Inspire Me Saturday ~ Festive Tag Fun!

 
Happy Saturday everyone!  Ally here!  I also want to say a belated Happy Thanksgiving to all of my fellow Canadian crafters!  I hope you've had a great holiday last weekend.

Welcome to Inspire Me Monday Saturday!  I have to confess. This was supposed to go live on the blog on Monday morning but I came down with an ugly flu late Saturday night and I was in bed until late Thursday before I was feeling well enough to even venture out of bed. But as of yesterday, I'm feeling almost 100% again... thank goodness. 

So today I'm going to highlight the amazingly fun and festive "Holly Golightly" stamp set. This clear stamp set contains a 3 beautiful images (a tag, a spray of holly and also a tiny bouquet) and 4 festive sentiments with a few special extras.

PLUS... we also have a complimentary digital stamp that allows you to create tags in any size and it's called "Holly Jolly Tag Digital Stamp".  Perfect for your quick download, print and create projects!

So now that you're familiar with today's stamp set, let's get creating!

So, to start, make your card sweet and simple!  Yup... some fun patterned papers in a fun color palette...

I love the pinks, turquoise and greens of this paper!

Next, go a little more detailed. Add some sparkle!  Whether it be some frames of glitter paper (Sorry, it's hard to see & photograph - it's the white border in between the plaid and cars!) or add some sparkle mediums like Stickles or Nuvo Drops, you can never go wrong with some some shine on your holiday cards and creations.

Next, why not try a shaker tag for your cards?  Our digital stamp version, the "Holly Jolly Tag Digital Stamp" would be perfect for this as you can enlarge your tag image to create a larger tag therefore, a larger shaker.

Now don't forget to decorate your packing!  Or heck, why not make your own! Grab some fun kraft wrapping paper from the dollar store and grab those fun colored inks and your stamps and go cRaZy!  When you're done with your wrapping paper, add that final touch of a tag to identify your recipient. 

 

QUICK PROJECT TIP: Try cutting your tag in a long rectangular shape instead of fussy cutting it out, stamp your tag in a fun ink color along with the "To" and "From" sentiments to create fun, fast tags for all your holiday gifts!

Plus, I think this tag would make a great name place holder for your Christmas table! You could make all your name place holders match your festive table colors!!

Thanks for sticking around for the end today.  I hope I've inspired you this weekend to go and create for the up and coming holiday.

Join me again next time!  Happy creating!

~ Ally ~

Creative Confetti: Sketch It Out!

Hello all and happy Tuesday to you! Today, I thought I'd do something I love and offer up a brand new sketch here on the Creative Confetti Challenge! It's always a good time when you can just try someone else's layout design, take the guesswork out and just color and create!  

HOW TO PLAY: All you have to do is create using the sketch below. Use Power Poppy Stamps  if you have them but if not, this is a great way to try to win some Power Poppy goodness! Just that simple!

Let's take a look at the sketch....

And now, on to my creation! 

 

A few weeks ago, I followed along with Nancy Sheads as she colored up an image from the Holly Golightly set.  I love her Inspire Me Monday coloring videos. It's just so peaceful to have a coloring companion! ;-) You can CLICK HERE to see this tutorial for yourself! She shares what Copic Markers she uses as she goes, making it super easy to pause, grab the color and then hit play and follow along. 

After I was done coloring, I used a stitched edge circle die and matted it on top of a few layers of different decorative paper, add a little doily, some twine and... ta da! Done! The little tag sentiment features a portion of a sentiment from the stamp set Simple Joys. 

Here's a look at a closeup of my card front. You can see, when I was all done, I did add a little sparkle thanks to a Wink of Stella Glitter Pen. Gotta have a little sparkle! 

So, there you have it folks -- that's my take on a brand new sketch! I hope you join me for this week's challenge! 

That means the winner of the September challenge is.....

SUSAN SUDBURY! 

Susan created a beautiful card for our Free For All Challenge using Power Poppy's Chickadee in Barberry digital stamp!  Check it out! And, if you want to see more of her creative process, all you need to do is click HERE to hop on over to her blog! 

I love how she used an effect to create the look of snow falling in her background. Amazing! Susan, to claim your prize, all you need to do is email us at bloom@powerpoppy.com and we will get your winning coupon code for $25 in the Power Poppy Shop to you! 

Want to join me and take this little layout for a test drive? Please, get those fingers inky and be sure to share what you come up with by using the linky below! Every entry -- no matter what the week -- is thrown into a virtual hat for our random drawing at the end of the month for a $25 gift code to the Power Poppy Shop! 

