Friday will Bee Fun Day.

Welcome to all my new followers, hope you enjoy the journey.

I've been working on a mini shrine this week and I would like to show you the stages in making.
So here we go.

Deciding how to decorate the shrines never comes easy, well not for me Lol!
They are such works of art in themselves that I am eager to do justice to them.

None the less after much thought this is where I ended up.

 

And this is the shrine I chose to use.
Again this is from That Craft Place and available here.

 

Although I had an idea in mind of some of the things I wanted to use, this time I have to say that this project just kind of evolved as I worked on it.

 

So here are the stages in making:

They arrive flat but no worry because they fit together really well.

 

On this occasion I am constructing the shrine before starting to

colour it.

 

Usually I cover them with a coat of white Gesso and then put them together but this time it's not necessary as I will be adding elements to it and then covering with Black Gesso later.

 

So here goes:

 

First an MDF lizard I had in my stash.

Placed him on the back.

 

Then added other embellishments around him.

Any bits and pieces work well with this even a corned beef can key Lol!

Next I moved to the front.

Building up the design with shells from nuts, bottle top, little gems, pen nibs and some brass bees and other objects. The inside is a honey comb die cut from card. I actually added more of this to elevate the inside.

 

 At this stage I was ready to cover the whole thing with Black Gesso.

Front.

 

Back.

 It really starts to look quite different.

 

I actually like the black, however!

 now the rusting paint.

 

To give a little more texture I started by adding some Art Stones to the paint and added some Soft Gel to the mixture for additional adherence.

There is some fine sand like substance in the paint already but I wanted larger pieces too.

 
I continued to add the colour until I felt satisfied with the effect.
This paint dries really quickly which is useful as you will want to add the three different colours as you go along to give the rusty effect but also blend them without intermixing the colours too much which could happen if they were too wet.

 

 This close-up shows the texture quite well.

I felt it needed a little bit of green adding and I used some Paper Artsy paint for this and also some black. I applied the black and then rubbed some off.

Finished this by adding gilding wax to bring out the details.
Just rub this on and then buff gently.

Finally it was time to add the main embellishments.
You may have guessed what this might be!
I have some gorgeous bronze bees and just had to use one in this project.
So here is the finished shrine once again.

 

The eye is a replacement dolls eye and is there to watch over the bees!

You may wonder what this design is all about and where the idea came from.

Bees are very important creatures probably more so than we realise as without them many plants that we depend on would not be pollinated so this is a tribute shrine to the Bees.

 

 

I took the following information from:

 

SUSTAIN

the alliance for better food and farming 

 

The humble bumble

Many domestic and imported fruits and vegetables require pollination. Examples include avocados, soybeans, asparagus, broccoli, celery, squash, and sunflowers for oil, cucumbers, citrus fruit, peaches, kiwis, cherries, cranberries and melons. For crops such as blueberries and almonds, the honey bee plays an essential role in pollination of commercial crops,  with around 80% of the US crop said to be dependent on honey bees. Honey bees can also pollinate clover and alfalfa, which are fed to cattle, so there are implications for the meat and dairy industry too. And that is not to mention the huge range of manufactured food products made from all these ingredients.

 

Products used:

 

 

I hope you like it, I would love it if you leave a comment relating to any of the post.

 

Have a great weekend

and

happy crafting,

Angela xXx

I would like to enter this in the following challenges:

SanDee & amelie's Steampunk Challenges: Anything Goes Steampunk/Industrial June 2016
Anything But Cute: Challenge # 14 The Birds and the Bees
Altered Eclectics Anything Goes New Challenge for June
Rhedd's Creative Spirit: June Challenge 
Paper Artsy# 11 Our House Challenge 
I loved the Bird House by Claire Lloyd so why not a Bee House!
Things to Alter: June Challenge Anything goes.
A Vintage Journey: Texture or Embossing Paste.