Hope you are enjoying your holidays!

The HoneyBees and I hope you are enjoying this time with your family and friends, and are perhaps playing with some new creative toys! We are getting ready to bring you some fun new projects to kick off your New Year...In the meantime, our very sweetest get well wishes are being sent to two of our dear HoneyBees. Miss Wanda is down with the flu, and our Miss Rosemary is in the hospital with respiratory problems. I know you will join with me in sending hugs, prayers, and all the very best thoughts for speedy recoveries their way.We will be here next week with some great ideas for January, so stay tuned!

hugzzz,

Buzz, Brag & Bee Happy Friday - Dec. 24th

June Houck

Merry Christmas Eve! I hope you are enjoying a wonderful holiday season with your loved ones. I am grateful to be able to spend today and tomorrow with my maternal grandmother, my aunt, and my parents. Later I will also see my relatives across the country...via skype. Isn't technology terrific? Next week my in-laws will be staying with us for a visit. The first week of the new year will bring some dramatic changes for me; we are having all of our carpet removed and having hard wood floors installed in the living room, dining room, and kitchen. Upstairs (the bedrooms) and downstairs (the finished basement) the carpet will also be removed and replaced with pergo wood laminate. Both staircases will be hard wood. This will take a solid 2 weeks and we will have to move out of the house for 4 days for the hard wood portion. And the best part? I will move my craft room (currently upstairs) to the basement and turn this room back into a guest bedroom. Phew! Exciting, yes?What will 2011 be like for you?

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Rosemary

What a busy week it has been!!..I'm sure you too are getting those last minute 'craft' gifts done since today is the day before Christmas!!..Where did the time go? I've been busy all week getting those project done that I waited until the last minute to do; when will I learn..lol

For the past couple of years, I have made a Christmas Stocking album for Joey and Elizabeth. Guess it has now become a tradition since I made another one for this year. I left plenty of space for Elizabeth to add photos and journaling and any extra embellishments she would like to make this album her own.

For Elizabeth's parents and grandparents I made candles with photos from Joey and Elizabeth's wedding on them. I worked with colors that I knew each would like to make it special just for them.

And for Nina, I made a little 'bag' to hold the bobby pins and clips I made for her using my I-Tool (love that tool!). Also, there is a card stating that she and I will go shopping and do lunch; wherever she wants to go!..

Have a great Christmas Eve and a very special

Merry Christmas to you!!!

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Merry Christmas! It has been a very busy and wonderful week here at the Brett home, with our normal two residents being upped to eleven! But, it is SO much fun to have all of the grandchildren here, and enjoy their individual personalities. The anticipation for Santa's arrival tonight is pretty intense, and our's is, too, because (thanks to the generosity of a very special HoneyBee) we have a big surprise for all of them! You'll have to check in next week to see what it is :) But for now, we are cherishing our family and loved ones, and being caught up in the excitement of the season. We will be going to church, and enjoying the privilege of hearing one of our daughters sing - which is one of my greatest delights.
I want to take a moment to thank each of the HoneyBees for their love and support, and for all they have contributed to making the BUZZ what it has become. We aren't just a design team, we are a loving group of friends, and they mean the world to me. Merry Christmas, one and all.

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The HoneyBees and I wish you a very Merry Christmas, with hope that you are surrounded by love and peace. May you find joy in the little things, and recognize the blessings that are so abundant in our lives.

We will be taking next week off, and then come back with more great tutorials to inspire you for the New Year.

Please feel free to leave your comments and Christmas wishes here, as well as posting your favorite Christmas Cards to the LINK below. We would love to hear your GOOD NEWS!

and the HoneyBees



HoneyBee Showcase

From the HoneyBees and myself, we wish each of you a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and hope that you and yours are enjoying this holiday season to it's fullest.

Betty Brett

Many thanks to June for a very informative tutorial for our Monday Motivational! We all love the extra pizzazz that heat embossing brings to our projects. With very little effort it turns a good piece into one with that WOW factor!

I hope that you don't mind that mine are pieces that are revisited from Christmases past.... as my craft studio is a VERY BUSY guest room at this time. I've picked three of my past favorites to share with you, and look forward to bringing you fresh new ones after the first of the year.
If you are interested in the "how to's" be sure to pop over to my personal blog for the info.
Merry Christmas!
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RosemaryI made a card that I wanted to share with all our visitors so that I can wish you all A Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

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Kristi Driscoll

This Sizzix die can be used for Christmas, as the playful seal balances a Christmas Tree on his nose, or throughout the year with whatever is appropriate in play :)

Heat Embossing the sentiment inside makes creating a special card for someone especially easy!

Wishing each of you the very Merriest Christmas, and we will see you here in the hive

in the New Year! Happy Holidays!!

