This IS my happy face! by Reneé Matarese

 Hello Ai fans!

Today I'm sharing my Mrs. Mask card.
I work in an elementary school and we are once again required to wear
masks while in school. My coworker and I have a "deal."  She makes me 
masks and I make her cards.  We swap every month or so.

It's a win/win situation!

For my card I've used 5405 – Mrs. Set.

I have a mask for every outfit and holiday thanks to her.
It's not how I love going to work but if we must...She keeps me

in style!

The Mrs. Set is part of the new Hats Off series at Art Impressions.

I just love this mix and match group of stamps. 

Watercolor Weekend Roundup 9-18-2021

Hello watercolor fans! 
It's time for Watercolor Weekend Roundup!
This weekend our Watercolor Design Team is all about the fall scenes!

Tricia has a fall table full of pumpkins and apples,  Dot has another wonderful "farmhouse chic" creation...this time in a fall theme and Karen has a stunning scene using the new Vintage Car.  You can see the leaves in her trees beginning to change.

 Hi Watercolor Fans, Happy Almost Fall! It is one of my favorite seasons here in New England. I thought I would welcome all the things that make me feel fallish and put them on a card.

 I added the Blessed & Grateful sentiment at the bottom which I find is pretty perfect for those Thanksgiving cards. The Painting To start, I inked the WC Foundations Wood Table stamp with 969. I stamped it in the middle of my watercolor paper and pulled the color out of the lines. Using my palette, I added some additional color to the pots. To add some interest, I painted in a flower on one of the pots and decorated the other pots using the fine point of my 606. To mask the pots, I used small post it tape strips and using the stamp positioner, placed the pumpkins and apples into the pots. I added layers of yellow and orange to the pumpkins and green to the stems. I added red in layers to the apples. For the watering can flowers, I inked up the single stem from WC Flower Set 4 with 606 and 177. I stamped it multiple times before reinking it. I added water to the leaves and buds. For the grass, I inked the small grass with green and stamped it in several places below and beside the pots. I inked the small dots with red and stamped a few above the grasses to create some wildflowers. I masked off the pumpkins and apples and stamped the small wheat with yellow and brown behind the pots underneath the table. I inked the ferns up with green and stamped them around the outside of the scene. For a last final touch, I inked a branch with brown and stamped it around the outside. I used some blue to create a simple cloudy sky. I finished it off with my initials and date. It is so amazing to go back and look at your previous years’ work. It truly shows you how much you have grown as an artist. So that’s my Blessed & Grateful card for this weekend. I hope you all have a wonderful creative weekend and thank you for stopping by and spending some time with us. Make sure you put your pictures on Instagram and tag us so we can see what you come up with! #AIWatercolor See you next time! SUPPLIES:

Hello!
Are you ready for the bi-monthly Art Impressions Watercolor Weekend? I created another "Shabby Chic" scene as Renee from Art Impressions called it, but this one has a fall theme. It's pretty fast and would be good for a fall birthday or Thanksgiving card, don't you think?

 You could use whatever containers, foliage or flower stamps you already have but you need some pumpkin stamps from the 5426 Veggies Set or the 5059 Harvest Set and the apples and basket stamps from the 5059 Harvest Set. Stamp the watering can first from the 5123 Decorative Jar Set inked in the 969 then 565 Tombow pens and stamp it off before stamping it onto your watercolor paper. Cover it with post-it tape to stamp the pumpkin next to it inked in 969. Then you cover that pumpkin with a mask and stamp the other pumpkin. Mask that pumpkin then stamp a pot over the pumpkins as it is behind them. Ink the basket in 969 then stamp it next to the watering can. Cover it with post-it tape and stamp the apples inked in 969 into the basket. Pull the color out of the lines on everything. Color the basket with 947 and 026. Color the apples with, 158, 847 and 993, leaving a white highlight. Stamp the flowers from the 5008 Flower Set 3 inked in 026 onto the watering can. Stamp the foliage from the 5126 Foliage Set 4 on the can inked in 925. The yellow, red and brown foliage is from the 4963 Fall Set. The curly branches are from the 4964 Branches Set inked in 947. The orange pumpkin is colored in with 925 and a little 847. The green pumpkin is colored with 026. Use the brown Tombow TwinTone pen for the stems and curly cues. The pot is colored in with 969 and the flowers are from the Flower Set 4052 inked in 847 and the foliage is from 5126 inked in 249. The shiplap wall is made when you are done using a pencil, t-ruler and then a little Tombow 565 for the shadows. Hope you give this a try and tag me in it!

