Button, Button, Who Made the Button? The Resources:

  I am off to Rhinebeck to teach a button making class this coming week.
Here are sources for materials:
     Wire: Allcraft   800-6457124    www.allcraftusa.com
 Allcraft stocks all kinds of wire. For my classes I use mostly bronze, which they call Nugold, copper and some nickel. I caution people not to wear nickel next to the skin as the potential for an allergy reaction. Repeated exposure can trigger a reaction. I mostly use 16 gauge, 14 gauge and 12 gauge
  
   Wooden Discs: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ShauneilSupplies
  These are not shown in the above picture. The shop carries nicely finished blank wooden discs which may be drilled and decorated in unlimited directions.

   Metal Shapes of All Kinds:  http://www.metaliferous.com/index.php
 Also not represented but a true inspirational site . There is no way to describe all the metal shapes that are just waiting to be buttons or whatever  you envision. You will definitely have fun here!

  Solid small felt wheels    riogrande.com 
 In my experimenting I looked at the small hard felted buffs used with  motorized hand held tool like a Foredom in a new way. These small dense discs come in a variety of shapes and sizes. They have a single hold in the center that allows for attaching to a project with a bead and cotton embroidery thread. I have not gone too far down this road so I recommend taking them off to wash the garment. What is neat about them is the ability to use a sharpie for decoration.
  A caveat here: Give your credit card to a trusted friend when you first get the catalog. Give yourself  a few days to think. After more than forty years of making things I still find this catalog overwhelming.
 I will continue to update sources  as I go further down this road.
  Updates: INSPIRATION!
    For inspiration that makes you feel like you could do interesting and usable things there is no one like Alexander Calder.    If I had this past weekend to live over I would have sent a list of websites  for inspiration and motivation. This one would have led the list. I followed up with a search on Pinterest using the search words: Alexander, Calder, and Jewelry. I am headed back there the minute I post this update.  
  Second on the list is someone completely different, Mary Lee Hu.   
Where I find Calder's work motivating for it's simplicity I find Mary Lee Hu's work motivating and humbling for it's skillful use of wire.
    Blog On!
    Leslie

The Queen of the Quick and the Cheap

  What is more motivating at any level of proficiency than a successful completion of a project.  It has yet to be proven to me that 100 times the effort equals 100 times the satisfaction. Teaching has reinforced my love of easy and quick projects. A trip to A. C. Moore has reawakened my love of gimp. How could I put the two together? With a crocheted circle done with a large hook (here I used an "L"), that's how! Literally done in minutes I now have a pot scrubber workhorse worthy of keeping or gifting. The large sized hook makes for large sized holes that rinse clean of cling-ons, not to be confused with Klingons.
Blog On!
Leslie

A Crocheted Jute Orchid Pouch

  I am Orchid challenged. I have three that were blooming  brilliantly, the state in which they were received,  then never more. All my reading and asking brought me to realize that they needed air for the roots and maybe food. I happily invested $ 4.99 for the food. Then took up my crochet hook and natural jute twine and made this pouch which now hangs in the window over the sink where it can drain.
Blog On!
Leslie