I hope you are all having a FINTASTIC summer! Today we are kicking off the sneak peeks for the Under the Sea with Honey Bee new release!!! I am so excited for you all to see what an amazing collection of stamps, dies, and embellishments will be in the Honey Bee Stamps store this Friday 7/14!
Today fellow designer, Lisa, and I are sharing a look at one of my most favorite stamps in this whole release over on the Honey Bee Stamps blog today. The Under the Sea stamp set features two adorable mermaids, one of which is featured on my card today! You can see more at Honey Bee Stamps HERE.
Here is my Card for today featuring the Under the Sea stamp set! If you are wanting to know the products I have used for this card there will be a supply list at the bottom of this post.
I had a lot of fun making this textured background and of course coloring this sweet little mermaid! I plan on showing you more later this week, including how I did my background. Until then here is a few more photos of my sneak peek card for today.
Supplies Used:
(supplies are linked to a shopping source below where available. Some links may not work until release day. Affiliate links used where available)
Affiliate Links used in this post where available at NO cost to you! Thanks for your support!
I love what Illustrated Faith has brought to Christian Creatives, and I have grown deeper in knowledge and in my faith since beginning to create in and outside of my bible. I believe that Faith based art and papercraft is more than just for the pages of my bible , so when I saw that Shanna Noel (that incredibly inspiring and kind-hearted woman) was kicking off a 30 day happy mail challenge, I got very excited and knew I had to participate. I also think this challenge can be different for everyone….. you can customize it to fit YOU. That being said I will share what I have in mind for the challenge (as I see it) and how I will be approaching it!The basic idea is that you send some old-fashioned snail mail to a different person every day for 30 days. That’s it in a nutshell. This doesn’t have to be super time-consuming or cost more than a postage stamp and paper. Email is quick and convenient and pretty much the norm when communicating with our family and friends. So when you actually receive a letter or card in the mail, it just FEELS special. Can you remember the last time you received a letter or card or gift in the mail? Did it bring you joy? I am betting it did. Who wouldn’t want to be apart of something fulfilling and FUN like that! We definitely need more Joy, more Kindness, and more encouraging and lifting each other up.
To make things easy on yourself, you might want to gather a few things and keep them organized by your desk or a designated spot. The supplies you will want to pull together will really depend on how elaborate or simple you want your happy mail to be (BOTH are good!). I am going to list a few basic things and optional things that I am setting aside for myself, maybe that will help you figure out what you want to pull together.
I encourage you to use whatever you have on hand and try to think of new ways to use the supplies you already own. I am linking my favorite things that are tried and true and that I really do love, but again, you do not need to spend anything to make this challenge work for you! Another option is to get together with friends and share supplies! Any excuse for crafting and fellowship sounds great to me!
Paper Trimmer: THIS one is my favorite and is by Tonic. I also really love THIS one by Fiskars.
Scoreboard: (only if you already have one, a trimmer can do the job just fine if you don’t) I am using THIS mini one which is by Martha Stewart. There is a number of them on the market though.
Bone Folder: I recommend THIS teflon bone folder, It’s a little pricey but it will last you forever and it will be the only one you ever use! The reason for the teflon is that when you use it to crease your paper you will not get that shiny streak on your cardstock that other bone folders leave behind.
Cards and envelopes: (unless you are making your own of both) You can pick these up anywhere but THESE envelopes are my current favorite , and some of them have a slight shimmer. I also like THESE that are made of vellum. As far as card bases, I prefer to use this heavy weight cardstock HERE and cut and fold my own. This pack of 25 will make 50 A-2 size card bases. They also sell it in 250 count reams HERE. I find they are more sturdy and I like top fold cards better.
Envelope template or tool: (if you are making your own envelopes) HERE is the one that I use and love!
Adhesive: (wet, dry, or both, whatever your preference is) My prefered Wet Adhesive Currently is THIS ONE by Nuvo and for dry adhesives I am liking THIS one by Tombow since my old favorite has been discontinued. For a very strong dry adhesive I love THIS tape, and it comes in lots of different widths. It is great for applying glitter and foil to as well.
Black ink pad: (and other colors if you wish) My favorite is THIS black ink pad for crisp lines which is also waterproof when dry. For copic coloring or any alcohol based ink I like using THIS particular Hero Arts ink pad. For colored ink I really love the distress inks and especially the Distress Oxide ink pads. There is a great deal HERE If you are looking for them.
Die cuts: (Ephemera, Die cut packs, Digital cut apart, Die cuts you cut from your Cricut or Silhouette) I love the die cut packs from Illustrated Faith and Bella Blvd., Doodlebug is another company I buy ephemera or die cuts from often.
