Home » giveaway post » Incomparable Buttons: Handmade Button Company…plus GIVEAWAY ($400 value)
Incomparable Buttons: Handmade Button Company…plus GIVEAWAY ($400 value)
May 10, 2011 - By Ashley Johnston 1261 Comments
.
Did you see the winner of the Stella & Dot giveaway? Scroll down or click
here.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
I have a bit of blogland inspiration to share today.
And this loveliness comes to us all the way from South Africa.
I was introduced to a company, called
Incomparable Buttons (blog here and website here), and was smitten with their aim and focus. This company employs women (many of them single moms) from Africa, whom they call the
Sunshine Team. Many of the women have been working for Incomparable Buttons for years and years and are the sole providers for their families. In all, 9 languages are spoken by the Sunshine Team.
Look at this beautiful group. They are wearing some of their traditional dress. I love all of that color.
And those faces……oh, how I would love to know each of their stories. Such beautiful women. (And they like buttons and needle/thread…..so we would have plenty to talk about!!)
Each button is individually handmade and then dried in the strong African sun. They are then hand painted and then fired at an extremely high temperature…….making them washable and dry-able and extremely durable. Each button is made with love by the Sunshine Team and are each completely unique. I was told that if I looked really closely, I would even see the artist’s fingerprints on the back.
Jennifer Pascall is the creator behind Incomparable Buttons and has worked for years to create this business that she loves. If you go back and read the blog from the beginning (found
here), she has such a lovely story…..starting a small business with little ones at home and an old pottery wheel. Her passion switched to buttons, followed by a button business, and then she started teaching the local women her art. They are all masters at their craft now, thanks to Incomparable Buttons.
Such a lovely and determined woman.
Jennifer hopes to see Incomparable Buttons grow larger so she can employ more of the local women who are needing employment.
Her now adult children, work with her and happily help maintain their family business. I love that they all pull together and each have their own role and responsibility in Incomparable Buttons.
These buttons really are the perfect addition to a quilt, needlework project, or anything that you have made by hand. (I’ll show you mine below!!) No sense in putting an ‘ol plastic button on your masterpiece.
But they are even beautiful to use to embellish something that’s already made.
There are so many buttons available, in so many shapes and sizes…….you will never wonder whether or not they have a particular button that you need. They most likely do. (Check out their site,
here.)
Incomparable buttons are found in stores worldwide. Check out their store locator
here, to see if there are buttons available near you. They also take online
wholesale orders (
here) and are more than happy to help you fill a
retail order if there are no buttons available in a store near you, by contacting them through email (incomparableinc@msn.com). And believe me, their email correspondence is quick and very friendly. (Thanks again Jennifer!)
Oh, and did I mention they ship out orders to anywhere in the world? They have a few warehouses worldwide that they ship from, and you will be happy to know that their shipping prices are very reasonable (and usually just the local cost of shipping) and they are not out to make a profit on shipping. Love that in a company. In fact, they appreciate orders big and small and are happy to help with any sort of questions.
. . .
Jennifer sent me a few button samples to check out.
And my order arrived from their Canada location. Seriously adorable. Â
Every. Single. Handmade. African. Baked. Button. Mmmmmm……
She probably knew that all it would take is one look at these buttons and then I would have to use them. Like……right away.
I got the buttons in the mail yesterday and then could hardly wait until the kiddos went to bed so that I could make a simple little dress for Baby Girl.
I just attached the buttons right to the front……only as a detail, not as a functioning button.
But along the back, I added the buttons (and buttonholes) to the closure of the dress.
And yep, these buttons certainly are handmade. I could actually see the artists little prints on my buttons. Made me love them even more.
Okay, I’ll stop gushing. I just can’t help it.
Since being introduced to Incomparable buttons, I have wanted to hop on a plane and check everything out. It has been a pleasure getting to know Jennifer and some of her children through email correspondence. I only hope Incomparable Buttons sticks around for years and years and grows with great success. I’m sure they will.
And Jennifer is offering a very generous giveaway to forty of you.
No, not just a few of you……but 40 of you.
She is giving away one button card each, to 40 of you………and everyone is able to participate.
She will ship to anywhere in the world.
10 of each of the button styles below (the same ones I received) will be shipped out to you at random. So cross your fingers and you may even get the style you want too!
**Entering is a bit different than some of my past giveaways…….so take note.
Here’s how to enter to win:
(**Please note: You must enter in a separate comment for each entry.)
- Head on over to Incomparable Buttons and leave a comment on this post of theirs here. Then come back here and leave a comment here, letting me know that you did so.
- Head on over to Incomparable Buttons (found here) and “follow” their blog. (The “follow” list is on their left sidebar.)Â Then come back here and leave a comment, letting me know that you did so.
2 different entry possibilities.
40 winners.
*10 winners will be chosen from those who only visit and leave a comment.
*30 winners will be chosen from those who become followers of Incomparable Buttons.
**Not sure how to leave a comment?
Make sure you are at the Make It and Love It site (not reading from an email or google reader) and scroll down to the bottom of this post. You will see in smaller print, “Posted By Ashley”, then a time, and then the word “Comments” with a number by it. That number signifies how many people have left comments. Click on the word “Comments” and a new screen will pop up. On the right side, there is an empty white box where you can leave a comment, enter your info below it, and then publish your comment. Your comment will appear at the bottom of the list of comments. That’s it.
Any questions? Email me at makeitandloveit@gmail.comGiveaway will close Monday, May 16th, at 8:00 a.m., EST, U.S.A.
Good luck!