Inspire Me Monday: Bold and Bright

Hello and Happy Independence Day to my fellow American friends! The United States of America is 246 years old today! I hope everyone is having a happy and safe holiday!   

Today is my turn to share the weekly inspiration. And I am sorry that you are not getting a patriotic project! If you want to see some 4th of July inspired projects, do a search on the blog to see what we've done in the past! Instead, I am sharing some BOLD AND BRIGHT inspiration, perfect for summer-time creating!

I think some folks shy away from bold, bright colors and use more pastel or muted tones. I totally understand. That Copic R89 is DARK, am I right?! But once you embrace the concept of bold color, and bold color contrasts, you will see your work come live in a new and different way! 

Last time I shared a Work In  Progress (WIP) with you, using lots of bold color. (See that post HERE.) I finally finished it in time to use for our inspiration today!

I printed the flower wreath from the Peony Love Digital Stamp Set at approximately 7" x 7" onto textured, decorative paper and colored the image with Prismacolor Premiere Colored Pencils. (The sentiment in the center of the wreath is from the Geraniums Digital Stamp Set.)

I love all those bold reds, bright pinks, deep greens, and then the restful peach and yellow tones! This big wreath image was so fun to color, and boy did I wear out my red and pink pencils!

Don't be afraid of your dark, bold, bright markers, pencils, or paints! Use them! It may take some time to get the hang of the darker colors, but it IS only paper and ink/pencil/paint, after all. 

If you need more BOLD AND BRIGHT projects, here are some of my past creations using bold reds, bright blues and yellows, saturated greens and oranges!

This card is just a "punch in the eye" bold and bright masterpiece! I used the Tea Cake with Strawberries digital set, the gifts are from the Party Essentials digital set, and the sentiment from the Layer Cake digital set. To see how I put all those images together, see the post HERE. This image is colored with Copic markers.

Nothing says summer like in-season berries!

This is the digital image called Berry It. (The sentiment is from the Juicy Strawberries digital set.) Details HERE. Once again, I chose deep reds and greens for the image, using Copic markers.

Red is always on my list as a bold and bright color! But that electric blue! WOW! This is another Copic project. This image is Ferns and Fungi. Details HERE.

Fresh fruit is always in fashion for summer! This Aloe and Oranges partial image was turned into a card. Details HERE. I colored this with a combination of Copic markers and Brutfuner Wanshui colored pencils. 

And just because I didn't want to disappoint...

Here is some red, white, and blue! I used  Everything's Rosy digital stamp set and dark red and blue Copic markers for this one! Details HERE.

Thanks for joining us for Inspire Me Monday! Make sure to come back every Monday to see new inspiration!

Power Poppy Products Used:
Peony Love Digital Stamp Set
Geraniums Digital Stamp Set

Other Products Used: Prismacolor colored pencils, Authentiuqe printed paper,  cardstock

Geraniums are good for you!

Hard to find a happier plant than Geraniums—would you agree? They’re so very colorful and free-wheeling; so easy to grow and make cuttings; so reliable. They’re like the essence of contentedness really! Plus they bloom like absolute fiends (why, I have 6 different cultivars showing off their colorful selves in my garden right now). I’d go so far as to say Geraniums: They’re good for your spirit!

While I can go on til the break of dawn about the merits of the jaunty Geranium (and I could also get into my plant nerd mode about how the Latin name is actually Pelargonium), that doesn’t help much in the card-making department. But wait—that’s where this new digi stamp set comes in!

If Geraniums are so happy and content, you can give your cards a healthy dose of cheerful, carefree charm with this illustration, which you can color a bajillion various ways! The leaves can be given all manner of color variations. The sentiment sums up the way I feel when I look out into my yard at this time of year.... full on botanical explosion. “The Earth laughs in flowers” — isn’t that just so great? It makes me smile just thinking about what a clever observation that is.

You know what else makes me smile? Gawking at what outstanding creations the Bloom Brigade designed to showcase the Geraniums digital stamp set. You are really going to feel the happy vibes, c’mon, let’s go see...

Allison Cope
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Danielle Kennedy
Dawn Burnworth
Julie Koerber
Katie Sims
Leslie Miller
Tosha Leyendekker

Thank you for popping over, and hope you’ll come back tomorrow for our last day of the Bloom Wildly all-digital stamp release! The last day is gonna be a real doozy!!