Happy Birthday Gnomie! Card by Tasha

 Happy Friday Art Impressions friends! 

Tasha here sharing a cheerful birthday card inspired by the current Floral Frenzy Challenge. I couldn't resist pairing colorful spring tulips with one of the adorable garden gnomes for a fun birthday design.

I started by stamping the sweet gnome from the 5000-Gotta Garden Stamp Set (Retired) and surrounded him with beautiful tulips from the 6220-Sing to the Lord Set. I colored everything with Copic markers, keeping the flowers bright with shades of purple and orange for a happy spring feel. A soft blue sky and grassy background help bring the scene to life.

To frame the image, I layered it with gold glitter cardstock and added coordinating yellow and orange mats. The pretty floral pattern paper from the 6205-Floral Shop Paper Pack ties all of the colors together while keeping the focus on the stamped scene. I finished the card with a simple Happy Birthday greeting to make it perfect for celebrating someone special.

If you're looking for inspiration, be sure to join the Art Impressions Floral Frenzy Challenge. It's a fun way to pull out your favorite floral stamps and create something beautiful. 

Have a wonderful Day!

Floral Frenzy Challenge #433 Week #2

Hello Ai fans!

Welcome to our challenge.

FLORAL FRENZY

Let's see your floral creations.

Remember, they don't have to be cards. You can create anything you like as long as you use something from Art Impressions. We'd love to see your gift card holders, gift tags, boxes and bags, bookmarks, place cards, cake picks, designer paper, framed art and more. Anything with flowers.

Last week Janet was our Featured Artist and she took the theme to heart,
creating the most amazing floral card.

Janet also created a second card with a bee theme.

Now for the rest of the Design Team cards.

Our Monthly Challenge inspiration artist is Debbie and she created a sweet

humming bird floral card.

Watercolor artist Gennette created this lovely floral Story Tile card.

Simone created two floral cards for her Watercolor Weekend post.

Our Focus on Faith artist, Sara, created this beautiful wall hanging.

I created a floral Story Tile card.

Neema created a lovely floral panel framed with a pretty border.

4603 Blooming Birdhouse (retired but HERE are lots of other options)

5892 Easter S2 PP

And, a second card from Neema. So pretty!

6216 - Mercy set

Simone also created two floral bookmarks.

5718 Mini Journal Template
6150 His love set
6055 Water of life Set
6230 Mini Decorative Bookmark Set

                

Tasha has a beautiful floral Story Tile card.

Dori has a dozing gnome and his friends, enjoying some flowers.

Sharon has some stunning daffodils for you.

Wow!! Talk about some amazing floral inspiration!

We can't wait to see what you create for the challenge.

Here are the details.

Please make a new project featuring any floral themed
stamps, dies or paper from Art Impressions.
We can't wait to see what your beautiful creations.

Here are the rules...

✻ Please make a new card or handmade crafty creation using either stamps, dies and or designer paper from Art Impressions. You can make any item you wish; this is not limited to cards! (unless specified)

✻ Limit two submissions per person.

✻Top Spot Winner and Lucky Random Winner each receive a free 

stamp set from Art Impressions

 ✻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

Friends Gnome Matter What by Dori Mendiola

 Happy Wednesday AI Friends!

My card today fits the new blog challenge - Floral Frenzy and features two new stamp sets - #6220 - Sing to the Lord and #6221 - Frameworks Set 3 along with the cute little gnomes from the #5785 - Gnomes set.  I personally think you can put gnomes on anything and it just creates cuteness overload!  Wouldn't you agree?

I stamped the images onto copic friendly paper with Memento black ink and colored with copic markers listed below.  I used the corresponding dies to cut the gnomes.  The florals are one stamp from the stamp set.  I colored the full stamp image and then cut it into thirds using a small circle die.  I stamped the frameworks image onto a 4" square piece of white cardstock.  I adhered a colored floral image into each of the frameworks.

To make the "Book Cradle" card style:  There are several tutorials showing how to make this fun fold but I watched the one from Dawn's Stamping Thoughts and made a slight change to it.

Start with a base white cardstock measuring 4 x 8.  Score on the long side at 1/2, 4 and 7 1/2.  Fold and burnish each score as a mountain fold.

For the cradle base: Cut a 4 x 5 inch white cardstock piece.  Score at 1/2, 1 1/2, 2 1/2, 3 1/2, 4 1/2 on the long side.  Burnish at 2 1/2" as valley fold.  Glue the second fold (as mountain) up to the 2 1/2" leaving the first 1/2" as a tab.  Do the same on the other side.  You should be left with 1/2" single width of cardstock, then 1" double width on next two folds and then lastly, a 1/2" single width tab.  

