Christmas Came Early Challenge #361

 Hello Ai fans!

Let me tell you...we were SO excited to see so many new names entered in our last challenge!  We have free stamp sets to give away.  Who will it be this week?

Our new challenge is called Christmas Came Early and we'll get into that in just a bit. 

 For now, let's start with who won our Fall into Fall challenge.  As always, we have two winners.  A Top Spot and a Lucky Random Winner.

For our Top Spot we selected Lorrie M.

Please contact Leah at Feedback@artimpressions.com

to claim a free stamp set of your choice!

Also, be sure to grab our badge to display on your blog, Facebook or Instagram!

Our Lucky Random Winner was #34
Kristen B.

Please contact Leah at Feedback@artimpressions.com

to claim a free stamp set of your choice!

Also, be sure to grab our badge to display on your blog, Facebook or Instagram!

Congratulations to both of our winners!

Now let's see what our Featured Artist for this week has in store for you.  Lynn created this DARLING cat "tree" to help get you in the mood for the holidays!

Let's see what she has to say about her card.  Be sure to check out her tutorial video as well.  Those are ALWAYS so amazing and helpful.

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I'm so excited to be your feature artist for the kick-off of today's brand-new blog challenge!  This is the Ai "Christmas Came Early" challenge.  My card will also qualify for an upcoming Instagram Hop that Ai is sponsoring.  Tune in next week to hear all about that!  You won't want to miss it because there are MANY prizes to be won!

   Watch video tutorial here!!!

I thought it would be fun to re-imagine our stamps today! We are going to take the Ai Christmas Kitty Flip Card Set (5183) and rather than creating a flip card we are going to create a Kitty Christmas Tree....why not...right?! I love to use my stamps not only in the traditional way, but also in unique and fun ways! It's a great way to get more value from the stamps and dies that you purchase.

First, let's stamp and color all of our little kitties. We will need to stamp two sets of the forward-facing kitties and one of the back facing kitties. All of the coloring today will be done using the Zig Clean Color Real Brush Pens in the following colors: Blender, Sugared Almond Pink, Deep Red, May Green, Deep Green, Turquoise Green, Beige, Mid Brown, Lt Gray.

Once the coloring is done, we can start our cutting using a pair of detail scissors. We will keep all 4 kitties for the bottom of the tree and then 3 for the second layer and 2 for the top of the tree. This will take a little bit of time to cut out, but it is well worth the effort!

We will also die cut a small, stitched star out of some glitter paper for the tree topper. To this star we can add some sequins for added interest. For this we will use the Buttons Galore & More "Holly" sequins.

To set the scene for our card, we can use the Ai Mini Paper Pack (5835) and the Ai Valentines Paper Pack (5741). We will also add a snowy look by spattering this paper with the Dr. Ph. Martin's Bleed Proof White. We can also ink the edges with the Tim Holtz Ground Espresso Ink.

Let's add a few highlights using a white gel pen and add some foam squares for added dimension!

Thank you so much for joining me today!  Have a fun and crafty day!!!

Christmas Kitty Flip Card Set (5183)

Rectangle A2 Double Stitched Dies (5063)

Christmas Slimline Set (5461)

Mini Paper Pack (5835)

Valentines Paper Pack (5741)

Watercolor Travel Box (4924)

Dr. Ph. Martin's Bleed Proof White

#0 Brush

Wink of Stella Clear Glitter Pen

Thank you Lynn for your sweet cat Christmas card and wonderful tutorial video!

Check out the link below to enter your Christmas themed card for a chance to win a free stamp set.

✻ Please make a new card or handmade crafty creation. You can make any 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!

 ✻Please include your first name and last initial on your submission.

✻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

Feline Crazy challenge week two

 Hello Ai fans!

Today we're Feline Crazy because we have a fantastic card from DT member Janet!

Normally, we share our design team members feature during week one of our challenge but 
since we participated in the Cat Lovers Hop last week we changed things up a bit.  So, this week
you get to hear about how Janet made her adorable card!

