Button Swap Day!



Today is the day that we get to see what everyone who participated in Michelle Mach's button swap.  I've been really excited about this, since it's always so inspiring to see what everyone comes up with in a swap.  The pieces are all so different, but so inspiring! 


Anyway, the idea behind the button swap was the usual formula, Michelle took all the names of the people who signed up and paired them with other people.  You had to send your partner 3 buttons from your stash, so much the better if one or more were vintage or handmade.  Well, I was paired up with Hope of  Craftyhope.blogspot.com.  Well, I was overwhelmed when Hope's package arrived!  It was amazing!  She not only sent the 3 required buttons, which were fabulous, but she sent a whole stash of other buttons!  And, to make it better she made adorable tins and a card to go along with the buttons!!! 

Isn't that fantastic?!!  Well, I love the 3 buttons, especially the carved ivory flowers.  And the were all so vintage looking, that I decided I had to do something that played on the vintage feel of the buttons. So, I went back to my idea of using knitted wire in a mixed media design.  At a bead show I had gotten a new color of art wire, Rose Gold.  It's a lovely old-timey pink with a golden glow.  So, I thought this would be the perfect project to use it.  I knitted a cuff and decided a linen base would keep to the vintage look.  I was going to sew the wire to the linen and then the buttons on top of the wire, fringe the edges of the linen and sew snaps on as a closure.  That was the original plan.  But, as you can see below, that's not exactly how it ended up.

When I laid it all out, I thought the piece looked very flat and uninteresting.  Just layered, linen, wire, buttons, was terribly boring.  So, I took the wire and scrunched it up.  In doing so I creating a ridge which I then maniputlated some more to create little 'cups' to nestle the buttons into.  I loved the dimensional feel of the piece, and an added benefit was the wavy edge that resulted from scrunching the wire.  I knew I had something I liked a lot.  So, I proceeded as I had planned and sewed the wire to the linen and the buttons nestled in the wire.  Of course, my favorite button, the carved flowers, figured prominently, and another of the original 3, a fantastically shabby chic glass button.  But, I also used one from the extra stash Hope sent, the little pink with the flower and rhinestone center.  A pearl button that I had in my stash finished off the set.

I'm really pleased with the cuff.  I wore it yesterday and received compliments on it.   That was nice!  

This was a fun swap.  I love buttons and it allowed me to try another idea for knitted wire.  This cuff has generated another idea for a cuff with a summery seaside theme.   The swap also introduced me to Hope and her great work.  So, a win, win all around! 

Michelle is sponsoring a contest to coordinate with the Button Swap Reveal.  If you comment on all the participants blogs you'll be entered to win a button collection.  So, below you'll find the list of participants in the button swap.   Go check out what everyone did with their buttons and you may win some buttons, and everyone can use more buttons, can't they?  I don't think you can ever have too many!

1. Cat-  http://boobeads.blogspot.com/

2. Cindy- http://www.sweetbeadstudio.com/

3. Cory-  http://art-with-moxie.blogspot.com/

4. Cyndi- http://www.beading-arts.com/

5. Dita- http://www.alankarshilpa.blogspot.com/

6. Donna, Marti, and Michelle- http://www.michellemach.com/blog/

7. Erin- http://treasures-found.blogspot.com/

8. Hope- http://craftyhope.blogspot.com/

9. Inca- http://zerenitydesign.blogspot.com/

10.Katrina- http://armyofsockmonsters.blogspot.com/

11. Krista- http://frenchelegantjewelry.blogspot.com/

12.Kristie- http://www.artisanclay.blogspot.com/

13. Linda D.- http://lutkaandco.com/

14. Linda L.-http://www.lindasbeadblog.com/

15.Lody- http://www.lodysbeadworks.blogspot.com/

16.Lori- http://www.lorianderson.blogspot.com/

17. Loretta- http://www.designsbyloretta.blogspot.com/

18.Malin- http://beadingbymalindekoning.blogspot.com/

19. Mary- http://mkaymac.blogspot.com/

20. Maryanne- http://zingalasworkshop.com/

21. Melinda- http://orrtec.blogspot.com/

22. Saskia- http://perlendistel.blogspot.com/

23. Shannon-http://www.formysweetdaughter.blogspot.com/

24. Shirley- http://beadsandbread.blogspot.com/

25. Stephanie- http://www.stringaholic.blogspot.com/

Hope you have fun checking out all the participants.  



Button Swap



I've never participated in an online swap before but I've always thought it would be fun.  When I found out that Michelle Mach was hosting a button swap on her blog I decided I would join in the fun.  I was paired up with Hope Smitherman who is a very talented artist from Alabama.  Hope and I discovered that we have a love of vintage, buttons and otherwise, in common. 

