repetition abstracted

Saving the Bees at Photo Art Friday

  

 

"Unique among all God's creatures, only the honeybee improves the environment and preys not on any other species." ~ Royden Brown


"If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live." ~ Albert Einstein

 

 

Colony collapse disorder in bee populations has increased this year, wiping out as much as half of commercial honeybees. The New York Times has this story as front page news in their print version, but you can read online how this problem will mean smaller harvest and higher prices on produce. 

 

 

Ingredients Magazine has an interesting article just out on the continuing problem of  our Disappearing Honey Bees. 

 

 

 

 

We rely on honey bees for one-third of our food supply (one out of every three bites), so when honey bees are in danger, we’re all in danger.

 

 

 

Honey is the only food that includes all the substances necessary to sustain life, including enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and water; and it's the only food that contains "pinocembrin", an antioxidant associated with improved brain functioning.

 

 

 

The average worker bee produces about 1/12th teaspoon of honey in her lifetime.

 

 

 

A hive of bees will fly 90,000 miles, the equivalent of three orbits around the earth to collect 1 kg (not quite 3 cups) of honey.


A honey bee visits 50 to 100 flowers during a collection trip.

 

 

additional links:

Mysterious, Massive Disappearance/Death of the US Honey Bees  

 

 

Honey Bee Die-off Alarms Beekeepers, Crop Growers and Researchers

 

 

 

 

Bee friending the bees - Ways to help

• promote bee habitat - plants and flowers
• plant nectar producing plants
• do not spray insecticide
• wherever possible do not mow flowering plants (dandelions are a life saver for bees)
• support research - $
• gardening for honeybees: a bee needs water and flowers to survive. you can attract them with blue, purple, yellow or white flowers such as lilacs, honeysuckles, sunflowers and azaleas. bees also love herbs such as mint, lavender and thyme. They avoid flowers that have had the nectar and pollen bred out of them (like many contemporary rose breeds).
• consider becoming a backyard beekeeper

SOME RECOMMENDED BOOKS ON THE ART OF BACKYARD BEEKEEPING:

*The Backyard Beekeeper - Revised and Updated: An Absolute Beginner's Guide to Keeping Bees in Your Yard and Garden by Kim Flottum
*The Beekeeper's Handbook by Diana Sammataro
*The Beekeeper's Bible: Bees, Honey, Recipes & Other Home Uses by Richard A Jones and Sharon Sweeney-Lynch

 

 <3   *   <3   *   <3   *   <3   *   <3   *   <3

 

linking up with:

Photo Art Friday:

"This week our optional theme/challenge is to create a piece of photo-art that contains some sort of graffiti.  It can be a photograph of graffiti that you have digitally edited or a photograph upon which you have applied text to look like graffiti.  As always, any piece of photo-art is welcome.  Following the optional challenge is not obligatory - that's why it's optional!"

photo art friday

 

 it's time for the Photo Art Friday challenge over at Pixel Dust Photo Art where the optional theme/challenge this week was to create an image using one of her textures and a photo of my own. i decided to go abstract this week with my entry. 



Bonnie freely offered up
this texture for those who
might wish to use it.
she calls it "Gift". 

i added this texture
that i created from
two of my own images

and created the above abstract piece. i did some doubling up and flipping as well as some filter adjustments in order to get the final result.

i'm not sure i'm any good at 'abstract' but i had fun giving it a go.

 

 

 

 

as promised here is my finished and newly washed 'Abundance' doll quilt.
the 'Abundance' quilt-along was sponsored by Lori at Humble Quilts and was great fun.
the light is a little harsh in this photo and the colors and contrasts aren't perfect but this is pretty close.
i enjoyed this one and really appreciated that it was a simple one this time. Thank You Lori~!
Lori just happens to have some really cute little quilts (within a recent post) that she has made recently for the benefit of the AAQI. it's my understanding that they are on their way to this amazing organization and will be posted for sale in the near future. you may or may not be inclined to purchase any one of them but if you want to see how cute they are pop over there and take a look . . . it's like a tiny quilt show~!




i recently decided to follow along with Cheri on her three part primitive  SAL on quiltsbycheri. i happened to have some nine patches laying around and they were very close to the size suggested so i played along. as it turned out i really only had time for the first of the three  little quilts but i now have it sewn up and ready for some hand quilting. i'll show you more of that one on a later post.



