Wednesday 16 June 2010

WOYWW 16/06/10 - Buttons!

Good morning WOYWW-ers. Most people can attest that I am very anal retentive when it comes to tidiness, hence why my workdesk always looks like organised mess, which in a way it is. I admire people that can work in, how do i put it delicately, creative chaos! I look at lots of WOYWW bloggers and see their desks and I am envious, I wish I could craft that way, it seems so much more freeing and, well creative than mine and I wonder if my neatness hampers my creativity.


What seems to be a clever idea at the time, in hindsight can prove to be an unwise decision. I had lots of little jars with all my buttons separated by colour, except it was such a pain dragging them out of my storage unit I didn't use them very much so I decided on a whim to empty them all into a kilner jar. I could not believe how many buttons I had, although I have now discovered I am woefully short on purple buttons which I guess gives me a good reason to go stash shopping!

It did cross my mind briefly that when I next wanted to make a project that required a specifc colour it would be a pain in the posterior to find the right one, this was also backed up by Mr Paper, who, when I proudly showed him my new jar, said 'good luck with that, I know you and you'll wish you hadn't done that'. Meh, was my response to this and I sat there all superior thinking it would inspire me to use them more and it was so pretty to look at and didn't think it would be that much of a problem, until today.

I am joining in with the Monday challenge on the Fiskarettes blog and I decided I needed buttons for the centre of some stars I was decorating, I sifted through the jar and each time came up with a button either too big or not the right shade. 'Damn, it would be so much easier if these were separated by colour' but alas, I had already had that bright idea and thought I knew better! I promptly dumped 2/3 of the jar on the table and sat for a good 15 minutes picking through them to find the right ones. Next time I have a clever idea like that somebody stop me!

Here's the card
If you have stuck with me till the end, thank you, I didn't know I had so much to write about buttons! Have a great week :)

51 comments:

  1. I was thinking about tipping all my buttons into one jar, but can't bear the thought of wanting the one at the bottom... Good luck!!

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  2. I have the same problem when it comes to buttons guarentee it's not right size and not exact colour.Ive now given up all small buttons in one wee jar all others i have in box ,i dont tend to use as many as i used to dont know why though!
    Have good wednesday
    hugs judex

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  3. Love your card and the buttons look really good. The jars on top of your storage look interesting as well.
    Elaine

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  4. Organized chaos... yeah, that'd be me, but it's good to see other great creative spaces.

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  5. Ohh lots of good stuff going on there.

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  6. I am a neat crafter, too. It's refreshing to know that there are others out there. I simply can't work in clutter. It's not in me. I have to clean up before I can move forward.

    I will always sort my buttons by color. It's so much easier to see the size and color gradient by color. Of course, I'm color driven, and sort most of my stuff by color. Hope your new system works for you. Happy WOYWW.

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  7. Oh i want to come and play on your desk! Look at all those lovely ribbons and pens! Not to mention all those yummy buttons!
    thanks for sharing, have a great day!
    hugs
    Michelle
    xx

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  8. Lol! "Good luck with that" sounds JUST like my DH. Do you think they learn that from their Dads, passed on down the generations? :)

    Mary Anne

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  9. Ah...this is at least a daily event for me. I think I get pleasure from rootling around in the pile of buttons and sometimes BAM! I get another idea or get reckless and find that a colour I wasn't looking for would do a better job. Same with my brads. And flowers. Won't say any more in case you're hyperventilating at this point!

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  10. great desk im quite tidy most of the time, luv all them pretty buttons, i have mine in little bags colour matched, then a big box of really old ones from a ressie. have good day, sue,x

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  11. Love your gorgeous desk, wish I was as neat as you! Love the ribbons x

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  12. Gorgeous card, think I'll keep my buttons in their colour seperated jars though LOL

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  13. such a lovely desk - looks like a work of art in and of itself... if you truly want to indulge your compulsive tidy gene just sort by colour, size, and number of holes, have a container for each one with a reference numbered on the lid then they can be tucked away, next do a sample board as a beautiful creation of some sort with each button with its reference number - this can stay out on display somewhere, when you want a button a quick glance at your demo board means you can find the right container by number yes? no? - or just tip out the one jar of all buttons when you need one....

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  14. Yes I did the same thing but then decided to put my buttons back into "color" jars! Lovely desk - nice and tidy!
    Cardarian

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  15. Gosh I'm back - sorry aboutthe rubbish link on my blog - the Bol***ks article is in the archive - December 2009

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  16. Fab card! Oh how I wish I could be even half as tidy as you.... but as you say ...alas... Love your little units for your promarkers and definately adore the kilner jars for ribbon - can see that one happening here. Thanks for the look round. x

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  17. Beautiful card :-) You could always colour your buttons with your pens (don't know if anyone else has said that sorry, no time to read all commments)
    Anne xx

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  18. ah but you got there in the end and the card look great. I have about 15 jars of buttons, I would never dare put them all together lol

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  19. Very neat desk! Sometimes wish I could craft in a neat and tidy space! I usually end up working in about 3 square inches! I put all my buttons together and sometimes wish I'd seperated them - but it would take me an age to do it! S x

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  20. I love sorting buttons. I have happy memories of my Mum's button box as a child :-)
    A x

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  21. Love your desk and that card is fab. I have all my buttons on an old spice rack sorted by colour and it is the best solution I have come up with, of course they are all full so I now have a jar which is slowly getting filled up with a mix of buttons....
    Jane
    x

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  22. oh babe, you have brightened my morning! I am glad to hear that I am not the only one who has "brilliant" ideas that fail :0)
    Have a wonderful day sorting out your buttons :)
    *hugs* Heather x

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  23. Love the organised look of your workdesk, (thank goodness a soul mate!)
    I can imagine the hassle of the buttons, mine are colour co-ordinated within sections of a large, plastic box!
    The card looks gorgeous, your creativity is definitely NOT hampered by your tidiness, if this is an example.

