TCC155 Garden Pleasures

Hello stampers!  Wednesday brings us a new Card Concept challenge...look at this lovely spring inspiration:

 

I was inspired by the bee skeps and the birdhouses to pull out one of my all-time favorites, Garden Pleasures!  I wanted to incorporate several of the images into my card, so I stamped some of them on watercolor paper, colored them in with ink and an aquapainter, and diecut them out for my card today:

I love the details in these images, always have, and I always enjoy coloring them in!

I added a little bee from a different stamp set and mounted everything on a Crushed Curry DSP mat and a Very Vanilla card base.

I would describe this style as clean and layered (my usual!!).  I hope you'll play along too...check out the styles at the Card Concept blog, then let us know what inspired you and your style as well!  Thanks for popping in today!

Yesterday the weather FINALLY turned a bit more seasonal (it has been a wee bit chilly the last few days) and I was able to put out the flowers that Dana bought me for Mother's Day.  I found this sweet little bumblebee warming herself on my hanging begonia:

That made me smile!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

"Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones." Proverbs 16:24

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Garden Pleasures (ret), Bee Happy (Darcie's)
Card stock & Papers	Very Vanilla, Watercolor, Crushed Curry DSP (ret)
Ink	Stazon Black, Bumblebee, Cinnamon Cider, Cajun Craze, Sahara Sand, Pear Pizzazz
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Stitched Shapes Dies (ret), Stitched Rectangle Dies, Aquapainter

CCCB412 and MTS229 BeeUtiful

Happy Monday, peeps!  It is a gorgeous morning, no rain in sight and my grass is a foot high, so I guess I know what I'll be doing later today!  For my card today, I am squeaking in the City Crafter Challenge of "Honey, I'm Home" (use bees),  as well as the Match the Sketch:

I have LOTS of bee stamps, because I just love bees and what they do for the garden!  The sets I used here are from Darcie's Heart and Home, along with some miscellaneous papers floating around on my desk:

I did some random collage-style stamping on the honeycomb background paper:

then I stamped the beehive on some pale yellow DSP , fussy-cut it out and added some shading (and some ink blotches from a messy Hello Honey inkpad 🙁🙁):

then stamped and colored in the frame and sentiment, fussy-cut it and popped it up:

I also added some sequins and a diecut border embellishment, then finished the inside:

I mounted it on a Crumb Cake base and it's all ready for someone's "Bee-day"  

I also wanted to share with you a little favor my sweet friend Linda made for her stamp club girls; it's a little beach bag filled with an umbrella and some other goodies:

It is so sweet!!  Thanks Linda, and thank you for popping in today!  Be sure to stop back tomorrow for a new Retro Rubber challenge!!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	BEEutiful and Day so Sweet (both Darcie's Heart and Home)
Card stock & Papers	Crumb Cake, Basic Black, scraps of DSP from my stash
Ink	Memento Black, Hello Honey (ret), So Saffron, Crumb Cake
Accessories	Sequins (Sylvia's Etsy Shop), Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Finished Touches Edgelits (ret), Aquapainter

Paper Players 357 Bee Better Soon

Happy Sunday, peeps!  Sandy is our wonderful hostess at the Paper Players today and she has a fun, summery color palette for us:

I am always low on get-well cards, so I thought I would use these cheerful colors with a bee-themed stamp set from Darcie's Heart and Home called BEEutiful:

I used the CAS(E) This Sketch for this week as well:

I stamped my beehive in Calypso Coral on some DSP from the Petal Garden stack, then fussy-cut it out and mounted it on a white panel that had been embossed with the Softly Falling embossing folder; I also stamped a little bee in Smoky Slate:

For my vertical panel, I stamped the edge of my Pear Pizzazz card with a MFT stamp called Distressed Background Blocks in Versamark, then I dabbed on some green chalk...remember those pastels that SU used to sell....yep, I still have 'em!  I love the soft effect it gives.  I also added a stitched border and some Calypso Coral baker's twine:

Finally, I stamped my sentiment on a little banner and added a wee little piece of matching washi tape from several years back!!  Still have that too!

I hope you'll pop by the Paper Players blog to see all the other designers' creations as well, or check them out here:

Claire

Jaydee

Joanne

Laurie

Nance

Sandy

Deanne

Annie

Jan

 Cassidy will be home today, and although it has been quiet here and I've enjoyed it, I am anxious to see her!  She starts school in two weeks!!!  Here she is at Jellystone Park in Fremont, IN, relaxing with Yogi and eating her favorite mint chocolate chip ice cream!

