Hello everyone!!! :o)
Welcome to a special annual blog hop supporting bees, 4th 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 celebrate 3rd World Bee Day, 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.
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.
Bees Species (general classification):
Solitary Bee
Photo credit: GKV
Bumblebee
Interesting facts...
- "Bees pollinate as many as 170,000 species of plants.
- Without bees, there would not be so many different kinds of fruits and vegetables, or such beautiful colors on the lawn.
- A bee colony is as big as a small town. There are from 30,000 to 60,000 bees in each colony.
- The queen bee is the only one that lays eggs. She lays up to 2,000 eggs per day.
- Out of 20,000 species of bees, only one is widely used for commercial honey production.
- The Carniolan honey bee, Apis mellifera carnica, is an indigenous Slovenian race of bee and the second most widespread bee race in the world.
- Honey bees’ wings strike 11,400 times per minute, thus making their distinctive buzz.
- Honey bees are the only bees that die after they sting.
- To make one kilogram of honey, the bees have to visit 4 million flowers and fly four times the distance around the world."
Honey bees provide a wide range of benefits to humans from apicultural products, pollination of food crops and ecological services. Beekeeping is practiced all around the world. Honey and wax are the best known primary products of beekeeping, but there are more products of beekeeping that are very valuable. The main bee products that are used for human consumption are: honey, pollen, propolis, royal jelly and venom.
Source: http://www.fao.org/fsnforum/activities/discussions/beekeeping
I use most products mentioned above regularly: honey, pollen, propolis and royal jelly. I find these all great for my health and for boosting my immune system. :o)
Only thing I don't and can't use from bees is venom. I'm very allergic to bee's venom (and other stinging insects) and have very bad allergic response to those.
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
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 and Brochure Why bees matters - Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations.
And here is what I created for today's hop: Just BEE-cause Card. :o)
How I made my card...
I ink blended a white cardstock panel with Distress Inks, Mustard Seed and Fossilized Amber. I splattered the panel with water, dried it, ink blended and splattered it with water again. I mixed both Distress Inks with water and splattered the panel. When I was satisfied with color, I dried the panel.
Then I worked on a honeycomb. I die cut honeycombs, glued die cuts on the panel and cut off the excess.
I cut three more rectangles, slightly smaller than the panel, glued them together and glued them on the back of the panel. I did this to add some dimension to my card, but didn't want to use tiny foam squares for this. I glued the panel on a white top folded card base. Just to make my card sturdier, I glued one more white cardstock panel inside my card.
Next up was an adorable bee. I stamped the bee on the white cardstock paper, colored it in grey and fussy cut it leaving a thin white border around it. Then I stamped another bee on a watercolor paper and colored it in watercolor technique using Distress Inks. I fussy cut the bee, traced edges with a black marker and glued the watercolored bee over the grey one. I did this to make the image thicker, because the watercolor paper I use is very thin.
I heat embossed a sentiment in white on a black cardstock paper, cut the stripe to a desirable size, glued some foam on the back of the sentiment and glued it on the card. Then I glued some foam on the back of the bee and glued the bee on the card.
As a finishing touch, I drew white highlights on the bee and white dots on the card panel and my card was finished. :o)
Card measurements: 95 mm x 127 mm (3 3/4" x 5")
- Your Next Stamp 'Honey Bee' stamp set
- Your Next Stamp 'Honey Drip and Honeycomb Combo' die set
- white cardstock paper
- watercolor paper
- black carstock paper
- Ranger's 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
- Tea Dye
- Ground Espresso
- Stabilo Fiber Tip Pens:
- Light Grey 68/94
- Dark Grey 68/96
- Black 68/46
- Mitsubishi Uni Pin 0.2
- Uniball Signo White Pigment Ink Pen
- Sakura Quickie Glue Pen
- 3-D foam squares 5 x 5 x 2 mm
- Sizzix Big Shot
- Fiskars High Precision Personal Paper Trimmer
- bone folder
- Ranger Heat It Tool
- acrylic block (102 mm x 102 mm)
- Marabu fine rounded paint brush no. #2
- Marabu fine rounded paint brush no. #0
- Marabu fine rounded paint brush no. 3/0
- Ranger Mini Ink Blending Tools
- scissors
- powder bag
- crafting needle
- water
- paper towels
- dry cloth
I love how my card turned out!!! :o)
GIVEAWAY
Fantastic artists, designers and companies are supporting the blog hop with incredible generosity.
