I am not crafty, I made a quilt once and it took me 20 years; I won't live long enough to complete another one. In my youth I fancied myself an entomologist (one of those strange people with an affinity for bugs) and I still have a bug collection buried somewhere in the basement. I have always liked the look of a small insect collection or a marvelous butterfly specimen displayed on a wall but have never quite figured out how to make it happen. My poor collection has suffered mold, dermestid beetle invasion (yes, cannibalism: beetles eating beetles), and physical trauma during a move which will give you some idea of how fragile and vulnerable these preserved insects can be, that and direct light exposure is a great way to fade your butterflies. So how do you get 'the look' without destroying your collection (or having your house smell like the mothballs which are used to protect against the aforementioned beetles)?
Behold!:
Impressive, and it did not even require days in the field to capture these beauties or painstaking hours mounting them. And yes, I am aware that the monarch is the size of a small moth and that the species represented are not all native to the same continent or exactly the right color, but scientific accuracy aside, it was really easy and the results are rather impressive. And I didn't even have to kill anything which strangely gets harder as I get older and have more use for a camera than a net. So if you want your own five minute bug collection, here is the recipe:
Ingredients:
One shadow box
One set of butterfly decals
Mix thoroughly and enjoy!
No comments:
Post a Comment