Button Fairy [International]

This looks like an awesome swap... the button faery pics are amazing. Is there a tutorial for making a button faery?

I'm catching on to everything but how to do the wings.

these are incredibly cute! Can't wait to try it, although a tutorial would be great too. :-)

I think I've got it figured out, too...except for the face. Looks like you used Diamond Glaze on a small photo of a face...but did you have to put it in an altered charm first? Hmmm....

For the faces, hats and wings i will use collage images and i will fix them on cardstock.

The Buttons are connected with wire, the wire leave somewhat longer and with adhesive fixed behind the wings from cardstock.

Above i will post some links to freebies collage images.

@ VJP - i think she used a glass nugget, but you can also use diamond glaze to become a dimensional effect. Also different ideas are welcome ;-) let us play!

I think this will be great, seeing what we can come up with ~ what a cute & original idea aswell!

By the way, we don't have to use collage images for the face/hat/wings do we? I only ask because my printer doesn't work at the moment.

Could we perhaps use magazine pictures for the faces and make the hat/wings from scratch (embellished cardstock or something?) ..?

you don´t have, you only can ;-)

These look too fun!

What wonderful little fairies!! And what a challenge, to make three just as awesome... :)

Thank you for making something with a nice lead time- I'll play with this during the holidays!!!

Oh, yes ;-) I thinks all will be very busy with Christmas....and there are only 64 days left...!

They are great! Might even try and make a free anging ones to hang on my christmas tree!

anging! That was meant to say HANGING! sorry. it's late.

This is going to be fun. It's too bad it's not going to be for the holidays. Are there any halloween style buttons or Thanksgiving ones? Pictures? Or more sites ? Thanks for adding this swap. I'm excited about it.

Keen idea! I love learning how to do new stuff. :o)

Hi Britta, These button fairies are gorgeous, so I decided to take part in this swap, too. Have a nice day! Jutta

wow, this swap is one of the top ten ;-) thanks at all!!!

my first one, is ready for take off!

Adorable, enjoy!

These are beautiful, I can't wait to get started!!!

Does the tail wiggle around freely or is it stationary? Looks stationary to me...

after seeing those beautiful button fairies , I really had to sign up to this swap :-)) I never made them , so I wonder if anyone knows if there is a tutorial just to have an idea how making them :-) thank stefania

Button are threaded on wire, the end piece (tail) is thus bendable.

Stefanie, i´m sorry there is no tutorial. But i can make a picture of the backsite - i´m sure than you have an idea ;-)

Pls join flickr group there you will finde a picture of the back ;-)

So cute!! I can't wait to make some (and receive some :D)

These are so adorable! I just had to join. :)

oooo this is lovely . i want to join in , but , 1 quistion : do you print the wings and head from the pc ?

you can ... but you don´t must ;-) i print it with the PC!

All three of mine are made and ready to be sent when the time comes.

I think these would made wonderful broaches/pins to wear.

Will definitely have to make more of them and will get pictures taken soon and put on my flickr site.

Do you have to use an image? What if your fairy had the shape of a body with no image?

WOW these are just so totally awesome!! I'm going to have to practice before I sign up! Thank you enjoy!

i have made over 10 of these :) my partners should be very happy! anyone wants to see them let me know by messaging me and i can email them to you or send you a link to them :) very fun i cant wait!!

Is there a pattern we should follow for the head/wings part? These are darling and I had to join -- is it OK to use buttons that have their slots going thru from side to side (no holes showing on top) ??? As soon as I have a better idea what is expected for the head/wings, I will be making them -- just love the idea -- someone mentioned making pins of them -- and I think that is a great idea.

I love these! They are so neat! I made three already and gave one to each of my sisters and one to my mom. I would just like to note that the larger the gauge of the wire you use, the more difficult it is to thread the buttons onto it. SO, i would suggest using a really small guaged wire. smiles

My first fairy, though it needs to be bigger/longer to meet swap requirements. Any suggestions?

I must have mistyped

i think the size makes it unique ;-) and i would be happy if i´m your swap partner!

Hello, I can't figure out how to ad my photos to the group (not very computer savvy here)so here is a link to them.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chimeramuse/sets/72157603244941424

You have to join "Button Fairy Swap" group:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/537485@N24

At first you have to upload your picture in our flickr.

