Bug Art #1 The bee and Ladybird

On May 26, 2023May 10, 2024 By ArtyMissKIn Art, Bug Art8 Comments

Hello my friends!

One of my favourite things in life is listening to the bees buzz and watching the ladybirds zip across the garden. So seeing as I haven’t posted a drawing or painting for a while I thought I’d share two little pencil drawings with you, that I’ve been working on while sitting in the sun enjoying being part of nature.

I’ve drawn a very fluffy bumblebee and a seven spot ladybird beetle, two of the most recognisable bugs in the world – both are postcard size 300gsm paper and are only 13x18cm. They are drawn free hand and created using Arteza pencils.

Continue reading →

A Sycamore in Spring {One frame}

On May 19, 2023May 3, 2024 By ArtyMissKIn Photography2 Comments

Hello my Friends!

Can you believe it, we’re already sneaking up on the end of May?! Its finally stopped raining long enough to get some proper gardening done and I’m totally loving being outdoors!

Anyway, its been about a month since I posted my last One Frame and I’ve got a new shot of some beautiful green leaves to share with you this week. When I moved into my home in I totally fell in love with the huge tree at the bottom of the garden and have had to wait for months to identify it.

I did try guessing, but was way off!

Continue reading →

Embroidered Butterfly #2 {Orange tip} (updated May 2024)

On May 12, 2023May 17, 2024 By ArtyMissKIn Art, Needlework Bugs2 Comments

Hello my friends!

**This post was edited on 17/5/24 as I’ve remade the butterflies and updated the pictures**

How ya doing?

I’ve got a new butterfly embroidery to share this week. I recently got the chance to be the adoptive parent of some Orange tip butterfly pupae – I did a post on them a couple of weeks ago (links at the bottom incase you fancy giving it a read!)

So this is #2 on my Embroidered Butterfly challenge. According to Butterfly Conservation there are 61 types of butterflies in the UK.

Continue reading →

Coronation Biscuits {Recipe}

On May 5, 2023July 7, 2023 By ArtyMissKIn Photography3 Comments

Hello my friends!

Have ya had a good week? I thought I’d try something a little different from usual and share one of my go to recipes with you…quick and easy Coronation Biscuits!

Incase you haven’t heard tomorrow, May 6th 2023 is the Coronation of King Charles III, the 40th sovereign of the United Kingdom! The bunting is up, the flags are out and the majority of the country is supporting a red, white and blue colour scheme!!

Continue reading →

Amongst the Spring Wildflowers

On April 28, 2023February 15, 2026 By ArtyMissKIn Photography2 Comments

Hello friends!

Aren’t flowers just one of life’s loveliest things?

My inner fairy just wants to be set free and sit amongst them. I recently went on a nature hike and the woods are filled with some of the prettiest wildflowers I’ve ever seen. A thing I love about hiking in the wilds here is that although its hours before you see another human being, the most amazing birdsong fills the air.

I wanted to take you guys along with me so you can enjoy the relaxing atmosphere and pretty flowers too! I hope these photos bring as much joy to your day as much as they did mine.

Ready?

Let’s go!

Continue reading →

Fledgling Blackbird {One frame}

On April 21, 2023July 7, 2023 By ArtyMissKIn Photography4 Comments

Hello friends!

Seeing as spring has definitely sprung I thought I’d post a little nature filled one frame this week, I was out for a walk the other day and met a recently fledged juvenile blackbird!

Isn’t he beautiful?! At least I think its male because of the really dark wing feathers. Something I didn’t know is that baby blackbirds usually leave the nest before they can actually fly and scramble their way around trees and bushes, while hoping not to be eaten!

Blackbirds are actually a member of the Thrush family and are one of the UK’s most common birds they also have the prettiest of birdsong.

When I took this photo it was a bit nippy but the light was amazing and he was quite happy for me to take his photo. With my camera (which is a bit of a relic) anything at a distance gets a little bit blurry, but this little fella was only about a foot away so I was able to capture his details and I’m super happy with the final image.

