Tulips in Hobnail Pitcher

Hello, sweet friends! I am so excited to use the newest remixed digital image from Power Poppy by Marcella Hawley called Tulips in Hobnail Pitcher.

"This lush bouquet of freshly gathered tulips captures laid-back country living, complete with a hobnail-trimmed milk pitcher. Two birthday sentiments round out this set that is just begging to be colored up this spring." 

There are so many gorgeous colors of tulips...so needless to say, I swooned over the many tulips I found on the internet. As I started coloring on a practice piece, I decided to go with pink with red, leaning more and more toward red. Then came thoughts of a layout and designer paper or a decorative die -- always a dilemma for me. With this lovely country pitcher, I thought about a favorite doily die and found a piece of homey designer paper. The fun part of using digital images is making them any size you want, and I wanted a larger size that fit with my doily with a small mat (that I fussy cut after tracing the outer circle die). Before adhering it to the doily, it needed piercing -- hehe, yes, I love to pierce. I sanded the edges of the designer paper, matted it, and added the ribbon with a bow. While it's not mailable, I am willing to box it up for mailing. 

So here she is finished -- after struggling with choice of colors, layout, and finishing touches. I really like that the roses stand out but compliment the blue. Talk about blue...it was fun finding the right combination of markers to match the designer paper and the card stock for the pitch. But in the end, I think I like it.

When I was writing this post, I was thinking about the Last Supper when Jesus took the cup and and the bread and announced the New Covenant sealed with His blood. I am thankful for the sacrifice Jesus made for me and anyone who trusts Him as Savior.

Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served,
but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.
Matthew 20:28

For this is My blood of the covenant,
which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Matthew 28:20

Now it's time to see some amazing cards from both the Bloom Brigade and the Instant Gardeners -- and then finish off at the Poppy Poppy blog for the latest news! I'm sure you stampers will definitely want to get this new digi at Power Poppy and also check out the entire digital collection. Remember, it's available today -- to print, color, and make a card! Hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

Allison Cope
Cindy Lawrence
Katie Sims
Leslie Miller
Tosha Leyendekker
Broni Holcombe
Cheryl Scrivens <that's me>
Debbie Olson
Barb Walker
Power Poppy Blog

Thanks so much for visiting and sharing a comment, thought, or question. I love hearing from you and am always happy to answer questions, so don't hesitate to email me. (I am entering this in this week's Word Art Wednesday challenge.)

May you have a blessed Easter -- Resurrection Day!

Blessings,

Stamps:  Tulips in Hobnail Pitcher (Power Poppy) 

Paper: Solar White (Neenah), Not Quite Navy (SU), White Weave textured paper (The Paper Company), Home Sweet Home Collection (Graphic 45)

Ink: None (printer)
Tools/Accessories: Copic markers, English Tea Party die (Cheery Lynn), Nesting Circles dies (QuicKutz/Lifestyle Crafts), Enchanted Evening satin ribbon (PTI), Perfect Layers tool, Perfect Squares tool, piercing tool, nail file
Techniques: Digital images using Microsoft Word, paper-piercing, fussy cutting, sanding

Card Size:  6" x 6"
Copic markers used: Tulips - R20, R14, R29; Leaves - G40, G43, G85, YG11, YR31; Pitcher - BG72, BG75; Grounding - E40, E81

Spring Meadow Bouquet

Hello, precious friends, and it's so wonderful to "chat" with you today! I am sure you are all looking forward to spring. So in anticipation of its arrival...I get to share the brand new Instant Garden digital image from Power Poppy by Marcella Hawley called Spring Meadow Bouquet.

Isn't this an amazing bouquet? The flowers are, starting clockwise: Bleeding Hearts, Summer Snowflake, Lilacs, and then Checkered Lilies (also called Snake's Head Fritillary), more Summer Snowflake, more Bleeding Hearts, Lilac, and more Summer Snowflake. And just look at this sweet butterfly and the bumble bee (did you know they absolutely love the nectar of bleeding hearts).

