Just a Note

 

Esther here today sharing a bee themed card. I started by watercoloring the top left part of mix media card front with watercolor paints from Zenacolor. Next I stamped the honeycomb design from Sweet as Honey in Tumbled Glass Distress Oxide (Ranger), and added a few white paint splatters. To finish it off, I added a sentiment from Everyday Greetings and embossed the entire panel with the Organic Lined 3D embossing folder from Altenew. 

The bees and flowers (In This Together) were stamped in Versafine Clair Nocturne Ink  and colored with Arteza Real Brush Pens. I stamped, colored, and popped up an extra flower in the center of my arrangement for a bit more dimension.

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Two cards - One background

 

 Hello friend. Esther here today sharing two cards I created with one striped background. My first card features the BRAND NEW Alleluia Lilies and coordinating Alleluia Lilies Dies that I used to practice some no-line watercoloring. I stamped the Background Builders: Stripes on white card stock and added some spot stamping with Psalm 23 Background. I trimmed it into a long strip and matted it on green card stock.  To add a bit of interest to the white card front I used the Delightfully Delicate Stencil and some peeled paint distress oxide. The sentiment is stamped in Versafine Clair Nocturne Ink.

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My second card uses the leftover piece of striped paper that I created with the Background Builders: Stripes set turned the other way and used across the bottom of my card. 

  I created a focal point for my card using Flower Garden and Sweet As Honey, which I colored with Arteza Real Brush Pens. The top part of my card is a collage consisting of Flower Garden, Cheerful Hexies, and Psalm 23 Background. The Fence Die divides the two sections and a sentiment from Encouraging Thoughts is stamped in Versafine Clair Nocturne Ink  ink across the bottom.

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Sweeter than Honey

Hi Sweet 'n Sassy friends! It's Julee here with an almost one layer creation for you today. I love this beautiful beehive image from the Bee Sweet set, and really wanted to make it the focal point of a card.

I stamped the hive first, then masked off the hive and each teeny leaf and stenciled the background with the Great Outdoors stencil and speckled egg distress oxide.  I went in with a heavier touch than I wanted, so I stenciled over again with some unicorn pigment to soften the color. I really love how it turned out.

I had also masked off the bottom section of the card and stamped the Wood Backgrounds as a thick bench for the hive to sit on.  I used a variety of brown inks and some Copics to blend it how I wanted.

The scripture verse is from the Sweet as Honey set and stamped directly over the hive.  I then stamped two little bees on the panel, then stamped them again on scrap cardstock, colored and layered just the fussy cut birdies and wings over the stamped bees for a little dimension.

Probably the masking took the most time, but I really enjoyed the whole process. Hope you did too!

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Texture Tiles 4 (x3) - Bee Amazing!

Hi Friends!

Today I have some more fun projects using one stamp (well two really) from Sweet N Sassy creating three looks. The new Texture Tiles 4 makes for some great background and to tie my projects together, I added the bee from Sweet as Honey. Of course I have also used other sets (I will point them out as I go) but these are the focus on all of my projects.

My first project is a mixed media art journal page (in my 6x6 journal). This is my more complex project as it uses the most stash supplies and got me the inky-est :)

Recipe:

• Background - Tim Holtz Tissue Wrap Melange; Distress Paint in Peeled Paint, Mowed Lawn, Broken China, Cracked Pistachio, Mermaid Lagoon
• Background stamps - Texture Tiles 1 using Archival Inks Manganese Blue
• Splatters - White and Black Arcylic Dylusions
• Corner texture - Tim Holtz Stencil with Black Modeling Paste (TCW)
• Sentiment (big) God is For You Clear stamp set from SNSS inked with Gina K Black Amalgam Ink, (little) From Tim Holtz Small Talk sticker book.
• Border Image - Texture Tiles 4 stamped repeatedly around the edges over and over.
• Bee image from Sweet as Honey stamped with Gina K Black Amalgam and colored with Copics Y17, Y19, Y15 and W0, W1, W3, W5 (with Wink of Stella on wings)- popped up with foam felt and adhered with Multi Matte Medium
• Highlights added with White gel pen

My Second project is a less complex and uses the four plaid tiles to create "quilty" look.
I used a circle stitched die from Simon Says Stamps and a Circle die from Spellbinders to cut out the image using the out of the box die technique. I added a foam dot under the bee's wings to make them look more dimensional.
Recipe:

• For the Bee, I used a circle stitched die from Simon Says Stamps and a Circle die from Spellbinders. For the squares, I used square stitched die from Simon Says Stamps and a square die from Spellbinders.
• Bee image from Sweet as Honey stamped with Gina K Black Amalgam and colored with Copics Y17, Y19, Y15 and W0, W1, W3, W5 (with Wink of Stella on wings).
• Background Image - Texture Tiles 4 - all four stamped with Gina K Black Amalgam Ink on Neenah Solar White
• Sentiment - So Thankful
• My background paper is cut with A Jillian Vance Design Basic Polka Dot Die

My Final Project is a Clean And Simple card on kraft.
Recipe:

• My rectangles are all cut with A Jillian Vance Design Basic and/or Polka Dot Dies
• Background Image - Texture Tiles 4 - stamped with Versa Mark for a tone on tone look
• Bee image from Sweet as Honey stamped with Gina K Black Amalgam and colored with Polychromos pencils. I stamped right on top of the plaid background and colored over it.
• Sentiment - "Bee" from Sweet as Honey and "Amazing" from Bitty Minnie Alpha
• I added twine and enamel dots then popped the center panel up with foam felt

I hope you are inspired - see how you can stretch your stamps by trying multiple ways to use it. And no matter what else you do, HAVE FUN!!

Thanks for stopping by!
Lyn

'Tis So Sweet

Hello sweet friends!  Hope you had a wonderful week and are ready to enjoy the weekend!  I have a couple of cards to share with you today using stamps that are now back in stock at the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Store.

This Hymn Block coordinate beautifully with the Sweet as Honey stamp set.  After sponging distress inks on a glossy card stock panel and stamping the honeycomb from the Sweet as Honey stamp set, a little sanding in both directions helped to create a faux linen look.  Some Long Stem Silhouettes were stamped in the corner and square aperture was cut from the panel with a square die.  A frame was created and this panel was popped over another faux linen piece on which words from the time-loved hymn, 'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus, was stamped.  The Honey Bee was stamped, colored, fussy cut and popped onto the card.

Have you ever had a loss of Mojo.  I've found that inspiration can come from almost anywhere if you just look around.  This next card was inspired by my shower curtain!

The stripes along the right side were stenciled while the flower from Mason Jar Bouquet was stamped several times and fussy cut.  These were mounted to a black panel in a way that resembled my shower curtain.  They were then embossed with a canvas impression plate to create the texture of fabric.  The sentiment was white embossed on a black fussy cut banner....No Coloring and very easy to make!

These stamp sets from the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Store were used to create the cards above:

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Take a look around...what can you find to inspire some creativity?

Happy stamping until next time!

Hugs,

Cathy

Thank you

Hello Everyone!!  It's Sheri here with another card using the recently released Sweet as Honey stamp set.  I just had to make another card with this set.  Not sure if you can tell but this card has some serious dimension.  Every layer except the bottom is popped up with foam pop dots and it took everything for me not to raise that too.  I just love how dimension brings a card to life.  I normally hand deliver or use padded envelopes to mail my cards.  Hope you will be inspired to add a little dimension to your next card.

Thank you so much for stopping by!

 

God is Always With You - Distress Inks and Embossing Folder techniques

Do you have any crafty tools that if you were stranded on a crafter's desert island, you would have to have - no questions asked?? For me that is my embossing machine. I love my dies but I l-o-v-e, love my embossing folders! They can add texture and dimension to a CAS card giving it movement but still keeping it simple. They are versatile in the techniques you can do with them and they are fairly inexpensive. It is one of my favorite things for card making. 

Today I used my embossing folders and created 2 different cards. I used distress oxides on both sides of the folder for a stamp/stencil look and a debossed look. I used a honeycomb embossing folder, and paired it with the bee from the Sweet as Honey Stamp Set. The nature theme of the background made me think of the sentiment "God is Always with You" from the God is For You Stamp Set so I also paired it with my cards.

For the first card ...

• Lightly tap Spiced Marmalade and Fossilized Amber Distress Oxides randomly over the inside/FRONT side of the folder (this is the side that typically has the brand stamped on it)
• Spritz it with water
• Gently lay the the watercolor paper on top of it
• Close the folder and allow the color to soak into the paper for a couple of minutes
• Take it out of the folder and sit it aside to dry.
• While I didn't press hard enough to emboss, you can do so even running it through your machine. However, it squeezes the color out a bit and I wanted a more "crisp" image (water color-y crisp if that makes sense?)
• I heat embossed the sentiment onto the card with bronze power (If you emboss the background, you can't stamp it directly to the card...)
• I heat embossed the bee as well and water colored it, fussy cut it, and adhered it with glue dots (three high under the wings for dimension)

For the second card...

• Lightly tap Spiced Marmalade and Fossilized Amber Distress Oxides randomly over the inside/BACKside of the folder (this is the side that does not have a brand stamped on it)
• Spritz it with water
• Gently lay the the watercolor paper on top of it.
• The backside usually has more space to cover so it isn't' going to be crisp, therefore, this time I close the folder and run it through my embossing machine
• Take it out of the folder and sit it aside to dry.
• I heat embossed the sentiment onto a separate piece of paper with black powder and mounted it onto the background.
• I heat embossed the bee as well and water colored it, fussy cut it, and adhered it with foam dots. 

You can definitely see how different each card is and yet you use the same simple tool and basically the same process for both. What do you think? What is your favorite versatile tool?

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great weekend!

Lyn

 

sweetness to the soul

Good morning!

 

Today I am sharing this card using the Sweet As Honey and Fantastic Flowers stamp sets.  Who says a card with bees has to be black & yellow? Pink bees? Yes, please!

 

I love using this set for a collage.  If you look close, there are also some leaves in the background.  The flower was paper pieced and I added Stickles to the center.  The bee was popped up.  I had a few scraps of black cardstock laying close by so I added them in the corners and was happy with the simple layout for this busy panel.

 

Have a great day!

Diane

 

You're so Sweet

Hello Everyone!!  It's Sheri here with a card featuring the NEWLY released Sweet as Honey stamp set.  As soon as I saw this set I knew I wanted to make a fun & bold card with it.  I wanted to use a piece of  black and white striped paper for my background and after searching through my stash and coming up empty I decided to create my own.  I cut 1/4" black strips of card stock and spaced them evenly on a piece of white card stock.  I loved the idea of being able to create my own in a pinch or when you need to match to a specific project your working on.

I thought that I would share a second card that I created earlier this month for a little added inspiration.  As you can see I had a lot of fun with this set.

Sweet as Honey

 

Thank you so much for stopping by!

A Sweet Combo

Hello friends!  Cathy here with two cards to share using the new Sweet as Honey stamp set paired with Scribble Flowers...what a sweet combination!

Intimidated by watercoloring?  Try this...To create the watercolored frame, attach the swirly scribble flower upside down on an acrylic block and paint color burst on the back of the stamp.  Give it a little spritz of water and stamp onto heavy card stock.   Bristol board was used here but water color paper or mixed media paper would also work.  If you do not have Color Burst, use any water based marker like Tombows to color on the back of the stamp and give it a spritz of water.  Clean the stamp and continue to randomly stamp flowers around the panel.  It might look a little messy, but just wait until the next step!  When completely dry, turn the stamp right side up on the block and emboss the flower outline over the watercolored flowers.  Now it's lookin' good!  The little swirly flower was used to fill in the gaps and a little messy stitching was added to the frame.  Color Burst was painted on the honeycomb stamp from the Sweet as Honey set, stamped on a separate panel, and spritzed with water to lighten.  The frame was popped up onto this panel using foam tape.  The sentiments, bees and sequins were added to finish the card.

The second card was made using the same sweet combo but with a completely different look.  Distress Oxide inks were sponged onto white Neenah card stock and over stamped with the honeycomb.  The Honeycomb was also stamped on a plain white panel and spritzed with watered down oxide ink.  The panels were cut with curvy edges and stitched together to make the base for the card.  The bees and flower were colored with Copic Markers and popped onto the card.  The sentiment was stamped twice, once on the card and once on scrap card stock in a different color to add contrast.  A few sequins were added to finish the card!

The stamps used to make both cards are available at the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Store.

Please note that while the store is open for shopping, 

shipping will resume on August 4th after the big move!

I hope you've BEEn inspired!

Thanks so much for stopping by...have a wonderful Sunday!

Cathy

sweet as honey

Good morning!

 

Today I am sharing this card using the Sweet as Honey stamp set from this month's release.  There's something about bee stamps that is hard to resist and this set has some wonderful text to go with it!

 

I sponged yellow ink, then used the images with 2 of the sentiments to create a collage background and popped up one bee on the side.

 

Have a great day!

Diane