Treasury Challenge- TopazTurtle

We decided to introduce a new feature to our Treasury Team Challenges for HHU and Friends of HHU Teams. The new challenge is to choose an item from the chosen  featured shop and build a treasury around it taking inspiration from the featured shop's item.

Since she suggested this great idea we selected TopazTurtle's shop to be the first  to be featured . She has a beautiful shop on etsy selling handmade Australian resin bangles, jewelry and home wares.

The colours of her pieces are so beautiful and very inspirational! We had quite a few entries to the challenge and have chosen 3 to feature here which highlight and compliment the beauty of  the chosen pieces from Topaz' shop.

Before you scroll down to look at the Treasuries please take time to browse TopazTurtle's  shop. It truly is stunning.

Here are the treasuries-

'Chocolate mint' by DesignsStainedGlass

Friends of HHU team treasury challenge featuring Topaz Turtle

Mint Green Resin Bangle... TopazTurtle $41.00	Trebel Clef Music Purse... KCowie $14.95	Ocean Photography - Bir... YoungSwanDesig... $30.00	Milk Chocolate Brown an... Yanettine $38.00
Seven Day of the Week M... MooreMagnets $10.00	Mint Circus Tents - Pas... cherryskyphoto $28.00	Faux Chocolate Mint Cup... DonnaPitkoffSt... $45.00	Elegant mint earrings s... AuntMatildasJe... $15.50
SALE soft green art si... sewsouk $4.00	Chunky Knit Short Scarf... JeanieBeanHand... $56.00	12 6mm Bicones Chrysoli... LythaStudios $3.20	Canvas Abstract Paintin... heatherdaypain... $230.00
soft neutrals beach dec... hhop $25.00	Chocolate Mint Cold Pro... LakeHouseSoapW... $6.00	Slow Fade, Soft, whimsi... SevenTen $8.00	14mm Chocolate Brown Gl... TheBeadpusher $1.75

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

'Sea of Love' by mikwexford

Think warm, sunny beaches and cool refreshing surfs!

Resin bangle bracelet c... TopazTurtle $30.00	Tropical Fish Home Deco... ConfectionsInG... $47.00	Lisner Feather Brooch P... LadyLyBoutique $11.99	Bright, Sandy Pacific O... justineb916 $20.00
Argyle love heart baby ... DesignsStained... $25.00	Doll Clogs to fit Ameri... ADollsNecessit... $8.75	Wall Mount Magnet Board... MooreMagnets $43.00	Sea Horse Necklace, Blu... JewelrybyJakem... $12.00
Pima Cotton Spa Mini Fa... JeanieBeanHand... $11.00	Trinket Dish - Jewelry ... LiLaO $20.00	Aqua Turquoise Blue Art... UneekGlassFusi... $58.00	Oceania Sea Creature Oc... MissMuffetsTuf... $12.00
Royal Bayreuth, Vintage... AuntVioletsAtt... $81.00	Tropical Blues hand pri... giardino $105.00	Green Woven Handmade Po... AngelaDesign $14.90

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

and another

'Ice Blue' by JeanieBeanHandknits

Square cut resin bangle... TopazTurtle $48.00	forest white pearlescen... Paperfiction $9.99	PMC Iolite Necklace willajunejewel... $44.00	Ivory Origami Lotus Lan... handmadebymois... $10.50
Vintage Fortecrisa Mexi... LeVintageGalle... $20.00	Personalized Wedding Th... alohaletterpre... $180.00	SALE light monarco blue... sewsouk $4.00	Organic Baby Blanket - ... SoulRole $25.00
Linen Home decorative p... NancyEllenStud... $35.00	Vintage French Enamel P... thefrenchartis... $46.00	Winter White set of fou... giardino $40.00	Twinkling pale blue and... fizzyclaret $25.00
Wheel thrown pottery Ya... blueroompotter... $36.00	Winter White - Set of 5... SkeeterBitz $4.00	Vintage French Pale Blu... VintageDecorFr... $22.00	Pine Cone Photo, Dreamy... BitsofLifeImag... $20.00

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

Please leave a comment in the comment box here on the blog immediately beneath the featured treasuries. We love hearing your views!

Can A Charmstring Bring Prince Charming?

     There once was a young, unmarried woman who lived during the latter part of the 19th Century.  She loved to collect buttons, especially those given to her by family or friends.  Because each button held a special meaning or memory for her, she decided to thread them, one by one, on a long string.  Her string consisted of buttons made of many types of materials, including glass, metal, enamel, china, and even rubber.

     The young woman was not the only person of her time to collect buttons in this fashion.  In fact, these long strings of buttons were plentiful enough to be given the name "charmstrings".  Through the years, hundreds of buttons could be collected by an individual.  Some women believed that when they reached a certain number of buttons, such as 500, they would find a husband.

     On the charmstring pictured, there are 745 buttons, and it is about 6 feet long.  Few charmstrings such as this have survived the decades.  Most were not cherished as family heirlooms, but cut apart to harvest individual buttons.  The steward of this lovely charmstring is Carol Cienna, President of the L.A. California Button Club.  You can learn more about charmstrings and vintage buttons if you visit her site, carolc@vintagebuttons.net

     Did the young woman mentioned at the beginning find her Prince Charming when her string of buttons reached 500?  Possibly.  All that is known for certain is that she lived happily ever after with her buttons.

 If you love buttons, consider joining The National Button Society http://nationalbuttonsociety.org/Home.html

We are starting a new series of blog posts by our team members, focusing on some topic that interests them.


