My Number 4~Letter B Collection

As an organized collector who is intent on downsizing by way of Using It or Losing It, the Alphabetical System should probably have been this over organizers first choice of methods of downsizing.  But it wasn't.  I'm not sure I can even put a method label to this madness.  There have been a few priorities though and they can be numerically organized.  Number One was FABRIC without a doubt, and after the Fabric-Aholic Collection came the Yarn-A-Rama to capture spot number two.  Number three has been the most challenging and hardest to part with...QUILTS. 

 

That brings me to Number 4 and finally to the Alphabet method with the Letter B for Buttons.  Buttons have been a big deal collection and a major topic for posts here on CollectInTexas Gal.  Under the blogger label 'Buttons' there are 19 posts listed....HERE is the Button Posts if you'd like to check them out.  One of my favorites is Button Sickness...A Real and Present Danger.

 

Buttons have been a part of my Jewelry designs, embellishment's on Aprons, Bags, Embroidery, Quilts and more.  And then they get sewn on a shirt or two as well.  They have provided me with hours of 'Treasure Hunting' fun for rare and unusual ones.  I've learned a lot about button history while researching them, and although it's hard to fess up to...I've had to come to grips with the fact I am a ButtonAholic.  On The Button Wagon...It's Been 7 Days is a post that sums up my Button Addiction.

Along the Button Collecting way, I have found some rare and unusual buttons...or at least I thought so until this post...Button Market Crash Prompts New Strategy. 

 

I don't know if my current strategy of selling buttons in Sue's Fiber&Fabric Studio's Online Catalog will make much of a difference in downsizing my Number 4~Letter B Collection, but....

...they sure do add a lot to the projects at Sue's Fiber&Fabric Studio.

Wordless Wed...Buttons Beads and Bits of Lace

Not your grandmothers blouse buttons...anymore!

One Can Never OverDo Thank-you

For myself I am an optimist...it does not seem to be much use to be anything else.  Winston Churchill 

And so, with that 'Optimistic Attitude', it makes sense to carry on with a motto learned years ago as a girl scout...'Be Prepared'.

Pairing together the 'Be Prepared' motto with 3 of my 4R's Bucket List... Recycle, Repurpose and Renew...serves to reinforce my 'Optimistic Attitude' for the 4th 'R'.  RESALE

 

It doesn't hurt a thing to be overly optimistic in preparing for the sales I hope will happen at the First Saturday In September Sale at The Chicken Farm Art Center.  Making the 'Thank-You Bags' recycled, repurposed and renewed my collection of YoYo's, Buttons, Tissue, Mailing Labels, Stamping supplies, and a roll of Black Ribbon.   Brown paper bags are cheap at the dollar store...40 for a dollar...I got to use my cool scalloped edge cutting scissors, and put the earlier coupon savings bag of hot glue sticks to good use.

Besides, 'One can never OverDo THANK YOU!

Vintage Inspired...Not OverDone!

It has been a 'Vintage Inspired' last few months with vintage buttons, beads and baubles.   That same inspiration is overflowing into the displays as well.

Thank goodness I have a stash of vintage 'stuff/ treasures' to  put into practice what I '4R' preach.  That would be Recycle, Repurpose, Renew and Resale.  It's been an ongoing thread of posts this past summer.

For the vintage inspired necklaces  I have really  reached a new level of scrounging and cheap-scape-ness.  It took me awhile of digging, but I found a burned out light bulb to pad and poof.  A crocheted doily cover was a perfect length to cover the lamps electrical doings once the repurposed bulb was screwed in.  For some of the lamp displays, the cord has been cut, but on this one it was tightly wound around the base and covered with a vintage crocheted collar.  Another doily, a turn table and TaDa...Vintage Displayed Vintage Inspired Necklaces.

And one for Button and Bead Bracelets!

There are a FEW...FUN to make, too!

The First Saturday Event Sale is this coming Saturday!

I will not OverDo!  I will not OverDo!  I will not OverDo!

Will August Never End

Three more days of August!   As reported in the post below, in the five years I have been a blogger, August has not been my best month of posting. 

This August may be the exception...this will make 13 posts.  Here to fore, 9 posts was tops in 2011.