i recently visited Tammy at Flat Creek Farm and was delighted by some bird watching that she has shared.  she discovered a way to slow down the speed of the video and she has added some beautiful music to them creating a couple of totally magical shorts that really should not be missed~! if you follow only one link from this post, make it one of these because it will totally change your day.




recent gifts include:

• snuggling with the grand dog
• beginning the spring decorating
• seeing the crocus, daffodils and iris all beginning to send up their first green shoots
• the geese that have become regular visitors to the neighborhood

a giveaway announcement and a new orchid

there's a new orchid in the house~!~ 

 

 

 isn't is beautiful? it's an oncidium "twinkle fragrance fantasy". whenever i get a new orchid i wonder if i will be able to keep it growing, and even better, get it to re bloom. i have failed more times than i have succeeded but my phalaenopsis (moth orchid) is just now beginning to present a stem with a few buds so apparently i continue to succeed with that one.

 

 

 

 i decided to use a crop from the above photo for the Photo Art Friday challenge over at Pixel Dust Photo Art where the optional theme/challenge this week is to share a piece of photo art based on any of these words: connected/connecting/connection.

Bonnie has once again freely offered up one of her beautiful textures for those participating. this one is called "Scratched Lens Texture" and i thought that it was very pretty. 

Scratched Lens Texture

Oncidium Photo Crop

 

Photo Art Friday
connected challenge

i cannot remember exactly what i did with the various blending modes but i am happy with the final image.

it feels good for me to be 'connecting' with the PAF group once again.
:-)
maybe you would like to see some of the other submissions to this weeks' challenge? there are many talented artists submitting to the theme and it's well worth a few minutes of your time if you are interested in photography and/or the image artwork created from it.

february's postcard for the wonderful daughter has been received and so i'm once again sharing those results.


there is a small pocket made of a torn bit of wax paper stitched onto this card. the pocket holds a tiny metal key charm, dried lavender buds, a piece of sheet music with a small red heart shaped bead stitched onto it and a tiny fabric/paper tag. the tag has been embroidered and written on (both sides) and is attached to the postcard by way of that small pink triangular button and some pastel thread.

i've been working on my little 'Abundance' doll quilt and although i don't have any 'master' quilting plan in place it seems that i've been able to come up with a  design for each area as i get to it. i like the look of the playful childishness of this approach and it's all coming together nicely. 
i hope that you were able to see some of the other cute doll quilts made from this most recent quilt-along at Lori's Humble Quilts blog.

Cathy at Big Lake Quilter is hosting a generous give-away of a book by the Country Threads team called "Dear Emma". i love the look of all things Country Threads and if you do as well you might consider hopping over to Cathy's for a chance to win yourself. 

 

 

 

 

recent gifts include:

painting done by Torrie Smiley
 

• restful nights in a bed that i feel comfortable in
• word from Honduras that the wonderful daughter's host parents are doing well
• the joy and appreciation that i feel for my capable hands while i stitch or hold a pencil or pet the dog . . .

a very belated happy new year

hello all.
i've finally returned from my long holiday break which was filled with all of my favorite things: family close by, good food, relaxed chatter, laughter, love and lots of quiet time. 

i've achieved a lot with the cleaning and organizing during the past few weeks even though i have had to take it at a continually slowing pace . . .
there will have to be a break from that for a while as i have another hip surgery scheduled for early in february. this time i get a new left hip and then, hopefully, i'll be as good as new. 
during my recovery time i'll be doing several small stitch projects and although blogging and internet contact will probably be sporadic i do hope to be around.

due to my slow start into the new year and the current issues to be gotten through i have decided not to challenge myself this year with anything more than enjoying the moment and healing.
that being said, i do hope to maintain my priority of stitching at least a little bit every day and will share the results of that as i have something to show. mostly i'm going to attempt to work steadily forward on small things that need finishing up and occasionally i may jump in now and then with a mini challenge.  i've begun a personal digital art journal using photoshop and i'll share pages from that on my blog from time to time. i do still have an interest in following along with the Photo Art Friday group but for now i'll be contributing only sometimes.
this week at Pixel Dust Photo Art the optional theme is to create a piece of photo art that is minimalist. i've cheated a bit and used a photo (and haiku) that i posted on my blog in january of 2010. the shot fit the theme very well so i will be linking up to share it.
this photo was used straight out of my digitalelph camera (the only one i had at the time) with only a slight crop.

