Weekend Art

 Hi everyone. Happy Sunday. I  hope those of you who celebrated Thanksgiving had a nice holiday, and that everyone is having a lovely weekend. 

My blog commenting was off for the last few days during the Thanksgiving holiday. We traveled for the day on Thursday, and my daughter was home until yesterday/Saturday. Life was a little busy. I managed to hit some blogs in the morning, but now life is settling back down into some more normalcy so hopefully I can keep up with a little more timeliness. 

Today I want to share another page for Jo's Nature challenge at Art Journal Journey. This page is in my bee journal.

This is one of the simplest pages I have ever made, as most of the background in this sheet of paper that already had the bee on it. I just had to  cut it down to fit my journal page.  I stenciled  along the edges with some black paint; I painted and then added a chipboard ring I had in my stash, and finally  I also punched out some black paper dots of various sizes and shapes. I added those to my page.

I also want to share a tag for Pinky's Words or Sentiments challenge over at Tag Tuesday. I'm sneaking it in before the challenge ends in another day.

I pulled out my Christmas holiday stash the other day, and I figured I'd use some of it. I inked a tag made of white cardstock. Then I die cut the holly branch. I snipped some of the bottom of the branch off so I could stamp the bow directly onto my tag. Then I added the rest of the branch back. The leaves have been outlined with a Sharpie. I added some red glitter glue to make the berries pop and also some white glitter glue to give the leaves a little kick. And finally, I stamped the quote twice, which, in case you can't read them, say:

happy holidays, good tidings, peace on earth and the last line says merry, merry, merry

I'm looking forward to a quiet Sunday.  That's all for me today. Have a great start to your new week.

Time to Put the Bees to Bed

 Hi everyone. Happy Sunday. I hope you are having a lovely weekend so far. My daughter came to visit Friday morning and left yesterday (Saturday). It was a fun visit, and she said she might even be coming for Thanksgiving. That would be nice if she does. 

Since it's November, it is time to wrap up many autumn chores. One of those chores is to close up my beehive for the winter. I'll explain more about that further down in the post, but first here's a bee themed page from my Bee Journal that I am linking up to Jo's Nature challenge at Art Journal Journey.

I used 2 shades of yellow watercolor paint to make my background. Then I used a scrap of printed paper to make the leaves and flowers. The clouds are stamped, and I used some white paint bobs on them, thinning the paint enough to keep the stamped design visible. I also stamped the sun and used yellow Stickles glitter glue. Finally I took some cheesecloth to make the ground. It is NOT supposed to be white for snow, just for texture.  Then I used some orange watercolor paint and splattered my page.

Don't you get a kick out of those little Victorian style bee stickers? I also used a scrabble tile. I picked the B for obvious reasons.

In the autumn I need to insulate the beehive against the cold. Short of adding a heater inside (which I have thought about), I'm trying to keep those occasional really cold winter days from killing my bees-again. Sadly the Canadian variety, which is supposedly excellent  in the kind of cold we get here in New Hampshire, arrived back in May mostly dead with not enough of the bees alive to keep the colony going. Now I am dealing with just my southern bees, and I am not holding out a lot of hope they will make it.  But I am not giving up on them either.

I've wrapped the hive using 2 bee insulated jackets on the outside, as you can see. The jackets are vinyl and filled with insulation. I also did some raking and bagged the leaves to insulate around the bottom. Actually a couple of the bags are from last year, and a few are from this year, and when I go out and rake more of my garden I will add a few more bags. The top hive box, which you can't see in the photos as it is covered by the bee blankets,  is a winter top with 6 inches of insulation. Sadly I'm not sure this is going to be enough to get them through the severe winter days however.

It's certainly not pretty, is it?

When I added these insulating bits last weekend, a lot of the bees came out to see what I was doing to their hive. And being curious creatures, they had to check it out. Before I kept bees I never thought of insects as being so interactive with their environment. 😏

Honey bees need to keep the inside of the hive quite warm year round. If they can't maintain the heat, then they can no longer flap their wings to create more heat. What I'm really trying to do is help insulate the hive to keep the heat that honey bees create  inside of the hive. If the inner hive temperature can stay warm, then the bees should make it through the winter.

The brown rectangles in this above photo are made with a substance called propelis, which is a sticky material the bees make. They bind it to everything, so if I go into the hive I actually need to pry pieces apart. I haven't gone deep into the hive since it's cooled off because the other thing the propelis does is seal up any cracks. I've wanted their cracks to be as sealed as possible for winter's cold.

The other interesting thing about bees in winter is that the young born in the fall are physiologically different from those born in the warmer weather. They can live longer and put up with the cold much better. Depending on your variety of bees, that determines  how much cold these winter bees can stand. 

I'm hoping to add one more wind breaking wrap that I'm still waiting for it to be delivered, and we still have a windbreak shelter to put up. 

I'm also linking up to Gillena's Sunday Smiles .

Enjoy whatever is left to your weekend or start of the new week.

Dressing in the Right Gear

 Hi everyone. Happy Thursday to you.

Today I'm sharing 2 spreads that I made back in August in my bee journal. If you look carefully, you can see why I am calling this post dressing in the right gear.

I added quite a few snippets  out of a bee keeping magazine on both pages. I also added some chipboard images  as well as some stamped pieces. I left the background white, but after everything was added to the page, I used an old tape roll as a stamp. Using some  yellow paint I added a bunch of  circles. I also splattered some yellow and brown watercolor over my background. 

On the second page you can see an image of a beekeeper all decked out in their gear: the suit, the hat and the gloves. I never wear gloves because my hands are small and I can't find gloves that actually fit, but I definitely wear the rest of the gear when I go into my hive.  Once you give the bees a few puffs of smoke they ignore you, but some of that has to do with the variety I have in my hive. Some varieties are not so docile.

On this second spread you can also see a stamped card image as well as my update from one of my August bee checks.

And since this second page has someone dressed in beekeeping gear, I am linking up to Neet's challenge at Art Journal Journey. You probably guess that this month the challenge is In Gear. 

Last week I added the mouse guard to the main opening of the beehive. When it gets cold, mice try to get into hives because the bees keep it toasty warm inside. No one wants mice in their hive. However, the ladies who had been out foraging when I added the guard came back and had a "HUH? What is this? " moment when they noticed it in front of the entrance.

The mouse guard is the metal piece with all the holes in it. Those holes are where the bees go in and out. 

These 2 in my photos were just a few of the many who did the same thing. It was fun to watch them maneuver their new doorway. When I went out  last Saturday to check  on their food level, I  noticed they all had the mouse guard holes down pact. 

I also took off the inside bee feeder because with the sticky fall food (it's 2 parts sugar to 1 part water) too many bees were getting stuck on the syrup and dying. I decided  to use  my little outside feeder, and it didn't take them long to find the food. Plus since it is external to the hive, I can see when it needs filling, which has been like every 3 days. 

And not only the honey bees are buzzing around in the warm afternoons, but the wild bees are out there also.

And there's been a lot of caterpillars around lately too.

This one that's  boldly colored was in my garden one afternoon. It's the caterpillar of the hooded brown owlet moth.

And here's a wooly bear one I found all curled up. These guys crawl under leaves and debris to spend the winter. During that time they actually freeze solid, only to hatch in the spring  I don't always touch caterpillars, because some of them  can cause skin reactions, but there are a lot of these wooly bears, and I know they are ok to handle, but just for a moment of course.

This next caterpillar is a hickory tussock moth caterpillar.  They feed on leaves from trees including but not only species other than hickories. 

And finally, just down the road I found this guy also. I'm not sure what species he is, but I did notice the pair of "eyes" behind his head. Not real eyes, but most likely to scare off anything that might think about eating it. 

