Inspire Me Monday ~ Fluttering Butterflies

Welcome to Inspire Me Monday!  I’m your host Allison Cope today.

Today we’re going to color up some clear stamp images and create a fun interactive card (my favorite!).

For today’s project, I used:

• stamps, ink and corresponding dies
• coloring utensils (Copics)
• a few pennies
• 110# white cardstock
• large & small circle dies
• small plastic spin & slide discs
• foam adhesive
• cloud stencil (optional)

Join me in my crafty space while I color in the 3 clear stamps set images including “Natural Beauties”, “Soothing Sympathy” and “Pure Prairie Spirit”.

Click here to see it in HD.

Here’s a look at the final card.  As said before, the yellow is so light it’s very hard to photograph.

And here you can see the shimmer pen I put all on the groovin’ butterflies…

Thanks for stopping by today!  I hope this inspires you to make a fun and whimsical interactive card!  Now go get INKY!

~ Ally ~



stamps: Power Poppy (Natural Beauties, Soothing Sympathy, Pure Prairie Spirit)
cardstock: Recollections (110# White)
dies: Power Poppy (Natural Beauties Dies), Simon Says Stamps (Circle Thin Frames), Catherine Pooler (Circles Dies)
inks: Kraftin’ Kimmie Stamps (Wicked Black), Range Distress Oxide Inks (Mustard Seed, Wild Honey, Scattered Straw), Stickles (Star Dust), Copic Markers, Sharpie (Fine), Spectrum Noir (Sparkle Pen)
interactive card elements: MFT (Spin & Slide Discs)
stencils: MFT (Mini Cloud Edges Stencil)
sequins: Studio Katia (Summer Fusion)

Inspire Me Monday ~ Free Standing Pop-Up Card

Happy Monday!  Allison Cope here for Inspire Me Monday.  Today we’re going to make a fun Free Standing Pop-Up birthday card using a whole bunch of fun stamps!

Here’s your supply list for today’s card:

• 4 1/4” x 11” card base cardstock
• 2 3/4” x 5 1/4” tag matting cardstock
• 2 1/2” x 5” tag patterned paper (You may want 2 pieces)
• paper trimmer, craft knife, stamps, ink, double sided tape, dies (optional)
• SCORING LINES: 1”, 2 3/4”, 3 3/4”, 5 1/2”, 7 1/4”, 8 1/4”, 10”

Join me in at my crafty desk today and let’s make this fun card!  Grab your favorite beverage and away we go…

Click to view in HD.

For our card today I used the cups & cupcake image from the Under Glass stamp set.  Our birthday sentiment on the back of the tag came from the Floribunda stamp set.

To decorate the card base we used the cake on a plate from the Party Time stamp set, the forget-me-not flowers and the butterfly from the Soothing Sympathy stamp set, the potted Primroses and the single Primrose bloom from the Potted Primroses, the tea cup and saucer and the little daisy and the strawberry from the Tea in the Garden set and finally the champagne glasses from the Dream Wedding stamp collection.

Here’s a photo of the front of the card…

This is the back of the card again…

This is the card from the side showing how it stands up…

And finally, this is the card folded flat to fit inside an envelope!  Hooray!

Thanks for joining me!  See you again soon!  Happy stamping!

~ Ally ~


stamps: Power Poppy (Under Glass, Floribunda, Party Time, Soothing Sympathy, Potted Primroses, Tea in the Garden, Dream Wedding)
cardstock: Recollections (Teal Collection 110#, 65# White)
patterned paper: Catherine Pooler Designs (Prickly 6x6)
dies: Spellbinders (Long Classic Scalloped Rectangles, Long Classic Rectangles), Catherine Pooler Designs (Circles Dies)
ink: Memento (Tuxedo Black), Catherine Pooler Designs (Fiesta Blue), Copic Markers 

Creative Confetti: Color It Up!

Hello, happy stampers! Hope your week is off to a great start! Today, as we throw up the Creative Confetti, we pay homage to a magical little challenge in card making and coloring land! If you popped on over to the blog yesterday, you saw the amazing Kathy Racoosin share a little coloring experiment with all of us! It was a part of her 30 Day Coloring Challenge! You can check out her post HERE and all the details about the challenge HERE!  Simply stated, Kathy is challenging us to make time to color, every day, even if you only have ten minutes! 

