Friday, September 19, 2025

It's the Simon Says Stamp/Art Impressions STAMPtember 2025 Collaboration! BOBA BABES!

 Hello Ai fans!

It's that wonderful time of year when Art Impressions
teams up with Simon Says Stamp for STAMPtember!

This year's exclusive set is called Boba Babes!


We have TONS of exciting inspiration from both our Daily Design Team
and our Watercolor Design Team. You can also visit SSS to see what their
wonderful team has come up with.

Remember, this set is a "while supplies last" release so get yours FAST before
they're gone forever.

Here is what our FABULOUS DTs came up with.

DIANE
IG
FB



DORI


GENNETTE


JAMI



JANET


TASHA
KAREN


LYNN



RENEE


SHARON



Once you receive your order and start creating, remember to use #artimpressionsstamps and #STAMPtember when you share your projects. We LOVE seeing your work!

Happy STAMPtember everyone!






Happy Birthday Old Buck! Card by Tasha

 Happy Friday Art Impressions friends!

Tasha here, and today I’m sharing a new masculine card created with the fun 5406-Mr. Set. I just love the deer-themed hat; it’s such a great focal point for a sportsman-inspired birthday card!

To start, I built a frame and wooden background with patterned paper from the 6072 – Father’s Day Paper Pack. The tan and green shades in this collection are so warm and rustic, perfect for a guy card. 

For the sentiment, I stamped “Happy Birthday Old Buck” on white cardstock, layered it with tan, and used two circle punches to create a bold greeting. A little foam tape added just the right amount of dimension.

To finish everything off, I layered off-white, tan, and brown cardstock to tie in all the colors from the center panel. I love how the earthy tones and fun greeting make this card both masculine and playful!







Thursday, September 18, 2025

Wild About You Challenge Week #2

 Hello Ai fans and welcome to week #2 of our

Wild About You challenge!


Our challenge is to use wild animals or animal prints on your projects. Our Design Team are
clearly animal lovers and they all went that route, but you are welcome to use animal prints as well.
They came up with some beautiful cards to help get you in the mood to play along. We love
seeing your artwork and can't wait to see what you create.

Last week our Featured Designer was Lynn and she created 3 fabulous bookmarks.


Dori spent some Koala-ty Time on her card.


Janet's fall card features a sweet little bird.


Gennette got a little foxy for her card.


I went deep under the sea for my card.


Sharon has 2 cute pelican cards.



Tasha has a fun Halloween card.
Lynn also created this adorable fall card.
Visit her post for the tutorial video.

Week after week our Design Team works hard to inspire you for our challenges

We hope that you love their work as much as we do and will play along with our challenges.

You might be the next lucky winner of a free stamp set.


Be sure to enter your creation for the chance to win a free stamp set from Art Impressions. 
We award one Top Spot and one Lucky Random Winner, and each will win a free stamp set from Art Impressions.

✻ Please make a new card or handmade crafty creation. You can make any item you wish; this is not limited to cards! (unless specified)

✻ Limit two submissions per person.
 ✻Please include your first name and last initial on your submission. You may include your entire last name, but it's not necessary.
✻We love to comment on your entries, but keep in mind if you use a private group or a platform that you need to sign up for, we probably won't be able to.
✻ The Ai Challenge is open to everyone, international submissions are welcome!
✻ Include a link back to the Ai Blog or grab our button on the top right of our sidebar!
✻ Share the Ai love if you can, by clicking and commenting on your fellow crafters.
✻ Make sure to get your link up by the deadline to enter your creations.
✻ Good luck and happy stamping! 


You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Koala-Ty Time by Dori Mendiola

 Happy Thursday AI Friends!

This week's blog challenge is "Wild About You" showcasing any animal, or animal print, stamp, die, etc.  Many AI stamp sets work with this challenge, but since I found a leafy felt fabric, I thought it would be perfect to use with the #5349 - Koalas set.


I stamped two Koalas from this set, as well as the sentiment, onto copic friendly paper with Memento black ink and colored with my copic markers listed below.   I die cut each of the Koalas using the coordinating dies included with the set.  I also cut another pair of Koalas from heavy cardstock to back the colored image so they would pop up on the card with more stability.  I used the leaf die from the #5805 - Mini Journal box to cut several green leaves.  The sentiment was cut using the #6045 - Scalloped Circle die and popped up in the center of the frame panels.

The background frame, as well as the other leaf, were cut from dies I had in my stash.  To finish off the card, I used some enamel dots and placed them on three of the panels.  

Thanks for joining me today!  I hope you show us your creations by entering in the blog challenge.  See above tab for details and your chance to win a free stamp set of your choice.  
We always love to see what you create!

