Sneak Peek: Introducing Sweet As Can Bee Bumblebee Stamps & Dies

Hello, and welcome to the first day of our Summer Sneak Peek Week!  All this week, I am sharing cards showcasing our newest collection, which will be available for purchase this Friday!

Card No. 1: Today I am sharing cards with our adorable new Sweet As Can Bee Stamps! This set comes with so many fun images and four adorable bumblebees, allowing you to create so many different scene-style cards or add darling bee accents. My first card uses all four bees from the new set, along with the beehive and our Tree Branch Dies. I framed my little scene using the outer scalloped border left over after cutting out the Frilly Frames Eyelet Lace Dies. I stamped and heat-embossed my punny sentiment onto a Brilliant Banner 2 Die that had been die-cut from a yellow gingham print from the Gingham Jewel Tones Paper pack. Lastly, I added small highlights to my bee's wings, the hive, and the leaves with a white gel pen.

Card No. 2: Up next is a clean & simple card using only elements found in the new Sweet As Can Bee Stamps and coordinating Dies. I started by masking off the four sides of my card using Spellbinders Masking Sheets, trimmed into strips. These can often be stored safely away and reused for future cards. I then inked up the center with distress inks, blending Peacock Feathers, Mermaid Lagoon, and Prize Ribbon. I then positioned each of my sunflowers and used a ruler with a paper-piercer tool to mark out the stems for hand-stitching with embroidery floss. At the top of my scene, I added two bumblebees, paired with the heart trail from the set, and heat-embossed the phrase "Bee Happy" in between them. Lastly, I trimmed my panel and mounted it on black cardstock to frame my scene like a piece of artwork and give my card a dramatic pop. I love the way this turned out!

Card No. 3: Next up is another somewhat simple card with the Sweet As Can Bee Stamps, this time using the jar of honey with the honey dipper from the set. For my background, I stamped the hexagon from the set, which was purposefully sized to work together with our Frilly Frames Hexagon Dies. I created a background hexagon template using the Sweet As Can Bee Dies so I could take turns popping the hexagons in from the Frilly Frames die to stamp them in just the right spot each time. I chose to stamp them in two alternating shades of yellow ink to add a slight variation and interest to my background. I found my ink was starting to bleed as it dried, though, so I was able to maintain the stitched edge within the hexagons by heating them up with my heat tool and tweezers. I completed my card with a heat-embossed greeting from the set and added a striped print to the background using a patterned paper from the Striped Silly Paper pack.

Card No. 4: For this card using the Sweet As Can Bee Stamps, I went with a complementary color scheme, inking my background panel with a blend of Seedless Preserves, Wilted Violet, and Villainous Potion Distress Ink. I then die-cut the background using the Dotted Diamond Landscape Die and added a strip of coordinating gingham-patterned paper from the Gingham Jewel Tones Paper pack. I then created a tabletop scene with the honey jar, honey dipper, lemons, sunflowers, leaves, bumblebees, and hexagons from the set. A bee greeting from the set, stamped onto a pennant strip from the Notebook Photo Corners Dies, completed my card.

Card No. 5: Next up is another bumblebee and sunflower card using the Sweet As Can Bee Stamps. I added a strip of green "pattered paper" to the bottom half of my flower border, inked to perfectly match the leaves, using our Background Basics 2 Stamps. I paired the "Buzzin' By to Say" from the Sweet As Can Bee set with the large oversized "Happy Birthday" greeting from the Big Bold Greetings Stamps. Lastly, I added three adorable bees around my greeting.

Card No. 6: For my last card of the day with the Sweet As Can Bee Stamps, I couldn't resist using that same hexagon template from my third card to stamp the hexagons in a rainbow of colors to line up for a fun background. To help me position the hexagons, I used a clear ruler with a pencil to lightly mark the center axis. I then started with the row of yellow hexagons, working my way out on both sides of that center line. When I was done, I heat-embossed a white greeting onto black cardstock using our Color Me Happy Stamps and the Color Word Die. I added three bumblebees and a stitched trail from the Sweet As Can Bee Stamps to complete my card.

These are the ink colors I used to create my rainbow background:

• Gina K. Passionate Pink
• Gina K. Red Hot
• Gina K. Sweet Mango
• Gina K. Wild Dandelion
• Gina K. Lucky Clover
• Gina K. Blue Raspberry
• Gina K. Wild Lilac

That wraps up today's sneak peek. I'm so happy you joined me today! I'd love to give a $50 gift code to one lucky winner, who will be randomly selected from comments on this blog post and on our Facebook and Instagram posts. Our daily contests will run through Saturday, April 25th, at Midnight PST, with winners announced here on our blog on Sunday, April 26th.

Here's a closer look at our new Sweet As Can Bee Stamps and Sweet As Can Bee Dies used today, which will be available for purchase on Friday, April 24th.

  

Other Supplies Used:

Color Me Happy Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Color Word Die Shop at: Sunny Studio	Big Bold Greetings Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Big Bold Greetings Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Frilly Frames Hexagon Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Frilly Frames-Eyelet Lace Shop at: Sunny Studio	Brilliant Banner 2 Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Tree Branch Die Shop at: Sunny Studio
Background Basics 2 Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Notebook Photo Corners Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Dotted Diamond Landscape Shop at: Sunny Studio	Tsukineko Jumbo Dauber Shop at: Sunny Studio
Versafine Onyx Black Ink Shop at: Sunny Studio	Memento Tuxedo Black Ink Pad Shop at: Sunny Studio	VersaMark Watermark Ink Shop at: Sunny Studio	Hero Arts White Detail Shop at: Sunny Studio
Striped Silly 6x6 Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio	Gingham Jewel Tones 6x6 Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio	Spellbinders Masking Sheets Shop at: Sunny Studio

Retro Ornaments Christmas Cards with Mendi

Hello and welcome! This is Mendi here today, popping in to share some Christmas cards featuring our Retro Ornaments Stamps. 

