BUTTON, BUTTON... WHO'S GOT THE BUTTON?

TOMORROW is National Button Day!

I love the sound of running your hands through a bucket or dish of loose buttons!! if you don't know what I mean, find a fabric or hobby store that sells loose buttons by the scoop. Weave your hands through the bucket of buttons & you'll probably notice it sounds a bit like ocean waves moving shells along the sand.  I saw these buttons in a yarn shop in Cambria... they were organized in containers... and sold individually.

Have you ever washed (or hand-washed) a sweater, only to have it shrink to Barbie size proportions? Of course you have! Have to admit, I have too... but before I recycle the sweater, I cut off the buttons. The round-wheel looking buttons were removed from a green sweater that was much too itchy! (so I don't miss wearing it). And swirly buttons (there are four of them) were cut off a off-white fisherman knit sweater that belonged to my mother-in-law, Lana. I don't know how I ended up with the flat silver buttons, but I love the design on the face of them.

A flood of memories come to mind when I see these buttons. I sewed most of my daughter's clothes during their early years (6 mos-9 years). Allison loved purple! Stephanie liked unusual shapes --- so I sewed the telephones on the pockets of a corduroy jacket. Remember Hello Kitty? both girls had the pink kitty buttons on their blouses. 

Christmas is my favorite holiday! Even though I don't have plans to use these buttons, I bear to get rid of them. One year I sewed an army of gingerbread cookies on the girls bathrobes... Notice the bells! the two red metal ones actually make a noise. Oh... and the little reindeer. They're sweet, but I don't remember why I bought them?? Do you have to have a reason to buy cute-ness?

Of course I could go on & on about the VALUE of a button jar, but I'll leave you with this link to my Instagram post about National Button Day. 

If you have any buttons that you're ready to get rid of ~ I'm here! ready to take them off your hands.

Don't forget to post your button pictures tomorrow on your blog.

GOOD. RANDOM. FUN. V45

Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia

clever signage for the ladies bathroom!!
GOOD... GREAT...
not a question who should walk down this hall!

San Luis Obispo, CA

signs mark the Historic District in San Luis Obispo...

RANDOM utility boxes have been painted by local artists.

Sorry for the blurry pic - taken through my front car window.

Hands Gallery, San Luis Obispo, CA

holiday FUN is coming! getting excited to decorate!

give Tamar's blog a peek for her amazing "treat"

joining Tamar's GRF

ORANGE, ROUND, SCARY...

Winchester, VA ~ pumpkin patch
"curly vine & visiting spider"

Fredericksburg, VA
"colonial skeletons, webs & spiders"

Fredericksburg, VA ~ decorating contest
"If she'd ONLY had a BRAIN"

Fredericksburg, VA
"a splash of fall colors + Halloween decor"

Fredericksburg, VA
Mary Washington's House
{mother of George} 
simple pumpkin & PicMonkey enhancements

remembering... reflecting
Fall Colors Trip

STRESSED?!?#? NOT ME...

image found here

HAVE YOU JOINED THE "COLORING CRAZE"

It's a real stress-buster... well... ONCE, you get over the idea that you are "wasting time" that would be better spent doing laundry, vacuuming the car (mine needs it), cleaning the garage (urrghhh! I promise to get to this JPE) or running errands.

Allie & Brian gave me some art supplies as a retirement gift, and I've been "sneaking" some time to just COLOR. I say JUST because I'm guilty of multi-tasking... watching HGTV & reading blogs with a pile of folded laundry beside me & another in the dryer. I've found that if I COLOR at my workspace, I get in the zone! I don't have the other distractions calling to me... this feeling continues to be problematic, I still feel like I'm "wasting time"... urgghhh.

So, my question is: how do you get over the idea that you are "wasting time"? please share.

I mentioned minimal supplies are needed. I've used felt tip pens & COLORED pencils... a child could use crayons (I like fine points, so I'll leave crayons to other projects). Just experiment with what you have on hand.

I have several adult COLORING books, but, a search on GOOGLE brought up several websites that allow you to print them from your own printer.

Easy Peasy & Fun http://www.easypeasyandfun.com - check out their holiday COLORING pages (under Printables)

Trail of Color http://trailofcolors.com/ - offers a variety of COLORING sheets for adults and children.

The design I'm COLORING I downloaded from Jenean Morrison (http://jeneanmorrison.net/) - an artist with many COLORING books on the market, including four that were recently published in France. Click on this link to see several unique ways to COLOR in the spaces (scroll to the bottom of the post).  

Reminder... if you DO download COLORING sheets, please remember these generally have a copyright & are for public use only.

I was searching for COLORBOOKS on Amazon, and found TWO COLORING books with drawings that were created by Mary Engelbreit. They appeared on the cover but were credited to the person who is selling the book as their own work. SO, I wrote Mary (I still have all her magazines - being the magazine hoarder I am) to alert her to what I found! I received a PERSONAL message from Mary (& one from her marketing representative) thanking me for having "eagle eyes".... BTW, Mary has her own COLORBOOK which can be found HERE!

Ah, such is the life of a creative, huh?!!

LIGHTING THE DARK...

Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia

A question I've wondered about?

Do amateur photographers (such as myself) take black & white photos INTENTIONALLY? I'm one of those photographers who doesn't manipulate the camera setting to capture ONLY black & white pics. In most cases, I take photos in color & WHEN the color is fuzzy, or the object is blurry, I change the photo to B&W. I would imagine my photos would be crisper or might have more depth to them if I were INTENTIONAL about shooting in B&W. I'm going to give that a try!

Governor's Palace ~ Colonial Williamsburg

Intricate scrollwork. Incredibly detailed statue.
Entrance to the bricked compound.
(which we didn't get a reservation to tour)

The palace housed 7 royal governors, as well as

the first two elected governors in Virginia.

In addition to housing leaders of that time, it was built to project British wealth & the authority that money brought.

transported back in time

It's late September, 1781!

The general addressed the colonial townspeople, explaining a revolution is on the horizon.

The colonists have gathered around the troops to cheer them on

as they prepare for battle.

A canon is fired signifying they are ready for battle in Yorktown.

relief map of Colonial Williamsburg

I'm a MAP-LOVER! paper, digital & relief...

My traveling companions (Mom & JPE) discussing Colonial Williamsburg layout.  

sharing this post at

Black & White Wednesdays

& Wednesdays Around the World

Photographers!

what is your response to my QUESTION?

BRICKS GALORE!!!

Fredericksburg, VA

"Architecture starts when you carefully put two BRICKS together. There it begins."

~ Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

Fredericksburg, VA

black iron fence, old BRICK & new BRICK 

Williamsburg, VA

BRICK path on the town center greenbelt

Williamsburg, VA

a canon-ball holds open the gate to an

original historic BRICK building

Jamestown, VA

the BRICK church that served the early settlers

Richmond, VA
Tredegar Ironworks, housed in a
historic BRICK building, was the munitions & canon supplier
during the Civil War

Richmond, VA
 BRICK furnace at Tredegar Ironworks

Arlington, VA
view from our AirBnB location - overlooking the BRICK condos & walkway to Virginia Square Metro

Washington DC
BRICK row houses along the street
leading to the White House
{if you walk straight ahead,
you'd be looking at the front lawn of the White House}

:: BRICKS ::
have played an important part in my life!

my dad was a skilled BRICK mason...