Happy Power Poppy Friday~April 5th!

Hello there and a very happy Friday to you!  I am so glad you could stop by today.  I have a quick post to share with you for Power Poppy's Friday inspiration.  I just had to take part in that darling Julie Koerber's current Creative Confetti Challenge over on the Power Poppy blog.  Make sure you check it out here and play along with us!  It's all about turning your art work into a grid....I think it looks like tiles, what do you think?  :)

For my card, I used the lovely spring inspired stamp set, Natural Beauties.  I started by stamping my image with Memento's Tuxedo Black ink on to white card stock and  coloring it with Copics.  Next, I die cut my image, then used my paper trimmer to cut it in to nine equal squares.  I layered some dark gray card stock with some patterned papers, stamped the sentiment and adhered everything to my die cut card base.  The finished card measures 4 1/2" square.

Don't you just love all of these beautiful spring flowers together in one adorable image?  Marcella really packed so much detail here and as always, it is a dream to color!

One last little close up of Marcella's Natural Beauties... :)  

So that is all for my card today, but some of my Bloomie sisters have cards to share with you, so please make sure you check them out and leave them a little blog love while you are there.  Also....make sure you check out the Creative Confetti challenge over on the Power Poppy blog and get to creating your own art grid.  Make sure you link up your project so we can all see your handiwork!  I thank you again for stopping by today and I hope you will come by again soon.  Until then, have a great weekend and take care!  

Christine Okken     

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

~Katie

Happy Power Poppy Friday~March 14th!

Hello there and a happy Friday to you!  I hope all is well with you.  I have a card to share with you for Power Poppy's Friday inspiration using an image from the lovely Planning for Magnolias stamp set and a sentiment from the Lilac Time stamp set.

I started by stamping my image and sentiment on a die cut white card stock square.  Next, I colored the image with Copics, then added some shimmer with a Wink of Stella clear brush pen.  After that, I stitched on a bit of patterned paper.  Lastly, I attached another bit of patterned paper to my card stock card base and adhered the image panel with foam tape.  This card measures 3 7/8" square.

Don't you just love that mixed font sentiment?  And how about those lovely magnolia blooms?  Marcella really packed a lot of detail there, for sure!  

So that is all for my card today, but several of my Bloomie sisters have beautiful cards to inspire you this Friday.  Please make sure you check them out and leave a little blog love while you are there. Make sure you check out all of the latest over on the Power Poppy blog too! I thank you so much for your visit today and hope you will come by again soon...until then, take care!

Christine Okken     

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

Tosha Leyendekker


~Katie

Copic colors used:  B0000, BG0000, BG000, BG10, BG11, BG72, RV000, RV52, RV55, RV66, RV69, V0000, BV01, BV11, C0, C3, C7, E70, E71, E77, E79, YG01, G40, G43, and G46

Happy Power Poppy Friday~March 16th!

Hello there and happy Friday to you!  How have you been?  It's been a little bit since my last post.  I am so happy to share a card I made for Power Poppy's Friday post using their amazing Azalea stamp set.  I can never thank Marcella enough for creating this stamp set!  I have been inspecting our azaleas in the yard and I am happy to report that there are lots of buds!  To get me thru until then, I thought I would color up some of Marcella's azalea blooms.

I used a stitched square die for my image panel, stamped the image with Memento's Tuxedo Black ink and then colored it up with Copics.  Next, I added some gold leafing around the edges with a Krylon 18KT gold leafing pen.  Lastly, I adhered the image to my card base layered with a bit of patterned paper.

Red azaleas were always my Daddy's favorite.  We have lots of azaleas in our yard in pinks, whites, and purples but we also have one red azalea.  It was actually there when we bought our house a number of years ago, but I like just having the one....kind of like a special one just to honor him, don't you think?  :)  

So that is all for my card today, but some of my Bloomie sisters have some beautiful cards for your Friday inspiration.  Make sure you leave them a little blog love while you are there!  And hey, if you haven't seen Power Poppy's latest digital stamp release....you really need to check it out!  You can see all of the details here.

I thank you so much for your visit and I hope to see you again soon.  Until then, take care!  :)

Christine Okken 

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

~Katie

Copic colors used:  R30, R32, R35, R37, R39, YG21, G29, G40, G43, G46, W00, W0, W2, W3, W4, W7, W8, E70, E71, E77, and E79.

Marcella is Tying the Knot Hop!