Some people are choosing to swap addresses with their online friends and do the 30 day challenge that way, some are randomly sending out happy mail to various people they know, Some are sending cards to friends and family. You don’t have to know who you are sending to for the whole challenge, Like Shanna said, you could decide that day who you’re sending to or you can make a list one week at a time if that works better for you. The HOW you approach thischallenge is whatever works for YOU, and the great thing is, you can figure that out as you go along the 30 days, or you can plan it all out now. That being said I will go ahead and share my ideas and plans for my 30 Days of sending HAPPY MAIL!
Every day I will be sending out some kind of Happy mail to someone. (basic idea, right? right! but read on!)
Some days it will be a handmade card that I have already made, or will make that will be going to friends, family, or even people like my mailman, or the grocery store clerk that always seems to remember my name, Maybe even my favorite barista at Starbucks (who does not get enough credit for making my coffee PERFECT every time!) I really like the idea of surprising people who go about doing their jobs but don’t just do their job, they do it with a smile, detail, pride, and kindness… that should be acknowledged more I think, Even if it’s just a card saying, Hey! I think you are AWESOME!
I might also sent some postcards. Like THESE postcards from the Illustrated Faith Collection. You can even embellish those premade postcards or you can make your own postcards! See my post HERE where I show ideas for making your own postcards. How nice to make the people who handle your card along its journey, smile as it travels to its destination. If you’re sending a traditional card, you can decorate your envelope as well. It may even encourage some one that sees your happy mail to send some happy mail of their own!
I love giving little unexpected gifts so some of my happy mail will include some DIY gifts that are fun to make and fun to send to some unsuspecting friends or family! Care packages are always a great surprise and can really make someone’s day.
A few cards of mine will make their way to some people I do not know personally, but who I am aware are struggling with something, They need to know they are loved and are being prayed for.
And maybe along the way there will be mini cards left on a windshield, in with a bill that has to be paid, or handed to a mom who looks like she’s had a rough day, a simple card with a note of encouragement. I definitely think little acts of Card Kindness can be apart of this challenge, Not everything has to have a stamp on it. You may also consider writing your message on a removable paper inside the card with another note that encourages the recipient to write their own message inside and send to someone they want to encourage! Simon Says Stamp actually sells THIS post-it style pad just for that reason! Look for a post coming soon that has directions on how to create your own!
At the end of the month I want to know that I made 30+ people smile, feel special, be encouraged, and know THEY MATTER enough that I will take the time to create and send them (or hand deliver) a paper hug!
I do plan on documenting my Happy Mail Month on my blog as well as social media. Sometime during the month I might just do a video as well. Make sure to subscribe to my blog for updates or follow me on Instagram ( @taniesa ) where I will update as well!
SO How about you? Want to jump into the challenge with me? You don’t need anything fancy, Just use what you got, grab some stamps if you need to, and send some love for 30 days (and if you can only commit to a week, then that is ok, make it your 7 days of happy mail challenge!) I think that in the end, the person it will benefit the most, is really those of us doing the sending!
The fun starts Tomorrow , July 1st and wraps up on the 30th (but if you want to be the overachiever and go to the 31st, then you go, girl! I will cheer you on and may even do that extra day with you!)
As a special bonus I am going to do a random giveaway to one of my readers that participates in the Illustrated Faith 30 day Happy Mail Challenge too! A bundle of new paper crafting items that will be useful no matter what type of papercrafter you are….a Scrapbooker, Bible / Art Journaler, Cardmaker, Planner girl, or any other artistic papercrafter, There will be things in this bundle anyone would be able to use and enjoy! There was no way to photograph EVERYTHING but there will be stamps and dies, washi tape, stickers, ink, embossing powder, embossing folder, roller stamp, sequins, and so much more stuffed into a large padded envelope! This giveaway is open to anyone (Yes even international!)
If you are participating in the challenge and you want to be entered to win my giveaway, Link up one of your cards between July 1 and July 31st using the blue Link up button below and on August 1 I will randomly draw someone to win! *Edited to note that you may link up as many times/projects as you would like during the challenge duration! I hope that it will add even more inspiration to others participating in the project.*
Stay tuned for more ideas for this happy mail challenge as well as what I am doing for my 30 days of Happy Mail!
Until then! Have a fantastic weekend!!!
*All supplies mentioned are linked within the blog post are in BOLD font. To enter TheCraftyPickle Happy Mail giveaway click the blue button below and link up one of your cards that is for the 30 Day Happy Mail Challenge hosted by Illustrated Faith.
