Framing Butterflys and Moths

working on a butterfly framing class, first one is set for August. We will be using the breathtaking and spectacular Madagascar Sunset Moth.
Working with Tommy Thomas, Kris and @TLAR

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Ima sign up for this for sure!

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Madagascar Sunset Moth is truly one of the most beautiful things on this earth.

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image

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There are stories of early explorers finding new and rare creatures. To “prove” they had seen the creature, the explorers would shoot the creature and have a taxidermist setup a display for them.

Think of collecting stamps and apply that process to endangered species.

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I think it was in the early 1900s that there was a fad for making pictures and even jewelry with the scalse
from butterfly wings It was a hobby for wealth ladies

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Ah, this brings back memories of summers spent on the hunt with nets, carbon tet in a jar and bugs pinned in a cigar box…

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Putting dead things on display in a box wasn’t limited to animals and plants: in the late 1800’s it was a well-known craft to make things of human hair as well, including the hair of the recently deceased as a memorial.

There is also some evidence that women took up the craft themselves […] “Persons wishing to preserve and weave into lasting mementos, the hair of a deceased father, mother, sister, brother, or child, can also enjoy the inexpressible advantage and satisfaction of knowing that the material of their own handiwork is the actual hair of the ‘loved and gone.’ No other work ever met with such an earnest demand as this treatise upon the art of Hair Braiding.”

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Then of course there was death mask itself. A wonderful keepsake of how the departed looked dead.

it is now on the calendar…
https://calendar.dallasmakerspace.org/events/view/6247

That’s actually still a thing, hair jewelry. And also with human teeth.

As a side note, I found out the human teeth thing being a Thing when I was researching legalities because of a customer approaching me at the renfair with a possible project. (Turns out hair and teeth is legal, but bone and skin illegal, as one might guess.) Googling “human teeth jewelry” turns up some…interesting results.

Our conversation:

(She starts with this) “Are you squeamish?”

Me, intrigued, “Ummmm…not particularly?”

I decide I’m going in… “Why?”

Turns out her husband, one of the cast out at Scarborough renfair where I have my wire jewelry shop, had his wisdom teeth out earlier that year at a much later age than customary (late 50s) and Sir William was very brave indeed. She’s a dental hygienist and so she saved the teeth and sterilized them and wanted one in a piece of jewelry he could wear with his costume, much like a reliquary with a piece of bone or such might be fashioned.

At first I felt squidgy about it, but then thought, ya know, it’s clean. And heck, I have a customer that hunts and brings me elk ivory to wrap (it’s those two front teeth I think), and I’ve done carved antler, bone, etc. So really is it all that different?

Here’s what we did, a simpler guy-version of a fancy crystal wrap I do, except wisdom tooth. It looks like an interesting rock until you get close :slight_smile: (And feel free to flag/hide if this is icky to some. I’m guessing ok, but ya know…)

AFEB8DAF-009F-44DC-A45E-68E97F2410C0

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Elk ivory. I had no idea. Thanks.

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When to the amazing and generous @TLAR’s framing work shop to discuss framing of butterflies.
@TLAR @tomthm

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Tom’s shop has a lot of cool things in it.

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“Fred’s warehouse of wonder” for wood.:rofl:

Russell Ward

I caught Kelly Baggett (dont know her Talk name) and @TLAR hugging in the parking lot after teaching her basic car maintainence, despite the demeanor he is fuzzy teddy bear on the inside. :grinning:

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There are several artists that will take hair from the tail of your horse and make
bracelets of it

As to odd, at a SCA event a lady was sitting on a beautiful horesehide rug, from an
Appaloosa I commented on it and she told me he had been her childhood horse and when he died,
that she decided that she didnt want it to just tot in the grournd so she had it tanned!
No stranger that Roy Rogers having Trgger stuffed