Gnome Window Scene by Reneé Matarese

 Happy Thursday everyone!

Be sure to check back later today for the winners of the Give Us a Fright challenge and to see what the new challenge is!

Until then,  you can take a look at my most recent gnome card.

These little guys are just so cute!

Since all of these sets are the perfect size for this window die I thought it would be cute to create a bit of a different type of window scene.

I will list and link all of the Art Impressions products that I've used below.

5785 – Gnomes Set
5788 – Whimsical Mushrooms
5794 – Whimsical Flowers
5797 – Little Things Sentiment Set
5543 – Journal Template Die Set
5588 – Journal Oval Frames Die Set
5795 – Berries

Copics used:

Y11, Y15, YG13, YG17, B00, B02,
RV14, RV29, E33, E40, E47, E53

Twintone markers used:

Chrome Yellow, Chocolate

Meet my GnomeBee! by Reneé Matarese

 Hello and Happy Thursday!

I am absolutely in LOVE with the new Gnome set!  Today I'm sharing a Black and White card that has pops of yellow and green.  My favorite colors!

I've used several new sets to create my card and I'll link everything below.  One thing I can't link is the itty bitty bee on his nose.  That is from a retired Freebie stamp but I couldn't NOT put him on my card.  I love him so much.

The gnome set comes with dies but the other watercolor sets don't so I used my Brother Scan-N-Cut to cut out the flowers.

It's funny how people can look at something and see different things. I look at this and see he's dressed like a bee. My husband would look at this and say, "Cool!  He's a Steelers fan!" lol!

Everything was colored using Copic markers and Twin Tones.

Copics used: E15, E30, E33, RV66, N1, T3, YG07, G05

Twin Tones used: Black, Gray, Yellow

Fall is for Fairy Houses by Reneé Matarese

Happy Sunday everyone!
Do you love these new Fairy Houses as much as I do?

I created two cards to share with you today.

Both of these little houses nest perfectly into the new leaf frame die.

For the first card I used the white leaves from the first frame I cut and colored them with Copic markers.  For the mushroom house I cut the leaf inserts from colored paper.  I couldn't tell the difference between the two so moving forward, if I've cut the frame in white, I'll use the little pieces that are scraps and just color them.  That will save on colored cardstock.

I love that the new frame creates a frame yet also has some stand alone dies that you can cut.

There's a complete list of supplies and links below if you'd like to give something like this a try.  These are perfect for any time of year.

5783 – Fall Leaf Frame Die Set
5790 – Fairy Houses
5794 – Whimsical Flowers
5788 – Whimsical Mushrooms
5063 – Rectangle A2 Double Stitched Dies
Bleed Proof White


Copics used:

Mushroom House:

Y21, Y26, YG03, YG25, E17, E31, E55, YR15, R83, R89 TT Chocolate

Fairy House:

Y21, Y26, YG03, YG25, BG000 BG02, YR15, E17, E31, E55, R83, R89, W2, W5, W6 TT Sky Blue, TT Chocolate

Gnomes & Bees (because I love them both!) by Reneé Matarese

 Hello and Happy Sunday!

Do you love these new Gnomes as much as I do?
And, yes.  Just so you all know, I can see you furrowing your eyebrows and hear you muttering, "Well that's a silly question," in my head! lol!

Of COURSE you love them!

Gnomes live in the woods so I added lots of bees. Gnomes love flowers and so do bees, so I'd assume that Gnomes love bees too. The teeny little bee is from a retired freebie.  He sits on a flower that a sweet little bear is holding.  I only inked up the bee and placed him on the gnomes nose.  It wasn't easy, but it was worth it.  Maybe someday Bonnie will make us a full bee set with everything from a teeny little cluster of 3 bees that we could ink up as one, two or three...all the way up to larger bees that could be the star of our cards!

One very cool feature of this new Gnome set is that one of them is a Front and Back stamp which means you can create a window showing him from the front and on the inside of the card where you see his backside.

The same goes for the little bees from Birds and Bugs. Since some face left and some face right, you can make those F&B stamps too!

I love using clear acetate to make it look like certain images are flying or floating.  You just have to love bees!

