Beelieve

Bee Spotting Spotlight~ An amazing gift from a friend

I have not been feeling very "bloggy" lately.  I am here and there but nowhere much if that makes sense.  My mind is tired, my google reader just said I had 900 or so unread posts...mind you there are some design blogs that post 20 a day and I just keep on there to lurk at.  No worries, I do not stay in a funk for long.  In my life there always seems to be something or someone that is so special it wakes me up a little....brings a little smile to my face and sweetens my day.

Yesterday, after a long day at work, I came home to surprise mail.  I love surprise mail.  Suki had just mentioned she would be sending something my way, but It really did not register for a few days.  This fabulous art piece made it to my mailbox before my chance to email her back did.  Of course gratitude overflows for the kindness...but the theme...bee still my heart!  Suki made this way before she even knew I was into bees for a "spelling bee, quilting bee and honey bee theme.  The picture, even with a great camera does not do it justice...some sunshine would help!  Well to Suki, you brightened my day and then some.  I have already told Suki I am planning on an "art wall" in my kitchen and this will be absolutely perfect!

Bee Spotting~7/8/9...(why 6 was afraid of 7!)

Has been a few weeks but bees are everywhere.  At first I thought all the rain had washed them away so I went to the fields to have a closer look.

They were not into the day-lilies as much as they were the brown-eye Susan's. I should note they were very busy and buzzing so fast by time I found them in the viewfinder they were off again.  Here is a sweetie that posed nicely for me.

 

Did a little turn around...

Then it was off!

 

Pardon the lack of flow but moving on...

Check this out from Melissa at Bridgeman Pottery.  In this post you will learn that it is not a real bee, but fish may think it is.  She has a very talented friend Doug who is into bugs, realistic fly-tying that is. Just when you did not need another reason to go to Etsy, now you can shop there for the fly-fisher in your life but please do yourself a favor just go peek at DougsBugs on Etsy...I am floored!

  

A special thank you to Chris Cardinal and Threadless.com for letting me show off this next delicious item found as part of Threadcakes. Threadcakes  is a fun, online cake-baking contest run by Chris Cardinal and Threadless.com. The contestants have to bake a cake based on a Threadless t-shirt design.  Just look at this awesome cake by Kris Mommaerts.

 

It is based on this tshirt design named "Camouflage".  I would own it now if it was not sold out!

 

More links I am loving:

 Loving the photo of Sarah's bees returning to her hives with pollen in this post (2nd picture).  Her blog is worth the trip if you have not been there, do so!  She and her friend are doing a photography collaboration called Montana Mornings and have just started so you will be first in line to see it all accelerate into something beautiful. 

Loving the enthusiasm and encouragement to honey farm in this "Start Anew: Become  a Honey Farmer" post.  I thanks my friend m.heart for that link and the majority of the ones I have featured since the start of Bee Spotting

I also find this pendant from Elsa Mora irresistible.  Too bad that is sold as well!

Everyone should have there hands full for the rest of the night just link hopping around.  If I messed any of them up please let me know...seems like I was all over the place today with link capturing. 

If you see them bees, send to mees

Bees out!

Bee Spotting~6/17/08

Seeing . . . the most beautiful, perfectly made honeycomb.
How can you not believe in something greater than yourself when you see this?

In a perfectly titled post from Sarah at Bee House Hives one can truly witness the link between "seeing" and believing.  I would not be able to say it any better than she did above.  Her blog is a needed read by anyone, whether you are in to bees or not.  Her way of life, personality and inspiring photos of bees along with her entertaining and informative posts will keep me coming back.  There is also any bee link you would ever need found there. It is not all bees though, Sarah has some fun ideas and a weekly "what we're making Thursday" post, this week she is having fun with spinning yarn.

I have to share a few more pictures from her, I love this bee circle...and it is made with 7 bees, my favorite number! 

 

Next, this is just precious, Sarah mentions about adding stones to water so bees can drink safely.  I say we have a lot to learn about them still and how we can learn FROM them, like always use the "buddy-system".  Thank you Sarah!

Next I would like to share with you something I found from a new blog I am very excited about.

