Flowers in my front hallway. It's been a very busy week, with little time to blog or do anything super creative. My Dad's bathroom remodel is almost done and that has been a very challenging task. My hubby has done the loin share of the work (taking things down to the studs, with some of the studs having to be replaced too) because my Dad just felt better if my hubby did the work. Doing work for your family just adds another layer of stress to things. My hubby walked out on the job at least every other day, swearing at me that he was not going to come back. My Dad (who is now 89) didn't help things because he kept changing he's mind on almost everything. I do have to say my go to general contractor Randy has been a life saver. We call with random questions or in my case in a panic looking for some good sub-contractors. Not only did all the subs do good work, they all showed up early. You know they give you a window of two or three hours of when they would be there but everyone of them showed up a few minutes early. Hubby is off abalone diving (we won't discuss that) this weekend and I have back to back classes at both stores. 
Here are some great cards done by Elizabeth Shea using one of the stamps from our fundraiser for "A Place to Bark and Meow". Here is the link to Elizabeth's great blog.
Being an urban bee keeper, I'm always interested in bee news. Today there was an article about the bee keeper who came out of the closet in Washington DC. She had kept her identity a secret for a long time because of "city folks" having a strong fear of insects. Toni is the bee mentor to Charlie who is the bee keeper at the White House. The hive set up (on the left) is unusual (at least out here in CA) but high winds from nature and helicopters made in necessary. I think it's just too cool to see a working hive on the grounds of the White House.
This is what I call a reverse "Joseph Coat" technique" using the Copic airbrush system since the color is added after the embossing not before. It really looks good just as a black and white if you don't have an airbrush system. When I did the image in blues and greens it looked like a 3D photo since more of the shading showed than the color. 
Worked on a new class last night "Copic Airbrush Meets VersMark". I've been working on different techniques that can be taught in a class (very different than doing something for yourself at home) using the Copic airbrush system. Taking a lot of the ideas from what you can do with a sponge or brayer I substituted using the airbrush. It made the projects go faster and you have more control over using lighter color. The only downside is the amount of ink you use when experimenting I had to try each card at least five times before getting the right color combination or shading - that's a lot of ink being sprayed!
Yesterday we finally got a call about a swarm in our area. Hubby went out and did what is called a "capture". It was an easy text book capture. The bees were only about 8 feet high in a wisteria bush. After getting the queen in the box (just a cardboard box) the rest of the girls followed her in. He leaves the box there and after sunset when all the bees are back for the night, he closes up the box and brings everyone home. This is about 4 pounds worth of bees, which is a nice size swarm. It will be combined with one of our hives today.
Our house has been filled with boxes of bee keeping supplies and for the last week, honey equipment. During the day my hubby is at my Dad's house working on remodeling his bathroom. He then rushes home to work on the hives or getting the honey ready to bottle. This morning the first of the 2009 Spring harvest was bottled. We've add "comb" honey to our line. Some people like to chew it like gum and say it's better that way. I was busy last night making the labels and I will be off this morning delivering them to our store locations.
This is a photo of one of the cats up for adoption at Bernie Berlin's animal shelter "A Place to Bark and Meow". 
I was asked to do a class using the Penny Black watercolor stickers. They are great stickers for those who don't want to spend hours coloring and doing the collage work. There are four stickers on each sheet so you can whip out some cool cards in minutes. Penny Black also has these images in rubber stamps for those who like to make everything from scratch.
