To Bee or Not To Bee Blog Hop

source: https://www.worldbeeday.org/

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 protection, to 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.

source: https://www.worldbeeday.org/

source: https://www.worldbeeday.org/

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."

source: http://www.mkgp.gov.si/en/world_bee_day_initiative/

Illustrator: Hannah Rosengren Moran

© Hannah Rosengren Moran

Source: https://www.hannahrosengren.com/#/help-save-bees/

Shop: PLANT THESE TO HELP SAVE BEES

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:

• Dies to die for, ₤15 Gift Certificate to the Store
• Gerda Steiner Designs, $15 Gift Certificate to the Store
• Hannah Rosengren Studio, Bumble & Honey Bee Patch
• Happy Little Stampers, $20 Gift Certificate to the Store
• Honey Bee Stamps, $40 Gift Certificate to the Store
• Jane’s Doodles, 2 Stamp Sets (in stock) of winner’s choice
• Kitty Bee Designs, 1 Digital Image of winner’s choice
• Lawn Fawn, $25 Gift Certificate to the Store
• Little Miss Muffet Stamps, $10 Gift Certificate to the Store + freebie
• Neha of Periwinkle Creations, $20 Gift Certificate to the Simon Says Stamp Store
• Paper Smooches, ’Bee Mine’ Stamp Set
• Power Poppy, $25 Gift Certificate to the Store
• Power Poppy, ‘Bee Kind Toile’ Clear Stamp Set (the set is released TODAY)
• Pretty Pink Posh, $25 Gift Certificate to the Store
• Sasayaki Glitter, 1 Digital Image of winner’s choice
• Uniko, Clear Stamp Set (in stock) of winner’s choice

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 21^st, 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. ♥

• Milka Gubo (you are here)
• Alice Wertz
• Amy Tsuruta
• Barbara Sproatmeyer
• Beverly Brown (link fixed)
• Birka Reinitz
• Kaja Vezensek
• Kathy Curry (link fixed)
• Kylie Purtell
• Neha Bhatt
• Samantha Mann
• Sonja Kerkhoffs
• Sue Hastead
• Tina Pavlovic (link fixed)
• Zrinka Beric
• Ksenija Rizova
• Milka Gubo (return here Inlinkz)

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.

• These terms, rules and privacy notice are given in line with my Data Protection and Privacy Policy Statement.
• All parties joining the hop (designers, sponsors, commentators, giveaway players etc.) are covered by my Data Protection and Privacy Policy Statement.
• All commentators on this blog are also covered by Google Privacy Policy.
• No data will be used in any other way than to run this To Bee or Not To Bee Blog Hop.

• 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")