With a shop name like CreoleJezebel, you can well guess from the Creole part that Brittaney Leann hails from Louisiana!

What she does is create real butterfly wing jewelry. The wings are encased between two hand cut pieces of glass which is then soldered together at the edges. Her work is noteworthy because she is imaginative in the various cut glass shapes she puts together.  The star pendant below is a stunner!

Brittaney explains :
🦋Don't worry about the butterflies. They are NOT killed for their wings. They live out their short life and are harvested after they die. I buy mine from suppliers who in turn get them from butterfly farms. The Butterfly Farms breed the butterflies, let a few go and keep a few to keep the populations up. 🦋
It's a beautiful way to keep forever the beauty of butterflies!


I discovered Brittaney's lovely designs when I stumbled upon this birdwing butterfly pendant of hers.  I recognized it as the wing of my favorite butterfly.  This is the Rajah Brooke birdwing, a protected species native to the rainforests of Southeast Asia. It is also the national butterfly of Malaysia where I was born and raised. 

Rajah Brooke Birdwing Butterfly











The Rajah Brooke Birdwing Butterfly

Birdwing butterflies are part of the swallowtail family. They are called birdwing butterflies because of their large size, angular wings and birdlike flight. 

The Rajah Brooke birdwing's wingspan measures about 5.9 - 6.7 inches. It's not the largest birdwing - the record holder is the Queen Alexandra's birdwing, found in Papua New Guinea, which spreads out to 9.8 - 11 inches!

Male (above) | Female (below) : Picture source

You can see the bird-like wing action of these butterflies in this video at the 31 sec mark.


This butterfly was named after Sir James Brooke, the first of successive generations of White Rajahs to rule Sarawak, which is now an East Malaysian state, on the island of Borneo. He was a British adventurer who helped the Sultan of Brunei crush a rebellion as well as fight pirates in the area. The Sultan then made Brooke, the Rajah of Sarawak, and a wealthy man.

Sir James Brooke

Brooke was also the model for the hero in Joseph Conrad's novel, Lord Jim. He was also mentioned in Rudyard Kipling's short story, The Man Who Would Be King. 

Before You Go:

Disclosure 

This blog may contain affiliate links. I do receive a small fee for any products purchased through affiliate links. This goes towards the support of this blog and to provide resource information to readers. The opinions expressed are solely my own. They would be the same whether or not I receive any compensation. 
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Original Post by THE BEADING GEM