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Posts tagged Honey Bee Stamps

Freshly Made Sketches #670

Freshly Made Sketches #670 published on 5 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #670

For those who regularly read this blog, I have a question at the bottom of this post and need your feedback. Thanks in advance!

BRRRRRRR!!! That is the official word of the week! At least here in Virginia (and all the places I have been this week) it is so very cold. Looks like some of you in the south have had snow in a way you haven’t ever seen before and I hope you are both safe and having some fun with it. I had a quick moment in my craft room yesterday to use the latest sketch from Freshly Made Sketches created by our ever so sweet Amy O’Neill. And speaking of sweet…

I have a few significant birthdays coming up in my family and realized I was tragically low on cards. I took the opportunity to make one tailored for one of my sons. He loves chocolate cake (and cupcakes) – check! Loves the color purple – check! And lots of frosting with sprinkles – check! I used the Lovely Layers: Cupcakes and More dies (Honey Bee Stamps). The purple/teal elements were all cut from a piece of ombré patterned paper (part of some “Free Bees” from Honey Bee Stamps). I cut the “chocolate” part from some kraft card stock and inked it with Ground Espresso Distress Ink and then the frosting started as white card stock and inked with Antique Linen Distress Ink.

I cut the little banners from another “Free Bee” die set and then decorated the cupcake with sprinkles and added a candle. I love being able to customize this and it was exactly why I bought this set when it came out.

Now for my ask: I have been linking in a list below my posts for a while now. I do this for affiliate sales but also as a convenience to you for finding products. Many companies have been changing their affiliate rules and even providers so I only have a few affiliates left that I’m in. While I love having the list at the bottom, my sales don’t really justify the cost I’m paying for that service. The question for you…if I only link my products and affiliates in my posts (bold words for ease), would that be something you would still use? Leave your thoughts in a comment or feel free to email me too. I very much appreciate you and want to make sure I support your crafting as much as I can.

Alright, thanks so much for stopping in today. And thank you for your continued support! Have a great (and warm) day!

Freshly Made Sketches #668

Freshly Made Sketches #668 published on 6 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #668

Hi everyone! I just got back from a week of vacation with my family so I’m doing the catch up game. I did have a few minutes to make a card for today’s challenge at Freshly Made Sketches and sort of, kind of followed the fabulous sketch by Karren Johnson. She is the forgiving type so I’m sure she will let me stay!

I used die cuts from the Lovely Layers: Spring Greenery set for this and just smooshed some Distress Inks onto the already cut greenery. This seems to be my go-to when I’m pressed for time and don’t have the brain space to actually color things. And it always makes me happy!

For the background, I used some Distress Oxide ink in Tumbled Glass and then spritzed on some Distress Spray Stain in the same color. I thought the Rustic Brick Wall 3D Embossing Folder would be pretty on the panel and I am glad my instincts were right. Love this texture!! For the sentiment, I used one from the Lean on Each Other Stamp set and put in on one of the “Free Bee” dies (October 2024) from Honey Bee Stamps. I love the fun gifts they send with orders! Finally a bit of crinkled ribbon and some confetti.

I hope this finds you well and not frozen! We returned to a pretty good snow event in Virginia and I must admit, I was happy to see the pretty landscape when I woke up this morning. Thanks for stopping in. Have a great week!

Freshly Made Sketches #667

Freshly Made Sketches #667 published on 6 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #667

Happy New Year!! We are starting off the year at Freshly Made Sketches with a fun sketch designed by the lovely Cécile Ribon. I love that you can make it seasonal or not!

In keeping with the chaos of the season, I chose to use a little flower bunch that has been sitting on my desk for a while. A long while, actually. While I’m not sure I follow the sketch very well, it just seemed to work for me (once I opted out of making the card a square, at least). Oh by the way, these Sealed Wildflowers dies are on sale (link below).

I had a pack of “Free Bee” papers from Honey Bee stamps over where the stems were and found this one that seemed to go perfectly. A change over all the holiday cards I have been making for sure.

I hope you have a few moments to create as we move into the new year. I am grateful for you all and wish you much happiness as we move into 2025.

Freshly Made Sketches #666

Freshly Made Sketches #666 published on 5 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #666

I have the last sketch of the year for Freshly Made Sketches and our friend Jen Brum has given us one that will be fun to use throughout the holiday season. As soon as I saw it, I saw exactly what I wanted to use!