If you take a look over the picture, there you found some symbols. The second stands for "send to group" pls click there. Then select "Button Fairy Swap" and click again, thats all ;-)

Thank you Enjoy

HI, MY NAME IS CRISTINA, I´AM FROM ARGENTINA, I KNOW THAT I HAVE´NT THE RANKING, BUT I WONT TO BE ALLOW IN THIS SWAP, PLEASE GIVE ME A CHANCE AND YOU MAY ENJOY WITH MY ORIGINAL BUTTON FAIRY, KIND REGARDS, CRISTINA

Well, I made my first button fairy last night while watching tv....this one was sort of an experiment because I wasn't sure which weight wire would work the best. It turned out that I had one wire that was too thick, and one that was too wimpy...and the chennile stem worked great. I was quite pleased with the out come...so imagine my dismay when I woke this morning to my cats playing with it! Ha HA ha...This was just practice anyhow, but I'll have to keep them some

Any advice on wiring the buttons? Mine tend to flop around and twist. I made my "prototype" tonight and am going to exchange it with a friend, but am not real pleased with the button "body". Any pointers would be appreciated. The chenille stem sounded interesting, Alleycat. I am going to give that a try. I wish I could post pictures, but that part of my computer is broken (won't read a cd) and I have no way to load pics on the computer to share them :-{. I love these little fairies. Lana

Yep, the chennile stem worked great, but like I said, that was just practice. I finished the button parts...I used 22 gage floral wire (silver) for the actual faery bodies....it worked out pretty well. My cats are still swatting my proto type around, and as they think all chennile stems belong to them I thought I'd better invest in some new wire! I'm working on the wings now...just trying out a few options!

I love the button fairy, awesome! Although I am new,I am soooooo glad I signed up for this swap. Edna

ive made two out of my three fairies and i used mag ctouts for the fairy faces and i had a heck of a time threading the wire so i did some wrapping and twisting with silver wire and it actually looks rather cute!!! i hope my partners will love them.....

thats supposed to be "cutouts"

Are we making these with pin-backs to use as brooches?

I had to go and buy feathers, to try out feather wings. I've done two now, and posted pics to the flickr group. It's a bit of a pain working with the feathers, but I like the results.

I've now done four. Thankfully I can get big bulk bags of buttons! :)

I TRIED - I REALLY DID - I TRIED TO RESIST THIS SWAP. But I am a button collector and cannot resist anything made with buttons. This is a wonderful swap. Joan

Enjoy- this is such a fabulous little craft- how did you ever think of it!!?? thank you

Hi all, I have just been looking at some of your wonderfull fairy's over on Flickr. I love the ones with feathers for wings ~ hint, hint.

PLEASE NOTE ~ If you are using feathers for wings and are sending to N.Z. or Australia the feathers need to be dyed not natural or customs will keep the fairy and burn them. I would hate that to happen to all that beautiful work.

I am really struggling with the face part. Any suggestions?

Magazines, old pics.... That is what I am using. Glue them to an index card, gives them some stiffnes, then cut them out.

I will be sending my fairies out during the start of the new year. They are moving along nicely and I would hate to hear they have been lost in the holiday mail...

Francis made the suggestion and I will follow her lead.

Happy Holiday Season all!

OOPS! I missed the deadline to sign up for this as I was away. Hope Enjoy does a Button Fairies 2! In the meanwhile it has inspired me to try making them! ~ Dee

Hmmm...I used a picture of my grandchild, glued it to the wings and then I laminated the piece and cut it out. It looks nice, but I think I will try your way. I also tried using Diamond Glaze to give the wings a nice finish, but I didn't like that. At least I am having fun experimenting with different ideas. I would love to see more suggestions for putting these together. Anyone else care to share?
THANK YOU!!!

hey ladies,

pls take a look at the new valtine button fairy swap

http://www.swap-bot.com/swap/show/9637

I can't find that page! I am still working on my wings, I finally came up with a solution that I like, but it's a real pain, I'm using a wired ribbon, I cut the wires off then cut the shape of the wings out of the ribbon, bend the wire around the shape of the wings and sew it together using a sparkly thread. They look pretty as the ribbon is pretty sheer, time consuming though!

