September 2026 Monthly Challenge

 Happy September, everyone! Summer is drawing to a close and it is almost fall! It feels like summer was just starting.

For my September project, I am using my favorite puppy that I haven’t used in quite a while. He’s sitting in a flower garden enjoying the beautiful end-of-summer day.

To begin my project, I inked the puppy in Pumice Stone Distress Ink, stamped off once onto watercolor paper, and then stamped in the middle of my watercolor paper. I then inked the rocks in Pumice stone, stamped off on watercolor paper, and stamped the rocks to the left. Next, I added a grass line using #15 olive green to set up my scene. I painted the puppy first, using mainly #54 burnt umber and shading with #45 sepia. I left areas of his face lighter and once he was dry, I used my Micron to color his eyes and nose – leaving a highlight on each. I then painted the rocks, starting with #40 brownish grey to add shadows toward the lower portion of the rocks. I then added shading with #21 dark grey, #45 sepia and #15 olive green. Rocks are multiple shades of color, so a variety of colors helps. Using the fine tip on my #40 brownish grey, I added some accents where the rocks meet to add darker shading.

I put the sky in next using #75 sky blue, keeping it lighter where I had flowers planned. I find it easier than trying to work around the flowers once they are stamped. Once the sky was in place, I stamped grass in repeat along my grass line next to the puppy and rocks, mainly using the teeny tiny grass from Foliage Set 1 and also stamped the grass stamp from WC Tree Set 2 a couple times to the right of the puppy. I masked off the rocks and used a positioner to place the tall flowers from Foliage Set 7 to the left of the rocks. I inked the foliage with #15 olive green and the flower buds with #79 grape and then added a little #8 violet at the base for shading. Once the flower was stamped, I carefully dabbed at the flower buds with my paintbrush. I also carefully touched my brush to the leaves of the foliage, but avoided the stems.

I stamped the tall blue flowers from Foliage Set 7 on the right side of my project – also using a stamp positioner for placement. I inked the foliage in #15 olive green and the flowers in #29 Prussian Blue. I then carefully touched my brush to each flower bud and leaf. I then stamped the flower bunch from Foliage Set 7, inking the foliage with #15 olive green and the flowers with #96 auburgine. I used the stamp positioner for placement and again, touched my brush to each flower and a few of the leaves.

I then used the small dot flower from the WC Mini Flower Set and inked it in #43 brilliant yellow. I stamped it in repeat above the grass line on the left and right edge of my project. There was a small gap between the grass line and the puppy, so I used the fine tip on my #15 olive green and added a few blades of grass. I then used my fine tip on my #8 violet and added a few dots to the top of the grass stems for random wildflowers.

I then added a wash of #15 olive green for the foreground, making sure to have light and dark areas, especially under the dog to create a shadow. It needed a little more, so then I used #45 sepia to also add a wash of brown, leaving light and dark areas. I felt that something was needed above the rocks, so I added a small butterfly from My Joy Set. I stamped it in Pumice Stone and used #8 violet, #79 grape and #3 blue to paint the wings. Once it was dry, I used my Micron to add the body and very small antennae. I also used Dr PH Martin’s Bleed Proof White to add some dots to the grass and the yellow dot flowers. I cut a simple frame from black cardstock to mount my project and then used single sheet of background paper to cover my card front.

I still use Marvy Le Plume markers for my projects.  Most of these can be converted to Tombow colors, but choose colors that work for you. These just happen to be some of my go-to colors for any project I work on. (Here is the link for the Tombow conversion chart: https://www.artimpressions.com/shop/art-impressions-most-loved-color-conversion-chart/)

Happy Stamping! As always, I hope you will give this project a try! Don’t forget to
enter the Monthly Challenge for a chance to win a free stamp set of your choice!

Accessories:

Pumice Stone Distress Ink

#1 Connoisseur Brush

#4 Connoisseur Brush

Marvy Markers

           

      

What a sweet and beautiful card from Debbie.
Now let's see who our August winners were.

#10 came up first so Kathy R. wins a free stamp set from Art Impressions.

Please contact Leah at
Feedback@artimpressions.com

    

#1 Bev Sizemore and #8 Patty S. have won a freebie from me.

Please email me with your full name and address at Renee@artimpressions.com

and I'll send you photos of the freebies I currently have available.

Congratulations to all of our winners and thank you Debbie for you hard work and inspiration!

What will you guys create for September?

We can't wait to see.

Here are the rules...

✻ 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.

✻Lucky Random Winner will 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

Adirondack Chairs by the Falls by Guest Designer Dawn Wagner

 Celebration Hi!

