The Lepidopterist Explorer

Through the greenest jungles and the deepest rain forests, the butterfly scholar braves snakes, spiders and all manner of icky critters for a glimpse of the beautiful and elusive Ornithoptera goliath, or the Goliath Birdwing Butterfly, the second largest butterfly in the world.
Though our intrepid Lepidopterist is an avid collector of butterflies, she much prefers them without the pins and glass frames. Working with the old adage you get more flies with honey, she has charmed the butterflies into keeping company with her as she sketches and writes about their habits.
They have even volunteered to pilot and fly her balloon and supplies around.
Amazing...

Her steamer trunk has seen better days, but it sure is a useful thing to have when you're in the middle of the rainforest in  New Guinea!

Here she has made camp for the night and you can see all the interesting things she has brought with her and found on her travels.

The camp stool was made from 12 gauge electrical wire and a bit of scrap from a flour sack towel. The bed roll and pillow from the same towel scrap. The butterfly net was fashioned with some tulle and copper wire and a bit of glue. The 'cargo net' is a bronze colored hair net I found at the local drug store.
All the wonderful little bits and pieces have come from Alpha Stamps.

Here's the trunk all packed up and ready to go....

 For links to all the awesome supplies I used from Alpha Stamps, click HERE.

SUPPLIES:

Chipboard Steamer Trunk

Time Keeper Papers:
Marchant
Tinker
Cogs & Gears
Portfolio
(all of these papers were used on the balloon)

G45 Society Page Scrapbook Paper (the diamond pattern strips down the seams of the balloon, tinted with copic marker)
Copic #YG05 Salad
Distress Ink Pad-Vintage Photo
Brilliance Pigment Ink Pad-Galaxy Gold

Serengeti 6x6 Paper Pad (for the outside of the trunk and all the wee stamps 'stamped' on the lid)
Vintage Dot Scrapbook Paper-Wasabi (inside the trunk)
G45 Olde Curiosity Shoppe Scrapbook Paper (butterflies)
Prima Forever Green 6x6 Pad (butterflies)
Faux Suede Sheets (for the straps on the steamer trunk)
Bronze Binocular Charm
Junkyard Findings-Steampunk Air (goggles)
Little Library Collage Sheet (books)
Fluted Ring Pull (drawers and cabinets in trunk)
Tiny Faux Ring Handles (outside of trunk)
Small Compasses
3D Bronze Tea Time Teapot Charm
Miniature Hurricane Lamp

Additional:
Tulle (butterfly net)
22g copper wire (for the butterfly net
12g black wire (camp stool)
flour sack towel (camp stool, bed roll and pillow)
tiny wooden flower pot
hair net (cargo net for the trunk)

A note on the balloon and butterflies....
There are a bazillion online tutes on how to construct a paper balloon, and for that reason I did not post one. I did make up my own template mainly because I wanted a larger balloon, but you can easily enlarge or reduce any template you use on your printer.
I stuck the six panels together with self adhesive linen hinging tape. (I taped the balloon together panel by panel from the inside) I found it much easier to use than glue or regular tape. I think medical tape would also work well.
To hide the seams on the outside, I cut thin strips of paper and glued them down the sides.

There are seventy four butterflies on this piece. Most of them I wired individually with 22 gauge wire, which doesn't really show when photographing, so it gives the butterflies the illusion of weightlessness or of really flying.

Thank you for stopping by!

The Red, Red Poppies. (Shadow of Oz Blog Party)

One of the most vivid memories I had as a child watching "The Wizard of Oz" was the gorgeous, but deadly poppy field. Even now, watching that scene unfold always gives me a shiver.
I think it's partly the way the Wicked Witch of the West murmured. "poppies, poppies...." as she cast her beautiful, awful spell.
The deep, rich color of the flowers, the swaying stems, the inevitable descent into slumber of Dorothy and her friends. It's surprisingly disturbing.
Shivers, I tell ya.
I always wondered, what would have happened to Dorothy if Glinda screwed up and made it rain instead of snow? What if she was distracted by misbehaving munchkins and missed the whole 'falling asleep in an opium poppy field' thing?

Maybe Dorothy woke up on her own a changed person. Maybe she found herself in a waking dream, forever altered, longing for home but unable to leave the field?

 Mixed medium canvas on 6x6 hardboard. The poppies are from a napkin I tore up, pumped up the color on the poppies with copic markers and applied to the canvas with matte medium. I painted the background with Mars black and titanium white acrylic paint...just dragged my brush across both colors and then swirled it around the canvas.

After the paint dried, I used a permanent black marker and drew around the poppies and the swirly bits of paint until I felt like it was enough.

