A Queen Bee is Among Us!

Ever walk by and see something that reminded you of someone?  

Well that's what happened to me recently.  

I found three projects I'm currently working on for these friends.  

I'm sure you'll agree when I'm done just WHY I bought these projects.  

Each one will be given to them when I finish.  

Here's a peek at the first one!

This past weekend I attended a 24 hour crop while in KY. This crop gives me time to: visit old friends, make new friends, eat, listen to a "spot on" devotion put on by Jill Rogers, visit a new store in down town Paducah called: Ephemera Paducah (AWESOME MIXED MEDIA MECCA), buy new art tools, try out new techniques with said new tools (cause ONE tool is never enough), and well, lets just face it: SHOP!  There were new vendors there this year as well, one of them being: Mia's Madness.  Great for the old hard to find items!  I found this little project calling my name.  I have a dear friend by the name of Roxi Phillips who is a bee keeper for the first time.....thus the name: A Queen is Among Us.  When I finish this piece, it will be shipped to Roxi as an art piece in honor of her bees.  I might add that her husband, Bob, is very into this new found 'honey' hobby!

Queen Bee Art Doll Kit

Here's the laser cut pieces with the title paper removed.

I carefully removed each piece which is cut to perfection; no sanding required.  

The wood is dark and even darker around the cut areas.

Pieces removed from wood background.

Light layer of gesso.

 For paint to be seen in it's true vibrant color,
I coated each piece with a light coat of white gesso.

Pieces painted yellow.

Worked great!  The yellow is very bright, mission accomplished!

Adding the dark blue with a light touch of white for dimension.

All pieces painted.

 Now I have all my pieces painted.  I left the arms the natural color of the wood. 

The wings and crown I left painted with white gesso.  I added
KOOL TAK's gold glitter to the doll's upper body and bee masks since I'm
not sure yet what I'll be using to finish her up. I didn't glitter the head as I'll be
putting a face there later.  The wings and crown were glittered with a fine |
opalescence glitter......how pretty the pieces sparkle!  Me too I might add.
Anytime you mess with glitter you usually end up with more on you than
on the item you're putting it on.

Assembly

Now the puzzle begins. Using E6000 adhesive, the hive is pieced on the doll.  

Arms are fastened with brads and cut down so the brad's back pieces didn't show too much.

Coming together.

Wings added with KOOL TAK clear 3D foam doubled sided tape.  

This tape forms a permanent bond yet gives the arms freedom to move.  

Should anyone peer between the wings the bee doll's body, 

the wings look to be suspended magically as the tape is virtually 

invisible making the wings awesome!

Crown attached.

What a lovely Queen Bee Roxi makes!

Roxi's face attached.

Now to add the bee mask!

The Queen Bee is almost complete!
 Now to embellish her and make her presentable
to her new home.  I'll post a picture of the FINAL piece later......

can't have everyone seeing her done before the Queen Bee herself!

Leave a comment & let me know what you think!