Power Poppy - The Blog: Heart Abloom

Showing posts with label Heart Abloom. Show all posts

Monday

The Blossom Challenge: Bring Those May Flowers

Hello Power Poppy Friends!

We’re so excited to welcome you here today and to invite you to our NEW Monthly Challenge! I’ll be your host (Christine), but each month I’ll be joined by some of our Power Poppy Bloomies bringing you inspiration with the challenge.

It’s called The Blossom Challenge! As I’ve been thinking about the challenge, my heart keeps coming back to this theme of “Blossom”. Yes, of course the flower allusion, that’s the beauty of Power Poppy, but also to Blossom in the sense of growing and thriving as creators, becoming more abudant in our abilities .......and sometimes that means we need a spark of inspiration, a push to try something new, a place that celebrates what we’ve done, and how we’ve grown. I want this to be a place to feel proud of our creative gift, in a Power Poppy Community that cheers one other on! So that’s what you’re going to find here each month at Power Poppy, and we hope you all join in!

This month our theme is “April Showers Bring May Flowers”. We want you to pull out all of those lovely Spring blooms that Marcy illustrates so beautifully and create anything with them. More on the theme, and prizes later in the post, but first I’ll start with the card I created.

Heart Abloom is one of my favourite illustrations from Power Poppy! I love the composition of the images, the combination of daffodils, narcissus, hellebore, tiny lilies and the fun blueberries and snail! Its sister set in polymer is called Always Here (still available!). I really enjoy picking unique palettes for my colouring and when I found a fun peachy-yellow hellebore that helped me decide on these fun colours together. That’s one of my #1 tips for colouring, do some research on your flowers first. Find some inspiration and build a cohesive colour palette from there.

The colouring is done with Copic Markers, with details added in with Prismacolor Pencils. Trimmed out carefully and placed on this pretty ombre patterned paper, with paper ric-rac and a scalloped frame helps keep the emphasis on the beauty of the flowers. I delight in how fresh and fun it is and how much I enjoyed colouring it!

So....here are the details about the Challenge!

1. You must use a Power Poppy image somewhere on your design. It could be a stamp, digi, sentiment, Power Poppy freebie, or a background, but we want to see you using your Power Poppy images. Those will be the cards entered for our monthly prize.

This month we want to see your Spring flowers, think tulip, daffodil, narcissus, hellebore, hyacinth, primrose, snow drop, crocus, and cherry blossoms for your creations. Let’s leave those summer blooms for a few months from now :)

Marcy has generously discounted some of our BEST Spring themed images by 25% OFF so you can play along!! You are not limited to these sets, but what an awesome sale!

Click here to see the discounted sets this month:

ALL NEW: Sketches of Spring Volume I
Daffodil Bouquet
Dancing with Daffodils

Bowl of Beauty

Auricula Theatre
Blossoming Cherry
Heart Abloom
Hellebores
Hyacinth Bulb in Glass
Love One Another
Magnolia Sunshine
Spring Border One and Spring Border Two
Spring Meadow Bouquet
Springtime Love Roundel
Tulips
Tulips in Hobnail Pitcher
Created to Create
Flowering Branches
Winter Pick Me Up

2. There will be a monthly PRIZE for playing along! Sometimes it will be a random draw, and other times it will be a Bloomie Favourite winning design. Winners will receive a $20 Gift Card to the Power Poppy store! This month’s Challenge will be open until NOON on June 17th.

Here is more inspiration for our April Showers Bring May Flowers from the Bloomies!

Barbara C

Lisa J

Gloria

Essie

and Christine

Enter to win using our Linky below!

Tuesday

Creative Confetti: Mini Me!

Hello all and happy Tuesday! How is everyone doing this week? Here in my neck of the woods it has been a scorcher temperature-wise, so I was happy to get some time to create and stay cool and creative! Recently, I scrolled through some of my recent cards and thought about design and what I liked about certain creations and what I didn't love about others. That got me thinking about being inspired. And.... that's what helped craft the idea behind this week's Creative Confetti Challenge. Are you ready?

HOW TO PLAY: Be inspired by one of your past creations and use it to inspire a "mini" version of the original! Notice how I said, be "inspired?" If you want to get technical and create a mini layout, go for it! But, if you want to take some of the elements of the larger creation and share just a few of those on a mini card, let's see what you've got! I chose to be inspired!

Let's take a look at my creative process!

