Friday Friends - Dusty Divas - Part 20 - Hundreds of Buttons

Hello lovely blog readers - Happy Friday once again ! This week it is my absolute pleasure to introduce a new Friday Friend in Part 20 of the Dusty Diva's series.
I want you to meet Liz from Hundreds of Buttons - she is a lovely genuine soul with real warmth and wisdom - Del and I were so lucky to meet Liz in person when she travelled through our part of the world. We had our own lovely little craft swap when Liz came to town - let me tell you how amazing her tub of button products were ! Liz was taken with a kilt pin brooch I made - and I with a necklace/earrings and bracelet (which I receive comments on whenever I wear them).



By the way did I mention how incredibly generous Liz was with this impromptu swap ? I felt so so spoilt xox

Now lovely readers, grab a cuppa and sit back, take some you time and read the tale of Liz and her crafty love affair with all things button-y !

The Tale of Hundreds of Buttons
Gosh Samara what can I say about myself? Since I started to fiddle with buttons I have entered a whole new world.

Firstly just fiddling with the little critters has been quite therapeutic. My sense of colour has certainly developed, just by sorting buttons into colours.

Now, is this a greenish blue or a blueish green?

A pinkish purple or a blueish purple?

A grey olive green or an olive brownish green? And then there are the whites!

My collection has grown from Mum’s tin and my jar, to a couple of bags of buttons, through ‘hundredsofbuttons’ to ‘millions and billions and trillions of buttons’. I limit myself to recycled, reclaimed buttons; you won’t catch me spending a lot of money on them.

Op shops and leftovers are my thing, and I pick them up wherever I spot them. Friends are on the lookout for me too.

I found the online world of etsy after being encouraged to do something with the growing number of necklaces in my lounge room.

I started making button flowers, put them in my shop as a sideline and sold more button flowers than necklaces.

There’s no end to the things you can do with buttons, and so my stock grows and grows.

Finding etsy led to finding DUST, etsy’s Down Under Street Team, and more recently MEST, the new Melbourne Etsy Street Team.

I’ve met up with many really nice people ‘in the real’ through these teams. We all craft differently and all have our own stories to tell. And my, how we can chat! My learning journey on the internet has been enormous

I’ve set up shops for my sister Jan, who has been crafting and selling for years. but never online. Her art smocks have been such great sellers; her post office staff ask ‘Don’t they have art smocks in America?‘

I’ve even learned to dye buttons because my sister couldn’t buy the right blue to match her knitting yarn.

Want to see more ?
Find Liz's fabulous funky creations at :

http://www.hundredsofbuttons.etsy.com

http://www.madeit.com.au/hundredsofbuttons

http://www.craftumi.com.au/hundredsofbuttons

http://www.artfire.com/users/hundredsofbuttons

connect on facebook at : http://www.facebook.com/pages/hundredsofbuttons/118699091473660

and Jan’s wonderful wares can be found at :

http://www.jskipcreations.etsy.com

http://www.madeit.com.au/jansartsmocks

Wednesday Wishlist - Amphibious

Dedicated and inspired by a lovely little frog that I found in our vege garden - enjoy my Amphibious Wednesday Wishlist !


I am an Endangered Species Pocket Mirroraussiepatches


1895 Antique German Engraving of Lizards from bananastrudel


Leather Hardcover Frog Journal, Diary, or Sketchbook by IslandTrades


Slimy Salamander fairy fantasy animal art print by Jasmine Becket-Griffith 8x10by strangeling


amphibious fine art photo by helveticaneue



Spotted Salamander Wood Carving by SandraHealy





BULLFROG beautifully upcycled vintage dictionary page book art printcollageOrama


Red Eyed Tree Frog fine art photo by DragonflyDesign


tree frog by justplainsimple


sterling silver scarfholder with glass set by gloryassilverjewelry

Friday Friends - Dusty Divas - Part 19 - Rainbow Revolution

I can't believe it is Friday already lovely readers - this week has gone by superquick........ It's time for me to introduce you to a new Friday Friend in edition 19 of the Friday Friends Dusty Diva series - the lovely creator of colourful wares Leanne from Rainbow Revolution !

I have long been a fan of the goodies Leanne creates - I have three scarves,


two wrap headbands and I got this sweet rainbow facewasher for a special little girl for Christmas last year and it was a tremendous hit !

I invite you now dear readers, to relax and let the waves of colour wash over you while Leanne shares her story, including where she draws the inspiration for the fantastic blend of hues she creates ................

The tale of Rainbow Revolution
My name is Leanne Lonergan and I have lived in many different places but I am currently in the beautiful NSW coastal town of Terrigal. I have been running my business, Rainbow Revolution, for just over three years now and have thoroughly enjoyed the journey that it has been.

