Fashionable Friday: Butterflies Instead

I surprised a friend of mine the other day by telling her how much I'd been drawn to butterflies over the past year or so. I suppose given that my interests tend to lean towards darker things, it doesn't quite fit. But I loved butterflies when I was a little kid, and in recent times, I've just noticed that there are so many beautiful pendants, beads, and artistic things with butterfly motifs. With Spring here, Summer on the way, and a Spring palette for Fall designs, this seems like the perfect time to add butterflies to your look!

Because of this current attraction to butterflies, there's a rather varied selection of jewelry with them on my site. For necklaces, there's Dancing Butterflies (pictured above), Tranquil Butterfly, and On Pastel Wings, which is new for this week! In bracelets, I have Empress of Butterflies and Butterfly Harmony, new this week. And in earrings, I have Flutterby, Imperial Butterflies, and Flying Free, which is also new this week. With all those different styles and colors, there's sure to be something to please almost every butterfly lover!

Many other jewelry artists incorporate butterflies into their work! Chic Cosas has this Mariposa necklace, which I think is just delightful with its earthy colors! And Matilda's Boutique has Butterfly Fling earrings that feature Thai silver butterflies. I just LOVE Thai silver! I also love this Bamboo bracelet! Earthenwood Studio has several style of butterflies, which may be worn on a cord as a pendant, or worked into your own jewelry creations.

Clothing is a wonderful medium for displaying butterflies. This butterfly jacket from Soleil Rouge is simply a knock-out, for instance. I just love that cut, it's so classic! And take a peek at this stunning purple michiyuki jacket on Kimono Momo. Japanese jackets are so very cool, and you can't beat that color. Of course, if you prefer a more casual look, Artwear Tops has this vibrant t-shirt just perfect for Summer!

As it turns out, handbags and butterflies also make a great combination! Becky Oh! offers her Bolsa clutch in a cheery butterfly print. Enamor has a great hand-painted Monarch Handbag which should appeal to anyone who loves orange. Vintage kimono fans like myself may find this purse more to their liking, whereas anime geeks -- also like myself -- may prefer the Miss Butterfly clutch.

You could even accessorize your head with butterflies! I think these Metamorphosis Hairpins, made with Vintage fabric, are just adorable. And there's no denying the 1920s-style appeal of this Lavender Hat, which includes a removable crochet butterfly.

You can have butterflies around the house, too, even if that butterfly bush you planted hasn't been attracting them. Keep your table safe with hand-felted Butterfly Coasters, and decorate your couch, favorite chair, or bed with a rich purple brocade pillow. Hmmm, looking at a lot of these items, it seems that purple and butterflies were made for each other!

Finally, with warmer weather upon us, it's time to socialize! You can involve butterflies here, too! For every-day correspondence, there's cheery notecards from Zuzu's Petals. For a wedding, you could have Plantable wedding favors, which come in a couple of different butterfly designs. I've never heard of these before and I think they're quite cool! And if you've got a little girl on the way, you might be interested in the Flutterby line by Fete!

Whew. That's even almost too many butterflies for me. Almost!