Thinking of you...with wildflowers

Hi there and a very happy hello to you!  How have you been?  It seems so long since my last post....lots of "busy-ness" going on around here...what about you?  I am so happy to share this card I made for Power Poppy's Friday Challenge this week.  You can check out all of the details here.

 We would love to have you come play along with us!  For this card I used the incredibly beautiful Countryside Bouquet Deluxe stamp set.  Wasn't that thoughtful of Marcella to give us a "second helping" of her gorgeous wildflower images?  I chose to use a simple stem of blooms for this card and pair it with some pretty floral papers.

I loved these pretty papers, so homey feeling and perfect for this image.  I stamped my image with Memento Tuxedo Black and then colored it in with Copics.  I must admit that there are several layers here but I really wanted to frame out that darling little stem with blooms.  I sponged some Ranger Distress ink in Antique Linen around my image and my sentiment die cut to age them a little. Speaking of sentiment, it is from the Sunny Harvest stamp set and I think it looks so sweet here.  My Krylon 18KT gold leafing pen was calling my name, so I did a little edging around the image panel and the sentiment.  A little ribbon, some stitching, and a few pearls finish this card off.  It really looks busier than it really is...I think maybe because the floral paper is a pretty bold print but I love how it looks with Marcella's lovely blooms.

I love the simplicity of this image but if you wanted something a little fuller, you could simply stamp one or two more and voila...instant bouquet!  :)  Are you itching to get started making your own creation now?  Well, before you do, you really should check out what my incredibly talented Bloom Brigade sisters have created for your inspiration this week.  I am sure you will enjoy the trip!  Then, get going on your own Power Poppy creation and link up your card on the blog for a chance to win a prize!  I can't wait to see what you create!  Hope you have an awesome day and let's get together again real soon, ok?  Until then, take care.

Allison Cope 

Christine Okken 
Cindy Lawrence 
Danielle Kennedy 
Dawn Burnworth    
Katie Sims <------You are here
Leslie Miller 
Stacy Morgan 
Tosha Leyendekker

~Katie

Supplies:  Stamps-Power Poppy's Countryside Bouquet Deluxe set and Sunny Harvest stamp set (sentiment); Ink-Memento's Tuxedo Black, Ranger Distress ink in Antique Linen; Paper- Classic White card stock from Flourishes, patterned papers from Echo Park's "This & That" 6x6 paper pad by Lori Whitlock, Stampin' Up!'s Naturals White card stock, red card stock from scrap box; Spellbinders die sets in A2 Mat Basics B, Standard Circle Small, and Lacey Circles; Other-Ribbon from Papertrey Ink, pearls from Stampin' Up!, Krylon 18 KT Gold Leafing pen, Martha Stewart Score Board and these Copic colors-R30, R32, R35, R37, R39, YG11, YG23, YG25, YG91, Y13, Y18, E57, and W0.

Sending Love...with Gerberas

Hi there everybody!  I hope you have had an awesome week.  It has certainly been a busy one around here, but I did want to share a card I made with Power Poppy's new stamp set Dynamic Duos: Glads and Gerberas for this week's challenge on the Power Poppy blog.  Are you going to be our next "Peep of the Week"?

This set has some super sweet sentiments with it and I just couldn't resist using the "Sending Love" sentiment!  Let me show you what I did.....

When I saw that sentiment, I thought it would be fun to have a "mail" theme with it....so, I made a postage stamp complete with the cancellation mark!  I used some really bright and cheery papers to go with these darling gerberas.  My image is stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on to white card stock, colored with Copics and then die cut out.  I used a little distress ink to sponge around the image and then stamped my sentiment, then the cancellation marks.  Next, I used my Krylon gold leafing pen to edge out the image panel and tied a little ribbon across the bottom.  Then, I backed the image with a die cut postage edge panel and popped it up with some dimensionals.  The rest of the card is a few layers of card stock and patterned papers with some stitching and a little scoring and sanding to add an edge detail.  

Those gerberas really make me smile!  Don't you think they are a happy flower?  :)  They definitely look like they are "Sending Love"!  :)  So, that is all for my card today but you have got to see what my oh so talented Bloom Brigade sisters have created for you viewing pleasure today.  Take a hop around, make sure you leave them a little blog love, and then come join us for this week's Friday challenge at Power Poppy.  The only requirement this week is to use a Power Poppy image.....how simple is that?!  I can't wait to see what you create!  Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope to see you back here soon.  Until then, take care!  :)

Allison Cope 

Christine Okken     

Kathy Jones 
Katie Sims <------You are here
Leslie Miller  
Tosha Leyendekker

~Katie

Supplies:  Stamps-Power Poppy's Dynamic Duos: Glads and Gerberas, Papertrey Ink's Postmarks; Ink-Memento's Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Up!'s Going Gray, Ranger Distress Ink in Tumbled Glass and Antique Linen; Spellbinders- A2 Fancy Postage Edge, A2 Matting Basics B; Paper- SU!'s Naturals White, Flourishes Classic White and Color Made Easy Poppy Collection, Echo Park 6x6 paper pad "Summer Bliss"; Other-Martha Stewart Scoring Board, Krylon 18KT Gold Leafing pen, Wink of Stella Clear Brush pen, green polka dot ribbon and these Copic colors-R30, R32, R35, R37, YG11, YG13, YG17, YG91, E55, Y11, Y13, Y15, Y18, Y32, YR12, YR15, and YR18.

