"Sleepy Inuit Village" button ring

I'm fascinated by igloos. It's crazy to think about how early Inuits were able to live and flourish in the harshest of conditions.

There's a dreamy documentary from the 1920's (the first feature-length documentary ever) called Nanook Of The North that follows the lives of a family in the Arctic. Here's a little clip of Nanook building an igloo for his family in under an hour. Complete with a window made of ice and snow to reflect the warm sunlight inside.

And that's the inspiration for my latest creations...

One button...

Two button...

Delectable clothing buttons repurposed into...

"Sleepy Inuit Village" button rings

A miniature Inuit village sits atop the frozen lake of turquoise flecked with gold. Two stacked buttons create the scene of chilly igloos set on a pearlescent stage. Their three-dimensional character and subtle variations are the perfect splash of color for a cold winter's day. Each ring is completed with an antique brass-plated band.

The finer details...

The ring's face is made of 2 plastic buttons made in Italy. The top is a transparent light green, speckled with gold. The bottom button is aquamarine, faceted, and 7/8" in diameter with pearlish speckles. The band is a very strong, adjustable antique brass-plated, 4mm in width.

I have been creating button rings for the past year and this one will finally be listed in my Etsy shop available for purchase. Head on over to purchase your very own.

Each ring is shipped in an itty bitty box, ready to give as a gift. Special attention is given to the packaging to make it special for you or your recipient. It's a lovely gift to give a friend, family member, or co-worker.

I cheese sandwich you

I have so many things to share with you about my recent visit to my homestate, Nebraska. Being there for 2 weeks, I couldn't help taking lots of photography. I plan on dedicating a few future blog posts to the highlights. Above is a shot I snapped in rural eastern Nebraska. I do miss the drives; being out and about between Columbus, Lincoln, and Omaha. It was nice to be reacquainted with the rows and rows of corn stalks. One thing I didn't miss was the 90° - 100° humid mosquito infested summer weather.

When I left Portland at the end of June I began reading my friend, Kim's novel suggestion... The Time Traveler's Wife. Wow, it was such a good read. It's confusing at first with all the time traveling dates. I don't think I have ever read a novel (that was not a mandatory high school or college requirement) so fast. Niffenegger's writing is to die for. I fell in love with her writing style. This is really her first book? I didn't notice. Very well done Niffenegger. Before I read this book I wasn't fond of the name Henry. Felt so old-fashioned. After reading this book, let's be honest, I have a new appreciation for it. I loved the dreamy character Henry. Who wouldn't. He's compassionate, dashing, and a time traveling adventurous stud. I don't normally read chick novels but this one went well under the radar for me. I give it 5 stars. I'm a little leary of watching the movie. It seems like when books are made into movies they are just not as good.

Chick novels... chick flicks... I only like a handful of either of them. Maybe 3 or 4.  Love & Sex is an adorable and funny one. I watched this flick a couple times this week. One of my favorite quotes is when Adam says to Kate, "I cheese sandwich you." If you haven't watched it, the 2 were discussing, that after a while, saying "I love you" is like saying "cheese sandwich".  Saying "I love you" starts to lose it's meaning.

This is off subject, but I'll give you a little heads up of what I have been crafting up these days. I crafted these... "Handpicking La France Pears In Japan" earrings. When the day comes that I get to visit Japan, I do hope to visit a pear orchard. I love how the La France Pear is uniquely spherical, like these lemon jade beads. I have listed a few pairs in the ol' Etsy shop. Click here to be directed to my shop.

Well I hope you lovelies have a great weekend. If you are in Portland... stay cool. It's going to be a warm one! It would be a good time to go to the coast.

The Virgin Suicides

78, that's the page I've made it to thus far... of The Virgin Suicides. Recommended by a close friend back in Nebraska, who has also recommended The Bell Jar. Do you ever have those moments when you are fully engaged into the world of reading novels? I think I have reached that point for the first time in my life. Thanks to Multnomah County Library and cold evenings, I'm currently reading three books: The Effects of Light, The Bell Jar, and alas The Virgin Suicides. I've been this way about art and design books in the past and now novels have taken their role. I think I'm becoming a book worm, seriously. I look forward to when the day grows to an end, throwing the tea kettle on the stove and sitting on my comfy chocolate suede couch, sipping and reading. Speaking of tea... over the weekend a friend and I made a drive up (in rush hour traffic I might add), to Ikea. I purchased two sets of these darling mustard colored coffee cups and saucers, they are perfect in every way. I'm a little persnickety when it comes to mugs.

image source: Barnes & Noble

Anyway, back to the Virgin Suicides, I had watched the film years ago... visually it was beautiful, with warm colors and sun bursts. Now absorbing the story in another media... the words of Jeffrey Eugenides is so extraordinaire. I am fearing the melancholy ending, I know it's not very pretty. I remember turning my eyes away from the television and asking whoever I was with to tell me when that scene was over with.

image source: Amazon

The soundtrack lives in my music library, I highly recommend listening to it. Anything that has to do with French music duo, AIR grabs my attention. On a side note, I hopped on over to Wikipedia and learned that, "The name AIR is a acronym for Amour, Imagination, Rêve which translates to Love, Imagination, Dream." Interesting.

Lastly I discovered a nice Flickr group tributed, take a look here. I'm interested to hear your experiences relating to the film and novel, feel free to comment about them.

Coraline

image source: imdb.com

So I have decided on Wednesdays I'm going to share my inspirations. For the most part this will be a weekly occurrence. Last week was Sigur Rós and now this week I will take note about Coraline... Over the past weekend I went on a movie date with my love to see the eerie Coraline flick. Going to movies is a rare occurrence for us, since it's so pricey. But we felt that Coraline could be a good reason to drop the 20 bill.  The internet waves first grabbed my attention about this movie. I came across articles that explained that Coraline was a stop-motion feature shot by LAIKA, which is located here in Portland and that it's a FOCUS Feature... always a good sign. Also, I was excited that Henry Selick directed the movie, same director as James and the Giant Peach and The Nightmare Before Christmas. An intriguing article about the creators (which I highly recommend reading at Willamette Week) is what reeled my theater viewing decision home. After watching the screening we even felt more confident about our viewing purchase. Yes, after watching Coraline I have to say it's the best animated flick that I have seen in a long time.

image source: coraline.com

The Coraline website is full of spectral finds. You can download marvelous posters and desktop wallpapers that are actual wallpaper. And you can button your eyes in the Other Mother's workshop, as shown below. (I was a little spooked out about buttoning my own eyes.)

Over the past year I become a button lover, I even catch myself daydreaming about finding tops accented with prim buttons. So when I saw this poster below, I fell in love.

Listed below are some of my other finds on Coraline.com...