Art Impressions Blog: January 2026 Monthly Challenge with Simone Carr

Hello Ai fans and welcome to the first Monthly Challenge of 2026!

This year, Guest Designer Simone Carr will be providing you with inspiration each month.

The rules remain the same.

You MUST use Art Impressions products on your creation.
This can be stamps, dies or paper.
(of all of the above!)
There is NO theme so anything you want to make will qualify.

There will be one random winner who will win a free stamp set from Art Impressions and one random winner that will receive a freebie from me. I'm going to attempt to send the freebies internationally this year if I can get them sent cheap enough.

Now, let's see what Simone has created.
Personally, I was blown away when I saw the texture and the icy water.

AMAZING!

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Hello crafty friends!

As we step into a brand-new year and reflect on the joy of the holiday season just passed, I’m excited to share this peaceful winter card with you. Scenes like this are especially wonderful when you’re looking for masculine card ideas—something calm, nature-inspired, and perfect for the men in our lives, which can often be a challenge to create.

Using watercolor paper, I stamped the rocks and water with Tombow 565 + 969, stamping off once before stamping onto the paper for a softer impression. I stamped the deer the same way, then masked it so I could stamp the trees behind it. With a #4 brush, I pulled color out from the stamped lines on both the rocks and the deer.

I used N52 as a base color for the river, mixing 565 + N25 to deepen the color toward the far end of the water. Tombow 969 was used to add depth to the rocks, while the deer was colored with 947 and shaded with 969 on the antlers. After all the coloring was complete, I stamped in the grass using 026 and colored the sky with N60. Once everything was dry, I used 565 to create soft shadows on the rocks and trees.

To finish the scene, I added more definition to the rocks and river using TwinTone markers in brown, black, and blue. I then added a snowy effect using Dr. Ph. Martin’s Bleed Proof White on the trees and rocks, before lightly splattering the same color to create extra snowy detail.

Using the 3rd largest die from the Scalloped Oval Dies set, I cut a window into a 5 1/16” x 3 7/8” card panel. Then, using the 2nd and 3rd dies, I created a layered frame and added foam tape for dimension. The finished card is a standard A2 size.

I hope this card inspires you to create your own winter scenes, bringing a little calm, nature-inspired beauty into your crafting projects. Whether for a masculine card or simply a serene holiday keepsake, this design is perfect for spreading peaceful vibes in the new year!

Materials used:

Stamps:

WC Snow Globe Set (5791)

Large Tree Set 2 (5826)

Water of Life Set (6055)

Dies

Scalloped Oval Dies (6046)

Paper

Canson Watercolor Paper

Christmas S2 Patterned Paper (5812)

Inks & Coloring Mediums

Tombow Markers: