sold! and a question for those of you with the skills to refashion....

Hi there!

Thanks for popping by!

This past couple of weeks have been rather exciting and eventful on the summerpickles front, with the first pickles stock ever (a bunch of vintage button rings) going into a real live shop - Retrospections in Cammeray in NSW! And the first ever summerpickles stock actually selling in a real live shop! Very exciting indeed! The very lovely Justine from Retrospections is going to take some pics of the stock in the shop, and once she has done that, I will post them here... Thanks Justine for giving summerpickles a go!

On another front, I have been crafting up a storm - something about not having to study during the week (hooray for uni break!) has left my evenings all, well, relaxed! I have been making summer shorts for the gherkin like a woman possessed, crocheting like mad, and getting back in touch with my vintage button collection, which has been sitting unloved for some time.

I have even gotten to the point where I may brave making some clothes for me! Yep, happy to be a sporadic amateur all-rounder-type crafter, but making clothes for me has always completely freaked me out - perhaps it goes back to the days of failing term after term of Home Economics in years 7 & 8 with (I kid you not) a very stern teacher, Mrs Button (her real name, truly!). Now for some advice please, from all of you crafty peoples...

This shirt/dress/something? (apologies for the quality of the photo - a mobile phone photo taken in an opshop change room!) I found last time I was pregnant - I was going to a flashback fashion party, and as a woman recently knocked up it worked - it was stretchy, it was comfy, it was perfect. I found it in the stash the other day, and discovered that I love the fabric. I would like to make it into a skirt.... As a skirt (or, as a shirt pulled down around my hips!) it fits, it looks okay, but my fashion sewing skills stretch only to the idea of just chopping it across the body under the armpits and making a casing for some elastic... Is this horrific, a crime against thrifting, or would it be ok?

Thanks everyone, hope to hear from you all with fine advice soon! In the meantime, have fun everyone! (only three more work days for me til Christmas break - yippee!)

xo

new button ring!

seems i am on a roll at the moment... another button ring will soon be arriving has arrived in my etsy ... don't ask me where i have found the time, i actually have no idea!

the gherkin has recurring hives of an unknown cause, is no longer sleeping during the day unless cuddled to sleep, has had a horrendous cold and has cracked two new teeth, but still i am managing to find some button time. i think it has been much needed.... i am loving it, and i think coming up with some more lovely ones!

be back soon!
xo

what i did this easter

what we did this easter
Originally uploaded by summer pickles

1. new button bracelet 2, 2. gone!, 3. pancakes for Easter brekkie, 4. cheap entertainment

Hope everyone else had a good one! x

published!

Exciting news... it is released! Many of you may not remember that I was approached last year by Affa to show and tell summerpickles necklaces in her DIY craft book. Well, it has been released! And very soon there will be a copy of this book travelling its way all the way to Australia so I can ever-so-casually pop it onto the coffee table... so exciting! Some of the creations within the book look just beautiful... I am truly honoured to be a part of this book!

Thanks Affa x

So, now I am feeling well, inspired and crafty again... where are those buttons???

explanation for a brief absence

So, where have I been all of this time????

1. Toilet training the dog (still... any tips on toilet training dogs who refuse to go outside during or after rain will be much appreciated!)
2. Making softies for Mirabel, thanks Pip for organising this! (My softies are on their way ... sorry I am never on time!)
3. Hanging out with the hubby
4. Making secret surprises for my secret santa swap, organised by the good elf Donna

5. Celebrating my birthday (yippee! another year wiser! - ha!) with twilight lawn bowls with friends
6. House hunting...still hoping to find something by Christmas!

7. Reviewing the final print of my pages in a new slow craft book being published in China in January

8. Christmas crafting! (see the brief post below about my latest angel Josie)
9. And when I get the time, just lazing about the house!

Hope you all have a beautiful weekend! xx

etsy sale!!!

Hi all

Just a quick post to let you all know that my etsy shop is having a pre-christmas sale. Button rings, necklaces, hairclips (oh my!) plus a couple of softies. I am about to get out the sewing machine again, so hope to be adding in more softies, so watch this space!

Hope all is well in your part of the world...

xx

button bonanza!

Things have been quiet on the ol' blog front of late... why?
1. pug puppy who likes to chew computer cords
2. button bonanza!

Yep, I am back into making vintage button jewellery with a bang.... the dining table is covered in reloved vintage buttons and each night the mess gets bigger! I will post a collection for show and tell once I have photographed some more. But in the meantime, here is a taste of what I have been doing lately.

Available at my etsy ...

More soon, have a beautiful week!

xx

new button necklace!

Okay, so I still haven't given that monkey a head, but I can't get the sewing machine out at the moment... no space in the midst of renovations!

