ButtonMad

ButtonMad
Teeny Tiny Bird Buttons

Thursday 28 July 2011

Fabric & Button Give Away!


I had a few more (well okay 30!) swatches of fabric printed and shipped to Jen's hotel in California for a surprise upon her arrival - ummm surprise!...and decided that with the next button give away, we could give some matching Incomparable fabric away too.

 

We are offering either a set of our stunning planets & space theme buttons or a set of our cute teddy bear buttons & the matching fat quarter of fabric (21'' x 18'') to one lucky winner.



To a second winner we will send a swatch of our fabric (8'' x 8'') and matching set of buttons.

This give away has a total combined value of $36.

To enter, simply be a follower of our blog and leave a comment here, along with your choice of space or teddy fabric & buttons.

For an extra entry into the draw, follow us on FaceBook

If you would like 5 additional entries, post about us on your own blog or FaceBook pages and let us know.

Canadian & American followers might be interested in our North American FaceBook page.

ButtonMad Italy also have some great projects on their blog

This competition is open until midday (South African time) Friday 5th August.

Wednesday 27 July 2011

Incomparable Fabric Give Away


We will be holding a give away of some of our new fabric along with a matching set of Incomparable buttons...details tomorrow...but here is a sneak peak at the fabric choices we are giving away:

for girls, our gorgeous teddies on a rich purple/pink background:

and the option for boys, one of my absolute favourites...the space, planets & rockets theme fabric:


If you would like to stand a chance to win one of these fab fabric & button prizes, keep an eye out for more details to be posted tomorrow...

Monday 25 July 2011

Creative Cards


These stitch patterns have been glued onto handcrafted coloured paper and then onto a plain greeting card with some added buttons, to transform it into a card worthy of a place on the mantelpiece.


Homemade greeting cards are fun to put together.


Different elements add three dimensionality and provide a lot of interest.


With this much effort going into the card, the gift is going to require some careful thought!

Friday 22 July 2011

Friday Fun with Frogs

 Happy fun filled Friday to everyone...

(© Christie Rowse 2007)

Thursday 21 July 2011

1746...


1746 is...


the number of our stand...


at the International Quilt Festival Long Beach, California!



Will you be there?


Jen has 36 hours of flying to look forward to! (that's excluding waiting at airports/connecting/jet lag etc). Just thinking about it makes me feel exhausted!


Please pop by and say hi...she's going to need to see some friendly faces after all that travelling...
Preview is on 28th July 5 to 9 pm
29 and 30 July 10 am to 7 pm
And Sunday 31st July 10 am till 3 pm


She may be looking a touch travel weary but this is the lady to look out for...


Hope to see you there...

Tuesday 19 July 2011

HobbyHorse Stitch Pattern


Jen had a 45 minute commute every morning to the show in Stellenbosch and never one to waste any time, she now has a series of new stitch patterns lined up to share with us.

This is the sweetest little hobby horse with long eye-lashes and a floating blue ribbon. His wheel is an Incomparable flower button.

Here he is for printing if you would like to make one. 


Don't forget we are now on Flickr so if you do make him, please share your pictures with us.

Monday 18 July 2011

Playful Cats


I made this dress for a friend's baby shower that we went to in London yesterday. It is floaty and summery and just perfect for a winter back home but perhaps not suited to the chilly 'summer' weather we have been having here in the UK! (yes I'm having a weather gripe - it is warmer in South Africa in mid winter! Feeling a little homesick)


I smocked 3 rows with my machine and then added the contrasting fabric for the yoke.
This is our latest fabric for sale on Spoonflower.


It is a collection of cute kitties and a scattering of mice to add playfulness to the mix.

In fact, I used an Incomparable mouse button for the back closure...he is looking a little cheeky!


With some of the leftover scraps, I cut out individual cats and ironed them on using double sided interfacing...the ginger cat above is actually covering up a tiny snip mark where I was rather careless with the scissors...
but these two are purely decorative...


My friend is cat crazy and has a gorgeous fur ball so I think she will appreciate these cute bundles of furry joy.
How about you, do you prefer cats or dogs...or both?

Wednesday 13 July 2011

Sweet Heart Applique


I heart these 2 swatches of fabric - the print is a repeat of our Incomparable heart buttons with the stitching around the edges.

