Welcome to 2020 Ai Fans + First Cardmaking Challenge of 2020 : Resolutions

Hello, Ai Fans!

Welcome to a new year! We are so grateful for each and every one of you, and hope that you had a blessed holiday season with your families.

We are so excited to be welcoming in 2021 with you and our entire team. We are hard at work on the new release for 2021, so make sure that you're signed up for our newsletter to make sure you get updates for any and all new releases. 

For those of you who crafted over the long holiday, we would love to see your creations shared below!

Welcome to our first Feature of 2021!

Jil joins us with some inspiration for our new challenge!

Hello Ai fans!

Happy New Year!  It's time for a new Challenge on the Art Impressions blog.  It's all about Resolutions.  Did you make a New Year Resolution? Be sure to enter for the chance to win free stamps.  I used the Yoga Set Girlfriends stamp set to create my card.

I stamped the image onto Canson XL watercolor paper with the Versafine Clair Nocturne ink pad.

I colored the image with Daniel Smith watercolors.  I always limit the amount of colors I use when coloring such a busy image.

I used the Banner Double Stitched dies to cut a small piece from yellow shimmery paper.  I didn't need to cut the entire piece of yellow paper.

I added the yellow piece to a pink card base.  I added the focal image on with foam tape.

To finish the card, I added a greeting from the Practically Perfect Girlfriends set.

Thanks for stopping by and Have a Great Day!

Inspired? Check out the challenge rules below, and enter your creation!

It's a New Year, with new inspiration, and a new challenge! We want to see your best "New Year's Resolution" card, whether that's about losing the quarantine weight, getting older, spending time with friends, you name it! We want to see your goals for 2021!

If you're looking for some starter ideas, check out our Funny Farm, Work & Play, Girlfriends, or Ai People on our Pinterest Page. 

We want to see how you create your Resolution-themed card! Though you can use any stamps you have, we'd love to see any Art Impressions products in your collection!

Hurry, challenge closes Wednesday, January 20th at 5PM PT!

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 the deadline to enter your creations.

✻ Good luck and happy stamping!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

NEW VIDEO!!!

Thank you to everyone who joined us yesterday on Wednesday Live with Bonnie, for her

FIRST live project of 2021!!!

She created a serene mountain scene using several of our new sets

Here is a link to the supplies you'll need for this project : 

https://ldli.co/e/jxydy4

Don't forget, you can always watch the videos after they air here : 

https://www.facebook.com/ArtImpressionsRubberStamps/

See you back next week with our usual Watercolor Wednesday on YouTube!

Easy Birthday Cake Cards | By Jessica Shier

Hey Ai Fans!

It's Jessica on the blog today. I have some fun cards to share with you using the Birthday Cake stamp and die set. Now this set doesn't come with sentiments but let's be honest... who has a ton of fun and perfect sentiments stamps that could be used with this set? I know I do! 

My first card I used some rainbow colors to color in the gigantic cake. These are simple two marker blends, a lighter and darker shade. I made the shading even easier on my self and just followed the example on the packaging. I paired this one with a sentiment from the Birthday Laugh Lines set. 

I used the coordinating die after coloring each cake then used the die again to die cut some craft foam in coordinating colors. I adhered those together with liquid glue and attached to stenciled background. 

Since I went with rainbow colors for my first card I used more pink and purples colors for the second. I thought one of the sentiments from the Yoga set would pair nicely with this one. Honestly I have so many ideas running through my head using other Art Impressions sentiments and some of the other cakes! 

Parkoo colors used:

Cake  1.

2 Old Red, 12 Coral Red

22 French Vermilion, 24 Marigold

35 Lemon Yellow, 49 Pastel Green

47 Grass Green, 174 Spring Dim Green

76 Sky Blue, 182 Frost Blue

83 Lavender, 75 Dark Blue Light

CG1 Cool Grey

CG4

CG6

Cake 2.

 121 Fluorescent Coral Red, 18 Peach

138 Light Pink, 147 Pale Lilac

35 Lemon Yellow, 49 Pastel Green

76 Sky Blue, 182 Frost Blue

83 Lavender, 75 Dark Blue Light

CG1 Cool Grey

CG4

CG6

 

I hope you enjoyed these cards. I love a good Birthday themed stamp set.

Thank you everyone for joining me today. Happy Stamping! 

Yoga Ladies | By Jessica Shier

Hello Ai Fans!

It's Design Team member Jessica here and I'm back with another birthday card! This time I'm fussy cutting the Yoga Set. These two ladies are part of the whole group image but can be easily cut apart from the rest to be used separately.

