I am delighted to kick the new year off with a lovely giveaway from Laura Sheppard. You can win a set of her gorgeous handmade ceramic buttons. Check out her Etsy shop, Laura Sheppard Fibre, to see what she has on offer. The winner of this giveaway can choose which set of buttons they would like.
Laura was kind enough to send me a set of buttons to review (the buttons pictured in this post) and, I have to say, they are absolutely gorgeous. They are extremely well crafted and would look stunning made into a piece of jewellery or attached to a hand-knitted garment, for example. I was worried that they might a bit fragile or heavy but they aren’t at all. There are no sharp edges either – they are totally smooth so they won’t snag on your clothes. They have a charming handmade look, which I absolutely love. Thank you so much Laura.
So here’s a little bit about Laura in her own words…
I’m a mom, potter, knitter, spinner, pottery teacher…though I’ve also dabbled in dyeing, soap making, and paper craft (I especially love origami).
I live in Quebec Canada with my husband and three kids, but I come from Newfoundland, an island just off the east coast of Canada.
I am incredibly intrigued by the idea of making something entirely from my own hands. I started my first pottery class over 15 years ago, with no art or craft background, I just had a feeling…and from day one I was in love with the process.
I’ve been making buttons for the past year or so; it started as a way to use up clay left over from larger slab projects, and kind of became an obsession. I still make larger clay items (including wheel thrown table ware, yarn bowls, and sculpture) that will likely eventually make their way to my Etsy shop. I’ve also been playing around with some ceramic jewelry pieces such as earrings and pendants.
As for knitting, I picked that up prior to taking up pottery, but once I found clay, yarn temporarily took a back seat. The knitting bug returned around the birth of my third child and I realized just how tricky it was to keep up with drying pottery while keeping up with family activities. Knitting led to spinning and dyeing and I was hooked on those too, though it’s been a while since I had the dye pots going. Now, handmade buttons and handspun yarn seem like such a perfect combination!
I agree, Laura, your shop is just lovely!
So how can you be in with a chance of winning a set of Laura’s lovely handmade ceramic buttons?
Just visit Laura’s shop, and leave a comment on this post about the lovely things she makes. Please don’t include links back to her shop in your comment as it might end up in my spam system and your entry will not be valid. If you are lucky enough to win, I will ask you to email me a link to the buttons that you’d like.
As with all iMake giveaways, you have until the end of this month, one entry per person please, and the winner will be notified by email so please include your email address in the comment. Thanks and good luck!
***This giveaway is now closed, the winner was Kathy and she has been contacted by email***
I like the sweet buttons on page 2 10 boxes from the top. I didn’t see a description except they said “sweet”. The are lovely!!! Thanks!
I love them all— can’t find a specific name for the one I like the best, but the write up begins with “These sweet buttons…”
Absolutely gorgeous work!! Many thanks
ditetre(at)mac(dot)com
diane
I love her buttons!! I love the ” creamy white and butterscotch combination. The result is a soft orangey white colour around the printed area of the buttons” and it looks like soft pinwheel petals around the edge. very pretty!
I really like the ones that look like daisies with the slate blue middles!
Thank you for the giveaway both!
Lovely buttons, and lovely chance to win them. Thank you. I especially love the buttons on page 2 that look a bit like pie crust. They’re “glazed in a creamy white and butterscotch combination. The result is a soft orangey white colour around the printed area” I thought they’d look beautiful on a faun tan sweater I’m knitting.
Such nice buttons! I have a cardigan in work that I need buttons for and I think I see some that would work great. They’re on the second page, the farthest right in the second row, round with pale green glaze in kind of a pinwheel pattern.
I love the blue swirly buttons. So pretty!!
Gorgeous buttons – Laura is very talented.
What beautiful buttons! I like so many of them, but I think my favourite ones are the pinky flower ones in a sort of hexagon shape.
Well, I LOVE all buttons!!! But these are VERY special indeed! Thank you Laura and Martine for running the giveaway – I’ll be crossing my fingers….. and pondering which set I choose if I was lucky enough to win. What a difficult choice!!!
Carly
x
So many of her buttons would be perfect in my button jar but I do especially like the hexagon ones that look a little like flowers.
I love the buttons that look like forget-me-nots so much that I feel inspired to knit a cardigan.
They are very pretty buttons, obiously made by a craftswoman. I love the subtle colours and delicate shapes. Who would buy a machine made button if they could have these hand made ones?
