/* */ Beulah Bee: April 2017

April 23, 2017

Delicious Food


"Candy is delicious food." That's what it says right on the wrapper and so it must be true. And this candy bar is also "rich in dextrose, the sugar your body uses directly for energy." Who doesn't need some of that!?

This old wrapper (circa 1940) was pasted to a tag. I added some stitching, ink and Remnant Rubs along with an image stamped on paper then cut out (Tim Holtz Sideshow).

My dad found it (probably under an old house--he was a plumber by trade) and kept it tucked away in an envelope which I came across recently. He liked old stuff too (especially bottles) and must have felt this wrapper was worth keeping.

It was quite crumbly but I managed to reassemble it and maybe it will last another 70 years.

One Size Fits All


I've altered a vintage "alterations" tag with an image transfer over some ink plus stamping and Remnant Rubs.

I was born and have lived my entire life "land-locked" but felt completely altered when I visited the ocean shores. Standing on the beach, listening to the waves brought immediate calm and serenity.

If only I could spend the summer at the beach! Maybe someday?

For now, I'll just make tags and link them to Simon's Monday blog challenge--this week's theme is Splash It On.

April 17, 2017

She Meant It


I'm sharing an art journal page with you today, made by transferring an advertisement from a magazine with gel medium then highlighting it with black and white gel pens, a Found Relative, some butterflies (from the Snippets ephemera pack) and text (from Clippings stickers). I also transferred book text to fill in some empty spots.


I was really drawn to the advertisement--a room with wonderful plaster and wood forms, a large framed mirror over such a decorative fireplace and one fabulous chandelier. How clever to furnish it with a modern style sofa and rug.

And so I began this art journal journey celebrating the page and becoming more intimate with all of it's interesting embellishments.


Update: After posting, I went to the ad's website (The Rug Company) and found the original photo so I thought I'd include it for another perspective. BTW, the rug comes in several sizes and prices range from $3,500 to $51,000! It's hand-knotted silk.

April 05, 2017

Blue Butterflies


Ready?


Rainbow stripes drawn with watercolor brushes (Dollar Store)
then covered with light gesso wash.


Butterflies stamped on deli paper with sepia archival ink and cut out.


Butterflies pasted to page using glue stick.


Butterfly wings filled-in with blue watercolor brush
and outlined with black gelly roll pen.

Butterfly outlines traced onto Postale tissue wrap and cut out.


Tissue wrap pasted around butterflies using fluid medium.


Blossom stencil and white paint used to fill-in around the page.


Blossoms tinted in random areas with Distress ink.

I'm linking this journal page to Simon's Monday challenge blog.

Who knew rainbows could be so inspiring?! 

April 04, 2017

Happy Place


Has spring arrived where you live?

It's full-on here in the southwest desert and pity the poor allergy sufferers as our winter rains have brought a profusion of flowers.

The tiny, yellow, desert-kind that flock every tree and bush like snow and eventually fall to the ground covering it in drifts.

The bees are having a heyday and so am I now that I've returned to my happy place and I've made a collage.

I took step-out photos of the project hoping to share my technique but they just didn't turn out (my camera skills are rusty). So if you are interested in how it was made please read on and I'll describe it for you instead.

I covered a piece of heavy-weight drawing paper with random bits (including an alphabet die-cut scrap), then white-washed everything with a light coat of gesso and pasted it onto an old textbook cover.

I enlarged then laser-printed an image which was transferred to the background using gel medium. I sanded the surface here and there to age it's appearance.


I stamped flowers (Tim Holtz Flower Garden) using archival ink then tinted them with acrylic paint.

For the sentiment, I used Tim's new metallic stickers (Quotations) which I distressed a bit with sanding and Distress ink. I used his new design tape (French) just behind it.


The striped lines you see in the tape are the result of scanning my artwork (since I am currently camera-impaired). This is a digital anomaly only--they do not exist on the original tape.