Embroidered Butterfly #18 & 19 {Ringlet & Mountain Ringlet}

On February 7, 2026February 16, 2026 By ArtyMissKIn Art, Needlework Bugs9 Comments

Hello my friends!

A couple of weeks ago I posted some photos of Ringlet butterflies that I took during last years gloriously sunshine filled summer and compared them looks-wise to their much rarer mountain dwelling cousins (who I’ve yet to see).

It was so lovely seeing such a large amount of these butterflies just living their best life out in the wild!

So I decided to make both a Ringlet and a Mountain Ringlet to add to my increasing collection of embroidered butterflies…

Ringlet (the bigger one) – #18 on my embroidered butterfly challenge – are a member of the ‘brown’ family of butterflies and are an unassuming light brown to almost black butterfly with little decorative black eye-spots, with a wingspan 48mm (male) 52mm (female) so in keeping with my twice life size scale my needlework Ringlet has a wingspan of about 10.5cm.

The much rarer Mountain Ringlet (the smaller one) – #19 on my embroidered butterfly challenge – is much smaller than their cousins, with a wingspan of 35mm (male) and 38mm (female) and are much darker brown with orange rimmed eyespots. Even when doubled my Mountain Ringlet still only has a tiny 7cm wingspan!

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Robin {One frame}

On January 31, 2026January 29, 2026 By ArtyMissKIn Photography4 Comments

Hey friends!

Can you believe it will be February tomorrow?!

I’ve got a little one frame to share with you this week, now I don’t often don’t often snap photos of bird (I really struggle getting them to appear sharp instead of overly soft) but while I was wandering recently, between the storms we’ve had over the last couple of weeks this rather friendly little robin came and stood beside me on the low branches of a tree.

He or she is a obviously a Robin (Erithacus rubecula) which is, according to the RSPB the UK’s favourite bird. Males and females look pretty much identical and like to sing nearly all year round and despite their cute appearance, they are aggressively territorial and will fight off intruders to protect their patch of garden.

It really was very beautiful moment!!

And once I got home and was able to have a proper look at my snaps, I was pleasantly surprised at how clear the photos were, you can see the definition of his little feathers and everything!

In other news the first disasters of 2026 have happened, they say things always come in threes! Firstly my washing machine tried to take flight and promptly smelt like burning rubber (not nice!), secondly my air source heat system died and has got to be completely replaced including all the pipes and stuff and the radiators are being moved which is gonna mess up my wallpaper (yay!) and thirdly my butterfly house/shed kinda flooded this week – I was super upset I’ve never owned a shed and had worked really hard to make it pretty, the worst part is I literally can’t do anything to fix it until the rain stops and it has a chance to dry out.

So onwards and upwards I’m hoping to get all the bad stuff out of the way early in the year.

Thanks for stopping by to check out this post, is the Robin your favourite garden bird? I’d love to know. As always thanks for reading and have a wonderful week!

Ringlet butterfly photography!

On January 24, 2026May 30, 2026 By ArtyMissKIn Photography2 Comments

Hello my friends!

I hope you’re well!

This weeks post is a butterfly centred photography collection.

Admittedly I took these photographs last summer and because of life never got around to posting them so I thought I’d share them now. 2025 was an amazing year for chasing butterflies, the weather was glorious and there were so many more pollinators than the previous year.

I met so many Ringlet butterflies…they were everywhere, Cabilla Wood (an amazing ancient woodland near to Bodmin), the village churchyard, almost every lane I walked down and even in my very own garden. It. Was. lovely.

All in all I took nearly 3000 photographs in 2025…mainly of bugs, nature and my dogs.

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Looking back on 2025 {reviewing the year!}

On January 3, 2026February 16, 2026 By ArtyMissKIn Photography2 Comments

Hey friends!

I truly hope you had a magical and happiness filled festive period!

