Of Peacocks and Kingfishers-Peek-a-Boo Project

Many years ago I spent a summer in India, I wrote about it in the blog post: So Far From Home . I have always had a fascination for peacock feathers, using them for years to decorate my home. Their colors are iridescent and mysterious. Being born in 1963, I found it an odd connection that India declared the peacock  their national bird the very same year.

My time in India was challenging for me as, it was the first time traveling to a third-world country. I have never been so far from home. I spent some time in Goa, in a gated resort there. It was during monsoon season and I had a room to myself and from my window I could see some of the kingfishers  that lived there. The Common Kingfisher plumage is bright blue and orange, and glistened in the hot Indian summer sunshine. 

These birds are the inspiration for this artwork.

1. Gather Supplies.
   
2. Trace and Cut Out Magazine Picture to Glue to Back Potion of GSLC-Reliquary-Tower Top.
   
3. Use a Paintbrush and Blue Paint and Stencil Butter, Grey Texture Paint, and Titan Buff Paint to paint the Top Portion of the GSLC-Reliquary-Tower Top.
   

   
   

   
4. Paint Edges of Back Portion of GSLC-Reliquary-Tower Top.
   
5. Use a UHU GlueStick to Glue Cut Out Portion of GSLC-Reliquary-Tower Top.
   
6. Find Stickers you Desire from Antiquarian Sticker Book.
   
7. Glue into Desired Compositions.
   
8. Coat with Glossy Accents.
   
9. Use WeldBond to Attach Both Portions of GSLC-Reliquary-Tower Top.

   
10.  Use Clips to Hold Portions in Place.
    
11.  Once Fully Dry add Deco Art One Step Crackle to Inside Portion of GSLC-Reliquary-Tower Top.
    
    
    
12. Once Fully Dry Fill in Cracks with Apple Pie Spice.
13. Seal with Glossy Accents.

Final Thoughts

While in India I was fortunate enough to visit  Jaipur -The Pink City. The Inner Courtyard of City Palace has four small gates known as the Ridhi Sidhi Pol, which are elaborately decorated in brilliant colors. Lotus Gate– Beautified with lotus petals and stunning floral patterns representing summer season. Peacock Gate has carved peacocks surrounding a statue of God, and represent autumn. The Rose Gate represent winter, it is beautifully designed and painted with rose petals and surrounds statue of God and the sun. The final gate, named the  Lehariya  Gate, is vividly painted in shades of green and represent Spring.

Kingfisher

Your wings are made of precious stones, Your chest like fire-burning bright,

Flamboyant in your brightest tones.

Electrifying flash of light.

With Sharpened dagger on a perch,

Sit patiently, observe your prey,

Then with one fast, decisive lurch,

You dive across the waterway.

In one fell sweep, you snatch and steal.

The fish-their silver scales your prize, You swallow it then conceal

Yourself in watery disguise;

Your eye-a secret of your aim,

Most powerful your mighty wing;

No bird can beat you at your game,

The noble bird-You ARE the king!

~Renata Matejko

Supplies: GSLC_Reliquary-Tower Top, Magazine Pictures, Blue Paint and Stencil Butter, Grey Texture Paint, Titan Buff Paint, Paintbrush, Copper and Gold Paint, UHU GlueStick, Glossy Accents, WeldBond, Deco Art One Step Crackle,  

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!

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 Top, GSLC Honeycomb & Queen Bees ATC Sized, GSLC 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!

Father’s Day From the Faded Past-A Peek-a-Boo Project

Recently I was going through some items I had been given from my family’s homestead which was sold in July of 2020, and discovered a treasure trough of some of my father’s items. I have some of the many letter my father wrote to my momma when he was in WWII stationed in Germany. I mentioned them. I wrote about them in a  blog titled "My Dad Was a Romantic" in June of 2021.

To my amazement,  I had been given one of dad’s high school report cards, he excelled at Physical Education, Bookkeeping and US History. There were Honor Roll Acknowledgments. There was an invitation to my parents wedding. Postcards from Germany, an Army Patch, a photograph of his sweetheart,  registration cards to the army, some German money or Deutsche Mark-1922, Netherlands Guilder-1943, and even one of his metal dog tags. As many of us know memories fade and so do homesteads and lands of our youth.  These are the inspirations for this artwork.

1. Gather Supplies.
   
2. Print Images of Vintage Photographs, Postcards, and Letters.
   
3. Use a Pencil to Trace Pattern onto Thin Cardboard of Top Portion of GSLC Reliquary Arch Top.
   
4. Cut Out Patterns with Scissors.
   
5. Paint Top Portion of GSLC Reliquary Arch Top with Rust Paste and Acrylic Paints in Brown and Yellow Tones.
   
6. Add Depth and Interest Using Embossing Dabber Randomly an Sprinkle With Allure Ammo Camo Embossing Powders.
   
7. Cure With a Heating Tool.
8. Paint Bottom Portion of GSLC Reliquary Arch with Metallique Flame and Golden Iridescent Copper Paint. Also Edges of Cut-Out Pattern.
   
9. Cut Print Images of Vintage Photographs, Postcards, and Letters and Glue to Bottom Portion.
   

   
10. Use Matter Gel Medium to Attach Clear Flower Bits.
    

    
11. I Was Dissatisfied With how the Images of Men had Faded so I Wanted to Rescue Project so Added Additional Images, Covered with Clear Packing Tape. 
    
12. I Made Fern Fronds Using Fishers Paper Punch and Printed Images and Scraps of Pictorial Papers.
    
13. Glued these Additions on Using UHU GlueStick.
14. Glue Frames Together using UHU GlueStick and Hold Securely With Metal Clamps.
    
15. To Add a Bit More Depth I added Red Liquid Pearl Dots and Chrome Marker Dots.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

Final Thoughts:

This project much like the relationship I had with my da went down some expected pathways. In the end it is one I am content with but not one of my favorites. Such is the art process and human interactions. 

The men featured in these three pieces are my da-Brady Harold Lowe, and my momma’s dad-Ralph Foust. Photos featured in the layout are my dad’s father Zaney Lowe, my da, and my aunt Irene. There are also glimpses of the treasure trough of items I mentioned earlier.

The first Father’s Day was celebrated on June 19, 1910 originally in Washington State and not until 1972 was it officially declared a holiday by President Woodrow Wilson. Sonora Smart Dodd is usually credited for originating Father’s Day in 1909, in a widely publicized  even held in Spokane, Washington. But there was another woman, Grace Golden Clayton, that was instrumental in the cause also. She proposed a service to be held in July of 1908, to remember the hundreds of men who had perished in the worst mining accident in the U.S. history. This observance was not promoted and did not become an annually held event.

Supplies: (3) GSLC Reliquary Arch Top, Printed Images of Vintage Photographs, Postcards, and Letters,Pencil, Thin Scrap Cardboard, Scissors, Rust Paste, Acrylic Paints in Brown and Yellow Tones, PaintBrush, Embossing Dabber, Allure Ammo Camo Embossing Powder, Heating Tool, Metallique Flame and Golden Iridescent Copper Paint, UHU GlueStick, Clear Flower Film, Matte Gel Medium, Fiskars Fern Punch, Liquid Pearl Drops, Chrome Marker 

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!