Happy Thanksgiving! PLUS, Michaels Exclusives Now Available!

Happy Thanksgiving, Ai Fans!

The blog is closing for the next few days so our design team can enjoy a Thanksgiving break! Today we have a bit of inspiration to tide you over! You can now find FOUR new Art Impressions clear sets, produced by Hampton Art, at your local Michaels!

 Introducing TWO new Holiday PopCards, Santa PopCard and Reindeer PopCard! These new sets contain clear stamps and metal dies, and assemble the same way as our previous PopCards to make unique 3-D cards! Make spirits bright with our TWO Christmas Girlfriends clear sets, Ugly Sweater and Merriest! These four sets are EXCLUSIVE to Michaels, so find a store near you to grab them up!

Inspiration time! Check out what our designers created with these exclusive sets! Click the designer's name to view more details on their personal blog, and click the set they used to view it at Michaels.com to find store availability by your zip code!

Cheri with Merriest

Dana with Merriest

Diane with Ugly Sweater

Jil with Santa PopCard

Karen with Ugly Sweater

Renee with Reindeer PopCard and Window Die 

Sharon with Ugly Sweater

Thank you for your bright and shiny cards, designers! Enjoy a week break for Thanksgiving! We are thankful to you!

Before we go, let's celebrate the winners of our previous Tag It Challenge!

Top Spot goes to...

Funtography!

Congrats! We love your sweet bracket tag featuring our Santa Paws puppy! Such festive colors and details! Email annelise@artimpressions.com with your address to claim your prize pack!

Honorable Mentions go to..

Irene Rhodes!

Melissa O!

Congrats, you two! The reindeer theme is really working! Irene, your handmade "ugly sweater" tag with our Reindeer Mini Shaker is just such a cute idea! We can't resist! And Melissa, your bold Reindeer Games tag is just divine! Email annelise@artimpressions.com with your address and choose a stamp set of your choice for a prize!

We had really wonderful tags for our challenge! Our next challenge will not start until November 30th, but we will give you a clue: laughter!

Happy Thanksgiving! We are thankful that you spend time with us here on the blog! Stay tuned tomorrow for a blog post about our Black Friday special! If you aren't already signed up for our Retail Newsletter, you may want to hop over and subscribe so you don't miss out! It's a big one!

Happy Stamping!

Challenge 194 The Perfect Pair Week 2!

Hello, Ai Fans!

Getting ready for the holidays? Last week we announced the perfect pairs for your holiday stamping, from Ai to a store near you! Our three new stamp and die cut sets, produced in collaboration with Hampton Art, are wonderful for creating easy cards for your favorite time of year! AC Moore now offers our adorable Fright Night set and will receive our Snow Much Fun set in October! And don't forget to stop by your local Michaels store in October to check out our new Warm Wishes set! Keep an eye out for them in stores near you!

Our design team is here to bring you plenty of inspiration for these exciting new sets, from Halloween to Christmas and other wintery goodness!

Cheri with Warm Wishes (available at Michaels in October)

Dana with Fright Night (available now at AC Moore)

Diane with Snow Much Fun (available at AC Moore in October)

Karen with Snow Much Fun (available at AC Moore in October)

Karen with Fright Night (available now at AC Moore)

Kerry with Fright Night (available now at AC Moore)

Renee with Fright Night (available now at AC Moore)

Sharon with Snow Much Fun (available at AC Moore in October)

Awesome projects, DT! We're loving these fabulous holiday cards!

Will you join our challenge? We want to see how you use a stamp with a matching die! The craft can be for any occasion. Top spot and honorable mentions win Ai 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 Wednesday, October 12th at 5:00 p.m. PST to enter your creations.

✻ Good luck and happy stamping!

An InLinkz Link-up

THREE NEW Hampton Art Stamp & Dies Sets! PLUS Challenge 194 The Perfect Pair

Hello, Ai Fans!

Announcing the perfect pairs for your holiday stamping, from Ai to a store near you! Our three new stamp and die cut sets, produced in collaboration with Hampton Art, are wonderful for creating easy cards for your favorite time of year! AC Moore now offers our adorable Fright Night set and will receive our Snow Much Fun set in October! And don't forget to stop by your local Michaels store in October to check out our new Warm Wishes set! Keep an eye out for them in stores near you!

Diane is here today with a creative tutorial with one of these versatile new sets! Take it away, Diane!

Hello Ai friends!

Diane here with a tutorial for our current Challenge.  Here I am using the AC Moore clear set called Snow Much Fun (0736) which includes matching dies!

On my card today, I used the penguin die to cut a window in my card front.

The cute penguin and a few flakes are stamped on the INSIDE.  :)

To begin, I diecut a partial circle from white cardstock.

Next, I added 2 strips of patterned paper scraps to a black card base and then adhered my white circle.  I placed the penguin die where I wanted it to cut a window and ran it through the die cut machine.  Note- depending on your machine, you may need to run it back & forth a few times to cut through the layers.

Once my penguin window was cut, I placed a white layer of cardstock on the inside of the card and lightly traced the penguin opening with a pencil.  The pencil lines are used as a guide to position your image when stamping.  I usually "wing it" but you can use a stamp positioner for exact placement.  After the image is stamped on the inside, gently remove the pencil lines with an eraser.

Now your penguin is visible from the card front!

Color the penguin and complete your card as desired.  I added a banner sentiment and a few stamped & diecut flakes (with rhinestone centers)...both from the same stamp set!

Now it’s your turn to make a card or project using a stamp & die combo and join us in the Ai Challenge!  We would love to see your creations!

Happy stamping!

InLinkz.com

Thanks, Diane! What a cute projects and creative use of dies!

Alright, time for our new challenge! This challenge is all about using your stamp and a matching die! After all, they were made for each other!

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, October 12th at 5:00 p.m. PST to enter your creations.

✻ Good luck and happy stamping!

An InLinkz Link-up

And now, time to celebrate the winners of last week's challenge "Cards to Die For"!

Top Spot is awarded to...

Rosali

Congrats, Rosali! We loved your swing cards with our Snowman & Penguin Mini Set! We love how you used dies to create windows for these little critters to peek through! Email annelise@artimpressions.com with your address to claim your prize pack!

Honorable mentions go to...

Cynthia 

Amy Marshall!

Congrats, you two! Cynthia, we loved your creative bookmark with our Raccoon Mini Spinner Set! Using the die for an extra opening is so cute! And Amy, we love how you combined our Twinkle in a Tangle and With Love Window with the Window Die! What a great Christmas card! Email annelise@artimpressions with your address and the stamp set of your choice for a prize!

We hope you will all join us for our new challenge!

Before we go, we have an exciting announcement!

We are excited to announce the 2016 Art Impressions Warehouse Sale, a two-day class and shopping spectacular on November 18-19, 2016! The Ai education team will be hosting NINE fun-filled and inspiration packed classes! From watercolor stamping to interactive cardmaking, there is something for everyone! Plus, we will have a huge onsite store at the Quality Suites Keizer with incredible deals! RSVP at our Facebook Event to let us know you are coming! Check out the details of the event and classes on our Warehouse Sale page!

Sorry, there will not be an online warehouse sale, but sign up for our email newsletter for information on grab bags following the event! We hope you can join us or have a friend stop by for you!

Happy Stamping!