For as long as I can remember, I have been making things. When I was little, my grandma and I would make yarn dolls. She also taught me to sew, knit and garden. My grandpa taught me to use a saw and a hammer. As a teenager, (when I wasn't doing anything involving horses) i started making macrame jewellery, which progressed to making my own beads out of branches I collected in the woods. Back then I didn't have any power tools, just hand saws and a small hand-drill.

Fast forward a few years and a friend had posted on facebook about an exchange student that had been staying with them on their farm for the summer. The student had learned to sheer the sheep they had, then cleaned and spun the wool, then knitted it all into a beautiful toque. After all that hard work, she embellished it with a generic plastic button off the shelf. This inspired me to take the beautiful wood that I was once making beads with, and turn them into buttons (and other things too).

Handmade wood buttons have become a fun project for me, and I have loved seeing them adorning handmade creations all across Canada, and the world. I harvest all the wood myself, primarily from my parent's acreage in Central Alberta. Additionally I get a selection of varied woods from trees that are being trimmed in the City.

The name comes from the old adage "Back 40" which has moved past just meaning the "back 40 acres" and is described by Merriam-Webster Dictionary as “a remote and uncultivated or undeveloped piece of land of indefinite size”. I've also seen it described as "the most remote part of a place." I chose the name because it represents where I find my wood.

I hope you enjoy my little shop, and if you are looking for a good behind the scenes look at what goes on around here, follow my Instagram @back40woodcraft