Happy Birthday Dad! PPF and my 10 Minute Warm Up Friday......super quick paintings.....

Hi Everyone....and Happy Friday....

I am super behind on my fun stuff for PPF and 10 Minute Warm up....but better late than never....so I hope you don't mind me sharing a few quick 10 minute pieces I just finished this minute....these paintings are 1.5 inches by 1.5 inches in size and they are ink and watercolour....

I had to work on my 10 minute warm up today and almost forgot it was Friday....being that it is my sweet Dad's Birthday!!!

We had a wonderful pre-Birthday Celebration lastnight and also had a nice Birthday Breakfast with family this morning....it was wonderful....

I made a special Cake for my sweet Daddy  too!!!! I will share that for my Sweet Saturday Post!!!!

here is him as a little wee boy and a painting I did for him last year....

Happy Friday Everyone....and Happy Creating!!!

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Freebie Mondays....some cute "Bee Mine" Valentines....enjoy!

Hi Everyone....it is the time to start thinking about some fun Valentine's Day things....and in light of that I thought I would share these with you all for a fun free printable....

You can download your PDF here 

I would also love for you to leave me some comments that fun Valentine ideas you would like me to illustrate....always open to new ideas and inspiration from you.....

Happy Freebie Monday and Happy Creating Everyone....

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Busy as a bee but I had to share the cake I made on the weekend....

Hi Everyone....I was practicing my cakes and worked on a special Bee Hive one over the weekend....so I had to share this with you all....I have a very hectic week ahead and look forward to all of the fun design work I have on my plate .....

Hope you are all having a wonderful start to the week....

Happy Monday and Happy Creating Everyone!!!

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Some of my Bee Sketches wishing you a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2012!!!! Happy New Year Everyone....

Happy New Year Everyone!!!!

I always love the start of a whole new year.....so many things to put on lists....so many opportunities...so much time.....I love it....it is like getting a new sketchbook and starting on a clean fresh page....there is something very special about that.....

Well today I doodled my favorite bees and they are here to wish you all a super sweet and wonderful 2012......May you all be Healthy, Happy and very Prosperous this year.....

I am sharing these cute little bees with my friends over at Sunday Sketches....

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Happy New Year and Happy Creating!!!

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Look what I painted.....I just love bees and Ba"bees"

Everyday I enjoy some sweet honey from the local bees and I am very fond of bees as many of you know...so this past week I worked on some new bees....I call the wee little guys Ba"BEES"....they make me smile every day and they are as cute as can be and a reminder of how important these little creatures our to our planet and our lives.....

So this week I am sharing my new paint projects with you and my friends over at Paint Party Friday.....I hope you all enjoy these little painted delights.....

I know all of my friends over at the hive will love these!!!! 

Wishing you a wonderful Friday.....and Happy Creating Everyone!!!

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join me everyday...... http://dianaevans.blogspot.com/

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I'm back from a little escape...with a whole new perspective.....

I spent a few days away with family and it was just what I needed....some time to just un-plug and re-evaluate the important things in life.....so this is just what I did....by the water all weekend....I feel much much better now and am ready to tackle just about anything that life may throw our way.....The only thing I painted when I was at the cottage was my room...and it was a lot of work...three coats of paint...and now a serene and pretty place to just get away.....


Lastnight was the first night I got back to my art....and this is the first thing that popped into my head....a ballet dancing bee....of all things....I guess I merged my love of bees with my love of ballet...and voila....Stacie came to life....she loves to work and dance on the job...hovering from flower to flower with her pirouettes...and pointy toes.....

I just want to thank you all for the wonderful messages of support and kindness...your friendships really touch my heart and I am so grateful to have met you all.....

This is a photo on our lake...where I get away and most times create work for my picture books.....below is a flower I had to share with you....since bees remind me to take care of my plants...and flowers are so beautiful...so I took a shot of these....

and here are a group of dancing bees....they will hang in my Studio and remind me to dance and to enjoy life....we have limited time for everything so I will be trying to cram extra stuff into my life.......

wishing you all a wonderful day....may the bees dance for you and may you always be aware of the amazing things in your lives!!!!

Happy Tuesday!!!

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Just made a little montage as a tribute to my favorite little insect....the Honey Bee

I love Honey Bees....as many of you already know....they make our gardens happy and create sweet treats to share with us....with all kinds of healing properties...I use bees in my work a lot and wanted to share a little Bee inspired Montage with you to pay tribute to my little friends that are buzzing about today....we have had rain for days now so the little bit of sun that popped out this morning made me think about my cute little friends and all the work they will be doing in all of our gardens this summer!!!

Here's to the busy bees out there!!!!

I think I will work on some more bees in the Studio today....so Happy Thursday!!!

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A happy medium......I am finally happy with the outcome...

I finally found a happy medium with my latest wood and pyrography pieces...When I first started a series of these in 2009 I debated on whether or not I would paint the whole thing or leave it without paint....but I think a little bit of colour really makes these pop and leaving a lot of the wood exposed really helps to add focus to my detailed pyrography work.....so finally I am happy with the results....and I also have you to thank ....all of you that visited my burned bee post and decided that a bit of colour would be a good thing....Here is the initial bee if you missed it.....

The bee is all done...and the final piece is titled "BEE"lieve and it is now in my Etsy shop....

The second piece is titled "Love Birds" and is also for sale in my Etsy shop....

Now back to the Studio to work on more of these Happy Mediums!!!!

Have a wonderful day!!!

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Burning a bee today......

I am back to my wood and pyrography today in the Studio and this is a special bee I just finished burning....but now I need your help....

do you think I should add some colour to it?.... or just a wash of stain?

I am not sure which way to go so I will see if you have any opinions on this....

hoping you're all having a wonderful day in Blogland

Happy Creating!!!!

