Focus on Faith: Joy & Blessings with Sara Furr

Blessings my dear friends. Today,  I have two projects to share with you for my Focus on Faith, and both creations have the theme of Joy. Joy in the Lord, Joy comes in the morning, and Joy in all our blessings. 

My first creation is an A2 card that is bright, sunny, and full of gorgeous colors adorning my stained glass window, along with touches of gold.

 I stamped my focal image from the "Stained Glass Window" set with Encore Gold Ink (pigment) onto Canson Bristol Smooth cardstock and then heat embossed the image with Gold embossing powder. I colored the stained glass window with alcohol markers and then fussy cut out the window and applied foam tape behind.

 I created a card base from a golden yellow cardstock and cut a layer of a soft yellow and embossed it with an embossing folder from my stash and distressed the edges with the edge of a pair of scissors. I added a white doily to the right edge and cut off the excess. Then,  I added a strip of lace, and I adhered a strip of pale yellow cardstock just over the edge of the lace that looks like little sunshines. I then wrapped a piece of cream colored chiffon ribbon around the top of that strip and tied a bow off to the left side.

 I added that embossed panel with foam tape. I made a nest of gold metallic thread and adhered that to the back of my Stained glass window and adhered it to the doily. Finally, I added 3 Gold pearls to the top left corner of the embossed panel.

For the inside, I stamped the sentiments "Hallelujiah" and "Joy comes in the morning" with Encore Gold Ink and again heat embossed it in Gold embossing powder. When it was all cooled, I used a blending brush to add some yellow behind the sentiment to look like the sun in the sky.

This is an excellent reminder that we should arise with the sun every morning and thank God for the gift of life, and the beauty of the Earth, and the day before us. Every day is gift, one we are not guaranteed!!!

 

My second creation is a 6x6 card that I designed to coordinate with my first card.

I stamped the Daffodils from the "Tulip Floral set" with black Memento ink onto a circle die cut, and I colored the image with alcohol markers. I added foam tape behind it and adhered it to my white doily and added more foam tape behind that.

 I added that to my card base and distressed layers, including a layer of beautiful dsp from the "Easter S2 Paper pack" following the same steps as above in my first card. I cut the "Joy" die cut once from Gold mirror cardstock, and once from yellow fun foam and adhered them together with liquid glue and popped it up off to the left hand side of my focal image. 

For the inside, I created some more layers and stamped the sentiment " May each day bloom with joy and blessings" with black Versafine ink.

I pray that you find joy in Christ, and in each and every single day he has given us to enjoy. Never take these beautiful moments for granted! Life is beautiful, and we have so many things to be thankful to God for.

I hope my projects have inspired you to create something "Joy" and "Faith" filled.

Many blessings to you all,

Sara Furr- The Crafty Farm Chick 

Art Impressions products used:

5897-Stained Glass Window set

5417- Frameworks Sentiments 

5986- Jesus & Joy Dies

6061-Tulip Floral set

5892- Easter S2 Paper Pack

Other supplies:

Paper cutter

Scissors for distressing edges of cardstock and cutting out window image

MISTI stamping tool

Alcohol markers

Embossing folder

Die cutting machine

Doilies 

Circle die

Gold pearls

Gold metallic thread

Chiffon Ribbon

Blending brush

Encore Gold Ink

Gold embossing powder

Heat tool 

Adhesive 

Canson Bristol Smooth cardstock

Black Memento Ink

Black Versafine Ink

A Pocket Full of Sunshine: Creating a Faith‑Inspired Portfolio by Janet

Creative portfolios can feel a little daunting at first, but when you’re working with the right tools, the process becomes pure enjoyment. Art Impressions has a way of turning big ideas into approachable, joyful projects, and this sunshine‑filled portfolio is the perfect example.

For this piece, I used the 5952 – Portfolio Template Die Set paired with the bright and cheerful 6012 – Basic Yellow Paper Pack. The combination couldn’t be more fitting for the current AI Challenge: A Pocket Full of Sunshine. I also leaned into a religious theme, making this a meaningful way to feature the 6134 – Light of the World Series Verse Pack. 

I began by cutting the portfolio from yellow cardstock and folding it along the score lines. The sunny color instantly set the tone. Using the coordinating dies in the set, I cut additional shapes from the patterned papers in the Basic Yellow pack to layer onto the cover and interior.

To bring in a touch of elegance, I added gold accents using the 5987 – BJ Icon Die Set. These metallic details catch the light beautifully and elevate the entire design.

The front of the portfolio features a small pocket holding two coordinating tags — a sweet little interactive element that adds charm and dimension.