Make the support stand that fits at the bottom of the base:  Cut a 4 x 2 1/2" piece of cardstock.  Score along short side at 1/2, 1 1/4 and 2.  Shape into a W.  Glue the 1/2" tabs of this stand to the inside bottom of the base piece.  See below (bottom of card).  

Adhere the card base 1/2" tabs to the cradle base 1/2" tabs.   The card should fold flat and pop up when standing.  Finish decorating with mat layers and pop up the gnomes with foam tape.  Add the sentiment to the bottom using the banner from the #5588 - Journal Oval Frames.

Once you make one of these cards, you will find out how fun and easy it is to make plus so cute when on display.  I'm hooked so you may see more of these in my future posts.  😁

Make sure to join our blog challenge for a chance to win a free stamp set of your choice.  It's easy, just check out the tab above.  

Have a wonderful day and keep creating!

Copics used:  W0, W1, W3

E00, E02, E21, E23, E25

B0000, B000, B01

G40, G43, G46

Y13, Y15, Y17

RV10, RV32, RV34

Focus on Faith with Sara Furr: Bird and Tulip Wall Hanging

 

Blessings, dear friends, and welcome to my first edition of "Focus on Faith" for the month of August.  Today, I have a fun project for you that is not so much card as it is a quaint little wall hanging.

I started by die cutting an oval panel of Canson XL Bristol Smooth cardstock, on which I stamped the tulip image from the "Sing to the Lord" set, in Versafine Black Ink using my stamp positioner. I then inked up just the bird from the "Songbirds and Feeders"set. It is the bird perched on the side of the bird bath.  I stamped it so that it was just at the top of the back tulip. I then proceeded to color my images using Polychromos colored pencils. 

 When  was done,  I ink blended some yellow ink up in the right hand corner for a bit of sunlight ,and then I placed the oval back into my stamping tool, and stamped the sentiment from the "Sing to the Lord" set, with Versafine black ink. 

I die cut the black frame and applied it to the top of my oval and then I applied foam tape to the back of it. I die cut a larger oval of white cardstock and embossed it with a tulip embossing folder, and I applied ink to the raised embossing with mini ink blending brushes. 

 I then adhered that panel down to my scalloped green oval base with foam tape, and added the black hanger with adhesive. 

 That finishes my project for today. I hope that you got inspired to look at your stamp sets in a new way, and that you will try coloring your images using colored pencils. I love the amount of texture and shading that I can achieve using colored pencils.

 I wish you all a very blessed and crafty week!

 Your friend in Faith, 

Sara Furr- The Crafty Farm Chick

 

Other supplies used:

Canson XL Bristol Smooth cardstock 

Paper cutter

Die cutting machine

Oval dies and hangers 

Embossing folder

Foam tape

Versafine black ink 

Polychromos colored pencils 

Yellow ink

Green ink

Coral ink

Blue ink

Red ink

Mini blending brushes

Floral Frenzy Story Tile card by Reneé Matarese

 Hello Ai fans!
The current challenge on the Art Impressions Challenge Blog is
Floral Frenzy!

Who on this planet doesn't love flowers?
You don't have to grow them or keep fresh flowers
in your house, but doesn't everyone love flowers?

I love the 6158 – Story Tile Template Die.
You can place an image in every section, or you can fill them with
sentiments or even just pretty paper. It's a great way to have an instant layout

for a card.

I'll always be here for you by Sharon Caudle

 Hello AI Fans!

My card today features a couple of new releases by Art Impressions, #6221 Frameworks Set 3 & #6218 BJ Long Stem flowers. I have always loved daffodils (maybe because they're yellow?? LOL), so I was excited to see these! I thing the flowers fit beautifully inside the new frames, so they're a perfect match in my book! I stamped them onto a Copic friendly cardstock using Memento Tuxedo Black ink and then colored them up. I used one of the slimline dies to die cut it as I love the stitched edges. For the sentiment, I used the beautiful banner from the Decorate Journal Page 2 set. 

That's it for me today! Thanks so much for stopping by for a visit and until next time - stay crafty!

Single Flower to Story Tile by Simone Carr

Hello Fellow Crafters!

For today’s card, I wanted to create something soft and elegant with a touch of vintage charm. I love how a simple floral image can be transformed with a little watercolor, texture, and a few special details.

Using Canson Watercolor Paper, I stamped the image using N95. I colored the stems and leaves first with 177. Then I colored the flower, starting with 985. I used 055 to add highlights to the bloom and 933 in the center of the flower. I used 526 around the flower to add a soft touch of color to the background.

