Monday, April 8, 2013

Buttons à la Russe



Russia has a beautiful craft tradition of hand-painted wooden items.  Sometimes a husband-and-wife team does the work: he does the woodwork, and she paints.  I adore traditional hand-painted items, so you can imagine my delight when a friend gifted me with two sets of hand-painted Russian buttons, made by a husband and wife team from Moscow.  In today's post, I want to show you how I used two of these buttons on layouts.
 
Supplies: all paper, die-cuts, & stickers by Lily Bee Design; thread by DMC; glitter paint & Distress Stain by Ranger; button by Vadim & Galina for Peace Fleece.

You saw the first type of button, with a leaf design, in the photo at the top of this post.  I used it on a layout with photos from my husband's childhood.  "Gump" was his baby-name for his grandfather, and this layout is called "P.J.'s with Gump!"  It's readily apparent that Gump (whom, alas, I never met) was a loving grandfather.



I used Lily Bee die cuts and letter stickers to create the two parts of my title: "P.J.'s" [pajamas] for the first part and "with Gump" for the second.


I edged all my page elements with Distress stain, so that the page would have a soft, vintage feel, to match the feel of the photos.

My second layout has an entirely different feel, though...
 
Supplies: cardstock by American Crafts; stickers & glitter paper by Doodlebug Design; party hat paper by Crate; vintage-look ephemera, flair badge, & blue buttons by October Afternoon; strawbery button by Vadim & Galina for Peace Fleece; white button by Blumenthal-Lansing; chipboard by DCWV; foam embellishments by Darice; rhinestones by Petaloo; white paint by Deco Art; orange paint by Plaid; dark & light blue paints by Ranger; pen by Creative Memories; twine by Crystal Palace; thread by Singer; scrap of felt. 

Here is a celebratory, carnival-themed page.  Did you spot the button?


This time I used a strawberry button, and it is one of several embellishments that I used to add an eclectic variety of textures to the page.


I paid special attention to the "northeast" and "southwest" corners of this layout, applying a thick layer of glitter paint to the photos.


I also added a sprinkling of confetti-like embellishments in the corners.


These two layout are vastly different in character, but both were a joy to create.  I still have two more Russian buttons to use on future layouts.  I wonder what those layout will look like.  Time will tell!  :)

15 comments:

Denise van Deventer said...

Lovely layouts Denise...and what wonderful buttons! Such a gorgeous gift and so glad you used one for the PJ's with Gump page...which is really so special and gorgeous! ;-)

IrinaR (Irina Rakovets) said...

Здорово! очень красиво! вторая страничка особенно, очень веселая!!!!

Unknown said...

Both pages are so cool love the buttons.
byebye,Lean

Mary Jo said...

Those buttons look lovely on your layouts! :)

juscrap said...

Lovely layouts Denise, and what wonderful buttons!xx

Shinobu Hiramatsu said...

So Lovely!!
I love the buttons and colors.
Nice layouts!!

Lisa Rukin Swift said...

Both completely different in style, but beautiful just the same. Those buttons are a wonderful addition!

jeanie g said...

Love your pages Denise and those buttons from Russia are little gems. I love their painted and drawn patterns. Thanks for reading my Russian Egg story. Was your husband from Moscow?

Denise Price said...

Nope, he's from Montana. Neither of us is Russian, but we're both Russophiles. :)

Patricia Roebuck said...

Love how beautiful and how fun these are!! Those buttons are amazing!!

Carol L said...

Those buttons are so special and downright pretty!! I love how you used buttons on all of your layouts too! Lucky you!

Lisa's Creative Niche said...

wow these are great and both are so different! Fabulous work!

Lynette Jacobs said...

Your layouts are lovely...and those buttons are little works of art...they are way special.

Unknown said...

Wow! you have an assortment of pretty projects here...
Really well done..Love the buttons too!

ANUPAMA CHOUDARY said...

Love the hand-painted buttons and how you used them! Reminds me of the Russian dolls I had in my childhood :)