Charming Flowers and Bees by Janet

Hello Ai friends! One of my favorite hobbies is visiting sites with sample cards; I often find amazing inspiration there. Today's card is a perfect example, inspired by one I saw on the Simon Says Stamp blog. While my card is definitely different from the original, I loved how flowers had been crafted using scallop dies, and I thought I'd try something similar. This is the result!

To create these unique flowers, I started by selecting a small scallop die from the 6045 - Scallop Circle Set. I cut six "flowers" each out of a lovely pink pearl and gold shimmer cardstock. Then, I took the smallest circle die from the 5726 - Nested Circle Dies and cut six flower centers from yellow and shimmer gold cardstock. I alternated them, placing yellow circles in the middle of the lighter flowers and light circles on the pink ones. For the leaves, I cut out six larger circles from green cardstock. A handy trick I learned years ago is to fold a circle in half and then cut a leaf shape from it, giving you two leaves from each circle. Every once in a while that old trick still comes in handy!

I attached the flower centers with small foam tape squares and then glued a leaf to the back of each flower. Next, I cut a 4 1/2" x 6 1/2" rectangle from a blue and white checked sheet in the 6091 - Patriotic Cover Pack. I glued this to a 5" x 7" matching blue cardstock base card and set it aside.

Then, I brought out the 5925 - Honey Bee Set and stamped three bees, a honey pot, and a sentiment. I colored and cut out the bees and pot with their accompanying dies, and fussy cut around the sentiment. The final element was the honeycomb border. I stamped this image from the set twice, nesting the two images together as I stamped them. I then outlined each honeycomb cell with an orangish-brown marker and carefully fussy cut the comb with my scissors.

I arranged all the flowers on the checked mat, leaving space for the strip of honeycomb. I glued the honeycomb and flowers down and then arranged the bees and honey pot, attaching them with foam pads for dimension. Finally, I wrapped yellow and white twine around the folded edge of the card base and tied it off with a neat bow. I trimmed any leaves that hung over the card edge with scissors, and that finished the card!

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Don't forget to find your favorite stamps, dies, papers, and accessories at the Ai Store! You'll always find something that calls to you. 

Happy Crafting!

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