Farewell, dear Barbara

You may have known her as Bunty, Vintage Bunty, Bunty Barmcakes, or simply Barbara.  Perhaps you saw her work on the pages of Somerset magazines, swapped with her, or took an online class with her.  However you knew her, or whatever you called her, she was an Artist, Blogger, Button Floozie...and Friend.

photo by Barbara, courtesy of her blog Vintage Bunty

I first "met" Barbara online when she visited my blog during a large blogging event called One World, One Heart in 2010.  The name of the event was prophetic, as it put me in touch a member of my "tribe" that lived all the way across the pond in Oxford, England.  She responded to the first comment I left on her blog with these words:

I wanted to say thank you for leaving such a nice comment and  I hope we will get to know each other through the blog world.

And so we did.  Barbara and I loved so many of the same things: buttons, lace, mixed media art, vintage fabrics...and creating.  Her blog is still up for the time being, so you can see first hand some of the beautiful works she created. 

an example of Barbara's handwork

In addition to working with fabric, textiles, and paper, she was a gifted photographer.  I always looked forward to the beautiful photos she would post whenever she and her husband, Paul, took weekend jaunts or day trips to the beautiful countryside where she lived.

in Cornwall, photo by Barbara, courtesy of her blog Vintage Bunty

She also took the time to create digital media and she sold it on Etsy.

Then, with the help of her husband, she opened up her own shop online -- different from her Etsy shop!  How many of us are feisty enough to do that?  Well, Barbara was.

some beautiful-ness from her online store

Once, when I showed some button shopping finds on my blog Barbara commented on how lucky I was to have such bounty to discover, and lament that they didn't in her neck of the woods.  So I went to town making her a package and sending it off.  Here's what it looked like:

Barbara's joy at receiving it is one of my happiest bloggy memories.

Barbara and I gushed to each other in emails about wanting to become Button Floozies authors, and then shortly after we got to know each other a few spots opened up!  So, we began our time at this blog together; here is her first Button Floozies post.

photo by Barbara, courtesy of her blog Vintage Bunty

We exchanged gift surprises over the years; here is what she sent me one of those times.

I've always cherished it; so much more, though, now.

She began a battle with ovarian cancer 21 months ago, and it was to that heinous disease that we lost her.
I realize now that I never saw a photo of Barbara "in real life" -- she was modest that way.  But I have a picture of her that comes to mind when I think of her.  It looks something like this...

I'll miss her.  When I think of her now, I will see her whipping up something beautiful from moonbeams and the silver linings of clouds, all dotted with choice, carved mother of pearl buttons.  Farewell, dear Barbara!

This post appears simultaneously on the Button Floozies blog.