First of all, I want to share the inspiration for my mini. A few months back, I hosted the Inspire Me Monday tutorial and mashed up a few techniques to come up with what I call Embossed Silhouette. Ever since that tutorial, I've been looking for new ways to incorporate this look because it is so easy and ushers in dramatic results. So, here's a peek at some of the cards that inspired today's creation. And... HERE's a link to the original tutorial as well.

And, here's a peek at my "mini!" Instead of using the Power Poppy set Vibrant Thanks, which is currently sold out, I decided to pick one that you could actually get your hands on now! ;-) I chose the stamp set Poppies.

Instead of making a rectangle card, I decided to use some stitched circle dies to create not only my card base but the layers as well. I folded a 4" by 4" piece of black card stock and then set my die on top, leaving just a sliver of the card at the fold to keep the card's integrity and still have a circle shape. Then, I used one size smaller die for my white layer. And, I cut one smaller from that to serve as my mask so that I could sponge on that bold color.

First up, if you looked at the tutorial link, you know I stamped the poppies stamp in black ink and then colored it all up using a black marker to create a silhouette.

As you can see, I used My MISTI stamping tool to keep my circle in place because after I colored it (I didn't remove it from my MISTI), I inked up my stamp with Versamark ink and then heat embossed using white detail powder to get that detailed silhouette image. Afterward, I lined up my mask and using low tack tape, taped both the mask and the main image down real good so that it wouldn't move as I sponged on the ink. For my ink, I used Morocco and Lady Bug inks by Memento.

And then, the fun continued! Not only did I add a little pizazz to the envelope...

I added a little something extra to the inside of my mini card!

If you missed it, I also made an envelope liner using that pop of orange on the inside...

I added the "Dear Friend" sentiment from the stamp set Heart Abloom and a few iridescent sequins and.. ta da! Finished! I think it turned out so cute and you can still see the inspiration from the original creation.

And that, my friends, is it! Want to join me this week? Simply create, post and then link up using the linky below! As we always say, if you get those fingers inky and play along, each and every link is an opportunity to win a $25 gift code to the Power Poppy Shop! Woo Hoo!

Until next time!

Friday

Ready for Good Vibes?

Well, hello there my sweet Power Poppy Peeps and... HAPPY FRIDAY! With this fabulous end to the week comes a brand new splash of inspiration to get you started on a wonderfully creative weekend! So, are you ready for a short burst of artistry in our weekly edition of Good Vibe 5? I sure am! Let's get to it, shall we?

GOOD VIBE 5 HIT LIST!

1. Cheers to YOU! Essie's creation designed to deliver wedding cheer to a fab friend delightfully grabbed our attention! Visit the link to see how she so creatively used Power Poppy's Dream Wedding.

2. A Dose of Sunshine Sathya worked wonders with Power Poppy's Heart Abloom digital stamp set. That beauty of a flower is just a single image in the set but Sathya worked her magic to make that double petaled hellebore stacked and full of color and pizazz! Love it!

3. Foiled Again! There have been so many video tutorials lately on using foil to add a little gilded bit of razzle-dazzle to cards and creations. Jenny Colacicco took it one step further to share her tips and tricks on using this accent with watercolor! Here's a link to her jam-packed video where she shares all the tips and tricks to creating a watercolor foil resist creation!

4. ICYMI Did you happen to see the fun tutorial Tosh shared for this week's Inspire Me Monday? We thought her wrap around technique was so fun, it was worth a mention here on our Good Vibes 5! Click HERE to see how she brought out the best in one of our favorite Power Poppy illustrations -- Artistic Bouquet -- by wrapping it all the way around her card. You have to check this one out! Pure and simple genius!

5. New Digi Brewing! I know you're going to squeal (like I did) when I first set my sights on the next digital stamp set that is set for release TUESDAY! It's the second in the release of Marcy's Cafe Au Lait series! I've only shown off a snippet. Trust me, the whole image is downright glorious! Be sure to swing back and see what she has in store!

With the first full week after the holidays under our belts, a trio of Bloomies were able to steal away to some time in their stamping spaces and we are sure glad they did! Be sure to hop on over to see what these ladies whipped up for all to see!

Allison Cope

Cindy Lawrence >>> check out her video!

Stacy Morgan

And that, my friends, is it for us today! We do have some excitement in the works to share. Like I mentioned, be sure to check back in on Tuesday for a new digital stamp set release called My Favorite Pair! And on Monday, Ally Cope has cued up some tips on coloring with ZIG brush markers! Can't wait!