My craft is based on my love of colour.I live and breathe colour. I have done many different things in my life but colour has always been a constant so it is feels so good to be able to work for myself doing something I love. I feel so blessed to be able to do this.

My tools are my bottles of dye, fabrics and brushes, my sewing machine and my scissors.

My muse exists all around me.. in bursts of floral beauty, in the cycle of the sun as it greets and farewells the sky, in the divine timing of the seasons and the fall of autumn leaves,

in the wildness of the ocean and where the ocean meets the sky, in the birth and death of stars and the gift of hope and joy that is the rainbow. (of course)

My days are spent amongst bottles and bowls of dye, piles of white fabrics in all different weaves and fibres sitting patiently waiting for their turn to be given life and colour.

I love to just let loose in my workshop and I love it when I am given custom orders with creative licence to 'do what I want'

Want to colour your world with some radical Rainbow Revolution goodness ?
You can buy Leanne's goodies at :
http://www.rainbowrevolution.etsy.com
http://www.Rainbowrevolution.artfire.com

or connect with Rainbow Revolution on Facebook at :
http://www.facebook.com/RainbowRevolution

Wednesday Wishlist - Seven Things

Lovely Deb over at Two Cheeky Monkeys recently tagged me in a special blogpost to share seven things about myself.

I decided to do this through a Wednesday Wishlist, so it will be pictorial Seven Things.

1. I love to read. This is the latest item on my reading wishlist
*bespoke* is an Australian Zine by the handmade community : for the handmade community. I have pre-ordered my copy and can't wait for it to get here !



2. I love to cook - I would really really love one of these Moroccan Tagines to experiment more with Morrocan cookery and these lovely serving plates would complete the Morrocan experience




3. I love handcrafted silver jewellery and this ring SecretAura ring is on my current favourites list

4. I have a bit of an addiction to handcrafted art dolls and would love to own Foxglove
or Monique

5. We are in the process of establishing a herb garden and vege patch and would love to plant an ornamental ginger such as the Alpinia zerumbet cv. 'Green Shell'

6. I love the creative process of taking photos and covet this beautiful Canon camera

7. I have always adored the lush scent of Chanel No. 5




To continue the fun, I want to tag:

- Del of DELicious Designz
- Marilyn of Missy Mao Mao
- Grace of littleartycraftycrow

I hope you enjoyed my Random Seven Facts Wednesday Wishlist xox

Friday Friends - Dusty Divas Part 18 - PennyFarrow Designs

Happy Friday lovely blog followers - this week has gone by so fast ! I have a lovely new Friday Friend to introduce you to this week, in edition 18 of the dusty diva series -
Penny from PennyFarrow Designs. This talented duster creates the most lovely things from leather making unique and beautiful leather accessories.

I recently purchased this fabulous camera case from Penny and love the different colours, textures and of course craftmanship !

Browsing through Penny's Etsy store - I thought that these things would make the most wonderful gifts (it is never ever too early to start Christmas shopping)
How about this funky Red leather 'heart petals' clutch purse for that hard to buy for girl

or a manly leather journal set for that hard to buy for bloke

or a gorgeous earthy Dark brown handmade leather handbag with swirling leaf

or this sweet Handmade orange leather journal, with flying cat for the feline lover in your life

I would be so happy to receive any of these goodies ! I now invite you to settle in with a nice cuppa and put your feet up and peruse the perfectly gorgeous story and products of PennyFarrow Designs.

The story of PennyFarrow Designs - Be authentic and intentional
Hi, My name is Penny and I am the face of PennyFarrow Designs, I live in Adelaide, South Australia.

I have been making and designing hand stitched leather accessories for about two years, I do most of it by hand including cutting, hole punching and stitching. I love designing and making simple tactile, items for everyday use, I work with leather because it gains character with age and is a pliable and versatile material.

I am planning to do a bag making course to improve my technique and increase my skill base, I am really excited by this, as it will open up new possibilities for design.

At present my work is largely self referential and I would like to draw inspiration from other art forms, like dance and music, and art and design. My daily goal is to do something creative every day which includes looking at other art forms and reading from different fields to inspire my creativity.

Earlier this year I participated in a dust team craft swap with Del from Delicious designs and she inspired me to experiment with adding other materials to my leather work, I would like to do a little more of this too.

Want to connect with Penny Farrow ? Here's how :

Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/PennyFarrow

Zibbet shop: http://www.zibbet.com/PennyFarrow

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/PennyFarrowDesigns
(Penny would LOVE to hear about your favourite accessory, if you want to join in the fun leave a post on the Accessory love discussion)

If you want to read a little more about Penny Farrow, check out these posts:

http://www.zibbet.com/blog/2010.09.06/featured-zibbeter-pennyfarrow#more-3061

http://handmadeartistsforum.com/my-hand-made-world/