Tuesday, April 16, 2024

MB School Thank You for the Elks by Reneé

 Hello Ai fans!

Have you heard of the organization called The Elks?

My husband is a member (therefore I'm a member through marriage) and they
are a WONDERFUL organization. My local lodge runs food drives, delivers gifts at Christmas
to families in need, sends oversees troops care packages and so much more. When I was in just
before Christmas they asked if my school needed any books. Well, the answer to that question is
always YES!

They asked me for a wish list. I went back to our reading specialist and she gave me her dream
wish list thinking she'd be grateful to get even a little of it.  They didn't have the funds at that 
moment but said as soon as they did, they'd let us know.  Well, guess what? When the funds
came in they had more to share than they thought they would and offered to buy us TWO of every 
book on the list. Now we can spread the books out to more classrooms or give two of the same books to the same class for kids who like to buddy read.  We were stunned and so grateful to them.

I made them a card using a bunch of Art Impressions products.

I'm planning to take it to school and have a students sign it, then get a photo of them
with the books to send to the Elks for their bulletin board. 

The card is very large, 5.5"x 8" so that lots of students can sign it. Since I wanted a very large, sturdy card, I used the Canson XL Watercolor paper. I went heavy
on the red and blue since those are our school colors.


Copics used:

BV00, YG07, RV29, Y08, YR15, YR68, E31, B24, B28


Monday, April 15, 2024

Never too Old interactive card by Sharon Caudle

 Hello AI Fans!

I've got a fun interactive card to show you today that features a couple sets from the Art Impressions Laugh Lines. If you're not familiar with the Laugh Lines, they come with an amazing image along with a TON of great sentiments that match! I actually used two different sets for this card, and I put it together with a Give it a Whirl die set. FUN! Who doesn't love interactive cards!! This was actually the first time I've made one of these cards, and learned a few things that will help me a lot with my next one. But it really does go together quite easily. You just grab the tab and spin the image around and voila! There's a super short little video below the pics so you can see how it works. The images are stamped onto cryogen white paper with Memento ink and then colored with Copic markers which are listed below. 





You can see in the next picture I messed up my pearl drops trying to take pictures of the card. I was able to remove those and replace them without any problem. So it's all good now! :) 









Isn't that so much fun??!! I didn't line it up very well on the front, so I learned it's necessary to use a template to make sure it gets lined up correctly so everything is hidden by the top piece. But other than that, it was pretty easy to assemble and it works like a charm! So that's it for me today and until next time - stay crafty!!

Copics used
E000, 00, 04, 11, 33, 35, and 37
W2, 3, and 4
YG03, 05, and 09
V12, 15, and 17
B00
R20







Sunday, April 14, 2024

Nursery Rhymes Journal By Tricia

Hey Watercolor Fans,

I am so happy to share my newest watercolor journal.  I am taking another stab at Nursery Rhymes.  I re-did "Mary Had A Little Lamb" with an actual lamb.  Otherwise, these are different nursery rhymes. I did shorten some of them as I couldn't image reading some of them to children, LOL.



This one was so much fun to create.  I hope you will give some of these a try. 
Here is how I created the paintings on the cover. 

Front Cover:

I planned out where I wanted the N and R, then I penciled in the words, and masked them off.
Next, I inked them up with yellow and pink  and stamped them onto watercolor paper positioned over the words – making sure to leave space for your cow and moon and star.

Cow Jumped Over the Moon
I painted in the moon using yellow. Make sure you make the sides darker than the middle.  Using my positioner, I inked up the cow in brown and stamped him over the moon. Add a small amount of water to the cow for depth.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
I inked up the star with Yellow and stamped it down. 

I pulled the color out of the lines (N & R and star) into the background instead of into the stamp leaving it white. I added additional color (wet in wet technique) and moved it around the cow, moon and star.  Once it was completely dry, went over the words with a black marker, erased the lines, and added some white gel pen marks around the star.

Don’t forget to sign and date (and not like me where it gets covered by the clasp, lol).

