I'd bea-ver-y happy!! by Sharon Caudle

Hello AI Fans!!

My card today features the adorable Valentine Critters Set (told you that you'd see it again from me!) :)  This time I used the super cute Beaver to make a fun Valentine's Day card. I also used the rounded rectangle double stitched dies and the flag stitched dies. 

Thanks for stopping by for a visit and until next time - stay crafty!!

Valentines Mailbox Cubbie | By Jessica Shier

Hello Ai Fans!

This week I'm making some Valentine's themed cards but these are pretty subtle and could be sent anytime! I used the Happy Mailbox Cubbies along with some watercolors supplies. 

To get started I stamped the mailbox stamp and a few of the fun accessory items (letters, heart, bird) on to a piece of Ranger watercolor paper using some Versafine Clair Nocturne ink. Once I had a solid black image I used some clear embossing powder and melted that with a heat gun. To watercolor with I used several Tombow Dual Brush pens. The colors I used will be listed below.

The Tombow markers blend really well on the Ranger watercolor paper so I colored directly on the paper in the areas that I wanted the darkest. Then blended out with clean water. I watercolored each image and then went back through each and added more color, darkening where I thought it needed it. I just made sure to scatter the different colors through the stamp image as evenly as possible. I also painted the accessory images and let the entire panel dry fully.

Before die cutting and while I waited for stamp images to dry, I used a Nuvo Shimmer Powder to create a quick dark background. Then splattered with some Copic Opaque white, you could also use white acrylic paint. I also used the white paint on the mailboxes. Adding some lines, dots and even a little heart. 

I used a couple of cloud stitch dies with Neenah Solar White 110lb cardstock to make the clouds. I trimmed the dark watercolor panel and the clouds with the second to largest Art Impressions Rectangle Double Stitch die. Just an easy way to add a bit more detail. Plus I also used all of the coordinating dies that come in the Happy Mailboxes stamp set to cut out my images. Then I adhered everything together. 

One of my favorite things to do is figure out exactly where I want to place each item. It's like a little puzzle. I place the heart box and the bird on the lower left hand side then also stamped one of the sentiments. 

Tombow Markers used:

969

755

837

620

553

636

679

Alright you guys that is it from me. Thank you so much for joining me today!

Happy Stamping!

Happy 29th Birthday !!

Hello Ai fans !!

Today I made a fun card using Flo sku # I1165 , I did some paper piecing on her  dress and colored her with the copic markers , she is a hip granny !!!

I added banners , stitching with the sewing machine , buttons , pearls , twine , I then added some pink chalking  .

Thanks for stopping in , come back tomorrow for the Art Impressions Thursday challenge>

InLinkz.com

Challenge 92 - Antiquing

Hello Ai Fans! We're winding down the year and we hope you've enjoyed all our challenges. Next week we will be hosting our last challenge for 2012 and will be taking our holiday break December 27. 

This week, we're looking for any antiquing technique you could throw at us! You can use any technique such as staining, soaking, sanding, tearing, burning or fading. Your choice of distress ... just submit it on our InLinkz! :) Check out what our DT designed this week!

Zora

 Crystal

 Kerry

 Reneé

Tammie

 Trena

Thanks for the amazing work DT! :)

The winner from last week's "Invitation" challenge is ...

PIALI

With this adorable Girlfriend Blend card! Thanks for submitting Piali! Contact me at kate@artimpressions.com to receive your $10 coupon!

Here are the guidelines for our weekly challenges:

1. Please make a new card or creation. You can make any crafty item you wish; this is not limited to cards!

2. Limit two submissions per person. You will receive extra votes if you use Art Impressions stamps!

3. Include a link back to the Ai Blog or grab our button on the top left of our sidebar!

4. Share the Ai love by clicking and commenting your fellow crafters.

5. Make sure to get your link up by Wednesday at 6 p.m. PST to enter your creations.

Good luck and happy stamping!

Happy Valentine's Day

Good morning ladies, I hope you are all having a great day. I just couldn't help using Flo  I-1165 in my Valentine's card this week.  I just love these Golden Oldies.  I just couldn't resist having her shout  "Happy Valentine's Day " to all her friends.  If you want to find Flo and all her Golden Oldies friends check HERE.