The button that started it all

Remember this button?

I posted it to this blog months ago when I was first getting into vintage buttons.
A friend at worked saw it and loved it.... I actually found another one that didn't have nasty paint all over it.... and I gave it to her. I didn't know what I'd do with that one button and I had so many. But I loved it too. It looks like a Cinderella coach... but it is actually an early automobile.  It is plastic so I knew it wasn't valuable or antique. I looked for more info and found out in the 60's they made buttons like this for 'car coats'. Which was a short-ish coat, to be worn in a car... easier to get in and out of the car, I guess.
Anyway, while watching Beads Baubles and Jewels I saw a bit on using molding compound and polymer clay to make duplicate buttons.... Aha!
Of course, this meant getting 'into' polymer clay...... is it something I want to try? I seem to just go from technique to technique and never settle on anything.
But the button jewelry goes nicer when there is more than one of a particular button and I have a lot of nice, single buttons.... so I put the supplies in my 'cart' at Fire Mountain Gems and realizing I hadn't bought anything from them since last July I decided it would soon be worth splurging.
In parallel I was planning another month-long leave of absence from work. When that came through I decided to make the purchase.... after thinking about it for another weekend.
The 12 lb package arrived last Tuesday and I spent all evening and the next day sorting and repackaging it all... luckily there was a blizzard, and I spent the whole day with the supplies.
By the end of the day Wednesday, I had made a mold of the button above, and even tried filling it with a gold-ish colored clay. I'd mixed it with some of the 'concentrated colors' of Kato and some translucent Kato. I used a jump ring for the shank. I brushed the tops with some PearlEx and they looked very cute.
I looked up how to fire them with the shank and the design on the front and decided to  put them on a bed of baking soda.
I bought myself a small toaster oven and tried baking them.... 300 degrees for 10 minutes. They seemed hard so I took them out.
Later I wondered how strong they were and to my dismay, they broke easily! :(

Somewhat discouraged I did more reading and I believe I didn't cook them long enough. While 10 minutes is what it says on the package, when I read what people say about their own use they say 20 or 30 minutes.... as long as the temperature isn't too hot, the clay won't burn.
 Another problem may have been the concentrated color clay I mixed in.... too much concentrate? Not mixed in well enough? At any rate, I never expected to have them come out perfect the first time.

Undaunted, I pressed on. I made up more clay, silver this time*, and tried again with a longer bake time.
Here are the results:

Aren't they adorable? These are brushed with a blue/pink PearlEx. The one second from the left looks like it could use some sanding. I'll also admit, I haven't tried to break one of them.

* Silver - My big block of Pearl colored Kato is flawed. It won't condition. I tried adding some liquid clay to it (I only had black so I ended up with grey after mixing it into the pearl) and finally got it to behave a little better and used it for these buttons.

The original button was black w/ silver. I bought only a small block of black clay. I'll get to the black button copies soon.

That's enough for my first post in my new  leave of absence. I actually have several posts to get to.... stay tuned!

Spring ahead

we offer an hour
held in reserve until fall
to the gods for spring

Beads on the wall

Last week Will worked out a way to provide me with many clips to display my beads.

Here's the space where it will go:

Here he is putting the board into place:

Here it is, in place and unpopulated:

And here it is full of little bags of beads

So all of the beads are now more or less 'in place' in the room!


Meanwhile, I've been busy with the buttons. Still sorting and stowing them but also:

Last post before returning to work

This LOA went by too fast! I got a lot done but there is so much still to be done!
I DID get these things done:
- bead room makeover - still in the process of organizing
- cyst on chest removed
- cap on tooth
- organize one side of Library cabinets
- took care of most papers/documents
- my laundry is up to date

Want to do more:
- spend time in the bead room
- exercise - did some but did not get into a routine. Housework was good exercise.
 - eat well - lots of veggies
- determine fate of spare electronics
- organize remaining closets

Never got to:
- outside garden - and now it has snowed
- organize clothing

Probably lots more...
I also DID relax and feel completely detached from work. I sort of missed the parties but not as much as I expected. Trouble is, I got so out of the habit of working that I don't want to go back! Of course that is not really an option so I'll just have to see how it goes.

Button chaos:

And around the corner it keeps going....

 Close ups of metal buttons:

And a few of the many shell buttons:

And we got snow on Friday:

We still have most of it but rain is on the way so most of it won't be around much longer.

I also feel like a cold is coming on. Lots of sneezing! Will has it too.
Clariton didn't help much but Ibuprofin might be helping me not feel too bad.
I hope I either feel too bad to go to work or all better. I don't want to go in all sneezing etc. but don't want to stay home unless I'm feeling sick.

So all in all, I'm very glad to have had the 5 weeks off, but am hoping I get more time for LOA in the not too distant future.
I learned that not working doesn't open up infinite amounts of time and that it is so easy to waste time.
Maybe at a time of year when it gets light earlier it will be easier to get going earlier in the day.

