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Button Wednesday : The Queen

It is Wednesday again, so it's BUTTON DAY on my blog !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

More Queen Elizabeth this week ! And all was designed again by Ann Carrington, like the royal banner last week.

And this Queen Elizabeth is made of buttons too, next to marbles, toys and other recycled objects; it's by British artist Jane Perkins.

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 in the comments so that everybody can enjoy it !!

Button Wednesday : Diamond Jubilee

It is Wednesday again, so it's BUTTON DAY on my blog !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I never knew that Queen Elizabeth had something with buttons .... well maybe she doesn't and it's just coincidental :) Anyhow, needless to say I like it a lot !

A lavish red velvet banner decorated with a version of the royal coat-of-arms made from more than half a million gold-colored buttons hung from the stern of the royal barge which was taking part in the Thames Diamond Jubilee pageant along the river Thames. It was designed by Ann Carrington, based on the London Pearly Kings and Queens, and has taken a team of talented seamstresses four months to sew on half a million golden buttons with 31 miles of thread. (MailOnline)

(Pictures from Ann Carrington)

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 in the comments so that everybody can enjoy it !!

Button Wednesday : Doggies

It is Wednesday again, so it's BUTTON DAY on my blog !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just found this terrific button dog on knitspot's blog; is he not adorable ? 

And then I found this one by Robert Bradford; lots of recycling, among which lots of buttons !

And a beautiful dog button mosaic by Kate Kessling:

And what about this cutie at Stylist.co.uk ? It's a copy of the Obama's family dog Bo, made out of buttons.

Or this lovely colorful species by William Accorsi ?

And you can always make your own button doggie (The Funky Maven) !

Ohhh did I tell you I love dogs ?

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 in the comments so that everybody can enjoy it !!

Button Wednesday : Buttons Fasten and Threads Tie

It is Wednesday again, so it's BUTTON DAY on my blog !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Found some lovely button art last week, made by altered book artist Rachael Ashe. She has a small button collection gathered over the years, and settled on the buttons for an altered book project because the colors and textures appealed to her and also some experimenting with sewing on paper. I love it when she stated: "The irony of choosing so many buttons to work with in this book is that I hate sewing buttons. It’s one of those small tasks I tend to procrastinate, and it takes me FOREVER to get around to reattaching one when a button has fallen off my clothes." The funny thing is that I have exactly the same, although I like making my own button art :)








I love her use of pattern paper on top of the book and the red spinning threads !

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 in the comments so that everybody can enjoy it !!

Button Wednesday : Tom Stogdon

It is Wednesday again, so it's BUTTON DAY on my blog !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Today I show you the beautiful slate button art by Tom Stogdon. Tom was born in a London greengrocers family and started his sculpting career with fruit. He became frustrated with the ephemeral nature of fruit and also felt that people were not taking the work seriously and as a consequence started to explore other materials. He is now working with stone, metal, and sometimes plants, if there is no need for longevity. He writes: "Elements of the original construction process with fruit still have much significance in my work today. The pieces I make vary in size and stature, but each is made up of many smaller component parts, which are in turn wrestled into a larger containing space". Some of his smaller components are slate buttons, and that is how I found Tom's work. Have a look at his wonderful creations and imagine having your home and garden decorated by Tom's work; well you can always dream, isn't it ?



Buttons on Oak Slab

Sea Buttons in White Frame

Rolling Buttons

Counting table

Button circle






(pictures are from Tom Stogdon, Fashion Foie Gras, and Eves & Lewis Landscape Design, respectively)

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 in the comments so that everybody can enjoy it !!

Button Wednesday : Tagua Nuts

It is Wednesday again, so it's BUTTON DAY on my blog !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Today I want to show you some of my favorite buttons; buttons made of tagua nuts, corozo nuts or Steinnuss in German (literally translated: stone nuts). They were very popular in the 1920s as ordinary clothing buttons, but also as little gems. Tagua nuts come from ivory palms, ivory-nut palms or tagua palms in South America; their scientific name Phytelephas means "plant elephant". This and the first two of the common names refer to the very hard white endosperm of their seeds (the tagua nuts), which resembles elephant ivory, both in color as in structure. That's why its material is also often called vegetable ivory. The nuts are as large as a small avocado, about 4-8 cm in diameter. When dried out, the nuts can be carved just like elephant ivory; they were used for beads, buttons, figurines, jewelry, bagpipes, chess pieces, netsukes, etc. And they can be dyed in all possible colors. The nuts came often to Europe as ballast on ships sailing back from America to Europe without cargo. Hamburg in Germany was, for example, a "tagua nut harbour" and the Steinnuss buttons were made in industries all over Germany. They were used on German military uniforms because of their durability.




(Pictures from LeeValley and ColombiArte)


I found some great pictures of some beautiful vintage tagua buttons; so here we go (all from VintageButtons.net).







However, the plastics took over from the tagua nuts after WWII, being cheaper to produce. But the funny thing is that the tagua nut buttons are back ! In the present time of ecosystems and environmental concerns, the tagua nuts are helping to save the elephants from extinction and the rainforests from deforestation. And it provides work to thousands of people in some poor parts of South America. So lots of eco-friendly modern fashion industries have started to work with tagua nut buttons again !








(Pictures from Nature Beads, Keetsa, and rave fabricare)




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 in the comments so that everybody can enjoy it !!

Button Wednesday : The Button King

It is Wednesday again, so it's BUTTON DAY on my blog !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Today I introduce you to Dalton Stevens, aka the Button King. The Button King’s story began one night in 1983, when his insomnia prevented him from falling asleep. Back then, television went off at two in the morning, so he had to find something to pass the time. Searching through his old things, he found an old denim jumpsuit and started sewing buttons on it. Two years and ten months later, Dalton was still a chronic insomniac, but his jumpsuit was covered with 16333 buttons. It was only the beginning of his incredible experience with buttons. He kept attaching thousands of buttons on various stuff. He glued 3005 buttons on his guitar and 517 buttons on his shoes. His banjo, piano and his 1983 Chevette soon followed. Furthermore a hearse, two coffins, a public outhouse and much more..... In 2008 he opened a Button Museum close to his house, where all his creations can be admired without admission fee (Button King, 55 Joe Dority Rd., Bishopville, SC 29010, USA). By the way, the button-covered coffin and hearse are for Dalton's own funeral; the Button King is planning to go out in style !





















(pictures are from the book "The Button Craft Book" by Dawn Cusick, Altamont Press 1995; ShoutCarolina; OddityCentral)

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 in the comments so that everybody can enjoy it !!