Making Spirits Bright Challenge #364

 Hello everyone!

Happy Thursday and welcome to our last challenge before we close for Thanksgiving break.

This time we are Making Spirits Bright!

We're switching things up a bit this week. Janet is our featured artist but we'll be sharing her card next week.  For now, this week, I'll be sharing my card that I  made for the challenge.

Before we get to my project let's announce the winners of our You're Such a Square challenge.

For our Top Spot we selected:
Gennette Houghton

She used:
5576 – Little Trucks Set among many others.

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:

Stephanie Serrano

She used: 

5283 – Frog Set

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!

Now, without further adieu, here is my snowy, merry and bright card!

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 I really love all of the cutesy style Christmas stamps that Art Impressions offers but sometimes I want something a little more elegant. I felt that these snowflakes were just the thing.

When I saw this set I snatched it up immediately!  It's one of my all-time favorite die sets.

5353 – Large Snowflake Dies

I used the Canson XL WC Paper Pad – 9×12 paper because I wanted something more cream colored rather than bright white.  I also wanted it to have a little texture.

For the snowflakes I die cut some and left them in.  For some I die cut it a second time and glued a second layer on top so they are a little popped up.

I used Wink of Stella and Prima Marketing 584276 Watercolor Confections: Decadent Pies to make some clear and gold sparkle splatters on it with a paint brush.

For some, I removed the inside pieces of the white paper and added gold inside. A few rhinestones and pieces of confetti completed the look.

Now for our challenge!

We want to see your holiday projects.  They don't need to be Christmas.  Maybe you celebrate Hanukah or something else.  As long as your creation will brighten someone's spirits then it applies.

✻ 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

Christmas Came Early Challenge by Sharon Caudle

 Hello AI Fans!

Have you entered the Christmas Came Early Challenge yet? If not, you've got a few more days to join in for a chance to win a stamp set of your choice! And who the heck doesn't want to win free stamps? If you haven't entered yet, maybe this card will give you a little inspiration to join in! It features some amazing stamp and die sets! I used #5576 Little Trucks Set (this set is soooo versatile!!), #5489 Front Porch Christmas Set (for the tree in the truck bed), and #5782 Snowflake Frame Die Set. First I stamped the truck onto my paper and then masked it off so I could put the decorated Christmas Tree in the bed of the truck. I love masking off images because the reveal once you're done is so fun and amazing! I had originally thought I would make it into a shaker card with small snowflakes on the inside. I ended up changing my mind and just turning into what looks a little like a shadow box on top of the patterned paper. I kept this one very simple and just added some pearl dots in the four corners along with a red bow. I love this new Snowflake frame die! 

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

Watercolor Weekend 8-19-2023

 Hello Ai fans!

Welcome to Art Impressions Watercolor Weekend!

Over the last two weeks there have been some FABULOUS new releases.

This weekend, our Watercolor Design Team is featuring some of those sets.

If you haven't seen them yet, head on over to the website and check out all the new goodies!
These can be purchased individually HERE or you can go for the bundle and save a little money.

Tricia is our first artist up today.

Welcome Back Watercolor Fans! I am loving the New Releases so far and the new whimsical flowers is no exception.  These are great to use with the new Gnomes set but they are also great on their own.  Here’s how I created this project.

 I started by taping off the edges of my project.  This allows for a crisp white border.  The first stamp I grabbed was the leaves.  I love that just because it looks like a leaf stamp it doesn’t mean it can’t be a flower stamp.  First I inked them up with 177 and stamped them in the middle of the card then stamped a second and third generation to the right and left of that.  I re-inked it and added it over to the right and a little to the top left. This keeps the painting balanced.  I know I want to stamp more flowers in front of the ones on the left so I stamped them higher than the others. You want everything to be random, nature is random and therefore there are no mistakes.  Just have fun with it, play is the key to innovation.