So that’s it for this week, one lovely blackbird photographed for this post. I hope you like it. Do you have a favourite wild bird? They are wonderful creatures and I love watching them. As always thanks for reading and have a wonderful week!

Raising Orange Tip Butterflies

On April 14, 2023July 10, 2023 By ArtyMissKIn Conservation, Photography2 Comments

Hello my friends!

Nature is magical isn’t it?!

This weeks post is a butterfly centred photography collection.

I recently had to have a bit of a clear out in my new garden, for many reasons but mainly that (1) it was full of some seriously dead plants and (B) there was a little section of fencing that connected to the dry stone wall (I mean its literally one of my life goals to have a garden with a dry stone wall) that meant my dog could get out. I felt so bad for having to take away some of the dead plants but needed to make it safe for my pooch.

While I was having this clear out I found four Orange tip butterfly pupae! Being a towny I’ve never really seen these before and the pupae themselves were tiny, but being the bug freak that I am I brought them inside and created an environment for them to finish their transformation and wanted to share the photos with you.

Continue reading →

Bag End and Beyond

On April 7, 2023July 7, 2023 By ArtyMissKIn Art

Hello my friends!

Lets travel back a couple of weeks…

Incase you didn’t know March 25th was chosen by Tolkien as the date on which The One Ring was destroyed, defeating Sauron forever and finishing Frodo’s quest!

It’s known among fans of the author as Tolkien Reading Day. As I’ve mentioned before J.R.R Tolkien is one of my two favourite authors (the other being Terry Pratchett). Celebrating the 25th and Middle Earth can be as simple as picking up a book and reading or creating a piece of art, writing some poetry or just watching the movies…I know some of my fellow nerds who spend the day in their awesomely recreated costumes!

Continue reading →

Embroidered Butterfly #1 {Small tortoiseshell} (updated May 2024)

On March 31, 2023May 17, 2024 By ArtyMissKIn Art, Needlework Bugs10 Comments

Hello friends!

**This post was edited on 17/5/24 as I’ve remade the butterfly and updated the pictures**

I’ve got a new butterfly embroidery to share this week. I’m really happy with the Small tortoiseshell photograph (that I posted last week!) I particularly love this type of butterfly, they always seem so happy – don’t get me wrong all butterflies seem happy, I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who didn’t like/was scared of them (not that there’s anything wrong in that of course).

So now I’ve created a few practice versions of these I have decided to give myself a bit of a challenge…I’m gonna have a go at creating all 61 types of British butterflies…in scale with each other!

That’s right in scale!!

Yep I’ve gone and got cabin fever cos its been raining too long! I mean honestly it’s been persisting pretty much everyday since the middle of February.

Continue reading →

Small tortoiseshell Butterfly {One frame}

On March 24, 2023July 7, 2023 By ArtyMissKIn Photography2 Comments

Hello my friends!

I hope life has been treating you well.

Its been 4 or 5 weeks since my last One Frame and I’ve got a new one to share with you!

Recently I found a Small Tortoiseshell butterfly sunbathing on some really over grown stinging nettles and got a few really good photos of the wee beastie without disturbing it!! Doesn’t it just have the most fluffiest body ever!? And I love how much detail I managed to capture – its eyes are amazing.

The Small tortoiseshell is one of the most well-known butterflies we have in Britain, they are quite possibly my favourite and like a fairly wide range of nectar heavy flowers – this year I’m gonna start creating my own butterfly garden for all pollinators to try and do a little bit extra for nature. Hopefully I’ll find lots of other butterflies to photograph.

The natural light was so good that this image taken with my Nikon in macro mode, and only brightened a little in post prod.

Well that’s pretty much it, one photo of one butterfly, I hope you like it. Do you have a favourite bug? They are wonderful little creatures that run our world and make no fuss whatsoever. I’m thinking about creating an embroidered Small tortoiseshell similar to my others (hopefully you’ll come back to see it next week!)

As always thanks for reading and have a wonderful week!