Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Daffodils



Welcome back to Day 3 of the fabulous April Release at Power Poppy!  We’re fully in spring mode with today’s gorgeous set Daffodils....Today’s card might just be my favourite of this week! 



Not only are daffodils really meaningful to me, but I also REALLY happen to love Grapevine Hyacinths, and Marcy put them all together in this gorgeous little bundle of spring bouquet.  Those tiny little beads of purpley blue hyacinths that grace the front of my flower bed each year just make me smile.  They are so delicate and vivid and a gorgeous reminder that winter is over!  

I love how this bouquet adds so much to this stamp set that includes the previously released digital Dancing with Daffodils image!  I also think that the bright yellow of the daffodils pairs beautifully with the purpley-blue of the hyacinth, so that’s where I went with my Copic colouring. 



I accented with some lovely yellow polka-dotted washi tape, a stamped circle and some enamel dots, and then placed it all on this cornflower blue layer that I scored with my Scor-Bug and Scor Pal in a diagonal pattern.  
Such a perfect sentiment too, for so many occasions.  



Here’s the Copics I used for all that juicy colour.  




I know you’ll find some amazing inspiration from the rest of the Bloom Brigade today...

Allison Cope
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Dawn Burnworth
Julie Koerber
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker


Monday, March 30, 2015

The Boss of Me


Hi and welcome to another TCP Tuesday with The Cat’s Pajamas!  We’re ushering in a new challenge this week and it means there’s no limit to seeing your creativity :)  It’s Anything Goes!  

I had fun pulling out one of the new sets from this past release You Got This!



I think this is the cutest set.  You all know I’m a big fan of ‘da bunny, and seeing him trying to bench-press is pretty cute, especially with that little bossy bird there.  

Knowing I wanted that touch of yellow in the birdie, I chose a black/white and yellow palette for some fun.  I popped up the weights once and then popped up the birdie twice, accenting with some fun patterns, the embossed dots, and some bakers twine and a button.   I love the little speech bubble done with the Talk to Me CutUps.  



Here you can see the dimension a little better, and below are the Copics I used.  




Take a peek at what the Cat Pack has to show off with Anything Goes, and then jump on in with us on the Challenge!  More details on how to play at the TCP Blog.  


Simply Camellias



Well gang, didn’t we have a beauty to show off to you yesterday?  Today’s new polymer set will just continue to exceed all you expectations.  We’re bringing you Simply Camellias!  It puts into stamp form one element of the digi Camellias Marcella released earlier, and then adds so much more to it!  One of the things I REALLY love about this set, besides the beautiful flowers is the amazing font combination that Marcy put on this one, and I think you’ll agree when you see it.  



I adore this sweet little camellia bloom in the little glass bowl.  I think it captures elegance and simplicity so wonderfully.  I had fun bringing life to the glass bowl with the hint of colour coming from the petals in water.  I paired the pretty bloom with some gorgeous papers with gold tones (My Mind’s Eye On Trend), and also stamped the larger camellia blooms in gold on the ombre sheet of paper in the background.  



Simply accented with a gold sparkly ribbon and it’s complete.  Just simply beautiful!  



For some reason I didn’t add my BG0000 and BG11 to this photo, but I did use them to colour the water.  

The gang’s all here to show off this gorgeous new set!  




Allison Cope
Christine Okken (you are here)
Cindy Lawrence
Dawn Burnworth
Julie Koerber
Kathy Jones
Katie Sims
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker
and Marcy at the Power Poppy Blog

See you back here tomorrow for another amazing set!

Sunday, March 29, 2015

Lilac Time



Welcome to the Scents and Sensibility Collection Release at Power Poppy!  We have some beautifully fragrant and swoon-worthy stamps to show you in the next few days!  

Today we’re kicking it all of with the very lovely Lilac Time.  This set contains one lilac image that you’ve already seen release in digi format...but Marcy added so much more to the polymer set that is amazing!  



This particular image makes me want to sit on a porch with a lemonade and read...isn’t it a beauty?  I just LOVE that pitcher of lilacs and the lemons as accent.  I coloured up the scene with Copics, giving the cloth the look of gingham and then paired it all up with MME Jubilee papers.  I mimicked the curve of the pitcher in the curve of the die along the left side which gives it a good sense of movement too.  



When Marcy sent me the stamps for this release she tied it all up in this bit of purple seam binding...so I just had to add it to the design with a button and some twine as well.  I stamped the sentiment with half along the top and the half along the bottom.  Loving how dreamy this feels!  




