Bees are out for spring!

 If you don't know, last year I decided to raise honey bees!  I got my first package of bees in May and I was terrified of them!  I had all the gear though, so I got a little more comfortable with them as the year went on.  They really are fascinating!  I am happy to say that my bees survived the winter and have been very busy the last couple of weeks growing their colony in preparation for the honey season!

As my bees are getting busy, so am I!  I actually ordered this Stampin'Up! set on Ebay last summer as it is retired.  I used it for the first time this week!   I stamped out the honey bees and colored in their bodies with my stamping blend markers, and cut them out with my dies.  I also used dies to cut out the honey bee hive from a sheet of whisper white cardstock and then the comb die also in whisper white.  The card base is Bumble bee yellow as are the little embelishments around the card.  I found a piece of gold ribbon in my stash and then this adorable textured almost comblike cardstock I used at the bottom of the card front.  I saw a card like this online and mirrored a lot of the design, but added my own touches with the accents and cardstock.  Oh, and finally, I used my crystal effects to cover my honey bee bodies and make them glossy and 3d!

I can't ignore the inside of my card!  I stamped this "sweet friend" sentiment and added a die cut bee to the inside as well.  I really LOVE the way this card came out!

And my second bee card... I used the center hive cut out from the above card that i stamped the bee hive image on in this Bumble Bee Yellow ink.  This was propped up on dimensionals in the center of my card.  The sentiment was stamped around the top of the hive.  I then colored in my stamps with my stampin up markers to get 2 colors on one stamp and stamped the 2 flower images. I die cut them out (well one of them, the other I realized the die was missing from the set I bought and I had to hand cut out the flower - the dies really do spoil you!). Since I added a splash of color with these flowers (Magenta Madness and Just Jade) I wanted to carry that through the card.  I did a Just Jade strip of DSP at the bottom of the front and a skinny layer of the Magenta Madness.  A few dots of magenta madness for pizzaz and my honey bees were added!  Then I realized I had this Wink of Stella brush I had not used yet.  I got my pen set up and a little bit over did it with the first squeeze to get the glitter out and my bee wings are very glittery!

But I LOVE the colors and beauty in this card.  For once, I left the inside blank!  

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy this spring and are nice to the honey bees!
~Melanie