/* */ Beulah Bee: 2021

December 24, 2021

Christmas Tag No. 7 for 2021

Couldn't help but use an image I stumbled across at the British Library's Photostream for a Christmas tag which I printed on regular computer paper then tinted with colored pencils and watercolor. I stamped the top and bottom to fill-in the white space (Tim Holtz Faded Type) after pasting on heavy-weight kraftstock cut to the shape of a #8 tag.

While it's hard to see, I used a white glitter glue (Stickles) over the snow areas and trimmed the borders with brown glitter and Liquid Pearls. The text is a Remnant Rub.

Merry Christmas Eve, everyone, I wish you the happiest of times with the ones you love.

December 20, 2021

Christmas Tag No. 6 for 2021

I recently discovered a vintage image (by photographer Monty Fresco) and just had to use it. After printing, it was fussy-cut and mounted on scrapbook paper (Stamperia Christmas Patchwork).

I decided to stamp some houses in the background (Carabelle Studio Dans la Rue) but I'd already pasted the image so I needed a mask. I'm sharing a quick technique which is to use a piece of deli wrap to make a pencil rubbing.

After stamping, I used some Stickles to trim the border and should mention that I tinted the photograph with inks and a paintbrush.

As always, I hope this post finds you well and happy and I appreciate your visit.

Until next time, take care.

December 18, 2021

Christmas Tags No. 4 & 5 for 2021

I pulled out all the stops with this tag: Crackle medium, bronze metallic paint, Glossy Accents, Liquid Pearls, Stickles, stamping, a die-cut, and ribbon. It has rich jewel-tones and looks better in person (it was hard to photograph). I made it for Simon's Monday challenge which is "Cold as Ice."

Next up, a tag celebrating Old Saint Nick with an unusual technique that warrants an explanation. The background was a Graphic 45 paper of holly and berries and I laid strips of plaid paper on top then edged one side with glitter. I think it adds to the vintage vibe.

I'm hoping to crank out a few more tags before Christmas and you can be sure they'll include some kind of glitter glue. I've discovered the hard way that once the bottles are less than half-full, no matter if you store them upside-down, they eventually dry-out so I might as well use them!

As always, I hope this post finds you well and happy and I appreciate your visit.

Until next time, take care.

December 05, 2021

Christmas Tag No. 3 for 2021

I chose a simple design for this tag to emphasize all the detail in the tree. It was fussy-cut from Stamperia's Christmas Patchwork paper and then embellished with Stickles and Glossy Accents. The background paper is a faded, vintage, handwritten note and the text is a Remnant Rub.

This is my last link up to Simon's Monday challenge which is "Sparkle Mode." I could use my glitter glues every day of the week and a challenge like this one is certainly a favorite!

As always, I hope this post finds you well and happy and I appreciate your visit.

Until next time, take care.

Christmas Tag No. 2 for 2021

A background paper by Stamperia (Christmas Patchwork), a stamped then fussy-cut poinsettia (Penny Black Christmas Star), Glossy Accents to cover the tile letters and lots and lots of Stickles makes this my third entry this week for Simon's Monday challenge which is "Sparkle Mode." 

 

As always, I hope this post finds you well and happy and I appreciate your visit.

Until next time, take care.

December 04, 2021

Silent Night

Greeting Card

Here's another try at a two stamp combo--this time it's a night-time version (see previous post for a look at my first try).

I lightened up the foreground stamping by using gray ink. I guess the next thing to try with this stamp might be a "no-line" watercolor version.

You might be curious to know that the dark sky was made by mixing ultramarine blue and orange lake and I lightened the tint at the horizon line to create the illusion of depth.

Greeting Card

As long as you have a tiny brush handy, painting small watercolor scenes like this one are fast, easy and very satisfying!

I mounted my stamping on bronze metallic cardstock and used champagne-colored Stickles so I'm linking up to Simon's "Sparkle Mode" challenge this week since I made something glittery.

As always, I hope this post finds you well and happy and I appreciate your visit.

Until next time, take care.