I cleaned the stamp off and inked it again to use it as flowers.  First, I inked just the veins in the middle with green.  Next, I inked up the “leaves” with pinks and purples.  Notice that I haven’t added any water, don’t worry it’s coming, we have to make a big mess first. I stamped the pink ones to the right and left and then some purple ones.  To create the daisy flowers, I inked them up with browns (stamped off to create white flowers), pinks and purples. 

Using yellow and brown I created a side view flower as well as a red tulip.  I inked those up with brown, stamped them off and then watercolored them using my palette.  The little blue bells (that’s what I call them) are awesome.  They could also be snow drops done in white…woo hoo…maybe for Christmas cards.  I inked those with green and blue.  I didn’t stamp them off because I wanted the bright colors.  I used the vines from the Foliage set 5 set on the upper sides.  You can fill in any areas that are open with any foliage.  Don’t overdue it, you can always go back in. 

Add water to all flowers and foliage.  I tend to use a little more water to get a more loose feeling.  Once everything is dry, I go back in and add darker shadows to the middle of the flowers and to anywhere I feel needs details.  For the sky, I used a wet in wet technique.  I love blooms so I don’t mind wet and dry areas, darker and lighter colors. I just let watercolor do it’s thing.  After that was dry, I removed the tape, cut it down and placed it in my MISTI.  I used black ink and one of the new sayings from little things sentiments set. AND sign and date (missed it again but I have done it now!).  This is a therapeutic, let it go kinda painting, give it a try if you need some you time or if you lost your mojo.

We are all enjoying this new release (and every other release lol) and I know you guys are too.  I enjoy seeing all of your awesome inspiring work.  Thanks so much for stopping by.  Til next time, have a crafty day!

SUPPLIES:

Next up we have Karen.

Hello Ai Watercolour Fans!

I have a whimsical scene for you this week:

I stamped my sleeping gnome from 5785 Gnomes Set onto my Canson XL Watercolour Paper, masked him off, and stamped the stump from 4871 WC Rustic Container Set behind him.  I positioned the mushrooms from 5788 Whimsical Mushrooms on either side, and added the leaves from 5795 Berries in various spots.  Three different flowers from 5794 Whimsical Flowers were tucked in behind, and finally my little bee from 5561 - Birds and Bugs Set.  For all of my elements, I used Tombow Dual Brush Markers #969/565.

From my palette, I painted tones of brown (#947/969/899) onto the stump - the image shows you where the crevices are, so those areas are the darkest, while the more rounded areas catch more of the light, so they are the lightest.  For the toadstools and his hat, I started with #856, layering it to get darker tones, leaving the upper areas as the lightest shades.  The yellow toadstools and his shirt were painted with #991/993.  I wanted the leaves to be bright, so I started with #126, then mixed #249/493 to get a teal green shade for the darker areas.  #533/565 were painted on all the flowers - just as shadows on the white ones.  #526 was painted on his trousers, and #N55 on his shoes.  The bee was done with #N55/993 and a touch of blue on his wings.  The small grass from 4051 - Foliage Set 1 was stamped in #177, and painted out as a wash.  Finally a wash of #493 was painted in as the sky.  I added the sentiment from the Gnomes Set in Versafine Onyx Black ink, and added a few dots to my scene with my navy Twintone marker.  I cut out the scene with 5061 Square Double Stitched Dies, and mounted it onto my background paper.

Our final designer this week is Diane.

Hello Ai Watercolor Fans and welcome to another Watercolor Weekend! Today I am sharing a card using the newly released 5785 – Gnomes Set, 5788 – Whimsical Mushrooms, 5797 – Little Things Sentiment Set, and 5832 – Gnome Paper Pack. Wow – I am so in love with these new sets and the coordinating paper pack! With all the different sizes of gnomes included in the set, the possibilities are endless. The gnomes coordinate so well with most watercolor sets. Here I have used a stamp from Summer 2022 Journal Set (5576 – Little Trucks Set).

 

I kept my color palette fairly simple, incorporating colors from the awesome new Gnome Paper Pack: Tombow 565, 969, 249, 856, 526, 912, N25, and N79.

