Another Vintage Vixen

 I've been playing with another one of the newly released Vintage Vixens from Art Impressions!  All of the ladies in this collection have a little bit of attitude going on, which I absolutely love :o)  Here is my card using Six Layer Set (Sku #4592):

 One of the papers in this pack had a smaller pattern on it, so I decided to paper piece her dress, and coloured the rest of her up with Copic markers.  Don't forget that our Make Me Smile challenge is still happening here on the blog - and I think my little Vintage Vixen fits the bill perfectly.  You can link up your own creation here and have the chance to win a prize! 

 Happy stamping everyone.

Copics used: Skin - E11, E00, E000, R20

Hair - E18, E07, E02

Shoes - Y26, Y23, Y21

Bowl - BG78, BG75, BG72, BG70

Spoon - YG91

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Mini Crab Front & Back card

Hello Ai fans!

I'm a big fan of all of the Ai Mini Front & Back stamp sets... and today I'm sharing a little card that I made with the Frog & Crab Mini Set (Sku #4406):

 I used a paper pack with a seaside theme... then freehand drew the seashell (he's supposed to be a hermit crab, get it?!) and coloured it with Copic markers to give it a little dimension.  You can't see the zig zag stitching too well, but it's a soft shell pink colour that brings out the pinks in the paper a bit.

 I always like to have a little bit of patterned paper on the inside that will show through the opening.

 Here's a closeup of the crab so that you can see the pretty background paper showing through a bit better.  This set includes both the crab & the frog... so stay tuned for my froggy cards in the near future.  Happy stamping!

Copics used: Seashell - E55, E53, E51

Crab - R35, R32, R30

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A couple of Christmas cards

I'm a little behind on adding to my 2015 Christmas card stash, but luckily I had time to play along with both Merry Monday (use angels/cherubs) and I've used the sketch at The Challenge to put two cards together.  I've actually had these angel images coloured for about a year and a half!! (I'd like to think that my colouring has improved in the meantime)  And I'd even had these papers in mind when I did... so at long last, here they are:

Patterned papers are Elemental, CTMH; Cardstock is Pacifica, Colonial White & Cranberry, CTMH; Ink is Tuxedo Black, Memento; Copic Markers; Joy die, Memory Box.

Introducing... Ai Big Mouths!

The Art Impressions Design Team are launching a brand new line now available through the Art Impressions website: Ai Big Mouths!  These are the most hilarious stamp sets... there are three different ones, and I am sharing Bertha Big Mouth (Sku #4566) today:

and when you pull on the tab...

 If you scroll down, you'll see that the inside sentiment says: "It's your birthday... smile while you still have teeth!"  I love that her toothless grin is a little unexpected :o)  She comes with the Bertha image, as well as a set of teeth stamp - and a complete set of instructions.

The teeth are stamped on a pull tab, and her lower lip and chin are cut out in a square shape that is glued onto the pull tab, just below the teeth.  A black square is glued under where Betha's mouth will be positioned, and two slits are cut just below it - where the pull tab will be threaded through.

After threading the pull tab and gluing down the circle, I positioned Bertha overtop of the black square and set the lips closed ready to be pulled open by the recipient.

You'll want to check out the Art Impressions blog to see the other two images, and the samples by the rest of the Design Team.  We're also starting a new challenge today on the Ai blog, which is "Make Me Smile" pretty appropriate to go with the new Big Mouths, don't you think?

Copics used: Skin - E11, E00, E000

Pinks - R81, R83, R85, R89

Greens - G41, G43, G46

Yellows - Y17, Y13, Y11

Greys - C5, C3, C1, C00

Lips - R35, R32, R30

Beach Try Fold card

 I hope you all had a wonderful Easter!  I had some crafty time over the weekend, so today I have one of the new 2015 Try-fold sets from Art Impressions to share - here is Beach TF Set (Sku #5477):

I usually like to trim my try-folds fairly close to the images, but I wanted to emphasize both the sky & the sand for this one, so I left a bigger halo.  Here are a few shots showing the card opening up:

The inside sentiment is: "may your life be filled with blessings as countless as the grains of sand".  I backed the two side panels with some patterned paper, and mounted it all on a 5 1/2" x 4 1/4" panel.  Happy stamping everyone!

Copics used: Sky - B01, B00, B000, B0000

Browns - E57, E55, E53, E51, E50

Greys - W5, W3, W1, W00

Reds - R35, R32, R30

Yellows - Y38, Y35, Y32

Purples - BV04, BV02, BV01, BV00

Greens - YG05, YG03, YG01, G46, G43, G41

I Wuff You

Ha!  I love this sweet little sentiment that comes with the puppy in the Woof Set from Art Impressions.  This is one of the Ai Zoo Babies - and Lora has all four Zoo Babies in the One Crazy Stamper store, so you'll want to check them out!  I decided to do something different with today's cards, as I'm usually a bit of a patterned paper junkie.  I love all the watercoloured backgrounds that I'm seeing on people's blogs, so I cut some small rectangles of watercolour paper, grabbed some of my mini Distress Inks and got to work.  Here's what I came up with:

 The first card uses Mustard Seed and Picked Raspberry Distress Inks.  I tapped each ink onto a clear acrylic block which I used as my watercolour palette.  Then I dipped my paintbrush into clean water and wet the cardstock.  With a slightly damp brush, I picked up the Raspberry (pink) ink and dabbed it three or four times onto the wet area of the paper.  The ink immediately started to spread wherever the paper was wet.  After cleaning the brush, I then picked up the Mustard (yellow) ink and did the same thing.  You can see the areas where the two colours met and blended - forming an orange shade.  I love the randomness of the pattern!  The ink will only go where the paper is wet, which allows you to have some control.

The second card uses Peacock Feathers and Mustard Seed again.  I love watching the colours blend!  And if you don't find the colours to be deep enough, you simply drop more ink onto the paper until you achieve a colour that you're happy with.  You'll get the best results if you remember how we all learned about the colour wheel in school... red + yellow = orange, blue + yellow = green etc.  But I encourage you to get out your Distress Inks or a set of watercolours, and play! 

 I coloured the puppies with Copic markers, picking up the colours of the background for their ribbons.  Then I fussy cut them out, and popped them up on pop dots.  Here's what you can find in the OCS store:

Art Impressions Woof Set (Sku#4532)

Fabriano Watercolor Paper

Memento Tuxedo Black Ink

Tim Holtz Distress Ink Mini Kit #1

Copics used: E57, E55, E53, E51, E50, YR18, YR16, YR12, BG15, BG13, BG11

Got any cake??

It's a new month, and a new challenge over on the One Crazy Stamper blog!  Our April challenge is "Anything Goes" - you can use any products you like, just no digi stamps please :o)  I have a fun Front & Back image from Art Impressions called Any Cake Set :

After stamping & colouring both the front and back images, I cut them out, and glued them together.  I cut a window through all the layers on the front of my card, just large enough for the little group of raccoons to peek through:

Here's what they look like from the inside - I like to put a piece of patterned paper on the inside behind the window for a little added colour:

 Be sure to check out the inspiration from the rest of the Design Team on the OCS blog, and get ready to link up your creations to our April challenge!

There are quite a few of the Art Impressions Front & Backs sets in the One Crazy Stamper store - here's a list of the products you'll find there from today's card:

Art Impressions Any Cake set

Xpress It Blending Cardstock

Memento Tuxedo Black Ink

Copic Markers: W7, W5, W3, W1, E57, E55, E53, E51, E50

Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Pumice Stone