Pretty Little Floral Shop by Reneé Matarese

Hello Ai fans!

Do you love the new add-on 6159 – Floral Shop Die Set as much as I do?
It's meant to pair with 6114 – Box Village Template Dies.

My little flower shop was created for the current Feeling Crafty challenge.

You get all of these incredible dies in this new set.

I took some liberties and extended my shingles above the roofline of the box because I wanted a taller shop. I also tipped the window upright.

I also noticed that everyone sees things differently.

I saw what I have since learned is the window valance and instantly saw "window box" in my mind. The piece that is meant to be the actual window box was turned into a wooden sign by me...lol! I'm not at all sad with how it turned out. I decided to score my "valence box" where each scallop was and then use a brown ink pad to add some wood lines.

On the side of my box I trimmed the tops of the pickets off of the fence and made a trellis for the flowers.

I hope you like my little flower shop.

I can't wait to see what's next in this fun series.

 

Happy Retirement card by Sharon Caudle

 Hello AI Fans!

Today I'm showing you a card I made for a friend that recently retired. I really like #4900 Reel Great Guys Set and think it's perfect for a retirement card. So that's what I reached for. I stamped the image onto a Copic friendly cardstock and then colored it with the Copic markers listed below. I kept it very simple and didn't really add any embellishments other than some twine. The gorgeous paper is from #6072 Father's Day PP. Since I matted the papers with Kraft cardstock, this works perfectly for the current challenge #426 Feeling Crafty! I hope you join in the challenge for a chance to win a free stamp set! 

 

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

Copic markers used:

E000, 00, 11, 31, 33, 40, 41, 42, 43, 81, 84, and 87

C1, 2, 3, and 4

W1 and 2

R20 and 27

G40 and 43

BG01, 70, 72, and 75

Spring Bird Cards by Jami Steiger

 

Good morning, watercolor friends. With everything in Ohio now in full bloom and beautifully vibrant, I've been delighted watching the birds in our backyard. They served as my inspiration for today's cards.  

For my first card, I used the 5261-WC Large Birdhouse Set. I started by coloring the birdhouse stamp with Tombow markers 565 and 969. I stamped off once. I used the stamp positioner to place the birds in the scene. I then painted the birds, trying to make them as realistic as possible. After the scene was painted, I added Dr. PH. Martin's Bleed Proof White to add white highlights. I used a sentiment from the 5797-Little Sentiment Set and die-cut a tag using paper from the 6082-Bible Journaling S1 Paper Pack.

Tombow markers: 969, 565, 177, 837, 025, 879, 856, 528, N65, and N35.

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For my second card, I used these supplies: 5130-On The Sparrow Set; 6045-Scalloped Circle Dies; and Tombow markers: 969, 565, 177, N35, N65, 977, 837, 025, and 879.

Country Church and Hydrangea Florals with Guest Designer Julie Worthing

Hello Ai fans and welcome to Watercolor Weekend!

Today we have our second Guest Designer for April in place of Diane who
needed some personal time off.

Please give a warm welcome to Julie Worthing and enjoy her BEAUTIFUL creations.

Julie Worthing

 I was honored to be asked to create a card for the Guest Designer series. Today I created a beautiful scene focusing on a stamp from the Church set. The list of stamps and supplies used are as follows:

5058 - Church Set

5009 - WC Mini Flower set

5007 - Foliage Set 3 - tall grass

4051 - Original Foliage set - Large grass

5372 - WC Mini Foliage Set - Hedge, small grass and Tree

5373 - WC Large Tree Set - Leaves

Pens & Other accessories:

Dr. PH Martins

Pencil

Post it Tape - 3 1/2 by 3 3/4

Tombow Dual Brush Pens

173

177

249

526

533

565

856

933

969

993

Brown Twin Tone

First I used Post it Tape to make a frame for the painting. Next I stamped the church first using 565, then 969 and stamped off twice as the stamp is rubber.

Then I free handed the mountain line and greenway on either side of the church. Next I pulled color from the church lines and then water colored it with 565 and 969 mixed together for the roof and steeple. I used 565 on the window and then used Dr PH Martins for the panes. Next I painted the mountains with a blend of 565 and 553.

Then I stamped the small trees using the mini foliage set and the hedges. For the larger tree I used the leaves from the large tree set. Then used water to dab all trees and hedges and pulled some of the green down to create a slope. Next I used the grass from the mini foliage and stamped with 177 at the base of the church and after dabbing it with water, I added 249 off my palette as well as adding a little 249 and 177 to the trees.

After that I used various greens (177, 249, 177), orange (933) and yellow (993) to create the field base. I used the tall grass (5007) in the field and the large grass (4051) at the base of the card.

For flowers I used the tiny dots from the mini flower set with red (856) at the base of the Church and scattered in the field. I also used the yellow (993) with the mini stamp in the field. I then used Dr Ph Martin to create daisies and after drying, added yellow (993) to the center. The also used the white paint to added small dots in the field and next to the Church.

For the sky I used 569, 533, 993, 856, and 933 and a small amount of diluted Ph Martins.

Lastly, I added the cross on the top of the steeple with the brown Twintone and accented with the Twintone where I thought would enhance the picture and 565 for o

I removed the post it tape and then cut edges about 1/4 inch to crate a border.

For my second card I made a lilac colored Hydrangea floral arrangement.

Sets used:

4870 - WC Ornate Container Set

5827 - Hydrangea Set
5742 - Easter Journal Paper Pack

I hope you enjoy my little paintings and thank you Renee for asking me to help out!

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Thank you so much to Julie for helping out this month.

We hope you enjoyed her inspiration on this Watercolor Weekend.

See you tomorrow for more wonderful paintings from Jami.

Julie Worthing

Fresh Flowers For You by Janet

 Happy Saturday everyone! I'm in such a mood for spring so it's a good thing there are so many great Art Impression sets to explore the season with! Here I've had a great time exploring coloring with pencils and watercolor using the new 6196 - Fresh Flowers stamp set. 

Those of you who see my work here each week, know that I almost exclusively use markers but this set and the other five sets in this line have inspired me to try using two coloring mediums that I'm not very experienced using. Is this perfect? Absolutely not. But I had a wonderful experience using something out of my comfort zone and overall, I'm happy with the result. I hope you agree. 

Sometimes we are afraid to do something we haven't done before. Believe me, there were moments when I was tempted to quit and give up. I was critical of my technique and my skills. But you know what? Art and expression is about the journey not perfection. I'm so glad I didn't quit!

After finishing my coloring, I used a die from 6047 - Scalloped Squares Dies to cut it out for my card. I cut a larger scalloped lace border with the largest die from the set and mounted the two pieces together. I backed this with a slate blue glimmer cardstock. Then I mounted that on a piece of glimmer pink cardstock before mounting the stack on a 5 x 5 square card base. I added the sentiment from the set and I used a gold Signo pen to draw a dash dot border around the card edges. I used a white Signo pen to add some highlights to the canopy and flowers. Finally I added a pink satin bow to the corner.

Thanks for joining me on the blog today. I hope I've inspired you to try a technique that's outside your comfort zone. You might discover something that surprises you!

Please stop by the Ai store. You'll find your favorite stamps, dies, papers, and accessories at the Ai Store!

Happy Crafting!

Fabulous Gardener Gail! Card by Tasha

 Happy Friday Art Impressions Friends!

Tasha here sharing a card featuring the fun 6076-Gardener Gail stamp set and the 6099-Garden Paper Pack to create a fun little gardening scene.

I started by stamping Gail and used the included dies to cut the image out before coloring. I wanted to coordinate with the pattern paper, so I colored the flower with the same shades on the flowers in the background. I love the happy yellow petals!

To complete the card, I added several layers of card stock and a frame cut from Art Impressions floral pattern paper. I also stamped "Pruned & Fabulous" and attached a white frame around the greeting. I think these colors are great and the sentiment is perfect to send to anyone, anytime of the year!

I hope you enjoyed today's project and are having a wonderful day!

Feeling Crafty Challenge #426 Week #1

 Hello Ai fans and welcome to our

"Feeling Crafty" challenge.

This one couldn't be simpler.
Use craft paper on your project somewhere.

Our Featured Designer is Tasha and you're going to love her card!

After you browse what she's created, be sure to scroll down to see who won our

"I See Right Through You" challenge.
I just loved all of the entries! So many beautiful projects.

Take it away, Tasha!

Tasha here sharing a fun card fold featuring the 5798-Gardening Girlfriends Set and 5734-Friend Sentiment Set. These two friends look so happy and are perfect for a Spring card.

Card Tutorial:

Step 1: Card Base (Kraft Paper) - Cut at 4-1/4" x  8-1/2" and Score at 3"

Step 2: Inside Small Card Base (Kraft Paper) - Cut at 3" x 9" and Score at 4-1/2"

Step 3: Cut x2 pieces of pattern paper

Step 4: Stamp the image on to white cardstock cut at 2-1/2" x 4"

Step 5: Cut a layer to mat the stamped image at 2-3/4" x 4-1/4" (Pink)

Step 6: Glue the white card on to the layer

Step 7: Attach the two pattern paper layers to the main card base panels. 

Step 8: Cut a scalloped inside card using the 6048-Scalloped Rectangle Die Set

Step 9: Stamp a greeting (5734-Friend Sentiment Set)

Step 10: Attach the scalloped paper to the inside of the small card base.

Step 11: Attach the small card base to the center of the large card base as shown below.

Step 12: Fold all the panels on the score lines to complete the card.

A2 size card (4-1/4" x 5-1/2")

Step 13: Stamp a smaller greeting on to a paper strip or banner and attach it to the front of the card. 

Step 14: Send it to someone special!

Thank you for checking out today's card and I hope you will participate in the challenge!

Have a wonderful day!

What a pretty card, sure to bring a smile to someone's face.

Now, let's see who won our last challenge.

 For our Top Spot we selected: Marianne H.
We loved her very creative see through net.

Please contact Leah at Feedback@artimpressions.com

to claim a free stamp set of your choice!!

Be sure to grab your winner's badge to display on your social media.

Our Lucky Random Winner was: Zilla S.

Please contact Leah at Feedback@artimpressions.com
to claim a free stamp set of your choice!!

Be sure to grab your winner's badge to display on your social media.

Congratulations to both of our winners!

Now for our new challenge!

 ✻ 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

Bunny in Flower bendy card by Dori Mendiola

 Happy Thursday AI Friends!

I recently purchased the Bunny set #4886K – Easter Blessings, and I’ve already made so many cards with it. It’s not just for Easter either! I’ve used it for birthdays, spring cards, thinking‑of‑you cards, and more. The images in this set are adorable and so versatile.

I love making fun‑fold cards, and this design works perfectly on a bendy card. It’s simple to put together, lays flat for mailing and the recipient enjoys how it stands on display.

I began by stamping this cute little image onto copic friendly paper with Memento black ink and colored with my copic markers listed below.  I die cut with one of the dies from the #6045 Scallop Nested Circle die set and then matted on pink cardstock cut with the #5726 Nested Circle die.  

To make card base - Cut a 5 1/2 x 4 1/4" piece of heavy cardstock.  Score and fold in half (valley fold) at 2 3/4".

Also cut a piece of white cardstock using the #6155 Margin die.  I cut the straight edge to make the margin die approx. 1 1/4" wide (high) and then cut a bit off of each side evenly to make it 6" in length with the heart being in the middle.  I trimmed a piece of pink cardstock and glued behind the heart cutouts.  I then scored at 1/4" along each side of this 6" panel.  Fold the 1/4" tabs under and glue to the front side of the card base.  

  Cut two panels of designer paper to fit each half of the card base (2 5/8" x 4 1/8").  Glue one of these to each side of the card base, in between the margin die panel and the card base, covering the tabs of the margin die panel.

For the bendy portion of the card - Cut a piece of pink cardstock at 5" x 4".  Score and mountain fold each at 1/4" and 2" from both sides of the 5" length.  Place liquid glue on each of the 1/4" tabs only and glue to the designer paper (under the margin die panel) centering this onto the base card.  I cut designer paper panels to fit each of the bendy folds leaving a slight border.  

Lastly, adhere the circle image panel to the middle fold of the bendy panel only, otherwise the card will not bend.

Add hearts, ribbon and the word "loved" (from the margin die set) for accents and dimension.

I hope you enjoyed my card today!  Thanks for joining me!

Have a wonderful day and keep creating!

Copics used:  E50, E51, E53,     B000

R20, R22, R81, R83, R85

G20, G21, G24