Sunday, November 30, 2014

Camellias



Welcome to Day 2 of our December Digi Releases from Power Poppy!  Today's gorgeous flower we’re showing off to you  is one I wasn’t familiar with - being from way up north...but it’s beauty is amazing.  I think a trip down south is in order to check them out, don’t you think?  I also know you will really appreciate it’s beauty.   Camellias is a gorgeous design (available right now!)  illustrated by Marcella and here’s what she has to say about it:  

"Jewels of the winter greenhouse, stars of Southern gardens, and the state flower of Alabama, Camellias are a symbol of passion, desire and refinement. I was inspired by the Camellias from the gorgeous collection at the Linnean House at the Missouri Botanical Garden."

I chose to go a little artsy with this design..


I found a picture online with peach camellias and was thinking how pretty peach and grey are together so I decided to give this one the feeling of a tinted photo.  all of the leaves, and smaller blossoms are coloured in Cool Greys.  Then a touch of colour is added to those blooms with an R11 marker.  The largest blossoms I’ve given that full-on peach colour.  I think it’s a great effect.  



I’ve added the sentiment on light grey card stock.  What I love about digis is being able to resize them to whatever works with your design, so I shrunk the digi sentiment with the set down so it would fit perfectly in that little circle.  Sequins and sewing finish it off.  



Here’s the Copics I used to achieve the tonal colours.  


And now these wonderful women have more to show off with this amazing set.  



Allison Cope
Christine Okken (you are here)
Dina Kowal
Julie Koerber
Kathy Jones
Katie Sims
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker


Back tomorrow with a fabulous Power Poppy Hop and a chance for you to win the WHOLE RELEASE!

Saturday, November 29, 2014

Winter Pick-Me-Up




A happy hello to all of you out there! We have such a treat for you today!  It’s brand new illustartions from Power Poppy and this month we’re all digi!  You will ooo and ahhh over Marcy’s work again this month.  They are so delightful to colour!  

Today we’re starting with the gorgeous  Winter Pick-Me-Up, and just to pick you up...it’s available right now!  

Here’s what Marcy had to say about this set,  "Imagine poking around a chilly pasture, gathering plump stems of snowdrops, crocuses with their grasslike foliage, all intertwined with the puffy catakins of pussy willow branches. If the thought of this alone isn't a "pick-me-up" in the middle of winter, I don't know what is! Well, maybe I do... coloring in this image giving the card to a friend.

I would have to agree with Marcy.  To match all of the 15 inches of snow we just had I wanted to create a little bouquet that looks like it was just picked from the glittering snowbank.  


I printed the image on XPress It Blending cardstock and then gave it life with some Copics, adding a soft purply-blue background with pointillism - one of my favourite ways to accent something and give  a delicate feel.  Then I used a Curved Border Spellbinders to trim it in a eye-catching way, adding lace to the panel and then mounting it on an embossed layer that I added a glittery strip to, using Scor Tape and glitter.  



Just some pretty rhinestones accent the design to give that shimmery snow feel.  

Here’s the Copics I used:  



And here’s the beautiful Bloom Brigade playing along today. 



Christine Okken (you are here)
Katie Sims
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker

Friday, November 28, 2014

Peacock Masquerade

If you’re looking for my Power Poppy post this week scroll down or click HERE.  


I’m back with a new design from A Day for Daisies friends!  Today we’re ushering in a Sketch Challenge that I think you’ll love.  I printed off this gorgeous girl from Doll Face 2 in the mask.  I knew I wanted to colour up her gorgeous hair and her mask just gave me that peacock feathers masquerade feeling that I wanted to capture.  

She just seems like she should be a red head to me.  So, that’s where I went with her hair, then I added the peacock feather colouring to the mask, feathering around the eyes and then paired it all with a peacock style embossing folder, sequins and gems.  


Here’s the Sketch we’re inviting you to play with 



I’ve added some vellum for the horizontal panel  in the design as well as felt and a prety bit of ribbon.  The sentiment is from Power Poppy - Sassy Succulents stamped in Memento Teal Zeal, which works really well here.  


Here’s the Copics I used - sorry the photo is a mite blurry - there are times where taking the pictures from the angles I’m trying with this crazy brace makes it challenging.  I think you can still see all the numbers though.  On the left are the colours I used for the hair, in the middle for the skin, and lips, and on the right for the mask.  

So, join us in the challenge!  