I stamped the Yoga set image on to a piece of Neenah Solar White 80lb cardstock with Amalgam ink. For these ladies I used Copic Markers to color them in. The list of colors I used is below. Once I had them colored up I used my Fiskars scissors to fussy cut them away from the rest of the group. I also used a craft knife to get into some of those harder to reach areas. The lady in purple does have a pony tail but it couldn't be salvaged, so she has a shorter hair cut. 

I've been experimenting in the craft room so the background was a trial run but I like the way it came out. For this I used Black cardstock, a stencil and texture paste mixed with Neon Aqua Pigments (neon pink and neon blue). This gave me a lovely pastel pink, purple and blue background. Which pops against that black cardstock! I let that dry and mounted it to a Neenah Solar White 110lb A2 sized cardbase. 

The Yoga mats I made for the ladies, are cut from pink and blue craft foam using the second to smallest Art Impressions Rectangle Double Stitch die. Normally I use the foam as a dimensional but I liked the texture of this craft foam and thought it fit well with the Yoga theme. Using a larger rectangle die I cut a piece of Neenah 110lb cardstock and adhered the yoga mats. Then I stamped the sentiment "Keep calm and yoga on" in black ink using my stamp platform in case the foam got in the way, which it didn't! Next I stamped the balloon that also comes in the Yoga Set. I situated it so that it looked like the yoga person at the top of the sentiment was holding it. Since the balloon was a little long, I stamped it again on a scrap piece of cardstock, colored it in and fussy cut it out. 

I attached the white cardstock panel to the texture emboss with some strong glue. Now all I had left to do was adhere the ladies to their yoga mats and attach the cut out balloon. I used some scrap craft foam  behind the presents and cake, so that they were even with the Yoga ladies. 

I forgot to get a photo of the inside but I did use another sentiment from the Yoga set that says... 

"It's just a birthday! Nothing to get bent out of shape over!

lol! 

Copic Markers Used:

W6, W3, W1, W0

E59, E77, E74

E51, E35, E31, E00

Y00, Y02, Y21

YG01, G40, YG41

BG13, BG11, BV11

RV93, RV55

Thank you so much for joining me today! Happy Stamping!

Birthday Laugh Lines By Jessica Shier

Hey everyone!

Today I'm sharing a birthday mashup! I thought it would be funny to combine two sets from Art Impressions, the Birthday Laugh Lines with the Yoga set. This ole' guy has some stretching to do!

To start off with I stamped the Birthday Laugh Lines guy on to a piece of Neenah Solar White 80lb cardstock. I did the same for the Yoga ladies too. Using Copic markers I colored them in, list of markers used below.  I also stamped the sentiment that I thought paired hilariously with these two images. I inked that up with Gina K Wild Wisteria ink and trimmed it down to a slim rectangle. 

I wanted the ole' guy in the foreground with the ladies in the background. So I trimmed most of the area on the guy's left, using a trimmer to get straight edges when I didn't have to fussy cut.  These are both larger images and this is an A2 (4.25 x 5.5inch) card so there wasn't a lot of room to place these funny people. Both images are brightly colored so I needed something to separate the two. For that I used some vellum cardstock. This worked and gives a window feel to the design; like the Yoga ladies are in another room. 

I also created a black cardstock edge, using the Art Impressions Rectangle Stitch die, second from largest. Then used the same rectangle die on the ole guy so that the panel fit into the black frame. All I had left to do after that was layer and adhere everything. The layers are; Neenah 110lb cardbase, Yoga ladies, vellum, Birthday guy/black frame and then the sentiment. 

Copic Markers Used;

100 Black

W9, W6, W3, W1, W0

W74, W35, W51, W34, W31, W18, W17

E00, Y02, YR02, R14, R27

Y26, Y23, Y21, YG67, YG03, G14

BV04, BV02, BV00, RV09, RV55, RV11

Thank you so much for joining me today! Happy Stamping! 

Age is Just a Number! By Crystal

Hi Ai fans! 

This week I made a card using the girlfriend stamp set Yoga! 

I started by stamping the image onto water color cardstock using Versafine black ink so I could use water colors to color the image in. 

After I had all of the ladies colored in I fussy cut them out. I colored them in with a lot of purples and blues so I ended up matting them onto a double stitched Oval with bright cardstock. I then matted the oval with a pattern paper rounded corner rectangle then matted that with orange pattern paper. I then adhered the whole panel to a 5 1/2"x 4 1/4" card base.

I wanted to stamp the sentiment "KEEP CALM AND YOGA ON" but once I stamped it it got lost on the ladies. I was not happy it was to hard to read so to save it and help it pop more I colored the letters in with a silver gel pen. 

