It's A Girl!......and A Boy!! by Carol Hintermeier

Happy Monday Ai friends!  Today I have a sweet card using both adorable baby sets called Baby Girl and Baby Boy.  Be sure to keep reading to find out how I fixed two pretty big oopsies!  I decided to make a slimline card using the clothes on the line stamps from both sets to make a card to welcome twins!

I created a slimline card base by cutting some Neenah Solar White to 7" x 8-½" and scoring at 3-½".  I positioned both clothesline stamps and stamped them with Copic safe ink.  Next I stenciled the clouds with Distress Inks.  I really didn't want to create masks for all of the little clothes, so I just tried to go lightly with the ink blending brush around them.  I have a tiny blending brush that helped with that too.  I knew my coloring would cover any of the clouds I might get on the clothes.

  

I colored the clothes with the Copic markers listed below.  Then I stamped the sentiments Girl and Boy.  I had thought to color them like translucent balloons, but let me tell you, that was a HUGE fail! Haha!  So I re-stamped them onto scrap paper that I Copic colored in ombre shades of pink and blue. I fussy cut them out then went around the edges with a Memento Tuxedo Black pen to give them a finished look.  Then I adhered them over my "bad" balloons!  I rummaged through my stamp stash to find the ampersand and "It's a" sentiments.

Another BIG goof happened right after I finished coloring the little clothes.  I got up to do something else and when I came back I saw the card sitting ON TOP OF the open Distress Ink pad!!  Gah!  A big blue blob had seeped through to the front!  Hence, the birds.  As it turns out, I love having the birds holding the clotheslines!  Happy accident!

To finish it all off, I used a white gel pen to add doodles to the clothes and highlights on the sentiments.

I hope you've enjoyed my card today and that I've shown you that most times, those oopsies can be fixed!!  Thank you for stopping by today.  I hope you have lots of crafty time this week and that you and yours are well and healthy!

Copic markers:

B00, B000, BG01, BG02, C3, C1, C00, E31, E34,

RV00, RV02, RV10, RV13, RV52, RV63,

Y13, Y15, Y18, Y19, YG11, YG13, YG17

Sweet Baby Girl Cards

Hello Ai fans! 

This week I made two cards using the Baby Girl stamp set. 

My first card I used the Square Double Stitched Dies to make three open areas in my card stock. I die cut the same size square as the openings and stamped the sentiment "Sweet Little One" and adhered that in the middle opening.

I had leftover images from other cards already colored in and fussy cut out. I added the cut out card stock with the windows over some pattern paper using some foam tape to pop it up a little bit. I thought the card was missing something so I added a white bow bellow the middle square opening. 

For the second card I was feeling inspired by the square stitched die cuts so I stamped the rattle on all three of them. I colored them in using three of the same colors but in different spots. 

The images didn't stamp a bold black so I stamped the sentiments "So Sweet" and "It's a girl!" in Fuschia. 

Spectrum Noir Markers: 

AP1, AP4, PP6, AP4, CT1, CT4

Happy Stamping!

Baby Girl Set by Carol Hintermeier

Hello Ai fans!  A very happy new year to you!  Today I have a sweet card using a few stamps from the adorable Baby Girl Set.

I stamped these three images in Copic safe ink and colored them with the Copic markers listed below.    I did a bit of "stamp surgery" to be able to stamp the It's A without masking part of it off.  No worries, I'll easily be able to use it fully when I need to.  I die cut the panel with one of the Rectangle Double Stitched dies.

I wanted the "girl" stamped image to look like balloons, so I used a fine point black pen to draw strings around the letters as if they are floating in the air.  Then I added some clear sparkle to them with a Wink of Stella.  I then added some Diamond Glaze (similar to Glossy Accents) to them for more dimension.  After it dried, I noticed that the glaze had darkened my coloring.  Before the glaze, the letters were the same color as the pink dress.  I think still it works, but definitely something to remember in the future.

I added some foam tape to the back and added it to the lacy die cut and adhered it all to a top-folding A2 card base.

Such a sweet and easy card that was quick to make!  Thank you for stopping by today.  Have a wonderful, crafty week!

Copic markers: 

B000, B0000, E35, E55, RV13, RV14, RV21,

Y00, Y11, Y13, Y15

Happy Thanksgiving from the Art Impressions Team! PLUS Challenge 271 Anything Goes Winners Announced!

Happy Thanksgiving, Ai Fans! Before we dive into the fun, we have a few announcements for you! 

The office will be closed on November 28 and 29 for Thanksgiving, so leave a message and we will return your call or email beginning Monday, December 2.

The blog will be closed until Thursday, December 5, to give our designers a rest and chance to enjoy extra family time and turkey leftovers!

In the meantime, if you are craving card inspiration, hop over to guest designer Tracy MacDonald's blog for some great project and leave a little comment love! Tracy designed this beautiful Thanksgiving Circlet card above, and you can find all the details here.

Our design team is here today to share a bundle of baby card inspiration for you, too! Featuring our latest sets, let's take a look at what these talented ladies have crafted up today!

Carol with Baby Boy Set

Crystal with Baby Girl Set

Jessica with Baby Boy Set

Jil with Baby Girl Set

Niccole with Baby Boy Set

Renee with Baby Girl Set and Baby Boy Set

Sharon with Baby Boy Set

Last week we mentioned we are wrapping up our current challenge early today! This week's challenge was "Anything Goes," so we are excited to announce the winners of this open-ended challenge!

