So what ARE paper buttons? and what's the big deal? I don't know for sure what's the big deal, but someone told me paper buttons were a leisure lady's pass-time in the Victorian era. They would roll, laminate, collage, and assemble all sorts of paper scraps into buttons. Why? They must have loved the feel and look of paper just like me! I can't imagine them being used on clothing.. unless coated with some serious poly-goop.. but they might have been used in some paper sculpture, paper art thingy. Cool! or just made and collected in cute little boxes. Nice!
I've been making them to go in my books as closures for pockets and fore-edge flaps. I make them so they're flat; that way the book isn't so bulky and the pages nearby aren't pressed out of shape by some bulky paper button. I like to use my photographs. Since the paper buttons are only an inch or less square, I can use just the pretty parts of a blah photograph.. or some bizarre shadow/design impression from a random cut up photograph. I remember where the photograph was taken, the day I took it, maybe some special thing like that.. My favorites? a donkey in France, a dragon rooftop in Taipei, the grasses at Penland...
Today I made a book with 3 sets of paper buttons. The book has a purple leather cover, so I was looking for paper button material with purples. I finally got to use my pictures of the masses of crosses in an 18th century cemetery in rural France. Creepy!
