Some Wonderfully Vibrant Rainbow Corn That We Grew At Work. They Are Like Little Gems And Almost Look

I needed to find a relatively inexpensive horticulturaly adjacent activity for little kids. It needs to go alongside a plant sale, face painting and other horticulture and animal care related activities that will be taking place at an open day at work. So after dinner I cracked out my art supplies and had a bit of a play about.

I was trying to do some pastel rubbings, of bark and leaves, but then I whacked out my printmaking bits and bobs to see what they looked like when printed and I decided to go with that. I've since looked online and there are some beautiful examples of leaves being used in printmaking.

If you're doing it with little kiddy-winks then I would suggest using sturdy leaves that aren't too waxy. Really young, tender leaves will work but they tear easily and they get a bit floppy. You can apply ink with a roller to the top or bottom surface off the leaf though the bottom side usually gives better impressions of the veins. Once your leaf (or leaves) are inked up, place them on a scrap piece of paper (inked side up) and then put a piece of paper over the top. You then want to rub the back of the paper with a spoon or barren until the ink has transferred. Then you can peel away the paper and put it somewhere to dry.

Some absolutely gorgeous illustrations. The first one is my absolute fave (dragons are wonderful) Happy birthday btw.

Hey sprouts! 🌱

I recently had a birthday and I would be grateful for a reblog of my favorite works at the moment! :9

Some work acquaintances asked me to make them a butterfly hair clip after they helped me with an open day.

The first requested one based on a large emerald moth and the second asked for a peacock butterfly.

I am quite pleased with them so I thought I would share how they are made on the off chance that someone else wants to give it a go.

What you need:

- Denim or other suitably thick fabric from unwearable old clothes

- PVA glue

- acrylic paint

- embroidery hoop (optional but helps keep fabric flat)

- paper + tracing paper + pencil + scissors

- hot glue

- French barrette hair clip (alternatively you could stick it to a fridge magnet or something else)

How to make:

1. Prep the fabric by cutting a section, securing it in the hoop, then painting it first with PVA then with two layers of white acrylic paint (letting it dry between each application)

2. Find reference photos of desired species, preferably with wide open wings and taken from above.

3. Sketch half of the moth or butterfly onto a piece of paper.

4. Trace each wing separately on to the tracing paper and transfer to the fabric. Then flip and do this again so the wings are mirrored. Also do this for the body

5. Paint with acrylic paint.

6. Cut out and assemble with hot glue.

7. Stick it on to the hair clip (or other item) with hot glue

If you do make one, I would love to see them.

I attended an invertebrate show with my friends a few months back and ended up picking up four atlas moth cocoons towards the end.

I wasn't sure if they would emerge successfully but yesterday I found the first one sitting on my wardrobe.

Isn't it beautiful!

If the others hatch out in time then I will hopefully have some fertile eggs. I really want to see the whole life cycle of these amazing things.

2,300-Year-Old Plush Bird from the Altai Mountains of Siberia, c.400-300 BCE: this figure was crafted with a felt body and reindeer-fur stuffing, all of which remains intact

This plush bird was sealed within the frozen barrows of Pazyryk, Siberia, for more than two millennia, where a unique microclimate enabled it to be preserved. The permafrost ice lense formation that runs below the barrows provided an insulating layer, preventing the soil from heating during the summer and allowing it to quickly freeze during the winter; these conditions produced a separate microclimate within the stone walls of the barrows themselves, thereby aiding in the preservation of the artifacts inside.

This is just one of the many well-preserved artifacts that have been found at Pazyryk. These artifacts are attributed to the Scythian/Altaic cultures.

Currently housed at the Hermitage Museum.

I was wearing the lichen themed hair clip I made, while on a walk yesterday. I spotted some beautiful lichen and moss and decided to have an impromptu photo shoot. So here are a whole bunch of pictures of my hair clip alongside the organisms that inspired it, just because.

Plus 2 bonus pictures of lichen because I love it.

Is this partial albinism? A few years back I saw a blackbird (common name) with a lot of white feathers (see my picture below) and a quick internet search suggested partial albinism as the reason for this. However a more recent search suggested that partial albinism was not a thing and other genetic mutations are at play.

Does anyone have any insight on this?

Rare white puffin spotted on Scottish island

The Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT) said the bird was first seen on Handa Island in mid-June by seabird fieldworker Dora Hamilton.

Photographer: Dora Hamilton

A short clip from the safari at Port Lympne zoo as well as some pretty little common twayblade orchids that were growing there

Some after work Instagram browsing brought up an unexpected gem today as it randomly decided to show me some automatons.

I haven't seen any since childhood, where I vaguely recall them featuring on quirky supernatural or spooky shows as creepy curiosities from time to time.

I hadn't realised that they were still made or indeed that they could be made into such beautiful creations. With serenely swimming whales, cantering horses and fluttering birds & insects.

I decided to see if I could make a basic one using bits and bobs from my room. This ended up including black card, scissors, a bamboo skewer from one of my orchids, wire and wire clippers, a thin cylindrical ice cream stick that I saved from a kulfi, and hot glue and my glue gun.

It took a bit of time to wrap my head around the (admittedly very basic) mechanics and the end result is liable to come apart at the seams if I so much as think about turning the mechanism too vigorously. But I am happy with my first attempt.

If I can figure out how to make a less slap dash mechanism then I might make a realistically painted deaths head hawk moth automaton. I am rearing some caterpillars of this species so I am ever so slightly obsessed with them at the moment. You can see the caterpillars at the top of this post and I don't think I am alone in thinking they are absolutely gorgeous little buggers.

Not sure if you are still on here or still looking for a drawing but I found your post while looking for a prompt to draw and wanted to give it a go.

Drawing people and clothing isn't really something I am any good at, so sorry for the strange outfit and conspicuous lack of feet/hands.

Who wants to draw for me?😳

I have an OC that I want have drawn in a cutesy style--but any other style would work to.

Here is the description:

Born female but ID's as agender

African American

5'9"

Thicc? (I never thought about their body type yet😅)

Any eye color

Pink hair usually styled in double buns

They are a were-cat with black fur and pink pads/nose (transforms into a house cat)