Have a wonderful day and keep creating!
Copics used:  W0, W1, W3, W5
E21, E23, E24
R20, G43, G46
B12, B14

Wednesday, September 17, 2025

Stenciled Golden Leaves and Ink Blended Background by Lynn Dionne

 Happy Wednesday Ai Fans!!!

Watch video tutorial here!!!

Let's get started by creating a pretty fall background. To do this, we will first die-cut one of the Ai Banner Double Stitched Dies (5134) from some smooth white cardstock. Let's start with our lightest color which is the Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink in Scattered Straw, then blend in some Spiced Marmalade and finally some Crackling Campfire.

Now we will add some fluttering leaves using the Autumn Breeze Stencil. We are going to emboss the leaves with some gold embossing powder for a nice metallic look. In order to do this, we will lay the stencil over the ink blended background and using the Versamark Watermark Ink Pad and a foam applicator tool, we will pounce this ink onto the stencil. Now let's remove the stencil and add some gold embossing powder to the leaves. Using our heat tool, we can go ahead and emboss the leaves. This gives the leaves an elegant metallic shine! We will also spatter this panel with some gold metallic ink and now we have a beautiful fall sky!

Next, we will stamp and color our little squirrel using the adorable Ai Feast Mode (5191) Set. All of the coloring was done using the Zig Clean Color Real Brush Pens in the following colors: Blender, Sugared Almond Pink, Beige, Sand, Brown, Mid Brown, Lt Gray, Gray Brown. We can then fussy cut the image leaving a little white border all the way around.

Let's wrap this background with some natural hemp twine and tie a pretty bow! Now we will die-cut another stitched banner to create a nice border in a dark brown. We can add some foam mounting tape to this background banner and attach the two together.

We can now create our card base from some Kraft Cardsock which will also be spattered with gold as well. And on this card base we will stamp the sentiment from that same set which says, "Thankful for you".

Finally, let's glue these together and add a few sparkly gold gems!

Thank you so much for joining me today!  Have a fun and crafty day!

Ai Feast Mode Set (5191)

Ai Banner Double Stitched Dies (5134)

Post-it Labeling and Cover-up Tape

Winsor & Newton Gold


Tuesday, September 16, 2025

WILD about the ocean! by ReneƩ Matarese

 Hello Ai fans!

Welcome to my Wild About You post.
For the current Bi-Weekly challenge, we want to see your projects using
wild animals or animal prints on them.

For my wild animals, I chose to use ocean creatures.


The sub and animals are from 5397 – Submarine Cubbies.
With a finger sponge dauber I used several shades of green pigment
ink to sponge a watery background.


The matte around the sponged panel was cut using 
5063 – Rectangle A2 Double Stitched Dies.
Though you can't see it in the photo, the creatures all have Wink of Stella on them.


One great thing about this set is that it comes with coordinating dies so you don't have to fussy
cut all of those little critters. The sub also has a die which cuts out some of the windows
in case you want some of your cute little creatures swimming in and out of it.

I hope this has inspired you to get in touch with your WILD side.
You can win a free stamp set if you're selected as one of our 2 winners!


Monday, September 15, 2025

Shake Your Tail Feathers by Sharon Caudle

 Hello AI Fans!

So hopefully you've seen that Art Impressions started a new challenge last Thursday "Wild About You"! Ok...so I'm going to be honest here...I actually googled to see if a bird was considered an "animal" LOL!! And yay, it is! I wanted to create a card to show you that the paper packs that Art Impressions created for the new AI People (Gardener Gail, Pickle Ball Patty, Birdie Betty, Cruisin' Carol, and Loungin' Linda) can be used for so much more!!! It made this card soooo easy and quick to create! I started by grabbing #5399 Gull Friends Set and 6098 Cruise PP. I stamped the Gulls onto a Copic friendly paper using Memento Tuxedo Black ink. The markers I used to color it are listed below. Luckily, the Gull Friends Set comes with coordinating dies, so it was a snap to cut out the sea gulls. From there, I simply added some mounting tape to the back of it and popped it up onto the sheet of paper I had chosen for it. Add a quick sentiment and voila! I just LOVE the sentiment!! 




I sure hope this inspires you to look at these paper packs a little differently! Thanks so much for stopping by for a visit today, and until next time - stay crafty!!



Sunday, September 14, 2025

Fox Hollow and Country Cottage by Gennette Houghton

 


Welcome to Watercolor Weekend, and thank you for joining me today! I absolutely love Kim’s fox set that she designed, it is such a beautiful set.  

