Where’s Shirley Door Hanger Global SU VLOG Hop

July 31, 2021July 28, 20211 Comment

Look at this fun door hanger! It announces where I am in the yard while visiting my parents. The story goes that Mom and I planned the next morning activities, the night before. I would be weeding in the pumpkin patch until Mom came outside. Then we would start the watering chores. Yelp, 4 hours later with my water bottle empty and snacks gone, I went inside the house to see where Mom was. She was just finishing up baking some sweets and was waiting for me to wake up so we could do the watering chores. She thought I had slept through the kitchen noise…zzzzzz

Alas, no. I got a good portion of the weeding done which will help the pumpkins and sunflowers drink all the available water for their own growth. Good thing because rain has been scarce.

This door hanger rests on the bedroom door. So I had the idea to make tags to indicate where I am in the yard so my parents can find me.

Watch my Youtube video going through each tag assembly and what activity the tags indicate. These would also make perfect card candy which is just a focal point on a card front. The video is part of a VLOG Hop featuring home decor items. Make sure to hop to each video by clicking the link in the video description.

Thanks for stamping with me today!

Super Awesome Weed Puller Shirley

Monday is the slowest night in the blogosphere…

July 26, 2021Leave a comment

So I thought I would post about my bees. That’s honey bees living in the great up north (semi) wilderness. I visit with them every few weeks and take lots of video footage. Back in my stamp space, I take the evenings to edit footage and post the videos to my BeeLog Youtube channel. (I work the stamp business during the week days and take the weekends off).

This is a sight and smell I’ll always enjoy…fresh comb building and a heavy, sweet scent of a thriving hive. The hive noise is something to enjoy too, a slow and steady hum of activity.

The trip this time was to move this swarm into a hive box.

Of course, I have video of the transfer in my Swarm Trap Youtube playlist.

Also checked up on the frog watering bowl.

The Om Bee One hive had thousands of bees at work during the latest inspection. See frames of capped honey in this video. Before the honey arrives on a dinner table in a mason jar, the frames will need to be removed the hive, cells uncapped and the entire frame then spun in a centrifuge. Lots of work ahead for me and the bees! The bees need to reduce the water content on the uncapped cells before they deem the liquid is honey and cap the cell. I need to rustle up the honey extraction equipment:)

Here is a look at a fraction of the worker bees chilling in the empty spot of the Om Bee One hive.

My Mom and I are having fun making signs which the bees blissfully ignore…

Hope you enjoy coming along with me on my bee keeping journey! Share this post and my Beelog Youtube channel with your friends!

Super Bee Shirley and BBS Bees

I am a Beekeeper!

April 26, 20214 Comments

Bees have always fascinated me. It probably goes back to the days when we lived in the country and had fields to wander in. Plucking the flowers to present to Mom while observing the insects buzzing by. I remember learning that plants feel pain too as evidenced by their wilting once they were plucked and their nutrient source was broken.

Fast forward to attending an informational session presented by Shedd Farley of the Farley Center in Verona, Wisconsin. Shedd spoke of how the center came to be and the programs offered in their mission of Peace, Justice and Sustainability.

One program is their New Beekeepers Program which offers an in person class following a year in the life of the honey bee. I kept his talk in the back of my mind thinking someday I would take the class. I decided to sign up for the class in January 2020 not knowing what a different year 2020 would be. This is a ripple effect that actually started with their newspaper article that was published many years ago.

Farley Center Beekeeping Program Mentors are Patrick Norby and Matt Kersten. They did a fantastic job answering all our questions and offered insight based on their bee keeping experiences. The year started with package install and ended with honey extraction day and fall clean up. I shared a few photos on my Facebook page from last year. I will be starting to blog our bee keeping journey for this year. So I hope you follow along!

I am excited to share the bee package install videos below. Om Bee One hive is the first video that starts with commentary from my parents, the B and B part of the endeavor (Barb and Bob). The Gnome Sweet Gnome is the second video and gets right into the install.

Although I have produced over 400 paper crafting videos for my Youtube channel, these are the first two beekeeping videos. I was not sure what to expect for video quality since filming is outside and I am a distance from my camera phone. So please be kind and I’ll improve the production value as I go along.

I’ll be sharing more bee videos and bee blog posts as we move through the seasons for educational and scientific purposes since the horizontal Layens hives are not as common as the vertical Langstroth hives. Women bee keepers on the internet are even less common; let’s fix that with sharing my videos and posts:) We used Langstroth hives during the Farley Center class but I decided on using Layens hives instead after doing much research on the internet and reading books. I had time in 2020 so I made plans;) One bee keeping Youtube video a day, keeps the doctor away, haha!

I hope you enjoy the educational and real world experience of honey bee keeping from Zone 4 in Wisconsin, USA!

Super Awesome Bee Keeper Shirley

Butterfly Bouquet Spring is Coming!

March 6, 2021March 6, 2021Leave a comment

I took this week to plan for some spring activities, bee hives and taxes! You can guess which one was the more fun one 😉 I’ll take you along on my bee keeping adventures again. This will be my second year as a beek (short for bee keeper). I literally just got purple posy paint delivered right to my front door from a friend to paint my first hive. So looking forward to what my bee keeping journey brings and not just because I get to use purple posy paint!

Stampin’ Up! is helping us get ready for spring too by releasing the Butterfly Bouquet suite ahead of the new annual catalog to goes live in early Mary. The offering includes a special package of patterned paper, Butterfly Bijou, which is only available during the early release promotion and while supplies last. It’s 6×6 inches, 8 each 6 double sided patterns for a total of 48 sheets.

Purchase the coordinating stamp set and die cuts individually or bundle priced for a 10% savings.

There is also a Natural Touch Specialty paper that can be purchased separately or included in the suite Butterfly Brillance suite collection as shown below.

See what you can make with the collection below…

Ready to order? Click here to order the suite collection or on any of the photos above. Make your order greater than $50 (excluding shipping and tax) and I’ll mail you 2 make and take kits as a thank you for ordering and part of my Sugar Cookie Social program.

Thanks for checking in with me today!

Super Awesome Beek Shirley

Fun Fridays are Buzzing!

January 31, 2020January 31, 2020Leave a comment

I am excited to announce that I enrolled in the Farley Center Beekeeper Incubator Program!

Did having a new line of bee paper crafting accessories sway my decision? I’ll admit a tiny bit of swaying was involved.

I had been thinking about learning this craft for awhile. Hives use to be installed close to where my parents live for many years. We do not know who kept the hives but they have since disappeared. So it’s time to give the bees a new home in the area and offer the plants a boost from these little friends.

I always have a jar (and sometimes more that a jar, a honey stash is always approved;) of local honey on my shelf from my favorite apple orchard, Lapacek’s. It’s a nice drive in the country to the orchard. The reward is a variety of local yummies grown on their farm. They have goats and kitties to visit too.

I pick up jars of honey from local festivals too. My latest snatch is a jar from the last 2019 gathering at the Farley Center. It’s oh so good in winter hot teas and fruit smoothies! A tiny bit for quick energy is a good snack too.

Oh yes, I’ll be sharing bee themed paper crafts too. The Honey Bee stamp set and Detailed Bees dies are available for purchase through May. But the Golden Honey Specialty designer series paper is only available free with purchase through March. I have it all and a nice stash of the paper too. See a fancy folded card using these products in this blog post.

I’ll be blogging about my new beekeeping experiences so check back throughout the year for the latest adventure. Hope you enjoy my beekeeping adventure posts!

Super Awesome Beekeeper Shirley

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