 Hello Ai Watercolor fans!
I have really been loving all the purple that I've seen recently in a lot of fall cards, and decided to incorporate it into my scene using 5416 - WC Vintage Card Set:

I coloured the car with Tombow markers #969 Chocolate/565 Deep Blue, and then did the same with the barn from 5371 - WC Barn Set, using my Stamp Positioner to get the placement right.  I also used it for my fence, as I wanted it to appear along side the car - and I only coloured a portion of it.  I sketched in the hillsides, the path to the barn and the roadway, then after masking the barn, I stamped the trees from 5372 - WC Mini Foliage around it, and used the foliage stamp in the set to add the leaves using #933 Orange, #177 Dark Jade and #126 Light Olive.  I painted a wash of #177 on the hillsides, then masked them off and stamped the pine tree from the set in various heights to create a line of trees in the distance.

I used my damp brush to pull the colour out from the lines on the car, and then picked up #493 Reflex Blue from my palette and painted several layers on it to look worn and a bit faded.  I followed the packaging from the stamp set for most of my design as it works so well!  Using the daisy bunch with #933 Orange and #856 Chinese Red, I stamped flower clusters around the car, and then did the same with the vine from 5126 - WC Foliage Set 4 using #177 Dark Jade and #636 Imperial Purple.  After dabbing everything with my brush, I added some rocks from 5415 - WC Rocks Set in the foreground, shading them with greys & blues.  Using the grasses from Foliage Set 4, I filled in around the base of the car and fence.  I added shades of #969 Chocolate and #565 Deep Blue to the fence to darken the wood.  The barn was painted with #856 Chinese Red with a little brown mixed in to dull the colour, and the grey tones were added to the roof.  Some #493 was painted in as the sky.

These designers work hard on each card they make for your inspiration!

If you like what you see be sure to let them know!  You can leave comments here or on their

social media.  All 3 of these ladies are on Instagram and you can follow them there.

Tricia

Dot 

Karen

Happy Night Time Haunting

 

Hello Ai Fans! Today I've got a pair of hauntingly cute Halloween cards. These are made with images and sentiments from the Happy Haunting set #4940. These cards are my interpretation for the Go Batty Challenge that just started this past Thursday.

Both cards are set at night. The first one I worked on was the A2 card using the happy little critters that are enjoying their costumes and treats. I colored the characters with Copic markers and then fussy cut them out very close to the stamp border. I inked up a bright yellow piece of cardstock with Distress Oxide different purple and black inks. Before doing so, I used a cut circle from the Ai Circle Double Stitched Die Set for a moon mask. Once inked, I splattered the panel with water and then with a white iridescent spray. After drying, I stamped the tops of two trees in the set around the top of the moon. I added bat images using the included stamp. Some orange inking was done on the yellow moon. Additional white dots were added with a gel pen. The sentiment was heat embossed on velum and sequins were used to hide the glue holding it in place. Finally, I added the critters across the front of the moon. These characters look like they are having the best time on Halloween night!

To begin the second night scene, I used my Silhouette machine to cut a file from Paige Evans to get a whole background of bats. I put black glitter cardstock behind the background so they would show up well. The background was done in light gray cardstock. I sprayed it with both white and green iridescent sprays. While that dried, I colored the owls and fussy cut them out. A large circle die cut was cut from yellow cardstock and the edge was trimmed to be flush with the bat panel. The tops of the trees were again stamped to create the branch background for the owls. The edges of the bat panel were darkened using distress oxide ink. The owls were nestled in the branches and I stamped the bat in the background. The sentiment is heat embossed in an eggplant color. A few sequins finished up this card nicely. I love how one of the owls are staring down at the spider below them. 

I hope you enjoyed seeing my take on these night scene cards that are spooky but not scary. Please join us for our Going Batty Challenge. It can be any Halloween crafty project and it's not limited to cards.

Happy Creating!

Janet - YouTube - Blog - Facebook - Instagram - Pinterest

Trick or Treat Cards by Tasha

 Happy Friday Ai Fans!

Tasha here sharing two Halloween cards created for the Going Batty Challenge!  I used the fun Halloween Critters stamp set on both cards, but created two different scenes.

The first card has the four trick or treaters in a line and I used silver glitter paper to punch out a moon and stars for the sky. These happy friends look so cute dressed up in their costumes!

The greeting "Have a Fabulous Halloween" was stamped on the bottom of the card with black ink directly on to the ink blended ground. I wanted it to look like cement or a sidewalk. 

To complete the card, I added orange and black card stock and a layer of colorful pattern paper. I love how the bright colors frame these sweet critters perfectly!

The second card uses five characters from the set and this little bat image is a great addition to the lineup! The characters are in a different order and I switched up the colors used on their costumes. I also made a darker ground; charging colors will give a totally different look to your project!

