Buttons for Shalom and Carnaby

I finally got around to making the buttons for my Shalom Cardigan.

I had an idea in my head of the buttons I wanted to make.  So I looked through the colors of polymer clay that I already had mixed from previous projects and picked a few that matched, then mixed a few more to fill in the colors I was missing. 

I stacked my colors and then ran them through the pasta machine a few times to make them thinner - stacking and restacking as I went. 

Then I impressed several different patterns (rubber stamps, ball stylus and an adding machine paper part) into the stack to move the colors around a bit.  This is called mokume gane which is a Japanese metal working term. 

 I sliced through the stack to reveal wonderful patterns.  I love this part!

I cut thin slices from this stack to cover the button bases that I prepared.

I finished by adding a striped edging and then baked.  Finally I sanded and buffed the buttons and added a button shank.  I love how they turned out.

If you are interested in making your own buttons from polymer clay, Lisa Clark from Polka Dot Cottage has a wonderful tutorial for beginner button makers.  Check it out.

While I was at it, I made buttons for my Carnaby Skirt that I finished recently.

I had a cane that I had made a few years back that matched perfectly with the yarn for my skirt so I made some simple buttons and I think they turned out well.

And we will end with a picture I took of myself before I handed my camera to my daughter who took a much better picture.