Focus on Faith with Sara Furr: Misty Sunrise

 Blessings dear friends and welcome to my second edition of "Focus on Faith" for the month of August. 

Every morning I wake up and I thank God for the gift of a new day! New Blessings! The other day I woke up and came downstairs, and while I was walking around with my morning cuppa tea, I caught a glimpse of the beautiful misty sunrise, and had to run out to capture it.

This photo I took is the inspiration for my card today. I will be taking you through a step by step tutorial of my process.

Step 1- colored in my background grass and tree line with a green alcohol ink marker onto Canson XL Bristol Smooth cardstock. I created a small circle mask with a circle punch out of post it tape and applied it above the tree line to mask out my sun.

Step 2- ink blended in some blue sky and some yellow for sunrise, then removed the circle mask, and ink blended some white pigment ink in the tree line for the mist.

Step 3- stamped the barn from #5011- WC Truck mini set,  and colored barn with black alcohol ink marker.

Step 4- stamped in bushes from #4051- Foliage set and #5372-WC Mini Foliage Set with dark green inks.

Step 5- stamped in tree foliage with dark green ink.

Step 6- added in darker shades of grass line with alcohol ink marker.

Step 7- added white permanent ink marker to roof of barn.

Step 8- added foliage back in over the barn roof.

Step 9- stamped in sentiment from #5127- Build My Life set, with stamping tool, in blue ink.

When I was done, I went back in and added some sparkle pen to the sun and tree line to look like the mist. I wanted to male my sun even whiter, so I added some Ph Martin's Bleedproof white ink to the sun with a small paint brush. I trimmed my panel down just a bit and then matted it to a dark green cardstock  and then to a white panel. I popped that up over a panel of light green striped dsp from the #6072- Father's Day PP and a bow of green twine.

Here is my creation....

If you look close you can see the glitter pen I used for the mist.

So, here again is my photo...

AND here is my card...

I hope you are inspired to recreate of little bit of God's creation too.

God Bless, 

Sara Furr -The Crafty Farm Chick

Potting Bench & Build My Life by Karen Day

Welcome to another Watercolour Weekend!

My first card features the wonderful 5435 - WC Foundations Potting Bench.  What I love about the Foundations stamps, are that they take all the guesswork & planning away - you get a substantial scene planned out for you, no figuring out if something is the right size, or how many pots you can fit!  You still get to customize it with whatever colours and flowers you want to use - but you can get right down to business, and start painting.

I picked out my colour palette first, choosing yellows(991/993) / blue-greens(312/407) / purple(565) / brown(969/947) / grey(N55/N57).  I wanted a softer outline, so I stamped my image using N55 with my Misti - which is really helpful for such a large image, in case you miss a spot.  I began painting my pots first to plan out my colours, giving them all a base coat.  I decided to add my critter from 5425 - WC Peeking Animals to one of the pots, so I used my stamp positioner to place him perfectly.  

I used 7 different stamp sets to create my pots!!  I won't go over each flower, but did want to mention how I did the pansies in the box on the middle shelf.  I used the daisy bunch from Flower Set - 4052, colouring the top of each flower in 993, and the bottom in 565 - I'm quite happy with how they turned out!  The other stamp sets I used are 5126 - WC Foliage Set 4; 5475 - WC Flower Set 6; 4868 - WC Flower Set 2; 5476 - WC Foliage Set 5; 5474 - WC Flower Set 5; 5828 - WC Poinsettia Set.  I stitched my scene to a brown mat with my sewing machine, and used some 3D foam adhesive to adhere it to my base.

This month, I wanted to give some love to one of the Ai Bible Journaling sets - so I pulled out 5127 - Build My Life Set, and created a little scene.  

I stamped the window, pots and puppy (5016 - WC Mini Critter Set) after colouring them with 969/565 (masking the pots as needed).  With masks in place, I also masked the window, and then inked up the brick texture stamp that comes in the set, with N57 - not colouring it completely, being a bit sporadic, as I wanted an aged look to the stones.  I used the leafy branch from 5126 - WC Foliage Set 4 in 249, and stamped it repeatedly to create my vine.  For a little different leafy detail, I used both vines from the set, and stamped them in 249/126.  I purposefully left a few open areas, so that I could stamp the daisy bunch from 4052 - Flower Set in 993 to add flowers to the vine.  

