Go for the Gold!

Happy Friday everyone!  I’m lucky enough to be headed to Calgary to today to play with Copics!  I’ve signed myself up for a couple more Copic classes just to learn new tricks and tips for the best.
It’s the first Friday of the month and that means that we have a new monthly hostess and new Power Poppy “Power & Spark” challenge!  This month, the lovely Tosh is challenging us to… Go for the GOLD!

HOW TO PLAY: So you can see by the graphic above, there’s picture of a whole collection of gold items; candles, trim, jewellery, coins, etc. Our challenge is all about being inspired by this fun metallic tone... GOLD! The good news is, you have all of March to take on this challenge. Woohoo!

OFFICIAL RULES:

• Use Power Poppy stamps if you have them, but if you don’t, this is a great way to WIN them!
• Link your creation HERE using our Linky
• Please mention Power Poppy in YOUR blog or gallery post with a link back to our challenge
• The winner will receive a free clear or digital stamp set of your choice from the Power Poppy Shop
• Deadline to enter is March 31st, at 10:00pm EST. The winner will be randomly picked and announced here the first Friday of April.
• Have fun & submit as many times as you like! 

I was inspired to play with the gorgeous digital stamp set, “La Vie en Rose” and I paired it with the new clear stamp set, “Big Scripts”. 

For my gold accents, I heat embossed my greeting using gold embossing powders but I also edged all of my papers using a gold pen and added some gold pearls in the corners of my die cut.

Here’s a little close up of this beautiful digital rose and it’s golden greeting…

Now… off you go on a little hop on a road paved with GOLD through all of the Bloom Brigade blogs…

Allison Cope – you are here!
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Dawn Burnworth
Julie Koerber
Kathy Jones
Katie Sims
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker
Marcella on the Power Poppy Blog

Happy hopping everyone!

~ Ally ~


Sponsored by:  Power Poppy

Supplies:
stamps: Power Poppy (La Vie en Rose, Big Scripts)
cardstock:  X-Press It Cardstock
patterned paper:  Graphic45 (French Country)
pearls:  Recollections
die cut shapes: Spellbinders (A2 Valiant Honor)
ink: Versamark
Copic Markers:  roses: E000, E04, R56, R59  leaves:  YG93, YG95, YG97, YG99, E25  background: E84, E33, E27 other: E11, W1, W3
gold pen:  Sakura Gold Pen-Touch.

A Peaceful Easy Rosy Feeling

Welcome back to another Friday with the Bloom Brigade from Power Poppy!  Like most Friday’s we are asking you to join in the fun and play along with our “Peep of the Week” challenge.  If you are new to our challenge… no worries!  Just check out the Power Poppy Blog for all the deets.

This month at Power Poppy we shared a brand new digital design team, known as our Instant Gardners!  These six extremely fabulous and uber talented ladies revealed the stunning “La Vie en Rose” digital stamp set and coordinating digital sentiments just in time for the month of Love coming up!  Today I thought I’d use the “La Vie en Rose” stamp set and combine it with a few of our fabulous clear stamp sets too!

I first created a piece of rosy art to print out onto cream coloured cardstock using my Photoshop program.  I wanted some roses on top of the taped love note and some below so I overlapped my roses to achieve this look.   Then I coloured my creation using Copic Markers.

I added the cute little stitched heart to my scrap of torn vellum from the  “Bough Wow Wow” stamp set.  Who said you couldn’t use Christmas themed stamp sets all year round?!?!

The beautiful sentiment is from the gorgeous “Lavender” stamp set.  I stamped it in Versamark and embossed with gold embossing powder.  I love that added touch of shine to accompany that shiny heart!

For this card I had used a black cardstock card base so I thought I’d finish off the inside of it as well so it could be easily written in inside.  I created another layered band of roses and then die cut out my printed sheet of cream cardstock and added some Copic colours to the back ground to match the front of the card.  And again, the gold sentiment is from the stunning “Lavender” stamp set.

