Healing Bouquet

Today is such a beautiful fall day, not only do I have the day off, but temperatures are 59F as I write this post, sun is shining, breezy, couldn't ask for a more perfect day!  Had to visit the dentist this morning as a piece of my side molar tooth broke off last week. M outh is still slightly frozen, you know it's really hard to drink a coffee with a frozen mouth!  Spent some time outside after my appt doing some weeding, I noticed leaves are starting to change.  I love this time of year!

When I saw that Power Poppy released a couple of new digi images a couple of weeks ago, I had to scoop them up.  This is one of them called Healing Bouquet.  But I decided to use it for a birthday card.

I used my Poloychromos and gamsol for colouring.  I then cut it out using an MFT scallop rectangle die, then layered it onto some soft pink, in real it matches the lotus blossom colour.

I added glitter and pearls rhinestones to finish this off.

I'm using up some more of my vacation days so I'm off until Wed! whoot whoot!!!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Keep safe stay healthy.  

Pauline

Easy breezy coneflowers

I'm back today to share another card I made for my card order.  I have so many digital images already printed off, I need to start colouring them and making them into cards.

These cone flowers are from Power Poppy. I decided to colour these in purple tones using copic colours V91, V93, V95 and V99.

I pulled out some cardstock to try to match the purples.  Purple tones are the hardest to match, just so many variations of tones.  In real the background cardstock is pretty close to the flower colours, but it doesn't look that way in the picture.  It's funny sometimes how the camera see's colours in a different way. For the embossed background I used a die from Nellie's Choice called Square Drops A, for some added interest.

Anyway, designer paper is some older Basic Grey - Wisteria. I think I hoarded this paper pack because I love it so much, but time to change that! I also sponged some antique linen distress ink around the edges of the floral piece once I cut it out using MFT stitched rectangle.

The layer behind the flowers is cut using one of the Postal Frames from The Greetery.

To finish off I added a few tiny purple rhinestones and some gold coloured silk ribbon. I also added some loose glitter from Art Institute to the centers of the cone flowers.

Well that's it for me.  I'm so glad you stopped by today.  Enjoy the rest of your day and have a fabulous weekend! Beautiful weekend here with temperatures in the mid to upper 60's and sunny! Perfect weather!

Take care my friends, hugs,

Pauline

Pure Prairie Bouquet

I hope everyone is having a good week. I've been busy at nights these past few weeks working on a card order for a friend.  Sometimes it's good to have an order to work on as it pushes you to make cards, where as if you have no orders, I seem to slide a bit, and then find it hard to get back at it.

So with that said, today I have a Birthday card I made for the order. I decided to colour up some of the digital images already printed off ages ago.  This one is from Power Poppy called - Pure Prairie Bouquet. I just love it, such a variety of flowers.

I used copics to colour, and used the pointillism technique for adding colour around the image.
After the image was trimmed down I added a couple of strips of gold peel-off's for some added interest.

Now you know you need some sparkle on the flowers, so I pulled out my container of Art Institute glitter. I have so much of this, and I hardly think to use it.  I used a couple of different colours on the flowers although the close up shot below, they all kind of look the same! Just love that sparkle!

A few gold sequins were added to finish this off.

I've also been busy going through my bird photography.  So many pictures to go through, but that's one good thing about a digital camera, you can delete the ones you don't want.  I should have some pictures to share with you soon.

Have a wonderful weekend, and thanks for your visit!

Pauline

Magnolia Sunshine

Happy New Year everyone! Did you stay up to ring in the new year?  Not I, I think I made it to 9pm, then that was it for me, as I am an early riser, usually up between 5 - 6 am on my days off, 5:30 for work days.

I thought I would pop in today to share I card I made for one of my card orders last year. 

I already had the image coloured for some time, it was sitting in my partially finished basket, so just had to come up with a layout.

The image is from Power Poppy - digital Magnolia Sunshine.

I used copics to colour, not sure of the colours as this one done some time ago.  I then used a SB oval die to cut it out.

The white frame is from PTI and the coloured layer underneath was some backgrounds I created.  The soft colours seem to work well with the image even though you can't see much of it.

To finish off I added some foam tape to pop the image above the frame, added some sequins, pearls and some silk ribbon.

I've been off on holidays since Dec 12th, and my intention was to make lots of cards for my stash, but needless to say I have not made one card.  I have a few days left before going back to work on the 6th, so I hope my creative juices start to flow.

I appreciate you stopping by, have yourself a wonderful day,

Pauline

Bowl of Beauty

Hello there!  Today I'm sharing Power Poppy's newest digital image called Bowl of Beauty. Marcella has outdone herself once again!

I was going to go with the no-line image, as I had printed both out, but decided to go with the black outline one.  I used copics to colour this.  I found this a bit of challenge especially for the large peony.  Large flowers intimidate me especially when colouring with copics, but I think I did alright on this one.  Wasn't really sure where I was going with the colours, as the colour yellow was not what I was thinking of for the Hellebores, but that's what I ended up with. I added shading under the bowl with prismacolour pencils.

Image was cut using an MFT scallop rectangle die.  I added some wink of stella to the centers of the flowers and some enamel dots.  The peach background paper is from SU (a few years old). I wasn't sure if I wanted a sentiment on the front, but came home from work yesterday and decided it did need something, so embossed  PTI birthday wishes onto some black c/s using white embossing powder.  I then used a banner die to cut one end and the scallop die to cut the other.

Also, many thanks for all you wonderful comments on our bird photography (previous post).  Your comments are greatly appreciated and most welcomed. I'll have more to share shortly.

Wishing your a fabulous day, thanks for visiting today!

Pauline

My Favourite Pair

Well it's a new day, a new week, and another snow storm to start it off.  Forecasting another 4-8 inches today depending how the system travels, plus we got 4 inches Saturday night.  But then again it is winter.  I don't mind the snow but it's the frigid temperatures that come with winter.  BRRRRR!!!

Well hopefully my card today will warm you up some, for those that are experiencing cold weather.  I'm using Power Poppy's latest digital image called My Favourite Pair.

After resizing the no-line version, I used my Polychromos and gamsol to colour.  This is the first time I've used a no-line and I really like how it turned out.

I die cut the frame in white, then did another one in a soft yellow.  I sponged some frayed burlap distress ink around the edges, then adhered it to the white frame. I also cut a floral border to run up along the side of the card.

I stamped the h.e.l.l.o sentiment in smokey gray versafine. I added some white gel pen dots to the mauve flowers, then added wink of stella clear pen to those.  Finished with some enamel dots.

Supplies:
Image - Power Poppy digital - My favourite pair, Penny Black - snippet sentiments
Ink - versafine smokey gray, distress frayed burlap, Polychromos pencils & gamsol
Paper - Cosmo Cricket - Fleuriste, bazzill yellow, white cougar 100 lb
Die - Memory Box - Fairytale Flower border, MFT Scallop Stitched rectangle scallop edge frame
Misc - enamel dots, white gel pen, wink of stella clear pen

Thank you for stopping by today.  Have yourself a fabulous day!

Pauline

You totally Rock!!

Hello and Happy Monday to all!  I hope you had a good weekend.  We had a very cold and wintery weekend, about a foot of snow and very cold temperatures  - a high of -4F or -22 C.

I almost feel like I should be sharing a Christmas card with you based on the weather, but since I don't have any made up yet for this year, I will share another Valentine card using another Power Poppy digital image from the Va Va Valentine images.

This one I call You Totally Rock.

I started by resizing the image and then colouring using Polychromos pencils and gamsol.  (Leslie, to answer your question whether or not I use gamsol with the Polychromos  - yes I do use gamsol with these. They blend so well, I just love them).

I wasn't sure where I was going with this layout, as  you can see I have a couple of different die cuts cut. I was just going to layer the image onto the black heart circle, but wanted to incorporate some red as well, so ended up using both die cuts.

