Sunday, May 20, 2018

To Bee or Not To Bee Blog Hop



Hello everyone!! :o)

Welcome to a special annual blog hop supporting bees, To Bee Or Not To Bee Blog Hop. :o)

I've invited some of my crafty friends whom I admire greatly to hop along with me, and I have some amazing sponsors lined up with gifts to give away to You! :o)


Aim of the hop is to support bees and bees protectionto raise public awareness of the importance of bees and beekeeping and benefits of using apicultural products for our health.

This year we are also celebrating 1st World Bee Day.

Since our last year's hop one important change happened: on December 20th, 2017, United Nations (UN) officially proclaimed May 20th World Bee Day. :o)


Bees and other pollinators are very important for ensuring food quality, as well as preserving the entire ecosystem and natural biodiversity. Bees provide a wide range of benefits to humans from pollination of food crops and apicultural products. 

Honey, pollen, propolis, royal jelly, venom and beeswax are very valuable apicultural products with wide range of benefits for human health. Find out more: UN FAO, Bee products: providing nutrition and generating income - Honeybees, beekeeping and bee products in our daily lives.




Find out more about World Bee Day, key milestones in the proclamation of World Bee Day, interesting facts about bees, pollinators, apiculture, what each individual can do for bees etc. in a World Bee Day Organization's Interactive brochure about World Bee Day.


What can we do to protect bees and other pollinators...
  • "Care for the environment and avoid harming it.
  • Plant a variety of nectar-bearing plants and native species that bloom form spring to autumn to provide food for pollinators.
  • Provide a welcoming environment for solitary bees and other pollinators with a feeder hut/shelter.
  • Mow lawn less often and when bees are not present (i.e. early morning or late afternoon).
  • Seek out local beekeepers and support them by buying bee products.
  • Educate our community about the importance of bees and encourage pollinator-friendly campaigns and events."


Illustrator: Hannah Rosengren Moran


And now some cards. :o)

For today's hop I've created three BEE themed cards. I went with CAS (clean and simple) design and same color scheme on all my cards.



Here is my first card, Bee Yourself Card.


For my card I used beautiful Uniko 'Bee Happy' clear stamp set, released earlier this month. I received the set form Bev, who is joining the hop 2nd year in a row as a designer collaborator and sponsor. Thank you!! 

I stamped a bee on a white watercolor paper and colored it in watercolor technique using Distress Inks. I fussy cut the bee and traced edges with black marker. Then I heat embossed in white a hexagon patterned heart. I stamped another heart on a scrap paper and cut it out carefully. I used negative part as a stencil. I placed my handmade stencil on the panel and blended the embossed heart with Distress Inks. I splattered the heart with water and repeated the process until I was satisfied (splatters aren't visible at the end at all). I stamped a word 'bee' directly on the panel (oh what a gorgeous script) and heat embossed in white word 'yourself' on a piece of a black cardstock paper. I stamped bee one more time on the panel and colored it in black. With all parts ready, I assembled the card. I glued the panel on a black top folded card base, glued the colored bee over the 'black' one, but left wings unglued, and glued word 'yourself' on the card using foam tape. As a finishing touch, I coated the heart and bee with Clear Wink of Stella. :o)



My second card is this Life is the Flower Card.


For my card I used beautiful Power Poppy 'Asters Abuzz' digital stamp I received from an owner, Marcella, to thank me for organizing the hop. How sweet. Thank you!! 

I made a layout on my computer. I love the sentiment and wanted it to dominate the card. I offset the image and used only one tiny piece of it on my card. I printed the layout on a white cardstock paper panel and colored the image using Distress Inks, colored pencils and fine liners. After coloring, I glued the panel on a black top folded card base. As a finishing touch, I coated daisy's disc flower and pollen on bee's legs with the Clear Wink of Stella. :o)



My third and last card for today is this Hello Bee Card.


