Monday, April 30, 2007

The Beauty of Black & Yellow

Morning! We are having another beautiful day here in MN! Both Saturday and Sunday were gorgeous too. Yesterday, I worked out in the yard, weeding my gardens, checking to see which plants survived the winter and which did not. I even ventured to the nursery to check out the hanging baskets. Do all of you agree that seasonal flowers are EXPENSIVE? Yikes, you have to take out a small loan just to decorate the deck!

In celebration of the wonderful weather we've been having, I thought I'd share these two cards with you that utilze all the same papers, but different stamp sets and layout. Don't you just *love* Mr. Bee? I think he's adorable. He's from Stampendous, and there's more stamps just like him! He's buzzing by today to give you a flower from the garden, courtesy of me {{{{hugs}}}}}.

Both cards are anchored with black and white floral paper from Imaginisce (Black Tie Optional). The black and white polka dot paper is from Reminisce (Basic Dot). For Mr. Bee, I stamped him on Whisper White cardstock, and then colored him with my SU markers in More Mustard and Black. I stamped him again on Summer Sun cardstock, and then cut out just the flower so I could adhere the flower to the main image and make it 3-dimensional. I added some white polka dots to the flower to tie in with the other polka dots on the card! The little hearts at the end of Mr. Bee's antenna's are colored with a Pink Passion marker. The whole image is matted with both Summer Sun and Basic Black. The polka dot strip is matted with Summer Sun cardstock and then given a decorative edge with my mini scallop scissors. A black gingham ribbon is just the right touch to finish it off!

For the second card, I used the Petal Prints set. This is my favorite flower stamp. I used to use this all the time! Do you see the glitter on the flower, which was stamped in More Mustard? I stamped the outline of the flower with Tsukineko Glue Pad, and then sprinkled with fine glitter. It looks prettier in real life! This would be the first time I have used the Tsukineko Glue Pad, but I hope to try it more this week to get a real feel for it.

I laid the Petal Prints flower image (which was matted with Black and Summer Sun cardstock), on top of a horizontal strip of the polka dot paper (which also had the scallop decorative edge). A black and white gingham ribbon was tied on top of the polka dot paper, and then the image was laid down. I used my tab punch from SU for the "thanks" sentiment, which is by Green Grass Stamps.

I love black and white, combined with just about any bold color. It's so dramatic!!!! If you can find these two different designer papers, it's worth picking some up...they are so fun to work with!!!

Before I sign off for today, I'll share another photo from my trip to Washington, DC last week.
If I remember correctly, this is a TULIP and NOT a peony. It sure looked like a peony to me when I first saw it at the National Botanical Gardens! I nearly croaked when I read that it was some fancy tulip....I sure wish I could find a tulip this gorgeous for my gardens here in MN!!!

Hope you have a wonderful day. Off for my exercise walk now.

20 comments:

  1. Gorgeous goregous! I didn't realize how good black and yellow really looked! These are both beautiful cards Amy, and so is that tulip!

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  2. Anonymous9:12 AM

    Hmmm...why haven't I tried black & yellow? I love the combination!

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  3. Great cards Amy! Love the black, white & yellow - so cheery!! Send some of that nice weather our way - we've had nothing but rain . . . :(

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  4. Anonymous9:26 AM

    Oh, the black and white paired with that pretty yellow is wonderful! I love the dots, too! Thanks for sharing!

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  5. Anonymous10:02 AM

    That first card is one of my favorites that you have posted...I adore it! How CUTE!!! I always think of red with black and white...I will have to try out the yellow...it looks great.

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  6. Yes, flowers add up so fast. I just dropped a bunch of cash into a single pot for my back deck. I got a big planter and a great mix of flowers to shove into it. It sure looks good though. And, LOVE your black, white and yellow cards. I'll have to keep that in mind for a future Monday card. It looks great.

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  7. Sweet cards Amy. I also agree with you that plants and flowers have become outrageous in price. They keep saying it's because of the expense of heating the greenhouses and even though I'm sure that has a lot to do with it, I just think they are being greedy. It shouldn't cost $25-$30 bucks just do do up a planter. This year I'm not going to buy all those Proven Winners like I usually do and just stick to some simple less expensive six packs of annuals. I think I'm all set with the perennials for now, but may get some later in the summer. I refuse to pay over $20.00 for a hanging basket so I've started making my own last year. Again, I'm going to use less expensive stuff. I'm also trying to put more decorative things in the gardens to fill up space rather than spend so much on flowers. I even made a bottle tree this year. I don't know yet if I really like it as it seems a little tacky to me, but I think it will grow on me. If you've never seen one, do a google search. My first bit of knowledge on these was just last week when I was watching Home and Garden on HGTV. I guess they are popular down south and come from African Folklore.

    Stamper Gail
    gbinette@metrocast.net

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  8. These are super! Love the bug card!

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  9. I didn't know what to do with the black and white floral paper I had until I saw this post. You made it come to life with the yellow! I wish I had your creative mind. Thanks so much for sharing your creativity.

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  10. I love how the yellow pops with the black and white. Fabulous choice!

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  11. Anonymous1:47 PM

    Love the cards! The color combo really pops! I have to agree with you about the weather this past weekend - FABULOUS! It was in the mid 70's even here next to the lake! Today is much cooler - high of 55 but still nice.

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  12. Great colour combos (and the bee is adorable)! Yep - outfitting the deck with planters is up there with the Christmas expenditures!

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  13. The black and yellow looks awesome! I really have to get one of those glue pads!

    That picture is gorgeous by the way! I would have guessed a Peony too! Oh, I can't wait till my big white Peonies bloom!! They smell sooo yummy!

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  14. Love both of these cards with the black & yellow ~ one of my favorite color combinations! :)

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  15. I love your cards. The yellow with the black & white is a great color combination. I think I'll try it. TFS

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  16. I just love the petal print card! I hope to be using that idea before it retires!! Thanks for the AWESOME inspiraton!!

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  17. Wow! These POP! Gorgeous! Love both of them....can't pick a fave! Love that tulip too! Hope you had an awesome trip. i received a gorgeous, machine sewn card from you while you were gone...absolutley love it! THanks so much Amy! You rock!

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  18. Anonymous7:33 PM

    Girl, both cards are gorgeous! I love those bees! And I love Petal Prints!!!!
    Beautiful!

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  19. Anonymous11:30 AM

    These are both absolutely stunning! I love the color combo, your layouts and the clean lines. I've just discovered your blog today and I'll be back to visit often!

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  20. Anonymous8:25 PM

    Amy, Your cards are just stunning with their crisp and creative looks. I love your color combo's and details. Just gorgeous. TFS

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