Today I am sharing a Christmas project using two different Ai stamp sets... 4943 Singing Snowmen PopCard and 4809- Nativity MTF. The PopCards and Mini TryFolds images are SO fun to use as they were intended (creating interactive cards) but can also be used many other ways! Today I made some Birch Tag (wood slice) ornaments!
To begin, purchase some wood slices (or cut them yourself if you can!). I purchased these Birch Tags at Michael's and Hobby Lobby. I've also ordered some from Amazon which are a different type of wood and I haven't used them yet. But I'm assuming I will have similar results. The wood slices from Amazon are approx. 3/16" in thickness compared to the M's and H.L. ones which are 1/2" thick. My husband drilled holes in these for me but some come pre-drilled too.
Next you need to choose the Ai images you want to use. Remember that you can use just a portion of your image if it is too large. The snowmen I used are from the new Singing Snowmen PopCard. For one, I stamped and masked the songbook before stamping the snowman. Stazon ink works well but I used my Archival Black because that pad of mine seemed juicier at the moment and it also gave me the permanent ink that I needed for coloring.
I wanted to try the Inktense pencils on them and add water with a brush so the color would smooth out and wouldn't just sit on top of the wood. It might be easier to do some shading if you just use regular colored pencils such as Prismacolor. It's difficult to blend or shade this way but I do like the look. The wood soaks up the water so quick...you don't need to worry too much about bleeding out of the lines as long as your pencil color stays within! I used a tiny #10 brush.
Here are my finished ornaments. A sentiment was stamped on the back of the snowmen ones. Don't forget to also sign and date! I also added some "snowflake" dots with a white paint pen. To finish them, I added a small wood bead to the top of the twine (use a 9" piece).
I wanted the nativities to be more rustic, so I only spotlighted the star and manger by coloring with shades of brown.
We are back with week two of our Third Dimension challenge! Today the full design team shares their creations with our newest PopCards and they are totally fabulous! Remember you can visit the designer's blog for more details when you click their name. Also, we LOVE your comments, so leave one today so we can know what you think!
WOW, these PopCards are incredible! Great work, team!
Are you inspired to join our 3D challenge? This challenge is all about 3-dimensional elements in your cards! This can be using our fabulous PopCards, or any other dimensional element like pop-ups, shakers, box cards, bags, accordion cards... the list goes on! We can't wait to see what you come up with. Hurry, there's only one week left to join!
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, November 8 at 5:00 p.m. PST to enter your creations.
Freebie Alert! For a limited time, we are offering a FREE 2017 Summer Flyer with your $30 purchase! This flyer features our NEWEST releases, including a sneak peek at several stamps that we have not released to our website yet! With full color images and beautiful card samples, this flyer will inspire your creativity! No coupon code necessary. Every order of $30 placed by Wednesday, November 8, will automatically receive this booklet! Place your order today at artimpressions.com!
Promotion is for orders placed November 2-8. No coupon code necessary. Valid for orders $30 or more, after discounts, not including shipping cost.
Prepare to be amazed with our FIVE new PopCards! These stamp and die sets feature fantastic, detailed images to build three-dimensional images inside your card! We had an early release of our Haunted Mansion PopCard, and now is the time to grab it for Halloween! Get ready for Christmas with our Singing Snowmen set, a quartet of carolers ready for winter! Those of you with a sophisticated taste will adore the Tea Party, Kitten Vanity and Floral Birdhouse sets, each featuring beautiful florals and sweet critters! Each PopCard set contains clear stamps and metal dies. Our dies also cut slits in your main images so you can slide in your PopCard Template to build a 3-D card that folds flat when closed and pops up when opened! Watch our video below to see our new sets POP into action! You can find our newPopCardsatartimpressions.com!
Today we have a spooktacular tutorial of our Haunted Mansion set with Sharon, launching our new 3-D challenge!
Hello AI Fans!