We are going to a friend's baby shower in London this weekend and I used some of this fabric to applique a large heart onto this pink onesie...


Then I could not resist appliqueing a single heart on the other side...can't wait to see that with a big nappy filling it out - cute!



Looking forward to ordering yards of this fabric to create a unique accent for some sweet little dresses and skirts.


And the scraps are perfect for creating little gift tags like this one...


This fabric is now available on the Spoonflower website.

Tuesday 12 July 2011

Stellenbosch Quilt Show - the winning quilt


I just had to share the winning quilt from the Stellenbosch quilt show. 

It is staggering.

This was a collaboration of 25 women - the Village Quilters.

The title is 'Kyk dai Blomme' which is Afrikaans for 'Look at all those Flowers!'

And indeed, let us take a closer look here at the incredible amount of detail involved...


I would not have enjoyed the task of being a judge as the competition was fierce and there were so many spectacular creations...but this really does take the cake...or the ribbon...congratulations to the artists involved.

Monday 11 July 2011

Green Sheep Fabric on flat-fronted Boy's Shorts


These are two swatches of our 'sheep on ribbons' fabric in green. The one has sheep all running along the ribbons in the same direction, the other has alternating sheep.

My nephew has watched me making things for his sister and has been patiently waiting for me to tackle something for boys...and it finally happened.


Last night I made him a pair of these long, flat front shorts following the really simple tutorial by Dana over at Made. Had I known how easy it would be to follow, I would have made these months ago! Thanks Dana.

I used some strips of our green fabric to add accents to the bottom of each leg...and chose a red tractor button for the top as decoration. These can be his farm pants.




On the back, I added a cute little pocket for detail.
My nephew is blue-yellow colour blind so his favourite colour is green...I actually had this project in mind with our new transport fabric but since that is yellow, I will have to make something else with it and showcase it later in the week.



Now to head on down to the post and send these on their long journey home to him... Hope everyone is having a great start to the week.

Friday 8 July 2011

'Give a Dog a Bone' Stitch Pattern


Jen has been creating a few new stitch patterns while in Stellenbosch this week.
Here is a super sweet spotty dog...so sweet we couldn't help but give him a treat.

Here he is if you would like to print him out and create your own...


...and...while on the topic of cute stitch creations and Incomparable buttons, last week we held a give away of some of our tortoise buttons and offered to give a set of tortoises to anyone who did the following:

'Stitch him onto pockets, on purses, as small blocks of interest in quilts, on tee shirts, the side of a hat....send us pictures of what you have done with your stitched picture...and we will post about him, as long as he is eating an Incomparable flower, or reduced fat cupcake, or Incomparable low calorie ice-cream cones....we will send you a free card of tortoise buttons!, how's that?'

And Marcia took us up on the challenge - she created this adorable little fella...and says he is destined for a quilt top. The button colour was chosen by her mum...we think he is fabulous and cannot wait to see the rest of the quilt.


Thanks for sharing him with us Marcia and we hope you enjoy your tortoise buttons - they should be airborne by now!

If anyone would like to share images of their creations using Incomparable buttons, fabric, stitch patterns or tutorials, we now have a group on flickr.

Happy creating and have a wonderful weekend.

Thursday 7 July 2011

Incomparable Fabric


A few years ago we designed some fabric using our Incomparable buttons and craft pieces and had them printed in South Africa. The quality of the printing left a lot to be desired so the fabrics were packed away and forgotten about...until recently...we have had 90 swatches printed at Spoonflower and are slowly updating the designs we have for sale.

This is a swatch of our 'sheep stitched on ribbons' fabric in a lovely dark pink.


I've made a cute little outfit and used strips of the sheep as an accent on the waist and around the leg cuffs and brought in the sheep again as 3 dimensional button closures...



These are 4 swatches of our green and yellow apples...printed in various sizes and configurations...



I cut out 2 of the larger apples and appliqued them onto this store bought bib...then added an Incomparable apple core button at the closure...a great quick gift...


Our friendly green dinosaurs walking along blue strips of ribbon make a wonderful print...


I cut out a strip of fabric and appliqued it onto this store bought onesie...


...and transformed it into something completely unique.

Incomparable fabric is now available through Spoonflower...we'll be adding new designs daily...
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