Button, Button - Who's Got The Button?

I used to play that "Button-Button" game when I spent the night at my grandmother's house. She had a large candy tin that she used to keep all of her buttons in. I loved looking through that button box and so is it any wonder that I am still attracted to them today?

Analise (Sugar-Sugar) is having a Virtual Button Swap Party today. Well, actually it was yesterday, but I didn't pay very good attention to the date when she told me about it. No matter though, because you can still check it out by clicking right here. She has the most beautiful pics of colored buttons, plus she has a ton of links to look at other blogger's buttons. Fun, huh?


My favorite (and most used) combination of colored buttons are the ones pictured below. There is something about how they look together that pleases me. Below are some vintage carded buttons that I look for when I go to the flea market or antique mall. I love the illustrations on the cards as much as the buttons themselves. These are some of my Lucky Lady's. . .
And some sweet pale blue buttons. . .
And I call these my Bluebird Button Cards. . .
And my favorite greenish-blue Vogue buttons along with some lovely rose colored buttons. . .
These teeny-tiny buttons were from sweaters and clothing that I wore when I was a baby. My mother always clipped off the buttons and saved them. And I'm glad she did!
I know I said I use those pink, blue and green buttons, at the beginning of this post the most. But I forgot about my collection of white buttons. Maybe I use these the most? Hmmm...it's a toss up, I guess. But I always have a large jar-full of white buttons, including mother-of pearl buttons, on hand. Sometimes you just need a touch of that pristine white or creamy or pearly white to accent something you are creating. I'm sure you know what I mean! And finally, this is my bin of clear buttons. Clear buttons are the greatest (especially flat ones) because they allow whatever is underneath to show through. You can make some neat embellished buttons to go with whatever you are creating, just by gluing the clear button down on a piece of decorative paper or fabric with Diamond Glaze. Let it dry and then trim around the edge and you end up with something like the French text button in the box below. Try it - it's fun!
So those are my buttons! I hope you enjoyed seeing them. If you have time, go read my previous post because I am having giveaway drawing tomorrow night for a darling illustrated cookbook. You must leave a comment on this post to enter.

Swap Updates and A Giveaway

~SWAP UPDATES ~ For St. Patrick's Day I participated in a little swap that Karla (Karla's Cottage) hosted, in which we each exchanged two tags with a St. Pat's Day theme. These are the tags I received in the swap. The one above is from Kathy (Country Chintz) and the tag below is from Karla herself! Aren't they lovely?
And as an added bonus, Karla tucked in all these wonderful wallpapers! How sweet is that?

To see my contribution to the swap, click here.

I also participated in this darling springtime swap hosted by Sarah (Gypsy Mermaid Life)

We each were to make specific items to hang on a springtime clothesline - hat, gloves, dress, bloomers, bird and butterfly.
Here are the beauties I received in the swap:
Gloves ~ Sandy (Quill Cottage); Butterfly ~ Sarah (Gypsy Mermaid Life)
Dress ~ Catieann (Catiean's Corner); Bird Tag ~ Sadie (Craftily Everafter) Hat ~ Tammie (My Art Soul Wings); Bloomers ~ Tricia (Tricia Stirling).

To see my entry to the swap, click here.

AND NOW FOR THE GIVEAWAY!

This is a beautifully illustrated cookbook from the Among Friends series of books. Authors Shelly Reeves-Smith and Rosie Kelley have combined the most delectible recipes with sweet drawings to create a keepsake cookbook. To enter, just leave a comment at the bottom of this post and I will draw the winning name on Tuesday, April 1st (no foolin').

Bling Your Birdhouse Party

Welcome to my Birdhouse Bling Party! It's so nice of your to stop by. Be sure to thank our hostesses, Beth and Karla. Wasn't it sweet of them to invite all of us? All my birdhouses are made of wood covered in decorative papers, ribbons, trims, paper lace, ledger paper, German glass glitter, acrylic paint/glaze and vintage book pages.
Birdhouse Montage

Sweet Chalet. ~ SOLD! . . .with special ball fringe gutters.

