Pretty Pleasant Poppies Fusion

The colours of poppies in my spring garden are many and varied. This was one gorgeous bloom last spring. We are heading into winter now in the southern hemisphere, so these little beauties are just a memory for now.

Once the retiring list is released, I feel guilty about stamps I loved and used so much when they first came out, and then forget. One of those is Pleasant Poppies. For this card I've stamped in Stazon black and used Stampin' Write Markers and a Blender Pen to spread the colour.

Fusion Card Challenge have presented a gorgeous stimulus picture, love the colours in it, especially the warmth of the sunny yellow tiles. Their flowers are roses, but never mind, I just used my poppies in the same hues. The strip of blue chevron is similar to the tins some of the flowers sit in. I'd have loved to have used a label for the sentiment but it would have been too big. Instead an oval shape holds the greeting from Butterfly Basics.

I have just arrived home from the South Pacific Stampin' Up!® Convention on the Gold Coast. What a ball we had! Lot's of fun with people who have the same interests, lots of shared ideas. new products and the NEW Catalogue. One of the privileges of  being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator.

Cheers
Rachel

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Poppies In Sympathy CTD339

Today was ANZAC Day in Australia (and other countries) marking 100 years since the landing at Gallipoli. A red poppy is the symbol of Anzac Day, and at our school, the students have been making red poppies using all different textiles.

I pulled out Pleasant Poppies today and stamped off some partial and some full images to colour. This one is a partial image because sometimes "less is more." Perhaps because it is a sombre day, I've made a sympathy card, with minimal colour. The sentiment is from Love & Sympathy. A strip of washi tape across the bottom grounds the flowers.

The colour challenge at Color Throwdown decided the colours for this card, otherwise it might have been red or uncoloured  poppies. Do go over to the site to check out the cute cards by the design team and in the gallery. I always keep a supply of sympathy cards ready-made because it is never easy to make them under such sad circumstances, but if there are a few to choose from, you'll probably have something suitable.

Pleasant Poppies, Love & Sympathy and all the washi tape are on the retiring list, so if you're quick to visit an online shop in your country, you might pick up a bargain!

My online store is for Australian customers only.

Cheers,
Rachel

Sweet Poppies

What fun I've had experimenting with water coloring today! I think it might be one of my favourite things to do for colouring stamped images, and I've tried a lot of different ways over the last couple of months.

It seems a funny coincidence that both Fusion Card Challenge and the Friday Mashup had poppies in their challenge pictures. Fusion also suggested 'red, white and blue' so I've kind of gone with that as well, and my triangle is actually part of Labels Collection Framelits, with only one side cut. (Ask me if you're not sure what I mean) The good thing was that there's a matching one, just a little bigger, so I could cut Pacific Point card with  just a little border.

Pleasant Poppies, a large Stampin' Up! stamp, provided my floral images. I inked in Stazon so the black would stay put, when I began to spray water onto the card. It has actually made me want to pop down to the nursery and buy some poppy seedlings to plant out in a wheelbarrow in my back garden. They always put on such a great show!
After inking up part of a greeting from Hello There, a new hostess set, I used a circle punch to cut it out, and mounted it onto a scalloped circle, also in Pacific Point.
I'm sharing a photo of my back garden, which is still very colourful, despite us being in the middle of winter. Melbourne does have relatively mild winters, although it still feels very cold to me.




Hope you enjoy your day too!
Rachel

Many Thanks

I just wanted to say how thrilled I was to have my Poppies card picked on both Freshly Made Sketches and Create with Connie and Mary and to have so many of you visit my blog, and even sometimes leave a comment! Thank you for your kind comments.

I have been away at Convention (South Pacific Region) and struggled to do very much computer-wise during that busy time. Home safely now, and have lots of news to share in the next few days.

Have a happy week
Rachel

Pleasant Poppies CCMC252 FMS86

I'm really glad I did most of my housework yesterday 'cos with the family all busy today, it has given me time to sit and make cards, and that has to be good, right?

I'd had so much fun with the Create with Connie and Mary challenge colours this morning, so after a break I decided to watercolour a portion of the HUGE  Pleasant Poppies stamp. I used Stazon stamped on Stampin' Up! watercolor paper. Each flower was shaded very simply with my Stampin' write marker in So Saffron. I also 'shadowed' one side of the blossom and stem with a soft line in Sahara Sand, because it helps the image POP!

I wonder if you can see what I mean in this close-up?

The Blender pen is invaluable too, as it really does what its name implies - helps blend the colours smoothly.

If you would like to learn this technique, I'd be happy to show you, if you're nearby.

I decided to use Amy's sketch here. Don't forget to pop over to Freshly Made Sketches to see the other fabulous cards too.

I stamped a Happy Birthday greeting with Itty Bitty Banners stamp set, there is a lovely assortment of greetings in that set, which is carrying over to the new catty. A small strip of retired DSP at the bottom of the panel was mounted onto a Soft Suede base, and I had to use retired ribbon too, as I really wanted a narrow piece and I had nothing current that was suitable. The greeting was topped with a So Saffron button threaded with linen thread and I lined the inside with the DSP and some more poppies.

Happy stamping!

Rachel

FMS381 & DD#48 Poppies

This is such a classic sketch from Cindy at Freshly Made Sketches this week, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to work in a classic fashion!! I had thought about doing a spotlight card, but today I decided to cut a window using one of the Floral Frame Framelits.

Next it was deciding on the colour scheme, and I went with the Bashful Blue and Pumpkin Pie at Dynamic Duos.

I used the lovely big stamp Pleasant Poppies with Black Stazon and coloured with a blender pen and Stampin' write markers in Pumpkin Pie and Crumb Cake for stems. A textured strip of Bashful Blue was adhered  for the contrast strip, and three little brads in Pumpkin Pie hold the greeting, from Sweet Essentials.

 Back to school for me tomorrow morning, hope I remember to get up!
Cheers
Rachel