Hi, crafty friends. I have a sweet bee card to share today, featuring the bees in the Spring Squishies digi stamp set from Streamside Studios.

I colored the bees with my Copics, fussy cut them and put them aside while I worked on the rest of the card. Using the Simply hexagons cover die from Pinkfresh Studio, I die cut hexagons from a subtle dotted patterned paper from Waffle Flower, and I added two white die cuts behind each for dimension, before adhering them to the card.

I die cut the letters to spell bee from Berry Sorbet cardstock from Papertrey. ink using the Parker alphabet die set from Memory Box. I stacked four of each letter for dimension and added them to the card in a wonky fashion to introduce a little playfulness to the card. I stamped and white heat embossed HAPPY on a strip of Mushroom cardstock from Concord & 9th, added a few extra strips behind it for dimension. I added the bees using foam squares for a little bit of lift and finished off the card with a few gems and a heart from the Strawberry Champagne mix from Streamside Studios.
Very simple color palette for this one.
I colored Tofu with Copics and fussy cut him leaving a thin white border. Onto my card base I stamped the Touch of Texture background stamp from My Favorite Things in VersaMark ink, sprinkled on Iridescent Sparkle embossing powder from JudiKins and heat embossed for a subtle texture on the white card base.
I wanted an angled panel near the bottom of my card, so I stamped a sentiment from the Bitty Thanks & Gratitude stamp set from My Favorite Things, using Sour Apple ink on Sour Apple cardstock, both from My Favorite Things. I glued a piece of patterned paper below it and mounted it to my card base. I wish I remember where this patterned paper was from, but it came in a mystery box from Simon Says Stamp and there was no label on the packaging, so I don’t know. I put my little cat on foam tape and finished off with a few sequins from the Waterfall mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.
I started by stamping and heat embossing the sentiment directly on the card base, which I created from Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I stamped in Obsidian ink from Altenew and used clear embossing powder from Ranger. This is my preferred way to get a black embossing, as black embossing powder is tricky to work with. Once the sentiment was in place, I used the Watercolor Stripes stencil from Altenew and masked off the stripe that showed the sentiment through the opening. I ink blended using Avocado, Cobblestone, Briar Rose and Carnation inks from Concord & 9th, as well as Pink Crystal Fresh dye ink from Altenew.
I wanted some black splatters on my card and used a size 4 paint brush with My Favorite Things Extreme Black reinker to get those black spots. I may have gone a little overboard, but I still like it. I stamped and heat embossed onto vellum a leaf image from the same stamp set as the sentiment, fussy cut it and colored the leaves from the back using my YG25 Copic marker. The vellum is heavyweight translucent vellum from My Favorite Things. I adhered the vellum piece to my card and finished off with a pink bow.
I colored my chocolate bar with Copics and fussy cut right up against the black stamp lines. Most of these lines are straight, which made it super easy to use a steel ruler and a craft knife to get precise cuts.
The Stratos cow is a very happy blue card, so it’s not entirely the same, but I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch with the blue wrapper and the cow on the card.
I created the card base from Something Blue cardstock from My Favorite Things. I used the Angled Mosaic 3D embossing folder from Altenew to give it some texture and interest.
I used the Watercolor Wash Free Form die from My Favorite Things and die cut from white cardstock. I think the free form makes it look like spilled milk, and it was the perfect grounding element for the chocolate.
I used the Sweet Sentiments die set from Altenew to die cut the sentiment. I stacked four die cuts of each word for strength and dimension, the top one from Ballet Slipper cardstock from Concord & 9th, added the sentiment to the card and finished off with a few sequins from the She’s So Lovely mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.
Simple color palette.
I die cut the image into a circle and put lots of foam tape on the back. I created a card base from Periwinkle cardstock from Hero Arts, and used the Angled Mosaic 3D embossing folder from Altenew to create some fun texture.
I added the circle to the top center, die cut the word klem (hug) three times from Something Blue cardstock from My Favorite Things, stacked the three for dimension and adhered the top of the letters to the bottom of the circle. This creates a shadow on the bottom half of the letters that I wouldn’t get if I had created additional layers and adhered the die cut directly on the card base. Because the die cut is three layers thick, it won’t get squished in the mail even though it’s floating. I added a sentiment sticker strip on top of the die cut and finished off with a couple of faceted pearls.
I colored the image with Copics, added some simple ground and flowers next to her and die cut my panel using the largest die in the Additional A2 Layers die set from Waffle Flower, before adhering it to a card base I created from Lazy Day cardstock from My Favorite Things. It’s been a really long time since I’ve made one of my signature “cluster cards”, so I decided it was time for a new one. I keep little die cut scraps in storage pockets sorted by color, which makes it easy to find pieces that will fit any color combination I’ve chosen for my image. I play around with the composition, and when I’m happy, I adhere it all to my card. Some directly, some using foam tape. This gets very thick very fast, but I love this process.
