Butterfly madness!

This year we focused our gardening efforts on planting for pollinators. Butterflies, moths, bees and hummingbirds have come out in full force. 

I noticed a few Monarch chrysalis around the deck. Hanging from the birdfeeders, under cushions, all sorts of awkward spots.

Have you ever seen a Monarch chrysalis? There are little golden dots and a magic sparking gold seam on them. I had no idea what I was looking at the first time I saw one. They are so beautiful, almost otherworldly.

I also spied Monarch caterpillars everywhere. After a bit of reading I thought I'd try my hand at raising a few butterflies. I'd never done that as a kid and I thought it was about time to change that!

I brought three fat caterpillars (and a whole bunch of fresh juicy milkweed) inside and placed them in a small aquarium. They ate so much and they pooped even more. Seriously. SO. MUCH. POOP.

After only a few days my caterpillars did their thing and became chrysalis. Next, the wait. 

The chrysalis darkens as it changes, turning almost black. The day the butterfly emerges you can actually see the butterfly wings through the outer shell!

I was lucky to see the first butterfly slip out of the skin and watch as her wings unfurled and spread. I wasn't quick enough to film the magic moment, but it was rather lovely.

The first butterfly emerged on Friday the 13th so I named her Jason.

Within a few days the two others emerged too.

Two of my girls flew off as soon I placed them in the garden, but this one took her time and posed very nicely for me.

We had a nice long good-bye before she set out on her adventure.

So now I'm even more mad for those fluttery things. Next year I'll raise skads more, despite the massive amounts of caterpillar poop. To tide me over I'm going to plonk even more paper butterflies on my projects so I've put together a new collage sheet for just that. 

I've also made the sheet available in different colours and sizes because you never know when you'll need a sheet of violet hued butterflies.

If you've ever thought of raising butterflies, I highly recommend it. Seeing their transformation was absolutely moving. Setting them free was totally rewarding. 

But don't say I didn't warn you about THE COPIOUS CATERPILLAR POO!

Free Photo Friday

Once a week I share an old timey photo from my personal collection. Feel free to use them in your mess making, art and crafting.

The images are not polished and left in their grungy, smudged and speckled glory. Just how I like 'em! Without further ado... 

Do NOT sell, give, or distribute the images as your own, digitally or printed, alone or as part of a collection, collage sheet or group. BUT DO absolutely make stuff with them and sell the stuff you make. If you share your project, a link is appreciated.

Violators will be turned into toads, given warts, all the bad stuff... I mean it... It won't be pretty. 

Mini Retro Sticker Album

I was listening to The Murder Squad the other week and Billy Jenson (one of the hosts) mentioned collecting stickers as a kid. Man oh man, memories of my own sticker album came rushing back and I immediately wanted to make a mini sticker album.

It turned out pretty dang adorably. It was amazing how many people had such strong memories of their sticker collections. The types and styles and smells. The trading! Such good, sweet, nostalgia.

It made me so happy I made a second album. And while it's not perfect I wanted to share this project because I think it's such a nice little dose of happiness.

For the second little album I took a trip to the Dollar Tree and visited the kids sticker section. I stood there and wondered why the hell I ever gave up sticker collecting and seriously considering starting a new one. I mean, there are some seriously fun and nifty stickers out there!

I managed to buy a few books with stickers tiny enough for my wee albums. I think the secret is to look for things that say 700 Stickers! There's a slew of tiny stickers in there that most people would groan over, but are perfectly suited to these wee books. The other option is to hit the beauty section, find the nail polish and have a nose about for tiny nail embellishments. Perfect little sticky size.

As far as the albums. These are handmade, spiral bound, hardcover with laminate pages inside. I don't know about you but my old sticker album had that plastic film covering the pages and it wouldn't be right if my mini version didn't have that too.

If you'd like to make your own wee album I do have a tute that takes you through everything. You can find that HERE on my youtube channel.

And here is the list of all the supplies that you'll need (it really doesn't take much to make these!)

• card stock (cover paper)

• cardboard (cereal box)

• scrapbook paper

• thin wire (I used florist wire)

• glue stick

• packing tape

• STICKERS!!!!

Helpful tools:

• something pokey/small hole punch
• brayer

• thin doweling

• bone folder

• scissors

• paper cutter

What do you say? Are you with me?! Let's stir up some 80s style radical cuteness!

Free Photo Friday

Once a week I share an old timey photo from my personal collection. Feel free to use them in your mess making, art and crafting.

The images are not polished and left in their grungy, smudged and speckled glory. Just how I like 'em! Without further ado... 

Do NOT sell, give, or distribute the images as your own, digitally or printed, alone or as part of a collection, collage sheet or group. BUT DO absolutely make stuff with them and sell the stuff you make. If you share your project, a link is appreciated.

Violators will be turned into toads, given warts, all the bad stuff... I mean it... It won't be pretty. 

Free Photo Friday

Once a week I share an old timey photo from my personal collection. Feel free to use them in your mess making, art and crafting.

The images are not polished and left in their grungy, smudged and speckled glory. Just how I like 'em! Without further ado... 

Do NOT sell, give, or distribute the images as your own, digitally or printed, alone or as part of a collection, collage sheet or group. BUT DO absolutely make stuff with them and sell the stuff you make. If you share your project, a link is appreciated.

Violators will be turned into toads, given warts, all the bad stuff... I mean it... It won't be pretty. 

Halloween Tins for AlphaStamps

I'm not a summer sort of person, but this summer was pretty damned glorious. I know that folks everywhere were battling with the heat and weather... but man oh man it was just about perfect here. I'm going to miss the lazy afternoons I spent on the deck, lounging in the sunshine. Then, just like that, summer left and the autumn winds swept through!

While I'll miss the summer days, I can't help but be excited about the cool autumn air, turning leaves, bonfires, sweater weather and, of course, Halloween. My friends at AlphaStamps are excited too, Halloween is their favourite holiday and the theme of this month's kit.

I've used some of the papers from this months kit (Spectrum Ginger Snap Dots & Stripes Scrapbook Paper, and Happy Halloween Custom 12x12 Paper Set), but kinda ran amok, doing my own thing, and made a couple of cute Halloween themed tins.

Note: that 'sunflower' looking thing on the lid, behind the moon, is just a strip of the diamond patterned paper form the Happy Halloween Custom 12x12 Paper Set accordion folded and turned into a rosette.

Inside there's the cutest little cemetery under a happy moon, with a cute little vintage graphic and glittery night sky.

 

And because the first was so much fun, I made a second!

I used exactly the same elements in the second tin, only slightly changing the layout, arrangement and pieces used. 

Want to make your own? Great! You'll find the list of supplies I used below. One word of advice: when putting your tins together make sure to leave room for the lid to close properly. You'll need to avoid adding embellishments in the area indicated above (about a 1/4"). Be sure to try closing the lid before gluing anything in place to ensure the lid is not obstructed.

With my babbling complete, here is the supply list:

Blank Altoids Tins
2 Sets of Mini Chipboard Gates
2 Sets of Chipboard Gates
Mini Chipboard Gothic Fence
Spider Web Border - 7 Inch
Tiny Tombstones Shape Set
Creepy Tree - 5 Inch
Bronze Slider Beads - Fancy Stars
Flat-Back Gold Star Studs - 12mm
Flat-Back Gold Star Studs - 8mm
Stitched Leaf Ribbon - Black
Spectrum Ginger Snap Dots & Stripes Scrapbook Paper
Happy Halloween Custom 12x12 Paper Set
Acrylic Black Bat Cut-Outs
Halloween Pendants Collage Sheet
Halloween Labels Collage Sheet
How Sweet the Moon Collage Sheet
Mini Halloween Costumes Collage Sheet
Teal Glitter*

I also used

• vintage music paper
• acrylic paint 

• glue

• mosses

• foam adhesive spacer squares

All those bits can be found in one place right HERE (hang tight, it'll be updated soon!)

"Woodland Dreams" Art Walk Alchemy 2020

Mystic Spring Studios released their lineup for Art Walk Alchemy 2020 today and I'm pretty excited to announce that I'll be taking part as one of the instructors. 

It's a sweet deal. 24+ mixed media projects with in depth video instruction for each, artist support for each project, freebies and surprises, as well as a community of fellow makers. The classes are released throughout the year (so there will always be something fresh) and there's a good variety of projects. 

Can you guess which one of these projects is mine? 

Preregistration opened today with an early bird price (until December 31st) of $99 for all 24 courses. After that the price bumps up to $125. Pop over HERE for all the details.

Here are all of the other artists taking part and instructing in "Woodland Dreams" Art Walk Alchemy 2020