Frank just wants to be loved...by Reneé Matarese

Love, Love Me Do!

I just love the new challenge from Art Impressions.
Anything love related. Pink or red, Valentines, whatever.
I fell in love with the 6120 – Frankenstein Puppet Set when Art Impressions released him for Halloween. But, why should poor Frank be confined to just one holiday? He needs a little love too.

I feel like he could be compared to Elvis, a "greaser" from Grease or maybe a Beatle.
Anyway, I love him! Hind sight is 20/20. As I'm posting this, I'm wishing I put a little bouquet of flowers in his hand. Oh well, maybe next year.

 

No. 1 Book and Gnome bookmark by Dori Mendiola

 Happy New Year AI Friends!

I hope you had a wonderful holiday and are ready for the New Year!

 Can't wait to see all the fabulous creations from Bonnie and Kim.  I have no doubt that they will have lots of fun products for us again this year!

I'm starting off the New Year using #6114 - Box Village Template dies from the Holiday Lane series.  

I slightly changed the book cover to make it look like a number 1 for my granddaughter's first birthday.  Hope it's clear for you to see - made with the #5940 Journal Cover Paper Pack - Purple Plaid paper.  

I used #5873 - Mini Birthday Journal Paper pack for the inside of the book.  The inside contains pictures, pockets, notes and details from her first year and as much as I would love to show her off, my daughter asked that I didn't, so, unfortunately I don't have many pages to show.  However, my main purpose in showing this book was to emphasize how you can make slight changes to extend the die sets to fit your occasion.  Let your mind go!  Mine sometimes goes in odd directions but it's fun to see what can be created.  LOL!   

  Her birthday was S'mores themed so I created a S'mores with a square die from the #5725 Nested square dies set and the #5407 Birthday Cake GCH frosting die.  The graham cracker part was cut in rectangle shape and rounded the corners with a corner punch.  I inked the edges, stamped a cute little face on it and added a bow.  The sentiment tag is from the #6121 Storybook template.

Gnome Bookmark:  Another slight alteration of dies - here's a bookmark I made into a Gnome using the #5931 Santa Puppet die set.  The only real change that I made was that I added an additional beard layer by partial die cutting to make it slightly smaller so that it fit on top of the bottom one.  Then the nose fit nicely in between the top beard layer and the rim of his cap.  I omitted the brows, mustache and eyes.  Since he isn't a Santa, I also omitted the belt and fur parts of his outfit.  I die cut his outfit using the #5832 Gnome PP.  This paper choice made him look like he was wearing PJs so I added a cookie and coffee mug (from my stash) in his hands.  I placed him onto a bookmark made with the #5223 - Bookmark die.  He actually resembled me after Christmas.  I was a complete couch potato with my PJs on and my coffee mug in hand.  Life is good! 

Welcome to 2026 and another fun year with Art Impressions. 

Thanks for joining me today!  

Have a great day and keep creating!

Santa Puppets by Reneé Matarese

 Hello Ai fans!

I just absolutely LOVE the entire Art Impressions Puppet Series!

 I made my two puppet cards for the current Stitches & Scallops challenge.

My stitched rectangle and little zig zag stitches make my card qualify for the challenge.

My little sack is actually the Santa head.

It doubles nicely as a perfect little bag for all the toys.

I wanted to make my first Santa a more "fun" Santa and this one is a more traditional St. Nick.
I used two little Diamond Dots for his eyes.

You still have about a day and a half left to enter the challenge. If you can't make that deadline, be sure to check in on the blog after noon EST for the new challenge.

Dancing Santa Tag by Dori Mendiola

 Happy Thursday AI Friends!

Have you seen the new Art Impressions Christmas release?  Wow, what a bundle!  Two cute stamp sets, a die set and two beautiful paper packs.  I decided to play with the #5931 Santa Puppet die set and boy, did I have fun making several versions of this Santa.  I have several more that aren't christmas so I'll save those for another post.  Stay tuned.

For my first Santa, I made him a dancing tag.  His body and legs move.  Check out the video below.

I partial die cut the pants (cut up to top of pant and then hand cut to make pant waist higher - see Pic 1).  I die cut all of the other pieces as well as an extra jacket and hands and decorated accordingly (see Pic 1 below).  The oval white piece on the right is a rough cut of the back of the head as you will need a base piece.  I then punched a hole in the three pieces as seen in Pic 1.  To put them together so that Santa dances, hold the leg piece where you want it to fall under the finished jacket.  Turn this over and adhere a foam dot into the hole (Pic 2).  Layer the extra jacket behind the back of the other jacket and adhere with the foam dot (see Pic 3).  Next hold the face over the front of the jacket, turn over and place another foam dot into the hole on the back of the jacket (see Pic 4).  Adhere the head base piece onto the foam dot in the jacket.   Your dancing Santa is ready for decorating with a pompom on the hat and a string to hang from the tree or present.

       Pic 1                                                                                      Pic 2

    Pic 3                                                                                           Pic 4

     Pic 5

     

My other variations using the 5931 Santa Puppet die set:

Cut my Santa in half and made two tags, one of which using the 5132 Tag Stitched Die.  I popped up the chimney and placed the body of Santa upside down into the chimney.   The second tag, I scored the arms before putting the cuffs on and folded them in half, then put the cuffs on the outer side so he was wrapping his arms around the star.  I also added google eyes to him for fun.  I cut several snowflakes from the 4804 Snowflake dies and the icicles on the chimney are from the 5407 Birthday Cake gift card die.  The sentiment is from 5350 Animal Nativity set and the candy canes are from 5457 Christmas Truck cubbies and the 5187 Gingerbread cubbies.

For the following tag I decided to make him a gnome santa.  I shortened his arms and legs and placed the hat lower on his face.  For his beard, I cut two but I cut one differently, by cutting half and then moved the die to stretch his beard and make it wider.  Another thought, you could use the 5223 Bookmark die and cut the top tab off to make a smooth beard.  He actually fits perfectly, but I wanted a fuller beard.  The die used for the santa sack is included in the 5931 Santa Puppet die set.  I believe it is actually to be used as the santa face base, however, I saw someone suggest a possible santa sack so I borrowed her great idea.  I wish I could remember who it was, so I could give her a shout out.   The candy canes are from the 5178 Gingerbread Cubbies and the banner is from 5722 Birthday Journal die set.  The sentiment is from 5192 Penguin Cheer set.

Santa Puppet New Release! by Reneé Matarese

 Have you seen the new 5931 – Santa Puppet Dies from Art Impressions?

He's the newest release in the Puppet Series and I LOVE him!

I love the sample on the front with the plaid paper. So cute!

Though it's not necessary, I used a scrap piece of paper on the back to adhere the pieces to. I just liked making it a little more substantial. 

This little guy can be personalized in so many ways. Though I went the very traditional route, he can be done with patterned paper, pastels, with or without his spectacles, etc. Just wait until you see what the other DT members have created!

The only Copic I used was a warm gray but I'm not sure which number. Probably W2 or W3.