Apples in Season

Hello, my sweet friends! It's Friday, and the weekend is coming. I hope you have a good one, no matter what you do.

Today I am sharing a newly remixed image that reminds me of the change of season, and apples means fall to me. This new digital set from Power Poppy by Marcella Hawley has a lovely cascade of apples and blossoms along with a quote. It is called Apples in Season.

Apples remind me of years ago when we would go to a local orchard for apples. The orchard was widely known for its delicious apples, and they had a shop where you could order fresh apple pie and even order a slice to eat there -- with vanilla ice cream on it. Oooh, was it delicious! And the apples were thinly sliced, tender, and had lots of cinnamon. The deep-dish pies had cinnamon sugar on top of an amazing flaky crust. Oh my, what precious memories. So back to my card. Hehe! I decided to make a clean and simple card after I finished coloring this beautiful stem of apples and apple blossoms. I used my MISTI to add a sentiment from Sassy Succulents. Then I used a stitched die and matted it with some designer paper, and finally I added some perle cotton with a button. I popped it up with dimensional tape, and it was done and is ready to be mailed to a friend. 

The changing of seasons and the fruitfulness of nature reminds me of the wonderful hymn "Great Is Thy Faithfulness." What a joy to know that God is always faithful and will strengthen and guard us. 

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

But the LORD is faithful,
and He will strengthen you
and guard you from the evil one.
2 Thessalonians 3:3

Now it's time for my stamping friends to hop on over to Power Poppy to get this new digital release to use today -- and also check out the entire digital collection. Then be sure to visit the Power Poppy blog where there is a lot going on today. Then hop around to leave some "love" for my teammates and see what they have in store for you today! You will not be disappointed!

Allison Cope

Cindy Lawrence

Julie Koerber
Kathy Jones

Katie Sims 

Stacy Morgan

Rhea Weigand
Cheryl Scrivens

Debbie Olson

Nancy Sheads

Barb Walker

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

Blessings, dear friends,

Stamps:  Apples in Season, Sassy Succulents (Power Poppy) 

Paper: Solar White 80# and 110# (Neenah), 6x6 Patterns and Solids (Graphic 45)

Ink:  Onyx Black (Versafine), printer
Tools/Accessories: Copic markers, Stitched Rectangles dies (Simon Says Stamps), Perle Cotton #351 (DMC), Poppy Red button (PTI), Perfect Layers tool, white tape, red tape
Techniques: Digital images using Microsoft Word

Card Size:  A-2
Copic markers used: Apples - R14, R17, R22, R29, R32; Leaves - G40, G43, G99, YG11, YG01, E33; Flowers - R81, RV00; Flower Centers - Y32; Branches - E21, E25; Shadowing - BG0000

Forget-Me-Not Heart

Hello, dear friends! Are you ready for a good week? I hope you are keeping cool (or warm for my friends in Australia).

Today we have a different kind of remixed image -- it's a heart made from the strand of forget-me-nots from one of the brand new clear stamp sets (Soothing Sympathy). It comes with two sentiments and with the heart alone as well as with the Thank You sentiment placed inside. As you may have seen last Friday, Julie Koerber shared a beautiful card that inspired this new digital release (and I'll let you read how it came about -- hehe!). The new digital image from Power Poppy by Marcella Hawley is called Forget-Me-Not Heart. 

This new digital set is simply sweet and will surely make some quick thank-you cards or a card for someone who needs a lift or to know that you are thinking about them. One of the great things about digital images is resizing them, and I resized this floral heart to fit into this heart-shaped die. It just seemed perfect with the scallops, don't you think? I wanted to participate in Thursday's Ways To Use It challenge at Splitcoaststampers called "Simply Stripes" and used the striped side of one sheet that worked with the floral piece at the bottom. I used some ribbon and matted with Rich Razzleberry, and I think it may be the first time I've used this color. It needed a little something in the corner, and I used some Liquid Pearls and also popped the heart. So now it's ready to mail, and I have another one ready to put together. Remember, when you have the markers out and have printed more than one, it's a great way to make multiple cards. After all, that's why we started stamping, right? To write notes and send out cards (wink).

I love this sentiment, and I hope this card will tell my friend that I care and am praying for her. We are all busy with so many different things in each of our lives today, and yet we need to remember to nurture our personal relationships, as Paul reminds us in these verses. 

I do not cease to give thanks for you,
remembering you in my prayers.
Ephesians 1:16

I thank my God always
when I remember you in my prayers.
Philemon 1:4

Now it's time for my stamping friends to hop on over to Power Poppy to get this new digital release to use today -- and also check out the entire digital collection. Then leave some "love" for my teammates and see what they have in store for you today, and also visit Julie Koerber's blog to see how today's newest digi came to be! Enjoy!

