Watercolor Shed by Jil Lebel

Hello Ai fans!

I am always excited when Bonnie comes out with a new line of Watercolor stamps.  I have a hard time trying to decide which one's to get first.  They're always so beautiful.  Once I decide on which stamps I want, I have to decide which image to stamp out first!  Such hard choices! LOL!  I decided on this shed.  I really love the dreamy feel of the image on the package.  I had to make my own little hideaway.

I started with a piece of 4 1/4" x 51/2" piece of Strathmore 140 lb. watercolor paper.  I placed three nested hexagon shapes centered onto the piece of paper and cut them out with my die cutting machine. I ended up with four pieces. I kept them all for my card.

I inked up the shed with 565-deep blue and 969-chocolate and stamped it out in the middle of my smallest hexagon. I then pulled out the lines with a small amount of water from my brush. I added some 493-reflex blue to my palette and added it to the open areas of the roof. I also added it around the sky making sure it was watered down. I added some 725-rhodamine red to my palette and added it to the open areas of the shed.  Next I added 228-Gray Green and 249-Hunters Green to both vines from the new Foliage Set 4 stamp set and stamped them around the roof. Then I added 636-deep blue to the flowers for the Flower Set 1 and stamped it in repeated clusters around the roof and added small amounts of water. I also added the little heart flower cluster from the Mini Flower Set.  I inked it up with the 636-imperial purple. I decorated the bottom of the shed with the tiny grass from the Foliage Set 1 and the grasses from the New Foliage set 4.  I inked them all up with the same two greens I previously used on the roof.  I added small amounts of water to the leaves and pulled the water up from the grass.  The last thing I did was dab some clear wink of stella over the flower images.

I stamped the greeting onto watercolor paper with Nocturne Versafine Claire Ink and heat embossed it with clear embossing ink.  Then I cut it with a flag from the Flag Double Stitched Dies. The watercolor pieced are added to a white, top folding A2 card.I added the image down flat.  I added the next frame with foam tape, but the one next to that one flat.  I mounted the outside frame on foam tape.  The greeting is added flat to the top layer.  I think that the different layers added interest to the card.

Thanks for stopping by and Have a Great Day!

You Rock! Sports Fan Shaker by Reneé Matarese

Hello Ai fans!

Today I'm sharing two interactive birthday cards with you.

My brother-in-law's birthday is in 2 weeks and he's a big sports fan.

His favorite team is the Pittsburgh Steelers so his card was done in black, white and yellow.  My other card (the first one you'll see) was just done in colors I like.

The main image is

4527 – Sports Fan Shaker.

In the corner I used

5133 – Flag Double Stitched Dies

and

5132 – Tag Stitched Dies

On the inside I used

5134 – Banner Double Stitched Dies

to create a frame with can be personalized inside.

Here's the version I made for my brother-in-law.

The foam finger is on a WOBBLE and shakes when you flick it.

Copics used:

Y00, 17, 21

YR15, 16, 20, 21

E00, 02, 93

N0, N2, T3, C7, 100

Happy Birthday from the Dog by Sharon Caudle

Hello AI Fans!! 

Today I've got some cards featuring the fun Dog Mouthful Set. I also used the Flag Double Stitched Dies and the Tag Stitched Dies on my cards. 

This guy is just to cute and fun! I stamped him up multiple times and colored him differently for each one.  After fussy cutting him out, I ran him through my cuttlebug with the die that cuts out his mouth.  Then you can put one of the many choices from the set in his mouth! FUN! I had another colored with the bone, but didn't get the card finished, so I'll have to show him to you at another time.

The dog house is a Silhouette cut file. I used it alone on this card, and then turned it into a shaped card for the next one! It's so easy to do!! The clouds are from Paper Smooches.

So that's it for me today! Hope you're having  an amazing weekend and until next time - stay crafty!!

Copics used:

E33, E35, E37, E39
E21, E23, E25, E27, E29
E51, E53, E;55, E57, E59
E41, E42, E43
BG13, BG15, BG57
T1, T2
W1, W2
R12, R22, R83
B34
RV32, RV34, RV55

Hap-Pig Birthday! by Carol Hintermeier

Hello and happy Monday Ai Fans!

My card today features one of the so cute images from the Guinea Pig Out set.  