Songbird House ~ SOLD!

Country French ~ SOLD!

Whimsical Birdhouse ~ SOLD!

These birdhouses are available for purchase in my Etsy Shop.

Update: All my Birdhouse Blig bird houses have been sold.

Thank you all for your response.

It means the world to me.

You can see more Birdhouse Bling on the special flickr site.

And be sure to check back here tomorrow for a giveaway announcement.

Hey, Don't I Know You?

Yesterday while I was out running errands, I picked up a copy of the new Spring issue of Somerset Life (and Somerset Workshop and Memories too). As I flipped through the pages, I was amazed at how many bloggers I found inside. These are blogs that I visit on a regular basis and feel as if I "know" the artists because we have commented back and forth from time to time. It used to be when I looked at a copy of Someset Studios I would marvel and drool over the beautiful works of art. But the names of the artists were only familiar to me from the magazine iteself. Nowadays, it is a rare occasion when I read any of the Stampington Publications and don't find a blogging friend I "know" featured inside. As the song goes, "The times - they are a changing." To illustrate my point, below are some my favorite artists who are features in the current issue of Someset Life, starting with the cover which features Marilyn Healey's vintage bottle of pixie glitter.

Jenny Holiday - Everyday is a Holiday

Andrea Singarella - Velvet Strawberries

Rebecca Sower

Tammy Gilley - Tammy Gilley Studios

Delila Jamaiel - Sepia Art Studio

Susan Tuttle - Ilka's Attic

Sandra Evertson

Tracy Scheurer - Junk 2 Jewels

Julie Collings - Blue Girl XO

Kaari Meng - French General

Karla Nathan - Karla's Cottage

Melissa McCobb Hubbell - Garden of Pink Shadows

Cari Kraft - What Should We Make Today?

Heather Bullard - Present Past Collection

I'm in the mood for a GIVEAWAY, so be sure to check back here on Friday for details! Oh and don't forget - tomorrow is Karla and Beth's Bling Your Birdhouse Party. I'll show you the little birdy abodes I've been working on.

The Queen's Tea Swap

Last week, Teresa McFayden's Bellatoria E-Zine hosted a fun swap called The Queen's Tea Swap. Love the theme for this one and my brain immediately went into high gear.
Who is the greatest loved queen for all times amongst us bloggers? Marie Antionette of course! So I decided to make this collage using her image. To go along with the collage, I tucked in some other fun goodies.
Tina Curtis from Embellishments was my swap partner and she made this darling retro-vintage collage for me! Isn't this queen simply fabulous? Love the expression on her face, don't you? I think it was funny that both of us made a collage for the swap. If you want to see what other swappers exchanged, you can check out the Bellatoria Flickr page here.
In addition to the wonderful collage from Tina, she sent me a box of tasty teas (love the name - Tension Tamer, which I needed at about 7:00 p.m. Easter evening), a darling pink cup and a vintage table cloth! So sweet of her!

Last Days of the Hippity Hop Swap

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter. We celebrated at our house with the entire family and after all the shopping, cleaning, cooking and eating I can say I am beat! The weather was great, the sun was shining and we hardly noticed the blanket of white snow at all! I got a little behind on posting my Hippity Hop Swap gifts. But of course I didn't get behind in OPENING them! This gift, wrapped in sparkly (the best kind) aqua tissue paper is from Heather. She made this amazing ethereal feather wreath for each of us. I told her it reminded me of the snowfall we had a few days ago.
Here is a close-up of the floral and birdy detail. . .don't you just love it? I DO!!! Thanks Heather!
And the 12th and final (boo-hoo) gift is from Cerri. I just knew it would be something special......
And by-golly, I WAS RIGHT! Isn't this the sweetest little teacup nest??? The whole thing is only 1-1/2" in diameter. As the saying goes, good things come in small packages. Love it, Cerri! What a wonderful way to end this fun swap. The gifts from everyone were simply spectacular!