Focus on Faith Bright Butterflies! by Sara Furr

 Blessings, my dear AI friends!

Welcome to the first edition of "Focus on Faith", for the month of May. 

Today, I have a bright and colorful creation using an alcohol ink background that I created like 2 years ago and never used, so I pulled it out and decided to have a play with it.

 I can't tell you what exact colors I used here, because it was so long ago, but I can tell you that I used Tim Holtz Alcohol inks in a Blue, yellow, and blue, and blending solution on Yupo paper. You just apply some blending solution to the Yupo paper here and there,  and then add drops of alcohol ink here and there,  and let it spread on its own, or you can use a blower tool to push the ink around,  or just keep turning your cardstock side to side to keep the ink moving until it dries. So much fun!

Once my alcohol ink blending was all dried, I applied alcohol lift ink through a stencil, and then wiped off the ink with a paper towel, and it lifts off the alcohol ink and leaves behind the stenciled image.

 I took that background, and I strategically placed the butterflies from the "Butterfly set" on the lighter areas of my background and then stamped out the butterflies and greeting with black Archival ink. I thought these butterflies were perfect for this because they are bold images.

I distressed the edges of the Yupo paper and then I die cut the pretty eyelet border rectangle from the Decorative Journal Page 1 die set and I cut it in half and used it on either side of my stamped panel to add a decorative border. I added some sequins to the panel and added foam tape to the back. I created a 6x6 card base from black cardstock and a matting frame also. I used the black to mat my piece of neutral dsp from the Father's Day Paper pack, and distressed the edges of both and adhered them together and popped them up on my card base with foam tape. To create my decorative strip, I used a piece of white scalloped edge lace and machine stitched a strip of the mint green stripe dsp, also from the Father's Day Paper pack to it, and adhered it to my matted dsp and then popped up my focal panel over top.

Have you ever played with alcohol inks? They are so much fun to play with, and they create something totally unique! If you don't have alcohol inks, you could try something similar with watercolors or dye inks on watercolor paper. You would just have to use bright or strong colors as your base, and make sure it is completely dry before trying to lift the ink through a stencil with a damp paper towel.

Please let me know if you like this technique. Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope you got inspired to have a play with your alcohol inks or if you don't, to try them.

Many blessings my dears, 

Sara Furr- The Crafty Farm Chick

These are all the supplies I used: Links to Ai products are below.

Art Impressions products:

#5200- Butterfly Set

#6072- Father's Day Paper pack

#5768- Decorative Journal Page 1 Die

4774-Stamp positioner

Archival black ink

Other products used:

-Alcohol inks in pink, blue, and yellow.

-blending solution 

-air blower

-Yupo paper

-stencil

-alcohol lift ink

-Paper towel

-scissors to Distress cardstock edges

-white scalloped lace

-sewing machine

-sequins

-die cutting machine

-foam tape, adhesive

For My Friend by Reneé Matarese

Hello Ai fans!

Today I'm sharing a new release with you.

I used the new

6188 – FG Daisy Border
along with one of the current BEAR Freebies (an assortment of little bears to choose as a freebie when you spend $30 or more on the Art Impressions Website)

My card was created with the current Feeling Crafty challenge in mind.

Just enter your project using Kraft paper and Art Impressions products and you'll be entered to win a free stamp set from Art Impressions. 

These daisies are so pretty and they look wonderful in other colors too.

I'll always be here for you by Sharon Caudle

 Hello AI Fans! 

I'm here today to show you a card I made using #6155 Ornate Margin Dies along with #6164 Peony Margin Set. I created a slimline trifold along with a belly band to hold it closed. I created the belly band by stamping the Peony Margin Set onto a Copic friendly paper and coloring it with Copic markers. I then used a paper trimmer to cut it down to size and folded it around the card to make sure it fit. After adhering the ends together, I added a white silk bow to finish it off. Those gorgeous papers are from #6182 Valentines Series 2 Cover PP and the beautiful sentiment is from #5949 Encouragement Sentiments Set. 

So that's it for me today! Thank you so much for stopping by for a visit and until next time - stay crafty!

Scenes of Spring: From the Alps to the Garden by Simone Carr

 

Hello Watercolor Friends,

How amazing is this new release? I absolutely love it!

The house I chose reminded me of the beautiful homes in Bavaria near the Alps, so I wanted to recreate that charming look in my scene.

I started with Canson Watercolor Paper placed in my stamping platform. I stamped the daisies first using Distress Ink Antique Linen. Next, I stamped the house using Tombow N95, only coloring the bottom half of the balcony since I planned to add flowers there later. I then stamped the mountains using N95 as well.

Once all the main images were stamped, I began coloring. I started with the daisies, then moved on to the house using Tombow 947 and 969, making sure to leave some white space along the balcony for the flowers. I used a brown TwinTone marker to draw in lines for a wood texture. The windows were colored with 565, and I used the TwinTone Brown to define the panels. I added shutters to the lower windows using 177. For the door, I drew in a small window, colored it with 565, and used 177 for the door itself.

After the house was complete, I stamped in flowers and foliage around it to build the scene. I saved the mountains and sky for last. To finish, I used white paint to add extra flowers on the balcony, as well as small highlights in the grass, tree, and shrubs.

Materials Used

Stamps & Dies

• 6185 Swiss Villa Set
• 6188 FG Daisy Border
• 5198 Mountain Set
• 5009 Mini Flower Set
• 5372 Mini Foliage Set
• 5010 Tree Set 1
• 5126 Foliage Set 4

Paper

• 5939 Fairy Garden Patterned Paper
• Canson Watercolor Paper

Inks & Mediums

• Distress Ink – Antique Linen (foreground flowers)
• Dr. Ph. Martin’s Bleed Proof White
• TwinTone Marker – Brown

Tombow Markers

• N95 – House (stamped)
• 947, 969 – House, Roof
• 177 – Tree, Grass, Flowers, Door, Shutters
• 027 – Bottom of Mountains
• N65 – Mountains
• 565 – Mountains, House Shading
• 636 – Foreground Flowers, Balcony
• 856 – Balcony Flowers
• 993, 985 – Flower Centers
• 985 – Flowers at the House
• 526 – Sky
• 992 – House Trim

For my second card, I chose to feature the tulips. I stamped the tulips first onto Canson Watercolor Paper using Tombow N95. Next, I lightly penciled in my horizon lines to help guide the scene, then stamped the hot air balloons in the background.

I began coloring the tulips with 993, then added 933, and deepened the shading with 925. I continued building the scene by coloring the balloons and surrounding elements, keeping the background soft so the tulips remain the focal point. All colors used are listed below.

Materials Used

Stamps & Dies

• 6186 FG Tulip Border
• 5789 Hot Air Balloon Set
• 5389 Mini Foliage Set
• 6187 Thinking of You
• 5063 Large Double Stitched Rectangle Die
• 5064 Double Stitched Circle Die (2nd largest – used for frame)

Paper

• 5892 Easter S2 Patterned Paper
• Canson Watercolor Paper

Other

• Foam Tape

Tombow Markers

• N95 – Tulips & Balloons (stamped)
• 993, 933, 925 – Tulips
• 993, 025, 373 – Hot Air Balloons
• 856, 947 – Accents
• 177 – Foliage