There is a possibility this record breaking August could have as many as 15 posts.  We will see what happens in the next two days.  I won't hold my breath, and please, don't you either. 

This August has been a productive month for me in regards to my '4 R's Bucket List'...Repurpose-Recycle-Renew-Resale.  I have about Buttoned Up and Buttoned Out every possible creative outlet I can think of from Jewelry to Salt N Pepper Shakers.

When I started  this 'Collection Down Sizing' Bucket List, I told myself, "Sue, don't try and MAKE anymore STUFF or put anymore money into what you already have horded accumulated collected.   Those were the words used in the post...Eating My Words Well Seasoned.  

Over a hundred dollars spent, a dozen Blooming Salt and Pepper Shakers and three dozen and growing button jewelry pieces made later...the Resale part of the 4R's begins.   That will be on September 6th when I will pitch my tent at the Chicken Farm Art Center for the First Saturday Event and Sale.

You can see why I am so ready for August to end and September to begin.  So much so, I have already redecorated CollectInTexas Gal for Fall...



...and started my vigil for September's Full Moon.

Repurposed Dust Bunny Collector...

...AKA Hardback Knife Edged Pleated Lampshade.

Believe it or not there is a history behind pleated lampshades, and insignificant as it may seem, the invention of this illuminating diffuser gives new meaning to 'let there be light...less light...okay, shaded light.   It's an AhHa moment...LAMPSHADE!

I am not a Lampshade Historian...made that up...probably not an official genre of historical study, but the 'Pleated Lampshade' is an official 'Patent Filing' with the US Patent Office in June 1944.

From the accumulation of Dust Bunny droppings between the knife edged pleats, I think this one might have belonged to the inventor.  Not really, his would probably not have been Pink.   Anyway, whoever owned it last probably got tired of dusting it and donated it to Goodwill where I happened to be on the hunt for a non-breakable STAND.

This painted pink metal tubular lamp fit the seven dollar bill perfectly.  The shade not so much, but it came with the stand, so I took it.

After trying several different wire baskets on the lamp stand, the pink pleated shade was a keeper, but the 'Dust Bunnies' were not.

 Those 'Knife Edge Pleats' were Feather Duster and Swiffer resistant. A stiff bristle brush brushed those bunnies right out of the pleats.

 I think it will work as a Display for my 'Button Jewelry'.  Those 'Knife Edge Pleats' make great dividers!

I am practicing my 'Booth Setup' for the September 6th First Saturday Event at

The Chicken Farm Art Center.

Doesn't Modella look pretty in pink?

Eating My Words Well Seasoned!

I just hate having to eat my words, but at least this time they are well seasoned.  When I started  this 'Collection Down Sizing' Bucket List, I told myself, "Sue, don't try and MAKE anymore STUFF or put anymore money into what you already have horded accumulated collected. 

 

I was doing pretty good until I started putting YoYo's and Buttons together.   What would it hurt to make up a few examples of what one could make? 

That's what I said to myself when I decided to expand my space next month at the Chicken Farm Art Center First Saturday Sale.  Afterall, I have buttons for sale, as well as other supplies that bargin hunting Crafters will want.  I 'Bartered Buttons' at the last sale.  

All it took was to MAKE one little ole Button Blossom just to see how they would make up, and before I knew it, I had a whole Button Blossom Bouquet blooming all over my Studio.  Then I had to figure out how to display them. 

Investment in Button Blossom Bouquet amounts to:

~Using Stash of YoYo's, Buttons, Threads and Wire

~Spending approximately 8 hours getting it all together and figuring out how to MAKE them.

~Another 2-3 hours cleaning up and re-organizing studio.

~Half a tank of gas driving to Thrift Stores in search of bargin Salt and Pepper Shakers.  Finding Zip-NataOne!

~$6 for a dozen shakers.  Found at Dollar Tree...50 cents a piece.

~$3.50 for 'All Temp Glue Sticks'...used my 40% off coupon at HH otherwise $5.99.

~$80 for a Pink Top PopUp Shade Canopy for September's First Saturday at The Chicken Farm.

