Buzz, Brag and Bee Happy Friday

Happy Friday in the hive!  Welcome to Buzz, Brag and Bee Happy!  This is our day to share whatever is the Buzz, good news, and whatever is exciting in our lives.  The best part is we invite you to do the same!  Post your latest designs, DT news, links, and other excitement.  Leave comments about what is happy in your life.  We have had a very exciting week with Amy Sheffer as our guest HoneyBee.  Did you make a project with our Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue Challenge? It's open 'til next week, and there's a matching prize package!

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Betty Brett

 Well, I had so much fun creating the new design for the fishy card for Wednesday, that I decided to show you another one!

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This one is very springy, and the flowers were all punched... quick and easy!  The movement of the flowers is so delightful!!  When you open the card they just dance :)  It surely brings a smile to your face! The tutorial on how to make these cards is on my personal blog.
I do hope you will give it a try.  If you have ANY questions, Please leave me a comment, or send me an email.  I will be more than happy to help!
Thanks for your prayers and comments about Bob the Babe.  He is recovering pretty well, and we dismissed the nurse today.   

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  Happy Friday!  I have thoroughly enjoyed Amy's challenge for us this week:  something old, new, borrowed & blue!  I made this card for our Goddaughter, Shelby, who is graduating high school.  My grandma gave me her sewing machine (old), I have never machine stitched my scrapbook paper on a card before (new), and I borrowed the criss-cross card tutorial from split coast stampers.

June Houck

This is the inside of my card. (Details on my blog.)

Don't forget to link your old, new, borrowed, and blue card, LO, or project to this post.

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Every Friday is Buzz, Brag and Bee Happy at Betty Bee's Buzz.

                                                                          Judy Ford

This week I've got a few things to brag about! I made a set of dagger jewelry for my mom. The main beads are called daggers but the bracelet is so fluidy you just HAVE to pet it.... it wiggles and squirms under your fingers like a contented caterpillar. I did this set in Pink (mom's favorite color) and irridescent white cubes and seed beads. I took classes while I was in Florida from Debbie Blamy at Beading Elements in Sarasota. I changed the earring pattern just a little.

The other things I'm bragging about is my post op progress. I now have 3 drains out - 1 to go, probably next Wednesday's appt - no infection, pain much less, and activity stamina getting a little better each day. At the last appt my weight was 164 - down from 344 - that's 180POUNDS!!!! I haven't been this size since high school.... My continued thanks to all my friends and family for their prayers and support and mostly for my dear husband, Don, who's been the resident nurse for me. It's really different on this side of the siderail!!!!

The last brag is my birthday is Saturday the 21st.

I'll be 30-29.... doesn't that sound better than 59????

so what's going on in your hive???? Hopefully our honeybees are healing and Bob the Babe is improving too!!!!

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Rosemary

Happy Friday!!!

What a crazy week.  Well, I think it was more me than the week...lol..Exciting is driving my new mini van and having my inside lift put in for my scooter.  The lift was done last Friday and on Saturday I had a problem.  My scooter was 'hanging' outside the back of my van and the remote would not allow the lift to go up or down.  I manually released the bar but didn't move out of the way fast enough.  So, all week I've been walking around with bruises starting on my right shoulder down to the top of my right hand.  Luckily, I'm use to have nasty looking bruises..lol..So Monday the remote was fixed and so far so good.  Well, that is it worked at the shop; I haven't done it yet on my own. 

Next week is going to be a fun week for my husband and me.  Friends of ours from Jersey is coming down for a week, Joe is off from week and it's fun vacation time!!

Here is a card I made with something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue.  Yeah, like I said I was a little crazy this week and messed up on the instructions.  Betty, forgive me for being an air head.

The old is the heart stamp.  I don't even remember how long I had that stamp and maybe used it twice!  The new is this beautiful matstack from DCWVcalled Mariposa..  You see the blue..sorry, you don't see the 'borrowed'...lol..Ok, I feel better confessing my mistake..lol...

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It's your turn!  Post your Good News, things you'd like to Brag about, and whatever is the latest BUZZ right here.... it's a linking party :o)  Don't forget to join in this sweet challenge, too! 

Happy creating !

and the HoneyBees! 

HoneyBee Showcase - Old, New, Borrowed & Blue May 20th

Welcome to the Hive, and today's HoneyBee Showcase!  This week we are just buzzing with excitement, as we have guest HoneyBee Amy Sheffer in the hive!  Amy has brought us a wonderful tutorial on Monday, as well as lots of fun info about herself... if you missed it, be sure to buzz back and check it out!  OK... on to the HoneyBees take on her Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed and Something Blue challenge!!
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   I am tickled that Amy Sheffer agreed to be our guest designer this week!  I love her challenge too:  something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue.

June Houck

  Have you ever seen an elephant with blinged-up toenails?  That is my new item:  Imaginisce hot rocks.  I borrowed my sketch from Artful Delight.  My old items are the papers and rub-ons:  BasicGrey "Marrakech" 6x6 papers.  I cut the elephant from the Cricut cartridge "Wall Decor and More."  I drew on her eyelashes and embossed the lacy circle and scalloped circle with my "D'Vine Swirls" embossing folder by Provo Craft.  Here is the sketch at Artful Delight:

  I was inspired to make an elephant card by HoneyBee Court.  She and I both like elephants!

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HoneyBee Courtney Lee here for Amy Sheffer's Challenge! 

I have to admit I was STOKED about this challenge. I laid everything out that I wanted to use and realized... there was no blue. haha! So I started again and I'm very happy at where the card evolved to. 

 Old: old script writing

New: the crinkled ribbon is brand new and I LOVE it!

Borrowed: a sketch from Artful Delight AND the idea of having the flowers overlap like that from Melinda Spinks HERE

Blue: background paper

It is based on this sketch here:

Recipe: 

• Cartridge: Mother's Day Bouquet™
• Sentiment: My Pink Stamper: Fancy Phrases™
• Ribbon: Kris Swain's Etsy Store in Dusty Rose™ (If you order please let her know I sent you in the comments section)
• Patterned Paper: My Mind's Eye: Stella and Rose: Mabel "Love" Letters Paper™
• Cardstock: Paper Trey Ink "True Black" and "Vintage Cream"
• Ink: Colorbox in Black
• Embellishment with brad center: MME: Stella and Rose: Gertie "Delightful" Decorative Brads™

June and I have started Skype-chatting while we craft and she inspires me all the time! Thanks to her she told me to stop when it was time to stop and I love the result! :) If you have a crafty friend you should definitely try it! It's so much fun!

A huge thank you to Amy Sheffer for sharing her FABULOUS talent with us! 

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This week on Betty Bee's Buzz Monday Motivational, guest designer Amy Sheffer from Pickled Paper Designs motivated us to use wedding theme for our projects:  use something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue!

Judy Ford

Here is my take on that theme:

Something old - Cuttlebug embossing folders - Snowflake, Snow Dots and Winter House.

Something new - Sizzix die - Tree, Christmas #2; card is 5x7 is usually do A2 size

Something borrowed - torn paper and sew technique from Lauren at Jingle Belles Rock

Something blue - chalking edge of layers, blue paper in the "blue spruce" tree, card itself

Hope you like it, first time I've been able to get up to my craftroom in 2 weeks!!

Now link up to Betty Bee's Buzz and show us your version of Amy's Challenge!!
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I created something brand new for our SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW, SOMETHING BORROWED, SOMETHING BLUE challenge from our guest HoneyBee, Amy Sheffer...
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Something old, is my background paper... the first big stack of paper I bought when I started being a card maker!


Betty Brett



Something new is the design!  It was inspired from a commercially purchased card my Mom received a while back, and I figured out how to make a similar card for us!  It literally dances when you open it :)
My something borrowed is knowledge... I LOVE the information of where to find Cricut cuts that I can find at MyCutSearch.Com  It was SO easy to find "fish" and see what cartridges that I own have them... then I searched "water" and found the perfect waves.  You must give this website a try!

The folds are small, and fold flat, so they don't interfere with mailing, too.  Check out my personal blog for dimensions.

Recipe:

Life's a Beach Cricut Cartridge

Animal Kingdom Cartridge

Assorted Card stocks

Offray Ribbon

Dew Drops (eyes)

White Paint

ATG adhesive

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 Beth Ullman

 Well finally I have my project done Amy so happy to have you join us this week and I loved your motivation........So for my project I scrapped this ...New.....picture of my granddaughter Brittany on this....New ......designer paper from Colorblok, my something......Borrowed.......is my sketch from Sketch Inspiration......something Old.....I used my worn out Swiss Dot embossing folder from Cuttlebug on some of the designer paper........and....Blue......well I think that is obvious my blue papers. 

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Now it's YOUR TURN!  Let's see your projects with Amy's guidelines:

With the recent Royal Wedding festivities still fresh on my mind and the upcoming "wedding season" approaching, I've come up with a wedding-inspired challenge this week. While you don't necessarily have to make something for a wedding, your card or project does have to include "Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, and Something Blue." For "old," use an older product or trend, make something look old with distressing techniques, refurbish an outdated home decor item, etc. "New" is easy ... a new or trendy product, theme, or technique. For "borrowed," borrow a friend's tool, borrow another papercrafter's design (aka CASE), or borrow something from another craft, i.e., incorporate quilting or jewelry or fabric into your project. Mix a little blue in there somewhere and you're good to go! When you post your project, be sure to let us (and others) know what about your project is old, new, borrowed, and blue (although that last one will probably be a little obvious {grin}).

Link your project here!  If you don't have a blog, you can email it to us at the address above, and we will post it for you.  There will be a PRIZE PACKAGE of SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW, SOMETHING BORROWED (with permission LOL) and SOMETHING BLUE just for the winner of this week's challenge!!! 

Happy crafting ~











and the HoneyBees

Monday Motivational~Guest HoneyBee Amy Sheffer!

Good Morning!  We are very excited to have Amy Sheffer of Pickled Paper Designs as our Guest HoneyBee this week!   

