Thursday, April 10, 2025

Buzzing in the Garden

 Hi everyone. Happy Thursday. 

     I'm back today with another page for my Spring Birds challenge at Art Journal Journey. My page is not only about spring birds, but about a few pollinators you find  in a pretty blooming garden. Seeing we've had cold temperatures and even lots of snow flakes (but luckily no accumulating snow), today's journal page is not inspired by my own garden, at least my garden right now in April. 😏

    I'm also linking up to challenge # 114 at Creative Artiste Mixed Media challenge blog. To join you just need to have at least 3 types of media on your page.


    I decided to paint half the page pink and half of it lavender. Then I used a stencil and some yellow paint to create the sun rays. I die cut the honeycomb, the hummingbird line and the big flowers. I  glued down the honeycomb first, and then I added a bit of gesso around it because I thought it needed a bit of contrast to stand out more. The hummingbirds were die cut on some pink printed paper, then I inked them green and added some pink sparkle glue to make them more like the male ruby throated hummingbirds which are the only ones we get in my area. 

     The flowers are a big old TH Sizzix die. I die cut them twice, once in pink and one in purple. However the big daisy like flowers bugged me in the pink and purple so after they were attached and the matte medium was dry I used a white Posca paint pen and colored in their petals.  I left just a thin strip of the original color along the edge. 

    I stamped the bees and colored them in, used a Sharpie to outline the edge of the page and finally wrote in my own quote to be done.

   This past week we've had a blast of winter again. Yesterday morning between some temperatures below freezing and the strong winds it was frigid. Even my greenhouse watering can that had a bit of water in it had some ice cubes. Here's the greenhouse thermometer.


    That low (-3.6 degrees C) was not counting wind temperatures.. Brrrrr.  I have no crocuses  blooming yet, but even in the cold I was happy to see a few buds on some of the plants popping up.


    I'm just happy the bees are shipping late this year because it  would have been way too cold to put them in the hive after they've been used to southern US temperatures. And I would have had a batch arriving just about now.

   Here's hoping everyone gets some beautiful weather soon. Have a great rest of your day.






    

16 comments:

David M. Gascoigne, said...

Good morning, Erika: It remains cold here too, with no immediate respite from this weather. Hopefully, it will warm up soon where you are so that your bees will have a good start. Perhaps this is the year for a bumper yield of honey. We need the wildflowers to burst forth and provide pollen and nectar aplenty. Good luck! David

sirkkis said...

A beautiful flower page 🌼
Have a happy day my friend 😘🌸

Angie's Recipes said...

Beautiful spring page! I like the purple colour tone. -3C? Still so cold? It's 8c over here...really nice and warm.

Tom said...

...Erika, keep buzzing along!

*Vicki* said...

Your flower page is so pretty and I love the colors in it! The honey comb accent to go with your buzzing bees is perfect along with the row of birds! Yes, it's been a bit chilly here over our way as well dipping down to just at freezing temps at night, but I think we're on the rise a bit each day now....I hope! LOL Looking forward to the bees coming will be fun!

Christine said...

Lovely page, it got cold here too.

Shari Burke said...

That's a very cheerful page--and I love the colors. We're still having unseasonably warm and dry weather with some gorse fires around the county. Thankfully, it's supposed to get a bit cooler over the weekend. Hope you have some flowers blooming soon!

kathyinozarks said...

Lovely page and photos. glad you have some spring popping up. sunny and warmer today but now the strong winds are back-oh well
Hugs Kathy

Jeanie said...

We're having the same. I hadn't thought about your new bees. That's good luck.

Neet said...

Great page. I love the flowers with the edging to them, especially the top one with the bright pink edge.
Love your hummingbirds but I do like the nod to your bees with just a few of them peeking in. I hope that when your new ones arrive the weather is a bit kinder for them.
Hugs, Neet xx

Elkes Lebensglück said...

The way you designed it looks so beautiful.
The color mix goes well together.
The bees are buzzing around!
Hopefully you'll have warmer weather soon!
Hugs, Elke

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

I love how you created the hummingbirds. Nicely colored. I also like that honeycomb. You have created a great entry for your theme at AJJ, dear.

Lowcarb team member said...

What a beautiful page that is.
Here in the UK we have been enjoying some lovely spring-like weather ... not sure how much longer it will last though!

Have a good weekend.

All the best Jan

Anonymous said...

Beautiful flowers. Great design and colour scheme. Have a creative month. Happy Easter. Thank you for joining us at Creative Artiste this month Judy

Aimeslee Winans said...

I like your mixed media page, The painted background gives it a neat look. The crocuses are on their way! Have a great week, xoxo

Judy McKay said...

Lovely group for flowers. Great choice of colours. Thank you for joining us at Creative Artiste this month. Hope to see your beautiful art work back here again soon.