Everything is a learning curve!

Well nothing worth doing is ever easy and getting buttons on Etsy was no exception. The 1" size and luminosity of the buttons put up several challenges.. ...I couldn't just attach them to the wall and shoot them straight on..I tried standing over them on the floor, on a stool and on a stand... I'm just not steady enough to stand over them and hold the camera...

Then there was the background because that affects the color and reflections. I tried black backgrounds, green backgrounds, and blue backgrounds ...blue seems to work the best... I finally got the best pictures on blue background with button on a slant but of course then the round buttons were slightly oval but the color and clarity are good... Later I discovered I can correct the oval shape in photoshop... I HAVE to have a horizontal tripod....

Etsy takes any image you put in( no matter what size or shape) and makes it about 800 pixels square for the main page .. With a really small one-inch buttons, the magnification (100 pixels) was gross... I kept trying to make the button pic smaller and Etsy kept making it 800 pixels and gross. I finally discovered if I took the small image and put in on a 800 pixel background...it worked.... I used a fabric sample for the background and I like it...

There are a lot of steps to the actually loading the items but with a little practice I developed a rhythm....I will go back through now and catch errors and typos...

In "gallery view" (the little button with 4 squares upper right) the buttons are about actual size on my screen... I have about 40 more to load but at least I feel like I know what I'm doing...

Please take a look and tell me what you think... http://www.etsy.com/shop/olderrose?view_type=gallery

Speaking of birds.......

I'm so happy to be stitching again and what could be a better treat than to work on Arlene's lorikeet... I had barely started when I had the accident and have been so anxious to get back to it... The colors are just so joyous that they make me glad to be alive. One of my favorite stitchers is Lauri B. and if this weren't a real bird she would have invented one in these very colors.. so whenever I think of a lorikeet I will think of Lauri B...



And speaking of birds... if you are thinking of trying a long & short hummingbird than go to http://dmc-threads.com/hummingbird-vintage-chinese-screen/ I copied this image and pattern and they're from the embroidery on a vintage Chinese screen... What a great pattern and I am going to do this for sure!!!!

I follow their site. Most times their things are not in my interest range but every once in a while I find an absolute jewel and this pattern is definitely a gem...

Seams Only, Carole Samples & Good Wife Points

I'm sending off these blocks to Switzerland for the "Seams Only RR. I love doing motifs so much that I tend to neglect seams... I've had the Carole Samples book and templates for a long time but this winter they are going to be my "bible" and I'm going focus on seams this winter in preparation for the adventure in April .

I tend to use the same stitches over and over...fly stitch, herringbone, cretan, etc. Now I'm going to focus on using all the cool other shapes in her templates... I would love to live where I could take a workshop from her...

My plan is to use these squares on my cq jacket... and I've decided on this material... I've never ordered material online before so we'll see when it gets here... I may be covering chairs with it... The colors of the squares are much more olive than they photographed.

Tomorrow we're going to go to the farmers market in Coeur 'd Alene Idhao and then up to the annual "Under the Freeway Flea Market" in historic Wallace, Idaho... My husband adores these little day trips... Big "good wife" points by going...

In fact I'm doing pretty good. On Sunday and Monday I'm his partner in the bridge tournament, there are 4 pies in the freezer and space on the table for him to eat.. All things high on my litany of "good wifery" deeds.. Now I can stick my nose in my stitchery for the rest of the month... and who knows I may find some cq treasure at the flea market...

Report on Morris and my head!

I've neglected to update on Morris's progress.. He has developed into a happy, loving, delightful, responsible (fairly) companion... We have the house breaking behind us and also the chewing on things...

well there's the occasional chewing relapse..

And it goes without saying that any toy that squeaks must have the squeaker disemboweled and then there's the rule that any time food is given on a paper plate, said paper plate must be destroyed...

The other day I was taking pictures at the table and looked up at the same moment Morris chewed the cap off a large container of gold glitter. It doesn't show that well in the photo but there's a large trail of glitter from the top of the photo to the bottom.. Molly is watching Morris sneak off to hide under the rocker (lower right). He swore he was innocent but the glitter on his nose and whiskers gave him away...

All last month he chased the butterflies in the vetch and never caught a one. Now the grasshoppers have emerged and he wildly chases them about....again in vain.. But he did find one thing more his speed... a small woolly caterpillar....and he promptly ate it...We start the next level of dog training classes next week...

My headaches continue to improve and the vision problems abated and I stitched today...the first time since the accident... But the broken ribs are still painful and getting comfortable enough to sleep well is impossible...but it too shall pass....

And the winners are............

My what fun to have all the comments....I had a great time reading them and am still trying to visit the blogs. Thank you EVERYONE who entered and praised the pincushions and buttons...

If I were to pick winners on the novelty of their posts it would have been Cathy L. for "if I win and it's a pincushion, I promise to wash my hands before touching and never to stick a dirty pin into it and I promise to be a kind person...but only to other kind persons." and Susan Elliot for "O Joy! O Gerry's Buttons!Would thoust be mine?Can I imagine such abundance to be so near those that I love?O Buttons, my buttons!O Joy!"

But alas for Cathy and Susan I used the Random Generator and so the winners are:

PINCUSHION... Darlene in Owosso, MI. I have no e-mail address for her so I will hope she checks the blog... If I don't hear by Saturday I will draw another name...

BLUEBIRD BUTTONS....

Paula who lives in NZ... I do have an e-mail address for her and as soon as I have a mailing address I will post the little buttons in the mail... We have been to NZ twice and it is our favorite country and the people were marvelous hosts...

Again thanks to all who entered... Last night I did upload some of my victorian pincushions to my Etsy site. And I am just finishing a batch of hand-painted birds on buttons which will include bluebirds, hummingbirds, goldfinches and cardinals... and maybe a bunny or two.. I should have them posted by this weekend... http://www.etsy.com/shop/olderrose