I even die cut a banner to hold my card stamp on the back using some scraps of printed digital paper from the inside of my card.  There's just a hint of digital roses on it...

I really like how it turned out because I wasn’t 100% sure I was going to like it as I started to colour this.   Now… it’s time to check out what the rest of my fellow Bloomies have to share with you today!  Go on and check it out…



Allison Cope – you are here!
Christine Okken
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker
Marcella on the Power Poppy Blog

Good luck and I hope to see one of your card creation included in the InLinkz!
Thanks for stopping by!

~ Ally ~

Sponsored by:  Power Poppy

Supplies:
stamps: Power Poppy (Lavender, La Vie en Rose, Bough Wow Wow)
Copic Markers:  Roses: E04, R56, R59  Paper & Tape: E40, E41, E42, E23  Leaves: YG93, YG95, YG95, E23  Back Grounds: E000, E21, E11
cardstock:  Recollections Cream & Black Cardstock, vellum
patterned paper:  Graphic45 (French Country)
die cut shapes: Lawn Fawn (Stitched Rectangles)
sequins: Pretty Pink Posh, Verve
ink: Versamark
misc:  gold embossing powder.

Introducing... Play Ball!

It’s Day 2 of our June sneak peeks for Power Poppy’s latest stamp sets.  Introducing “Play Ball!” our latest fabulous stamp set for all those sport enthusiasts out there!  Both girls and boy alike will love the wonderful detailed images of this fabulous baseball inspired collection.  Images included in this stamp are a pennant, a ball cap and a base with bats and balls and there’s even some stitching lines just like on your baseballs!  Super cute and perfect for Father’s Day!

I decided to go all out on my card today and share a fun and more 3 dimensional card creation… a box card!

Here is my open card.  This card opens up to reveal a card filled with lots of sports lovin’ fun!  All of it’s sport’s equipment just pops right out at ya!

On the back of the card is a space to write your message.

Each flap of the card is different and unique and is paired with the fun mini sports cards from my patterned papers…

And since this card is super, duper… it even folds flat to fit in my cute little custom made envelope…

I made a stitched belly band to hold the flaps closed within the envelope.  Don't you just love that stitching detail?!?

I hope you have enjoyed my project today!  Thanks for stopping by today!  Make sure to hop on to the next Bloom Brigade member and check out her fabulous creation today...

BLOOM BRIGADE: Unveil your sportsmans like creations ladies...

Allison Cope -- you are here!
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Danielle Kennedy
Dawn Burnworth
Julie Koerber
Kathy Jones
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker
Marcy on the Power Poppy Blog

~ Ally ~

Sponsored by:  Power Poppy
 
Supplies:
stamps: Power Poppy (Play Ball!)
cardstock:  Recollections, Bazzill
patterned paper:  Graphic45 (Good Ol’ Sports)
die cut shapes: Spellbinders
pennants: American Crafts
metal clip: BasicGrey
ink: Memento, Ranger Distress Inks, Copic Markers
tools: We R Memory Keepers Envelope Punch Board
pen: Sakura
jute: Darice
other: thread, clear cardstock, eyelets.

Flourishes Sneak Peek... Winter Berries!

Hello all and welcome to day one of Flourishes sneak peeks for October! The clock is ticking to get those cards and creations done before the holidays hit. We're happy to report Flourishes has a handful of new sets guaranteed to help you shine this Christmas! Our first set is one that delivers an elegant flair!

Flourishes has taken the beautiful Cotoneaster plant and gave it a holiday flair with this new 4" by 6" set illustrated by Sam Pickard. The long and lean berry spray will add a dash of elegance and pop to all of your holiday cards and creations. We've paired this lovely image with six scripted sentiments crafted by the talented Dina Kowal.

Welcome to our first peek for October everyone!  You are going to love this new stamp set, especially for making some of those handmade holiday cards this year.

Today I chose to take my card in a vintage holiday type direction.  I love mixing all kinds of patterned papers with my stamping projects so I pulled out some fabulous Graphic45 papers and went to town!  

