Power Poppy's Happiest Holiday 2018 Stamp Release~Day 1!

Hello there and welcome to Day 1 of Power Poppy's incredible Happiest Holiday 2018 stamp release!  Marcella has created quite a collection of holiday stamps for your crafting pleasure and we can't wait for you to see them all....so for the next 5 days Power Poppy will be previewing six stamp sets!  So why don't we get started with today's darling set,  Christmas Corgis!

Now, how cute are these sweeties?  Those are some serious love eyes going on, right?  ;)  Marcella's inspiration for this set was her own precious Corgi, Tibbs!  So for my card, I chose to highlight the image in a circle die cut.  After coloring it up with Copics, I added some shimmer with a Wink of Stella clear brush pen and some shine to the berries with a clear glaze pen.  I used a scallop oval die cut for my card base and just added a few layers with some patterned papers for interest.  The sweet little sentiment is from the same stamp set.  I'll bet you will see some of the other images and sentiments along the hop today.

And here's one last little lookie at this darling pair.  So that is all for my card today, but my Bloomie sisters are definitely bringin' it so make sure you check out all of their lovely creations and leave a little blog love while you are there.  Also, make sure you check out the Power Poppy blog for Marcella's post on Christmas Corgis.  I thank you so much for stopping by today, and I hope that you will pop in tomorrow for Day 2 of Power Poppy's Happiest Holiday 2018 stamp release.  Until then, take care!

Allison Cope 

Christine Okken 

Cindy Lawrence    
Julie Koerber 
Kathy Jones 
Katie Sims <------You are here 
Stacy Morgan 
Tosha Leyendekker


~Katie

Copic colors used:  BG0000, BG000, BG01, C0, C1, C2, G40, G46, R000, R30, R32, R35, R37, R39, R81, R85, R89, BG70, BG72, BG75, E30, E31, E33, E35, E37, E39, E93, and E95.

Happy Power Poppy Friday with The Daily Marker!

Hello there and happy Power Poppy Friday to you!  Today is pretty special because several of the Power Poppy designers are hopping with The Daily Marker for the latest 30 Day Coloring Challenge!  Have you ever played along in this?  The incredibly talented and oh-so-engaging Kathy Racoosin hosts this wonderful challenge to encourage all of us to take time to color....even if it is for just a few minutes a day!  What a great idea!

So in the spirit of this challenge,  I have a few stepped out photos of part of the coloring for my card.  This is the first time I have attempted to step out coloring photos, and to be honest, I had already colored up my foliage before I remembered to take photos.....so all I have is the bloom that I colored.  I chose to use Power Poppy's new stamp set Abundant Petals and the companion dies for my images and the Dream Wedding stamp set for my sentiment.


I started by using R30 to lay some color down.  I did not completely color my bloom but I will later.....I like to leave some white space at first because I can always go back and add more!  :)

Next, I added R32 to the areas that would naturally be darker or shadowed...again leaving a little room to add more later.

Then, I added R35 for even more depth...

After the R35, I went back with my R32  and R30 to smooth some of the brush strokes out and extend the color closer to the petal edges.

This next step with R37 and R39 are where I really amp up contrast which adds so much depth to the petals...it is now looking more dimensional...

***Pay no attention to the upside down marker in this photo or we could just call this my signature photo, right?  Sure, I meant to do that!  ;)

The last step is to smooth things out a bit with my R35, R32, and R30 and add a touch of V12 for a little more interest and to pick up some of the color from my patterned paper for my card.

And here is where this bloom is added to my die cut arrangement on my assembled card....

Using the accompanying dies for the image stamp set was so handy and made this arrangement a snap to cut out.  I wanted to play along with Power Poppy's latest Power & Spark challenge hosted by the super talented and equally adorable Stacy Morgan so I made a round card.  You have all month to play along with this challenge so check it out and don't forget to link up your entry on the Power Poppy blog....because a $50 shopping spree in the Power Poppy store is up for grabs!  :)

My card base is a couple of scalloped round die cuts in dark and light gray card stocks layered with a couple of patterned papers stitched together.  I did add some shimmer with my Wink of Stella clear brush pen to the leaves and petals.  Then I added some gold leafing around the image panel with a Krylon 18 KT gold leafing pen.  To give the gold leafing an aged look, I lightly sanded it.  I also added some sponging to the card with Papertrey Ink's Chamomile and Chai inks.  

And if this wasn't enough excitement, Marcella has a little something else to offer up...a BIG sale on one of her beautiful bouquet images!  In stamp form it is known as Burst of Kindness and in a digital format it is known as Spring Meadow Bouquet.....either way it is a GREAT deal!  So great, maybe you should just get BOTH!  :)  You can read all about this lovely bouquet, the sale, and see the Bloom Whisperer, herself, color up this bouquet in this post!



