Jennifer McCrae: Of birds and bees... well, mostly bees!
It's Friday, and today is Jennifer's day! Which makes this her first project for our Design Team, and we cannot begin to tell you how excited we are to have her join this lovely group of crafty ladies! We are sure Jennifer will become a one of your favorites, not just because of her amazing crafting style but also because she is hilarious! But don't take our word for it, read on...
If
you’re a Dean Martin fan, then these words have danced in your head
before... “Let me tell you ‘bout the birds and the bees and the flowers
and the trees, the moon up above, and the thing called love.”
Now
don’t start fidgeting in your seat, we’re not going to talk about THOSE
birds and bees, we’re going to talk about another kind! More colorful,
but not in THAT way...goodness gracious the places people’s minds
go... With spring coming up (and hopefully SOON), its time to start
getting in gear for gardens, sunshine and of course -- birds and bees!
Its a new year; time to shrug off the old and embrace something new.
And that’s exactly what I did!
Have
you ever noticed that when you shop for supplies you tend to migrate
towards the things that appeal to you the most? Do you tend to come
home with the same styles, colors and themes? Have you looked at a
paper stack, gave it that old high school ‘up and down’ and then, with
upturned nose, walked away? Well I sure have! I’m the queen of
avoiding anything yellow, orange or containing realistic bugs. I mean
seriously, how can THAT ever = cute?!?!?
Here’s how!
Not bad for a first attempt out of the proverbial ‘box’!
What I used:
eCraft aka Mischief - of course!
DCWV ‘Collage Musings’ stack
Mr. Cricut Crazy ‘Friends, Friends’ stamp set
Black Pigment Ink
Black Embossing Powder
Heat Embossing tool
Lettering Delights ‘Bee Yourself’ svg set
Glimmer Mist ‘Black Magic’
Ranger Distress Ink ‘Vintage Photo’
Ranger Blending tool
Brads
Craft knife
Glue Dots
Small Paint Brush
Embossing Tool/Pad
What I did:
The
main portion of the card is made from a single sheet of card stock from
the DCWV stack... I love how realistic the flowers are and I wanted to
really make them POP! So I selected some of the petal and I cut along
the edges with my craft knife about 3/4 of the way around the petal; I
left it uncut where the petal connected to the center of the flower. I
also did this with the ends of the ribbon and the two flower buds at the
top of the card. Once I ‘freed’ those portions, I flipped the paper
over and embossed the back of the pieces, being careful not to tear the
paper. Then I folded my card, but not the top flowers. TIP if your
embossing tool is skidding or ‘squeaking’ when you rub the paper...rub
the embossing tip across some wax paper to help it slide better.
I
found the bees on Letter Delights’ website, they’re part of the ‘Be
Yourself’ svg cuts file. Those were for Mischief, my eCraft, to cut
out...and OMG what an amazing job she did! Do you see those teeny tiny
legs and those almost not even there antennae??? Crazy! The more I use
my eCraft, the more I’m impressed with what it can do...
WOW. Mischief, you really out did yourself on those bees. Good job!
Ok,
back to the task at hand! One of the other things that I really love
about the paper I chose is the sparkle! DCWV added the perfect amount
of sparkle to the flowers and their stems and I wanted my bees to really
look like they belonged. To do that I used ‘Black Magic’ Glimmer Mist
and the effect was perfect! But instead of spritzing the glimmer mist
on the paper, I used a paint brush. I wanted to make sure that I didn’t
miss any spots, especially with those tiny parts... I used mini glue
dots to adhere them to the card.
Mr.
Cricut Crazy Stamps had the perfect phrase for this card... ‘You’re the
Bees Knees!’ Such a cute, old fashioned saying! And since this card
is all ‘garden’, I used another piece of card stock from the same DCWV
stack that looks like wood. I used Mischief to cut out my ‘piece of
wood’ and the holes for the brads. I used the Ranger Ink and Blending
tool to deepen the color of the ‘wood’ and also to ink the edges of my
‘sign’. My stamping skills are a little rough, and yeah...so are my
heat embossing skills. LOL But, nothing ventured, nothing gained and
those are two techniques that I wanted to learn this year. Once that
was done, I popped in the brads and adhered my little wooden sign to my
card.
All
in all, a challenging but very fun card to mark... And proof that the
old adage is true; If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll
always get what you’ve always gotten. So the next time you see a paper
stack or colors or embellishments that are not what you tend to buy,
instead of passing it by, why don’t you buy it and challenge yourself to
break out of what you’ve always done...because you just might like when
you get!
Jen
What a sweet card! Thank you Jen! Want more of Jen? Go visit her blog here:
The inspiration doesn't end on Friday! KimberlyRae Ford is our guest designer tomorrow! Don't forget to check it out!
What an awesome Card!
ReplyDeleteSo pretty!
ReplyDeletewhat a fun and beautifu card!!!!
ReplyDeletetfs:)
The daisies are beautiful! Nice job.
ReplyDeleteYour BFF is LOL right now (yellow). Beautiful work, Jennifer. I'd like one of those for myself.
ReplyDeleterealistic bugs are hard for me too but I might give it a try after seeing this
ReplyDelete