I return for another round of painting fun!

 


America has its 250th Anniversary this 4th of July. I decided to create a celebration scene with the June Throwback. I used the following sets: 6234-Woodland Falls Throwback, 6236-Rocky Falls, 6225- Adirondack Chairs, 5009-Mini Flowers, 5373-Lg Tree Set(leaves only), 4051-Foliage and 5476- Foliage 5. I used Canson watercolor paper, #4 and #0 brushes, Tombow colors 969, 565, 177, 158, 133, 856, 990, 992, 526 and N35. TwinTone colors chocolate, Prussian blue, emerald green, blue and navy. I also used KingArt 132-Blue, and Dr. Ph Martin’s Bleed Proof White. I inked the woodland falls stamp with 969 and 565 in the areas I was going to use for my scene. I did not use the entire scene because I wanted to add the lower falls to make the waterfall cascade longer. I used a stamp positioner to add the lower falls to the scene. I penciled in rocks on the left by the tree to complete the picture. Using the #4 brush with only water, I started pulling color from where I thought the darkest shadows of the rocks would be. I used N35 fine tip to deepen the darkest shadows and then used multiple color and many layers to the rocks to give them a more realistic look. I pulled color from the lines of the tree and went back in with the chocolate TwinTone to darken certain areas. I used the leaves from the tree set to make the background leaves and the leaves from 6234 for the darker foreground areas. I added the Adirondack chairs to the bottom of the waterfall using 969 and 565. I did stamp off once to lighten them up a bit. I added the American Flag to them for a patriotic look. I added some grasses and mini flowers under the tree and around some of the rocks. I used multiple blue colors in the waterfall to create some depth and flow appearance. I used Ph Martin’s to add some “churning” of the water at the bottom of each cascade, and some running down the waterfall. I was thinking the scene looked incomplete with the chasers just sort of floating in space there, so I added a shoreline and some sand to ground them into the scene. Sometimes I have a hard time trying to figure out just how to include and ground things into the project. That’s when I thought I needed to add some foliage and flowers by the chairs to complete the look. Okay, to be honest, I really wanted fireworks above the waterfall, that was my intent, but I was not confident enough to add them without messing up the rest of the scene. I will practice those at a later time. Thank you for following along and hope you had a great 4th of July!

Focus on Faith: Covered Bridge by Sara Furr

 Blessings my dear friends, and welcome to my first "Focus on Faith" for the month of June.

Not too far from me are 2 covered bridges situated in some beautiful scenery in "God's Country". The beauty of them always brings me peace and the nostalgia of times long ago, so I wanted to recreate one of those local spots. 

I used this wonderful stamp set called "He Leads Me", along with a couple foliage stamp sets to create my watercolor scene. I really had fun practicing my watercolor. I have created a mini picture tutorial for you to follow my steps......

I started with an A2 panel of watercolor cardstock and taped it to my board with post-it tape about 1/4" all the way around. I then stamped in my covered bridge with a layer of blue and brown marker. Then the fence and trees with just brown. I just stamped the tree from the set 3x up the left side to create a "Big" tree.

I then pulled color from the lines to create depth and shadow. To soften the tree limbs so they weren't so heavy i added some water to soften and then blotted up the ink before stamping in the green foliage.

I then stamped in the small grass from the Foliage set around the fence posts and trailing the fence leading to the bridge. I stamped the little bushes from the WC Mini Foliage in a bit darker green up along the bank in front of the bridge, and I stamped the bushy tree limb from the same set in a brighter green for the trees' leaves, stamping several generations for each of the stamps, and then blended them out with a damp brush. I added in more shades of green to extend my grassy areas. I also added in some darker shadows on the roadway for the fence posts with more brown. I then added some pretty blue for the creek water under the bridge and then watered it down a bit more to blend in my sky. I let that all dry and then went back in to add some pretty flowers with a purplish blue color using the "lavender" stamp from the Mini Flower set, again stamping several generations onto the edges of the roadway. 

I also added the tiny leaf branch from that set to add some foliage around my fence posts out front and I used it to create some big bushes on either side of the bridge.

I blended those out just a bit with a damp brush and let it dry before stamping in the tiny purple dots, also from the same set.

I then stamped the flower bunches repeatedly over in the right hand corner to give some interest in that corner, and draw your eye around the whole scene. I added  some more blue into my sky for more depth, and lastly I stamped my sentiment with Black Archival ink.

