A "Peace"ful Poinsettia...

Hi there everyone and welcome back to the final day of Power Poppy Sneak Peeks for our first ever Holiday images!  Tomorrow brings the Blog Hop where everyone on the Bloom Brigade is back for one final look at all of the images available for purchase.  Have you been making your list?  Checking it twice?  We have been so excited for you to see all of the holiday goodness Marcella has been creating for your stamping pleasure.  So why don't we get to today's set....which I am sure is going to have all of the flower lovers out there giddy with delight (me included!)  :)  So let's get to it, shall we?

Marcella has done it yet again, this time with a gorgeous Christmas botanical.....Poinsettia!  Is that not one incredible bloom?!  And she has paired it with pomegranates and pine needles....simply elegant and a sheer pleasure to color up.  I can tell I will be pulling this lovely out time and time again!  So let me show you what I created for today's sneak peek...

For this card, I decided to keep the layout simple and embellishments to a minimum...I love this glorious image!  I started by stamping the poinsettia with Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto some white card stock.  Next, I colored my image in with Copics (in colors to coordinate with some pretty papers I had picked out) and die cut it out.  While it was still in the die, I sponged on some distress ink and then.....you know what's next, right?  I couldn't let an opportunity like this pass me by, so I pulled out my Krylon 18KT Gold Leafing pen.  I mean, really...this image begs for some gold leafing, don't you think?  :)  So once I had her all gold leafed, I stamped my sentiment, die cut it out, sponged on more distress ink, gold leafed the edges and added some pearls for a little somethin' somethin'.  I layered a couple of patterned papers and a punched border, did some stitching, and adhered it to a white card stock layer.  I added some more gold leafing for good measure and then adhered it to a deep burgundy card base.  I added my image panel and then my sentiment and at the end I pulled out my Wink of Stella clear brush pen to add some sparkle to my poinsettia.  Now, I've never seen blue pomegranates, but the good thing about making your own cards is that you can make them whatever color you want, so blue it is...lol!  

That Marcella really knows her way around a blossom, doesn't she?  I don't call her the Bloom Whisperer for nothin', that's for sure!  ;)  Again, I am amazed at the incredible detail she was able to achieve with is image.  Now I am thinking that this has all of you fellow flower gawkers out there itching to get your hands on this set, am I right?  Well, you won't have to wait long, because this beauty and all of the other gorgeous images from this week will be available for purchase tomorrow! So Merry Christmas a little early!  :)  I am so glad you were able to stop by for a visit today, and you know there are still plenty of gorgeous creations by my fellow Bloom Brigade sisters, so go on and check them out....and don't forget to leave them a little blog love while you are there.  I hope you will be able to join us tomorrow for the Power Poppy Blog hop!  Until then take care and thanks again for stopping by!

~Katie

Allison Cope 

Christine Okken  
Danielle Kennedy 
Dawn Burnworth  
Julie Koerber 
Kathy Jones 
Katie Sims <------You are here
Leslie Miller 
Stacy Morgan 
Tosha Leyendekker
and .....
Marcella Hawley <-------The Bloom Whisperer, herself, with some insight into the creation of Poinsettia!  :)

Supplies:  Paper-Classic White Card Stock from Flourishes, Raspberry Ripple card stock from Stampion' Up! and patterned papers from My Mind's Eye "Lost & Found Christmas" Special Edition 6x6 paper pad; Ink-Memento Tuxedo Black, Ranger Distress ink in Antique Linen and Frayed Burlap; Dies-Spellbinders die sets in Labels Twenty Eight, Classic Ovals Large, and A2 Matting Basics A; Other-Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch and pearls from Stampin' Up!, Krylon 18KT Gold Leafing pen, Wink of Stella Clear Brush pen and these Copic colors- R59, R81, R83, R85, R89, YG61, YG63, YG67, YG91, YG93, YG95, YG99, YR20, YR23, YR24, BG70, BG72, BG75, BG78, and BV29.

Gingerbread...with Love

Well hello there and welcome to my little corner of blog land!  Have you been enjoying Marcella's incredible first ever Christmas release at Power Poppy so far? I am pretty certain I already know the answer to that question!  Today I get to share a little card I made using the featured set today, Frosted Gingerbread.  If this set doesn't make you feel like a child again, I don't know what will!

Is that not the most darling gingerbread house?!  And, I can personally tell you it is an absolute joy to color up!  Let me show you what this sweet set inspired me to create...

