Hi Lovelies!
Spring is my favorite season and I hope it shows in the sneak peek cards that I have been sharing for HoneyBee Stamps' Spring Bliss release available NOW! Shop here or click the banner above!
I am excited to share a 4 projects with you today using a variety of stamps dies and stencils from this release. Products links are shared as a mini shopping list with each card design below for your convenience. :-)
Today's cards feature simple techniques done in stages and assembled into very colorful cards to welcome Spring into your home and for your loved ones.
Card 1 - Hippity Hoppity
You can't have Spring and Easter without bunnies! So for my first card I brought together the Easter Buddies Stamp Set & Dies and the Hoppy Easter Sentiments Stamp Set & Dies for a cute Spring scene.
Shopping List:
Stage 1: Before I got to all cute characters and the sentiment. I ink-blended the background using the the Wispy Clouds Background and the Grassy Borders Stencils and Distress Inks in Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn, Broken China and Mermaid Lagoon.
Tip: I started blending with the lighter inks and then used the dark colors to define the clouds or grass.
Stage 2: Stamp and Color! I was able to squeeze many of my images onto single sheet of A2 (4.25" x 5.50") Distress Watercolor Cardstock and though I used Zig Clean Color Real Brush Pens to color here, choose your favorite markers or pencils and have some fun! (Sorry for the bad pic, I was coloring late at night...)
Stage 3: Diecut and Assemble! When stamping I leave a bit of space between each image so that I can fit the dies without overlapping. I tape them into place with a low-tack tape so they don't shift when I run them through the die-cutter.
I was able to fit almost every piece into my outdoor scene, I was going for a little meadow on a sunny day. You will have to let me know if I got there!
Card 2 - "Spring Gives Us"
My tulips started popping up earlier this week, not the flowers of course, but the green shoots. For me tulips signal renewal and resilience and with that in mind, I poured a lot of joy into this card.
Shopping List:
Stage 1: Stencil Background! The Quatrefoil Layers Stencil comes in two parts that allow you to create an inset look on the top layer. I chose to do the base stencil in a lighter color (Distress Ink Spiced Marmalade) and the top stencil in a darker color (Distress Ink Fired Brick) so it would stand out.
Stage 2: Stamp and Color! I stamped and heat-embossed my tulip bouquet in Memento Tuxedo Black Ink paired with clear embossing powder on Distress Watercolor Cardstock.
I used Distress Ink to watercolor my bouquet in shades of Seedless Preserves, Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed, Squeezed Lemonade, Mowed Lawn, Rustic Wilderness and Lucky Clover.
I used to find watercoloring intimidating, but it was because I was rushing. for me, watercoloring takes time and setting my doubts aside when it seems like its not going my way. Sometimes, I just step aside and let it dry and then it blooms...
Stage 3: Assemble and Accessorize! After die-cutting the bouquet using the matching die, I selected a card base to match my tulips and pulled it all together with a piece of gold twine, formed into loops beneath my bouquet.
Card 3 - "Blessings"
I tripled up on the sentiments from the He is Risen Stamp Set to create a blessing that is just as beautiful as the flower that adorns this card. The Lovely Layers Easter Lily Die Set is a thing of wonder. Just add a little color to define the layers and a beautiful flower appears!
Shopping List:
Stage 1: Stencil and Stamp! As you can see, I have a thing for stencils. They are always a great choice to jumpstart a card for me. I chose the Basketweave Stencil and lightly and partially stenciled Squeezed Lemonade and Kitsch Flamingo onto the card panel.
I then stacked three sentiments from the He is Risen stamp set and stamped onto my card base.
Stage 2: Ink the Die-Cuts! I chose Distress Ink in Kitsch Flamingo, Picked Raspberry, Worn Lipstick, Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint, Lucky Clover and Spiced Marmalade. and inked up my diecuts using a Mini Ink Blender and a Q-Tip for the small detail accents.
Stage 3: Layer and Assemble! There is an simple and awesome guide that helps you figure out how to assemble the Lily, viewable on the Honeybeestamps.com website:
I used foam tape to create a little dimension between the layers and stacked it all on a Kraft card base with matching die-cut "Blessings" sentiment.
Card 4 - "Thanks A Bunch"
As I mentioned in my Instagram post, I've been browsing a lot of adult coloring books online as I have fantasy, that I can fine time to explore that! LOL
Shopping List:
- Bee Young Spring Stamp Set (free gift with minimum purchase!)
Stage 1: Stamp the Scene! I used both the Bee Young Spring Girl and Loads of Spring stamp sets to create this image of my little girl dancing on a fields of flowers followed by bees and a butterfly. Doesn't it kind of look like a coloring book page???
Stage 2: Color Your Heart Out! I have been feeling very lazy about my Copic Markers lately, so I headed by to my Zig Clean Color Real Brush Pens to bring this image to life using the following colors:
Light Pink, Sugared Almond Pink, Peach Pink, Light Carmine, Carmine Red, Pink Flamingo, Tea Rose, Lemon Yellow, Yellow, Green Shadow, Pale Green, Light Green, English Lavender, Light Violet, Lilac, Light Beige, Pale Pink, Oatmeal, Green Gray, Gray, and Blender.
I am still working on my coloring confidence and coloring people is terrifying to me, especially skin tones, but I was honestly so tickled about how my little brown mini-me came out!
Stage 3: Ink Blend and Assemble! I am terribly heavy-handed when it comes to color, so it was terrifying to add the soft pink (Kitsch Flamingo) and yellow ( Squeezed Lemonade) background after finished coloring the images.
However, with a some gentle blending I was able to "dust" ink onto the white parts of the paper and around my girl, her flowers and friends and not distort the coloring that I just did. Hallelu!!!
Thank you so much for visiting me! Please let me know what was your favorite in the comments.
Wow, you certainly took these stamps and dies to the next level. They are all beautiful, but the little girl running in the field of flowers is my favorite. Thank you for sharing your talents with us.
Excellent work using these new spring items. Your coloring looks great; you're most talented with a blending tool though!