Swoon over our release day Power Poppy Hop!

Hello and Happy June,

Thank you so much to all of you for joining us during this week’s tantalizing teases from Power Poppy’s Swing into Summer stamp release. All sets in this collection are clear photopolymer — although you can still get your hands on our digital flower stamps, if that’s your cuppa tea. :)

But folks, today you have GOT to see what the Bloom Brigade has created for today’s Power Poppy Hop, using all of the sets from this release: Lavender, Play Ball!, Sassy Succulents, and Dynamic Duos: Peonies & Tulips.

 

Every time I think they couldn’t possibly make anything MORE creative or clever or downright, jaw-droppingly AMAZING than what they’ve already done, they go and do it again. HOW IS IT POSSIBLE??? It is not for me to ask, I simply am grateful, and in awe that we all get to share in their creative gifts. GO SEE!

Allison Cope
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Danielle Kennedy
Dawn Burnworth
Julie Koerber
Kathy Jones
Katie Sims
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker

Today all of our new sets are available for purchase at powerpoppy.com. Thank you so very much for your continued support of Power Poppy - and do take a moment to follow all of our boards on Pinterest to feel the full force of the Bloom Brigade — then take that spark and create your OWN magic! Have a great day!

A peek at Peonies & Tulips - now in polymer!

My friends, I aim to please. When we started Power Poppy a few months ago, I wanted to play with different ways to get my artwork into the hands of people who find joy in it. For April’s collection of images, we went with traditional clear photopolymer stamps. For May’s collection of lush flowers, we thought it would be fun to stretch ourselves—and all of you wonderful craftistas as well—by trying an all-digital-image release. I intended to offer these flowers only as digital images. But gosh darn, this is where it comes back to being a pleaser. After so many emails and notes asking if we’d be offering the images in polymer, we decided to go for it!

I’m happy to introduce: Dynamic Duos: Peonies & Tulips.

These highly detailed images stamp as crisply as can be, and are large and beautiful and ready to be stamped using all of your favorite techniques. If you’d like to see some of the possibilities with this set, boy do I have some sweeeeeeet stuff to share with you - compliments of the Bloom Brigade!! I hope you’ll run around and see just how dynamic this duo of Peonies & Tulips can be. And hey, all 8 sentiments were designed specifically for the polymer version of this set and super versatile — you can’t find them anywhere else!

Wanna see? Let’s go!

Julie Koerber
Danielle Kennedy
Katie Sims
Tosha Leyendekker

Thank you so much for hanging out with us during this ravishing release week. It’s been hard to keep you in suspense to see all this fun stuff happening, and not be able to buy it, but TOMORROW, JUNE 1, we’re having a massive Release Day Blog Hop and everything will be available for purchase!! Woo woo woo! Hope you’ll pop back on Sunday and ch-check it out!

Fuzzy, frisky, pretty, pokey, snappy, sassy Succulents!

Yesterday I promised I’d share something sassy with you. And I shall deliver. But today’s set is about so much more than sassiness. Have you ever admired an Aloe? Have ya squeezed a Sedum? Eyeballed an Echeveria? Been poked by Polaskia? These are all varieties of what are called “succulent” plants—characterized by their fleshy leaves and adorable appearance (that last part was not on the Succulents wikipedia page, but I can attest to its validity). Just take a look:

Succulents are HOT. Even though they’ve been around for bajillions of years, succulents and cacti seem to be the plant of the moment, showing up in all manner of rock gardens, potted in windowsills, patios, front stoops, tablescapes, tucked into wreaths, and quite possibly, right now on my desk.

The one pictured above is a variety of Sempervivum, commonly known as “hen and chicks”. Each one of the little baby plants—or “chicks” can be gently pulled off its mother “hen” plant, and stashed into a rocky crevice or a pot of sandy soil, and it starts a new plant just like that. You can see how the habit of adorning your space with succulents can get out of control easily. And they are like potato chips, you can’t have just one! They’re each so unique and so fun! Why just yesterday I went a bit cuckoo at one of my favorite local nurseries, Bowood Farms, and came home with a bevy of new babies!

My succulent fascination goes back some 20 years (I’ll never forget my first encounter with showy perennial Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ — seriously, do you ever forget your first plant love?) and they have never been more prolific in nurseries and garden centers than RIGHT NOW. Strangely, I feel as if I must have them. All of them. Then I think about my handkerchief-sized garden and realize that there is not room for anything else. Also, it’s more cost effective to design a stamp set that features a whole bunch of succulent varieties, and then stamp them over and over in a rainbow of juicy colors and using all manner of techniques, is it not? I thought that sounded like a righteous idea.

And so, I give you Sassy Succulents.

 

What’s really neat about this set is not simply the variety of plant stamps included (as you’ll see when you visit the Bloom Brigade’s blogs as you’re surely about to do), but the tone and flavor of the sentiments. Sassy Succulents celebrates individuality with phrases that reassure that it’s great to stand out from the crowd and be your sassy self. I’ve also designed sentiments that could be used for friends, families, coworkers, teammates—because, no matter how unique or special, we’re all in this together! 

Now, come have a look at some highly unique and special ways to use this set!