How to add your project to the link-up : Click the blue button with the frog below. Add the URL link to where your project is located (blog, Instagram, Flickr, other) add the required info and enter! You should see the photo of your project below. I created a Flickr group for those of you that don’t have a blog or don’t want to blog but you do want to upload your projects and share. You can find that group HERE! If you have any problems or questions please leave a comment in this post or email me at Taniesa@thecraftypickle.com.
My name is Taniesa and I am addicted to coffee. I am also addicted to papercrafting so how perfect is this challenge, right?! What Challenge you might ask? Why, it’s that time again, The Summer Coffee Lover’s blog hop! Projects, Prizes, and SO MUCH inspiration!!
Affiliate Links used at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting this blog!
Have you ever spilled your coffee when you’re walking out of Starbuck’s or tripped on a Lego in the am and your mug went flying? It sure starts the day off in a super crummy way. This is a great card for someone who has had that kinda day or just needs to know that you are there for them and you “got their back”. Both cards feature products from Honey Bee Stamps. There are source links in my post but you will also find a supply list at the end of the post.
So I started by drawing a floor. I drew a line where I knew I wanted the edge of the floor to be and then I drew in the vertical lines at an angle to give a perspective view. After I had that penciled in I stamped the bunny from Honey Bee Stamps Blah Bunny stamp set, I masked that part and stamped the little rug that goes underneath him. Before I got to the coloring of the bunny and rug, I colored the floor with Pumice Stone Distress Ink. I made sure to make the back and sides of the floor portion darker so that it highlighted the bunny in the center I added little nails with a copic marker (N6 + N0) The bunny and the rug are both colored using Copic Markers. For the rug I used YG67, YG63, YG61 and for the outside edge I used G28. For the Bunny I used E31, E33, E34, E35, and E37. I also used R20 and R21 for his ears, noses, and the bottom of the feet.
For the wall I used an Echo Park stencil that is older and blended on some Old Paper Distress ink. after I used the stencil I went over the top of the card again with more distress ink so it would soften the stark white the stencil left. I felt it needed something more so I took a small leaf from the Honey Bee Stamps Country Blooms Stamp Set and stamped it with Peeled Paint Distress Oxide ink in between the diamond shapes on the “Wall”.
I stamped, fussy cut, and then shaded the mug using some cool gray copic markers (C00, C1) and I drew in a little heart using a Copic AtYou Spica red pen. I took a craft knife and cut around the bunny’s paw, and then slid the handle of the mug underneath.
I attached the gift card with these removable Glue Dots. This is such a great way to stick gift cards and other removable things to your cards and gifts, It holds well until you want to pull it off, and the best part is the glue dot comes off your project cleanly too!
I have another card to share today too!
This card is super simple and easy to make. Here is the front of the card:
and here is the inside
Simple but Cute right? Such a fun way to give a coffee to a friend who needs a little pick-me-up. One thing I love *Almost* as much as coffee is gifting starbucks gift cards so I always have a small stash of gift cards on hand in case I need to give a last minute gift or Happy Mail to someone needing a smile.
For this card I just colored a cacti from the Honey Bee Stamps Stick with me stamp set. I stamped the planter then covered it with a post-it note so I could stamp the cacti coming out of the planter. I colored the Planter with Copic markers E31, E33, E35 and the Cacti with YG61, YG63, YG67, and a little G21 in the highlight portion. I stamped the sentiment under that and cut out the square using some stitched square dies.
I placed that square on a scrap of black cardstock and adhered the matted square to the card base with foam tape. I blended a little Vintage Photo Distress Oxide ink around the edges and then finished off the front with a few gold sequins.
For the inside of the card I did the same thing as the cacti but I stamped a coffee mug. This coffee mug I bought at one of my Local Scrapbook stores, Impress Cards and Crafts. If you ever are in Seattle this shop needs to be on your “To-Visit” List! It’s a stamper’s candy store! I stamped the Stay Strong from Honey Bee Stamps Prickly Sentiments stamp set. I drew in the little circle to make it sorta “Starbucks-ish” and colored the inside of that green, and then I shaded the cup with some Cool Grey copic markers and the sleeve with some warm grey markers.
I cut the square with the same stitched square dies and matted that on black. I did not add foam tape on this piece though. I just glued it in using the Nuvo liquid adhesive. To attach the gift card I decided to use the new Lawn Fawn simple gift card slot dies. I die cut the bottom portion of the card and then just popped the gift card right in, super easy
So that wraps up my projects for this year’s Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop. In addition to all the great prizes you can win by participating in the Coffee Lovers hop, I also decided to do a fun giveaway both here on my blog, and next week on Instagram! All you need to do to be entered in this giveaway here on my blog is comment below. For the second giveaway that will be going on next week, follow @Taniesa on Instagram.
Hurry, contest ends June 30th! This giveaway includes TWO stamp sets , a exclusive Free-Bee and matching die, and a bottle of Nuvo drops all donated by Honey Bee Stamps! The other items include a Hero arts INtense black ink pad, a set of watercolor pencils, a 3×4 etched grid stamp block, Crate paper embellishment pack, Bazzill Marathon adhesive runner, and a set of watercolor pencils are all items I have purchased for this giveaway. A prize package worth $80.00!!!
Honey Bee Stamps has graciously donated the Blah Bunny Stamp set, The Blah Blah Blah Sentiments stamp set, Free Bee stamp and die, and Nuvo drops. Thank you Honey Bee Stamps! I have also put in things I have purchase for this giveaway and in total the package is worth over $80! Enter by 6/30. Winners to be announced on Saturday, July 1 at noon PST.
*** Karen Ladd !!!! You are my winner! Please email me at Taniesa@thecraftypickle.com with your mailing information. Thank you to all that entered and for the kind comments! ***
Head on over to the Honey Bee Stamps Blog where there are even more prizes to be won AND there is a link to Honey Bee Stamps Designer, Lisa where you can win another prize!
Thank you so much for visiting. You will find the supplies I have used linked in the post but also listed below. I encourage you to modify these ideas and use your crafty stash as well!
Thank you so much for visiting my blog on todays 1st Celebration Blog hop for KatScrappiness.com. Today is so exciting! Not only will you be inspired by the designers projects along this hop, there is a lot of fantastic prizes to be won! You should have arrived here from the Kat Scrappiness blog where it all starts! If you happen to get lost along the hop you can find the full link-up list at the end of this post or on Katscrappinessblog.com.
For my project I wanted to create a missing you card with Lola the Giraffe. and I wanted a chance to use the interactive stamp set so I decided to do a double slider. Here is a picture of the card closed.
and here is one with it completely open.
There are many variations on how to make a double slider card, I watched a bunch of videos and took bits and pieces of advice from various sources. To see the basic construction of the double slider click HERE to watch a video. The video shows a version that is similar to how I put this one together. The differences with the one I made were that I did not fold one long piece of cardstock, Instead I layered die cut panels and a card base together with foam tape, this allowed for the 4″ square card. I cut the squares with the Kat Scrappiness Double stitched square dies. The largest was for the main card panel and the second largest was for the two panels that slide out. After I cut the stitched square pieces, I blended on some distress oxide ink in Fired Brick, Spiced Marmalade, Fossilized Amber , Broken China, and Faded Jeans. I layered the two dies together and cut a frame for the top panel out of Neenah desert storm cardstock, and then blended on a little Vintage Photo Distress oxide ink as well.
I stamped the Giraffe head and half the body on watercolor paper and did the same with his lower half using versafine onyx black ink (Favorite ink for using on watercolor paper). Then I freehand drew a long neck off each piece. I watercolored the giraffe with a combo of Zig Clean Color real brush markers and Vintage Photo distress ink (re-inker). I cut a tree trunk out of scrap watercolor paper and did the same watercolor process but this time darker.
I took some dark green cardstock and cut the Kat Scrappiness Christmas Tree die several times. I applied some Peeled paint Distress Oxide ink on the green cut out pieces and pieced together a tree that looked more like one you would see on Safari rather than Christmas pine. I misted the pieces lightly with water and blotted right away. Here is a photo when I was piecing the tree together. It’s a nice way to stretch a christmas die and use it year-round.
I cut a small hill from the Lawn Fawn stitched Hillside borders for underneath the giraffe and a sentiment banner and sign. The “It’s been sooo long” sentiment is from the same Giraffe stamp set and the “I am missing you” is from the Lawn Fawn Loads of love stamp set. Once everything was painted, fussy cut, and glued down I assembled the card.I cut the smallest of the scalloped tags from the die set and glued that to the back of the top slide out panel. I freehand cut a tag and stamped “pull here” and an arrow pointing up both from the interactive card instructions stamp set. I glued that to the tag to make a good handle to pull the slider.
To finish things off I added on some sequins from the Lucky Charm and Spring Leaves sequins mixes. I also added eyelashes to the giraffe and darkened the eyes with a glaze gel pen. I think it came out pretty cute. I love this interactive design. I plan on making more cards following the same design because it was so much fun. Pre making the card base is fairly easy and with it being square you can use it vertically like I have here or horizontally like the video I linked. below is a clip of the card in action!
