New Power Poppy Instant Garden Release: Bowl of Beauty

It always gives me such pleasure to introduce a new Instant Garden release -- that's the name Marcella gave her digital line of Power Poppy stamps.  Cute, isn't it?  Clever.  Today we have the aptly named Bowl of Beauty.   Girl knows how to draw her flowers!

This one comes with or without the bowl, including black line or no line.  Either way it's gorgeous.

I've been enjoying different watercolor mediums with my Power Poppy digis lately.  Each has its own merits, but my current favorite is probably the Gansai Tambi paints, and that's what I used on today's card.

Notes from Marcella:

"The fourth installment of our Café au Lait bowl bouquets is filled with some of my very favorite plants: Hellebores, Ferns, and a luxurious Tree Peony with stems of Spanish Bluebells. Of course I had to call it Bowl of Beauty, because I know that anyone coloring this one will bring forth beautiful results. A polka-dotted vintage bowl can be done in so many sweet ways to complement the flowers."

I used the no-line version, which you probably already figured out.  I contemplated a sentiment, but decided to leave the art on its own.

This 5" square card is finished with a border of blue which is the negative left over from cutting a Spellbinders A2 Bracket Borders One.  I'd saved it from another project, slipped right back into the envelope that holds the dies.  That's how I keep all my spare die cuts.  How nice that I found it ready and waiting when I opened the envelope!  It appears to have been Copic colored, which matched the Bluebells in the painting rather nicely.  Added a gold peel off sticker trim and mounted everything on a base of rich purple-y textured card stock.

Please visit the Power Poppy Blog to see all Marcella's photos and information.  She writes a wonderful post AND she'll link you up with all the designers who are sharing their artistic interpretations of Bowl of Beauty.

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I'm leaving you with a wish you a beautiful day!

Twinkling Easter Lily

Hello, friends!  Darn, it's raining here again as I write this.  Perfect weather for staying home stamping, except that I had a whole bunch of running around to do, dashing in and out of stores as quickly as possible.  I need sunshine!  I need color, too, as in blooming flowers and green trees, so -- beware -- I threw a whole lot of color onto the card I'm sharing today.

With Easter approaching I wanted to color these Joyful Lilies from Power Poppy.  It's a digital stamp, not a new one, but certainly pretty.  Do flower stamps ever lose their pretty?  I used Twinkling H2Os to watercolor this.  They're tricky to photograph.  The flower petals in particular look grainy, or as though there's something wonky with my computer screen, but in real life your eyes make adjustments.  So, here's my wildly colorful results:

It's much easier to color little details, such as the Forget Me Nots and their skinny stems, as the very last step so they don't get washed away with the background.  I did them with a water-based marker.  Petals with the brush tip, stems with the fine tip. 

The sentiment looks out of place to me.  Too stark on all that color.  Maybe I'll change it to white embossed on... something... purple?  I'd have been okay with no sentiment on the front at all and, instead, save it for the inside.  Sigh... hindsight.  Have a happy day!

Watercolored Spring Star Flowers

Hello on a Friday, friends!  I'm wrapping up the week with some soft and simple watercoloring of the Star Flowers from Power Poppy's Spring Border Two digital set.  I used Tombow markers and the no-line print, which is actually a very visible gray print.  It's surprising how it completely disappeared.

An easy layout.  Just some stitching and a peeking edge of ancient designer paper.  A few sequins.  Gosh, when a card is this simple there's not a whole lot to say about it, is there?  I should try this more often.  Now that the weather is warming up I'll need to streamline my stamping.  We've had some unbelievably beautiful days this week.  Spring arrived right on time!  Have a wonderful weekend!

Double D Challenge: Gingham

Well, here we are at Double D Challenge time again!  We're asking to see gingham this time around, and I'm thinking it's going to be a very cheerful gallery, indeed.  I made a card that's quick and cute and happy and already in the mail.

