I feel sort of bad :(

Because now Stampin' Up! decision makers have put some  of the BIGZ XL DIES for The BIG SHOT on  chopping block !  I can only surmise its due to their lower sales value and to follow that line of logic then, we 'demos' didn't do enough to show the   ' p o t e n t i a l '  of these dies, so we share some of the blame.

So - here I am last minute trying to make up for some of that with this project!  

In my last post, I pointed out the fab talent of the designer behind the pop-up dies manufactured by Sizzix, and so I pulled out the POP-UP BIGZ XL DIE - O CHRISTMAS TREE!  and co-ordinating SIZZLIT DIE ' MERRY DETAILS ' which has several tiny decorations for the tree including a bird!

And I also pulled out the BIGZ XL ' PERFECT SETTING ' - which includes the CUPCAKE HOLDER/WRAPPER!

As for cardstock - I've chosen the retiring HOSTESS LEVEL - PATTERNS PAPER STACK which showcases the new IN COLORS of the retiring 2010-2011 IBC.

OK - I'm all set!!!!

I wanted to specifically show how the CHRISTMAS TREE does not have to be limited to the holiday season of December - tho fabulous as that time is!  NAY - this baby can be used in a V-E-R-Y  whimsical way - so YAY !!

1. Chose the Tree's Cardstock - be daring!
To start I decided to have my cardstock in a  fun FOLKSY fashion by combining:
        a) different patterns from the same colour family,
  and b) by combination of a variety of prints according to their size!  

In our Pattern Packs, we have this all ready for us!  Its just a matter of choosing your colour!  The result will sort of look like a quilt project!

2. Decorate the Tree
For the smaller decorations for the tree I'm using the Sizzlit die for the bird, but I also chose to use another retired SU! punch for a small flower.
I put some willingness to throw caution to the wind and choose cardstock that by mere repetition would work on the tree - BUT - you help matters when you are a bit choosy about placement - try to strike a balance because if you rotate the tree you can see all the different angles involved.  I think I did a zig-zag placement of the first couple of flower colours - then I used the " Hearts " to ' FILL IN THE GAPS ' and help the balance overall.   It sounds more complicated than it is - besides I suspect that you can't do much to go wrong, it sort of has a way of working out its own problems if you know what I mean!   HAPPY comes in many forms - and by decorating the tree with whimsical flowers, a pair of love birds - why all that is missing is a rainbow - and I am working on that!!!

3.  Stand your Tree
This is a pop-up die, right?  RIght!  But I decided to let it sit on its own stand made of the CUPCAKE HOLDER!   Its so easy too - just cut and paste the cupcake wrapper/holder so that it can be large enough for the tree's base to plop inside the BOTTOM of the cupcake holder - yep, turn it upside down - and its a base - flower pot or circus stand, you decide~  you can decorate the cardstock before gluing, and you can use all sorts of 3D embellishments when its done - such as brads, butterflies!  What-ever tickles you!

Labels: DIE-CUTTING BIG SHOT, Stampin Up - RETIRED, SU News

I hope you have seen or heard of Stampin' Up!'s Pop-Up Dies which make wonderful projects - from cute and adorable - to just plain awesome!

And the reason they are - is really due to some awesome-ness from KAREN BURNISTON - the designer behind the POP-UP DIES from Sizzix!

Karen has a wicked mind in my humble opinion - and she has developed project after project that just makes you speechless - can you tell I'm a FAN!!!   Honestly, I am not the only one who thinks so - she has lots of fans!


So here is a link to some of the projects she has designed for the POP-UP CHRISTMAS TREE and CAKE!  Click on her thumbnail pictures to see the project close-up.




Now - a word to the wise - SU! is discontinuing these 2 particular dies - don't know why, but they are ON SALE - really great price too, I believe as I write this - its 40 percent off!  


I would be happy to help you order one or both!  Please email me - bstampingbeehive@gmail.com

Labels: DIE-CUTTING BIG SHOT, Stampin Up - RETIRED

Hello girls'n'guys!

Well I went and did it - I put my first order in using my Demo-ship to fast track some of the new pre-releases to my door !!!!!   Yippeee - this IS ALWAYS an exciting time for us!   And as per usual, I have to figure out which of the selected pre-release products I should grab - ALWAYS tough choice!

But, I narrowed it down today to a few things and although I do not have these here - yet - I found another Demo in Texas who has the items I want to share with you!    DONNA ROSS has been playing with.......our new, super-duper...


Therefore I will be awaitin' for my own delivery soon and MY COPY OF THE NEW 2011-2012 IDEA CATALOGUE - Whoooohoooooo - just dyin' I tell ya, just dyin'!

Labels: DIE-CUTTING BIG SHOT, SNEAK PEEK, SU-In Colors-2011-2012

Have a wonderful Mother's Day to each and every Mom out there!





Recently I created a lovely card for someone special { hey Justin!} whose 'very special' Mother favoured purple - and I want to leave that card as an original piece created just for them, but I have borrowed the basic elements to re-create this card!

My favourite technique on this is - well, two things::
 one) I love duplicating accents in acetate as I have done with the butterfly!  It creates a "glossy" look that I love!
two)  using ribbon to wrap around two out of three panel sections - this leaves the third panel to help make one colour pop - or to add accents, etc.

If you take a closer look - you can see I textured the smaller butterfly - using the tips of a snowflake embossing folder!  Who knew, lol!