Inside, I decorated the panels with flowers, a Bible, and a lighthouse image, all stamped and colored from the 6126 – Light of the World set. These images pair wonderfully with the verse pack and reinforce the comforting, faith‑centered theme. I closed the center envelope and the portfolio itself with velcro dots. This keeps it secure but opens easily.

On the inside left side, I added another pocket and tag, this time adorned with a delicate cross from the 5909 – Crosses Die Set. For the finishing touch, I included a large gold “Jesus” die cut from the 5986 – Jesus & Joy Dies, which adds a bold and beautiful focal point.

This portfolio came together so smoothly, and the final result brings me both joy and comfort. It’s a bright, faith‑filled piece that feels like a little pocket of sunshine — exactly what the challenge called for.

If you’re looking for a project that blends creativity, meaning, and a touch of sparkle, this one is a wonderful place to start.

Focus on Faith: Joy Comes in the Morning by Sara Furr

 Greetings my dear Art Impressions friends!

God gives us so many blessings! Besides the gift of his love, one of his greatest gifts is that of this beautiful world that we live in! His blessings are new everyday. Every morning we wake up to the beauty of the sunrise.

I'm here today to share with you a card inspired by a photograph of a sunrise that I took on our farmstead. I have been wanting to use the stamp set #5129- "He Leads Me", so I "imagined" a covered bridge that would have crossed over the creek next to our barn. This was my inspiration photo..

And this is my Faith Inspired "Joy Comes In The Morning" creation...

As you can tell, this is watercolor, and Sara is NOT a watercolor artist, haha, but I am trying, so bear with me on this, ok? I will be showing my process photos of how I have created this scene.

To start, I stamped my covered bridge and a single tree from the stamp set with a combo of Starry Sky and Soft Suede markers onto a140# cold press watercolor card front.

Then I applied Daffodil Delight, Crushed Curry, and Cherry Cobbler ink to create my sun. I watered down some Starry Sky and dabbed that in to create some moody blue sky, making sure to leave some bits of white showing. I also added a bit that to the inside of the bridge for shadow.

I then used some post it tape to mask off my sun and added a mixture Basic Black and Chocolate Chip ink to create my skyline silhouette and I added in some slightly watered down Starry Sky for the creek water and some Evening Evergreen for the grass and landscape fading down to the creek, and for the foliage on my tree. I added a bit of brown inside the bridge, roof, tree, and fence posts.

Next, I added in some pine trees, shrubs, and grasses using #5372- WC Mini Foliage Set in Evening Evergreen and Mossy Meadow ink (darker in background and lighter in foreground), and I added some watered down Baked Brown Sugar for the dirt on the road. 

I blended those out a tiny bit with a damp brush, and then added in another tree on the right side and I added a bit of yellow and red to the water to be a reflection of the sunrise. I then added in the the very tops of the shrubs with Starry Sky and repeatedly stamped some little "blue wildflowers" in the grass and on the edge of the creek. Once that was dry I added some sparkle pen "dots" to the flowers for accents. You can't see them in my photo, but you can in real life! Haha. There is also a shimmery dew of sparkle on the water and the objects in the foreground that I was unable to capture, but you can see when tilted in the light.

I then finished by adding the shadows and a bit of color to the covered bridge, and then I stamped the sentiment "Joy comes in the morning", from the #5417-Frameworks Sentiments set in Black Versafine Ink.

I then signed my creation and cut the panel down to 5x3 3/4" and mounted it to a white Postage Stamp die cut, and then popped that up on a piece of Silver Holographic cardstock. I again added funfoam to the back of that panel. I created a 5x7card Base of Soft Succulent cardstock and added a panel of vellum that I embossed with a Pinecones & Berries embossing folder. Before adding my main focal panel, I added a small piece of floral lace so that when the panel is applied the lace is just peeking out of the edge.

For the inside of card I watercolored another sunrise panel and added the sentiments "Jesus", from #5986-Jesus & Joy Dies, and stamped "Light of the world" from the Frameworks Sentiments with Black Versafine ink.

And that finishes my project for today. Here is a list of all the supplies I used:
(All Art Impressions products are linked below)

♡Stamp sets:
#5129-He Leads Me,
#5417- Frameworks Sentiments,
#5372- WC Mini Foliage

♡Dies:
#5986- Jesus & Joy Dies (AI)

Postage Stamp die- (Unity)

♡Inks:
 Stampin' Write markers in: Basic Black, Chocolate Chip, Soft Suede, Baked Brown Sugar, Cherry Cobbler, Crushed Curry, Daffodil Delight, Evening Evergreen, Mossy Meadow, and Starry Sky.

