Butterflies Take Flight

Brrrr..... it's been a cold winter here in South East Queensland. Yes, I know, I know, we have no idea what cold is here in our little corner of the world, but then, we are not geared up for cold weather. Night time temperatures have regularly hovered just a few degrees above zero and that's pretty chilly when you don't have any heating.

But spring is not too far away in the southern hemisphere and to banish away the winter chills, I've decided to bring spring forward a month and let the butterflies take flight in search of spring blossom.My butterflies are all breaking free of their chrysalis - their winter nest, so to speak - in search of all the wonders or spring..... blossoms, love, sunshine. Yes indeed, warm sunny days. I'm looking forward to those!

The base of my butterfly chrysalis is a Pavlova Magic container. Now you have to be an Aussie or a Kiwi to know what that is. Pavlova is kind of like our national dessert and we both lay claim to having invented it. But who cares who invented Pavlova - the thing is, it's just plain delicious!

But I digress.... the container is shaped like a flat bottomed egg which breaks into two halves. For this project, I've just used the bottom half which I've painted inside and out with Piñata alcohol ink.

To stop it from toppling over, I've half-filled it with plaster of paris and then poked a bunch of coiled wires into it before it set.Each wire is topped with two stamped, acetate butterflies placed back to back. These were painted with Piñata alcohol inks. I love Piñatas because they have a great white alcohol ink in the range. It extends the range of colours from brights to pastels with the addition of just a drop of white. Awesome!The bugle beads I used for the bodies are held in place by the kink in the wire - no need for adhesive at all. I also added some antennae made of wire which is sandwiched between the acetate butterflies with a dab of glue. I finished off my chrysalis with a little paper shred in the bottom - it covers the plaster of paris and it also adds some visual interest.

So with my thoughts turning to spring, I leave you with this quote:

“How does one become a butterfly?" she asked pensively.
"You must want to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar.”
From Hope For The Flowers