For my card I used stamps from two Jane's Doodles stamp sets: super cute bee from 'Garden Friends' and sentiment from 'Coffee Time'. This tiny bee makes me laugh every time I see it. Look at that smile. LOL :o)

I stamped the sentiment and seven bees on a white cardsotck paper panel. I colored bees' wings with grey fine liner and the Clear Wink of Stella. I colored rest of bees in black. I stamped seven more bees on a watercolor paper, colored them in watercolor technique using Distress Inks, fussy cut them and traced edges with black maker. I glued the panel on a black top folded card base and glued fussy cut bees over "black bees" on the panel. Few I glued directly on the panel and few using 3-D foam. As a finishing touch, I coated yellow parts with the Clear Wink of Stella. :o)



These would be all my cards for today. You can find detailed supply list and cards measurements at the bottom of this post. :o)



GIVEAWAY

Fantastic artists, designers, companies and retail shops are supporting the blog hop with incredible generosity.

These are the prizes they have sponsored:



Thank you sponsors!! 


I'm also giving away Jane’s Doodles ‘Garden Friends’ stamp set to two lucky winners.



Giveaway is opened Worldwide (+18), except for minors.

18 prizes will be given away to 18 winners.

For your chance to win, hop along blogs of the participating designers and leave comment on each blog hop stop

After commenting, return back to my blog and add your name to Inlinkz, but prior you do, please read giveaway terms, rules and privacy notice shared at the bottom of this post below Inlinkz.

Giveaway (Inlinkz) closes tomorrow, May 21st, 2018, 11:00 PM CEST (UTC +2). Winners’ names will be announced on my blog next day. Winners have to confirm prizes by Saturday, May 26th, 2018, 11:59 PM CEST (UTC +2)Unconfirmed prizes will be redrawn. Read more at the bottom of this post below Inlinkz (giveaway terms, rules and privacy notice).


FREEBIE

Barbara from Little Miss Muffet Stamps, is also offering a freebie for next 36 hours, as long the giveaway is open. It’s adorable ‘Polka Dot Pals Xara’ digital image. :o)



Now I'm sending you off to hop. Thanks to all amazing Ladies who have joined me in this hop, for your tremendous help and support. This couldn't be done without you. 



Update: Zrinka's blog post is not published on her blog yet. To enter the giveaway you can skip leaving comments on her blog.


I hope you'll enjoy the hop. I can't wait to see what everyone created. :o)

Bee happy!!! :o)


Milka


GIVEAWAY CLOSED.

Inlinkz








GIVEAWAY TERMS, RULES & PRIVACY NOTICE

By entering this giveaway you are confirming that you have read these terms, rules and privacy notice and you accept the same.


  • To enter the giveaway, you have to hop along blogs of the participating designers and leave comment on each blog hop stop.
  • Skip commenting on Zrinka's blog, as her post is not published yet.
  • After commenting, return back to this blog and add your name to Inlinkz.

  • Inlinkz entries are covered by an Inlinkz Privacy Policy.
  • Fill only name and e-mail row.
  • E-mails are not visible on this blog.
  • Please don't add links to your blogs or any other profile (skip filling the first row or write your name in the first row too).
  • If any technical difficulty occurs you should contact me.

  • Only one entry per person!
  • Double entries will be removed.
  • Entries who don't leave comment on each blog hop stop will be removed and not entered to the random draw.
  • If you entered your name to the Inlinkz and changed your mind, you can remove your entry by yourself, as the Inlinkz provides that option. If any technical difficulty occurs you should contact me and I'll delete your link through my Inlinkz account or contact Inlinkz by yourself.

  • Inlinkz opens May 20th, 2018, 11:00 AM CEST (UTC +2).
  • Inlinkz closes May 21st, 2018, 11:00 PM CEST (UTC +2).

