3 Cards using the Flourish & Frames Bundle

If you’ve ever wondered how to take a simple card and give it a little more oomph without starting over, these 3 Cards using the Flourish & Frames Bundle are a perfect example. For this week’s Step It Up Stamping, I started with a simple bee birthday card and then added a little more detail with each version. By the time we get to our Queen Bee card, we’ve brought in the Stampin’ Hot Foil System and Gold Foil for a completely different look.

The Flourish & Frames Hot Foil Bundle gives you lots of options because the stamp set and dies do very different jobs. The stamp set includes bees, flowers, greenery, and other small botanical images that can be mixed and matched. The coordinating set of 34 dies includes both cutting dies and Hot Foil Dies, so you can create frames, labels, flourishes, and foil-accented pieces in several sizes.

That means you can keep things very simple when you want a quick card or pull out the Stampin’ Hot Foil System when you’re in the mood for something extra special.

For these birthday cards, I also used the Phrases & Frames Stamp Set for the “Happiest Birthday Wishes!” greeting. This is one of those handy sentiment sets with greetings for birthdays, anniversaries, encouragement, sympathy, and other occasions, so it’s an easy one to reach for again and again.

Night of Navy, Golden Glow, and Hydrangea Hue give these cards a rich color combination without making the birthday design feel too serious. Night of Navy provides the strong foundation. Hydrangea Hue softens that deep blue and keeps the design from feeling too dark, while Golden Glow adds warmth and gives us that perfect little pop of color on the bee.

And once the gold foil comes into the Queen Bee card, everything clicks. The warm metallic gold picks up the Golden Glow while standing out beautifully against the blues. It gives the final card its elegant finish without needing lots of extra color.

The bee is such a strong image that it really doesn’t need complicated coloring. I used Golden Glow and Hydrangea Hue Stampin’ Blends to add just enough color to bring out the details while keeping the overall design clean. If coloring sometimes feels intimidating, this is a great type of image to practice on. You only need a little color to make a noticeable difference.

The Busy Bee version keeps things nice and simple with stamping, a circle focal point, and that great birthday greeting. For the Worker Bee card, I added color to the bee with Golden Glow and Hydrangea Hue Stampin’ Blends and changed up the layers to give the design a little more personality.

Then our Queen Bee gets the royal treatment: Gold Foil, Hot Foil frames, additional layers, and a couple of Gold Adhesive-Backed Dots take the original idea in a much more elegant direction. It’s still clearly related to that first card, but those extra details make quite a difference.

That’s what I love about Step It Up Stamping. You don’t have to make the most detailed version every time. Start where you’re comfortable and stop when your card feels finished to you. Whether you have ten minutes or you’re ready to spend some quality time with your Hot Foil System, you can still make a birthday card that someone will be very happy to find in their mailbox.

Supplies You’ll Need

These are the basic supplies you’ll need for each of the 3 cards. You can find the complete detailed supply list at the bottom of this post.

COMPLETE SUPPLY LIST: