Matters of the Heart

Hey everyone!  It’s Hump Day!  It’s time for a brand new sketch challenge over at Splitcoaststampers and this week I am your sketch designer.  I got a little banner happy with this week’s sketch…

And this is the card I created with it…

 Copics: BG10, BG11, E50, E51, E55, E57, R05, R11, YG91, YR02, YR07

I could help but use the simple adorable little birdie in the heart shaped wreath called “Folk Heart” from Power Poppy.  Isn’t he the cutest little fella you’ve ever seen?!?


To check out what the rest of the Sketch Design team created this week, click here.

With it being Wednesday, it’s also time to check out StampNation’s newest challenge.  This week it’s about back grounds!  Here’s a little peek at my card…

And check out what the Dream Team and our guest designers created… Wowsers!!!

Not a member yet?

 Click here to learn more about membership benefits and to join today!

 

Thanks for stopping by today!  I hope you enjoy the creative journey today!

~ Ally ~

Supplies:
stamps: Power Poppy (Folk Heart)
cardstock:  Neenah (Solar White), SU! (Pool Party)
patterned paper: Fancy Pants Designs (Wish Season 6x6)
ink: Memento (Rich Cocoa), Copic Markers, Sakura (White Gel Pen, Glaze Pen).

Introducing… So Grateful!

Today is our final day of our fabulous Power Poppy reveal! Today’s new stamp contains everything you need to send out stampy creations to those that mean the most to you… your family and friends!  I know we all have those people in our lives that mean the world to us and now you’ll have a stamp set to use to let them know how much you appreciate them!

Introducing… “So Grateful”!

As soon as I saw the large Dahlia in the beautiful bouquet in this stamp set, I knew I had to make a bold and bright statement with it…

I even managed to add some dimension to the large orange Dahlia… I paper pieced it and added some Olba glue underneath the pieces to help hold them up.  This image is perfect for this technique.

 Now… check out what the rest of the Bloom Brigade has in store for you...



Allison Cope – you are here!
Christine Okken
Kathy Jones
Katie Sims
Leslie Miller
Tosha Leyendekker
Power Poppy Blog


Thanks for stopping by today!  I hope you enjoy all these new stamp sets that we’ve revealed over the last three days.  Join the Bloom Brigade tomorrow for one final gander at the 3 new stamp sets!  They officially go on sale in the Power Poppy Shop tomorrow! 

~ Ally ~

Sponsored by:  Power Poppy
 
Supplies:
stamps: Power Poppy (So Grateful)
cardstock:  Neenah Solar White Cardstock, Stampin’ Up! (Melon Mambo)
patterned paper: BasicGrey (PB&J)
ink: Memento (Tuxedo Black), Copic Markers, Clear Wink of Stella Pen
die:  Simon Says Stamp! (Stitched Squares, Stitches Circles)
sequins: Verve Stamps
ribbon:  Offray
other:  thread.

Havin’ a SUPER Fun Monday!

It’s Monday… and when Monday rolls around, the house becomes a silent sanctuary of creating.  My son heads off to school and half the time my husband is away at work so I relish the days when it’s just me, the dog and my cats at home.  I put on some music and just create!!!! 

So I was looking for something to color for today’s challenge… #thedailymarker30day

And so I found this fun sketch from SugarPea Designs, SugarSketch22, so I pulled out some SUPER fun stamps and went away happily colouring this morning.  Here’s what I created…

Fun right!?  Just another card to add to my stash or maybe I’ll donate some – my card box is over flowing right now.

Hope you’re taking the time to create something fun today.  Have a great Monday and rest of the week!

Mark it on your calendars… Power Poppy is up for a new clear stamp release!!!  The fun sneak peeks begin on Sunday so come on back and check them all out!

Happy creating!