Look at all the wonderful gingham in our mood board:

We vote on creative winners, plus a random winner will receive this prize:

I had one remaining not-yet-used stamp in my 2013 Pretty Potties set (by Pink Petticoat), so it has now been colored and moved to its permanent residence in one of the flower stamp drawers -- yay!  No, it has not been in the NYU basket since 2013.  It was an older set when I received it as a gift.  So cute and such easy Copic coloring.  An easy card design, too.  One large square with four smaller squares of gingham set inside.  A gingham flower, too.

I know you'll enjoy the gingham card samples at Double D, so do go take a look and then share yours.  I can't wait to see!  Have a happy day!

Stamps:  Pink Petticoat "Pretty Potties", Hero Arts "Wishing a Happy Day" sentiment  Paper:  Neenah 110 lb cover card stock, Memory Box Granny Smith CS, Prima "Julie Nutting" designer paper  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics for coloring  Accessories:  Doodle Bug Matte Sprinkles  Dies:  Cottage Cutz Double Stitched Square set, Memory Box Stitched Circle Layers, Poppystamps Stitched Bloom Trio

Under the Weather

You probably know I'm a Bugaboo fan.  So much so that I amassed quite a collection while I was still working and too tired to color, but not too tired to shop.  Know how that goes?  For the last few years I've been trying to get them all colored up before I buy more.  Well, I took stock and found I had a mere seven left to color.  I can do that!  It's time Umbrella Mouse came out of the box.

Wait... I said seven?  Well... since I subscribe to their newsletter I have the benefit of the occasional free digi of my choice.  I've been trying not to look, but I weakened.  I chose a cute puppy, but then I also saw a pretty wreath on sale I just had to have.  Today, while I was looking up the link for Umbrella Mouse I saw another beautiful flower stamp, plus a comical kitty.  How can I say "no" to $1.50?  So that's four.  Let's see... I'm back up to ten not-yet-colored Bugaboos.  I can still do that!

Umbrella Mouse was colored with Prismacolor pencils blended with Gamsol odorless mineral spirits.  The sentiment is from a Power Poppy set -- Daffodils.  I sponged on some Distress Oxide inks, did a few water splatters, and framed with Poppystamps Feather Tree Frame.  Added a purchased flower (gift from a friend).  Oh, and if there has to be raindrops they might as well be sparkly, so I added Stickles to them.

I'll see you again on Wednesday with the Double D challenge.  In the meantime, maybe I'll color some more Bugaboo.  Take care!

Stamps:  Bugaboo Umbrella Mouse digi, Power Poppy Daffodils sentiment  Paper:  Neenah Classic Crest Super Smooth Solar White, lime green CS  Ink:  Printer, Memento Tuxedo Black, Distress Oxide Peacock Feathers and Pumice Stone  Coloring:  Prismacolor Pencils and Gamsol  Accessories:  Crystal and Black Diamond Stickles glitter glue, purchased flower  Dies:  Poppystamps Feather Tree Frame

Goldens and Garden

On Goldens and Garden today:

Thank you!

Woodland Scene Shadowbox and Card

Happy Friday, all!  I'm back for one more share with the Shadowbox Collection by Becca Feeken.  Again I'm using the Adjustable Shadowbox Frame with 1/2" Border, but this time with the Layered Thinking of You Woodland Scene.

Just for fun I made a Christmas scene for the shadowbox.  No snow, just a woodland scene with green foliage, much like we'd see here on the Oregon Coast.  A brown deer and a white bunny.  I thought about cutting the bunny off, but there's no reason why you can't have a bunny in a Christmas scene.  Additional dies for dress up are Layered Poinsettia and Foliage.  I fashioned my own red polka dot corners.  Not sure it was a good idea, but they're not coming off now.

I made a card, too.  It's all guy with browns and wood grain card stock, but color added in the sponged background and the candy dot embellishments.  It took every ounce of self control I had to not make this all girly-cute.  I just know it would be so adorable with sweet colors and wildflowers!  We do have to think of the guys sometimes, though, don't we?