There's probably more, but I'm out of time, money and ideas for

'How Not To Downsize One's Stash without Making Stuff and Spending More Money'

 

Good thing I like 'Eating My Words' well seasoned!

Yet ANOTHER YoYo Project

Really, Sue, YoYo's! 

What next?  Pin cushions!!

 

It's not that I am burned out on the 4R's...Repurpose-Recycle-Renew-Resale...with Jewelry and Buttons, but I thought you might be.  Afterall, that has  been the focus of just about every post for the last two going on three months.

 

That's just the way I Roll.  Yep, GungHo, UpToMyNeck in what ever project I take on.  It just so happens that I am working through my 'Collections Down Sizing' Bucket List and even though I haven't been going in Alpha Order, it seemed like a good time to tackle the 'Bucket of YoYo's'.

 

That's right, I said Bucket of YoYo's!  Really there are several buckets and more bags than I can count on both hands.  So YoYo time it is!

 

As with the vintage jewelry, I need to know the origin and a bit of history about whatever project I am working on.  So I 'Googled' YoYo's.  Yikes!  There is a lot of YoYo Info out there, but briefly, this is what I found...
~Across the pond in the UK, they call them 'Suffolk Puffs' which they believe originated in Suffolk County.  Although little is known about that origin, examples of quilts using 'Puffs' can be traced back to 1601, and were popular during the Victorian era.
~YoYo's have been popular here in the US since the 1930's when 'Make Do and Mend' found the YoYo being made from worn out clothing and transformed into quilts and used as decorations for clothing and accessories.

What's Next?

YoYo Pink Pins and YoYo Pincushion Pins!

Betcha knew I'd work Pin Cushions in there! 

And more Buttons and Broken Jewelry!

Oh well, that's just the way of The 4R's.

 Linking To

Beverly's How Sweet The Sound Pink Saturday

'BackInTheDay' Buttons and Birthdays

Remember when a calendar was just a calendar...like when one day was pretty much like the one before.  When the months you paid the most attention to were June, July and August because school was out for the summer.  Not that you cared what day it was or marked them off on the calendar like in the month of May. 

 

Remember when your Mom hung the freebie calendar from the local 'Grocery Store' somewhere in the kitchen...usually near the door where you stood barefoot tall with a pencil pressed against the top of your head to make the line.  My Mom always said, "Sue, for Pete's Sake, stand up straight".  I was TALL and SKINNY and not always happy to be so.  Sometimes the tallness number was written on the calendar, but for sure it was recorded right there on wall beside the pencil mark for measuring how much TALLER I was than the JANUARY before.  That was about the only time I paid much attention to Calendars....until I became a 'January Collector'.

 

Now, whenever I see a 'January Calendar' I add it to my collection.  It just so happened the 1955 January calendar was displayed in a bin of buttons.  Could not be better for closing out this months Button Binge posting.  Not that I am done with Buttons, you understand.

The Button Bins will continue to repurpose into Button Jewelry and be incorporated in with the Vintage to Vogue Jewelry making...like this one.

I do not remember wearing JEWELRY BackInTheDay, yet here I am in 1955 wearing a leaning to the left Medallion Necklace and a shoved up the arm Bangle Bracelet.  I can just hear my Mom saying, "Sue, for Pete's Sake, stand up straight, you are slumping to the left, again."  That explains the leaning left necklace.  As for the bangle bracelet...it would have been a saddle oxford ornament had it not been pushed up nearly to my elbow.

On my Birthday...January 20, 1955...I was 8 years old.

Told you I was TALL and SKINNY!!!

I BOUGHT Buttons...A Sympathy Buy

Lady at Antique Shop..."Here's a chair, a bottle of water, a scoop and a bag...have fun...and when you finish at the button TUB there's a CHEST full of old JEWELRY you can look through...more fun."

Are you kidding me??!!!  Like I don't have enough of both!!! 

None the less, I felt obligated to sit and sift through the 'Claw Foot Tub' FULL of Buttons.  Really, it was one of those BIG tubs, too, and when she said, "I have another one just like this one at home", I felt sorry for her.

Out of SixKabillionZillion Buttons I picked 6 and a Buckle.  That was one a minute...anymore time in that TUB and I'm sure I would have had a relapse of the Button Sicknesses I've been doctoring myself for these last few months. 

