Garden Dirt: Flowering Clover, a Swatch for Underpainting with Copic Marker

 

Need a quick bit o' luck?

Saint Patrick's Day is almost upon us.

Uh oh... so soon? Already? Wait, what month is it anyway?

If you're anything like me, you've totally lost track of days and months. Luckily, I've got a quick coloring project for you today, just in case you need to pop a card into the mail, pronto!

Hello, my name is Amy Shulke and I'm the illustrator and art instructor over at VanillaArts.com. Welcome to another edition of my color swatch series here at Power Poppy-- The Garden Dirt.

Are you wondering why I'd name a collection of beautiful color combinations after dirty ol' dirt? It's because in realistic coloring, we take pretty colors and cover them with other pretty colors to make muddy colors. The real color of shade and shadow is always a little yucky, a little muddy, and a little dirty.

You can read more from my Garden Dirt series here.

Sometimes I color for realism. Other times, I color for fun.

If you're a fan of Marcella's stamps and digis, you're pretty darned used to coloring leaves.

So even though shamrocks and clover are cute as the dickens, they're still... ho hum... sigh... just another green leaf using the same old green Copic Markers and colored pencils.

Unless we have a little fun with the underpaint.

Check out the shady spots on my green clover leaves here. See that funky shade color? What is that weird color?

Would you believe it's the same color as the clover blossom?

Pink under Green makes a shady green

I know it sounds weird but weird color is what we're after.

Last month I shared with you about layering green under pink. This month we're reversing the combo because this magic trick works both ways. Green and magenta sit opposite of each other on the color wheel and when opposites cross paths, the color get a little wild and funky. 

To color the Shamrock n' Roll digital stamp, I started with RV55 and layered two leafy green markers over the top. I have no idea what to call this new color. Gink? Preen? I don't know but it sure is fun to make.

And guess what?

This same marker combination can be used on several of Marcella's clover-ish shamrocky floral images. Try it on Clover and Pansies, Wish You Luck, Asters Abuzz, or the magnificent Lumious Bouquet with its oversized Japanese Peony blossom and clover.

Green, pink, gink, or preen, it comes out a little different every time. I color with gink and preen a lot. When I'm working with a pink blossom, it's really hard to resist the ginky temptation.

Try it, you might be a ginky kind a person too.

Let's color Flowering Clover together!

I've got a special treat for you today. 

Head on over to my site at VanillaArts.com to download the FREE Flowering Clover recipe guide. I've included a few photos of the process plus a couple of tips to help you make the most of this odd blending combination.

Download the FREE Flowering Clover recipe guide here.

And if you're looking for an online class to really explore pink and green, you're in luck!

My Verdant Spring class uses a similar color palette on Power Poppy's Bowl of Beauty digital stamp. We layer green under pink and then green over pink with beautiful results.

All Vanilla Workshop classes are immediate access. Work at your own pace, color it as many times as you want with no expiration date. 

Have fun playing with gink and preen! 

And I'll meet you back here next month with another colorful swatch of Garden Dirt.

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

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

I'm Looking Over .... a Good Vibe 4!

Hi-dee Ho happy stampers! Happy Friday to y'all! We are just days away from the day when the Luck 'o the Irish rules and everyone who isn't a little Irish worries that if they don't wear green, they might be pinched! Yes, that would be me. :-) I decided instead of honoring this wonderful day of the week with FIVE good vibes that I'd mimic that lucky little four-leaf clover and dish out FOUR good vibes to get you through your weekend spurts of creativity! 

ARE YOU READY? 

If you look above, you'll get a little teaser of some of the Power Poppy goodness that I plan to share with you all today! First up on our little trip through the blog-o-sphere is over to Gloria Stengel's place on the web where she colored up Power Poppy's Luminous Bouquet in such a dynamic way my jaw dropped! One extra special little tidbit as well -- Gloria has been coloring up one Power Poppy image each month since September and has some beauties that she shared just a few weeks ago. If you missed her post, you really need to click HERE to see for yourself! In the meantime, check out this beauty below! Look at the depth of that coloring and those absolutely fabulous bits of clover! Ahhhh... thanks Gloria! This is indeed a treasure!

