13 posts tagged “buttons”
I'm featured in Etsy Treasuries again! My buttons were chosen for two treasuries with an "Office" theme and one that's called "Happy Birthday, Sputnik!". Here they are, with the links below each image:
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=10595
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=10522
I want to introduce you all to a new feature in my Etsy shop.
Meet Brother Blotz:
Brother Blotz was born the same year I was, another product of Doug Dillard's creativity, I guess you could say. Yes, my father is Doug Dillard. Throughout my childhood, Bro. Blotz was featured in numerous Baptist publications, as illustrations in books, and starred in a series of cartoon books of his own. To quote my father's website: "Brother Blotz cartoons use humor to poke holes in our pomposity, chide us for our inconsistencies, and hopefully make us want to do better. He first appeared in print in 1961."
Brother Blotz, one of my favorite pastors, taught us all that even in church, we shouldn't take ourselves too seriously.
When I got my first button machine I realized I could finally do something I'd always wanted to do...put Brother Blotz's image on a button.
So I scanned some pages from the first book, "Meet Brother Blotz" and the cover and made the buttons pictured above. My father loved them! A few months later I attended a conference where I knew I would encounter several of my father's old friends and I took a few of the buttons to give to them. Usually, when I attend these events, my dad says "If you see anybody I know, tell them hello", so I thought the buttons would be a nice touch.
Then I recalled the sweatshirts my father had made for the family when I was a kid and decided to duplicate the design on 2 1/4 inch buttons:
When I sent them to my dad he got the idea that I should make these available in my Etsy shop and he would link to it from his website, http://www.brotherblotz.com. And that's what we're going to do.
Brother Blotz now has his own section in my Etsy shop, with buttons, keychains and magnets available for purchase. So, if any of Brother Blotz's friends and family are looking for unique gifts, they'll know where to find them!
Here's to you, Brother Blotz...and thanks, Dad!
I just wanted to share some of the newest photography-related button magnets I have listed in my Etsy shop. These are 2 1/4 inch ones:
I'm currently featured in three different Etsy Treasuries!! My orange Etsymom buttons, my blue striped teddy bear, and my "2 Girls for Every Boy" buttons! Take a look
Click on those links and go take a closer look! I've also recently posted more of my pocket mirrors made from recycled vintage images....
I love vintage cameras! I think I've mentioned that before....
Over the weekend I sold 4 sets of 1 inch buttons that I made using images recycled from vintage photography magazines. These showed pictures of darkroom equipment...enlargers, film cannisters, even the beloved old Gra-lab 300 timer! I loved printing my own black & white prints back when I had access to a darkroom. The first time I tried it I felt like I'd found my paintbrush! And I had a feeling there might be some others out there who felt the same way, so I made these buttons. And I'm glad to know they did indeed mean somthing to someone out there! I have lots more where they came from, too. I have some copies of the same ads in different magazines, but each button is a little different...each one is one of a kind. So check my shop again if something like that suits your needs.
I also sold a couple of 2 1/4 inch keychains I made, also using recycled images from vintage magazines. The two I sold showed a Pentax Spotmatic and an Olympus OM4-T. I have more with other cameras and will continue to post similar keychains that showcase those classic oldies. Maybe they're the cameras you started out with, or maybe the ones you remember your dad or grandpa using. Hey, these would make a great stocking-stuffer for your favorite photographer. Now there's an idea!
My pocket mirrors are currently featured in two different Etsy Treasuries!
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=5227
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=5433
You should really click on those links and check out the other cool stuff made by the EtsyMoms featured in these two treasuries! Great stuff!
I made it into a treasury! I think this is my third one, but I didn't get a screen cap of the others. My electric guitar buttons are featured. Here's the link:
And here's the guitar buttons that are featured:
I'm also an alternate for another one...which means I won't have my item displayed in it until something else in it is sold. I'm not sure which of the items from my shop they've picked for this one. I have some puzzle balls with red, and a teddy bear with red hearts, and a couple of photos that might qualify. I'm hoping I make it into this one so I'll know what they picked! Here's the link to that one:
I just posted this 1 inch button I made from a recycled magazine picture from the 1940's. At the time I made it I was watching American Idol as it was counting down to the final...hence the name!
I've got lots more of these vintage buttons yet to list, but I'm trying to spread them out. I usually list these as pin-back buttons, but I can always glue a magnet to the back of it if the buyer prefers that. I don't want to do that to start with, though, since these are one of a kind. I'd hate to have one fixed up with a magnet and find out somebody really liked it but wanted a pin, instead...kinda hard to "un-glue" that magnet, don'tcha know?! But when it comes to my cats, which are my original photographs, or photography-related stuff (which I have a LOT of), I can always make more that are similar, so I've been making some up as magnets and thumb tacks, too.
Oh! I almost forgot...I made a sale today! But I'll tell you about that next time....
I grew up in a family of photographers. Some of my earliest memories include gathering with the whole family in a corner of the living room near the largest expanse of blank white wall to watch a slide show presented by my father. Dad had an old Argus slide projector...the kind with a flat round plate with slots for the slides...you loaded one in the top, rotated the plate until the slide was in its proper place, then take out the old one. One by one, we'd see the whole show. And in the blank spaces when he was searching for a particular slide or fixing one that was upside down my brother and I would jump up and start our shadow-animals show while everybody waited.
One of the cameras Dad used often was a Yashica 44 twin lens camera that used 127 format film. Later it was a Miranda G outfit with three lenses and then Leicaflex, the first SLR ever produced by Leitz. I learned photography using that old Miranda G and I still have it. The Leicaflex I sold years ago (with Dad's permission) to get my first Martin guitar, but I'll save the guitar stories for another day. I started to really get interested in vintage cameras when I began researching that Miranda camera, wondering if I might find more lenses to go with it.
I started browsing camera shows when I lived in Ft. Worth, TX, talking to photographers at the campus print shop where I worked and became thoroughly fascinated. If you knew the features of a particular camera, understood how it worked, and could find the film it used, you could take it out and get beautiful pictures with it, just like when it was new.
Working without a light meter forced you to be more aware of the light and how it played on the subject. When I entered a room where I knew I wanted to shoot some candids of people, I would take a small hand-held light meter from the back pocket of my jeans and take a reading off my hand in the shadowy corners and in the brightest part of the room. Then I knew the effective range of shutter speeds and apertures I could use. I would watch for the changes in lighting and shoot without having to refer to light meter again all evening and was generally pleased with the results. Of course, I could've gotten a new camera with a light meter built in, maybe even with autofocus...but where's the challenge in that?
To honor this heritage of photographers and the great old cameras they used, I've been making buttons with images of classic cameras recycled from photography magazines I've collected. Some are listed for sale in my etsy shop, and I have lots more I haven't gotten around to listing yet. (I've also made some ACEO's with them, but you'll have to see a previous entry for those.) Here are a few of my favorites. (If you don't see your favorite classic camera here, leave me a comment and tell me what you're looking for...chances are, I've got it here somewhere!).....
I just love this button machine! I made more and posted them on etsy this weekend. I've got pin-back buttons and button magnets, and now I've made some into thumb tacks, too. Here are the latest:
