Do You Catch the Butterflies Yourself?

I Love what I do!   Making jewelry is a passion, one of many that I have.  I love to watch people try on pieces at the shows and say "This is soooo different...I love it" or "How Unique"!   These words are music to an artisan's ears!  My butterfly necklaces are my best seller and definately what people have come to know me and Debra's Divine Designs as.  The one big question I get asked often is "Do you catch the butterflies yourself?"   My Answer is "No, many of these species aren't even natural to Canada and are only found in locations such as Peru or Indonesia.  Plus, I do NOT believe in LIVE catching butterflies.  I only believe in purchasing species through a legitimate governed source.   So....you will never see me skipping through a field of daisies with a butterfly net chasing butterflies!  

ALL butterflies that I use are farmed and not wild caught so that the natural populations of the butterflies are not being depleted by poachers.  Through

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my art, this provides an opportunity for me to promote stewardship and conservation of each Butterfly and to educate people about the risks that many are facing.  

There are alot of Butterfly Hunters out there who Poach Butterflies.  Be sure if you use Butterflies in your art, that you get your specimens from a legitimate source.   My source is Thorne's Insect Shoppe ltd.,  http://www.thornesinsects.com/aboutus.html  who are one of the largest dried but retailers in North America and have been in business for over 25 years.    All of the butterfly wings are bred on farms all over the world.   Whole communities actually raise and care for these beautiful winged friends of the earth.   The specimens are used for education, inspiration, collectibles and art and are exported all over the world.    Not all of the butterflies bred on these farms are sold as specimens many are released into the wild to mate and maintain healthy species populations. 

99% of the Wings I use are from imperfect or damaged specimens I have purchased that collectors can’t utilize due to a broken wing or antennae or leg.   I can still use the broken wing for mosaic pieces and the other wings for my full pieces

Monarchs are a Species at Risk and are specially protected by the Canadian Ministry of Natural Resources under the Endangered Species Act (2007).   Because of this, no Monarchs are used in any of art pieces.  By simply planting milkweed in your gardens, you can help dramatically increase the Monarch population once again”.

My hope is that the wearer of my pieces will learn more about their new butterfly friend, and want to share their environment, where it comes from and how others can help to conserve it’s land and preserve the butterfly’s heritage.  People everywhere will stop you and ask you about your piece, so it will be so empowering and fun for you to be able to share your winged friend’s hope for future generations to enjoy.

For more information on this or any other information on your Butterfly, Please Email me at debrasdivinedesigns@rogers.com