It's Janet here to kick off a brand new challenge. This one is called Feline Crazy. To participate you can post any crafty project with a cat or cat theme. I chose to use #5183 - Christmas Kitty. I think these four little kittens in their Christmas sweaters are precious!

Flip cards are constructed so that when opened, the card flips the sentiment and shows you the back image. To make the flip mechanism, I used #5103 Flip Card Die. This makes the cut and fold lines. It also comes with the die phrase of Happy Birthday and numbers 0-9. It's a good set for many uses.

After stamping the images with a water color friendly ink, I water colored the images using Karin Brushmarker Pro markers. The markers are very easy to use. I like to squiggle some ink out on my glass board and paint with a damp #3 round brush. 

An alcohol ink background paper was used on both sides. It coordinates nicely with the colors used in the sweaters. A pastel pink glitter cardstock was used for mats and for the lacey border on the front. I heat embossed the sentiments using silver embossing powder. Matt pink enamel dots and small pearls were added as accents on the card front. 

The markers I used include several neon colors. I find these come out pastel when watered down and aren't either overpowering or too weak. The markers colors used are: 264-Arctic Blue, 0220-Neon Canary, 6120-Neon Orange, 6172-Neon Violet, 105-Henna, 213-Cocoa, 133-Neutral Grey 1, 131-Nuetral Grey 3, 030-Black.

We look forward to seeing your Feline Crazy projects for our challenge. It's always fun to see what everyone makes. They are all amazing!

Happy Creating!

Janet - YouTube - Blog - Facebook - Instagram - Pinterest

You still have another week to join in our Feline Crazy challenge.  This week we want to see 

any crafty, handmade project featuring a cat...both house or big cats count!  There are some amazing entries already.  Now it's up to you to take the challenge and show us your creation!  You have the chance to win 3 free stamp sets of your choice from Art Impressions!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Kitty Flip Clear card by Jil Lebel

Hello Ai fans!

I have loved all of the stamps from the Flip line, the two newest stamp sets are no exception.  I HAD to have the Christmas Kitty Flip stamp set. I love using the images for flip cards as intended, but they also look great used in different ways.  I decided to do a clear center card to show off the cute little kittens.

I started by stamping the images onto Spectrum Noir Ultra Smooth paper with Gina K Designs Black Amalgam Ink and colored them with my Copic markers.  The colors used are listed at the end of this post. I then cut out the image with my Cutter Bee scissors.

I created an A2 card and cut off the bottom leaving a 1 3/8" strip along the top. From the remaining card front, I cut another 1 3/8" strip and discarded the rest.  I cut a piece of acetate to 5 1/2" x 4 1/4" and attached it over the top piece of the card.  I then attached the small strip behind the acetate at the bottom of the card.  I then cut two strips of decorative paper from the Martha Stewart Rustic Christmas Mat Stack to 5 1/2" x 1 3/8".  I attached them over the piece of acetate to hide the adhesive from both layers of paper.  Then I added the image over the acetate before I added the greetings. 

Copic Colors Used:
Tan Cat - E70, E71, E74
Gray Cats - C0, C1, C3
Orange Cat - E30, YR21, YR24
Tan Sweater - W0, W1, W3
Red Sweater, R05, R24, R37
Green Sweater - YG61, YG63, YG67
Gray on Hat - C0, C1, C3

Thanks for stopping by and Have a Great Day!

NEW Fall Clear Sets NOW Available! PLUS Challenge 262 Gotta Gingham!

Pumpkin spice season is on the way! To prepare, we are releasing TWO new fall clear sets today! Send sweet, spooky greetings with Fright Night, featuring cheerful ghosts and pets flying a broom! Mixing and matching images and sentiments is so fun with our Feast Mode Set, with our favorite critters dressed for autumn!

You can preview the new designs in our release video below and purchase them today at artimpressions.com! Plus, there is still time to join our Gotta Gingham challenge for a chance to win Ai stamps!

 

Last week, Sharon gave a super sweet Flip Card tutorial, so hop on over if you missed it. Today, our design team is here to share adorable holiday inspiration! Let's take a look! Remember to click the designer's name for more information on their project!