Hello there and a Happy Friday to you!  We have a very exciting surprise for our dear Marcella today!  While she has been zipping around making the final preparations for her dreamy wedding to the even dreamier Doug, the Bloomies and the Instant Gardeners have been planning a surprise wedding blog hop in her honor.  Today's post is all about showering the Bloom Whisperer herself with much love and endless well wishes for her wedding day.  The countdown is on, and tomorrow is going to get here quick....so let's hop, shall we? :)

Don't you just l-o-v-e the beautiful illustration Marcella created for their wedding invitations?  I have never seen anything as beautiful as this image....and you can tell she is quite smitten with her moto-man, can't you?  :)

For my card today, I chose to use the stunning Daffodils stamp set for my image and the My English Rose stamp set for the sentiment.  I know these blooms have a special place in our dear Marcella's heart and I wanted to color them up for her wedding card today.  I paired it with the die set of all die sets...the one I only allow myself to use for very special occasions (or I would use it every. single. time.)....my most treasured die set for sure, Anja's Squares by Marianne Designs.  I still get giddy every time I pull her out to make a card.  Sigh....

I started by stamping my image with Memento's Tuxedo Black ink onto white card stock, colored it up with lots of Copics and added some shimmer with a Wink of Stella clear brush pen.  Next, I stamped my sentiment using three different green inks to give it a gradient look.   Then I die cut the image out and set it aside.  I used two scallop circle die cuts to layer behind my image panel and then layered my card base with white card stock and some green gingham patterned paper.  I also used lots of foam dimensionals in the layers.

I can never get enough of Marcella's amazing details in her images, and these daffodils are among my favorites of all time.  I am hoping this bouquet will remind our beautiful bride how very much she is loved... 

Dearest Marcy...I cannot tell you how thrilled I am for you and Doug.  To be able to marry the man of your dreams...your best friend....the love of your life....what a blessing.  Yours is one of the sweetest of love stories and I know that together you and Doug will write page after page, and chapter after chapter of beautiful memories.  Sending you so much love on your special day, my dear friend.

Does anyone have a tissue?  :)  Happy tears for sure!  So that is all for my card today but I cannot wait for you (and for me too) to see all of the lovely creations by my Bloomie and IG sisters....mercy, there will not be a dry eye anywhere, will there?  :)  Make sure you leave a little blog love along the way and also, please make sure you pop over to the Power Poppy Blog to leave your own special wedding wishes to our darling Marcella. I am so glad you were able to stop by today and I hope to see you around again soon.  Until then, take care!

~Katie

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

Jennifer Dove
Broni Holcombe
Cheryl Scrivens
Barb Walker
Nancy Sheads
Jessie Banks
Elizabeth Zaffarano

Copic colors used: YG11, YG13, YG17, YG21, G29, YR0000, YR20, YR23, YR24, YR27, BG0000, BG000, BG01, B60, B63, B66, B69, R01, R02, R05, R08, E0000, E40, E41, E43, E44, E50, E51, E55, E57, E93, E95, E97, and  E99.

It's Another Power Poppy Friday!

Happy Friday to you and welcome!  I hope your day is going well.  Got anything special planned for the weekend?  I am looking forward to some quiet (and hopefully crafty) time at home.  :)  I have a card to share with you that was inspired by that darling Julie Koerber's latest Hues to Use challenge over on the Power Poppy blog.  You can see all of the details here!  :)

Aren't those blues a lovely combination?  There are so many possibilities!  For my card, I chose to use the Sweet Memories stamp set for my image and the sentiment is from the Burst of Kindness set.  

I started by stamping my image with Memento's Tuxedo black ink on a piece of cream card stock trimmed slightly larger than the navy frame that it would be layered underneath.  After coloring it up with Copics and adding some shimmer with my Wink of Stella clear brush pen, I used my Krylon 18KT gold leafing to give the edges a nice finish.

Next, I assembled my card front using a couple of different patterned papers, a strip of navy paper at the top and a bit of punched trim at the bottom.  After stitching it all together, I adhered it to a navy card base.  This card measures 3 5/8" x 5 5/8".  *If you've ever wondered why my cards sometimes have some pretty strange measurements, it's because many times I use a layering die for one of my panel cuts and then I either build the card out or in based on what size I used.  In this case, I used a rectangle die for the largest patterned paper cut and then trimmed the other patterned paper to fit inside it. 

For my sentiment, I stamped it on to a banner die cut using Stampin' Up!'s Night of Navy ink.  *I will add here that I used Papertrey Ink's Chamomile and Chai inks to distress the edges of my panels before I put everything together.  