Once the coloring was dry, I splattered some Winsor & Newton Gold paint over the flower for a little extra shimmer. I then used the Antique Frame Die (from a different company) to cut out my panel.

Using Memento Toffee Crunch, I distressed the edges of the panel to enhance the vintage look. Next, I stamped my sentiment using Versafine Clair Nocturne.

I then selected a frame that would fit around the sentiment from the Frameworks Set 4 and stamped it using Memento Toffee Crunch. Using a small brush, I painted over the stamped frame with Winsor & Newton Gold paint to add a subtle metallic accent.

I felt the card still needed a little something extra, so I used a textured stamp with Distress Ink Antique Linen and stamped it randomly over the card panel. This added just the right amount of texture and finished off the vintage feel of the card.

Materials Used

Stamps & Dies
• 6218 – BJ Long Stem Set
• 6222 – Frameworks Set 4
• 5063 – Double Stitched Rectangle Die (Largest)

Paper
• Canson Watercolor Paper

Inks & Mediums
• Distress Ink – Antique Linen
• Memento Toffee Crunch
• Versafine Clair Nocturne
• Winsor & Newton Gold Paint

Tombow Markers
• N95 – Stamped Image
• 985 – Flower
• 055 – Flower Highlights
• 933 – Flower Center
• 177 – Stems & Leaves
• 526 – Background

For my second card, I used the Story Tile Die to cut a piece of Canson Watercolor Paper. I then arranged my flowers onto each section and stamped the images using Distress Ink Antique Linen.

Once the images were stamped, I colored each section using the Tombow markers listed below. I then cut another frame from patterned paper and adhered it to the watercolor frame. After attaching the layered frame to my card base, I glued each watercolor tile back into place to complete the card.

Materials Used

Stamps & Dies
• 6158 – Story Tile Die
• 6220 – Sing to the Lord
• 6218 – BJ Long Stem
• 5735 – Birthday Sentiments Set

Paper
• 6012 – Basic Yellow Patterned Paper
• Canson Watercolor Paper

Inks & Mediums
• TwinTone Marker – Purple
• Pitt Artist Pen – Black
• Versafine Clair Nocturne
• Distress Ink – Antique Linen

Tombow Markers
• 177, 985, 025, 925, 526 – Tulips
• 606, 177, 526 – Petunia
• 856, 177, N15, 526 – Poppy Flower
• 312, 685, 837, 985, 856, 555, 565, 177, 526 – Wildflowers

Thanks for stopping by, and happy crafting!

Summer Vibes by Gennette Houghton

 

Hello, and Welcome to Watercolor Weekend!  Ah….August….the hurrah before fall.  Don’t mind me while I sit in the air conditioning until fall arrives.  LOL!  However, I do love all of the green and flowers, and I’m in no hurry for the cold I know is coming.  I am a mid-temp kind of gal.

 For my 1^st card I decided to go with several sets using the 6158 Story Tile Template.  The possibilities with this die is never ending.  I started off cutting down my watercolor paper to 4 ¼ by 5 ½, I keep a cutout of the template with my die that I use to trace the outline of the boxes on my paper.  I then stamped in all of my images with Distress Ink Pumice Stone, and then stamped them off once before placing them on my project, masking off the guides where needed.  I used 6106 Spring Keepsake Set for the birdhouse, and used a pencil to create a guide for the hanging line.  A mix of 565 and 969 for the wood, mixing these creates a more weathered look to the wood.  I then added 403 to the main part of the birdhouse, decorating with Bleed Proof White with a touch of 025 for the centers of the flowers.  526 was used on the sky before adding in the leafy branch from 5126 WC Foliage Set 4 in 126 and 177.  I also used a mix of 565 and 969 to the hanging line.  5981 My Joy Set was used for the Black-eyed Susans, I started with 126 on the leaves and contoured with 177.  For the petals I started with a base layer of 055, adding contours with 025.  I use a small amount of 026 for the deeper shading.  The centers I use 947 and shade with 969, also adding a couple of dots with 969 on each center.  For the background I used 403, and then added some gold dots with Winsor & Newton Gold Ink with 5418 Bible Foliage Set 2.  For the next section I used 6195 Love Blooms Set with a stamp positioner to make sure I had it centered where I wanted it.  A pencil and ruler was used to map out the guidelines for the windows before I started coloring.  For the windows I used a mix of 526 and 565, shading with more 565 along the edges.  For the wood I did a mix of 565 and 969 for this one as well.  Darkening around the bases of everything sitting on the bench.  For the curtains I used 025, and the tie backs I used 403.  For the pillow on the right I used 676 and 947 for the button, the left pillow I used 403 and 969 for the button.  I colored the left pot with 905, adding stripes and dots, and then shadowed with 947.  The right pot I used 126 and also shaded this with 947.  I started with adding in the shadows on the cat with 565 and then colored him in with N15.  I used a black micron on his facial features and a pencil for his whiskers.  I added in the foliage with 5126 WC Foliage Set 4, vines, in the right pot with a mix of 126 and 177.  For the left pot, I used 4868 WC Flower Set 2 in 676 and 177.  I also added in some Bleed Proof White for flowers on the vine.  For the birds, I used the 6196 Fresh Flowers Set.  A black micron was used on the eyes, beaks, and feet before coloring.  I extended the line across the opening with a pencil as well, to create a ledge that I colored with a mix of 565 and 969, adding some extra 565 for the shadows.  For the birds I started with 526 and 905, but then decided to add additional color with 565 and 856 because I felt they were too light.  403 was used for the sky, and then I added the little leafy branch from 5007 WC Foliage Set 3 with 249.  Adding in some flowers with Bleed Proof White.  

