A glass elephant and some blue ducks

I found some fun "realistic" buttons in a poke (grab) bag at the thrift store the other day, including a glass elephant and some blue ducks!

You are invited to hop over to my own blog, Indulge Your Shelf, to see more photos!

Exciting button event in UK !

Handmade resin button by Buttons by McAnaraks

This is my entry for The Button Project, I'm very pleased with how it turned out. You can see more of the entries here on a slide show
http://victoriascholes.blogspot.co.uk


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The Button Project - a stunning exhibition of over 300 contemporary handmade buttons - is taking shape, as buttons start to arrive from all over the world. From Australia to Norway, and all over the UK, artists and makers are translating their work into buttons for this exciting new event.

Artists were asked to work within the constraints of traditional button sizes and fixing methods, but from there, their imagination was free to roam. Each button is a miniature work of art in its own right and highly collectible.

The Button Project is intended to serve as a celebration of the heritage of the area, which began with the silk button. The dynamic buttons come from craft practitioners and artists at the top of their field, plus our rising stars and many who make just for the love of it. They will be showcased effortlessly alongside the silk costume collection at Macclesfield’s Heritage Centre from June 14 to August 8 2013. Plus there will be related displays at the nearby Silk Museum showing treasures of the behind-the scenes button collections, and a lively button-making workshop for kids.

The museum curator, Annabel Wills, says

“It has been wonderful to see how our contemporary makers have responded to the historic collections at Macclesfield. A real feast of talent and inventiveness.”

From precious metals and traditional silk buttons, to glass, felt, enamels and recycled materials; the creativity from makers has been diverse and eye-catching, with The Button Project’s youngest contributor being just 11 years old. The project will be launched at, and will form part of the programme for, the Barnaby Festival, Macclesfield’s summer festival of contemporary arts, culture and fun, taking place in June. Both look set to be events not to be missed.

Grannie's buttons

I was going through a jar of my Grandmother's buttons I got out of her sewing basket; I had already put them in a large glass jar and was just reminiscing.  Some of the cards says 10 cents and some 29 cents. She had several cards of large buttons, she was always sewing . She was born 1907 and lived until 1996. I sure miss her company.  She taught me to put zippers in when I was about 8 years old, also sleeves; never had any problems doing either.
                                                                                                       

     
                                                                             

I love these black glass buttons, not a very good picture but you know what I'm talking about?

                   

I sure wish I had known about the Missouri Button Show.  I am going to look around and get on the mailing list of shows here in Missouri or Kansas.

Missouri State Button Society Show & Buttons!

This button caught my eye recently at the Missouri State Button Society's Spring show. 

Did it catch your eye too?

Do you want to know more about it?

If so, please click here and link over to my blog

Vintage Connections for the complete post.  

See you there!

Button Bargain Bonanza

Paying a visit last week to my favorite local antique mall, I really wasn't even looking specifically for buttons, but this is what happens when you keep an open mind. I came across a booth that had 11 little cards of antique buttons on a table, in singles, doubles, and one card of triplets. 

I stood there for quite a while inspecting them all, wondering which, if any (!) to purchase. Not only were they lovely, but they also were rather ridiculously inexpensive. How often do you come across that? I picked out 2 cards--the ones with tiny detailed scenes and left the rest behind.

 

Well, I'm sure you can guess what happened... I couldn't get them out of my mind, rationalizing the notion of buying them all. You know how that is. So, about 10 or 15 minutes and 1 1/2 aisles later I told my partner-in-crime (my mother, that is) that I wanted to go back and look at the buttons again, to which she replied, "Well, yes, of course, go on."

Managing to find the booth again (thank goodness the cards I had picked up had the booth number on them!), I gave them all a cursory second glance (probably more like the fourth glance) and swooped them all up, with no regrets.

Don't these brass ones have a pretty Art Nouveau design?

Most of them are pretty small and all are shank buttons, some self-shank and others with an inserted shank.

These next few sets are my favorites. I am enlarging the photos so you can see the miniature scenes more easily. 

You can see the difference in the amount of wear on these two. 

I think there is a mirror background on these next two. It can barely be seen on the right one, above the castle and through the gate opening.

Now, I am wondering if I should try to clean them. I know there are two schools of thought on this subject--some say it is more authentic to leave them be and others say they should be enjoyed and appreciated for their beauty, which will show better if cleaned up.

If anyone has an opinion on whether this is a good idea or not, please feel free to comment. If the consensus is towards cleaning, does anyone have any suggestions as to the proper method? 

