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I am always very impressed by the postures Peggy can hold when sleeping; and the amount of relaxation is awesome ! I could learn a lot from her.
(from Fischer-Antics in Germany)
In many cultures lots of early buttons were made from antler (the "horns" of deer). Antler buttons were often manufactured by individuals working at home with simple tools. They are especially very beautiful and typical for the european Alp-countries. After the "Trachten-boom" in the 70s and 80s only a few manufacturers still make antler buttons by hand in the Alps. 
(from Fischer-Antics in Germany)Most of the antlers are collected by hunters in southern Germany, Austria, Poland and the Czech Republic. The stags throw their antlers each February and March; so they are not killed for their antlers, but their antlers are found left behind in the forest.
(from Inntaler Hirschhornknopf-Fabrikation)Everything of the antlers is used. First the antlers are cut lengthwise into flat strips, then disks are cut as close to each other as possible to get as much buttons as possible; 1 kg antler produces about 100 buttons. The disks are then beaten out of the antler strips and the button holes are drilled. Finally they are polished and sometimes also carved. The antler tops are formed into toggle buttons and the rest, dust and chips, becomes biological fertilizer for gardeners. 
(from Stephanie Hackstein. Buttons. History and Production.)Every antler button is unique because every antler is unique. That makes these buttons so beautiful. There are lots of imitations made out of plastic on the market; they are all identical and they all have a snow white backside.
A: real antler buttons; B: plastic imitation buttons (from my own collection)Some examples of beautiful handmade antler buttons I found on the internet:
(1 and 2 from Hirsch-Hornschnitzer & Hornschmuck-Erzeugung, 3 from Knopfparadies, 4 from rosenhexe31 on Ebay, 5 from ideenreichHandarbeitsbedarf on DaWanda, 6 from buchfink987 on Ebay and 7 from bokkerer on Ebay)Based on:Stephanie Hackstein. Buttons. History and Production. Markstein Verlag, Filderstadt 2007. ISBN 978-3-935129-40-4
Grüß Gott aus dem Raum Rosenheim: "Das Imitat ist unser größter Feind", Inntaler Hirschhornknopf-Fabrikation in der dritten Generation.
I was tagged by ArtMind and dindi to give 16 facts about myself... So, here we go:
1. I love Peggy !!!! She is the most cuddly loving dachshund you have ever seen.
2. Like to lay down on my back and look to the sky; thinking what it is, a monster, a dragon, or ????
3. Cannot live without my private little coffee machine, but without caffein.
4. My upmost pride: the sewing atelier. Always quite messy.
5. I love my hubby; here in our little boat on the Schlei last summer (in front of our house).
6. I collect traditional costumes; mostly caps, hats and coiffes. Once a year I organize a little show for the neighbour ladies in our village. This cap is from Zwartsluis in the Netherlands.
7. Crazy about buttons..........
8. I like to go for walks at the Baltic Sea. Love to find shells and stones. Sometimes it's like a moon-scape.
9. I collect stamps with traditional costumes; love the old ones. This one is from 1935 and represents a woman from Hessen in Germany.
10. They are here everywhere; really beautiful stones. Have made a small stone-garden last year.
11. Love the Schlei-fjord along we are living; here the old railway-road combi-bridge at Lindaunis.
12. I make hats, among other things; but hats are my favourites.
13. I love chickens; this is a painting by an uncle of hubby and it hangs in our living room. Also used a picture from the same painter as the cover of my thesis (which was about chickens).
14. Love everything history; this is a picture of my Friesian grandparents in front of their house in Wijnjeterp. I spent there a very happy youth !
15. My garden, in which I spent a lot of time in the summer; it will go into its second summer. So, very curious how it will look.
16. I collect postcards with traditional costumes; this one is from Scheveningen in the Netherlands where my grandmother came from. I have more than 10.000 cards; the Dutch ones you can see here.
And dear dindi gave me also a blog award. I am touched that she picked me as one of the recipients - Thanks !
Proximidade is described as follows:
'This blog invests and believes in PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes for self-aggrandizement! Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers!'
This blog award should be sent to your favorite eight bloggers and they, in turn should forward to eight of their favorites. You should include the text for Proximidade (above) in your announcement blog.
I have chosen the following eight blogs for the Proximidade Award:
SandFibers
this is love forever
the long thread
ateliersusan
AppleAndEve
Indigo Blah
VKnO
The Creative Place
Every week the European Street Team at Etsy organizes a challenge to make something with a special theme.
The theme last week was organized by Heli and was called "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" (by Milan Kundera).
The sperm cell is the ultimate proxy of "Being", that is of "Life". One of the two partners in the lifelong tango of life creating more life. It takes two to tango, and the sperm cell is very much the active partner.
"Lightness" is loftiness, airiness, drifting on the breeze like dandelion fluff in spring. Lightness is lucidity, a flickering candle flame in that same spring breeze, late in the evening when fading light draws out the moths. Lightness is romance, symbolized here by the golden heart with its crimson boundary.
"Unbearable" is the fate of practically every sperm cell in life: most of them loose their rhythm before the final act and drop out of the tango. Turning the argument around, this brooch is not unbearable at all; to the contrary, it is eminently bearable.
The Schlei (in german) or Slien (in danish) is the most southern fjord in northern Europe; it stretches for approximately 20 miles from the Baltic Sea along the small cities of Kappeln (the featuring city in the german TV series of "der Landarzt") and Arnis (the smallest city in Germany with about 300 inhabitants) to the city of Schleswig in northern Germany. An important viking settlement, called Hedeby, was located at the head of the fjord, but was later abandoned in favor of the city of Schleswig. There is now a beautiful museum at Hedeby (danish) or Haithabu (german) showing how this viking settlement was built; with rebuild viking houses, real found relicts, lots of information, and the yearly viking days. Two years ago they found an abandoned viking ship in the Schlei just in front of us when the water was very low; archaeologists took it piece for piece away and rebuild it in the museum.