I started out by tracing the inside of a 3 inch circle die on watercolor paper, and then used the inside of the wreath die that is from my stash to trace in some guidelines.  I then took the largest fox that is lying down from KH5951 Foxes set in N49 and stamped off once before stamping on my project.  I used a black micron on the eyes and nose before I started coloring in the fox.  Using Tombows, I like to start with 025, to me if gives an underglow to the image.  I then added in 993 going over most of it but leaving a touch of the 025 showing in the areas that are the most highlighted.  I then go in layers with 946, 947 and 969.  As each color gets darker the closer I stay to the more shaded areas of the image, with the 969 being the darkest areas. I then shaded the white tip of the tale with 565 and added some Dr. Ph. Martin’s Bleed Proof White to highlight areas to give contrast.  I put a wash of color on the ground in 177, using 249 to shade under the fox.  526 was used for the sky at this point.  

5826 WC Large Tree Set 2, which has my favorite grass to use in scenes like this, was inked in 177 with just a touch of 969 in 2 spots at the base of the grass. Then using 5126 WC Foliage Set 4, I used 126 and then used 177 in a line right up through the middle of each section on the leafy branch.  I find that adding the 2 colors right on the stamp gives a beautiful, more organic look to the colors.  I then added a touch of water to both the grass and the leaves to soften and blend the colors.  

For the leaves added into the wreath, I die cut them out of mixed media paper and colored them with 126 and shaded with the 177.  I erased all of the pencil lines and added in BPW for the tiny flowers in the grass. Now that everything is dry, I assembled the wreath first, then matted my card base with a beautiful 2 toned paper from 6033 Inspirational Easter Paper Pack. I couldn’t decide on some color cardstock for my sentiment so I created my own with mixed media paper and 126.  I then stamped the sentiment from 5980 KH Song Birds and Feeders Set in black ink, then die cut it with a banner from 5133 Flag Double Stitched Dies.  I then finished assembling my card to create a cute fox hollow card perfect for a friend.  

For my second card I used 5930 Santa’s Workshop Set. I love it when a stamp can be used in different ways. I love this building and I could see it in a country setting.  I inked it in N49 and stamped off once, I also created a mask out of 2” post-it tape. Before adding color, I used a pencil and ruler to map out my grid lines for the windows, and lines on the door. For the walls I used 177, concentrating darker color in the areas that are shaded. I left the inside wells of the windows unpainted until after the windows were finished so I wasn’t drawing the green color into the panes.  For the windows I used 772, going right over the top of the pencil lines, and also using those lines to add a bit of more color to help single out some of the panes of glass, shading the panes with 565.  I then used 947 on the roof, door and trim. With 969, I darkened some of the deeper shaded areas, especially on the roof.  For the chimney, I started with a mix of 565 and 969, making sure I left highlights on the stone. 565 was used to create a shadow where the chimney is closest to the house, and then added some 249 to add a bit of color.  969 was used to darken the areas where the stones meet.  For the porch, 565 and 969 mixed, was also used with 565 for a shadow right in front of the door. I then went over the pencil lines on the windows and door with 947, adding 969 to the door knob. I then went over the window and door wells with a dark layer of 177, to give them the appearance of being inset. 565 was used to shade under all of the overhangs.  

I put my mask in place, and with 5826 WC Large Tree Set 2, I put in the trees around the house.  For the tree on the right I used a stamp positioner to create a taller tree. I stamped in the top part first with 177 and 969, then used the positioner and just inking the bottom half of the stamp lined it up with the top image.  For the sky I used 526, and added a wash of 249 for the ground, I also added a bit of 177 around the base of the trees.  Right in front of the porch I added a touch of 969 for a hint of a path.  For the grass by the trees I used 4051 Foliage Set 1 in 249, the grass by the porch is from 5372 WC Mini Foliage Set.  Using the Mini set and the bush line I added in flower bushes in 725, inking only a small section of the stamp. I then softened all of these with a bit of water.  The bottom, to me, looked a bit empty, so I used the 2nd largest die from 5063 Rectangle A2 Double Stitched dies and traced inside the two bottom corners for a guide and taped off with post-it tape. The grass from 5826 WC Tree Set 2, is my favorite to use, I inked it in 177, and in two small spots, just at the base with a touch of 969. Re-inking the stamp as needed as I went across the bottom.  I added, with 249 and the small vine from 5126 WC Foliage Set 4, some leaves in several spots, I also used a branch in 969 from 4964 WC Branches Set for added interest.  Dr. Ph. Martin’s Bleed Proof white was used for the flowers, and a spot of 025 for the centers on the bottom flowers.  After removing the tape, I erased all of the pencil lines. My card was matted with paper from 5955 Encouragement Paper Pack.  With the die I used as a guide, I cut out my image and matted it with matching cardstock.  Thank you for joining me today, and I hope you enjoyed my cards.  Until next time, Create….Share….Inspire!