I stamped a sentiment from the Pristine Peonies stamp set from Altenew using Picked Raspberry Distress Oxide ink, then die cut it into a banner using one of the dies in the Essential Stitched Sentiment Strips die set from My Favorite Things. This goes really well with the other fishtail banners I already had going in my cluster, and the color matches nicely with the pink striped patterned paper from Sunny Studio that I used. I finished off with a few enamel dots from the Pocketful of Sunshine pack from Altenew.
Very springy color palette. I’m here for it!!
I colored the image with my Copics and used the largest die in the Wonky Stitched Rectangle STAX die set from My Favorite Things to create a little bit of interest to the edge. I adhered my panel onto a top fold card base I created from Harvest Gold cardstock from Papertrey Ink.
The sentiment is from the Sweet Easter stamp set from Sweet November Stamps. It’s actually a single line stamp, but I wanted a staggered look and cut the two words apart. You could also mask if you don’t want to cut your stamps, but I promise they don’t cry, and it’s easy to put the two halves back together as originally intended. I used Fossilized Amber Distress Oxide ink, stamping Easter first, then nestling in Happy above it, before finishing the card off with a couple of enamel dots from the Pocketful of Sunshine pack from Altenew.
I used quite a few Copics for this, even though the card is very simple.
I colored the image with my Copics, then used the second largest die in the A2 Stitched Rectangles STAX 2 set from My Favorite Things to turn it into a nice panel with a faux stitch edge. I put a few additional layers of cardstock behind my colored piece for dimension and adhered it to a card base that I had covered in the patterned paper in this release. I used the blossoms, I thought the pattern went well with the blooms in the image and colored my dragon to be a good color match.
Using the Waterbrush Hello Die from Altenew, I die cut three layers from white cardstock and one from the patterned paper, adhered them together for a stacked look and placed the die cut so it nestles in with the image, before finishing off with a few pearls. These Panduro pearls are very pale pink and they’re at least ten years old, but they worked really well for this card. I also used a black Glaze pen from Sakura to add shine to the eyes, and on the dragon, I added a white dot to each eye once the black was dry.
Simple color palette this time, one that really makes me think of (and long for) spring. Even though spring technically starts today in the Northern Hemisphere, it doesn’t feel like it yet. I’m getting impatient, I’m 100 % over the cold weather.
I used the second largest die in the Watercolor Rectangle STAX die set from My Favorite Things to turn my colored piece into a panel with a fun edge. I added some layers of cardstock behind it and adhered it to a top fold card base I created from Berry Sorbet cardstock from Papertrey Ink.
I used the Sweet Hello die from My Favorite Things to create my sentiment. I die cut four from white cardstock and one from Grapefruit cardstock from Concord & 9th and adhered them all together for a stacked, dimensional look. I stamped and white heat embossed a sub sentiment from the IWCL2017005 English stamp set from InkyWings on a strip of Berry Sorbet cardstock and added it to my die cut sentiment, making sure to put a few layers of cardstock behind it on the part that overhangs. I added a few sequins from the White Orchid Sequin Mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards, and put a dot of black Glaze pen from Sakura on the squirrel’s eye for a little bit of shine and dimension to finish off the card.
I used a lot of colors for this simple image.
I colored up the penguins with my Copics and fussy cut them right up against the black lines. These are very simple shapes and easy to fussy cut. I put the penguins aside while I worked on the rest of my card. Onto a card base I created from Blue Breeze cardstock from My Favorite Things, I stamped tiny snowflakes from North Star Design using Spring Rain ink from Papertrey Ink for a subtle tone on tone look. This is super subtle, my ink pad needed reinking, but I went with it and didn’t reink until after the project was complete, I didn’t want to stop half way.
I used the Stitched Snowflake Backdrops die from Lawn Fawn to create an impressed snowflake pattern on a piece of Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I added a few extra layers of cardstock behind it and adhered it to the card base. Using the Postage Collage Die and coloring stencil from Waffle Flower, I created postage stamps for my penguins to sit on. I stamped the snowflakes on these as well, and ink blended a little in from the edges to define them a tiny bit. It’s still subtle, I hadn’t reinked my ink pad at this point. I added dimension behind each of the postage stamps, adhered them to the card and mounted the penguins on top. I used the Hjerte 3 die set from Papirdesign to die cut my sentiment from Berry Sorbet cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I die cut four and stacked them together for a dimensional look, before adding a
Simple coloring for simple images.