After using a damp brush on the foliage, I continued with my brush to pull out the colour from the lines of the bricks and the window - then filled the bricks in with N57 and 977 to add some warmth to the bricks.  977 was also used on the pots, and N57 on the puppy.  I used both grasses from 4051 - Foliage set, in 249/126 around the pots, and pulled out the colour to ground the scene.  To create a little view out of the window, I used 5789 - Hot Air Balloon Set, to stamp two hot air balloons in the sky, and painted in the hills (249/126) and sky (493).  I used 933/493/993 to paint in the balloons.  I went around the scene with 565 - adding it as shadows on the window and bricks, and on the undersides of the pots.  The sentiment is from 5797 - Little Things Sentiment Set, and the image was die cut with 5062 - Rounded A2 Rectangle Double Stitched Dies.

Watercolor Weekend Roundup - Combining sets!

Hello, Ai Fans! Happy Watercolor Weekend!

We are so excited to share this week's Watercolor cards! We love what the gals have done combining stamp sets to come up with beautiful designs. We would love to see what combinations you are coming up with! 

Be sure to follow these lovely ladies on social media by clicking the link in pink next to their names!

Dot Freel - Instagram - Blog - Pinterest

Hello,

I made this card made for the Art Impression's Watercolor Weekend. I just love this raccoon from the 4208 - Furries TF set and doesn't he look like he's startled or forgotten a birthday? I stamped the raccoon and then I stamped a mask for him on post-it tape, cut it out and covered him up. I then used my Misti to stamp the bench in 969 from the 5066 - Light to my Path set in the perfect spot. I pulled the color out of the lines then got to watercoloring the raccoon with 969, N25, and 565. I colored the bench with 379.  I used 993 for the light and even colored around the outside of the light with it. Next, I stamped the foliage in 228 from the 5126 - WC Foliage Set 4 - both the vines and the grass. I pulled the color out of the lines then I added the flower in 177 and 743 from the 4868 - WC Flower Set 2. I used 177 on the palette to watercolor between the stones. I used 565 to watercolor the sky, the shadows under the bench and under the raccoon. I used a fine tip black marker to add some details back into the raccoon. I cut out my scene and background piece of paper using the 5062 - Rounded Rectangle Double Stitched Dies.

Thank you for checking out my blog!  You can find more of my cards on my Instagram account here. 

Karen Day - Blog - Facebook - Pinterest

I started by die cutting my Canson XL Watercolour Paper with one of the 5062 - Rounded Rectangle Double Stitched Dies, and then I selected my colour palette of Tombow Dual Brush markers.  I began by scribbling #991 Light Ochre onto my palette, and picked it up with a very wet #6 paintbrush, creating a background wash.  I dropped in touches of #947 Burnt Sienna to add a little warmth.  I took all three of the pine tree stamps from 5010 - WC Tree Set 1, and coloured them in varying shades of #098 Avocado, #177 Dark Jade and #249 Hunter Green, making some 2-toned.  I stamped them to look like a forested hillside, doing second and third generation stamping to create some trees in the background.  Using a damp #1 paintbrush, I went over the tree boughs to blend the colours, and then pulled out the colour to pool below the trees, adding more colour where necessary to have the colours drip & blend together.  I picked up a watery brush full of #493 Reflex Blue and dropped a few bits of colour around the scene where needed.  I purposefully kept a lighter area in the center of my scene, and after my background was dry, I stamped the quote from 5127 - Build My Life Set using Versafine Onyx Black Ink.  I spattered a little black paint around, and then using a black fine point marker, I drew in the birds in the upper left corner.  On my creamy cardstock base, I blended some Vintage Photo Distress Oxide ink, then mounted a piece of kraft cardstock cut 1/8" larger than my scene.  I added 3D adhesive squares to my panel and adhered it to the card base. 

Tricia O'Bin - Blog - Instagram - YouTube - Pinterest - Facebook

Welcome back watercolor fans to another Art Impressions watercolor weekend!  This week I decided to create this cute little Mushroom Fairy by combining my Butterfly stamp set with the Elves stamp set.  I love when I can stretch my stamps.  What can you make by combining your stamps?

Project Details

I started off by inking up the sleeping elf from the Elves stamp set in 969.  I stamped it off and then stamped it on the right side of the watercolor paper.  Next, I inked up the closed butterfly from the Butterfly stamp set and stamped it onto my stamp positioner.  I rubbed off the body of the butterfly. I lined it up on top of the sleeping elf and stamped it to make the elf into a fairy.  I pulled the color out of the lines.

From my watercolor palette, I added color to the elf and to the wings using Pink, Blue, and Yellow.  I made sure a hit of the top of the elf showed through the wings.   Next, I inked up the mushroom from the Elves set with 969.  I, again, used my stamp positioner to place the mushroom next to the fairy.