Have a great week! I can't wait to see what you create! 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Inspire Me Monday - Christmas in July!

GOOD MORNING POWER POPPY FRIENDS! How's it going in your part of the world? Here it's been scorching hot, so to cool off I decided to start working on my holiday cards.  Every year I say that I'm going to start early so I don't have a mad rush in December making cards. I suspect this year won't be any different, but at least I have one card now to stash away until the holidays.

Today I'm featuring the Holly Golightly Clear Stamp Set which features a sweet little Mason jar with boxwood and holly that I'll show you how to color today.

I have a video tutorial below for the Copic coloring, but let me tell you first about the rest of the card. I wanted a neutral background so that the image could take center stage. I started with a piece of kraft paper, but it seemed too bland. So I used a stencil and embossing paste to create a background that had texture and interest, but didn't overwhelm the central image. I've also been playing with hot foiling and the blue edging was created using the Spellbinders Glimmer Foil system. However, for something this simple, you could just back the image with foil cardstock.

OK - sit back and relax! It's time to roll the video!

Stamp: Holly Golightly Clear Stamp Set
Copics: BV000, R24, R29, R59, YG03, YG17, YG67, G21, G46, BG10, B000, B00, B02, B05, E30, E33, E35, C1, C3, C5, 0

That's it for me today! Hope you found some coloring inspiration!

Nancy

Creative Confetti: Tag, You're It!

Hello all and Happy Tuesday! Is your head spinning from all the Holiday Wonder shared right here over the last 12 days on the Power Poppy Blog? Gosh, I know mine sure is! What beautiful creations! And did you see that some of the designers are doing a giveaway on their blogs? 

Christine, myself, Kathy, Stacy, Broni, Nancy, Barbara, Leslie, Catherine, Gloria and Lisa JUST MIGHT be sharing a little surprise giveaway. So, hop on through all those links to see for yourself!

Moving on! I don't know about you but this time of year seems to be focused on two things -- Christmas cards and gift tags. You can never have too many in the "done" pile, can you? That's why I wanted to lend a hand and challenge you all to craft one, or two! 

HOW TO PLAY: It's just as simple as the name suggests! Make a tag! It can be any kind, it doesn't have to be a holiday tag. Just make a tag in order to play along. Use Power Poppy stamps if you have them but if you don't, now might just be the perfect time to win some! When you are done, link up your creation using the linky below and you'll be in the running for a $25 gift code to the Power Poppy Shop! The link is LIVE all month long, meaning, the more you play, the better your chances!

On to my creations! 

I was dying to use the new Power Poppy digital stamp set called Handmade With Love Tags. So, I thought this was the best time to do that -- with a tag challenge! Check this darling set out, will you?

You get this plump package of 8 holiday tag designs with oh-so-unique illustrations! And, get this! Not only do you get the 8 designs but you get them with and without a sentiment inside, allowing you to personalize these with reckless abandon! Too fun!

So, you can see above that I chose three of the designs and aimed for a similar color scheme with all three. I tend to only buy a couple mega rolls of wrapping paper along with some coordinating ribbon for every package I wrap during that season - so it's important -- especially for us matchy-matchy folks to, well, match! ;-)

Tag #1

I tend to do a ton of handmade gifts for my loved ones and this year is no exception. Both my mother and mother-in-law have some handmade goodness coming their way, so I know this tag above showing that I am sharing something Handmade with Love will definitely come in handy!

Tag #2

I have always loved this illustration above featured in a bit of Power Poppy's Snuggle Down stamp set! So, when it popped up on this tag, I thought, "Genius!" Marcy created a tag to coordinate with a stamp set for not only cards but coordinating tags! What? So fun!

Tag #3

And, this last tag is just one that I find so classy -- just a simple little gift with a ribbon that goes on for miles! It's perfect to attach to one of those cookie platters you like to give to the neighbors, right? I think so! This little package is also a part of the Power Poppy Merry Littles stamp set, again allowing coordinating galore! 

Looking for a little more inspiration?


Katie Sims did THIS darling tutorial showcasing a whole host of gift tags in interesting shapes using Power Poppy's Tweet Tidings set!

Allison Cope tagged up a bottle of bubbly or two HERE using Power Poppy's Dream Wedding set to help ring in the holidays! You'll have to click the link to see the three other tags she designed that are just as fun!