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  24. What a great work space, um I am one of those who falls into the category of creative chaos and I have to admit that I often wonder if I would do better being more organised! I guess it's a case of the grass always being greener on the other side of the fence ;)

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  25. Hi
    I love your craft space, especially those little storage units, wish I had a home sense nearby. I am also an organised crafter, have tried the chaos approach and just ended up losing everything so it is organised for me from now on.
    amanda

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  26. Fabulous desk all those goodies and every time I see your little Promaker cupboard I want one!! (cupboard that is...no...and the Promakers!)
    Have a crafty day!
    ((Lyn))

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  27. I did exactly the same thing... took all my buttons out of their packets and bunged em all in a jar...big mistake LOL Still haven't got around to sorting them.. .loving your card hun x

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  28. What a ribbon and button fest! Am loving buttons so much at the moment, cant put enough of them on my cards, lol! Love your Promarker cupboard, must get mine organised hugs Heidi xx
    ps your cards is fabulous!

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  29. oh great crafting space i tend to put all my buttons,into baskets,that way they are easeir to find,love hugs cheryl xxxx

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  30. less of this tidy desk ( lol)

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  31. my buttons are separated by colour, although admittedly, i don't have too many - did you know that you can colour your buttons with promarkers...I've tried and it worked, so if I dont have a colour... I don't care - i'll colour one in that is light enough to change.

    I love your desk as it is always full of pretty colours... Your Mr Paper thinks he clearly knows everything about crafting now he made that ONE layout LOL!!!!

    Paula x x x

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  32. Don't you just love running your hands through buttons, or is that just me being bit weird. I love your neat desk, but then again I am a neat freak LOL. I emptied my buttons all in one container but I like looking through mine. Have a good day, Tracy Evans x

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  33. I want my desk to look like this one. Will you come over and organize for me

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  34. WOw, such a neat desk. Mine is the aforementioned creative chaos, lol.

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  35. See, it's more Chaotic Chaos than Creative Chaos on my desk. Then I get sick of it and pile it all on the floor so I have space to work. Colour coding buttons would be great... except I never have enough time, or enough jars, or enough patience! lol

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  36. I bagged all my buttons in tiny separate bags all in sets. Still don't use them. Every time I want one there is never the right one and a lot of them are recycled from clothes etc and very old and worn. Must go through them again. What about a spice rack with empty small jars that you could fasten to the wall and colour code again?

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  37. Love using buttons. Can't wait to see more x

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  38. Creative chaos is me and very often I wish I could be like you - start off with good intentions but that's as far as I get!
    Great card for the challenge, I love it!

    xx

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  39. Yeaayy - another organised crafter, I love your tidy workspace. Your button story made me laugh, I had a similar experience with brads and eyelets - it was a brief one then they all went back into their nice separate packages again!

    Nicki, xx

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  40. Do you do lessons in tidy? I seriously need some.

    Kay

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  41. Great card - you managed to find the perfect buttons in the end :-)

    I think really though that half the fun of having stash is organising and re-organising it from time to time...

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  42. I'm constantly changing how I "organise" my stash - you're not alone! I'm definitely someone who works in chaos but would love to be like you and work tidily! x

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  43. Stumbled across your blog through Stamping Ground...and chuckled out loud when reading about your button drama..and then the post about Mr Paper! Great blog! Thanks for making me smile :-)

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  44. Love your blog and can empathise with the button scenario. I'm the same with my hundreds of ribbons.

    You obviously found the right buttons though 'cos the card is perfect and I did stick with it to the end.

    Lesley Xx

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  45. I bet you just bout fell over when you saw MY desk then! YIKES! I wish I could be more like YOU!

    Thanks so much for stopping by, and btw, those playing cards you are so intrigued with? They are laser wood cuts. If you e-mail me your snail mail address I will send you a few!

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  46. yours is so so tidy, those darn buttons eh, bet they are all colour sorted by now ?? yes ?? i do start of tidy, but just somehow i need a bit of this and a bit of that and before i know it i got a mess again lol - thanks for sharing xx

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  47. Even with all the buttons on your desk it still looks tidy aand organised!! Pam x

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  48. I know my desk surface looks a mess most of the time, but I'm actually very organised and everything has a home so I appreciate your own lovely organisation skills. I keep my buttons in one of those drawers like on the right of your desk. I like being able to poke around in amongst them moving them around in the search for the perfect button - I think it reminds me of being little and all the hours I spent playing with my Grandma's button box, actually

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  49. Hi Again and thanks for your lovely comments on my blog. I just thought I'd let you know that I have it straight from the mouth of a rubber stamp manufacturer that it's not the heat that damages the stamps as they are manufactured using amazingly high temperatures but it's the sun's rays that do the damage and turn the stamps brittle (same with polymer ones too) so I always make sure that if I don't put them away I cover them with something that will completely block the sun. I even have to cover the TV in our conservatory as the sun/heat completely warped the casing of our last one!

    Lesley Xx

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  50. I love your space as well, I have to tidy up afterwards, but then can get sidetracked tidying and come up with another fab idea for organisation, cant tell you how many times ive organised my brads, by colour , by size etc etc, need I go on

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