Here’s the Copics I used...yeah quite a few, but it was worth it.  


Be sure to stop by the Bloom Brigade’s spots on the web...they’ll have you smelling lovely lilacs all day long!



Allison Cope
Christine Okken (you are here)
Cindy Lawrence
Julie Koerber
Kathy Jones
Katie Sims
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan


Friday, March 27, 2015

Dragon Baby

We’ve got a fun new challenge at A Day for Daisies this week....it’s to Add Sequins.  Easy peasy.  Sequins add that little touch of sparkle that’s perfect for cards.  

I’ve paired this adorable little dragon from the store called Dragon Flight.  I think it’s just adorable, and I couldn’t resist making it into a baby card.  



I printed the digi on XPress It Blending card stock and then gave the guy some really deep blue and green colour with Copics.  Then after he was coloured I added the sequins onto his little belly like scales, and finally spritzed him with Mr. Huey’s Shine.  I trimmed him out and popped him up a little, adding an old SU sentiment onto the design.  



He’s just so cute!  I love the sweet little expression on his face.  My kids are big fans of How to Train Your Dragon, and this reminds me a little of that movie/book.   I added a little tab of seam binding onto the side that I coloured with my B26 marker.  



Here’s the Copics I used.  

And you’ll want to check out the rest of the ADFD Team playing along today to see what they did with sequins, and then join us in the Challenge!  



Christine (you are here)



Thursday, March 26, 2015

Power Poppy is One!




Today we are excited to celebrate the first Birthday of our fabulous Power Poppy, the creative genius of none other than Marcella Hawley!   It has been an absolute delight seeing this company come alive and bloom this past year.  It is always an honour and pleasure to create with these images, and with my sweet friends on the team.  

Marcy has magical sparkle-dust when it comes to illustrating and her heart goes into everything she does with Power Poppy, from the drawings and concepts, to the thought and care she puts into hand-drawn sentiments, the joyful chatter and creativity she shares with us and on the blog, to the way she hand-wraps all her orders with a pretty ribbon, a touch of washi tape or a sweet little note.  She's the real deal.  Her joy and enthusiasm for life shines out and I really believe her company reflects that.   We love working for her and love bringing her images to life on our creations.  

Marcy Poppins, you are a gem!  I love your playful, heartfelt, thoughtful spirit.  I love the way you embrace love and life and how you share that.  Can't wait to see what this next year holds, and I hope you enjoy our little surprise Blog Hop to celebrate!  



To celebrate I pulled out one of my favourite little sets Potted Primroses to create some vibrant spring fun.  I seem to be very into orange lately, and primroses come in this lovely colour too, so I brought the sunshine!  And hey, it matches the Power Poppy logo too :)  It's stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto XPress It Blending Card-stock, cutting it out with a Picot Edge Spellbinders Die.  

The background paper is Kaisercraft's Cherry Blossom and it has shimmer on some sheets including this geometric design in orange.  I thought it would also be fun to do some little birthday banners along the bottom hanging on Baker's Twine.  I used an A2 Border die to cut the pinked edge along the bottom, adding the fun sentiment from the set in the middle.  





Here's a closeup of the colouring and the Copics I used below.  





Now, all of us Bloom Brigade girls are getting together to celebrate, so I hope you can visit each of us....and you don't want to miss out, there's even more fun at the Power Poppy Blog too!  I don't want to spill the whole secret.....but it involves $100 gift certificate to the Power Poppy Shop that you won't want to miss!  




Allison Cope
Christine Okken 
(you are here)
Cindy Lawrence
Dawn Burnworth
Julie Koerber
Kathy Jones
Katie Sims
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker


And don't forget....our April Stamp Set release starts this Sunday!  We can't wait to show you what's in bloom!  


Monday, March 23, 2015

A Photography Tutorial

Hello friends!  I hope you can pop on over to the Power Poppy Blog today where I have a tutorial on photography tips for all of your beautiful creations.  See you there!

Friday, March 20, 2015

Painting Mushrooms

If you’re looking for my Power Poppy post, just scroll down :)


Hello again sweet people!  I’m back today with an adorable little image from A Day for Daisies that has a wee bit of whimsy in it.  This one is part of a new Club Kit being introduced this week and it’s called called Painted Mushroom Top.  

I decided to pull out my prismacolour pencils for colouring this one.  Just straight pencil work, no OMS.  Then I carried the theme of the dots from the mushroom and little lady bug fairy into the whole card, which works perfectly for our polka-dotted challenge still going on!  



