MrsBeez

What’s inside?

Posted on January 31, 2015 by MrsBeez

Well I am pleased to report that yesterday’s mission to retrieve our equipment was successful. The council had done a good job of clearing the main roads although the side roads, including mine, are still quite treacherous. I had to walk down the hill to get my lift and back up again once we were done. I also had to be on windscreen cleaning duty as the wipers had packed up. As a reward for trudging back up the hill I bought a packet of Cadbury’s chocolate finger biscuits. I was so busy concentrating on walking in the tyre tracks that I actually walked past my road – what a numpty! With several hours of bright sunshine there was quite a thaw, but in the evening it all iced over resulting in both Mr Beez and eldest Beez getting stuck.

I have another Gecko Galz project to share with you today.

This gorgeous Russian doll image is from the From Russia with Love collage set. I’ve always had a thing about Russian dolls, it’s the doll within a doll with a doll thing that appeals to me. At one time I worked very near to the Russian shop in London and would often take a lunchtime stroll to look at the huge set they had there. I have a smaller set of my own and also a beautiful Christmas tree version (you get a Santa, a snowman, a penguin and a tiny tree).

I decided to make a card in the shape of a doll but I think this image would look great on the front of a regular shaped card too. I glittered the edge, added gold glittery highlights and picked out the main rose with crystal clear glitter. But of course, as it’s a Russian doll there had to be a surprise inside.

And you can’t just have two can you?

I made the medium sized doll in exactly the same way as the first and then added the final smaller image.

I could of course carried on but I was making this around Christmas time so you will understand why I left it at three!

I have one more thing to tell you – those chocolate finger biscuits were delicious!

Have a great weekend and thanks for buzzing by.

Snow day

Posted on January 30, 2015 by MrsBeez

The title of today’s post is about the weather and not the project I’m sharing as yesterday the snow returned and how! On Wednesday I spent the afternoon setting up my training event, unloading our van in the cold and sleet. During the evening, the snow started and continued to fall all night and for most of Thursday. Consequently I had to cancel not only yesterday’s training but also today’s. Take a look at how it was outside my house.

This was taken around lunchtime, the snow was falling heavily, and there was plenty more that arrived after this. I always use that stone bench, which is in the near left of the picture, as a marker of how much snow has fallen, there was a good seven or eight inches at that point. Today’s dilemma is to work out how my colleague and I can get the van across to the other side of town so we can pack up all our equipment. I fear we may not be able to do so!

As we reach the end of the month it’s time to play catch up and share some of my Gecko Galz makes that I’ve not yet had time to post.

This was a very simple card to do, the key supply being printable acetate. I’ve used a stamp from the All You Need is Love digital stamp set and printed it onto the acetate. It’s then been layered onto some gold glitter card. To adhere it, I ‘ve used glue gel, as this clings to the glitter, and put tiny blobs, using a cocktail stick, behind the solid parts of the letters.

I’ve then layered everything onto black card.

It will be interesting to see how today pans out

Thanks for buzzing by

Introducing….

Posted on January 29, 2015 by MrsBeez

… Miss Agatha Bee! As you know, I received this stamp for Christmas and although I have had lots of ideas on how I’d like to use her, I just haven’t had time to do any of it .. until now!

This is a little triptych that I made using the Tim Holtz Arch Alterations Die. I cut two, the same size, from chipboard and then cut one in half. I’ve covered them with white card and then inked with Broken China, Shabby Shutters and Mowed Lawn distress inks, then spritzed with water. I’ve then done some random stamping with swirls (Neil Walker) and dots.

I stamped Agatha on the central panel and then used Stampotique’s Daisy Daisy stamp. The flower heads have been coloured with white gel pen and orange Promarker. I stamped a second image of Agatha, cut her out and coloured her in using Promarkers, paper piecing the bee. The words are from a collage sheet from Lisa’s Altered Art over on Etsy. I think this phrase its probably pertinent to a lot of people and certainly rings true for myself.

I’m sharing this over at Sunday Stampers for this week’s “Wings” challenge.

I was thrilled and honoured that Magda Polakow, talented artist and creator of Agatha, left a lovely comment here on my blog just recently. I really hope she is dreaming up some more fabulous incarnations of Magda and her super cute stamp sister Nina.

Thanks for buzzing by,

Thank you in black and white

Posted on January 28, 2015 by MrsBeez

As you know, I am very bad at getting on with making my Christmas cards. I have to tell you that I am just as bad at getting on with thank you cards. I am so behind this year I am ashamed. What’s worse is that I had already made a few thank you cards before Christmas and with all that time off that I had there is really no excuse.