Black Versafine ink

♡Cardstock:
S.U. Soft Succulent

Your Paper Insider: Ultra White Smooth cardstock 100#,
Glama Natural Clean vellum,
Silver Holographic Diamonds 12pt cover,
Cold press Watercolor card fronts 140#,
Dark Blue Curious Skin 91#

♡ Misc.: 

Double sided tape,
paintbrush, water,
Spellbinders Pine branches & Berries embossing folder,
Gelly Roll Sparkle Pen

Pheeeww, that was a lot, I know! If you are still with me, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading this! Please know that I truly cherish you!

God's blessings to you all, and I pray you have a very blessed week! I hope you will join me again February 3rd for another Faith Inspired project!

Blessings,

Sara Furr- The Crafty Farm Chick

Ps. If you visit my Instagram page @sarae.furr_thecraftyfarmchick you can see a video of my card up close and in action.

Elf Stocking Card by Janet

Sometimes when I see something, I get a flash of inspiration. Such was the case with the new 6119 - Elf Puppet Set! I immediately used the dies to construct a cute, cheery elf. I could have drawn a simple face on his face but I remembered that I had an old face stamp in my stash so I tried that with success. His pink cheeks and the shading on his clothes were achieved with another old standby, chalk. Every once in a while I still find ways to use the chalk palette I purchased years ago. Once I had him made, I added some bling to his collar and his hat. 

Then I set to work on the stocking shaped card. For this I used a stocking pattern in Cricut Design Space. I sized it so it would fit the elf and I added the toe patch by manipulating the existing pattern. Then I cut it out and a matching front shape and the toe patch from 5969 - Classic Christmas Cover Paper Pack and 5812 - Christmas S2 PP. I cut the Joy word from the 5986 - Jesus & Joy Dies.

I folded the stocking to form the card and added the white stocking trim and the toe patch. I decorated it more by gluing cotton lace on the trim and and the patch. Then I glued the Joy die cut on the toe patch. For the finish, I made a bow out of red satin and I glued it to the top of the stocking.

Thanks for joining me on the blog today. As always, don't forget to find your favorite stamps, dies, papers, and accessories at the Ai Store! You'll always find something that calls to you. 

Happy Crafting!

Janet - YouTube - Blog - Facebook - Instagram - Pinterest  

Christmas in July with Jami Steiger

 

Good morning, Watercolor friends!  It’s time for more creativity.  

This month, I am having Christmas in July!  The Woodland Critter set 5953 is adorable for so many projects.  I started by making a frame using the Mini Scalloped Frame Dies 5902.  I stamped the squirrel with Tombow markers 565 and 969, stamping off twice.  I watercolored the stamped image using the following Tombow markers: 856, 565, 969, 177, 526, 977, 947, N65, N75, N65, 772 and 025. (I used the same markers on both of my projects.)  After allowing the painting to dry, I added Dr. Ph Martin’s white to the cup of hot chocolate for the whipped cream and added highlights.  I used the Winter Woodland paper pack for the frame.

____________________

For my second project I made my first slimline card.  

The card base is cut 7” x 8 1/2” and scored at 3 1/2”.   I used cream-colored card stock for the base. After stamping my images onto watercolor paper, I painted each image and die-cut it out.  I found a frame die in my stash that I believed would perfectly match the look I wanted to achieve.  I then cut a piece of paper 2” x 8 1/2” from the Winter Woodland cover paper pack.  I punched a charming border on one side.  I glued everything down onto my card base by starting with the scalloped paper, the blue frame and then the animal images.  The deer image was too big to fit the opening, so I used foam dots to pop him up, giving him additional dimension.  For the Joy sentiment, I die cut three images of the word Joy and then glued the three on top of each other to give a 3-D image.  Final additions were gray ribbon and red sequins.  

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend and staying cool.

  The heat index is 107 degrees where I am!  That is too hot for me!  I am ready for Christmas weather to return.

May the Joy of Easter be Yours and Happy Mother's Day Cards by Diane Mason

 Hello, and welcome back for Watercolor Weekend!

Happy Easter, Ai Watercolor Friends! I hope you are having a joyous weekend. I have two watercolor cards to share with you today. The first is an Easter card and the second is a Mother’s Day card.

May the Joy of Easter be Yours Card:

Recently, I’ve seen multiple versions of Cross Pop-up cards online, but none yielded an A2-sized card. So I decided to create my own. Since it is Easter Sunday, you probably won’t be creating this card today, but maybe an idea for next year? I think this design would also make a lovely Confirmation or Sympathy card. If you like this design, you can bookmark this page and save it for future reference.

To create an A2-sized card, I used the following measurements, shown in the photo below, for the pop-up. All of the elements will get attached to an A2 card base (8 ½ x 5 1/5 inches, folded in half).

