In the air, on the ground, in the water

They are there, they always have been as long as mankind can remember.
We loathe the harmful ones and we admire the ones we find cute or pretty. Some we try to keep out of our houses, with others we decorate the houses or even adorn ourselves as you will see.
We use sprays on them and old house remedies or we carry them outside carefully as to not hurt their fragile beauty.
We go ewww or aaaah, depending on which ones cross our way.

Do you know what I'm talking about? Insects.

Picture by Fritz Geller-Grimm

Maybe I am a little strange. To me there are no ugly animals. Granted, I wouldn't be happy about cockroaches in my house (and now I apologize if somebody thinks this is not a subject for a jewelry blog), but I still think they are fascinating. At a dragonfly or a butterfly I could stare forever, yes, I have been known to follow them to be able and watch them as long as possible.

Nature is very creative. Who else would have thought of making millions of little critters with a three-part body, three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes and two antennae? We are talking between six and ten million species existing at this moment.
Who but Nature would have thought of taking a caterpillar and changing it into a beautiful butterfly like these ones by For You Designs?


Dragonflies are beautiful as well, but also dangerous. You didn't know? I learned about it from Snoopy who told Woodstock that dragonflies sew sleeping people's lips together. Actually dragonflies were and in some areas still seem to be called "Devil's darning needle". As Luzie tells Snoopy and Woodstock, though, they can't really do that, and they don't sting, either.
That means that you can wear this pretty necklace by The Family Jewels without a worry.


Last but not least I want to show you a piece I admire in particular. It's a praying mantis by Catherinette Rings. I love how the artist captured the way a mantis poses!
I'm also in love with his spiders, but I couldn't feature one of them as spiders are no insects.

Now I just hope I didn't creep you out too much. Why don't you give a bug a chance the next time you see one? Get a little closer and take a look at the fine details of the antennae, the colors, the body. Maybe it will inspire you.

Featuring artisan handmade creations by the Etsy Starving Artists Jewelry Team. SATeam members create handcrafted jewelry and beads. More information about our team and its current Etsy shop owner members can be found at SATEAM.etsy.com.