~ Ally ~

Supplies:
stamps:  SugarPea Designs (My Hero)
patterned papers: Lawn Fawn (Beachside)
cardstock:  X-Press It Cardstock, Stampin’ Up! (Real Red)
dies:  Pretty Pink Posh (Stitched Duo 1), My Favorite Things (Stitched Ovals)
Copic Markers:  skin:  E00, E01, E11, R12   hair: E51, E53, E55, Y00  clothes: BG11, BG13, BG18, BG000,YR16, B39, R14, R17, BV20 
ink:  Memento (Tuxedo Black, Lady Bug), Wink of Stella (clear), Sakura Glaze Pen

More Video Tutorials over at Scrapbook & Cards Today

Today I’m sharing another technique video over on the Scrapbook & Cards Today blog. I’m featuring Stampin’ Up! stamps and a technique focused on a watercolor effect using Copic Markers.
Come and join me today HERE!

Here's a little sneak peek for ya...

Scrapbook & Cards Today offers up all kinds of cool and trendy offerings for today’s card maker and scrapbooker.  They also produce a FREE magazine!  You can either download it for FREE here or subscribe to a year long subscription and receive their amazing publication right to your doorstep.

Make sure to check out the SCT blog!

Happy creating everyone!

~ Ally ~

Another Purple Christmas!

Happy Thursday everyone!  This week I actually had a moment to just create for myself.  So I pulled out some of my new Purple Onions Designs stamps and began to create for a few fun challenges I’d seen around.

Purple is my favourite colour by far so any excuse to use it in my books is good!

I began my card by creating a fun tag including the sweet little skating snowwomen and her fine feathered friend in tow!

Here’s a close up of the back ground purple cardstock.  I used the Merry Christmas greeting from the Power Poppy stamp set “Poinsettia” and the stars are from Purple Onion Designs, like the snowman and birdie.

I chose the snowman (and the tag) for this week’s “The Card Concept” challenge.  I used a Clean & Graphic style for my card today.

I also chose to add the little bird for this week’s Merry Monday Challenge – use a bird on your Christmas card.

Thanks for stopping by everyone!


~ Ally ~

Supplies:
stamps: Power Poppy (Poinsettia), Purple Onion Designs (“Joe”, “Mary”), Stampin’ Up! (Gorgeous Grunge)
cardstock:  X-Press It Cardstock, Bazzill
tag:  Hero Arts
twine:  Darice
sequins:  Pretty Pink Posh
die cut shapes: Spellbinders (Scalloped Ovals)
ink: Versamark, Copic Markers, Memento (Grape Jelly), Sakura Glaze Pen & White Gel Pen
other:  Clear Embossing Powder.

Woot Woot for Tuts!

If you're a fan of the Power Poppy Blog, you know Mondays are all about sharing a dose of creativity! You've seen members of our Bloom Brigade, including myself, host Inspire Me Monday Tutorials to share a splash of artistic flair with all of you! So, this challenge involves scrolling back through any of the Inspire Me Monday tutorials and giving them a whirl!

Click HERE to see some of those fabulous step-by-step tutorials and give a "Woot Woot for Tuts"!

Don’t forget to check out the Power Poppy Blog for all this challenge’s details.

For myself, I couldn’t resist trying out Julie Koerber’s fabulous tutorial on monochromatic colouring, seen here.  In her tutorial Julie shows how just some simple ink and a few Copic Markers can make for a stunning monochromatic card.

For my card, I chose to work with a deep blue-green and teal.  I used Stampin’ Up!’s “Handsome Hunter” ink and Copic Markers, BG10 & BG11. And here is the card I came up with…

And here’s the close up of my focal image using Julie’s tutorial…

Now… check out what some of my fellow Bloom Brigaders have done for our “Woot Woot for Tuts” challenge!!!

Allison Cope  - you are here!
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Dawn Burnworth

Thanks for stopping in.  I hope you continue to join us today for 3 more challenges today!

~ Ally ~

Sponsored by:  Power Poppy

Supplies:
stamps: Power Poppy (Poinsettia, Bottlebrush Holidays)
cardstock:  Bazzill, Recollections, Strathmore Water Color Paper
patterned papers:  Lawn Fawn (Fa La La La)
die cut shapes: Spellbinders (Elegant Ovals, Labels 25)
ink: Stampin' Up!, Copic Markers
punch:  Martha Stewart
pearls: Recollections
other:  thread.

