Beach Postcard by Dori Mendiola

Happy Thursday AI Friends!

This card was such a fun project to create and added more meaning because I made it for my son’s birthday. Instead of starting with patterned paper or cardstock, I used a postcard from our recent trip as the background. We spent time along the Gulf of America, where the beaches and water were absolutely stunning, and that postcard instantly brought those memories back to life.

Using postcards as card backgrounds is a great idea. They add built‑in color, texture, and a sense of place. Even better, they turn a simple greeting card into a reminder of a fabulous trip you shared with the recipient.

I used the #5399 - Gull-Friends stamp set and the #4967 - Fence dies for the foreground of the card.  I stamped the images onto copic friendly paper with Memento black ink and colored with my copic markers listed below.   I used the coordinating dies that are included in the stamp set to cut out the images.

The base die cut, as well as the sand and palm tree are from dies I had in my stash, but you can use other dies or eliminate all together and the card will be adorable just because of the seagull.  He is just so funny and cute!

Thanks for joining me today!  

Hope you have a wonderful day!

Copics used:  T0, T2    E51, E53, E55

R20, R22, R24    B12, B14

G20, G21, G24    Y13, Y15, Y17

YR12, YR14, YR16

Ahoy there! by Sharon Caudle

 Hello AI Fans!

I've got another quick and simple card to show you today that goes along with our current challenge "Wild About You". I used another one of the adorable gulls from #5399 Gull-friends Set and a piece of paper from #6098 Cruse PP. I don't know...I guess it might be possible to make a quicker card. But it would be hard to beat this, that's for sure! I stamped the gull onto some Copic friendly paper and then colored it with the markers I've listed below. Popped it up onto the beach scene paper and called her done after adding a sentiment! You still have a couple of days to enter our challenge! Hope to see your creations! 

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

Copic markers used
E95, 97, and 99

B21, 23, 24, and 26

YG01, 03, 05, and 07

T1 and 2

Y35 and 38

Wild About You Challenge Week #2

 Hello Ai fans and welcome to week #2 of our

Wild About You challenge!

Our challenge is to use wild animals or animal prints on your projects. Our Design Team are

clearly animal lovers and they all went that route, but you are welcome to use animal prints as well.

They came up with some beautiful cards to help get you in the mood to play along. We love

seeing your artwork and can't wait to see what you create.

Last week our Featured Designer was Lynn and she created 3 fabulous bookmarks.

Dori spent some Koala-ty Time on her card.

Janet's fall card features a sweet little bird.

Janet

6017-Baby Panda Set
5064- Circle Double Stitched Dies

Gennette got a little foxy for her card.

I went deep under the sea for my card.

Sharon has 2 cute pelican cards.

Tasha has a fun Halloween card.

Lynn also created this adorable fall card.
Visit her post for the tutorial video.

Week after week our Design Team works hard to inspire you for our challenges

We hope that you love their work as much as we do and will play along with our challenges.

You might be the next lucky winner of a free stamp set.

Be sure to enter your creation for the chance to win a free stamp set from Art Impressions. 

We award one Top Spot and one Lucky Random Winner, and each will win a free stamp set from Art Impressions.

✻ Please make a new card or handmade crafty creation. You can make any item you wish; this is not limited to cards! (unless specified)

✻ Limit two submissions per person.

 ✻Please include your first name and last initial on your submission. You may include your entire last name, but it's not necessary.

✻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

Shake Your Tail Feathers by Sharon Caudle

 Hello AI Fans!

So hopefully you've seen that Art Impressions started a new challenge last Thursday "Wild About You"! Ok...so I'm going to be honest here...I actually googled to see if a bird was considered an "animal" LOL!! And yay, it is! I wanted to create a card to show you that the paper packs that Art Impressions created for the new AI People (Gardener Gail, Pickle Ball Patty, Birdie Betty, Cruisin' Carol, and Loungin' Linda) can be used for so much more!!! It made this card soooo easy and quick to create! I started by grabbing #5399 Gull Friends Set and 6098 Cruise PP. I stamped the Gulls onto a Copic friendly paper using Memento Tuxedo Black ink. The markers I used to color it are listed below. Luckily, the Gull Friends Set comes with coordinating dies, so it was a snap to cut out the sea gulls. From there, I simply added some mounting tape to the back of it and popped it up onto the sheet of paper I had chosen for it. Add a quick sentiment and voila! I just LOVE the sentiment!! 

I sure hope this inspires you to look at these paper packs a little differently! Thanks so much for stopping by for a visit today, and until next time - stay crafty!!