 a white world revealed

bright cleanliness; a clean start

cold revelations
 

at the beginning of the year Photo Art Friday's optional theme was to share a piece that featured a word that i chose to guide or inspire me for the year 2013. i was so excited because i had already chosen a word (receive) and i had even just finished creating a digital art journal page using it~!~ but when i attempted to post it Blogger was having issues with photo uploads. dang it~! i tried some of their work-around suggestions but without any luck so i'll share that with you now.
btw: i'm really glad Blogger is working properly again. 

 

this digital art journal page was put together using only my own photographs and artwork.

i've chosen the word "receive" as my word of the year. i hope to learn to receive both the good, as well as the challenging, as gifts. it's all about learning to see that  what i've been given isn't always about the good. sometimes it's about learning something valuable from the challenging . . . or remembering that what may seem like a burden in the present moment may not seem that way in hindsight . . .
i will be open to what this word has to teach me in the year 2013.

since i couldn't do posts of my own (and apparently other bloggers could), i enjoyed lurking catching up on some of what was going on elsewhere. when i checked up on Lori at Humble Quilts i discovered that she was doing a mini doll quilt-along and decided to join in. i'm going to need a few small pieces for fundraiser donations this year so thought this would be a great way to get a start on those.

this is my first step of the "abundance" quilt-along all finished.
i didn't stick to the colors of the original antique doll quilt or those that Lori used. i just chose from scrap pieces that i had enough of for each part of the quilt.  



 

this is the postcard that i made for the wonderful daughter for the month of december. i have also finished with the january card and will be posting it soon.

 

 

i'm currently seven stitches behind with the TAST project/challenge from Sharon B's Pintangle blog, but have every intention of jumping back into  it soon.  okay, maybe not actually jumping but definitely sitting (nicely on a cold pack) with hands ready to stitch.

 

 

 

 

recent gifts include:

• watching my granddog Suki run spinnies (you know, when the dog runs around like her butts suddenly caught on fire) round and round the yard at full speed with a big lolling tongue sort of smile on her face.
• watching a flock of geese come (almost daily) and nibble on the golf course grass that is exposed under the trees . . . they seem to be making a habit of this.
• creating a pot of ham and mixed bean soup to enjoy on a cold winter night

 

 

Happy Halloween

this week's optional prompt for Photo Art Friday is to use Bonnie's free Cobblestone Road texture. 



Cobblestone Road Texture from Bonnie at Photo Art Friday





i once again went searching through my archived photos and found a photo of a raven's scull which i happily married to the generously offered texture. i added a favorite quote of mine and ta-da ~!!~ i now have a halloween image.


i've enjoyed adding this weekly challenge of  Bonnie's from Pixel Dust Photo Art to my life and to my blog. it gets me out with camera in hand more often as well as into the PSE7 program to practice a bit. if you have similar interests please come and play along.
                

this weeks stitch for the TAST challenge hosted by sharon b at pintangle was buttonhole wheel cups. this stitch starts out as a buttonhole wheel and then morphs into a cup shape when a detached buttonhole is worked into the outer part of the wheel.
i chose to vary my stitch slightly by not bringing the center "wheel" part of the stitch all the way in. this allowed a bigger hole in the center which i decided to interpret as the pupil of an eye.

with this stitch the more one stitches around the outer part of the wheel the deeper the cupping result will be. i only did one tour around the outside of the wheel with the detached buttonhole because i wanted to create an outline effect rather than have a cupping result.  i used a red pearl cotton (size 12) for the stitching of the wheel and the "cupped" outer (or detached buttonhole) part of the stitch.
i then used a black pearl cotton (size 8) for the satin stitched center/pupil.
i was able to do all of this on a piece of cotton fabric printed in such a way that i could emphasize the shape and look of an eye. the fabric was not printed with an eye but i managed to 'coerce' the print into helping me out with the total effect.

this was recently stitched into the wonderful daughter's october/halloween postcard which she has now received so i'm happy to be showing you the whole thing.

i did manage to get all seven days accomplished with the 15 minute challenge hosted by Kate at Life In Pieces. besides the TAST stitch work and working on the postcards that i have included in this post i also worked on my contemporary/modern piece (only needs a label now) and i even managed to do a little bit of hand sewing on my hexie piece.

i won't be able to post a photo of the finished contemporary piece until it has been mailed and received by the special friend that i made it for but i hope to include it in one of my future posts soon. i can however show the other postcard that i worked on and sent out recently as a birthday card.