See the owls?

Purple Rain

Do you remember the song by Prince , Purple Rain ? well today it's raining again and I have some beautiful Purple buttons to show off. Anyway I think they are fabulous and beautiful

                                                                     

I don't remember where I got them however I know it was at an auction here in the town where I live now, It had to be early 1980's I am guessing.I know they were in a box with other buttons on cards and I didn't have any beautiful buttons so went for it . Back them $15.00 would have been a huge price for me to pay for a box of buttons.

They are tied on the  card with cotton string. I don't know if that is original or the lady just own them did that. A lot of old buttons are attached to the card with wire.

This is my first Button Floozie post and thrilled to be in the groove with you all 

thanks to Laurie Jackson for asking me to join in . I read her blog 

Indulge Yourself

and all her Button Floozie posts 

Buttons on Pinterest

As I've mentioned before, I have a fun board on Pinterest called Button Love.  Whenever I see a memorable button online -- or a great project done with buttons -- I "pin" it to this board so everyone can see.  You are all welcome to visit/follow it by clicking here.

via Pinterest

How about you?  If you pin buttons on Pinterest, leave the address in the comments so we can all visit and/or follow.  Please link button boards only; other links will be deleted.  Thank you!

Size?

I was remiss in not mentioning the size of this little "Queen of Hearts" crazy quilt shown in the previous post... It is approx.14" square and has only a few buttons on the quilt itself...

But if you like it then you will REALLY like this one which has lots of buttons.

"Handy Hanger" with button.

Using some thread  make a tassel and a loop and  it can be attached to a small quilt or crazy quilt block for a handy hanger...

Our numbers are increasing!

While I was on vacation, this wonderful little corner of the Internet reached over 1100 followers!

1,102

As the blog's Administrator, I receive emails every week from people who just found Button Floozies and want to be a part of the fun.

As our button loving community increases, I would love it if our authors increase posting, too!

Remember, one post a day works best, posts can be scheduled in advance, and everyone should aim for posting at least once monthly.  Thank you to all who do!

Old buttons from St. Augustine

We just returned from a vacation in Florida, where I spotted some historical old buttons from an archaeological dig, ca. 1500, on display.

To read more about the trip and see some pretty photos of beaches, you're welcome to come and visit me at Indulge Your Shelf!

Antique Easter Buttons

Aren't these the cutest Easter buttons?

They are German buttons with a handpainted rabbit on each one.

I found them on this website:

Nanalulu's Linen Closet 

National Button Society - National Button Week

March brings us the National Button Week.

   

 (from my button collection, a grouping of small Victorian Celluloid buttons)

From my buckles, buttons & dress trim collection I purchased in England

  
and from France

 (buttons on original button cards from the collection of Tara Boynton)

 

 From the Home page of the National Button Society website: 

"Households have long followed the practice of snipping buttons from clothing headed for the ragbag. Do you remember playing with your mother’s—or grandmother’s or great-grandmother’s—button box or jar or tin? The impulse to collect is a basic part of the human psyche, and buttons have been admired and collected for centuries. Button collecting was recognized as an organized hobby through the founding of the National Button Society in 1938."  To read more, click on this link: NBS.

  

Here is one of the postcards I've created for 

button presentations:   

 

  (back side)

Bead & Button on-line magazine, offers several great articles on buttons.

 If you are interested in learning more about the National Button Society (NBS) and button collecting, please visit the NBS website  or email me directly.

Happy Button Week!

Button hugs,
Tami Hacker 

 

Vintage Buttons

I've got quite the collection of vintage buttons. I try and add them to my projects so I'm always on the lookout for different colors. This time, brown.

These have been added to a gadget cozy as the 'tie closure'.

Does anyone know how old these might be?

Happy weekend!

Here's hoping your weekend is as much fun as bowl full of buttons!

Vintage Trade Cards

Ephemera, paper, and snippets of the past have been my passion for many years.  Here are a few vintage trade cards and dear friend shared with me.  It opened up a whole new passion or should I say obsession? ~Sewing and Kittens of course!  Feel free to use these in your art projects.  You can find more at Lilac Lane Livery. ~Enjoy

Button Art

I like Pinterest, but have to admit that I do not keep up with it very well. 

Last week I thought I should put in an appearance, so went searching 

for button pics to put on my Brilliant Buttons board. 

Coming across this photo...