So, my idea here was to make the whole card look like a big ol' gingerbread cookie.  I thought that really delicate die cut looked a lot like the pretty piped icing you see on some cookies so that is where I started.  I stamped my image and colored it up using a insane number of Copics, but I wanted this to be super colorful hence the basket full of Copics.  Next, I fussy cut out my image then went to adding glitter, Glossy Accents, and some Tulip slick paint to look like icing.  I had a ball decorating this little house but I also wanted to use the precious "with Love" and "Merry Christmas" sentiments out of this set.  For the "with Love" sentiment I stamped it out, used a couple of copics to color it in, then added Glossy Accents over the "Love".  This made it look like shiny piped icing plus it acted as a mask (once it dried) so I could sponge some brown ink in my little oval die cut.  I used another die cut to stamp the "Merry Christmas" and then used a little more of the Tulip paint to "pipe" on a little icing.  All that was left was to do a little stitching and then assemble the layers.  Oh, I'll let you in on a little tip here.  I did not have any card stock that looked like gingerbread......I know, I can't believe it myself (and neither could my husband...lol).  So, I used what I had but sponged on some Stampin' Up! ink in Creamy Caramel and I have to say.....I think it ended up looking a lot like gingerbread!  :)

So here she is, all decked out in a Necco Wafer roof, with some Red Hots, Candy Canes, Starburst welcome mat, and some candy orange slices for the shutters (those are for my grandma, they were her absolute favorite candy ever!).  This really brought back some fun memories...my mama makes some of the best gingerbread and she would make the houses for us so all we had to do was decorate them ( we still do this at Christmas...lol!)

So, that is all for my card today, but you know that there are more gorgeous creations by my super talented Bloom Brigade sisters just waiting for you to see.  Make sure you leave them a little blog love and then go ahead and be making plans of how you will decorate your own little gingerbread house when you order this must-have set from Power Poppy!  You know you wanna....;)  I hope you will join me tomorrow because I have another card to share with your for tomorrow's sneak peek and I'll give you a little hint...it's a botanical!  Marcella + Christmas + Botanicals = Pure Joy!  See you tomorrow, and until then, take care!  :)

Allison Cope

Christine Okken 
Cindy Lawrence 
Danielle Kennedy 
Dawn Burnworth  
Julie Koerber  
Katie Sims <------You are here
Leslie Miller  
Tosha Leyendekker
and .....
Marcella Hawley <------The Head Cookie Baker, herself, with some insight into the creation of  Frosted Gingerbread! :)

Supplies:  Images- Power Poppy's Frosted Gingerbread stamp set; Paper-Classic Kraft card stock from Papertrey Ink, Classic White card stock from Flourishes, polka dot paper from Simple Stories' Handmade Holiday 6x6 paper pad, red paper from scrap; Ink-Memento's Tuxedo Black, SU!'s Creamy Caramel, Ranger Distress Ink in Antique Linen; Dies-Die-namics Oval Tab from MFT, Spellbinders Classic Ovals Large, Deckled Edge Classic Ovals Large, Marvelous Squares, Grand Scalloped Squares, and Grand Squares; Other-red gingham ribbon, Martha Stewart Glitter, Atyou Spica clear glitter pen, Ranger Glossy Accents, Tulip Slick fabric paint in white, Wink of Stella clear brush pen, and these Copic colors (like I said, I used a ton of markers on this one)- Y13, Y15, YG21, YG23, YG25, YR12, YR14, YR17, YR18, B0000, B000, C0, C1, C3, C5, W1, W3, B21, B23, B24, G40, G43, G46, R21, R24, R27, R29, R30, R32, R35, V12, V15, E21, E23, E25, E27, E31, E33, E34, E35, E53. E55, and E57.

Those Who Inspire...

Hi there everybody!  I hope you are having an awesome day today....here in the U.S. it's Labor Day holiday so I am definitely enjoying an extra day of rest. A few weeks ago the incredibly talented Allison Cope featured me on her blog as an inspiring card maker.  To say I was honored would be an understatement.....more like humbled and stunned would be pretty accurate.

Allison's work is well known the card making world over and her creativity is off the charts!  I am constantly in awe of where her imagination takes her and her skills are equally amazing.  Where she gets all of her energy is a mystery to me, but she makes more amazing cards and such a huge variety of styles.....it is simply mind boggling!  I have had the pleasure of working with Allison for a while now and I can tell you she is one of the most giving people....giving of her time, talent, creativity, and most of all her heart.  So a huge thank you to Allison for the honor and now I am honored to share a little bit about myself and pay this lovely compliment forward with a few ladies that inspire me.  First a few questions Allison asked me to answer:

1.  What am I working on?  Well, truthfully.....my house right now!  LOL.  We are getting ready for some pretty extensive renovations so things are going to be pretty crazy around here for a little while!  As for crafty things, I am currently making some preparations for Power Poppy's October Release.  This is a special one because it will debut Power Poppy's very first holiday images and as you can imagine, they are incredible!  Christmas cards are some of my favorite ones to make so I am one extremely happy girl!  :)  I wish I could share more about that now, but you will just have to wait a bit longer.....


