Power Poppy's February Blog Hop!

Hi there everybody and welcome back!  Have you enjoyed all of the Power Poppy festivities this week?  Boy, that Marcella really has outdone herself....yet again!  Guess what?  All of these new stamp sets will be available today in the Power Poppy store!  That's right...you can go make these sets your own today!  But before you do, the Bloom Brigade gathered for one last hop to preview the sets again....so let me show you my card before you jet outta here, k?  :)

I just had to use the large magnolia image from the Planning for Magnolias set....isn't she gorgeous?  I've said it many a time, but it bears repeating....that Marcella really knows her way around a bloom, doesn't she?!  There are sooo many varieties of magnolias...here in Georgia, they are everywhere!  In the spring, the tulip shaped magnolias really steal the show.  There is one tree that I make a point of driving by each season to see because it is so spectacular....and huge!  Here is a picture I took this past spring with my cell phone.....WOW, right?  :)  Oops, gotta little distracted there from my card, but I just had to show you this tree because she was the inspiration for how I colored up the blooms.

So, I stamped the image with Memento's Tuxedo Black ink onto white card stock and colored it with Copics.  Next, I fussy cut it out.....it took a wee little bit to do that, but I love how it looks on the card.  The card base is 4 1/4" x 5 1/2".  I layered an embossed panel from a Stampin' Up! embossing folder. Next, I used some new dies from My Favorite Things for the sentiment panel.  I stamped my sentiment from Happy Crabapple set with Smokey Shadow ink from Papertrey Ink.  The cross stitch edged die cut panel was antiqued by sponging on some PTI Chamomile ink and then I shaded it by sponging on Ranger Distress Inks in Weathered Wood and Milled Lavender.  I added an additional white panel edged with  my Krylon 18KT Gold Leafing pen between my sentiment panel and the scallop edged panel.  I sponged on some additional Chamomile ink onto all of my layers and then assembled them.  To adhere my fussy cut magnolias, I used Collal, which is amazing when you want to pop up your fussy cut items and give them some added dimension.  I kind of rounded some of the blooms around my finger before I adhered it down and the Collal keeps it in the shape that I molded it to.....pretty neat, huh?  Yep, I love that stuff!  :)

For the final bit of sparkle, I used my Atyou Spica clear glitter pen and my Wink of Stella Clear brush pen.....I don't think I was able to capture the sparkle in my photos, but it is there, I promise!  :)   I do want to mention that this may be my first card where there is not a trace of a button, or stitching from my machine, or ribbon....hmmm, eerie, huh?  I can't quite believe it either.  So there it is, my little card for the last hop of February's release.  I can tell you that my Bloomie sisters have been up to their usual brilliant card designing, so make sure you check out all of the gorgeousness that they have to share with you....and leave them a little blog love while you're there.  Thank you so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll pop in again soon, and until then....take care!  :)

Allison Cope 

Christine Okken 

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

~Katie

Supplies not listed above:  Paper- Papertrey Ink's Lavender Moon and Autumn Rose, Flourishes Classic White card stock; Other-My Favorite Things die sets in Cross Stitch Rectangles and Mini Scallop Rectangles; Copic colors-  RV0000, RV52, RV55, RV66, RV69, RV91, RV95, RV99, C00, BV000, BV00, E70, E74, E77, E79, G40, G43, G46, G28, Y02, YG21, and YG91.

Power Poppy's February Stamp Release-Day 2

Hello and welcome back for Day 2 of Power Poppy's stamp release!  What did you think of yesterday's kick off set, Planning for Magnolias?  Pretty amazing, right?  Well just wait...there is so, so much more to come this week!  Today's set is spectacular in its own right....Folk Heart.  I love, love, love I say, the darling folksy images in this set!  I am betting that you will too!  Let's take a look-see, shall we?  :)

Ok, so I couldn't help but do a little research on folk art before I started on this card.  A simple Google search landed tons of images in bold, bright colors for inspiration.  Then I noticed a cuckoo clock and ended up on clock sights trying to decide if a cuckoo clock might find it's way into our home.....still pondering that idea!  :)  So, after way too much time looking at photos, I started on my card.  The image is stamped with Memento's Tuxedo Black ink onto Papertrey Ink's Rustic White card stock.  I pulled out the big guns here and used my Marianne Designs Creatables die set~Anja's Squares......you know, the one I keep under glass in my craft room, have blogged about its amazing-ness on numerous occasions and limit myself to using because I want to use it all the time?  Yep, that one.....:)

While I was coloring my image, I started using some reds and greens that, while fine, did not give me quite the look I was going for so I used my colorless blender to lighten the greens and reds a bit and went over them with more orange-y reds and olive-y greens and that hit more the direction I had in mind.  Do you ever do that?  I mention it here, because when I list my Copics you are going to see some pretty strange color combinations and that is why!  I am going to list them all. :)  I colored up the darling bird with those cuckoo clocks in mind....still pondering a clock....

The layers are more Rustic White card stock, and some red and green card stocks that I had in my stash.....sorry, I don't know the names of the colors.  The heart is a Papertrey Ink tag die and that is where I put my sentiment, which is from the Good Thinking: Renewal stamp set.  Next, I assembled my layers with a couple of added ones from Spellbinders Classic Circles Large and Classic Scalloped Circles Large die sets.  Lastly, I added some sparkle with my Wink of Stella Clear brush pen, some white accents with my Copic Opaque White, and some shine to the berries with my Ranger Glossy Accents then added a couple of wooden buttons and hemp cord to finish things off......

Oh, I did use a little Papertrey Ink Vintage Cream and Chamomile inks to sponge around some of the layers to age it a bit.  I absolutely am head over heels for this sweet little bird!  Doesn't she look so cheery and full of song?!  I couldn't resist giving her a rosy cheek!  :)  All of the images in this set will certainly capture you heart, as they did mine.....just you wait and see!  And see, you shall.....thanks to my awesome Bloomie sisters and their incredible creations, you are in for a real treat!  Make sure you leave them a little blog love while you hop and then make sure you check back at Bloom Central (the Power Poppy blog) tomorrow for Day 3 of Marcella's wonderful new stamp release!  Thanks so much for stopping by today and until next time....take care!  :)

Allison Cope 

Christine Okken 

Cindy Lawrence    
Julie Koerber  
Katie Sims <------You are here 
Stacy Morgan 
Tosha Leyendekker
and Marcella Hawley

~Katie

Copic colors used-R05, R08, R11, R14, R17, R27, YG21, YG61, YG67, YG91, YG93, YG95, YG99, E50, E51, E55, E57, E59, and YR23.

Power Poppy's February Stamp Release-Day 1

Hello there and how are you?  I am so glad to see you here!  Today is the beginning of Power Poppy's February stamp release and just wait til you see all that Marcella has in store for you this week!  Oh, the beautiful images you will see.   Speaking of beautiful images...before we get started here for today's release, did you happen to catch the new digi image Flowers, Always that the incredibly talented Instant Gardeners showcased?   If not, you really must take a look....here is the link!  :)  Alrighty, well now it's time to introduce you to the first of Marcella's five.....yes, FIVE new stamp sets for February......say hello to Planning for Magnolias....

Hello beautiful, am I right?  Just wait til you see all of the images in this sweet set and it has some pretty amazing sentiments too!  :)  For today's card, I chose to use the darling garden planner that Marcella so lovingly illustrated.  Lemme show you.....

Is that not the most darling little planner evah?  Yep, I thought so too.  Wouldn't you love to just rummage through all the little pockets full of clippings, to do notes, washi tapes, and all of the other precious extras here?  The gorgeous magnolia clipping is the icing on the cake!  I started by stamping this image in Memento's Tuxedo Black ink on to Papertrey Ink's Rustic White card stock and coloring it up with Copics.  I will list the boat load of markers I used at the end of this post.  I coordinated my colors with the colors of my patterned papers from Echo Park's "The Story of Our Family" 6x6 paper pad.  I die cut my squares using dies from Spellbinders and My Favorite Things.  After fussy cutting my colored image, I added some sparkle with an Atyou Spica Clear glitter pen and a Wink of Stella clear brush pen and some shine with Ranger's Glossy Accents.  While everything was drying, I assembled and stitched my layers, stamped my sentiment with Stampin' Up!'s Midnight Muse ink, adhered a button and then adhered my image.  

Gah, this image is so sweet I can hardly stand it!!!  What fun it was to color up too!  :)  Now I want to start my own little garden planner/journal.  Let me just add that to my list of "to do's"...;)  I'll bet we all have a "list", don't we?  

So, that is all for my card today, but my Bloomie sisters have some a-mazing cards created just for your inspiration.  Make sure you leave them a little blog love when you visit and then make sure you tune in tomorrow for Day 2 of Power Poppy's February release! :)  Thanks so much for stopping by today and until next time, take care.

Allison Cope 

Christine Okken 

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

~Katie

Supplies not listed above:  Dies-Spellbinders Grand Squares and My Favorite Things Stitched Squares; Other- Stampin' Up!'s Stampin' Chalk Marker in White; Copic colors- BG10, BG13, BG53, BG57, BG75, B91, B95, B97, E40, E42, E44, E50, E51, E55, E70, E74, E77, Y18, Y26, YR0000, YR30, YR31, YG61, YG67, R0000, R11, R14, R17, R20, R30, R32, R35, R37, R39, C3, and  C7.