Beelieve

Hanging on...in...upside down...and an announcement

 

Ok, I would be the one hanging in...but trust me...you DO NOT WANT A PICTURE!

 

My goodness, it has felt like forever since I have posted, hope I remember how.  Honestly, I have literally been asleep since the turkey on Thursday and it had nothing to do with the l-tryptophan.  It was most likely the "l-hit-by-a-bus" virus I had and yes I have been sleeping it off.  It was not the flu, had the shot, nothing that involved any head,chest or gut related symptoms~thank goodness, just body aches/mild fever and major lethargy.  We are talking MAJOR LETHARGY! 

I am also thankful I woke up in enough time for an important announcement!  That's right I am making an announcement....pretty neato that I have your attention. (and unless you saw a big shiny star above my house, it ain't what ya think)   The "announcement" is in regards to Bee Spotting.  Those Tuesday's posts do take a lot of time to compose and who has that extra time right now...especially if you just slept 3 days straight ...hee hee.  So in honor of all the wonderful bee art out there I am "announcing"

  The

...bum..ba..ba.baaa...

BEE ADVENT 2008

Starting tomorrow I will feature one great bee art piece a day as a count down to Christmas.  These will be just a picture and links of the artist. I do love the bee art but right now it is best I focus on what needs to bee done in my own hive and you all know I could go on forever with rave about the ones you will be seeing.  I invite all of you to visit the artists I feature daily. They have some amazing art non-bee related as well.

Happy Thanksgiving

From all the turkeys at our table to yours!

 

Everyone should have a little pajama pilgrim to choose the decor for the holidays.

Bee Spotting~11/25/8

As I beegin this post I am no more organized then any other.  Snow plows are flying by at what sounds like warp speed or a jet plane about to crash.  Actually it is an advantage to living on a country road that just so happens to be a state highway.  This has made me decide to search out some winter bees.  The first thing I found was this great hat from Purly Pat Knits. How cute is she in this awesome hat? 

 

Then I found some cute wintry cards from Mad Meringue.   She also has some great rice bag totes with crows... if you are into crows at all.

 

Nancy Lefko has spotted more bee art from CrowBiz.  This great little canvas would fit perfectly in a stocking!

 

Another great find from Nancy is Art N Charms where she spotted the queen!  Hurry right over to there for some great charms perfect for your holiday needs!

 

Leah,even in her buzziest month, has been spotting some great finds.  I adore this bookmark  from Beacon bookmarks.

 

If you ever wanted to wrap something around the neck of the man in your life, I prefer this necktie Leah found at this etsy shop. 

Next thank you so much Barbara for the mention in your post about this card for a friend.  I just love the pink bee!

 

So much great bee stuff out there, I could go on all day but this has taking me a long time of sporadic computer moments so I would like to close with some amazing art talent.  This, my bee friends, is what they call an oil painting...something I long to get back to. This is by a very talented artist named Amanda Blake, thank you m.heart for sending her my way.  You may view more art of hers here or her website here or purchase her fabulous work at her etsy shop so simple called "this is all i know".

That wraps it up for today, not sure what is in store for the next few weeks as far as bee spotting but keep sending me those bees!

As always bee sure to check out Bee Haunting blog to enjoy some more great bee art!

I will tell you how I stay warm in 17 degree weather

It starts with the warm hearts of friends. I can not say thank you enough to Sherry for adding me to this gorgeous treasury.  Sherry is a fuel that keeps many women going.  A true inspiration.  Please check out this "Simplicity-Keeping Life Simple" Treasury on Etsy and look at all the amazing artist, I am honored to be seen in this treasury.

 

Soulbrush not only keeps me warm with a little giggle once in a while but she has bestowed on me 2 awards. 

Update: a giggle for Soulbrush...you get the Butterfly award below but have to give it to 100 people before midnight tomorrow and it can not bee anyone on the list below.  (I have messed this post up to many times not to be allowed a joke myself) 

 

This award is given for recognition of cultural, ethical, literary, and personal values transmitted in the form of creative and original writing...that's the general idea. I am truly honored to receive it.
The rules of this award are as follows:

*Show the image of the award on your blog.

*Link back to the blog that gave the award.

*Nominate 15 other blogs that you consider deserving the same.

*Leave a message on the blogs of those you’ve selected. (will do this next time I stop to comment but I am still reading you!)

Soulbrush has also given me the lemonade award and I did not see any rules!

 

 

It is late and PJ girl needs to go to bed so no more blog time left.

