I Wet my Plants By Jessica Shier

Hey Ai Fans!

Today I'm sharing a card using the Gotta Garden set. I know some of us are still experiencing freezing temperatures and snow falls, so hopefully this will remind you that spring is around the corner. Plus don't we all have a crazy garden person in our lives that would be tickled by this stamp set!? I know I do!

I first stamped the gnomes and the crazy garden lady, from the Gotta Garden set, with black ink and then colored them in, using copic markers, colors listed below. I also fussy cut those 4 images out using a craft knife to get into the smaller areas around the garden hose. 

The background I drew and colored with copic markers. I also drew the sign and trimmed it out then embossed the sentiment with white embossing powder. This set has so many good puns so I tried to incorporate as many as I could! I adhered the sign and the 2 gnomes on to my background and then stamped the "It's Birthday Thyme" with Salty Ocean Distress Oxide ink. 

I used one of the Art Impressions 4265 Action Wobbles behind this happy gardener, which makes me laugh every time she wobbles! She is just so excited. I love the bit of interaction these wobbles add to a card design!

I also used one of the gnomes on the inside. Which I had to cut and color again because I lost one, he is still MIA. I stamped two more sentiments that are full of puns and die cut them using one of the Flag Double Stitched Dies. 

Copic Markers Used:

W9, W6, W3, W1, W0

C1, Y18, Y02

R29, R17, R05, R02

E77, E74, E59, E51, E35, E34, E31, E15

G99, G94, G46, G17, G14

YG67, YG63, YG03

B12, B00

Thank you so much for stopping by today!

Happy Stamping!

Challenge 250 House or Cottage WEEK 2! PLUS, 2019 Catalog Now Available!

Hello, Ai Fans!

Today is the day, our 2019 Catalog is now available! Our NEWEST spiral bound catalog is a whopping 83 pages full of our most popular products! Enjoy full-color images as well as card inspiration from our design team! Watercolor stamps are now included along side all our favorite lines such as Girlfriends, Funny Farm, and Windows to the World! As usual, our latest catalog includes a virtual $10 coupon to use on your next order*! Grab this informative and inspirational catalog today!

*$10 off coupon for orders of $30 or more. Coupon is emailed to recipient after checkout.

We're back with the second week of our "House or Cottage" card challenge! The full design team is here to share some special inspiration with us today! Click the designer's name for more information about the card, and be sure to grab these sets for yourself at artimpressions.com!

Carol with Holiday Mansion and HM Birthday Set

Crystal with Holiday Mansion and HM Garden Set

Jessica with Holiday Mansion and HM Birthday Set

Jil with Holiday Mansion and HM Garden Set

Niccole with Holiday Mansion and HM Garden Set

Renee with Holiday Mansion and HM Birthday Set



Sharon with Holiday Mansion and HM Garden Set

There's still time to enter our challenge! This week's theme is "House or Cottage" so we'd love to see some homey images in your cards! Be sure to enter for a chance to win some Ai stamps!

 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!

✻ 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 by clicking and commenting your fellow crafters.

✻ Make sure to get your link up by Wednesday, February 27 at 5:00 p.m. PST to enter your creations.

✻ Good luck and happy stamping!

Inlinkz Link Party

Love - By Crystal Schneider

Hi AI fans! 

Yes I know Valentine's Day was last week but I couldn't help play with this Valentine's Bears set. 

I love how fast this card came together it's perfect for a lazy day when you just want to color. I stamped the image onto a rectangle die cut with the Rectangle Double Stitched dies in Memento black ink.

I masked the love and bears and used a polka dot stencil and inked all over the background in pink.  

I took the mask off and colored in the stamped image.

I adhered my panel to a top folding 5 1/2" X 4 1/4" card base. 

Spectrum Noir Markers:

BT3, BT4, BT5, BT6, RB1, RB2, RB4, DR2, DR7, AP1, AP2, AP4

Happy Stamping!

NEW VIDEO - Snowy Dock and Barn Watercolor

Hello Ai Fans!

Anyone ready for a new Watercolor Wednesday? With chilly temps still sweeping across the U.S., Bonnie thought it fitting to give us one last snowy scene! She used our WC Boat Set dock along an icy bank of a river or stream. She added the barn from our WC Truck Mini Set in the distance with some barren trees. We love how versatile this scene is, a great option for a masculine card!

Check out this and other snowy scenes on our Winter Watercolor YouTube playlist!

Hope you have a wonderful Watercolor Wednesday!

View on YouTube: https://youtu.be/27_kSIMN2xw

I Love You by Niccole Kulig

Hello Ai fans!

I am stopping by today to share with another quick card from the Valentine Critters stamp set from Art Impressions.  It is a rather quick card today. I wanted to show you can use it for other things than just Valentine's Day.

I used black for my card base.  I used an old die I had to cut my circles.  After I colored and cut out my mouse from Valentine Critters. I cut him out and cut almost all of the string off of the balloon.  I adhered the mouse and balloon with glue on one side and foam tape on the other.

I drew my string with a pencil so it would line up with both the top and bottom circle.  Once I had it where I wanted it I used a black pen. As you can see I am not the best at free hand but I think it added to the character of a homemade card.  The nice thing is if I really hate it I can always cut another circle and add it to the top of the one that is already there.  Easy fix!  I stamped I love you with a stamp from the Born to Ride stamp set.  I masked off part of the sentiment to only use the I love you portion. I layer the sentiment, added rhinestones, and finished it off with some Wink of Stella.

Thank you so much for stopping by.

Copics used:
C1, C3, C5, C7
RV21, RV23, RV25

Until next time … Hugs & inky fingers!

Pamper Your Shelf by Jil Lebel

Hello Ai fans!

