3 Butterflies

 Hi everyone. I hope you're doing something fun or maybe you are relaxing  a bit this weekend.  Whatever, I hope it's a good one.

Last week was a mostly home week for me. It was great except for 3 things. The dogs had a minor skunk encounter (oh stinky 😩). My clothes dryer stopped heating so therefore I couldn't dry  any laundry, but luckily it was a cheap part on Amazon and my husband is a very handy guy ❤  so let's hope that fix lasts at least for awhile. (This is the 4th time my husband has fixed something on this dryer. One of these days I will need to actually buy a new one but the prices of them are a real ouch and they don't seem to last all that long on top of it.) And finally my hammock ripped while I was on it and I fell straight through landing with a thump on the porch floor . I'm fine, but I was more disappointed I had to order a new hammock, which (the good news) arrived quickly! 😀  I was toughing it out for a few days sitting in a chair-smile-hee hee- because I really love my hammock on my screen porch.

I am getting off track here so let me get to the main part of this post.

Today I want to share this butterfly page for Alison's Come Fly with Me challenge at Art Journal Journey

My page today began when I took this piece of 8x8 inch paper and die cut 2 butterflies. The rest of the paper wasn't enough to do too much with but also seemed like too much to waste, so I decided to use it as a background for my page.

After I inked the actual page in my journal, I attached my die cut paper scrap. I glued it down, but I also  framed it with some washi tape.  Then I took one of the butterflies that I die cut  (this die embosses at the same time) and rubbed a bit of black ink on it so the details would stand out. Then I added that to my page.

I've been so busy this summer that I still haven't cleaned off some bits and pieces from June's AJJ challenge (which was numbers) from my worktable. Since I liked how these pieces worked,  I added them onto my page. It does seem a little "bare" without words,  but on the other hand, I think words would make it feel more crowded, so I called this page finished.

This month Alison is hosting at Art Journal Journey, and since her theme is Come Fly with Me, this page works perfect for that challenge.

I'll finish off my post with  some actual butterflies that I saw in a native butterfly pavilion at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens back almost 2 weeks ago.

I'm not good at identifying butterflies (something I need to work on) but I believe the top one is the back side of the wings on a mourning cloak and below is a monarch.

This next photo is a Painted Lady butterfly, which I learned is one of the most common in the world.

And here's the only butterfly that stays in new England throughout the winter.  This one is a mourning cloak..

Although as the guide in the pavillion said, this  butterfly was a very old mourning cloak, reaching the end of their life.

There were quite a few monarchs. The weird background is the screen  that creates part of the butterfly house structure.

And this black and blue beauty is an Eastern Tiger Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly.  Thanks David; I know I need a good butterfly book.

There is also a moth in this next photo. A moth has "fuzzy" antennae, and usually comes out at night, but doesn't have to only come out at night. I can't remember what moth the guide said it was, but I believe she said it was a Polyphemous moth. 

Last time I visited the garden there was no butterfly structure. I really enjoyed  this, even though it isn't the biggest butterfly house I've ever been in.

I'm also linking up to Gillena's Sunday Smiles.

That's all for me. Thanks for visiting my blog. And enjoy the rest of your weekend and start of the new week.