fantasy art and tree chatter of aquariann

"The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough." - Rabindranath Tagore I'm still disappointed my camera refused to focus properly on this beautiful butterfly before it flew away from the yellow flower, but its orange wings were too stunning to forget. I may have pushed the photo's contrast levels a bit too high, but that's how bright they are in my memory.

I love butterflies, don't you? They may be hard to catch on camera, but Sabrina from SAB DECO found handmade shops that captured their beauty using other materials. Her beautiful butterfly gift ideas include blue butterfly woodland headband by Neesie Designs, orange butterfly hair crown by Beauxoxo and my purple butterfly fairy print .

Don't fall like an icicle, but I may have been the last Disney fan to finally see the Frozen movie last weekend. Although it didn't make my top 10 list for animated films, I was definitely dazzled by all the sparkly snow scenes. I'm not wishing away summer after the harsh winter we had, but I couldn't resist searching Etsy for famous quotes from the movie. These silver snowflake necklaces shone brightly in a blizzard of Frozen jewelry. 1. LET IT GO Disney's Frozen Magical Snowflake Charm Necklace by Life is the Bubbles 2. Disney's Frozen Necklace Olaf Quote by Charmed Designs By JC 3. Custom Handstamped "Frozen" Quote Necklace - Let It Go by Brushed and Polished 4. Hand Stamped Frozen Necklace - Some People are Worth Melting For by Katy Ryan Designs Disclaimer: This post was inspired by Life is the Bubbles , an enchanting blog sponsor that pays for advertising space and featured listings like above. If you think your items would fit in ...

Field Reporter: Are they slow-moving, chief? Sheriff McClelland: Yeah, they're dead. They're all messed up. - Night of the Living Dead (1968) When my parents and I found out that the Milton Theatre was playing the original "Night of the Living Dead" movie and zombies got a discount on tickets, we heartily hacked old clothes into zombie costumes. Zombie movie night was thrilling! In addition to watching a black and white movie I hadn't seen before, there were zombies roaming the aisles and startling humans like a haunted house. The historic theater in Delaware recently reanimated after years of being closed, thus providing the perfect atmosphere for a zombie apocalypse. I hope they'll host many more themed movie nights for me to stagger to in the future.

The sun puts on such a stunning show. Rubiee from Dryad Tea captured the colors it creates during a summer sunset. Her gift ideas from the Fantasy Artists of Etsy team include ruby red bead embroidered earrings by Beadmask, red, orange and yellow fire chainmaille handflower slave bracelet by Elfling Creations and my orange tiger lily art flower magnet .

EDIT: Giveaway is officially over. Congratulations to Lucki Grrl for submitting the randomly-chosen 161st entry. Are your pets as spoiled rotten as mine? Then you won't want to deny your cat the purrrfect prize. Moira of Organic Kitty Land is giving away three catnip pillows to one lucky pet owner. The catnip pillow set is handmade using three colors from the Bark & Branch pattern collection by Cloud9 Fabrics. The organic cotton canvas fabric is filled with 100% USDA Organic Catnip. Moira's cute kitty loves playing with his catnip pillow. But don't worry, he has not been used to model any of the pillows that are for sale, nor have they been exposed to cat hair. Many cats like to chew on their pillows, therefore it's important that they don't contain toxic residues. That's why Moira makes her pillows with cotton that's grown in organic soil with no toxic pesticide sprays. Formaldehyde, chlorine bleach and other heavy metals such as lead are not used...

"First, April, she with mellow showers Opens the way for early flowers; Then after her comes smiling May, In a more rich and sweet array; Next enters June, and brings us more Gems than those two that went before; Then, lastly, July comes, and she More wealth brings in than all those three." - The Succession of the Four Months by Robert Herrick Despite finding similar photos that identified these pretty flowers as pink black-eyed susans, I kept digging to discover that they're purple coneflowers in the Echinacea genus of the daisy family.

It's the most wonderful time of the year ... to get your Christmas shopping done early! The Strategic Promotion for Success team is having a huge Christmas In July sale. Almost 50 shops are offering great deals and they're all using coupon code "SPSTCIJ14" to make it easy to claim during checkout before July 20, 2014. For the first time ever, I'm offering 25% off my art prints . I might not ever set a discount that high again, so stock up on stocking stuffers while you can. Alenka was one of the first participants to celebrate the sale by curating a treasury. Her Christmas gift ideas include green and red glitter hearts hair clips by Meghan & Julie, glitter Christmas tree pillow slipcover by My Pillow Shoppe and my tree fairy art pinback button . Dash over to the team blog for a full list of participating Etsy shops .

