(urgent, percussive music) - I'm Starla Sampaco in the Crosscut-KCTS 9 newsroom.
A Seattle company's lifelike paper butterflies are flying off the shelves and selling across the world.
Morphos are butterflies that have long been collected for their iridescent wings.
Starting centuries ago, their bodies were pinned to the curiosity cabinets of czars, queens, and diplomats.
They're still popular today, whether framed or in jewelry.
Seattle artists Redd Walitzki and Kari-Lise Alexander have come up with what they say is a more ethical and cheaper alternative, Morpho auroras made from paper, printed and laser-cut in their studio near Seattle's Olympic Sculpture Park.
Their company, Moth & Myth, shipped about 18,000 specimens in November alone.
Some of these were replicas of endangered species.
Moth & Myth's specimens are also for sale in Seattle at Chihuly Garden and Glass and at Ghost Gallery.
I'm Starla Sampaco.
Find nonprofit Northwest news every day on crosscut.com.
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