Hello Stamplings!
How are you on this fresh new Monday?! I hope you had a great weekend! As always so much of our enjoyment depends on Mom Nature who is always wrecking havoc somewhere, whether by heat or cold or floods or storms. For us, it's extremely high heat right now, so we're all nervous about another year of bad fires. I hope you are safe and comfortable wherever you are!
It's the 10th of the month which means today's twofer was made to encourage you to join in the actual Twofer Card Challenge. This month the prompt is BEES! EZ-BEES-E, right?!
It's the 10th of the month which means today's twofer was made to encourage you to join in the actual Twofer Card Challenge. This month the prompt is BEES! EZ-BEES-E, right?!
Onefer
This design started with the cool bee patterned paper on the right. How could I not use it? I've had it (and the bee stamp) since the last half of the last century so it's from GKW. The panel to the left has a subtle honeycomb pattern; it's the reverse side of the bee pp. I heat-embossed the big bee in black and added the stamped trail to direct your eyes to the die-cut birthday sediment from PTI.
And, natch, the bee had to be glossified. I whistled Hammy over to work his magic bringing the bee to life, but he was having too much fun using his drinking water as a pool to cool off (lucky guy), so I did it myself.
Challenges
- Seize the Birthday: Anything goes.
- Simon Says Stamp Wednesday: Masculine.
Twofer
I really like how this design turned out. To create the hive, I used a NBUS hexagon die from SU as a stencil and sponged the background. I stamped the bee in black, colored it with my Ziggies, and then fussy-cut it. Next, I stamped the bee onto vellum, colored the wings from the reverse, fussy-cut them, and popped them onto the body of the bee with a foam dot.
The hello sediment is from Stampin' Up. To finish the card I stamped a few worker bees busy in the hive and added a frame. Here is a closeup showing the pretty vellum detail:
Challenges
- A Place to Start: Stencil me in!
- Country View Challenges: June: It's a bug's life.
- Shopping Our Stash: Stencil me this.
- SSS Work It Wednesday: Summer.
- TIME OUT: Nature.
I hope you'll be able to take a break from your summertime activities to whip up a coupla different bee designs (for different occasions) and join us over at the Twofer Card Challenge! We are delighted to welcome the very talented Coni (Which Craft?) as our guest designer! The amazing ladies of the Design Team have also created sensational designs to inspire you! AND, check it out, we have a surprise prize this month!
Please Bee Aware
I'm sure you've all heard the devastating news that bees are diminishing at an alarming rate. If you would like to read more about it, including how you might help, please check out the valuable information in this link: Bees Are In Trouble. Thank you.
I'm sure you've all heard the devastating news that bees are diminishing at an alarming rate. If you would like to read more about it, including how you might help, please check out the valuable information in this link: Bees Are In Trouble. Thank you.
~~~
Enjoy your day! No, seriously, enjoy! LITS!*
As always, thank you for coming by to visit the Playhouse and special thanks to you if you take the time to join as a follower! Please let me know you came by so I can be sure to return the flavor!
*Life is too short!
To open the pop-up comment box that let's you jump to the end w/o scrolling: Click CTL + Home. Click the Home tab under my blog banner which resets the post. Click page down to reach the end of the post. Click Comments and the pop-up box opens. Click "Jump to Comment Form" and wallah, no more car pool tunnel! P.S. If you ask me a question in your comment, please remember to leave me your email address so I can respond. Mwah!
Gorgeous cards Darnell, but are you a mind reader or what? Not five minutes ago, I posted a card with bees on it and said in the post that bees are my current second favourite theme - after dragonflies of course.
ReplyDeleteI love your two bee themed cards Darnell, I must admit to having several bee stamps so i'm sure they will be having an outing shortly.
ReplyDeleteSue xx
Two bee-autiful bee themed cards Darnell, both gorgeous but I really love the second one, the stencilled background is perfect and that bee looks amazing.
ReplyDeletexx
bee-autiful cards!
ReplyDeleteHave a great day!
Marilyn❤️
They're both so beautiful!! I love the backgrounds!! The dimensional wings look so fabulous!! Have a great day!! Big hugs :)
ReplyDeleteLisa
A Mermaid's Crafts
Bee=-utiful cards Darnell. The double layers on your hive bee add so much dimension. And I love that bee patterned paper on your first card. Stay cool!
ReplyDeleteLove these fun cards, Darnell. Stay cool and enjoy your day! Maybe you'll get a break in the weather.
ReplyDeleteTwo wonderful BEE cards Darnell! I love the way your blended pattern turned out on the second card. They're both very artsy and bee-utiful.