A New Adventure

by FabricGreetings

In 2004 I was reading an article in Quilting Arts Magazine about Artist Trading Cards (ATCs). It was a fairly new thing that the editor of the magazine was encouraging readers to try. These cards had to be the size of regular sports trading cards. She promised that if you sent one in to the magazine, you would get one from her in return. I wonder if she had any idea of what she was asking for. So I tried my very first ATC. It was a photo transfer picture of a doll (the result of a class I took from epbailey and another story in itself) appliqued to some fabric and a few embellishments. In October of that year, I was attending the international Quilt Market in Houston and saw my card on display - with the hundreds of others she got – in the Quilting Arts Booth. What a thrill that was! Sort of like being published.

Since then I have made ATCs for fun – never for trading. After joining etsy in 2009, I discovered that they are actually (now) called ACEOs.....Art Cards Editions Originals. I am not sure why the name change. I also found out that there are ACEO teams and many collectors right here on etsy. So I have continued to make these ACEOs and offer them for sale in my Fabric Greetings shop on etsy.

Recently on the Acetsy team there was an announcement about an ACEO swap. I decided to give it a try and see what happened. In my mind I would be paired up with another etsy seller and be able to check out his/her medium. Imagine my surprise when I was paired with a gentleman (I have no idea of his age nor does it matter) from Texas who is not a member of etsy. His only web presence is a blog he recently started. So I have seen his work. He is a portrait artist. We have agreed on a theme of “Winter” since our swap has to be completed by February 15^th. I am anxious to see what I receive. It will be like Christmas all over again. I will try and post a picture of what I send to him. I have a pretty good idea of what I am going to do. And when I receive my swap, I will add that to the mix.

What new adventure are you trying for 2013?

Holiday Gift Guides

With the holidays fast approaching we all need a little help finding that extra special gift- something that will be loved and treasured. Avoid the crowds in the stores and sit back and enjoy shopping on etsy- for some unique and beautiful handmade gifts.

We have been making gift guides of HHU Team and Friends of HHU Teams gift 'items  for you to browse to  make it even easier.

 Last week's theme was green and gold and here are some of the Treasuries we made. Please take a closer look at the shops we have included- they have some great items- something for everyone.

Please leave a comment in the comment box here on the blog beneath the last treasury- we love hearing your views.

'A Golden Green Treasury of Gifts' by FabricGreetings

Wonderful gifts for your giving pleasure.

Moroccan art silk bead ... sewsouk $9.00	Smoothing, softening an... handmadebymois... $6.00	NAUGHTY Definition Dic... JewelrybyJakem... $12.00	Chunky Green Resin Bang... TopazTurtle $72.00
Green Yellow Brown Silk... BeljaysFeltnAr... $30.00	Sunny Gold Silk Flower ... dorothydesigns $25.00	Letterpress Holiday Car... alohaletterpre... $36.00	Red and Green Beaded Br... JewelsbyTrish $26.00
Knit Case Sleeve IPad M... JeanieBeanHand... $25.00	Set of 3 fabric hearts.... HandmadeGiftBo... $6.00	FREE US SHIPPING - Cera... shaneyz $15.00	Gold and blue crocheted... RobinsFlight $45.00
Air plant stained glass... DesignsStained... $27.00	Vintage Rhinestones And... NouveauxRetro $10.99	Gold Ribbon Headband El... lewisandbucky $18.00	Pillow Autumn accent le... NancyEllenStud... $16.00

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

Here is another

'Evergreen Holidays' by alohaletterpress

Red and Green Beaded Br... JewelsbyTrish $26.00	Quilted Fabric Postcard... FabricGreeting... $9.75	FREE US SHIPPING - Cera... shaneyz $15.00	Green Yellow Brown Silk... BeljaysFeltnAr... $30.00
Made to Fit American Gi... ADollsNecessit... $22.00	Sage and yellow forsyth... RobinsFlight $38.00	Chunky Green Resin Bang... TopazTurtle $72.00	Air plant stained glass... DesignsStained... $27.00
Smoothing, softening an... handmadebymois... $6.00	Personalized Turtle Bra... JewelrybyJakem... $20.00	Pillow Autumn accent le... NancyEllenStud... $16.00	Chunky Knit Short Scarf... JeanieBeanHand... $56.00
Locker size small Messa... MooreMagnets $25.00	Malachite Earrings, Gem... MariesGems $12.00	Cheer Christmas Tree St... creatiate $9.00

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

And another one!

'Green and Gold Gifts' by sewsouk

Green and gold gift guide from HHU and Friends of HHU Teams

Air plant stained glass... DesignsStained... $27.00	Smoothing, softening an... handmadebymois... $6.00	Dangle Earrings Genuine... shaneyz $15.00	Chunky Green Resin Bang... TopazTurtle $72.00
Gourd Piece Pendant Dragonflyonthe... $18.00	Vintage Rhinestones And... NouveauxRetro $10.99	Knit Case Sleeve IPad M... JeanieBeanHand... $25.00	Pillow Autumn accent le... NancyEllenStud... $16.00
Made to Fit American Gi... ADollsNecessit... $22.00	Jade Necklace, Gemstone... MariesGems $35.00	Quilted Fabric Postcard... FabricGreeting... $9.75	Red and Green Beaded Br... JewelsbyTrish $26.00
Personalized Turtle Bra... JewelrybyJakem... $20.00	Sage and yellow forsyth... RobinsFlight $38.00	Letterpress Cards Hawai... alohaletterpre... $18.00	Green Yellow Brown Silk... BeljaysFeltnAr... $30.00

Treasury tool supported by the dog house