Monday Moodboard: Spring Cleaning

A few days ago I started to reorganize my postcards, stamps and other collections. I found lots of stuff I even did not know I had it :) And lots of stuff I don't collect anymore. And lots of stuff that is not my taste anymore. So, my vintage shop will get lots of new entries in the coming weeks ! I am not much of a cleaning person, so this is the closest I'll ever come to a spring cleaning mood .... If you are a spring cleaning person, then here's some help from some of our European Street Team members on Etsy.

For more monday moodboards see fleurfatale's blog.

1. lessandmore
2. StarofSupplies
3. UltimateOrganicSoap
4. LouisestArt

Etsy : Earrings

This week's earrings are these blue embroidered ones from my EST friend Judit from vadjutka on Etsy. As a traditional costume enthusiast and collector, I could not help myself buying these earrings.... These earrings are made from Kalocsa embroidery in Hungary, which is an element of the traditional costume in Kalocsa. Judit incorporates these traditional embroidery pieces into modern jewelry. A funny coincidence is that a piece of Kalocsa embroidery was the first thing in my own collection. When I was 7 years old, my father made his first business trip outside the country. He traveled to Budapest in Hungary and brought me a lovely piece of Kalocsa embroidery. I was thrilled by the colours and motives, and so it all started :) It still has a prominent place in my collection !


Look at some more of Judit's modern Kalocsa jewelry; isn't it delicious ?

Button Wednesday : Painted Wood

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.

These beautiful vintage painted wood buttons inspired me to look for painted wood buttons on the net. The following buttons are only a few of what I found.

I love these wooden buttons from Russia by Peace Fleece; a beautiful modernization of Russian folk art.

And these fantastic buttons are by the master of all, Fiona MacNeil from Glasgow in Scotland.


Very rustic primitive ones from Pinta.

Gorgeous little birds by TheBackyardBear.


Stylish blue buttons by gumby58.




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

Tidbits : Flickr Favourites

Coming weeks my flickr favorites will frequently be of traditional costumes, which is my great (collection) passion. I'll start with the oldest remaining traditional costume of The Netherlands: Marken in Holland. Lots of details of this costume date back to the Middle Ages.

For more flickr favourites see ArtMind's blog.

1. marken, 2. Klederdracht Detail, 3. Marker klederdracht / Traditional Dutch costume, 4. [Native girls, Marken Island, Holland] (LOC)

And two pictures from my own collection. The first picture shows a chintz girl's cap from Marken. The second one shows a postcard depicting a girl from Marken from around 1910. Personally, I think the Marken costume is the most prettiest one of all Dutch costumes.

Monday Moodboard: Natural History

I tried to make some new photographs for my wooden button jewelry this weekend, and decided to go for a "natural history" look. I am not there yet, but here some inspiration from some of our European Street Team members on Etsy.

For more monday moodboards see fleurfatale's blog.

1. Elbenta
2. zsazsazsu1963
3. staroftheeast
4. annarubyking

And my own first test pictures:

Etsy : Earrings

This week's earrings are these dark purple spirals from Brenda from L'Indécise on Etsy. Brenda is from El Salvador and lives in beautiful Geneva in Switzerland. I met Brenda on a craft fair in Amsterdam last summer, so that I could enjoy her playful bijoux in real life and where I bought these beautiful earrings from her. I think they are so special and they have exactly the same colour as my favourite sweater !

And don't you love her new fabric jewelry line ? It's so bright and happy !

Button Wednesday : Coasters

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 I sew little mats of buttons, from which I form all kinds of objects like brooches, pendants, pouches etc., one day I thought it would be nice as coasters too. The above ones are the first I made. Then, I searched the web and found a lot more "button coasters", so this Button Wednesday is about these.

Beautiful ceramic coasters by Lauren Denney at Lauren Ceramics at folksy.

Large ceramic buttons as coasters by madhatterceramics at Etsy.

Lovely felt button-printed coasters by loverlyink at Etsy.

Great use of buttons and felt in these coasters by GraceInspired at Etsy.

Stylish button printed paper coasters by sarahparrott825 at Etsy.

And last but not least these beautiful wooden coasters from Eden & Eden and a tutorial to make your own wooden coasters / trays by Modhomeecteacher at curbly.



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

Tidbits : Flickr Favourites

I feel very unmotivated this week :(

For more flickr favourites see ArtMind's blog.

1. Miserably Unmotivated, 2. Another Nap, 3. Maybe I need to update my web page., 4. 09150008

Being totally unmotivated to do something useful or creative I started to play a bit on the web and found the graph you see in the third picture. It's a graph of a website (HTML DOM Visualizer). The next graph shows the structure of this blogpost and if you don't know what to do, you can make your own.

Monday Moodboard: It's snowing again

It started to snow again yesterday, and they forecast more snow for this week. So, here some winter whites from some of our European Street Team members on Etsy.

For more monday moodboards see fleurfatale's blog.

1. magalerie
2. bysweetmom
3. MaaPstudio
4. ZenzPhotography

Etsy : Earrings

This week's earrings are these pink and wine red bells from Veerle Maes from nevousinstallezpas on Etsy. Veerle is from Belgium and creates the most fantastic jewelry from threads and fabrics. I met Veerle on a craft fair in Maastricht two summers ago, so that I could admire her crocheted jewels in real life and where I bought these beautiful earrings from her. They are made from crocheted balls and real dyed silk cocoons. I think they are delicious !
Have a look at all this intricate crochet work !

Button Wednesday : Soaps

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.

This Button Wednesday is about button soaps; look at all these delicious products !
1. Cute as a button soap set by LoveLeeSoaps, 2. Fresh Laundry Goat Milk and Olive Oil Button Soap by HelloCrafty, 3. "Cute as a Button" Scented Soap Favor
by abcfavors, 4. Soapylove Tutorial: Cute as a Button Soaps by soap queen, 5. Glittery Christmas Button Soap Set by LoveLeeSoaps, 6. Sweet as a button soap set by LoveLeeSoaps, 7. Button soap by Heidi Cooper Jewellery, 8. Button Soap by Suds Market, 9. Vintage Avon button soaps by witty vintage, 10. Stacked Naked - organic blueberry scrub soap by WashableArt

And as a bonus a lovely button soap dish and a gorgeous soap bubble button:
Button mad resin soap dish by pennydogaccessories

Ceramic Button - Cobalt Bubble Bath by rakubuttons



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

Tidbits : Flickr Favourites

Lots of storm here this week !

For more flickr favourites see ArtMind's blog.

1. Brewing Storm, 2. Storm Clouds Gathering - vintage button collage, 3. Storm Birds, 4. A stormcloud

Monday Moodboard: Sewing

Have you seen my industrial sewing machine monster in my last post ? Well, I am still playing. Here some playmate help from some of our European Street Team members on Etsy.

For more monday moodboards see fleurfatale's blog.

1. ItsNotGold
2. karmologyclinic
3. toosis
4. IchaPhotography

Etsy : New Brooches & Industrial Sewing Machine

This week I made more pieces in my "double buttoned embroidered" jewelry line. But this time I used the small branches, so I made a type of toggle buttons. Embroidered them again with silk floss and a lovely button. I so like making these girly woodland pieces !

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

And I played the whole week with my industrial sewing machine, hubby bought it for me from an old man in Kiel who buys and repairs those monsters as his hobby. I had to get used to the speed of the machine and how to get it even, and learned a lot about threads, tension, and spooling. There's no tutorial handbook, so I had to find it out for myself. And I am still very careful for my fingers because it is a real monster, it goes easily through 2cm (almost 1") thick leather like butter....
Here some pics of my new playmate: