There is a story behind this butterfly house. (I promise I will be brief.) I was looking for birdhouses at Michael's one day this past spring, when I saw this very interesting little house. When I picked it up, I read the tag which said that it was a butterfly house and I immediately thought about how sad that was. Of course, in retrospect, I realize that it is actually created to house a cocoon until the butterfly emerges and can be released. Anyway, all I could imagine was how the butterflies I would keep in there would probably die prematurely. Unless, of course, they weren't actually real--like if I made them from glitter! And an idea was born.
Here is what they look like through the mesh as they are hanging up in the house. I created them using the Double Glitter Technique that I so often reference in my blog. I used adhesive paper and Dreamweaver Stencils
LM 255,
LM 256, and
LM 121.
Here is what the butterflies look like almost ready to go. I soaped the back of the stencil, brushed off the excess soap, attached them to the adhesive paper and filled them with gorgeous Art Glitter. I removed the paper from the stencil and covered it in
Ultrafine Transparent 85 Crystal for all of them. I did each one on the paper and on some clear double sided adhesive tape. Then, I held it up to the light and attached the transparent tape to the back of the paper, lining up the butterfly. Then, I cut around each. On to the goodies--the colors I used. The blue butterfly was created in this order:
Ultrafine Opaque 79 Black (placed on the stencil and pushed into place),
Chunky Opaque Hologram 254 Stratosphere (for glitz),
Microfine Opaque 504 Blue Diadem (for sharpness) and, of course,
Ultrafine Transparent 85 Crystal for the background. The orange and gold butterfly was created using the
black,
Chunky Opaque Hologram 251 Comet,
Ultrafine Opaque Hologram 336 Alien, Microfine Opaque 501 Monarch, and, of course,
Crystal. The final Double Glitter project, the moth, was made with
Chunky Opaque Hologram 253 Aurora, Ultrafine Opaque 157 Purple Lame,
Microfine Opaque 510 Terra Blue and
Crystal.
For the outside of the house, I used Claudine Helmuth Studio Paint in Icy Blue to create a base coat. Then, when it was dry, I used Adirondack Sail Boat Blue paint to stencil designs on the exterior. I used the Dreamweaver Stencils
LJ 896 and
LJ 916 for this. I sanded the whole thing lightly when it was dry. I used the butterfly stencils with a Tsukineko Glue Pad and a stencil brush to create the glued designs. I sprinkled on glitter in four colors:
Ultrafine Transparent 145 Blue Boy,
Ultrafine Transparent 288 Deep Blue Sea, Ultrafin
e Transparent 142 Coral Reef and
Ultrafine Transparent 94 Key Lime. I purposely used transparent colors because I only wanted a hint of color. I wanted the interior butterflies to be the most prominent colors, but I still wanted to add just a little interest on the outside.
You can see how it just adds a whisper of color.
Once I finished the exterior, I realized that I needed something a little special on the inside of the house. First, I got a twig from outside. I put a little
Designer Dries Clear on my craft sheet and used a brush to put it on the branch. I covered the branch in
Ultrafine Opaque 323 Cool Brown glitter. Then, I glued some Vintage Glass Glitter Shards in
902 Kryptonite on the bottom. It was meant to represent grass, but, sadly, you don't see it in any of the photographs. Then, I put the butterflies into their home. I poked holes in them and added some fine fishing line to hang them. I used a tapestry needle to guide the fishing line through the mesh and tied it when the butterflies were the height I wanted them. Then, I added the branches into the house and put in some
Fantasy Fiber in Briarwood.
Here are a couple more pictures.
I hope you enjoyed my post today. While I am a big proponent of purchasing supplies in your local store, I am aware that many people don't have the luxury of purchasing Art Glitter locally. There is good news for you if that is the case--you can purchase Art Glitter directly from their website! Betcha didn't know that! So, now you can get your glitter going, too! Good luck!
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