And here’s more fabulous inspiration from the rest of the ADFD team....


Christine (you are here)

Hope, Peace, Gingerbread


Hello Gang!  Hope you are enjoying this Friday!  We’re in the middle of a snowstorm.  They say we’ll have 30 cm (11 inches) and then get very cold as the days go on.  We’re all bundled up cozy here, so I thought a pretty little gingerbread house would be in order.  

I pulled out Power Poppy’s sweet little set Frosted Gingerbread and did some decorating!  I stamped in Memento Rich Cocoa to soften the colour a bit and then coloured it all up with Copics in traditional colours.

The papers are Prima - North Country and the only accents are the little buttons, which I thought looked just like the decorations on the candy shingles.  Just an adorable image for Christmas designs!


Here’s the Copics used for the design.  


Now, we’ve got a couple more Bloom Brigade girls bringing you inspiration today and we hope to see more of your Power Poppy creations in our Peep of the Week Contest.  



Allison
Christine (you are here)


See you TOMORROW when we start the Power Poppy December Digi Release!  Gorgeous stuff coming!

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Keeping Cozy with TCP

Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends.  It’s my hope and prayer that you can see many things today that you are thankful for.  I’m just so thankful for the blessing of my precious family, and friends who’ve taken such good care of me while I’m recovering from this broken leg.  It’s just one of the many blessings I am counting this season.  

Well, I thought I’d drop in today and show you a few more projects I created for the Cat’s Pajamas Release this week.  I showed them off at the Pajama Party the other night, and now I thought I’d show them off to you.  Remember that there’s a big sale going on at TCP this week 35% off all items in store!

So lets begin with this sweet little triangle box!    


When I saw this cute triangle shape in the Handmade for You set, I knew it would be perfect for a little box like this.  I was thinking it would be perfect for a little gift inside (say like a Pandora charm or the like) or even to hang on the tree.  I cut out box shape with my Silhouette and then added the sparkly ribbon as a hanger and long curly tails.  


I created the little pine branch accents using felt cut with TCP’s Pom Pop Flower CutUps Die.  I used my scissor to cut up the center of the felt die cut forming fringes that I could roll on itself to form little “branches”.  I love how cute they look as accents.  

Next up, how about a cozy winter scene? 


I just adore the gorgeous Double Snowflake CutUps Die released this month.  They are so elegant and intricate!  I wanted them to take center stage on the front of the card using the sentiment from  Home for All Seasons.  

Then, it opens up on the inside to ...


A night time winter village!  Here I used the Village CutUps to cut out the houses and then used the amazing Basic Pop Ups CutUp to form the height and dimension to the scene.  


I’ve added sparkly Icicles to the rooftops and snow to the foreground and a brayered moonlit sky to the background.  These dies have so much detail they are just gorgeous!  

Alrighty, back to your turkey and stuffing US people.  Enjoy!  


Power Poppy Sale!

Need some shoppers enabling this season?  Power Poppy is having it’s first ever sale!  Here’s the deets.  :)  


Monday, November 24, 2014

The Best Journey Takes You Home


We’ve reached the end of a fabulous week of The Cat’s Pajamas Sneaky Peeks!  Today all the sets, CutUps Dies and CutAbles are available and we’re showing off another round of inspiration with these amazing sets...and also ushering in a TCP Tuesday Challenge!  It’s a colour challenge hosted by Nancy and it’s got a great combination!  You can play along in our Color Challenge and win Cat’s Cash....or be chosen to receive all the new sets and dies from a future release and play along with us.  It’s SO well worth it!   We also have a month long Blog Hop going on where you can jump in to win!  Just use anything TCP and you’re golden. Then, upload your card or project to the inlinkz button on the right side of the TCP blog. On December 26 we’ll announce the winner of a $50 gift voucher. Yup, a little sumpin’ sumpin’ for your Holidays.

You should have come from Wendy’s Blog along the Hop.  And, here are the great colours for the challenge below.





I pulled out the wonderful Home for all Seasons Set that I really love and made my own “gingerbread house” theme for this card.  I cut out several of the houses with the matching CutUps Village Die for this set, and embossed the house image in White Craft ink on Kraft cardstock and then white embossing powder.  I did this 2 times so I would have more layers to pop up on the design.  I also embossed the other houses in white onto the white cardstock background-layer that you’ll be able to see better in the other photos.  Along the bottom of the design I added white icicles with the Icicles CutUps die too.  

I added the front porch of the house and the roofline as a popped up layer, and also added a red door and wreath to the design.  I love the look of a red door on a house!  I placed the house on one of our Big Ticket CutUp die pieces in red.  


The sentiment is just stamped in white ink onto black cardstock with the addition of a little felt heart. Twine and rhinestones finish off the design, and you can see the embossed houses in the background.

On this view you can see how I popped up the layers.  I love the look!  

Here’s the gorgeous set Home for All Seasons and the  Village Dies that match...



I also wanted to show you all four Videos that Alma has created for this release in one place.  They are fantastic resources for using some of the amazing dies and CutAbles that she’s released this month.  


Thanks for joining us for a wonderful week of TCP inspiration, it’s been so much fun!  Now you can head on over to Julie Masse’s Blog to see what fabulousness she has in store for you on the Hop!  

And take a look at the fantastic SALE TCP has for you...






Tutorial Stamped Dough Ornaments


Hello Friends!  I’m up today on the Power Poppy Blog with a tutorial on how to create easy stamped Ornaments for your tree with dough.  I really love how they turned out, so I’m excited to show them off to you!  There are just SO many things you can do with this idea and I tried to show off many of them...hope you can take a look!  

Saturday, November 22, 2014

Handmade with Love


What a fab set and CutAble file we have to show off today!  It's called Handmade with Love and it will make all your Christmas packaging extra special!


Today I paired this fun set with some more new goodies from TCP, including this new K Cup Cutable file....oooh it’s so cute!  Take a look!  

First I cut the K Cup box in Kraft cardstock and then put it together.   I’ve decorated the outside of the packaging with some lovely paper (Prima - North Country).  

I’ve stamped the image in Love Letter ink from Memento and accented with a bright red cardstock and added grossgrain ribbon, and corduroy buttons.  



Here you can see how the K Cup peeks out of this side of the box.  



And how I decorated the other side.  


And here you can see how the K Cup holder looks open.  I chose not to have one side hold another K Cup and instead have it be an open area for a cute little Muslin Drawstring Bag from the TCP store that I’ve added a biscotti cookie too.  

I made my own stencil with the TCP Stencil Blanks, cut out the holes with the Dots CutUp Die and then sponged in red ink, and added a cute little designer paper pull.  


Doesn’t that look adorable?  I think it’s so great for those little gifts you want to give out for the season.  


Here’s a peek at the set....


Don’t forget that it’s easy to chat and win with the TCP In It to Win It contest over at the Splitcoast TCP Forum 




And be sure to get your PJs on and join us for the Pajama Release Party on Monday. 

Check out the TCP Blog for lots more inspiration from the Cat Pack with this set!  


Friday, November 21, 2014

You Melt My Ice

There’s something so sweet and romantic about ice skating with your honey.  That is of course - if you can skate - if you can’t, there’s nothing romantic about it, it’s more of a comedy :)  This adorable new set called You Melt My Ice, we’re showing off from The Cat’s Pajamas is so cute!  



I wanted to do a little play on words and nickname this set "Sheep-Skate”.  I think they’re adorable.  I stamped them onto Neenah White cardstock, colouring them up with Copics, then trimming them out with a litte border.  I’ve paired the love birds with this paper from Memory Box - Yuletide from a past season.  I used some fun TCP Cut Ups, Bitty Banners and Framed Up 2.  

And then, the fab part of the design are those intricate snowflakes in the background.  This new die, Double Snowflake is SO gorgeous and intricate.  I cut the dies right into my paper panel and then just removed the die without punching out the snowflake.  It makes for a wonderful effect on the background.  


I added a couple of hearts from the banner die pieces, and one in felt :)  so cozy!  




Now for another fabulous fun element from this release....Alma has created more awesome interactive dies to make the inside of your cards as fun as the outside.  Here it’s the Popup Pivot Cut Up, and when you open the card it looks like my Sheep-Skaters are actually skating.  The die creates movement so it’s really fun.  I made the inside look like an ice skating pond for them.  



Here’s the cozy set and the new Cut Ups Dies I used today. 








And just to remind you again - if you want to win some of this fabulous TCP goodness, pop on over to Splitcoaststampers for our In It to Win It Thread.  

All you need to do is chat it up about anything!  Alma chooses a commenter every day to win the set of the day.  


And here’s your PJ Party invite!  Be there or be square!