Believing and Trusting...with Great Hope

Hello, sweet friends, and happy first day of spring!

I started this card on Monday for the Clean and Simple Card Challenge called "No Patterned Paper," and then I saw Thursday's Ways to Use It Challenge called "Triple Play" using combinations of threes. So I decided to combine the challenges. I used a layered decorative die for my CAS challenge and used three colors for my image and three layers on my card. It's been far too long since I've played a challenge on Splitcoaststampers, and I hope to play again soon.

I colored my rose and added a little blue to soften it, and then I added this encouraging sentiment. I used Labels 28 for my focal image and layered it on the coordinating A2 Devine Eloquence die on top of the pink card stock. I added gold with my Krylon pen to dress it up and then pierced around the top layer.

As I worked on this card Monday, I thought about my dear dad whose birthday it was...he would have been 91. And I have to say, it was a hard day. I still miss him very much after 15 years (it sure doesn't feel like that long ago). He was dearly loved -- he loved people and had a smile that would make anyone smile back! But most of all, he loved the Lord and had great faith, which gives me the true hope of seeing him again one day. A dear friend recently lost her mom, and I am praying that she too is comforted by this precious Scripture passage.

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.
-- 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

Thanks so much for "stopping by" and sharing a comment, thought or question, and I hope you have a wonderful week! And warm hugs to all...spring is here!

Blessings,

Stamps:  Old Tea Rose, Anemones (Flourishes) 

Paper: Solar White (Neenah), White (PTI), Pretty in Pink (SU)

Tools/Accessories: Copic markers, Labels 28 and Devine Eloquence dies (Spellbinders), Glue n' Seal adhesive, piercing tool

Techniques: Paper-piercing

Card Size:  A-2
Copics used: BG000, RV00, RV02, RV11, RV21, RV14, YG13, G24, G94

Power Poppy Instant Gardener - March Release

Hello, sweet friends, and welcome to the Power Poppy Instant Garden Digital Release for March, the monthly digital stamp collection from Power Poppy by Marcella Hawley. You can buy, download, print, and color the digi images - in an instant - today!

I am delighted to share this month's digital release and will simply share Marcella's wonderful inspiration notes...it says it all far more beautifully than I could.

This image features awakening daffodils and twirling foliage in a tangle of periwinkle (Vinca minor), with a roly poly snail. A "just because" sentiment (with a transparent background) shares the daffodils' twirling sensibility!

You all may know from past blog posts and chit-chat that I am a big admirer of daffodils. I have planted many varieties in my garden through the years, and some of them are nice enough to return each spring (when I haven't let other plants overtake their space...). Meanwhile, my mom, Susan, is a true daffodil devotee. She is a member of the American Daffodil Society and has planted gajillioins of varieties all over the yard from bulbs she has tracked down with "daffodialaholic" desire from her various sources. Each spring, she calls me to come over and "cut a ton and make big bouquets!" and I always oblige (who wouldn't?). They come in many shades of yellow, cream, and white with the most delicious colors for the "cup" - apricot, pink, salmon (of course, yellow, white, green). The differences are subtle but really quite dreamy to play with.

Look at these delightful daffodils, periwinkle, and wonderful little snail - the new digital stamp release called Dancing with Daffodils.

Having a love of daffodils, I decided to break out and start manipulating this digital image to show how versatile it is with just the daffodils...what can I say...I love technology. So you might say that I went out to Marcella's "garden" and gathered a bouquet of daffodils! I used GIMP (the free photo-editing software), but you can also use Photoshop. Both Julie Koerber and Allison Cope have shared great tutorials to take out the mystery of working with digitals...using Photoshop, Word, and GIMP. Be sure to visit these wonderful tutorials, and don't be shy about asking questions:

I Bought a Digital Stamp...Now What?

Digital Stamps...Part Two

When I saw these daffodils, I thought of how "friendly" they are...growing together and seeing new friends added each year as new bulbs are planted. So I decided to digitally "mask" the daffodils and put three together (more about that below). After adding the perfect sentiment from Camellias, I colored my daffodils with a darker "cup" and added some blue highlights to match my card stock. Who doesn't love blue with yellow? Then I used the main die from A2 Filagree Delights to cut out my focal image, fussy cutting around the oval, and colored the edge with Copic marker B41. Since I wanted to pop the decorative die over the blue card stock, I used two die cuts from the main Filagree Delights die and glued them together to give them some body and adhered to my blue card stock, used Perfect Layers for an even mat, and adhered it all to my card base. And once again, this is a mailable card - yay!

So how did I make my "masked" Power Poppy bouquet? I opened my Dancing with Daffodils image with GIMP, immediately renamed the temporary file "Daffodil Bouquet Layer 01," flipped it horizontally for a mirror image, erased all but the masked piece I wanted (two daffodils), removed the background, cropped it, and saved it as a .png file. (Make sure you do not overwrite your purchased and copy-protected digital image.) Next I reopened the original Dancing with Daffodils image, renamed my temporary image "Daffodil Bouquet Layer 02," erased all but the left daffodil, removed the background, cropped it, and saved it as a .png file. These temporary mask files help us achieve what we do when using Eclipse masking paper to make masks for our physical stamps...one is the "digital" foreground image, and the other is the "digital" background image. [Note: This copyrighted image is designed by Marcella Hawley, and these temporary files are protected by the same copyright. So keep them in your personal library, and do not share them.] 

I could have used GIMP to "group" my bouquet of daffodils, but I like doing it in Word and think it is easier for beginning digital stampers. In Word, I dragged in each of the two "bouquet" pieces, resized them (be sure to hold down the Control key so you don't distort the image), and arranged them. I "sent back" the left daffodil and made it a little larger. Now I have two "masked" images from Dancing with Daffodils in Word to make my bouquet. I selected my digital sentiment and added it the same way. Once I had the sizes and shapes arranged the way I wanted, I grouped them (hold down the Control key and select each piece, then right click and select "group"). Now I can copy and paste this "group" to print out four on a page (having done all the creative work, I love to make more than one card). 

So now it's time to visit the rest of the amazing Instant Gardeners and to visit Power Poppy's website to get this new digital release - today (no shipping required)!

Broni Holcombe

Cheryl Scrivens <me>

Danielle Kennedy

Debbie Olson
Jennifer Dove
Rhea Wiegand
Marcella Hawley on the Power Poppy Blog

Thanks so much for "stopping by" and sharing a comment, thought or question, and I hope you have a wonderful week! And warm hugs to all...spring is coming!

Blessings,

Stamps:  Dancing with Daffodils, Camellias (Power Poppy) 

Paper: Solar White (Neenah), White (PTI), Bashful Blue (SU)

Tools/Accessories: Copic markers, A2 Filigree Delights dies (Spellbinders), Glue n' Seal adhesive, 3M dimensional tape

Techniques: Digital Manipulation using GIMP and Microsoft Word

Card Size:  A-2
Copics Used:  Y02, Y11, Y21, Y23, Y28, YR12, YR20, YR21, YR30, E81, E84, G40, G43, G82, YG11, YG17, YG45, B0000, B41