I started off my card using Flourishes Classic Ivory Cardstock for my card base, greeting banner and my stamped image.  After layering and stitching my patterned papers, I matted them with a quick piece of our Classic Black Cardstock.

I wrapped my patterned paper layer with a frilly piece of Satin Pleated Black Ribbon and added a pretty little bow in "Chocolate Brown" Seam Binding Ribbon.  Believe it or not... they actually go together quite nicely!

I stamped both my berry image and my greeting from the new "Winter Berries" stamp set using Memento "Black Tuxedo" ink and then coloured them using the following Copic Collections:

Thanks for joining me today!  The Design Team created some wonderful creations showing off these beautiful winter berries. While you're hopping and looking at their cards, don't forget to try to figure out....

Hidden among the Design Team’s blogs today is our Mystery Blogger of the day. Comment on her blog and you could be chosen to win today’s set! The more you comment, the better your chances of winning.

Allison Cope -- you are here!
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Heather Jensen
Julie Koerber
Maki Jones
Silke Ledlow
Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker

Do you want to win Flourishes' October Release?

• If you would like a chance at winning all three of our soon-to-be released October sets…you can play in our Christmas with a Twist Challenge – we will have multiple winners there! Deadline for entries is FRIDAY October 11th at 5 PM EST. Check out the link for the official rules!
• All three of our October sets can be pre-ordered now, even before you see them all! Take advantage our New Release Bundle and get 10% off when you purchase all three sets together in a bundle. This discount will only be available through October 18th, so you have to act fast! 
• Keep in mind, all of these sets will be live first thing Friday morning in the Flourishes store along with the coordinating cut files for this release. 
• And, don't forget to come back to the Flourishes Blog Saturday, October 12th for the Winner’s Circle where we’ll announce all of our winners of this weeks’ challenges!

Be sure to stop on by tomorrow when we share a set that will have you longing for those days when the snow starts to fly!

~ Ally ~

Sponsored by:  Flourishes LLC

Supplies:
stamps:  Flourishes (Winter Berries)
cardstock:   Flourishes Classic Ivory & Black
patterned papers:  Graphic 45 (Typography)
die cut shapes: Spellbinders
ink:   Memento, Copic Markers
ribbon:  Flourishes
other: thread.

Purple Pennants!

It's time to share another Mission to Create card!

We have the lovely Mara-May joining the Mission to Create team this week for Mission 0024! You can check out Mara-May's blog here for lots of fabulous inspiration!

This week's mission was to:

Deborah - Use Gingham pattern paper

Jocie- Use the color purple

Nicole - Make a banner

Vanessa- Pop dot your photos

Mara-May - Add stitching

I managed to use each concept this week within my card:

Purple Pennants

supplies: stamps, myStamp BOX ("Pennants" - soon to be released!); patterned paper, Graphic45; cardstock, Gina K. Designs; flowers, Prima; pearls, Kaisercrafts; edge punch, Marctha Stewart; ink, Stampin' Up!; tag die, Cuttlebug; other, thread, ribbon.

I cut out the 2 layers of the banner pieces separately. I stamped my distressed line banner image from the soon-to-be-released stamp set, "Pennants" from myStampBOX on the plain triangle and then adhered it to the same colour of scalloped banner piece to add depth. I poped each piece up with foam tape for a more detailed card front.


Make sure you come and check out this week's mission and what my fellow card team has done with it.

Thanks for stopping by!

Three byThree...

It's Thursday... time for a new Creative Prompt at Creative Prompts 4u!!

This week I was the one to come up with the prompt to create with so I chose a simple ad by Walmart. You can check out this piece of inspiration here.

And here is what I created using this week's creative prompt...

Vintage Travel Card

supplies: patterned papers: Graphic45, Making Memories, October Afternoon; tag, Graphic45; twine: Stampin' Up!; transparent car: Tattered Angels; flowers, Hero Arts; flower brad, SEI; ink: Ranger; die cut: Cuttlebug, Spellbinder's; cardstock, Bazzill; misc: ribbon, thread.

Here's a close up of the transparent car I used from Tattered Angels.


Come on over and check out what the rest of the Creative Crew did with my prompt this week at the CP4U blog.

A Guest Book for my Mom

My Mom has been working on a variety of different needlework and print work projects all summer for her debut art showing in Guelph today.

Her work is being displayed in an art gallery and it's all about insects.

She asked me about a month ago to design her a guest book so she could have all of her guests attending the show sign her book.

This is what her guest book looks like....

Here is the inside cover and an example of the sign in sheets within the book. It even has a pocket inside the back cover to put a copy of her invitation and any photos of the event.

supplies: patterned paper, Graphic45; bindings and chipboard covers, Zutter; cardstock, Prism, Bazzill; die cut shapes, Spellbinders; ink, Versamark; stamps, myStamp BOX; ribbon, Espirit.

Creative Pandemonium [59]

For this week's Creative Pandemonium challenge we were to use:

• some sort of stitching
• hand written journaling and
  
• stickers (non-alphabets)

And this is what I came up with....

Hikers

supplies: patterned papers, die cut tags, Graphic45; cardtsock, Bazzill; alphabet stickers, Doodlebug; stamp, Pink Paislee; 3D stickers (birds and flourish), Me and My Big Ideas; gems, KaiserCraft; paint, ink, Ranger; embossing powder, Walmart; grungeboard; Tim Holtz, die cut shape, Spellbinder's; other, thread.

I inadvertently forgot to send in my layout on time so you won't see it on the site but I did play! I was a bad girl!

Janelle is also having a DESIGN TEAM CALL. Good luck to all that submit your work!

Lovin the Mini Albums!

I am one lucky girl this past week or so! I have another project that I created featured on a blog!

This time, it's my coffee sleeve mini album project on the Creative Mini Albums blog, right here.

I loved creating this project. A simple binding of the coffee sleeves, some fun die cuts using some beautiful Graphic45 papers, some small wallet sized photos and some simple journaling strips and a few embellishments and VOILA! A finished mini album!

Thanks Kristine for allowing me to share this super fun project with your readers!

Don't forget about my AUGUST BLOG CANDY! Click the banner just below my blog header or use this link to read all the details. Good luck everyone!

I Love My Vintage!

Look at me.... I'm being featured on the Graphic45 blog today!

Lately I have using a lot of vintage papers on some of my cards, pages and projects and I have just fallen in love with all the amazing and surprisingly versatile papers by Graphic45!

I'd love for you to leave me a comment and tell me what you like about using vintage products.

Wanna Cuppa Joe?

Today I have a fun project up on the SCT blog. It's a mini album using..... COFFEE CUP SLEEVES! Yup... I found this sweet little album by Jessica Acs in a magazine and knew it was a quick and easy little project to use of some of my favourite papers right now; Graphic45.

Here's a picture of the front and back covers....

Make sure you take a quick peek at my entire project and step by step instructions on the Scrapbook and Cards Today blog here.

Graphic45 Fun!

I received the GORGEOUS Playtimes Past line from Graphic45. And I just love the vintage feel of all these papers and all the fun tags and elements to this collection.

Here's a page I made using the papers and tags from this line....


Here's a fun card I made from some of my scraps for this page....

I can't wait to get my hands on some more Graphic45 papers!

Lovin' Graphic 45!

I was in need of some inspiration and happened upon he Graphic 45 blog yesterday and saw this fun sketch and contest being offered. I thought it would be a great chance to get my mojo back, so I gave the challenge a go!

This is what I came up using the sketch provided:

Train

Here's a close up of my embellishment cluster...


My journaling....


supplies: patterned paper, tags, die cuts: Graphic 45; cardstock: Bazzill; felt letters: American Crafts; tiny alphabets: Making Memories; stamps: date stamp, Hero Arts; flowers: Prima; Pearl brads: Making Memories; pearls: Hero Arts; edge pucnh: Martha Stewart; buttons: BasicGrey; other: ribbon.