Bright and Cheerful

Now that I've moved on from making Christmas and holiday buttons I'm excited to be working with bright and cheerful buttons.  It's refreshing to be working with the colours again.  I love these owls https://www.etsy.com/listing/115450639/6-small-owl-buttons-handmade-buttons-sew  These are smaller and just the perfect touch.  I'm also very excited to be using a new printing process which makes the buttons even more durable.  It's a bit of a learning process again as it is taking some time to work with the new process and get the colours as I want them.  I'm not looking at this as a setback though.  I'm looking at it as a wonderful opportunity to make my product even better.  I'm also being more selective in what I choose to make.  I'm fortunate that I don't rely on my buttons to pay the bills so I can be more selective.  I do like making custom orders for people because it's always such a thrill to be able to give them exactly what they want.  It brings a smile to my face when they're happy that I have been able to create the perfect embellishment for them.  At the same time I find custom orders stressful because I do want to make the exact button that the customer has in their mind.  For this reason I'm turning down orders that I need to make in a short amount of time if I feel that this will add stress to the process for me.  I don't want to disappoint so I'd rather turn down work than stress about being able to meet an unrealistic timeline.  I hope that doesn't disappoint but I really think part of the joy in the handmade process is to be able to control, to some extent, the work that I take on.  I also want to be able to spend some time making some of my artisan ceramic and glass buttons so I have to step back a bit on the resin buttons to have time to do this.  I do know it's getting close to the cut off for people to purchase buttons for Christmas.  I also plan to put my shop on vacation mode on about December 10th or so.  Most years I leave the shop open and people purchase but I am always concerned that orders won't arrive in time and people will be disappointed.  I'm in Canada so even if purchase by December 10th there is a good possibility the buttons won't arrive in time.  This will cut down on this.  This also allows me time to have a bit of a break and take a vacation without worrying about responding to conversations/emails.  We'll see how that goes.  It does make me a bit anxious about putting the shop in vacation mode but I think I'm going to try it this year.  We'll see if I actually do it when it comes time.  There is a balance I'm trying to achieve between my art and the joy of creating and providing custom orders to my clients while not putting too much additional stress on myself.  I guess that's always the challenge when a product comes directly from the artist.  We'll see how that works out as I try this approach during the upcoming new year.

Christmas Buttons

As I write this it is just mid November but for those of us that make supplies it's now time to start moving on from Christmas items.  I always enjoyed Christmas as a child and I do enjoy making these seasonal buttons.  I especially love the Kawaii Christmas themed buttons https://www.etsy.com/listing/114668972/5-kawaii-christmas-buttons-handmade These are just so cute.  Even though it's just November it's time to start thinking of Valentine's Day and spring themed items.  There really isn't enough time to make more Christmas buttons and get them listed in my shop and in the mail to their new homes.  I have several Christmas themed/snowman themed items already made and I'll try to get these listed this week or on the weekend.  It's hard to tear myself away from these really cute designs though. 

Now it's also time to start thinking about whether I want to go on vacation in December.  We have a vacation booked for February to the Bahamas and I'm really looking forward to that.  We sometimes go away in December as well.  I'm always torn about whether to go or not.  I know - what a terrible dilemma to have to decide on one vacation or two.  Now that the weather here in Canada is getting colder though a warm sunny destination in December sure looks appealing. Since I have the day off from my day job in honour of Remembrance Day (which fell yesterday on Sunday but since it was on a weekend we get the Monday off instead) maybe I'll take a look at the travel sites and see if I can come up with something to entice the hubby to get away. 

What Do I Want to Be When I Grow Up?

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about what I want to do with the next stage of my life. It's not that I'm unhappy where I am.  I am.  I am truly lucky and appreciate my life.  I think it's just as time ticks by we sometimes need to think about what we want to do into the future.  When you're younger there seems to be so much time and so much possibility.  As time goes by we seem to settle and decide that this is the way it is.  Part of what I've decided to do is to focus on my art/buttons more in a way that gives me joy.  I'm a person that doesn't like to say no to anyone - I need people to like me I guess - so I always try to accommodate.  This often means I'm doing work which I'm not all that excited about and don't have enough time to explore all the ideas floating around in my head.  I'll be honest - while I have a good day job - I do enjoy the funds I get from the buttons and veering away from them - even just a little could very well impact that.  I've got dreams and part of my dreams have a financial component.  I dream of a holiday or retirement place in the Caribbean somewhere.  I love to travel and have been fortunate to be in a number of places. There are so many things I want to do.  I feel if I say no to certain requests for custom orders that people will be disappointed in me and, of course, I'm turning down the money.  I've said no a couple of times lately and it makes me feel very good.  It's hard to do but I'll see where it takes me.  That doesn't mean I won't do custom request but I'm going to pick and choose and try to get more balance (to the joyful side) of art again.

Balance

I've been thinking a lot about how to achieve some balance in my life.  Everything seems so busy between work, family, and my Etsy stores.  There never seems to be enough time in the day.  During the work week I'm usually so exhausted after the day job it's all I can do to get any button purchases packaged up and ready to go.  I don't know how people do it.  I don't even have small children any more.  I really want to do it all! 

Today I took the time to make some homemade ice cream.  It's vanilla (from our Mexican trip) with a whole chocolate mousse chocolate bar added in just for fun.  I also made some pear jam - which looks like it will be better as an ice cream topping :)  I've been trying to master jam making all summer but can't seem to get it to thicken enough to be a jam consistency.  Oh well - I have some very yummy ice cream toppings so even my mistakes aren't too disheartening.  I am determined to figure out this jam thing!!!!!!!!!!

On The Darker Side - Handmade Buttons

 

 

 

I've recently opened up a second button shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/onthedarkerside?ref=si_shop   These have the type of resin buttons and jewellery as my other Etsy shops but these images are a bit on the darker side.  I've even called the shop On The Darker Side.  I'm working on this shop with my son and I'm incorporating buttons and jewellery items that have unusual or weird designs.  These will appeal to people who like things which are a bit more out there.  My other shop Buttons By Robin still has all the cute designs but these are something very different.  I've never seen these type of button designs and I'm hoping these will fill a niche for people that like these designs.  The shop is just getting started but I'm pleased with the amount of interest people have shown in it so far.  I particularly like getting design suggestions from people. 

The Last Of Summer







Green Bird Buttons

It's been a busy summer.  As I'm enjoying this last long weekend of summer I'm looking back and can't believe how fast it's gone by.  I've been busy over the summer and especially the last few weeks.  Now that summer is winding down I'm getting back to the buttons and gearing up for the holiday season ahead.  I've been busy listing buttons this weekend and I've got so many ideas for buttons and jewelry dancing in my head.  Tomorrow is the last day of the long weekend and I'm going to see if I can get some "play" time in.  By play time I'm talking about experimenting with my crafting in mediums other than my usual resin buttons.  I do feel a bit guilty as I've got a few custom orders that are waiting to be completed.  I do think I need a day just to play and experiment.  The problem with this is that so far my experiments haven't proven to be successful in my shop.  I've got some gorgeous glass buttons but I think the price point is a bit high for most projects that people make.  I do understand that.  Unless it's a really high end garment how can you justify a $10 button.  I sure wouldn't.  I do enjoy playing with the glass though.  I'm anxious to try some stamping on some ceramic buttons.  It's a new technique I've recently discovered and I have everything to work on the buttons.  I just have to have the time to try it out.  I've also stocked up on Halloween stamps and cookie cutters and before you know the Halloween buying season will be gone and I won't have made hardly any of the items I have in my head.  Oh well.  Even dreaming about these ideas keeps me excited and interested in my craft.  The bird buttons above are some of my latest creations.  The colours (colors) are almost jewel-like.  The truly are beautiful.  OK now I'm going to finish watching - Eat, Pray, Love.  I find the movie inspirational and often have it laying in the background as I create.  One of these days I'm going to have a vacation place in some exotic land and this movie reminds me of that.  Enjoy the rest of your long weekend everyone!

Christmas in July - Handmade Button Sale



Christmas Cats

I've decided to participate in the Christmas in July sale on Etsy.  I've started a Christmas in July section and will be adding some buttons at 1/2 price throughout the month. You can find them here http://www.etsy.com/shop/buttonsbyrobin?section_id=5669566  These will be mostly Christmas themed buttons with a few other holiday buttons thrown into the mix.  It's a good time to stock up on Christmas buttons.  I've never had a sale before so we'll see how this goes.