So... because we have 9 days left of the challenge, we thought we'd take it one step further and not only encourage you to color but try one image a few different ways OR just try a coloring medium you haven't dabbled in for a while! Here, my friends is your official challenge! 

HOW TO PLAY: The challenge is just as simple as it is stated! Just pick up a coloring medium that you haven't used for a while and play! No need to create a card, simply color and join along in The Daily Marker's 30 Day Coloring Challenge!

On to my creations!

For my creations today, I decided that I wanted to take one image -- I chose the little peony from Power Poppy's Soothing Sympathy stamp set -- and color it up in four different ways. I picked watercolor pencils (both on watercolor paper and card stock), chalk and Copic Markers. I also picked up some markers here but decided that the look was too similar to the watercolor pencils, so I left that little photo out.

So, after stamping my image multiple times in a variety of inks, I put on some tunes and went to town coloring! 

First came watercolor pencils scribbled directly onto the watercolor paper. The ink used was Memento Toffee Crunch. I blended with a Dover Blender Pen as I went along. 

Next came pastel chalks. This one was tricky. The chalks were so soft that I really had to get in there and blend and keep adding more and more chalk layers. It created a soft look but didn't really have a ton of dimension to it. It was a more "loose" feel. 

Next, I went back to my watercolor pencils and added the color on regular card stock. The depth of color really struck me! I then blended again with my Dove Blender Pen. 

And last, but certainly not least is my all time favorite medium -- Copic markers! I just find such joy in the easy blending of this medium and how rich in color it can be! 

So here, below, is a peek at all four next to each other with a little background color added to each image. I thought once I popped that background a bit, it did make all of the coloring (even the mediums I wasn't completely happy with) look a whole lot better. 

So, my friends, what medium will you reach for to spend a little time with The Daily Marker's 30 Day Challenge? One medium I have that I didn't use was pearlescent paint. I have some, so who knows, maybe I'll stamp this little flower up once more and give it a whirl!

As always, I can't wait to see what you come up with! Once you're done, don't forget to link up your creation below so that we can all see! Every entry is one chance at winning a $25 gift code to the Power Poppy Shop! Woot Woot!

So, get those fingers inky so we can see what you've got! Until next time!

~Julie 
Creative Confetti Thrower

An InLinkz Link-up

February Power & Spark: Love to Sparkle!

Hello everyone and welcome to a post that is just bursting with razzle and dazzle! It's the first Friday of February, which means it's time for a brand new Power and Spark Challenge! Can I get a woot-woot??? This month, our hostess with the mostess is the fabulous Kathy Jones. We all know that February is the 'Love' month with Valentine's Day in the middle - so she's decided to take it a bit further and challenge us all to......

HOW TO PLAY: We'd love to see what you can make with either a Love theme or a Sparkle theme or combine them into a card that shows off BOTH!

Need a little inspiration? Well Ms. Kathy doesn't disappoint! She used the brand new digi image Rose All Day and matched it up with a sentiment from Soothing Sympathy (How could she resist using a  sentiment that said 'Love and Light'?) and then she packed it full of sparkly goodness with glitter paper, rhinestones galore, some glitter deco tape and even touches of sparkly Spica pen on the bees wings!!

Check it out!

Isn't that creation divine? Well, now it's your turn to take Kathy up on this challenge and show us all how you sparkle with LOVE!

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 February 28th @ 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 January Power & Spark’s Grab A Map Challenge! If you missed this month's entries, you have to click HERE to see them for yourself... so MANY wonderful executions of the Page Maps designs. I absolutely loved seeing all the takes on the different sketches -- so much creativity and beauty! Thank you ALL for entering your cards with us.

Now let's get to that winner, shall we? After random.org put all of the names in the virtual hat, the number drawn was....

That means our winner is....  HEIDI FROM MY LITTLE STAMPING BLOG! 

