Jeweled Insect Beauties for Spring and Summer

Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I anxiously await summer every year.  This year we've been blessed with an early spring and I've been outside a lot, cleaning up the year and planting new flowers.  In fact, we've had to mow the grass twice already - in early May!  Honestly, that makes me very happy.

Of course, the other side to an early summer is the earlier onset of bugs.  We've had tons of flies and a few spiders.  And our intrepid hunter cat, Nikki, has been kind enough to nail a yellow jacket inside the house.  She's finally earning her keep!

Since spring is busting out all over, I just had to go through my jewelry stash and start listing flowers and insects.  I was amazed at how many jeweled and enameld items that I had.  It seems that jewelry designers have come up with a million ways to make some of these pests beautiful.

  
Flies for example.  I think they look a lot better covered in rhinestones that mimic the irridescence of their bodies. 

I certainly like this imitation pearl spider with his turquoise beaded legs a lot more than the nasty brown one I found in my shower last week.

Bees seem to get a lot of play in the jewelry world.  I guess their striped bodies make them more interesting to designers who like to use contrasting or complimentary colors.  These two examples, one in rhinestone and one in enamel certainly demonstrates the possibilities.

Butterflies of course are already beautiful and everyone seems to love them.  So it's no surprise that they are a favorite item of jewelry.  These two, although both very different, and certainly not colors that are found in nature, are both amazing.

I guess maybe the bugs aren't so bad after all.  That is, if they're in my jewelry box!