Amy Sheffer

 Amy is a very talented crafter, and has served on several design teams, including Verve, Stampers Dream, and A Sketch For You to Try... as well as being a former Dirty Dozen Designer over at Splitcoast Stampers!  Here are some questions we've asked Amy to help us get to know her even better!

       Tell us about yourself:

I live with my husband and three children in Virginia on the far outskirts of Washington, DC. I've been dabbling in anything and everything artsy and crafty pretty much all my life, so when a friend introduced me to scrapbooking in 1997 and then rubber stamping in 2002, I was instantly hooked both times. I spent a few years stamping for classes, workshops, and sales as a Stampin' Up demonstrator, but it wasn't until I started my blog in the Fall of 2007 that I discovered the joy of stamping just for the pure fun of it. Stamping has been a big part of my daily life ever since. At the same time, I discovered that the online stamping community is much more fun to participate in than merely to stalk, and I'm truly grateful for the wonderful friends I've found through stamping. Along the way, I've been honored to serve on several design teams, including my two current teams, Stamper's Dream and Verve. Thank you, Honey Bees, for the opportunity to guest host at Betty Bee's Buzz!

How did you get started in paper crafting?

I got hooked on scrapbooking back in the late '90s when I saw a friend's scrapbook. I'd never seen anything like it and as a crafty type, I was hooked immediately. A few years later, that same friend came running into a Little Gym class that our boys were taking, wildly waving a card she had made the night before at a Stampin' Up party. It was love at first sight. When she had a workshop a few weeks later, I ordered my first of many, many stamping supplies and haven't stopped since {grin}!

Tell us about your crafting space...

I am blessed to have a dedicated craft room tucked into a corner of my basement. Large windows and French doors to the outside let in a lot of light, and the half wall between the craft room and the rest of the basement lets me see the television and keep an eye on my kids while they play. I tend to be a messy crafter and love finding inspiration and odd combinations out of whatever scraps and cast-offs are lying around. That said, every few days, when the clutter becomes stifling, I have to tidy up and start all over again.

Where do you look for inspiration when your mojo is missing?

Surfing papercrafting blogs and thumbing through papercrafting magazines and idea books sometimes helps, as does simply looking through my product stash. But what usually works best for me is to seek out inspiration elsewhere -- clothing, home decor, gardening, even cookbooks. I think it's also good sometimes to walk away altogether for a while, take a break, and do something else I love -- go on a hike, visit an antique store, take in a concert, read a book, play the piano. Anything to fill up on the beauty that surrounds us! I can then return to papercrafting refreshed, energized, and ready to create.

If you could give one or two crafting tips, what would they be? 

1. Try new things.
I think it's important to keep growing as artists/crafters, and one of the best ways is to try new things. Challenges are great for that, as they give you a starting point for something you might not have done on your own. Plus they're just plain fun! Classes at your local craft store could be good, too. I'm a pretty traditional stamper, not a technique stamper at all, so for artistic growth, I took a super fun, Claudine Hellmuth mixed media class a while back and had a blast learning new things and getting messy. To this day, I've yet to use a single technique in my card-making (shame!), but I left class that day feeling like an artist and couldn't wait to get home to create within my own style. Attitude is everything! Feel like an artist-->create like an artist!

2. Don't compare yourself to others and/or judge yourself through the eyes of others. This is such a trouble spot with me, and I know it is with many other papercrafters, too! Comparing your work to someone else's will only end up robbing you of the joy this hobby brings. As long as YOU'RE happy with your work, then "The End." Don't re-evaluate based on how many or few comments your blog post or gallery upload received. Now if I could do as I say! :)

Here is Amy's challenge for this week! 

With the recent Royal Wedding festivities still fresh on my mind and the upcoming "wedding season" approaching, I've come up with a wedding-inspired challenge this week. While you don't necessarily have to make something for a wedding, your card or project does have to include "Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, and Something Blue." For "old," use an older product or trend, make something look old with distressing techniques, refurbish an outdated home decor item, etc. "New" is easy ... a new or trendy product, theme, or technique. For "borrowed," borrow a friend's tool, borrow another papercrafter's design (aka CASE), or borrow something from another craft, i.e., incorporate quilting or jewelry or fabric into your project. Mix a little blue in there somewhere and you're good to go! When you post your project, be sure to let us (and others) know what about your project is old, new, borrowed, and blue (although that last one will probably be a little obvious {grin}).
For my challenge sample, I've used the wedding theme for a non-wedding card. My new ingredient is the balloon paper from My Mind's Eye's new Lime Twist "Out of the Blue" collection. The "something old" is the sentiment stamp, which is from a May 2009 Verve stamp set called Dare to Be You. I normally love to add layers and embellishments, sometimes to the point of excess, so today I've borrowed the clean-and-simple style that I admire so much! And last ... blue skies, baby! This is going to our neighbor's daughter, who somehow just graduated from college, despite the fact that just yesterday she was a mere thirteen years old and earning her Red Cross babysitting certification. Miraculous, I tell ya!

Our thanks to Amy for sharing her challenge, and some about her life, with us!  We are so excited to have her here in the hive!  We look forward to seeing your projects later in the week!  On Wednesday you will see what the rest of the HoneyBees have created with Amy's challenge....

 Until then, Happy Creating!