Honey Bee Stamps Autumn Blessings Blog Hop!





Welcome, crafty friends!

I'm so glad you're here because I have such a fun card to share with you today!

Honey Bee Stamps is having a fun blog hop today as part of inspiration week to fill your idea files with great ways to use the newest release which you can find here.

I had so much fun creating today's card, so I'll get right to it!


I was so excited when I saw this House Builder Die - it is so unbelievably amazing! It comes with so many pieces and options to customize your house. It can be used to make shaped cards OR the house is also small enough to fit on the front of an A2 (4.25 x 5.5 inch) card.

So really this card was simple to put together from the standpoint that I just cut out the pieces with my die cut machine and then glued them together. These dies are also a fun way to incorporate patterned paper, which is another obsession of mine! And using this die is also a great way to use up scrap paper in your stash because a lot of the elements of the house are pretty small.


Here are a couple tips I picked up along the way with using this die:

1. Ink Blend for Added Dimension

After you cut out your pieces, they can fall a little flat sometimes. So pick up an ink blending tool or a sponge dauber and blend some ink around the edges of the die cut pieces to give them some added dimension! This will help them pop off the base of the house a little better!


2. Add Colored Pencil Details for Added Texture

Using a colored pencil in the same shade as your die cut piece, you can lightly scribble on some lines to your die cut pieces to give them the look of texture. I did that with some of the window pieces to give them the look of wood grain.

3. Use the Photo from the Website for a Guide

Sometimes a large die set like this can be overwhelming and confusing, so utilize the product photos on the website to help you know what function all the pieces are supposed to perform! But the GREAT thing is that these dies are sized and designed so that some of the pieces can pull double duty and serve multiple functions.


For instance, you may notice that the sample photo here from the website does not contain a flower box underneath the two windows on the first floor of the house. And it also contains a nice detail piece over the front door. Well for my card, I used that front door piece as a flower box for the first floor windows instead!

I chose to keep this a shaped card, so I die cut another house panel and then used one of the dies in the set to create a hinge piece and glued one side of the hinge to the top of the under-side of the first decorated house panel. I then glued the other side of the hinge to the top of the other plain house panel to finish things off!

Thanks again for stoping by and be sure to check out all the other stops along the hop today! Honey Bee Stamps is giving away two prize packs valued at $50 to one lucky winner who comments on each stop along the way.

Check out the entire hop here!

Honey Bee Stamps
Channin Pelletier
Carol Hintermeier
Kelly Latevola
Lisa Cisneros
Kelly Martin (you are here!)
Bobbi Lemanski (go here next!)
Jill Hawkins
Galina Filippenko
Alba Castejon (our friend Alba is sharing her project for today's hop on her Instagram account!)


Have a great weekend!!

Kelly

Autumn Blessings - The Greetery New Release

Hey there, friends!

Thanks so much for stopping by and spending some time with me today!

I just had to pop in and share a project I made with the recent release from The Greetery. I have been swooning over these stamps and dies since they first hit the market a few months ago. Betsy has knocked it out of the park over and over again with her designs, and I've had so much fun creating with them!

I also have some tips to share with you along the way, so let's dive in!


When I first saw this stamp set, I was a little intimidated, to be honest! It's a layering set with several layers, but never fear! The stamp set comes with VERY helpful guides and notes actually printed on the packaging, so it takes a lot of the guess work out of the layers!


I highly recommend beginning your project by actually using the die to cut out the wreath piece first. This is definitely a stamp set in which I encourage you to buy the coordinating die - because it makes lining up all the layers in the image a lot easier! I put the die cut wreath in my MISTI and that made lining up the layers a lot easier, too!

And another helpful tip - I think a lot of us are used to cutting away all the connecting pieces of the die without even thinking - but don't cut this one apart! You need both parts to cut the wreath out correctly, so don't separate them! If your machine creates an imprint on your die cut piece from the connecting piece of metal, don't fret - the stamping will cover it up!



I used several different colors of ink to stamp all the layers. The first layer was the leaf layer. Then followed by the wheat layer, mushroom and acorn layers, berries layer, etc. Having mini ink cubes definitely helps because you can ink up smaller areas and that's helpful for inking several different parts on the same layer. 



After I had finished the stamping, I actually added details with my colored pencils - this is an added step which can seem unnecessary but I promise it's worth it! It really makes the finished image come to life!


After all the coloring was finished, I stamped a sentiment on the negative space from the die cut wreath, and then cut and scored a 4.25 x 5.5 inch card base. I glued a piece of patterned paper (trimmed down to 4.25 by 5.5 inches) on to the front of my card base and then pulled together the rest of the card.

I glued down the wreath on to the card and then glued down the negative inside piece with the sentiment on it.

For a finishing touch, I added a three dimensional bow sticker at the top of the wreath that I had in my stash!



Thanks again for stopping by today! If you haven't checked out the new release from The Greetery, you can find it here.

Happy Crafting!

Kelly

Supplies Used in today's project: