Now in this blog post I have a few makes to share showing you how to make clean and simple cards with the Bee Garden range. I tend to make quite clean and simple style cards as I like that you can achieve a well-designed card in a short amount of time without needing to employ lots of complex techniques!

For this card I started off by cutting a background piece of honeycomb kraft paper and distressing the edges with a craft knife. I used a border punch to create the lacy effect on the yellow flower strip of paper and adhered it to the card with foam tape. I added a strip of leaf paper on top and then a washi tape effect stamped sentiment using the Bee Garden stamp set. I also stamped a bee in yellow ink and added him to the card along with a trail of silver gems.

This card again uses a mixture of the paper pack and stamp set which are designed to coordinate together. I began with a square panel of bee patterned kraft paper and added a strip of yellow paper on top. Next I layered up a banner made from honeycomb patterned paper and a die cut heart which I stamped with the small honeycomb pattern. Finally I layered on a stamped wreath, bee and washi sentiment. The key with clean and simple style cards is to add interest in other ways (using layering, grouping of elements and different textures of paper) rather than lots of different techniques.

For this card I went with just the absolute basics! Another one of the principles of clean and simple style cards is that you don’t need to be afraid of white space. Here I’ve just used a simple stamped bee and wreath balanced with a stamped sentiment beneath it. That’s it! I’ve raised each element up with foam squares to add a bit of depth and interest which is important when there’s not much on the page.

Finally, I also made a simple shaker card this week while I was away on holiday in the Peak District (I brought craft supplies with me of course!). I used a Stampin’ Up 2″ circle punch to make the aperture, backed it with acetate, added foam tape round the edge and paper on the back to seal the sequins in and then decorated the front with stamped bees, paper strips and a twine bow. Katie Lamb has also made a shaker card and she uses a slightly different technique to me.

Pop over to her blog and have a look at the shaker card tutorial here.

Also in the past couple of weeks Emily Grant has been crafting with the Bee Garden stamps to create this beautiful gold heat embossed scrapbook page. You can read more on Emily’s blog here.

And Mags Woodcock has put together this beautiful mixed media card. I love the way she has used sequins as the centre of the flowers and used different textures in the form of stencilling, fabric and sequins to create interest across the page. Mags has also combined the ‘just bee-cause’ and busy bee stamps to make the cute sentiment!