Simple Scenes Release!

There are two new Art Impressions Simple Scenes being released today on the Ai blog!  I am using Rocky River for my scene:

I cut out the largest A2 Stitched Rectangle Die from Canson XL Watercolour Paper, and taped it down to my work surface (this gave me a nice 1/8" white area around my image).  I stamped my scene first, colouring the hills in #158 Dark Olive, and the rocks in #N45 Cool Grey 10.  I stamped 5388 - Rugged Tree in #879 Brown on either side, making one a little shorter so that they appear to be different!  Then with the help of my stamp positioner, I added the small house from 5262 - WC Mini Cabins Set coloured in #969 Chocolate/#565 Deep Blue.

With my scene set, I painted in the sky (#593 Reflex Blue), the hillsides in #158, the creek in #593/565 (keeping it streaky, like ripples of water), and sketched in the suggestion of mountains with #565.  For the stones I did layers of greys/blues/taupes, keeping it darker in the crevices, and lighter on the top side of them.  I used the tiny tree from 5372 - WC Mini Foliage in #969 to add a tree beside the house, then used the foliage stamp to add the leaves in #177, and the shrubbery stamp in #177 also.  The foliage stamp was also used for the tall trees, first in #126 Light Olive, and with #177 Dark Jade on top to add a few shadows.  Layers of several browns: #992/969/879 were added to the tree trunks with a little #565 for shadows.  The two grasses from 5126 - WC Foliage Set 4 in #177 were stamped in the foreground around the trees.  Be sure to check out the Ai blog to see what Dot & Tricia have made!

Cards to Donate

 I am happy to be back to my mission to use up supplies that have been in my craft room for way too long!  I was able to completely use up the remnants from my 'Chantilly' paper pack from many moons ago, and managed to get 7 cards put together:

I was able to try out my new 'hello' die from Pinkfresh Studio, and the other two sentiment dies from Creative Expressions were bought for just this purpose - to do a quick, generic sentiment for cards that I plan to donate to a local long term care home & a local charity.

The buttons and flowers are also bits and pieces that have been around forever, so I was glad to find homes for them.

Peeking Animals

 Peeking Animals is one of the new Art Impressions Watercolor stamp sets that is being released today on the Ai blog.  I made a quick 4 1/2" square card using the bunny & squirrel along with the crate from the Rustic Containers set:

There was a little masking involved here!  I started by stamping the stone from the Southwest set, and did not colour the top edge so that I could place my squirrel there with some help from my Stamp Positioner.  I masked them both and placed the crate, again with my positioner, and finally stamped the bunny... with my positioner.  I used flowers from the Flower Set and Mini Flower Set, and greenery from Foliage Set 4

I went in with layers of colour again and again, building them up gradually, and am quite happy with my end result!  I paid a lot of attention to shadows on this one, keeping them subtle, but aiming for contrast between the images.  Check out the blog to see what Dot & Tricia are sharing today.

A Reason to Party

Trying to kickstart my absent mojo today!  And a little ink blending usually does the trick.  A fun slimline card is the result:

I used the Floral Swirl stencil from Creative Expressions, with Distress Oxide inks in: Picked Raspberry, Squeezed Lemonade, Twisted Citron, Cracked Pistachio and Broken China and cut it out with my Diagonal Slimline die from Pinkfresh Studio.

From the newest Say It With Stamps collection from Photoplay, I've used their Party die & stamp set.  I layered the die cut twice to make it a little sturdier before adhering it to my panel with Sticky Specks, and added a few black Nuvo Drops.  I've been wanting to do a few rainbow cards to celebrate Pride Month, so I'm happy to have my first one to share!

Father's Day

 I grabbed a few Photoplay products to put together my Father's Day cards:

This gorgeous plaid is from their O Canada paper pack from a few years ago... I love it.  And I used their Say it with Stamps 'You' dies and stamp set for my sentiments.  The wooden planks behind them are the Shiplap dies from The Greetery, that I sponged and spattered several colours of ink on before die cutting.

I added a few enamel dots onto one, and some faux metallic hardware on the other.  My inside sentiment is simply "Happy Father's Day"

Brand New Art Impressions Foundations

 It's time for a new Watercolour release with Art Impressions!  The four new Foundations sets are each a different large scene, where you simply decide what is going to go in each container.  I'm using the wonderful 5434 - WC Foundations Wood Table today!  I decided that I would make my scene a Farmer's Market - just think of all the different things you could put in those containers!

Before I started, I stamped out all of the images from WC Peeking Animals, and WC Veggies to create masks.  The first thing I stamped was the pumpkin!  Using #933 Orange/#177 Dark Jade, then covered it with a mask.  After stamping my foundations image in Tombow #969/#565, I started by stamping the squirrel in #947 Burnt Sienna, and the possum (I think??) in #992 Sand.  Then, I went to town masking like crazy.  I masked off the edges of each pot, so that the veggies would appear to be in them.  I'm just going to list all of the images and colours used:  Eggplants #636 Imperial Purple; Tomatoes #856 Chinese Red; Broccoli #249 Hunter Green; Artichokes #076 Green Ochre; Yellow Peppers #993 Chrome Orange.  I used the Salvia from 4052 - WC Flower Set 1 in #565 in the top bucket, and the bloom from 4605 - Spring Basket in #856 in the lower bucket.

I painted all of them in by picking up the colour from my palette, adding it in layers to achieve deeper colours.  The warm pots are painted in #947, the blue ones in #493 Reflex Blue, and the greys and wood table are all painted by mixing combinations of #969/#565.  The large grass from 4051 - WC Foliage Set 1 was stamped in #177 around the containers and the colour was pulled out with a damp brush.  I used #565 to create shadows around the sides, under rims and in all the darker corners of my veggies & pots!  #493 was painted in as the sky, and I stamped the sentiment from 5136 - WC Sentiment Set 2 on a circle of watercolour paper cut with the 5064 - Circle Double Stitched Die.  The entire scene was cut out with the largest 5063 - Rectangle A2 Double Stitched Die.  Head over to the Art Impressions blog on Saturday to see the gorgeous projects Dot & Tricia have made!