Monday Moodboard: Birdies

It is cold again, ice and snow everywhere, so I started to feed my birds again. Here some of them from some of our European Street Team members on Etsy.

For more monday moodboards see fleurfatale's blog.

1. sunshineartdesign
2. Mirthquake
3. annarubyking
4. enchantedpond

Etsy : Earrings

This week's earrings are from Cecilia from Meetalls on Etsy. If you don't know Cecilia's work, you have to look in her shop and read about her in this article, because she makes the most exquisite jewelry. I am so happy with my airy earrings !

Button Wednesday : Button Crockery

It is Wednesday again, so it's BUTTON DAY on my blog. It would be great if you could do the same; make your Wednesday a button day too. Have you seen a lovely, beautiful, stunning, crazy button or button-related thingy, or did you make something with a button / buttons, or did you even make buttons yourself, blog about it on your blog on Wednesday, and give the link here via Mister Linky at the end of this post.

I blogged in 2009 about the above ceramic plates from Dutch designer Kiki van Eijk. Since then I found more crockery based on buttons, and this Button Wednesday will be around these wonderful objects.

These plates are from the Australian company "have you met miss jones". Jennifer Jones makes amazing designs and some of them feature very high on my shopping list at the moment. Although the button holes seem to need some accustoming.

The above plate is the Button Plate by Studio Job from the biscuit collection for Royal Tichelaar Makkum, which is the oldest delftware company in The Netherlands, established in 1572. Job Smeets and Nynke Tynagel are Studio Job. I love it that such a traditional company also features modern Dutch designs.

Japanese designer Kaori Arimura from Product BonBon even sews the button plates !


And last but not least, the lovely button ceramics from Irish company Avoca are made to make you smile.



!!!!!!!!!! If you have something for The Button Wednesday, give Mister Linky your name and the link to your button post !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tidbits : Flickr Favourites

This week's Flickr favourites are a bit airy ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For more flickr favourites see ArtMind's blog.

1. Debate, 2. Hung Parliament, 3. Apophysis-101209-108a_TheHilt, 4. Untitled

Monday Moodboard: Sad

Today is the funeral of my neighbour friend who died last week after a brave period of fighting the cancer. Therefore I am in a very sad mood. I hope to express that here, as a tribute to this brave strong woman, with the help of some of our European Street Team members on Etsy.

For more monday moodboards see fleurfatale's blog.

1. dindi
2. RosemaryManufacture
3. ArtMind
4. MindAndHandsTogether

Etsy : Earrings

OK, we are back from Berlin; it was a succesful trip, but pretty cold and wet too. Our new passports are in the make and will be sent to us soon, and hubby's presentation about the genetics of pig skin colouring on the "Grüne Woche" (the "Green Week", a trade fair for agricultural products) went very well. Besides, we visited the Berlin Etsy office, which had a great atmosphere, and we visited the button shop of Paul Knopf (Knopf is the German word for Button), which was an immense treat ! So, I had Friday no opportunity to make my weekly Etsy earring post. This I will do now !

This week's earrings are from my EST friend Stéphanie from PetitPlat on Etsy. All Stéphanie's creations are delicious, and I am always tempted when I go to her shop, and I always want to eat something then :)) I bought some delicious salmon from her, which we also ate in Berlin; yummm !

Button Wednesday : Button Calendars

It is Wednesday again, so it's BUTTON DAY on my blog. It would be great if you could do the same; make your Wednesday a button day too. Have you seen a lovely, beautiful, stunning, crazy button or button-related thingy, or did you make something with a button / buttons, or did you even make buttons yourself, blog about it on your blog on Wednesday, and give the link here via Mister Linky at the end of this post.

Because this first month of the New Year is still going strong, I thought I could still come with this awesome tutorial for a perpetual button calendar, which I saw on tumblr the other day. It is on craftzine and made by Diane Gilleland, who also has a lovely blog. I am certainly going to make this !

And what about this lovely perpetual button calendar where the buttons are attached with velcro ? It's in Rashida Coleman-Hale's I love Patchwork book. She tells about it in an interview on Zakka Life.


And a similar one from I heart linen.


This one from thejoysofjess is lovely too.

And something else from thejoysofjess, but cute too !


!!!!!!!!!! If you have something for The Button Wednesday, give Mister Linky your name and the link to your button post !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tidbits : Flickr Favourites

We are traveling to Berlin on Thursday because hubby must hold a presentation on a conference and we need new passports from the Dutch Embassy in Berlin. I was looking around the internet what I could do when hubby has his talk and found out it is Fahion Week in Berlin. And then I suddenly saw the announcement of the show of De Leon by Ricardo Ramos with pictures of models in what looked like the traditional costume of Staphorst in The Netherlands. And that is true; it was Staphorst. He called it "Reconstructing Klederdracht"; klederdracht is the Dutch word for traditional costume. He says: "A small town called Staphorst in The Netherlands catched the designer’s attention this time, its female inhabitants are still wearing the same fashion for almost a couple of centuries! Something very unique in Europe where fashion has been a strong statemant of contemporary life and social change especially from last century.Their “Ready to Wear” hand made traditional garments (Klederdracht) have been transformed following the traditional methods used to construct them, creating a collection between austerity and fantasy flirting with folk." Sadly the show is on Wednesday night and only on invitation :((( So, I will not be able to see it. What I would give or do to be there !!!!

So, this week's Flickr favourites are about Staphorst and its klederdracht !

For more flickr favourites see ArtMind's blog.

1. Staphorst, 2. Dagelijks-05, 3. Staphorster jasbeschermer gehaakt, 4. Klederdracht

Monday Moodboard: Wood

As you can see from my last blog post I am still very much in a "wood" mood. Therefore, today great wooden things from some of our European Street Team members on Etsy :))))

For more monday moodboards see fleurfatale's blog.