Isn't that delicate swirling stem detail simply precious?  Marcella really did a beautiful job capturing that Sweet Pea's dainty personality, don't you think?  :)  

So that is all for my card today, but some of my Bloomie sisters have some beautiful cards to share with you for your crafty inspiration.  Make sure you leave them a little blog love while you are there and then I hope you will pop back in soon for another visit.  Have a great weekend and until next time, take care!  :)

Christine Okken      

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

~Katie

Supplies not listed above:  Paper-Classic Ivory from Flourishes, Blueberry Sky card stock from Papertrey Ink, Night of Navy card stock from Stampin' Up!, patterned papers from Anna Griffin's "Madison" 6x6 paper pad; Other-dotted scallop ribbon border punch from Stampin' Up!, rectangle die from Spellbinder's 5x7 Matting Basics B set, banner die from PTI, Stitched Rectangle Frames die from My Favorite Things and these Copic colors:  B91, B93, B95, B97, B99, E40, E42, E44, E47, W00, W0, W1, and W3.

Happy Power Poppy Friday~ March 24, 2017!

Hello there and a very happy Friday to you!  I hope you have had a wonderful week....and YAY, it's time for the weekend!!  :)  I thought I would share a little card with you using Power Poppy's new stamp set Loving Tulips.  

I just l-o-v-e this little pitcher of tulips!  For my card shape, I decided to use a Spellbinder's die cut for my main panel and I built the card around that shape.  I added patterned paper to either end and stamped my image.  Next, I added the stitching.  I colored my image with Copics, including a second tulip for the one that was cut off by my patterned paper on the left.  I simply fussy cut that bloom and added her with a glue dot.  I stamped my sentiment on some dark gray card stock with Versamark ink and heat embossed it with some white embossing powder.  Next, I used a trimmer to give me a little banner and adhered it to my image panel.  The only thing left was to adhere my assembled image panel to a dark gray card base.  This card measures 3" x 6".

I cannot tell you how fun these tulips are to color!  Well...I could....OR you could just go ahead and find out for yourself by grabbing this awesome set, and then report back to the group!  ;) 

And here's hoping your day absolutely blooms.....and your weekend!  Well, that is all for my card today, but several of those incredibly creative Bloomie sisters of mine have some pretty sweet cards to share as well.  Make sure you leave them a little blog love when you visit.  OH, and hey.....if you haven't entered Power Poppy's March Power & Spark challenge yet, c'mon!  There is still a little time left and you could win a prize!!  Check out the details from the link above and come play!  :)  

I am so glad you were able to stop by for a visit and I hope to see you around here again, soon.  Until then....take care!  

Allison Cope 

Christine Okken 

Cindy Lawrence    

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

~Katie

Supplies not listed above:  Paper-PTI's Rustic Cream and Smokey Shadow card stocks, patterned papers from MME's Lost & Found Two "Sunshine" 6x6 paper pad; Ink-Memento's Tuxedo Black, Versamark ink; Other-Sakura Glaze pen, Wink of Stella clear brush pen, white embossing powder, Spellbinders Long Classic Rectangles Large die set, and these Copic colors- W0, W2, W5, W7, T1, BG000, BG10, BG11, BG13, YG21, YG23, YG61, YG63, YG67, G28, Y11, Y13, Y15, Y19, Y26, Y35, and E35.

Power Poppy's March Stamp Release~Day 3!

Hi there and welcome back for Day 3 of Power Poppy's Spring Fling stamp release!  I sure hope you have been enjoying the festivities thus far...but there is a whole bunch more for you to see.  Today is another "Two-fer" with two more glorious stamp sets being previewed today.  For my card, I chose to use the stamp set Loving Tulips...

I am betting you recognize this sweet image!  This wildly popular digital image is now available as a stamp and has some really darling and loving sentiments to go with it. :) OH, and hey....did you happen to notice that this set will have some coordinating dies available for pre order?  Uh huh...it's true!  You can see all of the details on the Power Poppy blog in this post.  I wanted to use the dotty "Hello" sentiment with the pitcher of tulips, so....

