Weekly update
We've had a few final submissions to our button challenge:
Awesome! Anyways, that's it for the button challenge, but if you're still working on some buttons just let me know when you finish them and they can still be added to the favorites folder and to this journal!
Previous updates
Another update, because there's a bit of overlap this month- next week will be the last update for the button challenge, and the Member of the Month for July will be announced then. So you still have a week to get your buttons in!
No new submissions this week, but Crimson-Tiger would like to suggest crocheting buttons. A fabulous idea!
This was a great week for buttons- three submissions all with different techniques. Fancy! Check out these amazing buttons:
Don't forget, this month's challenge will actually end on August 10th, so you've still got plenty of time to get submissions in.
I keep forgetting what day of the week it is, goodness... Anyways, that aside we have some absolutely fabulous submissions already! Check them out:
:thumb315314341:
Don't forget, for this challenge you have until the 10th of August to submit your buttons and be eligible for Member of the Month.
Welcome to this month's Creative Craft Challenge!
The Creative Craft Challenge is a monthly feature where we introduce our members to different crafts. Every month I’ll give you a little background on a craft that you might not have heard of and show you a few great tutorials to encourage you to give it a try and show us your work.
So join me every month and put your skills and creativity to the test with lessons and tutorials, examples, and a place to show off your work. Your submissions will be featured in our favorites gallery and in this very blog!
Remember, the aim of the challenge is to introduce you to crafts that you might not have heard about or tried before. They won't require any expensive materials or years of training and expertise to complete. The idea is to challenge you to go out of your usual field of work and try something new!
This challenge is NOT a contest or a display of professional work, but a fun opportunity to broaden your crafting horizons. NO prizes are involved and everyone will be featured!
To clear up a question a few people have asked: The ArtisanCraft gallery folders and favorite folders are not linked- you can submit the same piece to both the gallery and the favorites if you like, no problem. Also, the two deviations per month limit does not apply to favorites folders, so please feel free to add as many submissions as you would like.
Member of the Month
At the end of every month one participant will be chosen as ArtisanCraft's Member of the Month and will be featured on our profile page for the entire next month. June's member of the month is LilithsSmile. Congratulations!
Buttons
Buttons are ubiquitous. We see them everywhere, often without even noticing- but they can be beautiful pieces of tiny art, too! Buttons have been around for millenia, and some of the earliest examples were made of shell and found in the Indus Valley. Originally they seem to have been used mainly for ornamentation, and it wasn't until the 13th or 14th century that they switched to be used mainly for fastening. Modern buttons can be both decorative or functional (or both!) and are made from everything ranging from glass to wood, shell, metal, fabric, and more.
Almost anything can be made into a button. Get creative and try something you've never seen before!
This month's challenge suggested by Cayca.
[You may have noticed that this is a week and some change late. Sorry about that! Vacation, it seems, tends to turn my brain to mush. Anyways, to make up for it, there will be a 10-day overlap in this month's and next month's challenges, so you'll have until the 10th of August to get your submissions in. Meanwhile, the August challenge will still start as scheduled on the first Friday of August. Sorry again!]
Here's a few tutorials so you can try it yourself.
TUTORIALS
You do NOT have to use any of the tutorials here to submit your art, they are only suggestions to help get you started. If you need some more references or directions, there are many more tutorials both here on dA and all over the internet.
There are a TON of different materials and methods for button making, but here I have included a few easy and simple ones to get the ball rolling. You might try modifying them into something more exciting or changing your own techniques to make a new kind of button.
Fabric-covered buttons. These tutorials are for making them without kits, but you can also buy kits to make this style of button.
A brief dA tutorial Off dA, with lots and lots of big pictures A video tutorial for making a mold to use in making polymer clay buttons.
Polymer clay buttons An interesting idea: Buttons made from shrinking plastic (commonly known in the U.S. as Shrinky Dinks- no special oven required, just use your own regular one!).
Shrinking plastic buttons Examples
A couple of examples to give you a little inspiration:
:thumb270490884:
[EDIT: Added a few more gorgeous examples by Glori305. Thank you, Glori305!]
...Why so few? I found tons of crafts made with buttons, of buttons, inspired by buttons (etc.), but just regular ol' buttons made to be beautiful were in short supply! There might be a few more out there (if you've made buttons before, please let me know), but these were what I could find.
And on that note: If you'd prefer making some crafts with buttons or something button-inspired, please feel free to submit that as well. However, please be aware that only actual buttons will be eligible for our Member of the Month program! The type of buttons with pins on the back also fall into this category- you may submit them, but you will not be eligible for Member of the Month.
Get Crafting!
Now it's your turn to try your hand at making some gorgeous buttons!
Every Friday I'll update this journal to feature our member's creations.
To submit your button:
Go to the ArtisanCraft homepage, click on "Faves" (down along the left), click artisancraft.deviantart.com/fa… (Creative Craft Challenge 25- Buttons) (along the left side), then click the "Suggest a Favorite" button (top right), and you're in!If you have any questions, comments or suggestions about the monthly Creative Craft Challenge, this craft, or anything else, please feel free to comment here, on the Creative Craft Challenge of the Month blog, or by sending me a note to me, Animus-Panthera.