1. lessandmore

2. magalerie

3. lilarubyking

4. Utormeter

Etsy : New Jewelry Line

This week I made more pieces in my "double buttoned embroidered" jewelry line. I love the work; drawing the embroidery plan, drilling, sanding and oiling the wood, looking for a fitting button, choosing colours for the floss, and then the embroidery itself ! I am pretty happy making and seeing my new line. I made brooches, rings and pendant necklaces so far, but more ideas are continuously popping up.


Most of the new creations are now in my Etsy shop: P8 Button Art, but there is more to come !

Etsy : Earrings

This week's earrings are the second pair I bought from my EST friend Anna from annarubyking on Etsy. All Anna's earrings are a treat, and I am always tempted when I go to her shop :)) And then you have her other shop lilarubyking which is really dangerous for an addicted earring lover.

Button Wednesday : Button Tables

It is Wednesday again, so it's BUTTON DAY on my blog. It would be great if you could do the same; make your Wednesday a button day too. Have you seen a lovely, beautiful, stunning, crazy button or button-related thingy, or did you make something with a button / buttons, or did you even make buttons yourself, blog about it on your blog on Wednesday, and give the link here via Mister Linky at the end of this post.

Last year I blogged about button stools and button chairs; so, today the button table gets its turn. I am starting with the Twine Table of the Swedish wis design group for Casamania. This table is inspired by one of the oldest ways of attaching one object to another – with a needle and thread. The wire is twined through the table top, and becomes legs as well as upholding the construction.

The second one is the Button Table by Olga Prozorova and is part of the ArtFuture Design School installation. Olga uses the traditional Russian form of the Matryoshka doll as the table legs and as the thread in a table-sized button. It also offers a storage function inside the dolls.

Then I found this lovely Button Children's Table by Onur Müştak Çobanlı. This is not an ordinary button, it is a metal jeans button. The mid part could be both used as a storage and to throw things to; there is a buffer so that nothing falls there by mistake.
The next Button Children Table is also from Onur Müştak Çobanlı and is inspired by a chef jacket button.

The next one is a lovely Button Table from Lainy Vroom at the LISP Bazaar Shop.


And I found some tables decorated with buttons. First the beautiful garden table "Joans Button's" by Helen Nock. Slate, lead, copper, mother of pearl buttons (from a collection of her mother that gave it it's title) on a weathering forged iron base; copper wire is threaded through the buttons imbedded amidst cold-formed lead spirals.

A lovely button table seen and photographed by Bruce Sterling at the Milan Furniture Fair 2010.

Great button table seen and photographed by Dan Loda at the Uptown in Oakland in 2007.


A great Button Mosaic Coffee Table from Jo Thorpe Mosaic at Folksy.

And last but not least a great tutorial of how to transform an old table with buttons (click on the pictures to go to the tutorial).


!!!!!!!!!! If you have something for The Button Wednesday, give Mister Linky your name and the link to your button post !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tidbits : Flickr Favourites

Came across the term "knit graffiti" last week; sublime idea !!

For more flickr favourites see ArtMind's blog.

1. Yarnbombing in Yellow Springs, 2. Knit the City - Phonebox Cosy, 3. Knit Graffiti Launceston TAS, 4. crossing

Monday Moodboard: "Great Legs"

Came out of the shower and put some lotion on my legs, suddenly realizing that my legs are altering fast too :) So, this Monday Moodboard is a tribute to great legs ! Therefore today gorgous legs from some of our European Street Team members on Etsy :))))

For more monday moodboards see fleurfatale's blog.

1. goodmorningmidnight

2. eleanors

3. staroftheeast

4. TheHappyFeet

Etsy : Earrings

This week's earrings are from Amy who sells her jewelry as AdornJewelry on Etsy. Amy makes beautiful nature inspired jewelry and I especially like her moss collection. So, I bought myself these funny moss earrings and I steal the show everywhere with those green mats. Are they real ? Must you give them water ?

Button Wednesday : Button Gifts

It is Wednesday again, so it's BUTTON DAY on my blog. It would be great if you could do the same; make your Wednesday a button day too. Have you seen a lovely, beautiful, stunning, crazy button or button-related thingy, or did you make something with a button / buttons, or did you even make buttons yourself, blog about it on your blog on Wednesday, and give the link here via Mister Linky at the end of this post.

Button Wednesday today is a thank you to two lovely people I met on the internet and who sent me lots of great buttons. The first one is Sandra from zsazsazsu1963 on Etsy, who told her 87 year old aunt about Button Wednesday and then got two immense Quality Street boxes filled with buttons from her, who had always sewn her own clothes. Sandra sent me some treasures out of these boxes because there were so many and because she is such s sweet girl of course ! Thanks again deer Sandra for this lovely Belgian gift; maybe you saw some of your buttons already appearing in my new natural jewelry line.


The second sweet lady is Lynn from Pennsylvania USA who I met on FaceBook. Lynn collected lots of buttons from her mother and grandmother because she liked them, but got the idea that she was not going to do anything with them. So, she decided to pack them up and send them to a button artist and she choose me as the lucky girl. All the ones from her grandmother are probably 90 years old and the ones from her mother are from 1940 - 1960. There are some real gems in this huge packet of buttons. I show you here some of her grandma's ones in detail. Thank you again dear Lynn; you are the sweetest ! Some of your buttons are already used in my new rings.





!!!!!!!!!! If you have something for The Button Wednesday, give Mister Linky your name and the link to your button post !!!!!!!!!!!!!