Inspiration in Blue with Springtime Love

Hi there.....so glad you could stop by today!  It has been a bit since my last post, but I simply could not resist getting outside since we  have been having some fabulous weather lately!  The temperatures are rising, the sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and the plants are thriving!  There is something so wonderful about just sitting on the front porch watching all of this awesomeness happen....not to mention all of the inspiration that it provides.  My garden definitely provides me with tons of inspiration as well as treasured mementos, a song, a childhood memory (I am most definitely a sentimental soul).....so what inspires you?

My project for today actually was inspired by a plate.  We have a set of everyday dishes in blue and white....they were gifts from our wedding and we still use them often.  I have always loved the pattern and when I saw the circular image from the Springtime Love set, it immediately reminded me of those dishes.  I have a very small collection of blue and white pieces that I have throughout the house and so I grouped some of them together for an inspirational photo.  Now, let me go ahead and apologize to you photo savvy folks out there...I am still very much a novice about photography so my pictures from a professional standpoint probably could be improved upon....but for me, it is a huge step up from when I used to use a little pocket camera....lol!  :)

The plate on the left is one from the set of dishes I was referring to...doesn't it remind you of that image from Springtime Love?  So, with that being my inspiration for my card it pushed me to try a technique that I have been a little leery of doing.....coloring in a tone on tone fashion.  I am sure there is a more official term for this but the general idea here was to just use blue.  Scary, right?  Actually, once I started, it really wasn't as difficult as I thought....it kind of takes many of the color choice dilemmas away since you are limited to a few colors but your image can still be impactful....

I stamped my image in Memento's Nautical Blue and die cut it with a Spellbinders circle die.  Then I colored this image using Copics in B91, B93, B95, B97, B99, C-0, and C-1.  That's it....just those colors!  Now, if you have read many of my posts, you know there are a few crafting items that I have a true love affair with....I think we all have a few items like that, don't we?  Well, one of mine is this incredible die set from Marianne Design.  I could use it on many more cards than I do, but I try to limit myself so all my cards don't look exactly the same...lol!  However, I do feel like this was the perfect die set to go with this theme so here it is....Anja's Squares.  I still get giddy when I use this set! Then to really send me over the edge, I used another item from my "list" of must haves....a metallic leafing pen, but this time I used silver.  It is like all of my favorites on one "plate".....a gorgeous Marcella floral image, my favorite die set, and metallic edging...a true trifecta....sigh.  

Just look at the wonderful detail that is such a trademark of all of Marcella's beautiful images....it really makes it such a joy to color!  My card was assembled using most of the dies from the Marianne set and then a Spellbinders scallop circle die for a little extra matting and the smallest die from Spellbinders Labels Eleven for my tag.  The silver leafing is from Krylon's Silver Leafing pen.  The sweet little sentiment is from one of the other wonderful sets from this first Power Poppy release... Good Thinking: Renewal.  This set is chock full of wonderful sentiments in beautiful fonts...you could actually build a card around some of the sentiments in this set!  Here is one last photo of my card....

Oh, I did use some Whisper White craft ink from Stampin' Up! to sponge the navy layers and some Bashful Blue ink also from SU! to sponge around my image before silver leafing it and added a bow to finish it off.  

I am so happy you could stop by today and take a peek at my card!  I hope this will give you some ideas on the versatility of these sets and inspire you to create your next masterpiece!  :)  You can always check out Power Poppy's website and blog for inspiration and....did you know, that Power Poppy is also on Pinterest and Splitcoast Stamper's?  These blooms are just popping up everywhere!  I hope you have a wonderful day and thanks again for your visit!  Take care until next time.....

~Katie

Supplies: Springtime Love and Good Thinking: Renewal sets from Power Poppy; Navy, light blue, and white card stock; Spellbinders die sets in Classic Circle Large, Labels Eleven, and Classic Scallop Circle Large; Marianne Design die set "Anja's Squares"; Stampin' Up! ink in Bashful Blue and Whisper White Craft; Memento ink in Nautical Blue; Ribbon in Bashful Blue from SU!; Krylon Silver Leafing pen