Its already the first weekend in January and I’ve made to executive decision to move my post day to Saturday, for a multitude of reasons but mainly that I always seem to be busy on Fridays and then rush posting. So I’m back for 2026 and my New Years resolution is to definitely try and post something every week without fail (a girl can dream right?!) I began 2025 by reviewing the previous years ups and downs and thought I’d try that again to get the ball rolling…

…and explain my total disappearance from the blog.

Ready?

Lets do this…

The biggest highlight of the year/things I did, I decided at the end of 2024 that I was going to learn something new, a language or a musical instrument – I picked up an old violin in a charity shop near to the beach at Perranporth and was totally set on learning how to play it (spoiler: I didn’t). Instead I learnt to drive!! Literally I’m so damn pleased with myself after finding an instructor I actually managed to learn how to drive in exactly six months. My mum has been a legend and was happy to chaperone me in the car every day for an hour or two until I had my test in the middle of October which I passed first time with only 4 minors!! If you’re reading this from the UK you might have heard on the news how hard it is for learners to get tests so I really didn’t want to fail and have to wait months to try again…I put myself under so much pressure which I didn’t need to and I was just so relieved to have the test over with that for about three weeks I was just randomly saying ‘I’ve passed my driving test!’ If I’m really honest it didn’t sink in for about a month and it was weird to not have to go and practise everyday come rain or shine. The post-learning-to-drive burn out is real though, I’ve never been so mentally exhausted and I got into such a tizzy that life could go back to normal and not just focus on this one thing, that I panicked and stopped blogging/a few of my others hobbies, so its quite nice now that I feel I can pick up all of that again.

I still can’t believe the freedom I’ve gained by being able to just get in the car and go anywhere I feel like. (In the city I always used public transport but now I live in the middle of nowhere I really need a car!).

Even when friends were asking what I wanted for Christmas all I could say was ‘I’ve got my drivers license what more could I want!’.

Literally I’m so pleased with myself.

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Ladybug beetles {One frame}

On October 18, 2025 By ArtyMissKIn Photography4 Comments

Greetings Friends!

Autumn is upon us!

So is a short post from me…

The leaves are falling, the warm clothes are out – along with my favourite winter boots and there is also a total abundance of ladybug beetles!! Over the last week they’ve literally decided that since the weather has turned chilly its best to go and find somewhere nice to hibernate for the winter…although quite a few of them have made their way into the kitchen. My butterfly house is also filled with them, its been like flying ant day but prettier.

Its been a couple of months since I last posted a One Frame so while I was watching (and wearing) the ladybugs I thought I’d take as many photos as I could in hopes of a few good snaps to share here.

Like this one, I think they’re harlequin ladybugs, but I’m not an expert and I think all beetles are pretty cool. I actually find it really hard to photograph these teeny tiny fellas, so when I get a snap thats in focus I get quite excited!

So with that in mind I really hope you like this ladybug post and are enjoying the beginnings of autumn wherever you are. I’m planning to post an update to my Wonderland flowers denim jacket embroidery next week.

Thank you so much for reading this post, and have a lovely, peace filled week!

Creating a caterpillar nursery (Red ads & Commas)

On October 11, 2025May 30, 2026 By ArtyMissKIn Conservation, Photography, Raising Butterflies2 Comments

Hello my friends,

I’ll admit the last couple of weeks have got away from me slightly, I genuinely cannot believe how busy I’ve been and at the same time don’t feel as though I’ve achieved anything (if that makes sense!).

Still, I’ve got a new butterfly tale for you this week. All summer I’ve been raising various butterflies (like I do each year!) the garden has been wonderfully filled with Comma (Polygonia c-album) and Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) caterpillars in the nettle patch that grows under the apple tree in my garden – unfortunately the nettles themselves are giant and literally grow up into the branches of the tree, I try to leave them alone as much as possible but once the spears are over six foot tall I clip them down to the ground and challenge them to grow again!

When it comes to cutting them down I actually check each spear and save the bugs, this year there were so many caterpillars I decided to create a ‘caterpillar nursery’ and try to recreate the nettle patch using potted nettles (yes, I also grown the stingy stuff in pots!).