I started by die cutting my sentiment panel out of white card stock.  After fiddling around with different angles for the sentiment, I finally opted for the upper right corner.  After a little measuring, I stamped the sentiment then trimmed my green patterned paper to fit the sentiment panel.  *I will say that I did do a little dry fit with my oval die to make sure it would fit before I trimmed my paper.*  Once all of the layout decisions had been muddled through, I stamped my sentiment on my die cut oval and again on a scrap piece of the same card stock so I could do a little paper piecing.  I colored my images with Copics and then fussy cut the pitcher with a few of the tulips and pieced it on the oval panel.  After adding a little shimmer with my Wink of Stella clear brush pen, I adhered the image to my sentiment panel.  It was then that I decided it needed "one more thing" so I added a bit of pink patterned paper to the bottom of the assembled image panel.  Lastly, I adhered everything to a white card base.  This card measures 4" x 5 1/8".

Gotta love tulips in the Spring, right?  Actually, I am quite sure I would love them any time!  :)  Now, I am not sure if you noticed here but there is not a button or ribbon on this card anywhere.  Actually this makes the second card in a row....spooky.  ;)

That is one sweet "hello", don't you think?  How Marcella comes up with these little details is beyond me!  This set has been loads of fun to play with, and I just know you will love it too!  :)

So that is all for my card today, but you simply must check out what my amazing Bloomie sisters have created for your inspiration.  Make sure you leave them a little blog love while you are there and then please try to stop back by tomorrow for Day 4 of Power Poppy's March stamp release.  Oh, if you haven't seen the wonderfully inspiring posts on the Power Poppy blog this week....you really should! Lots of good stuff there!  :)  Hope to see you soon....until then, take care!

Allison Cope 

Christine Okken 

Cindy Lawrence    

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

~Katie

Supplies not listed above:  Paper-Rustic White card stock from PTI, Green patterned paper from lilybeedesign's "Double Dutch" 6x6 paper pad, pink patterned paper from scrap; Ink-Memento's Tuxedo Black (for image) and PTI's Smokey Shadow (for sentiment); Other- Spellbinders rectangle die from A2 Matting Basics B set, My Favorite Things Cross Stitch oval die and these Copic colors: G29, YG21, YG23, YG25, YG61, YG63, YG67, YG91, RV0000, RV21, RV23, RV25, RV29, BV0000, BV01, E0000, E40, E44, C2, C4, C5, C7, C9, T2, and T4.

Power Poppy's March Stamp Release~Day 1!

Hello, hello, hellooo! I am so glad you could pop in today for Day 1 of Power Poppy's March stamp release!  Let me just tell you, Marcella has been at it again and has a stamp release like you will not believe!  Eight, yes....eight new stamp sets will be revealed over the next several days and they are all stunners!  But don't just take my word for it...you can see for yourself today....starting with this darling new stamp set, Natural Beauties.  

Pretty sweet little image, right?  Well, just you wait....I'll bet you will be able to spy them all along the hop today!  For my project, I chose to use the wee little trillium with mushrooms for my main image and then used the lily of the valley and star flower along with the trillium for some background stamping.  My idea was to make a gift bag using a simple brown paper bag.  I like to use these for gift cards.  :)

So I started by stamping my bag with my background images.  Next, I went to work on my belly band to hold the bag closed.  I started with a tag die cut, stamped my sentiment and  trillium and colored it with Copics.  After some distress inks, and some added detail with a Sakura white glaze pen and a Wink of Stella Clear brush pen it hit me that I could turn this tag in to a mushroom.  So, I cut out the mushroom top using some red card stock and an oval die.  I cut both ends off the oval to serve as the front and back of my mushroom cap.  Next, I took a couple of circle punches to add the spots to my mushroom cap then added some white card stock in between the front and back layers.  I added the assembled mushroom cap to my tag to form the mushroom stem.  All that was left was to add the ribbon and button to a strip of patterned paper and then attach the assembled mushroom.

Just look at those teeny tiny little mushrooms!  They are so adorable, don't you think?  I did add some shimmer to the centers of my punched dots on the mushroom cap with the Wink of Stella pen but I am not sure if you can see it in the photos.  

One last look at these darling images.  Don't you just love wee images that you can use on tags?!  The detail on all of these are really incredible!  

Ok, so now that I have shown you my project I can't wait for you to see what my Bloomie sisters have created for your inspiration! Oh, the beautiful cards you will see....truly.  :)  I thank you for your visit today, and I hope that you will stop back by tomorrow for Day 2 of our Spring Fling stamp release!   Until then, take care!  