My niece loves to read and every year I try to get her a gift card to a book store.  This year I thought it would be fun to make her card with the Pamper Your Shelf MTF set.  I wanted to give her the gift card in a way that she couldn't see it through the Try Fold windows.  I remembered that we had done a make and take at the Scrapbook Expo with a MTF panel on the front of an A2 card, so I did something like that card.  I hope you enjoy making something like this for the book lover in your life.

The images were stamped onto Neena Desert Storm Environmental Cardstock with My Favorite Things Extreme Black Ink and colored with Copic markers.  The colors used are listed at the end of this post. It was stamped onto even panels following the directions on the card packaging.  The panel for the front of the card measured 4" x 9" and was scored at 3" and 6".

When working on colored card stock, you may want to color your markers onto a piece of scrap paper and let it dry for a few minutes to get an idea of what it will actually look like.  It will dry quite different than it went on.

Once the images were colored, details were added with Sakura Gelly roll pens.  A Black Glaze pen was added to the eye & nose of the mouse.  The Stardust Sparkle pen was added to the spines of the books.  The folded piece was added to the card front that was decorated with the decorative paper.

Copic Markers Used -
Mouse - W00, W1, W3, RV10, RV20
Shelf - E13, E15, E19
Books - YG61, YG63, R24, R37, R81, R83
Pages - E21, E42

Thanks for stopping by and Have a Great Day!

Hap-Pig Birthday! by Carol Hintermeier

Hello and happy Monday Ai Fans!

My card today features one of the so cute images from the Guinea Pig Out set.  

I really had fun creating this scene for the happy guineas enjoying their cake!  I think they like cake as much as I do!  LOL!

I stamped the guineas onto Neenah Solar White 80# paper and colored with my Copic markers (listed below).  I used a pencil and ruler to draw in the lines for the checkerboard floor.  After I had the floor penciled in and the way I wanted it, I went over the pencil lines with a black marker.   I also used a pencil to mark every other square to be colored black with a  pencil dot so I wouldn't mess it up.  

    

For the banner, I used the smallest die from the Banner Double Stitched Dies and die cut several from patterned paper.  I used Distress Collage Medium to glue the banners to a piece of baker's twine.  After it was dry, I adhered it across the top of my card panel.  I stamped the sentiment from the set with Versafine Onyx black ink and heat embossed it with clear embossing powder.  I cut it out using a die from the Flag Double Stitched Dies.  It is popped up with foam dots, as is the colored panel.

Thank you for stopping by!  Have a wonderful, crafty week!

Copics:

R11, R13, R35, R37, RV21, Y02, Y08, Y15, Y19, BG000, BG0000,

YG06, YG09, YG11, YR000, E0000, E11, E13, E23, E31, E35

E41, E47, E55, E57, E79, 100, C0, C1, C3, T0, T2, Blender

Basket of Blessings by Reneé Matarese

Hello Ai fans!

Art Impressions recently released a new Easter set that I'm absolutely in love with!  It's called 5116 – Basket of Blessings Set.

These little bunnies are so sweet!

I'm longing for spring!

Copics used:

E30, E43, E81, RV52, RV55, B00, B0000,

BG10, G82, B60 C0, C1, W1, W3, W5

Watercolor Weekend Roundup - Clean and Simple Projects

Hello, Ai Watercolor Fans! We're back with MORE watercolor inspiration for you this weekend! Check out these adorable projects by Dot, Tricia K and Tricia O!

Dot Freel - Instagram - Blog - Pinterest

Hello Watercolor Friends,

I made this fun birthday card for the Art Impressions Watercolor Weekend using the cowboy boot from the 4871 - WC Rustic Container Set. I stamped it in brown 969, then stamped it off on post-it tape, cut that out then covered the boot, inked up the stamp again and used the 4774 - stamp positioner to stamp the second boot. I pulled the color out of the lines then watercolored the boots in the brown 969 and pink 725 from the palette. I used the 40 brownish grey to watercolor in the ground for the boots and then shade from one boot to the other boot. Next I stamped the flowers from 5008 - WC Flower Set 3 in the boot and one on the ground using the 177, 636, and 725. I touched the flowers with a little water to bring out the color then stamped more flowers only, no stems. I die cut a balloon in pink glitter paper and glued it above the flowers and drew the black string using my favorite Copic pen 0.03. Then I used blue 528 on the palette to color in the sky. I used the purple 636 to make a shadow of the flower on the ground. I used an 5065 - Oval Double Stitched die to cut out my scene and a 5063 - Rectangle Double Stitched die out of the purple paper for the background. I used the 5064 - Circle Double Stitched Dies to cut out a piece of the pink glitter paper and the white paper for my sentiment. I stamped the sentiment "Love You" from the 4903 - WC Sentiments Set set in the brown 969 and used a foam square to give it some dimension. I stamped the inside with a "Happy Birthday" sentiment. Hope you get inspired to try this yourself. Use the cactus stamps and make a card for a male. I'm always looking for those kinds of cards with all of the males in my family.

Tricia Kennedy - Instagram

Sometimes just a simple HELLO is all you need!

For this card you will only use three stamps and four markers – it’s quick, easy and super cute. Begin by stamping the pot from the WC Small Container Set in 969 Chocolate. Watercolor the Art Impressions way with water and a paint brush. Next mask off the top of the pot with masking paper or a post it note, then stamp the flowers from WC Flower Set 2 in 177 Dark Jade and 725 Rhodamine Red. Stamp in foliage from the WC Foliage Set in 177 Dark Jade. Darken up the pot with a bit of 879 Brown. Add dot detail around the flowers with 725 Rhodamine Red. Use a Dymo to create the HELLO sentiment.