I added some black gingham ribbon across the top as well as some die cut hears.  The center of the larger heart in the image, I added some red glitter for that bit of added sparkle.

Supplies:
Image - Power Poppy digital - Va Va Valentine
Ink - printer, polychromos pencils and gamsol
Paper - MME - Lucky in Love & Cosmo Cricket - Head over heal, black, white cougar 100 lb
Dies - MFT - square pierced frame, Spellbinders - heart circle & circle die, Verve - heart dies
Misc - gingham ribbon, red glitter, quickie glue pen for the glitter

Thank you for stopping by, see you soon. Have a great day!

Pauline

Va Va Valentine #1

Hello everyone.  I hope you had a good weekend.  It was busy all weekend, so never had a chance to make any cards - I always try to make at least one card on the weekend. Bill and I went out to find hawks and owls.  We did manage to find some hawks, but no owls yet! I'll share some pictures once I get them ready.

Since Valentines is only a month away, I pulled out some of my digital images from Power Poppy - Va Va Valentines to get some cards made up.

These images are so fast to colour, and love the humor/image. So fun.

I coloured them up with my newly received Christmas gift - Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils. Oh boy, they colour and blend wonderfully! I've been wanting a set of these for quite some time, as my prisma's are well used, old, and they keep breaking.

The rest is pretty straight forward, I will list all the supplies below.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by today.  Have yourself a fabulous day!

Supplies:
Image - Power Poppy digital - Va Va Valentine
Die - MFT - Inside & out stitched round rectangle, Spellbinder - heart die, PTI - heart border, Memory Box - mini heart collection
Paper - MME - Stella Rose - Mabel papers, cougar white 110 lb
Misc - Polychromos pencils, enamel dots, wink of stella - for the hearts on the image

Pauline

Forest Finds

 Hello! It's Friday tomorrow and the end of another week! This month is flying by so quickly don't you think? I'm back to share another Christmas image. I have had this digital image printed out for quite some time, and just finally got around to colouring it up.  This digital image is called 'Forest Finds' from Power Poppy.  When it was first released last winter I scooped it up right away.  I just love the way Marcella designed this.

Normally I used Primsacolour pencils to colour, but I wanted more vibrant colours than what prismas can offer.  So I pulled out my Copics and coloured this up.

I used an AliExpress die to cut it out, and then layered the image onto another piece of white c/s, otherwise the background paper shows through the holes around the edge and it distracts from the image.

Designer paper is by Bo Bunny - Altitude Collection. I finished off with some glittered enamel dots and Tim Holtz clear distress glitter. I also added a couple pieces of silver peel-offs where the striped paper meets the dark purple.

I am entering my card in Power Poppy's October Power & Spark: You say it's your birthday! The challenge is to use an image that represents the month you were born.  My birthday is in Dec, so I choose this 'winter' image for the challenge.


That's it for me, I've been working on more Christmas cards to share.   See you real soon.  Thanks for stopping by, I always appreciate your visits.

Pauline

Bountiful Bouquet

I can't believe it is the weekend already.  We have been on vacation this week, so rather than go away somewhere we decided to stay home and tackle some much need work around the house. We decided to tackle the bathroom, we put a new floor down, fresh paint job, new fixtures etc. It's a lot of work and we are still not done yet, getting there though.  I haven't had  time to stamp, but I did manage to save this one that I coloured a couple of weeks ago when Marcella introduced this beautiful digi image called Bountiful Bouquet. What a gorgeous fall arrangement Marcella has created!

 

I coloured this image using Caran D'ache pencils.  I then cut the mage out using MFT scallop die.  I was going to add some shading in and around the flowers but decided to just ground the pot with some shading along the bottom.

Paper is by Authentique - Thankful.  I added some burgundy ribbon and to make the bow settle into the card I took some great advice from a dear friend Leslie, who suggests to punch a hole in the top layer, this way the knot from the bow will inset a bit which makes it for easier mailing. 

I added some Art Institute bronze glitter to the centers of the daisies.  Using a white gel pen I added some white dots to the persimmons for some added interest.  I left off a sentiment so it can be used for various occasions.