Middle:

Roses are Red, Violets are Blue

I used the Roses and the Pansies (throwback set – poppy set could also be used) sets.  Using the single bloom, I randomly stamped the rose in different orientations around the frame. I made a few masks for the rose so I could tuck some underneath each other. I made sure to leave white space to add my violets.  Once the roses were stamped, I inked up the pansies (I actually did this part twice because I got wrapped up in purple and forgot the violets are blue…LOL – easy fix.  Once it was completely dry, I just added a glaze of blue over it…VIOLA! I pulled the color out of the lines making sure to leave some highlights for depth.

Back Cover:

Little Bo Peep

Using the back of the Front/Back Girl I inked her with dark blue and stamped her into the bottom corner of the page. Next, I inked the mini cabin up and stamped it on the left side of her.  The perspective of the house will depend where you place it.  I chose to put it about waist high so you see mostly sky and the house appears to be off in the distance.  I pulled the color out of the lines where the shadows would be.  Next, I added some additional color to her hat, hair and bow from my palette.  I added some green below the house and blue to the sky using the wet in wet technique. Once the sky dried completely, I painted in her staff.

I cut the journal out and used various papers from the paper packs to match the painting.

That's it.  Be sure to sign and date your paintings.  Once I complete all of the paintings, I die cut the journal and assemble.  If you want to see the rest of the journal, check out my social media and blog. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!!


SUPPLIES: (for the entire journal)

Saturday, April 13, 2024

Birthday Fishes by Janet

It's a birthday of fishes for a guy who likes to spend lazy days trying to get the big one. Masculine cards can often be more difficult for card makers. Art Impressions has a good selection of male hobby stamp sets. The images from this set is from 4900 Reel Great Guys Set. I've had the frame die in my stash for quite a while with the intent to use it like this. The small frames are perfect for smaller and medium sized images. I drew and colored in the backgrounds for the floating dog and the fish pail. They are very simple and easy to execute.

To do this card, I lightly drew the frames of the die on alcohol marker paper cut slightly larger than the frame. Then I stamped the images in the centers of the frames and colored them. I cut three frames with the die and glued them together to get a little more depth in it. I made an A2 card out of dark brown cardstock and glued the panel and frame to it. To finish it, I added sun, fish and reel brads and drew a thin line from the tip of the reel to the Birthday Fishes sign. The brads can be found at Eyelet Outlet.

Thanks for stopping by today to see an idea for a masculine birthday card. I hope it gives you some ideas of your own. Please visit the store to see all the things you need for your card, journal, and tag making projects. Have a GREAT Saturday!

Janet YouTube - Blog - Facebook - Instagram - Pinterest 

Friday, April 12, 2024

Little Hello Card by Tasha!

 Happy Friday Ai Friends!

Tasha here sharing a Spring pop-up card featuring the new 5870 - Peeking Bunny Set. This set has quickly become a favorite and I love how the bunny image can pop up in the little flower pot.



The bunny and tulips were all cut with the included coordinating dies and colored with markers. I also added some glitter to the tulips for extra sparkle; they look so pretty!

To allow the bunny to pop up or be removed from the flower pot, I used foam tape on the tulips and a thin layer along the Botton of the pot. I also made sure not the add foam to the center of the pot so the bunny would fit. 

The greeting used "Sending a little hello" is from the 5797 - Little Things Sentiment Set and the banner is from the 5809 - Decorative Journal Page Set 2. I like the stitched border on the banner and the tiny greetings fits perfectly!

Lastly, I added frames from the 5768 - Decorative Journal Page Set 1 and layers of pretty paper. I wanted to continue with the Springtime theme, so I used pastel shades and a layer of Art Impressions floral pattern paper. This paper is beautiful and brings in so much color; I love it!

I hope you enjoyed today's project and are having a great day!



Thursday, April 11, 2024

It's Raining Cats and Dogs Challenge #376 Week 1

 Hello Ai fans!

Welcome to the newest challenge here on the Art Impressions blog.

This time It's Raining Cats and Dogs!!


No rain necessary. We get enough of that where I live.
Just use Cats and/or Dogs on your project. 

Who doesn't love animals?

Before we look and see what I've made,
let's announce the winners of our Pop It Up! challenge.



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!


Our Lucky Random Winner was:
#12 Cynthia Olheiser


She used:


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 my feature, I have a dog "spinner" type card.



These are super simple to make and I have a little picture tutorial for you.
I began by cutting an opening with the largest plain oval from the 5588 Journal Oval frames. It easily cut through the card base, colored cardstock and designer paper.