 

Storey Publishing (books for country living since 1983)  has started up Inside Storey.  This is a very good thing....and a very very good temptation for book lovers.  Their mission statement is

"To serve our customers by publishing practical information that encourages personal independence in harmony with the environment"

We have several Storey books, always loving the pun! One very helpful one I received as a gift last year is Beekeeping, A Practical Guide.  Since the introduction of their blog I have been watching for a bee post and it did not take them long once Spring began to post Honey Bees in Cherry Trees.

I find swarm stories truly amazing and at one point might have been extremely intimidate by one but now I would be out there taking pictures and enjoying their energy.

  

A big thank you to • Melanie Jolicoeur, Associate Director of Marketing for allowing me to share photos from Inside Storey!

BeeSpotting~ Permission granted

This is The Bee Girl I mentioned in my post below and I am pleased to bee able to use her bench Monday photo.  This photo led me to Burbs and the Bees as mentioned and I am loving reading about he adventures of "the girls".   Leigh has named all her queens and documents their activity and  her concerns.  It is very fascinating and a much needed read for me.  Some of you may know we wanted to start our own bee keeping this year but time dedication and a bit of intimidation have slowed us down a bit in our progress.  There are pros and cons and now I feel we made the right decision.  It has been a very cold and wet spring with freezes and frosts. There is so much to learn and I am appreciative of all the first hand knowledge I can get.  Experience is so much easier to comprehend than facts and basic knowledge.  To see the owners emotion in it all is something I did not take into consideration and I do get easily attached to pets of any sort.  I would never be able to forgive myself if something happened to the bees that was out of my uneducated hands.  So interesting even if you are not considering bee keeping.  Thank you again Leigh!

A side note...the dogs are going nuts because coyotes are going nuts and there is a cool moon out there...think I need to go out at take a picture! 

Bee Spotting~catching up a bit

Love this heirloom Hummel from Amy Hanson at Sweet Sweet Life found on her Flickr photostream with a sweet sweet comment of it's place in life.

Next these beautiful paper cutouts I can no look at enough!

  

they are from the wonderful Jan at Snippety Gibbet .  Just look at the other one below and the details!  Priceless!   Thank you Jan! 

I also want to thank Teri for showing me this from Wemyss Ware  in Scotland.  If you are a cat lover or adore collectibles this site is for you.

 

I also love this bench Monday photo from The Bee Girl and it led me to a GREAT blog I need to see more of soon!   I will see if I can get some pictures from her to share!

Sorry this is so brief!  Have a fabulous day!

Bee Spotting~ A very special one!

I have always found it interesting how people enter our lives, why they are there and how kindred spirits find each other.  Even more so since the introduction of Beelieve.  I marvel at our paths through life and how we end up meeting. This holds true for all the priceless friendships in my life.  When I first met Maya from Maya*Made I felt a strong pull to explore her weblog and there I discovered she was playing on my old stomping grounds.  We started emailing and a friendship bloomed.  She is an inspiration and there is a synchronicity in so much that we do.  A very positive energy is shared. 

I have enjoyed how Maya lives her life by respect for others, nature and the simplest of resources. Her dedication to upcycling just about anything and appreciation for fabric patterns along with her assistance in fueling Mama Goose, a "gently used" children's store that prompted me to gather several of my daughter's hard to part with clothes.  Knowing Maya has a little pajama girl of her own at home just a year younger than my daughter, I asked if she wanted these items.  I could not think of anyone else with the right sized child who would appreciate the beauty and design of special clothes barely worn.  I also knew if she could not use them they would go forward as mapped out for them. 

When Maya and her daughter received the items the email was one of the most energetic and jovial emails one could read....Maya has a way of making you feel you are jumping around in the same room excitedly hugging like teenagers who just saw a rock star.  Out of the goodness of her heart she made the most wonderful thank you gift box full of surprises for me.  This is something I would have done, but to be on the receiving end of it this time lifted my spirits so high...a gift for me so custom it make me well up in tears just looking at the pictures. 

So in the spotlight today I have the honor to show you first, Maya's printed work from a hand carved bee stamp.  There were so many fun goodies in this package.  Look at the fun Bingo card below...It sure was a BINGO I won package!

 

Maya also made a cute door knob tag, excellent idea by the way!  A fun Blue Bee sketch book and I knew by the smell of the box there was lavender in there...what a great sachet indeed!