**Oh, oh.....I can't believe I almost forgot to share a little tidbit that I know you are going to l-o-v-e....Marcella will be offering coordinating dies for some of the stamp sets this release! How exciting is that?!  Stay tuned on the Power Poppy blog for more intel on this amazing development at Bloom Central!  ;)  

Allison Cope 

Christine Okken 

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

~Katie

Supplies not listed above:  Paper- PTI Rustic White and Pure Poppy card stock, green patterned paper from scrap box; Ink- Memento's Tuxedo Black, PTI's Chai and Chamomile, PTI's Dark Chocolate, Versafine Onyx Black, Ranger Distress Ink in Frayed Burlap; Other- paper bag from Stampin' Up!, ribbon and button from PTI, oval die from Spellbinders, tag die from PTI, circle punches from Stampin' Up!, Stampin' Up! spritzer tool with Crumb Cake and Early Espresso markers, and these Copic colors: R22, R24, R29, G40, G43, G46, G28, E40, E41, E44, E47, E50, E51, E55, E57, B0000, B000, C1, C3, and C5.

Are You Ready for Power Poppy's March Power & Spark Challenge?

Hi there and Happy Friday to you!  I am so glad you could stop by today.  It is time for Power Poppy's March Power & Spark challenge and I get to be the hostess this month!  So can you guess what the theme is? ;)  Let's take a peek at the details, shall we?

Yep, Let's Go Green!  I really was inspired by Pantone's 2017 Color of the Year~Greenery.  Here's a little bit about the challenge....

In honor of Pantone’s 2017 Color of the Year choice, “Greenery”,  let’s create projects featuring green!  

Here is an excerpt from Pantone’s  description of “Greenery”…

Greenery is a fresh and zesty yellow-green shade that evokes the first days of spring when nature’s greens revive, restore and renew. Illustrative of flourishing foliage and the lushness of the great outdoors, the fortifying attributes of Greenery signals consumers to take a deep breath, oxygenate and reinvigorate.

Now, doesn’t that sound like a color highlighting the Power Poppy vibe?!  I think so!  So, let’s go wild with green! But, you don’t have to limit yourself to just using the color green!  You can also “Go Green” by using a "recycled" element on your project.  However you choose to play along, just make sure you show us your green!

So, are you up for the challenge?  I hope so, 'cause we would love to have you play along this month....and the best part is, if you share your creation with us on the Power Poppy blog, you could win a prize!  Yay!  :)

So lemme show you my card for the challenge...

There's a bit o'green there, I would say...lol!  I started by printing the darling digital image Wish You Luck on to some Papertrey Ink Rustic White card stock and coloring it up with Copics.  Next, I die cut my image and also some additional die cut layers in a mix of papers.  As you can see, I pulled out the big guns for this one....my highly coveted Marianne Design die set in Anja's Square.  Sigh...yep, I still hear angels sing when I use this one...and now maybe a bagpipe, lol!  

Anyway, I couldn't resist adding some gold leafing with my Krylon 18KT Gold Leafing pen then some shimmer to the shamrock blooms with some Martha Stewart clear glitter.  And because I just had to add the "one more thing"....I added some wee little pearls to the centers of the shamrocks.

One way to really add some dimension when you are coloring up a bouquet of the same bloom is to grab your darkest color that you are using and color in between the blooms.  That will instantly pop out the blooms in the foreground giving you instant depth.  Really...it works like a charm every time!  You could even say, it works like a lucky charm.....hee!  Ok, I couldn't resist that one!  ;)

I sized and printed the sentiment from the same digital set and die cut it with a fishtail banner.  

One last close up to show off Marcella's handiwork.  Isn't it something how she always manages to give us these glorious images and also pairs them up with sweet sentiments in darling fonts?!  I know, right?

Ok, so that is all for my card today, but some of my Bloomie sisters have worked their magic and created cards for your Friday inspiration.  Make sure you check them out and leave them a little blog love while you are there.  Then, c'mon and play along with us!  We would love to see what you create.  I am so glad you were able to visit today and here's wishing you luck on your challenge entry!  Until next time, take care.

Allison Cope 

Christine Okken

~Katie

Supplies not listed above:  Paper-Papertrey Ink's Spring Moss, Graphic 45's "Twelve Days of Christmas" 6x6 paper pad; Other-Spellbinders Standard Circles Large, Classic Scalloped Circles Large, and Blossom Three die sets, Papertrey Inks Tag Sale Quilted die, Ranger Distress Ink in Weathered Wood, PTI's Chamomile ink, and these Copic colors: YG21, YG61, YG63, YG67, G29, V93, BV20, BV23, and BV25.