A New Butterfly Friend- Rice Paper Butterfly



Image by Per Erik Standberg via WikiMedia

Well, it's been some time since I've posted and even longer since we've met a new butterfly. I alluded to the butterfly at the end of my last post so here it is. Today, meet the Rice Paper Butterfly, also known as the Paper Kite, the Wood Nymph, or the Large Tree Nymph butterfly. This one is a simple and elegant butterfly, marked by it's slow, gracefully floppy flight. It's size and slow flight make it a popular attraction at butterfly conservatories the world over, though the Paper Kite originates in Southeast Asia. A member of the subfamily Danainae, Paper Kites are considered to be distasteful to prey because of the host plants it feeds on, just like it's subfamily cousin the Monarchs which feed on milkweed. I've always heard that the yucky tasting butterflies can get away with a slow flight and the yummy ones have to flitter and dart about to avoid being captured.

I found this video on YouTube that gives us a look at the lovely movements of the Rice Paper butterfly. The video was posted by Weiße Baumnymphen.

Because of the Paper Kite's distinctive wing pattern, she is popular not just an a striking addition to butterfly conservatories but also to artists. OK, I use the term "artist" loosely when applied to myself- I'm more of a "goofing-around" type. At any rate, here's my latest paper cutting adventure:

I cut the butterfly first, from a heavy black paper, and then sprayed it with a light coat of black laquer to strengthen and stabilize it.

The I cut a piece of white glitter paper to fit exactly under the wings and used a light stain of watercolor to give the wings their yellow color at the junction with the body. I framed our gal by layering first a white background, then the glitter paper, than a layer of clear acrylic. I put the cut out wings on top of the acrylic then covered with glass and it all went into a simple frame.

I have decided that I need to make another one, sort of a positive-negative thing, after I saw how the wings looked before cutting them away from the black paper.

But that's a project for another day.

Hey thanks for visiting the jungle today. I'm looking forward to spring and healing things but right now I'm off to shovel snow.

Paper Cutting, Butterflies, and Babies

One of my nieces recently had a baby girl and she had the good sense to decorate the baby's nursery with a butterfly theme. Obviously my niece is not only a wonderful person but she has excellent taste as well. A fine young lady. Anyway, I knew immediately what I wanted to do for her and the baby.

The blurred part has the baby's name cut out as well. I have made it a general policy not to use the real names of my family, friends, or loved ones here in the Jungle (and it's kind of fun making up nicknames for them- we'll call this baby Happy, because she's full of smiles). Even though only minor detective work will lead to my real name there are reasons that the in-laws (as well as Zippy and some others) might not be so easy to track down. I want it that way. I'm not calling out my butterfly visitors as untrustworthy, but the Internet is the cyber wild west and I want to keep my loved ones safe, especially the kids, because one just never knows. Any way.....

I used a shadow box that I got at Michaels, the one with the adjustable depth, and cut two layers of butterflies (three if you count the very back). It was great huge fun! Want to see?

I drew out and cut the original design first and then transferred it, upside down, to the back of the colored scrapbook paper.

Then it was simply a matter of layering the butterflies in the frame, using the different depth options. I used little 3D buttons on the white butterfly to raise it up from the background. The green butterfly is placed on top of the highest layer and is against the glass.

I used a tiny little hole punch that I found at the Dollar Tree to punch little butterflies out of a monochromatically colored pience of scrapbook paper and sprinkled them here and there.

And that's all there was to it! But oh so much fun. I'm guessing there are more kinds of this project in my future. I would love to do one for my Zippy-Gal but she's not a sweet little butterfly sort of kid. Maybe Minecraft, Doctor Who, or her dog. Hmmm...

To wrap up today, we'll do a bit of butterfly archeology. Fossils of butterflies are rare with the earliest butterfly fossils from the early Cretaceous period, about 130 million years ago. The extinct prodryas Persephone butterfly is the oldest known butterfly, discovered at Lake Florissant, Colorado. It is the first fossilized butterfly found in North America. Though about 40 million years old and known from only a single specimen, it is one of a dozen species of butterfly found at the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument in Colorado, run by the National Park Service, and is certainly the finest fossilized specimen in the park. In additon to the colors and patterns, the wing venation is beautifully preserved. It is even possible to see individual scales on areas of the forewing. Its name, Persephone, is that of the daughter of Zeus.

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So there you go, my precious butterfly visitors. Thanks for checking in today.



Hectic In The Jungle

Life here in the jungle has been pretty busy. I started a new job a couple of weeks ago and even though it is for the same hospital doing similar type of work, it's still a change. My brain has felt like my new desk looks...

... full and in need of some organization (that's my Gracie Mae peeking out at us). My new position involves setting up a new program of sorts, or an extension of an existing one, so it's kind of exciting in that respect but I feel a step removed from the actual medical care that goes on so that will be an adjustment. Part of it might be that I haven't gotten in the groove of seeing patients regularly again so maybe I'm just missing that aspect until I can shake out all the administrative type things. My new office is lacking a window, something that will be hard for me, but I have already been trolling poster websites for something "outdoorsy". I do have an entire folder on my computer dedicated to cloud photos, like this one that I took out the bedroom window yesterday. Maybe if I tweak one of them and get it printed up humongo-sized I could have nothin' but sky above my desk.

Everyone has been so apologetic about my bitsy-sized space but I honestly don't care: it's good to have a job in this day and age and I like to think, correctly or not, that I can make any space cute. This little cubby hole of an office would be a great subject for a remodeling post but we'll see how that goes. I've already disarmed half of the florescent lights as their glare off the screen gives me instant and huge headaches.

My Zippy-girl returned after almost two weeks at the beach with a friend, sporting her first real sunburn. I have had skin cancer in the past and while I'm not as rabid about the sun protection as I should be, we do try to make a good effort at protecting our hides. That Zippy got to her teens before her first significant burn is way better than I did and a learning opportunity for her. Now she knows how much a good burn can really hurt. I make sure to play up my sadness that she has to suffer a sunburn to try to emphasize that it's not a desirable thing to get.

This was Zippy's longest time away and there were a couple of late-night texts that made this momma want to jump in the car and drive the 500 miles to "save" her baby but homesickness is something that everyone needs to learn to deal with and I think I did well. Zippy did well too.

So a few things have been happening in the jungle: new job, world traveller kid, new neighbors, wrecks in front of the house, heat, heat, heat, heat, friends to pray for, visiting relatives (gotta love a houseful of Norwegians), dental surgery, and dog fights. Did I mention the heat? But I have managed to finish a little cross-stitch project that I started back in June when we had a lovely Crimson Butterfly at the end of our birth month flower post. June's flower is the rose and I came across a "rose" butterfly but couldn't get it together to use that little lovely so we went with the Crimson beauty. The rose butterfly I discovered is the elegant Ceylon Rose (Atrophaneura jophon) from Sri Lanka.



Photo by Nayana wijetilaka via Wikimedia Commons



This lovely butterfly is found primarily in the lowland evergreen rainforests of Sri Lanka, formerly Ceylon, and grows to about five inches. It is a rare butterfly and critically endangered  by Cites (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna) due in most part to habitat loss. Environment Canada has a very nice fact sheet on this butterfly if you would like to learn more about her.



Image via dnp.go.th



But what I really wanted to share with you last month and wasn't able to complete in June is the little cross-stitch I did of our classy Ceylon Rose.

This isn't a complicated pattern at all and in fact, it is actually a crochet pattern designed by Sandy Marshall that I found here. I added the lettering so I'm to blame for that bit of wonkiness but it was great to do some cross-stitch again. There are several butterfly patterns in this series so I might have to try some of the other ones.



And here we are, at the end of today's post. Gosh, we've kind of been all over the place today. I'll finish our July birth month flower in a day or two so please flitter back soon. As always, I so very much appreciate your visiting the jungle.

Stay cool. Use sunscreen- seriously.

Spectacularly Painted Lady

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This is a Painted Lady Butterfly. She's a sweet little gal found almost worldwide and while she has lovely markings on her wings with nice atumnal colors, she isn't a standout, knock-your-socks off butterfly.



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Don't get me wrong- I think butterflies are beautiful no matter what but let's admit it, Painted Lady is kind of plain in her markings. Not a wall-flower but not Prom Queen either. Unless, of course, Susan Brubaker Knapp gets ahold of her, that is.



Photo used with permission.



Shazaam and Ka-Pow !

Susan is a fiber artist, quilt pattern designer, and teacher who is one of those incredibly lucky folks making a living at what was once "just" an obsessive passion. This quilt, Lepidoptera, is a wholecloth, painted quilt.



Photo used with permission.



To read more about how Susan was inspired to create this incredibly gorgeous quilt and how she went about it, click here. Jump over to her blog, Blue Moon River, and look around at her fabulous quilts. Her website is also Blue Moon River. Plenty of yummy things to see.

OK, that's it for today, just a short look at a fabulous quilt. I simply HAD to share this beautiful work with you. Thanks for checking in today- see ya next time.

 



Biomimetic Butterflies

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The Barbarian Group

 

Hi there! I know it's been a bit since my last post but life is getting, um, "full and busy" these days as things move forward. But I simply HAD to share these butterflies with you. These ravishing beauties were created in 2007 by The Barbarian Group, an interactive marketing firm, for the exhibit Interactivity at the McLeod Residence, a gallery in Seattle, Wa. The butterflies are laser cut from paper and are rigged up, through a system of motors, magnets, video cameras, and computer magic that I would be hard pressed to explain, to respond to observers by flapping their wings. The details of the installation and the creation of the wings can be found here, (it's pretty neat-o if you're a geek-nerd type so I'll see you there!) and you can check out the wing flapping happiness in the video below.