Home Sweet Home

Howdy everyone!  What an exciting week it's been over at CatherinePooler.com.  After months of planning and preparation, Catherine's blog redesign is finally up and running.  If you haven't checked it out, stop by to see all of the new features her site has to offer.  In celebration of the new and improved www.catherinepooler.com, we are throwing a housewarming party beginning at 9am EST!

The housewarming party will run like regular challenges with a link up on Catherine's blog HERE.

To join along, simply make a card based on the theme HOME and link it up.  

You get three entries for each project you link up!  Leave a comment for yet another entry to win on Catherine's blog!!

WIN?  Yes, there are prizes.  You can't have a party without prizes right?! 

How about a chance to win a free ONE-YEAR subscription to StampNation? Plus prizes from...  

Some Odd Girl:  $20 gift card
Ellen Hutson:  $50  gift card
CAS-ual Fridays:  $25 gift card
Winnie & Walter:  home themed stamp set
Penny Black: Shades Creative Die
Pretty Pink Posh:  $50 gift card
Clearly Besotted: £30 gift card    
Hero Arts: $30 gift card

How's that for a party?  Over $300 in prizes!!!  Each Dream Team member along with our company sponsors are also giving away one-month memberships to StampNation on their blogs, so make sure you visit them and leave comments so you are entered to win.  If you don't have a blog you can still link up using the StampNation Gallery.

The challenge will be open through September 17th at 11:55 EST.  Winners will be announced on September 18th.

I hope you all get a chance to play along!

So I thought I'd share with you my HOME themed card creation.  When I think of home, I think warmth and coziness!  (And with our first SN*W fall... yes... SN*W in September!!!... we needed to cozy up this week!)

 And I love the thought of a beautiful holiday wreath hanging on my front door...

Here's a little close up of my wreath!  I used a Copic Spica pen to add some red glitter to my wreath's berries...

Hey and for immediate gratification.... why not check out StampNation for $1.00!!!!!  Click the image below and it will take you to the SN store for purchase...  HOORAY!!!

NOW... I'm giving away a ONE MONTH SUBSCRIPTION to StampNation right here on my blog.  All you have to do to enter is to answer the question below in a comment (please leave me your email address so I can contact you if you win!):

If YOU were having your own personal house 

warming party next week, who would be that one 

special person you would invite (dead or alive) 

to attend and why?

Good luck!!!

COMMENTS NOW CLOSED!

~ Ally ~


Supplies:
stamps:  WPlus9 (Merry & Bright), Flourishes (Christmas Music, Home for the Holidays)
inks:   Memento (Pistachio), Stampin' Up! (Real Red, Baked Brown Sugar, Always Artichoke, Really Rust)
cardstock: Papertrey Ink (Rustic Cream)
ribbon:  Offray
tools:  Scor-Pal Tool
other:  Copic Spica Pen (Red).

Let’s Get Inky at SCT!

Join me over at Scrapbook and Cards Today for a fun tutorial about having fun with inks!  Check out my fun card and tutorial right HERE.

~ Ally ~

Enjoy Some Apples!

Happy Friday everyone!  I’m here with a few members of Power Poppy’s Bloom Brigade members to share some more inspiration with you and we’d love it if you played along.

Here are the challenge rules!  So come and share one of YOUR Power Poppy creations with us.  If you are new to Power Poppy and want to join in the fun real quick, you can purchase any one of our glorious digital beauties to speed along that creative process.  Check out all those gorgeous digital stamps HERE.

Along with the fun…

I couldn’t resist picking up the new “Farmers Market” stamp set and colour up those sweet little apples.  I love Granny Smith apples… they’re my fav so that’s the way I added my colour today.  Don’t they look delish?!?