I inked the truck from 5576 – Little Trucks Set in 969/565, leaving off a space to place the gnome on the truck bed ledge and stamped off before stamping onto my Canson XL watercolor paper. Using my positioner, I stamped the gnome onto the back of the truck, sitting on the ledge. I then made a mask of the gnome and stamped the mushrooms into the truck bed, behind the gnome. For the driver, I masked the window opening with Post-It Tape. I inked just the head of the small, upward looking gnome and stamped into the window area using my stamp positioner. Once the masks were removed, I used a damp brush to pull out some color from the lines of the stamped images and brushed in some shadows and contours. With a pencil, I drew in a small rectangle to create a sign for the door. 

 I mixed 526 with a small amount of 249 to create a vintage aqua blue for the truck. In some places, I brushed in more layers to darken the shaded areas. For the gnomes’ noses and hands, I used 912. For the metal parts of the truck I used N79. To lightly darken some areas on the metal, I used a touch of N25. The tires were painted with N25 and darkened with added layers to create shadows and contours. For the driver gnome’s hat and the mushroom caps I used 856. The undersides of the mushrooms were shaded with N79. For the mushroom stems I used 969 and darkened just a bit where the stem meets the cap with 565 to create a shadow. The passenger gnome’s hat was painted with 526. His jacket was painted in 249, his shoes with 969, and N79 for the soles. Stripes were added to the hats using the bullet tip from 856 and 526. For the gnomes’ beards, I added details with a small brush using N79. For the door sign, I shaded the edges in 969 and used a gray TwinTone to write in Gnome Farms. I brushed in a watery sky with 526 and added a shadow under the truck with 565. Small were dots were added to the mushroom caps using Bleed Proof White. Details were added back where needed with the fine point of a brown or gray TwinTone. 

 

If you’ve been following my work for awhile now, you know I love to add a little something to the inside of my card. Here I inked a little mushroom house and small mushrooms from 5788 in 856.

    

I can’t wait to see how you incorporate these adorable little gnomes into your scenes. Be sure to tag us on social media, we love to see your work! Thank you for joining us for another Watercolor Weekend. Until next time – Happy Painting!

Baby Boy Journal pages 9 and 10 by Reneé Matarese

 Hello Ai fans!

Today I'm sharing pages 9 and 10 of my Baby Boy Journal.

This time it's all about his favorite toys!

If this were an actual/factual journal I think I'd write on the back of the tags who gave him his favorite toys so he'd always have that memory.



I used the little pocket die to hold the tags featuring the favorite toys.

The new Journal Letter Dies were used to create the words and I used the M3190 – Baby Window for the image.

The waves were created with one of the border dies in the Journal Template set (It's the piece that was cut off when I made the thin border on the opposite page...cool way to use every piece!)  and the stars are from the 5317 – MB Template Dies.  I really don't like to waste anything.  If you look, you'll see one little star is on the edge of the paper.  My gold paper slipped when I was cutting it and one star had a point missing.  I just trimmed it and put it on the edge like it was done on purpose.  I think it adds character and I didn't have to throw that star away.

The adorable sailboat and plane are from the 5184 – Baby Boy Set. The truck is a new release called 5576 – Little Trucks Set.

Stay tuned next week for pages 11 and 12.

It's holiday time!

Happy crafting!

Copics used:

G20, G43, Y17, Y28, Y32, B21, B5, RV10, N1, N4, N6, 

W1, W2, W3, E00, E23, E41, E97

Watercolor Weekend 7-16-2022

 Hello Ai fans!

It's time for our Watercolor Weekend!

This week our Design Team has three very different cards so no matter what sort of inspiration you're looking for, you should be able to find it here!

Art Impressions just released a fabulous new WC Journal Series and we're in love with it!

First up this week is Dot and her fabulous card using the new 5575 – Mailbox Birdhouse Set.

