Secrets of a Butterfly

Handmade items to give and to treasure

I have revamped my etsy shop, its something i have been wanting to do for ages now, and i'm pleased to say i am well on the way to stocking it with some of the items i've been making. i did this mosaic on big huge labs to showcase my range. Most of the pieces have a french vibe, with eiffel towers and old vintage postcard images featuring. Along with the wording you know i love so much like, 'wish upon a star' or 'believe'.

Do you like my new business card? Mandy of Belle and boo did it for me! i am very honored as the butterfly and meadow feel is just what i wanted. I sent her some star jasmine as she has been such a star to me.There's new things coming from Belle and boo too soon,so watch out for them.here's a sneaky peek at the new website front page!! i love swings in the trees and this was one of my favourite moments on holiday last year.... it would'nt seem much to many people,and may even seem too young a thing to do to others, but to me - the sense of freedom was amazing after many years ill in bed, in one room. To be out in nature surrounded by the birds song and to hear the branches and leaves of the tree and feel the wind against my face was an experience both of freedom and of fun, both of which were almost entirely absent for a long long time. i havent come across another tree swing as yet,but if i do, i hope to go on it.

One thing i have come to appreciate is to be in and to live each moment as much as i can,i did this even before i had much of an' out an about' life to lead,and it still supports me now. Also i must never hold back, worrying what others might think of me. Its my life, and as much as i can, i want to live it in my way. Maybe there will be a swing near Windermere this time,(in a different area of the Lake District) where we are going at the end of June-lets hope so ( ;

love and butterflies kat xxx

Handmade notebooks for the Boutique

Just thought i'd share some of the things i made and took across to the boutique Have to love last week. It was the first time i'd been out as far in a while and i felt it was a major thing to get over and to leave some new cards i'd been making, along with these little notebooks and 2 larger journals. I always love making things to take across to Kate,as she and i share a love of vintage and Paris in particular. So much of what i make has these elements to it,either in wording or images.

The shop is soley a clothes boutique the likes of which you'd usually only come across in London.So my cards and books are just added extras for people to browse as they choose from the ranges.Alot of the clothes are from French labels along with some from New york-there really isnt a shop like it around in our area of England so it has a unique vibe. I would spend much more there if i could afford it! as it is i like to save up for one or two things a season and this time along with my jeans i shared in a previous post i got a white broderie anglais type top by Tibi.If you can visit then do,but if not then Kate has a website at Have to love

I hope to make some more of the notebooks to put in my etsy shop,if anyone is interested perhaps leave me a comment on this post sometime,its always a treat to hear feedback and encouraging too.So far each one i've made has been totally unique,but i am open to requests if you have a particular idea in mind or would like one very similar to those photographed.

mmm an icecream patterned dress hanging here....reminds me to show you this treat i had at the riverside,because of the warmer weather, no other reason really..

I enjoy making these larger journals as there's a much bigger surface to work with and i can add more details. I liked adding the vintage brooch image and the ribbon to this one as the colours matched in well. The background papers i use tend to be either by K and Co or Daisy D's. As with the smaller notebooks the pages inside are plain white,(but these are thicker paper) which i prefer from a journalling point of few, to the lined or graphed versions. If you write in journals yourself then maybe you can relate to what i mean. I feel plain pages give you more freedom to express as you wish,lined ones are better for making lists and remind you of school work!  love and smiles kat x

EnJoying the moment

  I've been making a few new things lately,this little book for secrets and notes,which i added to my etsy shop along with some new cards. I did some batches of valentine's cards for the boutiques too . It is a grey day here,in contrast to yesterday's blue sky,strange how it can change in the blink of an eye. The postman brought some interesting things this morning.. the new cath kidston catalogue had an appropriate cover for the rainy day!  but had some pretty things to browse and window shop.I've cut back on a few magazines lately as i wasnt finding them as good as they used to be,but i still like Grazia on a Tuesday with its mix of fashion and news stories and a bit of celebrity features. I also got a few things from Belle & Boo a new mirror mandy is doing and a postcard of a sweet little couple ...A birthday gift of a ring from Shelbi came at the weekend,she made it for me isnt it lovely and so kind of her to choose the butterfly especially. we have become really firm friends since meeting on Flickr and i'm just wishing, as i so often do with my friends, that we lived just around the corner instead of in different countries! her little ones are so adorable and enjoying what i sent for our swop,which makes my heart smile to think of them.

