Blue Bird in a Country Christmas Wreath Holiday Card

Hello crafty friends!  Today, as I did last week, I pulled out one of my most favorite previously released Honey Bee holiday sets. Some of the older set are still my most favorite and I'll never get rid of them! So I pulled out the beautiful Country Christmas Wreath  by Honey Bee and paired it with the new favorite Lovely Layers: Winter Birds!! My inspiration for this came from the raucous, but beautiful, Blue Jays we have here in Texas. They have a crest and a similar body shape to the Cardinal this is intended to be. I think it works!!

For ease of reading, I'll list the steps for each component of my card starting with the wreath.

• From the Country Christmas Wreath Honey Cuts, I die cut the wreath from 80# Neenah.
• Then I chose two shades of green cardstock from my stash and a piece of white 80# Neenah. Then I used the Fresh Balsam Distress Mica Stain to lightly spray the pieces.
• WOW! I ordered these recently and this is the first time I've used them. These sprays give such a beautiful shimmer and shine that a photo just cannot capture! (P.S.: I need them all--LOL!)
• Once the pieces were dry, I chose a few of the greenery dies in the Country Christmas Wreath and die cut them from the mica panels.
• I tried to keep count and think I die cut about 34 of the pine sprigs and maybe a dozen of the leafy branches. I die cut the small leafy sprigs from white cardstock.
• Then I put dots of glue on the small leafy sprigs and dipped them into Clear Rock Candy Distress Glitter and set them aside to dry.

• I used glue and my reverse tweezers to arrange the pine branches and leafy sprigs around the die cut wreath.
• Lastly I added in the glittered small leafy sprigs around the wreath.
• I used a piece of paper from the Make It Merry paper pad and die cut it with the largest Deckle Edge A2 Honey Cut. Then I adhered it to an A2 card base.
• I used Bee Creative glue to adhere the wreath to my card base.

Next I created my "Blue Jay" inspired bird:

• I die cut the layers for the bird in the Lovely Layers: Winter Birds Honey Cuts from 80# Neenah. The feet, beak and eye is black cardstock. Did you know that there is a downloadable layering guide? The link to it is just under the product description in the Honey Bee shop.
• Then I used a couple of the little bitty Detail Blender brushes to color each layer. I used Prize Ribbon and Tumbled Glass.
• To get the lighter shade in the middle of the birds belly, I lightly inked on some Brilliant White pigment ink with a detail blender brush.

• I always begin with inking/coloring the bottom layer of all of the Lovely Layers sets. Even though you don't need to color the entire layer, I added some ink around all of the edges as I usually like to pop up the layers and didn't want the white cardstock to show.
• I added thin foam squares for dimension between the bird's body layers. I used glue to adhere the rest.
• Since the bird is sitting over the wreath, I added a few pieces of foam tape to the back to adhere it.
• I stamped the sentiment from the Let Nature Sing stamp set with Rustic Wilderness Distress Oxide ink. I cut it out with the coordinating Honey Cut.
• As if there's not enough shimmer and shine, (Haha!) I added a few gem stickers from the Winter Wonder set onto some of the green leafy sprigs.

I wish photo could capture the depth and beautiful shimmer of the wreath!  Thank you so much for stopping by today!

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Christmas Bells Are Ringing! - Coloring Die Cuts and A Layering Stencil

Hello friends! I think making Christmas cards is my most favorite thing to make! These gorgeous Layering Holiday Bells by Honey Bee Stamps were so fun to ink up and add to my stenciled background I made with the Under The Mistletoe stencil set!

First I die cut some 110# cardstock with the second largest Deckle Edge A2 die. Then I used some detail blender brushes to add Mowed Lawn and Rustic Wilderness Distress ink through the Under The Mistletoe layer 1 and layer 2 stencils. Then I used a pallet knife to spread red glitter gel through the "berries" stencil. I set it aside to dry. Be sure to clean your stencil and pallet knife immediately!

Next I die cut the bell pieces of the Layering Holiday Bells Honey Cuts from 80# Neenah. (Be sure to check out the downloadable layering guide in the product description.) The center piece of the bells, the ringer, and berries are die cut from some white glitter cardstock from my stash. I also die cut six of the mistletoe leaves and one of the berry clusters that are in the Lovely Layers: Winter Greenery Honey Cuts.

I used my blending brushes and the Distress Inks again to color the bells and leaves green with the same Distress Inks. I kept going over them until I had the shading the way I wanted.

I added foam tape to the back of the stenciled piece and adhered it to an A2 card base. Next I played around with the arrangement of the leaves and bells. When I had the pieces arranged I picked them up with a piece of Press N Seal and added dots of glue to the back of the leaves. I laid the Press N Seal back down to adhere the leaves to the card.

I used thin foam tape on the bells to pop them up a bit. I topped the bells with a red die cut bow (also in the Layering Holiday Bells set).

Next I stamped the sentiment from the Jingle All The Way stamp set with Lumberjack Plaid Distress Oxide ink. I added some clear embossing powder to it and then heat set it. I cut the sentiment out with the coordinating die. A thin foam strip pops it up onto the card!

I love the bright green color with the pops of red on my card and hope you do too! If you are in the States, I'm sending wishes to you for a very happy Thanksgiving! And to all, happy crafting!! Thank you for stopping by today!

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Thinking of You Floral Card with Hot Foiled Sentiment

 Today I'm sharing a card featuring Lovely Layers: Mum which is one of the newest in the Lovely Layers line! I also used some new patterned paper for the gorgeous background and added a hot foiled sentiment for some shine!

I die cut all of the pieces of the Lovely Layers: Mum from 80# Neenah cardstock. I used my Copic markers to color the layers. Tip: You only need to color the portion of each layer that is not covered up by the layer above it! The Copic markers I used are: R39, R37, R35, Y19, G07, YG17, and YG25.

While the Lovely Layers are gorgeous glued together, I love the look of extra dimension, and cannot resist adding foam tape between most of the flower layers! I will either hand deliver this card or mail it in a padded envelope.

Next I die cut some paper from the new Spooktacular paper pad with the largest Deckle Edge A2 Honey Cut. I adhered that to an A2 card base. (There are plenty of non-Halloween papers in this beautiful paper pad!) Then I used Bee Creative glue to adhere the flowers and leaves to my card.

The sentiment is from the Fall Foliage Sentiments Hot Foil Plate set. I used my Glimmer machine with the sentiment, copper foil, and Glimmer Specialty cardstock. I used the coordinating Honey Cuts that are in the Fall Foliage Frame Honey Cuts to die cut it out. Of course, I added foam tape to pop up the sentiment too!!

To finish off this beauty, I added some copper colored gems that are in the Grain and Grunge gem sticker set.

I love how this card turned out, and hope you do too!  Thank you so much for stopping by today!  You are always so appreciated!

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