July 16, 2024 by Born To Organize

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.

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.

December 4, 2012 by Born To Organize

Hydrangea: Wardrobe Changes

I expect the maple to go through several “wardrobe changes” each fall, but the Hydrangea surprised me. The blooms passed from vibrant pink, to faded fuchsia, blush and soft green. The clustered flowers fade slowly over weeks instead of days.

If you squint just a little, the clusters look like tiny butterflies resting before flight. Their petals are as soft as a butterfly as well.

I admired these plants for years, amazed at the variety and color. They’re large shrubs so they’re not well suited to small garden spaces. Now that we have the space, I’ve gone a little crazy. We planted three Nikko Blue last spring, then followed up with four more in pink (seen below).

Hydrangea Fuchsia

We planted the newest ones under our living room window. I have one hydrangea in an enormous pot on the patio. It lost its blooms earlier in the season. I used the dying flowers to make a dried bouquet for my sister’s costume in October. The blue flower clusters also faded fast. This beautiful specimen, however, continues to delight.

Hydrangea Pink

Hydrangea green

You can learn more about these beautiful plants at All About Hydrangeas.

November 18, 2012 by Born To Organize

Butterfly Sips from the Nectar Bar

I spotted this little lovely on the pansies this morning as I was sweeping the walkway. What a striking contrast against the purple flowers.

Initially, I thought it was a moth, but upon reading, it has the characteristics of a butterfly. I’ve seen butterflies alight before, but this is the first time I saw one drink nectar from the flower. How charming!

It’s a pleasure sweeping and raking pine needles after a storm, at least until the blisters form. Everything smells of nature’s musk. There is nothing quite like it. Do you think my little visitor agrees?