Until then, have a beautiful weekend!
~Julie Koerber

Monday

Inspire Me Monday: Blow Up Your Digis

Hey everyone, welcome to another Inspire Me Monday! Jessie here with you all again today, hoping to pop some cropping and watercolour inspiration into your Monday!

I enlarged and cropped the Heart Abloom Digital Image to fit the front of an A2 size card, then printed it out on Fabriano Artistico 140lb extra white hotpress watercolour paper. I then pulled out some of my Daniel Smith watercolor paints and had a blast painting up all these gorgeous florals!

Edit: We’ve gotten a lot of questions and comments about what method Jessie uses to resize her images. In a newsletter, I suggested enlarging the image in the print dialog box (that’s what I do) but Jessie has just created a REALLY HELPFUL tutorial video for showing how she enlarges, rotates, and crops images for cards using Microsoft Word. Take a look! ~marcella

Thanks for stopping by,
Hugz,
Jessie

Thursday

February Instant Garden: Heart Abloom

Hello, friends, it’s Marcella here!

It might be a week later than I intended, but HEY, I have a NEW digital stamp set, which actually popped onto the scene last week! Introducing a rich and wondrous illustration, Heart Abloom. In case you haven’t caught a glimpse yet of this one, you’re in for a treat...

Cards by Christine Okken (top left), Nancy Sheads (top right), Marcella Hawley (bottom left) and Stacy Morgan (bottom right).

This highly detailed image was a true labor of love, and it is filled with flowers that make my heart sing! Hellebores, Daffodils, Trout Lilies, and get this, I’ve added unexpected little Blueberry sprigs for young little bursts of sweetness. A friendly snail has stopped by, as well. In real life, I would have plucked the snail off of the leaf, because I am a gardener, and snails are a bit of a bane of my existence. BUT THEY’RE SO CUTE! So this one can stay.

I envisioned Heart Abloom working beautifully with my Color Story theme for this year’s Instant Garden digital stamps. Each one is created with a grouping of flowers, fauna, insects, birds, or little objects that can help you deepen your color palette experience. Last month we introduced Rosé All Day with pinks and blushes. This month we’re going in to cooler territory... with flowers that (in nature at least) lend themselves to cooler tones like blue, purple, magenta, chartreuse, yellow... There are a LOT of directions you can go with these babies. This was my inspiration photo, which I found a few years ago in the Instagram feed of British flower design shop Swallow and Damsons. I just knew I wanted to do something with it someday!

While my image did not come out quite as dark, I did try to emulate the rich, dark, mysterious hellebores with some depth by adding brown/blue dirt in the background of my heart:

The set Heart Abloom comes with several images — you get the large heart-shaped flower illustration both with AND without the lettering in the center. As you can see in my watercolor/gouache painting above, I’ve used the handlettered HELLO version and just watercolored that lettering in. The set ALSO comes with a single, very detailed Hellebore image, which could practically be a stamp set on its own! But I’ve tucked it in here for those times you don’t feel like coloring the entire heart. A few examples of the flowers you’ll find in this bouquet...

Trout Lilies photo by Amy Sanderson Flowers.

Hellebores at the Missouri Botanical Garden (my photo).

Small-cupped Daffodil ‘Barrett Browning’ taken last year with bluebells in my garden.

A chartreuse-green-eyed Daffodils (again, with the small cup, or corona) in my mother’s garden. Keep your options open when coloring Daffodils and Jonquils — they come in a surprising range of colors!

I love the nodding heads of the Hellebores! (my photo).

Ripening blueberries on the vine... look at all of the amazing color changes they go through to become that intense, marvelous blue! I took so many pictures of them a few summers ago at the MO Botanical Garden and now I've misplaced them on my computer... will have to settle for these beauties from the grower's website.

A photo of my computer monitor as I was putting the finishing touches on this illustration in Photoshop.

I had GREAT FUN creating this arrangement of favorite flowers for Heart Abloom, and I hope YOU have just as exciting of a time coloring them as I did. I will not lie, it took me three days to finish my painted piece. But it was right before I started radiation, and it was highly soothing to my soul!

Drop in with our Bloomies & Gardeners to see their incredible works-in-progress coming to life, on their blogs and on Instagram:

Many, many thanks for sharing this time with us, I hope you love every minute of it! Talk soon,