And, yours truly crafted a whole tutorial showcasing a few different gift tags using a multitude of Power Poppy sets HERE! 

So, "Tag! You're It!" Let's see what fun you can craft with a tag as your creation! And, as I mentioned, when you're done, just link up your creation below so we can all see AND so you can have a shot at winning a $25 gift code to the Power Poppy Shop!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Hopefully, we'll see you back here real soon! ;-)

~Julie
Creative Confetti Thrower

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Day 11: Festive Beverage Gift Tags

Howdy all!  Welcome the ELEVENTH day of our 12 Days of Christmas here at Power Poppy! I'm your hostess Allison Cope. We only have one more day to share some fun and festive gift ideas for this holiday season.

We should also point out this is a part of our Power & Spark Challenge. Instead of just one theme, create something inspired by one of our 12 days of tutorials, link up your creation HERE and you'll be in the running for this month's challenge. Just think you are creating something fun --creating a gift for someone -- AND you have a chance at winning $50 in Power Poppy Bucks at the Power Poppy Shop! 

Today I'm sharing a variety of festive beverage tags featuring all kinds of amazing stamp collections.

The beauty of wine tags is that they can be almost any size!!  Yup... you can make them wide or thin, tall or short, multi-layered or just one simple layer.  So each one of my tags today is not like the other.

If you know me, I'm a super-duper purple fan so I always find a way to incorporate it into my creations... event Christmas ones!  So my first tag is all about purple.  It features the large "Winter Wonderland" stamp set, colored in using Copic Markers.

To create the snowflake background, I used the snowflake cluster from the "Glitter House Village" and I used the simple sentiment from the "Berry Sweet Holiday" to finish off the tag.

My second beverage tag features one of my favorite new stamp sets.  It's called "Tweet Tidings".  This cheery tag has a few touches of silver to add some sparkle.

I colored my images using Prismacolor Pencils.

Not all of our hostesses are female!  So I tried to create a little more masculine feel to it.  So I grabbed my "Action Santa" and "Holly Golightly" stamp sets and created this more manly tag.

I chose to die cut the end of my tags in a little bit of a different angle.  I even matched it to my mini hanging tag.

My final beverage tag features the "Dream Wedding" stamp set.  I thought it would be completely fitting to give to your New Year's Eve party hostess.

I even made it to be a fun shaker element with some sparkly confetti inside.  Instead of die cutting a hole I chose to use a length of wide ribbon to hang my tag around the neck of my beverage.

For variations on these tags try:

• Adding a card to the tag so it opens up with a message for your recipient
• Add a pocket to drop in a gift card (coffee shop, liquor store, etc.)
• Add a detachable homemade ornament for the receipient's Christmas tree 
• Attach a gift certificate for the local taxi service or a mode of local public transportation

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Remember, if you try any one of the 12 projects featured during our 12 Days of Christmas -- be sure to link up your creation HERE so that you are in the running for the $50 shopping spree to the Power Poppy Shop! Be sure you pop back tomorrow for our final day of our Twelve Days of Christmas extravaganza as the lovely Kathy Racoosin dazzles us with her challenge inspiration! Until then... cheers! 

~ Allison Cope ~



Purple Blooms
Stamps: Power Poppy (Winter Wonderland, Glitter House Village, Berry Sweet Holiday)
Cardstock: Recollections (110# White), MFT (Wild Wisteria, Lavender Fields)
Dies: Catherine Pooler Designs (Circle Dies, Lattice Frame Die), Spellbinders (Scalloped Circles)
Inks: Simon Says Stamp (Wisteria), Copic Markers
Sequins: Studio Katia (Crystal Rainbow Fusion)
Ribbon: Celebrate It (Christmas Noel)
Corner Rounder: EK Success
Bells: ArtMinds
Thread: Sulky 

Chickadees
Stamps: Power Poppy (Tweet Tidings)
Cardstock: Recollections (110# White , 110# Black)
Patterned Paper: KaiserCraft (Christmas Edition 6x6)
Dies: Studio Katia (Stitched Loops), Catherine Pooler Designs (Spiro Doily, Circles)
Inks: Memento (Tuxedo Black), Prismacolor Pencils, Distress Oxide (Antique Linen)
Corner Punch: Fiskars