As shown above, I cut a piece of light purple cardstock, sized 5.5 inches by 5.25 inches. Using a scoring board, I scored the cardstock at 1.5, 2, 3.25, and 3.75 inches to create the pop-up piece. Next, I adhered the patterned paper pieces (6033 – Inspirational Easter Paper Pack) to the pop-up base, leaving an even border in each section. I folded the pop-up piece on the score lines to create the raised area in the center. Then I adhered the pop-up base to the front of the card base. I started on the left side and lined-up the left edge with the fold of the card base, and continued across the card. To maintain the pop-up, I matched the right edge and adhered it in place. I then pressed the pop-up flat to be sure it would lie flat to fit in an envelope. I then adhered the patterned paper to the cross piece (3.25 by 1.25 inches cardstock piece). I waited to adhere this piece to the pop-up until my painting was finished, die-cut, and matted.

The image of the pot of Easter Lilies is from the recently released 6029 – Easter Lilies Set. I inked the pot with 603 and the lilies and leaves with 177 and stamped them onto my Canson XL watercolor paper. I pulled some color from the leaves and added more 177 from my palette. For the highlighted areas of the leaves, I applied a mix of 173 and 177. I used 565 to shade the white flower petals and added 173 to the centers. Once dry, I painted in the flower stamens (177 for the filaments and 925 for the anthers) with a 0-round brush. I painted the pot with 603, leaving the center lighter to give the pot a rounded shape. Shadows were added with more 603 and 565. White stripes were added to the pot, using Dr. Ph. Martin’s Bleed Proof White. I brushed in a watery mix of 407 for the background and 565 for the shadow under the pot.

I die-cut the painting and mat with dies from 5065 – Oval Double Stitched Dies and 5727 – Nested Oval Dies. I then adhered the cross piece to the back of the center of the ovals. I pressed the pop-up flat to the right, lined up the edge of the cross piece with the edge of the card, and adhered it in place. When adhered properly, the card will lie flat and fit perfectly into an A2-sized envelope. I inked the Happy Easter (6029) sentiment with Versafine Onyx Black ink and stamped in the bottom right of the card.

For the interior of the card, I inked the “May the joy of Easter be yours” sentiment (6029) with 603, and stamped a couple of times to darken, using a stamp platform. I did the same with the flowers from 6025 – Fear Not Set.

With Joy on my mind, I decided to create a little bookmark to tuck into the card. I die-cut the decorative cross (5909 – Crosses Die Set) three times from metallic gold cardstock and adhered them together to give the cross some thickness. I die-cut the Joy die (5986 – Jesus & Joy Dies) twice from light purple cardstock and adhered it to the cross with glue. I looped a piece of white and gold baker's twine through the hole at the top of the cross and tied the two ends together to form a tassel. I tucked the cross into the card and temporarily attached it to the card with a glue dot. And to be a little extra, I die-cut a tiny gold cross (5987 – Bible Journal Icon Die Set) and adhered it to the back of the card.

 “Happy Mother’s Day” Card:

For this whimsical Mother’s Day card, I used the stacked teacup image from the recently released 6024 – Tea Time Set. I inked the image with N52 and stamped it onto watercolor paper. Here is a list of colors I used for each cup, starting from the top down:

Pink Polka Dot Tea Cup: 703 and Dr. Ph. Martin’s Bleed Proof White
Yellow Tea Cup:  993, Bleed Proof White, and Yellow Gold Gansai Tambi paint
Green Tea Cup:  249 for the cup and floral design
White Tea Cup:  565 for shadows and Yellow Gold Gansai Tambi paint
Orange Tea Cup:  925 and Bleed Proof White
Pink and White Floral Tea Cup:  725 for lip, handle and base, 565 for shadows, 249 for vine and 993 for flower

* 565 was used to shade all of the teacups and for the shadow under the cups.

I had planned to use a gold gel pen to add the gold accents to the cups, but sadly, my pen had dried up. So instead, I remembered I had some beautiful metallic Yellow Gold Gansai Tambi watercolor paint. I used that for the accents and also painted the frame of my die-cut piece (5588 – Journal Oval Frames Die Set). For the card front, I used patterned paper from 6036 – Easter Bunny Paper Pack. I popped the green striped piece up with foam tape and adhered the painting to the popped-up piece.

For the interior of my card, I stamped the “Happy Mother’s Day” sentiment and floral vine from 6024, in Versafine Onyx Black ink. I painted the vine with 249 and the flowers with 993. I adhered a leftover strip of patterned paper to the bottom edge of the card to make it “fancy”.

I had a great time dreaming up fun designs for the teacups. Drawing colors from the patterned paper really helped the composition come together nicely. I think this same design would make a lovely birthday, hello friend, or just because card too! I would love to see some variations of this card. If you make this card, be sure to tag us on social media – we’d love to see your work!

That’s all for now, thank you for stopping by for Watercolor Weekend. Until next time, Happy Painting!