Button Bonanza!

This morning one of my teachers approached me in the hall... with a huge tupperware thing FULL of buttons!! There are some from her, her mother, and her grandmother! So amazing!!!

I'm including a picture because it was a very nice, and quite unexpected way to start a Monday morning.

And here are some pictures of my first button craft... a cell phone charm! I've already received two requests for one from ladies in my class! Here's to fun accessories!

I also want to thank a good friend and mentor for her email today with a few suggestions for button crafts. Thank you!!!

And now... to bed! I'm doing an evaluation over tomorrow plus a new one... radiograph time!! Woo-hoo! Here's hoping all goes to plan. :) School is going very well so far and I hope to keep on a positive track. So, with that, good night and happy thoughts!

And the crafting begins!!

I made my very first button craft today!! A cute little cell phone charm. It's basically layered buttons secured on a silver thread (though that may not be the best word for it) and tipped with a bead. I like it... I took pictures but my camera is elsewhere and I'm in no hurry to go find it. I will post some soon though. Hopefully I'll get some more made this week, but I do have two tests and they take priority.

However... they're fun little charms and I think you'll like them too!

So... it begins! I've had a few suggestions for donation destinations... tree planting, the SPCA, Plan Canada, a local hospital, the food bank.... anyone else have any ideas? The more the merrier!

And now... it's getting later and later... so I'm going to get a little more reading done and call it a night. Just couldn't resist posting to let you know I've started!!! Yay!!

International Audience

Wow... so far there have been readers in eight countries around the world!!

Canada, Ukraine, Russia, Sweden, Germany, USA, Australia & the Netherlands

Thank you all for your visit and support!!

I'm still wrapping up last year's project: A Canvas A Day so that's why this one hasn't been in full swing just yet. But it will be!! I'm looking for suggestions for crafts, charities to donate to, and places to sell. Also, if anyone has buttons they'd like to donate, or finished button crafts, please contact me at joanne.arbuthnott@yahoo.ca and be part of what is going to be a fantastic project!

Buttons from BC!

Thank you to Gillian the ebay seller from BC!! I decided to contact some button sellers on ebay just to see if they'd be interested and willing to get involved with this project by donating some buttons, and Gillian wrote back and said she would!! So, today, in the mail, I received a lovely package of buttons in all sorts of nice colours and prints. :) Yay!! I told her I would mention her on here and also give her some good ebay feedback. I definitely will! It's always nice when people help out and get involved in any way they can. It doesn't have to be much... everything helps! Gillian's packet is great and I love that it's from all the way across the country. Somehow that just seems a little extra special to me.

So, thank you Gillian!! Everyone who is interested in buttons should check out her ebay sales. Just search buttons and you should be able to find her easily. There aren't too many BC sellers of buttons. I can't remember how to spell her userid offhand, but if I can remember to pop on ebay again I'll put a link up to one of her posts.

In other news... tomorrow is evaluation day... my first one of the new term. We do practical evaluations of skills in the lab and clinic and tomorrow I plan to do three! I'm trying to get a jump on things so that if I need to do any redos then I'll still be in ok shape. Hopefully I'll pass everything the first try!! Then, we have our first test this Friday... must study more. I made cue cards of the terminology, but for whatever reason the stuff just will not stick in my brain! Hmm, maybe it was the four day headache that was causing the lack of adhesion. Well, no headache tonight for a change so perhaps I'll sign off and go hit the books!

Think happy thoughts!

Almost Had More Buttons

I went to pick up my husband from work today and since he wasn't quite ready to go, I popped into a couple of local thrift shops. Sadly the first didn't have any buttons, but I did get some beads and some ribbon. I'm hoping to make some bookmarks with them, and perhaps some jewelry. The second store did have buttons, and I found some pretty cool ones... but they only took cash and I, as usual, don't carry cash... so I called Chris and asked if he had any. Nope. Which is a bit rare. Usually he has a few bucks on him... but not today. No problem... I'll just have to remember to carry some the next time I pick him up... then I can pop into the store and scoop up some fine buttons. :)

I'm thinking of putting a jar out in class maybe... just to see if anyone will bring in any buttons they may find. I'm not sure I'll find too many that way though... most of the ladies in my class are young and don't seem too inclined to keep buttons. I know I sure didn't at twenty! I don't even really collect them now except for this project and recent button-related projects. Mind you... it's a good idea. Maybe if we did more mending of clothes we could save landfill space and reuse things better. Hmm... it's a good theory. Probably what would happen is I'd have a drawer full of half-mended shirts just waiting to be fixed! Gotta love follow-through!

Just wanted to pop on here for a quick note and to say that things are happening... albeit slowly. :) If anyone wants to mail me some buttons, or donate crafts, or make suggestions for crafts, I'd really like to hear from you! joanne.arbuthnott@yahoo.ca is my email address. Also, if you want to, you can follow the blog by email by submitting yours in the top right corner. Apparently my good friend Nikki is doing just that... so it seems to be working! That way, you won't miss a thing! :)

So, good night... happy Friday, and talk to you soon!

Buttons By Mail!

Thank you Emily Mayberry!! She is the very lovely cousin of my newest sister-in-law... and along with her donation to A Canvas A Day for the painting "Itty Bitty", she included a packet of beautiful buttons for this year's undertaking!! Yay!! I LOVE it when people want to get involved!

Wow, that's a lot of exclamation points. :)

I'm really excited about this donation and also about one that's on its way. I wrote notes to a few ebay sellers about a possible donation and one of them is actually sending some!! I'll be giving them positive feedback for sure! Those buttons will be coming all the way from BC. So far, some from Saskatchewan, some from Ontario, some from Nova Scotia and soon British Columbia! I wonder if we'll get any international donations. Now that would be very cool!

I noticed that the blog views are almost to 100... and that there have been viewers in Sweden, Germany, Ukraine, Canada, the US, and now Australia! Welcome everyone and I'm sorry if I missed a country... I can't flip back and forth as I type... but everyone is awesome for coming by and checking things out. :)

School was very productive today... I got a lot  done in clinic and lab, and my clinic partner was great at putting on her dental dam and molar clamp. Two thumbs up!! No pain and hardly any bleeding! Believe me, this is rare... especially for our class where we're all painfully (haha) new at this! We are definitely all getting better... practice is good for that for sure. :) All in all, it's shaping up to be quite a great term and I'm  very excited!

And now, to bed... I was falling asleep while studying, so perhaps it's time to call it a night. Thanks again Emily for the buttons... they are fabulous and I love the colours! Your painting will go out in the mail this week for sure. (this is assuming she's reading!!)

Good night all... spread the happy and enjoy your day!

A Quick Little Update

Hey Everyone!!

I'm mostly wrapping things up with A Canvas A Day right now, and of course, collecting buttons and ideas. I stopped in to Chapters last night with my husband.... I surprised him with a movie date night.. and there in the craft section was a book with some button crafts. I didn't buy it, since a lot of crafts weren't actually useful to me, but I did get a couple of good ideas. :) If anyone has suggestions for button crafts, please leave a comment or email me at joanne.arbuthnott@yahoo.ca

Otherwise, not too much else is new... school is looking like a whole heap of insanity in a whirlwind time frame, but I'm enjoying it so here's to the crazy! This is another, very big reason for delaying the onset of craft making... I'll probably tinker pretty soon... and when I do you can expect some pictures and the like.

Also, if anyone has suggestions for a charity I'd love to hear them. I'm still tempted by Children's Wish, but also thinking it would be nice to spread the giving to other worthwhile causes as well.

For now, bed... good night!

Getting Feedback Already!

Ok, now this is exciting! It has only been a day or two and I've had viewers come visit from Canada, the US, Germany and Ukraine!! Yay!

Also, the general sense I'm getting from most people is that this is a good idea and there are people who want to help! My Mom might think I'm a tad nuts... but she's just looking out for me! I'll admit to a slight obsession or two here and there. :)

Anyway... things are good so far, got a few suggestions for crafts to make, a friend is going to send me a packet of buttons if he happens to find some, and I had a suggestion to put a jar or something like it in our clinic lounge for fellow students to deposit loose buttons. I'll give it all a go!

As for school... we're really hitting the ground running this term! Today was the first day back and I already had two chapters to read!! I got it done... and it's only just 10pm (yay!) so I'm going to jump into bed and get some rest before tomorrow. It's our first day back to lab/clinic.

I'm just realizing that anyone who is new and didn't follow A Canvas A Day is probably completely lost as to what I'm talking about! Sorry!! I seem to just be jumping in as a continuation of the other blog. Well, feel free to pop over there to see what's what and who's who. :)

Quick run-down, I'm a mom of two beautiful kids, a boy who will be four in six weeks (omg!!) and a little girl who is 19 months today. Crazy how time flies!! My lovely husband, Chris, is very supportive of my insane ventures and has been so great this past year... and he has a bit of an idea what he's in for this year too, though I've promised him not to go too crazy and try to keep a better balance on my time and commitments. Well, I'll do my best anyway! I'm also a full-time Dental Assisting student at the local college (NSCC) and I will graduate at the end of May when I'll be hoping for a job!! I'm very excited and really enjoying the program so I think things are going to turn out really well. I guess you'd say I'm a pretty outgoing, friendly sort of person... I definitely take on a lot of projects/hobbies... sometimes too many, but it's just so hard to say no! This past year has changed me... I've tried to focus more on positivity and really appreciating all that I have. It's so easy to be negative and I really don't want to be that person anymore! Plus, the idea that one ordinary person can make a difference by doing something small is just so wonderful! I hope that last year's project has inspired some people to do something for their community or even just one other person. Everything counts. So, now I'm embarking on a new project with lots of small things... buttons! I know that something I do can make a change for someone and that's such a nice feeling for everyone who gets involved.

My little motto last year was "spread the happy" and I think that fully applies again this year. So, tomorrow, look around you and if you can, spread some happiness into your day. Smile at someone... open a door, drop some loose change into a donations jar... whatever strikes you as a good deed, go ahead and do it! The happy will spread all on its own from there. :)

So, good night and thanks!

Welcome to Project Button!

First I'd like to say Welcome to the Blog!!

This is my second blog/charitable art project and I'm very excited to begin! For anyone who is just joining me on this journey, you might want to pop by my first blog/project to see a bit more of what I'm all about.

The link for that is:
http://acanvasaday.blogspot.com/

I have promised my husband not to get too rigid this year... last year was not so hard until school started, but then it did get a little crazy! I had been painting a canvas a day for the full calendar year. This time, I want to set a numerical goal, 500 crafts, so technically more than one a day, by the end of the year, and I plan to sell them here and at craft shows, and really anywhere I can! So, for the next little while at least you can expect to see some periodic blogging, and then some pictures of the finished crafts. Once school is done in June I imagine things will pick up even more!

I am not sure where the money raised from sales and donations will go yet... A Canvas A Day went to the Children's Wish Foundation, and I'm tempted to continue with that, but the idea of finding another excellent cause is appealing too... so if anyone has suggestions I'd love to hear them!

Right now I'm in the button collecting, material gathering stage and if anyone happens to have buttons they would like to donate I would really (really!) appreciate it! Anyone who donates materials or funds to purchase materials will be thanked personally and here on the blog (unless they don't want to).

This year I've added a feature... follow by email... I don't really know how it works, but I gather if you enter your email address in the 'submit' bar then you'll probably get an email when I post a new entry. Or, you can just swing on by and see what's new!

I also welcome contributions of button crafts... if there is anyone out there who likes to make crafts with buttons and you want to get in on a feel good project, then you're in the right place! The more the merrier and the more money raised for charity is always a good thing!

Well, that's probably enough out of me for the first post... I'm at the school library right now tinkering away and hopefully getting some school work done too. Maybe I should get back to that! :) Thanks for checking this project out, I hope you'll join me this year and see what some small things can do to make a big difference!