This image from the charlotte ronson new collection is very sunny and i really like the yellow cardigan, a nice warm day in spring this reminds me of.(well ok maybe summer when it comes to living here) Cassie sells Charlotte Ronson its one of the more casual ranges she carries at the boutique. She also has see by chloe and M by missoni,Sass and Bide and Catherine Malandrino which are more expensive. But you can often pick up good sale items from them. We havent been across for a while with both mam and i needed quieter days. Healing wise there's been alot going on, and different things to take into account so we havent been out and about. But those times will return and i progress in other ways it doesnt all have to be measured in terms of new things achieved. Someone thought i may be moving into my own flat or place in the near future, but no, thats some way off and not something i would choose to do.I'd prefer to live with someone.

I take pleasure in the little things and in enjoying the moment now that i can, i am not thinking long term,  just taking things as they come, always i'm grateful for this new way of being and for the opportunity to build confidence and renewed trust in how i feel.

my little blog and my posts, they are for me as much as to share with others.thankyou for taking the time to browse today,for appreciating what i do and who i am. its so very nice to have a listening ear. i enjoy your words and pictures too,so much, it makes me feel connected and a part of a community.....with gentle Joy and love Kat x

 

Creating...a dream come true

Hello everyone there seems so much to chat about today i'm in the mood to do a post to you and don't know what to share and what to keep for another time! Above i've put a picture of one of the canvas collages i did for Kate, she actually bought three different ones for christmas gifts which i was over the moon about. I really enjoy making them up and each one is so different. On here you can see vintage fabric lace buttons and wallpaper. The wallpaper is so fragile as its from as far back as teh 20's and 30's. I find it fascinating to have it in my hands and to be using it after so many years. The designs are just so beautiful too. i'm often hoping some company will reissue them or make modern versions. Its happened with fashion after all so why not with decor. But then not everyone is a wallpaper fan. We are though and have laura ashley in alot of rooms now. They are one of the few places to do really nice colours and patterns these days.

Here is another precious photo this time of my dream come true...its in lola l'amor boutique,on Clayton road in jesmond, and shows my work displayed!two small canvas angel collages and up on the wall to the right are two large canvas collages of mine also.

and here in the glass cabinet are 3 of my journals....up until now i have only had cards or lace bracelets for sale so this was such a big thing for me. I was always a creative person, but when you have to wait for over 10 years before you can get your ideas out you certainly have alot of creative energy stored up inside your soul and just want to make and make!! and it doesnt really matter where it leads me or who likes it,its just a passion. I feel really lucky that the angels guided me to lovely people and places over the past year. after being tucked away for so long in a bedroom and no one really knowing who i am and what i'm about to have this presence in the world, with my artwork out there means so much to my heart and to my soul. And if i sell any its just a bonus, its more for the healing aspect to it all at the moment,as i am still limited in terms of what i'm up to making. And really it just means i can enjoy the making of more and have room for them in my small craft space!  Its so small, but i'm thankful to have it as a place to store everything i source. i have a small sofa too that i sit on and paint and sew. I couldnt sit up even in bed for years,so to do this now is amazing. It is such a dream i can't tell you....

Its hard sometimes to share things that are going good,as there's a part of you that fears doing so incase of it all turning back into a pumpkin or something, like with Cinders at 12 o'clock. When you've only had distress in your life and then things look up its a matter of trusting it.And i do because it feels intuitively to me, to be different now. See, the condition meant that at many stages before things went better but never held, and this i'm dating back to the onset of ME as a teenager and going into school thinking i was ok only to be off the following week or month. Trying so hard to make myself be ok and be able to get back to normal and yet the harder i tried the worse things only  seemed to get.And so as i heal there are different memories and patterns that come up and also alot of held emotion from some of the stuff i lived through that at times has been pretty scarey. I really value E.F.T.(emotional freedom technique) for this of which there is a link to info on it under the wellbeing section.

