Brenda Sue Lansdowne of B'sue Boutiques began to design button and found-item  collage jewelry in 1988, in response to a dare.

A friend had a simple button pin made of five little antique buttons glued to  a filagree for which she had paid a whopping $90.  On examination, Brenda Sue  began to see this this was something she could easily do, too — anyone  could! — in minutes.  The friend challenged her to make some jewelry of her  own, but to do it better.  From this dare, a business was born, one that has  gone down many roads.

The work began to sell almost immediately, starting with a $20 table taken at  a high school crafts show.  From there, progress was made both as far as the  artwork and the venues presented were concerned.  Soon Brenda Sue (or B'sue  as she came to be called) was exhibiting in better fine arts shows as well as  upscale malls and gallery-style shops in her part of the country. 

In 1993, the opportunity presented itself to market a line of theme-oriented  collage pieces through wholesale sales reps throughout the country.  It was  displayed in major showrooms including Columbus, Ohio, Boston, Ma., and the  California Mart in Los Angeles for just upwards of five years.  The line had  300 pieces and one point there were 500 active accounts, most of them  hospital gift shops, florists, Hallmark stores and Victorian-type boutiques.

At this time Brenda Sue has gone back to her artistic roots, making one of a  kind pieces and sharing the things she learned with others who enjoy making  jewelry, too. In November 1999  she opened a newer, larger website at www.bsueboutiques.com for  the sale of vintage jewelry, her own jewelry art as well as an extensive  selection of loose vintage stones, findings, brass stampings, rhinestone-set  materials, and rare vintage components such as old brass and enamels.  The  sites are linked to each other for easy access. There is information as well,  on both sites, for the beginning to intermediate jewelry hobbyist.

Brenda Sue is a member of OACG since 1991 (Ohio Arts and Crafts Guild),  Jewelcollect since 1997, VFCJ since 1992.  She also writes a regular column  for the VFCJ newsletter.  She also belongs to JOC, an online club for  discussion of jewelry-making, and the International Jewelry Designers Guild.   She exhibits twice a year for Raab Enterprises of N. Royalton, Ohio as well  as doing a temporary showing for The Hermitage in Ho-ho-kus, New Jersey.

Brenda Sue lives with her husband, John, of 24 years, two cats, Oreo and  Dixie, a parrot named Rusty and a cockatiel named Paquito.  Her hobbies  include collecting and dealing in vintage costume jewelry, floral design and  visiting with residents in area nursing homes each week.