I added the window and door from the Hobbit Door set using my positioner.  I pulled the color out of the lines and added some additional 606 to the mushroom.  I added some additional 969 to darken areas on the mushroom.  I added some grasses (from the original foliage set and foliage set 3) inked up with 177.  I pulled the color up and out of the lines.  Lastly, I added some 565 to my palette and painted a sky behind the mushroom.

I signed and dated my project.

Card Details

I cut my Mushroom Fairy out with a rectangle stitched die.  I glued it to a Gina K Designs Edible Eggplant card stock mat.  I glued that to a Neenah Solar White card panel.

Thank you so much for spending some time with me today.  I hope you will look at your new light.  Try something different, you will be glad you did! 

Thank you, ladies, for your continued inspiration! We absolutely love seeing everyone's personal style show through on each card!  

Happy Stamping!

Watercolor Weekend Roundup - Three Unique Projects Inside!

Hello Ai Watercolor Fans, and welcome to another Watercolor Weekend post! It's a great day for stamping, don't you think? Check out these three lovely projects to inspire your weekend creations! Remember to check out the pink links by the designer's name to hop over to the personal blog, instagram, or other accounts so you can continually be inspired throughout the week!

Dot Freel - Instagram - Blog - Pinterest

Hello Friends,

I hope you like my beach scene card I made using Art Impression's stamps for the Watercolor Weekend. I wanted to make the brick wall after watching Art Impression's Creator/Owner Bonnie Krebs Bible Journaling video on YouTube, where she showed us you have to add the color first. The first thing I stamped was the lighthouse from the 5069 - My Fortress Set. I inked it up first with the brown 969, then I inked it up with 565 but I didn't ink the water part on the bottom of the stamp. I stamped it off on a piece of scrap paper before I stamped it on my watercolor paper. I stamped the little girl next from the 5118 - WC Beach Girls Set using the 969 and stamping it off first. I stamped the little puppy next to her from the 4959 - WC Dogs Set using the same 969 and stamping it off first as well. Those Tombow markers are really juicy so I tend to stamp everything off first when I use them. I used a T-ruler and permanent Copic Marker to make the two wall top lines and the bottom line. I used a pencil to make the water line and then colored the water in with 528 and the sky as well. I pulled the color out of the lines of the light house and used 757 on the palette to watercolor the red lines on the light house and the little girls swim suit. I used NO. 47 pale pink to color the little girl's skin. I used 565 to darken the windows, 969 on the roof and door, and then I took the fine tip of the Tombow twin tone pen to darken each window. I used 158 for the hat and the ground cover. I added a little 969 to the cliff side but only used 565 to shadow the rocks and light house. I colored the girl's hair and the puppy with 969 and darkened his eyes, nose and mouth with the Copic marker and then I used that marker to put dots on the rocks in the crevices. I used some 969 and 565 to watercolor the brick wall and then I masked off the little girl, puppy and the top and bottom of the wall with post-it tape runner. I used the bricks from 5127 - Build My Life Set and inked them up with 969, then stamped them off on the scrap paper twice before stamping the wall. I stamped the grasses from the 5126 - WC Foliage Set 4 in the green 158. I inked the birds from the My Fortress Set in 565, and stamped them after stamping them off first on the scrap paper. I took a Sakura Gelly Roll pen and added some glitter. I signed it with my Copic pen and cut it out using the 5063 - Rectangle Double Stitched Dies. I used the largest die to cut out the background piece of paper.

Karen Day - Blog - Facebook - Pinterest

I started by tracing a faint circle in pencil on my Canson XL watercolor paper to use as a guide. I began with the leafy green image from 5126 WC Foliage Set 4, and #249 Hunter Green, stamping it around the circle in both first and second generation. I wanted to have a strong contrast of greens, so I coloured the stem of a flower from 5008 WC Flower Set 3 in #126 Light Olive, and the petals in #565 Deep Blue. To fill in a few areas, I used the tiny foxglove (quite possibly my favourite Ai watercolor flower!) from 4052 Flower Set coloured in #533 Peacock Blue. I love the versatility of this stamp, I can stamp it repeatedly to be as long as I like, and because it's so tiny, it allows me to bend the blossom one way or another to suit my design. Using two of the branches from 4964 WC Branches Set coloured in #969 Chocolate, I tucked branches in and around the wreath to finish it off. I very lightly used my damp #1 paintbrush to dab the leaves and blossoms, keeping them mostly intact (I didn't want to lose the image definition). I used a TT42 - Twintone marker in 42 Navy to add a few dots around the foxgloves to finish them off. I looked at several of the birds from different sets, and found that this one from 5030 On The Sparrow Set in the Ai Bible Journaling collection fit perfectly inside the wreath - so I coloured him with #969 and used my stamp positioner to set him just inside the bottom of the wreath. I pulled out the colour with my brush, and added in touches of #533 on his wings and tail. I kept my wreath quite loose and open, making it slightly irregular - and really love the look! I can hardly wait to try a fall version. I matted the image on some periwinkle cardstock and stitched it down with my sewing machine. I tied some twine around my kraft cardstock base and attached the image with some pop dots.

