Honey Bees Revisited...

Happy May Day!  It's the first of the month, which means Papertrey Ink Sr Team challenge time!  We are revisiting an old set again this month...this time it's Honey Bees.

 

Bees are so trendy right now.  They can fun and cute and bright, but they can definitely take on a more elegant, regal look too.  Think about metallics and jewels and lush colors.  Check it out...

 Pillow covers from Pottery Barn

 
Image via Pinterest

 
Image via Pinterest

 

It was that last image of the pewter bee on the pale blue that inspired my project today. 

I was totally channeling the fabulous J Witt when I created the embossed bees.  I stamped the largest bee from the set onto Vellum Cardstock using VersaMark ink, then embossed it with silver embossing powder and pressed another stamp into the warm embossing  powder to give it a pretty, ornate look.  The Thank You sentiment is from the Honey Bees set as well, and the label is from Label Basics.

 

Here's a bit of a step by step if you want to give this technique a try. 

I started by stamping the bee body onto vellum using Fresh Snow Ink.  You can use a heat gun to speed the drying process, or what I actually ended up doing was turning the vellum over and using the backside.  Since it's vellum, the stamping shows through onto the other side.

 

Then I stamped the bee using VersarMark ink.  I embossed it with two layers of silver.  I heated the first and immediately after taking away the heat gun, sprinkle it with nother layer of silver and heat.  This makes the embossed image nice and thick and when you press the other stamp into it, it will give you a more dramatic effect.

 

Now you have to be fast.  Before the powder cools, press the second stamp into the warm embossing powder.  I chose to use the flourish image from the Mat Stack 2 Collection.  If you don't move fast enough and the powder is too cool to press the second stamp into, just reheat it with the heat gun.

 

I then cut the bees out and adhered them to my project.  I love they way they look almost like ornate pieces of jewelry!  Just for reference...the bee on the top was done with just one coat of embossing powder and the bottom was done with two.  You can see that I was able to get a much deeper and more dramatic impression with the two layers of embossing powder. 

Thanks for stopping by!  Make sure you check out the other Sr. Team members to see what they've whipped up with Honey Bees. 

Lisa Johnson
Dawn McVey
Heather Nichols
Michelle Wooderson
Nichole Heady

 
Stamps:  Honey Bees, Label Basics, Mat Stack 2 Collection
Ink:  VersaMark, Smokey Shadow, Tea Dye Duo
Cardstock:  Vintage Cream, Vellum
Dies:  Angled Label collection, Sending You label
Other:  Postmarks patterned paper, Spring Rain grosgrain, Vintage Cream Sheer Stripe ribbon, silver embossing powder, gems, patterned paper from Glitz (old letter), patterned paper from Crate (brown background) 

Comments

[Cindy Holshouser]

If you didn't know better you would think that flourish was part of the Honey Bees set, it aligns perfectly with that little bee. Beautiful!

[Gabby]

Love the way your inspiration led you to such a neat card! Your bee turned out great! :)

[Wendy ten Hove]

This is sooo lovely! Your bees look just gorgeous! Like an art work this car, I love it!
Hugs, Wendy

[Angela Marry]

This is a fantastic effect. So beautifully done. Love your work Betsy. Have a happy Mother's Day.

[Holly Saveur]

THIS IS SO Great..GORGEOUS and elegant!
LOVE IT!!!!

[Susan T]

This is really beautiful. Love what you did to the bees. Sooo creative.

[Kalyn]

Great tutorial, Betsy! I must admit that this technique is slightly intimidating, but I think if I practiced a bit, I could figure out how to do it without burning myself. Haha Awesome job and I love the jewelry inspiration!

[Kelly Schirmer]

Whoa, the close-up of those bees is so amazing, totally looks like silver jewelry! Love the bling and the striped ribbon!

[Aga]

WOW I totally love it!

[Carol R]

What a fabulous card! Love the embossing of the bees wings. Very elegant looking.

[veronica]

what a very cool technique! tfs.
looks great!

[Katie Jones]

Wow! What a gorgeous look! Thanks for sharing this technique!

[JeanFB]

I love, love, love this card! The swirl you chose to emboss your bee wings with looks like it was *custom made* for them!!! Beautiful color scheme, too.

[Ruth S]

Gorgeous flourishy bees Betsy - I love this elegant look!
TFS, hugs, Ruth S

[Jen G]

Umm, wow! Absolutely amazing little bees!

[diana]

Bee-utiful card! And thanks for sharing this great technique! ;-)

[Teresa G]

Beautiful card. Thank you for sharing that technique.

[Mona L. Pendleton]

STUNNING Betsy! Thanks for the inspiration!

[Lisa]

This makes me think of something you would find at a quaint little shop in Paris,just beautiful Betsy.

[Jeanne]

Thank you for such a stunning post and flourish of new ideas and techniques. Wonderful! Love the detail that you add.

[Susie Wittwer]

Betsy, this is beautiful!!! So elegant! You've inspired me to try this technique :)
Thanks for sharing.

[Debbie Standard]

WOW fabulous! looks so elegant!

[Bonnie]

Oh ,how I love your work..... I can't wait t try this, thanks sooooo much.

[Roxanne]

Such a lovely project Betsy! Thanks too for demonstrating how to achieve the effect. Spot on from your inspiration piece. A beautiful interpretation. Happy May day and Happy Mothers Day as well!

[Therese]

Gorgeous card Betsy. Your bees are AMAZING! Such an inspired idea to make them look metallic, I love it!