Button Swap Reveal!

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

13. Linda D. – Lutka and Co.     ***ME :-)***

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