Tricia O'Bin - Blog - Instagram - YouTube - Pinterest - Facebook

Hi Watercolor Fans! Welcome back to Art Impressions watercolor weekend. For my project this week, I decided to make an interactive card. This was so much fun to make. Come along with me and I’ll tell you how I made my Reveal Wheel Wagon.

I wanted to create a watercolor card using my new reveal wheel dies. I used the Add-On window and Essential Shapes stencil. I cut a rectangle out of the watercolor paper. First, I inked up the wagon with N25 & 569, stamped it off and stamped it in the bottom right corner of the paper. I used my Round 6 brush to pull the color out of the lines making sure the sides are darker and leaving a highlight. 

I added some additional color from my palette. Next, I inked up the small grass from the original foliage set with 249. I stamped it underneath and around the wagon. I pulled the color out of the lines. I inked the leaves up and stamped them along the top of the wagon. I wanted to make sure to stamp outside where the window will be so the flowers on the wheel fit.

I cut the wheel out of watercolor paper. Using the template, I stamped more foliage and flowers in different colors on each side. (After I already cut it I realized I didn’t need the template as by doing the whole wheel there is no break in the flowers). I used the small vine and the medium vine inked in 249 and stamped it several times. I added the small dots, daisy bunch and single flower to the wheel. I chose pink, orange and purple as they go so well together and I wanted it to be cohesive. I added water to the foliage and then the flowers. I added some additional color from my palette (mostly yellow onto the orange flowers). I added some wink of stella to the flowers and the wagon for a bit of shine.

Using 565 from my palette, I added a sky, which I also used on the wheel so it would blend with the background. I signed and dated it. I used a scrap piece of black card stock with the reveal wheel die and did some partial die cutting. I embossed the celebrating you from the Simon Says Stamp Tiny Words stamp set to it with white embossing powder.

I cut the craft paper with the reveal wheel card die. There are lots of YouTube videos on how to put the card together. I cut the opening in the watercolor paper (after making sure my wheel lined up). I then cut another window in the Kraft card stock in the same spot. I added my wheel and assembled the card. I added it to a white card base. To complete it I stamped the arrow so you know which way to spin the wheel (not that it matters in this instance).

I love to find ways to stretch my dies and stamps and this worked perfectly. I think I may do some more of these.

Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope you join us this watercolor weekend. Tag us on Instagram with #AIWatercolor and #AIStamps. 

Have a crafty day!

Thanks, team! We love how creative and diverse the projects are this week! From larger scenes like Dot's to beautiful wreaths like Karen and even interactive cards like Tricia, there is so much you can create with Art Impressions Watercolor stamps! Have a super weekend!

Happy Stamping!

NEW VIDEO! Build My Life Set Bible Journaling Part 2

Hello Ai Fans!

Welcome to another Ai Bible Journaling video, featuring our Build My Life Set Part 2! Watch Bonnie create a stone wall and open window with climbing vines and flowers in Proverbs 24 and 25.

Join in the Ai Bible Journaling Fun!
Sign up for our NEW Bible Journaling Newsletter
Subscribe to Art Impressions' YouTube
View our Bible Journaling YouTube Playlist
Follow Bonnie's Bible Journaling account on Instagram

View on YouTube: https://youtu.be/2x2XQL7yB-0

Hop over to YouTube and leave Bonnie a comment, then tag us in your projects on Instagram or Facebook using #AiBibleJournaling!

Happy Bible Journaling!

Watercolor Weekend Roundup - NEW Inspiration!

Hello, Watercolor Fans! Ready for a dose of Watercolor Inspiration? We are so excited about these beautiful projects from our Watercolor Guest Design Team! We hope you enjoy them as well!

