The Power of One Purchase

I recently had a fun request for some custom buttons. The buyer told me that they were doing a "sheep breed study" and wanted 12 buttons all with a different sheep breed and a little picture of a sheep engraved on the buttons. While I wasn't entire sure what the buttons were for, I was happy to make such cute little buttons :)

 

About a week after I shipped the buttons, I woke up to several emails from other customers wanting the same buttons! The buyer had posted a picture of her buttons on her Raverly group's page. The group is doing a year-long study on different fibers from the different sheep breeds! (okay, now it made sense.)

That one purchase turned into 6 more purchases! It's amazing the power one buyer can have. And while I'm the first to say that you don't need to participate in every social media out there. This does prove the power of social media as well.

What's even more fun, one buyer requested an extra button for a custom bag she was working on. She said it was for a spin along and the colors of the bag represented the different layers of the forest. She had named her bag Squatch (short for sasquatch) and wanted a custom button to finish it off. How fun is this and her bag looks great with it!

New Button Designs

I've been working on a handful of new button designs. Along with some custom options, I also wanted to create some designs for the fall and winter seasons.

 I know a lot of crafters use my buttons on knit and crocheted items, so these pumpkin and snowflake designs will be perfect. I can see them adorning knitted hats and scarves.

As we all know, handmade items are always Made With Love. These buttons are great for any time of year and on any style of project. A great way to leave your mark :)

 

 

And mason jars continue to remain popular. I had a lot of fun making these buttons and decided to make some magnets while I was at it. I've got a few of these on my fridge already and I love them :)

Look for all these designs in my shop soon!

Button Album Closure

I've really enjoyed coming up with new designs for my buttons. I hadn't, however, thought of any new uses for my buttons. I recently got a request to put some type of closure on a photo album and knew my wooden buttons were the perfect item for the job!

As with any new creation, this took a little bit of thought. I had to figure out how to attach the button to the album. And then I had to figure out how to actually close the book using the button. I found some narrow ribbon did the job well.

The buyer was very happy with the final product, which made me happy as well :)

 

 Have you come up with any new uses for your current products lately?

Custom Wooden Buttons

As most of my readers know, I love custom work. The majority of the listings in my shop are for custom orders and I'm adding new pieces to my shop all the time thanks to custom requests. I've been making wooden buttons for a while now and finally got a listing up for custom buttons!

I actually made these buttons last year and finally got them listed thanks to Rose of Random Creative. I sent some of these buttons to Rose last year for her birthday and she made the coolest bracelet using one of my buttons for the closure. I love how the neutral wood buttons really help the colorful beads stand out!

Did you hear me say I made these last year? Yes, it took me a whole year to get these listed! While I may appear to have it all together...this happens more often than I'd like to admit! But hey, they're listed now and I'm happy that Rose shared her bracelet recently and allowed me to use her photos for my  listing...Thanks Rose!

Bead Chat Magazine

I recently had the opportunity to work with the Artisan Whimsy team who publishes the Bead Chat Magazine. My friend and fellow BBA member, Cynthia of Antiquity Travelers saw my post about my new wooden buttons and thought they be perfect for their 5x5 test group. The group was working with leather this month and thought the wooden buttons would be a great complement.

I must say, I am totally blown away by the Bead Chat Magazine! 100 pages of colorful, content rich-articles. This magazine should be in print it's so pretty!

Please Click to see Larger Images of this Beautiful Work

And I was blown away at what the artists made with my buttons. I love all the different techniques each artist used to incorporate the buttons into their work.

And I cannot say enough nice things about the editors at the magazine. I was thrilled to be asked to contribute my wooden buttons and I was even more thrilled when I saw the article and the wonderful full-page feature they gave me as well!

 

Thank you to both Cynthia (lead editor) and Melinda (founder & chief) for allowing me to participate in the 5x5 test group and I look forward to contributing again!

Wooden Buttons - Swap for Photos

I recently started creating some wooden buttons. They're a fun way to dress up handmade items. I've been making them in basic round shapes with engraved details as well as different shapes like owls and leaves.

Before I list them in my shop, I have a few questions and a swap offer. I'd like to send a few of my readers a button or two and have you create something with them. Whether it be a button for a shirt, decoration on a knitted item, components for jewelry, etc. I'd like to get as many different kinds of items as I can. In return, I want photos of the products you made that I can use in my listings to show examples of how the buttons can be used.

Swap Info:

If you're interested in receiving some of my buttons in return for your photos, please email the following information to memoriesforlifescrapbooks (at) hotmail (dot) com

*What type of item will you be using the button(s) on?

*How many buttons will you need?

*Which button(s) would you like? (brief description)

Please share this post with your fellow crafters who would be interested in receiving some of my buttons. On July 8th, I'll choose 3-5 readers to send buttons to. I would like photos back from you within one month.

I also have a few general questions about listing the buttons:

*Would you prefer to buy buttons in lots of 2 or 4? Or another quantity?

*These buttons are 1" in size. Would another size be more fitting for the projects you make?

*I've shown photos of the buttons I currently have ready to list. What other shapes or designs would you like to see?

 Thanks so much for all your help and for sharing this information with your fellow crafters. I hope to get a lot of interest in these so I can share them and start listing them!