 I WILL NOT BE COMMENTING RIGHT NOW SO IF YOU SEE YOUR NAME OR BLOG HERE YOU GET ALL THREE AWARDS (NOW LET'S SEE WHO IS REALLY READING)

• all things paper
  
• ascender rises above

• Bee Creative 
•  
• Creative Every Day
  
• Esprit * d'Art 
•  
• Happiness is ...

• KATE'S CORNER
•  
• my collage art ~ nancy lefko 
•  
• Magpie’s Nest
  
• maya*made
  
• n2theblue
  
• Noteworthy Musings 
•  
•   paint, poems and ponderings
  
  
• Rebecca
  
• secret notebooks • wild pages
  
• So Distressing
  
• Stinky
  
• T. Matthews Fine Art
  
• The Paris Salon
  
• THRIFTY COLLAGE ARTIST
  
• Warrior Girl, You're a Warrior Mama, Now
  
• Witchetty

Thank you also to Bee at Witchetty who is doing just the dreamiest illustrations these days for giving me the Butterfly award.

  All of you above receive this from me as well!

   

1. Put the logo on your blog
2. Add a link to the person who awarded you
3. Nominate 10 other blogs for this award
4. Add links to those blogs
5. Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs
6. Give a reason why you consider their blogs cool

I have bath duty now !

Tame that little girl's...

...hair clip clutter!

A friend had waved the white flag of hair clip calamity.  The little box was just not working out any more and she made a request for a hair clip control system that will serve a purpose and be aesthetically pleasing.  I immediately worked up some ideas but one in particular came to mind.  This one from our gal Martha featured in a little "Organizing Good Things" magazine I had from 2004.

I started with a frame I had and added various spools as did Martha. Went over it all again with watered down gesso with a hint of pale peach to "de-white" it a bit.  Sanded it to distress it a bit  Then I tried attaching the ribbon with a staple gun but it seemed to cause more stress to the frame so I opted for a super strong glue in a hotter glue gun. (note this is a bit stronger than an average craft glue gun).

A secret to the ribbon hanging frame is not to actually hang the frame with the ribbon.  There is a picture hanger on the frame and my friend may use a decorative nail or hook to loop the ribbon over once the frame is in place.  Should she not want the ribbon hanger it is attached with basic thumb tacks on the back for easy removal.  I see it as an extra place to clip hair clips to. 

(Since this is photographed in PJ girl's room, I have used her stuff, available nails and just a tad of masking tape to keep the ribbon up out of the way)

Speaking of extra hair clips I made up some "extenders" in case more room is needed.  Made with ribbon glued around a hair tie and some "rejects" from some of my hair clip experiments on the end to assure clips do not slip off.  My friend's daughter "Wooga" may want to use the one with the dolphins for "school clips" and maybe another for holidays or special clips.  If they are seasonal she may want to store them in a drawer...easy peasy!

 

Since I started with so many hair-clips, Pajama Girl has a few...ok...lie!  She has so many and when we designed her "big girl" room a few years back there was a butterfly theme here and there so I made this one with the "butterfly" nets and attached it right to a small closet door. 

A note on this...I need to weed some well loved ones out but as I was looking at them I have noticed some have faded because this is next to a window.  You may want to think about where to hang these.

One last tip.  Keeping control of ponytail holders is a whole other story but we prefer plastic shower rings and tucked away in a drawer!

A Bee Hug

When you are a "famous" bee spotter, it can bee hard to go out in public without beeing attacked by adoring fans.  Well ok...maybee vice versa!  Last night we went on a family date to Applebee's.  I should add that we were suppose to march in a parade for Pajama Girl's art school but 7pm 17degree weather is no place for a mom...let alone a 5 year old child. (sorry Matt)  Near the end of our dinner I spotted "Applebee" walking across the parking lot.  I had to dig quick for the camera phone and pray there was enough battery life to figure it out and get a picture.  As soon as I took the picture this giant furry bee gave me a big bee hug and let me tell you it was one cold bee!  Applebee here, was in the parade and came in for a honey martini to warm up! ... maybe it was an apple martini...somewhere there are apples at the end of it's antennae!

Synchronicity

Now I knew the people at Anthropologie rocked, but look at this "wonder"ful cover of the catalog I just got. I am loving the synchronicity so much that I need to deter from what I am doing to take more photos of "Wonder"and list it on Etsy!

"Wonder"

Before all the plumbing craziness you  may remember I actually do some art and at the end of my last ATC postI mentioned there may be a clue to my next piece.  The clue was the last ATC with the word "Wonder".  Winter brings some magical things to wonder about.

(scroll down, this scan not great)

 

"Wonder" all started with another 8x8 inch and 1.5 inch thick heavy duty stretched canvas, covered with more book pages from the 1917 book called the "Story Book of Knowledge" by L. B. Franklin.   This time the grand daughter was asking about ice on the window.  A very simple thing to wonder about as a child.

 

Then I painted it with scrapes of white, off-white and a super light peachy, letting some words show.   Then came a branch with berries as if you were looking out a window in winder.

 

Now the fun...the first of many layers of thick goopy string gel!

 

I alternated layers of the sting gel, added paint, gel,pigment powder in  a microsnow white pearl...barely noticeable, then gel, paint, gel...layers of floating ice on the window.  The first scan does not do it justice since the whites do not scan well in the depths of the layers.

 

Here it is through some light reflected by a vase.

 

And the depth of it all!

 

 

rushing to go to work now but will take some better shots of it and list on Esty soon!

Do I see the light???

 

Yes I do...and will keep seeing it for 5 to 7 more business days!  UGH!

This is the hole in my counter top where the old faucet used to be.  My plumber came back to install the new one I was so happy about.  I went up to the hive after showing  him how to intercom me if there was a problem.  beeeeeep beeeeeeep beep beep... I answer with a big, What?..."Your not going to like this"...So I get down and the hoses are part of the old faucet..no biggy, add new hoses right?   "well I could but you are still not going to be able to turn the water on because the handle hits the window sill and will not go to on"  YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!   So even though I got a shorter faucet than we have because of this factor, I did not take it out of the box in the store to measure the angle the lever needs to go...I mean who does that?

At this point I am ready to throw all the dishes out that get dirty and never eat home again.  I make several phone calls and find nothing!  I work the next 2 days so nothing can happen then.  So off to art class with Pajama girl with all sorts of phone #'s.  I took the old papers from the original faucet with me to see if by any miracle they still make this model we love.  They do!  They ask me what is wrong with it so I tell the nice girl my saga and hard water destruction....blah blah blah.  She puts me on hold, comes back on the line and says ok good news we have them in stock and can ship out in 5 to 7 business days.  Ok, how much?  "FREE" she says, Free?  yes free!!!  Seems as though I registered the faucet at one point because I wanted a back up something or other and it is "lifetime guaranteed".  After a another lost art day I can appreciate the pattern from the light at the end of this day!

 

However, I do like Pajama Girl's solution when she got home from school to see the mess,the plumber and no faucet.  She says lets just get a new house with a faucet that works!  (That's MY girl!)

I am not a plumber...or running around like a crazy chick with my head...

...cut off?  That is sort of gross... so let us just say I am running around and would be lost if I am expected to save my to-do list in my head.

The plumbing story?  Funny you should ask.  This would pretty much bee the reason "bee spotting" will not get posted this week.  I give myself a window of time on Tuesday morning to complete it but that window is all wet from the faucet... ha ha! 

Yesterday there was water under the kitchen sink...as in leaking down into gorgeous cherry cabinets.  We have hard water and this happens from time to time when the "O-ring" needs to be replaced.  (I do know a thing or two about plumbing)  So...I tried to fix it...again!  Well that nasty faucet was so plastered on with hard water crud that when I tried to loosen it...ooops now the whole faucet base moves all over the place and water can get everywhere.  Then my honey tries to fix what I messed up...stick to nuclear power honey!  So it is even worse and he did not fix the stop at the right place to get hot water. 

Fast Forward to this morning.  I grab and dump 3 uniformed kids at "the institute" and hit one of those large building supply places.   I ask for the faucet of choice IN THE 2 HOLE INSTALLATION", the dude looking stupid in his orange apron assures me it does both and showed me on the sign for either.  Get home at 8:30am...great there is time for Bee Spotting yet.  Plumber coming at 9am...oh no he is not because said "stupid in orange apron" needs to learn his job and pick the right box!  He sold me one that has the right picture but not the right faucet...this one IS FOR 4 HOLE INSTALLATION ONLY.  Cancel plumber, back to another large place (15 miles away) with all kinds of stuff I don't need to see when trying to be quick.  The cute happy young guy in blue apron opened a box for me to see that it will work with 2 hole under mount and the bonus is the hose is in the faucet and you get a soap dispensing thingy for where your old sprayer is.  Nifty!  Then back to orange apron place to give a dirty look to anyone willing to catch it.

Now...how to create when I have a day like this.  Easy, I made some journal pages about it.  The pages were ready to decorate and I ultra multi-tasked via this outlet.  I was able to

1. make some journal pages...I miss them
2. make ta-do lists
3. fulfill my tags from bloggers who tagged me...will not bee passing them on
4. practice my "I am not a plumber" mantra
5. say I got an award...will post that soon.
6. get my brain in order
7. created art!