 

i used a piece of salvaged, vintage pillowcase that had been embroidered.

i reworked and added to the embroidery in some areas but the rose, it's leaves and the outer parts of the blue flowers are original. the upper edge is a piece of my hand dyed fabric with a lace overlay. the lace has some embroidery (in white) worked in to anchor it as well as to enhance the card. there is a bit of heavy variegated thread (made from recycled sari silk) that has been worked into the lace along the edge that meets the embroidery.

the edges of the postcard have been bound with another piece of my own hand dyed fabric.

 

 

 

recent gifts include:

• discovering that jelly belly now makes dark chocolate covered jelly beans (cherry, orange and coconut) ~pretty tasty~ 
• the discovery of a perfectly heart shaped tomato ~ maybe i'll post a photo of that beautiful surprise next time . . .
• the return home of a certain "prodigal" calico cat . . . where in the world WAS she for three whole days~!?!~

 

my prayers go out to all of those in the east and midwest who are experiencing such horrible weather extremes. may you all be safe, warm and at peace during this difficult time.

 



TAST/week 42 - a dolly quiltalong flimsy - The 15 Minute Challenge - Photo Art Friday

this week's optional prompt at Photo Art Friday is "derelict". 
i went back into my archived photos and found this shot of a rusty old rake laying on the ground. i have added an additional layer which helped to amplify the shadows, which i thought was appropriate to the impression that i wished to create, but is otherwise invisible.


der·e·lict  [der-uh-likt]

adjective

1. left or deserted, as by the owner or guardian; abandoned.

2. neglectful of duty; delinquent; negligent.

noun

3. a person abandoned by society, especially a person without a permanent home and means of support; vagrant.

4. Nautical . a vessel abandoned in open water by its crew without any hope or intention of returning.

5.

personal property abandoned or thrown away by the owner.

there are some amazingly talented and creative people participating in Bonnie's weekly challenge at Pixel Dust Photo Art . Bonnie is very supportive and encouraging as are the other participants. consider joining in if you have photo art interests of your own.

this week for the 15 minute challenge i had a perfect week with work happening on all seven days. i quilted on my contemporary/modern piece, practiced the TAST stitch, did some postcard stitching, and best of all, assembled the blocks (from Lori's dolly quilt quiltalong) into a flimsy.

 

 

 i sort of snuck this project in between some other things i had planned simply because i couldn't resist it. i'm really glad that i did because it turned out so cute. i still haven't decided on what i will do for borders but i'm considering allowing the (red) binding serve as a finish point. it will be a while before i get to quilting it.

Lori of Humble Quilts always does a terrific job with these doll quilt quiltalongs and this one was no different. this time she used an antique/vintage quilt that she found and loved for inspiration. it is a simple but striking version of a log cabin.

i believe that Lori will be hosting a link party for this newest autumn quiltalong at some point this week and i can hardly wait to see what everyone else did with this fun pattern.

 

 

 

last weeks stitch for the TAST challenge hosted by sharon b at pintangle was a variation of the fly stitch. i decided to practice it on a seam within a postcard that i am working on. it will be a surprise for someone special so i won't show you the whole thing just yet.

week 42 ~ italian knotted border stitch: i used two strands of a cotton floss in variegated oranges. i separated the strands and then recombined them in such a way that each strand shifted colors in different places. this gave me added color variation within the stitch and is something that i do frequently.





i worked the stitch once going in one direction (shown on the right side of the above photo) and then turned the work and worked the stitch again with the stitches going into the other direction (shown on the left side of the above photo). i think the finished effect is sort of zipper like.

 

 

recent gifts include:

• having a few moderate days to get some fall cleanup done in the yard/garden
• the fragrance of sagebrush as it gets rained on
• a long phone conversation with a distant friend