Sponsor Spotlight: Button Up Creative Designs

 

Name: Jacqueline, Jessica and their mom, Cheryl of Button Up Creative Designs

Location: Seattle, WA
Website: etsy.com/shop/ButtonUpCreations 

Tell me a little bit about what you make.

We make handmade, one-of-a-kind jewelry created with our collection of new and vintage buttons. Each piece is unique and features our distinctive technique of stringing the buttons to achieve our desired look. We are a family-run business comprised of two sisters and their mother, all bringing their specific talent’s to the table to produce this craft which we love!  

How did you decide to start the business?

Fifteen years ago, my older sister, Jessica, encountered a very serious illness. While recovering in the hospital she filled her time with crafts and made our very first button necklace as a gift to our mother who remained at her side throughout her stay. The necklace has always been my Mom's favorite piece of jewelry in part, I believe, because it reminded her to be grateful for my sister's recovery. It also didn't hurt that strangers would approach her to admire it and ask where she purchased it, every time she wore it out. It seemed to always be a conversation starter…

…Fast-forward fifteen years later, when Jessica got engaged, we decided to make more necklaces in our small effort to help pay for her upcoming wedding. That is when the business truly got its start. Although Jessica is now happily married, we have continued making necklaces and even expanded our button line. 

 

 Why buttons?

As a child, I remember often getting in trouble for rummaging through our recycle bin to find materials to craft with. I loved turning old, useless items into something artistic and special. I think this trait has made its smooth transition into our current button business. We create beautiful pieces out of a collection of buttons that are primarily recycled and/or vintage. We are often gifted a box of buttons someone may have had in their attic for decades which, in my mind is just like creating treasure from the items in the unwanted recycling bin all over. This approach to our creations gives us an opportunity to turn “trash” into “treasure”, so to speak and to create something new and wonderful out of often old and unique materials.

What makes your creations unique?

Without a doubt, our materials. I like to think that each of these vintage buttons we use has its own story and at one time belonged to a very special garment. Some buttons look as though they must have come from an army uniform while others I can imagine lining the back of my grandmother’s wedding dress. Pulling these materials together into one piece is what gives them their distinctive special look.

One of our favorite projects is to take the old buttons from an individual's loved one who may have passed and create a special necklace for them from these buttons as a piece that will act as a reminder of their love for that individual and their gratitude for having them in their life, much like our original necklace served to do for my mother.

 

I love the idea of a female family business- how would you say that your relationships have changed? 
The three of us actually live in different areas scattered throughout the west coast. Yet despite our geographical locations, our business helps to bring us together. We meet up to represent our creations at selected handmade craft shows throughout the year and we talk often to discuss our inventory, new ideas, sales, etc. It has been a very fun experience working together and continues to give us an excuse to gather. As I mentioned we all bring different skills to the business; my mom being the most creative one, my sister the most web-savvy, and me with the wild-card ideas and creations. I think our unique combination has absolutely helped to shape our business and the products that result from it. In addition, my sister and I represent a different generation than our mom, so our ideas and tastes often vary, just as our those of our customers.

Is this your full time work? If not, do you have any tips for fitting a creative side endeavor into a busy schedule?

We each have separate full-time jobs and view this side job more as a hobby. Viewing it as a hobby allows us to enjoy creating button jewelry rather than looking at it as a job and as something that eats up our free time.

Weekend Highlights: Indian Grocery, Beer Tasting and Granola

 

While we were out and about on Saturday, Josh and I stopped for lunch at a random Indian restaurant. It wasn't really planned, but when I saw it, I immediately suggested (strongly) that we eat there since it had been too long since I'd had naan or chicken tikka masala. The food wasn't anything fancy, but it made for a nice and easy lunch, and I got to peruse the attached market. There were aisles of dried beans and grains (I bought some Kaleem Wheat because it looked like a cross between a wheat berry and barley). 

 

 There were also stacks of something that looked like a tortilla and these, which I photographed simply because I liked the packaging. It was a nice reminder that I need to explore the many ethnic markets around town more often—particularly around lunch time.

 

After lunch we headed to the Beer N' Bread event at Living History Farms (a local farm dedicated to showing how agriculture has changed over the years-with a blacksmith and authentic turn of the century farm dinners!). It was a beer tasting of micro and home brews, plus a few artisanal bread makers, which is totally my idea of a fun Saturday afternoon. I learned that I dislike hoppy beer, but that I really like Heifenwizen.

 

 I also think it's pretty fun to be able to taste a lot of beer and then stroll through the gift shop and look at vegetable seeds and books on everything you need to know to survive country life.

 

Sunday I spent a bit of quiet time quilting and did a brief stint in the kitchen. I made a big pot of veggie chili and cornbread for dinner and a tray of vanilla cranberry granola so I felt like I was sending Josh home with plenty of yummy provisions to start his week. I definitely take after my female relatives in that regard!

Photo Friday: It is a Day for Pizza

  

Growing up, Friday's meant pizza for dinner. It was a thing that many people in my town did—you picked up the phone and ordered from Riv and then went to pick it up, standing in line nodding and waving to people you knew. Riviera makes the best Sicilian pizza and does a bang up job with a regular slice, and I credit them with my deep down love for pizza. (Well them and my grandparents who fed me a lot of tomato pie!) I have learned that you can keep a batch of Artisan Bread in 5 min a Day in the fridge and pull off chunks to make dough, like Marc of No Recipes routinely does for lunch, and that even the simplest sauce of garlic sauteed in olive oil with half of a large can of diced tomatoes makes for an excellent topping. 

I have no solid plans to make pizza this weekend, but I'm doing my darndest to convince a friend to because I know that it's worth it, so I thought that I'd share a bit of food inspiration as we head into the weekend. I wish you all a happy and relaxing two days, hopefully with a glimpse of grass and warmer temperatures. Until Monday!

Image of Grilled Onion, Gruyere and Rosemary Pizza via No Recipes

Sew, What?

 

Okay,  I'm going to call a spade a spade and admit that I realize that learning to make my own clothes is neither necessary or all that efficient. But after sharing my recent attempts to learn to crochet, this desire shouldn't come as much of a surprise to you—so at least there's that! I first saw a box full of old dress patterns at my friends store a few weeks ago, so the notion was already in my head when I came across this pattern from Built by Wendy yesterday. And I immediately thought that since I have basic sewing machine skills, I should be able to do this. But please realize that by basic I mean I can't for the life of me ever reload a bobbin, so I definitely don't understand how my machine works at all.

When I was little I had a Snoopy notebook where I used to "design" clothes. This was the period when I wanted to be a fashion designer and I was full of lovely ideas (at least in my memory!). I eventually took a home ec class in high school but really wasn't impressed by what we were learning. I even had to make a dress using a pattern, but I vaguely recall that I never finished it...for reasons that have long since gone by the way side. I do remember that I found it really hard and that the paper pattern, fabric and I didn't get along. I stuck it into a box somewhere and left clothing construction right there.

But now that I've learned how to knit and crochet, two things I didn't think I'd be able to do, I have to consider that maybe making simple clothes is within my reach. As the craft movement continues to grow by leaps and bounds, the main thing that I'm learning is that the walls of "what I can do" are coming down. Actually this applies to food as well: it's not that someone's forcing me to do this, or telling me that in order to be a good or successful woman, I have to make my own bread and hand sew quilts. Instead, I am finding that these things actually give me a whopping dose of satisfaction and a sense of control in my own life, control that when taken in projects with a decisive beginning and end, makes me feel productive in a way that is somewhat rare.

All of this has been on my mind because there's been a bit of a feminist debate going (or continuing) about the pressure to cook everything from scratch even as we're all so busy. I remain firmly on the side that if these things—whether they be cooking or crafting—are something you choose to do because you feel that it personally makes your life better, makes you a happier person, then more power to you. (And me!) I am not sure that I'll wind up making a dress that I will want to wear outside of the house, but I ordered the pattern shown above and am ready to give it a shot. I might just learn something about myself along the way.

Turning Lace into Jewelry and a Day Job

 

I am just loving the new-to-me line of jewelry, 24Karas, from Elizabeth Karas—and that it was a career that she found and took full time after working as an art director at Victoria Secret and J Crew. I particularly like how Elizabeth incorporates texture and hints of lace and nature into many of her handmade  creations. (Pictured above, Golden Lace Ring)

 

Elizabeth says, "Making jewelry is an emotional experience to me. It is a way I can express myself. When I'm designing, I am channeling experiences and emotions from my life directly into the final piece of jewelry." (Pictured above, Lovely Petals Necklace)

 

Here are two more pieces that I was especially drawn to. Above is the Annabel ring and below is the  Flower Lace Bangle. Nothing like a mid-week pretty jewelry pick-me-up!

 

Instant Heirloom: Jan of Obelisk Fiber Arts

Name: Jan, Obelisk Fiber Arts
Location: Saint Paul, MN

How did you learn to weave?
I learned to weave on a second hand rigid heddle loom I picked up when I was in college. I found a nice little book about weaving on a rigid heddle loom written by a local weaver, and used that to learn to weave. I finally met the author a few years ago, and she has continued to be an inspiration.

What about it appeals to you so much?
I think the variety of possibilities in terms of colors, patterns, and fibers appeals in weaving to me.

 



















 

Where do you find your inspiration for your designs?
Most of my ideas are from feeling, inspired by nature.

Is this your fulltime work?
It's time and a half really!

 




















How long does it take you to make a scarf? A rug?
This is a difficult question to answer because so much depends on the complexity of the piece. A simple plain weave scarf can take less than a day. A more complex scarf especially one with fine, closely set yarns takes 2 or 3 days to weave. Shadow weave or other structures and patterns that require 2 or more shuttles with different colors of yarn take awhile. Wet finishing, and finishing the fringe adds time beyond the actual weaving. A simple overhand knot of the fringe is fastest; flat 4-stand braiding the slowest.

The only rugs I've woven, ripsmatta, shadow weave and double binding all require 2 shuttles, so they take days to complete. Shadow weave rugs take more time because of the color changes in the warp. Some of the fancier fringe finishes on rugs can take days. Hemming is much faster. When you consider the time needed to plan and design, wind the warp, dress the loom, do the actual weaving, then finishing, weaving is a slow process. I've never timed the process from start to finish, hence my vague answer.

Let there be Light (and Warmth)

 

Oh, perspective is a lovely thing, especially when it comes with a warm side of heat and light. I went to NYC for the weekend to see my friends new house (and, honestly, to get a haircut) and my arrival coincided with the biggest power outage in 100 years. From Friday through Sunday at 3:40, there were no lights, no heat due to wet snow that knocked out power lines all over the Hudson Valley. Thankfully, we could drive to shops and restaurants that did have electricity, and Dan and Virginia had piles of hand warmers and really warm sleeping bags. Plus, the one plus of being unplugged is that you really have no choice but to plug into each other, which is great because I love my friends and don't see them nearly enough.

That said, I haven't been so thankful for heat (and hot water) and light in years and years—and for the ability to drink hot chocolate with a lovely lit chandelier in the distance.