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	BEEutiful (Darcie's Heart and Home), Distressed Background Blocks (My Favorite Things)
Card stock & Papers	Pear Pizzazz, Bermuda Bay, Whisper White, Petal Garden Stack DSP
Ink	Versamark, Bermuda Bay, Calypso Coral, Smoky Slate
Accessories	Washi Tape (ret), Baker's Twine (ret)
Tools	Big Shot, Stitched Scallop Borders Dies (Pretty Pink Posh), Banner Dies (Nestabilities), Pastels (ret), Dimensionals, Softly Falling EF

RetroRubber 45 Bee Better Soon

Hi peeps!  A second post for today!  I was honored to be asked by the sweet, talented ladies at RetroRubber to be their guest designer this week!  Here's the awesome sketch they have for us:

So here we go:

I used two Darcie's Heart & Home stamp sets, Bee-utiful and Day is Sweet, circa 2012!  I stamped the beehive on some yellow DSP in Crumb Cake ink and shaded it with a blender pen and some Hello Honey ink.  (The other papers were all scraps from my stash....some MME and I think a scrap of Basic Grey for the horizontal piece as well as the bottom piece.....sorry I can't be of much help there!).  I stamped another bee and the sentiment in Early Espresso, and the random bees in Lost Lagoon.

There is a pretty lace image in one of the sets, and I stamped it along the horizontal piece, then added a Hello Honey scallop underneat and a few gold-colored sequins, although they are a bit difficult to see, but they add a little shine!  I have a friend from church who just had knee surgery, so this will be going out to her!

I hope you'll play along with this challenge and give some of your "retro" stamps a chance to shine!

Here's another little nature shot; this Great Blue heron was lurking beneath a pine tree on the edge of our yard one afternoon:

He's a bit less sinister-looking once he extends his neck!  I saw him three times that day...once by my mailbox, here under the tree, and the last time, he was being chased by my nephew's dog!!! Apparently the dog saw him in the creek behind our house and thought he would be an easy catch.  It was quite a sight to see a dog chasing a GBH in flight!  I wish I had had my camera!  Needless to say, the bird won that race!

TSOT284

Happy Tuesday, peeps!  Time for another Try Stampin on Tuesday sketch...here's an interesting one:

I have to admit that it did challenge me, but I persevered!  My friend Debbie just became a grandmother again, this time to twin girls!  I can't wait to see them!  So I made this for her, using a retired set called Every Little Bit for the three top images, and a sentiment from Darcie's called Bee-utiful:

Each image was stamped in Stazon and watercolored, then mounted on a Layering Squares mat:

And since there was more than one "ba-bee", I added a little "S" from Labeler Alphabet as well as some little stars from the same set!

Hearts from the Work of Art set and a sentiment from Watercolor Wishes finished the inside!

I hope you will come play along with us!  You can find the sketch on our blog, or check out our Facebook page as well!

John picked the first cantaloupe of the season...it measured 27" around!  Looks more like a pumpkin!

And of course, Cassidy had to use the first slice as a prop:

She does keep us laughing!

Paper Players 307 AO Live in the Sunshine

Happy Sunday, peeps!  Hope your weekend is good so far!  Today, Joanne is our Paper Player hostess with a challenge that really challenged me, LOL!

I was hung up on using a light bulb on my card, but didn't have a single stamp that fit the bill!  Then I remembered some Artistic Outpost stamp sets and lo and behold, there was a perfect "sunshine" sentiment!  It was easy after that:

I love these eclectic-style cards...they're fun and forgiving, if you happen to stamp something not quite straight!!  I started with some polka-dot paper (Park Bench by Fancy Pants) and stamped the sunburst from Kinda Eclectic with Crushed Curry ink.  Then I just randomly stamped the other images in Stazon Black and Smoky Slate; the sentiment is from AO's The Outpost; the bee is from Darcie's Heart & Home BeeUtiful; the "be happy" is from Our Daily Bread Designs' Mini Tag Sentiments.  All the other images are from AO's A Lovely Day.  

I wanted to put some banners in the empty left-hand corner, but the sentiment was in the way, so I made two slits above and below the sentiment, then tucked the banners underneath:

I thought the bee and "be happy" looked sweet together!

And when I was in elementary school, I thought Holland would be the most wonderful place to visit...not sure what the appeal was, but maybe it was all those tulips!  I love how the polka dots make some of the tulips look yellow!

And since most of the stamps I used were Artistic Outpost, I am entering this in their August challenge!  

I can't wait to see your interpretation of the Paper Players challenge!  I hope you play with us!  Check out what the other team members created here:

• Claire
• Jaydee
• Joanne
• Laurie
• Nance - off this week
• Sandy
• Linda
• Hannelie
• Colleen

Cassidy was insistent on doing some harvesting in the garden!  Grampy went down to help her out:

Check out the size of this beet!  She won't eat them either, but she likes to pull them up!

And a couple more birthday cards....I keep getting them, it's delightful!  This delicate design is from my friend Sandy:

and Cassidy and I both were enthralled with this fun card from my sweet friend Kristi!  This cupcake is AMAZING!

 Thanks so much for stopping in today...have a blessed one!