I'm travelling into a new way of working, a new country, a new language, and a new hobby which I'm passionate about. Come with me for some of the journey...

Friday 15 August 2014

Busy busy bee!





Hello all!

We're having another Tag Friday over at A Vintage Journey today, with lots of lovely tags to inspire you for some weekend crafting.

Do hop over to see what my fabulous team mates have been creating... and here's my little offering for you.

As you all know, life's busy round here at the moment.  I didn't even get to play along with the July Tim tag, but I did start out on the journey towards it by making this bee using his new Layered Bee die.

He was just buzzing around my craft table and needed a home, so when the Tag Friday callout came round, I decided it was time to create one for him.





There ended up being so many Distress Paint colours underneath the Rock Candy Crackle Paint that I'm not sure I can list them for you.

I do know that I used both Shaded Lilac and Evergreen Bough Distress Stains to highlight the crackles on the wings though.









He has some more of my leftover notebook bindings doing the job of creating curly antennae.

I used some Cloudy Blue alcohol ink and Aquamarine Treasure Gold to tint them slightly.









It's a very simple background, inked with Distress Inks to create grass and sky, and then I layered in some meadow grass stamping.


It's done in a combination of Distress and Archival inks, using stamps both from the small Visual Artistry set called Nature's Elements and from the large Spring Sprung set.










There's a little bit of extra texture stamping around the top, a lovely mottled effect courtesy of another stamp from the Nature's Elements set.

I used some rustic twine to bind the dyed crinkle ribbon strands.









I added what seemed an appropriate Word Band - he really is quite a specimen! - fastened on with some simple rustic twine.

This has also had a touch of the Cloudy Blue and Aquamarine combination, the same as the antennae.











And that's pretty much that.... a simple home for a busy bee.

I hope you enjoy checking out the other Tag Friday tags over at A Vintage Journey, and don't forget there's still a week to play along with Chris's fabulous Time Flies theme (it certainly does).  See you there!





Aerodynamically, the bumble bee shouldn't be able to fly, but the bumble bee doesn't know it, so it goes on flying anyway.
Mary Kay Ash

A bee is never as busy as it seems; it's just that it can't buzz any slower.
Kin Hubbard

53 comments:

Unknown said...

I LOVE this Alison! The crackle on the bee looks amazing and you've put it on such a beautiful background. xx

barbarayaya62 said...

your creations are always incredible! this is not different, love the colors and your background is simply stunning! Barbarayaya

Helen said...

I love the bee!! (and the quote by Mary Kay Ash too)- a beautiful tag, Alison.

chrissie said...

Fantastic tag Alison and you certainly went to town on the bee. The crackle adds so much to the texture.

Love Chrissie x

Deborah said...

He's a very handsome chap - love his wire antennae.

Anonymous said...

Amazing project Alison. Love the Bee.
Flo x

Redanne said...

Mr Bee is just beautiful, I love the gorgeous colours on his wings and the crackling looks fabulous! Anne xx

Alie Hoogenboezem-de Vries said...

Such a stunning bee with the layers and the crackle Alison...a real eyecatcher on the lovely background!
greetings, Alie :-)

Shirley said...

Now I'm not a lover of bees Alison but Mr Buzzy looks, dare I say, quite adorable and doesn't scare me one bit. In fact he looks very cute as does the whole tag.

Warm crafty hugs from Shirl x x x
ShirlsCards.

Ruth said...

Oh what a fabulous crackled scrumptious bee, keep looking at it, and a perfect background to show him off. Lovely Alison. Ruth x

Jennie Atkinson said...

Such a fabulously crackled bee Alison! and he looks stunning on that wonderful background. Jennie x

Gitte said...

Beautiful Tag.

Lys said...

A lovely tag! It's fun how a bee is a "he" in English, as it's feminine in French...Does it change the way we represent it in our crafts? Yours looks very busy indeed, I love the bright colours and especially the crackles.

Hettie said...

You just know I am going to love this don't you Alison! He is a gorgeous exhibit. I was in the market to buy this the other day (had a voucher to spend) but he was out of stock!!! Ahhhh! I will catch him very soon no doubt.
Hugs
xx

Jackie PN said...

Gorgeous Alison! So glad that you can find time to play with your busy bee schedule! And beefore I forget- I love those quotes at the bottom of your page! xoxox

Lucy Edmondson said...

This is gorgeous, Alison! I love that giant bee with all the texture you have created and the beautiful background,

Lucy x

Nikki Acton said...

Hope the busy bee is finding some time to rest! Gorgeous tag - love those antennae. I remember the sun you took your photo in - it seems to have gone missing today! Nikki x

Inky and Quirky Designs said...

Gorgeous tag Alison,love the crackle effect. I've just managed to get my hands on the dragonfly die but really they are all lovely,so hard to choose :)

Great weekend

Hugs
Donna xx

Matilde said...

It's great!!!