Skiing Santa
Stamps: Power Poppy (Action Santa, Holly Golightly)
Cardstock: Recollections (110# White, 110# Cloud)
Patterned Paper: Echo Park (A Perfect Winter 12”x12”)
Dies: Catherine Pooler Designs (Circles), MFT (Stitched Basic Edges, Basic Stitched Lines), WPlus9 (Timeless Tags 2)
Inks: Memento (Tuxedo Black), Copic Markers, Sakura (White Gel Pen)
Charms: Emerald Creek (Pinecone), Tim Holtz (Snowflake)
Twine: Bead Landing
Thread: Sulky, White 

Cheers Shaker Tag
Stamps: Power Poppy (Dream Wedding)
Cardstock: Recollections (110# White), Stampin’ Up! (Cherry Cobbler), Acetate
Dies: Pretty Pink Posh (Stitched Duo 1), MFT (Stitched Ovals, Let It Snowflake)
Sequins: Little Things from Lucy’s Cards (Champagne), Studio Katia (Sparkling Crystals Mix)
Inks: Memento (Tuxedo Black), Versamark, Copic Markers, Catherine Pooler Designs (Juniper Mist), Pen-Touch (Gold)
Ribbon: Offray

Day 8: Christmas Cookie Envelope

Hello there, fellow Power Poppy enthusiasts! Cindy here with day 8 of our 12 Days of Christmas fun! Haven't all of the projects been great?!! So many wonderful ideas! Have you missed any of the days? Well, you're in luck, because I have them all linked right here for you. Check them out: Katie's tags, Stacy's Gift Card Holder, Tosh's Gift Bag Topper, Mindy's Christmas Organizer, Julie's Holiday Treat Box, Christine's Christmas Pom Pom Garland, & Stacey's Altered Gift Tins. Click on the links to create your own homemade Christmas.

If you play along with us during any one of the 12 days and try our project at hand, link up your creation HERE and you’ll be in the running for our Power & Spark 12 Days of Christmas Challenge. That’s right – you’ll have 12 ways to enter. Play along once or try all 12 days for more chances to win a $50 shopping spree to the Power Poppy Shop!

Now, about my creation...

A favorite Christmas tradition in our family is baking lots of Christmas goodies, packaging them up sweetly, and delivering them to all of our neighbors. We've been doing it for 20 years now. The only downside is that it has caught on in our little neighborhood of seven houses, and now we get back 7 times as many goodies as we hand out! Haha! My waistline thanks me for this tradition.

Anyway, I digress... I am always looking for fun & simple packaging ideas, and several years ago I stumbled across a template for making cookie envelopes. Now, I have no idea where I got this template from, as I've had it saved on my computer since I found it. I also edited out the designs on it to give me a blank template that I could decorate myself.

Here's the link to my version of the Cookie Envelope Template. Here's the link to my version of the Cookie Envelope Liner Template. First, I printed out the templates. The templates are quite light; so you will want to choose a cardstock color that is on the lighter side.

The liner was printed on vellum; but you could also use waxed paper, parchment paper, or even thin copy paper. If you use vellum like I did, you'll either need to wait for your ink to dry or heat set it with an embossing tool (which is, of course, what I did).

Since the vellum is transparent, I was able to use my Scor Buddy tool to score the fold lines. Easy peasy!

For the kraft cardstock template, I used a t-square; but you could also use a regular ruler. As you can see in the photo, the template is definitely harder to see on the kraft cardstock. You won't want to go any darker than that.

Next, I cut out the templates and scored the lines. I stamped all over the outside of the kraft template with Color Box opaque white ink and the beautiful swag image from Holly Golightly. Love the understated elegance of white on kraft.

I then flipped the templates over, and placed the liner inside. You could use a bit of no-show adhesive (such as vellum tape) to adhere the liner to the envelope; but I chose not to. It just seemed like an unnecessary step to me.

Here it is with a cookie inside...white chocolate macadamia nut cookie to be exact. Yum!

Okay, the real reason I'm sharing the cookie photo is because I want to give you an idea of the size of the template. The vellum liner is 3-1/4" square inside. Yes, that's also about the size of my cookie. Truth be told, you want your cookies to be 3" or smaller & fairly flat for a nice fit. I made it work, though! (Sure wasn't going to bake a whole new batch of cookies!) You could also put four really small cookies inside, which would be just darling!

I stamped the tag in Memento Tuxedo Black ink on X-Press It Blending Card, colored it with Copic Markers, and stamped the sentiment in red & green inks. I then cut the tag out, and adhered it to the top of the cookie envelope.

Here's a look at the Copic Markers I used.

There are actually a couple of different ways you could close this envelope up. Here's how I closed mine.