...I was intrigued enough to follow the path to the website.

 Lisa Kokin artist 

I was amazed at what I found.

She is a button artist, book artist, sewing artist, and a teacher/writer.

Here is a close-up of one of her works:

Curious as to what it is? Follow the link above and click on "Button Works" and then "Button Works One."

The Pearl Button Museum - Muscatine, Iowa

I am piggybacking Autena's recent post regarding 

The Pearl Button Capital of the World.

My friend Tara and I had the pleasure and opportunity in our research of pearl button manufacturing to privately meet with the Pearl Button Museum.

Please click here for my blog article. 

If you enjoy pearl buttons and the history of them, may I suggest reading Shell Games by Jeffrey S. Copeland.  I am not sure if The Pearl Button Museum carries this book in their gift shop; however, it is carried on Amazon.com. 

 

The Muscatine Journal's review of Shell Games can be found here. 

Thanks Autena for sharing your recent post and interest in

The Pearl Button Capital of the World!

Your post sparked me to recall how much I enjoyed my museum research visit and the book Shell Games. 

World Capital of Pearl Buttons

I came across this site the other day as I was researching some button cards to post in my Etsy shop. 

It was so interesting, I immediately thought of sharing my find with the Button Floozies!

Muscatine History and Industry Center

It bills itself as the Home of the Pearl Button Museum. How intriguing! It is located in Muscatine, Iowa, of all places--population  approximately 21,000. When I looked up the town (I'm big on research, can you tell?), I found out, via Wikipedia, that it is the only city in the U.S. with that name.

Here's another interesting fact: It turns out that the shell buttons were produced so prodigiously there because of the Mississippi River mussels. They were thick and hearty and could withstand the machine cutting.

 

The buttons were produced there from 1905 to around the early 1960s. Click the above link and you can find out why they eventually ceased production.

Here is the Pearl Button Queen of 1946!

Farewell, Barbara

You may have known her as Bunty, Vintage Bunty, Bunty Barmcakes, or simply Barbara.  Perhaps you saw her work on the pages of Somerset magazines, swapped with her, or took an online class with her.  However you knew her, or whatever you called her, she was an Artist, Blogger, Button Floozie...and Friend.

photo by Barbara, courtesy of her blog Vintage Bunty

I first "met" Barbara online when she visited my blog during a large blogging event called One World, One Heart in 2010.  The name of the event was prophetic, as it put me in touch a member of my "tribe" that lived all the way across the pond in Oxford, England.  She responded to the first comment I left on her blog with these words:

I wanted to say thank you for leaving such a nice comment and  I hope we will get to know each other through the blog world.

And so we did.  Barbara and I loved so many of the same things: buttons, lace, mixed media art, vintage fabrics...and creating.  Her blog is still up for the time being, so you can see first hand some of the beautiful works she created. 

an example of Barbara's handwork

In addition to working with fabric, textiles, and paper, she was a gifted photographer.  I always looked forward to the beautiful photos she would post whenever she and her husband, Paul, took weekend jaunts or day trips to the beautiful countryside where she lived.

in Cornwall, photo by Barbara, courtesy of her blog Vintage Bunty

She also took the time to create digital media and she sold it on Etsy.

Then, with the help of her husband, she opened up her own shop online -- different from her Etsy shop!  How many of us are feisty enough to do that?  Well, Barbara was.

some beautiful-ness from her online store

Once, when I showed some button shopping finds on my blog Barbara commented on how lucky I was to have such bounty to discover, and lament that they didn't in her neck of the woods.  So I went to town making her a package and sending it off.  Here's what it looked like:

Barbara's joy at receiving it is one of my happiest bloggy memories.

Barbara and I gushed to each other in emails about wanting to become Button Floozies authors, and then shortly after we got to know each other a few spots opened up!  So, we began our time at this blog together; here is her first Button Floozies post.

photo by Barbara, courtesy of her blog Vintage Bunty

We exchanged gift surprises over the years; here is what she sent me one of those times.

I've always cherished it; so much more, though, now.

She began a battle with ovarian cancer 21 months ago, and it was to that heinous disease that we lost her.
I realize now that I never saw a photo of Barbara "in real life" -- she was modest that way.  But I have a picture of her that comes to mind when I think of her.  It looks something like this...

I'll miss her.  When I think of her now, I will see her whipping up something beautiful from moonbeams and the silver linings of clouds, all dotted with choice, carved mother of pearl buttons.  Farewell, dear Barbara!