Monday, May 29, 2023

Fabulous Flowers challenge with an all occasion card by Sharon Caudle

 Hello AI Fans!!

Today I'm showing you an all occasion card that fits perfectly with the Fabulous Flowers Challenge that is going on right now! For my card, I used #5450 Blooming Window Set along with 5408 Shadowbox Window Die.  I love that Bonnie created this Shadowbox Window Die that works with every single Windows to the World stamp set (and there are lots!!) It really gives a wow factor to a card, but it's so easy and quick to use! And I do love dimension in a card, so this one is perfect! I stamped the images onto Cryogen White paper and colored them with Copic markers. Then simply cut them out with the dies and popped them inside the window frame! The Hello die is included in the Shadowbox Window Die Set! I just cut two of them and layered them to create a shadow look. 






Thanks so much for stopping by for a visit and until next time - stay crafty!! 

Copic markers used:
G03, G43, G46
YG13, YG17
E07, E09, E33, E35, E51, E53, E70, E71
T1, T2
B000, B91, B93
Y13, Y17
R22, R24


Sunday, May 28, 2023

Hello Friend! by ReneƩ Matarese

Hello Ai fans!

It's May so we have flowers!
Fabulous Flowers
That's the current challenge here on the blog.



I used several Art Impressions products on my cards.
5444 – MB Garden for the bucket of tulips and sentiment
5096 – HM Garden Set for the little birds
5463 – Slimline Dies Set to cut the designer paper
5408 – ShadowBox Window Die to create the 3-D window
and



I just love how you can mix and match all of the Ai sets.
Their versatility makes them so useful.
I think my card is so cheerful.
One of them will be my friend Rhonda's birthday card.



I colored my birds bright yellow because at this time of year, our goldfinches have just turned back from their winter mustard brown color to their brilliant yellow.  We love to see that because it means the weather is turning nice again.



Copics used:
BG02, G20, G82, YR21, R81


 

Saturday, May 27, 2023

It's Been a Tough Day! by Janet


Have you ever felt like this lady? Oh, I know you have. Many times. Maybe even today! I'm feeling this way right now. My baby is graduating from High School and I'm on a terror cleaning up the house and getting ready for his open house. Between work and preparations, this pretty well represents me about 9 PM lately. Oh well. It's a small price to pay for having a happy celebration. I will say I have something a little stronger in that cup than coffee! Don't judge. My knees hurt! LOL.

This stamp is called 5518-Hot Mess Laugh Lines. I also used the 5061-Square Double Stitched Dies to cut out the main image and the mat. The sentiment is from the set. I cut it out with a die in the 5543-Journal Template Die Set. It's just one of several sentiment dies that are useable beyond journals.

Once in a while, I like to paper piece something into a stamped image. Today I stamped, cut out, and glued in the pattern for the chair with patterned paper. In this case, the paper pattern is way better than I could draw and color and I think it adds a lot to the image. It's very simple to do and has a great effect. I used a leftover piece of the paper under the image to tie it all together. I had a relatively small piece so I tore the edge at the bottom and cut a small piece off the top of it. Then I glued the thin piece at the top to give the illusion that it's underneath the whole image. It's a great way to fool the eye when you're short of paper! It can also save you from wasting paper by covering most of it up!

Copic Markers Used:
Jeans: B95, B93, B00
Top: E47, E44, E43
Shoes: C1, C0
Skin: E01, E00, E000
Cup: YR24, YR16, YR14

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I hope you'll stop by the store soon for all your card making needs. 

Wishing you a very crafty day!


Janet YouTube - Blog - Facebook - Instagram - Pinterest 

Friday, May 26, 2023

I'm Probably Late for Something Card by Tasha!

 Happy Friday Ai Fans!

Tasha here sharing a new card created with the 5111 - Loads of Fun Set. I love dogs and this little doggie sleeping on the laundry pile is just too cute, he looks so comfy!

To create this card, I stamped the little dog & laundry with black ink and colored the image with Copic Markers. I also added little designs to the laundry with a white gel pen, I love the extra details!


For the sentiment, I stamped "I'm probably Late for something" from the 5518-Hot Mess Laugh Lines Set below the colored image. I like the clean & simple look and this greeting fit perfectly in the space!