These are the prizes they have sponsored:
- Clearly
Besotted Stamps, £20 e-Gift Card to the Store
- Gerda Steiner
Designs, $15 Gift Code to the
Store
- Jane’s Doodles, stamp set of winner’s choice
- Lawn Fawn, $25 Gift Certificate to the Store
- Newton’s Nook
Designs, $25 Store Credit
- Paper Smooches, ‘Bees’ Dies
- Pretty Pink
Posh, $30 Gift Certificate
to the Store
- STAMPlorations, $20
Gift Code to the store
- STAMPlorations, “Bee”
package: stencil, clear sticker pack and embellishments (this prize is available
for commentator located in US or has US mailing address)
- Uniko, ₤15 e-Gift Certificate to the Store
- Your Next
Stamp, $20 Gift Card to the
Store
Thank you sponsors!! ♥
12 prizes will be given away to 12 winners.
Giveaway is opened Worldwide (+18), except for minors.
For your chance to win, hop along blogs of the participating designers listed in a blog hop list and leave a comment on each blog hop stop (19 blogs).
After commenting, return back to my blog and add your name to Inlinkz at the bottom of this blog post, but prior you do, please read Blog Hop details, terms, giveaway rules and privacy policy which are shared at the bottom of this blog post, below InLinkz.
Giveaway (Inlinkz) opens now, May 20th, 2020, 6:00 PM CEST (UTC +2).
Giveaway (Inlinkz) closes on May 27th, 2020, 11:59 PM CEST (UTC +2).
Winners’ names will be announced on my blog on May 31st, 2020, during the day.
Winners have to confirm prizes by Sunday, June 7th, 2020, 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).
Here is the full list of designers participating in today's blog hop.
Milka Gubo (InLinkz – return after commenting and add your name to InLinkz)
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. ♥
SOCIAL MEDIA
Find us on social medias. Share your bee themed projects with us. :o)
These are the hashtags to add to your posts on social medias, so we can visit and hit that button like (heart):
#tobeeornottobeebloghop
#savethebees
#worldbeeday
And that would be all from me for today. I hope you'll enjoy the hop. I can't wait to see what everyone created. :o)
Link to this blog hop post will be added into a right sidebar, until the blog hop ends, ie. giveaway (InLinkz) closes.
Bee happy!!! :o)
Milka
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.
No data will be used in any other way than to run this To Bee or Not To Bee Blog Hop.
Giveaway is opened Worldwide (+18), except for minors.
To enter the giveaway, you have to hop along blogs of the participating designers and sponsors listed in blog hop list and leave comment on each blog hop stop (19 blogs).
After commenting, return back to this blog and add your name to Inlinkz.
E-mails are not visible on this blog.
Add links to your blogs or any other profile (NO PROJECTS ARE REQUIRED TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY, JUST COMMENTING).
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.
PLEASE do not link any disturbing or violent content to this giveaway (Inlinkz). Those will be immediately removed and blocked.
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, 2020, 6:00 PM CEST (UTC +2).
Inlinkz closes May 27th, 2020, 11:59 PM CEST (UTC +2).
I will permanently delete all Inlinkz entries from this posts after the giveaway is closed and winner's names announced here on my blog, latest by June 30th, 2020.
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 Inlinkzby yourself.
12 prizes will be given away to 12 winners.
Prizes can't be exchanged for money.
Prizes can't be exchanged for other prize.
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 31st, 2020, during the day.
Winners have to confirm prizes by Sunday, June 7th, 2020, 11:59 PM CEST (UTC +2).
Unconfirmed prizes will be redrawn (if any) and new winners' names announced on my blog on June 9th, 2020, 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 confirm prizes only by contacting me and can't confirm their prizes by contacting sponsor directly.
Winners have to send me 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 by June 30th, 2020.
Any comment left on winners post which reveal winners' names will be permanently deleted as well, latest by June 30th, 2020.
Winners post will not be deleted from my blog.
No data will be kept neither shared with any other party.
Update (June 30th, 2020):