I added the sentiment "Age is just a number!" underneath the ladies. I stamped it in a curve so it would match the oval. 

Happy Stamping! 

Challenge 254 Best Friends!

Hey Girlfriend! It's week TWO of our "Best Friends" challenge, honoring the two new Girlfriends sets we released last week! Both our Cowgirls Set and Yoga Set contain adorable images and plenty of versatile sentiments, including birthday sentiments and funny phrases! Our design team is here to share some fun inspiration with these adorable sets, which you can find at artimpressions.com!

Carol with Cowgirls Set

Crystal with Yoga Set

Jessica with Cowgirls Set

Jil with Yoga Set

Niccole with Cowgirls Set

Renee with Yoga Set

Sharon with Cowgirls Set

Thanks, team! Such beautiful cards! These Girlfriends images are so fun to color! If you're looking for additional info on these cards, be sure to scroll back up and click the designer's name to visit their blog!

Yee-haw, it's challenge time! To pair with our lovely new Girlfriends sets, we are hosting a new challenge them called "Best Friends!" This is such a great opportunity for you to break out your favorite Girlfriends or other friendship stamps and play! Come join us for a chance to win! PLUS, friends don't let friends miss out - tell your bestie about our challenge so they can join, too!

 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, April 24 at 5:00 p.m. PST to enter your creations.

✻ Good luck and happy stamping!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Happy Stamping!

HEY, Gal Pal! NEW GIRLFRIENDS Clear Sets! PLUS Challenge 254 Best Friends

Hey Girlfriend! We have TWO new clear sets we think you will love! "Kick-up your heels" with our Cowgirls Set, perfect for saying "Howdy" or "Happy Birthday" to your besties! Our Yoga Set contains hilarious birthday sentiments along with four friends practicing their poses amidst balloons, presents, and cake! Bring a smile to your friends face with our favorite characters! Catch a glimpse of these ladies in action in our video from Creativation, and find these sets at artimpressions.com!

Aren't these gals too cute? Let's take a look at some fabulous inspiration from Crystal!

Hi Ai fans! 

I love all of the Girlfriends stamp sets! 

This NEW Yoga one is so much fun it might be my new favorite. 

I started out by stamping the yoga girlfriends onto watercolor paper with versafine black ink. I stamped it with a stamp platform because I was stamping it onto watercolor paper and some times you don't get a crisp image the first time because of the texture on the paper. 

I stamped onto water color paper with versafine ink because I wanted to color the ladies in with Arteza Real brush pens which are watercolor pens. 

Their are two ways I like to use Arteza Real brush pens one is to color with them in the darkest shaded area and then pull the color out with a water brush or a wet paint brush the second is to use different shades and pull the colors out with the lighter shade. I went with the second because I wanted the ladies outfits and accessories to be very bright and cheerful. After I colored the ladies in I fussy cut them out.   

I stamped the sentiment "It's just a BIRTHDAY! Nothing to get BENT OUT OF SHAPE OVER!" After I stamped the sentiment I die cut it out with a Rounded Rectangle double stitched die. I layered the sentiment and the fussy cut ladies out onto pattern paper. Lastly I adhered everything to a 5 1/2"X 4 1/4" card base. 

Happy Stamping!

 I look forward to seeing what everyone else creates!  

Such a cute card, Crystal! Thanks for sharing some great tips for stamping and watercoloring our Girlfriends! Watercolor markers make for such a quick and easy - not to mention beautiful - way to color up our character stamps!

This kicks off our new challenge! To pair with our lovely new Girlfriends sets, we are hosting a new challenge them called "Best Friends!" This is such a great opportunity for you to break out your favorite Girlfriends or other friendship stamps and play! Come join us for a chance to win! PLUS, friends don't let friends miss out - tell your bestie about our challenge so they can join, too!

 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, April 24 at 5:00 p.m. PST to enter your creations.

✻ Good luck and happy stamping!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Before we go, let's recognize the winners of last week's Outdoor Scenes Challenge!

Top Spot goes to...

Helen F!

Congrats, Helen! We are amazed by your beautiful vibrant colors in this scene featuring our Open Window set! Email annelise@artimpressions.com with your address to claim your prize pack!

Honorable Mentions go to...

Irene Rhodes!

 Katrin!

Congrats, you two! Irene, we love the subtle 3D effect you made with our Antiques Window in this clean and simple masculine card! And Katrin, this scene you created with our Dare to be Fabulous ladies looks awesome with the watercolor scene you painted for them! Way to go! Email annelise@artimpressions.com with your address and request a stamp set of your choice for a prize!

Thanks for joining our challenge, and we hope to see you all again for our Best Friends challenge!

Happy Stamping!