BEE Challenge Reveal & Blog Hop

Wow! Alysen here ... It's been 4 or 5 months since I've participated in Art Elements' Monthly Challenge, due to different reasons (orders, coming home, a bizarre health issue (see end of post)), but when I saw the theme chosen for April by Niky Sayers, I had to join in.

I've cheated a little, because these are all Bee Items that I made in 2019 as part of my Outlander Inspired collections. For those of you who don't follow the Series or Books, the upcoming and very much awaited 9th book is titled "Go Tell The Bees That I Am Gone". Niky cites this in her Challenge Blog Post:

‘The telling of the bees is a traditional European custom in which bees would be told of important events in their keeper’s lives, such as births, marriages, or departures and returns in the household. If the custom was omitted or forgotten and the bees were not “put into mourning” then it was believed a penalty would be paid, such as the bees leaving their hive, stopping the production of honey, or dying. The custom is widely known in England, but has also been recorded in Ireland, Wales, Germany, Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Bohemia, and the United States.’ 

TOP: 1/Bling Bee Earrings on 14k gold-filled hoops; 2/ Earrings with Czech Glass Beads and Wings;

3/ Frosted Czech Glass Drops wire-wrapped with Brass Wire; 4/ 18k White Gold bees on Sterling Silver Chains.

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BOTTOM: 1/ Torch-colored Brass Sunflower with applied Rose Gold Bee. Resin poured over front and back.

2/ Metal Honeycombs filled with Resin and Tiny Metal Bees.

3/ An experiment with soft solder on Copper 1/4" Bracelet Blanks. A failed experiment! When I curved them into cuffs, the components popped off of the flooded solder. A WIP that I will get back to sometime ...

Sterling Silver Penannular Brooch with soldered components and a Bee rivet on the Pin.
The Swirl on top of Pin evokes a Licorne because the Unicorn is Scotland's National Animal.
I was contacted by and fabricated the first of these Brooches for The Southern Sassenachs, a non-profit group that holds an Online Auction each year. All items are Outlander-Inspired, made by Artisans mostly in the U.S. It sold at $20 over the initial price, which was good news for my 1st Auction. So I decided to list it as a Made To Order item.
I do hope the recipient wears it often 😊.

Note: This blog decided to take over the color, size and style of font from here until the end of this post!! I apologize for that....

As a former graphic designer (my first career), I can't resist designing and creating in another medium than metal and leather. Over the past 3 or 4 years I've learned how to use GIMP, which is an app very much like Photoshop ... but it's Free. A no-brainer for this gal!!

So I made up some art for Bookmarks and had them printed on some cardstock. Then I bought some laminating sheets and used an iron (yessiree) to apply it, then I cut each one individually. The process is time-consuming and would be easier with a Laminating Machine (which I may eventually purchase) but I'm very happy with the way they turned out. I'll be creating a listing in our Etsy Shop for these, and all items shown are available over there.

The first Bookmarks I designed are above. I've since modified some of them, either in color or background to offer a different style and you know how artists are, we just aren't satisfied until it's "Just Right". Below is the Second wave, they have images and some make an ecological statement. Also there's one called Telling the Bees, which is what the next book by Diana Galbadon is about. Niky also talked about The Bee Goddess, her excerpt follows.  Proof that Great Minds Think Alike 😁. 

The Mother Goddess of the Minoans (Bronze Age civilization of Crete) was the primary religious figure and one of her manifestations was a bee, the Queen Bee was very important, as she was the ruler of the hive, adored by Bee priestesses.

**And now a word about that bizarre health issue. I barely got back home before my plans and life were turned upside down. Just 2 days ago I re-opened our Etsy shop and am ready to roll. However, my plans to go to the U.S. in May to disperse Mom's ashes and bring supplies back home have also been delayed because I can't fly until end June if even then. I will see with the doctor.
Add in restrictions with the Coronavirus and it's even more complicated!!


This is a blog hop so why not use some of your recently forced downtime to join me and see what the other artists who joined this Challenge have created. 

AE team: Niky   Sue   Jenny   Jen   Cathy   Marsha

Guests:  Tammy   Cat   Alysen (you're here)   Kathy   Sarajo   Kelly   Evie and Beth   Hope