Quiet Bunny Conversation Card

 I've admired Lavinia stamp designs for a long time and finally took the plunge and purchased some.  I'm so happy that I did because the delicate stamp designs are exquisite and print out perfectly everytime. In my craft area I had a bunch of watercolor paper scraps that were used as tests for Tim Holtz watercolor and Distress inks (including metallic ones).  Rather than throw away these ink tests, I saved them in the hopes that they would be useful one day.  I found one watercolored piece that was the right size and look for the card I had in mind.  It was easy to place the stamps in my Misti stamp aligning tool and get perfect images on the watercolored paper.  The Misti  tool allows for restamping exactly to get a perfect dense image.  I used the bottom of one of the stamps to complete the grassy foreground.  For a more finished look I mounted the watercolor stamped piece on a metallic cardstock and then onto the purple card blank.  Finally, I used silver ink ( Liquitex metallic ink) and a stiff bristled brush to flick on a little sparkle magic.  The finished card has a misty magical look that I really love.  Why did it take me so long to invest in Lavinia stamps?  

Honeycomb Hexagon Bee Boxes

I bought the Whimsy hexagon box die years ago, but I didn't put it to use until recently.  The die makes a cute 3" hexagon shapped box with a hinged lid that flips up.  Because the box shape reminded me of a honeycomb, I thought it would be fun to try to design a series of adjoining boxes to mimic a honeycomb.  I die cut three boxes out of yellow medium weight card stock.  After gluing (with Fabri-Tac glue) the box tabs, I used the same glue to glue three boxes together.  I only applied glue to lower half of the box sides (where I wanted to join the boxes) so that the box tops could be opened and closed. (You could actually join many boxes together but I suggest putting a cardboard base under them for support if you want to join many boxes together.)

I used half of the die to cut out the printed card stock pieces (from my scrap pile) for the box tops. I added some artificial flowers (form my stash) plus bees stamped ( Doodlebug Designs), fussy cut and colored with Copic pens.

The words came from a package of bee themed ephemera purchased from HM Ben Franklin Crafts.  Some glitter dinensional paint (in a squeeze bottle applicator) was used to decorate the bee's wings.

I also made a single hexagon-shaped gift box which I think will be perfect for a small gift.

These hexagon boxes were super easy to create thanks to the Whimsy die. I really enjoyed decorating the boxes as I love bee themed papers, stamps and well...bee design anything.  I hope you'll try to make bee-u-tiful bee themed hand crafted items just bee-ause they're sweet as honey. Well, time to buzz on to more craft projects. Hope you'll buzz to this blog site again...soon!

Mice and Strawberries Thank You Card

While shopping at HM Ben Franklin Crafts, my eyes spied the cutest Doodlebug 6x8 paper pad (berry sweet), Doodle Cuts set ( berry sweet treats), and icon sprinkles (bitty berries).  I think they just jumped into my shopping cart and followed me home. LOL!  I love the paper pad because not only is it super adorable, but each sheet when folded forms a perfect 4x6 card blank.  I was amazed that I found all the papers I needed for die cutting, ( mice, basket, strawberries and flowers) in my scrap bin. Not sure why, but I get a crafter's high when I can use up scraps that might normally be thrown in the trash. Some say obsessed but I say thrifty.  At first I was going to use the dies 'thanks A BUNCH' to make the words on the card front, but it just didn't look balanced.  On my desk I have a baggie of cut words that didn't get used on other projects.  In this baggie I discovered the perfect script 'Thanks' in blue foil...big SMILE! Sometimes I think the crafting gods direct me to the perfect crafting solutions.  Aren't I a lucky crafter?  Oh yes, I LOVE, LOVE the tiny Doodlebug 3D strawberry stickers so I HAD to find a place for them on this card.  Don't you think they add just the right sparkling sweet touch to the adorable mice?