ReplyDeleteDarnell, not only do I love your cards, I love that you are making your multitude of followers aware of the plight of the bees! Thanks, too, for including that film - I'm saving it for Tom, we'll watch it together tonight! In fact, we just had a conversation about what we could do for the bees. We have a garden [and brand new TWO story condominium] dedicated to butterflies now... why not add a habitat that is bee-happy, too? OH I just busted into Don't Worry, BEE happy!!
ReplyDeleteLOve your fabulous bees, and bee-U-tiful papers, and sure do hope to play along! xx
=]
Your Twofer bee is so handsome, Dolly! I love him winked with the awesome patterned papers. I think I have some of that hoarded somewhere. The second bee with the vellum wings is even more striking. He looks like he just landed on your card. Thanks for the link. We need to do all we can to keep the birds, bees and butterflies happy.
ReplyDeleteThese are gorgeous, Darnell. I can actually take part this month, but whether I will in time is another matter. Grin xoxo
ReplyDeleteGreat job on the bees! Love your wnd card a lot ☺
ReplyDeleteThat big bee on the second card looks like it's ready to take flight! Whoa!!! Beautiful cards and you've been as busy as a "bee".....
ReplyDeleteLynn
WOW two gorgeous cards Darnell! I love all of the bees and fabulous designs! Perfect bg paper on your first card and I love the beautiful layered bee on your second card! So happy you stopped by my blog, I'm now your newest follower!
ReplyDeleteHugs, Tammy
Hi Darnell, Loving your cards.
ReplyDeleteHere they are warning about the Bees decline, but the stupid powers that be are still allowing insecticides to be used on crops.
Hope you stay safe with no fires breaking out. We are in a wet and cool spell, which is supposed to last for a couple of weeks, although the temps are due to rise next week.
Hope you have a lovely week. Sue
Love the 2 bee cards, great to see them shine and the vellum gives a wonderful finish. Both have great backgrounds too, Super cards.
ReplyDeleteCoincidentally we have found a few bees struggling and walking in the garden, yes walking!, I picked 2 up and placed them onto flowers, they seemed to walk around on them OK, but next day I saw they were dead in the same flowers. I don't know if it is the unusually coldish weather we are having for June or that there is something wrong with them, we have a lot of plants they like and therefore we see lots of bees in the garden, it was so sad to them dead.
Thanks for highlighting the fact we NEED them.
Faith x
Now me and bees don’t actually see eye to eye on a lot of things especially as to whether my blood is for their special consumption or not!! Now I do like honey so I let them in the garden on a touch me if you dare threat which so far this year has worked. Absolutely love your two cards. Hugs Mrs A.
ReplyDeleteThese two cards are simply fabulous, Darnie. Your designs are incredible, and that big bee is pretty darn cool. I especially love those vellum wings on your hello card. The bees I see around here always seem to have a glimmer about them, so your winklings on them makes them so life-like. Two of the granddaughters came and weeded out my flower beds, and I've been thinking of what to plant in the spaces. Lately I've been wondering which flowers bees would like. Going to do a little research and see what I can find. Thanks for the reminder about bees. They're soooo important. Perfect theme for this time of year. LOVE your cards. xoxo Bev
ReplyDeleteI adore your magnificent large bee and all the cute smaller ones too Darnell, and the hexagon stencilling on the background of the second as well as the more muted hexagon on the first card and I absolutely love the look of the vellum for the added set of wings on the second too. Two fabulous Twofers. x
ReplyDeleteWonderful twofers, Dolly. Bright and cheery. And how perfect is that pattern paper... as is your stencilling. Great designs too. Fun theme this month. xx
ReplyDeletewonderful cards Darnell, although your Hello card got me a little scared and I started to think killer bee swarm. Your photography is perfect for the large intimidating bee and it's huge shadow (hee hee)
ReplyDeleteLove both cards and the vellum for the wings is perfect for Bennie the Bee. i love the differences in both cards using Bennie in both. To Bee, or not to Bee, that is the question! I vote for to Bee because we need Bees. In Europe the bees are coming back because they banned pesticides. that's what i read and heard about
ReplyDeleteI too admire your creativity in making these cards. The BIG bee is stunning. I am allergic to bee sting, or maybe wasps, so I stay clear, but love the flowers they love and would plant them if I had a garden.
ReplyDeleteLovely theme, Darnell! Must go search my stash for a bee image, Jo x
ReplyDeleteLOve that gorgeous bee stamp. I see you're putting your pp to good use, it really adds so much to your celebration card.