This beautiful NOEL is from the Floral Noel suite of products by Honey Bee Stamps. It comes with stencils, dies and a stamp set. I played with inking the stencils using Distress Inks and I love the fun result. Those little flowers around the letters can actually be inked without the letters too and there are separate dies to cut them. Makes this set versatile even after the holidays! After all the inking, I simply cut out the letters using those die cuts from the set.

I also inked up the banner from the same set and added a sentiment from the coordinating stamp set. For the background, I found this paper from an older paper pack and loved how the letters stood out on it. I added foam tape behind the letters for some extra dimension and that is it. Flat for easy mailing and I created an envelope for the mini-slimline card using an older envelope set.

The team was super clever in their interpretations and I think you will find it easy to use too. I hope you are able to get some crafting time in over the next few weeks and join us. I’ll be back tomorrow (I hope) with a new project. See you then!

Freshly Made Sketches #665

Freshly Made Sketches #665 published on 5 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #665

We have a super interesting sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches and I’m excited to see how everyone plays along with it. As always, our wonderful Kim Singdahlsen has created something fabulous!

For me, this one all started with the poinsettia. I wasn’t sure how I was going to use the five panels behind it so I just started inking the flower. I will say that inking these dies just doesn’t get old. I used a combination of of Candied Apple and Aged Mahogany Distress Inks for the flower and then Bundled Sage and Peeled Paint for the leaves. Once they were done, I thought they needed a little something else, so…splatters! White Metallic Ink and some black refill ink for those.

As that was drying, I decided that I was going to do the panel all in white but with texture. So I cut the strips apart, glued them in the sketch pattern and then let them dry a bit. Once done, I ran them through with the Snowy Pines 3D Embossing Folder and I’m so excited with the effect! The rest of the card was easy from there. I picked a sentiment from the Wonder of Christmas Stamp Set and cut it out with the coordinating dies. The textured panel is popped up on foam tape so you can really see the interesting shape.

The team has shown a number of ways to use this sketch and I hope you will give it a try too. Thanks so much for stopping in today. See you soon!

Freshly Made Sketches #664

Freshly Made Sketches #664 published on 6 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #664

Happy Thanksgiving week to those who celebrate in the US! I am, shockingly, home this week…first time in a long time. Which means I get to cook and feed the hungry hoard of college kids (who are now home and I’m hearing the sounds of brotherly discussions of college, video games, etc as I type). We have a fabulous sketch this week by my lovely friend Linda Callahan and I love this little trio of options. No surprise, I didn’t really follow the sketch that closely but, well, that happens!

I started with the Lovely Layers: Winter Greenery and played with my new Distress Spritzes. I got two colors to experiment with (Bundled Sage and Salvaged Patina) and they are really pretty. There is a metallic quality to them and they have more shine than I could capture in my photos. For more coverage, I inked the card stock first with regular Distress Inks (same colors) and then added the Spritz. For the gray branch, I just inked it up with Hickory Smoke and then sprayed on Hero Arts White Iridescent Shimmer Spray to match the shine of the others. The little berries only have the Shimmer Spray on them.

For the background, I used the Snowy Pines 3D Embossing Folder. The texture and design on it is so pretty and it means I didn’t need to do anything else but add the sentiment. The Mini Messages: Holiday seemed just right for the sketch and I used the coordinating Mini Messages Banners dies to cut it out.

I hope you will have a little bit of crafting time this week. And if you are celebrating with family, I wish you safe travels and enjoying lots of delicious food and company! Thanks for stopping in today. See you soon!

Freshly Made Sketches #663

Freshly Made Sketches #663 published on 5 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #663

Happy to be back today with the latest sketch from Freshly Made Sketches. Our designer this week is none other than one of our team leaders, the amazing Jen Mitchell. I think I may have broken a record with how fast this idea came into my head for the sketch.

I pulled out the new Floral Noel suite of products from Honey Bee Stamps. Super fun! I stenciled the flowers using distress inks and then cut with the coordinating dies. The sentiment comes in the coordinating stamp set and I embossed it with gold embossing powder. I love how the dies are so detailed when cutting it out, too.

Something about the combination of gold with rustic elements always makes me happy so I pulled out some burlap ribbon from my stash for the sketch crossing element. I added some gold card stock behind the white panel for a little more shine and then found this print in my older patterned papers (it is SU).