Whew!  We made it!  That was quite a long post!  Several of my Bloom Brigade and Instant Gardener sisters have some incredible projects to share with you today as well, so make sure you check them out and leave a little blog love while you are there.  I want to thank Kathy Racoosin at The Daily Marker for the opportunity to play along with her challenge today....what fun it has been!  I also want to thank you for stopping by today.  I hope you have a wonderful weekend and will come by again soon.  Until then, take care!


Julie Koerber
Cindy Lawrence
Tosha Leyendekker
Christine Okken
Barbara Walker
Nancy Sheads
Katie Sims <----- That's me! 
Elizabeth Zaffarano
Kathy Jones


~Katie

Happy Power Poppy Friday~June 1!

Hello there and a very happy Friday to you!  I sure hope you have had a wonderful week.  I have a simple petite card to share with you today featuring one of the newest Power Poppy stamp sets, Wild Mushrooms.  

I started by stamping my image with Memento's Tuxedo Black ink onto some white card stock.  After coloring my image with Copics, I touched up some of the areas on the mushrooms with a white Prismacolor pencil then die cut the image.  I stamped my sentiment on to a strip of patterned paper and adhered it to my image panel.  I decided to add another little strip of patterned paper and then adhered it all to my die cut card base.  This finished card measures 3 1/4" x 4 1/2".

If you have not gotten this stamp set yet, you really should put this one on "the list".....these images are incredibly detailed and are so much fun to color!!  

Aren't they just the cutest little things?  I looked these up to get a color reference but truly, you could color these up any ol' way you wanted to.....or, I am quite certain they would be darling just stamped and no color at all if you were so inclined.  :)

So that is all for my card today, but some of my Bloomie sisters have created some lovely cards for your Friday inspiration.  Please make sure you leave them a little blog love when you visit.  Oh, and also make sure you check out the Power Poppy blog for a new Power & Spark challenge hosted by our own darling Stacy Morgan! 

I am wishing you an amazing weekend and I hope you will stop back by here again soon.  Until then....take care!  :)

Christine Okken    

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


~Katie

Copics used:  BG0000, BG000, BG01, Y15, E40, E41, E42, E44, E47, E50, E55, E57, E59, E93, E95, E97, E99, R01, R02, R05, R08, YG61, and YG67.

Power Poppy May Stamp Release~Day 5!

Hello there and welcome to Day 5 of Power Poppy's May stamp release!  Today is the day that you will be able to see (and order!) all of the new stamp sets!  Hey, did you know that some of the sets also have coordinating dies?  Yay!  So, before you jet over to the Power Poppy store, let me show you the two sets being introduced today and my card, k?

For my card today, I chose to use an image and sentiment from the Precious Baby set.  YES...Power Poppy's  first baby set....can you believe it?!  :)  All of the images in this set are beyond adorable and I know I will be using this set often for baby cards, but I just had to start with the little baby pea pod!  Once I colored my image with Copics, I die cut it and started layering with a bunch of die cut layers from card stock and patterned paper.   I fussy cut and colored an extra pair of leaves to add for a little more greenery.  The baby is fussy cut and layered for some added dimension.  I added my die cut sentiment and some shimmer with a Wink of Stella clear brush pen to finish the card.  My idea was to make a pea pod and have my image be one of the peas....kind of a pea pod within a pea pod. :)  

I cannot get over the darling wee face on this sweet little pea!  Marcella really out did herself with this set....well, she really out did herself with ALL of her new sets, but mercy....I am totally smitten with this image!  :)

So that is all for my card today, but my Bloomie sisters have been knocking it out of the park all week and today is no exception, so make sure you check out all of their lovely cards and leave a little blog love while you are there.  Oh, and hey...I saved this last little bit of news until the end...Marcella is offering a discount on these new sets!

Don't forget to get in on the giveaway for the entire release for you and a friend.....you can see the details of this giveaway here!

Thank you so much for your visits this week and your kind words here on my blog.  All of your encouraging comments have really made my week.  I hope you will stop back by here again soon, and until then...take care!  :)

Allison Cope 

Christine Okken 

Cindy Lawrence    
Julie Koerber 
Kathy Jones 
Katie Sims <------You are here 
Stacy Morgan 
Tosha Leyendekker

~Katie

Dies used:  Spellbinders die sets in Standard Circles Large, Classic Scalloped Circle Large, and Labels Twenty Five and My Favorite Things die set Cross stitch Oval

Copics used:  YG01, YG11, YG13, YG17, G28, YG91, Y15, Y21, E11, E21, E23, E40, E42, E93, YR000, B91, B93, B97, and B99. 

Happy Power Poppy Friday~May 11th!

Hello there and happy Friday to you!  I have a super quick post to share today using an image from Power Poppy's Everything's Even Rosier stamp set and a sentiment from the Prairie Cheer stamp set.

I started by stamping my image with Hero Arts' Intense Black ink onto white card stock.  This is the first time I have used this ink and I have to say, I really liked it!  It is compatible with Copic markers and it really stamped very well.  Next, I die cut my image with a stitched square die from My Favorite Things and colored my image with a ton of Copics.  In my defense, I didn't color the roses all the same, right?  ;)

After everything was colored, I stamped my sentiment with Verafine ink in Onyx Black and added some gold leafing around the edge with Krylon's 18KT Gold Leafing pen.  I added a layer of stitched patterned paper and card stock and adhered everything to a card base that I die cut using a Spellbinders die.  Lastly, I added a little shimmer with a Wink of Stella clear brush pen and some sparkle with a clear Atyou Spica pen .  

So that is all for my card today but my Bloomie sister Christine Okken has a project to share with you and I am sure it is a stunner.  Make sure you leave a little blog love when you visit her. :)

I thank you so much for your visit today and I hope you have a wonderful weekend.  Oh hey....have you heard that new Power Poppy stamps are just around the corner?  Yep, and let me say....you will be amazed at what that darling Marcella has been up to!  Just you wait!  :)  I hope you'll pop in again soon....until next time, take care!

~Katie

Copic colors used:  BG0000, BG000, BG01, BG02, BG53, BG57, BG75, BG78, R000, R30, R32, R37, R81, R85, R89, BV02, E0000, E41, E44, YG11, YG17, YG61, YG63, YG91, Y13, Y21, Y26, YR20, YR23, YR27, E55, W1, W4, W7, C2, C4, and C7,

Happy Power Poppy Friday~April 20th!

Hello there and happy Friday to you!  Hope all has been well with you!  Today I have a card to share with you for Power Poppy's Friday inspiration.  I have used the stamp set Vibrant Thanks for my image and the Prairie Cheer stamp set for my sentiment.  

I started by stamping my image with Memento's Tuxedo Black ink on to cream card stock.  Next, I die cut the image and colored it with Copics.  After everything was colored up, I stitched on some patterned paper and stamped the sentiment using Versafine Onyx Black ink.  After edging the image panel with a Krylon 18KT Gold Leafing pen and adding some shimmer with a Wink of Stella clear brush pen, I adhered it to my shaped card base using foam tape.  

Those darling blooms of Marcella's should be just the ticket to help someone feel better, don't you think?   I know they made me feel pretty good while I was coloring them!  :)  So that is all for my card today.  One of my oh-so-amazing Bloomie sisters, Christine Okken, also has a card to share with you today so make sure you pop over to visit her and leave some blog love while you are there.  I so appreciate you stopping by today, and I hope to see you around again soon.  Until then...take care.

Christine Okken 

Katie Sims <------You are here

~Katie

Copic colors used:  G000, G00, G28, G40, G43, G46, N0, N1, E57, RV55, R00, R81, R83, R85, R89, YG21, Y0608, Y13, Y18, YR12, YR16, YR18, and YR20.

Happy Power Poppy Friday~February 23rd!

Hello there and happy Friday to you!  I hope you have been doing well.  All's good here and we are definitely ready for the weekend!  I have a little card to share with you today using Power Poppy's Sassy Succulents stamp set.  This set is just so fun to use!

I started by stamping my succulents on a die cut panel, masking a couple of them to give a full arrangement across the top of my panel.  After coloring them up with Copics, I added some shimmer with a Wink of Stella clear brush pen, some ink spatters with a spritzing tool, stitched on a little polka dot paper, then stamped my sentiment.  I adhered my finished image panel on to a layered card base.  This card measures 3 7/8" square.  

I just love this darling sentiment and these beautiful succulents are so much fun to color!  All of Marcella's lovely details really make these images pop.  So that is all for my card today but a couple of my Bloomie sisters have some cards for your Friday inspiration.  Make sure you leave them a little blog love while you are there. :) If you haven't popped over to the Power Poppy blog lately, make sure you do that too!  I am so glad you stopped by today....I hope you have a wonderful weekend and I'd love it if could could visit again soon.  Until then, take care.

Christine Okken 

Katie Sims <------You are here 
Stacy Morgan 


~Katie

Copic colors used:  YG21, YG61, YG63, YG67, G0000, G29, G40, G43, G46, W00, W1, and W4.

Happy Power Poppy Friday~February 9th!

Hello there and happy Friday!  I have a quick little post to share with you today featuring Power Poppy's new digital stamp set, Va Va Valentines!  This digital set has six adorable images with accompanying sentiments and four additional sentiments for the inside of your card..... all for the limited time price of $6!  If you haven't already, you really need to grab this set up!  I chose to use the precious sock couple image with sentiment for a special valentine for Mr. Sims!  ;)

I started by sizing the image and printing it twice...once for my card panel and the other to fussy cut the socks.  I colored the socks with Copics and fussy cut them.  Once I die cut my image panel, I colored the sentiment, sponged some ink around, stitched on some patterned paper, and adhered the fussy cut socks.  I added some shimmer and shine to the socks with a Wink of Stella clear brush pen and a Sakura Glaze pen so I could play along with Power Poppy's newest Power & Spark challenge hosted by the incredibly talented and super sweet Kathy Jones!  You can see all of the details about the challenge here.   All that was left was to adhere the assembled panel to my die cut card base.

Yes, indeed.....I am SO happy I found him and so happy to have the perfect image for his valentine.  That Marcella is definitely a romantic at heart.....the entire set is darling!  

So that is all for my little card today, but several of my Bloomie sisters have some beautiful cards to share for your Friday inspiration.  Make sure you leave a little blog love while you are there.  Thank you so much for stopping by today and I hope to see you around again really soon.  Until then, take care!  :)

Allison Cope 

Christine Okken 

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

~Katie

Power Poppy's January Power & Spark Challenge with CardMaps!

Hello there and Happy Friday to you!  Today I have a special post.... this week Power Poppy teamed up with PageMaps by Becky Fleck to bring you some card samples using Becky's CardMaps wonderful card sketches!  AND it just so happens to coincide with our January Power & Spark challenge so that crafty and clever Julie Koerber has come up with an incredible challenge theme for you!  Just take a lookie at this...

And here is what Julie has to say about her challenge...

For this month's Power & Spark Challenge, we're asking you to "Grab A Map," and get in on some Power Poppy Fun! We've teamed up with Pagemaps.com's CardMaps to showcase 10 new sketches featuring some of Power Poppy's fabulous stamp sets. You can find all ten sketches along with design team samples HERE!  So grab a map, use it to spark a little cardmaking creativity and then, link your creation up HERE. If you play along, you'll be in the running to win a $50 Shopping Spree to the Power Poppy Shop! But wait, there's more! Becky Fleck, the fabulous Pagemaps guru, is also offering a $25 Power Poppy gift card and all you need to do is leave a comment on THIS post! The Pagemaps contest closes January 22nd, so hop on over soon! We can't wait to see what you create. 

Now doesn't that sound like fun?!  Here is the sketch I was given...

I just l-o-v-e square cards so this sweet sketch was right up my alley!  For my card, I chose to use Power Poppy's Bloomin' Wonderful stamp set for my image and paired it with the "Sending Love" sentiment from the Dynamic Duos: Glads and Gerberas stamp set.

My card base is actually a tag die but I thought it would make a fun card shape!  I stamped my image with Memento's Tuxedo Black ink on to a die cut and stitched card stock/patterned paper panel and colored it up with Copic markers.  Next, I die cut my sentiment pieces, stamped my sentiment, sponged on a little ink and assembled the layers.  Lastly, I adhered everything to my card base.  Oh, I did also add some shimmer with a Wink of Stella Clear brush pen.  Gotta have some shimmer on those blooms, right? ;) This finished card measures 3 5/8" x 4".

Just check out all of the beautiful little details in this bouquet!  That Marcella doesn't miss a thing, does she?  :)  Isn't this the perfect little winter floral arrangement?

So that is all for my card today, but several of my Bloomie AND Instant Gardener sisters have created some beauties for your card making inspiration.  You can see the link list here.  Make sure you leave a little blog love while you are there and then c'mon and play along with us!  Make sure you link up your CardMaps sketch inspired card for a chance to win a $50 shopping spree in the Power Poppy store!  Thank you so much for stopping by today and I hope to see you again soon....until then, take care!

~Katie

Supplies used:  Ink-Memento's Tuxedo Black, Ranger Distress ink in Tumbled Glass; Paper-Classic White card stock from Flourishes, patterned paper from My Favorite Thing's "Plaid Patterns Merry & Bright " 6x6 paper pad, Lucky Limeade card stock from Stampin' Up!; Other-Tag Sale Quilted die from Papertrey Ink, Stitched Square die from My Favorite Things, Classic Circle and Scalloped Circle dies from Spellbinders, Wink of Stella Clear brush pen, and these Copic colors-BG0000, BG000, BG01, BG02, B60, B63, B66, B69, B79, BV0000, BV00, BV13, C1, C3, C5, W1, E55, E71, E74, E79, YG0000, YG21, YG23, YG25, YG61, YG67, Y13, and RV02.