  • I will permanently delete all Inlinkz entries from this posts latest one month after the giveaway is closed and winner's names announced.
  • No data will be kept neither shared with any other party.
  • If you want to delete your entry to Inlinkz earlier (before I permanently delete all entries), you can do it by yourself as the Inlinkz provides that option to anyone or contact me and I'll delete your entry through my Inlinkz account or contact Inlinkz by yourself.

  • 18 prizes will be given away to 18 winners.
  • Prizes can't be exchanged for money.

  • Winners will be randomly picked using Random.org from all entries to Inlinkz.
  • Winners' names (they provided) will be announced in winners post here on my blog on May 22nd, 2018, during the day.
  • Winners have to confirm prizes by Saturday, May 26th, 2018, 11:59 PM CEST (UTC +2).
  • Unconfirmed prizes will be redrawn and new winners' names announced on my blog on May 27th, 2018, during the day.
  • Prizes will be redrawn until all prizes given away.

  • After winners' names announced here on my blog, winners have to contact me via e-mail to arrange prize delivery details.
  • Winners can't confirm their prizes by contacting sponsor prior they contact me.
  • Winners have to send confirmation e-mail from the e-mail entered to the Inlinkz.
  • After the winner of a particular prize contacts me, I will forward sponsor's contact details or gift certificate codes provided by each sponsor itself to the winner.
  • Winners' names will be permanently deleted from winners post on this blog as soon as all prizes confirmed (or redrawn), as well as correspondence with winners, latest one month after the giveaway is closed. 
  • Winner's post will not be deleted from my blog.
  • No data will be kept neither shared with any other party.





List of supplies

Bee Yourself Card
  • Uniko 'Bee Happy' clear stamp set
  • black cardstock paper
  • white cardstock paper
  • watercolor paper
  • Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
  • Tsukineko VersaMark Watermark Stamp Pad
  • WOW! Embossing Powder (Opaque Bright White, Regular, WL01R)
  • Tim's Holtz Distress Inks:
    • Mustard Seed
    • Fossilized Amber
    • Hickory Smoke
    • Stabilo Fiber Tip Pen (marker), Black 68/46
    • ZIG Wink of Stella (Gl. Clear 999)
    • foam tape, 1 mm thick
    • UHU universal glue
    • double sided strong adhesive tape
    • acrylic block (102 mm x 102 mm)
    • Fiskars High Precision Personal Paper Trimmer
    • bone folder
    • Marabu rounded fine paint brush no. #0
    • Ranger Heat It Tool
    • Ranger Mini Ink Blending Tool
    • scissors
    • paper towels
    • water
    • powder bag
    • paper scraps (for stencil)

    Card measurements: 96 mm x 127 mm (3 3/4" x 5 1/4")



    Life is the Flower Card
    • Power Poppy 'Asters Abuzz' digital stamp set
    • black cardstock paper
    • white cardstock paper
    • TOZ Artistcolor Colored Pencils:
      • dark yellow
      • orange
      • light green
      • dark green
      • dark brown
    • Stabilo Colored Pencil, dark grey
    • TOZ Fantasy Colored Pencil, light grey
    • Stabilo Fine Liners, fine 0.4:
      • yellow 88/44
      • orange 88/54
      • dark brown 88/45
      • light grey 88/94
    • ZIG Wink of Stella (Gl. Clear 999)
    • double sided strong adhesive tape
    • Fiskars High Precision Personal Paper Trimmer
    • Ranger Mini Ink Blending Tool
    • printer
    • bone folder
    • scissors
    • paper scraps (for masking)


    Card measurements: 96 mm x 127 mm (3 3/4" x 5")