Well it's bed time for me, it's been a long day.  It's almost 10, and lots to do tomorrow.  I'm behind in commenting on the blogs I follow.  I haven't forgotten you, I will get there eventually, just haven't had the time this week.

Enjoy your weekend, and Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian followers!

Hugs,

Pauline

Chinese Lanterns

I had a chance to do some stamping this week, so decided on a fall image.  It didn't feel much like fall weather here this week, with temperatures in the upper 90's, but a cold front moved through this afternoon, so tonight and the weekend are much cooler (high 60's - low 70's- love this weather).  I haven't done much in the line of 'colouring' an image, so decided to pull out Power Poppy's Sunny Harvest set.  I'm using the "chinese lanterns" from this set.

Using Prisma colour pencils to colour.  I then used an oval die to cut out the image, left the die in place and sponged PTI green parakeet ink around the image.  Next I took MFT stitched oval frame and cut it using some rusty coloured cardstock. 

Designer paper is  from Memory Box. From the scraps of designer paper I cut some leaves using MFT Fab Foliage dies.  Added a twine bow to adhere the leaves together.

To finish off I added some TH distress glitter.

Hope you enjoying your weekend.  See you again real soon.

Pauline

Miraculous Mushrooms

Hello everyone! I hope you had a good week, and enjoying your weekend.  We are in the middle of another heat wave, temperatures today reached 106F, it's just too hot to be outside. 

This morning Bill and I ventured out early before the heat set in.  We hit some of our usual spots looking for some birds.  Although we are kind of early for the migration to begin, you just never know what pops up.  Today we saw a couple of hummingbirds, - captured a couple of nice shots, and of the house wren a well.  I hope to show you these shortly.

Today's card features one of the newest digital images released from Power Poppy called Miraculous Mushrooms.  My whole thought when I started to colour this image was to match it up with some mushroom image dp I had.  Once it was all coloured, the mushroom dp was just too busy, so I opt for another route.  Kept this 'masculine', as I never seem to have very many of these on hand.

I coloured the image with Copics.  I was very undecided as to how to cut out this image, I finally settled on the oval arch from MFT - (I don't think they sell this anymore). I left the die in place then sponged some antique linen lightly around the bottom edge.

Designer paper is from Echo Park - Reflection Fall & MME - Wood Designer Paper.  I added some twine around the middle and finished off with some wooden dots.  Image is popped up off the card.

I finally started to work on some Christmas cards!  Well, lets say I finished colouring one, now need to get that onto a card! Progress, progress!

Wishing you a wonderful day!

Pauline

Graceful still life

Hello everyone! I guess it's a Happy Monday since I was off today due to a Stat Holiday here in Canada - Victoria Day, but the sad news is that my week long vacation is over, back to work tomorrow!  Bill and I have been busy this past week, walked a lot of trails, took lots of pictures, did lots of yard work (which never seems to end), and I didn't even have time to make a card! I have a couple of birthday's coming up over the next few weeks so need to get back into my routine.

Today's card is another one I made for Mother's Day.  This one actually went to my BFF - Nancy. Nancy's husband requested a card for her for Mother's day.  I knew she would love this, and she did!  I"m using Powerpoppy's Graceful Still Life digital image.

I used prismacolour pencils to colour.  I then cut it out using  MFT stitched rectangle die.
I die cut the border from white c/s - die is by Find it Trading - african border.  Designer paper is Kaisercraft - Kaleidoscope.  The card base is a bit darker here in the picture than in real, I guess I woud call it a deep coral. 

To finish off I added a small flag banner and added an enamel dot and a small silk bow. Used my wink of stella clear pen to add some shimmer to the flowers.

I'm glad you stopped by today.  Have a wonderful day!

Pauline

A Cup of Columbine

I'm sharing today a new image I coloured  a couple of weeks ago.  I was so excited when I saw the newest Power Poppy digital image.  This is right up my alley - flowers, nature - Marcella out did herself with this one, as she always does.

