Button Swap - REVEAL!!!!!

So here is my reveal. I recieved 6 b e a u t i f u l buttons from Michelle Mach who so kindly offered to be my partner in the Button Swap.

From top left and clockwise:

• A cowboy hat button in plastic, kind of an extra treat coz of Michelle living in a Western-themed area.
• Wavy lines pewter button by MamacitaBeadWorks on Etsy. YUM!!!!
• Gunmetal mosaic button (plastic), coming from a set of two. The first one Michelle used in a piece published in Simply Beads. I am really honoured to get this one. It is soooooo cool!
• Massive black carved wooden button! Wow, I looove this one! Looooove!
• Green ceramic button. I will not have any problem finding a suitable place for this one! Very nice.
• Coconut patterned button. Another pretty pretty and fun button I will love to use.

Thank you so much Michelle! And thank you so much for arranging the swap. Very very nice thing. Hope there will be more of them.

OK, so I had totally mixed up the dates, and I have been without an internet connection for two days. Got it back 3 hours ago and I realized that the Button Swap blog hop is TODAY. Quick photographing session outdoors in the late hour and no extra work on the images in photoshop. So this is it.

Here is my first bracelet. I call it "Hybernation Time". It contains MamacitaBeadWorks' pewter button. And an adorable polymer clay bear bead by TreeWingsStudio. A saffron chain and a green drenched copper bead, by MissFickleMedia. Some gemstones, wooden cubes, seed beads and bright red nylon cord.

Perhaps this is more of an autumn piece considering the theme and the colours. But it made me really happy to make it. A lustful feeling coz I just went with what I felt like, pretty-wise. Kind of playing around. I purpously made it too big for myself, since I have very small wrists and I wish it to be possible to purchase for a larger group of people.

Bracelet number two is under way. How could I resist to do something with that fantastic wooden button? It is so stunning I decided to use it as a focal piece. I am working on a peyote "band" made from size 11 Delicas in a colour scheme I have put together myself. I wanted to enhance and lift forward the button as much as possible but still have an interesting back-drop. The band has a hole where I will attach the button which have a shank. A silver coloured clasp.

An odd detail about the peyote is that I have done it every other row one-drop and every other two-drop. This so I would reach 15 rows but still make it an even count peyote structure. I am a bit proud of that solution. I do not like to work odd-count peyote you see, and I wanted the band to fit precisely in the clasp.

Please visit all the button swap blogs!

1. Cat - Boo Beads
2. Cindy - Sweet Bead Studio
3. Cory - Art with Moxie
4. Cyndi - Beading Arts
5. Dita - Alankarshilpa

6. Donna, Marti, and Michelle - Beads & Books
7. Erin - Treasures Found
8. Hope - Crafty Hope
9. Inca - Zerenity Design
10. Katrine - Army of Sock Monsters

11. Krista - French Elegant Jewelry
12. Kristie - Artisan Clay
13. Linda D. - Lutka and Co.
14. Linda L. - Linda's Bead Blog
15. Lody - Lody's Beadworks

16. Lori - Pretty Things
17. Loretta - Loretta's Boutique
18. Malin - Beading by Malin de Koning - YOU ARE HERE
19. Mary - MK's Creative Musings
20. Maryanne - Zingala's Workshop

21. Melinda - Melinda Orr Metal & Clay Jewelry Designs
22. Saskia - Perlendistel
23. Shannon - For My Sweet Daughter
24. Shirley - Beads and Bread
25. Stephanie - Confessions of a Bead Hoader

BTW - Bead Table Wednesday - 13th of April

I saw these spectacular earrings by Emma of FredBean's Nook the other day. I fell in love with the design. I just love love love it. Had to give it a try myself. I did figure out to start with a ladder stitch ring in the center to surround the bead.

The next steps I will give a try in the coming days. I feel very uncertain about how I will do it. I think I know how. But I just think it is gonna look awful when it's coming from me ... You just HAVE to check out Emma's work. www.fredbeansnook.com

These beads arrived in the mail today, from Bead Of The Month Club by Heather Powers of HumbleBeads. Let's just say I do NOT regret I joined that club.

A sneak peek of one of the things I am doing for the Button Swap arranged by Michelle Mach. She sent me some awesome buttons. Reveal day with blog hop will be on the 29th of April. Don't miss that.

Buttons, Ceasar and crazy Gaea

I was so lucky to just in time discover the ButtonSwap arranged by Michelle Mach. We shall send three buttons to our partner. Identical, similar, related or completely unrelated. At least one button should be somehow special. Handmade, vintage, sentimental or otherwise unique. Make at least one project with at least one of the buttons. It doesn't have to be jewelry. Reveal day including a blog hop will be April 21, 2011. I just love arrangements like this. I always get totally excited. Thanks Michelle for arranging this!

And Michelle also offered to be my swapping partner, since I was late with my application. Thanks again! She told me she kind of prefers medium sized buttons with a feminine touch. Boy you could say that is almost the opposite of what I have in my own small button collection. But luckily she also said she would be interested in a challenge. Phew! So this is what I sent, hope you like it Michelle, even though it is not exactly your style:

• A rustic ceramics "Spokes and Dots" button by Tracee Dock of ClassicElements. It is rather big.
• A vintage truly weird large plastic flower button with an obscure pattern in the middle. I would really like to have been around when that design was created. HOW on earth did they think?
• A shank button I have another one of, but a smaller one (or did I send the smaller one?). I bought this last fall in an amazing button and trim shop in central Stockholm. I will take photos next time I go there just to show you heaven. Anyway I think these buttons look like fine quality fudge sweets. Yum!
• And for the fun of it I added three buttons that came in a lot of vintage buttons I recently purchased, (the weird flower came in the same lot). The text says "Stroms Goteborg", which is a shop (tailor?) for men's clothing in the town of Gothenburg on the west coast of Sweden. The o's comes with two dots to add a touch of Scandinavian exotism to it all.

Gaea Cannaday has gone crazy. She has opened a new shop where she sells things she thinks didn't turn out perfect. She calls it GaeaExchange. I think it IS perfect. The prices are a bargain. I had to buy these four lots you see below.

I get upset with everyone presenting really tempting things all the time. I HAVE to cut down on my shopping for a period. Gaea is not the only one I tell you. (Barbara!)

Radka (my neighbour that I mentioned before) left for Czech republic yesterday. Carrying with her the eleven colour print-outs of my wishes. She'll be back in about two weeks. I hope with a heavy bag of goodies. Ooooohhhhhhh!

All my best,

Malin