    Life is the Flower Card

    • Jane's Doodles 'Garden Friends' stamp set
    • Jane's Doodles 'Coffee Time' stamp set (sentiment)
    • black cardstock paper
    • white cardstock paper
    • watercolor paper
    • Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
    • Tim's Holtz Distress Inks:
      • Mustard Seed
      • Fossilized Amber
      • Walnut Stain
        • Stabilo Fiber Tip Pen (marker), Black 68/46
        • Stabilo Fine Liner, fine 0.4, Grey 88/94
        • ZIG Wink of Stella (Gl. Clear 999)
        • foam tape, 1 mm thick
        • UHU universal glue
        • double sided strong adhesive tape
        • acrylic block (102 mm x 102 mm)
        • Fiskars High Precision Personal Paper Trimmer
        • bone folder
        • Marabu rounded fine paint brush no. #0
        • Ranger Heat It Tool
        • Ranger Mini Ink Blending Tool
        • scissors
        • paper towels
        • water
        • powder bag
        Card measurements: 96 mm x 127 mm (3 3/4" x 5")

        71 comments:

        1. Your cards are absolutely beautiful Milka.
          Thank you so much for organising this fabulous blog hop and asking me to take part.
          love from Sue...xxx <3

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        2. Lovely cards, Milka! Love this initiative & so proud to be part of it.

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        3. Milka, these are wonderful cards, all are really CAS and beautiful! Thank you so much for organising this Blog Hop and inviting me to take part. You did a great job! - Sweet Kobylkin

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        4. Oh Milka, your card trio is amazing!
          Thank you for managing this wonderful hop and inviting me back to participate!

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        5. I love your style! You’re are definitely inspiring me!

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        6. Amazing card Milka, what a great inititiave to create awareness. I loved those cute little bees ❤️

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        7. All three cards are amazing.....love this blog hop and your lovely initiative.love u Milka .....

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        8. Really Pretty array of CAS cards with such information Milka to aware and make us alert on how to protect Bees! Enjoyed the fun hop with innovative ideas! Thanks to all amazing sponsors!

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        9. Your cards are wonderful and I so love the idea behind this amazing blog hop!!!!

          Not only do I have a save the bees bumper sticker on my car, but we keep the dandelions in our yard for them, since it's a great food source. We have the fattest, fluffiest bumblebees that come around, and it brings me such joy!

          Some other positive things that have happened this year for bees are more companies no longer using harmful chemicals on their plants after discovering how detrimental they are to bees due to online petitions, and some bee species are starting to make a comeback, finally. Can you tell I am a little bit passionate about these guys?! ;)

          Thanks again for putting this together! Now I am off to hop!

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        10. Wonderful initiative to support Bees on this 1st with this To Bee or Not to Bee blog hop, Milka, with the amazing giveaways and prizes to raise awareness on this little insect that contributes so much to the environment (and to us by giving us such delicious honey! ;)) but has not been recognised officially till now with a World Bee Day. I am not a blogger (just love to read blogs on topics that are interesting to me like these!), but now thinking it's time I got onto the bandwagon too after seeing such inspiring work by everyone. I stumbled on this blog through my Instagram which I started just a couple of days ago (yeah, I'm late there too, but better late than never! ;), when one of the participating bloggers liked a painting I made and had put up on Instagram). Thank you, Ksenija!

          Love the detailed facts about bees that you have put up, and the highly detailed instructions to making your cards (love the cards, cute bees and motivational sentiments and quotes!) and the CAS guideline (I am the same too!). Especially love the "Bee yourself" - so true, a simple philosophy that is often hard to maintain in today's world.

          I wish everyone the best now and always.

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        11. Such a lovely gesture, it's a great initiative to create awareness.. Love the case cards with cute bee's..

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        12. Oooooh, that was a fantastic hop, you all did absolutely great! So much fun and inspiration! And I am so happy to hear about the Bee Day! What a great achievement - well done! Thanks so much for organising such a fun and worthy blog hop, and for getting so many fun sponsors to support you!

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        13. What a fantastic idea! I love the idea of this hop and will definitely buzz along to the other designers you have lined up. I love how you have combined a card hop with an educational twist. I am well aware of the plight that the honeybees are facing and am trying to do what I can to help, but I wasn't aware that the UN actually declared a "World Bee Day" - so fantastic!

