Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Time for the Annual Salon des Artistes once again!

Yikes!  The annual Salon des Artistes is Sunday, December 6th (212 Washington St. NE, Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the Nob Hill neighborhood, from 9-4).


This is our official invitation, by creator of exquisite paperie, Bea Lombard.  We are so lucky to have her in our coterie!

So it is the season for blingy things:


like necklace #139, vintage rhinestones and vintage glass on the Japanese chirimen polyester bias tape.  (This one is at Mariposa Gallery in Albuquerque);





and necklace #140, an old rhinestone buckle fragment and vintage rhinestone buttons;


and necklace #137 - vintage rhinestones on the chirimen bias tape (this one is about to leave me);


and necklace #138, a Deco vintage buckle fragment with pewter-tone vintage rhinestone buttons and vintage pallettes.



Fun with  metal and plastics, too:





necklace 142 has a contemporary metal and enamel button in the center and vintage metal buttons - including those stylized Art Nouveau roses, around it (on chirimen polyester bias tape);


and necklace #143 is vintage green Bakelite (on chirimen polyester bias tape).

My photo album of recent work is a Google+ album at https://goo.gl/photos/uJFB3VUDePMFPEbk9. 

For the picture captions, click a photo and then click the little "i" icon.

See you at the Salon!

Sunday, October 18, 2015

Some Glitter and Shine, with Thanks to Generous Friends for Their Gifts.

A few new:


Necklace #133. Vintage rhinestone and metal buttons on Japanese chirimen polyester bias tape.
The generosity of friends makes the necklaces possible!  A dance/exercise friend from the Y brought me a bag of buttons that included this metal and rhinestone set, which I combined with an atomic-burst rhinestone button from my long-time stash.


Necklace #134.  Vintage Bakelite buckle and Bakelite buttons on Japanese chirimen polyester bias tape.

This butterscotch Bakelite buckle, a wonderful gift from another friend, sits between apple juice Bakelite buttons and quirky little green ones.







Necklace #135.  Vintage Lucite buttons on Japanese woven cotton bias tape.
Those chunky little amber buttons, a gift from yet another friend, made friends with some favorite pieces in my existing collection.


Necklace #136.  Vintage glass buttons on Japanese chirimen polyester bias tape.
My aunt sent an elegant little bag of buttons for my birthday, including this Deco pink one in the center.  Various old glass buttons complete the necklace.  I was amused to find my reflection in the beetle-wing colored buttons next to the central one.  


I kind of liked the moody effect of this one just dropped onto a table top.  

If you'll be near Albuquerque on December 6th, save the date for the annual Salon des Artistes sale, which will be in a lovely home not far from me (more posting, with address, before that time) from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.  And again, the link to the album of my current work is https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipNCcBZ7r_-XGHj1LK8QAEr4t_mLtuikEPy_rWix.  Click on a picture and then click on the little "i" in a white circle, to the upper right of the image, to get the caption.

Friday, September 4, 2015

It's Been a Long Time Since a Post. Here is a Bit That's New.

A family emergency has kept me from posting and slowed my production, but here are a few necklaces for catch-up:


Necklace #129.  A broken buckle from a yard sale mixes with vintage brass buttons on purple chirimen bias tape.

And then a couple celebrating the colors and patinas of plastic buttons from decades past:


Necklace #130.  The three big buttons all have rough and smooth areas, all in luscious color.  The little shiny black buttons close things off.  All on purple chirimen bias tape.


Necklace #131.  Shiny patinas and great colors on Japanese woven cotton bias tape.


Again, Google+ has changed the album formats a little.  The link to my current work is https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipNCcBZ7r_-XGHj1LK8QAEr4t_mLtuikEPy_rWix.
In order to get the caption with the necklace number and the description, click on the individual picture and then click on the little encircled "i", and the information will come up to the top right.

