Beelieve

Inspire Me Thursday..."Crayons"

Having to work all weekend in the "cage" I feared not having time to participate in this week's inspiration on IMT.  Not the case, working in a pharmacy lead me to find "washable crayons".  I do not have any of the fancy professional art crayons...yet, these were the next best thing.  Washable...hmmm...water soluble...hmmm...color then "smudge" with water...bingo...ART.   Subject matter was easy.  A short time ago I met a great artist, Sam, owner of "Stinky" and "Stinky Art Company" .  I immediately thought of her and how fun her creations are.  Her originals are so vibrant with color, paint, oil pastels.  Very "colored" looking and fun.  I decided to go to her website for an update and found she is running "Stinky Contest" .  This opened the flow of ideas for me, I get to play with Stinky.  If you really want to have some more fun, check out her contest and her art.  Her shop is in a tiny lake town just north of me named "Northville" in upstate NY.  Last time I was there, sorry it has been a while Sam, she had even more than her website offered.  Some of my favorites were "Stinky underwear" and wonderful smelling "Stinky soaps".  So in honor of something Stinky and Inspire Me Thursday, I came up with a...

Then I needed cook up a tasty little...

I could do these all day in the land of...

Ha ha ha.  So if you are now intrigued here are some ideas I did not get to.  They are all yours.

"Stinky Soccer Mom","Stinky Dirty Martini", "Stinky Outback", "Stinky Green" and "Just Stinky"

Lauren wanted to participate as well so last night she came up with this.  "Stinky Noisy Night".  I had to lightly draw Stinky so she could trace around it with a brush marker, but the rest she did on her own.  Her story is that Stinky is camping and trying to sleep but an owl keeps "hoo-ing" and the birds are playing a game.  The bird under the tent, upside down, trying to move the tent to a different location as a joke on Stinky.  The story goes on...oh to "bee" 5 years old and live life from a pure imagination!

.....UPDATE....BREAKING NEWS......STINKY IS NOW IN THE BLOG WORLD!  PLEASE WELCOME STINKY AND MOM, SAM AND ENJOY THE START OF  "STINKY ADVENTURES", IT IS BOUND TO BE AN INCREDIBLE AND FUN JOURNEY.

Any guesses?

Back on May 1st, Inspire Me Thursday decided to take a break and left a post about inspiration and asking what inspires us.  When asked that question,it is not easy to answer. I did not have an answer for it.  Inspiration comes when it comes, sometimes more than we have creative time for and other times we are looking under the laundry pile for it. (secretly hoping it is hiding there so it can come out to play and we can escape from being a domestic goddess for a while)

May 1st I did not have an answer, this week I have some inspiration and still not sure how it all even came together.  I am working on another piece, just for the sake of doing something not on the "to-do" list.  Hopefully it will be a "ta-da".  Not quite done yet but I will share with you what inspired me on this.  Take a look and see if anything inspires you.  Or if you dare see how close you come to my vision.   Stay tuned.  I have no creative time as I am working the weekend in "The Cage".  You may need to read "Just Bee-cause" to learn about the cage.  Actually if you have not read it, and you are reading this, you need to go there immediately and read start to finish, all of it.  Every last word and share with everyone you know.  It is not for me, it is...well...just bee-cause.   (pretty please with pink sprinkles on top?)

She's here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This Bee flew in all the way from Australia to "way" upstate NY, USA.  If I looked that great after such a long flight, I would fly more often!!  I am so excited and proud to own this original art piece from Belinda "Bee" Joynes.  She has named this work "Bee-lieve" and I am thrilled and honored to have her.  Please visit her blog, Witchetty, and her online shop at Etsy .  You will be sorry if you miss an opportunity to own an original.

The following pictures of me were taken by my 5 year old.  Now that you recently saw a great wedding shot of me, here I am 10 years later, after a half day at work, need of makeup and way over due for my hair  appointment tomorrow.  Do I care, heck no, would I post if It was about my physical appearance.  I already know my soul is one hot diva!!!  This post is just to show you one of the reasons I started this whole blog to begin with.  Please read my kick-off post "Why wait for the new year" and tell me if you see the magic happening.  I do and I "Bee-lieve".

Inspire Me Thursday..."Doors"

"The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live." -Flora Whittemore

I was so excited by this week's topic on Inspire Me Thursday of "doors".  I sat in bed that night with a sketch book trying to put some ideas together and came up with several little sketches.  Something was lacking.  I needed a quote, something, anything.

