The Birds And The Bees...

One of the details that I wanted to add to the Creatin' Contest build was a skep for honey bees. I thought about all of the different methods I could use, and decided that hemp twine should both be doable and realistic-ish. This is one example of what a real skep looks like:

Before I started, I did a little research in hopes that if I knew how the structure was intended to work, I'd do a better job and be able to come up with a similar design in 1/12th scale. This description is courtesy of Wikipedia:

Skeps, which are baskets placed open-end-down, have been used for about 2000 years. Initially they were made from wicker plastered with mud and dung but from the Middle Ages they were made of straw. In northern and western Europe, skeps were made of coils of grass or straw. In its simplest form, there is a single entrance at the bottom of the skep. Again, there is no internal structure provided for the bees and the colony must produce its own honeycomb, which is attached to the inside of the skep.

Here is a great 1:1 tutorial on how to make your own: How To Build A Bee Skep

Amazingly intricate and lovely!

On a side note, my dad and brother went to a class on bee keeping last spring. They had two hives going in my brother's yard for several months. The things I learned about bees from both of them is truly fascinating! Unfortunately, his first hive had mites and the second swarmed (vacated the hive to find one more suitable). I think he will try again this spring.

Anyway, I knew I was going to need a form in a sort of half egg or rounded pyramid shape. I began scavenging in all my little nooks and crannies and came up with a good candidate: the body from a small broken resin doll. The plan was to wrap the twine around the form and secure the shape with watered down Tacky Glue. I used my Dremel sanding bit to reshape it just a bit.

I began by taping the twine to the bottom of the form, then ran it vertically up to the top and taped it there, then back down to the bottom to begin wrapping.

I wrapped several rows, but stopped there to paint on some of the glue. I didn't want it to start unraveling as the curve in the form began to taper. I let it dry for about 30 minutes or so, then continued all of the rows to the top before applying glue. I left the string long to use in a later step.

 While that dried, I began working on the tray for the bottom. This is the part of the structure that is removable to access the honey. I had a Woodsie circle that was the perfect size. I sanded, painted (FolkArt Honeycomb, appropriately) and drilled two holes in the bottom for stringing the twine.

Once the skep had dried, I needed to carefully remove it from the form. My clay tool has very thin metal and worked perfectly to pry it loose.

Once it was free of the form I coated the inside with a heavy coat of glue.

Once that was dry, I began to attach the tray to the bottom. I strung a nice long piece of twine in the bottom left hole, then brought it out through the top of the skep. I made a loop that was long enough for the skep to hang from. I then threaded the twine back down through the tray's right hole and made another knot. 

To secure the tray and make sure it can't be pulled down any farther than the loop, I secured it using the string leftover from wrapping the twine. I trimmed it down and glued it onto the inside of the skep. 

I trimmed the excess twine from under the tray, cut an access door in the front and viola - a 1/12th scale working bee skep! Hooray!

Now all I needed were bees! Okay - let's give that a try! I started with some natural pipe cleaners (yellow ones would work beautifully, but these are what I had), a yellow Sharpie, a black Sharpie, some black waxed hemp twine and a mini leaf punch. 

I colored the pipe cleaner yellow first, then went back and added black lines. The execution would have worked better if I had done 2 things: 1. Used a black Sharpie with a finer tip. 2. Let the ink dry thoroughly before I handled them.

I cut them into about 3/8" pieces and got a little creeped out! Don't they look like dead bees just laying there!

The waxed hemp twine has four layers of smaller string twisted together. I untwisted them and cut them into about 1-1/2" lengths. I used the leaf punch on parchment paper for the wings.

I tied the waxed hemp about 2/3 up the bodies and left the strings long. The idea was to use them to attach the wings, one on each string, then wrap the string around again and tie another knot for the antennae. Unfortunately, the wings just looked too big and not translucent enough, so I scrapped that idea. Our little bees will have tiny, imaginary wings unless I can come up with a better solution. Using the waxed hemp for the antennae worked great, though!

And here is one of the finished bees hanging out on the skep. I put several more around the house on flowers and such, too. They are large enough to see, and perfect for a fantasy build like this one!

Can you spot another one?

Now for the birds... Well, their houses anyway. I will need to order some birdies!

I wanted to add some cutsie bird houses, so I broke out my scrap bags. It only took a couple minutes to sort through and grab what I'd need and to configure five of them! I cut the roofs at different angles for variety.

I'm not the world's most steady handed painter, so I decided to paint all of the components before I assembled them.

It wasn't long before they turned into this...

They were cute and all, but still not quite there... How about some decoupaged flowers, and a couple cute buckets?

Now we were getting somewhere!

Not bad for only doing some research, sorting through scraps and a weekend's worth of work!

Have a great week everyone! See you next fall! :O)

Jodi

P.S. - There were so many photos that I left them smaller this time. You can always click on them to see enlarged slides.

2016 HBS Creatin' Contest Progress - A Pictorial Update...

I have been completely engrossed in working on the Creatin' Contest build for the last couple weeks, but nothing was "done" enough to share.  Now, I have so much to share that if I talked about every step this post would be super long! I'll just put some captions on the photos and write whenever anything needs explaining...

*** Note: I am taking photos with an iPhone 5s - not the greatest way to capture clear, sharp photos of miniatures. Add to that my lighting. I have a 5 arm chandelier which has 5 bright white LED bulbs installed. This is great for seeing what you are working on - a vast improvement over the 60 watt clear bulbs I was stuck with for nearly four years. BUT, they confuse the poor iPhone camera. Some things I focus on become way too washed out while the background is often dark and hard to make out details. I try to do the best I can editing the photos, but there again my tools are only marginal. I apologize for the photo quality, and would welcome any advice on a great, affordable digital camera for minis, and an affordable and user friendly editing software.