5785 – Gnomes Set
5794 – Whimsical Flowers
5797 – Little Things Sentiment Set
5463 – Slimline Dies Set
5561 – Birds and Bugs Set
5543 – Journal Template Die Set
4967 – WC Fence Dies
5724 – Nested Rectangle Dies

Copics used:

B00, Y11, Y15, E33, E47, E53, YG13

Fall into Fall Challenge #360

Hello everyone!  We have a new challenge beginning today.  I had to Google it to see if I was rushing things...lol.  Turns out the official start of Fall is during this challenge so, it's all good!

Fall begins on...

Sat, Sep 23, 2023, 2:49 AM

Eastern Time

I won't be awake to experience it, but I will enjoy seeing all of your Fall themed handmade projects!

Our new challenge is called Fall into Fall.  We want to see any Fall themed crafty project.  Halloween, Thanksgiving, Fall leaves or whatever says Fall to you!

Before we check out Mercy's gorgeous card and picture tutorial she made as our featured artist for this challenge, let's see who won our Feeling Blue challenge.

For our Top Spot, we selected Cat L.

She made two cards.  One features the retired Gossip Club and on the other she used 5346 – Birdhouse Cubbies 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 for our Lucky Random Winner.
#22 Debbie Hedges

She used the new 5794 – Whimsical Flowers 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 for the MAIN FEAUTURE!

Mercy has a dies only card with the exception of her sentiment.
Art Impressions has added some fabulous die sets over the last two years!

Here we are starting a new challenge, all about fall!   My favorite season! I love the feel, smell and colors of autumn.   But if I had to chose, the two things that stand out the most for me are the harvest festivals and fall leaves.   Both so fun.    In today's card I am using a newly released die set, the Fall Leaf Frame Die Set.  I decided to use this staple set as the "main" character, not combined with any other set and I loved the results.  Let's take a look,

For this project, I used a technique I don't often apply but equally enjoy, paper piecing.    As shown below I did not cut apart the frame set.  I die cut the first piece in yellow cardstock and removed the center and outer pieces from the frame.

Following this step I repeated the process using red cardstock except I only removed the centerpiece part of the die.  Then I adhered the two pieces together as shown below.

I proceeded to stamp the sentiment.   In addition, I die cut the frame using different color cardstock.

Following the previous step, I overlaid the center cut out as a guide to adhere the "floating die pieces".

I avoided the area where the sentiment was stamped and added a few extra layers to some of the leaves and the mushroom.   Finally I used Glossy Accent on selected elements.

I love this card, it's fun and pretty easy to create.   Hope you have a lovely day and will see you next time!

✻ 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!

Join our challenge by linking up below.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Sitting Amongst the Flowers by Reneé Matarese

Are you feeling blue?

Everyone at Art Impressions is.

But...in a good way!

The latest challenge on the blog is Feeling Blue.

We've been challenged to use lots of blue on our projects. On my two cards I used blue paper, paper with blue flowers, I colored some of my flowers blue and I have a blue flower pot.

For my first card, I took the shutters from 5770 – FB Farm Fence Die Set, cut them in half and turned them sideways because they made me think of a flower box planter.  I then filled them with flowers from the new 5794 – Whimsical Flowers.

On my first card, the 5776 – FB Sitting Girl is sitting on the fence.  On my next card I perched her on the window sill. I know that may seem a little far fetched but we'll call it artistic license.  Actually, when I was in Austria this spring our hotel room had a ledge outside the window that would have been wide enough to sit on.  I wouldn't recommend it though since we were on the second floor...lol!  We used it as a fridge since we didn't have one in our room.

Inside the house there's a flower pot and watering can from 5792 – WC Mini Journal Containers.

The little tufts of grass are not from Art Impressions but I wanted to give a little shout out.  I recently took a trip to Buffalo and was lucky enough to visit Buffalo Stamps Store.  One of the things I purchased was Scene Building: Grass Tufts Dies.  This store is INCREDIBLE!!  There are so few Brick and Morter stores left and it was so fun to wander (in awe) at all of the product sitting right in front of you.  If you're ever remotely close to that area I highly recommend you pay them a visit.  They carry Art Impressions stamps.  I didn't buy any of those because I already owned them all but some were retired so that's a huge bonus for a fan!  I wasn't able to link below from the Buffalo Stamps Store but I did link from Picket Fences.

In case you were wondering, I did not fussy cut all of these little flowers.  I have a Brother Scan and Cut which is great for the WC sets that don't come with dies.

Where I live, it's Fall now.  The last of my flowers are waning.  We'll have a few mums and asters for a bit longer but I'll have to live vicariously through the flowers on my cards until next April.