Red Admirals in particular are always at risk of being attacked by parasitic flies/wasps which is a horrible way for them to die. So I get very excited when I them in the garden.

I’m totally fascinated with caterpillars, Red ad cats are fairly beige when tiny but when fully grown can be either black with a light green stripe or green which I magical! And Commas are little black cats that that become black/white/orange as they grow – its quite a pretty caterpillar, they have such cute antennae.

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Embroidered Butterfly #17 {Clouded Yellow}

On September 20, 2025October 18, 2025 By ArtyMissKIn Art, Needlework Bugs7 Comments

Hey friends!

I’ve been absent for a couple of weeks, theres a lot going on and I’ve had that horrid cold-thing that’s doing the rounds at the moment (not fun!!).

Still, I’ve got a new needlework butterfly to share with you! I’ve genuinely had the best butterfly year ever and encountered so many critters, I’ve even met my very first Clouded Yellow! I always thought I’d have to physically go and search for these butterflies and never in my wildest dreams did I think one would show up in my own back garden and I wanted to create one to add to my ever growing collection of handmade butterflies.

This is #17 on my Embroidered Butterfly challenge – only 59-ish more to go!!! I worked it out if I make one a month it should only take like another four or so years!

Clouded Yellow (Colias croceus) who is one of our regular migrant species is considered to be a large butterfly with a wingspan up to 62mm, they tend to rest with their wings closed which is a shame because they are so pretty.

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Clouded Yellow {new butterfly experience}

On August 29, 2025October 18, 2025 By ArtyMissKIn Photography

Hey friends!

I’ve got four new photographs to share with you this week, I’m literally having the best butterfly year of my life! It helps that the weather has been amazing and my wildlife garden is more or less finished (it will never be totally finished of course!) But creating a nectar rich garden and letting the space re-wild as much as possible has brought so many new types of butterfly to my garden this year.

Including this little lovely thing, she’s a female (I think) Clouded Yellow butterfly (Colias croceus) who is one of our regular and specular migrant species! They are seen in the UK most years but when the weather is like it has been then these guys are known for mass migrations and create something called a ‘clouded yellow year’, which is cool.

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Embroidered Butterfly #16 {Marbled White}

On August 23, 2025October 18, 2025 By ArtyMissKIn Art, Needlework Bugs4 Comments

Hello my friends!

I really hope you’re enjoying the bank holiday weekend if you’re in the UK or just enjoying a nice normal weekend generally!

The week before last I posted all about exploring Penlee Battery nature reserve where I met many, many beautiful butterflies and even a few day flying moths. I really enjoyed being able to spot so many Marbled White butterflies and thought I would create an embroidered version for my collection.

These amazing black and white checkerboard butterflies have a real life wingspan of around 5.5cm and are considered to be a medium size chap! I only created a female as there aren’t too many differences between the two sexes.

My needlework Marbled white has a wingspan of more or less 11cm and she’s #16 of my needlework butterfly quest.

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Exploring Penlee Battery {Landscapes and butterflies}

On August 3, 2025October 18, 2025 By ArtyMissKIn Photography2 Comments

Hey friends! How are ya?

Once again I’m a little late posting, but the week got away from me slightly!

With all of the amazing weather we’ve been having I took a little time to explore Penlee Battery which is a nature reserve down near Rame head. I had so much fun during my adventures that day and I wanted to take you guys along with me so you can enjoy the wonders of Penlee battery and all of the wonderful nature too! I hope these photos bring as much brightness to your day as much as they did mine.

It was beautiful I literally can’t wait to go back!

It’s a wonderful place to walk and enjoy some time with nature, I’ve become fascinated with how meadows work and the different grasses all work together to create a whole ecosystem and support so much life.

There were plenty of Large white butterflies (one of my favourites) happily fluttering around the brambles, I even spotted a few Ringlet butterflies in the distance as well, although the photos weren’t particularly good through the grass.

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