I printed the resized image onto some white cougar c/s and then used my prismacolour pencils to bring this to life! I love the outcome, just not quite sure on the mauve napkin.  I was trying to use the same colours within  the florals without introducing another colour.  It was  a deeper purple, but I took my eraser to remove some of the deeper colour, which seem to soften it a bit. Oh well, sometimes things always don't go the way you expect it to.

My BFF's  (Nancy) husband called me up and asked if I could make him an Easter card to give to her.  This is the card she received.  She is also a nature lover, so this one worked well.

I used MFT's die to cut out the image - die-namics blueprints #27.  To add the finishing details I used my wink of stella clear pen for a bit of sparkle on the flowers and added a few enamel dots.

Enjoy the rest of your day!

Pauline

Go wild

I really don't know what has gotten into me lately, but I'm finding it a huge struggle to make a card. I wasn't well the first few weeks of Jan, and now that I'm able to work on cards, I just can't seem to get in the groove.  I see that Power Poppy has a 'page map' challenge, maybe I should go take a look for some inspiration to get me going!

I do however, have a card to share.  I finished this up early Dec, but just never posted it, and since I haven't made anything new to share I'll share this one.

Image is from Power Poppy -"Go wild". Well I think I went a bit wild on this one with all the different purple tones, what do you think?

I used copics to colour, the die cut it using a spellbinder square die.  I then layered it onto a piece of designer paper, cut using a stitched square die (MFT).  For the dark purple background I embossed it. Yes, I embossed it - it's been forever since I used my embossing folders, but love that bit of design when you use plain card stock.

To finish I used clear wink of stella to the flowers, added some pearls and then some seam binding ribbon.  All the purple tones seem to blend better in real then in this picture (ok we will blame it on the camera! LOL).

Well that's it for me for today, off to get my roast going for dinner in my Instant Pot.  Anyone else out there have one? I love it.  This morning I made a pot of chicken noodle soup in it, so easy and so tasty!

Have a wonderful day!
Pauline

And the stockings were hung

Hello everyone! I'm back today to share another Christmas card.  I can't believe it's only a week away. We have had so much snow here this week it really does feel like Christmas.  We have had about 13-15" of snow this week, lots of shoveling! Yesterday we went to my brother Steve's place in London and our family had our Christmas together.  It was fun, lots of reminiscing, lots of food and laughs.

 Are you ready for Christmas - cards done, gifts bought, gifts wrapped, baking done etc?  I'm about 75% done, my cards are done and mailed (thank goodness), so all that is left is a bit of wrapping and baking, so I' feel pretty good about that. 

Although, don't you find, once you have your cards done for the year, you are still in the 'christmas card making mode", so you might as well continue working towards next years stash - (at a more relaxed pace),  I think that is what I'm going to do.

For my card today,  I'm using Power Poppy's Stocking from Snow Kissed.

Once coloured with Copics, I cut it out with MFT cross stitch rectangle.  I left the die in place and sponged some distress antique linen and a bit of soft sky around the edges.

I placed the image in my MISTI and stamped the sentiment - which I'm glad I used the MISTI because I ended up stamping this twice, to get a nice clean crisp impression.  The sentiment is from the Simple Joys stamp set.

Designer paper is from Fancy Pants - Saint Nick (2011). I also cut a couple of flag stax tags from the same paper using Simon Says flag dies. To keep the cross stitch pattern across the top I used the MFT cross stitch rectangle and cut just the top of the flags to it all lined up perfectly.  The red snowflake was cut from Poppystamps die - Ava snowflakes.

To finish off, I added a gold pearl to the center of the snowflake, some enamel dots, and used my wink of stella clear glitter pen for the presents and pom poms on the stocking.  I really love how this turned out!

Well, thanks for stopping by today. Enjoy your day, and if you are traveling, be safe!  See you back here soon.

Pauline

Peace, hope, love

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends who are celebrating today!

Today's card is a digital image from Power Poppy called  "Felt leaves and fruits".  I bought this last winter but never had a chance to colour it up.