The FG Flower Borders are so useful in so many ways, so I used the 6186 FG Tulip Border for my next section.  For the leaves and stems I started with a base layer of 126 and then shaded and contoured with 177.  For the tulips I used: Purple – 676 and 947, Blue – 403 and 407, Yellow – 055 and 025, and Peachy Red – 905 and 947, making sure I deepened the colors in the more shaded spots.  I hate to admit this, but this is the very first time I have used the little girl from 5717 Little Girl FB Set.  For her hair I used 947.  For the skin I used 850 as the base, contouring with 910, and shadow with 912, with just a touch of 772 on the cheeks.  I used a black micron for her eyes, and 912 to define her nose and mouth with a touch of 947 on her eyebrows.  I decided to go all fancy with her dress and used a pencil to map in the guides for the checkered pattern, and used 905 on her hat, buttons, and dress.  I don’t know what it is about this color, but I love it.  It can be a strong orange/red, or when it’s watered down can be a peachy pink.  I used some 565 for a shadow under the brim of her hat.  969 was used on the basket, and then created a mask before adding in the daisy bunch from 5074 Bible Flower Set in 403.  I also added in the vines from 5126 WC Foliage Set 4 in a mix of 126, and 177, adding in some Bleed Proof White.  I shaded the arms and basket on the apron with 565.  I decided to add boards behind her with a pencil and ruler, using a mix of 565 and 969 to add definition, plus added a shadow behind the girl with 565.  Using the 6158 Story Tile Template I cut out the frame from 6082 Bible Journaling S1 Paper Pack, mounting this over my images and assembling my card. 

 For my 2^nd card I used 6184 Euro Cottage Set with Distress Ink Pumice Stone after stamping off once and then stamped onto my watercolor paper. I also created a mask for later.  I started with 947 on the roof, adding a bit of 969 for the darker areas and added shading with 565.  I used a mix of 565 and 969, with a touch of 249 on the chimney, door frame, and steps, shading these with 565.  For the walls I watered down some 969 just to give them a bit of tint, and then darker for the suggestion of bricks.  For the trim around the windows I used 947 and a bit of 969.  526 and 565 was used on the windows, and then I used some 969 for the panes.  I used 969 on the door, shading with 565, and then used 947 for the door knob.  For the lantern, I started with 526 for the glass, and finished it off with 026.  

I then used the mask I created and masked off the cottage to add in the foliage for the trees.  4051 Foliage Set 1, the large foliage, I covered the stamp with 126 and then added 177 in random areas, stamping and re-inking multiple times for both sides.  I softened this with a damp brush before adding in the branches.  I used one of the larger branches from 4964 WC Branches Set in 977, using the stamp positioner to figure out where I wanted the branches of the trees to be.  I then added in some 526 for the sky.  Removing the mask, I then used one of the smaller branches from the same set for the vines going up around the house.  From 4051, I used the small grass in 177 along both sides of the house, and then used 5126 WC Foliage Set 4 and the vines in 126 and 177.  I also softened the vines and grass with a damp brush, before adding in some Bleed Proof White.  Just a touch of 969 for the path for the door.  I cut out my image with the 3^rd from largest die from the 5063 Rectangle A2 Double Stitched Dies.  After matting my card base with paper from 6033 Inspirational Easter Paper Pack, I matted my image with a darker green and then silver, before assembling my card.  Thank you so much for joining me today, and I hope you enjoyed my cards!  Until next time, Create….Share….Inspire!