You Are...by Reneé Matarese

 Hello Ai fans!

Though Mother's Day has passed, I still wanted to share the card that I made for my mom.

I feel like it's appropriate for so many other occasions.

I love these little butterflies and have used them often.
This time, I paired them with a sentiment stamp that sums up my mom perfectly.

I used the hexagon die to cut it out and mounted it on foam tape to add some dimension.

I also popped up the butterfly wings to give the illusion that they're flying.

I used some little dots of gold gel pen and spattered some gold paint on it as well.

Halloween is HERE! by Reneé Matarese

Hello Ai fans!

I was so inspired by Watercolor Design Team member Karen Day's non-traditional

Halloween card last week that I had to try those colors myself. My card is very

different than hers but was definitely inspired by her. You can see her card HERE

or HERE or on her blog HERE. 

After all, Halloween is HERE! It's all over the web!

When I ordered my spiderweb dies I chose to leave them attached. This way I can

use them to create an easy background. If I only want a specific web, I just cut a

piece of paper big enough to cover that section and cut just that one web.

I think this little strand of spiders are some of the cutest spiders

Bonnie has done!

Buzzing By by Dori Mendiola

 Happy Thursday AI Friends!

My card for today fits the All A-Buzz Challenge going on this week.  Check out the "Bi-weekly Challenge" tab above for the details and join in on the fun.  Create a card/project using insects.  I used the #5925 - Honey Bee set for my card.  What a great fun set.  It includes flowers, bees, honey jar, bee hive and so much more plus dies to go with each of the images.  

A complete set for creating a beautiful scene.  

I love making interactive cards so this one is no surprise that I made the bees buzz around.  I stamped each of the images onto copic friendly paper and colored with copic markers listed below.  I die cut each of the images with the corresponding dies, included in the set, and placed them aside while I built the base for the card.  

I used the #5892 Easter S2 paper pack and the largest #5062 Rounded Rectangle A2 Double Stitched die to cut the pattern paper.  Then I used two circles from the #5064 Double Stitched Circle dies to cut the round track for the bees to buzz around.  I placed foam tape behind the circle as well as the rectangle, making sure not to place too close to the outside of the circle so the bees can spin, and adhered onto a black cardstock background.  I slipped a dime (or disc, thin button, etc.) under the track and placed a square pop dot, cut in half, on top of the dime.  Then I placed two bees on top of the foam dot.  I used two bees so that I could hide the dime from showing.  

After making the mechanism, I decorated the rest of the card using the images I had colored and die cut.  I created the grass using a die cut and patterned paper from my stash.  I also used the Rounded Rectangle A2 die to cut the bottom portion of the grass so it fit nicely over the striped base. I glued the stem portion of the flowers underneath the grass and popped up the flower portion using foam tape.  Lastly, I stamped the sentiment, from this same set, and die cut using the #5135 Hexagon Double Stitched Die set.

That's my card for today!  Hope you play along with us and enter your creative card/project into the challenge.  You could win a free stamp set and who can say "No" to that.  

Have a great day and enjoy creating!

Copics used:  N2, N4, N7

E21, E23, E25, E27

Y11, Y13, Y15, Y17

YG41, YG45

B0000, B000

R02, R05

Giveaway WINNERS and Bee Birthday Tag by Reneé Matarese

 Hello Ai fans!

I'm sure you guys have been anxiously awaiting this day!

I have the random winners of the two Art Impressions
retired exclusive sets.

Let's get right to it.

The winner of 5863 Christmas Mailbox Set is
#20 Barb E.

The winner of 5924 Garden Arch Set is
#17 Susie S.

Please contact me at Renee@artimpressions.com
with your name and mailing address so that I can 
get your sets shipped out to you.

Congratulations!!
Thank you to everyone who helped me celebrate my anniversary

with Art Impressions. I loved seeing all of your projects and this 

has inspired me to possibly do more of these giveaways!

Keep entering the challenges for your chance to win free stamp

sets and be on the lookout for more giveaways.

I hope you had fun!

*Any prizes unclaimed after 30 days
will be offered in a future giveaway*

Now let's see what I made for you today...

As you all know, I LOVE bees!

I've been "bugging" (lol!) Bonnie for YEARS for a set

and it's finally HERE!!

It's called 5925 – Honey Bee Set
though in MY mind it's called Renee's Bees!

I made a tag for a birthday gift.

I stamped the flowers and the honeycomb in gray 

so the lines weren't quite as bold.

The bees and hive were stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black.

The verse was stamped with Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink Blue Iris.

Sadly, when I tried to link that product, I learned that Clearsnap

has gone out of business.

The hello die is from the Mini Journal Template.

All Art Impressions products are linked below.

There will be LOTS more projects in the future with 

this sweet set. I am in love!

N65 Cool Gray 5 Tombow Dual Brush

Tombow Twin Tones: Lime Green, Yellow Green, Yellow,

Candy Pink, Chocolate, Pale Purple, French Blue

Copis: C1, C3, B01, Y08, Y13, RV23, YG91

Hello Beautiful! by Janet

Have you seen the beautiful new Freebie Stamps yet? There are six different birds which can be earned with purchases. I love them all but I'm especially fond of humming birds, so I just had to use it to make a card. 

This card style gives the illusion of paper piecing but it's actually just a single sheet of paper with strips of cardstock radiating from each angle of the 5135 Hexagon Double Stitched Dies. The patterned paper is from 5742 Easter Journal Paper Pad. I stamped the bird on alcohol friendly paper and then cut it out with a hexagon die. I cut a slightly larger hexagon to mount the bird piece on. I stamped and die cut another bird image for use as a mask. After covering the image, I used a cloud die and oxide ink to create the sky background. When the mask is removed, the final pretty scene is revealed.

Once the hexagons were mounted, I cut strips of dark paper cardstock and glued them to the card following the angle of the center hexagon. This creates a pieced paper look when it's actually a solid patterned piece of cardstock. It's a clever illusion and very effective.

I stamped the sentiment from 5734 Friend Sentiment Set on purple cardstock and cut it out using a die in the 5543 Journal Template Die Set. I also cut out the bow from the same set. Then I added a few dark purple gems to finish the card. 

COPIC MARKERS USE:

R85,R83, R81

G99, YG63, G24, YG25, YG23

BG11, 0

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I hope you'll stop by the store soon for all your card making needs. While you're there, make sure you check out all the freebie bird stamps available.

Wishing you a very crafty day!

Janet - YouTube - Blog - Facebook - Instagram - Pinterest 

Springtime Flower Truck by Bri Firth

Hello Ai Fans - Bri here! Today I am sharing a floral card design featuring the new 5511 - Floral Truck Set, which is part of Ai's Rides collection. This project is perfect for Ai's current challenge, "Wheelie Awesome", as it features a truck full of fresh blooms. For more details on how I created this Spring card keep reading below.

The background papers are from the same double-sided paper that coordinate perfectly with the colored flowers from the Floral Truck Set. The flowers and the truck were colored with Copic markers. 

The striped paper I die cut with the largest Hexagon Double Stitched die. The heat embossed sentiment is from the WC Sentiment 2 set. I used liquid adhesive to attach all the pieces to the card base.

Check back next week for more Ai inspiration made by me!

Aging is not for chickens! by Reneé Matarese

 Hello Ai fans!

Today I have two cards for you.
I used the AiCS40 – Spring Chicken Set.

It was my friend's birthday recently and she raises chickens and keeps
me supplied with eggs.  I thought she'd love this chicken.

I also used 5135 – Hexagon Double Stitched Dies to stamp

the chicken on.

Here's the inside of my card.

The tag was cut using 5132 – Tag Stitched Dies.

I just love this set and ALL the Funny Farm series!

My friend received the red one and I made the teal one to

keep on hand for my stash.

Copics used:

Y000, Y08, Y38, E35, E1, B000

BG02, C0, YG25, R5

Steppin' Back Saturday - A Teeny Weenie Hug! by Janet

Hi everyone! I made this card today as a special request for a friend of mine who loves Doxie's. After I told her I had joined the Ai Design Team, she sent back a photo of the Dog Twist Tie set from the store and asked me to make her that. I was not going to disappoint her so here it is!

The truth is she really didn't need to "twist" my arm to make this card. The Twist Tie line is so much fun. I made a video giving 5 tips for making Twist Tie cards. It includes how to line the inside with cardstock, stamp and die cutting tips and more. You can click on the video below to get these tips.

I colored the dogs and the scene with Copic colors:

E39, E37, E35, E33, E31

C9, C7, C5, C3, C1

G28, G20, YG63, YG25

R37, RV32

If you have a Twist-Tie stamp set, take it out and give it a try again. If you were always intrigued but didn't give it a try, visit the store and the many different Twist-Tie themes available. 

Happy Creating!

Janet - YouTube - Blog - Facebook - Instagram - Pinterest

Grateful Hearts Card by Jil Lebel

 

Hello Ai fans!

I used the Grateful Hearts stamp set to make a Thanksgiving card.  I just love those little hamsters dressed like pilgrims!

The image was stamped onto Canson XL watercolor paper with Versafine Clare Nocturne ink and watercolored with Daniel Smith watercolor paint.  It was then cut out with the Circle Double stitched die.  The edges were aged with Brushed Corduroy Distress ink.

The background of the card is a piece of shattered Core'dinations paper that was sanded at the edges.  It was attached to a white A2 card.  Two more pieces of Core'dinations paper were cut with the Hexagon Double Stitched Dies and attached to the card front. The circle with the image was attached over the hexagons with foam tape.  The greeting was stamped onto a small rectangle of Canson XL paper with Versafine Clair Nocturne ink. It was also aged with Brushed Corduroy Distress ink. 

Thanks for stopping by and Have a Great Day!

Full of Thanks by Reneé Matarese

 Hello Ai fans!

Even though Thanksgiving may look different this year...I'm still going all out.  Even if it's just my husband and our 2 kids with us.

Since I may not be seeing the family I normally would I wanted to have some Thanksgiving cards to send.

I used 4939 – Full of Thanks Set.

The little piece of pie is interactive. 
When you tip the card it slides up and down.
The sentiment and turkey are stamped on 5133 – Flag Double Stitched Dies and 5135 – Hexagon Double Stitched Dies.

I stamped and colored two of them, fussy cut them and split them between two layers of foam tape so that they'd slide up and down.

Next I cut a strip of paper(4 times to make it sturdy) and then popped the pie onto it and added a foam strip to each end.

Just tilt the card back and forth and the pie slides up and down the paper strip.

Copics used:

W0, W2, W4, C0, N2

BG05, R37, E19, E42, E57, E97