Lastly, I attached layers of red and yellow card stock, gold foil paper, and a cute dog-themed pattern paper to complete the project. This card makes me happy and I can't wait to send it to someone special!

I hope you enjoyed today's card and are having a great day!








Thursday, May 25, 2023

Fabulous Flowers Challenge #352

 Hello Ai fans!!
It's time for a new challenge and to announce the winners
from our last challenge.

Our new challenge goes along with one from last month.
In April we had an April Showers challenge.
Now, of course, we have to have May flowers.

FABULOUS FLOWERS!

Bring on the flowers.

Stamped
Die cut
Artificial flowers
Pressed flowers
Floral paper

Show us the FLOWERS!! 

But first...
our latest winners!

Our Top Spot went to
#15 Carrie Sheridan
You can visit her blog for lots more photos of her elaborate card.



Please contact Leah at Feedback@artimpressions.com
to claim a free stamp set of your choice!
Also, be sure to grab our badge to display on your blog, Facebook or Instagram!


Our Lucky Random Winner was 




Please contact Leah at Feedback@artimpressions.com
to claim a free stamp set of your choice!
Also, be sure to grab our badge to display on your blog, Facebook or Instagram!


Now that we've shared our winners it's time to see the amazing, new creations from 
our featured Design Team member Nina!

She's been creating a tag album and has a new addition for that as well
as a sweet bookmark.

You can see all of her tags by clicking her Tag Album link here.
This set of tags is just so joyful!
Each one is so beautiful.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello Ai fans, Nina here and today I am so excited to share with you my projects I created for our new challenge Fabulous Flowers.

I created a tag to my Ai Tag Journal using Birdhouses stamp Set and the Stitched Tags Die Set.


I stamped the adorable Birdhouses cubbies image on a Bristol Smooth White Paper using Memento Tuxedo Black Ink and my Mini Misti. I then colored the image using my Copic markers.

Copic Shades:

Browns: E35 E37

Light Browns: E11 E13

Greens: G05 G09 G28

Blues: B21 B45

Pinks: RV13 RV09

Orange: YR68

Yellows: Y08 Y38

Light Green: BG23 BG15 

Blue Green: BG45 BG49

I then cut my image and backed it with foam tape.


To create the tag, I die cut the largest die from the stitched Tags Die Set twice from white paper and glued them together to make my tag sturdy. I then ink blended blue shades from Distress Ink. I used Tumbled Glass and Mermaid Lagoon shades.

I die cut my sentiment and added it to the tag along my adorable cubbies image and added a branch for my birdhouses to stand on. I used enamel dots and stickers to decorate around my image. I replaced the letter "O" in the word home with a heart that I die cut with the heart die from the bookmark die set and colored the inside red with Copic shad R29.


I then placed my tag in the metal ring of my Art Journal.




The inspiring challenege got me excited and I created a flowery Bookmark using our Bookmark Dies set and Ai Home & Heart Set.


I stamped the beautiful flower bucket from Home & Heart set on a Bristol Smooth White Paper using Memento Tuxedo Black Ink and my Mini Misti. I then colored the image using my Copic markers.

Copic Shades:

Greens: YG23 YG25

Blues: B21 B45

Pinks: RV13 RV09

Yellows: Y08 Y38

Greys: C2 

I then cut my image and backed it with foam tape.


To create the bookmark base I die cut the biggest die from Bookmark dies from flowery pattern paper from my stash and then again die cut it from white paper and glued them back to back to make the bookmark base sturdy.

I again die cut the bookmark extra banner from white paper and attached my flower bucket on top of it and added my sentiment. I then attached both bookmark pieces together with a layer of foam tape. I placed eyelets with my Crop-a-Dile on the banner and the bookmark base and added a cute ribbon.





If you'd like to join in our challenge be sure to link your project below...

✻ Please make a new card or handmade crafty creation. You can make any item you wish; this is not limited to cards!
✻ Limit two submissions per person. You will receive extra votes if you use Art Impressions stamps!
 ✻Please include your first name and last initial on your submission.
✻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

Fabulous Flowers in May by Mercy Sauer

Welcome to Ai's newest challenge crafty friends, Mercy here, with a project full of blooms. I'm using the latest Mushroom cubbies set (I absolutely love it) and a few others to create the scene I imagined. 


When looking at the card, it seems there's lots of layers and masking.   However, you will notice in the picture, I only masked the window on the right hand side of the mushroom and the other window and leaf on the left side.   All other elements were stamped independently from the rest of the elements on the card.    


One of my goals for this year is to practice and improve my watercolor skills. I see many areas where improvements are much needed, but the important thing is to start....and start I did!    Join me in this Challenge, flowers are always a great theme, and please tag your projects so we can all enjoy them.  Until next time!




Easy-Peasy by Mercy Sauer

Hello friends, Mercy here.   May has been a very busy month for our family, and now that May is almost gone, I was inspired to create a card that would sum it all up.   I can't think of a better stamp set than the Hot Mess! set.   Folks this is me!


This week I'd like to talk about creating and enjoying the process whether you are a newbie or a seasoned card maker.   Sometimes thinking about the color palette, shading, patterns, etc. can keep us from getting started.   This is where Ai shines.   I absolutely love that Ai includes a colored picture of their product right on their packaging.  It gives you the option to choose your own style and interpretation, or not. 

Today, I wanted to relax, unwind, and color.   Not think too much.   Check this out.    I took out the packaging and pretty much followed the suggested palette and shading.   Obviously, I didn't follow precisely, but you could.   Very easy with amazing results 
...it's so cool!


For additional interest, I popped up the fuzzied cut colored element on the inside panel of the card and added a simple sentiment from the set...easy-peasy!

Well folks this is it for May....I will see you back in June....Happy Crafting!

 



Wednesday, May 24, 2023

MINI SHAKER - using your paper scraps! by Lynn Dionne

Happy Wednesday Ai Fans!!!


Watch video tutorial here!!!


Let's use up some of our pretty paper scraps and create a mini shaker element for today's card! We can begin by die cutting a rectangle panel using the Ai Nested Rectangle Die Set (5724). Now let's grab some of our leftover paper scraps...I'm using my scraps from the Ai Easter Paper Pack (5742). We will be cutting these papers into 1/2" strips and attaching them to the front of this rectangular panel. You can place your strips either horizontally or vertically or even on an angle. By using a pretty paper pad like this one, you can be sure that all of your paper strips will coordinate very nicely with each other!

Now we can die cut a larger rectangle with that same die set using the Lawn Fawn Sparkle Cardstock in Pixie Dust and then layer these panels onto the front of our card base.

Next let's stamp and color our little pup. This image is from the Ai Birthday Journal Set (5722) which is part of the newer Watercolor Journal Series! This sweet image was colored in using the Zig Clean Color Real Brush Pens in the following colors: Blender, Tea Rose, Aquamarine Blue, Lilac, Lt Gray Platinum Brown. We will fussy cut this image with our detail scissors.

Now we can build the MINI SHAKER element...so much fun! We will be using the Ai Journal Oval Frames Set (5588) for the scallop circle and the Ai Nested Circle Die Set (5726) to create the scalloped frame. In this video I will show you how to assemble this little shaker element for your card! It's very simple and easy to do!!!

Next we can die cut several flowers from the Ai Journal Oval Frames Set (5588) and some little white sprigs from the Ai Journal Rectangle Frames Set (5591).

Let's assemble the shaker with the flowers and sprigs for a pretty little arrangement at the bottom of the shaker. And we can repeat the sparkly gems that we used inside the shaker on the center of each of the flowers!

Going back to the Birthday Journal Set we can die cut the "Celebrate" sentiment that is included with this stamp set. We will use the same sparkle cardstock and attach this to a delicate piece of vellum paper. This will give our sentiment a more elegant look!

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

Ai Birthday Journal Set (5722)

Ai Nested Circle Dies (5726)

Ai Nested Rectangle Dies (5724)

Ai Journal Oval Frames (5588)

Ai Journal Rectangle Frames (5591)

Ai Easter Journal Series Paper Pad 6x6 (5742)

Steel Die Cutter

Post-it Labeling and Cover-up Tape

Staz-on Ink Pad - Jet Black