Wednesday, August 23, 2023

Bees In August-A Peek-a-Boo Project



For the bees, August marks the start of their New Year! I wonder what bees wear to a party? I am sure the queen would have a proper crown. The drones will not even be asked to the festivities as they have served their purpose and worker bees are likely kicking the poor drones to the curb. Fewer eggs are being laid and some of the party goers won’t be attending this year, the number of bees in the hive is declining. 


Bees become more feisty and rambunctious this time of year, as days are growing shorter and nectar supply is lessening. They are right to be defensive as this is the time of year that hunger hornets and yellow jackets could become party crashers. They want what’s on the menu inside.  There are bigger concerns, as the local field mice will be looking for a cozy place to spend the winter. After all the bee boxes are honey bee heated and filled with yummy honey.


This is the time of the season when colonies start the cycle for next year's season by producing healthy and vigorous worker bees that will raise the final cycle of bees before Winter. These are the inspirations for this artwork.



  1. Gather Supplies.
  2. Plan Out Your Composition.
  3. Find a Magazine Image you Want to Use or Base of GSLC Reliquary Frame.
  4. Trace Pattern and Cut Out with Scissors.
  5. Use a UHU GlueStick to Attach Image to Frame.
  6. Paint Edges of Image with Purple Acrylic Paints.
  7. Paint Upper Portion of GSLC Reliquary Frame with Green Acrylic Paints.
  8. Use UHU GlueStick to Connect Parts of Frame.
  9. Hold Securely to Fully Dry with Metal Clamps.
  10. Use Various Acrylic Paints to Paint remainder of GSLC Items.
  11.  I Used Metallic Pain in Gold and Cooper Hues to Paint The Honeycomb.
  12. I Used Golden Interference Blue Paint to Make Bee Wings Shimmer.
  13.  I used Liquid Pearls to Add Interest to the GSLC Hypericum Berries.
  14. Spread a Layer of Ranger Glossy Accents on Prepared Frame.
  15. Lay Prepared Items In Making Sure All are covered with a fresh layer of Glossy Accents.
  16. Allow to Dry Fully, Likely Overnight or a Full 24 Hours.



Final Thoughts

Not Only is August the Honey Bee’s New Year but the this Saturday in August is World Honey Bee Day. It is a day to celebrate all things honey bee, Their delicious honey, their ability of being super pollinators, their beekeepers dedication to the honey bees longevity, providing them with a supportive environment-all things blooming.

Suggestions for Celebrating World Honey Bee Day

~Collect and spread local wildflower seeds to promote honey bee pollination.

~Replace your usual sweetener with honey for the day. Taste the difference!

~Give the gift of honey to a friend, neighbor, co-worker or family member.

~Give a bottle of Mead-we like Linganore Medieval Mead-it is the mead served at the Maryland Renaissance Festival.

~Enjoy a Hot Toddy

~ Search for Sweets laden with honey, a favorite of mine is baklava.

~ I like to think that I invented honey mustard, when I worked all those years ago at Friendly’s I would mix regular yellow mustard and honey and eat it on my salad, then it seemed like years later honey mustard was the flavor of the choice. 

~Many Skincare and Cosmetics also contain honey as an ingredient-it serves asa moisturizer, clarifying, antibacterial and/or flavoring agent. Bert’s Bees is a popular brand.

~Honeycomb Beeswax Candles can brighten your late summer picnic table.

~Manuka honey has helped me heal many a wounds, soothed my itchy throat, and curbed a cold.





Supplies:  GSLC Reliquary-Arch TopGSLC Honeycomb & Queen Bees ATC SizedGSLC Hypericum  Berries, Pencil, Magazine Image, Scissors, UHU GlueStick, Purple Acrylic Paints, Green Acrylic Paints, Metal Clamps,Various Acrylic Paints, Liquid Pearl in Colors of Your Choosing, Metallic Paints Gold and Copper, Yellow Paint, Golden Interference Blue, Ranger Glossy Accents,


I cannot wait to see your interpretation of this project. Share it on the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts Craft Group Page on Facebook. I would love to see what new creations you are working on!


Wednesday, August 9, 2023

In the Eye of the Beholder-A Peek-a-Boo Project


It is an old axiom, and well said, That “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”.  Small paintings of eyes first became popular during the late eighteenth century. They reminded wearers of a loved one, whose identity remained a secret. The single eye also symbolized the watchful gaze of a jealous partner, who feared that his or her lover might stray. These are the inspirations for this artwork.

  1. Gather Supplies.
  2. Go Through Magazines Adverts Looking for Expressive Eyes.
  3. Use a Pencil to Trace Smaller Portion of GSLC Mini Frames.
  4. Cut Out Traced Eyes Using Scissors.
  5. Now Look Through Magazine for Texture Images.
  6. Use a Pencil to Trace Larger Portion of GSLC Mini Frames.
  7. Cut Out Traced Textures Using Scissors.
  8. Paint Inner Smaller GSLC Mini frames with Metallic Paints-I Used Copper and Golden Tones.
  9. Paint Outer Larger GSLC Mini Frames with Metallic Paints-I Used Blue  and Toned it Down with Golden Transparent Iron Oxide Paint.
  10. Use a Pencil to Trace Larger Portion of GSLC Mini Frames on to Scraps of Thin Cardboard.
  11. Cut Out Traced Templates Using Scissors.
  12.  Glue Larger Portion of GSLC Mini Frames on to Scraps of Thin CardboardUsing a UHU GlueStick.
  13. Glue Eyes to Back side of Inner Smaller GSLC Mini Frames.
  14. Glue Inner Smaller GSLC Mini Frames Onto Inside Center Of Larger Outer GSLC Mini Frames.
  15. Press and Dry Completely.
  16. Add Micro Gems to Frames Randomly Securing with Ranger Gloss Accent.



Final Thoughts:

As a child when we would take the road trip to visit our cousins in New Jersey  we’d play a version of the “I spy with my little eye” game. Mostly it would turn into the alphabet  game where we would teach for letters on signs or license plates.  The end of this game proved to be more challenging than the first part.


Eye Quotes

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.

~Marcel Proust

Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes.

~Jim Carrey

He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.

~Albert Einstein

You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.

~Mark Twain

Let my soul smile through my heart and my heart smile through my eyes, that I may scatter rich smiles in sad hearts.

~Paramahansa Yogananda

Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterwards.

~Benjamin Franklin

What the eyes see and the ears hear, the mind believes.

~Harry Houdini




Supplies:  GSLC Connie's Mini Frames , Magazine adverts, Pencil, Scissors, Metallic Paints, Scraps of Thin Cardboard, UHU GlueStick, Ranger Glossy Accent, Micro Gems

I cannot wait to see your interpretation of this project. Share it on the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts Craft Group Page on Facebook. I would love to see what new creations you are working on!