I really had fun creating this scene for the happy guineas enjoying their cake!  I think they like cake as much as I do!  LOL!

I stamped the guineas onto Neenah Solar White 80# paper and colored with my Copic markers (listed below).  I used a pencil and ruler to draw in the lines for the checkerboard floor.  After I had the floor penciled in and the way I wanted it, I went over the pencil lines with a black marker.   I also used a pencil to mark every other square to be colored black with a  pencil dot so I wouldn't mess it up.  

    

For the banner, I used the smallest die from the Banner Double Stitched Dies and die cut several from patterned paper.  I used Distress Collage Medium to glue the banners to a piece of baker's twine.  After it was dry, I adhered it across the top of my card panel.  I stamped the sentiment from the set with Versafine Onyx black ink and heat embossed it with clear embossing powder.  I cut it out using a die from the Flag Double Stitched Dies.  It is popped up with foam dots, as is the colored panel.

Thank you for stopping by!  Have a wonderful, crafty week!

Copics:

R11, R13, R35, R37, RV21, Y02, Y08, Y15, Y19, BG000, BG0000,

YG06, YG09, YG11, YR000, E0000, E11, E13, E23, E31, E35

E41, E47, E55, E57, E79, 100, C0, C1, C3, T0, T2, Blender

You're my favorite thing to do! by Sharon Caudle

Hello AI Fans!

I love this technique of coloring in black and white or sepia.  It's a fun challenge for me since I'm such a bright and bold color person. These fabulous images from the Love Birds Set from Art Impressions were colored with all the warm grey Copics, then I just added a pop of red for Valentine's Day.  For Dies, I used the Rounded Rectangle Double Stitched Dies, the Circle Double Stitched Dies, and the brand new Flag Double Stitched Dies for my cards. 

So that's it for me today! I hope you're having an amazing weekend and until next time - stay crafty!!

Copics used:
W00, W0, W1, W2, W3, W4, W5, W6, W7, W8

Ai LOVES Tombow! 4 NEW Shape Die Sets! PLUS Challenge 248 Lots of Hearts Week 2!

We have a special announcement! Art Impressions and Tombow are teaming up! Our Watercolor line will now exclusively use Tombow Dual Brush Markers! Our favorite colors are now available in our shop. Tombow Dual Brush Markers are water-based ink markers in beautiful colors that work well with our Watercolor technique.

We encourage you to use the water-based markers in your collection for watercolor projects. To aid in this transition, we have developed a color conversion chart comparing our favorite 26 Tombow and Marvy colors. Moving forward, Bonnie will be using Tombow pens in her weekly Watercolor Wednesday videos. We still have a selection of Marvy Le Plume II Markers in stock, so you can order those while supplies last.

   

Double the fun! Our four NEW stitched die sets are now available! We are adding to our shape die line with double stitched Hexagon, Banner, and Flag sets, as well as a versatile Tag set featuring various tag shapes, reinforcer hole, and bonus accessories! These sets were designed with your watercolor projects in mind, and work great for creating layers for images, sentiments, and more!

Time for us to resume our "Lots of Hearts" challenge! Last week Sharon gave a super cute tutorial on stamping your own patterned paper! Let's see what the rest of the team has in store for us today!

Carol with Doggy Kisses and Rounded Rectangle Double Stitched Dies

Crystal with Valentine Bears Set, Rectangle A2 Double Stitched Dies and Square Double Stitched Dies

Jessica with Love Birds and Hexagon Double Stitched Dies

Jil with Nuts About You and Oval Double Stitched Dies 

Niccole with Valentine Bears Set, Banner Double Stitched Dies and Flag Double Stitched Dies

Renee with Mini Squirrel Spinner

Sharon with Valentine Bears Set and Circle Double Stitched Dies

WOW, team! We "heart" these cards! Such lovely coloring on each image, and they are perfectly framed in our shape dies!

It's week two of our Lots of Hearts challenge! We want to see your lovely creation! You can do anything with this challenge so long as it involves some heart shapes, but it's a great time to make some love cards in time for Valentine's (or Galentines) Day!

 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 Wednesday, January 30 at 5:00 p.m. PST to enter your creations.

✻ Good luck and happy stamping!

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