I sponged in the dots on the green panel with a Tim Holtz Stencil (Bubble) and ink, and then cut out some 1/2 inch and 3/4 inch circles from paper to add them to the design.  This is the sketch from the Fusion Card Challenge this week.  

To finish it off I just slipped a little seambinding through some slits I punched into the paper and tied it in a simple knot.  The sentiment is from a PaperTrey Ink set called Big Birthday Wishes.  

Now I know you’ll love more inspiration from the rest of the Design Team, so head on over!  



Christine (you are here)


Dancing with the Daffodils




It seems perfect to usher in Spring in the Northern Hemisphere with some gorgeous new Dancing with Daffodils courtesy of Power Poppy!  You may have seen the amazing work the Instant Gardener Team did with them on Monday, and now we’re here with the Bloom Brigade to show you another round of daffodilly inspiration.  


Isn’t this arrangement just gorgeous?  Marcy always puts so much into her designs.  I love the combination of daffodils and periwinkle and that little snail crawling up the greenery!  I printed the digi on XPressIt Blending Cardstock and then set to work with my Copics, die cutting it out with a Spellbinders Labels Eleven.  I have a deep love for the symbolism of daffodils with a husband who is a two time cancer survivor and in Canada it’s the symbol for hope in cancer treatment, so I think this little combination is so special!  

For the background layer I took out some ombre designer paper, and a new Tim Holtz Stencil I bought (Gothic) and covered it with embossing paste.  I just LOVE the dimension and texture it brings to the background while adding a real elegance.  



Other accents are simple seambinding and coloured rhinestones (with a B63 copic marker).  



Here’s another look at the pretty damask print with the embossing paste and the lovely sentiment.  


Here’s the Copics I used pictured above. 




The gang’s all here to play today... check out their dabbling with daffodils!

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


Monday, March 16, 2015

TCP March Blog Hop


Well, we’re winding down the fabulous Sneaky Peek week at The Cat’s Pajamas with today’s Blog Hop, celebrating all the fun with the new sets and dies this week, and kicking off a new TCP Tuesday Challenge!  You should have come from Tammy’s Blog and I know she had great stuff to show you!



I’ve played with the uberfabulous set Space Cadet for the Hop.  I just LOVE the retro feel to the set and from the response at our Pajama Party last night - you do too!  It’s just so fun and mod and great to see Sprinkles and Poochie and the penguin on one set!  

I stamped Sprinkles onto Neenah White cardstock cutting out the circular shape with our TCP Cut Up Framed Up 2.  Colouring is done with Copics to match these papers by Echo Park - Fine and Dandy.  

Below is our great new Sketch to play with created by Lisa.  It’s a great one with some cute little flag accents that I love.  





For the stars I used the inside of a Toppers CutUps and then for the little banners I used Bitty Banners CutUps, finishing it all off with some enamel dots and twine.

Here’s what this great set looks like....





Here’s the Copics I used above.  




Now you can head on over to Nancy’s blog because I know she’ll have something great to show you with this sketch!  

Be sure to play along with the sketch challenge and have your chance to be one of our next Swanky Stampers and get to play along with a future release!


Sunday, March 15, 2015

Sewn Blooms


We’re down to our last day’s of Sneak Peeks at The Cat’s Pajamas!  Today we’re giving you a special peek at all the fun and classy dies that are being released with the Patterned Petals set.  The great part is that you can use these dies with or without the set and that’s what I wanted to show off to you.  


I’m using three of the four dies that TCP is releasing tomorrow with this delicated looking design.  I love the curvy edge die with the stitching, and I used it with some new My Mind’s Eye paper - On Trend.  I love the metallic gold in the paper!  I followed the curvy edge of the die to sew on the die cut flowers, adding gold sequins as accent throughout.  It’s a soft delicate touch.  



I finished it off by adding the sentiment from the Patterned Petals set embossed in gold.  I love how lacey it feels because of the openness and intricate nature of the lovely dies.  


Here’s a look at the CutUps dies in action:








Here’s your invite to the Pajama Party TONIGHT at the Splitcoaststampers TCP forum.  We’ll be showing off new Sneak Peeks, contests, games and giveaways!  



And jump on in to the chat in the In It to Win It Thread...tell us you think of the new goodies, or anything else.  It’s your chance to win the new set each day!

Here’s the Cat Pack playing along today!