I hope you didn't mind all the creepy crawlies in today's post. 

Thanks for visiting, and have a bee-utiful day.

A Bee or Two

Hi everyone   Today I’m going share a few things, but let me start with a note I received from Iris in my snail mail awhile back.  😀

This envelope is not the envelope Iris' letter came in, but it is an envelope I added to my bee journal.  I had added the striped tab to it. I thought the wax seal that was on Iris’ envelope would work  as a perfect decoration  on my envelope. Luckily I was able to peel it off and not rip it 

And I love your bee drawing Iris. This little lady is even winking which is really cute. I’m trying to figure out how to add the letter to my journal.  Iris' letter is a great bee story about a bee she was watching. Thanks again for the note Iris. I loved reading it. ❤

And speaking of my bee journal, here's a page I recently made.

The background is painted with various watercolor paints. Then I added a paint card for a color called beehive. I also add a bit of honeycomb that I cut out of a bee supply catalogue, a stamped and colored bee keeper image, as well as a small chipboard beehive.  The sun is a gold metallic paper image from my stash, and the larger words are stenciled. Finally I used my ancient label maker to make a couple of words, and I also added some small flower shaped sequins. 

And this month at Art Journal Journey, Chris' theme is Where in the World. Give me a garden and some bees buzzing around in it, and I can be happy.  And I don't have to travel anywhere except out my backdoor for that. Smile.

And let me share a few more honey bee photos.

There are a lot of eggs

and a lot of honey. It's getting so each frame is almost too heavy to easily pull out of the hive during an inspection. 

This year with all the rain and humidity we had in July the flowers have been spectacular.

Here's some of the pots on my deck and my overgrown hydrangea on the side of the steps up to the deck.

I bring out most of my houseplants for the summer. Above you can see the petunias growing into my banana plant (which was mostly dead and is coming back nicely). And below, my asparagus fern has gotten gigantic.

I love zinnias. You throw a few seeds in a pot, keep them wet, give them a splash of fertilizer and they look amazing all summer.

Here's a few rocks I painted.

And how about some of my overgrown hydrangea.

And although I have no  dining room furniture to share, I am linking up to  Rain's Art and Dinner Date.

Sorry for the long post. 😉

Have a great Thursday everyone.

More Bees

 Hi everyone. Happy Friday.  It's almost the weekend. That means the weather here in New Hampshire has (once again) high chances for rain and storms. It seems this summer our weather is stuck in a pattern of a couple of sunny days and then several rainy or high storm possible days will follow. 

My post's theme today is bees. I have a tag for Pinky's Hot Colors challenge at Tag Tuesday. It has some faces for Nicole's Friday Face Off , and it also works for Gillena's Friday Lunch Break . 

I inked my tag with some hot colored inks. The sun is an Art By Marlene punch out, and the flowers and bees are some die cuts. I finished my tag by creating a border and adding a TH quote sticker.

And while I'm on a bee theme for the day, let me add another page from my bee journal. There's a really clear face  for Friday Face off on this page. And since bees fly, this page also works for Alison's  Come Fly with Me  at Art Journal Journey.

I started with a purple inked background  that I then stenciled a design onto with some yellow paint.  And don't you love this big bee and flower photo I cut out of a bee supply catalogue? 

I also added some yellow plastic gemstones to make the page feel brighter ass well as a punch out quote from an Art By Marlene book.

This next photo is not lightened at all so the purple looks darker than it really is. But you can see the quote better here, even if it has a white background not blue.

And here's a few bee photos from the last time I checked out my hives. I can see where the cliche "Busy as a Bee" comes from.

This hive has so many bees and so much honey I've needed to add an extra box onto  the top called the honey super.

And how about this cool close up with the bees heads in the comb. They are definitely busy bees.

I'm still worried about my other box of bees that doesn't have very many bees in it, and lately I'm trying to figure out if there's anything I should do. The bad part about this information quest is I keep getting a lot of conflicting answers.  

