Silver Butterflies

 I love metal thread embroidery and antique jewelry and this project combines both of those interests. For a number of years, I have had an idea to use antique Edwardian bar pins as the body of a butterfly. The pins that I bought for this project are base metal because I knew that in taking off the pin on the back, the pins would be destroyed as a piece of jewelry but reborn as part of a work of art. Each of the unique bar pins inspired the embroidery of the wings of that specific butterfly. A  couple of the pins have colored stones and so I used that color in the embroidery. I raided my stash to find every silver metal thread that I had, I didn't use all of them but it was fun to have so many to choose from. I started with a metallic organdy for the basic shape. The embroidery techniques vary but include a lot of couched metal threads with some of the areas padded to add texture. I also used beads and silver leather.

This one became a moth because the pin was a different shape and I love how it changed the whole feeling.

I added some colored threads and beads because of the aqua center stone for this one.

This one has a blue stone and shows the frame. I just used a simple black frame for all of them.

More Copper and Angels

 I have finally finished with working the copper critters. The last two are finished but I had to wait until I ordered some more copper pearl purl. You would think that I had enough thread for many more and I do but sometimes you want just that certain thread and nothing else will do. The final two are a bee and a snail.  I already have the frames so now I just need to get them framed to hang on the wall. 

Here is the bee in progress with a mock up of the wings while I waited for the copper screen to come, and finally the finished bee.

The last critter was the snail. I decided what I wanted to do and then started stitching and found that it was a bit more work than I assumed it would be because the shell is solidly stitched with either copper threads or a base of cotton for the gears. I just did the clockwork sections of the shell in a random pattern that turned out to be lots of fun to do. I arranged them in the section and then started stitching them down and had to rearrange as they shifted or went flying if they got bumped.

Now the copper is finished I have plans and ideas for some butterflies in silver.

I have seen pieces worked with a combination of gold and silver metal thread so I will keep the copper stash in mind and think about a gold, silver and copper piece. 

I also have been making good progress on Faith, Hope and Charity. I am on the top row and decided to fill in  the wings and the background around the head and halo for all three of the angels. I decided that it would be easier if I did all of those at one time so have incentive to finish the many shades of green background. Who knew that there are so many shades of spring green?

copper critters

When I was purchasing the supplies for the original embroidery of copper bugs and butterflies, I went a bit overboard. I mean how do you know what or even how much you are going to need when you are making it up as you go along? Plus as my grand-daughter puts it "oh shiny". The threads are so much fun to look at and play with that I have a great stash of shades of copper - from rose gold - light to bronze - dark.
We spend a week at the family cabin where I was able to work on them for more hours a day than I usually get to stitch so they progressed nicely. I was missing the final elements for two of them but thought that I had the supplies to finish when I got home. Well, I came home and put the screen on the fish to check the color and decided that bright brass metal screen would not work. So now I have two almost finished designs and nothing to finish them with. Hooray for the internet and the ability to hunt for unique things. I was able to find and order small amount of copper screen to see which was going to work better. When they came, I decided that one size was better for the fish and the other was perfect for the other critter.
I originally thought that I would do 5 critters  and put them in a row but now I an going to add one more and have two rows of three. The first two are finished and posted. The next two are finished and I will post them now. The fifth one is mostly finished and the final one is still in the idea/design stage.
This is the bird that I did. She has some fun techniques but I love the way that her legs turned out.

This is the fish that needed the copper screen for the fins. It was so much fun to do that as I was stitching, I thought, how would it look if I changed this part? So the fish may end up in something else eventually?

Clockwork Jellyfish

Here is the next of the copper critters. I have always liked the way that jellyfish look and how they move. It has been fun to try to use threads to interpret the shape and movement of the tentacles of the jelly fish.  Now on the the next one.....

Copper Butterfly and the angels

I am steadily working on my angels. Faith, Hope and Charity are getting much closer to being finished. I now have just 8 full pages and they are done. I ordered the mat and frame, so they are here and waiting. This is the row with the faces and will make the whole piece come alive.

A while ago I bought some fun fabric. It is a thin layer of cork on a fabric backing. I was not quite sure what I was going to do with it but it was too fun to pass up.  In addition to the copper bugs and butterflies, I wanted to do some copper critters that were a bit bigger and more in a steampunk style. Kind of funky with watch gears and fun to look at.  The cork fabric ended up being the perfect background. It is nice to have stash to draw from.
The Clockwork Butterfly is the first to be finished, although I have other shapes designed. They start with an outline and kind of grow as I stitch them.

Copper Bugs and Butterflies

When we were doing the penny bathroom, I wanted to do something to go in the room that had copper in it. So.. I decided that some dimensional embroidery and goldwork with copper threads would be perfect. I got out several of my Jane Nicholas books on stumpwork and found directions for  the bugs and inspiration and some templates for the butterflies.
Then I bought copper threads and sequins and beads and copper metal threads and then I bought some more. I have enough copper for several more projects - actually several dozen - some of which I have in mind for later.
I finished all of the critters and framed them together in a mat with nine cut out circles. They were so much fun to do. Sometimes I substituted threads when I didn't have the correct one and for others all I had was an outline and just got to play with metal threads, silk and beads.

Here is the complete set.

There are 4 butterflies, 4 beetles and a single dragonfly.

I figure that all of this embroidery is great practice for the Needlework Casket that I am ever so slowly working on.

Bugs and Butterfly

When we travel, the souvenirs that I usually bring home are pieces of jewelry. I wear a lot of silver so it doesn't have to cost a bunch but I decided when I was about 16 that if it was not real I was not going to wear it. I have softened my position a bit because large diamonds and rubies are not in the budget and because of a book that I read. It is called Utopia by Thomas Moore. In it the Utopians value things a bit differently. If something is beautiful, the materials that it is made of are of secondary value to the craftsmanship of the object. Tiffany art glass is a perfect example of this. The value of Favrile is in the wonderful surface and shape of the glass.

Anyway, all of this rambling is actually going somewhere. When we were in Arizona last month, we found the most fantastic jewelry in the shop in Mesa, AZ. The jeweler's name is Matt Muralt and he creates the most wonderful, magnificent art jewelry in glass, gold and precious stones. I had him make a pendant of green glass and gold in the shape of a scarab. It glows like it has a light behind the glass. Here are a couple of his other creations. The wings on the jeweled scarab move. The Luna moth is divine and could be compared to the best of the Art Nouveau work.

I am also working on a fun piece of embroidery. It is titled Metamorphosis and will have many of the stages of the Monarch butterfly. I have finished the surface work and am working on the detached elements now.