I hope you have been inspired by my double slider card. In order for your chance to win one of the brand new stamp sets, or one of the three GRAND prizes, you must comment on all the designers blogs and the Kat Scrappiness blog. That is 10 chances to win! Winners will announced at 12 noon pst on 6/25/17, you have until 12:00 midnight pst Saturday 6/24/17 to enter!
If you are reading this post between 6/19 and 6/25 2017 Kat is having a 15% sale. She already has lower prices on most of her items so this is like getting 20% to 35% off retail! Stock up on your favorites HERE. Remember to use code SUMMERVACAY at checkout.
Next person in the hop is the ever so talented, Maria! Hop on over and see what’s next! Thank you for participating in the very first blog hop for KatScrappiness.com. Below you will find the blog hop line up as well as a list of products I used today.
It has been a very busy few months! Because I haven’t been able to post as much as I like, I am bringing you not one but THREE cards today! These three cards have been inspired by the Ellen Hutson Pin-Sights Challenge in the CLASSroom blog this month. I would love to know which is your favorite! Leave me a message in the comments with your thoughts! OH! Also, make sure you see the message at the bottom regarding a HUGE two day sale going on at Ellen Hutson!
(Affiliate links listed below where available at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting this blog!)
These beautiful delicious shades of Strawberry, Orange, and Lemon just scream SUMMER and inspired me to play with my Copic markers, Daniel Smith watercolor paints, and of course my Essentials by Ellen stamps and dies. Laurel did an AMAZING job of putting this month’s inspiration board together. I find when I am stuck in a creative rut, using a mood board and/or a sketch really gets me kick started and my creativity tends to flow from there.
My first card share is one you may have seen over in the Ellen Hutson Classroom if you came over from the Ellen Hutson CLASSroom blog (If you have never visited me before, Welcome!) I was inspired by the bright yellow pop of the lemons in the table floral arrangement. The lemons gave me the idea to use the Essentials by Ellen “Stay Golden” stamp set and matching dies. I loved the sentiment “when life hands you pineapples…” “make Pina Coladas” and when I thought about the whole Life handing you pineapples it made me think of actual hands coming up from the bottom of the card holding up pineapples. I reached for the Avery Elle Hats Off stamp set which ended up being the perfect stamp set to work with the pineapples.
I thought the sentiment looked best in a circle shape so I stamped it on a lighter painted scrap of watercolor paper and heat embossed that sentiment with WOW extra fine clear embossing powder. I gave the flowers different levels of dimension by gluing some down against the paper directly and others are on one layer or two layers of foam tape.
I stamped and colored the hands border stamp from the Avery Elle Hats off stamp set with my copic markers. I stamped or drew on some accents that reminded me of hawaiian print shirts. Some patterns I accented with my white signo gel pen. I added a little foam tape behind the hands and the pineapples to make it look more like these hands were actually holding a big pineapple. I took a little Black Soot Distress ink on a ink blending sponge and lightly brushed the edges of the panel to give a vingnet look.
I think this is a great encouragement card to give to a friend who has had a bad day.
The next card was inspired by the beautiful florals in the photo as well as the gorgeous “Bed of Flowers” Essentials by Ellen die. I had several pieces of watercolor paper that I was practicing watercolor washes with. Not wanting them to go to waste I thought I would cut them up with this beautiful die and piece them back together on a piece of cardstock that I covered with Be Creative tape.
I used the darker die cut negative pieces more to the center of each flowers and going lighter as you got to the edge of the flowers. I put green watercolor negative die pieces in between all the roses.
The background got a light wash of blue by using Daniel Smith manganese blue hue. I set the florals aside to dry and I painted another piece of watercolor paper with the colors on my palette. Once that was dry I cut it using the largest Lawn Fawn fancy scallop rectangle die. You might notice that you can’t really see a shine of embossing powder on my card. Once the florals were dry my piece was warped quite a bit so I took a piece of copy paper and folded it in half. I placed my card in the middle and down on top of a microfiber cloth. On a no steam setting I ironed the paper protected card until it was flat and quickly removed the paper. The scrap paper absorbed all of the embossing powder leaving me with a one layer card that kept those white lines that I stamped with.
I cut down my floral piece, matted it on gold mirror cardstock and foam mounted that piece on top of the scalloped watercolor panel. That was adhered to a heavy card base.
