New in Stock - My Dorset Button Making Kit

Woo hoo!  I am rather excited as I have finally put together a kit.  I have written and printed an instruction booklet and together with 6 brass rings and thread, it is now part a kit for sale in my etsy shop. 

The first one is purple but I will be listing more colours.  If you want me to make up a colour one for you then just let me know through my etsy shop or email me at bigbluebed@live.com.

I will be listing on folksy very soon.

Blog Giveaway Winner

And the winner of my blog giveaway ( http://www.bigbluebed.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/it-is-june-lets-have-giveaway.html)  is..
................
Kadri of Amicrafter.

Who gets the purple notebook and her choice of rubbers.


The runner up is Jane of Lovealittle who gets the other rubbers.


So thank you for entering and do not forget to look out for my birthday giveaway towards the end of June.

Tutorial - How to Make Your Own Stamps - Great fun for Children And Adults

A pile of handmade stamps

Mary and I are going to show you how to make your own stamps.

You will need an ink pad, a pen or pencil, a polystyrene food  container (clean), and scissors to cut.

 1) Cut a shape from the food container. Make sure you use a flat bit.

 2) Using the pen or the pencil draw your shape or letter in the polysterine. You will have to practise first to work out how hard you need to press.  Remember if you write a word it has to be written backwards on the stamp.

 3) Put the shape design down on an ink pad. Pres down well.
 

 Mary noticed there was a bit of ink missing in the corner so she put it on the ink pad and pressed again.

 4) Then press it down on a piece of paper.  If you use a piece of rough paper first then you can see whether the design is alright.

 5) Yay! It worked.  T is for Tintin of course as Mary is one of the world's biggest Tintin fan.

All you have to do now is have fun making lots of different designs and seeing what works well.

Here are some others we made:

A cat

A heart

My name

Tintin

Snowy

Tintin

A cat

Mary's name

You can make your stamps into bigger pictures.

 And you can colour in your stamped designs

Are they buttons?

 Or Aliens?

 

 

Lots of stamps

 We had lots of fun. And do not be afraid to get mucky.

The Button Project

I am very happy to be taking part in The Button Project.  Part of the Barnaby Festival, The Button Project  is a stunning exhibition of nearly 300 unique buttons made by artists from all over the world. Crafted from materials as varied as felt, resin, glass and gold, these little works of art will be set alongside Macclesfield Museum’s acclaimed silk costume collection at the Heritage Centre in Macclesfield.  All buttons are for sale.

I will share with you the press release

'The Button Project - a stunning exhibition of over 300 contemporary handmade buttons - is taking shape, as buttons start to arrive from all over the world. From Australia to Norway, and all over the UK, artists and makers are translating their work into buttons for this exciting new event.

Artists were asked to work within the constraints of traditional button sizes and fixing methods, but from there, their imagination was free to roam.  Each button is a miniature work of art in its own right and highly collectible.

The Button Project is intended to serve as a celebration of the heritage of the area, which began with the silk button. The dynamic buttons come from craft practitioners and artists at the top of their field, plus our rising stars and many who make just for the love of it. They will be showcased effortlessly alongside the silk costume collection at Macclesfield’s Heritage Centre from June 14 to August 8 2013.  Plus there will be related displays at the nearby Silk Museum showing treasures of the behind-the scenes button collections, and a lively button-making workshop for kids.

The museum curator, Annabel Wills, says

“It has been wonderful to see how our contemporary makers have responded to the historic collections at Macclesfield. A real feast of talent and inventiveness.”

From precious metals and traditional silk buttons, to glass, felt, enamels and recycled materials; the creativity from makers has been diverse and eye-catching, with The Button Project’s youngest contributor being just 11 years old. The project will be launched at, and will form part of the programme for, the Barnaby Festival, Macclesfield’s summer festival of contemporary arts, culture and fun, taking place in June. Both look set to be events not to be missed.'

The Button Project15 June  - 8 August 2013

is  14 June, 6-9pm

The Heritage Centre, Macclesfield

You can see some of the buttons here on Victoria Scholes' blog , and here is a list of the artists who are taking part.

I was unsure what type of button to make, I mean obviously I was going to do  a dorset button but what would it look like.  In the end I surprised myself by concentrating on colour.  In the exhibition there are gorgeous dorset buttons which use intricate stitches and I am not sure I would be able to do lovely work like that so I am glad that I made the button I did.

My inspiration was the 'eye' of a peacock's tail and here it is, next to a photo of the inspiration.

If you are able, do visit the exhibition. If not then feast your eyes on some the beautiful buttons.

It is June - Let's Have a Giveaway!

June is my birthday month and also it feels very summery at the moment. So to celebrate I am having a giveway now and at the end of the month (nearer my birthday).

So this time here is what you could win:

There are two prizes.  The winner will win the little notebook and their choice of a set of rubbers (erasers).  The runner-up will get a set of rubbers (the ones the winner does not want).  The choice of rubbers are the artist set or the sewing set.

Does that make sense?
Good.

Here is what you have to do: - visit my shops, have a good look, tell me in the comments of this post what you like best in my shops, what you would like to see more of, and even if you want what you do not really like.  You do not have to visit all my shops if you do not want to (although it would be nice), but you can choose one to have a look at.  Please leave a contact email or a way of contacting you.

You have until midnight (GMT) on Friday 14th June 2013 to enter.  I will pick a winner by a random number picking.

Here are the shops you have to visit:-
my etsy shop 

my etsy Supplies&Vintage shop

my folksy shop