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The Barbarians designed seven "species" of butterflies for the exhibit using unique algorithms for each. It gets a tad "math-y" but you owe it to yourself to check out the families by going here. For example:

Circle Packing



Voroni



Cracking



                                                                                 Photo- Life As Art via Flickr

The Barbarian Group

Here is a video of the process of creating these wings posted by Robert Hodgin, one of the barbarians, on Vimeo. He says he used magnetic forces and voroni to create the patterns. Voroni is a type of mathematical dividing of a space with a certain specified point in each division. Math-y stuff, I know. Cornell University has an applet that let's you play around with making Voroni diagrams and once you do it, by clicking anywhere, you can easily see how it divides the space so that there is only one specified coordinate in each division. Go ahead, watch the video below and then go play at Cornell's site here.

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Easy, right? Then stick it in the laser cutter. Nerdy stuff really is pretty cool.

Another of Robert Hodgin's images of biomimetric butterflies.

What exactly is biomimetics? It is defined by Websters as "the study and development of synthetic systems that mimic the formation, function, or structure of biologically produced substances and materials and biological mechanisms and processes.' So it is the study of structure and function of biological systems, such as butterfly wings, to use in the design of structure, function, and materials of machines or devices. We touched in this in the post about pearls where we learned that scienticst studying the structure and compostion of pearls are using what they've learnedabout pearl nacre in applications for dental implants, artificial bones, and computer components. Anyway- it's biomimicry.

As for butterflies, scientists are using the new discovery that butterfly wings have cells that are natural solar collectors to improve solar technology or hydrogen gas- a green fuel- production. Or how about applying information about the structure and function of the wings and their reflectivity to improve display screens for cell phones, e-readers, and tablets. Cool shtuff, eh?



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Did I find other pretty butterfly things while working on this post? Oh you bet I did.



Photos: Bas Helbers, Giulietta Verdon-Roe



"We’ve seen chandeliers made from recycled bicycle parts and cultured crystal, but this imaginative take on fusing lighting and renewable energy generation must be the ultimate in solar-powered gadgets. Taking its biomimetic cue from real-life butterflies that use their wings to gather vital solar energy, this spectacular chandelier is made from 500 butterfly-shaped blue cesium photovoltaic cells, which in turn self-powers a large, hand-blown glass bulb in the center. Dubbed “Virtue of Blue,” it’s designed by Dutch artist-designer Jeroen Verhoeven and masterfully blends ecological design with art and functionalism." Source

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This video shows the slow-mo flight of an artificial swallowtail built by Hiroto Tanaka and Isao Shimoyama from Harvard University and the University of Tokyo, respectively, to test their hypothesis about flight. You can go here to read up on it if you would like.  How's this model for a delicate little bit of their craftiness?




Finally, since this is a rather black and white post, I'll leave you with a bit of color. Not that these butterflies have anything to do with biomimicry, necessarily, but they are colorful and pretty and, you know, made from sugar.

 

Image by SugarRobot via etsy.com

  

So I just found out that my niece, who is expecting in June, is decorating her nursery with a butterfly theme. OK, people, why am I just now finding that out? Anyway, after seeing the gorgeous laser-cut butterflies from The Barbarians, my exacto knife is itching and flittering a bit and I have a tiny egg of an idea for the newest addition to our family. Did I say egg?





Egg of Zebra Longwing Butterfly. Image via National Geographic.

See ya next time!

 

 

 

Butterfly Togs

Image via Design Squared

I'm sure that most of us have seen Luly Yang's exquisite bias-cut, silk and Swarovski crystal monarch dress. Kind of makes my head spin a bit. I've seen $25,000 as the price, so most likely it won't be my Easter dress this year. But are there other butterfly dress options? I am so glad you asked! Let's wander, shall we ...

Love this dress. And look how the sash on the girl's dress is a butterfly.
Image via Sangmaestro

Batik shirt. Image via Earth Harmony



Dresses by Vivienne Tam.
I can see this in an affordable cotton so I could get one and lounge around the beach.
Image via Wondermomo+Whoop!





Oh you bet my Zippy would have had one of these.
Less than $30- Easter dress for little one?
Image via Dennis Designs.





Oh Leslie Ann Warren, you made me cry as Cinderella when I was little and now
you have this way cool 1970's dress. Sigh.
Image via Super Seventies




1955 "Butterfly Dress".
Smoke gray silk chiffon; 25 yards of pale gray silk satin; aubergine, lavender,
and oyster white tulle. Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.





Alexander McQueen Butterfly Print Gown. Fashion Police.





French Postcard. Image via The Last Door...Down The Hall.





Knitting Patterns By Melissa



And there it is- my Easter dress choice.
Silk Cheongsam. Efushop

Matthew's Island of Misfit Toys

My Poochie's Paradise

And after we've fluttered around town all day in our butterfly togs, we'll put on our butterfly bathrobe ...

Pajamaland.com

... and go to bed.

Barcelona, Spain. TravelPod

... or to bed...

Mod Green Pod

... or to bed.

On Home Design

Good night.



Cody and Company Pets, on etsy



(Hey, check back in again. Next time we're going to cook!)