STAMPIN' UP! SUPPLIES:
Big Shot Die-Cutting & Embossing Machine
Beautiful Butterflies XL Die
Northern Frost Textured Embossing Folder
Perfect Polka Dots Textured Embossing Folder
Cardstock: Elegant Eggplant, Lavender Lace (retired), Crushed Curry (retired)
Clear Acetate Sheets
Organza WhisperWhite Ribbon {#114139}
Snail Adhesive

Labels: ACCENTS - Acetate, ACCENTS - Ribbon, Card - Holidays, DIE-CUTTING BIG SHOT, MOTIF-Butterfly

Yes helloooo to all out in craft-cyber world!

I feel really accomplished this week!  I have finished a set of gift bags for a baby shower AND a nice card in
SQUASH BOOK style - both are ready to fly out the door!!!

In order to decorate the squash booklet, I created my very own "Sakura Flower" using our Stampin' Up!'s FLORAL ISLAND BIGZ DIE.  Its one of a few select flower dies that I own, and its the same for my punches - so to create a flower, I had to borrow inspiration from my friend Maria Vanderform.  Maria specializes in many flower punch art creations, and seems to start by thinking of what she wants to create - then matching idea to tool!

So....I thought the same thing!  I looked up some flowers and chose the SAKURA Flower which is adored on a national level in Japan!  It can also be referred to as the Cherry Blossom Flower. The trees are stunning when in full bloom - and its hard for the eye to take in all the beauty of a grouping of trees, its awesome!

However, my flower is only a stylized ideal of the actual flower - meaning I took some liberties!  So here it is!

Labels: 3D, ACCENT-Flower, ACCENTS - Ribbon, CARDS - Folded, CARDS - Spring, DIE-CUTTING BIG SHOT, Stampin Up MAKES

Here is the reveal of my Sneek Peek!

I have to say the pictures do not really give the true colours very well, my camera "reads" the green background too much and so I did my best - just bear in mind, it looks prettier in person!

But here it is....my labour of LOVE literally this past few weeks!  I did it in bits and bobs because it was just one of those projects that require your thinking beyond the norm, I usually do cards, LO's - but this was more of a collaborative - evolving - process.  I may have over-embellished, but that tends to be my style - you could do this much more simplier!

Used the TOP NOTE DIE by Sizzix and sold by STAMPIN' UP! - as I am sure many of you recoginze.  The only other thing I can say perhaps, is that the middle piece (which serves to separate the two words, Love, You) has a heart shaped frame that is made of 2 SCALLOP FRAME die pieces - also SU! dies.



Here it is in full length on my living room wall - sorry, this is a dreadful pic in terms of colour, see how the camera  reads my green walls too much - and I had to tone it down. Sorry! Maybe I need a few lessons!

But hopefully, you can see how it takes up a certain amount of space, so it could be used for an anniversary, welcome back, congratulations, new baby, birthday...all sorts of occasions, and look substantial!

It could be draped across the front of a banquet table - over a door - fireplace, lots of places!

Labels: DIE-CUTTING BIG SHOT, Holidays - Valentine's Day

Good Morning!

I am back playing with Punch Flowers!  I was at a craft auction on Saturday - I had $113 dollars to bid with - which sounds like a lot until you discover the woman next to you has $800, lol, but it was "free money" I earned and so I wasn't spending real money and it was just for fun. But - I bid on some stuff and won a few nifty things, so I was a happy camper. I picked up this paper - and at first it was because I liked the kraft paper part - and the flowers were nice too.
It wasn't until I got home and googled the paper that I saw women had done amazing things with this paper!  So I perked up!

After musing for awhile, I knew I'd need some "depth" to this paper as a SCRAPBOOK PAGE PROJECT. So I turned my thoughts to PUNCH FLOWERS.


MY FLOWER......USING STAMPIN' UP!
Looking at the detail of the print flower on the paper, I think the designer had the ruffled scallop circle flower in mind - certainly seems that way once you punch out a scallop circle, cut it and make a few creases!


1)  I grabbed my a scrap of left-over (but returning) RED RIDING HOOD CARDSTOCK and punched out some SCALLOP CIRCLES.  I cut the scallop circles with scissors and using my bone folder, made folds and creased each one for every section. I didn't even care if the fold was centered or not - this is very casual!  I used some co-ordinating ink to darken the edges - distress them if you wish.

Labels: 3D, ACCENT-Flower, BLOG CANDY, DIE-CUTTING BIG SHOT, DIE-CUTTING Punch Art, MOTIF - Scalloped, SCRAPBOOK-Pages

Hello to everyone out there on this nice Friday evening!  I am going outside for my evening walk with Pepper but not before I bring out my craft results from today!  I'm really happy about this one too! Here's why....

As Stampin' Up! Demonstrators, we're entitled to receive a monthly glossy magazine, Stampin Success - and I tell you - I look forward every month to receiving mine, lol. Last December's mag, showcased our Artisan Award winners who had been given a challenge and a new stamp set from SU!

One of these lucky ladies was Demonstrator Shanna Jensen  with her pretty scrapbook page featuring a "Love You Much Frame"  - and the frame is made using 4 TOP NOTE die-cuts - and I loved it!!!

I kept this idea in the back of my head until this morning, I just got inspired to create one for myself!

Here's Shanna's inspiring project which if you notice features her putting her own 'stamp' on the Designer Paper - now isn't it just lovely?

Labels: DIE-CUTTING BIG SHOT, MOTIFS - Baby, SCRAPBOOK-Pages

Labels: DIE-CUTTING BIG SHOT, Stampin Up MAKES, Window Cards