Featured Artist and Giveway - Berrylicious Buttons!

The lovely Susan from Berrylicious Buttons, has kindly offered some of her beautiful tags as a First Give-Away for my blog.  Thank you Susan!  You really need to visit her Etsy store to apprecicate the lovely and diverse range of sweetness that she has to offer, then you will see that her talents extend not only to the things she creates, but also to the quirky names she calls her items...especially like 'Lavender Hibiscusleaf Snuggleberry', and 'Clippee Do Da's'!
Now, settle back and read about Susan and her business, a woman of strength and courage, as you will discover:

Tell us a bit about yourself

'My name is Susan and I am a 38 years old mother of one. I simply love beautiful handmade things and was delighted when I discovered etsy! I spent a long time relishing in the delights of etsy as a buyer and admirer before opening my own Etsy shop called Berrylicious Buttons. (http://berryliciousbuttons.etsy.com/)
I have always been a crafter (of many types and forms) even in my childhood you could find me making bits and bobs with mums offcuts and button tin!
I was a full time graphic designer before being diagnosed with terminal cancer approx 2 years ago. I turned to craft for relaxation and to make beautiful things for my son to keep as life treasures after I am gone .. I love making other people happy and thought perhaps others may like some of my treasures as well and Berrylicious Buttons evolved completely by accident really! It has now become a very big part of my life and a full time business. Most of my days are either filled up with creating or designing new items, or coming up with new packaging ideas, sending orders, bookwork and all the other bits and bobs involved in running a small business...
I live on a gorgeous rural property just south of Hobart (Tasmania, Australia) where I also breed alpaca for their gorgeous fleeces'.

- Tell us about your business

'Berrylicious Buttons started by making beautiful things from vintage buttons. It has now transformed into a little shop that is chockers full of lots of little treasures. From gift tags to quilts, from hair accessories to magnets, and much more! I am now starting on a new range of softies called "Meet the Snuggleberries" which I absolutely adore making. They so fun to make and full of character! Each little Snuggleberry is different and take on their own unique characters (see my blog for further information on these: http://berryliciousbuttons.blogspot.com/). I now spend most of my time making my products or thinking about them! It is very addictive'!

- What’s your favourite thing about what you do?

'EVERYTHING! Its creative and fun, and ALWAYS changing! I love creating new things, and the best part is bringing a smile to my customers faces. How many people can actually say they LOVE their job and what they do? I am very thrilled and happy to say that I do'!

- What are your favourite colours/materials to work with?

'Clearly I love buttons! I particularly like vintage buttons. When I was young I loved playing with them like little treasures, and nothing much has changed there! I also love beautiful fabrics, and natural fibres. At the moment I am loving using the beautiful Japanese fabrics. My favourite materials and colours change almost daily! there are just so many beautiful supplies to use these days, and I am delighted to keep finding such wonderful things to create with'.

- What are you creations inspired by?

'Most of my inspiration comes from my surroundings. I am very fortunate to live in such a beautiful place. My studio looks out to natural bushland, which is so peaceful and inspiring! I also get alot of inspiration from the materials themselves. I can look at a piece of fabric, or a button or some pretty papers and know instantly what I would like to see them made up into. I create a lot of my items this way, and the ideas are always flowing! there is never a dull moment at Berrylicious Buttons!  The reason I make lots of hair accessories is because I got totally obsessed with pretty hair things when I lost all my hair from cancer treatments. "Hair" became such a huge thing for me as loosing all my hair was like loosing my identity, and it affected my son worse'.
 

All you need to do to enter the give-away is
1. 'follow' this blog, (if you are already following you qualify)
2. 'follow' Berrylicious Buttons' blog or Facebook page (if you are already following either, you qualify)
3. Leave a comment on this post
Competition is open from Sunday 27th September, and closes Wednesday 7th October. One winner will be announced on this blog Friday the 9th October.

Winner will receive these 2 beautiful sets of tags made from quality designer cardstock!

Here are some more of my favourite lovlies from Susan's Etsy store......

Vintage Rose Hair Clip Set

Rosebud Delight Embellishment Set

Clippee Do Da Magnetic Clip