I'm super excited to show you one of the brand new PopCards today from Art Impressions! My card today features the amazing Haunted House PopCard!! These sets are AMAZING!! If you want to really WOW your recipient, then use one of these PopCards and you'll nail it! So just in time for Halloween, let me show you this amazing house that comes with all the stamps and dies you'll need to be able to make an interactive card that everyone will love!
The stamp set comes with all the stamps and dies you need. You'll have to separate all the dies as they're connected. I use needle nose pliers and they come apart very easily.
I stamped all my images and colored them with Copic markers, then lined up the dies over the colored image and held them in place with washi tape.
I place a circle die on my card front and ran it through the Cuttlebug so I could have a peek-a-boo window in the card.
Then I created a frame for the cutout by pairing it with a scalloped die and cutting it out.
After you've got all your pieces cut, you need to layer them up on the PopCard Template. (sorry...forgot to take a picture of it before I put it all together)
Now this is how I put my PopCards together with a window in the front of the card. I've found this to be the easiest. If you've ever tried to make a window in a card that has four or six layers of paper, you know it's almost impossible to get it done, at least without using a craft knife and doing a lot of it by hand. So I cut my normal 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 card and layer the pattern paper on top. Then I cut a SECOND card at 4 1/2" wide x 6" long. Score at 4 1/2" so you have a 4 1/2" square with a small flap to glue to the inside of the front face of the card. That's the card that has the mechanism for the PopCard on it. That way, the outside of your card stays nice and clean and you don't have a big chunk out of the side. Now when you glue the smaller card to the larger card, you only glue the thin piece to the card front, not the card back! The large piece (with the green chevron paper in the photo) is loose so the card will open and close freely. If you glue it to both sides of the card, the papers will buckle when you try to close the card. After the card is assembled, it slides so slightly that you will not even notice it is moving. Later in assembly, I put a vertical piece in place that will keep it from flapping about like a broken wing. So do all your cutting and gluing to get your mechanism for the PopCard.
After your mechanism is created, glue your PopCard and attach the pulling mechanism to the back of it. Don't you just love how all these characters are so happy? This house might be haunted, but it's definitely not scary!!
This is what it looks like from the side. You can see each layer with the roof being held up by the arrow tips. Finally, cut a strip of paper and attach it to the inside of your card making sure the green chevron piece is under it far enough that it won't slide out from under it when the card is fully open. Remember to only add adhesive to the top and bottom ONLY of the vertical piece. This will allow the smaller card part to move when you open and close the card. Picture of the completed inside of the card is below.
This picture shows the vertical strip that is holding the green chevron paper piece so it doesn't flap open. And you can also see where the small flap on the left is adhered to the front half of the card.
So I've given you my process for making a PopCard with all the amazing PopCard sets from Art Impressions! I hope you enjoyed it and thanks so much for stopping by! Until next time - stay crafty!!
Awesome project, Sharon! Just love your bold colors and flawless construction! What a fun way to start our new challenge!
This challenge we are taking things to the THIRD Dimension! We love creative cards that have a pop of fun! We are looking for dimensional aspects of your cards, such as PopCards, popups, dimensional creations. You don't even have to make a card - a bag or box would be fun as well!
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, November 8 at 5:00 p.m. PST to enter your creations.
Congrats, Cynthia! We love your whimsical style on this card featuring our Road Trip set! The way you combined the buildings with a watercolor wash and popped your bright red car on top is so cool! Email annelise@artimpressions.com with your address to claim your prize pack!
Congrats, you two! Kathy, way to combine your Front & Back stamps to make this fun window scene! Super cute! And Lynda, what an elegant fall card with our Farm Window and Sentiment! Ladies, please email annelise@artimpressions.com with your address and select the stamp set you would like for your prize!
Alright, folks, we only have a few more challenges left in the year - so be sure to join in the fun! Also, when you post projects of your Ai creations on social media, use #AiStamps so we can see what else you are up to!
