Add a festive confetti look to your cards!

I've been a little obsessed with the "confetti" look lately and wanted to show you some very quick cards you can make with patterned paper and circle punches! I actually found the idea to try this on a card from a printing website called Tiny Prints where you can create announcements with photos. If you are stuck for a design, these are great places to look for inspiration!

I looked through the Lily Bee papers and pulled out some various prints in reds and pinks and began punching different sizes with my circle punches. I added red cardstock circles to the top first for a dark contrast at the top, and then began layering more circles by degree of color saturation down the card, getting lighter and lighter in color as I worked my way to the bottom.

You could make a set of these in all different colors, and they would work for birthdays, thank yous, congratulations, etc. I like how the chevron circles look like little streamers on the green and blue card!

To finish the card, the word "happy" was die cut out of Lily Bee's Handmade patterned paper with my Cuttlebug machine, then I stamped "today" over the die cut with the Double Dutch clear stamps.

Give the confetti look a try on your next card, it's an easy design to put together for a last minute card that you might need!

Danielle

Lily Bee supplies used:

Handmade papers

 Double Dutch Clear Stamps (today stamp)

Other: circle punches, Wonderful Words die by Papertrey Ink, 

Sweet Blush ink and Spring Rain ink by Papertrey Ink.

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Eat Well

As a woman with a family and a home, I don't very often get to eat at what I'd call a 'fine dining' establishment. Of course, it's not because I don't want to, but one can only afford so many $25+ plates in a given year before the bankers come calling.  At least that is the reality for our family.


Given that, when I do get the opportunity, I want it to be memorable.  That involves things like planning the right place and the right time and the right occasions. I can do that is to take extra care with my appearance and preparations.  But all of that will still allow the memory to fade.


Photos, however, will help keep it alive.  A well photographed location or plate of food can evoke so many things in people.  Why do you think they spend so much on marketing photos for all the major restaurant chains?  Because it evokes a certain 'something' when you see a mouth-wateringly juicy burger topped with the freshest, greenest lettuce and the ripest, reddest tomatoes and veritably dripping with secret sauce!!!


With all of that in mind, I decided to take out the big guns when my husband and I recently visited a local restaurant for our 20th anniversary.  I brought my big ole Canon DSLR to dinner with me and took time to shoot the food as soon as it arrived at our table.


I admit, I was a little embarrassed to do it, but the waitress even came by on one of my shooting occasions and gave me a thumbs up for being brave enough. 'Yeah!' I thought, 'I'm not so weird after all am I?!'  Well, maybe I am, but I did get some great shots and we'll not soon forget this occasion of Eating Well!

The rich, warm colors of my photos led me to the Buttercup Collection. That yellow damask pattern seemed the perfect compliment to our fine dining adventures and helped bring out the warm tones in my photos.

I also played with the round frame stamp from the Handmade collection to add a little extra color and texture.

I dug out my turquoise and grey washi tapes which blend so beautifully with the colors of Buttercup and created a bit of extra texture behind the bank of photos on the right side of the page.  The mini cardstock alphas make perfect photo captions.

And I couldn't resist creating another brad from the cardstock stickers and my Epiphany Crafts tool.


Give dining out photography a try and let us know how you like it!  I'd love to see what you come up with!


Lily Bee Supplies Used:

Patterned Paper: Buttercup (Queen Bee, Rain
ABC Cardstock Stickers: Buttercup
Mixed Cardstock Stickers: Buttercup
Journal Cards:Buttercup,  Double Dutch
Bag of Bits: Buttercup
Stamps: Handmade

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Combining stamps with patterned papers...

Hello! This is Danielle here with my very first post for Lily Bee! I'm honored to be here and hope to inspire you to try something new and exciting in your paper crafting.

When I first starting working withing with the new Lily Bee lines, I was so amazed at how well the lines mixed together! I love to stamp also, so I pulled out the Victoria Park stamp set and got to work stamping the frame with black ink on different patterns of the 6x6 paper pads.

First, I made this card:

I stamped the frame onto a gray polka dot paper from the Buttercup line and cut it out, then stamped the little florals on either side of the frame. I immediately grabbed this teal floral sticker, because I loved the colors on it, and paired it with some of the banner shapes! The black banner really helps the smaller patterns stand out and grounds the design. It gives the design some "weight".

After this card was finished, I wanted to make a coordinating card focusing more on the stamped frames, so I stamped like crazy on different patterned papers and began rearranging them on white cardstock until I was pleased with the design.

Some of my favorite patterns are the checks and florals from Double Dutch and Buttercup.

I love girly floral patterns, yet I also love somewhat of a clean look to my work, so pairing these patterns with bright white cardstock makes them really stand out and allows the patterns to be the focal point of the card! Don't be afraid to try stamping onto patterned paper rather than cardstock. I hope you enjoyed these ideas for card making today!

Danielle

Lily Bee Supplies:

Buttercup and Double Dutch 6x6 Paper Pads

Victoria Park Bag of Bits

Victoria Park Clear Stamps

Victoria Park Mixed Cardstock Stickers

Handmade Bag of Bits 

Other: twine, red and black stamping ink.

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