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Now it's your turn! We want to see what you heat emboss! Create something and showcase it right here with the HoneyBees!! Post your card, layout, home decor piece, altered item, gift, or whatever you make, here in the LINKZ. You could be our next BLOG CANDY winner for January!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

and the HoneyBees



Monday Motivational - Heat Embossing & Glitter

Wishing you lots of joy this Christmas season! June has a great tutorial for you today! It will work for fabulous last minute Christmas cards, extraordinary Birthday Cards, and terrific tags! If you are doing layouts of your Happy Holidays, these beautiful touches would make WOW pages, too! Here's June ....................


Gold heat embossing and glitter go together like peanut butter and chocolate. I think it really dresses up this beautiful "JOY" stamp. Ready for a quick tutorial to get you motivated this Monday morning?

June Houck

Supplies

• stamp and papers of your choosing
• gold pigment ink and gold embossing powder
• glitter glue (or art glue and fine art glitter)

1. Stamp and emboss image on white card stock.
2. Add glitter to specific areas one color at a time (e.g. silver dots on J and Y); allow drying time in between colors. After dots are dry, glitter holly leaves. After leaves are dry, glitter holly berries.
3. Mount on metallic paper for extra "pop". I used a red metallic paper and a gold moire.

This is one of my favorite holiday cards to make. Metallic papers are tricky to photograph, but I hope you are inspired to try this technique to spruce up your stamped art work :)

The rest of the HoneyBees will be here on Wednesday to post their take on today's Monday Motivational. It would be lovely if you have time to participate and link your heat embossed/glitter accent projects!

and the HoneyBees

Buzz, Brag, & Bee Happy Friday- Dec. 17th

Happy Friday, and welcome to Buzz, Brag and Bee Happy! This is the day when we are sharing what is happening in and around the Hive, and what the HoneyBees are up to! June is away (which you will see at the end of the post!) and kindly posted a great card before she left. Sending happy thoughts to Court and Wanda, as they are taking care of family, and Wanda's computer is frozen. Roe is busy in her studio, and I had a fantastic surprise or two..... Plus, it is time to announce our Blog Candy winner.... so, Let's Bee Happy, Everyone!!!

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June Houck
Happy Friday! No doubt you are all busy preparing for the holidays. I find it easiest to create when my craft room is neat and organized. It became a bit messy last week as I was trying to make some belated thank you cards, design gift tags for teacher gifts (previous post), etc. In an attempt to clean up my craft room (ever so slightly), I decided to rummage through my drawer of prepared images that had not made it to a card or project.
I was agonizing over a sketch, so I went to one of my go-to ideas...a quilt card. (Easy tutorial here.) My base card is DCWV, the designer papers are BasicGrey Lime Rickey, the sentiment and dies/punches are SU, and I used Cuttlebug Spots & Dots and D'Vine Swirls embossing folders.

When do you do your best work, in a neat or messy environment? What are your go-to sketches?

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Rosemary

I can not believe Christmas is next week!!..Back in July I told myself I should be making my Christmas cards, but I failed to listen to myself. So, here I am doing the last minute hurry up and get them done!!..I bet I'm not alone...lol

This week I wanted to share with you a few projects I've been working on.

Here are some Christmas cards. I try to think of the person when I create my card.

Here are two cards I made from a template by Deneen Treble. I was able to download them, cut it to make my own template and then used Make the Cut so my Cricut would cut it for me!!..Aren't these adorable? So much fun 'dressing' my cards for Nina and Ian!

Using the same template, I made a card for a baby boy baby shower.

I love my I-Top by Imaginisce!! I must say, I had the best customer service when I had to call Imaginisce recently. I spoke with a Joan Neilsen who was very friendly and helpful. Here are a few things I made for Nina's Christmas stocking! The hair clip comes in white, but white did not go with the purple. I sprayed it with Glitter Mist and it was perfect!!..I cut a piece of Oriental print and added a Prima flower; I love how it looks. The black and white is DCWV cardstock and Making Memories acrylic flower. The white clip was perfect for this! So, I have hair clips and bobby pins and now I need to buy the headbands!

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June, Kristi, Rosemary and Betty
As you read over the past few posts, some of the HoneyBees were blessed to be able to meet at DisneyWorld this week, and it was such a delight! When a design team lives all around the country, it is very often that they don't actually get to meet one another face to face. This was the first time Rosemary and June had met. Kristi and I had the privilege during one of our adventures this past summer when we traveled to Virginia where June lives. We had a cold, but absolutely delightful day at Epcot!! In February we are planning a big Swarm in the Hive!

Now, if you have about two and a half minutes, I invite you to share in my big Christmas Surprise! (And my reason for having no creative project to share with you today ... but I'm sure you'll understand!!)




Many thanks to "Gra-Anta Claus" for making this Christmas miracle happen! On Sunday my other daughter and her family will arrive from Pennsylvania, and on Christmas Eve my son-in-law gets here from Denver, and that will make all of my children and grandchildren home for the holidays. I am so incredibly blessed. Definitely something to BEE HAPPY about!!!
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Let me make someone else happy, too!!! We have a WINNER in our Winter BLOG CANDY give away! All you needed to do was become a follower and leave us some loving, and we put all of the comments, and projects into a hat (random.org) and we have a winner!!! The winner of all of the Christmas and Snowman/Snowflake goodies is:

PAT HARRIGAN
Congratulations, PAT! Please send an email to BettyBeeDesigns@hotmail dot com and we'll get your package to your right away!!! Thanks for being a member of the Bee Hive!!!

Now it's your turn to share what is happening in your hive this week!!! That's what BUZZ, BRAG and BEE HAPPY is all about! Leave it as a comment, or a link, if it involves a photo or tutorial on your blog. Let us know all of the good news! LINKZ will be open all week, so you have plenty of time!

and the HoneyBees!!

HoneyBee Showcase Sweet Treats - Wed., Dec. 15th

Welcome to the HoneyBee Yummy, Cookie Recipe Showcase!!! On Monday Beth started us out with her scrumptious Black Walnut cookies, and today we will continue the goodness with some more terrific treats for you, as well as a "time-honored" secret about Christmas Cookies! There is a link at the bottom for you to post about your favorite recipes, as well! Come join the fun!

Rosemary

It's that time of the year when ovens are heating up ready for those tasty treats to bake. Except for when you make RUM BALLS!! No baking required and so simple to do! I haven't made these in a couple of years, but I promised my husband I would make some for him to bring to work. Though these can be made anytime, I always choose Christmas as my time to do them. On Motivation Monday, HoneyBee Beth shared with us a yummy cookie recipe. So, today we are sharing our yummy treats with you!

For my rum balls, I used walnuts and light corn syrup. I chose not to use cocoa.

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June Houck

Happy Holidays! I like to remember the teachers every holiday with a little something. I was inspired by my friend, Shantaie, to make these hot cocoa treats. Each treat bag makes 2 cups of hot cocoa.

This is a super quick gift to make (tutorial on my blog.) The fun was in creating a tag! I used corrugated paper from my stash, Heidi Swapp gems, Cuttlebug Snowflake embossing folder and Making Memories twistel in natural. All other products (ribbon, markers, paper, punches and stamps) are by SU.
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Betty Bee


A family favorite for many years at our house are Holiday Magic Cookie Bars made with Coconut, Chocolate Chips, Nuts and Sweetened Condensed Milk. They are really easy to make, and Oh, SO YUMMY!
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 (14 ounce) can EAGLE BRAND® Sweetened Condensed Milk
2 cups semisweet chocolate morsels
1 1/3 cups flaked coconut
1 cup chopped nuts
Directions:
1.Heat oven to 350 degrees F (325 degrees for glass dish). Coat 13x9-inch baking pan with no-stick cooking spray.
2.Combine graham cracker crumbs and butter. Press into bottom of prepared pan. Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over crumb mixture. Layer evenly with chocolate chips, coconut and nuts. Press down firmly with a fork.
3.Bake 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool. Cut into bars. Store covered at room temperature.
This makes about three dozen cookies. Enjoy!!

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Christmas Cookie Rules...

1. If you eat a Christmas cookie fresh out of the oven, it has no calories because everyone knows that the first cookie is the test and thus calorie free.

2. If you drink a diet soda after eating your second cookie, it also has no calories because the diet soda cancels out the cookie calories.

3. If a friend comes over while you're making your Christmas cookies and needs to sample, you must sample with your friend. Because your friend's first cookie is calories free, rule #1 is yours also. It would be rude to let your friend sample alone and, being the friend that you are, that makes your cookie calorie free.

4. Any cookie calories consumed while walking around will fall to your feet and eventually fall off as you move. This is due to gravity and the density of the caloric mass.

5. Any calories consumed during the frosting of the Christmas cookies will be used up because it takes many calories to lick excess frosting from a knife without cutting your tongue.

6. Cookies colored red or green have very few calories. Red ones have three and green ones have five - one calorie for each letter. Make more red ones!

7. Cookies eaten while watching "Miracle on 34th Street" have no calories because they are part of the entertainment package and not part of one's personal fuel.

8. As always, cookie pieces contain no calories because the process of breaking causes calorie leakage.

9. Any cookies consumed from someone else's plate have no calories since the calories rightfully belong to the other person and will cling to their plate. We all know how calories like to CLING!

10. Any cookies consumed while feeling stressed have no calories because cookies used for medicinal purposes NEVER have calories. It's a rule!

So, there! We never have to worry about all of those bothersome calories from these fantastic cookies.... or your recipes that we are hoping you will share with us, too!!!

WINNER...WINNER...WINNER...WINNER...WINNER...WINNER...WINNER

Congratulations to DEE for winning the Gift Certificate to EAD Designs

for last week's Birthday Card Challenge!!!
Remember that you have until MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO LEAVE US SOME LOVE (a comment), and you will be entered into the drawing for our awesome BLOG CANDY (shown in the upper right corner of the blog!!) If you post your recipe, you will be entered twice!!!
The winner will be posted on FRIDAY's Buzz, Brag and Bee Happy Post! Good luck!

and the HoneyBees