Now on to the not so great photos...

Prepping the exterior trim for spray painting. I am fortunate to have an insulated and heated garage so can pretty much spray paint all year round. 

Prepping the diamond speed shingles to be spray painted. What a huge time saver this is!

I used the Rustoleum stone spray with the texture. It takes a few coats and smells like petroleum but really leaves a nice asphalt looking result. Don't be freaked by the curling - overnight they all laid flat again.

They were really quick and easy to install with Quick Grip. With the human eye, there is not so much variance in the coloring as it looks in the photo. It actually looks really natural.

The inside has turned into a catch-all while I work on the exterior. Who's the piggy now?

My brilliant husband saw me struggling to find a ridge cap solution. He walked right over to my wood supply display and came right back with a piece of cove molding. I never would have though of it. I likely would have made a shingle cap but this was so much simpler. I think it goes well with the cartoony theme, too!

With the roofing done, I could finally install the chimney! I am still working on my caulking skills, but will save the amendments for when I do the final touch ups.

Using some of the shelf kit parts, I combined it with a larger piece of wood to make the piggies bath shelf. I spray painted them in the same trim color, then added three hooks - one for each pig.

I painted the pigs initials - one for Bob, Joe and Sam. These will indicate on the bath shelf whose towel and bath pouf is whose.

Using a low quality baby washcloth, I cut the towels - one for each of them. I painted on some watered down Elmer's glue, arranged them into shape, held the tops with a little clamp, then let them dry overnight.

Instead of just painting the inside of the acrylic jars, I wanted them to look like real bubbled bath mix. I discovered how to do that by accident. I use 2 part epoxy for all sorts of mini things, and often add a bit of acrylic paint in to make things like milk. I discovered that Amazing casting resin actually starts to react with the paint as soon as it begins to harden, causing it to literally bubble up like soda when shaken. There is a small working time to get the stuff into the jar, and add only a little because IT GROWS like magic rocks! It is still pliable, like taffy for a few minutes. Let your imagination fly! It hardens overnight, but marvelous sponges, cheese and simulated bubble baths can be achieved with practice!

I wish I had remembered to take photos of the reaction and end substance. I promise I will in a future post.

It's hard to really see the bubbles in this photo, and I had to squish the milk bath foam down to fit in the jar a bit. I swirled extra brown paint into the mud bath jar. Pigs just love their mud baths! I drilled holes in the lids and added tiny door knobs as handles.

Here's the shelf mounted on the wall of the front porch. The piggies have all they need: Milk Bath, Mud Bath, a rubber ducky, and their own personal towels and bath poufs. You have to use your imagination when wondering how they actually fit into that small galvanized tub!

During all of the drying time in between projects, I had a flower factory going. It seems like when you plant a mini flower garden that you always wish you had more flowers. I made lots! I had nine kits all together, and my favorite by far were the ones by Bonnie Lavish. So simple to do, and such great results. Just the fact that her leaves are done with a hole in the center makes them appear so much more realistic. Next time I do some mini shopping, I'll be restocking these kits!

So pretty! I want more!!!

Nothing says 'this is a happy home' like a welcoming bunch of colorful flowers!

I really had just enough in the end. Next time I order kits, I'll add 20% more than I think I might need!

The little house mailbox even looks better with it's added landscaping!

I had a third lantern to match the interior lanterns, but when it arrived broken I wrothe it off. I am glad I pulled it back out again, because I was able to carefully deconstruct it and insert a new bulb. It went back together beautifully, and I was able to tie it into the wires running down the roof. I painted all three with a coat of bronze metallic glaze, and the all look so much better!

When I made the base and installed the trim, I left space that I could use to add a littel greenery on the front opening side of the structure and all along the back. For the back, I wanted something simple so I just made a couple quick hedges out of foam and clump foliage. Even after you spray them with Scenic Cement, they tend to shed a little. I will just keep spraying on layers over the next few days until they give up!

I debated on whether I should put the garden on the front porch or back here. Back here won after I saw all of those luscious flowers. I made a small brick patio with real bricks for the tomatoes and gardening supplies and used the rest of the space to "plant" the vegetables. One of the zucchini plants had to be eliminated for space reasons, but I hope to use it elsewhere. 

These are a set of bargain garden tools that come unfinished. It was easy to age them with some brown and black washes. I made the hanging shelf from scrap wood and small picture hanging nails I had in a kit around the house. The whole unit got a coat of age and grunge. I have plans for the top shelf in a later post...

Small brick patio with tomato pots, fertilizer and a galvanized watering can.

Just enough vegetables to be put up for winter!

Instead of planting it in the ground, I planted the Swiss Chard in the bucket that came with the dry sink kit. It serves a great purpose - it sits on the removable cover over the junction splice. The white you see beneth is only liquid electrical tape. I wanted to add another layer before I paint it brown to blend in.

Here is where the 12v pronged cord will plug in. Once the brown paint has been added, it will blend right in.

A major portion of the build has been accomplished and I feel really good about where I am at with the contest deadline. I have a few outdoor accessories I'd like to add to the mix, so look for some fun tutorial projects in my next post. I'll give you a hint - it's about birds and bees!

Have an awesome and relaxing weekend, my friends! I plan to start mine thinking about all of the wonderful things that I am grateful for!

Jodi