Bee Extraordinary

It’s a new month which means we have a new challenge at Country View Challenges for April which is The Birds and The Bees.

Please ensure that birds and/or bees are the main focus of your projects when you join this challenge which is being hosted this month by the lovely Sue.

This page was created in my mini art journal, so I started by covering the chipboard page with a coat of white gesso and then I stamped the beehive image using black Archival Ink and a Beehive Buzz stamp and die set from Pink Ink Designs. Next I added the hexagonal pattern to the background using Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade and Vintage Photo Distress Ink and an old hexagon stamp. Then I used an Interlocking Circles stencil from Creative Expressions as a stamp by covering it with Black Soot Distress Ink, spritzing it with water and then pressing the stencil onto the page. When dry, I used some black Archival Ink and the hexagon stamp again around the edges of the page to frame it. The beehive was coloured and shaded using a blue Tri-Blend marker and some Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade and Vintage Photo Distress Ink which I applied like watercolour.

I stamped the bees onto some mixed media paper and then I used the Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade and Salty Ocean Distress Inks again to colour them. They were die cut using the dies from the Beehive Buzz set and then stuck in place using glue dots.

I added three blue dome stickers and used the stamp and die set to create the “Bee Extraordinary” wording which finished the page.

I hope that you will join The Birds and The Bees challenge over at Country View Challenges too; it would be lovely to see you there, and if you do join us then you’ll have a chance to win a £20 voucher to use on the Country View Crafts website too (grin!).

This beehive page brought back memories of some colourful beehives that we saw whilst on holiday in Skiathos, Greece.

We saw them whilst out walking along a cliff top trail; they were overlooking the sea and had this beautiful view!

Hoping that you are all staying safe and well!

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Here is a list of all the materials used to create this mini art journal page:

• Pink Ink Designs – Stamp & Die Set – A Cut Above – Beehive Buzz
• Ranger Archival Ink Pad, Jet Black – 90mm X 62mm
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Mustard Seed
• Creative Expressions Mini Stencil – Interlocking Circles
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Black Soot
• Ranger Roller – Small Brayer 2 1/4
• Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Ink Pad – Salty Ocean
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Spiced Marmalade, Vintage Photo)
• Docrafts Papermania (Mini Chipboard Album 15x15cm)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Hexagon Clear Stamp
• Spectrum Noir Tri-Blend (True Blue Blend)
• Mixed Media Paper
• Stix2 Glue Dots
• Dome Stickers

Challenges I’m so pleased to be able to join Art Journal Journey where the theme is Inspired By in honour of Eileen from The Artful Crafter’s Blog who picked the theme and was supposed to host this month. It’s so heart breaking that she won’t be joining us as she passed away last month shortly after her heart surgery – she will be greatly missed and I’m so pleased to be able to remember her throughout the month by joining AJJ! My page was inspired by bees and beehives, and I’m sure Eileen would have loved the positive wording “Bee Extraordinary” too!