ReplyDeleteClever way to use the die as a stencil on your "hello" card is a perfect home for the bees. The way you colored those vellum wings makes them so realitstic...you're really are brilliant (I shouldn't act so surprised).
Wow!! Wonderful twofers!! Great designs!!
ReplyDeleteAll the Nature is in trouble and we humans are the biggest cause... Sigh :(
Hugs
Loving the bees ! Thank you for joining us over at Country View Challenges !
ReplyDeleteCorrie xx
We are such fans of the bees on our house Darnell....What a wonderful bee stamp you have used on both of your very different and fabulous cards. Stunning inspiration and glorious cards.....Thank you x. Stunning vellum detail on your second card x Sorry Hammy didn't get to bring his magic onto your cards x
ReplyDeleteI love a challenge that ‘forces’ me to use some of my older and not much used supplies. My bee dies are fiddly and so I haven’t used them often, but seeing the Twofer theme I knew I had to get them out straight away. You’ve made two stylish designs with bees. I do love that bee paper on your first card and the concept with the dots leading to the sentiment. As for your second card the stenciling is a great detail and those vellum wings are beautiful!
ReplyDeleteGorgeous cards! Always enjoy your two fers!
ReplyDeleteI just adore bees and worry about their plight so we always try to fill the garden with bee loving plants and set up bee boxes a couple of years ago, but had no visitors to the boxes though, sadly....
ReplyDeleteBoth cards are bee-autiful, the bee images are lovely. Poor Hammy must be very hot indeed as he usually loves to wink! Hope you are both keeping cool, we could send you some of our cool rain... Big hugs, Annie xxx
Two fabulous and brilliant cards Darnell, love the images but they look more like wasps to me, not sure if you have wasps in America.
ReplyDeleteHave a good week.
Kath x
Hi Darnell fabulous cards! The die I used on my father's day card is made by Gummiapan they were at a craft fair I went to but they so sell their dies on Hochanda...huggles Sue xx
ReplyDeleteEven though both of your cards share honeycomb and a swarm of bees, they could not be more different! I love that wonderful bee paper, and your stenciled hexagons are so warm and bright. Your bee of choice is a wonderful stamp all by itself, but with vellum wings it looks amazing! A fabulous twofer!
ReplyDeleteTwo stunning cards, Darnell. I especially love the one with the stencilling, the vellum bee is fabulous. Feel free to send some of your heat over to the UK. It was so cold today we had to put the heating on! xx
ReplyDeleteFabulous cards and so creative, even without Hammy helping out!! Love the stenciling so pretty and it adds so much!!
ReplyDeleteWonderful! It's almost like we're having a bee-awareness hop. Outstanding designs for both cards, Darnell. I love your stenciled honeycomb with that big, beautiful "hello", and just as pretty is your bee-patterned paper which is such a great match to your stamped bee. Cute how his trail draws the eye to the sentiment. This was a great idea for a challenge!
ReplyDeleteTwo FABULOUS cards Darnell! Love the honeycomb DSP you used and your spharkly bee looks wonderful! Love everything about your 2nd card from the cool background made with the stencil and the vellum wings on your bee...AWESOME! I found a bee stamp today and already have it sitting on my desk to remind me to make my cards this month. Things are starting to smooth out a little here health wise, so hopefully I'll accomplish everything I want to do this month, although it's cool enough here to make me think about Christmas...hmmmmm, can I make a bee Christmas card??? Have to think about that one!! Have a great week Darnell! Hugs. :0)
ReplyDeleteMight I say these are bee-utiful! I especially love the second one. The dimension of the bee and the pretty shadow you captured look amazing!
ReplyDeleteTwo wonderful bee cards, Darnell! Love the bee paper and those sweet bees! Awesome hexagon stencil! And, fab vellum wings, so fun! Have a great week!!:)
ReplyDeleteI like both your cards a lot, Darnell. I really hope I can join in on this challenge. My company from Germany leaves tomorrow, so--fingers crossed--I'll get some time in the craft room!
ReplyDeleteTwo bee-utiful cards Darnell. I love the paper on the first one, so pretty.
ReplyDeleteYour second design is a real stunner .... that bee looks real!!
Now that all the TT madness is over I'm hoping to find time to play along this month. Speaking of which, nice to hear you and the Mister enjoyed it too. Once the weather cleared we had some great racing days ..... you and the Mister should come over and watch it for real sometime .... we have a spare room! xx
Two wonderful cards Darnell, bees are so vital to our environment and so on trend with the crafting world. Your designs and colours are gorgeous
ReplyDeleteOur weather has gone to pot, I was out yesterday wearing a scarf and gloves......mid June I ask you! Thanks for your visits,Kate x x
Hello Darnell: I love, LOVE your beautiful bee card, that big bee is just amazing and her vellum wings look so beautiful. Love the honeycomb stenciled background, perfect for the little bees to fly about.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing with us at SHOPPING OUR STASH, I'm glad you decided to give stenciling a try.
