Buttons and Magnets and Rings! Oh my!

Regular readers will remember my excitement when Liz of Hobbledehoy loaned me her 1 inch tecre machine. Here is a peek at some of the fruits of my labors.
I made rings with chiyogami paper, magnet sets with all sorts of recycled papers, pin back buttons with dried flowers, recycled magazines and more chiyogami paper, and subtle promo magnets featuring the same paper I use in my packaging. Very, very fun! Geoff used recycled magazines and the tecre to make funny celebrity magnets for his brother. Thing One had fun collecting flowers for pressing.
Last week I mailed the machine back to Liz so she can get started on promos for the holidays. It was so great to give the machine a test run. I am still on the fence about whether I want one of my own - when my current stock of promos gets low, I will have to make a decision, but in the meantime, thanks to Liz, I am stocked through Christmas.

In the spirit of sharing, I would like to send a little package of goodies - at least one ring, magnet set and pin back button - to the first five readers who comment here. Thanks again Liz!

hobbledehoy!! or The Kindness of Strangers

I do not know Liz, the seller behind the etsy shop, hobbledehoy, from Adam, but when she read my forum post asking where I should buy a Tecre Button Machine, she offered to LOAN ME HERS.

For those unfamiliar, a Tecre is the pinback button making machine recommended by all Etsy sellers who use button machines. And they cost $250!

I have been wanting one for the longest time, because I think it would be so fun to send out little stephaniegibson pins and magnets (the machine makes those too) as promos to my customers. I could also use the machine to make rings that I think would sell like crazy at Eastern Market. I have saved up all my sales money for the last three months to justify buying one, but I was still thinking maybe this was an impulse buy that was never going to pay for itself. Now, thanks to the generosity of Liz, I can try one out and see whether it is really something I need to invest in, or whether it is just another craft gadget for the closet where all non-jewelry-related craft gadgets go to live sad, lonely lives, unable to entertain even one another, because, of course, they are all still sealed in their original packaging.

So, help me celebrate by checking out Liz's shop. Not just as a favor to me, but because she is selling fiber batts called Riot in the Batcave!