I am ever so grateful there are no known diseases attached to the about 1950's 

'Parklane Cornucopia' Broach/Pendant.

Even so, I would have risked it for $12...mint condition, too.

Yep, my Cornucopia runneth over...one on Ebay for $55.

What I have learned from this experience!

Styrofoam divided 'Dinner Trays' from Walmart not only make great

'Jewelry Work Trays', they make 'Stunning Photo Backgrounds'.

Great Values Day for Buttons, Broaches and Buffet!

On The Button Wagon...It's Been 7 Days!

It has been 7 Days since my last Button Post.  

Really, it's been 7 Days since my last post, period....it just so happens it was on buttons.

As I look back over June's Archives, nearly EVERY post has been about buttons.

I'd say it was certainly time for a Button Break...or...a Break from Buttons!

Before the Button Bustin' Break, the Button Bins were Bulging after the Button Binge I was on.  I'm glad I photographed the overflowing bins....otherwise I wouldn't have anything to show you on this 'BackToThe Buttons'  post.  Hard to believe I haven't taken a single photo in the last 7 days.  I think I must have 'Binged Out'...if there is such a thing even for an 'OverDoer' like me.



Yep, from the looks of these last three Bins you are probably thinking

I really needed a 7 Day Hiatus from Buttons.

Whew, this looks like a 'CrapShoot'...I wonder if they take

'Buttons' at the Crap Tables in Vegas!

Not that it matters...since I'm still

'On The Button Wagon'.

Sue's OverDone Button Bins Feature Pink Button Jewelry

I have been on a 'Button Bin Binge', and yes, some may say and think  I've OverDoneIt...again!  Ever since I wrote the post Button Sickness...A Real and Present Danger, I have worried about how my Button Collection has been organized and stored.

The warning of mixing metal buttons with any and all other buttons got me started separating and organizing the metal buttons.  Not such a difficult task, but of course I had to sort them in categories of metal color, size, shank or holes, collectible and so on.  Now I have a Silver Button Bin, a Gold Button Bin, and a Misc. Metal Button Bin.

The next order of  'Button Wellness' was to get the Collectible Celluloid and Bakelite buttons out of plastic baggies and into/onto acid free cards and open glass containers.  The experts stressed the need for them to breathe.  That's being done, and research ongoing for their worth and market value.

As it usually does when one is an 'OverDoer', one Button Bin Binge led to the next Mason Jar, Baggie,  and still on the 'Card' buttons....Button Market Crash Prompts New Strategy.  Hopefully, this organization will facilitate the production of 'OverDoSue's Eclections' of Button Jewelry.

Here is one of my favorites...fresh out of the Pink Button Bin!

Pink Buttons and Old Bowties

1960's Pink Shank Buttons with altered Vintage Bowtie clasp...Necklace and Earrings. 

Featured with 'Winter'...a watercolor from 1960's portfolio. 

Three Jars, a Bowl and a Plate Full and the Button Bins will be done.

Since I've separated out the 'Sickness Susceptible' Buttons,

I think the 'Plate Full' will go back in the Jars.

Afterall, what 'Bonafide Button Collector' does not have a Mason Jar full of Buttons?

Not this 'OverDoSue'!

Linking To

Beverly's How Sweet The Sound ~  PINK SATURDAY

Button Market Crash Prompts New Strategy

Obviously my past marketing strategy was a bust.  I mean, who could pass up a package of buttons worth $20 for the absolutely final markdown of $4?  Not me!

That's why I pulled 'Buttons' out of my 'Junktique Booth'...I couldn't give them away!  That was several years ago, and now as I am gearing up to get back into the Junktique Booth business, I am re-evaluating my 'Button Marketing' strategy.

I started with trashing the old plan...literally!  The trash basket is full of old cards and bygone bargins!  'Old School' marketing just won't cut it in today's 'E'commerce and Social Media markets...yes, even on the Social Media Sites, you can panhandle just about anything...why not Buttons!

Did you know there are Button Market Analyst out there who for a price will 'give your marketing strategy a good shake-up and an injection of fresh energy'?