Heidi's creation was so vibrant and spunky, I just had to share! Don't you love that mod decorative paper and how she so fabulously incorporated those same cheery colors in her colored up budgie? I do! Just in case you wondered, Heidi used Power Poppy's Short Stacks stamp set!

Now, if you want to see the project in full glory all you need to do is visit Heidi's blog HERE and check out the details! Thanks for playing along Heidi and CONGRATS! You've won a $50 Shopping Spree! Contact us at bloom@powerpoppy.com and we'll send you your shopping code!

Well, fine friends, it's time to make the rounds to check in a few of our ab fab Bloomies! Pop by these blogs for a little inspiration and know that we just can't wait to see what YOU create with our challenge!!

Christine Okken

Kathy Jones

Stacy Morgan

And when you do create that marvelous creation, don't forget to link it up below with your name and an exact link to your blog post! Thanks so much for stopping by and spending a little of your day with us. We hope you have a wonderful and crafty weekend ahead, and we’ll see you back on Monday with a brand new digital stamp introduction....

Until next time!
Julie 

An InLinkz Link-up

Inspired by... A Peony

Hello all! Welcome to the second installment of.... HUES TO USE... a little challenge of sorts where we throw three colors at you each week in hopes that these shades will give rise to some cataclysmic color expression in your very own craft room! 

Today is not even close to a stretch for us. In fact, the source of inspiration is one that melts Marcy's heart every time she sets her sights on one of these beauties!

Take a gander at this larger than life beauty -- will you? And those colors! Those colors are like buttah! I am going to call them Sugar Sweet Pink, Goldenrod and Shades of Jade. Back to that bloom, if you spotted this 'Coral Supreme' Peony on Marella's Insta-feed then you probably remember her saying something unbelievable like "this little guy is actually the size of an espresso cup!' Huh? That is a small but mighty bodacious blossom if I ever saw one! And now, you get to use this fierce floral as your "color muse" in Hues to Use! (See what I did there?)

Moving on to my own creation! I have a fast-paced double tutorial here. Super easy stuff, yet super fun as well.  For starters, here's a peek at my finished creation! 

As you can see, I used this stamp set -- Soothing Sympathy -- for my card! This was going to a friend who has been battling some serious stuff in life - not a loss per se -- but facing a medical issue with her husband that has been so heartbreaking. Since she lives in Idaho, I decided to put some prayers in a card, smack a stamp on it and send it off to her to hopefully lift her spirits a bit. You'll notice, if you look at the stamp set below, I did a bit of masking when using the small peony in the stamp set. 

So, just like how most masking begins, I grabbed a Post-It Note and stamped that Peony at the top, where the sticky portion is. And then, since I only needed to mask the top, I only cut out the stop of my mask. See?

From there, I added the mask, stamped and kept on doing this until I had a peony border all along the left side of my card....

From there, I decided that I wanted to create an effect where the sentiment "Sending Love & Light" had almost a cascading effect using two different shades of ink -- a soft shade (Angel Pink Memento) and one that stood out (Tuxedo Black Memento). So, I lined up my card front in the MISTI, securing it with the MISTI's magnets, like so!

Then, lining up my sentiment exactly where I wanted it on the acrylic portion of the MISTI, I inked it up in pink and started to stamp! 

Now, to create this cascading effect, I simply moved my paper up 3 blocks on my grid, reinked, stamped, and repeated until I had a border of pink sentiments. I knew I wanted the second to the last stamped sentiment to be black. So, I kept inking up my stamp with pink ink, stamping all the way to the bottom and leaving a space for where my black inked sentiment would sit. I moved my paper up, cleaned my stamp, inked it in black and... ta da!!!! I have that punch of black, right in that cascading row. I realize it is somewhat hard to see that soft pink, but it is there and in real life it is just that sweet and soft touch, which I thought really added to this card! 

From there, I grabbed these Copic markers and got to coloring! R81, R83, RV00, R0000, G20, G21, G24, Y13, Y35, G0000. I also added a little razzle dazzle thanks to some glitter glue to the stamens on the flower. You know I gotta have a little bling! ;-)

Here's a close-up look at the cascading sentiment....

Here's a close up of that flower to show off a bit of that masking effect....

And here's one last look at my card! 

So, grab the closest shades of Sugar Sweet Pink, Goldenrod and Shades of Jade and get that creatively colorful mojo a flowin'! I can't wait to see what you create using this trio of springtime colors!

An InLinkz Link-up

Thanks for stopping by!

~Julie

Inspire Me Monday: Creating Fun Backgrounds

Howdy all!  Happy Monday!  Welcome to Inspire Me Monday!  I'm Allison Cope your hostess this week.

This week I was inspired by a re-occurring dream I've been having about a linear repeating pattern.  Yes... I dream about creating!  Do you??? So I decided to use my dream as inspiration to create some fun backgrounds on my cards today.

So here are my finished cards using our lined pattern and our gorgeous new stamp set, "Soothing Sympathy" stamp set...

So in the end, I didn't like how small the original stamped greeting was so I cut it off in a funky matter and created a shaker card using the remaining part of the circle.  I stamped my new greeting from the "Nice Things To Say" stamp collection inside the shaker aspect instead. I added all kinds of sequins and fun silver microbeads to match the colour scheme of the card inside.

As I had indicated in the video, I cut the larger panel I had created using Ranger Distress Inks down to a piece that I was happy with.  I didn't want to take away too much from the funky panel so I only added a simple gold embossed, yet large greeting form the "Big Scripts" stamp set to the front plus a few turquoise sequins.

For my final card, I kept it extremely simple.  I die cut some cute little hearts from the light purple cardstock background, added some violet sequins and added my focal panel with dimensional adhesive.  Voila!

I hope I've inspired you today go and create some fun background pieces.  Grab some fun, bright colours and a thin pen and have a ball!  Thanks for stopping by!

~ Allison Cope ~


Supplies:

Enjoy Your Big Day
stamps:  Power Poppy (Soothing Sympathy, Nice Things To Say)
cardstock:  Copic (XPress-It), Recollections (110# White), Vellum
inks:  Memento (Tuxedo Black), Copic Markers (B01, T3, V000, YG11), Copic Multi-Liner 0.25
dies:  Spellbinders (Classic Circles, Scalloped Circles)
sequins: Pretty Pink Posh (Share Kindness Mix), Little Things from Lucy's Cards (Bright White), CraftMedley  
microbeads:  Recollections

Thanks
stamps:  Power Poppy (Soothing Sympathy, Big Scripts)
cardstock:  Strathmore (Watercolor Paper), Recollections (110# White)
inks:  Versafine (Black Onyx), Versamark Ink, Ranger Distress (Lucky Clover, Peacock Feathers, Bundled Sage, Milled Lavender, Tattered Rose)


sequins: CraftMedley
other:  gold detail embossing powder 

Warm Hugs
stamps:  Power Poppy (Soothing Sympathy, Nice Things To Say)
cardstock:  Strathmore (Watercolor Paper), Recollections (110# White), Flourishes 
inks:  Versafine (Black Onyx), Brusho (Crimson, Violet), Copic Multi-Liner 0.25
dies:  Pretty Pink Posh (Scallop Frames), My Favorite Things (Vertical Hearts)
sequins: CraftMedley 

Inspire Me Monday - Shaker Card

Hello Everyone, How are you today? It‘s me Kathy and I am back for my monthly feature on the Power Poppy Blog and always happy to be back. :) 

I inked up the beautiful new stamp set called, “Soothing Sympathy” to create my shaker card today. I have a fairly short video on my process using some Zig Clean Color watercolor markers. The colors are so vibrant and bold plus I love the tips. 

I used some black dye ink on some of Tim Holtz’s watercolor paper. I love that this particular paper is a bright white. 

To watch the video in HD click here. 

This is my finished bouquet before I add the background. 

I glued two pieces of fun foam together then added acetate on top of my foam sandwich. I die cut the frame again from some white cardstock for my final layer. When the watercoloring is dry I will add the sequin mix “Little Things from Lucy's Cards” on top and glue the frame with some glossy accents. Easy and fun. 

Thanks for having me and have a wonderful week. Hugs, Kathy (The Daily Marker)