The sky is colored with makers and I used a white gel pen for the stars. A good tip is to wait for the ink to dry completely before drawing with your white gel pen to keep the white ink nice and bright! 

To complete the card I stamped "Trick or Treat!" with orange ink and cut a simple banner. I was also inspired by the green color on the owl's hat and coordinated the paper layers with it. I love the lime green, orange, and green glitter paper color combination!

Thank you for checking out my cards and I hope you are inspired to participate in the Going Batty Challenge!

We're "Going Batty” for challenge #312!

Hello Ai fans!

It's time for a new challenge and this one will be fun!
  Our new challenge is...Going Batty!

Halloween will be here before you know it.  We want to see your
Halloween creations.  It doesn't have to be a card.  Anything crafty will do as long
as it's Halloween themed.  Bonus points if you use Art Impressions stamps!

Lynn is our featured Design Team member for this challenge

and she created a FabBOOlous card for you!

Hello Ai Fans!!!

Watch the video tutorial here!

Todays card and video are inspired by the current Art Impressions Blog Challenge which is called "Going Batty"! I thought it would be fun to create a spinner card using the cute little bat from the Halloween Critters Set (5182) and the pumpkin border from the Pumpkin Mice Flip Card Set (5352). 

I will show you how easy it is to create a super fun interactive spinner card. This just requires a bit of clear thread and our bat will look like it is flying on its own! Just wind it up....and let it fly!!!

I really love to look at my stamp sets in a different way so that I can use them in multiple ways. So for this card we will trim away the little critters from inside the pumpkins and just use the pumpkin border on its own. 

To set the scene for our card we will use some Distress Oxide Inks and then some beautiful Mica Spray for added shimmer! We will also add some trees and branches in the background with two different stamp sets from the Bible Journaling Sets - Bible Foliage (5073) and He Leads Me (5169).

If you love these little halloween critters as much as I do...you may want to check out my Mini Slimline Halloween Card w/ Glimmer Paste and my Halloween Critters Tag Card!

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

Zig Clean Color Real Brush Pens used - Blender, Orange, Lt Brown, Dk Oatmeal, Mid Brown, Black, Platinum Brown, Mid Green 

Thank you Lynn! 

This is adorable!

Before we leave you to run off and create we have the winner

from the Shaken, Not Stirred (cards with drinks) challenge.

Please congratulate A. Rose!

She was so creative with her card.  She used 
5279 – Be Happy Laugh Lines
AICS32 – Hot Java Mama

and an 
Action Wobble on her card.

Please contact Leah at Feedback@artimpressions.com

to claim 3 stamp sets of your choice!

Now for our new challenge!

Here are the Challenge Rules...

✻ Please make a new card or creation. You can make any crafty 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 first name and last initial on your submission.

✻ 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 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

Happy Stamping!

Hello Succulent Window Cards by Crystal

Hi Ai fans! This week I needed to play with some bright happy cheery colors so I made two cards using the Succulents Window stamp/die set.

When I have been crafting I have been making two cards with the sets I play with. It is just easier to make a couple cards at a time once I'm stamping the image out. Most of the time I stamp multiple images out at a time and take them in to the living room and color them in the evening when my family is watching t.v.

I kept both cards really simple I die cut the images out with a double stitched square and matted them with yellow card stock. 

I added a bow onto some brightly colored card stock and matted them onto yellow card stock. I added the images onto the pattern paper. 

Happy Stamping! 

 

Edge-to-Edge Graduation Shaker Card by Lynn Dionne

Hello Ai Fans!!!

Watch the video tutorial here!

If you are looking for a fun twist on a traditional shaker card you are going to love this edge-to-edge shaker card design! In today’s video and card we will be using the adorable images from the Graduation Set (5277) to create this fun card. 

I’ll show you step by step on how to create this design....and it is so easy! But beware....you will become addicted to these fun shakers!

We will also be creating a watercolor resist background with our Reactive Ink Pads and we will color in the images with our Zig Clean Color Real Brush Pens. 

This card was inspired by the current Blog Challenge which is called “Shaken, not stirred!”. The challenge is to include a drink in your card...any kind of drink will do...lemonade, coffee, hot cocoa, or a glass of wine like I did! 

If you love this little Graduation Set then you may want to check out another video I did using the cute little giraffe. Mini Slimline Grad Card w/ Jane Davenport Mermaid Markers!

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

Zig Clean Color Real Brush Pens used - Blender, Peach Pink, Lt Green, Cobalt Blue, Blue, Lt Gray, Gray, Haze Blue, Sugared Almond Pink

Fan Group Features Part 2

 Hello Ai fans!

It's Tuesday #2 for our Fan Group Features!

These fabulous artists are fans of Art Impressions
and let me tell you...WE'RE fans of them!