Picking what nail art to apply yesterday was easy, because I wanted to wear the Black Floral nail wraps I won from Tanya Masse before the Jamberry giveaway I'm hosting for her ends. You have until 11:59pm EST on July 20, 2014 to try to be as lucky as me and win a free sheet, too. But if you want a second sheet to use as an accent, like I did on my ring finger with Black & White Horizontal Stripe , you'll have to build up a collection as I have by taking advantage of the Buy 3, Get 1 Free Deal. Want to be a guest blogger for my Manicure Monday when I don't have new nails of my own to show off? Please contact me using the form on my contact page if you're interested in a free feature. Or if you've done a floral manicure in the past, comment with the link and I'll add it to my featured finds below. Black and White Flower Nail Art Finds:

EDIT: Giveaway is officially over. Congratulations to Aleka Nikolaidou for submitting the randomly-chosen 811th entry. Pack a second breakfast and join the hobbits in a glimmering journey of epic proportions. Only one shall be chosen to win a $25 gift card to Shealynn's Faerie Shoppe . But remember, short cuts make long delays, so don't even think about trying to cheat the contest. While wearing Shaylynn's (no, the missing e is not a typo; her shop is named with old Irish spellings) fantasy jewelry like the copper torc necklace above, one might be tempted to call it "my precious." When she couldn't find any affordable Elvish jewelry for an Arwen from The Lord of the Rings costume at age 13, her mom bought her some supplies to make her own. She has been designing jewelry inspired by fairytales ever since. If you can't resist the power of Shaylynn's designs, don't fear. You don't have to win her giveaway to possess a piece of handmade j...

"Oh, summer has clothed the earth In a cloak from the loom of the sun! And a mantle, too, of the skies’ soft blue, And a belt where the rivers run." - In Summer excerpt by Paul Laurence Dunbar I've been walking around Milton as much as possible before it gets too hot! The garden club does a great job taking care of the town's flowers, such as these beautiful yellow lilies that line a walkway along Wagamons Pond.

Goodness, gracious, great ball of fire - the summer sun sure is sizzling today! Veddma found more fiery elements during an SPS team game. Her hot home decor ideas include sunburst hand crocheted doily by Tabachin, Shaft of Light canyon photography print by Soul Centered Photo Art and my fire dragon art magnet .

EDIT: Giveaway is officially over. Congratulations to Francine Anchondo for submitting the randomly-chosen 1493rd entry. Summer is here, but you won't catch me sunbathing for long! I usually last less than 5 minutes (and that's after slathering my fair skin with at least SPF 70 sunscreen) at the beach before cooling off in the ocean. Come on in, the water's fine - Life is the Bubbles is giving away a $35 gift card to their Disney-inspired shop. Follow Dory's advice to just keep swimming and you'll find even more adorable bottle jewelry like the Nemo necklace above. Whether you prefer to hang out under the sea with Ariel or sail above the waves with Captain Hook, there's plenty of summer fun to have with the Disney crew. Stay the course for magical jewelry ahead! <a href="http://blog.aquariann.com/2014/07/disney-nemo-jewelry-giveaway-gift-card.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee329/aqua...

I recommend exploring the following blogs for more art and handmade goodness. But first, don't forget to grab the code to one of my buttons at the bottom to use as a bread crumb back to my realm. The artist at Cheers to Novelty likes to make nice things and help you smile. The Elbit Blog revolves around riveting ramblings of the elfing artist Meri Greenleaf. Faire Treasures Codicellus is riddled with ruminations of a costume obsessed photographer. Mermaiden explores liminality with pretty words and stunning creations. MiddleEarths Jewels shares precious treasures from beyond this Earth. Shaelynn's Faerie Shoppe Blog is aflutter with art, crafts, jewelries, and ideas. Stroll through two sisters' shared dream at Shamble Ramble. The Spiral Moon Fantasy Blog revolves around myth and magic. The ChainMaille Lady designs teeny tiny jump rings into gorgeous jewelry. 2 just B you is an online journal of a family's home-based small business ven...

"Freedom lies in being bold." - Robert Frost I knew I could count on my Wordless Wednesday friends to identify these boldly beautiful red flowers - within an hour of posting, I was told they were hollyhocks. The towering plant certainly stands out! I was walking to my car after dance class and was stopped in my tracks by the sunlight shining through the stalks in a stranger's yard.

Wordless Wednesday is a weekly event where bloggers share pictures that speak for themselves. Very few photographers actually post without any words at all - I can't resist adding a descriptive title and a related quote that captivates me. Follow my shhhing fairy button below to browse my past Wordless Wednesday images. Copy the code to an HTML widget on your own blog to remind you to flutter back next week. The main hub for sharing is WordlessWednesday.com - over 300 people a week link up there. Several participants (like this quiet aquarian!) include Linky's on their WW posts so everyone can sign in and blog hop along to another in the list. I'm collecting buttons of blogs that host Wordless Wednesday Linky Parties almost every week, so please comment if you'd like to play along and exchange links!