SHC - Winged Things and More ....

... Good Morning everyone! If you're in the UK I hope you all had a good Mother's Day. I'm here with my regular weekly post for Seven Hills Craft blog. Last I tried out Jennifer McGuire's Gel Plate Lift technique and I shared a couple of cards that I'd made. Well, I made lots of backgrounds and today's cards are all made from them. They mainly feature images from Colorado Craft Company's Big & Bold range of stamps, with other images from Altenew and Concord & 9th. For my first two cards I used the Big & Bold Honey Bee stamp set. I embossed the huge bee onto white card, emboosed with clear powder and used three shades of yellow ink to build up the background colour. I ended up with a darker positive image and softer negative image. My first card is bold and bright:

Stamps: Colorado Craft Company - Big & Bold Honey Bee; Concord & 9th - Beautiful Butterfly

Inks: Gina K - Lemon Drop, Wild Dandelion, Sweet Mango, Soft Stone; Versamark; Versafine Clair - Nocturne

Accessories: White Card; SU Card - Basic Black; Clear Embossing Powder

I'm submitting this card to Love to Challenge Craft Blog - LTCCB#56 where the theme is Anything Goes.

My first card uses the positive image. I cut the panel to 4” x 5¾”. I added a simple sentiment from Concord & 9th’s Beautiful Butterfly in bold black ink. I layered the panel on black card and adhered the whole piece to a US A6 (6¼” x 4½”) card. Inside, I cut a mat layer of black card. On the white panel I stamped the large honey bee in yellow ink, added some soft grey hexagons and finished with one of the sentiments from the Honey Bee stamp set.

I was having such fun with this stamp set that I decorated the envelope too. I add a bold yellow bee on the front of the envelope and added a message, created from the stamps, on the envelope flap. I like the 'save the bees' message - bees, for some reason, seem to be declining in number.

My next card uses the softer negative image. 

Stamps: Colorado Craft Company - Big & Bold Honey Bee; Altenew - Hello Hydrangea

Inks: Gina K - Lemon Drop, Wild Dandelion, Sweet Mango, Soft Stone; Versafine Clair - Nocturne

Dies: MFT - A2 Rectangles Stax Set 1 #11, A2 Stitched Rectangles Set 2 #9

Accessories: White Card; SU Card - Basic Black

I'm submitting this card to Darnell's Never-Before-Used-Schtuff - NBUS#24 - it's the first time I've used the lovely big honey bee stamp!

This time I used an US A2 (4¼” x 5½”) card. I cut a piece of black card just smaller than the blank and used a die to cut the honey bee image. It’s such a lovely image that I kept the greeting quite simple and used the vertical ‘hello’ stamp from Altenew’s Hello Hydrangea stamp set. Inside on the white panel, I stamped the little hydrangea buds from Hello Hydrangea, and the solid bee and words from Honey Bee. I layered this onto black card and adhered the whole piece inside the card.

My next two cards feature some of the leaves from Colorado Craft Company’s Big & Bold Brilliant Beetle stamp set. Using the same technique, I have a bolder positive image and softer negative image.

Stamps: Colorado Craft Company - Big & Bold Brilliant Beetle; Concord & 9th - Beautiful Butterfly

Inks: Gina K - Key Lime, Grass Green, Fresh Asparagus; Versamark; Versafine Clair - Nocturne

Dies: MFT - A2 Rectangles Stax Set 1 #11, A2 Stitched Rectangles Set 2 #9

Accessories: White Card; SU Card - Basic Black

The first card, using the bold positive image, is a US A2 card. I stamped a butterfly from Concord & 9th’s Beautiful Butterfly stamp set, coloured it with Copic markers, restamped with Versamark, heat embossed with silver powder and fussy cut it out. I used a strip of the left-over green card the long sentiment from Big & Bold Brilliant Beetle, embossed with silver powder and cut it out. I layered it onto some scraps of card for dimension and adhered it to the card. I used dimensional pads to add the butterfly. I kept the inside white panel very simple. I stamped another of the butterflies from Beautiful Butterfly and added some leaves and a words from Brilliant Beetle. I layered the panel onto black card and added to the inside of the card.

My last card for today is for my stash. I think it’s always important to have some sympathy cards on hand, but they are so hard to make. So, I tend to make them as I go and have them ready. This one uses the softer negative image.

Stamps: Colorado Craft Company - Big & Bold Brilliant Beetle; Altenew - Fresh Freesia, Beautiful Inside

Inks: Gina K - Key Lime, Grass Green, Jelly Bean Green, Fresh Asparagus; Memento - New Sprout; Versafine Clair - Nocturne

Accessories: White Card; SU Card - Basic Black

The card is a US A6 and I simply cut the mat layer and image panel to fit the card. I added a simple sentiment from Altenew’s Fresh Freesia stamp set in black and called it done. On the inside, I stamped a verse from Altenew’s Beautiful Inside stamp set – the words are lovely. I finished by adding a few leaves from Brilliant Beetle.

It was fun learning this technique and I recommend watching Jennifer's video, click this link and it will take you to her post. I love the velvety look you get on the positive images - the inks blend beautifully and are so smooth. I think I might come back to this technique. 

This turned out to be an exceptionally long post – thanks so much for sticking with me to the end. I hope you liked the cards. I had fun making them. I can’t make up my mind which image I prefer – the bold positive or the softer negative. What do you think? See you soon.

Edited to add: Jonathan and I had our first Covid-19 vaccination today - we had the Oxford Astra Zenica one. Second vaccination in about 12 weeks. Feeling great :)