Winged things and more

Morning! Deborah here with you today. Last week I shared a couple of cards made using Jennifer McGuire’s Gel Lift technique. I made lots of backgrounds and have four cards to share with you. The main images are from Colorado Craft Company’s Big & Bold range of stamps, with other images from Altenew and Concord & 9th. I used Colorado Craft Company’s Big & Bold Honey Bee stamp set for the main image. I stamped the in Versamark and embossed with clear powder. I used three shades of yellow to build up the background colour. This gave me a darker positive image and softer negative image.

My first card using the positive image. I cut the panel to 4” x 5¾”. I added a simple sentiment from Concord & 9^th’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.

This next card uses the softer negative image. This time I used a 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.

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.

The card is a US A6 and I simply cut the border and image to fit. I added a simple sentiment from Altenew’s Fresh Freesia stamp set in black and called it done.

On the inside, I stamped a lovely verse from Altenew’s Beautiful Inside stamp set – the words are lovely. I finished by adding a few leaves from Brilliant Beetle.

Wow! That 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 next week, Deborah. x