That's all for me today. Have a fantastic start to your weekend.

Let It Bee

Hi everyone. Happy middle of the week to you.

Today I have a page for 2 challenges. First of all I am joining Matilde at Art Journal Journey. Her challenge this month is All About Numbers.  You can see the clock which is hopefully not ticking down the time that we have pollinators like bees on left on our planet.

I am also joining Sparkles monthly challenge with this page. This month they want art with No Stamping Allowed.  I didn't use any rubber stamps on this page, but hopefully the paper bee postage stamp doesn't disqualify me-smile.

This page is in my bee journal where I have some art pages as well as where I'm  keeping info about my 2 hives of honey bees  this year.

I made my page with a sheet of printed paper for the background. I cut the large sunflower and the bee postage stamp out of a sheet of printed Graphic45 paper.  I also added a few bits of deli paper that I used to paint on, and I liked the gold pops here and there-although sadly it doesn't really show up in the photo as I would have hoped. I also added some gold metallic paper flower trim and some scrape hexagons from when I die cut some honey comb for a different page. And finally I added a few little confetti bits which don't do much in the photo but do add texture to the actual page.

I also have a tag for Wendy's Circle challenge at Tag Tuesday I'm sad I missed the nautical theme from the last challenge as I love making nautical art, but I wasn't home to make any tags for it. Keeping to this post's bee theme, here's my latest tag.

I made this tag by inking my background, tracing some circles, stamping some images and finishing it off with some little confetti circles and a stamped and cut out quote.

And I hope no one is squirmy because I'll also show you my latest hive photos.

First my Italian bees. They are doing great.  And in this next photo you can see that there are more babies on the way.

And I am also happy to report the few of my Saskatraz bees that survived the shipping journey are still holding on. I was crushed when about 90-95% of them arrived dead, and it was too late in the season to get a replacement package (but I did get reimbursed.)

However I'm rooting for the few that were left, so I put them into my second hive with hopes they'd make it.

With these low numbers they are not yet out of the woods (especially come fall), but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Hope you have a great day.

Happy Monday

Hi everyone. Happy new week to you.

We  had some lovely weather this past weekend after several days of clouds and rain, and I managed to be quite productive not only in the garden but also with some arty time.

One thing I managed to finish was a tag for the new challenge at Tag Tuesday. This time Michele is hosting, and her theme is HATS.

I thought this girl with the sunflower hat was perfect for the nice weekend, even if sunflowers aren't yet blooming. But everything is definitely getting so much more green each day.

The background is inked and stenciled with paint.  I added some bits of ephemera, and I also stamped some words/phrases.

And I thought I'd stick with the sunflower theme and also share another page from my bee journal.

You might remember that I made this journal to keep track of my bees this season as well as add some bee arty pages. Here's my inner cover (the endpaper).

I've been planning this book for quite a while now, and in the process I've collected some sheets of "bee" paper. I used part of a sheet for most of  my background. I trimmed the top down. I also added a few little bits  cut out of the left over paper. The large  colored bee is a stamp I own, and I used a die cut to make the scalloped border. Finally  I cut the quote out of a sheet of paper, and added some old number stickers that already had punched holes. I used a bit of my yellow book binding thread to make the little strings on those number tags.

And speaking of bees, my first box went into the hive this past Friday. They're doing well and buzzing around as they explore their new world already.

This box contained 3 pounds of bees, which mean there are around 12-13,000 of them.

When you first add them to the hive you get this tornado like swarm flying everywhere. Of course they've been shocked and don't know their new home so it's expected. After a few hours they've settled back into their normal bee world, with many in the hive and some out on the lookout for pollen.

My other box ships at the end of the week and then both hives will have bees. That will be the first time since last year my 2 colonies joined to become one. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that doesn't happen again. Smile.

Have a great start to the new week.