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Showing posts from November, 2012

Button Tree Pin

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Last year I found instructions on making a Christmas tree pin with small shank buttons and wire. I made some and sold most of them at a neighborhood craft show. then forgot about them until this holiday season started to roll around. I searched everywhere for the directions--on the web, in my bookmarks, in my magazines--to no avail. So they were created from memory and are for sale in my Etsy shop, autena. They are rather abstract and I have used some non-traditional holiday colors, like aqua and peach. For the top of the tree, only rhinestones or mother of pearl would do, except for one that has a gold crown on a red button! Now you'll never guess what happened--or maybe you will. I was looking through my documents on the computer for something else as I wrote this and, sure enough came upon the directions! Wouldn't you know it? But that's great because now I can share them also.   I dare not reprint them without permission, but will give out the

A Button Charm Swap Bracelet

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Hi Button Floozies, I haven't posted here in a while...you know how life gets.  And with my sickness of crafting, my time is everywhere....charms, jewelry, paper, buttons, blogs, groups, etc. there just isn't enough time. I've visited often though. Recently in one of my groups, ArtCharms (a yahoo group), we had a swap of charms made of buttons.  With this swap, one of the participants, Cris Peacock , made a bracelet with all the charms she received. I asked her permission to show you guys the awesome bracelet she made.  Visit her blog for more detailed instructions. Base of the button bracelet. Bracelet with all the swapped button charms attached. Another view. I hope you enjoyed her bracelets and stop by to say hello.  You know we all have a little Button Floozie in all of us!! *wink* Have a great week! Bev B.

Using a Few Buttons

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I made this little pocket for an exchange gift.  I used an assortment of buttons to frame the cross stitch.  Almost, if not all, of the white buttons are mother of pearl; the others are not.  The little memo portfolio that I found determined the design that I stitched and the colors that I used.  This worked out so well that I may make a second one as a Christmas gift.  I may use fewer buttons because they make the pocket quite heavy. 

Inspired...

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I was so inspired by reminiscing about Tami's buttons (see previous post ) that I spent some time yesterday playing with my mother of pearl buttons! The photo above shows my "unsorted" mother of pearl buttons that I grab freely from when I am creating.  They are spread out on a platter, but normally they 'live' in a glass jar in my kitchen so I may admire them, always.  The other day, I moved some of my collection into a vintage jewelry-box-like container. These are special to me because they are carved, intriguingly shaped, paired with other materials, are interesting colors -- or are just very old. I have so much fun sorting them!  At the top of this photo (above) are buttons that are especially bright and shiny, and none of which have any particularly special carvings -- just circles. Some I consider special simply by virtue of the fact that someone, long ago, took the time to string them together. The ones at the top of the above photo are speci

Tami's buttons: a world class treat!

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It is always fun when you find your so-called "tribe" -- for me, those people are, of course, button floozies!  You may recall I recently took a trip to Kansas City and enjoyed the hospitality of Tami , and she is, among other things, a world-class button collector! Tami graciously allowed me to photograph -- and gave me permission to share with you -- some of her collection.  Thank you, Tami! First, let me say that she has her buttons impeccably stored/arranged/displayed. Because of this -- the enjoyment of her button collection is multiplied! There is an office/room devoted to her collection, the likes of which most of us can only DREAM of having! An antique-lover, she has some beautiful vessels in which to display some of her prized buttons. In the middle of this bowl (above) is a shell that was used to create some buttons -- isn't that a fun visual piece? Beautiful button art pieces... and something fun and whimsical everywhere you turn!

Lovely use of buttons..

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I   ran across this Esty shop by accident while looking for some lace.  I think these bibs are one of the most clever use of buttons I've run across... She has lots of them but this was my favorite.

Framed button card

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You may remember when I blogged about a gift of buttons I received from Australia. The other day I mounted this beautiful antique card inside a display box (by Martha Stewart.) I love how it turned out; now they're protected and I can still enjoy the gorgeous card!

Vintage Pink Button

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I wanted to share how I use some of my vintage buttons. I have a hard time parting with some of them but try to use them in many projects. Isn't it pretty? You can see more photos of the cozy and cute vintage button here on my flickr page.

Made in Japan

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A few weeks ago, I was doing one of my favorite things...shopping at an antique mall, of course!  I came across several of these charming cloisonne enamel buttons.    I wanted to buy all of the cards that were in this booth, but settled for three, as they were a bit costly.  I thought they were unique and wanted to show them off. As usual I decided to do a little research before writing about them, and found that they were not as unique as I had thought.  I found some for sale in various places (Etsy, Ebay, etc). But they are still fun and here they are. You can see at the bottom of two of the cards that they were made in Japan  and on one of them is the original price tag. Despite my limited research, I was unable to find much information as to date or history,  so if anyone can add more information to this, please feel free to do so.   I make jewelry using buttons and bought these with the idea of incorporating them,  but I fear I am b