  There must be a million quotes about doors right?  Luckily I keep marked pages in my sketch books, or any journal I have had, with quotes that really move me for some reason.  Sure enough in between profound words from Picasso and Victor Hugo , I found Flora's quote.  Many who know me know I throw out everything to fate and enjoy living the day, not always the case I confess.  I was raised in a family with strong religious faith but that is not what I am pushing here, in fact there are two things you never discuss with friends, religion and politics!  (I feel I must mention that because when I googled my blog I saw several "Beelieve" things related to religion)  What I "beelieve" in is myself, my family, and my business "Blue Bee Designs" taking flight over the past few years.  Flora's quote was written down for a reason.  It reminded me that each day we can decide whether we will be happy or miserable, whether we will help or turn away, whether we say "yes" or "no".   With it being Mother's Day weekend I thought my art would tie in to remind us as we get spoiled one day, why we get spoiled at all.  We are responsible for that child's decision to be happy or miserable, you open that door and they will follow, whichever door you chose. Please open many for them.

My art piece is about the door we decide to show our children and it is "Open for Business".

This is a tiny 2x3 photo I have treasured from my stash of family photos.  Someone was quite proud of the door they opened and I have kept it framed in plain sight ever since I found it.

I scanned it down and cut it out to use a piece of it for this art piece.   The rest of the piece is done with acrylics on canvas ,layered with some book pieces, music notes for bricks, some fun "honey " medium that has the consistency of honey, and some pigment powders.  Added extras are the bits and bops and an old key from grandma's house.   

I have one more door I would like to share.  One of the best I ever opened...

This is Kevin and I ten short years ago.  I remember the photographer saying..."I want you to walk through that door like you just won the superbowl"  Then I said, "why would I care about that, I am going to walk through that door into the world for the first time as Kevin's wife"

Close to a Mother's heart

Happy Mother's Day to everyone out there.

If you are a mom you have art work everywhere that is one thing that goes without saying.  Last year I came up with a wonderful idea to keep that prize piece close to my heart.  Turn it into a necklace.  I had to do it.  Back in June of last year my Lauren asked me for some paint, she needed black, pink and orange.  I was busy doing something and not really paying any attention at all and within minutes she made me one of my favorite art pieces ever.  Lauren knows mommy's favorite animal (bird actually) in the whole world is a penguin.  She also knows I love the color pink.  She decided to combine the two and made me the ultimate "pink polka-dot penguin".  I could barely look at it with the tears filling my eyes.

I had to do something with this to keep it close to my heart.  I had been practicing with the soldering iron and glass cutting so I decided to scan it down and place it in glass to make a pendant out of it.

Her art makes fun jewelry and a great story behind it.  Lauren never misses an chance for some of my gratitude when I wear it.  It does not go on my body without her noticing and asking me if I love my "pink polka-dot penguin".

                      

               

                         

                                                            

 

On the back is a scan of when she could first write her name.  We were making valentines and knowing a 3 year old could not take interest in signing each and every one, let alone that small, I had her sign it on a paper once, scanned it in and made labels saying "handmade from the heart by".    

         

 

The date on the back is the day she did

the painting.

This necklace has instigated a crazy story so pay close attention.  My friend Sue wanted something special for her mom for Christmas and this gave us the idea of coasters that incorporated her children, twins, a boy and a girl.  I used pictures and their artwork and made some fabulous coasters, my only regret was not taking the time to scan them in or photograph them.  They were a big hit and ever since Sue has wanted something for herself, more notably a necklace.  A while back I bumped into Sue's mom at a restaurant and she approached me on making that absolutely perfect present for Sue's big 40.  (Yes Sue, it is in print, read it, own it and welcome to the club)   Her birthday is this weekend, how appropriate with Mother's Day and all.   Her mom took my number and asked me to hold Sue off if she started to request the necklace for herself.  You guessed it, Sue started in about wanting the necklace.  Well... weeks went by and no word from her mom.... yikes....why didn't I take her phone number. I see Sue every week at the kid's art class and played along with her about the necklace, you see there are 2 specific paintings she wanted for this necklace. Now in need of these, I told her to take them to a print place, scan them down to at least a 8x10 and bring them to me...less than 2 weeks to go and still no word from her mom.  Finally, her mom felt my psychic message to call me.  She called to say she surrendered, and to that I said "oh no you don't"  and explained what was going on.  So it came down to the day before her birthday to make this and it turned out awesome.  Sue I hope you had an incredible day, you are an incredible person.  Now just call me so I know you got it and I can post this draft!

Sue's "Art close to the heart" necklace!

Happy Mother's day everbody!

I like to create...I need to blog...

Friday morning and 3 full days off.  The creative energy wakes me and the start of my day (with coffee) leads me here.  A need to blog.  I have some time before Lauren goes to pre-K.  Once back from there I can really get my hands dirty but now, a need to blog.  There are so many art touches in our home and so many which have been given as gifts but so little record of it all.  I am taking a few moments to add some of my favorites to my blog.  Last August we had a computer leave this world, the poor tired old thing also took a lot of my unsaved images with it (whose fault is that, hello, back-up much?)

This will be a hodge-podge of photos with the only connection being, I created them all.