Well, the rules for the swap were simple, send your partner 3 buttons of any kind.  If one or more was special in any way, or vintage, all the better. Once the buttons were received the participants are to come up with a project using the buttons. It can be anything, from jewelry to home decor.  Of course this meant I had to spend an afternoon going through my extensive button collection!!  I know, it's a tough job, but what could I do!  After a great deal of dithering over which buttons I should send Hope, I finally was able to chose three that I thought she might like.  I was so preoccupied with choosing the buttons and deciding on a presentation that I forgot to take a picture of them!  But, I chose a  green dichroic glass button made by my friend Terrie Voigt, and two that I've had for a long time.  I don't know if they were both vintage, but one was a dark teal and the other was a gray MOP.  It was difficult to chose which buttons to send because I wanted them to be something Hope could, and would want, to use.  Well, I'm happy to say that she loved the buttons, which was such good news for me! 

Naturally, I wanted to create a fun presentation, so I used my favorite, a tag.  I attached the buttons to a small tag and attached that to a larger tag that I had distressed and embellished with sewing motif fabric and a paper flower with a button center!!!  Seriously, what else could I have used for a center.  I'm really sorry I didn't have the presence of mind to take a picture of all this.  The finished presentation was pretty cool.  Of course, wait until you see what Hope sent me!!!

What I sent Hope pales in comparison to what she sent me!!!  I was just overwhelmed when I opened my package.  Not only by the presentation, but by the amount of buttons! 

Look at all that!  The three buttons in the middle front are the three for the swap.  But, all the rest are just Hope being incredibly generous.  She too spent a long time looking through her button stash and decided to share some of what she has with me.  I was amazed at the wonderfulness of it all!  And, if the amount isn't amazing enough, the presentation is incredible.  She created two tins to put the buttons in and a beautiful card, plus the tag for the original 3 buttons.



Here's a better picture of the tin the 3 buttons came in.  The other loose buttons came in a smaller tin embellished in the same way!  Then she sent two cards of buttons!

 



 I was so touched by her generosity.  And, the buttons she chose are all fabulous!  I just love them all.  Deciding what to make with them is now my problem!  I want to make some thing really cool so I can show off the buttons to best advantage.  I have a few ideas and I need to take some time to decide which one will work best.  But, I just love what I have to work with and it will be fun creating something special with these vintage beauties.

Well, thank you for stopping by.  Enjoy the day.  We're having some beautiful spring weather here, so I'll be in the garden today.  I hope you do something fun with your day, too.



Bohemian Scarves~ part 2.

I'm sorry it's taken me so long to finish my post about the Bohemian Scarves.  Spring time means lots of time gardening and enjoying the beautiful weather.  But, here I am ready to share with you the last three of the scarves. 

This one was fun to do for a variety of reasons.  First of all I knitted in godets using short rows, and that was fun.  I didn't know how it would work out but I think it looks pretty good.  The godets are in this picture puctuated by the ribbon flowers.  When I embellished the scarf, after finishing the knitting, I pleated the godets on the back and stitched the ribbon flowers to the front.  I also knitted one section so that it had a notch which I filled with  the embroidered applique.  You can see it at the neck.  I was intending to add a strip of ribbon to that area but the applique looked better!

This is a beaded yarn over stitch I developed while playing around with beaded lace stitches.  The square bead mix blended perfectly with the yarn colors.  By the way, the yarn I used for this section is one of my favorite luxury yarns.  It's Alchemy's Silken Straw.  The colors are wonderful and the fabric it creates is very drapey and luxurious.

This scarf used Maggie Jackson's linen yarn once again.  That yarn makes up into a wonderful fabric and it has a rustic appeal that I really like.  Up at the neck, in the center, is another color of Silken Straw.  Love that yarn!  I had fun with some of the embellishments on this scarf.  In a home decorating book I had seen fabric covered wooden beads used as tassels on the corners of a pillow.   I really liked the idea and filed it away to use someday.  I decided to use them at certain points on this scarf. 

Here's a close up of the tassel.  I used a batik fabric and some beads that I had used in one of the sections of the scarf.  Those little dangles are so cute and really added some fun to the scarf.

The last of the scarves really isn't a scarf.  It sort of grew into a wrap.  I had accumulated several yarns in a turquoise/lime green mix, along with a lot of turquoise and lime green solids and tonal yarns.  Since that's one of my favorite color combinations I guess it's not surprising that I would have a lot of yarns in those colors.  Well, I decided to put them together in one scarf.  But, as I said, I got a little carried away and it became a wrap.

This is the back of it.  I had some dichroic glass buttons that I had gotten at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival and they were the perfect color to use with the yarns.  I decided to make the wrap in two pieces and sew the buttons on to attach the sections.  I really liked the way it worked out.  The beautiful turquoise ribbon that is threaded through the eyelets to the left of the buttons is Hanah silk ribbon.  I adore those ribbons for so many reasons!  The colors are to die for (or "dye" for!) and the drape is fabulous.  Anyway, I had this piece which just happened to be a perfect turquoise.

I hope you've enjoyed my minor obsession!  Ideas are always coming for more Bohemian Scarves.  I love making them because there are so many yarn combinations to try and  I can use  so many different embellishments on them.  So, there will be more coming.  I've actually got one in the very beginning stages right now.  We'll see where it takes me.

Thank you for stopping by to read my blog.  Have a wonderfully creative day!