Happy Monday, friends! We are so excited for today’s Meet & Greet, a blog feature that highlights one of our partners and gives you a closer look at the business and the people behind it! We love Honey Bee Stamps, and we want you to love them as much as we do too! We think you will after learning a bit more about this brand from owner Melissa Hewitt and seeing their beautiful products!
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Tell us your history! How did Honey Bee Stamps begin and how did you get to where you are now?
I started Honey Bee Stamps in 2015, as what I assumed would be a fun side hustle. I had dreamed for many years of designing my own own craft line that would combine my career as a graphic designer with my love of paper crafts—and Honey Bee took flight! I never expected it would take off and grow to this size… but it’s been a blessing and such a fun journey. It’s truly a joy to be a part of this crafty community – full of big-hearted, sweet and supportive people!
Tell us a little about your team!
We have a small team, but they are all rockstars! Lisa is our COO and handles our wholesale accounts, social media accounts and so much more! She wears many hats! If you watch our Live crafting videos every Tuesday and Thursday on Facebook or Instagram, then you surely know Kelley! She is our queen of videos, and also does our product videos each release. She is so much fun to watch and always does such a beautiful job with each crafty livestream! She also runs our Buzzworthy Challenges Facebook group! Working in the warehouse, we have such an awesome team preparing your orders and making everything run smoothly! Sarah manages the office, and Jamie manages our customer care. If you’ve ever called the office, you know how wonderful she is! Allison, Liz, Teri and Alyson are behind the scenes pulling and packaging your orders with love. We also have several part time helpers who help package and ship when we are at our busiest times and need extra hands: Julie, Karen, Kate, Sheri, and even my sweetheart Mom, Sandie, come around to help when we need it! I am beyond grateful for my amazing team. I couldn’t do this without them!
What product in your shop best represents your brand?
I think we have many awesome products that we have become known for over time, but we have two product lines in particular that our customers adore and are always asking for more. The first would be our Buzzwords line of large sentiment stamps and dies with great sub-sentiments that can all be mixed and matched beautifully. The large word dies include both the word and a shadow… but what makes them unique is the 2nd shadow layer that includes awesome pierced dot details around the edge!
The second series of products that really represent our brand is our line of Lovely Layers dies! They make the most stunning focal points for your card—with a range of flowers, leaves, bugs, and more!
What can we expect to see coming in 2022 that you are excited about?
We have so many exciting things coming in 2022! Our biggest release of the year is coming in April, when we will be celebrating our 7th birthday! We have some new products coming, including a new mini die cutting machine called the Bitty Buzz Cutter. It’s an awesome quality, portable machine that we are all incredibly excited to release in April!
If someone has never heard Honey Bee before, what is the one takeaway you’d like to give them, aka your ‘elevator speech’ or mission statement!
At Honey Bee Stamps, we believe that crafting is soul therapy that feeds creative hearts. Our standard are set high, and we only create products that we love to use ourselves. We design and manufacture our stamps from the highest-quality photopolymer so that crafting with them is a delight from the first impression. We offer 100% steel dies, paper pads, stencils, embellishments and so much more! Our innovative products get the job done right, but most importantly, they’re fun and easy to use. We believe great crafting tools should bring you plenty of joy, inspiration, and encouragement to keep creating.
Any Honey Bee secrets you’d like to share?
Many people ask me about our designs and if I design everything myself. In the beginning years, I designed everything and ran every aspect of the business by myself. As we have grown, I’ve been blessed to be able to hire on other talented artists to help me create my vision for each release! Along with Lisa and Kelley, we brainstorm each release and come up with our concepts and themes for each release. Once the release has been conceptualized, I act as the creative director to bring the images to life! It’s truly my dream job, and I absolutely love what I do.
Another thing that customers ask me about often is how we got the name Honey Bee. The answer is multi-faceted, but a fun connection of meanings. The name Melissa, in Greek, means honey bee. My dad told me this as a child, and I was always his “little honey bee”. My dad’s initials were BE, and he used to draw a small honey bee near his initials on everything he drew. (He was an artist and entrepreneur as well, which is where I got my talents). My dad was my best friend, and my biggest cheerleader. He always pushed me to reach for my dreams and do what I love in life. Sadly, I lost my dad in 2012 to cancer. He never got to see me achieve my dreams, but when it came to naming the business, the first thing that came to mind was “Honey Bee,” as a nod to my dad. I like to think he is still cheering me on and proud as can be. ????
Thank you so much for taking the time to read more about me and Honey Bee! I am so incredibly grateful for the support of our amazing customers and this beautiful industry.
Honey Bee Stamps: Shop | Blog | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | TikTok | Twitter
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Thank you to Melissa for sharing her love for the Honey Bee brand with us today! Now, go out and start clicking on the links above to see what makes Honey Bee so special, and why we love partnering with them! Have a great day, friends!
Honey Bee is in my neck of the world & I loved reading about Melissa & her company! What a wonderful tribute to her dad to name the company Honey Bee!
Awww Thank you, Greta! We LOVE the PNW! Thank you so much for your kind words.
What an amazing story! Love the products from this company!
Thank you so much, Melissa! I’m so glad you love our products.
I love the Meet & Greet series! Thank you for sharing Honey Bee Stamps; it was fun to get to know more about the company. :)
Thank you so much Terrie!
Such a great post about Honey Bee. The projects are outstanding!!
Thank you Jennifer!
Such beautiful products. Love seeing who is behind the business.
Thank you Irene!
Such beautiful cards! And the colors are so vibrant. thanks for sharing! The layered dies are awesome!
Thank you so much Deborah!
Thank you for introducing your sweet company. I have enjoyed posts by Mari Clarke using your products. Living in Canada I always shop around to find an on line store that sells your products. Happy early 7th anniversary!
Thank you so much Glenda!! I’m so glad you enjoyed our class!
I love Honey Bee products. It’s so nice to learn more about the company and the lovely story behind the name of the company. I’m sure Melissa’s dad is so proud of her.
Awwww… Thank you so much Lynn! I sure hope I have made him proud. <3
This was great background about your company. I loved using your products this last weekend with Crop & Create.
Thank you so much Neetal! I am so glad you enjoyed the class!
What a lovely story. I love the Honey Bee honeycut flowers.
Thank you Susan!
Beautiful cards. What a beautiful mention of your father. ????????????????
Thank you so much, Claire!
Love the story behind your name and the sentiment toward your dad. Your products make beautiful cards and art!
Thank you so much for your kind words, Angela!
Love the story of how the name came to be!! Keep reaching for those dreams!!
It was so much fun learning more about Honey Bee! I only have a few of their products, but I like what I have and hope to get more in the future, budget allowing of course!
Beautiful story behind the name of the company. Lovely cards too.
Your story is precious and inspiring! Beautiful cards too!????????????
I’ve welcomed a few Honey Bee items in to my collection, a few times directly through SCT! I find the stamps work wonderfully, & the quality is fantastic!
I had a great time in class with Mari.
Beautiful and touching story of how Honey Bee came to be! Melissa, I’m sure your dad is so very proud of you! I have only recently started using Honey Bee, and I have to say that I am completely enthralled with them and love, love, love those cute little buzzwords and the lovely layers! Thank you for your generous sponsorship in the C & C Cardmaking event! Mari’s class was top notch and Mari is such a wonderful instructor. Thank you again!
This is such a great way to get to “know” a company. I’m a big fan of HoneyBee stamps! I’ve dealt with Jamie in customer care, and she was wonderfully helpful. Big shout-out to Jamie!! Thanks so much Melissa for sharing this inside look into your amazing company.
Hello Honey Bee. So sweet to get to know you better. The story of your name made me cry.
Love love love Honey Bee Designs – the layering floral dies are so gorgeous <3
I love hearing how companies got their start, and what a wonderful story of how your company got its name. Wishing you continued success.
Thank you Melissa for sharing your story. Finding your product line has been a joy. Hearing your journey is inspiring.
I met Melissa when she first started out. I like to think I was one of her biggest supporters (and yes, I still own and use Honey Bee designs!). I’m so proud and honored to see her and her wonderful team doing famously well!!! Melissa….say hi to your Mom for me!)….
Fantastic story, company and products! You have had so many great products over the years, I can’t wait to see what the future brings!
Love your story and products. Got to know you at Crop and Create.
I love the inspiration for “Honey Bee”…thanks for sharing your beautiful work and story!
Love HBS story!!! Thanks for this interview. I’m a big fan of all this company, all of its products are a must have for me!!! ????????????
Dear sweet Melissa…. I will forever remember this sweet story every time I see Melissa Honey Bee!! Very very heartwarming!