          Your cards are lovely - I adore the CAS look of all of them. Your first card with the Uniko "Bee Happy" set is just divine (and my favorite!). Thank you for putting together the hop and the educational information.

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        14. Congrats on lovely idea!!! The cards are beautiful! Bee happy, too!

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        15. what a beautiful cards. I know some people who raise bees and he said 3 of his bee hives died off this past winter.

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        16. I love your cards and I love the theme of this hop! Heading off to hop now! And then I think I just might make a Bee card today! :)

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        17. Really like the informations you've shared about supporting bees. Love the CAS Bee Card you've made. It's amazing.

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        18. Beautiful cards! Thanks for the support to the bees and for the giveaway too!

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        19. after seeing all those gorgeous cards I think I'll have to go through my stamps to find some bees tonight... thanks for organising this Milka! x

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        20. Wonderful cards and I love that bee and flower on your second card. Thank you for the blog hop, it was fun to see all the different ideas x

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        21. A big congratulations for this fantastic initiative and a very nice gesture for the environment. Three beautiful cards and deliciously CAS. With a very interesting foreword about the world of bees! Thank you so much for this wonderful Blog Hop! x

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        22. Thank you so much for running this Save The Bees Blog Hop!! I made some cards in support of saving the bees on my blog! It is so important that we all do what we can to save the bees! Without the bees there will be no food! I love your cards and I want to buy all of the stamp sets that you used! Your cards are beautiful! Thank you for providing all the information on the bees!!

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        23. Your CASilicious cards and this cause! This hop marks my first year of understanding how a blog hop works :P But am glad I did it and now..I look forward to see the beautiful cards by amazing artists! I had made a card with Bees.. with a sentiment - Together is a wonderful place to BEE!

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        24. The cards are super classy.This is such a unique initiative. Thanks.

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        25. Your cards are gorgeous and beautifully CAS. Love the honeycomb heart and the Jane's Doodle bees card. So cute. Hugz

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        26. Thank you for sharing those bee cards with us.
          Thanks for caring the bees and nature.
          So lovely from you to care for us with amazing blog hop and giveaway :* :* :*

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        27. Love your cute bee cards and all the info! Fun hop with lots of fabulous prizes!

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        28. Really beautiful CAS cards! Thank you for this wonderful hop.

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        29. the cards are clean and simple and bee-utiful.
          thanks for having the hop. Bees are so
          important and their welfare is important
          to so many aspects of our life.
          txmlhl(at)yahoo(dot)com

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        30. Your cards are adorable.I am glad that you all have taken this bee-autiful initiative to show your care and create awareness about this.I really enjoyed getting so much of information about bees here.Thanks for this wonderful hop and giveaways.

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        31. Beautiful cas cards :) so elegant. Thanks for organizing this fabulous blog hop for a worthy cause. xoxo

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        32. Now I know it‘s the first world bee day and your cards are so cute, thank you!

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        33. How sweet and fun are your CAS cards, Milka! :D Love them all, there are a lot of fabulous details and love especially that big sentiment in the second one! Jane's cute bees have an irresistible smile, just delightful :D

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        34. Fabulously beautiful set of cards! LOVE these ♥

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        35. Amazing blog hop!
          I do love bees an I will support this blog hop.
          Ladies made so wonderful bee cards!
          hugs

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        36. All your cards are so pretty! Thank you for providing valuable information about how to protect bees. Thanks for the hop & giveaway too :)

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        37. What a wonderful idea and cause for your Hop! Thanks for sharing all the information about bees, as well as your awesome cards!

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        38. Thanks for organizing a hop filled with adorable projects and spreading the word on how important bees are to our ecosystem.

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        39. Thanks for all the latest bee buzz! Some in my family are beekeepers and they lost a few hives last year, which affects their orchard and garden, too. So I know this is an important cause. Thanks for all your hard work in putting this together. I'm loving that hear shaped honey comb card!!