I made this set as part of my Gecko Galz samples towards the end of last year. Leanne produced a black and white paper pack, Graphical, and I thought the designs were far too pretty to be covered up so, instead, I used them as the main feature of the card. They were so easy to make, I have no excuse for not having made a whole stack!

I’ve matted and layered the paper onto raspberry pink and black card and then popped on the sentiment.

I originally intended to add a tiny butterfly, but was happy with them just the way they were so left it at that!

Apologies to all those people who are due to receive one of these – now I have admitted my shame in public I will try and redeem myself at the earliest opportunity.

Thanks for buzzing by.

Forever

Posted on January 27, 2015 by MrsBeez

Good morning and I hope you are keeping warm, especially all my blog friends across the pond where, in some regions, there seems to be some super wintery weather. In my part of the world more snow has been forecast and I have put plans in place for cancelling events that are scheduled to coincide with the snow. That probably guarantees that we won’t see one single flake!!!

I’m back today to share another card that I made for the latest challenge over at My Artistic Adventures which has the theme of Love.

I’ve used Heather’s new Vintage Valentine’s Day paper set and layered up two different colours.

The heart, cupid and sentiment are from the Romantic Focals collage set. This set actually makes a tussie mussie but the images are so versatile, especially the fabulous shape of the hears, they can be used separately too. I’ve outlined them all with gold glitter.

Lace, ribbon and a paper rose finish the job!

Heather currently has a special offer on at her Etsy Shop where if you spend $20 dollars on products before the 14th February 2015 (trust me, that will not be difficult – check out the fabulous backing papers for starters!) you will get the collage sheet set to create this banner

Thanks for buzzing by.

Back with a butterfly

Posted on January 26, 2015 by MrsBeez

Gosh, I can’t believed that I haven’t blogged for a whole week. Since my return to work a fortnight ago life seems to have been one hectic whirl and hasn’t yet returned to what passes for “normal” in my world. Having had two weekends where I’ve been away, I finally found a little time to play craft over the weekend. It also meant that I could avoid watching the football! I love watching my team in real life, even if the do often put their fans through the wringer, but I just can’t watch them on TV. If they win, I will watch the highlights but otherwise it is all too painful! Thankfully, whilst a lot of major teams got knocked out by minnows, my side scraped a win in the dying seconds.

Anyway, over at Crafty Boots Challenges we have reached the midway point of our butterflies challenge. I’ve made another card:

I’d actually made the stamped background for something else and then never used it and although I was tempted to use a bee, I think the butterfly does the job just as well.

For the background I used Antique Linen and Victorian Velvet inks with a little Walnut Stain around the edges. I’ve stamped some script, using more Victorian Velvet and a swirly flower design using Walnut Stain. The honeycomb was stamped in Frayed Burlap and then I’ve added gold glitter by going over parts of the design with a glue pen. I saw this idea in a recent (ish) issue of Craft Stamper magazine.

The butterfly was coloured with Victorian Velvet and highlighted with gold glitter. I’ve used scraps of lace and some muslin for the butterfly to perch on.

Another scrap of lace and some shabby seam binding are topped off with a tiny paper rose.

I am also sharing my card over at Sunday Stampers where the theme is wings.

As you know, if you read my previous post, it is almost a year ago since tiny Knox, the little boy that captured my heart, lost his battle against Cockayne Syndrome and grew his butterfly wings. The butterfly is the symbol of Amy and Friends, the charity that supports those suffering from Cockayne Syndrome and their families. You can find out more here. I’d love it, should you feel inclined to do so, if you left a message of support for and/or liked the Amy and Friends page on Facebook. If you make a butterfly project it would be great if you could mention Amy and Friends in your blog post.

Thanks for buzzing by.

Butterfly how time flutters by

Posted on January 19, 2015 by MrsBeez

Having been super busy at work all week and then away for the weekend I was little anxious about whether or not I would get my DT sample made for the new challenge over at Crafty Boots Challenges. Then on Friday, fate stepped in and played her part – my computer decided it needed to do some updates and very kindly starting shutting itself down I decided to seize the moment and, in the time it took for it to close down, re-start, install the updates and shut down again, whip up my card:

Amazing what you can rustle up when the chips are down! In case you haven’t guessed, the theme for our new challenge is butterflies.

I’ve used cream card, coloured it with Broken China distress ink and then spritzed it with water. Once dry I’ve used a variety of background stamps and Vintage Photo, Frayed Burlap and Walnut Stain distress inks to build up layers.

