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!
Follow Me on Pinterest
{ 0 comments… add one now }
{ 1 trackback }