Button find of the week

As I was working on yet another necklace, I ran across a few beautiful buttons in my button stash and wanted to share their beauty...

The little flower button in the center seems innocent enough...but it is polished almost to a glass finish...so shiny for such a small button.
 
The bottom middle button is glass, but has a gold Masonic? imprint.

Middle right button is carved glass..again lots of detail for such a tiny button...

The "cat's eye" green button simply wowed  me with color.

The top left is a small mother- of- pearl, hand carved, self shanking button..very old.

The other buttons, well just gorgeous. (MOP) mother-of pearl-buttons always grab my attention.

B/W

Request for a B/W  necklace..Christmas gift...two more to go.  Vintage and newer buttons/bead mix.  These necklaces are shiny and jingly..my granddaughters loved them.

Keep it simple....

I reworked a former piece... The original one was just too complicated.
Keep it simple....a lesson from many events in life...also applies to making jewelry.  Sometimes simple is plenty enough.

My first vintage button necklace

This was my very first attempt at repurposing old vintage buttons into something "re- new".  I've been hooked on re-using vintage buttons and lace ever since. I love the jingle, clinky sound of the old buttons in a  necklace.   Every button tells a story too... ..I would like to believe that the two gold "c" buttons belonged to my grandmother Nora Caroline Keller. She liked nice clothing...so did my grandfather who worked in a nice men's clothing store for many years.  Maybe that's where I get my appreciation of neat old buttons and beautiful vintage lace...I don't know--but I'm getting a unique chance to showcase shiny buttons and vintage lace of times long ago. I still think my grandmother is smiling about the "c" buttons though!!

Groovey black onyx

I love the silky smooth texture and heaviness of vintage black onyx buttons and beads. I like the clinky noise they make in necklaces.  Many vintage buttons were made of polished black onyx..often nicknamed "hammered nail" buttons?  Black onyx sparkles depending on the facets cut & polished into the stone.. and there are many facet patterns.   My favorite Pattern cut in onyx: checkerboard. see #2 picture.

Beads and buttons

A recent creation for a dear friend!

I used a chain for the necklace but strung beads over the chain as well.
Added vintage buttons, large hole wood & stone beads. The pendant was a wood looking vintage Bakelite button layered with two pretty blue vintage buttons on top. The aqua blue colors and wood beads really worked well together!!

Beautiful buttons

I
I'm always on the lookout for vintage buttons: garage sales, friends and family button stashes, second hand stores, internet sales, etc.  I like random mixes...I never know what I'll find. Every jar of buttons that I bring home, has some hidden treasures, exquisite beauties, historical implications, rhinestones, cut glass.... These are a few cool buttons that have found their way into my button/beading/jewelry collections recently.....


The green button may be jade..

The picture doesn't show the intense  shiny blue green  glass button..

The little gold button is cut glass.

The star brass button/probably civil war vintage.

The woodsy button in the middle is cut glass.

The white carved button..ivory?

The tiny square button...what was this created for?

Upper left...wood buttons.

The blue/gold buttons...simply beautiful.



A wee bit of lace

 
A wee bit of worn vintage lace, wire, beads, a little needle work....fun project. ..but didn't realize until project was completed that some of the heart beads are upside down... oh well.

Repurposed vintage lace for Breast Cancer Awareness

This beautiful piece of lace deserved to be shown off.  The lace had openings woven into the pattern, so I threaded/wove a satin ribbon through the openings to help support the lace.  Then I used my sewing machine to stitch the lace + ribbon to the fuchsia wired ribbon for support and color. 
I gathered the ends together and enclosed the ribbon ends and the pendant inside the brass barrel bead.

This really turned out to  be a really pretty piece...pink!!! and reminded me of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. 


As a Breast Cancer Survivor  I can tell you the inconvenience/agony from yearly mammograms is NOTHING  compared to the surgery/chemo/radiation/reconstruction of breast cancer....So from experience, I urge all ages of women:

1-Get those mammies grammed!!
2- Do regular self exams and get to your doctor if any changes.
3-Early detection is soooooo important but 99% curable if detected early.
4-Be very careful about using hormone replacement treatments for symptoms of menopause. These hormone replacements are chemical cocktails that often trigger breast cancer.

This necklace is my own "Think Pink" cancer survivor Medal...

1900 lace surprisingly strong

I acquired several yards of a vintage 1900 lace , and at first I thought it would be too  brittle to bead (I would need to reinforce it with ribbon or wire.) The lace is a lose open weave with a metalic thread. I tried several slide-on beads with large hole openings and the lace held up bead after bead. The pendant is made up of several vintage buttons....the beads are "modern vintage inspired" beads. Fun, fast project on vintage lace that was surprisingly strong.

The Kitchen Sink

Button Update:

This one I'm calling "the kitchen sink" because I threw everything at this project: vintage lace  and buttons, beads, needle work, wiring, findings, ribbon, chain...whew.

This was another project that started with a small piece of lace and my brain thinking, "Oh I can just do this and that..." and then unexpected details turn a simple project into a challenge.

But isn't that what life is all about? We can plan all we want for a good life and the unexpected is always there ..lurking...to knock us off track and teach us a lesson. My "unexpected' is PD....it's teaching me to enjoy life the best I can for now. My crazy jewelry making is enjoyable and keeping my hands moving and brain engaged...which on many days is a challenge.

Beading for PD is my new mantra ... smile!!!

 

MORE WORK THAN ANTICIPATED

  All I can say is this....I got my flu shot (and apparently there are two flu types of shots available...mine was a dual cocktail..and so I've had a sore arm and flu symptoms for two days.  While I've been recuperating I've been trying to finish this necklace....which leads me to my

Button update:
  Honestly,  I about lost my mind doing this necklace.  How such a simple piece of lace got so complicated so quickly is beyond me.  I stiffened the lace with fabric stiffener. Then I started to attach pearls with wire, but the wire didn't work with the delicate lace. Switched to using thin ribbon, but one ribbon wouldn't tie the pearls on right...switched to two ribbons to lace and tie.  Then decided to added the beads..oiy. Trying to figure out how to add the pendant part became another moment of insanity. I quit counting the time it's taken to make this...Finally done?  (still a few ribbon/bead touch up work, but mostly done).
This is a long piece , about 40 inches of vintage lace....beading, lacing, such a long piece takes time but it has turned out quite beautiful. I'll think twice about time requirements when working on piece of lace this long after this project.

Dos vintage

From the box of broken jewelry bits, I also created this pretty piece!  I used vintage buttons & beads...plus a few modern findings...

Think pieces of lace..

*Lace Jewelry update: 

I acquired about 3 yards of this 1900 vintage embroidered lace...trying to figure out how to use it. 

 Stiffened these small pieces of lace with fabric stiffener, added a chain and a couple of findings to make it hang right and for balance. This was fun trying to figure out!!  Simple elegant and re-purposed!!