Collecting Butterfly

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The most popular kind of insect collecting, is butterfly collecting. If you like butterflies but not too sure you want to go in depth into collecting, pinning and preserving it, it's advised that you start off taking pictures of butterflies And appreciate the beauty of these wonderful creatures.


If your interest in butterflies takes you a little further than just taking pictures of it, then collecting butterflies we go. Here are some tips:

1. Get a permit for collecting butterflies. It is illegal to collect in national parks without a permit. And please don't damage the flowers, shrubs, trees etc.

2. Have your butterfly collecting equipments ready such as nets, killing jars, plastic containers, notebooks and pen for data, spreading boards, pinning blocks, special pins (not the commons pins) number three is ideal, storage boxes like the glass covered wood boxes and chemicals like ethyl acetate, Lysol or chlorox to prevent mold.

3. Have a handy guide for different species of butterflies. Check out websites in how to properly pin, mount, preserve and display your butterfly collection. Ask help and guidance of the entomology department in a university nearest you.

4 .Butterflies eyes are capable of 180 degree vision, so wear brown or green not brightly coloured clothes and sneak up from behind when trying to catch it with the net.

5. Squeeze lightly the butterfly’s thorax for a few seconds before putting it in a killing jar. This process, stuns the butterfly so it won't keep flapping its wings once inside the jar to not cause damage to its wings.

Like any collectibles, condition of the butterfly is of utmost importance. Butterflies with broken antennae, legs or wings will not be highly graded. Several highly prized butterfly collections are sold in auctions or private dealers.

Most sought after collectible butterflies are the ones that make for fantastic displays mostly hybrids of particular species like the Heliconious or Euphaedra butterflies. Two or three different butterfly species interbreed in a blend zone (where two or more valleys meet). And they are pinned and displayed in a special way to show off their best parts like the underside etc.

Butterfly collections in museums are mostly hundred years old and look all the same for the uninitiated. That's why labeling of your prized catch is of paramount importance. Labels include accurate data of the order name of the insect, the time and place captured, plants on which they were found, name of the collector.

Plants and animal species once together in the same biological ecosystems are now probably endangered, altered or are already gone. That's why precise documentation of your butterfly collection is very important.

Remember to always visit again Rare Antiques,Collectibles and Memorabilia if you are looking for collecting ideas.

Collecting Carnival Chalkware

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Collectibles and Memorabilia.

If your style is shabby and chic, then i bet you decorate your place with pieces of carnival chalkware.

These are figurines, wall plaques, statues, piggy banks etc. made of inexpensive plaster of paris. Carnival chalkware became popular during the 1920's to 1950's as carnival or state fair give away prizes.

This was replaced by stuffed animals beginning 1960's because it can be mass produced and not breakable.

Desirable and collectible carnival chalkware are made from Miller studios. Because carnival chalkware are breakable, only a few survive throughout the years in mint condition, mostly these figurines have chips and breaks. Some carnival chalkware were hand painted and some were airbrushed.

You can easily acquire these pieces at flea markets, garage sales or Ebay.

Decorating tip:

Have a theme or motif in every area in your house. Example: Farm theme for your kitchen, so you display different flowers, animals like pigs, roosters, cows, vegetables chalk figurines scattered around your kitchen.

Marina theme in your bathroom, so you gather mermaids, different fishes and shells chalkware in there.

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Memorabilia.

Collecting Teapot

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If a teapot is well made and produced in small quantity, that would make it rare. And consequently make it more in demand, therefore desirable and collectible.

Take for instance a teapot called Bunnygirl made by Foxfield, the production was instantly halted because Playboy claimed copyright, thus making it a rare piece indeed.

In the world of collectors, teapots are amongst the most favored. Teapot connotes aristocracy ( back in the 17th century tea drinking was indulge only by the upper class society).

Just making the teapots is challenging enough for the potter.

The technical difficulty of making the spout, body, lid , handle in perfect proportion while at the same time making it artfully pleasing to the eye presents complex feat for the maker. Teapots is where art meets craftmanship.

There are many areas in which to start collecting teapots:

1. Collect to a theme that’s the second cardinal rule of collecting. Think porcelain, glass, ceramic, bone china, Brown Betty, silver, Tetsubin and Yixing..

2. You may want to collect antique, folk art, commercially produced teapots.

3. Collect teapots from a certain artists e.g. Clarice Cliff, Suzie Copper etc.

4. Teapots in whimsical designs or shapes like pineapples, houses, dragons, birds, cars, airplanes etc.

5. Collect different sizes of teapots. Like "teapot for one", a teapot that can brew enough tea for only one individual.

"The thrill is in the hunt" so many collectors say. You would find that as you engage in your hobby of collecting teapots, you may come across a teapot which surprises, fascinates and which you didn't know existed. The ultimate teapot may be sought but never found. Leslie Ferrin said that.

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