You don't need me to tell you that Jennifer Dove is an absolute master at Copic Coloring. But, if for some strange reason, you didn't realize that, check this out sweet peeps! I mean, come on! Look at this hoppy bunch that Jennifer has going green! This little image is from Power Poppy's stamp set called O Hoppy Day! Being from a family who truly loves their craft beer, I say "cheers" to this one for sure! Since St. Patty's Day tends to revolve around green beer, I included this one just for funsies!

Cynde Whitlow pulled out the big guns i.e. her Copic markers and Prismacolor pencils to create this perky little pop of luck! What's awesome about Cynde's work of art? Not only did she use a digital stamp set that you can buy, download, print and color in a matter of minutes (Power Poppy's Wish You Luck digi), she has a video HERE to give you a step by step guide on coloring up your own bunch of lucky little clover leaves!

And for our last Good Vibe 4 this week, you need to join me for this week's Creative Confetti! At the center of it all is sending a little luck to those you love! Check out this week's challenge where you can mix a little luck and a little green to share good wishes with others!  For my creation, I used one of Power Poppy's brand new digis called Shamrock 'n' Roll, which I think is too darling for words with those sweet pops of clover and that darling little blossom at the center of it all!

And that, my friends, concludes our lucky little round up to get you in the Irish spirit of St. Patty's Day! So, I bid you farewell with a little love from the Bloomies, and this wee Irish blessing -- May your troubles be less and your blessings be more and nothing but happiness come through your door!

Christine Okken

Julie Koerber

Katie Sims

Stacy Morgan

Tosha Leyendekker

Thanks for stopping by! We'll be back soon with more ways to inspire and WOW! ;-)

Happy St. Patty's Day!
~Julie

Creative Confetti: Feelin' Lucky!

Hello folks! In just a matter of days, many will dig deep in their closets, looking for green, claiming to be a little bit Irish -- just for the fun of it (or to avoid getting pinched)! It's time when the Luck 'O the Irish rules and folks who live in the whimsy of the St. Patrick's Day holiday go on the hunt for the end of the rainbow, where there just might be a pot of gold waiting!  🌈 😊 So, to get in the spirit, why not share a little luck in the best way we know how -- a handmade card! That's what this week's Creative Confetti is ALL about!

IF YOU WERE LOOKING FOR THE WINNER OF THE FEBRUARY CHALLENGE... SCROLL DOWN! I JUST ADDED THE WINNER! 

HOW TO PLAY: This challenge is two-fold. Choose to add a little green to your card OR use an image or sentiment that signifies luck! Just that simple peeps!

On to my creation! 

For my creation, I used the new digital stamp set Shamrock 'n' Roll! I just love this sweet illustration and it's perfect for this time of year. The good news? This little darling digi is only $1.50 in the Power Poppy Shop. It's the perfect little image to grab, download and print in a jiffy to send some lucky wishes to those in your life who need it most! 

I printed the lighter, no-line version and then, grabbed these copics to color the image up!

And, here's a closeup! As you can see, I added some white gel pen to accent the clover leaves, used BG markers to add some fun stippling and then accented with sequins too! 

So, how will you add a splash of green or a dash of luck to your creation this week? I can't wait to see! I added a bit of both -- a little bit of green along with a "lucky" little sentiment to send good wishes to a friend who just so happens to have her birthday on St. Patty's Day! ;-  Remember, when you play along, don't forget to link up your creation below using our linky! Every entry is one more chance at a $25 gift code to the Power Poppy Shop!  Woot Woot! The winner will be drawn and announced the first Tuesday of April! So, plenty of time to play in any one of our Creative Confetti Challenges for the month!

Speaking of challenge winners, we need to announce the name of the winner for February! So, let's get right to it! After Random.org threw all the entries into the virtual hat, the winner is....

That means the winner for February is....

*** BARBARA CAMPBELL!!! ***

Barbara created a number of cards this past month. You can see one HERE and another one HERE and yet another one HERE! (Do you see what I mean about the more you play, the better your chances of winning?) This fine creative work below turned out to be the winner! 

This was Barb's creation for our All You Need Is Love Challenge! And, I think it's absolutely perfect! I love the creative license she took with the color of the tulips and the extra pizazz she added with embellishments and a fancy die! Just beautiful Barbara! 

So, will you follow Barbara's lead and enter the challenge this month not once but four times? If you do, you might just be the lucky stamper whose name is drawn for this month's drawing for a $25 gift code to the Power Poppy Shop! Thanks for stopping by! We can't wait to see what YOU create!

~Julie

Creative Confetti Thrower

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