by

Butterflies Real and Imagined

I’ve been crafting cards again with canceled postage stamps, this time an assortment of yellow postage from China, Germany, and Poland.

The blue barbell weights on the center stamp reminded me of “eye spots,” a common butterfly marking. Two theories behind these markings exist: one is that they look like the eye of a predator, as cited in this Natural History Museum article, and the other, according to LiveScience, posits that prey is scared off by patterns that mimic toxic substances.

The spots are stunning, nonetheless, and what luck to find a postage stamp that so perfectly imitates these markings.

I cut the solid shape from the postage using a two-part butterfly die set, forming a yellow butterfly. I cut the delicate layer from thin black paper.

Using a craft paper card base, I attached the butterfly to a scrap of yellow paper and stamped the greeting in black ink. Creating this imaginary butterfly was a treat.

Photographing real butterflies takes patience and sometimes dumb luck. The following image features dumb luck for the win.

Checkerspot butterfly

A Checkerspot butterfly rested briefly in the garden, with yours truly tiptoeing behind it, holding my breath as I took the picture. I managed three shots before the butterfly moved on, and I’m sharing the best of the three.

pbmGarden catalogs and shares stunning butterfly photos as they visit her Chapel Hill, North Carolina garden. If butterflies are your thing, take a look. You won’t be dissappointed.

29 thoughts on “Butterflies Real and Imagined”

  6. I love your butterfly card. Stamps are fascinating in and of themselves–great that you find inspiration toward your own creativity from them. Gorgeous photo of the Checkerspot! Glad you enjoyed my review. I’ve not kept good records this year.

    Like

    Reply

  8. Butterflies are definitely my thing. I’ll check the blog out. I love what you did with the postage stamps. Would never have thought about that and it’s just perfect. I had butterfly things everywhere along with Angels but finally had to part with so much. I still buy cards to send out with butterflies on them. I agree with Judy. You get a 10 on this one too.

    Like

    Reply

    • You always have the nicest things to say, Marlene. I knew about your love of angels, but I diidn’t know about the butterflies.

      It’s hard to resist a pretty card. I used to love looking at the cards that Barnes and Noble had to offer. They were less Hallmark and more art. Papyrus also sells gorgeous cards. I’m working on building up a hand-made card stash so I avoid the card asile at Target. I’m a card junkie.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      • You made me laugh. I’m a card junkie too! I have whole plastic bin full of cards for every occasion and organized by occasion. We have Safeway and Walmart to buy cards and I found out Ace hardware carries Leaning Tree. I love those because they are printed here and more nature oriented.

        Like

        Reply

    • Thank you so much! I’m having fun making cards, and exporing new techniques along the way. Thanks for catching up, here. Your feet have barely left the ground this summer. I’m so happy you’re out there having fun.

      Like

      Reply

  13. Both butterflies are truly lovely, Alys! Creating butterflies and photographing butterflies are both such wonderful ways to celebrate nature’s beauty! 🩷 Dawn

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  14. What a great idea to use the stamps to make cards. Makes me stop and think of what I could do with some of the umpteen stamps I’ve found in my parents house as I work thru their estate.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Please join the conversation by leaving a comment, below.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.