Anonymous said...

This bee looks right at home in the sunlight.
Gorgeous texture achieved on the bee, thank you for including detail photographs so we could have a proper look at the texture and colours.
Wishes
Lynne

froebelsternchen said...

What an adorable eyecatcher Alison.. this is utterly beautiful in my mind.. those crackles on the bee! Fantastic!

Jenny Marples said...

Great to see this beautiful bee found a gorgeous tag to rest on for a while. Jenny x

Terry said...

Love your "busy bee," Alison! The crackle is just gorgeous and he looks right at home on that gorgeous background! Enjoy the weekend!

Neet said...

Loving your bee! Great background which works just perfectly with your insect and sets his fab wings off to a T.
Hugs, Neet xx

Astrid Maclean said...

Fabulous tag, great flowery background and I adore the way the bee turned out!!

Mrs.B said...

Fabulous tag Alison, love the textures on the wings, and such a gorgeous colour.
Avril xx

Corrie Herriman said...

Beautiful, Alison. Love all the texture on the bee !
Corrie x

cathylynn said...

Beeeeeutiful Alison. Love the coloring and textures of this bee. Wow girl you did an awesome job on this tag! Love it all!
Hugs, Cathy-Lynn

Anonymous said...

So gorgeous. The bee looks wonderful.

Karin said...

Beautiful tag, love the flowers on the background and the crackled bee looks great!
Groetjes karin

Amanda said...

You've made the bee look stunning with all that scrumptious crackle. I've not even had mine out of the packet yet need to get round to playing with it (along with the other 2) great inspiration as always.
Love
Amanda x

Meggymay said...

Fabulous tag, the crackled glazing on the bee looks super.
Yvonne

Silvia(Barnie) said...

Breathtaking. A fantastic tag and a wonderful bee. Seems to be(e) a must-have :)

Paper Profusion said...

Hi is stunning Alison - a really fabulous tag! Enjoy your weekend. Nicola x

Evelyn Walter said...

Oh, I love your busy bee, Alison - seems to bee as busy as you are at the moment :) Beautiful background and I love the idea with the leftover notebook bindings!
Have a nice weekend!
xxx Evelyn

pearshapedcrafting said...

Whoah!! That's some bee! Love that crackle! Got an Arthur Askey song in my head now! Chrisx

Martina said...

Oh, Alison - You were very busy during my absence and a creation is more beautiful than the next. I'm so blown away by your artistic talent. Beautifully crafted!

I wish you a nice weekend.
Hugs MARTINA

Mary Elizabeth said...

Oh Alison ... I am so glad this bee found its way onto this tag. I know what it's like to work toward a challenge piece and not make the deadline. Time does seriously fly ... and so does this bee. Honestly ... this is one of my favorite tags every. Just stunning details on that bee. Hugs to you -- Mary Elizabeth

Julie S said...

Wow! My personal fave of the winners. Your bee is amazing and the tag he's sitting on is just as beautiful. Well done.

Anita Houston The Artful Maven said...

BEEutiful!!!

Anonymous said...

Absolutely gorgeous!!! xxx

Marjie Kemper said...

That fellow looks ready for lift off! Such wonderful texture in this one... beautiful!

Chrissy said...

This has to be my favourite tag EVER!!..I love the Bee, he is just wonderful Alison...fantastic tag.

luv CHRISSYxx

Sandy said...

Exhibit A - now that is funny. Now that is one big bee! I am still trying to figure out what you are up to! Visas?
Sandy xx

Kay Wallace said...

I absolutely love this! Love the crackling, especially, along with the colors! Took me right back to science project time!

hazel said...

A beautiful tag and a fabulous bee.
xxx Hazel.

Mona Pendleton said...

Fabulous tag Alison! That bee looks incredible!

Jools Robertson said...

Beautiful! The depth of colour and crackle on the bee is stunning
Such wonderful contrast with the sunny blue and fresh spring greens
Great word band, going have to acquire some of these! and the bee too!!

Jools x

Dianne said...

Hello Miss Alison, I think it is a exquisite home for that FANTASTIC bee, he looks real, like he has been pressed in a flower press, with the perfect topping just AMAZINGGGGG, thanks for all the inspiration and thanks for stopping by my nest, I know how busy you are...

Cocofolies said...

Wow, wow wow!!! Your bee is just FABULOUS!!!!!! I think this is the most beautiful bee ever I've seen on blogland so far, thanks for so much beauty my dear Alison. Have a lovely end of week, your friend Coco xx

Julie Lee said...

I adore bees and I adore this one especially! I love the effect of the crackle! Wonderful! Julie Ann xxx

Kasia said...

Love your tag, Alison! This bee is beautiful :)

Kezzy said...

Wow the bee is amazing, the colours and all that crackle wow. Loving your background, especially in it's simplicity to let the awesome bee shine. Happy Creating :-) Kezzy xxx