A Power Poppy Friday with Flowering Branches!

Well hello there and a very happy Friday to you!  I hope you have had a great week.....got any exciting plans for the weekend?  Working on any crafty projects?  Speaking of crafty projects, did you enjoy the festivities over on the Power Poppy blog earlier this week for the newest digital stamp release- Flowering Branches?  Those Instant Gardeners put on quite a show!  Well today, the Bloom Brigade gets to play with that beautiful image.  So here is another look at Flowering Branches...

If you didn't get a chance to see Marcella's post for this release, you really need to check that out here.  All of the inspirational photos she shared were amazing!  It inspired me to do a little research on Flowering Crab apples and guess what I discovered.  There is a weeping variety that has dark pink buds that turn to white flowers with a slight blush and the fruit is a yellow hue with a pink blush....doesn't that just sound heavenly?   And the very best part of all is the name....."Louisa"!  It was almost too good to be true...so I had to color my image up like that variety in honor of our very own crab apple illustrator extraordinaire, who just happens to hail from Saint "Louisa"!  :)

I started by sizing and printing my digital image out and colored it up with Copics.  Next, I die cut my image out with a die from Spellbinders' A2 Matting Basics A set.  After that I ran it through my Grand Calibur with a wood grain impression plate from Papertrey Ink.  I added a little Chamomile ink from PTI around the edges and then layered it with some pink patterned paper.  After adding the stitched border, I adhered my layered image on a Stampin' Up! Crumb Cake card stock card base.  A little Whisper White ink sponged around the edges softens the card up a bit.  For my sentiment, I printed it out and die cut it with a tag die from Papertrey Ink, then sponged on Ranger Distress ink in Scattered Straw, Peeled Paint, and Festive Berries to mimic one of the crab apples on my card.  I added a green satin bow and adhered the tag to my card with dimensionals.  A few sweeps across the blooms and crab apples with my Wink of Stella Clear glitter pen finished everything off.  This set comes with two extra sweet sentiments for Mother's Day.  My mama certainly taught me how to bloom so this will be going to her soon (and if you are reading this mama......surprise and love you!)

Isn't that font lovely....not to mention the incredibly gorgeous and oh so dainty crab apple buds and blooms.  The darling little crab apples are an added bonus!  The inside of the card will have the other sentiment from this digital set, "Happy Mother's Day". I think I just outed myself that I haven't finished the inside of the card yet....oh well.  :)  Just pretend it's all done for this post, ok?  So, that is all for my card today but some of my Bloomie team mates have some truly beautiful things to show you so you've just got to go check that out.  Make sure you leave a little love while you're there too!  Then, if you haven't made this digital image your own yet, I would highly suggest that you take a stroll over to the Power Poppy store where you can purchase and download this beauty today!  

And speaking of mamas, I thought I would share a little photo of me with mine.  She is quite an amazing lady...in the last four years she has gone through breast cancer treatment and gone through two knee replacements....she's a regular Steel Magnolia!  :)  

I am so glad you could stop by today and I hope that you have a wonderful and restful weekend.  If you are able to squeeze in a little crafty time, even better...right?  There is still plenty of time to enter the Power Poppy Power and Spark Pastels challenge and wouldn't this image make a pretty pastel project?  Hmmmmm.....:)  Thank you again for your visit and until next time, take care!

Allison Cope 

Christine Okken     

Julie Koerber  
Katie Sims <------You are here 
Stacy Morgan 
Tosha Leyendekker

~Katie

 Supplies not listed above:  Paper-Classic White card stock from Flourishes and pink patterned paper from My Mind's Eye; Copic colors:  R30, R32, R35, R37, R39, Y02, YG21, YG91, G40, G43, G46, E40, E42, E44, and E47.

