An Ode to the Wonderful BUTTERFLY

With Nature all around us... or at least around me... out here in the boonies... with all the critters and trees.... we tend to forget about how it all happens... and we need a reminder...  the sweet little butterfly that just flittered by... how did that come to happen??? Well one of the magnificent happenings is that the butterfly will lay its eggs on a plant ...and then next spring... they will hatch and create little tiny caterpillars that will turn into these magnificent BUTTERFLIES...  so our part is not to destroy all the 'weeds' or plants that we think are weeds... because then the butterflies will also be destroyed as well... one of these plants ( of many) is the Milk Weed plant...  if you are not sure what it looks like... please google it make sure you leave it alone if it is growing in your garden or yard...  Butterflies are a very essential 'critter'  to our well being...  just check it out... thanks a million...

So today, my piece is called an ODE TO THE BUTTERFLY... 
I have been playing with Tim Holtz's butterfly die cuts... the border and the little mini movers and shapers...  and have been having fun with them... tangling, painting with watercolor techniques... zen tangling them and also layering them in all kinds of ways...  needless to say, I have been having a blast with it... 

Well... being FRIDAY... it is A VINTAGE JOURNEY... and the challenge was a really fun and easy one for me...  do something that is TIM HOLTZ...  using dies and distress...  well that is easy enough...  this whole piece is that... oh well I did add a few pieces of Tissue Mélange... and a piece of plastic????  I think that is okay...  right??? 

So here is my finished piece... 

An Ode to the BUTTERFLY... 

 

size about 12 inches tall and about 9 inches wide... 

Lots of fun and layers... which also were fun to find, create and layer... 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see I used the tissue paper Mélange... and adhered a piece to a piece of paper..  and then colored the butterfly...  with DISTRESS Markers...  I also colored the Milkweed plant with Distress inks using a water brush and an ink pad...  the little flowers on the milkweed are from the Tattered floral strip die cut...  love it... and have been using it more often than I ever have... you really have to use a die cut quite a few to get use to the items on it...  so I have gotten to use all the different types of flowers on this die now many many times... and love them all..  this little one was perfect for my milk weed plant.. the leaves, I inked some paper... and cut them out freehanded... 

 

Now the BUTTERFIES...  oh my goodness alive...

I have been having fun with these... first off.. I got a new can of embossing paste... and have been having fun with that... I took my MINI Movers and Shapers BUTTERFLY dies, and cut a piece of plastic, using each one... then used that as a stencil and made tons of little plaster butterflies... they are all over my studio... I love them all...  I have painted some, to look like real (?well sort of real)  butterflies... and some just have color added for the color... yesterday I used a few on my butterflies that I used for the challenge Frilly or Funkie... and I just colored them... what fun... check them out... on my previous page...

 

But the day prior... I cut out a stack of the same butterflies with white card stock... and started to paint, zentangle them and color them with Distress inks... having a blast... so I was well armed with a lot of butterflies by this morning... I also had been playing with the border Butterfly die cut... I cut it out of many different papers and layered the butterflies as they took off from the strip of paper... what fun they are having flying all over the page...  LOL.. 

 

 

BUT here is the best part...

I had bought this BELL JAR die cut... in the fall.. and had never used it... that is so unlike me... and when I saw this I was shamed...  so I HAD to use it today... so here is the bell jar...

 

Please don't let the butterfly become an extinct insect... allow it to fly free... google and see what you can do to help this happen in your area...  it is really something that each of us can and should do... 

 

 

We planted a butterfly garden... full of wild flowers and also other things... milk weed grows wild there... and there are a lot of other butterfly plants there... like Queen of the meadow, phlox and also cardinal flower...(beautiful RED flowers) and lots of other showy flowers for the butterflies to enjoy... 

 

So I used a piece of scrap plastic and cut the bell jar... and then the pedestal is cut from card stock and embossed with a frame embossing folder... love the way it turned out... and yes I will use this more often too..  The background paper came from Tim's paper stash called Wallflower... love that paper stash... so many different LOVEs  in that pad...  great selection... 

 

A butterfly painted using Distress mini pads to color it and then distress pens for the accents... 

 

The fall leaves... the reason for the fall leaves is a reminder for the fact that in the fall the butterflies lay their eggs... leave your milkweed and other weeds do the natural thing...  so we can have butterflies next year...  the leaves are made from card stock that is inked with my mini misters that have perfect pearls in them.. and naturally distress inks... I love all my mini misters...  and the other leaves are the Kraft Glassine paper... which I really crumpled into the palm of my hand to create the fall look.. 

 

The Butterflies are escaping... 

 

Here is one of the plaster butterflies... painted with distress inks... and so much fun to have loose on this project... 

 

Well... I do hope that you have enjoyed this... I really had fun with this... and did use Distress inks and Die cuts...  I have a lot and am very thankful for all the ones I have ... I love using them all.. that is for sure..

 

Thanks for stopping by today... and please take a look at

A VINTAGE JOURNEY and see all the eye candy there... it is wonderfully creative... I think you will greatly enjoy it...

 

Have a wonderful day and week-end.. be safe and enjoy it all.   

 

Love, Light and Peace...Bonnie