I started with the papers choosing two different ones from the pack which I thought went together well, and I decided on a 6" square card and the central piece a hexagon for a slightly different look, cut from a snippet of green card. I have seen several versions on Pinterest using a hexagon and just a single piece for the background, and this card by Di on her blog here using snippets in two different patterns, for which she used a die, made me decide to try a version from scratch, and thought that by placing the hexagon on the piece of card and laying down the strips temporarily I would be able to take the edge of one of the papers and mark the shape with a pencil, adding a bit on for safety. This is basically what I did but I didn't want the different pieces to overlap one another so there was a lot of extra pencilling and cutting to get the shapes butted up but still covered by the green 1/4" strips..these were snippets too. After finally cutting all the pieces I put the card together, and I decided to add a second green hexagon over the top from another snippet of green card, and before placing it I added the sentiment heat embossing it with WOW Metallic Gold Embossing Powder. I then decided to stamp and cut out two of the little bees to embellish it and I also used snippets of white card for this. I stamped them with Versafine Clair Nocturne Ink and coloured them with my alcohol pens ( you should use Memento with alcohol pens but as this was minimal colouring it was OK) and added some Clear Wink of Stella Pen on the wings for a bit of sparkle. I then added a little foam square on the back of each to give them a bit of dimension.
In conclusion, I enjoyed the challenge but can see the worth of buying a die to do this as it was very time consuming and I nearly gave up several times, but having spent a lot of time on it I was determined to finish it. I think that if I could make templates for the shapes for this card with the hexagon in the middle so that it simplified the marking and cutting it would be easier, but for a different shape and position of the centre, and a rectangle not a square, it would mean starting from scratch again and frankly life is too short for it to be worth the effort. The only way I would do another from scratch is if it was just one piece of patterned paper with the shaped centre and added strips over the top.
I am entering the following challenges:
I am entering the following challenges:
Snippets Playground Challenge - No, 491 Where we use our snippets of card and paper etc. (All the green card and some white for the little bees were snippets).
Love Those Pretty Papers Challenge - Oct. '24 Anything Goes/Halloween Colours/Papers.
Allsorts Challenge - Week 802 Anything Goes/Magical, Myths and/or Legend.
NBUS Challenge - No. 67 Where we us our Never Before Used Schtuff.
I am also joining in with Darnell's I.D.E.A.S., a challenge she has set herself but says anyone can join in. This is Week 2: D = Dies. (Just the hexagon shape in the centre, actually doubled up so cut twice).