First Year of Beekeeping

We are beekeepers. I might have mentioned that before.

We picked up our first Nuc ( short for Nucleus ) of bees around this time last year. Since then, one hive has become two.  Whilst Hive number two is prosperous and industrious, Hive number one has never quite taken off, besieged by leadership problems; Queen Bee the first, in her introduction cage, dropped to the bottom of the hive and got killed by a cold spell, Queen Bee the second was successfully introduced but after a few weeks, disappeared, we think accidentally squished by the bee keepers and now in the reign of Queen Bee the third who hasn't laid a single egg, the population is understandably declining.  What do we do ? We've ordered Queen Bee the fourth. I am expecting the post any minute now.

We love watching the bees returning to their hives, especially when they return with pollen.  Both A & I have spent time in front of the hives trying to photograph them. Our photos are not great because the camera is behind a mesh fencing...we ought to find a "better for photographs" site for the bees but we cannot move them further than three foot.

Here's one layout I made with one of those photos, published recently in Scrap365. Those yellow/orange balls attached to the back legs of the bees are full pollen sacs. That is a good indication that the Queen Bee is producing...you guessed it, from Hive number two.

 

Bee keeping was something A & I have thought of doing for a few years. Glad we finally took the plunge. Are you thinking of picking up something new ?  I wonder, what is stopping you ?

So Very Lovely...an adventure in quilling.

Hello Lovelies. Welcome to UK Scrappers Spring BlogHop. You may have arrived here from Hysteri-Cal. If you haven't and are wondering what the Blog Hop is about, or if you lose your way, you can start here, right at the beginning. 

Today I am going to share with you a layout incorporating some quilling. I have seen some amazing quilling on the internet. I think quilling works best using solid colours and with larger volume. I am not sure I have the patience to take on some of them so this is my version, using scrapbook patterned paper.

I did a rolled up Sizzix paper flower for my class at The Retreat last month.  One of the problem with rolling up the flower is in trying to keep the roll tight. I have often suggested using the pointy end of a pencil because  the tapered end keeps a tight bottom and slightly more open top....just like the centre of a flower.

One of my lovely student showed me a quilling tool. It was just perfect for the job. It has a small pointed end wtih a slit to hook the end of the paper in. Wasn't that clever.  Not having done quilling before, I was well impressed.

I decided to make my own quilling tool. I used a long bamboo skewers...you know, the one you use for satay and kebab. Using a craft knife, I make a small slit at the flat end of the skewer.  Neat or what ?

I cut out 0.5cm strips of patterned paper using knife and ruler. The reason mine is 0.5cm is because my ruler is marked at 1/2 cm interval.  Normally quilling papers come in 1/8" which is close to 0.5 cm. Either would be perfect for the job.

I rolled them up so.

I bunched up the rolled up paper to make a scroll.  I glued them together where they intersect the best that I can.

I added a thin strip of non-slip matting across the page. I wrapped up the wire from the little roses around some of the white Thickers letters. 

Next I added my paper scroll and photo.

Followed by my journalling and a few other finishing touches.

This is my finished layout, with a few nude Thickers cloud and rolled up paper on the edge. To balance out the large scroll, I also added a smaller one to the right.

I made this layout to record my gratefulness of having my boys and dearest A with me. They definitely make my world lovely. And what's more lovely stand in for "my world" than a river scene down the Cam? What makes your own world lovely ? I would love to know.

If you are visiting my blog as part of UKS blog hop, your next destination is Jimjams.

Ready Set Go...racing Road R4GE buggies

My boys spent a day driving "road rage buggies" last autumn. Naturally, I volunteered to sit it out and be photographer. We had a lovely sunny day ( and therefore dusty ) for it. 

I have been saving the Amy Tangerine sticker, "Ready Set Go" for this layout forever. Did you notice some cloud Thickers up top ? In the past, I have never been happy when I have coloured them so I decided to go nude.  I debated between putting them against the cloud photo or the white background.  What do you think ? Not so noticeable against the white cardstock but I love the subtle effect. My layouts appear to be getting cleaner and cleaner every day!

This layout was done for Sarah's Cards Sketch Challenge.  Why don't you join us for a chance to win a voucher to spend in store ?

Hello Sunshine

Where have you gone to ?

Last week, I did this layout, lamenting the continuous cold weather we were having. They predicted snow at Easter, we only had a smattering.  Then, as soon as people went back to work after the long weekend, we had the most glorious sun shiny day. Then another but not today.  We are back to the poor attempt at snow!  As consolation, the bad weather keeps me indoors and more than likely, some craftiness. Here's a closer look at the sun....

Let's get sparkly

I love sequins.  What's not to love ?  All that shiny, sparkly, easy to place on my layouts little beauties! I have  an article in Scrap365 showing my sequin love.  Did you see it ?  I love how the magazine created the the sequined "Sequin" for the title....must try that on my layout.

This is one of the pages I shared.

It is a photo of J when he was about four years old. He used to love having his photos taken. Aaah, those were the days.

I sewed sequins in rows, using the sewing machine onto vellum ( or in my case, when I couldn't source vellum used tracing paper ). I then die cut circles and scallops out of my "embroidered" vellum on my Big Shot. 

Somebody at The Retreat asked me how difficult it was to sew the sequins. It wasn't too bad for me. I said for me because I don't mind doing a small amount of difficult stuff if I know the production line is very limited. I would have hated it if I had to do 10 circles, or 15 circles. But it did require patience in buckets. You need to carefully slide in each sequin under the needle. I didn't worry too much if some are misaligned. I have used a mixture of cupped and dead-level ( I am sure there is a word for this!) sequins; the cupped varieties have the tendency to jump about.

Recovering from the Retreat

I have just returned from a weekend teaching, lovely-stash stroking and meeting even lovelier people in Warrington with Sarah's Cards. We had the most fantastic time but you can read further on Sarah's Cards blog. I attempted to make a start with a couple of layouts but I generally failed to to do any scrapping, resorting instead to a book.  I didn't sleep very much or very well and am currently attempting to replace some lost sleep.

I taught this layout in class. We used some beautiful MME papers and Washi tape. I couldn't believe that MME has generously donated a whole pack of Washi tape for each delegate. If I had known we were to come by such bounty, I would have gone all out with Washi tape.

The photo is of my boys when they were much younger. We had a few photos of the boys on the stairs of this house. In this one, we've just stripped many years of black and white ( and nicotine cladded ) paint from the stair threads. I converted the photo to black and white because the stripped stairs didn't look very good and needed plenty more sand paper and elbow grease.

I enjoyed teaching all three classes. Everyone who attended were extremely encouraging and I was buoyed by their enthusiasm. Sadly this is the last retreat but I am sure we will meet again, some of you lovelies.

When will I see you, again ?

{sing that to the tune of that song by Three degrees}! This weekend, I hope.

Are you coming to The Retreat this weekend ? It is the annual Sarah's Cards do in Warrington. I am super excited to meet up with you all on Friday. I have packed tools and supply for my class. Phew...that was a relief. A few mornings ago, I woke up in a sweat, having dreamt that I forgot to bring nearly everything to class.

You probably have seen the peek but here it is again.

See you Friday.