Next, I cut the scalloped frame from the same set
and pierced a hole to put my safety pin through.



I used the smaller oval from that set to cut a matte for the adorable 5780 FB Sitting Dog.
You'll see his backside in just a bit.



I added a sentiment from 5734 Friend Sentiment set that I stamped on a 
die from 5543 Journal Template Die set. On the bottom, I added a bow from 
5811 Gift Card Pocket Dies.


As promised, here's his cute little backside.


I used some of the oval "scraps" from the other pieces I cut to create a frame for the 
inside of the card and added another sentiment.

I also used a streamer from 5592 Harvest Journal Die set simply
because I think it's so cute!



I hope you'll join our It's Raining Cats and Dogs challenge!


Copics used:
N1, T5, RV91


✻ 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! 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Wednesday, April 10, 2024

***NEW*** Gardening Girlfriends Set by Lynn Dionne

Happy Wednesday Ai Fans!!!


Watch video tutorial here!!!

Let's have some fun today creating a fun card using the brand-new Ai Girlfriends Gardening Set (5798). This adorable set includes three different images of these wonderful gardening ladies and the perfect coordinating sentiments!

We will begin by stamping this little lady with the gardening pots and we will also stamp and color some strawberries from the Ai Berries Set (5795). Then we will be coloring all of the images with the Zig Clean Color Real Brush Pens in the following colors: Blender, Pale Yellow, Bright Yellow, Flesh Colour, Sugared Almond Pink, Geranium Red, Brown, Mid Brown, Beige, Blue Gray, May Green, Deep Green.

Next, we can create the card base with this fun lattice flap! I will show you exactly how to do this in today's video! For the flap we will be using the Ai Decorative Journal Page Set 2 (5809). This card will measure 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" (standard A2 size).

Now we can grab some pretty patterned papers from the Ai Gnome Paper Pack (5832) and die cut the front panel with the same Ai Decorative Journal Page Set 2 (5809) we used to create the flap. Using our paper trimmer, we will cut the floral paper to 4" x 5 1/4".

Let's assemble the card and add a fun sentiment from the Ai Little Things Sentiment Set (5797) that says " Life is short, make it sweet!". I thought it would be fun to have some extra strawberries falling from the basket as she was walking along. We can pop-up a few of these with some small adhesive foam squares.

This fun flap card is great for a birthday, best wishes or a friendship card!

Thank you so much for joining me today!  Have a fun and crafty day!!!

Ai Girlfriends Gardening Set (5798)

Ai Berries Set (5795)

Ai Little Things Sentiment Set (5797)

Ai Decorative Journal Page Set 2 (5809)

Ai Decorative Journal Page Set 1 (5768)

Ai Gnome Paper Pack (5832)

Ai Watercolor Travel Box (4924)



Tuesday, April 9, 2024

Baby Girl Slim Journal! by Reneé Matarese

 Hello everyone and welcome to my first SLIM journal creation.

This journal is exactly like the original journal except that you only need to put two
pages in it. In fact, I only used one page making it even simpler because I added popped
up bows and I didn't want them to get squished.



The pretty heart clasp comes with the Slim Journal.



My journal is a little keepsake for a baby girls first tooth lost and first hair cut.
I used 5811 – Gift Card Pocket Dies to create each of the pockets. which fit perfectly onto the 5768 – Decorative Journal Page Set 1 frame I used behind them.


For the tooth, I cut a smaller pocket using a die from the 5805 – Mini Journal Box Dies and then added the little envelope from 5543 – Journal Template Die Set. I used the bow and rectangle from 5811 – Gift Card Pocket Dies.

The letters were cut from 5562 – Journal Letter Die Set.
This sweet baby girl is from 5185 – Baby Girl Set

The pocket for the lock of hair is the same as the tooth pocket except that I didn't use the small envelope inside. I used a heart from 5543 – Journal Template Die Set.



My journal also can be used as inspiration for our current Pop It Up! challenge on the Art Impressions blog.  My bows are popped up as well as my baby girl being popped up on foam dots. You might win a free stamp set if you enter!


I used 5809 – Decorative Journal Page Set 2 to create the border on my center page.
That's the great thing about these journals. Almost everything is compatible.