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Sunday Sketches come to life.....Bees Bees and more busy Bees.....helping my Bees for a Cause 2011

As many of you know I am a huge bee fan....and I just love these amazing creatures that do so much to help the world....so this Spring I came up with these cute little busy bees....they are all happy because they are doing what they love.....They really are amazing...and we need to do things that help the bees....

Here are ten things you can do to help Honey Bees....

In 2010 I started something called Help Me, Help People, Help You.... a site where partial proceeds from art went to help people in various countries learn to become bee keepers.....As bees search for nectar, they pollinate plants. Placed strategically, beehives can as much as double some fruit and vegetable yields. In this way, a beehive can be a boost to a whole village. Taking care of these bees also acts as a supplemental income for people in these needy countries...so this year I think these cute bees with help me raise more money that can help my Bees for a Cause Project 2011......In the first year we only raised 100.00 dollars but more than that we purchased bees , lessons and a hive for struggling families....and that in turn helped with their crops and in turn helped us...

In  2011partial proceeds from my Busy Bees will help this cause again "BEE" cause I truly believe it makes a difference......

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Illustration Friday - Swarm

I love bees...need I say more....

Bees were the first thing that came to mind when I saw this week's theme on IF....

Meet Tasha...the Queen Bee....she wasn't going anywhere from her hive...she was going to stay still forever....as her busy workers swarmed around her they kept her warm with their fluttering wings....and the scent of sweet honey made her hive even sweeter....

This would make a cool new outfit for Lady Gaga....wouldn't it?

Happy Friday Everyone!!!!

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Illustration Friday...."Surrender" free download for Valentine's Day!!!!

Joey knew that he had to do something special for his Love Marie...so he decided to hire an Illustrator and get her to design some Valentine's that he could use....and this is what I came up with.....

Do you think Marie will surrender her love to Joey?

I think he might just have a chance!!!!

I love bees and I love honey...so I hope Marie does too.....

I just worked on these fun free downloads for my website....these Valentine's will make someone's day even sweeter....so head to download your very own here....
(just uploading my files....will update the download links as soon as the files are ready)
Happy Friday Everyone....

and Happy Creating!!!!

P.S. only 18 days left to submit samples to be part of the 100 Illustrations 2011 Book!!! so head over and get the details!!!

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Busy Bee of Paris....

I am having so much fun creating these vintage Spun Cotton figures....once you get into this art form you start thinking of all kinds of fun characters....and you know me and bees...so here is a special Busy Bee of Paris that is as sweet as can be........

I prop these up on glasses and things so they add a little touch of fun to a special vignette in any room....They will make you smile and remember a time when hand crafted vintage things were very special gifts.....

Over 150 years ago in Germany cottage industries produced handmade ornaments spun from cotton. Each one was unique. Later, the craft expanded to Occupied Japan and Russia. Today these ornaments are highly prized and collectible but little information is available about how they were made.

This is the way I think they were made...and I enjoy creating each and every piece.....

I hope you love this cute Busy Bee of Paris....She is off to my Etsy Shop....I sold my last two pieces....and I am thrilled to be shipped them all the way to California....they will be nice and warm down there!!!

Happy Monday!!!

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I'm back!!! and what a nice welcome home with this feature!!! Busy as a Bee

Hello Everyone!!!

I have missed you all so much and can't wait to take some time to visit your wonderful blogs and see what you have been up to! I took an extended mini vacation and it was just what I needed for some inspiration. I have some fun projects to show you all and I will post them soon!!! Thank you for your visits!!! and your wonderful comments...I always love hearing from you.....

I just got back to find a note from shop owner Galia of NoniBam. She curated this super sweet collection of Bee inspired pieces and named it "Busy as a Bee"

She was sweet enough to include my Paris Queen Bee print and you all know how much I love bees!!!


Please pop by her shop and her gorgeous treasury and click on the items and leave us some love!!!

great to be back with you all!!! I will be visiting you all now that I am back!!!

Hugs
Diana

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The Queen Bee gets featured....how sweet is that!

I got a note from shop owner....DigitalDoDads
She has some wonderful collage sheets that you can use for all kinds of fun projects...so pop the shop....and also check out her curated collection!

She curated this fun collection that is inspired by all the sweet honey things....It is titled...

EYE SPY ...Luscious Honey Dripping Everywhere

She was sweet enough to include my French Queen Bee~

pop by the Treasury and show us some love!!!

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Memories....they can be so wonderful!

I have so many wonderful memories growing up....it would be hard to imagine how long it would take for me to illustrate all of them...

One of my fond memories growing up was watching my Dad take care of his bee hives...he was a bee keeper and I have so many fun stories about him and his bees....his bee stings...and mostly the best tasting honey ever....

This week as the theme on Mixed Media Monday is "memories" I immediately thought about creating something to commemorate that wonderful time watching my Dad tend to his bees....he cherished these little creatures and helped them grow their hives...it was wonderful and I am ever so grateful to have experienced this...I have a new found respect for bees and always will....I think I should start learning more about bee keeping and who knows maybe one day I can add this to my list of things to do....

I also teach Cole each day about these busy workers that make the world a better place...including all the bee keepers!!!

so here's to all the Bee Keepers!!!

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Sunday Postcard Art - Theme - "Springtime" - mixing a Spring photo with my illustrations....

Many of you know this from the past...but I love flowers and I love honey bees...Ever since I was a wee little girl I remember my Dad and his bees...he was a bee keeper in our forest and he loved taking care of these wonderful little creatures that create gold....

He taught me a lot about them and how important they are...so as soon as I saw this week's theme over at Sunday Postcard Art...I immediately thought of flowers and I also thought about the wonderful bees that would love my tulips...so here is a piece mixing my photography with my illustrations....

now "Bee" good everyone.....

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