Allison Cope

Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Danielle Kennedy
Julie Koerber
Katie Sims

Tosha Leyendekker

We’ll see you back here tomorrow, yes? I hope so, because we have ONE MORE stamp set surprise before our big BLOG HOP and release on June 1st!

Swing into summer with Play Ball!

Hey there! Welcome back to another day of FULL-ON AWESOMENESS. 

Exaggeration? Not if you’re Finn Hawley, age 8, baseball player and superfan. When he found out I was doing a stamp set with a baseball theme, iterations of the word “awesome” were flying at me like balls hit off the bat of Stan Musial.

Finn loves baseball. He loves playing, he loves watching, he loves stats, he loves players, and quite simply, he loves The Game. This snapshot of Finn playing third base was taken last year, when the Red Hot Fireballs (don’t you dig those smokin’ hot red jerseys and caps?) were in the midst of a local rec league game.

 

I’m a born and bred St. Louis Cardinals fan, and the same goes for my family (I mean, what’s not to love? GO CARDS! Woooooo!!!). Finn’s dad’s side of the family—ESPECIALLY his dear Grandma Mary—are crazy for the Chicago Cubs. I don’t know if you follow the majors, but the Cubs and Cards have one of the biggest rivalries in baseball. Usually it’s a good-natured ribbing, but man, the fans can get a bit, well, colorful in their support or disdain for their chosen team. My kiddos are big supporters of BOTH teams, and often can be found wearing Cubs and Cards gear at the same time. A recent example, we went to the first Cubs-Cards match-up this season (pic below). Finn is wearing a retro-style Stan Musial (“Stan the Man”) jersey that I sewed for him (with a red Yadier Molina Cards t-shirt underneath!), paired with a bright blue Cubs ball cap. When asked by folks sitting near us how he could be a fan of BOTH teams, he said with confidence, “I really just love the game.”

That kid. Don’t you want to hug him?

So, I’ve designed a set in honor of this beloved game and my snuggable little baseball fan: Play Ball!

 

My set is a bit different from other sporty sets, as I’ve chosen to celebrate the vintage look and feel of baseball: the old felt pennants with exuberant one-of-a-kind lettering, the well-worn woodgrain and colorful stripes on the old bats, the trusty ball cap (which can be personalized with your team colors, how do you like them apples?)—it’s the little details that make something feel special, and I hope you and the sports fans in your life will think this one’s a big hit! 

I know some folks who have decidedly smashed this one out of the park—the Bloom Brigade! Hope you’ll go run ’round the bases to see what they’ve created with Play Ball!

Allison Cope
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Danielle Kennedy
Dawn Burnworth
Julie Koerber
Kathy Jones
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker

Thank you so much for coming by... and please pop back in tomorrow, as I have something sassy to share for our next set sneak!

June sneak peeks start today: Lavender

Herbs! That’s what’s happenin’!

Close your eyes just for a second (but then open ‘em back up real quick because we have so much to show you today!) — can you imagine the fragrance of Lavender? It’s one of the most enduring scents of any herb, yet also one of the most soothing and delightful. If you’re having trouble conjuring up the thought, maybe take a peek at what we have in store for you this month. The sets go on sale June 1, but for today, we’ll share this lilting, lovely look...

We plant several varieties of Lavender in our potted herb garden (that’s a fancy way of saying “the area where I cram all the pots”), and usually a few in the ground (they do not overwinter here in St. Louis especially well). But boy oh BOY are they a treat to have around — just walking by it’s hard not to wave your hand across them and release the fragrance. An instant pick-me-up for sure! When Lulu was not even two, I was even able to coax her into joining me in preparing the plants for potting...

Planting herbs is such a passion ’round here, I find myself doodling them and dreaming up ways to cook with them all spring, summer and fall. As a matter of fact, you’ll start seeing lots of posts celebrating herbs in this space, because I really can’t get enough of them. For Power Poppy’s June stamp release, which was drawn months before any herb plants were gracing our garden, I was up in the predawn hours sketching the images you’ll see today. Oftentimes, there was a cat on my arm. Not sure if Crema was helping or hindering my artistic flow, but somehow I was able to manage a dimly lit selfie...

There is a LOT to love about Lavender, and I’ve drawn several images that I think you’ll enjoy, and want to share with someone who needs a pick-me-up and a perky punch of purpley-blue color. A market basket overflowing with freshly cut stems would be perfect for a thank you card! Or maybe a friend could use the soft, soothing side of lavender, and the heart-speckled sachet image would help get those healing thoughts flowing.

I love to listen to music while I’m working, and the song “Soothe Me” by Sam and Dave (written by Sam Cooke) was on rotation as I designed this Lavender set. (I shouldn’t speak for Crema, but sitting on my arm as I drew, surely that cool cat has come to love soul music.)

I’m so excited to kick off the June release with this set, and EVEN MORE excited that the Bloom Brigade has arrived in force to share super-inspiring ways to create with it! Come take a tour, won’t you?

Allison Cope
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Danielle Kennedy
Dawn Burnworth
Julie Koerber
Kathy Jones
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker

Thank you so much, everybody, and I would love to see you back here tomorrow for more sneak peeks of a set that was inspired by my little boy, Finn, and one of HIS passions! <3