I sewed a couple of buttons to two of the flaps, and held them together with red & white striped twine. Super cute, and super easy too!

Another way you could close the envelope is to leave the shorter flaps on the outside, wrap a piece of ribbon or string around the whole thing, and tie it up in a bow.

Finally, if you don't want to mess with sewing buttons, you can just grab a fun piece of washi tape to hold the flaps closed. It really doesn't get any easier than that, does it?

Remember to link up your creation HERE, so that you're entered in this month's 12 Days of Christmas Power & Spark Challenge for a $50 Shopping Spree to the Power Poppy Shop!

Here’s some more inspiration from the
Bloom Brigade today....

Cindy Lawrence
Julie Koerber
Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker

Thanks so much for stopping by for a visit today! Be sure to come back tomorrow for Day 9 of the 12 Days of Christmas. Our dear resident Aussie, Kathy Jones, will be showing us how to create a Christmas cracker! So much inspiration and so many chances to win! Merry Christmas to YOU!

May your day be overflowing with great joy, friends!

~Cindy

Day 3: Gift Bag Topper

Hello!!! Hello!!! Hello!! Tosh here with Day 3 of our super fun 12 Days of Christmas December Power & Spark Challenge! If you haven't seen Katie's tags, or Stacy's Gift Card Holder, be sure to click on the links. You won't want to miss either of them!! They are clever and gorgeous!!

If you play along with us during any one of the 12 days and try our project at hand, link up your creation HERE and you’ll be in the running for our Power & Spark 12 Days of Christmas Challenge. That’s right – you’ll have 12 ways to enter. Play along once or try all 12 days for more chances to win a $50 shopping spree to the Power Poppy Shop!

Okay...now for today's project!!

A couple of decades ago, I started making Gift Bag Toppers. I actually learned how from a Stampin' Up demonstrator, but since it was about 22 years ago, I can't for the life of me remember her name. The basics are pretty much the same, I just make my borders a bit different. I made a tutorial for it a few years ago that you can find HERE.

Now, for today's bag, I used three different Power Poppy Stamp sets: Tweet Tidings (front panel), Holly Golightly (border and tag), Glitter House Village (top of topper and background tag).

For the border of my topper, I cut out the size, and scored where instructed. Then, I stamped the holly all the way around with Tuxedo Black Memento Ink. I colored it with Copics and then stamped the snow background (from the Glitter House Village set), with Versamark and embossed it using Clear Embossing Powder (SU!) Then came the challenging part...fussy-cutting around all the holly.

 
I didn't get really particular, and it turned out beautifully, so it doesn't have to be perfect. Lastly, I ink distressed the whole topper with Antique Linen Distress Ink (Ranger), so make the snowflakes pop, and to age everything so it blends with the kraft gift bag. The flakes are hard to see in the photo, but in real life, they are a subtle charming little addition.

Next came the main panel. I started by die cutting the square (6x6 Matting Basics B - Spellbinders) and while the X-Press It cardstock was still in the die, I stamped the two separate Tweet Tidings Chickadees onto it with Tuxedo Black Memento Ink. That way I could maintain a clean white border. I then Ink Distressed the panel with Antique Linen Distress Ink again, and colored the images with Copics. Lastly, I added some White Liquid Applique to the snow portions of the image, sprinkling some Dazzling Diamonds glitter (SU!) on it before heating it with my heating tool. I love the sparkle and fun dimension.

Lastly, every gift bag needs a tag. And fortunately for us, Marcy has designed a fabulous set with a charming tag included. So, I stamped the tag along with one of the sentiments (from the Holly Golightly set), colored it with Copics and cut it out. I felt like it needed a base, so I took my Spellbinders Christmas Tag Set, die cut one of the tags using a piece of decorative paper from Echo Park's I Love Winter 6x6 paper pad. It was kind of plain, so I added an evergreen branch and a portion of a sentiment from the Glitter House Village set. It was stamped with Smokey Gray Versafine ink.

I hope you'll try your hand at decorating a gift bag with a topper. They are easy, and they eliminate the need for tissue paper, and the temptation of the recipients to peek. The topper makes it a bit harder after all. ;) If you do try this project, make sure to share by linking up your creation HERE! Of course, we would all love to see and if you link up your project, you'll be in the running for a $50 shopping spree to the Power Poppy Shop! 

Please stop by again tomorrow to see how Mindy Baxter makes a little treat aimed at keeping better tabs on all your hoiday gift purchases!

That is finally it y'all!!  Happy Stamping!!