Before I check into that further and consider their 'Button Bright Ideas', I better rescue that $4.25 gray button, MADE IN ITALY from the TRASH!

Might be a good idea to hang on to those stripped of their buttons CARDS from JAPAN, SPAIN, GERMANY and HOLLAND.  The cards are probably worth more than the buttons they held.

My New 'Button Bright Idea' Marketing Strategy?

Declaring them ART!

By Famous Artist from

ITALY....Toulouse LeChic

 SPAIN...Pablo LaMode

GERMANY...Ernst Streamline

HOLLAND...Vincent VanBuTon

That should 'ShakeEmUp'....I Am So Energized!

I SUPPORT the BHC...

...That'd be the 'Button Hunt Club'!!!

Is that a perfect button for 'Hunters' of whatever? 

My hunting lately has taken me through the Mason Jar Jungles of my stash. 

I've also been 'Goodwill Hunting'. 

Out of the Mason Jar Jungle I have designed several 'Bracelets'.

I keep thinking my stash should be dwindling.  If it is, I can't tell.

I bagged a Lion!  Actually, I rescued these Lion Buttons out of a Ziploc Baggie!  ROAR!!!

These two Lion Bracelets are going to my ETSY Zoo Shop!

In my Vintage Jewelry Jungle I went hunting for parts to make a necklace.

I think this 'Tiger Eye' bracelet is going to make several 'Hunt Club' pieces.

Don't you Love the 'Eye of the Tiger' Pendant?

Guess I'd better get back to my Jungle Jewelry Hut and finish it!

Watch for the finished necklace in OverDoSue Eclections ETSY Shop.

Take a look at what is Already there!

Thank-you for

SUPPORTING the BHC!

Vintage Button Collection Goes Viral...

...at least on this blog!!!

Who knew that all these years of Collecting and OverDoing would culminate in boxes, bags and Mason Jars.  It's been weeks, maybe even months...I've lost track...of sorting, sacking, stringing and stacking buttons and beads into what will make their debut today at.....

A SMALL Sample of just a FEW of

OverDoSue Button and Bead Necklaces!

And

They are Anti-Viral...Just Sayin'!



Button Sickness...A Real and Present Danger

The condition of my button collection is in danger of becoming a 'sick, rusty, foul-smelling mess!  So says an expert and professional button collector.  Yes, there is such a thing as professional button collectors....I am not one...but I might be if even one of my 'Old Buttons' would be worth anything near what some of the professionals get for theirs.

About my 'Sick Buttons'.  I feel terrible....who knew that a Mason Jar would act as a petri dish when mixing metal and plastic buttons together.  My prized celluloids....by now they surely have a bad case of asthmatic-celluloiditis   All these years they  have been stored in closed glass jars or sealed Ziploc bags when they should have been in an open container so they could breathe.

Here's the thing...buttons are made of many different materials.  Some of those materials aren't compatible, especially plastics and celluloids from the early 20th Century with metals. 

The Button Pros recommend that you mount and display your collection on 'Acid-Free' mat board, and if you plan to enter them in a 'Button Competition' the display board must measure 9x12.   Okay!  Button Competition, huh...I love a competition....so you can just imagine how 'I've Got This'.  NOT!!!

However, I am learning a lot about how to get the buttons I don't use in 'Button Jewelry' making ready to sell.  Yes, I am downsizing again, and selling buttons.  Need some or just WANT some?  I'll tell you about my 'Sell It or Else' plan in another post.  Right now I'll show you a sample of my brilliant 'Button Mason Jar' marketing plan.  It is 'Safe' and 'Breathable'.

  Cute, huh? 

I'm not sure I have followed all the specifics of displaying prized buttons, but I'm not going to enter them in a competition, so this will do.  I have used acid free card stock and scrapbook paper as well as cotton crochet thread to stitch them in the Mason Jar. 

 

The 'Button Pros' suggest 'Specializing' in just a few types of buttons if you want to become a

 'Button-O-Fishy-AhNaDoe' with a manageable collection. 

Not happenin' here!!! 

I'm way past Specializing...unless I can find a cure for 'Asthmatic-Celluloiditis'!