Challenge #14 - The Birds and the Bees

Hello lovelies!

Niki here and I am your hostess for this month's challenge here at Anything But Cute. I have to give you all a HUGE round of applause for joining our Blogiversary celebration! Can you believe it has been a year! Whoot whoot! Thank you to everyone that joins us each month, it is because of YOU that this challenge blog is such a fun place! Yours projects are always delightful to look at! We so enjoy reading your comments and learning more about you through your art! Don't forget to check back with us on June 12th when we, the entire team, announce the winners of the "Celebrate Your Style" challenge. Now on to this month's theme.

Thankfully the warm weather is finally here and I can sit outside and enjoy hearing the sounds of Spring although I don't care for getting stung by wasps. Seems like those critters set up a nice hive in my outdoor umbrella and my dog and I were both stung. Ouch! We are better now and got rid of the hive so everything is good but this helped inspire my theme for this month.

THE BIRDS AND THE BEES

 With the lovely warm weather in my neck of the woods, I am seeing so many wonderful birds and bee's, so I would love to see those in your mixed media makes! Pull out those bird stamps, think of feathers and maybe some honeycomb. Or you could even go for a non-traditional interpretation like a family crest that has a bird emblem on it. The sky is the limit!!

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And now for some inspiration from the talented Anything But Cute design team!

Anne - Redanne

I was thrilled when I saw Niki's wonderful theme as I love birds and bees.  I have had this Tim Holtz bee in my stash for ages so it was time to put it to good use.  It is also good to remind ourselves, too, of the plight of our bees around the world .....

Autumn - SewPaperPaint

I couldn't help but make a tag this month in my favorite palette of aqua and brown and feature a beautiful vintage bird image, at home in a nest of book pages.  What a great theme!  I can't wait to see your entries.  

Branka - Vintage Handmade

I was inspired by Niki's wonderful theme to create a vibrant card using the Tim Holtz's Birds Crazy stamp set and some of my Dylusions stamps. I also used my Tombow Dual Tip markers, Tombow Irojiten colored pencils and some hand dyed cotton fabrics.

Lisa - A Mermaid's Crafts

I love Niki's theme of Birds and Bees for this month's challenge!! I sat down to work thinking I was going to create a project featuring our feathered friends...but to my surprise, it turned into one with our winged friends instead!! I used two different honeycomb stencils with texture pastes and covered the bees with crackle glaze for a bit of texture.

Niki - Pawsitively Creative Crafts

Not your traditional thought when thinking about the birds and the bee's but this is how my mind works. Lol! I altered an old book using paper leather, crackle glaze, stenciling, a brayer and lots of lovely chipboard pieces. This is a book about family, their crest and how the bird changed their lives for the better. 

Pamellia - My Little Craft Things

I absolutely love Niki's challenge theme and it took me directly to a warm spring morning with the birds singing and fluttering outside my window. I have put together this shabby chic card with that morning in mind. For my tutorial portion of the project, I have put together this video. Enjoy!

Sara Emily--sarascloset

It was hard NOT to be inspired by Niki's theme this month, and of course, my mind turned directly to the Love Shack! I designed and constructed the birdhouse, and threw everything at it I could find--paint, ink, crayons, stain, mediums, glazes, etc.-- you'll just have to visit my blog for the messy details! I haven't had so much fun, well, since our last challenge!

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I am always amazed about how diverse our team is and this month is no exception! Everything from bright and bold, to 3D with some shabby chic in-between. Ya'll rocked this challenge ladies! Please hop over to the team blogs to see more photos and get some details on how these projects were made. And don't forget to leave some bloggy love while you're there.

I hope that we have inspired you to dig through your hoarded stash and have a BLAST using those art supplies! The winner will receive the honour of being our Feature Artist for an upcoming challenge!

Here at Anything But Cute we just love to see all the seasoned and expert mixed media artists, but we also want to encourage those who are just getting their feet wet. Our design team will always be on the lookout for these exceptional projects and artists. You just never know when we might be giving out something special to a lucky mixed media newcomer. We all have to start somewhere, right?

Challenge runs until July 4th - we can't wait to see what you come up with! Happy Crafting from the entire team and thanks for visiting Anything But Cute! Carpe Diem!

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