More posts as I have time...

Beef Wellington

Here is the promised post about Beef Wellington - oh and Happy New Year. It is early on the first but I couldn't sleep.
Our dinner last night couldn't have been better!
We got a trimmed piece of meat from the market. It was expensive! Almost $40.
I cut it down a little further to make it the right shape.
I looked at 3-4 different recipes online and kind of worked between them.
First I made the mushroom duxelles and then seared the beef.
Then I rubbed the beef with dijon mustard.

 Next I prepared the wrapping for the beef, prosciuto covered in the duxelles on plastic wrap:

 The plastic makes it easier to roll up, kind of a like a sushi mat.
 Here it is partly rolled up:

 I didn't take any pictures of it all rolled up but it made a nice sturdy bundle.
At this point I put it in the frig. for several hours per instructions.

Again, I didn't take pictures but wrapping the beef in puff pastry took a bit of cutting and pasting of 2 sheets of puff pastry.
 Then it went to the screen porch which makes a good extra frig. when the weather is right.

After 30 minutes- one hour I put it in the oven and prayed it would get cooked enough before the pastry was too well done. I put it in at 400 for 30 minutes and it still looked underdone so I waited another 10-15 minutes. When I tested the temperature it was perfect! 123 degrees... just like America's Test Kitchen!
Here is is just out of the oven:

I made sort of a poinsettia out of some of the puff pastry remnants and it looks great.
We let it rest about 20 minutes.
And here it is being sliced:

And here is the leftover:

Absolutely perfect! It tasted fantastic! I served it with swiss chard and asparagus.
It was not difficult but took some careful planning to get it accomplished.
Best of all it was worth the effort and my guests were very appreciative!

I'd do it again!

Last day of the year - Hogmanay

 Hogmanay is the festival of the year's end in Scotland.
They feast (on steak pie) and go visiting (first-footing) to wish their neighbors good luck for the coming year.

I'm planning a Beef Wellington dinner with only a few friends. Sort of like a fancy steak pie? Maybe this English dish really isn't very much in keeping with my Scottish roots.... but I've never made it and it sounds so good! And anyway, I've got a few English roots too. I'm taking pictures as I go so look for a post about it in the future.
We usually have a huge New Year's Eve party but I'm just not up for it this year. So much work and so many leftovers. We want to be dieting and are still trying to finish of the goodies from Christmas.
But somehow I can't just sit around and order pizza, so I decided to make some thing interesting and once I'm cooking it might as well be for at least 4 people.
So we're having a low key dinner.

I decided to take the earrings I made over the last year or so that were stored in little jars put them onto cards and see how they look:

 

 There are over 30 pairs! I made them to help me get better with my wrapped loops and simple loops, both wire wrapping techniques. I think I could sell these. None are made with expensive materials.... maybe $5 per pair?

In the last mix of beads I bought were these cool sliders with sunflowers on them. I'm playing with ideas for a necklace using them. I was going to make it  2-strand but by

using this bead planning board I thought to stagger the sliders and make it 3 strands instead. I like the use of the large pearls and other mish-mash of beads. In a way you hardly notice the sliders which I think I like!

Still a work in progress. Stay tuned.

I received the 12 lb box of buttons yesterday.... wow! I've hardly done anything except sort through it. So many shell buttons! And lots of interesting stuff.
I'll post about it when I have it under control.

Sort it out - comfort and joy

Christmas passed in a blur of dairy.... I call it The Dairy Holiday. Mac and Cheese, Quiche, Seafood Newburg, and Bread Pudding... all delicious but all loaded with eggs, cheese and cream! (well, no eggs in the Newburg, but plenty of rich shellfish, and just tons of cheese in the mac and cheese)

My love of sorting has led to more button purchases. So far 3 lots of 1-3lbs have arrived and been sorted. Here's a shot of the last part of the sorting... the plastic white buttons:

 There seem to be a lot more of these in the second two button lots I bought. I got really lucky on that first lot to get so many matching shell buttons. I think one trick is to try to get someone's actual old bead box and not through a reseller. The one lot I got that specifically said it was 'not sorted' and was from a reseller of antiques seemed to have FAR fewer shell buttons than the other two lots... makes me suspicious.

 I also needed some packaging for my jingle bell earrings and went to my trusty site: Beadaholique (www.beadaholique.com also through Amazon). I don't but all of my supplies there but they have good prices and for a $25 order you get free shipping.
You can get a lot for $25. One thing they sell is a .5lb grab bag of beads for under $4. Here's a shot of my bead sorting area with the last of the sorting of those beads:

Oops, I should zoom this but don't have time now. Most of the beads are in little bags already.

The BIG box of buttons should arrive today! 12.5 lbs! I should be steeped in buttons for a while!

We have to go out of town overnight tomorrow for a wedding party... I want to stay home with my beads and buttons!