My dresser top is now saved from a clutter of "bling" thanks to this fun necklace organizer I created out of an old drawer.  I love to find "stuff" and turn it into something else. In fact the clutch bag on top started as a gold tone metal bag, yawn, so I covered it with old french book pages.  It is a big hit, everyone wants one.  I tell my friends, find me a bag (the hard part when looking) and I will transform it.

Another find was the circle wire basket that takes on new life as a clock for Lauren's room.  She has a bit of a "dress" theme going on in there.  There is also a fun odd area of wall that extends down from the ceiling between 2 closets, a great area for the oddest of things. The clock itself is cut out of Styrofoam (carves out nicely to inset the base for the clock) and covered in muslin fabric, the face I printed on velum and had a devil of a time arranging numbers to make them align.  The dress is from an extremely old catalog/magazine from my Grandmothers house.  Reproduced of course.  Something that old, I can not cut up.  I suspended it all in the wire with nothing more than floral pins.

Since I am on the Lauren's room theme, here is another fun collage I have done.  Same catalog for the image on the dress and behind the glass pebbles on the left it reads "Little dolly ruffles".  Stamped into the plaster below the dress, barely visible, it says "beautiful"

Ok, that is all for now. Have to go top off the coffee cup and pack a lunch.  Besides I will have to save some stuff for another day of "needing" to blog.

We know a secret

Mother nature has many helpers some you see and some you don't.  To quote Lauren, "it seems very mysterious".  What you don't see is how the beauty around us is highly maintained by little garden fairies.  Yes that's right, the secret is out.  Now that we know this, it is time to thank them by giving them a comfortable place to rest.  This little fairy retreat will also be a surprise present for our friends we are visiting this weekend.  (so this draft will not be posted to avoid spilling the secret too soon)

First step is to hit our favorite greenhouse, Patti's flower shoppe and greenhouses.

Finally a great uplift after a long winter.  Yes, this seals the deal...SPRING HAS SPRUNG.

Next we gather up our goods and get to work.

We add some fun little plants and great herbs for our friends to cook with and reap the rewards of our secret little helpers.

There is a little resting hilltop of fresh moss and several little secret areas. 

The camera has a hard time capturing the depth of it all so I will do the best I can to show it.

 

There is a fun little arbor made from twigs as well as a ladder for helping our weary garden visitors.  We covered the container with burlap for a more natural look since I could not find a perfect recyclable in time.

We used pea gravel for paths and larger stones for seats and climbing.

Our petite wonderland has a bark bridge that covers a secret resting place.  Pine cones serve as little trees.  Look at the yummy purple basil growing in the background.  While choosing our herbs and smelling them all, Lauren says.  "MMMMMM, I am hungry for psssghetti!"

On the other side is a table made of wood for dining.  The stones on top are Lauren's offerings to our garden fairies for all their hard work.

To the right is the little bark and stone steps to climb in and out on.  Remember fairies need to save their wing strength for all the magic garden touches they do.

 

Fairy cam view.

Due to our impulse to create this and time restraints in doing so, we were unable to create to the extreme of our wishes.  I highly recommend anyone interested on this topic check out "Fairy Houses...... Everywhere!" by Barry and Tracy Kane.  We have an autographed copy!

I am currently still away, yet can not stay away... from the computer.  It is 8:30am and the kids are all still sleeping, my friend is out for a run and I am, well, here at my blog. I can safely post the draft on this fun gift, a gift that is enjoyed from every side, the givers in the creation and the receivers in the magic and honor of the gift.  The little secret fairy garden is a big hit and Lily, my friends daughter and Lauren's "best-est friend", has a perfect little fairy for her garden.  There will be an update of photos when I return home as I am not going to attempt the whole photo download right now on my friend's computer.  After all...I am on a "getaway"  So look for updates later in the week!

UPDATE: It is Tuesday night (May 6th) and we are back home from our wonderful Spring Fling getaway and it was so much fun and if anything else...too short.  We had a perfect girls day of shopping with the kick off at Anthropologie in Westport, CT.  A feast for the eyes and creative spirit.  To get a good visual you really should link to Bee's latest and greatest "Taking Flight".  This is how I felt! (getting a good idea of me swinging through the shops spending money like I have it aren't you)   I however, am using a much lighter interpretation in this context but drew you in to a painting that may be how you feel when your dreams come true. 

I promised more pictures so here they are. 

That is Kim in the green, Oliver on left, Lily on right and my Lauren sporting the "Divine Miss L" glasses.

There, perfect fairy for the secret garden in her place.  If I were to name her it would be "Thank Q"

We Bee-lieve in her magic....

...And in the magic of everlasting friendship!

Preparing the new colony for flight

Today was a busy one at that.  I needed to pack up a bunch of my art necklaces so they can bee happy with their new owners.  All of these are headed off to the Red Garage in CT.  Pardon my lack of words tonight, I am whooped so just enjoy the pictures.

Thank you and sweet glittery dreams!