I also created the frilly little green and cream back ground paper too!  I used the delicate little leaf from the “Countryside Bouquet Deluxe”  and some Ranger's Olive Distress Ink.  I just love the rustic look it contributes to the card.

I just love the wood on the little wooden crate turned out.  Don’t you?!…

Lets’ find out what the rest of my fellow Bloom Brigades have created for you to gander at today…

Allison Cope – you are here!
Christine Okken
Kathy Jones
Katie Sims
Leslie Miller
Tosha Leyendekker

Happy blog hopping everyone!  And don’t forget to play along!


~ Ally ~

Sponsored by:  Power Poppy

Supplies:
stamps: Power Poppy (Farmer’s Market, Geraniums Take Two, Countryside Bouquet Deluxe)
cardstock:  Bazzill, Recollections
patterned papers:  Simple stories (Homespun)
die cut shapes: Spellbinders
ribbon, clip:  Stampin’ Up!
ink: Memento, Copic Markers, Ranger
other:  thread.

My Final Additions to the Dirt Pile

Sadly my 6 month stint has come to end with the Dirty Girls this month. But do not despair… this month’s theme is the ultimate theme!  If you aren’t a member of the Splitcoaststampers Fan Club, this is your month to join! Click here to find out more.

Here’s some sneak peeks of my Dirty Girl cards for this month…

Hope to see you over at Splitcoast this month!  Come and play along!

~ Ally ~

A Sweet Treat for You!

It’s Wednesday and time for another challenge day over at StampNation. This week’s challenge is a delicious and delightful one!  This week’s challenge is to incorporate a fruit or vegetable into your card or project. Here’s some little sneak peeks of my fellow StampNation Dream Team members creations for this week’s creations…

My StampNation exclusive card is the one with the yellow striped paper and strawberries on it!  Yum!

With summer in full swing here in Alberta, we’re starting to see some fresh Ontario and British Columbia fruits like cherries and strawberries in the grocery stores.  I love this time of year for all these glorious fresh products.  So today I decided to honour the beautiful, sweet raspberry!

For my card I used a variety of Flourishes products here. I used the adorable “Sweet Berry Frames” stamp set for my fruit, gingham shape and also my sentiment.  For these shapes, I used the Flourishes Spellbinder’s die set, “Perfectly Pierced Classic Frames” which is designed specifically for this stamp set.  It’s got such great shapes!

I also used a fun back ground stamp from Stampin’ Up! to create my wood grain effect.  It’s called “Hardwood”.

Here’s a quick close up of the colouring and focal point of my card front…

So take a moment and check out StampNation!  You’ll love the friendly feel for sure!  If you have not had a chance to check out StampNation yet....

~ Ally ~

Supplies:
stamps: Flourishes (Berry Sweet Frames), Stampin’ Up! (Hardwood)
cardstock:  Recollections, Flourishes, Bazzill
ink: Memento, Stampin’ Up!, Copic Markers
dies:  Spellbinders for Flourishes
pearls:  Doodlebug Designs
other:  thread.

Introducing… Geraniums!

Howdy all!  It’s Day Two of the Power Poppy reveal for July 2014!  We’re so happy you could join us today.

Once again, we’re introducing a new digital stamp for this month.  Check out…. Geraniums…

For today’s reveal, I chose to keep my card design simple.  I took the stunning “Geranium” digi stamp into my photo editing software, shrunk it down a bit, duplicated it a few times and created a wreath of blooms to surround my sentiment.  This is WHY I love digital stamps… so many possibilities!

Once I printed my creation, I coloured it using Copic Markers with two shades of purple and a splash of pink.

Now… come and see what my fellow Bloom Brigaders have created with this fine digital stamp…

Allison Cope -- you are here!
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Danielle Kennedy
Julie Koerber
Katie Sims
Leslie Miller
Tosha Leyendekker
Power Poppy Blog

Thanks for stopping by!   

~ Ally ~

Sponsored by:  Power Poppy

Supplies:
stamps: Power Poppy (Geraniums)
cardstock:  Recollections, Flourishes
wood grain cardstock:  AveryElle
die cut shapes: Spellbinders
ribbon:  Stampin’ Up!
ink: Copic  Markers
other: thread.