Power Poppy's April Power &Spark Challenge

Hi there and a Happy Friday to you! Are you still reeling from Power Poppy's April Scents and Sensibility Stamp release?  Have you been able to pick a favorite set or do you just love them all?  I think I already know the answer to that!  ;)  Things are all a'buzz over at Bloom Central (the Power Poppy Blog) today.  We have the announcement of last month's winner of the Power & Spark Gold Challenge, the announcment of the winner of Power Poppy's Birthday Blog Hop, and we are kicking off April's Power & Spark Challenge!  Whew....that's a whole lotta bloomin' goin' on!  ;)  Which brings me to my post for today's festivities. The incredibly talented and super sweet Allison Cope is our hostess and here is a word from her about the challenge...

"With Spring slowly making away across the land, it reveals the beautiful of so many gorgeous blooms and buds: blooms of soft buttery yellows, light lavender purples and pastel rosy pinks. So for this month's challenge, I want to see you create with a soft, subtle color palette of PASTELS. Let's see those creamy oranges, delicate grassy greens and beautiful soft shades of color on your cards and creations. I was inspired to create a card using the subtle palette of watercolor on my bouquet. I can't wait to see what you create!"  ~ Ally

Quite timely, I would say....wouldn't you?  I can't wait to see all of the beautiful pastel creations for this one! You can check out all of the challenge details here. I chose to use the incredibly beautiful Orchids Rock stamp set but I thought I would show you a new way to look at this set.  How do you feel about some baby blooms?  ;)

I have had the idea for using this sentiment and image for a baby card for a while now.  This pastel challenge was the perfect time to pull it all together.  Don't you think that wee lil' orchid and sweet sentiment makes an awesome card for a baby girl?  And I imagine that come time for a 2 am feeding, that cry will probably be pretty fierce....hee!  Actually, I am in need of a baby girl card....one of my dearest friends in the world is going to be a Grandma soon and...it's a girl!  :)  With this being such a special occasion, I simply had to pull out the big guns for this card....yep, my Marianne Designs Anja's Squares Die set.  Shall we all take a moment......ok, I'm back.  I know we all have that favorite/special something that we like to use and this die set is it for me.  You can get so many looks from this set!  

Another thing you may have noticed here....the image is not colored.  What?!  Now, I know that this may be a sensitive subject for some coloring enthusiasts out there....and believe me, no one loves their Copics more than I do...truly....but let me also say you can incorporate an uncolored image in your projects and it looks a-mazing.  Case in point....this lovingly detailed, oh-so-gorgeous Marcella  orchid here....now I ask you, doesn't she look stunning in all her glory?  

I rest my case.  ;)  So, now that I have gone off on my little no coloring tangent, how about I give you a few details about this card?   Since coloring was not in the process, the card can be put together pretty quickly.  I just die cut out my layers, stamped my image on the circle die cut, sponged some ink around, layered it with a scallop circle and did some stitching.  Next, I die cut my sentiment panel, stamped my sentiment, and sponged more ink around.  I punched two very small holes in one end of the sentiment die cut and tied some ribbon.  Then, I assembled all of the card stock and patterned paper layers, gave the orchid some shimmer with my Wink of Stella Clear Glitter pen, and added some buttons to round things out a bit.  

Here's one more angle.  I was trying to catch the shimmer on the orchid, but I just don't think it is showing up.  It is there, I promise!  That is all for my card today, but I hope that maybe this will inspire you to look at some of your stamp sets in a new light and maybe even.....dare I say it....leave an image uncolored?  Gasp!  What is the world coming to, right?  :)  Well, at least think about it....:)  So are you ready to go hop around and see some truly stunning pastel creations compliments of some of my Bloom Brigade sisters?  Make sure you leave them a little love when you visit and then why don't you whip up a pastel project of your own and come play along with us?  I can't wait to see what you create and until next time, I hope you have a wonderful Easter weekend, and take care!  :)

Allison Cope 

Christine Okken 

Cindy Lawrence    
Julie Koerber  
Katie Sims <------You are here 
Stacy Morgan 

~Katie

Supplies not listed above:  Paper-Vintage Cream card stock from PTI, patterned papers from My Mind's Eye's Lost & Found "Market Street" 6x6 paper pad and from Authentique's "Essentials Collection" 6x6 paper pad; Ink-Melon Berry, Chamomile, and Chai inks from PTI; Dies-Spellbinders Classic Circle Small, Scalloped Circles Large and Labels Twenty Eight; Other-ribbon from SU!, buttons from PTI, thread from DMC.