And finally, the reveal! I carefully removed the post-it tape from the edges and admired the beauty of the scene!😊

I honestly wasn't fond of the brown on the "Big tree" on the left side, so after distressing the edges of my cardstock with scissors I added it to a soft purple mat and added a pretty bow to strategically "hide" my tree trunk! Hehe😁 It worked perfectly and it added a lovely touch of softness. Besides, it wouldn't be a "Sara" card without a pretty bow on it, right?! Haha

Behind the purple layer is an embossed layer of black that has little flowers on it, but its hard to see the detail in the photo. But trust me, you can see it in real life really well!

So, with all the layers, my card wound up measuring 5 1/2x6 3/4".

I hope you like my creation and are inspired to create some "God's Country" of your own!

I absolutely love living in the country where there is so much beauty and scope for the imagination! I always feel so much closer to God here!

I hope you have a great week my friends and I will see you again soon!

Blessings to you all, 

Sara Furr- The Crafty Farm Chick

Art Impressions products used:

5129- He Leads Me set

5372- WC Mini Foliage 

5009- WC Mini Flower set

4051- Foliage set

Other products:

Watercolor cardstock

Watercolor brush

Archival Black ink pad

Dye ink markers

Chiffon ribbon

Embossing folder

Die cutting machine

Scissors for distressing 

Paper cutter

Misti stamping tool

Stamping blocks

Adhesive

Foam adhesive 

Petals & Blooms with Pencils and Watercolor by Janet

There's something so therapeutic about sitting down with a fresh stamp and a palette of colors. Today’s project features a charming garden scene using stamps from Art Impressions, brought to life with a mix of watercolors and colored pencils for a rich, textured look.

I started by stamping the image from 6193-Petals and Blooms. It's a lovely cabinet that I stamped onto watercolor paper. I started by coloring the cabinet itself with colored pencils. I love the depth and deep color achieved with them. The oranges and blues work nicely together and they are a great backdrop to the flowers and fauna I added into the pots. I stamped those in with Tombo Duel Brush Pens and softened and blended the Art Impression way! I used three flower sets: 5009-WC Mini Flower Set, 5476-Foliage Set 5, and 5825-Geranium Set. 

After coloring the image, I added a watercolor blue and lavender halo around the entire cabinet. Adding a background wash is a personal decision by each crafter. To me it elevates the image and makes it look finished.

To finish the look, I added white gel pen to add highlights on the pots and to draw in the drawer pulls. It's a small detail but can make a big difference in the final result.

To frame the floral scene, I used a multi-layered approach. I used 5062-Rounded Rectangle A2 Double Stitched Dies to cut a soft rectangle shape with a charming stitched border all around. Behind that, I cut a piece of pink vellum with lavender metallic polka dots. The dots add just the right of shine to the card. The two stacked pieces were then centered on a preprinted A2 card base with a fun, geometric hexagon pattern. All the patterns and colors add a modern touch to a classic floral theme.

What are your favorite colors to use for spring cards? I’m currently leaning heavily into these purples and pinks! Happy spring!

Thanks for joining me on the blog today. As always, find your favorite stamps, dies, papers, and accessories at the Ai Store!

Happy Crafting!

Janet - YouTube - Blog - Facebook - Instagram - Pinterest  

Happy B-Day by Janet Axtman

 Hi everyone! I've had a great time this week with the current challenge called ABC, 123. The theme is to use letters or numbers on your card. I had been thinking about making a background using a stamp set and the idea was a perfect backdrop for my big B-Day message.

This slimline card started with a background stamped with the 5935 - Fairytale Houses Set. I stamped several butterfly, fence, bee and daisy images on a white background and colored them. I added clusters of dots from a stamp in the 5009 - WC Mini Flower Set. I used a white highlight pen to add some accents to the wings, and leaves. I used the new 5910 -Large Letter Die Set to cut two sets of letters out. One is cut in black and the other out of a striped paper from 5873 - Mini Birthday PP. I wanted to add the word Happy so I used a phrase from 5604 - Halloween Journal Die Set. The die actually says Happy Halloween but I trimmed the word Happy and backed it with gold glitter cardstock. It works beautifully like this for all kinds of non-Halloween sentiments.

To finish the card, I layered a black mat under the stamped panel and attached it to a red mini-slimline card base. Then I glued each black and patterned paper letter together so that a shadow effect results. I applied the letters with foam tape to help them stand out even more. For the final embellishment, I added three glitter enamel dots. The result is a fresh, spring birthday card. 

Thanks for joining me here today. I hope you enjoyed seeing how I created the background using a stamp set and using big letters for the focal point of this card. I hope you'll make a visit to the Ai Store this weekend for all your card making needs.

 

Janet - YouTube - Blog - Facebook - Instagram - Pinterest