Trendy Tuesday – Wood Buttons

 Trendy Tuesday – Wood Buttons
By Colleen Harshaw

Several weeks ago, one of our readers at the Paper Crafter’s Library suggested an article on the subject of wood buttons.  We aim to please, so here it is!  I am happy to share with you everything that I have learned about this trend.

First, I have several sample projects to show you, in order to give you some fun ideas on how to incorporate wood buttons into your own projects.

This first project is a card created by Joanne Basile.  She has a wonderful blog over at stampedbyhand.blogspot.com and I often feature her projects in my articles here at the Paper Crafter’s Library.  Joanne is always right on trend!  On this card Joanne has used a wood button as the center of one of her flowers.  This is a very popular way to put these buttons to use, and you have likely seen other projects like this.

 Card by Joanne Basile for My Favorite Things
Photo courtesy of stampedbyhand.blogspot.com

This second project is one of Joanne’s also.  She has used two wood buttons on this tag she created for mftstamps.com.  The first is at the top, where the ribbon is fastened to the tag, and the second button can be seen in the grouping with the flowers.  Joanne always finishes her buttons off with some twine or ribbon tied through the holes.  She has mentioned before that she does not like ‘naked’ buttons!  It is really a matter of preference, and you can all choose for yourselves.  🙂

Tag by Joanne Basile for My Favorite Things
Photo courtesy of stampedbyhand.blogspot.com

This next project is a scrapbook layout by Jill Sprott.  She is a Garden Girl (aka design team member) over at twopeasinabucket.com.  She has used etched wood buttons in a grouping of three on her scrapbook page shown below.

 Layout created by Jill Sprott (Fevvers) for twopeasinabucket.com
Photo courtesy of twopeasinabucket.com

This next project is another scrapbook layout.  I wanted to share it with you because the artist used heart shaped wood buttons.  How cute are they?!  They tie in so nicely with the patterned paper in the background of the layout.  In this example the buttons are ‘naked’ but still completely adorable!

 Layout by ‘melissamann’ for twopeasinabucket.com
Photo courtesy of twopeasinabucket.com

Now it is time to shift gears away from scrapbook layouts and onto something new!  This next project is a candle cover created by the poster known as ‘tennisgirl27’ over at twopeasinabucket.com.  She has used a wood button as a flower center, just like Joanne did in the first project I shared with you above.  I thought her candle cover was very creative (I have never covered a candle myself!) and I thought that the wood button fit into her fall theme perfectly.  It lends an earthy feel to the project, don’t you think?

 Project by ‘tennisgirl27’ for twopeasinabucket.com
Photo courtesy of twopeasinabucket.com

I LOVE this next scrapbook layout.  I thought that the artist used the buttons and embellishments in such a creative way!  The layout itself is actually very simple….not too many layers or techniques are going on here.  I just love how she created the grid pattern using squares of paper to feature her buttons and embellishments.  Very clever!  I can’t wait to try this myself!

 Layout created by ‘Kels’ for scrapbook.com
Photo courtesy of scrapbook.com

This next project shows how wood buttons can be used on an altered journal cover.  I always try to give you ideas of different ways in which you can use the products that I write about.  I am sure you don’t want to look at 13 different scrapbook layouts or 26 different cards!  Variety keeps things interesting!  So, on that note, I was excited to find this journal that I could share with you.

 Journal created by Jill Sprott for Pink Paislee
Photo courtesy of twopeasinabucket.com

For my last project sample, I want to show you one more card.  I really love the simplicity of this card.  It would come together so quickly, but yet it is still beautiful!  Note that these buttons are not ‘naked’.  🙂  The artist has chosen to use thread to fill the button holes.  This wedding card is simple and elegant, and I love it.

 Card by Deanna Misner for scrapbook.com
Photo courtesy of scrapbook.com

Now comes the fun stuff.  Shopping!  I am a complete enabler when it comes to this stuff.   I find that when I look through all of these samples, I get inspired and excited.  Then I want to try all of the techniques, layouts and ideas that I have found, and that invariably leads to some shopping taking place.  I am working on it though….I really am!

First up, I found these wood buttons by American Crafts.  They are from a line called Gardenia Elements.  These buttons are available on amazon.com as well as at other online retailers.  American Crafts offers other wood buttons as well.  I came across some very cute ones from their Dear Lizzy Neapolitan Collection, which are available at scrapbook.com.

American Elements Gardenia Elements Collection
Photo courtesy of amazon.com

Next, I found some shaped, painted wood buttons from Prima.  They are very cute, but you almost can’t tell that they are wood!  It really depends what look you are after, whether you would chose this option or a more traditional wood button.  I like that these buttons are shaped, and as we saw in the scrapbook layout by ‘melissamann’, shown above, shaped buttons can be very effective!

 Prima – Songbird Collection – wood buttons
Photo courtesy of scrapbook.com

These etched wood buttons are by Basic Grey.  They are from the Picadilly line and they are available from twopeasinabucket.com.   Two Peas In A Bucket has a wide selection of wood buttons from several different companies available on their website.

Picadilly Wooden Buttons – Basic Grey
Photo courtesy of twopeasinabucket.com

These next two examples of wood buttons are from Bella Blvd.  This company has a large selection of decorated wood buttons.  They come in the two patterns shown below, as well as snowflakes, zebra, pink flora, bursts, purple flora, tie dye and a wood mix.  These buttons are all available on scrapbook.com.

 Bella Blvd Wood Buttons – Plaid
Photo courtesy of scrapbook.com

 

 Bella Blvd Wood Buttons – Checkers
Photo courtesy of twopeasinabucket.com

These alterable wood buttons are from Maya Road.  They can be decorated with acrylic paint, inks, mists or stains for your craft projects.  They are available from amazon.com or twopeasinabucket.com.

 Alterable wood buttons from Maya Road
Photo courtesy of amazon.com

These etched wood buttons are from  Jillibean Soup, the Cool Beans Collection.  They have other wood buttons available too, specifically, ones that are etched with butterflies.  You can find them on scrapbook.com as well.

 Jillibean Soup – Cool Beans – Wood Buttons
Photo courtesy of scrapbook.com

Moving away from traditional buttons, I want to share this option with you also.  There are many kinds of wood grain paper and cardstock available on the market right now.  These thin dies give you the choice to create your own pseudo wood buttons.  The dies can be used with many different ‘sandwich type’ die cutting machines on the market.  Paired with wood grain paper, you have the look of wood buttons, without the bulk.  This can be handy, especially if you are sending your creations through the mail.

 Button Quartet Die-namics – My Favorite Things
Photo courtesy of mftstamps.com

This last item that I would like to share with you is one that I discovered at CKC Cincinnati last fall.  It is a tool from Epiphany Crafts that allows you to create your own custom acrylic buttons.   The tool functions as a punch, punching out a shape, and then it allows you to cover the punched out shape with an acrylic ‘bubble’ in order to protect it, and to give your ‘button’ dimension.  With this tool, you can create buttons with any pattern of paper you desire…including wood grain.  Do you see where I am going with this?  Yes, you can create wood grain looking buttons, covered in acrylic.  This tool also allows you to always have the perfect matching button for your projects, without digging through buckets of old buttons in frustration.  Epiphany Crafts has these tools in other shapes as well.  You can learm more about them at epiphanycrafts.com.

 Button Studio Tool – Round – Epiphany Crafts
Photo courtesy of epiphanycrafts.com

Well, there you have it….everything that I have to share about wood buttons!  I hope you have found this information helpful.  If you have any suggestions for topics for Trendy Tuesday that you would like to learn more about, feel free to send us a message via the Paper Crafter’s Library.  We would be happy to research the subject and share what we learn with you all!

Thanks for reading and I will see you next time!