Trendy Tuesday – Honeycombs and Hexagons

Trendy Tuesday – Honeycombs and Hexagons
By Colleen Harshaw

Unless you are someone who lives under a rock, or someone who does not follow blogs, websites or magazines from the crafting world, you have seen or heard about this trend.  Hexagons (sometimes referred to as honeycombs) are EVERYWHERE.  I have many beautiful projects to share with you today, to give you some ideas how this very interesting shape can be used in your creations.

A hexagon, in geometry, is a polygon with six edges and six vertices.  The total of the internal angles of any hexagon is 720 degrees. (Thank you Wikipedia!)

In crafting, a hexagon is an interesting shape that is not a square and not a circle, and can therefore mix things up a bit and give us some visual interest!

The first project sample that I have for you today is a card created by the lady behind SFYTT (otherwise known as Sketch For You To Try) over at www.iheart2stamp.com.  I love the colours of this card, I love the textures, I love the trees, and of course Jen included some hexagons too!

Project by Jen Del Muro @ www.iheart2stamp.com

The second card sample that I have for you is by our very own Andrea Walford from The Paper Crafter’s Library!  Instead of using a piece of patterned paper on her card, Andrea decided to cut the hexagon shapes from a sheet of patterned paper and adhere them to her card base individually.  The paper that Andrea used is from the Stampin’ Up! Twitterpated Collection.  The end result is a clean, beautiful card!

Project by Andrea Walford @ www.papercrafterslibrary.com

This next project is a 12 x 12 scrapbook layout that shows us both the use of a hexagon and stitching.  It is a fun, colourful layout that can’t help but catch the eye!

Layout by Jennifer Schmidt.  Photo credit to www.about.com

The second layout that I want to share with you today is a two page spread (12 x 24) in which the artist employed a similar technique as Andrea did above.  In this case, the hexagons were individually cut out using a punch, and then they were adhered to the layout one at a time.  It would certainly take a bit of time on a layout this large, but the the end result is fun, and effective in drawing the viewer’s eye towards the photos.

Layout by Lisa Dickinson.  Photo credit to www.creativememories.com

This last layout employs the use of hexagon paper in a creative way to make flower embellishments.  This struck me a simple but very clever.  I must admit, I probably wouldn’t have thought of it myself!  🙂

Layout by Shaina Longstreet @ www.shadylaneblog.com

Now, let’s get away from papercrafting (I think that may be the only time in my life I have ever said that!).  This trend is so popular that is is not just in the papercrafting industry, but also in quilting, cake making, photography, and design.

Let’s take a look at this next fun project……

This is a hexagon covered monogram.  It is bright, fun and three dimensional….all good things, right?  The artist who created this project hand cut all of the hexagons from scraps of paper (talk about patience!).  I love the end result.

Project by Mareth @ www.limeriot.blogspot.com

Now I have a treat for all you quilters and seamstresses out there!  This next project is adorable.  If you are handy with a needle and thread, you can pull this off.  My daughter would love this!  I pulled this project from a really cute site called www.sewmamasew.com although the credit for the project on that site directed us to a blog, as listed below.

Project by Melissa @ www.allbuttonedup.typepad.com

I found this next three dimensional project (yes, I am back to paper again!) via Spellbinders.  I love Spellbinders!  It is a hexagon basket that was created using the Hexagon Petal Envelope die, which is meant to be used with the Spellbinders Grand Calibur die cutting machine.  Although I haven’t personally used any of the Grand Calibur dies, I would venture a guess that the die would work with other machines as well, as many others on the market can be used with multiple machines.

Project by Julie Overby @ www.spellbinderspaperarts.com

OK, my last project for you today is a cake!  A gorgeous cake!  I love how the hexagon shaped cakes look in this three tiered confection.  It looks good enought to eat!

Photo credit to www.theknot.com

Now on to the shopping!  I am going to spare you dozens and dozens of photos of paper after paper.  It is safe to say, hexagons are everywhere, and you can find them in just about any line these days.  If you need a bit more of a starting point, two specific lines where you will find a lot of hexagons in particular are Jenni Bowlin Studios and My Mind’s Eye.

Here are just a few samples of products that are out there……

This first photo is of a Sissix hexagon die cut.  As mentioned above, Spellbinders also has a hexagon die cut.  I am sure there are many others out there as well.  I also stumbled upon a photo of a Quickutz hexagon die online while doing my research.

Photo credit to www.fabric.com
For those of you who may be interested, there are coupons for this store here.

Next I have a hexagon mask from Studio Calico to share with you……

Photo credit to www.studiocalico.com

On to a few paper selections…….

Echo Park Everyday Eclectic Hexagon Paper – 12 x 12
Photo credit to www.bluemoonscrapbooking.com

More paper samples…these ones are from My Mind’s Eye…..

Photo credit to www.shimelle.com

I know that the digital scrapbooking movement is growing, so I didn’t want to leave you out of this conversation!  I came across several digital paper options featuring hexagons.  Here is one such sample below…..

Linda Tieu Design Digital Paper Pack
Photo credit to www.backtopaper.com

These hexagon shaped, nesting, three dimensional boxes are found on www.etsy.com

Photo credit to www.etsy.com

This hexagon punch is from Creative Memories…..

Photo credit to www.lisasworkshop.blogspot.com

These hexagon shaped stickers have a fun retro or vintage feel to them……

Sand Dollar Stickers
Photo credit to www.prettylittlestudio.com

These last two items are both free templates that you can find online.  You have a couple of options to use them.  You can print them out directly onto your patterned paper and then cut them out, or you can print them out on a heavy paper and then cut them out and use them as tracing templates.  Have fun playing with them!

Free Shaped Journaling Boxes With Writing Lines – hexagon
Courtesy of www.about.com

Rounded Hexagon Free Pattern
Courtesy of www.about.com

I really hope you have some fun exploring this recent trend.  It never ceases to amaze me how many creative people there are in the world!  See you next time!