After resizing and printing, I used copics to colour.  I then used Simon Says, stitched circle to cut the image out and layered it onto white c/s cut using MFT stitched scallop circle die.  I stamped the sentiment from the Simple Joys set using black versafine.

Paper is old - I mean old - the stripe is from MME - Laundry line (date on it says 2008) and the background green is from Fancy Pants - Christmas Magic (dated 2009).

I added some gold chiffon ribbon, tied 2 bows and layered them, for more fullness.  Add wink of stella clear glitter to the purple berries.  This is really pretty in real!

Well that's it for tonight, heading out to choir practice.  Enjoy your weekend.

Pauline

Winter chill

Good morning everyone!  As I mentioned in my previous email, I've been diligently working on my Christmas cards.  I try to do one every couple of days. It's a much cooler day here today, yesterday it rained most of the day with temps in the mid 50's, today it is a high of 37 but feels like 26F, much cooler, brrrrrrr.... which brings me to my card today.

My card today, is a digital image from Power Poppy called - 'let's chill".  I have such a soft spot for snowmen, just can't get enough of them!

After re-sizing the image, I printed and then coloured using copics.

MFT mod rectangle stax dies to cut out the snowman plus the layer behind.  Designer paper is Bo Bunny - snowfall collection - this is from a couple of years ago.

I stamped the Happy Holidays onto some SU not quite nave c/s using versamark ink and white embossing powder.  I then used a MFT die cut cut it out.  I was undecided whether or not to leave the banner piece this long or to make it shorter, and as you can see I left it longer on the right side and lined it up with edge of the paper.

I cut a small snowflake from the dp using Memory Box snowflake from the Christmas Baubles set.

To finish off I added some enamel dots, and for the snow on the ground I added some Twinklets Diamond dust.

Well, that's it for today, glad you stopped by for a visit. Till next time......

Pauline

Glittering glass santa

Hello everyone.  Just thought I would pop in for a quick post tonight before heading off to bed.  I tell you with the clocks going back an hour last night, I was awake around 4:15, which really is 5:15 on the old time, so that is about the time I awake during the week. So needless to say, I'm getting tired.

Yesterday, we went up to Mark & Anna's place to celebrate our grandson James' 7th birthday, and guess what? I forgot to take a picture of the cute card I made him (grrrrrr).  I didn't realize it until after we got home. Next time I'm up there I will have to take a picture so I can share it with you.

I've been busy working on cards, some Christmas, some sympathy, and some birthday for an order.
I finally got around to taking pictures tonight of them.

For my card tonight, I'm using Power Poppy's digital image called Glittering Glass Santa. I already had some resized and printed off from last year, but never got around to colouring them.

I used copic markers to colour the image.  MFT cross stitch rectangle die to cut out the image, then left the die in place and sponged some bundled sage distress ink around the edges. I stamped the sentiment from a Penny Black set called 'holiday snippets'.

I pulled out some very old Stampin Up dp, not even sure of the name. Also added some velvet teal ribbon, and added clear wink of stella glitter pen to the fir on santa as well as the christmas balls on the pine branch.

Well that's it for me tonight.  Thanks for your visit.  See you real soon,

Pauline

Framed corcopsis

Hope you all had a good week, but thank goodness the weekend is upon us!  I made this card a couple of weeks ago, with someone special in mind.  Today, I am able to share, since it is my BFF's birthday today, and I had delivered her card a few days ago.

I used Power Poppy's Vibrant Thanks set, and pulled out the beautiful corcopsis image to colour.

 

I used prisma colour pencils to colour, and then pulled out some copic colours to do some dot shading around the image.

I used MFT's stitched square frame dies for my framing.  Paper is from MME - Indie Chic - saffron - another old paper pack from 2012! - some papers are just hard to part with, but I'm getting better.

For finishing touches, I added some silk ribbon along the bottom, a couple of enamel dots and a clear acetate butterfly (something else from my stash that I seem to forget about!).  Also added some glitter to the centers of the flowers.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend! See you soon,
Pauline