Barb Walker

Nancy Sheads
Stacy Morgan

Cheryl Scrivens (me)

Julie Koerber

Marcella Hawley on Power Poppy blog

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

Blessings, dear friends,

Stamps:  Forget-Me-Not Heart, Juicy Strawberries (Power Poppy) 

Paper: Solar White (Neenah), Coffee in the Arbour (Maja Design), Rich Razzleberry (SU), and White (PTI)

Tools/Accessories: Copic markers, Ornate Hearts dies (Our Daily Bread Designs), Rich Razzleberry grosgrain ribbon (SU), White Opal Liquid Pearls (Ranger), Gelly Roll (Sakura), Thin  3D Foam Squares (Scrapbook Adhesives), Perfect Layers tool, white tape, red tape
Techniques: Digital images using Microsoft Word

Card Size:  5¼”
Copic markers used: Leaves - G20, G40, G43; Flowers - V1, RV91, V15, R56; Flower Centers - Y23; Shadowing - W00, W0, W1

Sunshine of My Life

Hello, sweet friends! I imagine you have heard of the terrible events in Nice, France, and may we continue to pray for the people of France.

I've colored up another brand new Instant Garden digital image from Power Poppy by Marcella Hawley called Sunshine of My Life. One of my favorite flowers is the sunflower, and they are just so big and happy! Marcy shares this:

"I've long been inspired by Vincent Van Gogh's series of vibrant sunflower paintings done in Arles in the late-1800s. The studies partly became famous not only for their but, but for their innovative use of 'the yellow spectrum' -- as new yellow pigments were being developed at the time, and Vincent was able to create many new colors and shades of yellow with paint. This is my little ode to his lovely creations. Of course, mine are done in black and white, and YOU get to add the 'yellow spectrum!' There are lots of petals to color and joy to bring! I dare you to google  sunflowers and see just how many varieties there are today -- deep reds, purples, oranges, peach, and every shade of yellow from palest lemon to intense sunburst! The sentiment is inspired by Stevie Wonder, who is one of the sunshines of MY life."

I had fun coloring this sunflower and found so many kinds and colors of sunflowers! Wow, that was a surprise! I know this is going to be a fun image to print up and color again and again, and it will be fun to color this image in different colors and even crop it (as you will see from some other teammates).

This sweet bouquet  is in a lovely striped vase, and I love blue with yellow and tried to give the vase a vintage feel. My sunflowers are more bright/light and "sunny" than they appear, but I did have fun slowly giving them more contrast (something I keep working on in my Copic coloring). I used X-Press It Blending Card, and it's important to have a Copic chart that is colored on the paper you plan to color on because it is amazing how different the colors appear. Anyway, I colored my image and slowly added more contrast and finally said, "Put down the markers!" There are two very nice sentiments with this digital release, but I used one of the sentiments from Rose & Chamomile. I wanted to this full image to take front stage, so I kept it simple and used the Wonky Stitched dies with a blue mat that makes for a very mail friendly card. So here she is finished and ready to be mailed.

I used this sentiment so I could sent this to a friend, and I trust it will comfort her knowing that I am praying for her. We all have things in our lives that can weigh us down, and some days they feel far more than we can bear. I am reminded of two precious verses that are short and yet such great reminders of how our Father in heaven cares for us. I love short verses that can be memorized just for those times when I can remember and then rest in Him, Who is always with us.

Cast your cares on the LORD,
and He will sustain you.
Psalm 55:22

God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Psalm 46:1

We have a double-header today. The Instant Gardeners and Bloom Brigade are showcasing the new Instant Garden release, and then Christine, Kathy, and Tosh (sharing two cards) are posting other Power Poppy images in their cards. So I hope you will leave them some love. And then you will surely want to go to Power Poppy to get this new digital release to use today -- and also check out the entire digital collection. So let the blog hop begin:

Barb Walker
Debbie Olson

Nancy Sheads
Cheryl Scrivens (me)
Broni Holcombe

Stacy Morgan
Cindy Lawrence
Allison Cope
Tosh Leyendekker (double-header)
Christine Okken
Kathy Jones

Marcella Hawley on 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.)

Blessings, dear friends,

Stamps:  Sunshine of My Life (Power Poppy) 

Paper: X-Press It Blending Card, Marina Mist (SU), and White (PTI)

Tools/Accessories: Copic markers, Wonky Stitched Rectangles dies (MFT), Perfect Layers tool, white tape
Techniques: Digital images using Microsoft Word

Card Size:  A-2
Copic markers used: Vase - B21, BG72, BG78, E81; Leaves - G40, G43, G46, YG93, YG01; Petals - Y13, Y15, Y17, Y32, YR31; Flower Centers - E30, E31, E33, E37, E99; Shadow/Grounding - W1, W4