Tuesday, June 28, 2016

BEE... WHERE.... more signs at the ranch!!!

Hello dear artsy friends! 

Guess what???? 

We have now decorated the home of our bees at the ranch. 
The hive is called a top bar hive and it has 20 producing honeycombs inside plus a viewing window in the front.  

Thought you would enjoy a peek! 

There are two signs so lots of process photos.

Hubby made the center sign on cedar - a play on words...
Beware - Bee Where - the land flows with honey!!! 
Nothing is very "normal" at the ranch :)

And we added a bench so that guests can sit and look through the viewing window in comfort.  


The hive stands alone; prior to the additions of the signs! 
See - the viewing window is open.



This is what it looks like inside the viewing window.  This is not a good picture at all.  Much more interesting in person. 



And now.... on to the creating of the signs for our bees! 
What fun to play with so many different products!!



The signs are 2'x3' plywood. I began by painting them yellow. Then adding the words of the poem (written by me!), I traced it with DecoArt Americana Graphite Paper onto the board.  




Adding the bee family was fun... let me introduce you!!! 

The Nectar Collectors



The Nurse Bees



The Worker Bees




The Alarm Bees - sending out the banana smell. 





Using the Faber-Castell 101 Stencil Package - there was the perfect honeycomb and I began tracing with the Faber-Castell Raw Umber Big Brush Pitt Pen.  It took a while!!! 





The little bee characters have found their place.  The letters are done which was the hardest part for me. I painted each one with Decoart Media Carbon Black Fluid Acrylic - tedious. Now it's time to play with colors and textures.  



The honeycomb was painted with Transparent Yellow Oxide. 




Then came one of my favorite products: 
DecoArt Media Crackle Glaze. 



After the Crackle Glaze was totally dry, DecoArt Media Raw Umber Antiquing Cream highlighted the Crackle Glaze. 



Since the sign would be outside it seemed best to have an extra coat of protection by adding DecoArt Media Matte Medium. 



I added a bit of Metallic Lustre to the crackle - just couldn't resist!




And here are some more of the bee family members!!! 

Guard Bees!




Support Center Bees




And most important... THE QUEEN BEE.




Just had to add some DecoArt Media Liquid Glass to the wings!!! 



Bees have to have flowers... right? Right!! 
So, of course, I added a few with this cute ArtPlorations Bloom Factory Stencil with a Faber-Castell Black Big Brush Pitt Pen. 




Just because I love shimmer and bling I completely painted my flowers with DecoArt Metallic Lustre. 







Below, you can see a bit of the shimmer.




SIGN TWO

After again painting the wood yellow, I arranged the words to the second "poem" I wrote and then began tracing the letters. 

I hand drew the honey pots but I sure wish I would have made them bigger - oh well!



The scrolls were made from pages from an old Shakespeare book that had tanning to the pages. I wrapped them around a tiny dowel and glued.  The words are hand written. 

After added some Metallic Lustre to the book pages and then Crackle Glaze.  There is a close up later that shows you how the crackle glaze turned out.  After the glaze was dry - I enhanced it with Raw Umber Antiquing Cream.  


The words did not quite seem to show up enough from a distance so I used the WONDERFUL DecoArt Snow Writer.  Love the texture it added to the scrolls. 






Just kept working - adding colors and texture until the scrolls seemed to look vintage and readable. 



Here you can see the DecoArt Crackle Paste in the background. 



The finished sign is darker but this is a basic look!!




The DecoArt Media Liquid Glass was used in a number of ways. 
For the drips of honey as well as they yummy honey in the pot!

The HONEY DO'S are things that we can make from our honey!








This penny was to show you how huge the signs really are!


One last look at the fun crackle honey combs!!! 
Did I mention that I added some Metallic Lustre!!!???



Products Used: 

DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylic Paints:
Cerulean Blue
Raw Umber
Prussian Blue Hue
Transparent Yellow Iron Oxide

DecoArt Media Antiquing Cream: Raw Umber

DecoArt Media Liquid Glass

DecoArt Media Crackle Glaze

DecoArt Media Matte Medium

DecoArt Snow Writer Dimensional Paint

DecoArt Americana Graphite Paper

DecoArt Americana Acrylic Paints:
Cadmium Yellow
True Blue
Bright Orange 

DecoArt Metallic Lustre:
Champagne Ice
Black Shimmer
Cosmic Blue
Copper Kettle
Radiant Red

Faber-Castell Big Brush PITT Artists Pens:
Black and Raw Umber

Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft: 101 Stencils

ARTplorations Stencils: Bloom Factory

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Hope you weren't too bored with all the photos. Using lots of different products is fun to share with you!

If need be, our bees could help us live off the land with so many products to be made from their work.  Right now we mostly just enjoy the honey, the honeycomb, candy and candles!

Thanks bunches for spending time with me. I always love having you here and sharing my little corner of the world!
Hugs, joi

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Excitedly entering the following challenges: 

CREATIVE CARTE BLANCHE
Winged Things


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STAMPlorations/ARTPlorations

Mixed Media Challenge
Never Ending Anything Goes Challenge



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Monday, June 20, 2016

HURRY....A BEAUTIFUL MESS CHALLENGE at OUR CREATIVE CORNER


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Howdy Sweet Friends!  It's HOT in Texas!!  


I am thinkin' that you need a reminder.... 
there is still TIME for you to enter the very LAST challenge at OUR CREATIVE CORNER.  




And guess what?????
I got permission from our fearless leader - dear Laura - to choose a few more winners for this last challenge.  I love displaying my OUR CREATIVE CORNER winners badge and I know you will too! Soooooooo get your creative mojo going NOW!!

BELOW... is the LINK for your entry: just add to our linky! 


And don't forget - there is wonderful gift for the random winner from Lost Coast Designs and Carmen's Veranda

How about getting messy? 
Can you do it with me??? 
Whether you make a messy looking project or just use "messy techniques.... we want to see every inch of your 'Beautiful Mess'.

The painting above is my attempt at 'A Beautiful Mess'.

Can't wait to see what you make and leave you a comment too!!!
Hugs. j. 

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Thursday, June 9, 2016

DecoArt Media Design Team Post, USA Flag



Howdy from the ranch.
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!! 

I am thrilled to be here to tell you about my DecoArt Media creation.... a Grungy Abstract American Flag. 



You can find step by step tutorial photos for the complete project on the DecoArt Media Blog

 DecoArt blog

Or paste this into your browser: 
https://www.decoart.com/mixedmediablog/ 


As many of you know, I'm a bit perfectionistic but... I am learning to go with the flow. I was recently asked to paint an 'abstract' flag (oh dear... abstract??) as a gift for the winners of a big charity tennis competition.  The flag was placed inside a tray.  I am told that it was a big hit among the prize winners. 


For this DecoArt Media project, I used Andy Skinner's Alcohol Acrylic Layering method. You can watch the process here

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4oE31gQtl4

Trust me - it's an amazingly fun technique you need to try!

It began on a red/white gingham craft paper.
Here you see the first coat of DecoArt Media over the paper.


And the flag background ended up like the picture below. 
Can you still see the red/white gingham paper? I can!




I am so thankful to live in the United States of America. 
and have such a beautiful freedom flag.

PLEASE visit the DecoArt Media Blog and see the wonderful projects listed there - including this one!!!   

And thank you DecoArt for giving me this opportunity to be a part of your wonderful DecoArt Media International Design Team. 


Wishing each of you a peaceful, safe and happy holiday!
Hugs. joi

~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
Products Used: 

DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics:
Quinacridone Gold
Prussian Blue Hue
Primary Yellow
Primary Red
Primary Cyan 
Cerulean Blue

DecoArt Media Misters:
Shimmer White
Purple
Primary Cyan
Shimmer Turquoise
Red
Shimmer Yellow

DecoArt Media Antiquing Cream:
 Titanium White

DecoArt Media Gesso
DecoArt Media Ultra-Matte Varnish



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