Hope you enjoy this one and will come over to play along too. Thanks so much for stopping in!

Freshly Made Sketches #662

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I am the sketch designer this week for Freshly Made Sketches. Naturally, I designed it to use some new things. Because why not?! I thought the wide open space on this one would appeal to many and be helpful for any holiday or fall creating you are up to.

So let me start with this. How stinking cute is this gingerbread house?!!! And there are three of them in the set. This is the new Lovely Layers: Alice’s Gingerbread Lane from Honey Bee Stamp’s latest release. I am sometimes hesitant to get die sets that seem fussy but this one practically jumped into my cart. I immediately had a vision of it with glittery snow details so that is what I went with.

I cut all the pieces from white card stock (Hammermill) and inked them using Distress Inks with my Bitty Bunny Blending Brushes and my Beeluxe Blending Brushes. There is a great layering guide for the die cuts so you don’t have to guess how to put things together. I’ll list my colors at the bottom of my post. For the glittery elements, I tried a technique I have seen to make glitter stick better and I think it was a success. You could totally use a glitter/glimmer paper for the die cuts too but I find that they are never a match for the whites in my card and this allows me just to use basic card stock. All you have to do is ink the element up with Versamark Ink (or an embossing ink), sprinkle on Distress Frosted Crystal powder and heat it up. You actually overheat it a bit and that makes it sticky. Right from the heat, you add the Rock Candy Glitter and then add a bit more heat to make it grab on. I did this on white but imagine how pretty it is on inked paper or colored card stock!

To add even more glitter, I wanted to stencil on snow. Using an older stencil, I added Prima Texture Paper Paste (I got it on Amazon). I pulled the stencil off and quickly added the Rock Candy glitter and the paste holds onto the glitter as it dries. Finally I just put everything together and added a sentiment from the new Wonder of Christmas Stamp Set.

Colors of Distress Ink: Gingerbread color – Vintage Photo; Door, roof, step – Aged Mahogany plus Candied Apple; Trees – Bundled Sage; Window frame – Ground Espresso; Window panes – Fossilized Amber; Background – Distress Oxide Inks blended – Salty Ocean, Faded Jeans, Black Soot

I hope you have fun with this sketch. I appreciate you stopping in today. Have a wonderful day!

Freshly Made Sketches #661

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Apparently I remain in a sunflower state of mind. This week’s sketch at Freshly Made Sketches is courtesy of our lovely Jacquie Southas and her split panel design is so great to use.

I pulled out my Copics to play with this amazing set from Honey Bee Stamps. There are three flowers in the set along with leaves and sentiments. I loved this side facing flower so that was where I started. I colored with a handful of yellows and browns and greens and then added some stippling for detail and depth.

For the sketch, I used the Fall Leaves 3D Embossing Folder on a piece of card stock and then just cut it apart. Easy peasy! The sentiment is also from the stamp set and is sweet, don’t you think?

Thanks so much for stopping in today. I appreciate you all!

Freshly Made Sketches #660

Freshly Made Sketches #660 published on 6 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #660

Hi all! Hope the week is treating you well. I’m happy to share the latest sketch from Freshly Made Sketches designed by the wonderful Judy Rozema. I’m a big fan of floral swags and groupings so this sketch sure was a treat for me to use this week.

All I had to do was look outside my window for some inspiration for this. My leaves are turning and some are the most glorious colors of yellow, orange and red. And some fading sunflowers are always a pretty add! The Lovely Layers: Mini Fall Florals (Honey Bee Stamps) had all these elements in one set. Perfection!

Using a whole variety of Distress Inks and my blending brushes, I had fun adding color variations and worked to make the leaves look real. I just love the effect! For the oval, I realized that one of my Free Bee tag die sets from Honey Bee Stamps had this layered oval. I just flipped it so that you could not see the hole in the tag part. Such a pretty pair with the scalloped layer. I added a bit of Distress Ink to them too so that the framing would pop a bit.

Finally for the sentiment. I was reminded today, as I got the chance to converse with two friends, how wonderful it is to have people in our lives who understand us. I thought this sentiment summed up my feelings perfectly! It is from the Lean on Each Other stamps set…one that has just the right words for your dearest friends.

Hop on over to see the cards from the rest of the team. Always a treat! And maybe you’ll get a chance to create this week. If nothing else, make a card for a dear friend to tell them how you feel! Thanks for stopping in. See you soon!

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