Heidi- NeedleArtsetcetera

 My friend Pat gave me her treasure - an old brass ring which she grabbed riding a carousel
years ago....
 Since Pat likes the color yellow, I used a golden crochet yarn and covered the entire ring using a blanket stitch and then pushed the loops towards the inner circle. Then I used dark green embroidery thread and with a  needle secured this thread as seen in the photo. this gave me the base for weaving the basket for which I used variegated silk thread.
 Now I needed to weave a base for the flowers and I used green embroidery thread for that
 Finally I used red embroidery thread and made French knots creating the roses.
Since this ring is quite heavy, it could not be made into a pin, but I attached a removable
gold chain using claw clasps.
I hope my friend Pat will like the transformation of her carousel ring and I can't wait to give it back to her :-)

In the English village of Dorset is also known for the decorative buttons which were made there by local villagers. The design ideas for these artsy buttons are countless and many fantastic samples of
these buttons can be found online.
Here are my first Dorset buttons. I used embroidery thread and a curtain rod ring . The design is a flower bouquet . It can easily be made  into a pin.

Here are my first hand made Zwirn Knoepfe/ Thread Buttons  following instructions from Sabine Krump's book " Posamentenknoepfe "


 This is a lovely photo of the author and fiber artist Sabine Krump showing off some of her fancy
handmade buttons
 She is The  Button Maker / Die Knopfmacherin who learned the Art of button making from her Grandmother and she shares the story that making buttons for bedding and underwear was an occupation for poor people working from home. Even children participated in making buttons to help the family  to earn a bit of extra  money . The entire village was producing  these buttons in the 18- and 19 hundreds.  Sabine took the Art to a new level by using colors other than just white and by designing various ever changing designs.
 Here are my  treasure books which I ordered from the Sabine Krump, Austrian Button Maker Artist
and Author of several outstanding books with instructions as well as the history of this almost forgotten art which she brought back into the present....

 my collection of fabric- and thread buttons inherited from my Grandma
 two handmade  thread buttons on my Grandma's bloomers
My Oma's / Grandma's  bloomers circa 1900 with handmade thread buttons and woven  Swiss lace

 An Oak  Thrift Shop item found and transformed with Chalk paint....
 ...now as "Shabby Chic" little corner cabinet in my bedroom  holding a few special things

 I wanted to learn how to knit this unusual pattern
turned out real easy... and fun to knit

I had not crochet in a long time but found this u tube video with instructions to crochet this "VIRUSTUCH "- then I slightly  modified the pattern.
I  used Italian Linen yarn which I had bought in 1996 because I loved it! 
It took me  20 years to decide to finally use it and I must say, I like what I did with it....hahahaa