Thursday, June 11, 2015

No New Pictures Today (Soon), but An Update About my Photo Album



Google in its infinite wisdom has made changes to the way Google photo albums are made, look, and are shared.  My album of current work now has a link of https://goo.gl/photos/uJFB3VUDePMFPEbk9.  In order to get the captions, including the necklace number, of each photo, click on one of the photos and then look up to the right side of the screen for a letter "i" (for "info") inside a circle.  It's the middle icon.  Click the little "i" and a caption will appear on the right.  If you continue to scroll through the photos, the information displays will stay with you; if you go back to the whole album, repeat the above steps to get another caption next time you click on an individual picture.  Sigh - just when you get used to something.  Thanks for your patience!  A friend discovered I had holes in the blog where pictures used to be.  This happens when I move photos out of the "current" album and into the album of earlier work.  I just went through and fixed them all - I hope!  The link to the album of earlier works is https://goo.gl/photos/GpN6kRMTVzpzjiQAA.

Thursday, May 21, 2015

Buttons from Paris!

Back from a lovely trip.  Went to phenomenal button shop in Montmartre, Dam Boutons.








They don't allow photography in the store, but they have lovely pictures on their website, www.damboutons.com.  I wish I had taken a picture of their handsome black and white Spitz, though, sitting in that doorway and vetting the customers.


The mouths are from Salvador Dali (they had a number of buttons celebrating the artists that hung out in Montmartre).  The big red ones are actually from a trim shop that we passed walking through the Arts and Metiers district.

And then there was Le Petit Pan, a store that features charming things for tiny children in fabrics from Japan, but one of their storefronts in the Marais was fabric lengths, buttons and trim.


Now, time to get back to work!

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Moving along into windy April....

Something made me photograph this necklace as soon as I finished it and put it on, a good thing because it was purchased right from my neck when I was out shopping!  A nice experience.




Necklace #126.  Buttons covered with vintage Japanese kimono silk, with fluorite accent beads, on Japanese woven cotton bias tape.


A dear friend sent me a wonderful button packet at the holidays, including these vintage glass and rhinestone baubles.  They almost wanted to stand alone but needed just a little more subtle spark in with them in the form of tiny antique glass buttons from another dear friend.


Necklace #127, the above-mentioned buttons on Japanese chirimen polyester bias tape.




Necklace #128.  Buttons covered in contemporary Japanese chirimen fabric, likely rayon, with little red stone accent beads, on Japanese chirimen polyster bias tape.  The fabric for these was from little sachet covers.  They remain slightly perfumed. 

 I really should time photo shoots to avoid such giant shadows, although I like the shadows of the rhinestone spheres.

Thursday, March 19, 2015

Almost Spring and.....

The necklaces at Mariposa Gallery have been replenished for spring, and a few new things have come off the work table after that:



Necklace #123.  Vintage Japanese kimono cotton and one subtle teal blue one from kimono silk, on Japanese chirimen polyester bias tape.  I'm hanging on to this one for a little while, since it goes with my great new top from Yasuko, with vintage Japanese kimono silk detail, and I want to wear it a couple of times.


Necklace #124.  A patina-rich collection of vintage mother of pearl buttons on Japanese chirimen polyester bias tape.  This one is a re-style:  I'm much happier with it now than I was when I tried a central button of a different material (stone).  The m.o.p.s wanted to be together!



Necklace #125.  Contemporary plastic buttons with the band of dots (from the wonderful Maya store in San Diego's South Park neighborhood) with vintage plastic and rhinestone buttons on Japanese chirimen polyester bias tape.  This one has been fun to test-drive.

Friday, February 20, 2015

It's February - time to get back to work!

The successful Salon des Artistes is now a distant memory, and Santa and others did bring me new buttons to play with.  First here is a restyle of an earlier necklace, adding some little floral celluloid buttons from a friend's gift tin of wonderful ones:


Necklace #120, vintage plastic buttons, mostly celluloid, on Japanese chirimen polyester bias tape.

Pawing around in the vintage plastic buttons led to this one:


Necklace #121. Vintage plastic buttons (the one with the metal center is likely Bakelite) on cotton/linen bias tape.

And then, enjoying darks, lights and patinas in the vintage button world, this one:



Necklace #122.  Vintage plastic (one is horn) buttons, two with mother of pearl inlays, on Japanese woven cotton bias tape.  The little rings at the edges are stone.  I love that wacky button with the circle and triangle cut-outs.  The center button has, I think, achieved the gold-brown areas as it aged.  

As always, the photo album of current work is at https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/105148425797657603947/albums/5669744508708774721.