Lucky me.

It's been a busy summer, and I haven't had as many posts as I'd like, but I spent most of July getting ahead on my card making commitments so that I could take a couple of weeks vacation in the Rockies with my husband.  The scenery was breathtaking (I've been there many times, but it never disappoints!)  Here are a few shots of Banff, Lake Louise and our family cottage on Kootenay Lake:

These are all unedited jpegs straight out of the camera... but I shot a lot of scenery in raw format, so I can hardly wait to get into Photoshop & Lightroom to see what I can do with them.  If you've never been to the Canadian Rockies, I highly recommend it.  We honeymooned there, and celebrated our 20th anniversary while we were out west again last week - lucky me :o)

New Ai People!

It's time for another challenge on the Art Impressions blog - we have an embossing challenge - we would love to see your creations with either wet or dry embossing.  The Design Team is also helping to launch three new Ai People sets that are now available on the Art Impressions website.  I have a card to share using the Giant Cake set:

I chose to do a strip of dry embossing, using a Swiss dot embossing folder from Cuttlebug.  And here is a close up of our rather excited birthday gal:

You can find all of the new Ai People images in the Ai store... and you'll want to head on over to the Art Impressions blog to see what the rest of the Design Team has to share today.

Happy Stamping everyone!

Watercolouring

I am posting on the Art Impressions blog today.

I've been digging into my watercolour markers again, using several of the Ai Watercolor sets.  I usually do larger scenes, but this time I worked on some smaller vignettes, and loved them!

This is my attempt at an 'artsy' look - LOL!  I bought an old dictionary a while ago, and it has lovely yellowing, aged looking pages, so I cut it up, tore it a little and lightly sponged the edges to give it even more of a worn appearance.  I mounted the watercolour paper squares on some kraft paper and popped them up on pop dots.  Then I tied a knot in some natural coloured hemp to finish them off. 

I use watercolour markers and a wet paintbrush with my stamps.  I love the control that I get by colouring directly onto the stamps with the markers, and then softening/dragging the colour around with the paintbrush. 

I do a little direct-to-paper colouring with the markers to achieve some of the shading, as well.  I still have a lot of learning to do with watercolouring, but I really love the whole process.  I've used mostly stamps from the Watercolor Series 6 Set 2 (Sku #3498) along with the Foliage Set (Sku #4051) and Tall Flower (Sku #1373)

Happy painting everyone!



Pedal Pushers

I am posting on the One Crazy Stamper blog today...  I am a big fan of the Art Impressions Girlfriends stamps... so I have a card made with Pedal Pushers to share.  I went with some pretty, girly colours:

This is a large image!  So I made a large card: 5" x 6 1/2".  I popped up my image on pop dots so that I could tie twine behind it, and set it on an angle to show off the little piece of grey paper behind them that I zigzagged in a couple of places.

Here's what you can find in the OCS store:

Art Impressions Pedal Pushers

Xpress It Blending Cardstock

Memento Tuxedo Black Ink

American Crafts Hemp Twine

Bazzill Cardstock

Doodlebug Designs Summertime paper

Copic Markers: Skin - E13, E11, E00, E000, Greys - C7, C5, C3, C1, Blues - B97, B95, B93, B91, Pinks - R89, R85, R83, R81, Oranges - YR18, YR16, YR15, YR12, Greens - G46, G43, G41, Hair - E57, E55, E53, E51, Y26, Y23, Y21, C5, C3, C1.

Little Sprout

The One Crazy Stamper Design Team is sharing some August inspiration today on the OCS blog.  I've got a sweet little Art Impressions stamp from their Ai Little People collection today, called Little Sprout (Sku #4317):

 

OCS Products used: Art Impressions Little Sprout (Sku #4317)

Hip Hip Hooray, Doodlebug Designs

Copic Sketch Markers: C7, C5, C3, C1, YR18, YR16, YR15, YR12, G07, G14, G21, E11, E00, E000, R20, Y19

Forever In Time Pearl Gems, Tropical

Xpress It Blending Cardstock

Art Impressions - 29 Again

 You can never have too many birthday cards on hand, and the four new 2014 Ai People sets are perfect to help build up your stash.  I have a sweet card using 29 Again Set (Sku #4372) to share today:

When I saw this tiny little floral patterned paper, it reminded me of her dress!  I softened all the edges with a little sponged brown ink, and used a kraft base.

Copics used: E11, E00, E000, R20, R22, B00, B000, B0000, G40, R81, R83, R85, E55, E53, E51

Happy stamping everyone!

 



New Zoo Crew!

The Art Impressions design team is helping to launch two new Zoo Crew images today!  It is also week two of our Big Birthdays challenge on the Ai blog, and the Zoo Crew sets fit the bill perfectly.  I am using Hog Wild Birthday(Sku #4472):

I made this card fairly large - it's 5 3/4" square, as I didn't want the image to be too crowded by the design...  Both of the patterned papers are stitched down to their navy mats, and the white die cut was zigzagged onto it's fuschia mat.  Our little hoglet is popped up on pop dots so that she gracefully floats over the circle... and I used a clear Wink of Stella pen on her leotard and the icing to give them a little shimmer.

Check out what the rest of the design team has to show you today over at the Ai blog, and be sure to enter the Big Birthday challenge for a chance at a pretty awesome prize.

Happy stamping everyone!

Copics: R89, R85, R83, R81, R22, R20, B39, B37, B34, B32, E55, E53, E51, C7, C5, C3, C1, BG07, BG05, B02, B01, B00, B000