Monday, June 10, 2013

The Button Challenge

Years ago I was gifted a big jar of buttons. “Oh, nobody wants these old things - except maybe you” she said to me. Yes, yes indeed I would love a jar of buttons! I use them on everything from scrapbook pages to cards and I always love the variety of materials, sizes, and shapes they come in. From wood to paper, sparkly to plain, just one to a whole handful this week we challenge you to use a button on your next project.
 

Suzz  has several mason jars full of buttons but her eyes were drawn to the Prima Engraver Buttons with their whimsical numbers and varying colors and size. 
My  matchbox drawer  was designed to emulate a shirt.  I used the Prima Engravers Button along the right side.I used  a fringe created with the  EK Success Binding Edge punch  to create the shirt edge. On the left side I stamped the  family picture.  In the inside I added the Journey Awakens sentiment along with the same family portraits in the filmstrip. To bring back in a touch of color and vintage feel  around the edges I added Cavallini & Company - Paper Tape - Paris 
 
Sarah was inspired by Wendy's Blossom Bucket Buttons and thought it would be fun to create her own custom stamped fabric and flowery friend.
I seem to really be hit by the sewing bug again... Maybe because I'm already planning on making some scrummy dresses for my girl Ruby. I wanted to have a go at designing a little toy and figured a chunky owl would be a fun creature to play with. My stamped fabric is created using Tim's Mixed Media dots, Floral Tattoo flower and Wendy's dots. I love the Floral Tattoo set and had forgotten just how pretty it is. I drew a pattern onto paper and went with the rustic, home made look. I just had to add a word - I always do - even to my owl. So Kelly Purkey's set were the perfect size for a little Twit Twoo! Girly? Yes. Fun? Absolutely!

 
Anita doesn't just have one jar of buttons, but has several, so she loved using some on this project. 
Buttons are in every crafter's stash I think, so this challenge will be an easy one for all of you out there. I used a 6x8 Burlap Canvas from Tim's District Market line, and coated it with Claudine's Black Gesso. I followed that up with Tim and Wendy stamps covered in a rainbow of Distress Paints, and then used American Crafts Metallic Glitter Buttons as Flowers. When it comes to creativity, the DREAM is the key!

I (May) immediately thought of making a button covered frame so that I could play with loads of buttons this week.
One of my all time favorite things to play with is buttons. They remind me of the little drawers in my grandma's quilting room, and they can add just the right touch of texture, color, and detail to just about anything. To make this frame I loaded up on buttons - including some of my favorites that Simon carries includes these wood & sparkle buttons, October Afternoon, and Jenni Bowlin. A button covered frame is fun because it can be made as a gift, for any season or occasion, and they're a lot of fun too!   
 
 
Anna-Karin loves clear elements and buttons are no exception.
My all-time favourite buttons are the Autumn Leaves Foof-a-la Clear Bag-O-Buttons and I decided to showcase them in a wall-hanging, using a photo of my mom as a little girl. Tim Holtz Cameo Frame, with an Oval insert, was die cut from grungeboard, painted and stamped with a script stamp. I coated it with Glossy Accents and covered the frame with clear buttons. Mica flakes and Rock Candy Glitter were sprinkled on top to fill in the gaps. The base was covered with French Industrial paper and the wall-hanging was embellished with Tattered Pinecone roses made from kraft-core cardstock.

 
Dan's project was inspired by a couple of movies he saw recently.
This "cabin in the woods" was inspired by the movie of the same name, with a little bit of the witch's cottage from "Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters" thrown in for good measure.  My plan was to use real buttons for the shingles but they didn't look right laid side to side and they were too small to overlap successfully.  Enter Martha Stewarts buttons punch to save the day - buttons punched from cardstock work so much better as roof shingles!  I also used the Darkroom Door Corrugated Iron and Woodgrain background stamps and one of Tim Holtz's idea-ology plaquettes.
 

A new button hair style was the key this week for Tracy's mixed media canvas.
As soon as we were given this challenge I knew I wanted to use the face from the Stampers Anonymous Classics 5 stamp set and give her a new hair style created with, yes you guessed it, buttons. I used lots of buttons from my collection but I also added some extra special ones from Prima Flowers Fairy Belle Wood Buttons . The background to my canvas has been given lots of textural interest using Wendy Vecchi's White Embossing Paste, Black Embossing Paste and Metallic Gold Embossing Paste. This piece is so tactile!
 