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        40. Your style is so sweet and always beautiful to see on cards. Thanks for the blog hop and awareness about the bees!!

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        41. And so i’m here again to see your wonderfull cards for the 2nd time. I loved the blog hop with all those lovely Bee cards. Thank you for organizing this blog hop with all the info on how important Bees are to our planet.

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        42. Just so beautiful Milka!!! I love all your cards, but, I especially love the simple heart and bee one! Thanks for this hop and for all the awareness that you are spreading!

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        43. Love your cards!! Great CAS inspiration, I should make something CAS again soon! :)

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        44. What a brilliant way to keep the importance of bees in everyone's mind! Love your super CAS cards and the amazing collection of sponsors you've gathered, obviously a lot of hard work behind the scenes. Off to hop now.

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        45. These cards are awesome! Thanks for your Hop and for information about bees!

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        46. Thanks for a great hop - I thoroughly enjoyed the fun and creative cards on display - thanks:)

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        47. Love your bee cards and sharing important awareness of bees!

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        48. Wonderful bee themed cards. Although we don't have any hives at this time we have kept bees in the past.

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        49. Hvala, ker si nam tudi letos pripravila ta čudovit blog hop in nas tudi tako ozaveščaš o pomenu čebel za ves planet in pomembnosti, da jih varujemo in zaščitimo. Prekrasne voščilnice si pripravila. Vse so mi zelo všeč.
          Lp

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        50. Beautiful cards! This hop is really sweet!!!

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        51. I was so happy to find this Bee Hop again!
          What a great cause! I am very concerned about
          the decline in the bee population, especially because one species has been added to the endangered species list. Your cards are super cute! Thanks for organizing this Hop!

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        52. I hope I'm not spamming :D Because blogspot seemed to have a problem.

          I really love this cards, they are amazing!!

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        53. Milka, hvala ker nas s svojim čebeljim blog hopom ozaveščaš o teh majhnih in pridnih delavkah, da pazimo na naš planet in naše prijateljice. Že lansko leto sem z veseljem sodelovala in tako spoznala kar nekaj pomembnih nasvetom in tudi ustvarjalnih prijateljev. Tudi ti si ena taka pridna čebelica. Pod tvojimi prsti so nastale tudi letos ljubke medene voščilnice. :)
          Pozdravček :)

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        54. Oh no-I didn’t realize that the hop closed at 11pm CEST. I was working all weekend & didn’t get to finish the hop :-(
          Thanks for organizing it. I did buy some of Hannah’s plant postcards.

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        55. Had a fun time doing
          the hop!
          Carla from Utah

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        56. Thank you all for your sweet comments. ❤ I'm so happy you liked the hop.

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        57. Your three cards are awesome! Thank you for organizing this fun hop! Lots of inspiration!!

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          Replies
          1. Thank you for visiting and commenting.
            This is 2018 blog hop post.
            2019 blog hop is still active and going on ( here ).
            I've sent you an e-mail.

            Delete
        58. Darn, totally missed the giveaway, Love your cards! This is the BEE'S KNEES HOP! My husband & I host 60 to 80 bee hives on our 5 acre place for the summer (to get them out of the heat) for a bee keeper from California after they are through pollinating the orange and nut orchards.

          ReplyDelete
          Replies
          1. Thank you for visiting and commenting.
            This is 2018 blog hop post.
            2019 blog hop is still active and going on ( here ).
            I've left you a comment on your blog. :o)

            Delete
        59. Your cards look wonderful! I love the CAS designs. :) What and awesome blog hop. Thank you for sharing this information about bees!

          ReplyDelete
          Replies
          1. Thank you for visiting and commenting.
            This is 2018 blog hop post.
            2019 blog hop is still active and going on ( here ).
            I've sent you an e-mail.

            Delete

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