Seas the Day! Card by Tasha

 Happy Friday, Art Impressions friends!

Tasha here, sharing a cheerful Summer card featuring the adorable 5399-Gull-Friends Set.

I just love these playful gulls and all their fun beachy accessories; they’re so much fun to create with! For this card, I stamped the main image and used the included dies to cut it out (coordinating dies = game changer!).

To build my little seaside scene, I layered paper to look like sand, water, and sky, then used the 5063-Rectangle A2 Double Stitched Dies to cut the center panel. For a splash of sparkle and color, I added layers of silver glitter, teal, and gray cardstock, plus a touch of Art Impressions plaid pattern paper.

To finish it off, I stamped the sentiment "Seas the Day" which is perfect for a Summer card!

Thank you for checking out today's card and I hope you are having a wonderful day!

Who can wish you the happiest of birthdays? by Sharon Caudle

 Hello AI Fans!

Oh my gosh, I can't believe we are already half way through September already!! You've got a couple more days to join our challenge Not Just Paper!  My card fits right in with that challenge. I used the awesome 5399 Gull-Friends Set. This set is so much fun, and the images fit perfectly into the Lawn Fawn Magic Picture Changer die set. Just pull up the tab and the picture magically changes. I was inspired by Design Team sister and bestie Dori Mendiola. You can see her card HERE.  

That's it for me today! Thanks so much for stopping by for a visit! Until next time - stay crafty!!

Copics used:

B00, 32, 34, and 37

Y13 and 17

E23, 25, 51, 53, 95, 97, and 99

YR21

T1

You Go Gull! by Janet

 
Greeting Ai Fans! I hope some of you have been able to enjoy some beach time. Now that it's August, there's not that much time left to enjoy the beach in its summer glory. Today's card shows off a summer beach at the sunrise. If you get up early enough, you might get to see this bunch of gull friends on your beach!

This scene was created with 5399 - Gull Friends Set. It has a number of gulls and miscellaneous beachy items like the ball, shells and kites. The birds and accessories were water colored and then cut out with the matching dies in the set. The background was made on light blue cardstock, inked with yellow, orange and purple ink over a sunburst stencil. 

For the sun, I cut two graduating circles with the 5064 - Circle Double Stitched Dies. I cut the sun down so it would fit on the top of the card and then stamped it with the sentiment. I glued it to cover the stenciled sun. The sand was cut with hill dies on kraft cardstock. I inked the edges with brown for dimension. Then the sand was layered and glued at the bottom of the card. Once the background scene was completed, I arranged the birds and accessories. The final touch were three small gold glitter enamel dots.

 I get a kick out of these gulls with attitude and hope you do too. As always, thanks for stopping by today. I hope you enjoyed this fun beachy scene. Please visit the Ai store to see all the things you need for your card, journal, and tag making projects. Have a great weekend!

 Janet - YouTube - Blog - Facebook - Instagram - Pinterest   

Seas the Day by Sharon Caudle

 Hello AI Fans! 

I hope you enjoyed your weekend and it was full of fabulous weather! For those of you lucky enough to either live close enough to, or were able to visit the beach, I'm totally jealous! LOL! I had a fun time coloring up this colorful car from #5455 Birthday Buggy Set from the line of Rides at Art Impressions. And instead of using all the Birthday stamps that comes with it, I chose to grab #5509 Beach Accessories set. I might have given away my age by the way I colored it. LOL! Who remembers all the cute bugs around the 60's and 70's with flowers painted on them? I couldn't resist, so I grabbed #5739 as it had the perfect sized flowers for the car door. For the sentiment, I used #5399 Gull Friend Set. I started by stamping all the fun images onto Copic friendly paper and then colored them with Copic markers which are listed below. I created a beach scene by just grabbing some dies from my stash. 

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

Copic markers used:

Y35 and 38

YG01 and 03

B00, 02, 04, and 06

R22, 24, and 27

YR04 and 09

E33, 51, and 53

C3, 4, and 5

Fun Gulls by Dori Mendiola

 Happy Thursday AI Friends

I have a fun card today that fits with the May Guest Designer challenge - "Anchors Away".  See the tab above for details.  I hope you will join in and play.  It's very easy, fun and you could win a free stamp set plus be a guest designer for a month.  

First I started with the background by ink blending distress oxide twisted citron and broken china onto a 4 x 5 1/4 piece of Strathmore Bristol Smooth cardstock.  I misted with water to create the water spots and then partial die cut with a wave background die.  I used a piece of kraft cardstock for the beach and die cut with a hillside die.  I spotted with copic markers to mimic sand and the background is complete. 