Stamp sources: Pink Fresh Happy Holidays Circle Frame, Studio Light Christmas Scenery

December 01, 2021

Peace

Greeting Tag

Two stamps, one piece of watercolor paper and paint, topped off with glitter glue, glossy accents and a Remnant Rub and I've just made another card for Christmas.

Greeting Card

I might make another one but I'd stamp the holly border much lighter or knock it back with paint because I feel it competes too much with the scenery focal point.

I'm linking up to Simon's "Sparkle Mode" challenge this week which is to make something glittery.

As always, I hope this post finds you well and happy and I appreciate your visit.

Until next time, take care.

Stamp sources: Pink Fresh Happy Holidays Circle Frame, Studio Light Christmas Scenery

November 28, 2021

Artist Trading Cards

Prompted by Simon's "Artist Trading Card" challenge, may I present this trio made with an image transfer on kraft card stock using the sample ad for the Tim Holtz "Groups" Found Relatives as the background.

The next layer is white heat-embossed stamping (Tim Holtz Mail Art stamp set) along with some Tim Holtz Photobooth pics.


My stock of colored embossing powders is limited so I used permanent inks to tint/tone-down some of the stark white and also used a few strips of Tim Holtz Design Tapes. I painted on the white border.

I don't make many trading cards but if you'd like to see a few more, here's a link

As always, I hope this post finds you well and happy and I appreciate your visit.

Until next time, take care.

November 11, 2021

Christmas Tag No. 1 for 2021

 

Making Christmas tags by following along with Tim Holtz blog posts way back when was such great fun and I've continued to embrace the tag format ever since.

Nowdays, I use my holiday tags to decorate gifts and today I'm sharing the first one of, hopefully, twelve for this year. (See previous seasons here).

I punched postage-stamp shapes from a heat-embossed stamped image (Penny Black Tree of Holly) and pasted rows of them to create a background.

 

The poinsettia was stamped (Penny Black Christmas Star), tinted with Distress inks, cut-out and mounted to the surface. I added some fine, black lines for detail and used gold Stickles to trim the flower edges along with my last bottle of Rock Candy Distress Stickles (an absolute favorite product, sadly discontinued).

 

I stamped then fussy-cut the text (Penny Black Festive Season) and trimmed the tag with Nuvo Glitter Drops, sketchy pen ink and a ribbon topper.

As always, I hope this post finds you well and happy and I appreciate your visit.

Until next time, take care.

October 31, 2021

Remind Me

Happy Halloween, everyone. No carved pumpkins or kids collecting candy at my house this year but my spirit remains "creepy" just the same.

Sharing a tag made of collage bits and stamping (mostly Tim Holtz) and this link to a short essay that I found particularly inspiring today.

As always, I hope this post finds you well and happy and I appreciate your visit.

Until next time, take care.

October 27, 2021

Chickadee

Greeting Card

First time using a new stamp (Whimsy Chickadee), one I had my eye on for awhile, but was a little disappointed once received because it's not trimmed and doesn't have an image on the top side to help with alignment.

I stamped on book paper, tinted with colored pencils and Distress inks, and placed the image behind an oval cut from scrapbook paper (also distressed). I machine-stitched the borders, darkened the edges for accent, added crystal drops from Nuvo and heat-embossed the text.


I'm linking up to Simon's "thinking of you" challenge.

As always, I hope this post finds you well and happy and I appreciate your visit.

Until next time, take care.

October 24, 2021

Strange Rumors

An image transfer, book text/paper, postal scraps, along with paper and rub-ons from Tim Holtz are the ingredients used to make this piece. I've also used Simon's dot stencil with texture paste, Scribbles (3D-paint) and inks for tinting. And I've completed it just in time to link-up with Simon's Halloween challenge!

As always, I hope this post finds you well and happy and I appreciate your visit.

Until next time, take care.


October 20, 2021

Our Duty

I've used a Found Relative (Tim Holtz) to feature in this tag. Was Halloween just around the corner since this little tyke is wearing what appears to be a uniform jacket (that's a tad too big)?

The flowers were drawn by Alphonse Mucha (clipped from one of his posters) and I also used a torn bit of book paper tinted with inks and embossed with polka dots.

All the collage elements were placed on top of an oversized image of an old envelope that was found in a book on philately.

As I've mentioned before, I find the best way to tint the "relatives" is to use Pitt Artist Brush pens.

I'm linking to Simon's Monday challenge since Halloween is the theme.

As always, I hope this post finds you well and happy and I appreciate your visit.

Until next time, take care.

October 13, 2021

Mr. Blue Eyes

I made a journal page inspired by Simon's fall colors mood board challenge by stamping (Simon's Sunflower Garden) on a piece of Paper Stash (Tim Holtz) then filled-in the flowers with paint and inks. I added a kitty cut from a magazine and a few pieces of altered ephemera (Tim Holtz). The hand-drawn frame/border was made using markers and colored pencils.

As always, I hope this post finds you well and happy and I appreciate your visit.

Until next time, take care.

September 23, 2021

Discover Yourself

The pleasure I get from experimenting--deciding to color a stamp in an unconventional way, slapping a figure on top that seems to work with it, then digging-up suitable text--that's what I call a good day.

I can't imagine what my readers make of these concoctions but I will say that going a little outside the box can be quite fun.

I'm linking to Simon for this week's challenge which is to "stitch it."

Stamp credit: Simon Sunflower Garden

As always, I hope this post finds you well and happy and I appreciate your visit.

Until next time, take care.

September 17, 2021

Daughter of Atrides

A tag to share made with some Tim Holtz stuff: a Found Relative, a butterfly and a stencil called Thatched.

The Simon September card kit came with some of his Sentiment label stickers that didn't really appeal to me so I used them to cover a manila tag. Then I applied another layer over them using texture paste and the stencil.

I tinted the dress, skin tone and accents using Pitt artist brushes which are made from India ink, are waterproof, permanent and easily applied to the slick surface (highly recommend).

There are some collage bits: the text is from an old book, there's the crown and the flower-like accents (which are actually from an astronomy diagram).

I used some Liquid Pearls along the bottom.

I'm linking up to Simon's Monday challenge--this week's theme is to have "fun with stencils."

As always, I hope this post finds you well and happy and I appreciate your visit.

Until next time, take care.

September 12, 2021

More Sunshine Flowers

This image (from Simon's Sunshine Flowers set) was stamped on hot press 140 lb. watercolor paper and then fussy-cut. The flowers were tinted with dollar-store markers and water. I added some Liquid Pearls to embellish. The die-cut text was layered using three stacks.

I'm linking to Simon's Monday challenge, this week's theme is "stamp it."

As always, I hope this post finds you well and happy and I appreciate your visit.

Until next time, take care.


September 09, 2021

Sunshine Flowers

 

Simon says "stamp it" this week (no digi images) and it would be nice to use Simon's exclusive products. So that's just what I did.

The stamp set is called Sunshine Flowers and it was part of their monthly kit this month which I decided to splurge on.

I stamped the flower jar on preprinted paper by Lavinia (Scene Scapes Summer Meadow) then cut it out. This way, my flowers and the jar were already tinted.

The background is from who know's where (I've had it for ages); I did some trimming and layering (a portion covered by tissue paper) to create a suitable background for the jar. A bit of a shadow was added to the jar's base.

I didn't feel confident aligning the text (comes with the set) so I stamped it on tissue paper first then cut and pasted it on.

I used the Liquid Pearls that came with the kit to embellish the borders.

As always, I hope this post finds you well and happy and I appreciate your visit.

Until next time, take care.

September 05, 2021

Glimmersmitz

greeting card

A head start on Christmas cards? Maybe. But a call to create with "glimmer and sparkle" at the Simon Monday challenge was really the push for making this one. What's Christmas without some shiny bits--am I right?

I used Pink ombré paper (Martha Stewart) covered with Tissue Wrap (Holtz) trimmed to fit around Poinsetta Pieces die-cuts (Holtz) that were cut from a bronze metallic envelope.

Copper Liquid Pearls, some Stickles, and white Scribbles provided the glitz. I heat embossed the white text and outlined one side of the letters with an extra-fine black marker to create a 3D effect.

greeting card

As always, I hope this post finds you well and happy and I appreciate your visit.

Until next time, take care.

