Honey Bee Stamps Summer Stems Release!

Hi there! I’m super excited to share some projects using the Summer Stems release from Honey Bee Stamps! I have a new stamp set debuting with this release, as well, so I’m doubly excited. I have three projects to share with you today, so let’s get started with the details!

My first project is inspired by the beautiful summer evenings that I used to enjoy as a child. I always loved playing outside in my grandparents’ backyard at dusk, watching the fireflies and watching everything grow dimmer and darker until it was time to go inside. (Mosquito bites didn’t plague me as much back then, ha!) I began by masking off the very edges of a panel of white A2 cardstock, then used Blueprint Sketch, Broken China, and Speckled Egg Distress Oxide inks to blend a pretty ombré sky. That color combo is so dreamy… it reminds me of the early evening sky, but also could easily be used for a Caribbean sea!

I wanted to create some flowers silhouetted against the early evening sky, so I used some Post-It notes to mask off the bottom portion of the blended background, then I stamped several blooms from the new Wildflowers stamp set using black pigment ink. I didn’t pay much attention to whether the images overlapped, because once I’d finished stamping, I used black gouache to paint each image solid black. The matte gouache worked beautifully over the top of the Oxide blended background! I removed the mask and stamped a greeting from the new My Favorite Flower stamp set.

I trimmed an extremely thin strip of black cardstock and added it over the “seam” where the flowers were sprouting up, to help separate the garden from the sentiment area. Finally, I splattered some Interference Green Perfect Pearls mixed with water over the top of the flowers and sky, the subtle glow and shimmer giving the impression of the fireflies I used to chase in my youth! Who knew a card design could conjure so many memories, right?

My second card is a bit more traditional, with clean and crisp white background and colorful florals created with the new Lovely Layers: Coneflowers. I began with three different shades of purple cardstock, die cutting each layer (according to the graphic that you can find on the product page), and adhering them with both liquid and dimensional foam adhesive for lots of texture and dimension! The new Reverse Tweezers were super handy during the assembly process for these layered die cuts; getting my fingers out of the way helped me to see things so much more clearly! I also die cut some leaves from a pretty jewel-green cardstock, then blended some dark green ink around the edges to add a bit of extra dimension.

Next, I stamped a greeting from the new Miss You Big Time stamp set using Evergreen Ink from Concord and 9th, then die cut it using the coordinating Honey Cuts. I created a trellis by die cutting a partial piece of white cardstock using the Garden Lattice cover plate and adhering it to the blank white cardstock base.

I adhered all of the die cut pieces using foam adhesive for lots of dimension on the white, textured background. I love how the subtle trellis adds just a touch of texture to the plain background… the perfect foil for those vivid flowers and sentiment!

My final card features my newest stamp collaboration with Honey Bee Stamps- Framed: Anemones. This stamp set is based on one of my illustrations from the first Framed Florals coloring panel set. I stamped the image using Honey Bee’s No-Line Coloring Ink, then colored it using my Copic markers.

I used my T-square to outline the frame using a black pen, since my pale gray no-line coloring frame didn’t really show up very well. I also added some details to the stamens of the anemone centers using the same black pen.

Finally, I added a greeting from Framed: Anemones, stamped using black ink and die cut using the coordinating Honey Cuts. I popped it up on the card front using some more dimensional adhesive to help it stand out a bit!

Well, that’s all for my projects today. I hope you will check out the new Summer Stems release… so many incredibly gorgeous new stamp sets, with a huge variety of styles represented. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!