With these scene dies you can make such nice cards with minimal effort.  Seriously quick.  Maybe this weekend I'll make that sweet, feminine woodland scene with wildflowers.

Thanks for looking at my playtime with the Shadowbox Collection!  I sure had fun and it won't be the last of it.  I'll see you next week!

Sweet Birdie Shadowbox and Card

Hi, everyone!  I have the pleasure once again of designing with Spellbinders beautiful dies.  This time it's the Shadow Box Collection by Becca Feeken.  That link will take you to the entire shadowbox collection.  Specifically, today I'm sharing the Shadowbox Frame with 1/2" Border and the Layered Sweet Birdie Thanks Scene.  Let's start off with the shadowbox.

Isn't that the sweetest little spring scene?  I don't make many 3-D items, but I'll tell you these shadowbox scenes are addictive.  Instructions and videos are available at Spellbinders when you click on each shadowbox.  I watched a video once and closely followed step by step, and a few days later made another frame without looking at the instructions.  Easier than you might think!  These dies are an engineering marvel.

For this one I used a soft yellow-green card stock for the frame and covered just the front of it with designer paper, which I did before it was folded up.  All the parts for the scene were cut from card stock and designer paper, keeping it soft and simple.  The flowers and leaves in the corners are extra dies included in the set, and I dressed them up further with Spellbinders Bird Scrolls.

Not just for shadowboxes, the Layered Sweet Birdie Thanks Scene makes a darling card.  For the shadow box I left off the "thanks" die, but you can see it here, sentiment and scene in one arched window.  So cute!  I cut a paper panel with Scored and Pierced Rectangles, then cut the arched window into that.

I wanted to show you the inside of the card, too, so you can see an additional birdie die that comes with the set.   There's an even smaller bird, too.  Love!

Use one layer or all three.  Make a shadowbox any size and put anything you want in it.  Mix and match.  Personally, I 💗 these dies!

I'll be back Friday with more of the Shadowbox Collection by Becca Feeken.  Heads up:  It's Christmas and masculine, same shadowbox die, different scene.  Hope to see you then!

Twofer Challenge #14: Balloons

It's Twofer Time again, friends!  We're doing balloons this time, as you can see by the graphic below.  Make two cards for two different occasions, each a completely different design/layout.  Use stamps, dies or stencils, but most of all -- have fun!  If you need more clarification on the rules, please see the Twofer Blog here and here where Darnell has been very thorough.  FAQ here.

I've made one for birthday and one for Halloween.  I never come up with unconventional ideas for this challenge, but the Halloween card was the first thing that came to mind after the traditional birthday card.

I used similar colors on both cards which made for easy decisions.  Glitter paper for the die cut birthday balloons, and a Kaleidacolor pad to stamp the confetti.  Worked out just great!  I'm thinking these colors would be good for a fall birthday.

(Impression Obsession Ballons, Old Uptown Designs birthday sentiment, and old Stampin' Up! Background Basics confetti stamp)

Now, for the Halloween card... The balloons became ghosts when I put them in the square frames and added googly eyes.  The largest ghost has part of a balloon string for his crooked smile, and the mid-sized ghost has a mouth made from one of the inner pieces that pop out of a balloon string die when it's cut.  1/4" punched circles behind the googly eyes.  I gave the spider googly eyes, too, so he wouldn't look quite so fierce.

(Same Impression Obsession Balloons for the ghosts, Cheery Lynn Designs Happy Halloween Twiggy Wreath for the sentiment and spider, Cheery Lynn Spider Net, Cottage Cutz Double Stitched Square Set)

That's it from me!  I hope you'll hop over to the Twofer blog, get some ideas, leave some love, and consider playing along.  Have a happy day!

Oregon Coast Day Trip

On Goldens and Garden today:

Thank you!

Spring Border

Happy Friday, friends!  I have some flowers to share today.  Yes, I've been a busy card maker, but you know I love it, especially when it comes to coloring.  There's just something about watching the image develop.  I used Copics for this one.  The stamp is Power Poppy's recently released digital Spring Border One.

This particular flower border can also be found in the Natural Beauties clear stamp set, but I was able to print it slightly larger as a digi.  Rather than try to tell you all about the digi set, I'll just show you:

It's nice that it comes with individual flower images in case you don't feel like coloring a whole border.  Three very useful sentiments, too.  I colored the no line version and made this into a cheery "feel better" card.

By the way, there's a Spring Border Two, also, and I'm looking forward to coloring an image I printed from that set.  Hope it turns out!  See you again soon!

Hop into Spring!

Hi there!  I've been playing with bunnies and feeling like a kid again.  Oddly, I don't remember my kid toys being as much fun as my grown up toys.  Could it be that I'm more appreciative in my (ahem) maturity?

I'm using Spellbinders' March Small Die of the Month, called "Hop into Spring", and, gosh, I'm sure ready for that.  Bunnies and flowers and twiggy branches, a happy sentiment.  I've started with Easter colors and a bunny in a garden patch.  Small tulips on tall stems, green plants with flowers nestled in, a few carrots...

Then I thought I'd try some soft, muted colors.  Truthfully, I started out to make a baby card, but after cutting the two bunnies I was afraid I'd be locked into twins so I went with Easter instead.  Not your usual Easter colors, but I like it.  As you can see, I cut the bunnies in a white panel over designer paper, then fit the bunny outlines back into it.  It's so super easy I could do this over and over, and they're actually my favorite of the bunnies.  Add an eye dot and it brings them to life.  Imagine them with different colors and patterns.  I'm definitely going to make a baby card.

Finally, I set the bunnies aside, but used the same soft colors to make a spring card with a white twig wreath.  If you color the branches brown and leave the tips white they resemble pussy willows.  Yes, I did that, but it's another card for another day... along with the baby card I'm going to make.

The stamped sentiments are from my stash, but all dies and more are in the "Hop into Spring" set.  You can find information about the Small Die of the Month club here and see a nice variety of samples with this set.  It's adorable!

Thank you for your time.  Wishing you a very happy day!

It's a Stamping Bella Batch of Christmas Cards

Gee, I went a whole week without a blog post, but not without stamping.  There are limits to what a girl can endure.  I finished up a batch of Stamping Bellas, this being the last of my not-yet-colored Christmas Bellas, so I'm doing pretty good.  All are older stamps, some probably retired.  Not sure as I didn't look them up on the Stamping Bella site, but I do know that most or all can be found on Amazon.

I'll share them in the order in which they were made and list accessories below each photo.  All are Copic colored on Neenah Classic Crest Solar White.

The nice thing about starting early is that I can take time to play, and I do love to play.  The first is "Frostier" in a framed frosty scene.  Sparkle is courtesy of glitter paper and Stickles Stardust glitter glue.

(Dies:  Memory Box Wrapped Stitched Frames, Impression Obsession Tree Landscape Layers, Paper Smooches Hello Words)

The next is much simpler, just stitched up on some older Christmas designer paper.  This is "Santa Chick and his Helpers":

Pictured below is another one that involved some play, but the dies make it easy.  It's not as many layers as it appears.  The landscape hills are traced using the dies as a guide, and the trees were cut from the dies and rearranged to fit.  Lots of snowy microfine glitter on this scene featuring "Rudolph the Skating Reindeer":

(Dies:  Memory Box Wrapped Stitched Frames, Impression Obsession Tree Landscape Layers, Memory Box Frosty Border)

Last, but not least, is "Pamela the Poinsettia".   She's soooo pretty!  I cut her out and placed her on a panel which was ready made and sitting in my card parts drawer.  The Merry Christmas banner was also already cut and colored, which makes this probably the easiest of all four cards.

Total Christmas cards so far this year:  8

They're all finished on the inside and ready to mail.  I have a long way to go, but I'm already looking forward to starting the next batch.  I'm feeling motivated this year!  Have a happy day!