The 'Dorothy' I used here is a drawing I did about a month ago and scanned into my computer.  I've been having a blast finding different ways to apply her image to things (see her HERE as a couple of altered art dolls).
I cut her image out and used colored pencils to give her a sickly pallor.
I applied her to the canvas using matte medium and then gave the whole piece a good coat to seal it up. 

Thank you Oma Linda for hosting this awesome, fun blog party!
For links to all the other party goers, click HERE. 
There are some wonderful folks over there eating h'ordeuvres and sipping beverages...go on over and say hello!

Tin of the Month Club, April

So far, this year seems to be flying by! Here's my entry for April. We've got daffodils blooming all over the place, perfect inspiration!

For a look at the last three months, go HERE. Thanks for stopping by!

Odd and Flora

Two altered art dolls inspired by Mary Jane Chadbourne's work. Her workshop is really fun and you can get the DVD tutorial HERE.
This was my first foray into the word of big saws and power tools.
I have always been very nervous around moving blades, but MacGyver gave me some good lessons on how to use the saws safely and now that I am over my timidity, I am loving what I can do with wood!
So many more doors have opened for me. Learning something new always inspires me, ideas flow and my heart is so happy.
I think this is the beginning of something wonderful!

I made templates of all the components, drew the skirts and the heads on my scrap wood (MacGyver has a ton of wooden bits and pieces that I root through for parts) and used the band saw to cut them out. I used a belt sander to refine the shapes.
Wings, collars and arms are cut from templates. The face I used is a drawing I did....I scanned it into Illustrator and played with the shape of the face until it fit my wooden heads.
I made a collage sheet of the face in various sizes so all I have to do later is print out the sheet when I need more faces.
The legs and  neck are quarter inch dowel rod and the bases are from the craft store.

The flowers are raw brass stampings that I enameled with nail polish. I drilled holes in the top of the head and glued in the beads I wired up.
I used a drill press and drilled a hole in the bottom of the head (where the neck goes), the top of the dress (for the neck), two holes in the bottom of each dress and two holes in each base where the legs go.
I should add-  after I covered the dolls in papers but before I put any embellishments on the dolls, I put two coats of matte medium on them, back, front and sides, then added my beads and dimensional fabric paint etc...

I added micro beads and little seed pods that look like pumpkins to the base of this girl and an enameled flower to the base of Flora. I made tentacles from polymer clay and made a little shopping bag out of a jewelry box cut to size.
(The picture below was taken before I added the beads and the seed pods)

These little girls were a lot of fun to make. And now that I can play safely with power tools, the skies the limit!

The Disastrous Tea Party...or What Really Happened to Marie Antoinette

Alpha Stamps has been having fun with the theme "Marie Takes Tea" this month with lots of food and frills. There is something about playing with tiny things that is so appealing!
Those teeny little cakes and trays of sweets are adorable.
I made up a little story to go with all those tiny things, but I'm afraid poor Marie doesn't fair very well..........

The title medallion is from the digital French Labels Collage Sheet. I put it in Illustrator and scaled it up to the size I needed for the front of my box, printed a fancy typeface for the title and hand-colored the piece with copic markers.
I did the same thing for the inside story medallion.

There was a lavish spread of delicious food.

And quite a glittering crowd emerged to partake of the festivities!

They really enjoyed themselves.....

But alas, all good things must come to an end.

Oh, Marie, Marie.
You always were a little light in the brains department!

Click HERE for links to all the fun supplies!

Supplies List:
Bo Bunny Vintage Double Dot Paper (both sides) in
Passion Fruit, Pink Punch and Shadow.

Marie Takes Tea Collage Sheet
French Ballet Costumes Collage Sheet
French Labels Collage Sheet

8x8 Heavy Chipboard (for the table tops)
Wooden Finial Chess Pawn (the top piece x 3)
Thin Loop Dresden Trim in White (from the White Dresden Border Sampler Set)
Mini Rose Buds-Pale Pink
Diamond Stickles
Mini Strawberry Cake
Mini Heart Tart Cake
Alice Pink Eat Me Cookie
27mm Resin Tea Party Heart Doilies (green)
Ceramic Cupcake Bead
Beads from kit (scattered around the tea table and used to embellish the tags a bit)
Brilliance Pigment Ink Pad-Galaxy Gold
Vintage Photo Distress Ink


Addition:
White Paint
Brass Bead (used for vase of rose buds)

Tin of the Month Club...March

I'm so ready for spring! I was just listening to Joni Mitchell sing 'Just a Little Green' and that is what inspired me to make this wee tin for March.
Just want a little green.....

I'm looking forward to nesty little birds and the dawn chorus. And fresh green buds and the smell of spring. It can't come too soon!

My buddy rackycoo is playing with tins over at her blog Junk&Stuff and you can see her March offering HERE.

My January and February tins are HERE.