Power Poppy's April Blog Hop!

Hey there friends!  I am so glad to see you back today for Power Poppy's April Blog Hop!  The Bloom Brigade is all together today to give you one last look at the stamp sets in Marcella's Scents and Sensibility Collection.  Do you think your heart can take one more hop?  And even better....all of the stamps are available today in Power Poppy's store!  So wait no more, go forth and grab up all three of these gorgeous sets and add them to your own personal garden today!  ;)  But before you do, can I show you my card?  I chose to use the Daffodils set for today's hop...

When I saw that glorious bouquet of daffodils, I knew that was the one for me.  I mean, the whole set is amazing, but I just knew I had to color that bouquet up.  And I also knew I would probably end up using most of the Copic markers in my bag....lol.  I wanted to make a wide variation of colors in the bouquet so that calls for extra markers, right?  ;)

I wanted the entire focus to be on this beautiful bouquet so I kept the card layering to a minimum (for me, anyway) and amped up the color on my image.  I will admit I spent a good little while coloring up this image, but I think most of the time was spent ogling all of the daffodil varieties online trying to decide how I wanted to color each one. I stamped my image on to white card stock with Memento's Tuxedo Black ink and then set in to coloring.  Once I was done, I die cut my image and sponged on some Ranger Distress Ink in Tumbled Glass.  Next I stamped my sentiment, die cut it out, sponged on more of the distress ink and layered it with another die cut.  For my card I embossed a piece of yellow patterned paper, sanded it a bit, and then added a strip of blue patterned paper and some die cut edging that resembled a postage stamp.  I added my stitching and then adhered it to my card base.  Finally, I added my image panel and sentiment panel and hit some of the blooms with my Wink of Stella Clear Glitter pen for some sparkle.  

And there they all are, with all of that Marcella incredible detail, sending daffodil hugs to you!  :) I love this sentiment....I am SO a hugger, so I'll be using this sentiment often and sending hugs all over the place!   Oh, and lest I forget the Grape Hyacinth....no small players in this bouquet for sure!  I love the contrast that they bring with the many varieties of daffodils and jonquils...all so beautifully orchestrated by our floral conductor, Marcella.   In fact, if you listen close....I'll bet you can hear Vivaldi's "Spring" right now... ;)  

Well, that is all for my card today but the rest of the Bloom Brigade has the most beautiful things to show you for this last hurrah, so please make sure to hop around and see for yourself.  And....once you're done a-hoppin' you can go a-shoppin' because like I said before, all of these amazing sets are available today!  Thank you so much for stopping by today and for all of your sweet comments.  I always enjoy our visits!  Oh, and Power Poppy will be having their next Power and Spark Challenge coming soon....you don't want to miss that!  So, until next time, take care!  :)

Allison Cope 

Christine Okken 

Cindy Lawrence  
Dawn Burnworth  
Julie Koerber 
Kathy Jones 
Katie Sims <------You are here
Leslie Miller 
Stacy Morgan 
Tosha Leyendekker
and Marcella Hawley

~Katie

Supplies:  Paper-Naturals White card stock from Stampin' Up!, Classic White card stock from Flourishes, Patterned papers from Carta Bella's "Traditions" 6x6 paper pad; Ink-Memento's Tuxedo Black ink, Papertrey Ink's Chamomile and Chai inks, Ranger Distress ink in Tumbled Glass; Other-Wood grain impression plate from PTI, Spellbinders dies in Classic Square Large, Classic Circles Small,  A2 Fancy Postage Edge, and Lacey Circles and these Copic colors:  YG21, YG61, YG63, YG67, YG91, B21, B26, B28, B63, E000, E01, E40, E43, E44, E57, E59, E93, E97, Y00, Y04, Y08, Y11, Y13, Y15, Y17, Y18, Y19, Y21, Y23, Y26, Y32, Y38, YR18, YR27, YR30, YR31, and YR27.