For all of my cards today, I used ornaments I had previously stamped and shared HERE when this set first debuted. I took my images to the next level today by stamping over them a second time using clear VersaMark Watermark Ink or Hero Arts Unicorn Pigment Ink before sprinkling them with Judikins Iridescent Sparkle Embossing Powder. I own about a dozen different sparkly embossing powders, and this one is truly my favorite due to it's all around versatility. It comes in a huge 2-ounce bottle (a lifetime supply), has a clear base, and one of the best sparkles that doesn't lean towards a particular color family, so it takes on whatever color you are pairing it with.

First, I made a card using traditional Christmas colors with the Retro Ornaments Stamps. I positioned my three vintage glass baubles in a window cut using the Stitched Arch Dies. I colored behind the opening using Salvaged Patina Distress Ink and heat embossed the beaded chains using Ranger's Liquid Platinum Embossing Powder. 

I created a garland over the archway using the flower from the Pretty Poinsettia Stamps with some Glossy Accents added to the center and the leafy vines from the Winter Greenery Dies. Lastly, I heat embossed a customized greeting from our new Build-a-Greeting Holidays Stamps, which I stamped onto a red banner using the Brilliant Banner 1 Dies.

For my second card, I started by inking my background with a light hand of Picked Raspberry Ink, blended with a light amount of Seedless Preserves near the top, which gradually became darker near the top. I then stamped small snowflakes with lilac ink in the background using the various snowflakes from the Deck the Halls Stamps. I then added a Tree Branch Die, topped with snow, which I created by slightly altering the snow border from the Distinctive Door Holiday Add-on Dies. Once the tree branch was in place, I sprinkled in some larger white snowflake die-cuts using the Snowflake Circle Frame Dies. 

I then added three baby blue, silver, and white ornaments to hang from the branch. I used a paper piercer to poke holes to run silver thread with a needle through, taping them down on the back of my panel, before adhering the entire background piece to my card base. Lastly, I stamped my "Happy Holidays" sentiment on the bottom of my card using the Holiday Greetings Stamps and VersaFine Clair Hawthorn Ink.

For my last card using the Retro Ornaments Stamps, I tried to capture a 1950s vintage feel with glittery flocked glass baubles in shades of aqua and pink. Pluto's Christmas Tree is one of my holiday favorites, so I'm always trying to find ways to recreate the sparkle and glow from the scene where Chip and Dale are inside the Christmas tree. I added the garland frame around my card using the two fir tree branch images from the Classy Christmas Stamps. I then stamped my "Merry Christmas" greeting in the center using the sentiment that comes with the Retro Christmas Stamps.

I stamped my first few atomic stars from the Retro Ornaments set using only VersaMark Ink with the Judikins Iridescent Sparkle Embossing Powder, however, I quickly realized that the stars were almost invisible at certain angles without a colored ink beneith them so I did my best to trace those first attempts with a Copic Marker (since my card was pretty far along at that point), and then I switched to stamping them first with a dye ink and then immediately going over them a second time with the VersaMark before heat embossing. It made the stars so much crisper and gorgeous, so I hope my trial and error can help you avoid similar pitfalls in your cardmaking.

That wraps up my projects for today. Thanks so much for hanging out with me. I hope I've inspired you to spread a little happiness by sending out a card to someone you love. 💛

Don't forget to check out the Retro Ornaments Stamps, Classy Christmas Stamps, Pretty Poinsettia Stamps, and Snowflake Circle Frame Dies in our online shop, which are all currently on sale!

Also, please check out all the card ideas using these sets on each of their product pages. I always upload tons of card ideas following the product image, so there are lots of ideas to scroll through, organized by set.

Supplies Used: 

Classy Christmas Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Classy Christmas Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Retro Ornaments Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Retro Ornaments Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Deck The Halls Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Build-a-Greeting Holiday Shop at: Sunny Studio	Snowflake Circle Frame Shop at: Sunny Studio	Stitched Arch Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Pretty Poinsettia Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Pretty Poinsettia Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Holiday Greetings Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Holiday Greetings Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Tree Branch Die Shop at: Sunny Studio	Distinctive Door Holiday Add-on Shop at: Sunny Studio	Winter Greenery Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Brilliant Banner 1 Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
PinkFresh Studio Blending Brushes Shop at: Sunny Studio	Tsukineko Jumbo Dauber Shop at: Sunny Studio	Verafine Clair Ink- Hawthorn Rose Shop at: Sunny Studio	Zig Chisel Tip Glue Pen Shop at: Sunny Studio
Hero Arts Sparkle Embossing Powder Shop at: Sunny Studio	Hero Arts White Detail Shop at: Sunny Studio	Judikins Iridescent Sparkle Powder Shop at: Sunny Studio	Liquid Platinum Embossing Powder Shop at: Sunny Studio
Versafine Onyx Black Ink Shop at: Sunny Studio	Hero Arts Unicorn Pigment Ink Shop at: Sunny Studio	VersaMark Watermark Ink Shop at: Sunny Studio	PinkFresh Fairy Dust Ink Shop at: Sunny Studio
PinkFresh Heartbeat Ink Shop at: Sunny Studio	PinkFresh Over The Hills Ink Shop at: Sunny Studio	PinkFresh Garden Stroll Ink Shop at: Sunny Studio	PinkFresh Island Oasis Ink Shop at: Sunny Studio
PinkFresh Morning Sky Ink Shop at: Sunny Studio