***There is also a HUGE 15% off everything sale going on at Ellen Hutson Today and tomorrow, June 15-16 2017! Use code SUMMERFUN to stock up on the amazing products I shared with you today and more! I am off to get some new items that has been on my wish list!***
If you are interested in any of the products that I used in my projects today I have listed them below as well as linked them within the post. You may also click HERE for multiple online sources of some items. I tried to make it as easy as possible if you are wanting to find something that I used.
We have enlisted some very talented designers to help Surprise Melissa (the owner of Honey Bee Stamps) for her 2nd Honey Bee Stamps Birthday. Be sure to hop along for all the fun & prizes!! Each stop on the hop will have a drawing for a FREE stamp set of their choice from the Honey Bee Stamps store. Be sure to comment at each stop to enter all of the drawings. The winners will be announced on the Honey Bee Stamps Blog on May 3rd at Noon PST.
I have to say this month’s new release is my favorite so far. I sat down to make one card and ended up making a few more. I’m telling ya, my mind was buzzing with ideas for these new products.
My first card is this cute bee hive card which is a shaker card.
I love that the stencils make shading the hive super easy. I used my distress inks and finger daubers to do the shading. the inside of the shaker has the new layered hexagon die cover plates cut apart, and I used Nuvo Drops to add Honey like accents. I filled the shaker with the special birthday Honey Jar sequins mix and of course that cute little busy bee!
Next card is another hive, but this time I used only the stencils. All 4 of them actually. I used the hive cut out to lay down color, the two shading stencils to give detail, and then when I was all done with that I used the hive cut out piece as a mask and applied the blue distress ink background.
The leaves are from the Busy bees stamp set. I just made a branch with a zig clean color real brush brown marker. The hexagon confetti / sequins is in the spring sequins pack. The cute little bee is from the Build a Bee stamp set. The bee is actually on a little action wobbler and, with the addition of the google eyes, it makes for a very fun interactive element.
This next card was totally inspired by a pack of acrylic mirrored hexagons I have been hoarding. You could achieve a similar look with mirror cardstock that I used as an accent strip along the side of the card.
I colored my little build a bee with my zig markers and added some hexagons that I cut out using the new stack hexagon dies. I also added those awesome hexagon mirrors. I think the patterned paper along the side added the perfect final touch. I love this sentiment from the Bee You Tiful sentiment set. I think it’s the perfect card to remind someone how bee-you-tiful they are, inside and out.
Okay, now a super quick card that is great for any of our new buzz words…
This card was super quick to make! I had a piece of cardstock that was already stamped and embossed using the Zen Bouquet stamp set. I trimmed it down to A-2 size and used the new Hello Buzz word dies to do a fun inlay look. This could work with your favorite patterned paper too.
You can keep it simple and leave it just black and white, Or you could color it in to make the word stand out even more! The main panel was cut using the Honey Bee Stamps Double stitched A-2 dies.
These next cards were so much fun to make. I did one card with Color burst watercolor powers and the other with distress oxide inks.
I couldn’t decide which I liked better so I thought I would show you both!
Last but not least is my first real attempt at no line coloring. I took the jar from the sweet as honey stamp and die set (which was a part of Honey Bee Stamps very first release, and one of my most used stamp sets!) and I decided to turn it into a mini Terrarium with the help of the new stick with me stamp set.
I colored the cacti, plants, and rocks with my Copic markers and then added a bit more detail with my colored pencils. For the background I used the hexagon stipple plate die. On the little banner, I used a sentiment from the prickly sentiments stamp set.
The jar is layered with 4 pieces of cardstock instead of using foam, (I had scrap paper I needed to use up). The sentiment is popped up with one layer of foam tape. I finished the card off with a bit of twine around the top of the jar. This was probably my most challenging card but I had a lot of fun. I will be practicing those no line coloring skills more often now!
Here is a photo of all the cards created today. Supplies are listed below.
I hope I inspired you with ways to use these awesome new products (and some of your older ones too). Come back soon BEE-cause I will have lots more projects to share!
Don’t forget to leave a comment for your chance to win your choice of stamp set from Honey Bee Stamps!
Next up on the Hop is the kind & talented, Yana Smakula! Buzz on over and see what beautiful creation she has to share with you today.
Here is the lineup for the Hop in case you get lost:
Welcome to the Honey Bee Stamps and Misti Blog hop!
You should have arrived here from the blog of the Amazing, Lydia Fideler! If you are starting with my blog today, make sure you go back to check out Lydia’s post as she is the first person on the hop!
I was so excited when I found out that we would be working with the kind folks over at My Sweet Petunia. I have had my Misti since they first launched and It is the most used stamping tool in my craft room!