Next, I stamped several images from the #5399 Gull-Friends set onto cryogen white cardstock  and colored with copic markers (see below for colors).  I die cut the images out with the corresponding dies that come in the set.  The tree stump is the log, turned sideways, from the #5055 WC Sitting Places set.  I stamped, colored and fussy cut two of the logs.  Trimmed a bit off the top of one of them and placed it at a slight diagonal just behind the other one.  I used foam tape to give it dimension and tied them together with twine.   The anchor and the flying seagulls are from the #5325 Sail Mini dies.  The sentiment is from the #5399 Gull-Friends set stamped onto a 1" circle die cut from the #5064 Double Stitched Circle dies.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you will join in on the challenges going on this week.

Have a great day!

Copics markers used: 

C00, C1, C3, 

E53, E55, E57, E59

R20, R22, 

Y13, Y15, Y17, 

B12, B14, B16

YR12, YR04, YR07, YR21, YR24

YG21, YG23, YG25

Timber! March Guest Designer Challenge #375

 Hello everyone!

We just completed our second Guest Designer challenge and
have the winner who will be our April Guest Designer!

Our entrants followed our All Creatures Great and Small challenge and we selected

Dori M!

She created a spectacular magic picture changer interactive card using 5399 – Gull-Friends Set.
Dori will have all of March to order her free stamp set and create a card for our April Guest Designer Challenge.
She will have her card featured on the Art Impressions social media and will serve as inspiration for all of you for 
April's challenge.  We hope you will join us!

Dori, please contact Leah at Feedback@artimpressions.com

to claim a free stamp set of your choice and she will give me your email address so that we can 

begin brainstorming for our April challenge when you will be our Guest Designer!

Now for our Lucky Random Winner who will receive the
 Exclusive Frog Freebie EX5584 from 2022.



#20 Maggie L.

Congratulations Maggie!

Please contact me at Renee@artimpressions.com to claim your free stamp.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now to introduce our March Guest Designer.

We're so excited to share Ginger McNally's beautiful card.

Our theme for March is Timber!
We want to see your cards using trees, branches, tree stumps, bushes etc.

I am Ginger and I have been chosen for the March Designer.  I feel very honored to be chosen.  Really, I am more of a collector than a designer.  I fell in love with AI stamps in 1997.  They had such cute stamps especially the front and back stamps.  Then about 2020 I saw the watercolor stamps Bonnie created.  I jumped right in and started learning to watercolor with Tombow markers.  AI seems to get better every year. It is so fun to build scenes with their stamps.  Then Bonnie comes out with most of the work done...stamps that are scenes.  Today I am using one of those stamps.  The Rock and Pond #5560.  Bonnie has a video on you tube that really helps to create this card.

I started stamping the stamp with markers #969 and #565.  Be sure to stamp off first so you will not have a dark picture.  I then started Putting blue in the sky #526, then I began pulling the color out of the fence, trees and rocks.  I used #969 on the fence, put leaves on the trees with #249, used the brown twin tone to make the bark on the trees.  I pulled the color out at the bottom of the rocks.  Then I stamped the small grass among the rocks.  I started working on the water.  I added layers of color to make the pond.  I tried to darken around the poles in the water.  I added the white gel pen to the water.  I then stamped the flowers

Tombow Markers--969, 565, 526, 249, 636, 837 plus the brown twin tone and white gel pen.

Stamps used-5560, 5373, 5008, 5009, 5126 and the small grass AAA1374.

This was so much fun. Try to join the challenge this month, it is so easy and lots of fun.

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Wow Ginger!  What a lovely scene you created!

We know lots of people will inspired to join our challenge because of your card.

As usual, I also have a little bonus prize!

For as long as I have duplicate stamps I will choose a random winner.
These will be for U.S. residents only since these will be mailed by me personally
and not Art Impressions.

This month I have the Exclusive Mouse Freebie EX5539 from 2022.

You will be automatically entered to win when you upload your project to the challenge.

Good luck everyone!

I can't wait to see what you create.

Here is the fine print:

✻ 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 MUST use Art Impressions stamps or dies! You may use other companies products but the main focus should be on Ai items.

✻If you win, you will receive one free stamp set of your choice. In return you will create a brief write up explaining how you made your item and email it to me. (Reneé) and you will mail your project to Art Impressions at your expense. (cheapest method possible is fine) International winners may submit photos through email. We will share your creation on Art Impressions social media.

 ✻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 crafting!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter