We're All Ears :: May Inspiration:: May Day

                                            Floral Wreath  Photo by Chalo Garcia on Unsplash

May's inspiration for the We're All Ears challenge is the tradition of May Day: flowers in cones or baskets, dancing around a Maypole with ribbons.... or other signs of spring!

May Day is part of larger festivals and celebrations that are about dancing and songs all focused on the fields beginning to grow. Some celebrations envolve dancing around a Maypole while holding colorful ribbons woven in and out.  This dance symbolizes the celebration of the fertility of crops. Crowning a May Queen, or in the Catholic tradition crowing Mary statues, are also part of these festivities.

When I was a young child in the late 1950's, I attended a Catholic School and during the month of May we honoring the Virgin Mary as "the Queen of May". We had what is called a "May Crowning". Each day an assigned student was to make a fresh crown of flowers to be placed on a statue of Mary.

Virgin Mary Honored By Jacopo di Mino del Pellicciaio - Self-scanned, Public Domain

This custom fell out of vogue in many places during the 1970s-80s, but has since made a comeback along with many other traditional Catholic practices. Today, May crownings occur in many Roman Catholic parishes and homes with the crowning of a statue of Mary. The climax of the celebration is the moment when the one of those present places a crown of flowers on Mary's head accompanied by a traditional hymn to the Blessed Mother. The ceremony often takes place with young girls in dresses carrying flowers to adorn the statue. 

Floral Earrings by BayMoonDesign

I had some bell shaped floral earrings by Grubbi Ceramics in my stash and they remind me of the shape of a May pole.  The purple and blue flowers capture some of the best florals seen in the spring.

Bell Shaped Dangles by BayMoonDesign

These floral purple earrings are perfect for spring and summer. The handmade earrings make pretty statement dangles. I added lavender freshwater pearls and Swarovski crystals to bell shaped floral ceramics. These statement earrings have sterling ear wires. They hang 2 inches from curve in ear wire to bottom of ceramics. They are light earrings to wear and they are available for purchase and ready to ship from my online shop.

This is a blog hop so I am looking forward to seeing what others were inspired to create.   Pop on over to the Earrings Everyday blog to see what everyone else was inspired to make!

Gee’s Bend Quilts are Inspiration

Pieced Quilt by Lucy Mingo

The Art Bead Scene challenge is open to jewelry-makers, fiber artists, collage artist, etc. The challenge is to inspire those who use art beads and to see all the different ways art beads can be incorporated into your handiwork. This year's Art Journey #3 is all about the quilts of Gee's Bend. I love quilts and history, so I found the background of these quilts very interesting.

Gee’s Bend, Alabama is the home of one most profuse and creative African American folk art collections by a small collection of artists. The area of Gee’s Bend is like an inland island, surrounded on three sides by the Alabama River. This results in relative isolation has allowed a great tradition of quilting to flourish. There are few places where works by three and sometimes four generations of women in the same family can be found. Gee’s Bend’s art also stand out due to the quilts being composed of bold geometric designs that transform recycled work clothes and dresses, feed sacks, and fabric remnants.

Birds in the Air (1981) by Lucy T. Pettway

The colors in the "Birds in the Air" quilt inspired me to make a yellow and black bee necklace. I combined yellow and black beads to continue the colors of the bee throughout the piece. A red flower made with Czech glass picks up the red in the quilt and adds an additional pop of color.

Boho Bee Necklace by BayMoonDesign

I added chain to give the necklace length and a boho casual necklace. The lamp work bee was made by Marianna DeLuca Wehner. StarGirlJoolz is her online shop.

Bee Necklace by BayMoonDesign

I think this bright bee necklace has a whimsical look. It is available for purchase in my online shop.

Bee on Flower Photo by Good Free Photos on Unsplash

Bee safe and stay well during this Covid 19 pandemic.

Bee’s – the Art Elements theme for April 2020

Photo of bee by Dmitry Grigoriev on Unsplash

The theme of the April Art Elements challenge is the inspiring bee.  Artisan Niky Sayers selected the bee for  this challenge.  The hardworking and industrious bee is an interesting insect. Since bees work together in a vast hive community with a central theme: survival,  they are a perfect symbol for the pandemic we are living through.  Here are a few interesting facts about the bee. There are about 20,000 different species of bees in the world. Bees see all colors except the color red. Beekeepers use smoke to calm bees when they are collecting honey or relocating a hive. Bees make honey to feed their young and so they have something to eat during the winter. Killer bees have been known to chase people for over a 1/4 mile once they get excited and aggressive. Certain species of bees die after stinging because their stingers, which are attached to their abdomen, have little barbs or hooks on them. When this type of bee tries to fly away after stinging something, part of the abdomen is ripped away.

Photo of Bee by Guilherme Stecanella on Unsplash

I pulled out my 2 sheets of bee papers with delight. I also gathered two bezels, ice resin, a pencil, sizzers and Mod Podge.

I decided this was the time to use ice resin for the first time. I watched a few You Tube videos and followed the directions. It was very easy and I love the results.

