/* */ Beulah Bee: 2013

December 19, 2013

For Thelma at Christmas

greeting card, santa

My good friend Jan aka Thelma (I'm Louise), acquainted me with rubber-stamping a few years' ago and back then, I never would have imagined that, someday, I would have an entire drawer full of stamps myself.

We always exchange a card at holidays and this is what I'm sending her this year. The stamp is from the Tim Holtz Components Collection and the paper is from the Merriment Paper Stash by Idea-ology.

greeting card, santa

I've entered this card in both drawings over at Simon Says Stamp (Monday challenge is use a stamp, Wednesday challenge is "bling it on").

If you haven't seen a side-by-side comparison of Distress versus regular Stickles, I've used both on this card. I used colored pencils on Santa and Tea Dye Distress Stain to age the appearance.

Now I'd better get it in the mail, there's only five more days till Christmas!

December 16, 2013

Gelli Noel

christmas, tag, gelli plate

This, my final entry into the Ellen Hutson 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist contest, was inspired by Ellen herself, on Day 12.

I've had a Gelli Plate for just a few weeks now and it was fun trying to duplicate the bokeh background Ellen created for this tag. I learned quite a bit about my plate during the process and actually had a light-bulb moment or two.  Thanks, Ellen!

I'm wishing all participants a very Merry Christmas, I really enjoyed viewing everyone's tags and can't wait to see who wins.  Good Luck!

December 14, 2013

Christmas Angel


tag, angel, christmas, believe

I made this tag using the resist technique presented by Jill Foster during Day 10 of Ellen Hutson's 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist event for a chance to win a $150 store credit (fingers crossed).

For color, I used oil pastels after embossing a stamped image onto a tag primed with gesso. A bit of washi tape, some glittered snowflakes and text stamped onto tissue paper, completed the tag.

Thanks Jill, your instructions were terrific and I was glad to try this new method.

December 13, 2013

Compliments of the Season


tag, Christmas

The best part of making cards and tags at Christmas--you can never have too much glitter!

This tag was made by pasting gold-printed mulberry paper (Black Ink brand) on a manila tag, color was added with Distress inks, it was mounted on pinkish-red card stock and glitter was placed around the border.

The poinsettia was made by printing a page of leaves on vellum which were cut out after painting the back side. The leaf edges were embellished with glitter and diamond bling was used for the center.

The greeting (an image from Graphics Fairy) was pasted on card stock and it also received some glitter. A simple red bow became the topper.

I think the best feature of this tag is the gold-printed mulberry paper. I never tried using it with Distress inks but I applied it gently (the paper is soft and thin) and it helped break up all that gold and gave it an antique-like quality.

My inspiration came from the Tim Holtz December tag and Simon Says Stamp Monday blog challenge, which was tissue paper.

December 10, 2013

Christmas Carols

By Paula Cheney
I am posting another tag for the Ellen Hutson's 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist contest, not only for one more chance to win a terrific prize ($150), but also because the lovely examples are so inspiring. Per Ellen's suggestion, I went back to a tag from last year, Day 9 by Paula Cheney, because it is one of the prettiest Christmas tags I've ever seen. I only wish I had all the supplies she used but you can guess what I'll buy if I happen to win the contest!
I made the wreath out of sheet music, used mirror cardstock in the center, stamped the scrolls and wording on vellum and embellished with lots of glitter. To emphasize the Christmas carol theme, I embossed the face of the mirror with a sheet music stamp.
To see more examples of wreaths made from sheet music, check out this search on Pinterest
sheet music, christmas, tag


I have to thank Paula who blogged about her trip to Wendy Addison's studio last year and admit that Wendy's dreamy creations also influenced some features of this tag.

December 08, 2013

Santa Baby's Got Bling

Santa, tag

This tag was created for Ellen Hutson's 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist challenge and was inspired by Julia Stainton's "shabby chic" tag from Day 6.

I used an emboss resist technique to create the background on a plain manila tag with a Tim Holtz Christmas stamp (placed in multiple areas to cover the entire surface) and some Distress Inks (Dusty Concord, Vintage Photo, Tea Dye and Spun Sugar). To keep it looking shabby, I lightened the colors here and there with Picket Fence Distress Stain.

bling, santa, tag

Santa's image (another Christmas stamp by Tim) was tinted with Distress Inks and placed in a glittered frame. I used my sewing machine to attach the lace trimmings then added strips of home-made washi tape and some glittered stars.

Thanks for the inspiration, Julia! I really like shabby chic and my whole house would be in this style but the king of this castle is none too crazy about it. If you like it too, then check out Crooks & Nannies, a favorite spot of mine.

December 07, 2013

A Wish (and a Prayer) for Callie

My sister in-law, Callie, has a lump in her breast. Her mom died at the same age she is now from breast cancer. Callie never had a mammogram, I can't understand why. Her husband felt the lump and now she's being treated for it.

My mom had breast cancer this year but she is 83 years old and the doctors treat it very differently than they would if it was found in a younger person.

I've learned more about breast cancer this year than I ever expected to and must remind anyone who reads this about the importance of regular mammograms. It's so much easier to cure when it's caught early.

moth, greeting card

I made this card for Callie by staining black and white scrapbook paper with Distress Inks, added a hand-cut frame made from black card stock, used 7 Gypsies Conservatory paper inside the frame and cut the moth from a page of Idea-ology Kraft Resist stained with Distress Inks and a touch of Perfect Pearls.

I like this card a lot and I know I do my best work when strong emotions are involved but wish the circumstances were different for this one.