Time escaped me ….as if often does…and while the bouquet remained in my files, I had done nothing with it. At Christmas time I made my annual ‘to craft this year’ list and put this bouquet on it.  Within weeks of mentally deciding to do I received an email from an Etsy (www.etsy.com) client who wanted to do something similar for her summer wedding.

I began by putting together a butterfly board of potential winged candidates for the bouquet

Over the next month or so I wrapped the floral wire in white tape and began piecing together a bouquet . Soon I was able to send a picture of the first mock-up While I liked it, I found it lacking in shape or something. it wasn’t my vision, it wasn’t MARTHA enough and I tucked the butterflies away not sure what to do with myself.

I decided part of my problem is a lack of larger butterflies. Recently I acquired a few more butterflies I thought might help with my vision.  I took a part the original bouquet, sat down and began again. Last night, the bouquet I am happy to say I made has now been bride approved.  I am very pleased with the outcome of this arrangement. I look forward to seeing it finished with a ribbon wrapping and in the hands of the bride! I will be boxing this fluttering fashion up and sending it off to the UK later this week. I hope that I will get to see it’s final destination in picture or two!

Every month or so, my island girlfriends and I get together to create and “crush a cup of wine” (Act 1 Romeo and Juliet). Creating with others is a very energizing task. Simply by being in the room I find myself inspired to do more than I would if left to my own devices. In fact, during the school year I often struggle with finding the time to create so having this time set aside can literally be the difference between making something or drooling on the couch!

For our last get together our host requested that we bring a raw dessert, some old t-shirts, and our sewing machines. I am a big fan of t-shirt alteration, and while I am not a telented seamstress (yet) I truly enjoy sewing, cutting and planning. For my dessert I brought chocolate coconut macaroons. Made from dates, shredded coconut, coconut oil and cocoa powder these little treats are a very tasty companion to a bit of red wine.

 

There is nothing like the sunshine to inspire new designs and creativity. All the blooms here in the beautiful Pacific Northwest and the hum of busy bees have  inspired my latest round of hair accesories!

Spring critters like butterflies, bees, ladybugs and singing birds are amongst my favorite lifeforms here on the planet. It’s no wonder they are finding their way into my Spring fashion!

Snowflake Cookies Uploaded by irresistibledesserts

Snowflakes for a Dinner Party

Uploaded by Mad About Cookies

Snowflakes 2009 Uploaded by AMasterCreation

My cookies do not show the same delicate finesse these amazing inspirations do, but they were quite tasty. More importantly, they opened up the door to cookie decorating possibilities in the future! I look forward to continuing to hone

my skills as a cookie decorator.

Cookie decorating skills I am going to need since my best friend got me some very cute wildlife cookie cutter from Ikea ! They are the Drommar Cookie Cutters

snowflake cookies

Originally uploaded by JILL’s Sugar Collection

these cookies are truly magical! They look as though they are made from actual snowflakes - they are true works of art. I bet they tasted good too! With practice, perhaps I too can bake and decorate something so whimsically beautiful.

This year, along with one of my closest girlfriends we will be attending the Alice in Wonderland Festival at trout Lake  (www.aliceinwonderlandfestival.com) For years, I have either been away, or unable to attend due to extreme forgetfulness. This year, finally I will be there and though it is months away I am looking forward to it already. Why? Because I know it will be filled with other fun loving individuals like myself!

I have been fortunate enough these past months at the behest some of my clients with to create some beautiful pieces for their events. It has been very exciting for me to take their ideas and create the combs that they have wanted. I have also done some feather work for clients recently, and I look forward to seeing pictures from their events. I thought I might share some of my recent custom requests. Feel free to drop me a line if you have something custom in mind as well.

Being on the the front page wasn’t only  great for my eg, it was great for my store’s popularity. I am now up to 370 favorites, gaining over 40 new fans in one day thanks to this most recent Front page with my Golden Butterfly Mosiac. I am sad to say that I have not had the pleasure of discovering myself on the front page - I deduced it had happened when the views on this item went from 200 to near 700 in a day. Searching through the archives that Etsy keeps on Flickr, I discovered that my hunch had been correct.  I hope that my work continues to garner attention and that my ideas remain fresh so that people will continue to get excited about my work.

My butterfly combs having been brightening up my own hair dos all summer. It is a great joy to me to create them and to share them on Etsy. With my most recent batch I have been experimenting with staying within a certain color palette. I think the effect is quite pleasing.   

In the last year, I found myself  drawn to butterfly imagery and ideas. I have been creating collages, hair pieces and needlework all of butterflies. For many years I seen myself in the lovely creatures. It is only now that I see it is not just me, but all women. As we go into fall, I am creating butterfly head combs to remind all of us of the beauty within. The ability we have to change is always there - it is our constant state and through every hardship or triumph, we always emerge a more beautiful butterfly.