Bee components by BayMoonDesign

Leather and cord findings with Super Glue for Necklace

I used a used some almond 4mm stitched Nappa cords from Plessmann Endless Leather. The main reason I was drawn to this company is because I love their color selection and large choice in leather cords. They have more than 2000 different leather cords online. This tan color picks up the tan in the gold bee component that I made. The component fit onto the cord perfectly and the clasp is glued to the ends with Super Glue. This company has a wide selection of leather cord findings that makes for one stop shopping.   Creating was quick and easy and I love the look.  

Leather Bee Necklace by BayMoonDesign

I had plenty of bee paper left so I used the remainder to make a few greeting cards.

Queen Bee Mother's Day Card by BayMoonDesign

With Mother's Day right around the corner, I made a special card for a Mom or wife-- the Queen Bee! This Queen Bee Mother's Day Card has a pretty floral panel next to some bees and a crown. I made a large bee from black and yellow paper that sits on top of the panels. These panels are on black high quality cardstock. The sentiment "Happy Mother's Day" is hand stamped on the inside of the card. There is a queen's crown on the bottom corner. This card is for sale along with other Mother's Day cards in my online shop.

Inside of Queen Bee Mother's Day Card by BayMoonDesign

With remainder of my bee paper, I made a bee themed birthday card.

Honey Bee Birthday Card by  BayMoonDesign

This handmade honey bee birthday card has a trio of honey bees on the front of the card. The greeting card is hand stamped on the inside with the sentiment "To a wonderful friend, enjoy your special day!".   There is plenty of room on the inside for you to add your own special words.

Inside of Honey Bee Birthday Card by BayMoonDesign

This card is also for sale in my online store along with cards for lots of occasions.  I am also running a sale on my cards. You can purchase two at a reduced cost and pay the cost of  shipping one card.  I also take custom orders.

I hope you enjoyed seeing what I was inspired to make by the bee theme.  This is a blog hop so please take some time and visit the other artists to see what they made.

AE team:

Niky (host)

Sue

Jenny

Jen

Cathy

Marsha

Guests:

Tammy

Cat

Alysen

Kathy (here)

Sarajo

Kelly

Evie and Beth

Hope

We love to hear your comments!

Photo by Laura Barry on Unsplash

We're All Ears at Home

Photo by Julian Hochgesang on Unsplash

My home is in Delaware and due to the Coronavirus Disease the State has a mandatory order to stay-at-home and shelter in place, except to leave for essential work or activities. Automobiles with out-of- state plates are being stopped by the police. Unless the drivers have an essential work or activity in the state they are not permitted here.  The reason for this is that the southern portion of the state has beaches and there are many who would like to come to their second homes here or just enjoy the beaches. Living in the small beach town of Lewes the idea of lots of tourists entering the area is very scary.  Our hospitals are not equipped to handle the load of large possible cases the tourists could add.  The beaches have been closed to even the locals because large crowds were gathering.  I am glad.  I believe it is necessary.  We all must be doing our part. I just wish everyone would abide by the recommendations so that that we can all come together once again and that our economy will heal.

my deck with hummingbird feeders

In the meantime, I have much more "free time" which I have been trying to use wisely.  It is easy to do nothing or just do fun things!  I am trying to use some self discipline and do some cleaning and yard work each day.  I like yard work much more than cleaning.  I am appreciating my half acre of land more than ever each year due to increased summer traffic to my area and now due to this virus.

During these stressful times, I find it therapeutic to spend some time appreciating the plants and birds in my yard.  I am trying to attract hummingbirds.  I have my feeders out and I am hoping to see some.

hummingbird feeder

I had a few hummingbirds last year so I am hopeful that I will get more this year.

waterlilly

My favorite part of my backyard is a water feature with water lillies and gold fish.  This is a photo from last year of one of the lillies.  We divided the lillies this month and the flowers are just establishing themselves.  Our goldfish survived the winter and are enjoying swimming around. In another month, the pond should be filled with lillies.  I look forward to sitting on my deck with my goldfish, lillies and hummingbirds all summer.

Ruby Throated Hummingbird Earrings by BayMoonDesign

I snagged these hummingbird components made by Grubbi ceramics.  They reminded me of my love of hummingbirds.  When thinking about a design for a pair of earrings I knew that I wanted to keep the earrings light for the wearer for that reason I didn't want to use chain. I also decided to focus on the colors of the Ruby throated hummingbird.  It dawned on me that I had a bit of green 1mm round leather from Plessmann Endless Leather that I used on a bracelet and blogged about previously.  The main reason I was drawn to this company is because I recalled their wide selection and large choice in leather cords. They have more than 2000 different leather cords online. I absolutely love the colors they carry.  I am so glad that I kept the green leather scraps left from the bracelet. The color is perfect.

back of earring component and parts

The leather is very light weight and I started on the front of the earring and ran both ends through to the back where I then made a square knot. I applied a few drops of Super Glue to make the knot permanent. I added the component to ear wires with two jump rings. I thought about adding three dangles to the bottom, but I wanted a simpler and light weight design so I decided to snip two outer wires off.   I pulled in the colors of the bird by adding ruby colored pearls and pink Czech beads.  I love this pair of earrings that were inspired by the backyard of my home.  I hope that you are safe and finding your home a place of love, comfort, security.

This is a blog hop so I am looking forward to seeing what others were inspired to create.   Pop on over to the Earrings Everyday blog HERE to see what everyone else was inspired to make!