Dot Freel - Instagram - Blog - Pinterest

Hello Friends,

Easter is less than a month away and I need to get busy making Easter cards. I made this card for the Art Impressions Watercolor Weekend using the new 5123 - WC Decorative Jar Set. First I colored the teapot stamp in 696 then in 565 and stamped it off before stamping it on the paper. I then colored it in using 603. I used the stamp positioner to stamp the bunny from 4874 - WC Bunnies Set in the pot using 40 brownish grey, which I also used for the shadow under the teapot. I colored the bunny's ear and cheeks using 67 bubble gum pink and 177. I then stamped the flowers from the 4052 - WC Flower Set 1 in the pink as well. The other flowers are from the 4876 - Wooden Chair Mini Set and they are stamped in the 565 and 177. I added the grass from the 4051 - WC Foliage Set 1 in 177. I used the sign and eggs and bow from the 4976 Holiday Mansion Easter Set, then colored them in using the same colors. I colored the sky using 75 sky blue. I added some glitter using a Wink of Stella glitter pen. I used my Copic pen to sign and date it. I cut it out and framed it using the 5064 - Double Stitched Circular Die Set and a rounded corner punch for the card base.

You can find more inspiration by following me on my Instagram account here.

Karen Day - Blog - Facebook - Pinterest

I've used seven stamp sets in my scene today! I started by placing one of the sheds from 5121 - WC Garden Shed Set and the 4703 Flower Cart together on the same block, which allowed me to control exactly where they were placed to achieve the right perspective. I coloured them both with 969 Chocolate, stamped, and softened the lines with a damp #4 paintbrush. I used a combo of 969 and 992 Sand to paint in the roof, shingles and cart. Using N57 Warm Grey, I coloured and stamped 2 of the stepping stone images from 5018 Cobblestone Set, and pulled out the colour to create some texture and shadows. I used the two trailing greenery images from 5126 Foliage Set 4 coloured with 177 Dark Jade to stamp foliage falling out of the cart, and dabbed them with a damp brush to activate the ink. Next I used the floral cluster from 4052 WC Flower Set 1 coloured in 676 Royal Purple to create the pink flowers in the cart, and after masking the shed, I stamped them on either side of it. I coloured 565 Deep Blue onto the tiny bluebell image from Flower Set 1, stamping it three times in an upward direction to create tall stalks of blue flowers. After softening all the flowers/foliage with a damp brush, I went in with the tiny leaf image from 5009 - WC Mini Flower Set (oops! that's an 8th stamp set!!) to fill in around the flowers where needed. I also used it around the shed to create some bushes with the flowers. I used both the small and large grasses from 4051 - WC Foliage Set 1 in 177 as well as 126 Light Olive to add the suggestion of grass around the shed, stones and cart. I pulled out the colour from the grasses, and painted in and around the images to create a wash of green grass. After masking off the shed, I coloured two of the tree images from 5010 WC Tree Set 1 in 177, varying the heights - then softened them with a damp brush. Finally, I scribbled 565 onto my palette, and painted in the sky and the door, and then used it to add shadows to the window, stones and cart. 

Tricia O'Bin - Blog - Instagram - YouTube - Pinterest - Facebook

Step 1: Ink the small pot from the Build My Life set in 969-Chocolate. Stamp it and pull the color out of the lines. I added 837-Wine Red to my palette and added it to the pot being sure to leave a highlight in the middle.

Step 2: I masked the top of the pot with a piece of post-it tape. I inked up the tall foliage from the New WC Foliage set with 969-Chocolate and 249-Hunter Green and stamped it several times on the left side of the pot. I removed the mask and softened the leaves with water.

Next, I inked the small vine from the New WC Foliage Set with 249-Hunter Green and stamped it several times along the right and into the top of the pot. I softened the lines.

Step 3: I inked up the small dots from the WC Mini Flowers set in 725-Rhodamine Red and stamped it several times in a circle. I added water to the bloom. I didn't really get a good depth so I inked it up with 636-Imperial Purple and again stamped it in a circle on top of the pink. I added water.

Finally I added some Chocolate underneath the pot to ground it. Finally, I signed and dated it.

Card Details

I placed the watercolor piece into my MISTI and lined up the Dear Friends circle over the pot. I inked it up with Gina K Amalgam ink and stamped it twice.

I used the double stitched circle die to cut the watercolor piece. I used a watercolor background to cut a mat using a Spellbinder circle slightly bigger than the watercolor piece. I cut a piece of fun foam to pop it up.

I die cut the background with Altenew Layered Medallians dies cut from Neenah Solar White 80 lb card stock. I added these to a Neenah Solar White 110 lb card base. I glued the watercolor piece to the top of the card.

If you enjoyed these projects, be sure to leave us a comment below! Have an awesome week!

Happy Stamping!