Today I have a fun little project for you. Instead of making a card I decided to make this cute little tissue box that holds those purse/pocket packs of tissue perfectly. I took inspiration from the Honey Bee Logo and the My Sweet Petunia logo for my colors.
Today I will be featuring the Bless Your Heart stamp from Honey bee stamps ( and don’t tell Melissa…. but if you look closely, you might see a couple of stamps from our April release coming up VERY soon! I had to sneak something in 😉 Shhhhh! )
Making the tissue box is super simple if you have a paper trimmer, scoreboard, and scissors.
Cut a piece of Cardstock to 8 inches by 7 1/2 inches. I used a piece of Strathmore mixed media paper. Both because I planned on doing some watercoloring but also this is super sturdy for a tissue box.
Time to score! Start with the 8″ length at the top.
Then turn your paper 90 degrees and score again.
Once you did your scoring, take a bone folder and burnish / crease all of your score marks. Then grab your scissors for some trimming.
to make the cutting easy, I first cut along the score lines on the sides that had the double score line close to each other. then I trimmed away the pieces you see above.
Before I assemble the box I wanted to do my stamping and coloring. Because I am working on a textured surface, the misti tool is even more helpful. Let me show you….
I could have lined this up at the top of the misti but instead I decided to use my creative corners to give it a little push upwards.
You’ll see above that my first stamping didn’t go so great, which is normal for textured papers. I Just re inked and stamped again.
MUCH better!
Then I die cut a little hexagon for the tissue opening.
I have a handy little tip for you. Instead of taping your paper down to watercolor. Flip over your misti and attach your projects with magnets to the backside. This will hold your project down while you color or paint.
I sketched out some hexagons with a watercolor pencil by Prima.
Then I water colored the top of my tissue box. The watercolor honeycomb reminded me of the Honey Bee logo and website. I didn’t have a pink Petunia but I did have this cute little daisy (which may or may not be a stamp from a brand new stamp set coming soon) So I painted that pink. Of course my little bee is yellow and black. You can’t tell too well but there is a lot of glitter accents from my Wink of Stella glitter brush pen. And I even mixed a little Gold watercolor in my yellow for the honeycomb.
If I tilt it just right you can see just a bit.
After I was done watercoloring I cut two side pieces to 2 1/4″ x 1′ from yellow polka dot paper and two longer side pieces to 4 1/4″ x 1″. I inked the edges of the yellow paper with some Black ink and for the black & white paper I inked it a bit with some Fossilized amber distress oxide ink and then some black distress ink over that.
I adhered those down with some Scor tape and then glued the small long flap and one of the sides together. The other side of the box i left without adhesive so this box could be refilled.
How cute would this be to hand to someone who has some bad spring allergies or a seasonal cold. I think it would make just about anyone smile. I mean look at that cute bee!
I have one more fun “tip” to share with you all. I love my creative corners but I really wasn’t sure how to store them. I wanted to be able to keep them with my Misti and my mini misti and not have the pieces all over the place.
I had this stampin up box and it was just the perfect size. I took a cd sleeve and made a pocket for the inside to hold my mini misti grid paper, my grid transparency and a scrap piece of plastic I use to stamp on sometimes. On the other side my Creative corner pieces fit perfectly!
I cut my packaging to fit on the inside of the stampin up case.
If you don’t have a case like this you could do the same thing with a 5×7 photo case.
Here is a few photos of the final project. What do you think?
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Next stop on the hop is the talented Ilina! Buzz on over and show her some love!
Here is a list of everyone participating in today’s hop. Don’t forget to comment at each blog post for a chance to win!
Lately it has been Birthday season for my daughter’s friends. At this age they are difficult to buy for so we have been going for the tween gift that always seems to win, a gift card to Claire’s.
Giving a gift card to someone older is no biggie, a cute card and voila, instant happiness! For a tween though it just needs a little more something something, Ya know what I mean?
You may have seen this photo I posted on Instagram over the weekend.
We had some leftover gift boxes from Valentine’s day that we purchased at Michael’s (they have several colors in the gift wrapping section) so instead of making a handmade card, I decided to do a (semi) handmade gift box, similar to the one I created above.
In addition to the pink gift box I also grabbed some basket filler shred, and the gift card. (later on we decided to add some candy)
First I chose a selection of patterned papers from Doodlebug. I used this 6×6 paper pad, and I pulled out a selection of colors that I thought would go well together. I die cut several of the traditional shape balloon from the Surprise box die set and then stamped all of the balloons using a shade of ink that matched the pattern paper used.
