Whose Got the Button?

Here at May Day Press I am dreaming a new project into being. It is called Button Box. It began simply. I made a hand sewn book with stitched text wound on a wooden spool and put it in an art show. Several people came up to me with stories related to someone who sews. The stories were touching and full of heart. I wondered, what will happen to these stories when the people who tell them are gone?

Stories can be like buttons kept in a box, buttons we may need to use to replace what today feels reliable and true, but can be lost, loaned, or given up on. Without them we can feel vulnerable and perhaps a little naked, or we may feel free and energized to be less defined/confined. I may be stretching the metaphor a little far here, but I take stories seriously in that I know our identity is created from our stories. As our identities change or beliefs dropped, the old button isn't needed anymore!

Whether button or story comes first, write it down and send it in. I am creating a repository for stories and buttons as well as choosing several of the entries to be letterpress printed as broadsides. You can find the vision and specs here on my website: www.Catherine-Alice.com Thank you!