2011 April 21

Today is the Button Swap reveal! Michelle Mach of Beads & Books is hosting this fun swap. I have been fortunate to be paired with the talented and very sweet Cindy Wimmer of Sweet Bead Studio. Here is what Cindy sent me for the swap:

The main button is a beautiful Victorian brass with steel-cut detail, and the two other sets are also brass with ornate detailing. Cindy sent me two, so I could choose the set I liked. Well, I ended up using them all, and here is what I made:

I wanted to frame the buttons to enhance their beauty. So I decided to use donut beads. Well, I have several stone donuts, but they weren’t the right size, and even then, I would have had to glue the buttons on or quite possibly cut the shanks. I didn’t want to do either, so I made my own donuts. Since, I had paper clay around from my Izannah Walker doll ( yes, I am still working on that), I fashioned the beads from that. After sculpting, applying gesso, painting, and collaging, I had what I wanted. The collage is actually an Egyptian motif – it’s so small it can’t be seen. Anyway, the process was fun and I like the results :-).

Cindy also sent me extra buttons & beads – so sweet:

I knew right away what I wanted to do with them. And here it is:

I had so much fun making a vessel for the German Bead Babes Go Challenge, I made another one. This time, I used Bullseye opaque glass to match the pretty mother of pearl buttons & beads. I added a few of my vintage clear glass buttons as accents. There was even enough to make a pretty matching earring set.

And finally, I thought, what could I make out of the big mother of pearl button? Well, Cindy had packaged the buttons in a pretty brown box topped with a very nicely tied bow:

A couple of jeweled sterling branches plus a barrette = a very pretty hair accessory! I know who will claim this one :-).

Thank you Cindy for all the wonderful buttons & beads! And thank you Michelle for hosting this very fun swap! Now, here is the list of other artists to visit:

*** Oh, and be sure to leave a comment – every comment left here and at other participating artists blogs gets you an entry for a giveaway at Michelle’s blog!!!***

1. Cat – Boo Beads

2. Cindy – Sweet Bead Studio ***MY SWAP PARTNER***

3. Cory – Art with Moxie

4. Cyndi – Beading Arts

5. Dita – Alankarshilpa

6. Donna, Marti, and Michelle – Beads & Books ***BUTTON SWAP HOST***

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