Marcy is always so wonderful to provide us with the names of each of the flowers in her images, and I love finding examples of photos. I must say that I was amazed at seeing checkered lilies - they are really checkered! Isn't it so neat how God loves to delight us in His designs? After finding many photos of the various flowers and their different colors, I started to decide what color mix would work best for me. But before I started coloring, I used GIMP to remove the backgrounds of both images (the main floral image and the sentiment). Next I opened Microsoft Word and dragged in each image, resized them, and placed them where I wanted. I decided to make a "copy" of the sentiment and cropped the first two words for the top and the last three words for the bottom of my staggered sentiment (so I could "nest" my sentiment toward the bouquet). The sentiment that comes with this new digi is a single line. Then I printed it (always having two on a page whenever possible). Ah, and then the fun begins -- coloring! I must confess that this one took me three "pre-coloring" tests to figure out what colors would work best for me. I wanted my lilacs and checkered lilies to be compatible and still "work" with the vibrant bleeding hearts. I think they compliment each other. I have to admit that this card took me a long time to color, but oh -- the joy of coloring is so relaxing to me!

Once my coloring was done, I fussed some with trying to figure out a different layout and tried some border dies that just didn't work for me. So I finally "auditioned" Strawberry Slush as a mat and decided to use it with a favorite border punch. The rest was relatively easy using my Perfect Layers tools and trying to make my border symmetric at the bottom (yes, we perfectionists can get a bit carried away - haha!). But in the end, I think I like it enough. Truly, the image is amazing in its fine detail, especially if you enlarge it and see all the tiny dots and lines that give Marcy's images such beauty and depth! 

So, here she is in a simple layout with the decorative border punch at the bottom, and I think that this beautiful bouquet deserves front stage, don't you?

I was so thrilled to see this beautiful bouquet, but I was also delighted to see the lovely sentiment. It really means a lot to me these last couple of weeks. As many of you know, I've continued to deal with health issues, and a dear friend of mine on Splitcoaststampers (Anne Ryan) requested that I be the "destination station" for the March 1 Teapot Challenge. Well, I can't believe the outpouring of love and encouragement, and I continue to receive beautiful cards from the "Teapotters" and other wonderful friends from SCS. How touched I am, and so this card will be posted on SCS tomorrow as a small gesture of my thanks to such a caring and encouraging community. And, precious friends, I thank you all for the many prayers and words of encouragement here on my blog! I love your dearly!

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you,
always in every prayer of mine for you all 
making my prayer with joy.
Philippians 1:3, 4

Now it's time to visit some of the Instant Gardeners for more inspiration. After that, I'm sure you stampers will definitely want to hop over to Power Poppy to purchase this new digital release to use today. Don't forget to check out the entire digital collection that keeps growing. So hop on over to the Power Poppy blog to read and see what Marcy has to say about this image and how she developed it - it's amazing, and she takes us on a walk! Well, that's all I'll tell you - find out for yourself! You won't regret it!

Broni Holcombe

Cheryl Scrivens <me>

Barb Walker
Jennifer Dove

Marcella Hawley on the Power Poppy blog

Thank you ever so much for visiting and sharing a comment, thought, or question. I love hearing from you and am always happy to answer questions, so please don't hesitate to email me. I love to help whenever I can. (I am entering this in this week's Word Art Wednesday challenge.) 

Blessings,

Stamps:  Spring Meadow Bouquet (Power Poppy) 

Paper: Solar White (Neenah), Strawberry Slush (SU), White Weave textured paper (The Paper Company)

Ink: None (printer)
Tools/Accessories: Copic markers, Perfect Layers tool, piercing tool, Modern Garland border punch (Martha Stewart)
Techniques: Digital images using GIMP and Microsoft Word

Card Size:  6¼” x 6½”