The Butterfly Collector

A Lucky Fortune!

I have collected so many bits and pieces to create my art with over the years and enjoyed using them all. I especially love my finds from antique, second hand stores and op shops... things that have been discarded along the way. So many of them I have found a new life for in my artwork, a new calling for their existence. It feels wonderful to make them come alive again, change their previous uses and to recycle ...something our Mother Earth so desperatley needs us to do. 

There are so many bits here now in my studio that I decided it might be fun to package them up into pretty collections and send them out into the world once again and share them with my fellow artists.... and so The LUCKY FORTUNE EPHEMERA Collections have been born and are appearing in my ETSY SHOPPE! I can't wait to see them fly through the mail and be born again into the hands of another and made into a new creation!

Invited!

Our little winter getaway to the Dandenongs was a great success ... it included mountains, a first snowman and snowballs for Drew, relaxing massages, pretty shops and gorgeous little towns, yummy food, tea and scones, rainforest walks, a fun train ride and to top it off a trip to the aquarium in Melbourne too! Now we are back I am preparing for a First Birthday party for Eden and have just sent out our invitations to family and friends! I usually hand make and design all our invitations myself, but this year time has escaped me and I set out on a mission to find some beautiful handmade ones. After searching all over I remembered Poppies for Grace made beautiful ones in sets ( it was hard to choose! ) and they have a beautiful site too!  Here's my little picture above, they also came with envelopes and little round magnets to stick them straight up on the fridge! Oh and the bird folder at the back is from here! Plus here's my fave photo from our trip ... Drew in the Wishing Tree!

Beautiful Bookplates

When I was young I was so obsessed with my books I decided to make a library out of mine and my sister's bookshelf and put bookplates in the front of all of them and borrowing cards in the back of each and every book! The funny thing is I keep finding them again now I am reading the same old books to my little boys! I am now very tempted to start bookplates in all of their books and my own grown up novels and reference books now I have found all these beautiful ones at Etsy!
Above ... Bird Lovers Bookplates from Turtle Papers

Alice in Wonderland Bookplates from AdoraPop
Below ...Personalized Vintage Style Bookplates from Oiseaux
 

And above READING Bookplates by Shirae! Happy Reading and Happy Thursday!

Delicious!

I found a new fabulous blog today ... the Paris Apartment ... a visual feast and not only because of these wonderful paper cakes that got posted about! YUM!They just look so delicious and fairytale-like, I love the colours and am wondering about the shop behind them, what gorgeous treasures could be hidden in there ???? P.S. A Secret ... I am obsessed with shop windows and displays, I studied Visual Merchandising at collage and now cannot walk by a window without judging it, ooohhhing and aaahhhing at the creative genius behind some of them ( like this one) and wishing I could walk into some and correcting their appalling nothingness of a window display, I especially hate the ones with dust and dead flies in them! All this cake has got me thinking about coffee, I'm off to have one with my husband now, goodnight and SWEET DREAMS!

lily moon

Oh. I've yet again found another artist on ETSY I am in love with! LILY MOON's  prints are divine and I honestly cannot choose which one to buy, I must go have a cup of tea and think about it, I think it may be out of these two! Although her paper gardens are gorgeous too!

La Boheme

A short trip out today with Drew to buy some much needed storage boxes for his toys and I'm making a Useful Box, just like on playschool, so we can create things together! In it will go paper, card, felt, paints etc..., I hope he will enjoy it! Also I ducked into one of my favorite gift store's here in town to gooo and gaaaahhh over the most gorgeous photo albums and notebooks! Take a look at all of them HERE! They are by Boheme and not only look fabulous but feel wonderful too! I must go and keep painting now, I am creating at the kitchen table while the boys are out playing at a friend's house! Will show you soon!

Vintage Paper IDEES !!!

I just came across these photos again hiding in my computer! I'd saved them for a rainy day ( found them on someone's flickr or blog, can't remember, but thankyou to that person for sharing such beautiful images), and desperately want to make one of these ideas for myself! Aren't they just divine, they are from a Marie Claire Idees Magazine ( It's French and I cannot understand a word and I really should subscribe anyway because its so very inspiring!) Maybe I could make one of those pretty paper decorations for the top of my Mum's B'day Pressie! I better hurry up, it's only a week away!

Tooo Whhhoooo !!!!

I just found and fell in love with these gorgeous greetings from The Paper Princess! Everything there is a sweet treat ! If you love Vintage and are a paper freak, fly off to visit the Pretty Princess!P.S. An arty update is coming soon, hopefully this afternoon!

Beautiful Crafts!

I just had to share this gorgeous site today! I've been a Martha Stewart fan since the time I was planning my wedding and trying to decide what to use on our reception tables ( I really should find some of the photos to show you as they turned out great!) and discovered her gorgeous magazines. Now there is a new CRAFT website that I have been visiting a lot in the last week! Just look at all the beautiful papers and projects! VISIT HER HERE!

Blossom Greetings!

After my last post, I went through my gorgeous box of Greeting Cards that I can't bear to give away and found some of these beautiful cards by Nats Flowers! Natalie Lane is a Melbourne based photographer, more of her gorgeous blooms can be found on her site, as well as pretty cupcakes and Christmas baubles.

I'm in love all over again and wanted to share them here! Which also led to creating a whole new catagory on my blog so I can show more off in the future! ... greetings and paperie!... stay tuned for more !