For anyone dealing with any sort of trauma whether recent or long held i can recommend it. healing isnt just physical it involves all levels of our being, emotional and spiritually too. All things have their timing. A bit like the seasons there is time for expansion and time for reflection, time for letting go of past pain and time for opening up to new joys. Sometimes i've found we can move through all of these on a weekly basis sometimes they take a few months at a time. may your time today be a productive and peaceful one, With love and kathryn wheels!(for bonfire night on the 5th!)kat xxx

Little pretty baby

I am doing my descriptions for my items to go onto my Etsy shop Secretsofabutterfly hopefully over the weekend. Its very exciting. This is a ATC artist trading card that will be one of the first uploaded. I had a lovely email from Julie today to say willow is on her way in the mail and to say she posted a pic of the china cup and saucer i sent her as a thankyou for doing me a massive favour. here's the very cup and saucer i sent..dont you just love old china mugs and cups.Posy's blog has a photo of her mug rack at the mo and its beautiful, full of all the dainty flowered china she's picked up in markets and antique shops on her travels. I tend to pick things up on my travels too its just they're mainly internet based! and the card which i made for J which has vintage lace and a vintage butterfly. Thats all for now,but don't forget to pop back and check out my shop, and let me know what you think...if you don't want to post on here email me at Ksecretbutterfly@aol.com (please just use my other email address as normal if you have it)wishes K x

... a little bit of heaven

Technically i made this canvas for Lola L'amor but since it was my first of a vintage image, i'm quite likely to want to hang onto it. Thats the thing with using such hard to come by bits and pieces ,they may seem like nothing, but when put together they somehow take on a new life and are recycled into an object, that is worth more to you than the sum of its parts. I can't repeat this picture again, since the fabric is vintage scraps,alot of the paper is vintage wallpaper from the 1940's and i only have a small amount of the lilac lace. I'm going to have to get better at giving my pieces away though, if i'm wanting to open my etsy shop. here is a lilac cuff which is done in the remainder of the lace and will be one of my items to sell... What else was i going to chat to you about today, ah yes the new bird candle holder from laura Ashley made it here and was worth the wait. I love it! Though i've had plenty pretty tealight holders over the years i've never really had a nice taper candle holder, as they are quite hard to find as usually are a bit tall. This one is just right though... There's nothing more relaxing than candles burning and now i may get round to remembering to light them. Speaking of relaxation...I did have a relaxing shower today as with it being sunday there was every reason to be gentle and take my time.

I wanted to recommend an oil i use sometimes ( imagine a spa resort in Bali,but in a bottle,in your own bathroom!)  i think i'd rate this as my favourite product ever! its by Elemis and is called Exotic Frangipani monoi moisture melt and is quite literaly a little piece of heaven you can apply to the skin.  Its especially soothing as it comes solidified and to use, it has to melt first, by standing the bottle in hot water (or floating it in the bath!) which means when you come to apply it the oil is lovely and warm. I am a great believer, as are Elemis themselves, in the healing and soothing properties of flowers and herbs. Both in the format of oils but also as flower essences. The beauty of a frangipani flower

is unmistakeable and certainly it feels like a healing balm when you use it as you can really feel the relaxing of tension as the warm oil melts into the skin. Mmmm.    Apparently, and i can imagine this to be true, the treatment at the spa using this range is second to none. But whats great is, if you can't go to their spas, at least you can try out the products at home and do a sort of spa treatment on yourself. I found them through Qvc (elemis) as the benefit about purchasing from them is, they offer great prices, especially on kits of smaller sizes, to the actual elemis website,where things are full price. Though there is a special offer at the moment on their site where when buying 3 products you get a kit free which actually includes the small frangipani oil.

