Poppy Seed Challenge

Guess what happens when you spend much of your free time diddling online?

You stumble upon crazy things! Crazy like a craft blogger whom I've been following for some time... who I only this week discovered also lives in Anacortes!!!!

I KNOW!

Oh, that's right. Many (most) of you are not paper crafting nutties and this is probably where you're going, oh great, no good story today, just a dumb artsy fartsy post... wonder if Dooce has anything new up...

But stick with me! Lisa Johnson, of Poppy Paperie, made a random reference to the "nice weather in Anacortes" a few days back and I though, huh, that's funny. I wonder what other state has a city named Anacortes. Cuz there's no way that this fabulous crafter, who DESIGNS stamps for a major rubber stamp company, lives in the same Anacortes that I do. Well Google me this and Google me that - lo and behold - Lisa lives in MY ANACORTES! (Wow, all of a sudden the town in which I cried when I first arrived has become MY town.) CRAZY! I mean, as if she wasn't cool enough already with her amazing cards, now I find out she has been stamping and crafting in the same zip code as me! (Whoa, I am not worthy.)

Disclaimer: I am not stalking this woman. I mean she does have a photo up on her blog, so should I happen to see her and recognize her at Safeway, I would in no way go up to her screaming, "OH MY GOD you're the Poppy crafty lady with the awesome designs who lives in MY TOWN!"

Anyway, this story had a point. Oh - so Lisa Johnson, of Poppy Paperie, has started some challenges on her blog. Obviously, being "neighbors" and all, I wanted to participate. The idea behind the challenges is that she gives you a few "seeds" of inspiration. The first week was to use crystals, a flower stamp, and a hint of yellow on a card.Here's my humble attempt (finished just under the wire, as they're due to be posted by 10am PST!):

I couldn't decide which flower stamp to use, but then I remembered this cherry blossom. I had originally purchased it from JoAnn's intending to use it for wedding invitations, but after a few practice runs, I realized it was a wee bit too complicated to use on 125 invitations (my invite helpers were troopers but asking them to color in 125 large cherry blossom branches may have ended the friendships). I still love this stamp though, and as we've basically officially entered spring here in Anacortes, with the dogwood/cherry blossom trees in full bloom, I was inspired.

Here's a close up shot of the stamped image. I used blender pens to lightly watercolor the flowers and branch. (Sorry for the sketchy photo quality - NavyGuy has absconded with the good camera. Grrr.) The hint of yellow required is the card base, and I was sadly out of crystals, so I substituted small crystal-like pearls to add a little bling to the flowers. So there's my first Poppy Seed Challenge. Hopefully Lisa doesn't read this and a) take out a restraining order, b) put her children into a witness protection program, or worst of all, c) disqualify my card for lacking appropriate crystals!

Thanks non-crafters for sticking this out - I'll try to post something NOT involving paper later on in the day. :)