Thanks so much for introducing us to this lovely craftswoman. I really like the burgundy and cream buttons that look like cherry blossoms. I’m dreaming of the sweater that I can make to show off these pretty buttons.
All of the buttons are lovely. I particularly like the hexagon shaped buttons “glazed with a creamy white in the centre and burgundy on the outer edge.”
Wjhat a stunning collection! I like the square shaped buttons in neutral tones, and they would definitely put a lovely finishing touch to any garment.
Thanks for doing this giveway
What lovely buttons! I especially like the ones that look like flowers.
I am crazy about buttons and have glass jars filled with them. These buttons are beautiful and I could see designing a sweater or accessory around the button(s) itself. I have some old ceramic buttons in my collection that were in my grandmother’s sewing box, that my grandfather made.
Now a girl can never have too many buttons, and these lovely ones prove it!
Oh, the flower style ones in pink are lovely! The glazes on all of them are so pretty and subtle, just gorgeous!
I, too, really like the “sweet buttons. I think they’d make a brilliant necklace or bracelet.
wow they are so beautiful and rustic
Wow what wonderfull buttons
They’re all so very lovely, very rustic looking!
I love ALL the ones with dots around the edge. What lovely, funky buttons… and yet elegant too in their neutral colors!
They are all beautiful!
I’ve added her Etsy store to my favorites, and I’m sure I’ll order someting from her soon.
For now, my favorites are the ones that sort of look like daisies, only with blue petals.
Her blues and teals are gorgeous, anyway.
I love the ones with dots around the edge.
I really like the ones at this listing: http://www.etsy.com/listing/81788535/handmade-ceramic-buttons as they would work on a guy’s sweater. I can be emailed thru my blogger profile.
Wow. Those buttons are lovely. I’m always on the lookout for beautiful buttons. That these are Canadian as well, pleases my patriot heart.
Love these buttons. And the colors! I would have a hard time choosing….probably the spearmint green dots.
Trisha
mahgwi21 at yahoo
Ilike the ones that start “These sweet buttons are the perfect addition to a hand knit sweater, or handbag”, but all the buttons look fab!
Oh my, they are all so beautiful! Buttons are definitely something that you can use in many creative endeavors. I wish I still had my mother’s button box. Don’t know where that got to.
I love the off-white glazed ones with two holes, listing number 68562795!
urchiken at gmail dot com
I love all the buttons! But in all honesty, I think the “handful of buttons” is my favorite. It’d be neat to knit a rather plain sweater and then use the variety of buttons as a focal point.
I was chatting with Robin U. about the joy of buttons over the past weekend – every one in that shop is worth a moment to cherish then place in the button box for a future project … or just to be taken out again and oohhed and aaahhhed over!
My goodness! Her buttons are miniature art.
I’m a potter and a knitter too, though am currently without access to a kiln. Her lovely work makes my fingers itch to get dirty! I especially like listing #81840428 (I think that’s how to distinguish it)… the pattern is offset around a circle with a lovely blue green glaze. Nice work!
Hi Kathy
Congrats, you have won this giveaway. I will contact you by email so please keep an eye on your inbox.
Martine
i love ceramic crafting and the little hexagon buttons with the cream center and burgundy are little treasures
nice button selections.
Her work is lovely. I like the idea of the “handful of buttons”. With some nice kettle dyed yarn knit into a cardi a random selection of Laura’s buttoms would be a great whimsy.
I actually like the handful of buttons listing. I am a sucker for random bits and surpasses. Plus, I wouldn’t have to pick a single set because they are all lovely!
Thanks for the chance!
sweeney.susanna@gmail.com
Ooooh, those square ones with the fork? marks on the edges. All of them. Wouldn’t they look divine on a tweedy cardie? peggysmum (at) yahoo.co.uk
Thanks for the tip about this site. I was looking for buttons on etsy last week and was overwhelmed and gave up. These are charming and I have favorited her site for future reference.
So many gorgeous buttons! I immediately favorited a number of them on Etsy. I have a quite a few cardigan projects in my queue, so a good source for buttons is a wonderful and quite useful thing. I definitely see some of these buttons in my future. Thanks for the introduction!
explodingpinecone on ravelry
Lovely buttons. I like the hexagonal ones because they are not run-of-the-mill.
wow. never seen ceramic buttons before but im in love!
Wow, what great buttons – I love them all! I make a lot of bags and any of them would look great on them!
I love the pink flower shaped ones! Laura’s buttons are so cute and unusual!
They are all lovely!