So much fun! I have used, I think 22g wire and one that's heavier, 20? maybe 18? The heavier one was harder to work with. As for the flopping with the 22g, if the button was really loose I just ran the wire through the holes or shank a second time.

I have used magazine cutouts for the faces and ran them through a small Xyron sticker-maker to attach to the wings, and then cut out. The face/wings are on photo-weight paper; it seems stiff enough to me but thought I'd check to see what others are using? Also, any tips for attaching the wire to the back of the wings?

Fairies are now winging their way to Wonder2, Bluebird, and LibraLady....Hope you like them half as much as I loved making them!

I received a BEAUTIFUL Fairy, blue, black and silver, as my profile says, my favorite colors!!!! Sooooooooooooo nice!

I don't know who send it to me: no name/postalmark or anything.... But I will find out by PM'ing 2 of my partners who has pushed the send-button.

sooooooooooooooooooooo nice!

I wanted to upload the fairy to the gallery, but it won't work...:-(

Mistery solved! The lovely fairy I received came from Misc!

So thank you Misc!

I marked this swap sent tonight but it will actually be marked in at the post office tomorrow morning :)

OK! They're made!

Just wanted to let coastallorelei, jenniferyellowhat, and nellnere know that their button fairies are winging their way to them in today's mail :)

I mailed my Button Fairies on Dec. 3rd. I hope my swap partners have gotten them by now. I know sacredsnatch got hers. She emailed me. So I hope Angelfaery Kathleen from New Zealand has gotten hers and also Slepingrover 2010 received hers by now.

PLEASE, where do I find my partners? I do want to get my Button Glories in the mail...Thank you, Jan

Hi there, Have sent my fairies out today as the holidays have only just finished in Italy and I wanted to avoid the confussion.

Am having trouble uploading my photos to flickr, ( will keep trying ) but you can see them on my blog www.craftinitalia.blogspot.com. happy New year to everyone crafty joan AKA serendipity

Fairies winging their way out to rightful owners tomorrow 9th Jan. hope you like them crafty joan in italy

I received one fairy but there was no name on the envelope, or inside or on the fairy and I do believe it came fromUnited Kingdom. Anyone want to fess up...I love it and want to give proper credit.

BTW mine went out two days ago to my partners. Hope you enjoy them.

Prpldy...one way you may be able to figure it out is if you go to the swap and look under rating your partners and look for one from UK., hope that helps.

Generalissimo, Rainsembellishments, and AnnieOakleaves, your Button Fairies went out in today's mail. I put delivery confirmation on each. Hope they arrive soon. Grandmaroro

kellypuffs, adrienne, and toscania, I finished up my button fairies and mailed them off today. I hope you like them!

Finding the right wire really was a challenge....the first attempts with thicker wire were difficult to work with and after bending it several times it broke. I found a thinner 24 gauge wire worked the best. Also I've read through people's comments and did you all laminate them or use gel medium or another gloss medium to protect them?

To those I have as swap partners... been having computer problems, so I havent been on line- but the fairies are in the mail as of today!!!

Hope you like them!!!

JewelzyBug, icat, & kmcaine Your fairies went in the mail today.

GemMedia: Thanks, but when you go to rate it does not give their address so there is no way for me to tell where they are from. Hopefully the sender will see my note and let me know. Or maybe I will write to the others and see if they will fess up.

Prpldy.....whoops! If you click on the person's name under rating and go to their profile page it will show the country.

To my swappies,

Your Butto farries are almost ready but my computer will not talk to my printer so i cannnot finnished the last part. I will ask my friend iff he can repair it soon.

I'm verry sorry!!!!!!!!!!

Greetings, Dieuwertje

Hello, fairies 'Winging' their way from Scotland to Lob, Caresalot and Ohmy, - i had fun making them, so i hope you enjoy receiving them :)

I have recieved 2 of my fairies and they both are beautiful I can't wait to see the last one.

My envelopes are finaly on their way.

Hi ~ So sorry to be so late marking "items sent" -- have had computer problems, but rest assured that my faeries are winging their way to their new homes. Enjoy and blessings to you, Lana