I was lucky enough to be chosen to participate in an Art Jewelry Elements Challenge using a ceramic piece by Diana Ptaszynski from Suburban Girl Studio.
She molded the porcelain button charm from one of the vintage
leather buttons in her collection and gave mine a lovely root beer glaze.
I spent quite a while looking for inspiration for my piece because I wanted to do something really fun. I knew I wanted to make a bracelet (it's sort of my thing) which is harder to do with a piece like this with one loop for hanging. It's hard to tell the size from this photograph, but it's about 1" across.
I did some brainstorming... leather button... tufted leather sofa or
ottoman... old boots.... a leather journal with a button to keep it safe
from prying eyes.... a beat up old leather valise used for travel to
exotic places... Or tweed. Hmmm... tweed. A tweedy jacket with leather
buttons - maybe even suede patches on the elbows. So I set out on a quest to score some tweed while treasure hunting at garage sales and I was lucky enough to come across these.
Score! And I only had to pay $1 for the both of them. Perfect. Now I just had to figure out a way to showcase my tweed in a bracelet. I messed with some different options. I considered sewing it around a brass cuff blank using a whip stitch on the edges that would be visible and part of the design. I even went to far as to carefully cut all the stitching and remove one of the front pocket flaps - which is, by the way, a great size for a wide bracelet. I just didn't know where to go from there. I though of using the button charm as a button clasp (GASP - I know, radical thinking) on a bracelet made from the flap, but it needed some "body" and just didn't feel right. I wanted to make a stack of bracelets and it was just too floppy.
I finally decided on a bangle and had to hunt all over town to find a bangle that was as wide as I wanted. I cut/tore strips of material from the lighter blazer and wrapped a wide bangle in it. I took a skinny silver bangle and wrapped a strip of fabric from the darker jacket around it, held it on with a length of tarnished brass wire and added a glass bead dangle for a tiny pop of color. I tied the button charm to another skinny bangle with a satiny piece of burgundy ribbon. And here's what I came up with.
I love this set. It has the tweedy feel of autumn to me. With a bit of English countryside thrown in and the smell of a wood-paneled room lined with bookshelves holding all the classics and a photo of riders and hounds on a hunt hanging on the wall. A fire crackling in the fireplace and a carafe of Bordeaux next to the comfy chair.
I want to thank Diana for the gorgeous button charm and Art Jewelry Elements for letting me play along with this month's challenge. Stop by Art Jewelry Elements to see what the other participants made.
I want to thank Diana for the gorgeous button charm and Art Jewelry Elements for letting me play along with this month's challenge. Stop by Art Jewelry Elements to see what the other participants made.