Saturday, June 1, 2024

June is Here

 Hi everyone. Happy June to you!

     Since it is a new month, it's time for a new challenge at Art Journal Journey First let me thank my co-admin Valerie for inviting me to join her last month as a host. It was a lot of fun to share a challenge with you. And thank you to everyone who joined us also. It was great to think about poetry and art since they do go together so well. Plus I found some new poetry too, which is never a bad thing.

  This month I want to welcome Matilde as our host. You probably know her from her blog Craftowanie/100% Handmade.  This month Matilde has chosen the theme 

What Makes You Happy.

My first art journal page for June is actually a page from my Greece travel journal, but as many of you know, one thing I enjoy is keeping a few bees. I'm just a hobby bee keeper, and I don't want a lot of hives, but I enjoy learning about and watching the bees. And of course they make honey and help pollinate some plants too. 😏 You can't go wrong with either of those, can you?

     I started my page by drawing the big flower in the middle. Then, before I did any finishing, I stamped all 5 bees. I colored in the bees with markers, and then I restamped the bee image 5 times on acetate. I fussy cut those acetate stamped bees and then glued them down over the colored bees on my page.

     I used a pink paint pen to color the flower's petals. I also used some small little bead like pieces (I think they are called pims?) to make the flower's center. I used watercolor paints on the background, and I used white pigment ink to stamp some little circles. Then I finished off the flower outline with a white pen and wrote a little note to myself around the edges of the petals. 

    And I also need to remind you of the "dreaded" rules. At Art Journal Journey we accept all types and sized of art art journaling, but please, NO tags, ATC's, cards, dimensional art, etc.  Also, if you link up through a social media site and not by blogging, we may not be able to comment on your page.

   Of course I can't share a journal page about bees without sharing a few recent photos of my honeybees.  


This is my older hive. You can see they've been busy making a lot of honey already although I only have one photo from one side of one frame.


I can't wait to see your What Makes You Happy pages over at Art Journal Journey.  and since I'm on the subject of happy, have a great start to this new month.

22 comments:

Angie's Recipes said...

Some really happy bees :-) I love the cheerful page! Happy June, Erika!

Katerinas Blog said...

Good month Erika!
The page for your art magazine is very beautiful!
I also loved the photos from the hives!!
Love the bees!!

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

I can see why bees make you happy. Without bees, we will not exist. They are greatly needed and your art shows it. Thanks for this great entry at AJJ honoring Matilde's theme. And it was great to see how well your bees are doing this year.

Valerie-Jael said...

Your bee page is gorgeous, and I love how the bees look so real, they really stand out. Great idea with the acetate, too. Thanks for your help and support last month, it meant a lot to me! Happy weekend and a great start in June. Hugs, Valerie

Iris Flavia said...

I absolutely LOVE your bee-artwork!
What a great piece to start June!
I hope to see many bees, some must´ve been here and I need to look after the last strawberries left for us - thanks to them.
To a great new month, hugs!

Matilde said...

What a beautiful page according to your hobby! Thanks for sharing 😍

craftytrog said...

A beautiful page Erika. I love the big bloom and the bees.
Lovely to see your precious bees thriving and creating their honey too
Happy June!
Alison xx

Barwitzki said...

Yep - how wonderful.
It's great that you have beehives... that's so interesting and, above all, very useful for nature and for yourself. I only buy my honey from beekeepers and I'm also happy to get a new variety every now and then. I recently got buckwheat honey as an interesting variety.
One thing is clear: the bees must be delighted by your flower :-)) great job :-))
There are many things that make me happy, for example my walks in the forest are absolutely heavenly or going to the concert or ballet at our opera house is fantastic - I have tickets for Romeo and Juliet and I'm really looking forward to it - and then every now and then I have to produce something... at the moment sewing is great... taking lots of fabrics, scissors and a sewing machine - a dream. It makes me happy to produce something beautiful.
A hug for you from Viola
I wish you a great June.

Tom said...

..."bee" well and have a Joyous June.

David M. Gascoigne, said...

It’s great to see the bees doing so well, Erika. Fingers crossed for a very productive year. The wildflower meadows around here are alive with blooms already so there should be copious supplies of nectar and pollen. All the best - David

Neet said...

I have an affinity with bees and I love learning about them through your pages. My thirst for knowledge does not extend to reading books about them but I love reading about the adventures of yours.
Thank you for the latest pictures and update on yours. One thing that occurred to me this morning was, how do you take the honey from the slats without harming the bees?
I love the 'Greek' page in your journal - what a fabulous stamp that is of bees, I don't think I have ever seen one so clear as that. What kind of adhesive did you use to stick the acetate down - you cannot see anything at all through it.
Sorry about all the questions Erika - have a lovely weekend, and thanks for a lovely page.
Hugs, Neet xx

Christine said...

Happy beekeeper page!

Jeanie said...

Oh boy, your bees! Are you going to harvest some honey this year? They look like they're really "buzzing!" And doing so well.

Divers and Sundry said...

Loving your flower and bee art. Your bees look happy and healthy. Nice to see👍

Jim and Barb's Adventures said...

I used to have several hives when we were younger. Seeing yours makes me want to get some again, but being gone for months on end is not conducive with beekeeping.

Lowcarb team member said...

Your bee page is lovely, and nice to see your happy bees.

Wishing you a happy month of June.

All the best Jan

carol l mckenna said...

Happy Bees in their hive ~ lovely photos ~ thanks,

Wishing you good health, laughter and love in your days,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)

WendyK said...

Fabulous page Erika. I love bees and used to have hives in my previous life. We are also big fans of honey. Great bee stamps, hugs Wendy Have a great month.

Aimeslee Winans said...

Eye-catching journal page, those bees are realistic looking for a change, lol! All I ever see are whimsical ones. Your hive seems to be doing well, a real improvement over last year, huh? Hope your week is fun and productive, xoxo

*Vicki* said...

Oh my I just love the bee themed page! I love your wording around the petals of the flowers and your colorful background! What a great way to show your happiness with the bees! I am so far behind so I'm trying to catch up! :)

Tracey@Hotchpotchcreations said...

As soon as I saw the AJJ theme I knew you would have to add Bee's into one of your pages, what a super page Erika, lovely large flower with written words around each petal and those Big bees are fab I can almost hear the hum coming from this page.. Fantastic!!
Happy crafty June Hugs Tracey xx
P.S Thanks so much for sharing the pic of your Bee's x

Karla B said...

Bees are incredible in so many ways! What a lovely work!