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.
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.
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:
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
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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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13 comments:
Oh my Joi what amazing signs for the farm, you have spent so much time creating these personalised boards for your visitors, they are beautifully put together, wonderfully attractive and so informative. I love that you have used your brilliant artistic skills with paints and mediums and can share your art in such a public way. Thanks for sharing your love of bees too, I am a fan as you can imagine with my blog name xxx
love that you created an insect-related project as well - fabulous - thanks for sharing it at the STAMPlorations Mixed Media Challenge - we hope to see you again soon
Wow Joi, I've said it before and I'll say it again...I"m coming to live with you!!!! I can't believe you have a beehive, how wonderfully cool is that!! I just love how you decorated the signs, I really giggled at the little bee holding the broom. You have such a great creative mind and it sure does shine when you are doing your home projects. So much work and attention to detail, the end result is just incredible! Great idea to add the bench for visitors as well. The crackle is amazing and I love your little Queen bee too. Love it all actually!! Amazing spot to sit I would think, so glad you shared this with us!
PS - Thank you so much for joining us at Anything But Cute for our 'Birds and Bees' challenge! Hugs, Pamellia DT :)
This is going to sound repetitive, but WOW! Joi, your heart is in all you do and you show what a big heart you have with this incredible project. If I were sitting on that bench (and I wish I were) I would be looking at the signs, not the bees, although they must be fascinating to watch build a hive. That's something I've never seen before.
Your artwork is so fun and filled with wonderful details. Love that you have incorporated your prose, and those little bees, I'm sorry to say are so CUTE! Just kidding--whimsical! Better be mindful of the Cute police, though! He! He! Love every painted and creative detail you have blessed us with, and good for you to help our bee population! Our neighbors keep hives and the first time I saw him out in his suit, I thought aliens had landed! Not sure how the hives are going this year though--he has new ones. But I've not seen a honey bee all season! Just ton's of bumblebees, and my cukes from two of my stands are all misshapen, which will happen if not properly pollinated.
I almost forgot to say thank you for joining our Birds and the Bees challenge at Anything But Cute, but there, I just said it! Hugs! Sara Emily DT
Absolutely AMAZING...can't bee-lieve you used sooo many products! The signs look fabulous & I reckon it's great to have a viewing box like that too. All hail the bees. They seem to be having a hard time of it world wide atm.....so great to highlight them in this way, too:):)
Well...How fun is this!!! FUN i tell you!!! What a fun sign to have on your beautiful ranch!!! So fun, so whimsical and so creative!!! Thanks for sharing this with us at Creative Carte Blanche!
Joi, these signs are so much fun! Your visitors will absolutely love them! Love your take on these for our creative adventure this month! They are awesome - fabulous job! Thanks for sharing them with us here at Creative Carte Blanche!
ohmygosh Joi! WOW I love it all and thank you for helping the bees, super fabulousness!ooo wow such an amazing place you live, willing to adopt me? hehe
Love all the joy you bring and share! hugs
~kim
You did a marvellous job on these signs, Joi - your farm must be a delightful place to 'bee'! Amazing job! xo
JOI!! Your art always, ALWAYS makes me happy. This is fantastic, of course. I love the way your art is a part of your life and you incorporate it into where it can be seen and enjoyed. As it should be. Thanks so so much for sharing with us on Creative Carte Blanche. You are ever most welcome. <3
Outstanding Joi!! And those bees are truly loved at your ranch- I see that!! xx
You truly live a dream, my friend! Bees!!! I am so jelly... ;0 What a great addition to your ranch. Big hugs, Autumn
Oh dearie, I need to visit your Ranch and sit a bit to enjoy the atmosphere. What a wonderful addition to your bee hive! I was just talking bees yesterday with my BIL (he's a bee keeper) and learning about how to get the honey out. Very interesting conversation we had. Your design with all of the many wonderful techniques is truly amazing and Wowzers! So may layers and depth to this design and the added bench is genius! Joi, you bring a smile to my face every time I visit your blog. Cheers to you darlin! Hugz! ~Niki
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