Calico Craft Parts: A Tribute to Bee No. 2647!

Hi, servus and thanks so much for stopping by!

I've just read the fabulous and touching book by Maja Lunde - "The History of Bees" - and that inspired me to create a tag that shines a light on our busy bees without whom mankind could not exist. It's working bee No. 2647 and if you - like me - have read one (or all) of Professor Dave Goulson's highly entertaining and informative, loveable books about bees, bumble bees and other insects, you maybe share my (and Professor Goulson's) love for all kinds of bees too. ;)

I've used a lot of gold and shiny bling to stress the importance of my bee - and of all her busy colleagues all around the world!

Calico Craft Parts used:

- MDF Tag Shape - Classic
- just the frame of the Shaped ATC Wood Blank with Flourish Cut Out Frame
- Sheet of Mini MDF Bees & Beehives
- Art Deco & Nouveau Floral Ornament - Style 46
- Sheet of Mini MDF Hardware Woodshapes
- Sheet of Mini MDF Hinges Woodshapes
- Sheet of Mini MDF Label Holders Woodshapes

This is how I combined all the pieces on the tag. To the left there's the left over background panel from the ATC Wood Blank (that I will use on another project at some other point).

I used matte DecoArt Decou-Page to glue everything in place and let that dry.

Afterwards I sprayed the tag with Carbon Black DecoArt media Mister and heat dried that (as I am quite an impatient person when it comes to drying times).

With the very tip of a small palette knife I spread DecoArt media white Crackle Paint on top of the ATC frame and label holder and as it was only a thin layer that crackled quite quickly. Once the crackling has started you can also go in with the heat tool.

Titanium White DecoArt media Antiquing Cream was diluted and spread on top of the bee and the floral ornament with a soft brush - this made the laser engraved texture and patterns more visible.

Diluted media fluid acrylic paint Raw Umber was painted on top of the crackled frames.

Time to add some bling! I randomly spread traces of DecoArt media fluid acrylic Metallic Gold here and there. Some of it was going to be painted over during the process - but for now I wanted to see how it looked in the different spots.

More diluted Titanium White Antiquing Cream was added all around the ATC frame section, but not on top of the hinges and the other glued on bits.

Primary Yellow DecoArt Americana acrylic paint was sprinkled onto the tag and also used to paint the bee - my tag definitely needed some bright pollen, right?

The dull black from the background inside the ATC frame was much improved by adding a layer of Turquoise DecoArt media fluid acrylic Interference paint.

To make the bee pop from the blossom it sits on, I painted the petals with Bahama Blue acrylic paint.
A layer of Gold Interference paint was also added on top of the white areas for additional depth and bling.

Voilà! Ready to buzzzzzzz!!!!

And this is a picture I took to show the cool effect from the media Interference Paints - if you look at the tag from a special angle there is subtle gold and turquoise metallic bling everywhere.