Carol with Pumpkin Mice Flip Card & Flip Card Die Crystal with Christmas Kitty Flip Card & Flip Card Die Jessica with Fright Night Set Jil with Feast Mode Set Niccole with Feast Mode Set Renee with Fright Night Set Sharon with Christmas Kitty Flip Card & Flip Card Die There is still time to enter our challenge! Create a card or craft featuring gingham! It is such a versatile pattern, perfect for any season or occasion, and link it to our Inlinkz below. Be sure to share your project for a chance to win Art Impressions stamps! 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 We hope you'll join in our new challenge, it's gonna be good!   We have another special release today with our friends from The Stamping Village! A combined 12 companies have contributed designs to the NEW Holiday Seals stamp set, now available at artimpressions.com! The Stamping Village truly believes in community over competition, as we combined forces to create a shared space at Creativation 2019, and will expand to include new friends in 2020! The special thing about this set, and our previously released Mail Delivery set, is that The Stamping Village believes in giving back. 100% of the net profits from this collaboration stamp set will benefit The Dreaming Zebra Foundation, who firmly believe that all children, regardless their financial circumstances, should have access to art education. They provide art and music materials free of charge to many schools and community organizations across the country. Make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for a special Video Hop on September 10! Happy Stamping!

262 Gotta Gingham! PLUS NEW Holiday Flip Cards Now Available!

Hello, AI Fans! Get ready to FLIP over our latest Flip Card release! We have two new designs, just in time for the holiday season! Check out our Pumpkin Mice Flip Card where our critters are all dressed up in witch hats sitting in their smiling jack-o-lanterns. Our Christmas Kitty Flip Card has adorable kittens in holiday sweaters with hats, scarves, and bows! Make sure to grab our Flip Card Die to make this easy interactive card in one simple step! You can preview the new designs in our release video below and purchase them today at artimpressions.com!   Today we have Sharon to show you a tutorial for creating your very own flip card! Hello AI Fans!! I'm super excited to get to share one of the new Flip Card Sets available now at Art Impressions! These adorable felines are Christmas Kitties!!  I love me some red and green at Christmas, but I really enjoy making cards with non-traditional colors as well.  So that's the direction I took this time.  I just used some digital paper for my card. I always pick my papers first, before I color. That way I can match my Copics to my papers.  Of course I chose some gingham since that's the challenge!  Look at these cuties all colored up! They're so adorable!!  These flip cards are so easy to make!! The instructions are right on the die packaging.  I simply cut the papers to fit onto the card.  Since I'm a dimensional girl,  the Christmas Kitties and sentiment are popped up off the card using mounting tape.  To dress up the bottom, I just cut a strip of my cardstock and punched both sides with a border punch. Then added another little strip of gingham to it. I love how it gives it a lacy look.  Using my Bow Easy, I tied a bow with twine to finish off the front!  And a look at the inside.  I love making these Flip Cards!! They are so easy to make and decorate, but they have a big wow factor! Hope you enjoyed my feature today and I can't wait to see what you make with the Flip Card Sets! Until next time - Stay crafty!! It's time for a new challenge! To enter, create a card or craft featuring gingham! It is such a versatile pattern, perfect for any season or occasion. Be sure to share your project for a chance to win Art Impressions stamps! 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 Coffee Cards challenge! Top spot goes to... NanaConnie! Congrast, Connie! Your coloring on our Latte Love girls is so smooth we did a double take! Email annelise@artimpressions.com with your address to claim your prize pack! Honorable Mentions go to... Pamela Duncan! Irene Rhodes! Congrats, you two! Pam, your Hot Java Mama with coffee bean stenciled background is too cute! And Irene, your dimensional card with a Cat Mouthful sitting in a cardboard box is so true to life! Love the coffee cup tucked into the cat's hand. Please email annelise@artimpressions.com with your address and select a stamp set of your choice for a prize! We hope you'll join in our new challenge, it's gonna be good! Happy Stamping!