2.  How does my work differ from others of its genre?  Hmmm, well probably for starters I have a very close relationship with my gold leafing pen so most of the time you will see a bit of gold somewhere on one of my cards.  I was really excited when gold started making a come back....it truly is timeless, if you ask me.  I guess my card style is a lot like my personal style, traditional with a lean towards vintage or nostalgic.  I am a pretty sentimental person so often times personal memories or occasions influence my designs.  I guess the other thing is that I am a detail oriented crafter which I think probably explains why I am also a slow crafter.  I am not one that can put a card together in 10 minutes.  I am not only drawn to the work of designers that are similar to me but I also love seeing styles that are different/difficult for me.....CAS, Shabby Chic, Bold and Graphic.....I love them all!  :)


3.  Why do I create what I do?  It is a form of personal expression for me....an outlet.  I love being able to create something from my heart and hands and share it with the people that are special to me.  It was a huge stretch for me to start a blog because I was and am  putting something so personal out there for everyone to see  but I have grown in so many ways since I started and made so many dear friends through this process, I won't lie, though....it's still a little intimidating....lol.


4.  How does your creative process work?  Randomly.....lol.  I don't have one specific way I approach my cards.  Usually, an image or a specific shape or whatever it is that I am starting with  reminds me of some treasured memory and it unfolds from there.  Not all of my cards are that way, but I would say most are.  I love making shaped cards, so any opportunity to do that is always fun!  I did mention Christmas cards are one of my favorites to make or anything floral.  I love to garden so I am drawn to botanical or nature inspired images.  For a lot of my cards, I do start with a main image, decide on shape next, then how many layers I want (I like my cards like I like my cakes....lots of layers...lol), and then comes the fun part- adding the details....stitching, ribbons, edging, buttons, bling, etc.



Ok, so now is my favorite part.....where I get to highlight some beautiful ladies that inspire me.  This was one of the hardest things to do, narrow down to just two, when truthfully I am inspired by so many card makers and artists out there.  I mean, look at who I get to work with at Power Poppy alone.....seriously!  Marcella and the lovely ladies of the Bloom Brigade are a constant source of inspiration to me and I know I am one of the luckiest girls ever to be a part of this amazing group of talented ladies, so it's no surprise that one of my picks is from the Bloom Brigade and my other pick is one of the many lovely ladies that I have met on Splitcoast Stampers.....another treasure trove of talented crafters and inspiration galore.  Each of these ladies inspires me in a different way.  So, please allow me to introduce you to...

Leslie Miller:  Running With Scissors

I can remember exactly how I felt when I first discovered Leslie's beautiful cards.....awestruck.  She is a true artist in every sense of the word.  Her cards are each individual works of art and heart.  We have never met IRL but you just know that the style, poise, and grace that you see in her cards is a true reflection of this beautiful crafter.  I am often inspired by not only what she creates with paper and ink, but with her writing style.  She has a gift of being able to evoke feelings from her beautiful words.....truly good stuff in her blog posts.  The love she pours in to her cards, her photos, her gardening, her family....how can you not be inspired by all of that? If you haven't had the pleasure of visiting her blog yet, you really should soon.  The added bonus is she has two of the most beautiful Golden Retrievers ever and loves sharing their antics too....on their own blog of course!  :)




Tracy MacDonald:  I Wanna Build A Memory

Tracy is one of the lovely ladies that I have had the pleasure of "meeting" on Splitcoast Stampers.  We are both Southern gals so she understands my "drawl" even when I type it....lol.  We both speak a little southern French (hee hee) and we both love a good funny.  She may be a little camera shy, but don't let that fool you.....she has a quick and sharp wit that I just adore.  Tracy is the MacGyver of the card making world.  She makes most of her own embellishments and her awesome layouts are drool worthy.  I was initially drawn to her cards because of her amazing work with Mo's Digital Images but she is in pretty high demand and has done design work for just about everyone out there!  I have learned so much from her over the years.....her sense of style as well as her incredible sense of humor make for some darling cards. Each one she makes is a treasure.  Take that and add her mad Copic skills and you can certainly see why she and her cards are known the world over.  Tracy has been a constant source of encouragement as well as inspiration to me.


 Truly, each one of these ladies has her own unique "Super Power".  A huge thank you to Allison, Leslie, and Tracy for sharing your amazing talents with all of us. I am so blessed to call each of these ladies a friend. What an honor it has been to be able to share some of their talents with you...I hope that you go and visit each of each of their blogs and just see for yourself.....you won't be disappointed, I can assure you of that!  :)

I am so glad you were able to stop by today for a visit.  This was so much fun, I may have to do this again with some more of my favorites!  :)  Thank you again, Allison, for such a wonderful experience  and for the honor....what a blessing this has been!  I hope you all have a wonderful day and until next time, take care!

~Katie