 

Bees and Flowers Card

At HM Ben Franklin Crafts I spied a sweet 6 x 8 paper pad (Bee Happy) of bee and flower themed double sided card stock made by Doodlebug.  I purchased the paper pad and a package of matching die cut pieces (173 pieces!).  Unlike the normal 6 x 6 paper pads the sheets in this pad can be folded to become  4 x 6 cards with pretty designs on the inside too!  There were lots of die cut images and words to choose from so it was pretty easy to layout a card design.  For a little extra pizzaz I made a shaker heart element using Spellbinders heart dies.  I filled the heart shaker with flower confetti pieces (Sprinkletz available at HM BFC).  I love how this little moving part adds so much to the charm of this card.  (It did take me a long time to pick out just the green, yellow, blue, and white confetti flowers. Hahaha!)  (The word ephemera banner, " Enjoy The Little Things in Life" was from a Photoplay pack available at HM BFC.)

I found a piece of bee printed paper in my scrap bin that was just the right size for a tag so I made one to go with the card.  The ribbons were purchased from HM Ben Franklin Crafts for another craft project but I think they are perfect for this tag, too.

Bees and flowers are so summery and crafting with them makes me very happy. My mind is already 'buzzing' with ideas of what to make with the 12 x12 Photoplay bee paper pack I purchased too.  So much summer crafting fun!

Moru Rabbit with Ice Cream Cone

I love my Moru Doll bear so much that I decided to make another doll.  I bought a second Moru kit from HM Ben Franklin Crafts but decided to see if I could make it into a rabbit by elongating the ears.  It was easy to form the rabbit even though I can't read the Japanese instructions.  I just followed the diagrams.  After finishing the rabbit I decided she needed a hair ornament so I bought a rainbow heart clip set from HM BFC.  Then I thought maybe she should have an ice cream cone since it was a hot summer day so I bought some ice cream buttons and glued one on.  Finally, I thought she would look even cuter in a dress so I purchased one in the Moru Doll area at HM Ben Franklin Crafts. There...she's perfect now.  Hey Sweetie! Don't get ice cream on my computer!
 

While at HM Ben Franklin Crafts, I noticed a cool book with instructions for making smaller chenille pipe cleaner animals.  There were lots of colored pipe cleaners to choose from too!  Go take a look at the new Japan craft area in HM Ben Franklin Crafts and I'm sure you'll get hooked on a new passion like I did. So much cuteness...so much fun!

Popsicle Summer Card and Summer Tags

This is the third of my bright, summer cards designed for a refreshing lift to the summer heat.  It is a super simple cut and tape (double stick adhesive) composition.  The papers were from 6x6 paper pads and a Sn@p journaling card.  I don't journal or scrapbook anymore, so using the Sn@p papers to make greeting cards seems like a good use of them. To give the popsicles a shiny, wet look, I applied some Glossy Accents liquid (from HM BFC) over the treats and let it dry.  (Sorry, I didn't include the Glossy Accents squeeze bottle in the supplies photo.)   

I never like to waste even tiny scraps of paper so of course I turned the leftover printed scraps and solid pieces into useful tags.  I used tag dies from an I-Crafter set and a Hero Arts Infinity die set.  It didn't take long to piece together the tags and attach striped twine cords.  For a little added interest I added tiny epoxy popsicle stickers to the tags.  I am happy to have a new supply of tags to attach to impromptu gifts and home baked treats.  It was so easy and environmentally correct.  Don't throw stuff into the trash unless it is really unusable! Summer is the perfect time to craft refreshing cards and tags before the holiday crafting season begins.  Enjoy the sweetness that is summertime! 

Ice Cream Summer Card

                                    

Ice cream and summer just seem go together. With crafting and real ice cream I can never put on enough sprinkles. As you can see I over did it again!  I started this card by layering papers from Echo Park and Doodlebug and fussy cutting the ice cream cone from a Snap 4x 6 card journaling/scrapbook pack.  I mounted the ice cream on adhesive foam dots before adding the Nuvo white crystal drops. Next I added the sprinkles (Oops, let some of the ice cream show...LOL!) and finished off the look with some clear crystal glitter. This card looks way  better in reality.  Sorry that this photo didn't capture the sparkly, yumminess of the ice cream. I guess you'll have to make an ice cream card for yourself or maybe eat a real ice cream cone...with sprinkles of course!