The butterfly was stamped, using Walnut Stain, on a piece of paper coloured in the same way.

I’ve coloured some seam binding and crumpled it before tying in a bow. I’ve added a selection of paper roses in coordinating colours. The sentiment is from the Darkroom Door String Inspiration set.

Make sure you buzz over and see what the rest of the Crafty Boots design team have been up to.

Those of you who buzz by here regularly will know that butterflies have a very special place in my heart as they are the symbol of Amy and Friends, the charity that supports those suffering from Cockayne Syndrome and their families. Sadly, almost a year ago, Knox, the little boy that captured my heart, lost his battle against Cockayne Syndrome and grew his butterfly wings. I am privileged to have met him and his gorgeous family and send them lots of love. You can find out more here. And I’d love it, should you feel inclined to do so, if you left a message of support for and/or liked the Amy and Friends page on Facebook.

Thanks for buzzing by.

Tag Love

Posted on January 16, 2015 by MrsBeez

As you know, I went back to work on Monday after a long Christmas break and I have to tell you that my feet haven’t touched the ground since! I seem to have a “to do” list as long as my arm and although I know it will all get done, it would have been nice to have the opportunity to ease myself back in gently! There has been absolutely no time whatsoever to indulge in any crafting or creating. Fortunately I made my samples for the new My Artistic Adventures challenge whilst I was still on holiday so can share one of those with you today. Challenge number two has a love theme and I have created a tag:

Heather has started designing some background papers that compliment her fabulous collage sheets. Here, I have used papers from the Victorian Vintage Valentine’s collection.

You can check out all her fabulous designs, including one with bees which I am super excited about, in her Etsy shop.

I made chipboard heart and a circle and covered them with papers from the set. I’ve decorated the heart with glitter, using a glue pen to create the dots, lace and a tiny paper forget-me-not. The “love” sentiment is from the Romantic Focals collage set.

I’ve used more lace and another chipboard heart at the base of the tag.

At the top I’ve added a bow made from seam binding.

Make sure you buzz over to My Artistic Adventures Challenges and take a look at the gorgeous creations that the other DT members have made. We hope you will share your projects with us.

Love is blue

Posted on January 12, 2015 by MrsBeez

So the day I was dreading is finally here – after my long Christmas break I have to return work I’ve been very lucky to have such a long time off but boy did I work hard beforehand to earn it!! It really has done me the power of good, I switched off completely, began to feel rested and had a wonderful time, full of treats and surprises.

This particular Monday we have reached the half-way stage for the current challenge over at Crafty Boots where the theme is “Out with old and in with the New”. Use new or previously unused crafting goodies, and possibly team them with something old, to create any kind of project. Today I have a a card to share with you:

The new here is one of Heather’s fabulous collage sheets, Conversation Hearts. There are two sheets in the set and they are filled with little hearts with cute and romantic sayings on them.

There’s also a similar set that has cute pictures on too – I think I might need to get them!! You can find these, together with Heather’s fabulous new background papers, over at her My Artistic Adventures Etsy shop.

Also new is some music washi tape that had fallen to the bottom of my stash. I’ve layered it up with my very old muslin and my favourite white organza roses.

I’ve added a little stamping, behind the heart, using a splatter stamp and some blue ink.

I love the freshness of the blue and white together.

Thanks for buzzing by,

Agatha Heart is back

Posted on January 10, 2015 by MrsBeez

An early post today as I am jetting off to London (well, catching a train!) for the day with a small group of friends. I love a trip to London and this one promises to be fun as we are going to the Shard which, to date, I’ve only seen in the distance.

Today I am sharing a project that is my entry for this week’s Sunday Stampers where the theme is hearts.

You will see I have given Agatha Moon a break and brought Agatha heart out to play. I suspect that you will be seeing quite a bit of her as Valentine’s Day approaches. I’ve used the base of a box, I can’t remember what it originally contained, that is slightly deeper and taller than a large matchbox. I covered it with book pages and then painted it, using mainly dry brushing, first with pale grey acrylic and then some baby blue.

Agatha was stamped, cut out and then coloured with Promarkers. I’ve added a tiny sprinkling of glitter to her wings and the heart. To suspend her from the box I’ve used some clear nylon thread and taped it to the underside at the top.

I’ve used a stamp to add the “xo”. The little hearts were cut using a Siizzix die, coloured with Promarkers and then stamped using Stampotique’s French Text stamp. There’s a little border stamp across the bottom of the box.

Have a fun Saturday and thanks for buzzing by.