrivens

Debbie Olson

Jennifer Dove

Broni Holcombe

Barb Walker

Nancy Sheads

Jessie Banks

I even spent a little time coloring in this image, you may have spied it on my Instagram (@marcellahawley) a few weeks ago, as I posted it during Kathy Racoosin’s Daily Marker 30 Day Coloring Challenge. I hadn’t painted with gouache in quite a while, so I armed myself with some juicy new paints and had a ball getting down to business with this new illustration....

If you like the prairie feel of this drawing, you’ll want to stay close to Power Poppy this week. TOMORROW we launch our August Clear Stamp previews with the Bloom Brigade, and Friday is our big release day of three new sets. The Nature and Nurture Collection is coming, and I think there’s a lot to love about what we have for you!!! See you back here soon, I hope! For now, let’s go see what the IG team has lovingly created for us....