Wanna Be Our “Peep of the Week”?

Hello happy crafters! It's Friday and this week we have a brand new "feature" on the Power Poppy Blog! This is not only a day when the Bloom Brigade will show you some of their latest creations, it's a day when we ask YOU to show us your stuff! That's right -- we want to see YOUR creations!

So I thought I would go back to Power Poppy's first reveal and play with my "Azalea" stamp set.

I first created my back ground using two of the images from the stamp set with SU! and Memento inks.  I just love the vibrancy I got from combining the two colours together.

Then I stamped my large Azalea image onto white cardstock and water coloured my image using Ranger Distress Inks and the corresponding SU! inks.   Here's a close up of my water coloured flowers and I also added some glimmer to their stamens: 

Now it's your turn!  Come and play along this week with the Bloom Brigade!  Anything goes for this week's challenge!


HERE'S HOW TO PLAY:
All you need to do is use the linky HERE and share a new Power Poppy creation. Just that simple! It can be anything -- a card, an altered item, a 3D creation, a set of cards, ANYTHING!

OFFICIAL RULES:

• You must use Power Poppy Stamps on your creation! There are lots of great digital stamps for immediate possession, here!
• Link up your creation using the Linky here.
• Mention the Peep of the Week challenge in your blog or gallery post with a link back to this blog post.
• We'll accept entries up until Thursday @3PM EST and will announce the Power Peeps of the Week next Friday for our Peep of the Week post.
• Peeps of the Week Winners will have their creations posted in a special gallery on the Power Poppy Pinterest Boards! 
• All players from the 13th, 20th and 27th will have their names thrown into a hat and the winner will get to pick a FREE STAMP SET OF THEIR CHOICE! Woo hoo!

Need a little inspiration to get those creative juices flowing? Be sure to stop on by and see what the lovely ladies on the Bloom Brigade created this week!

Let’s see who’s on deck for this week…

Allison Cope -- you are here!
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Dawn Burnworth
Julie Koerber
Katie Sims
Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker

Thanks for stopping by!     

~ Ally ~

Sponsored by:  Power Poppy
 
Supplies:
stamps: Power Poppy (Azalea)
cardstock:  Recollections 
gems:  Doodlebug Designs
ink: Memento, Stampin' Up!, Ranger Distress.

StampNation: Large Sentiments!

It's another challenge day over at StampNation!  This week's fabulous challenge is all about LARGE SENTIMENTS...

Here's a little sneak of my challenge example...

I chose to create my own large sentiments using my Silhouette machine to add to my card today!

~ Ally ~

Supplies:
stamps:  Stampin' Up!
cardstock:  Bazzill, Flourishes
patterned papers:  Echo Park (Summer Bliss)
die cut shapes: Silhouette
ink: Memento, Copic
glitter:Martha Stewart
tools:  Fiskars punch
brad: Echo Park
other: Scor-tape.

Card Making 101 - The Basics!

Join me on the Scrapbook and Cards Today blog here for fun tutorial where I teach you how to:

• create titles and sentiments without dies or expensive cutting machines,
• use household bleach to stamp with and...
• emboss using stamps!

Don't forget... the newest issue of Scrapbook and Cards Today is on it's way!  You can download it for FREE from the SCT website on March 21st!  But having a paper copy is just so much more fun.  Sign up for a subscription here to get your copy at home.

Don't forget to also check out the latest Cardmaps, issue 4!  This edition is always jammed packed full of cool sketch, fabulous cards mad awesome card making tips!  For more details on how to get a copy, click here.

Happy crafting!

~ Ally ~


Supplies:
cardstock:  Flourishes blue, black and white cardstocks
stamps:  Stampin' Up! (Morning Meadow)
embossing powder: Stampendous!
die shapes: Spellbinders
ink: Versamark
tools: computer and printer
pen: Sharpie Fine
other: bleach, paper towel.