These fabulous ladies have agreed to step in and share their
artwork each Tuesday in September to fill in while our DT
member Jil is away.

Toni Woods is a friend of Ruthan Plant and they have been into circles lately.
She created a beautiful farm scene (love those flowers!) using: 4962 Rustic Cabins, 4964 Branch Set, 5059 Harvest Set, 5371 Barn Set, 5416 Vintage Car Set, 5372 Mini Foliage, 5009 Mini Flower Set, 5120 Palm Tree Set
Tombow Colors used: 969, 80, 16, 13, 23, 27, 28, 8, 64, 6, 61, and 1. 

Sharon Caudle is a former Design Team member and we miss her terribly!
She was famous for her bright colors and bows.  Sharon used 4383 Wine Tasters Set.

Ruthan loves to create elaborate nature scenes.  Her gorgeous pond scene is so sweet!  She used #5418 Bible Foliage Set 2, #5424 WC Pond Set, #5054 WC Little Boys Set, #4964 WC Branches Set, #5372 WC Mini Foliage Set,  Her pier and fishing pole are hand drawn and she changed the little boys arms to hold fishing pole.  (that's another talent she has...altering stamps to fit her needs)




We're all about the fall scenes right now and Roberta Bostrom created an amazingly sweet scene using 5426 – WC Veggies, 4703 – Flower Cart, 4867 – WC Foliage Set 2 and the retired Furries.  Are you in the mood to visit a pumpkin farm now too?

Michelle Hoskins is known for her hand-drawn scenes mixed with Art Impressions stamps.  Her card is perfect for the current Shaken, Not Stirred (cards with drinks challenge)  Her marshmallow mug couldn't be more perfect.  She used 

4961 WC Mini cottages,  front of Gingerbread house

4867 WC Foliage set 2, pine branch for garland

5009 WC Mini flower set, small leafy branch in garland.

Kathy Acres co-runs The Art Impressions Way with Ruthan Plant.  Her cards are always a great inspiration!  She used Cake Set #539, Canson 140 lb watercolor paper and 

Tombow markers. Colors used...291, 451, 491, 723, 743, 991, N65

Jane Haurunen created the sweetest fall scene using 5191 – Feast Mode Set.  She cut the leaf off from the fox stamp so it could easily be used on it's own.  Her background was created using archival Goldenrod and Sunflower ink.

Irm Fondse-Beerens created an adorable Christmas card using a combination of watercolor and regular stamps.  Her little dots of snow create a wonderful dimension around Santa!  She used 5040 Sleigh bells set, 5373 LG Tree set, 5284 Small Alphabet set (used the i for the dash -)

5071 Serif Letters set, 4964 Branches set, 4051 Foliage set, 4052 Flower set, 

5418 Bible Foliage set, 4960 Fir Trees set

Debbie Hedges got creative and masked off a portion of her stamp to make a smaller project.  She's great at showing how versatile these stamps are.  Her card was created by 5435R - WC Foundations Potting Bench, 4876 - WC Wooden Chair, 4867 - WC Foliage Set 2, 4868 - WC Flower Set 2, 4875 - WC Garden Wagon, 5268 - WC Flower Set 4, 4604 - WC Chest of Flowers, 4603 - WC Blooming Birdhouse, 5009 - WC Mini Flower Set, 5126 - WC Foliage Set 4

De Furey created a beautiful birthday card.  Who doesn't love flowers on their birthday, especially when they're this pretty! She used Ornate containers 4870, 5373 large tree set, 5372 mini foliage, 5169 He Leads Me (Hobby Lobby), Oval Double Stitched Dies 5065, Tombows 565  969 177 837

Diane Mason is such a talented artist and often adds hand-drawn accents to make her pieces just perfect!  For her BOO card she used 5071 - WC Serif Letters Set, 5126 - WC Foliage Set 4, 5426 - WC Veggies, Foliage Set 4051

Ghost, spider, web and pumpkin face are hand-drawn
Can you believe that "see through" ghost?

Former Design Team member Diane Zechman couldn't resist the recent 34th Anniversary sale and stocked up on new Matchbook sets.  She created the cutest little scene for some lucky persons birthday!  Her card was created using Matchbook Template, Envelope, Birthday Set, and Wall Accessories.  Thank you Diane!  We miss you!

Thank you so much ladies!  If you'd like to see even more inspiration for these and other fantastic artists then join one of the fan groups!  They aren't affiliated with Art Impressions but are a great source for card ideas and a great place to ask or answer questions and make new friends!

Art Impressions Stamp Group

The Art Impressions Way

Happy Stamping and don't forget to enter our card
challenges to win 3 free stamp sets of your choice!