Top Spot goes to...

Ca sem!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Ca Sem (@casem1982) on Nov 26, 2019 at 2:18am PST

Congrats, Ca Sem! Your wintery watercolor birthday card is oh-so-sweet and your little hand-drawn bow details on the pine boughs are a cute detail! Email annelise@artimpressions.com with your address to claim your prize pack!

Honorable Mentions go to...

Reetta!

Nancy!

Congrats, you two! Reetta, your Santa Sleigh card is striking against your handmade sky background! And Nancy, your penguin card with our retired but beloved penguins is super cute! Email annelise@artimpressions.com with your address and select a stamp set of your choice for a prize!

Stay tuned next week when we return with inspiration and a new challenge!

Happy Thanksgiving & Happy Stamping!

Welcome Baby with NEW Adorable Baby Stamp Sets! PLUS Anything Goes Card Challenge 271!

Send welcoming greetings to new baby with our two latest photopolymer stamp sets! Our Baby Boy set features a handsome tot and plush puppy, and our Baby Girl set showcases a sweet little lady and her stuffed elephant. Both sets include a clothesline, little toys, and sentiments to mix and match! Both sets are great to have on hand for a warm hello for a newborn, congratulating new parents, and creating baby shower invitations! We have you covered with inspiration when you check out our release video! Shop these sets at artimpressions.com!

Jessica is here to share a fantastically adorable baby boy card, let's take a look!

Hello Ai Fans!

Welcome to the new challenge Anything Goes! Today I'm sharing my project using the Baby Boy stamp set. For this one I decided to make a cute little eclipse style card, a great way to welcome a little boy to the family.

I started by stamping my little scene using the boy image, the cute stuffed dog and the toy airplane. For this I used Copic safe ink and stamped everything on Neenah Solar White 80lb card stock. I'll have the list of markers I used below if you want to know the color I used for my stamp images. 

Once my coloring was done I planned out my layout. I used the Art Impressions Rectangle Double Stitch die to trim down my colored panel and I also used the letters from the Block Letter die set to spell out cute. I did die cut these separately. Once with the rectangle die and then with the letter dies, I took it slow and when die cutting the letters so that I was sure to get them straight. I didn't use in tape to hold the letters down but that is something that you can use to keep the dies from shifting. I also used the letter dies again to die cut some light green craft foam.

The craft is adhered to the back of the cut out letter from my colored panel. You can see some of the stamp images on the letters. It looks kind of odd when they are detached from the rest of the panel! I used some Therm-o-web Ultra bond glue to adhere the foam to the card stock. Then left them under neath a large acrylic block to dry. While those dried I decorated the hat on the boy and the ribbon on the dog, just to add some texture and detail. For that I used a Gelly Roll white gel pen. 

You can see that I adhered the colored panel to a piece of light gray card stock and also adhered the letters back in to place. I used the same glue for that too, and also let those dry underneath the acrylic block. I like using colorful craft foam and coordinating my the colors with the rest of the card. Having that peak of color is why these are considered an eclipse style card. You can do the same with white or black craft foam too. 

 I thought I would add some baker's twine to the side. Anyone else still have a HUGE stash of twine!? lol. I have this old 1/8th hole punch that I use to make small holes. You could also use a poker tool. I punched the holes just slightly down from the edge on the left side where the fold is for my card. This is a A2 Side fold card. Then I can thread the twine though the holes and make a bow. 

I wanted to add the sentiment "Welcome little man" to the front of this card as well. To make it stand out a bit I die just the lower portion of one of the small rectangle dies and stamped the sentiment using Versafine Clair Nocturne ink. Then attached that to the top of the white stamped and colored panel between the boy and stuffed dog. 

Copic Markers Used:

Shirt, wheels, inside of car

W6, W4, W3, W1, W0

Boys skin and hair

BV00, E11, E51, R81, E59, E34

Greens

YG67, YG03, G43, G40

Reds

R05, R02

Stuffed dog

E35, E43, Y26, Y23, Y21

Thank you so much for joining me today! Happy Stamping!

Thanks, Jessica, this card is simply sweet!

It's time for a new challenge! This challenge will be shorter than our usual challenges - just ONE week to enter, so hop on it! It's "Anything Goes", so you can create cards of any kind to enter! Just be sure to enter by Wednesday, November 27 by noon Pacific Time to be considered!

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 the deadline to enter your creations.

✻ Good luck and happy stamping!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Before we go, let's recognize the winners of last week's Couples Cards Challenge!

Top Spot goes to...

Lorraine A!

Congrats, Lorraine! We love your pair of puppies from our Santa Paws set, they are so sweet agains a dramatic night sky and shaker window! Email annelise@artimpressions.com with your address to claim your prize pack!

Honorable Mentions go to...

Irene Rhodes!

Lynda/PaperArts Cafe!

Congrats, you two! Irene, your lovely nighttime scene with the glowing tree and a sweet couple from our Love Birds set looks divine! And Lynda, your lovely watercolored bunnies look so sweet among the flowers. Email annelise@artimpressions.com with your address and select a stamp set of your choice for a prize!

We hope you'll join us for our quick Anything Goes challenge for a chance to win!

Happy Stamping!