Friday, January 19, 2018

Hues En Masse!

Hello all and happiest of Fridays to you! I have some old to me but new to you creations to share today and.... I hope you enjoy!

So, for starters, with both creations I am picking up on the color cues from Power Poppy's Hues to Use! If you've never played along with this weekly color challenge, you're missing out! You can click HERE to check out the archives and then, below, I am going to share a couple color combos from recent weeks along with my creations!

First up.... CARD #1



This little number was the color combination from January 9th. Yes, that might have been a few weeks ago but.... guess what? The linky for our Hues to Use challenge is never-ending, which means you can scroll through the archives, pick a color trio that tickles your creative fancy and then, put it into play in your creation! I loved this color scheme above because I am a fan of plum. I love, love, love me some purple and this shade is especially rich. Now, I admit, I would never have put these three colors together on their own but in nature, it looks so beautiful! So, I gave it a try!


When I check out the hues, I often stare at the palette and say - "What stamp set would rock this color combo?" Sometimes, the choices are easy. Other times, not so much. For some reason, I kept coming back to Poppies. I am not sure if I have been craving a color-fest with this stamp set or if I really, deep down felt that stamp set was the perfect pick. Regardless, I inked it up and let it fly!

After stamping in Memento Tuxedo Black ink, I grabbed my Copic Markers and these were the ones I picked! The reds were used on the poppies, the yellow plus YG03 and YG06 were used for the centers, the BV0000 and V01 were used to shade my flower and the greens took care of the leaves and stems!


After coloring up my image, the rest is just matting it up! I actually picked some Stampin' Up and My Mind's Eye scraps from my decorative paper stash and felt lucky that I had just the right purples, reds and yellows! I should also mention that the sentiment is also from the Poppies set.

Here's a little close up for y'all! You can see that I did go ahead and add some white gel pen accents to the center of my poppies.

And that, my friends, is it for the first card!

Next up..... CARD #2!

Will you look at those steely blue hues? If you missed this little shot on Marcella's Instagram,there is a super duper fun story behind this particular trio of colors that you see here....



She and her friend, Trenna, decided to make candy agates over the holiday season and this is one in progress! Once baked, THIS is how they turned out -- little color infused candy slices that could be edible or could be spray sealed to enjoy as ornaments for seasons to come! You can click HERE, HERE and HERE for more progress photos! Marcy decided to seal some to treasure down the road so she painted the edges but you can choose non-toxic edging that makes these little numbers as delicious as they are eye-catching!

I have to admit, when I sat down to create, this card was not what I anticipated or saw with my mind's eye, but, I do like it! I used all of the colors but did so in a very soft way. The navy is in the ink that was chosen when I printed out my Tree Peony digital stamp. And then used as well in my Copic markers that I picked to add a little color here and there. Here's a peek at the markers that I used. As you can see... not many!

After I colored up my Tree Peony, I did use the sentiment from the Peony Muse clear stamp set and using Versamark ink and silver detail embossing powder, I added the sentiment on a punched heart shape. Add a little silver cording and that's pretty much it for this card other than the double mat in silver and light blue papers! Actually, I forgot a step! I did lay down a stencil and using Summer Sky Memento Ink, I sponged on some ink through a Tim Holtz dotted stencil. I love the depth it added without being over the top!

Here's a closeup for you!

And that my friends is it! I am so glad you decided to stop in this week! I hope one of these color combos will inspire you to play along with me with Hues to Use! If you need a little more inspiraiton, there is a trio of designers who are ready to share more creative bits with you! 




And..... I hope you have an amazingly creative weekend! I decided I need to bust out of my cabin fever a bit and try something new. What that is right now, I have no idea! LOL! But, I am feeling a bit adventurous! Any ideas for me??? hehe!  ;-) Hope you seize the weekend and I will see you back here soon! 

Until next week!
~Julie

Friday, January 5, 2018

Grab a Map!

Hello Friends! It’s a new month.... AND a NEW YEAR! And with all those new things, the Power Poppy Bloom Brigade thought we'd ramp up the fun and deliver not one, not two, but TEN ways to bring on a bit of design power with that undeniable creative spark. And, what's even better than all of that is the fact that we have a partner in crime for this month's challenge. Check it out!


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!  And, you can read all the official details surrounding this month's challenge HERE! Play alog and you will be in the running for a $50 shopping spree to the Power Poppy Shop! Woo Hoo! 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. 

Moving on! Let's check out the Cardmaps sketch that I used for my creation!


And here's a look at my finished card!


Since Valentine's Day is coming up in a few weeks, I thought this digital image - Follow Your Heart - would be a perfect fit! After printing my image on Neenah Classic Crest cardstock, I colored it up with Copics and used a mix of light reds and deep rose shades. I also added a little bit of glitter glue before fussy cutting the image.

The rest is just matting it all up! I used scraps that I had in my decorative pink paper folder, mixing and matching and die cutting along the way. The heart die is an old one from Spellbinders called Spellbinders Lace Hearts.  I added the sentiment also from the Follow Your Heart set and created a flag similar to the one in the sketch.


Add a little razzle dazzle with the help of some rhinestones and... ta da! Done! Just that easy! I love sketches for just this reason -- it takes all the guesswork out of creating and lets you focus on some of the other fun parts of card making -- like picking the right papers, adding just the right touches and... COLORING! 

And that, my friends, is it from me! Now it's time to make the rounds and see what some of our fabulous designers created when they were challenged by.....


All ten of these lovelies have a different sketch and a different sample to show off! While you can check out all the cardmaps HERE, you really need to give some love to these ladies below, pick a sketch and then, join us in the fun! Hop on over and see....

Julie Koerber >>> you are here!


And that, my friends, is it! So glad you stopped by to say "hi!" Hope you have a wonderful weekend and... I'll see you back here soon!

~Julie