Art Impressions 2015 Girlfriends

Hello AI Fans!!

Wow this week just FLEW by for me! Hope you're enjoying the start of your weekend! Today I'm showing you a card I made featuring one of the new 2015 Girlfriends called Bench Set from Art Impressions!  Isn't this set fantastic?!!

Copics used: E11, E00, E000, R20, E33, E35, E39, Y21, Y23, E97, E99, E17, C3, C5, C7, E70, E71, E74, E77, G94, G99, BG93, BG96, Y32, E13, E15, BG72, BG75, BG78, T1, T2, B93, B95, B97

InLinkz.com

Thanks so much for stopping by for a visit! Have a fabulous weekend and hope you have some time to get crafty!

Papertake Weekly - Take Your Pick!

Hey everyone! It's time for a new challenge at Papertake Weekly, and since it's the last Tuesday of the month, it's a Take Your Pick challenge! So your choices are:

Sketch #101 (on PTW blog)

Color challenge - use blue and green

technique - make an easel card

Product - use glitter

We are sponsored by the amazing folks over at Simon Says Stamp!

For my card today, I chose to go the easel card route and use one of the new Art Impressions Spinners! I used Throttle Spinner and Throttle Spinner Dies to cut her out. The papers are Simple Stories Say Cheese.

Please be sure to pop over to Papertake Weekly to check out all the amazing creations by the design team, and then we'd love it if you'd grab your paper and glue and play along with us! Thanks for stopping by to see me today and hope to see you back again soon! Hugs!

Art Impressions Big Mouths tutorial featuring Bertha Big Mouth

Hello AI Fans!!

Hope you're having an awesome start to your weekend! And to those in the States,  Happy Memorial Day Weekend! I would like to take this opportunity to say THANK YOU to all who have served or who has/have had family that has served!!

Today I've got a couple Bertha Big Mouth cards to show you, along with a bit of a tutorial to show you how I assemble them.  So my apologies...this is going to be a very picture heavy post. For those of you looking for a tutorial,  I hope this helps!  First...the finished cards.

Ok, here we go. Color your image and cut it out. Then cut your mouth out using the die. To do this accurately, make a template by cutting out the die on a small square of paper. Take the negative of the die cut, place it in the proper place on the face and hold in place with a couple pieces of washi tape. Slip the die into the negative and put through your die cutting machine.

Cut out a black pull tab measuring 5 1/4" x 1 1/8".  Cut white pull tab measuring 3 3/4" x 1 1/8". Stamp your teeth on the top of the white pull tab and trim them out.    If desired, cut a decorative piece of paper to cover the bottom of the pull tab 1 1/8" wide.

Glue the white tab to the black tab, then the decorative piece on top of the white. Then line up the mouth piece from your image so the mouth is showing just the right amount of teeth and glue in place.

Now take your image, your panel you're going to mount it on, and your pull tab, and center it on your panel the way you're going to want it to be. Don't glue anything down!!

With a pencil, mark on the bottom portion of your square so you know where you want to cut your panel to put the pull tab through. Cut it out (make sure it's a little wider than the 1 1/8" pull tab. Then measure up about 1/2" and cut out another piece for your pull tab.

Now you need to create a stop on your pull tab so it won't slip out of your card. Just cut a strip of paper that is wider than your slit for your pull tab, and glue it to the PULL TAB ONLY on the back. You want the pull tab to move freely.  The stop will keep it from going too far in either direction.  

Apply pop dots to back of image, but be sure not to put them anywhere around the center where the pull tab mechanism will be moving up and down. Remove the backing to the pop dots and carefully align the image with your pull tab. Trim the bottom of the pull tab to desired length after lining your image back up on the square with your pull tab inserted and mouth is closed. Do not trim with mouth open because you could trim it too short.  You have now created a very sturdy pull tab, but it will wobble from side to side. So I created an anchor that will hold the tab in place. To make the anchor, cut another piece of paper wide enough (about 1 1/2" long and a little more than 1/2" wide) to wrap all the way around the pull tab with a little bit of hangover. Fold it over the pull tab and crease it. Make sure it's not too tight around the pull tab so it will still slide through it.

 

This is just to show you how to fold it over the pull tab. It does not go on the bottom of the pull tab as this shows!!

 

Then take that piece and apply a strong adhesive such as Scor Tape to both the top and bottom. You want to then slip this onto the top portion of the pull tab and slide it down so it will be glued to the back of Bertha's head between the top of her head and the top of her mouth. You want to make sure it's thin enough so you can't see it sticking out from underneath her anywhere. Once you have it aligned, press it into place so it adheres to both the back of her image and to the panel you've mounted her on.  Trim the top of the pull tab to the very top of your guide, and you will be finished! No more wobbling from side to side, and a very sturdy pull tab that will hold up to being opened and closed many, many times.

InLinkz.com

Copics used on top card: E11, E00, E000, R20, R22, R24, R27, B21, B24, B26, YR02, YR04, YR07, YR09, Y32, E31, YG13
Copics used on second card: E04, E11, E00, E000, R20, R22, R24, R27, C5, C1, C3, B06, B04, B02, W1, W3, W5, Y23, Y26, Y32, Y35, Y38, YG17

I hope this was able to help you a little. I know it can get a little confusing. So if you have any questions or need a little more explanation about one of the steps above, please don't hesitate to contact me. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and hope you have some time this weekend to get crafty!

Art Impressions Cards with Movement challenge and launch of the brand new SPINNERS!!

Hello AI Fans!!  It's time for a new challenge at Art Impressions Blog, and we're also launching the absolutely fabulous AI Spinners!!!!  I don't know about you, but I really love interactive cards, and AI hit the jackpot with their Spinners and Big Mouths! I HAD to have every single one of them, without exception! The Spinner I'm showing you today is the incredibly cute Scaredy Spinner (sku# 4575)!!   I don't have the matching die for this yet, so I fussy cut the kitty out. But the matching dies makes it SO much easier!!

And the view from the inside!

 

 

Now I found the trickiest part to making these cards was to attach the string where it wouldn't slip out. Holding it n place with adhesive didn't work for me. I pulled it out twice. So this is how I assembled mine.  I made sure I aligned my die cut in the center of my card.  This is a 5" card, so I then measured 2 1/2" in from both sides on both the top and bottom of the card base, making sure not to get too close to the opening in case the thread tore the paper a little. I marked my spot with a pencil, then used my paper piercer to punch a small hole. I used strong/outdoor thread that I purchased at JoAnn's.

 

 

 

Then I put my thread through the hole, and pulled both ends into the opening and tied a few knots.

 

 

Trim the short piece so it doesn't stick out from between the card layers.  Then put your thread through the other hole, and while holding it as taut as you can, tie more knots.

 

 

Even when you get it nice and taut, your thread is going to loosen up. At least every one of mine has, but it doesn't hinder the action as long as you make sure you center your image in your opening where it doesn't touch anywhere so it can spin freely. Once you get your thread tied, go ahead and layer up your card and decorate as desired! TIP! When you glue your front and back Spinner together with the string/thread between the two layers, use a liquid glue. This gives you a little time to adjust the position of them so they match perfectly. If you use a tape runner or any type of dry glue, you won't be able to move the two pieces around at all.    One more tip!! It's not going to work as well if you only spin it a couple times before you close your card.  I REALLY wind it up....I can feel the thread tightening up when I'm winding it up. If you wind it up enough, it will really spin well when it's opened by the recipient. :)

 

So that's it for me today!  Please be sure and pop over to the Art Impressions Blog to check out all the amazing creations by the design team, and then I hope you play along with our new Cards with Movement challenge! Thanks so much for stopping by to see me today and hope to see you back again soon!! Hugs!

 

papers: Doodlebug Lovebugs

May Arts 1 1/4" silk ribbon

flowers and sentiment banner cut with the Silhouette

Viva Décor Pearl Pen

image colored with Copic markers C1, C3, YG13, RV11, RV14, and RV17

 

 

 

Papertake Weekly - With A Heart!

Hi everyone! Hope you're having a wonderful start to your week! It's time for a new challenge at Papertake Weekly, and this week Dawny is asking for you to use a heart shape somewhere on your project. Easy, right?  We are sponsored this week by the amazing Mary and Andrea over at The Ribbon Girl!! Be sure to hop over there and check out all the yummy goodness they have in their wonderful shop! I could spend my entire paycheck! LOL!

For my card today, I used a sweet stamp from Wild Rose Studio. Love this precious little ellie!

The fun papers are Doodlebug Lovebugs. The shaped card, image frame, and fishtails were cut with the Silhouette. The sentiment is from Paper Smooches. I adore the fonts Kim uses for their sentiment sets!

Please be sure to pop over to Papertake Weekly to check out all the gorgeous projects by the design team, and then we'd love it if you'd grab your paper and glue and play along with us! Thanks so much for stopping by to see me today, and hope to see you back again soon! Hugs!

Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps May release and blog hop!!!

Woohooooo!!! We're so excited! It’s our MAY RELEASE Day at KRAFTIN' KIMMIE STAMPS!! And we’re celebrating with a KRAFTY HOP!! So grab yourself a cuppa joe, sit back and be prepared for some krafty eye kandy! We're going to inspire your creations with our fun, new rubber stamps!

Over the last few days in our Krafty Peeks, we have shared lots of amazing creations featuring new stamp sets from all of our artists for our... May release! We know these new stamps will inspire you to make your own fabulous creations! First off, we have a fabulous new spring set from artist, Annie Rodrigue called CHASE YOUR DREAMS! Plus a new set of mini stamps featuring some of her earliest images which are no longer available called ITTY BITTY FRIENDS! Also we have an awesome new masculine set from artist Emilie Goulet called WILD & CRAZY GUYS! Plus the perfect set for wedding season from Cheryl Grant called HAPPILY EVER AFTER!

You will get to see ALL of the new images today as you sit back and enjoy our MAY Krafty Hop! As you hop from blog to blog, be sure to leave a comment at each and every stop because one lucky stamper will win a gift card to the shop!! When you’re done hoppin’, be sure to head over to the Kraftin’Kimmie shop, because ALL the new rubber stamp sets are NOW available!! And don't forget...if you NEED it all, we have a Gimme Kimmies Kit which features ALL the new May stamps at a discount!! But only for a limited time!

We've also got MORE new goodies in the shop including new paper pads plus MORE new Kimmie's Sparkles!! and a totally new section of fun embellishments called BEAUTIFUL BUTTONS!!

Now let's celebrate with our NEW RELEASE and get hoppin' and shoppin'!!

My card today features the fabulous Wild & Crazy Guys by Emilie Goulet! LOVE these guys!! I used a golf bag and golf cart that are Silhouette files, and just stamped the fabulous sentiment right onto the bag.