Heart N'Sole Quilts and Cherry Tree Quilts

We are excited to announce two new stores here in B.C. that are now selling our work.  We met them both at the Salmon Arm Quilt Show last month and I was kicking myself for not taking more photos but we were too busy to think of it!

Catherine & Rod of Heart N'Sole Quilts

One of the stores is Heart N'Sole Quilts in Grand Forks.  They now have a nice selection of our handcrafted buttons as well as our scarf jewelry which will be featured in their upcoming "Quilts in the Garden" show this Friday and Saturday (July 8 & 9).

Flower Scarf Necklace

 

Grand Forks is a quaint little city right at the Washington, U.S. border.  We are hoping we will make it there sometime this year since it is one of our favorite places to visit and we now have two reasons to go!

The other store is Cherry Tree Quilts in Summerland.  They have recently expanded into more space and have added a wide range of giftware.  Along with our handcrafted buttons, they are also now selling jewelry from our Snap Decisions Collection.

We are looking forward to a possible visit in the fall and teaching some classes there.

Buttons for Sewing in Art Deco and Nouveau Designs

It is that time of year again when Heather's Fabric Shelf holds their (7th) annual quilt show at their new store location in the Brock Shopping Centre on the north shore in Kamloops.  The quilt show itself will be set up in the Brock Activity Centre right across from Heather's.  Donna's Yarn & Craft Center relocated their store to the same shopping center as well and so this year we will be set up in their store this coming Sunday to demo our clay and show off our new spring button and snap jewelry collection.

Here is a peek at some of our new Art Deco and Art Nouveau button designs.  These buttons have a metal shank for sewing and a silky smooth finish which are perfect for those hand knit sweaters.

Metal shank for sewing

New Yarn Shop in Kamloops - Knit 2 Yarns

It is always exciting when we get to announce a new shop that is selling our work.  Knit 2 Yarns is a brand new shop that just opened up last week in the Valley View district on the Trans Canada Hwy in Kamloops, BC.

While the store may be new, we are familiar with the owner, Carla, as she use to work at Katja's Quilt Shoppe, in the same shopping center, for quite a few years.  As an avid knitter, as well as quilter, she decided to follow her passion and fill a void for a much needed yarn shop on that side of town.

Carla, owner of Knit 2 Yarns

Carla's shop has a lovely set-up with plenty of country charm.  Her baskets and vintage suitcase displays add a nice touch and I love the barn doors in the back separating her classroom area for future knitting classes.  We are already discussing the possibility of doing a Button Make & Take class in the fall.

If you live in the area and love to knit or crochet, you will want to stop in and check this lovely store out.  Knit 2 Yarns also has a facebook page you can follow and Carla has a blog if you want to see some of the projects she is always working on and loves to share.

Brilliant Bloom Flower Buttons for Spring

We introduced our little Brilliant Bloom buttons a few years ago to the yarn shops that sell our work and they were a huge hit.  We make the flowers in 10 different colors along with leaves and ladybugs.  The Brilliant Bloom buttons below are about 3/4" in size and have 2 holes for sewing where the ones below are our Mini Blooms that are only 1/2" and have a metal shank embedded in the back.

Brilliant Bloom Buttons

Brilliant Bloom Lady bug, pink flower and leaf buttons

Mini Bloom Buttons

This year we are introducing a much larger version -- our Gigantic Blooms.  These buttons are a concave shape and two inches in diameter and each one comes with one of our signature lady bugs.

Gigantic Bloom Buttons

Gigantic Bloom Button in Teal Blue

These buttons are already available at Fibre Expressions Quilt Shop, on the Sunshine Coast in Sechelt, BC.  They are also available in our online store in our handcrafted buttons section.

Pantone Spring 2016 Fashion Colors

It is that time of year again to mix up some new Pantone fashion colors for spring.  I know many of our followers look forward to these clay recipes I share and try to get them out to you as early as possible.  I understand that some of our readers are not into the latest fashion colors and prefer to use  whatever works for them.  That is great and we do that too but I find mixing up each season's new colors can be very inspiring and forces us to create fresh and new combinations.

Polymer Clay Chips in the Pantone Spring 2016 Fashion Colors

We have also found that using the latest Pantone fashion colors that come out twice a year (spring and fall) in our work keeps things more up-to-date not only with our line of jewelry but with our other fashion items such as buttons and shawl pins.  We deal directly with several quilt and yarn shops and see the latest Pantone colors in the new yarns or quilt fabrics on their shelves.

This week I will share with you the clay recipes for the Pantone Spring 2016 fashion colors using Kato Polyclay along with some interesting ways to combine them.

Art Deco Buttons in Black, White and Red

Here are some more buttons I made using my new "Art Deco" technique created from left-over clay scraps.  In my tutorial, I share a simple method for framing your designs which can show off the pattern even more.

This is one of my favorite color combinations made from the scrap pile shown below.  If you are one that doesn't do very much cane work, other scrap clay such as left over blends also work well for this. No matter what, we always seem to have so much left-over scraps and always looking for more ways to use them.

Left-over cane pieces and "scraps"

Interchangeable Snaps for Sewing and Knitting

When I first discovered the original (made in China) "Snap" jewelry on the internet I let out a squeal and was so excited about the concept.  I immediately started researching out suppliers to see how we could incorporate this inventive idea with our clay.  My original idea was not only to use it for jewelry but in some way add it to items that were sewn, knit, crocheted or felted and accessories like leather shoes or belts.

After a lot of experimentation and testing we came up with several methods to add interchangeable snap bases to your finished items.  The first method is a snap base that you actually sew on which we have invented and made ourselves.  This is the simplest way to create an interchangeable button for items such as a jacket or handbag like the one shown below.

Handbag with Sew on Snap Base

Handbag with Snap Base and Flower "Snap" that is Interchangeable

Sew on Snap Base to Create an Interchangeable Button

These sew on snap bases are now available in our online shop (click here or on the above photo).

The other method is attaching the snap base to your item using a crimping tool.  It is simple to attach this way to an item that is knit or crocheted, however you will need to use a sewing awl to make your hole in a fabric garment such as a jacket.  If you do this I recommend sealing the hole with fabric glue or "Fray Check" before attaching the snap base.   If you are attaching your snap base to a material such as leather, then you will need to punch a hole before crimping.  The snap bases and tools shown above are available in our online shop (click here or on the above photo).

Here I have attached a snap base to a felted hat.  When the brim was turned up it was too thick for the snap to go through both layers so I attached it to the outside brim only.  I had to put a hole through the felted brim with an awl in order for the bottom part of the snap base to fit through.  Now I can attach different Art Bead "Snaps" for a fun new look or to coordinate with what I am wearing!

Button Make and Take Class at A Twist of Yarn

We had a full class last Saturday morning that was held at A Twist of Yarn in Vernon. The ladies all had fun making textured buttons in the jewel tone colors using mica powders.  We have been using the Sculpey Souffle clay for these workshops as we have found it to be the best clay suited for this technique and is soft enough where you do not need a pasta machine and can roll it by hand.  We provide all the materials and supplies for these classes and the ladies just come and have fun.

A Twist of Yarn is located in a vintage Heritage home that has been beautifully restored inside and out.  They have several rooms upstairs for gatherings and classes which worked out really well.

The ladies enjoyed the class so much they asked us to do our beginner workshop so they can learn more.  Hopefully we have more potential members for our Okanagan Polymer Clay Guild as well.

We are taking a break from our classes for the next couple of months as the winter climate settles in but already booking for next year.  If you are in the area and interested in any of these classes, you can keep up to date by checking our Events page on our website or contact us so we can add your name to our list for sign-ups.

Button Make & Take Classes

We just finished our Button "Make & Take" class at Lynden Tree Yarns in Grande Forks, BC.  The ladies made some really beautiful buttons for their knitting or quilting projects.  Some even made a pendant or two as well.  It was nice to be able to visit Lynn's lovely store again before the snow flies as the roads through the mountains in the winter time are not the best for travelling on.  We plan to go back again in the spring and will hold another class or two then.

We are holding another Button making class this Saturday, November 14, but this time at A Twist of Yarn in Vernon.  The class is from 10:00 to 1:30 and you can contact them direct if you are interested and to see if there is still a space available.

Stroppel Cane "Snaps"

We just finished making some shawl pins with our Stroppel canes as well as some buttons.  The Stroppel cane is named after Alice Stroppel, another polymer artist, who invented it.  It is a fun technique using clay scraps or left-overs.  I love how hardly anything is wasted with polymer clay.   The buttons, for instance, were made from the centers that were cut out from the shawl pins.

We then used some of the left-over pieces to make "snaps" for our interchangeable jewelry line.  I love how they all coordinate yet each one is completely unique!

The "snap" bracelet shown here is a new style we now have available in our online store.  You will find it along with some other jewelry pieces with a snap base in our "Snap" Decisions section.