Sandra Mouwen made this card out of an old cardboard box.
My best friend just moved into her new home. She told me she moved around 250 boxes full of stuff! That sparked my creativity to make a card out of a cardboard box. After I cut out the card, I started pulling some of the top layer, so the corrugated layer would show through. I stamped with My Mind's eye Pictures Ginger and Simon Says Stamp Exclusive stamps You Can Do Anything and On Edge. The Word Play letters I painted with Pool Paint Dabber and swiped Pitch Black Paint Dabber on top in on direction and not covering everything, and topped it off with Teal Color Shine. Í love using buttons on my projects, and in this case I used some Doodlebug Swimming Pool buttons.

 
Trace chose a fun and easy technique to coordinate with her buttons.
I started this project with these pretty Doodlebug Boutique Buttons in my hand and built the project around them. I wanted to showcase them, and thought they would look pretty as a flower center in My Favorite Things Plentiful Petal Dies. Using Hero Arts Acetate cards I cut out my flowers and coloured them using a fun and easy technique with various colours of Ranger Alcohol Inks. I couldn't help myself, I just had to use my "go to" stamp sentiment set again! This Tim Holtz Cling Rubber Stamp Set is just so right for so many projects.
 
Candy decided to take a vintage approach to the buttons challenge this week.  She has created a very feminine and dimensional vintage 8x8 canvas.
Graphic 45's A Ladies' Diary Papers are so lovely.  They are the perfect background for this vintage canvas using Tim Holtz' Sewing Room dress form, dripping in tulle, white organza roses and a sash transformed into a gorgeous vintage pink with Vintage Pink and Vanilla Breeze Glimmer Mists.  Enter the buttons! Tim Holtz Accoutrements buttons have such a nice vintage quality about them; absolutely perfect for this piece.  The Shabby Collection can easily be altered (as I have done on this piece) with Tim's New Distress Paints to be any color you want them to be.  The Fanciful Buttons Collection are a mixture of faux glass and embossed "metal" buttons. They can really "make" a vintage piece.
 
Ashli takes this button challenge seriously... 
In fact, check back in on Wednesday for a tutorial all about how to customize and personalize store-bought buttons and to see the layout she made for this week’s challenge!

 
For more inspiration and details about these projects click on our design team's blog links so you can see more photos (and full supply lists) for their creations. Then be sure to join in the challenge too!
 
As always, Simon Says Stamp is giving away a $50 gift voucher that will go to a random entry chosen by Random Generator. To qualify all you need to do is create a new project that ties in (in any way!) with our theme and post it, along with a link back to this challenge, and add a link here. This challenge will end at 11:59pm on Sunday June 16th eastern (aka "simon") time.

For the full rules, read the "challenge rules" posted in the side-bar here on our blog.
 
 




16 comments:

  1. Great theme. I have a load of buttons I hardly ever use. Hopefully this challenge will get some on projects and also give me loads of buttony ideas.

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  2. So many beautiful ways to create with buttons!

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  3. Lovely DT creations and thank you for another challenge - enjoy your crafting week!

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  4. WOW! Such amazing artwork by the DT!

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  5. Thanks for another wonderful challenge! AND for the amazing DT work to inspire us all! :)

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  6. How fun!! Awesome inspirations using buttons!!!

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  7. Love all of them! My favorite is Dare to Dream by Candy.

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  8. what a wonderfully creative grouping of projects!!! I happen to LOVE buttons too and have quite a collection of vintage and new :)

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  9. Awesome design team samples. Thanks for the "buttons" challenge!

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  10. YOUR DT rules! Very inspiring! Thanks for this challenge! Buttons are my ever favs!

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  11. Thanks for all the wonderful inspiration! Great challenge...who doesn't love buttons?!
    Alison x

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  12. Great idea for a challenge, thanks for the inspiration

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  13. Thanks for all the lovely eye candy and inspiration from you Design Team . See you next time!!! Thanks again! :-)

    TTFN,

    CraftyGirl
    craftygirlcardsandcrafts.blogspot.com

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  14. I've been thinking about doing this challenge all week and I'm glad I finally got some time to get it done today. I've always wanted to make my own shrinky buttons and this was the perfect time to give it a try.

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  15. Oops... only just in time! Great challenge and fabulous inspiration as always!
    Alison x

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