After looking at my top nine cards in 2025, I decided to reuse one of the featured products in my highest post. It's a fun one and it has been a year since I used Honey Bee's Lovely Layers: Beach Bound Honey Cuts dies. I think we all love a cool, vintage bus and this card offers all those retro vibes! I'm using the following products from Honey Bee Stamps for this card:
Lovely Layers: Beach Bound Honey Cuts dies
Lovely Layers: Big Pickup Cab stamps and Honey Cuts dies
Beach Bound Holiday Add-On Honey Cuts dies
Big Pickup: Americana Add-On stamps and coordinating Honey Cuts dies
For the basics... my Honey Bee Stamps featured project below is made from Neenah 80lb Solar White cardstock for the card base and card front panel. All of the black ink stamping was done using Honey Bee’s Bee Creative Intense Black Ink. I use Honey Bee Stamps Bee Creative Precision Glue and for when I want more dimension, Bee Creative Foam Dots With Tab for adhering my elements together. My blender brushes (large and small) are a must for ink blending color on the background, too. For white highlights, I use my white Gelly Roll pen. My card is 5" X 7" in size.
To make this 5" X 7" card, I started by researching colors of vintage VW buses and found this orange color was in the mix. Keep in mind, I've made a green, pink and teal one already (see below) so I was excited to do orange this time. I cut all the pieces and began to assemble and color the bus using the Lovely Layers: Beach Bound Honey Cuts dies. Every vintage bus needs a little rust on the body just to keep it real! My favorite colors for rust in Copic Sketch Markers if YR27, YR24 and E57. I added shading and highlighting on the automobile including using my white pen to add tread markings to the tires and Copic markers for reflection on the windows.
I cut, colored and "wrapped" the birthday gifts for the top of the bus. I used the Lovely Layers: Beach Bound Holiday Add-On Honey Cuts dies to make the gifts. Using Copic markers, I added dots, stripes and fun accent colors to the die cuts for festive b-day gifts on top.
We also needed some balloons. The seven-balloon bouquet from the Big Pickup: American Add-On stamps and coordinating Honey Cuts dies worked perfectly for size and scale. I colored the balloons to match the gifts.
To create the background, I started with a 5" X 7" aqua-colored card front panel. I used Mermaid Lagoon Distress Oxide Ink to add some clouds to the top half. My blender brushes (large and small) are perfect for this application. I used a large one for bigger clouds, blending a bit of color here and there.
For the bottom half, I used a piece of pattern paper from the Grain and Grunge paper pad. The Spooktacular pad also has a great pattern paper to use for a road, too. I cut a piece of pattern paper, 5" wide by 3" tall. I tapered both sides in to a 3" on the top side of the paper. I added some darker shading and dots of black and white to the gray pattern. I attached the road to the bottom of the card front.
I added green fields to the sides of the road and then layered trees on the sides of the road. I used Pine Trees Honey Cuts dies for the right side (two trees) and on the left side of the road, I used the Christmas tree from the Beach Bound Holiday Add-On Honey Cuts dies. I turned the tree 90 degrees and placed it on the left. I used two sets of tree die cuts on both sides to fill in the spaces. I added shading and highlights to all four border trees to complete the look. I also added the "happy trails" sign on the right. To make the sign, I hand cut a brown strip for the post and added a faux wood sign stamped with "happy trails" on it. The stamp is from the Lovely Layers: Big Pickup Cab stamps. I used E55, E57, E4, E51 and W1 to the road sign to make it look like wood. I attached it over the pines, on the right side, embedding it a little in the pine branches.
Next, I added the VW bus using Bee Creative Foam Dots With Tabs, layering it over the road. I added the gifts behind the van, at the top. Some gifts were attached with a foam tab for dimension. I also attached the balloons using a foam tab, letting them sway to the left like the wind caught them in the sky. I shaded the road, below the bus.
Lastly, I added the sentiments in the upper right corner. I stamped the "loads of birthday wishes" sentiment directly on the card panel. I stamped, die cut and attached the "special delivery" using foam tabs. I attached the front panel to a white 5" X 7" card base to complete it. (Optional: You can also add a fun sentiment/phrase to the license plate. I printed mine using my printer and die cut it using the die from the Lovely Layers: Beach Bound Honey Cuts dies.)
More Vintage Bus Card Idea Blog Posts
Here's a look at some other bus ideas I've made and the blog posts associated with them:
The "Love Bug" Vintage Bus Card's blog post is here.
The "Beach Bound" Bus Card blog post is here.
The "Very Merry Bus" card blog post is here.
Note: Some of these are older so please use the links from this current blog post if I have inspired you to get your own Beach Bound Bus! Thank you!
You can shop the entire Honey Bee Stamps store here! If you decide to place an order, please use the links in this post so that Honey Bee knows which ideas inspired you! When you spend $100 or more, you are eligible for a FREE BEE, too! (While supplies last!)
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