After the die cutting and stamping was all finished. I took some finger daubers and added a little of the same ink I stamped with to the edges of the balloon. It’s a simple step but it adds some dimension to your die cuts and a bit of pop to the overall design. I also took a white water-based sharpie marker and added a little shine mark to the balloons.
I stamped and cut out the truck and gifts from the Little Pickup stamp and die set and colored them in with my copic markers. I also added a little clear glaze gel pen to the windshield and window.
I arranged all of the balloons on the box, popping some of them on foam tape and a couple I added two layers of foam tape to get a varying amount of heights to the balloons. Using a black glaze gel pen I added the balloon strings. Then I added the truck with the gifts in the back to the box, also with foam tape.
There is a great sentiment set that coordinates with the little pickup stamp set called Sending You sentiments. I love that set but the words “sending you” were smaller and didn’t seem to fit well for my box. I grabbed the brand new Welcome Baby stamp set because it also includes the words “special delivery” in a great font. I curved the words slightly and I stamped those out with black versamark ink. I sprinkled on some clear embossing powder with glitter and heat set. I cut around both words and glued those to the handle of my box.
I think this will be fun for my daughter to gift to her best friend (we are also going to tie a few balloons to the handle before gifting) and I hope that the recipient loves it as much as I loved making it for her.
I hope you got a little inspiration for your gift-giving today. Thank you so much for stopping by!
Today I am over at the Honey Bee Stamps blog, Kicking off the sneak peeks for new release week.
This new release is so much fun! Today we’re showing a sneak from two stamp and die sets, Celebration Box and Hooray! These might just be my new all time Honey bee stamp Faves!
Take a look at two cards that I made using some of the new stamps and dies.
First up is a Congratulations card.
My second card for today would be great for a birthday or any kind of celebration
I will be back soon with even more Honey Bee Stamps inspiration using the new products! Be sure to stop by www.honeybeestamps.com/blog all this week to see more sneaks. The entire release will be available for purchase THIS FRIDAY!
Did you know that today is “Send a Card to a Friend Day”? I didn’t even know it was a thing, but there is a holiday and occasion for just about anything now days and this is one I can completely get behind. I don’t know about my fellow card makers out there but I am horrible about actually getting my cards in the mail and in the mail on time. Today is the perfect push to grab some cards and send them to your friends… Just BEE-cause!
So I had a general idea of the card design in my head and I knew I wanted a striped border at the bottom of my card. Problem was I didn’t have a background stamp or border stamp that was a stripe. So I got a little creative and pulled the little label stamp from the Camera Love stamp set and with the help of my Misti, I made my own border using versafine onyx black ink.
Next I pulled a piece of text like patterned paper that I had in my scrap pile and stamped this large flower from the Zen Bouquet stamp set with the same versafine onyx black ink in a random pattern.
I colored the flowers and leaves with these chalk pastel pencils that I have been playing around with. These are from Stabilo and they are called CarbOthello. They really are great for adding color and shading die cuts! I simply scribbled on the color, super easy and quick!
After I was done scribbling in that color, I just smudged the color around with a Fantastix blending tool. You can use a qtip, makeup applicator, or even just your finger is fine.
I wasn’t careful about staying in the lines. In fact I like the glow like effect when I didn’t stay in the lines.
After all the coloring was done I lightly misted my paper with a fixative as you see above. If you don’t have a fixative like this you could use something as simple as hairspray.
I trimmed the floral panel to size and glued it to a piece of yellow cardstock that was slightly longer than my floral panel. I added a thin piece of glossy black cardstock as an accent piece. From that same glossy black cardstock I die cut the word “wonderful” and set aside. I stamped and die cut the “you are loved” stamp from the “beautiful life” stamp set out of yellow cardstock and black foam. I cut away the word “loved” and replaced with “Wonderful” instead.
Time to put it all together. I put a piece of foam behind the floral panel and then adhered that to the white striped edge cardstock panel which was cut to 5 1/2 x 4 1/4. I glued down the wonderful so that it hung off the edge of the top panel just a bit and then glued the foam backed “you are” piece above the main sentiment.
Once all that was done I placed the completed panel on a A-2 size card base. I think this is a great card to send for any occasion but especially to a friend, just because, to let them know you are thinking of them.
I hope that you are encouraged to brighten someone’s day with a little happy mail today!
Listed below are the supplies I used today. Affiliate links are used where available (at NO cost to you, they help me with the cost of running my blog and I am so thankful for your support!)
I have to say 
Taniesa Vlasak | The Crafty Pickle 