August 28, 2021

Little Things

 

This greeting card was made for Simon's "spritz and splatter" challenge. I have never enjoyed splattering a project with ink or paint when it's in its final stages because I get nervous that it won't go well. So I took the easy way out this week and used paper that was already splattered for me.

It's made by Lavinia Stamps, the collection is called Scene Scapes and I really like it. The one I used for this card is called Garden Dance.

The birds were cut from a page of Stamperia's Oriental Garden scrapbook paper, the text is a Clipping Sticker from Tim Holtz as are the remaining papers.

As always, I hope this post finds you well and happy and I appreciate your visit.

Until next time, take care.

August 21, 2021

Divertimento

Divertimento is a musical genre with most examples from the 18th century. The mood is lighthearted and generally composed for a small ensemble. It was the style of music I listened to (Mozart) while crafting this tag (hence the name of my post) and it seems to suit this fashionable lady.

The style of her "leg of mutton" sleeves dates from the 1840's and some were so large it was necessary to turn sideways to get through a door. If you'd like to see more examples, here's a link.


The background for the tag was made from an ivory sheet of mulberry paper that was dry embossed (Roses) and tinted with inks and paint. The fence and flowers are die-cuts (Gothic Gate and Flower Jar).

I cut the flowers from multi-color paper (Lavinia Garden Dance) and stamped them with gray archival ink. The lady's flowers and dress were tinted with Pitt brush pens.

I'm linking up to Simon this week, dry emboss is the challenge.

And as always, I hope this post finds you well and happy and I appreciate your visit.

Until next time, take care.

August 15, 2021

Glitter Gone Wild



Gitter gone wild is the name of this post for obvious reasons--I used it to embellish this birthday card for my niece. (If you click on the photo to view it in the light box feature you'll see the glitter in more detail.)

I began by stamping (Simon's Delicate Flowers and a Martha Stewart butterfly) on watercolor paper with clear embossing ink and UTEE. Remember this stuff? UTEE stands for ultra thick embossing powder and I guess it fell out of favor because I seldom see anyone using it anymore.

After applying watercolors for tint, I ironed off the embossing. When you do, the weight of the iron spreads the embossing out and you end up with slightly thicker lines that also act as a resist. If you'd like to know more about this technique here's a link to a popular post for the particulars.

I thought I needed more contrast so I outlined the images with a fine-tip black marker. Still not happy, I dug out my glitter (Stickles) and the extra color and sparkle seemed to do the trick.

I used a stencil (Simon's Tiny Dots) with white texture paste, a Simon die-cut for the sentiment and machine-stitched it to the card base using white thread.

Simon Says use heat embossing this week so I'm linking up to the Monday challenge.

As always, I hope this post finds you well and happy and I appreciate your visit.

Until next time, take care.

July 23, 2021

Fudge

Manila Tag

Simon's challenge this week is Food and/or Drink so I rummaged through my great Aunt Esther's recipe box. I found a yellowed slip of paper written with pen and ink (obviously quite old, she was born in 1893) and it prompted me to Google the history of fudge.

Unlike many of your other favorite candies and treats, fudge is a relatively new product, dating back to just the 1880s. In fact, one of the first recorded mentions of fudge was in a letter written by Emelyn Battersby Hartridge, a student at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, in 1886.

The exact origin and inventor of this delicious confection are hotly debated. However, many believe the first batch of fudge was created by accident when American bakers “fudged” a batch of caramels. Hence the name “fudge.” (Wockenfuss Candies)

I used her recipe in the background for this tag along with some Tim Holtz paper. The "ingenue" was an image transfer and I clipped the text from an old book.

My aunt's recipe is really basic and oh-so-similiar to the earliest versions and, since a portion was covered up, here is the transcription if you'd like to try it. ☺

Melt one cup of milk with two squares of chocolate or four tbsp. cocoa. Add two and a half cups sugar and one heaping tbsp. of butter. Boil eight minutes until it forms a ball when dropped into water. Add one tsp. vanilla and beat.

As always, I hope this post finds you well and happy and I appreciate your visit.

Until next time, take care.

July 21, 2021

Just Because

Greeting Card

This greeting card features the Mondo Succulent Pot stamp by Ellen Hutson. Back in January, I posted a similar card using this stamp with watercolors (link) and say again how much fun it is to color.

