May the miracles of new hope
and new life
be with you
this joyous Easter!
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Welcome to a blog hop hosted by Michelle Mach of Beads and Books. Michelle had the great idea to host her first blog hop all in the name of buttons. She’s been crafting with them since she was a child and collecting them for years. As much as we love beads, I think many jewelry designers love to collect buttons and add them to jewelry as an interesting design element. After all, buttons can tell stories and they are often one-of-a-kind. I bet you may have a few tucked away in a jar yourself! I’m fond of vintage and antique buttons, especially those with metal shanks or mother of pearl.
Michelle paired us off and we were to send our partners 3 buttons – made from any material, shape or size. One of the buttons had to be “special”. My partner was Linda of Lutka and Co. What fun it was to be introduced to a new (to me) jewelry designer, someone all the way on the opposite coast. We exchanged emails and learned how much we really have in common. I thoroughly enjoyed perusing her blog, as Linda is extremely talented in many mediums. I saw bright plants from her garden, her Zentangle drawings (which are fine enough to be turned in to art stamps!), her jewelry, her digital art and her beautiful lampwork. I was so surprised to find a gift in my swap package: Linda sent one of her own lampwork floral shank buttons and matching beads! The floral detail is amazing.
My swap buttons were vintage and exactly the type of button I would seek out myself! Linda picked up this beautiful old mother of pearl button in an antiques store en route to Palm Springs.
Now on to my button creation. Did I mention that the swap guidelines stated that we could make anything with our buttons, not just jewelry! That caught my attention. This was the perfect chance to try something new! When I first saw that great mother of pearl horse button, I thought of my sister and her beloved horse, Deuce. I tried my hand a little mixed media gift for Nikki. I made a whole bunch of rolled fabric flowers and saved some for another project. I love that you can use any fabric and adorn the flowers with anything you wish, such as rhinestones.
Being sentimental at heart, I included one of my sister’s favorite pictures. I added the swap buttons in a layer of vintage lace, silk ribbon and tulle .
Can you guess what I made?
Why, it’s an altered clip board! 🙂 Paper collage, buttons, lace trim….*sigh*. I can see why so many people love mixed media. I do too. And thanks to Michelle and Linda, I had to opportunity to give it a try again.
There’s more! Michelle is hosting a give away for those who visit the Button Swap blogs! When Readers comment on any (or all) blogs, they can win a set of buttons. The full rules can be found on Michelle’s blog, but basically, each comment on a different blog gets them one entry. So if you comment on all posts, that would be 25 entries! But if you comment 25 times on a single blog, that only counts as one entry! The giveaway is open to everyone!
Now on to visit the Bead Swap Blogs!
1. Cat – Boo Beads
2. Cindy – Sweet Bead Studio (you are here!) 🙂
3. Cory – Art with Moxie
4. Cyndi – Beading Arts
5. Dita – Alankarshilpa
6. Donna, Marti, and Michelle – Beads & Books
7. Erin – Treasures Found
8. Hope – Crafty Hope
9. Inca – Zerenity Design
10. Katrine – Army of Sock Monsters
11. Krista – French Elegant Jewelry
12. Kristie – Artisan Clay
13. Linda D. – Lutka and Co.
14. Linda L. – Linda’s Bead Blog
15. Lody – Lody’s Beadworks
16. Lori – Pretty Things
17. Loretta – Loretta’s Boutique
18. Malin – Beading by Malin de Koning
19. Mary – MK’s Creative Musings
20. Maryanne – Zingala’s Workshop
21. Melinda – Melinda Orr Metal & Clay Jewelry Designs
22. Saskia – Perlendistel
23. Shannon – For My Sweet Daughter
24. Shirley – Beads and Bread
25. Stephanie – Confessions of a Bead Hoader
We just went on Easter Vacation so unfortunately my online time will be somewhat limited…but I’m looking forward to visiting the Swap blogs just as soon as I can!
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I am always fascinated to learn more about the rich history all around our home here in Virginia. We frequently make trips to Maryland and Pennsylvania, often seeing places of Civil War significance. I’m especially excited when we can visit a place that we have never visited before. We had that opportunity when when the Boy Scouts group visited the Arlington House at Arlington National Cemetery. Our visit was planned precisely at the 150th anniversary of Robert E. Lee’s “Great Decision” . In April 1861, Lee made what is known as “the most pivotal decision in the Civil War”. When his home state of Virginia seceded, Lee resigned from the U.S. Army (he had been offered command of Union forces) and supported the Confederacy.
The Arlington House, with 8 columns on the portico
The history of the Arlington House is incredibly interesting. If you have the time, please visit the link above to learn all about this famous home. The house was constructed and owned by George Washington’s adopted grandson, George Washington Parke Custis. Apparently Custis inherited the 1,100 acres of land when he was just 3. The Greek Revival-style home took 16 years to complete and is noted for its grand portico columns. Robert E. Lee married the Custis’ only surviving child, Mary Anna Randolph Custis, who was given the right to inhabit and control the house for the remainder of her life. The Arlington House was the Lee’s home for 30 years, and 6 of his 7 children were born there in the dressing room off of the master bedroom. While walking through the house, I read a interesting tidbit – that Lee regularly picked a rose from the garden to place at his wife and daughter’s setting at breakfast. To learn in detail how Arlington National Cemetery developed at the Arlington House grounds, read here. It really is a fascinating history. I hope to return again soon, as we took the 7:00 pm tour and it became too dark to see many details (such as Union soldier’s signatures and “graffiti” written on the attic rafters). Most of the furniture was removed as well for an ongoing renovation. I’d love to see the period furniture in this setting!
View of DC from The Arlington House
Have a great week and thanks for stopping by!
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