 

The scream of the day...the CUSTOM MAYA*MADE BLUE BEE BURLAP BUCKET!!!!!  (say blue bee burlap bucket 10 times fast)

 

If you have ever read my "philosophy" on my about page, you will understand how much this all means to me...right down to the box it was delivered in.  Thank you Maya, big honey coated hugs to you!

(there are some bee links, including one from Maya, I will share as soon as I get permission to show some pictures)

Bee Spotting~5/19/9

 

A super short and sweet bee spot today. 

First, how cute is this Mason Bee House from Gardeners Supply? 

 

It was found once I started link hopping from this post on Indie Fix that featured beekeeping paintings from Kim Fox. 

Next I find it only fair to mention that

Beelieve has been spotted

by two real honeys this week.  I can not thank you ladies enough. Your kind words are heartfelt, thanks for the love!!

I have been a busy bee lately but would like to thank Chrissy from One Crafty Place for the sweet as honey write up about the poodle skirt I just made.  Stop by and say hi, you will enjoy yourself for sure!

I would also like to thank Sinclair at Sharing our Gifts for the lovely feature about the little sandbox I made with the old dresser drawer and some very nice words.

Thank you all so much for all your kind words and dropping in.  I would love to spend time with each and every one of you.  I just mentioned in a comment elsewhere and will say it here.  There was a time I did not even know blogs had "stats".  Once I learned about them, I started feeling like Beelieve was more than just my art journal. From that point on, I have sent a "thank you" vibe every time I saw the numbers.  I hope you have felt them!  Sweet dreams!

Bee Spotting~5/12/9

I am running beehind on some GREAT finds and links to my bee spotting posts.  Is anybody else running behind on anything these days?...no need to answer that.  Actually anyone who is ahead of themselves, has nothing to do and suffering from boredom feel free to say hi.  Then the rest of us are moving in so you have something to do. 

Even if you are busy with a ton to do you should watch this video I found on Bees for a cause.  I was highly entertained this morning by the silliness of this in the beginning, but watch through the very end.  Silly=powerful message.  Bees communicate to others via dance and movement. They tell others where the good stuff is, how far away it is, etc.   I ask you to watch the dancers and the movement,  there is some very good interpretation here. 

I would also like everyone to know that Sandra Dieckmann has self published her book "The Bumble Bear and the Grizzly Bee".  Currently she is self publishing but is asking if anyone has any information on publishing an easier way she would love to hear from you.  Sandra also has a flash version of the story where you can hear her read this story in her cute, animated voice, and view all of her amazing art and illustration.

 

A big thank you to m.heart for informing me about the Beehive building below that will allow researchers to study plants and social insects like ants and bees. Click on the link above for more details.

I also think this post has the makings for a fun story as well.

An Anthropologie must see here  at House Wren Studio which prompted me to search more and discover this set on Flickr (thank you ~*~Patty).  I am going to try the "blog this button" in a minute to show one of the fabulous hives made from recycled items but in case it does not work out to fabulous set of photos.

a bit random and a bit rambly today, computer time is really adding up and art time is suffering!  Thank you to all who help make this post possible! 

Bee Spotted recycled hive at Anthropologie

San Jose, CA bee window detail, originally uploaded by anthro_creative.

Thank you Anthro Creative!

Bee Calm and Carry On

I am enjoying the calm I have been sneaking in, only one thing lacking.  I have not had a lot of time for art recently which has made me a bit edgy inside.  I painted this on a piece of wood based on a doodle I am using for my website.  Keep telling myself, one step at a time.  I am also enjoying the "Keep Calm, and Carry On" posters everywhere.  What a message, if you do not know where it originated you might want to check this out.

My name for this little piece is "Bee Calm, Carry Art".  Dedicated to all of those who are trying to make it in the art business.  It is also a little push for me to, keep calm, sit and list some items on Etsy just like it looks in the picture.  The blue bee is moving some art!

Below is a profile view and this will go to Etsy soon.  I will start listing some items on Friday with any luck for a smooth day.  I would also like to mention, and will announce, a portion of the proceeds will got to "Relay for Life".  It is in a cure that so many cancer patient can "remain calm and carry on"!