Large stamps make quick work of card making but this time I used a less conventional technique so it took longer. Here's what I did.

The background? It's a print off a Gelli Plate using Simon's Tiny Dots stencil. I "zhuzhed" it up a bit with Distress inks, water and some sanding.

My stamp impression wasn't that great (some lines were too light) so I went over all of them using India ink and a pen nib. It was a good save. ☺

I filled it in with diluted white paint to knock-back the background then used watercolor pencils, inks and regular colored pencils.

I mounted it on dark mulberry cardstock and trimmed it with Liquid Pearls. The text was embossed.

As always, I hope this post finds you well and happy and I appreciate your visit.

Until next time, take care.

July 14, 2021

Possibilities

Journal Page

I created a journal page using some new supplies--Carabelle Studio's Stitched Mixed Media Background, Simon's Floral Garden stamp and their Tiny Dots stencil.

I stamped the background first, stamped the flowers on top, then used white paint to fill-in the flowers and a watered down version of paint to knock-back the background. The color came from water-soluble oil pastels, inks and colored pencils.

The snail was stamped (Carabelle), cut-out, pasted on, filled-in with paint and tinted with inks. The text is from Tim Holtz (I peel the thick cardboard off the back). The border was hand drawn with a black fine-tip marker.

Journal Page
 

I'm linking up to Simon for this week's theme, Lazy Days of Summer.

As always, I hope this post finds you well and happy and I appreciate your visit.

Until next time, take care.

July 10, 2021

Cielito

Greeting Card

Until last year, I always struggled to find dark-toned printed scrapbook paper (it seems to me that, generally, most papers tend to be on the lighter side). Then Tim Holtz released an 8" x 8" Paper Stash called Abandoned and it's become an all-time favorite.

The background for this card was made with a page from the collection.

Greeting Card

The flowers were stamped (Simon Delicate Flowers) on Tim Holtz printed collage paper (Typography) then fussy-cut and tinted with colored pencils. The border was made with Nuvo Vintage Drops.

When I make a greeting card, I like to add the sentiment later depending on the occasion for giving. The dark magenta color gives this one a somber vibe so maybe a sympathy card? It also would make a good Valentine.

As always, I hope this post finds you well and happy and I appreciate your visit.

Until next time, take care.

June 27, 2021

A Little Story

Browsing the British Library's Flicker account (where they have digitized a tremendous amount of their collection), I came across this image which inspired me to make a card.
 
After printing the image on plain white copy paper I knew cutting it out would be a challenge given the thin streaming lines. So I covered the image with a wide strip of clear packaging tape, sanded over the top of it to remove the sheen and then cut it out. The tape helps to reinforce the paper while cutting and makes it more durable for pasting, etc.

It was placed over a scrap of deli wrap that was painted using a gelli plate and stamped with archival ink.


I framed the image on thin, dark, warm gray paper and pasted it over some Tim Holtz scrap. It was mounted on heavy white card stock to form a card. The text is a Remnant Rub.

My apologies as the photos lack sharp focus (they look better in the lightbox feature). It's been a struggle to get good images indoors, we've been over 110° for several weeks now so that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it ☺.

I'm linking up to Simon this week, the challenge was to use something clear and my packaging tape technique should qualify.

As always, I hope this post finds you well and happy and I appreciate your visit.

Until next time, take care.

June 18, 2021

cresc. a poco.

 

Making some delicate floral book paper die cuts was the starting point for this tag, they were pasted over a scrap of printed tissue paper using a background of polka dots.

The bird image (which would make a fine stamp) was found at the British Library (here's the link) and sits on another scrap of tissue paper in the foreground.

I adjusted the values using Distress ink and colored pencils to provide stronger contrast and depth and the text is from some vintage sheet music.

I'm linking up with Simon's Monday challenge, the theme this week is "Beautiful Flowers."

For those of you who get my posts via email, I've changed the service that delivers them so please let me know if you have any issues. There's a new subscription box in the side bar for anyone new who might wish to receive them this way.

As always, I hope this post finds you well and happy and I appreciate your visit.

Until next time, take care.