Tag: Teaching

Why cork?

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I have mostly been working in cork for the last little while because cork is an incredibly versatile, eco friendly material. Cork is actually the bark of the cork oak tree. The bark is harvested for the first time when the tree is between 25 and 30 years old. The tree is not cut down to harvest it, the outer layer of bark is removed, and the tree is left to regrow a new layer of bark for nine years before it is harvested again. This is why the cork industry is one of the most environmentally friendly industries.

picture credit:sallyofmayflower

The cork is left to dry in the forest for a time before it is taken to the factory for processing. Processing includes boiling the planks of cork and then machining the planks into corks

Making Corks in Portugal

Cork is also used in Flooring, buildings, boats, cars, trams, roads, bridges, railways, dams, and airports?

And here’s a little known fact.. rockets and spacecrafts are coated with a couple of centimeters of cork. The coating stops them from burning up upon exiting and entering Earths atmosphere.

So I work with one of the most useful, versatile, long-lasting and eco-friendly materials in the world… why wouldn’t I want to work with cork?

Why Bees’ Patellas?

Well, it’s pretty simple really. My name is Melissa, which is greek for Honeybee, and patellas are the medical name for the kneecap. and I think my creations are the bees’ knees so it just seemed to work for me.                                                                                                                                                                      What do I do here at Bees’ Patellas?.. I do all kinds of things.  I create handbags, and drink coffee. I embroider, and have fun with my camera.  I sew clothing, and play with my Instant Pot.  I pretty much do whatever grabs my attention. 

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these are some of my joys right here.  I like to share the things that bring me joy, so I make things to sell , and I enjoy teaching people how to do the things that I can do. So this blog is going to be a combination of all of those things,

I’ll show things I’ve made , and show you how I’ve made them.  

I’ll be including links to where I find my supplies, because i’ve found some really cool stuff. 

This is gonna be the start of something new , and I know it’s going to go well.