Dragonflies and Butterflies Swap

Collage/Mixed media only!

Mixed Media Collage

Wow, it's been a while since I've done any collage work and I have this box sitting next to me of stuff that was just asking to be put together.  Last night I was able to make four cards and I was really happy with how they turned out.  They all incorporated a piece of a sheet I put together from a YouTube video I watched like over a year ago. 

Basically, you take all of your scrap paper and start gluing, with gel medium, down to a piece of 8.5 x 11 paper.  You can tear the extra paper, cut it, do whatever you want, but you have to fill up the entire piece of paper.  Then when that is dry, you take out large stamps, preferably ones with wording, and start stamp all over the sheet.

When all is said and done, you then cut the sheet down to 2.5 x 3.5 pieces to use as the background for ATCs.  I kept the "extras" and this is what I used on the cards I made last night.

Follow Your Heart

Sweet Child of Mine

Hearts Flutter

Flower Vine

KID Friendly Swap: Summer

I get so excited when ATCs for All! has KID friendly swaps and so does my 9 year old.  This particular swap is going to be awesome as the participation includes an elementary class.  My daughter thought really hard as to what she wanted to do on each card and I printed her out some "Summer" type images to help encourage her imagination.  The end result was the following and I am so proud of her.

1) Catching Butterflies, 2) Summer Picnic, 3) Summer Time, and 4) Moonlight Camping

Artist Trading Cards - Stained Glass Art

When I was a teenager I used to sit and doodle for hours.  I also liked to do art that looked like stained glass.  Some day I will find my composition notebook where I created decorative alphabets and doodled.  But, for now I have to satisfy myself with trying to remember how I did these things and see if I can reproduce them.

Any one of the following designs I would choose to have as a stained glass window.  Well, maybe not the walking man, but he did turn out rather cool.  Maybe that one for an elementary school gym!  I would love to actually learn how to do stained glass and maybe some day I will.

I used a Micron 02 pen and permanent markers to hand draw and color the following artist trading cards (ATCs).  I am also thinking about starting a swap over at ATCs for All titled "Stained Glass".

Stained Glass - Butterfly

Stained Glass - Dolphin

Stained Glass - Flowers & Circles

Stained Glass - Moon & Sun

Stained Glass - Walking Man

Day 93 - Another Butterfly Postage Collage

This is another ATC that I made from a collage sheet I purchased from curiousdigital over on Etsy called "Butterfly Postage" and the paper used for the background came from oriental-japan over at eBay.  I just love their paper and this is part of the 2nd pack of paper I bought from them.

This is Day 93's ATCs that I submitted in the 2010 Project ATC 365.

Day 92 - Butterfly Postage Collage

This ATC was made from a collage sheet I purchased from curiousdigital over on Etsy called "Butterfly Postage".  The paper used for the background came from oriental-japan over at eBay.  I just love their paper and this is part of the 2nd pack of paper I bought from them.

Day 92 is when I found out that I won something over at the 2010 Project ATC 365 site.  Yay, I love winning even if I'm not sure what it is I won.  I guess I'll find out soon enough! 

This is Day 92's ATCs that I submitted in the 2010 Project ATC 365.

Day 59 - Black Swallowtail Butterfly

This is a pencil/pen drawing of a black Swallowtail butterfly that I photographed last summer on a trip to the park.  There were some beautiful butterflies and this was just one of the one I was able to capture.  

Black Swallowtails pupate for approximately 9 to 11 days; this could take longer depending on if it is cooler out.  The adult butterfly will emerge from its chrysalis and depending on its sex will be either a colorful male or a more subdued colorful female.

The male has more yellow and less blue than the female.  They also have what appears to be eyes, which from what I have learned about butterflies is a way of protecting themselves from predators!  

I am NOT a big fan of insects, but I do love butterflies and dragonflies.  I hope to be able to capture more varieties this year as we head into spring.

This is Day 59's ATCs that I submitted in the 2010 Project ATC 365.

Hummingbird Sillouette, Butterflies, and Spider

I took this photo of a hummingbird tonight at my in-laws house. I am currently addicted to trying to capture their photo on my 35mm digital camera. I have also tried with my up to 200mm camera. If you have ever tried to capture a hummingbird on camera you know that they are quick, never sit still, and extremely hard to photograph.


Out of 100 shots I can honestly say that maybe 5 of them are focused and clear. I was excited when I caught this shot because:

1) The hummingbird was sitting still and...
2) What a cool sillouette shot.

I have also caught on camera this week the amazing black swallowtail butterfly:

Red Admiral Butterfly:

and a very intimidating looking St. Andrews Cross spider:

I love nature and have been away too long. I am loving this new found freedom to really getting back into it.

Butterflies - Spring is Almost Here

I love this piece! It is called Mechanical Butterfly by wickedpen. Butterflies are so beautiful no matter how they are displayed. Although, I do prefer them live than put on a board.



This piece is called "Dark Brown and Orange Fairy-A Paper and Glass Pendant Necklace with Cord" and you can find it at geelizzie.



I would absolutely love to look up from my computer and see this wonderfully colorful butterfly graphic by WilsonGraphics on my wall.



Is it just me or does this butterfly have a passenger? This cute hair accessory is from LilaJo. It comes in red, green, peach, yellow, orange, and blue. It's called "evil butterfly".



This final piece is titled "Queen of the Butterfly Faeries" by paulasmits and happens to be one of my favorites.