Hugs.
These are absoulutely fabulous. Love the second one even more the flying bee is just beautiful!
ReplyDeleteIt's now Tuesday after a long weekend of lovely weather which is about to turn to 95% rain! and cold.
Oh I love them! I'm in a real bee phase at the moment since my bee wipes are doing so well in my Etsy shop. I'm sharing lots of bee posts on my Bagageddon Instagram - are you on IG much? Yet another platform, eh? We must save the bees! xx
ReplyDeleteDarnell, You always leave me the sweetest comments and I so appreciate that!! I know how busy you are and it really makes my day and then some! Now onto your buzzingly beautiful cards! How perfect is that pattern paper and stenciling!! Love that the yellow is varied in strength!! The celebrate card is eye-catching too! Love the raised sentiment and the swirl of the bee flying away! Such a fun theme this month, I sure hope I find time to play along! Heart hugs and thanks for being in our gallery at Seize the Birthday!
ReplyDeleteThese are such different cards, so creative to show your skills in this way. I love the sort of vintage look of the first but so glad you entered card 2 to Time Out as this is so much fun. I love the way the vellum bee seems to be floating off! And adore the vibrant colours. Fab to see you at Time Out and thanks for lovely comment on our blog x
ReplyDeleteTwo wonderful cards! I appreciate their beauty and absolute necessity even though I am scared of bees, always have been. Don't know why. Sorry I have been away from blogland for so long. I might even do a post soon! Hope you all ok. Hugs xxxxxxxxxxxxx
ReplyDeleteSooooo cute. I teach a card using a bee stamp, a hexagon punch and a hexagon stencil. We punch hexagons using paint strips. Tomorrow week 8 of 9 for beginning group and then I am over and advancing myselg to learn water color. Hugs, B
ReplyDeleteLove these, Darnell!! Both designs are fabulous! That big bee is wonderful and your dimensional version is amazing--great fussy cutting too. Thanks for the link about the film. Our botanical garden just opened a new exhibit on bees so I'm excited to see more info on the bee crisis. Educating the public is so important. I worked a booth on bees for a home school event and also the opening day of Bee House. We'll be anxious to see the film!
ReplyDeleteTwo absolutely Bee-U-tiful cards, Darnell! I love how you used your patterned papers on the first one, and your vellum bee on the 2nd card works perfectly with your stenciled background! Gonna dig through my stash right now so I can play along...Stay cool and safe, my friend!!! Barb xx
ReplyDeleteBoth of these cards are just wonderful but wow, wow, WOW! That vellum wing addition to your bee on the second card is a fabulous touch. I rarely stamp on vellum (as in, I did it one time only), because I've had problems with smearing and/or embossing powder mishaps. However, I'm so inspired by this effect that I may even give it another try. Lovely projects!
ReplyDeleteBoth your cards Darnell are amazing l came face to face with the biggest bee while on holiday in Ibiza last week and wasn't wanting to get too close although l do like bees and as long as they leave me bee....lol l will continue to like them take care x
ReplyDeleteI love your pretty bee cards. And, I hope to be able to join if I can find a bee in my stamps collection. And, yes, bees are necessary as they help to pollinate the plants and make the garden grow. One year we had no bees and my tomatoes were not setting any fruit on either so I took a paint brush and went from blossom to blossom and had to pollinate them that way. So I hope we have bees even if I don't care to be stung by one. I swell up like crazy when I do get a bug bite. I keep some Benydryl handy.
ReplyDeleteBoth cards are fabulous! I love your use of the honeycomb stencil! The vellum wings are pretty cool, too. I am inspired to try and recreate that shadow (I know it is not an element of your design) but it is pretty cool, just the same. Very nicely crafted. Thanks for sharing with us at Shopping Your Stash!
ReplyDeleteHugz,
Chana, DT
P.S. Your card is also perfect for our "Stencil Me In Challenge" over at A Place to Start.
https://hereisaplacetostart.blogspot.com
Wonderful cards, Darnell. I think I'll have to do search and destroy mission to find what I have in my stash. Yes, Bee's are in trouble - we need to save them. Thanks for the link to help out!
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful bee image & 2 great cards, Darnell! I especially love the second one with the frame, stenciling & beautiful font!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely love the sponged background and the fussy cutting on the bee. Beautiful card. thanks so much for joining us at A Place to Start.