So getting back to Qvc,i've been trying things from them over the years and found what i like and what i'm prepared to pay for the quality of. If they don't work out for your skin, even after 28days of use,you can return them for a refund. I did this with the cleanser and toner for dry skin as i found i needed the senstive set instead. It has chamomile as its basis and an apricot toner and i've found it the best suited to my face. Though i still use Liz earle cream on my body as i find thats still the most moisturising. Again i found Liz Earle through qvc, many years ago and also l'occitanne. It would be an expensive business to try all these products on a wim, if then say, half turned out not to be what you're after, or not agree with your skin. So thats why i'm grateful to Qvc, for it sells so many of the top brands out there now and is a way of trying before you buy, which department stores simply don't have as a policy!

I thought i'd share a page from one of my journals from awhile ago which continues the relaxation theme and in a way sums up the qualities of the oil, a warm soothing sunset or walk along a beach like this...heaven. Xx

Sweetness

I thought i'd share some of the things i've made lately. I also had my hair cut for the first time in a long time and there's a picture below.it was a big thing to me very meaningful on lots of levels. The weather here has been very confusing for a bit it felt like

summer had fully arrived and it was time to get all the white things out and wash them,iron them, wear them etc etc... but then it went back to what feels like march and its been so wet. i like rain, but when it spoils the bunnies getting out to stretch their little legs on the grass i feel rather sad for them and i'm having to go out to feed them in the freezing cold too which i hadnt expected in june, so my appreciation of wet weather is slightly less right now.however there is still time left of our summer and i'm sure july will be much warmer and dryer. if you don't know about it already Louise Loves is a lovely online shop that has vintage items and she does lovely handmade cushions this is one of hers and ive been photographing the cards on it as it makes a nice background. she picks up things at markets and sells them. I think vintage english country cottage style is quite popular as a decorating style in other countries, such as Japan and of course America where elements of it are similar to shabby chic. Here's a ATC i did called sweetness.. Ive been trading cards and its a nice easy way to collect other people's art. I'm going to list more on flickr sometime i think.with love and sunshine Kat

A card or two

I was really happy last night as i was quick enough to email and buy one of Julie's little cotton rabbits called tessie which is adorable. i highly recommend her shop and her blog and as a thankyou i've made her this card. Below i've put in a picture of tessie as you can see there is so much skill and work involved in each one and they must take alot of time and care too. It must be so satisfying though to know that so many people want to get hold of one when they come online. Its inspired me to once again think about the angel or fairy dolls i've had a desire to make for such a long time. I can't decide whether i'll have to make their bodies myself or whether i can find a stockist of soft rag doll bodies,they've proved quite tricky to source on the search engines, and so its been on hold. I have though been collecting my vintage lace and fabric towards doing their dresses. It would be lovely to list them on my blog once i've made a few.

Here are 2 artist trading cards i did for gifts

and a card going to bonnie as part of a swop recently,yes you're getting a sneak preview of it B!

In memory of Jo

With this time of year comes the Chelsea flower show and big brother two very different things to watch but two which remind me very much of a dear friend Jo who passed away a year ago this month. Just in her thirties Jo was the sweetest kindest person,rather like an angel.. so i know she is definately being a guardian angel to me now from above. She did that anyway when she was here. One of her favourite colours was purple so i set up this little display for her. I know it won't mean very much to you my friends and fellow bloggers out there to see it, but i know that cancer will have touched you in some shape or form so you will relate to the need to mark a friends life and to treasure the memories that you have of them by marking certain days and occasions. Candles and flowers seem to be what we turn to in hours of need as the recent events with madelaine show. Here's a few cards i made recently. The nights are certainly alot lighter at present which makes me feel like doing more in the evenings. Bonnie i have your trading card ready and will post it soon. And that just leaves me to send get well wishes to anna and her little boy luigi and kye..hope youre back running about again very soon love Kat x

Special delivery

Bonnie thanks so much for the wonderful swop package you are so kind and i appreciate all the bits and pieces. Its my first time doing a swop with a fellow blogger and its been a pleasure. Here's what arrived,including the cards which are handmade, an envelope shaped like a pouch some little birdies(so sweet)pretty fabric and postcards of the beautiful area in south africa. I've been getting some new arrivals which i'll speak about tomorrow but in the meantime here's a picture of my dad building the hutch!he's done an excellent job and its now stained green. The colour was willow green, i chose it as its a nice name. More about names soon....love and wishes K