Power Poppy's August Blog Hop!

Howdy do to you and welcome back for the Power Poppy August Blog Hop!  Have you enjoyed all of the festivities this week? What a blooming extravaganza! All of this month's stamps will be available today!  Just to give you one last peek at these amazing sets, the Bloom Brigade has joined together for our end of the release hop, so let's get to it!  :)

For my card today, I chose to use the incredibly beautiful Chinese Lantern and Bittersweet image from the Sunny Harvest stamp set.  Be still, my heart.....these images are a-mazing!  I had never seen either Chinese Lantern or Bittersweet before so this was a real treat for me.....a little botanical lesson along with my crafting! After doing a little "field research" on these beauties, I got to work.  The stunning colors of these plants definitely pushed me in the "fall decorating" frame of mind....well, honestly I have been pining for fall for a little while (and football season....which you heard me whining about in a previous post) so I went with a fall theme complete with some die cut leaves.....

Have I said I am so ready for fall yet?  Well, I am.  So for my card, I stamped the image onto some newsprint patterned paper and colored with Copics directly on the designer paper.  What you are looking at is actually the second coloring, the first one was colored and die cut when I managed to smudge the heck out of it while finishing up my card.  I am choosing to look at it as an opportunity to change what I didn't like about it the first time around so I used a different die for my main image panel and I like it a lot better....it kind of reminds me of the shape of a real Chinese lantern.  Soooo, then I assembled my card panels using layers of card stock in cream and dark brown and patterned papers in a dark brown damask (which is pretty much covered up), dark brown gingham, and this awesome orange and red linen print.  Once all of the layers were inked or sanded or stitched or gold leafed (and let me tell you, there is a lot of gold leafing going on here-I definitely made up for not using it much lately) or a combination of all of the above the real dilemma started....accessorizing.  Normally, this is one of my favorite parts of the process (besides the actual coloring, of course) but I had a real dickens of a time deciding what to put on this card.  I finally decided on some die cut leaves but I added gold leafing to some of them for a little extra somethin' somethin'.  

For my sentiment leaf, I stamped it first then ran it through my Grand Calibur with a wood texture plate and then I inked it up and attached some twine and a button.  For my image panel, I cut a couple of slits in it to thread my ribbon through, wrapped it around the largest card panel and tied it in a bow.  Next, I stuffed extra leaves here and there until I like the way it looked.  Finally, I attached my assembled card panel to my card base and added a little Ranger Glossy Accents on my berries and a little Wink of Stella Clear brush pen to my Chinese Lanterns.

Here is one more view so you can maybe see the layers a little better.  Seriously, Marcella's image is so detailed and unique and a complete joy to color up!  These are my favorite colors to use on cards and it is a real struggle for me to not make every card look like Thanksgiving!  Well, that is all for my card today, but you need to check out all of the creations from my incredibly talented Bloom Brigade sisters....they have been rockin' the house all week and I am sure today will be no exception!  Make sure you leave them a little blog love while you're there and then why don't you pop on over to the Power Poppy Shop and make these incredible stamps your own....you know  you wanna!  ;)  Thank you so much for stopping by today for a visit....it's always good to see you!  Be checking back, because I will have some more projects using these new sets to share soon.  Until then, take care!  :)

Allison Cope 

Christine Okken 
Cindy Lawrence 
Danielle Kennedy 
Dawn Burnworth  
Julie Koerber 
Kathy Jones 
Katie Sims <------You are here
Leslie Miller 
Stacy Morgan 
Tosha Leyendekker

~Katie

Supplies:  Image and Sentiment from Power Poppy's Sunny Harvest stamp set; Paper-My Mind's Eye  Lost & Found Two "Rosy" 6x6 paper pad, Teresa Collins "Fabrications" 6x6 paper pad, Stampin' Up! card stock in Early Espresso, Classic Ivory card stock from Flourishes; Ink-Memento's Tuxedo Black, Papertrey Ink's Chamomile, Colorbox ink in Chestnut Roan, Stampin' Up!'s ink in Early Espresso; Dies-Spellbinders' Labels Twenty Two and Mat Basics A sets, Cuttlebug Leaf dies, Papertrey ink's wood grain texture plate; Other-SU!'s Early Espresso ribbon, hemp twine, button, Krylon 18KT Gold Leafing pen, and these Copic colors:  YG13, YG17, YG61, YG63, YG67, YG91, R21, R22, R24, R27, R39, Y13, Y15, Y18, YR12, YR14, YR15, YR18, E71, and E77.