The Butterfly Gardener

This gorgeous collection above was curated by Amber of  RedtileStudio . I love every single thing about this collection and I'm honored to have my fox dish included! :)

My little caterpillar has emerged from his (her?) chrysalis!

The butterfly formed his chrysalis while in a jar, after about a week he emerged.  This variety of butterfly uses the passionflower vine as a host plant.  I've been working on increasing the number of vines in my yard. I know of a spot where they grow wild and I will go and take vines to put in my own yard. The area where they grow gets mowed from time to time, which kind of sucks for the butterflies because then they have no vines to eat while they wait for them to grow back.  I've found the most successful way to transplant is to pull up as much of the root as possible. You will get some, but not enough to sustain the plant in most cases. I dip the "root" in rooting hormone and put it in a terracotta pot that rests in a pan of water. I keep these plants in filtered sunlight. In about a week I have a nice strong root system and the plant does well.  I have a flower bed that I'd love to just fill with wild vines of green so the butterflies have plenty to eat. Hopefully I can get back to the patch of vines before the lawn mower man comes!

Going Green

This beautiful collection including my newest little hedgehog set was created by my EliteSixteen team mate DeDe of SwedeHeartVintage . I am enamored of all things green and woodland!

I have been once again trying to create the garden of my dreams. We've been having a horrible drought for the last few years so it's been tough. Watering is a miserable chore once we hit the middle of summer. Normally we would have rain storms every single afternoon but last summer we got totally cheated and had very few. I'm trying to be very careful to plant things that I know will thrive so I had to longingly walk past the beautiful foxgloves and heliotropes when at the garden center.

A big thing for me is planting things that attract wildlife. Last year my husband and I went out hunting and brought back samples of wild passionflower vine, which we rooted and planted. It's sturdy, not quite as showy as the cultivated varieties but infinitely superior at keeping up with hungry caterpillars.

The caterpillars are such a wonderful educational source for my children as they complete their life cycles. This is a gulf fritillary caterpillar and when it is mature it will look like this: The Gulf Fritillary Butterfly . When they near time to create a chrysalis often we will bring them inside so that we can watch the process.  Our garden has host plants for about 10 different species of butterflies at least.

Studio Cats

Our youngest cat, Simba, is an artist at heart. Named for the Swahili word for lion, because it would be hard to find a kitten more adventurous and courageous.  We had a devil of a time keeping him away from our unusually large (95+ lbs) greyhound when we first brought him home.  Our greyhound is so fond of cats that he thinks he himself is a cat, but he is not used to dealing with a 6-8 week old kitten, and can be a little rough.
  At 6 months of age Simba continues to approach every new situation as an adventure. He sits, barely able to keep from dipping his paws in my watercolor paint water, and watches me paint. He looks at the images and looks back at me as if to say "how did you do that?"  When I'm sculpting, he's a bit of a problem. I don't know how many times I have left a piece while I took a short break only to find Simba standing on it  and squishing his toes into the clay.  It can be frustrating, but at the same time I really love that he is so captivated by my work.  And now I must go and smooth yet another pawprint from a bowl I'm working on!

What's New

I'm in the process of trying (once again) to create some ceramic mobiles.  Every time I decide to do this I get sidetracked and never manage to complete them.  This time I'm using some great old pieces of embroidered and eyelet fabrics to create a pattern. I think I'm going to start with three "dangles" instead of planning some huge piece. I REALLY need to apply the less is more mantra to more of my life's issues. I tend to over think a lot. I'm going to force myself to keep this simple. Stay tuned for further developments! ;)

Welcome Poppy!

As a very young child I became a lover of Beatrix Potter books. One of my favorite stories was of Mrs. Tiggywinkle, my first introduction to hedgehogs. I always found them fascinating and they continue to be one of my favorite creatures to sculpt in clay. My husband (ever patient in my love of animals) gave me a baby hedgehog for my birthday. We named her Poppy, inspired by the prickly poppies that we discovered growing wild near our home. Our Poppy has a coat every bit as prickly as her namesake...well, maybe not quite THAT prickly.  Although she's prickly she's a cuddler too. I'm amazed at how quickly we've become friends. She loves to get up next to my skin and snuggle up, smoothing her quills back so she doesn't prick.  She actually reminds me of a tiny little dog. She will look up at me with her dark eyes and then tuck her little head into my hand and yawn, sticking out her long pink tongue.  I've learned that when I want to hold her, I wake her up by calling her name and giving her a little time before picking her up, now she's easier to get going than my own daughter is!

Thinking of Spring

As I can see it's been a full month since I've posted, I've got a new treasury to add. It makes me so happy to see these cheerful items listed by some of my new and old Etsy friends!

Visit my Etsy Shop and save 25% with my coupon code: Butterfly!

'She's a Butterfly' by ALDDesigns

The monarchs are visiting my milkweed.......and laying eggs!

The Monarch Conserv... REALBUTTERFLYG... $39.99	Flutterby Butterfly... peacelovevinta... $23.00	35% OFF SALE - Fly ... Raceytay $19.50	One day I'll fl... gardensofwhims... $12.00
Table Decor, Paper ... LBCpaper $48.95	Lemon Chamomile, H... TallulahsSoaps $6.00	Blooming Tea - 5 as... TableLabs $7.99	Yellow Mod Sunflowe... redtilestudio $28.00
Marigolds linen tea... giardino $22.00	Vintage Leaves Felt... ekofabrik $45.00	He Loves Me, He Lov... BeSomethingNew $12.99	Gemyma -Orange Butt... judithhowellde... $4.95
organic baby quilt ... SewnNatural $120.00	Into the darkness -... Lori411 $25.00	Matte Gold Butterfl... DanaCastle $17.50	elyse SIGNATURES Ci... elyseoriginals $109.00

Treasury tool is sponsored by Lazzia.com A/B image testing.

Pretty Is....

'Pretty Is...' by fosterbk

Wood Vase COTTAGE P... OldNewAgain $20.00	Micro Eco Journal S... NaturesCubbyho... $50.00	MINI Alphabet (naut... lovemaestore $18.00
Earrings Coffee Bro... GlassRiverJewe... $14.00	Needlecase, Jumbo, ... midnightcoiler $20.00	Signed and Numbered... bythewayside $25.00
Recycled Newspaper ... hippiekingdom $22.00	Hooty the Owl 6x6 a... redtilestudio $50.00	Orange Poppy - felt... Baymut $20.00
Sea urchin jewelry ... jennyhoople $32.00	Woodland Hedgehog P... ALDDesigns $18.00	ACEO-SUMMERS BEAUTY... nikid2 $6.00
Chubby birdie - Arc... joojoo $15.00	Linen pincushion -... namolio $11.00	Alice's Adventu... JezebelCharms $41.99

Treasury tool is sponsored by Lazzia.com A/B image testing.

I'm so thrilled to have had my hedgehog sculpture included in this remarkable treasury by Fosterbk!  I really love the understated elegance, soft neutral colors and brilliant pops of orange.  Brenda has a knack for creating artful combinations of soulful items and stunning color.  Please check out her Etsy shop to see her beautiful photography! Thanks again Brenda! :)