I have spent a lovely day just messing about in my studio, under strict instructions from my husband - and I am definitely steering clear of the places they lurk, and staying in the safe pools of water!
This parcel holds something I made today which I can't reveal until it reaches its destination
I really enjoyed the few hours spent making it and forgot all about the crocodiles!
I have mentioned my dear friend Maxine who lived in Australia before on here, and the fact that she said she'd come back and visit me as a butterfly.
Well she is back again this year - and it fills me with joy.
Since she passed away quite a number of years ago now, each spring in our garage, a Peacock butterfly has been seen fluttering on the window of the door that opens next to my studio. Patrick saw it yesterday, and it wouldn't go out until I opened the door for it today and it fluttered around and about me a bit before it flew off into the garden.
Of course logically there must be a butterfly that manages to get into the garage to lay eggs which turn into pupae and hatch this time each year. But I am always baffled as I never see any caterpillars, nor are there any opening windows in there, and the doors are kept closed so that the chooks can't get in.
It's a wonderful mystery that it arrives at the same time that the Forget me nots start to flower in my garden, which they are just starting to do. The plants I leave to self sow each year, as the original seeds came from her Forget me nots in Australia.
So what's all this waffling about then - it's supposed to be an 'arty' blog. Well I was just setting the scene and my mindset this afternoon, sitting in the studio, the sun shining, birds singing, chooks chasing around after insects etc - and I felt so happy that I made my own cloud of butterflies
I played about with different inks, techniques, and colours.
There are no two alike. I stamped butterflies on printed historical paper, and I inked, and stamped and painted and embossed to my hearts content.
And now I am floating off indoors on a happy cloud to make tea.
So if you get one of my butterflies in the coming months, popped in with a swap or a little gift, you'll know that it was made on a lovely sunny Spring day, whilst I was looking out of the window and not forgetting the Forget me nots!