ReplyDeleteYour bee creations are beautiful in movement and color Darnell! I hope to dive into this one before it slips past me~
ReplyDeleteTwo fabulous cards! Wonderful double-sided patterned paper for your first card - and a great glossy bee! Love the honeycomb stencil background on the second card - and good for you for fussy cutting not only one whole bee but also a pria of vellum wings for it!
ReplyDeleteI just realized that I do have one bee stamp so must participate in this Twofer. I am so concerned about the bees and have devoted one of my vegetable beds to planting flowers that bees love - can't wait to see it all in bloom.
OMGosh these both are Amazing! LOVE your stamp and the stenciling and how the two are different but FABULOUS! So sad about the bees. LOVE your challenge! Very inspiring!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Darnell for explaining how you made each card that are part of the Twofer blog but other blogs too like APTS' stencil challenge for June. Each card is BEE-utiful of course!!! Becca/APTS DT
ReplyDeleteIt's so nice that you dedicated june Twofer to the bees, to the amazing workers! Your two cards are fantastic. I like the motiv. You can really use it for any occasion. The background on the hello card is perfectly done. As always - fabulous work!
ReplyDeleteHave a nice day!
Hugs, Sonja
Two fabulous cards, my sweet friend!! LOVE the beautiful patterned paper (and reverse patterned paper for the background of your first card. That bee is amazing ... lovely being glossified! Great design with the thin black frame and rounded corners. Your second card is awesome! Love the sponged honeycomb background. Very artsy using selective sponging and different depths of colour. Your layered bee is AMAZING!! Those vellum wings add even more depth and dimension. Two WOW! cards, Dolly!! Lolly xx
ReplyDeleteTwo bee-utiful cards! While I have some patterned paper with bees, I don't think I have a single bee stamp - how could that bee?!? I'm also here to thank you for linking up the first bee card to Seize the Birthday!
ReplyDeleteOhhhhhhhh I am very smitten with your BEE-U-TIFUL bee cards!!
ReplyDeleteGorgeous!
Thanks for stenciling with the crew from SHOPPING OUR STASH!!
Two beauties in the bee category, Darnell - especially love that big bee image!! Such yummy papers on card one and I love the hexagon stenciled background you created!! Thanks for a fun challenge!
ReplyDeleteVery nice cards.
ReplyDeleteSimply lovely, Darnell ... you've taken that gorgeous bee image and made it stylish and striking ... fabulous with the botanical-style pp! The soft honeycomb stencilling on your second card makes for a perfect background ... and that flourish-y sentiment adds such delicious movement ... just like bee flight trails! Love the dimension and depth you created with the vellum on the queen bee ... she's brilliant! LYAMYLALMA ... STBSLCB! Big hugs and bee-sous, Anita :)
ReplyDeleteBee still my heart! Both cards are amazing, but my heart flutters from that second one! Wonderfully amazing!
ReplyDeleteYou knocked this challenge right outta the park with these cards! I'm thinking I may have some dsp like you used on the first card now that I see it :) Love the rounded corners and "glossified" bee! I'm blown away with the layered bee on the 2nd card with vellum! WOWSA, what an incredible look for that special little bee! Love the framework around it too. Thanks for another great Twofer challenge, so glad I was able to play along this month :)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for raising awareness about the plight of bees - I have been trying to plant bee-friendly plants in my garden and it makes me so happy to see them buzzing around my lavender :)
ReplyDeleteYour cards are both stunning - I love how you used the patterned paper on the first card - and you sponged background on the second one is to die for! Thanks so much for joining us at Time Out! Jill
Such a fab bee card Darnell and perfect for my It's a bugs life June challenge I'm hosting this month over at Country View. Hugs xx
ReplyDeleteSuch gorgeous makes... totally bee-utiful (sorry I had to). The honeycomb stencil is so effective. Wonderful fresh designs and I love the vellum wings, such a delicate touch. Thank you for sharing your wonderful work with us at 'a place to start'. Tina Chianna DT
ReplyDeleteI am not sure what I can say that has not been said already about your outstanding creations. I think the hello card is my fav! Thanks for another wonderful submission to our challenge at A Place To Start!
ReplyDeleteHugz,
Chana Malkah, Owner/Designer
A Place To Start Challenge Blog
613 Avenue Create Challenge Blog
That bee stamp is so realistic, Darnell. You've put him in two very different situations and he seems to enjoy them both. The bee paper is wonderful but so is the paper you stenciled. I hadn't seen this when I made vellum wings for my little bee. I guess bees just need them.
ReplyDelete