Wishing you all a Happy 4th Of July!

I hope everyone has a safe and fun 4th of July tomorrow!

We created a small collection of buttons perfect for embellishing your patriotic craft projects.

Listed in the shop tonight http://www.tessaann.etsy.com/

Buttons Galore :)

I have SO much to share with you all!  June was a big month for custom orders. I counted this morning and we created over 60 individual custom orders. I couldn't believe my eyes. I have just sort of kept my head down and plowed ahead this month as I worked through each order. It was great through each custom order to try something different, a new color combination....a challenge.

I thought today would be the perfect opportunity to share some of my favorites. Okay, all 60+ are my favorite, but I thought I should narrow it down a bit ;)   

Enjoy all of the fun new designs! We are always taking custom orders, we tend to book in advance about 4-6 weeks, so if this post inspires you for a project and you want custom buttons, contact me and I'll get you on the schedule!

                         {Cars--A custom order to match the fabric the buttons are shown here with. I don't know the name of it, but it's SO adorable and I really had fun creating buttons to match ;) }

{A beautiful summery array of aquamarine, orange, fushia and touches of yellow. These buttons were created with shank backs. This is a new option we are offering to our customers for a small additional fee.}

{Unicorn with sparkly gold horn- I have to say I this was such a fun button to create. As a little girl, I would spend hours drawing horses and unicorns and it's fun now to bring them back to life in buttons!}

{The Hungry Caterpiller}

{Cherry Sundae}

{Cherry Blossoms}

{These buttons are just a wee 3/8" in size...teeny, tiny buttons!}

{Owls for a little boys knit sweater}

{Purples, greens and a firefly}

{Horses}

{Baby Sea Turtles}

                                                                            
                                                                              {Seahorse}

{A Giraffe and Savannah Tree's}

{A Pony Themed Button Set}

And..there will be many more to come! 

{ We are currently booking custom orders for the 1st week of August (8/4) contact us at www.tessaann.etsy.com to book your own custom buttons!}

Our New Limited Edition Garden Friend---Little Turtle!

This sweet little figurine is our 3rd series to our collectors "Garden Friend" miniature button collection.

"Little Turtle" sweetly rests on a 1 inch handmade button along side his buddy, baby bug standing underneath a daffodil.  This figurine stands 2" tall and 1" wide. Perfectly tiny and cute :)

{Update--- Little Turtle has already sold out. Spring Chickity has also sold out, but we have a couple of the Baby Bug, lady bugs available. Thanks for the great response!}

I'll be back tomorrow with a heavy picture post full of eye candy!! 

Have a great Tuesday!

Tessa Ann

Button inspiration Monday with Leslie Ashe!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Monday. I am sure most of you are feeling the weather shift. It has been in the 80's here in Central Oregon. We are enjoying the sunny blue skies and our garden is loving it!  Leslie reported rain and thunder in her neck of the woods, but that didn't stop her today from tweeting that she was out in the pool aspiring to be a water ballerina.  Leslie tweeted today: "kinda hard to be a water ballerina with a thunderstorm" hehe. Her tweets always put a smile on my face! You can follow her here :) http://twitter.com/LeslieAshe

Aside from pirouettes in the pool....;) Leslie has created a gorgeous scrapbooking layout using our "Raspberry Vine Buttons" These buttons are a jumbo 1.5 inches in size perfect for embellishing a knitted hat, hair bow, sweater, handmade bag and like Leslie did.....a scrapbook layout!

    ~Raspberry Vine Buttons~

I love how Leslie picked up the colors from the girls' dresses and designed her layout around them. She included her journaling creatively around the border of her fancy cut paper and grouped the buttons along with the title and some other fun embellishments to ground her design. I am loving the teeny-tiny little butterflies throughout her page.

A close up shot of the buttons. Leslie tied them with twine to create a lovely rustic feel.

                                          Beautiful work, Ms. Leslie!  Wishing you sunshine!

Hello!

I have a little peek of our new "Garden Friends" limited edition button miniature. "Baby Bug" is resting up on the "I" ;) Available in the shop today 12 noon PST, only 5 will be created.

We are also updating the shop with several new button styles. See some of our new designs below!

                                                                {Who Loves You?}

{Mod Posies}

(Teddy Bear)

I've been creating some really fabulous custom orders this month! Here are just a sampling of my favorites!

We are also working on a line of pendants inspired by our button sets. We have a few already created and we are going to be doing a shop update with them in the next month. Stay tuned for details there. In the mean time here are a couple we will be listing :)

{Iceland Poppies"}

                                                            {Strawberry Fields}

That's it for today! Off to list the new buttons in the shop.  Have a wonderful and creative day!

Monday's Creative Team Spotlight- Bridget!

Bridget chose to work with our "Spring Poppies" buttons for her spotlight this week. I am in love with the sweet little dress she designed for her daughter.  This dress will be worn by cutie pie, Kennedy for her upcoming 2nd birthday!

Bridget says:  "The dress is a heavy white eyelet round yoke dress from my own pattern with poppies inspired from your buttons "growing" from the bottom hem. I made the fabric poppies using the 2 black buttons as centers and attached a large poppy button as a closure for the neckline. I loved the buttons so much I wanted a complete outfit so I used the other large button to make a grosgrain ribbon bow on her headband"

Re-Use, Recyle, Re-Style! A button inspiration tutorial from Amy Priddy

Today we have a fun tutorial by our Creative Team Member, Amy Priddy using recycled supplies to create a fun and functional storage system!  For her project this week, Amy chose to work with our button set called, "Fashion Designer"

Turn an old Crystal Light container into a fun and fabulous tools storage container.

Supplies:
Crystal Light container
Mod Podge;
Tessa Ann Buttons- "Fashion Designer" can be found here
Coordinating thread (optional);
Craft glue;
9 inch x 7 inch piece of fabric, scrapbook paper or wrapping paper;
9 inch long piece of ribbon (any width);
Scissors;
Iron (if using fabric);
Foam Brush

Taking your 9x7 piece of fabric, fold one side of the longest edge 1/4 of an inch under (wrong sides facing) and iron. If using scrapbook paper or wrapping paper, just fold over and press good with your fingers to cause a crease.

Line up the folded edge of your paper or fabric to the bottom of the container and use your finger at the top of the container to measure where to do the top fold.

Fold the fabric or paper over and iron or finger press. If you are using fabric, you can top-stitch the folded edges for a more finished look. Once that is done, fold one of the shortest edges under 1/4 of an inch (wrong sides facing) and press. Three of the four sides should be folded over now.

Remove plastic Crystal Light label from the plastic container. Once label is removed, using your foam brush, brush the Mod Podge directly on to the Crystal Light plastic container. Make sure you get it good from top to bottom. Once the Mod Podge is on, line up the unfolded edge of the fabric or paper with the center of one side of the container. Gently stretch the paper/fabric around the container pulling tight so there are no wrinkles all the way around until you get to where you started. The folded edge should overlap the raw edge a little. Add a little Mod Podge to the end of the fabric (the folded seam) and press with your finger in place.

{OPTIONAL:} You can use Mod Podge to seal the fabric or paper once it is on the container. If using paper, I recommend putting another coat on top of the paper. It is optional with fabric as the Mod Podge will make the fabric stiff.

Once that is done, take your ribbon and seal or treat the ends of the ribbon. You can use either Fray Check or heat sealing it using a lighter. This will prevent the ribbon from fraying. Once that is done, brushMod Podge on the backside of the ribbon. Repeat the lining up process you did for the fabric/paper until the ribbon overlaps like the fabric did. You can place the ribbon anywhere you want on the container. I chose the top portion of the container. Set aside to dry.

{OPTIONAL:}
While that is drying, take your coordinating thread and feed through your button as many times as it takes to get the desired look. Make sure you cut enough thread to leave tails long enough to tie in knots (at least one inch extra for each end). I wound mine around about 4 times for a thicker threaded look. Once you get the look you are going for, tie at the back 2 or 3 times and snip close to knots. Repeat for however many buttons you want to use.

Once the fabric/paper is dry, using your craft glue (I used E-6000), put a small bead on the back of the button and adhere to the ribbon. Repeat for the remainder of the buttons. Once that dries, you are all set! A new storage holder to keep tools handy. Perfect for pens, scissors, rulers, etc.....

Limited Edition "Garden Friends"

NEW to The Button Shop! 

We are going start releasing a collector series of "Garden Friends" periodically in the shop. These will be limited edition, made in advance in a limited amount. This is one from our 1st collection.

This little yellow spring chickity will be listed in the shop today at 12 pm PST.

Only 5 will be sold.

A new "Garden Friend" will be released each Tuesday over the next month!

This little yellow chick stands just over 2 inches tall and was created on a 1" handmade button. A little lady bug shares the 1" button with the chick. This little figurine would be an adorable gift or just a little something to brighten your day :)

{6/16/10 UPDATE: This little bird sold out today, check back next Tuesday for the next edition!}