Hello,

I am still playing around with red, white and blue and decided to use the brand new 5575 - Mailbox, Birdhouse set for my Art Impressions Watercolor Weekend card. Twice a month on the first and third Saturdays, you can find inspiration from the Watercolor Design Team on the Ai blog under the Watercolor Weekend tab. Be sure to check it out! 

To make this card, ink up the birdhouse set with both 565 and 969, stamp it off and then stamp it on your watercolor paper so it's not too dark. Pull the color out of the lines. Use a pencil and a ruler to draw the flag. See Bonnie's tutorial here to make the flag. Use Tombow 555 for the blue parts of the flag, birdhouse and planter. Use the Tombow 856 for the red parts. Ink the foliage from the 5476 Foliage Set 5 with 177 and stamp them in the pots. The bottom flowers are from the same set but you ink the flowers with 565 which is more purple than blue like the 555. Ink the grass from the 4051 Foliage set  under those bottom flowers and pull the color up and below the grass. The red flowers are from the 5009 Mini Flower Set. The sky is 555. Use Dr. Ph Martin's bleed proof white to add the stars to the flag and the dots to the pot. I used a small stylus but you could use a small paint brush. Cut it out using the 5063 A2 Double Stitched Die Set. Hope you give it a try!

Next up is Tricia.  

She also used one of the new WC Journal sets. Tricia's holiday card features the 

5576 – Little Trucks Set.

I started out by inking up the VW Bus Pickup with 969 and 569.  I stamped it off and then stamped it onto my watercolor paper and pulled the color out of the lines.  Next, I added some red to the truck and a mixture of the brown/blue to the tires.  For the tree, I inked up one of the evergreen trees with green, stamped it off, I masked off the cab and bed of the truck, and, using my positioner placed the tree into the back of the truck.  I pulled some green out of the lines.  I wasn’t careful because I have my Dr PH Martins bleed proof white!

 

Using my palette, 569 and lots of water, I moved it into mountain shapes behind the truck.  Remember, things in the foreground are dark and they get lighter the further away they are.  I added a little bit of 569 beneath the truck.  I went over any areas I wanted to add white back in and used my bleed proof white to create snow.

 

I stamped a wreath and cut it out with the heart from the new watercolor journal die set.  I stamped the sentiment using my black ink and MISTI stamping tool. The sentiment is a new one with this release.  Lastly I signed and dated. 

The new dies also includes this really cute decorative square (reminds me of a postage stamp) and the decorative corners.  I have a feeling I am going to be using these for years to come.  The patterned papers are an old pack from Gina K designs.

Our last card comes from Karen.

She went beachy this time. 
Her card reminds me so much of my kids when they were little.

Hello Ai Watercolour fans!

I've created a summery scene this week, featuring 5118 - WC Beach Girls Set, and 5119 - WC Beach Boys Set:

Using my stamp positioner for placement, I stamped the little boy and girl on my Canson XL Watercolor Paper using #992, and sketched in the shape of a sandcastle between them, along with the shoreline and horizon.  I built up their skintones using layers of #850, and painted his hair with #969, and hers with #850, then #947 overtop to give her a reddish/strawberry blond look, leaving the crown of each head very pale on top where the sun would hit.  His suit was painted with #569, and hers with #993/055.  #977 was painted in as the sand, with several darker layers on the castle, and around the figures.  I mixed #493 and #569 to create the darker water shade, and then used just #493 to paint in the sky.  #245 added a pop of bright green to the bucket.

I used #565 to add shadows in the sand, then used the fine point of a grey marker to slightly darken the outline of the children, and to draw in the little flag and the bucket handle.  I die cut out my scene and mounted it with 3D adhesive onto my patterned background.

From the Patriotic, to Christmas, to the beach...our designers created some wonderful cards. 

You can find their inspiration every 1st and 3rd Saturday of the month.

Be sure to check out the new Journal Series.

The dies can be used on cards as well as the journal as can all of the stamp sets.

We hope you all have a wonderful weekend and are inspired to do something crafty!

Be sure to #artimpressions if you do because we love to see your creations.