May 13

May 13 Buttons and Kittens: how it all began

I'm about to update my Etsy store's "About" page and it seems a shame to just delete it with no record of why I started this wacky journey - so here it is!

“You know when you see those earrings that you absolutely must have? I’d found some gorgeous little rose studs for around $25 in a chain store and they really meshed with the rockabilly vibe that I was wearing at the time. So with great reluctance, I bought them, even though I knew they were overpriced and poor quality - I just had to have them!

Unfortunately, I was right on all three counts - they did look gorgeous, but they were really poor quality - the silver plating flaked off the posts within a few days of wear - and therefore were massively overpriced for what they were. Wouldn’t it be nice if for once, the cute products were cheap in price but not in quality?

Fed up and frustrated, I took a closer look at them, determined to make my own instead. I locally sourced some high-quality surgical steel posts and matching butterfly clasps - no more flaking studs for me, thanks! - and grabbed some soft rubber backings, just because I like the way they feel. I did some research and found several different suppliers of resin roses, but ended up going for the one that could get me the cheapest minimum viable product, since at this stage it was just for me. A bit more research later, and I found the most reliable methods of attaching the two together and then twenty-four hours after that... I had my long-awaited earrings!

If anything, they were even cuter than the store-bought ones, and so much more comfortable to wear! I wore them to work the next day and within five minutes of walking in, had two different people comment on them and ask where I’d bought them from because they’d been looking for some just like them!

And so Buttons and Kittens began.

I’ve since branched out into other flowers and other earring types, but with each new item I create, I start with the basic question: “Wouldn’t it be nice if...?””

Since then, I've evolved my creative practice a lot, and found my niche (for now, anyway). I'm being a lot truer to my geeky self by exploring the possibilities of casual cosplay, and as a result, I'm creating pieces that are a lot more fun to make and to wear. My favourite so far has to be my most recent creation: the Golden Snitch statement necklace. I'm putting a few more together this weekend, then they're going up for sale on the store!