Mailbox Full of Love by Reneé Matarese

 Hello Ai fans!

Today I have some fun news!

I had a card published in Creative Scrapbooker Magazine
Spring 2023 issue!

You can see it in the current issue in craft stores right now.
My card was for the fussy cutting/cards for mom categories.

Though this set comes with dies, the mailbox does not have a die to cut it out.
The die only cuts the mailbox open so I fussy cut that.

For my card I used several sets.

The image is from 4848 – Sweet Wishes MTF. 

 The mailbox is interactive, opening and closing,
 to reveal a little bird and some happy mail.



I cut some squares and rectangles to mount my image on using

5063 – Rectangle A2 Double Stitched Dies

and

5061 – Square Double Stitched Dies

The little heart is from 5317 – MB Template Dies.

It's never too early to start thinking about making your mom, mother-in-law, daughter/daughter-in-law who's a mom,  or special mother-like figure in your life, a card for Mother's Day.

Copics used:

B0000, RV93, E23, E35, N1, T2, T3

Life's Ruff Card by Bri Firth

Hello Ai Fans - Bri Firth here! Today, I am sharing a rainy card design featuring the Paws to Love MTF set. The Paws to Love MTF set is part of Ai's Mini Tryfolds collection. This project is perfect for Ai's current challenge, "Cloudy With a Chance Of...". Find out more about Ai challenges here. This card is featured on my personal blog today, check it out here! 

First I ink blended a stormy background onto a Rounded Rectangle die cut with Stormy Sky, Blueprint Sketch, and Chipped Sapphire Distress Oxide inks. I used the Digital Noise Stencil and white pigment ink to make it look like pouring rain on the ink blended background. Next, I used a Puffy Cloud die cut with Speckled Egg and Stormy Sky Distress Oxide ink to create a cloudy sky for the top of the card.

I stamped the sentiment in pigment black ink and heat embossing it with clear embossing powder. I ink blended the sentiment block with Speckled Egg Distress Ink. I colored the dog house scene with my Copic markers. The colors I used are listed at the end of this blog post. To finish the card, I added silver sequins for embellishment.

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

Ai Products Used
Paws to Love MTF
Rounded Rectangle Double Stitched Dies

Copic Coloring
Dog House: R30, R32, R35, R37, R39
Grass: YG11, YG13, YG17
Tulip: RV11, RV13, RV14
Bed: C3, C1, C0
Dog: Y000, E50, E51, E53, E55
Cat: W00, W1, W3, W5, W7, W9

 

Dogs galore! by Reneé Matarese

Hello Ai fans!

Today I'm sharing two different cards both with a dog theme.

My first card was made with the 5101 – Dog House Cubbies.

I made this card for my friend's birthday.  Her husband secretly

contacted a bunch of her friends and asked us to donate to the 

Humane Society in her name.  She was SO touched when she 

found out.  
The little paw print cut out was made with 5337 – Dogs Mini Dies.

Don't you love how the little dogs poke
their heads out of the windows and doors?



For my second card I used 4850 – Paws To Love MTF.

This card was made for the same friend.  I sent her this one at work just to brighten her day. 

On the inside I used the Dog Mini Dies again as well as the 5333 – Cats Mini Dies because she has a cat and a dog.  I only used two of the three stamps on my card because I didn't do it as a trifold.

Tropical Circlet with Bri Firth

Hi everyone! Today I am sharing my creation for the Tropical Treat Challenge. For more information on this challenge check out the announcement here. For my project I made a tryfold card with Tropical Circlet MTF stamp set. This card is also featured on my personal blog, check it out here! 

Art Impressions makes a lot of fun and interactive stamp sets, but currently I really like the Circlet Mini Tryfolds. These tryfold cards have such a unique layering effect and they are super easy to make with the pre-made tryfold cardstock and envelope packs. 

To make this I card I first stamped the front leaf wreath and die cut the hole within the center of the leaves. I also traced the front opening onto the middle panel with a pencil so I could line up the center image with the front image. To decorate the front panel I die cut a circle mask to protect the stamped image. Then, I ink blended a sunset ombre background. I adhered a tropical leaf printed vellum over top the background and added some floral and sequin embellishment.

Second, I stamped the beach image within the pencil marked outline on the middle panel. I repeated the steps above to stamp the ocean image on the back panel. To decorate the inner panels I used some retired tropical themed scrapbook paper. I die-cut the panels once again so you could see the images through the various layers of cardstock. For some extra fun I used a white gel pen to add some birds flying over the ocean. 

I finished the card by coloring all the stamped scenes with my Copic Sketch alcohol markers. I love all the vibrant colors showcased throughout this card! The middle panel and back panel are showcased below.

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

Pencil Coloring & Gardening Circlet MTF by Carol Hintermeier

Hello Ai fans!  My card today features the beautiful Gardening Circlet MTF set.  I had so much fun coloring these sweet images with my pencils!

This card is very easy to create as the directions for the card size, where to fold and stamp, are all included on the back of the packaging.  First I stamped the images and used the dies to cut the openings in the first two panels.

I decided to use my Prismacolor Pencils to color these as the images are a bit on the small side.  Keeping your pencils very sharp at all times makes the coloring very easy!

I love this row of birds!  The illustration reminds me of the sweet Chickadees that visit our backyard bird feeders.  I did a web search of images of them to use as a guide for my coloring.  Note:  you do not need to use as many pencil colors as I did--I just wanted to do a lot of shading.  The list of the colors I used are at the end of this post.

I used a sentiment from the Exclusive Hydrangeas Set and stamped it with black ink.  I definitely used my MISTI to stamp this since I sure didn't want to mess it up after all of my coloring!  Haha!

I hope I've inspired you to give these sweet mini trifold sets a try!  I'm always thankful for you taking a moment to stop by and take a look.  Have a wonderful, crafty week!

Prismacolor pencils:

Chartreuse, Spring Green, Apple Green, Lime Peel, Prussian Green, Kelp Green, Olive Green,

Dark Green, Mahogany Red, Magenta, Process Red, Hot Pink, Diox. Purple Hue, Parma Violet, Lilac, Indigo Blue, Cerulean Blue, Light Cerulean Blue, Blue Slate, Sky Blue Light, Terra Cotta,

Burnt Ochre, Mineral Orange, Goldenrod, Jasmine, Yellow Ochre, Canary Yellow,

Dark Umber, Chocolate, Light Umber, Sandbar Brown, Ginger Root,

Cool Grey: 90%, 70%, 50%, 30%, 20%; Black

Nativity Circlet MTF by Jil Lebel

Hello Ai fans!

I hope you are all enjoying the beauty of the holiday season.  The Nativity Circlet Mini TryFold stamp set is such a beautiful way to wish someone a Merry Christmas.  I just love this peaceful scene.

I started by stamping the images onto Spectrum Noir Ultra Smooth paper with Gina K Designs Black Amalgam Ink and colored them with my Copic markers.  The colors used are listed at the end of this post.

I followed the directions from the packaging of the stamp and die set to fold and assemble my card. I used papers from the Basic Grey Joyful collection.  The two flaps were cut with a Crafter's Companion Build A Card border die. All of the edges were antiqued with Tim Holtz Tea Dye Distress Ink and a Mini Distress tool. The word believe is from Mementa.

Copic Colors Used:
Faces - E00, E11, R20
Hair - E41, E42, E43, E44
Wings/Pillow - BV000, 0
Dresses - Bv0000, BV02, O
Blanket - E30, E31, 0
Wood - E31, E33, E35, E37
Light Wood - E30, E31
Donkey - C1, C3, C5
Cow - C1, C3, C5
Sheep - E30, E31 , 0
Mountains - BV0000, BV02, 0
Sky - B99
Sand - E30, E31, E33

Thanks for stopping by and Have a Great Day!

Thanksgiving Circlet MTF by Jil Lebel

Hello Ai fans!

Thanksgiving is the time of year when my family comes around the table no matter how busy we all are.  I am always so thankful for that.  I am also thankful for all of you.  I used the Thanksgiving Circlet Mini TryFold set for today's card.  I just love the beautiful, overflowing cornucopia.

I started by stamping the images onto Spectrum Noir Ultra Smooth paper with Gina K Designs Black Amalgam Ink and colored them with my Copic markers.  The colors used are listed at the end of this post.

I followed the directions from the packaging of the stamp and die set to fold and assemble my card. I used papers from Authentique.

Copic Colors Used:
Cornucopia - E31, E35, E37
Pumpkin - YR14, YR27, E08
Apple/Tomato - Y23, R24, R29
Wheat/Stems/Bread - E30, E31. E35
Corn - Y13, Y26, Y28
Candle -E30, E31
Flame - Y23, YR14, R24
Muffin/Cookie - E30, E31, E33, E35, E37
Grapes - RV34, RV66, V99
Cherry Pie- E30, E31, E33, R24, R37
Leaves/Green Pepper - Y11, G24
Acorns - E30, E70, E71, E74, E77, E79
Squash - E30, E31

Thanks for stopping by and Have a Great Day!

Elk Circlet MTF by Jil Lebel

Hello Ai fans!

I absolutely love the new Elk Circlet Mini TryFold! The Elk is so majestic standing in front of mountains.  

I started by stamping the images onto Spectrum Noir Ultra Smooth paper with Gina K Designs Black Amalgam Ink and colored them with my Copic markers.  The colors used are listed at the end of this post.

I followed the directions from the packaging of the stamp and die set to fold and assemble my card. I used papers from the Echo Park Happy Camper 6" x 6" paper pad.

Copic Colors Used:

Elk - E40, E70, E71, E74, E77, E79
Tree - E31, E33, E35, E37
Greens - YG11, G24, YG45
Rocks - C1, C3, C5
Mountains - BV0000, BV00, 0
Trail - E31, E33, E35, 0
Sky - B0000, B00, 0

Thanks for stopping by and Have a Great Day!

Pamper Your Shelf by Jil Lebel

Hello Ai fans!

My niece loves to read and every year I try to get her a gift card to a book store.  This year I thought it would be fun to make her card with the Pamper Your Shelf MTF set.  I wanted to give her the gift card in a way that she couldn't see it through the Try Fold windows.  I remembered that we had done a make and take at the Scrapbook Expo with a MTF panel on the front of an A2 card, so I did something like that card.  I hope you enjoy making something like this for the book lover in your life.

The images were stamped onto Neena Desert Storm Environmental Cardstock with My Favorite Things Extreme Black Ink and colored with Copic markers.  The colors used are listed at the end of this post. It was stamped onto even panels following the directions on the card packaging.  The panel for the front of the card measured 4" x 9" and was scored at 3" and 6".

When working on colored card stock, you may want to color your markers onto a piece of scrap paper and let it dry for a few minutes to get an idea of what it will actually look like.  It will dry quite different than it went on.

Once the images were colored, details were added with Sakura Gelly roll pens.  A Black Glaze pen was added to the eye & nose of the mouse.  The Stardust Sparkle pen was added to the spines of the books.  The folded piece was added to the card front that was decorated with the decorative paper.

Copic Markers Used -
Mouse - W00, W1, W3, RV10, RV20
Shelf - E13, E15, E19
Books - YG61, YG63, R24, R37, R81, R83
Pages - E21, E42

Thanks for stopping by and Have a Great Day!