I have, though, made a new button necklace tonight, in gorgeous autumnnal browns and burnt oranges. I think this is my new favourite! And, it is now available at my etsy.*

It feels good to have done something creative tonight... thanks K for coming over for tea and giving me a little creative boost!

Have a happy Monday everyone!

xx

*sorry, a blatant plug there...

oh my goodness I am excited excited excited!!!

Just a quick post.... YIPPEE!!!!

summer pickles got on the front page of etsy! (second row down, in the middle..."the flowers that bloom in the spring tra la! ring"... and that's my hand!

Thanks edee for including me in your showcase!!! Heavens above I am so excited! (Perhaps I will get my ever-elusive first sale?!?)

Hope everyone is having a beautiful week... Spring has arrived in Melbourne - yay for sunshine!

xx

NEW button bracelet

I tried to make something new this evening. Sadly, I ran out of wire, so it is a wee bit smaller than I would have liked (so may only fit my skeletor-style wrists!). But here it is....



I really enjoyed layering the buttons (this was a lot of fun!) and deciding which set was going to go on next... fun! (nice to do something newer to me than the button necklaces too... I get bored easily!).

The "clasp" at the back is simply a loop of wire which goes over the other end's button, to button together. This also means that the bracelet (like all of my necklaces) are metal-allergy friendly as I use only plastic coated wire and plastic, wooden, shell or fabric buttons.

Looks as though we will have an interesting group at the next craft circle (aka creative gathering)... a knitter, a dry felter, me (I think I will be felt toy making this time around), perhaps a doodler... exciting skills!

Anyway, I am now going to head off to make the most of a great Friday night tradition of ordering in noodles, watching a chick flick, and perhaps crafting in front of the telly.

Happy weekends everyone (I am op shopping this weekend so hoping to come home with gorgeous thrifty finds!)
xx

mosaic.... a "retrospective"

I don't think you can have a retrospective if you have only been focussed on crafting for a few months (it was only in March this year it started to become more of an obsession for me!), but I had a play on fd's flickr toys today and put together this mosaic of some of my crafting highlights since then. It looks like I have been much busier when it is all put together like this!

Have a fun week! xx

more button necklaces

I have been productively making more necklaces this weekend, using my existing button collection as well as some of the recent additions received through the mail, so thought I would show them off here...

I am modelling the pistachio one above - much more tricky photo to take than it looks (there is a lot of double chin sucking up going on in this shot!)

Of course, you can get these necklaces at my etsy shop!

tangerine:


raspberry:

Trash and treasure markets were just okay.... found a terrific green tweed coat at the first market, but failed in my haggling... think I need some major lessons there! In spite of the fact that there was a huge hole on the front left (all the way through to the lining), the seller was not going to come down by $5, and in the end, I left it there, thinking it was the principle of the thing (now, I think I should have juist bought it and then I would have been at my sewing machine right now, rather than at my computer!). The second market was much more trash than anything else, and not worth the travel. But, never mind... there is always next weekend!!!

Have a gorgeous week xx

Well, a new batch of pre-loved buttons arrived in the post, and they are wonderful! I have included a couple of little photos so you can get a sense of the fun I have to look forward to this week!

I am finding that whilst my button necklaces in the past used to be primarily the same colour, I am getting more excited about mixing different colours as my collection of odd vintage buttons grows (by odd I mean one only, rather than a few of the same style/colour). So I have numerous piles of two of three buttons around the place at the moment, of happy button combinations, waiting to be made into something....

Heading off to a "trash and treasure" market tomorrow, which promises to be a bit of fun, rummaging around things people no longer want.... I am really after an old lined jacket, which I can unstitch and make into a bag... I have something quite specific in mind, so probably won't find anything like it, but I will certainly post it here if I do! Of course, I can nevsr have too many buttons.... ;)

Anyway, it is quite late, so I should probably go and see how the hubby is going and then crash out (need to have energy for the market tomorrow!).

Chat soon, xx

ps. not sure if you have noticed the new header, with the buttons.... think that this is what I wil stick with for now :)

new button rings

Hi there!

Firstly, two quick apologies:
1. apologies to those of you who were checking here for the information about my button rings and couldn't find the relevant post.... one day late!
2. a second bunch of apologies to those of you who are like me and have visual brains... there are not incredibly details instructions here but I hope you will get the idea...

Anyway, I did promise on my flickr site that I would explain how it was that I made the button rings on my flickr site here and here, so here is the explanation as promised.

Essentially, it all comes down to two things:
1. a ring base (which I found a huge variety of on the weekend in several bead shops on Chapel and High Streets)
2. some great buttons.

Now, I decided to have a play with the ring base which I thought would be most suited to wiring on elements in the first instance.



I thought that this one would be easiest due to the number of holes (so the number of options for wiring positions!). But, it is worth noting that there are loads of different types of these, and you may want to have a play yourself.

The terrifically helpful woman at the shop that I bought these in also suggested that I might like to flatten the ring "plate" to make attachment simpler (can't think of a good technical term, so let's use the word plate for the flatter piece that you attach the buttons to, as opposed to the part that wraps around your finger). She suggested that I used flat nose pliers for this, but I found it easier to push it up against a flat surface (like a tabletop, a wall, or a really big, flat button!).

So when I got home, I found two good looking buttons, flattened the ring plate and then got some really fine wire (I have had some terrible thread snapping experiences, so like to work with wire sometimes), threaded the wire onto a needle, and then basically started stitching the buttons to the ring plate.

I am sure that there must be an easier way than this, but I ended up stitching on all buttons at once (which got me into the terrible craft pose that I often find myself in, with a little tongue poking out the top right of my mouth, and eyes slightly crossed!). The buttons I chose for my first try (in the photos) weren't easy ones either - the smaller one was a shanked button, and I decided to thread this through the larger button (and the shank didn't quite reach all the way through), so a tricky one to stitch!

Perhaps it might be easiest to sew your buttons together first, and then sew them to the ring base?

To finish up I tend to knot and twist to my heart's content so I am convinced that the buttons will not fall off. Final photos are on my flickr site...

Again, the really helpful woman on Chapel St said that I could just as easily glue the buttons on, but I don't know that I am confident enough yet to use glue with some of my favourite buttons... think I will have to try with some less loved ones and then work my way up to my favourites!

Hope this is helpful, and I will try to add more photos soon! Please feel free to leave me a comment or question.
xx

ps. Have also discovered more findings at another store in Prahran, so I will have a play and get back to you... (stay tuned!)

summer pickles to appear in a book!

VERY exciting, that some of my handmade items (which you can find at flickr and can have commissioned if you contact me via email) are soon to appear in a Chinese slow handcrafts book. I was contacted out of the blue by Affa Zhang who had seen my button necklaces on my flickr.
It is all very exciting... I am just now awaiting the edited pages, and then it is due for publication in September!
Have a lovely afternoon,
xx

making a room a hideaway

hello again

working on improving things in the bedroom this weekend (not what you might be thinking)... looking out for fabric or a new quilt cover (we still haven't purchased a new cover since we re-painted... ages ago now). I miss having a lovely little hideaway where I can snuggle up with a good book on a weekend... so work needs to be done before we get into the depths of winter!

I did though find this website, and think some of these hangings by bride&wolfe might just brighten up our coffee coloured walls. We bought some pistachio coloured sheets last week, which look beautiful... not it is just for the covers, the cushions and then the walls (I am way too excited by this I know!).


I had a crappy day on friday, so the lovely hubby bought me roses, which were just incredibly beautiful, have included some pictures here.... beautiful aren't they? and they (surprisingly) smelt divine as well.







Anyway, just a short one tonight.. more later... oh! and went to the Rose St Market yesterday, which was terrific and the other stallholders lovely - they complimented Kaz on her clips (summer pickles fruit!) and we started talking... might be looking at a stall soonish!

Have a beautiful week,
xx

Hi all
Happy birthday Kaz! (forgot to write this on the 1st... hoping later is better than never). I created some little goodies for Kaz for her birthday - forgot to photograph two of them, so will have to take a photo of her someday when she is wearing the button hairclips I made. Here is the brooch I made for her anyway.

The button in the middle was a light purple colour, like the purple in the fabric, but the flash was so bright you can't see that here. I am really enjoying using quilting fabrics for my sewing crafts at the moment - loving the brightness and patterns! I got the instructions for the kanzashi from a great tutorial by SpanglySpangle at http://flickr.com/photos/spanglyspangle on her flickr site.


I also made another button necklace last night, am calling this one cherry cola and have a photo of me modelling it here...



This shot was taken in our bathroom, so everything has a slightly orange tinge. I have only made one other of these neckalces with the wire and buttons a different colour, so it was a fun experiment and I really liked the end result!


Happy crafting, chat again soon xx

hello again... have been having more fun with buttons this week and have really been enjoying myself! I don't know what I prefer more, the making or the photographing after...


Here is a first test of a new earring design using new and preloved buttons. I think that there is room for improvement here - concept is good I think, just needs some more work...






I was looking for somewhere to photograph these, and saw the pebbles at the bottom of my orchid, and got excited about the colours together. So it may not be the best "product photo" but I love the colours of the pebbles with the orange buttons, and the green plant in the background...


Here is another photo of works in progress...




....our coffee table often looks like this, covered in buttons, felt, beads, stuffing for toys etc etc. But this can't be called mess...it's just too pretty!


Anyway, off to work for me now, have a beautiful week!
xx