Monday

Backgrounds and Borders ~ Using Power Poppy images in unexpected ways



Hello Power Poppy friends!! Tosh here today to inspire you to use Power Poppy images in unexpected ways.  I have 4 projects to share with you, so make yourself comfortable and follow along.

My first includes a stamp from the Play Ball set that really got me thinking.  When I saw the baseball stitches stamp, I thought...why can't I just use one side of the stamp and make it look like a blanket stitch?  I was explaining to my dear friend Katie (who just happens to be a Power Poppy Bloomie) that I wanted to use the flowers in the heart vase from the Folk Heart set with the blanket stitch, and that I wanted it to look like a quilt panel.  She asked if I'd ever seen Redwork quilts.  Well, I hadn't, so I checked out Pinterest, and found some fabulous examples.  And yes...that was exactly the look I was going for.  Here are a couple of links to some beautiful Redwork quilts that I used for inspiration:  Rosalie Quinlan Designs, Rosalie Quinlan Designs 2



I started by diecutting a square and stamping only half of the "baseball stitches" onto the edges using Love Letter Memento Ink.  Doesn't that look just like a blanket stitch?  I got giddy after seeing how it turned out.


I then decided I wanted a scalloped border.  So I traced the square die onto cardstock, and stamped the small heart, from Power Poppy's Good Thinking Love Notes set, around the entire square, just leaving to two top "bumps" from the heart showing.


Don't they look awesome together?  I was so happy with how it turned out.  I added a few extras to really give it the "quilt panel" feel too:  I scored and burnished the Folk Heart image to make it pop.  I also burnished the whole back side of the panel to give it texture like it was fabric.

I then embossed the background to give the feel of quilt stitching, and actually sewed around some of the edges and panels.


Next up is my tulip card.  I had some fun creating a "shabby elegant" border using the tire treads from the Power Poppy Move The Soul set.  I started by stamping the tulips from the Dynamic Duos: Peonies and Tulips set with Tuxedo Black Memento ink onto X-Press It cardstock and coloring it with Copics.  I then embossed an oval shape around them using an oval die and a diecutting machine.  Then I took the tire treads and stamped them randomly around the oval using Versamark ink.  Lastly, I rubbed the Versamark pad over the edges to give a frame to the whole image and embossed it all with gold embossing powder.  I really love the "shabby elegance" that the tire treads gave the frame.



Now, you've probably seen many variations of this next card.  I just took 3 different sentiments from the Power Poppy Nice Things to Say stamp set, and stamped them onto a precut rectangle that I taped off the edges of, so I could maintain the border.  



After stamping the sentiments, I photocopied it onto black cardstock so I could Minc it with gold foil.  (For some background information on how I use the Minc Machine, click HERE.)  I love how clean and crisp it turned out.  To finish it off, I added a "So Happy For You" sentiment from the Dream Wedding set, as well as a couple of gold cardsock punched flowers.

Below is a look at how I taped off and stamped the panel before Stamping it.


And finally, my last card.  This one was just plain fun!!  I took the "smoke" image from the Power Poppy Move the Soul set and randomly stamped it with three different Ranger Distress Ink colors:  Peacock Feathers, Twisted Citron and Squeezed Lemonade.  After I had my background, I splattered some diluted black acrylic paint over it and stamped the "hello" sentiment from Power Poppy's Big Scripts set.  Aren't those "splotches" fun?!?!?


Whew...right!?!?!  That is finally it.  I had some fun using these stamps in unique ways, and I hope I've inspired you to look at some of your images in different ways!

Thanks for sticking with this long post!

   Happy Stamping!!

8 comments:

Wendy said...

Hi Tosh :) What a beautiful mix of cards this morning <3 I just love the quilting!! Your heart border is genius. I'm not sure what you mean by burnishing on the second card but it is beautiful!! I will be trying these 2 out today or tomorrow!! Thanks for the early morning inspiration here in the Pacific NW!!!

Jenny Colacicco said...

Love love love the combo of sewing and the folk stamp!!!!

Ann said...

Tosha, your cards are always pure inspiration. These are wonderful.

Robyn Oliver said...

Brilliant cards Tosha, I have used bits of stamps before but you have certainly given me some more ideas, thanks and have a lovely day

Allison Cope said...

Oh Tosh, this is brilliant!!! I love your take on the use of each stamp - that baseball stitching is super clever! Awesome ideas!

Berina RGA said...

Wow! This is genius! Love how you've used different stamps! My favorite is using the hearts for a scalloped border!

Katie Sims said...

Tosh....you are AMAZING!! I can't get over how many awesome ideas you created here....each and every card is it's own little work of art! How sweet for the shout out....but really, girl, this was ALL your creative genius! I am SO gonna try these ideas out! :)

CherylQuilts said...

Oh, Tosh! These cards are gorgeous, and what brilliant thinking and creativity to use the stamps the way you did. And I really LOVE the blanket stitch...who would have thought!?! YOU! You are a creative bundle of goodness! Now you've got us all thinking about our stamps and how to use them even more!! Woohoo! Hugs and love! xoxo