Badge Bomb recently kicked it with Tesha Beaudry, creator of “Cute Institute,” for a quick interview about her artistic inspirations and, of course, her love of buttons.

-What does it take for Badge Bombers to enroll in The Cute Institute?
Not more than 2 dollars; the price of a badge!

-What classes would I need to pass to attain a Master of Cute Arts?

For my students to get that far, they need to be hard working and loyal pupils for many many years. Having a sweet tooth always helps!

-Most of your designs seem inspired by a Japanese design aesthetic.  Can you pinpoint any specific moments of your life that inspired you to embrace this style?

One night, after a cupcake too many, I dozed off and I had vision of this cute pirate girl dressed in a bear costume that came to me with an important message: bring kawaii, cupcakes and joy to the world! That was my calling…

-Your mushroom buttons seem very Zen. Are you influenced by Eastern culture beyond the pen and paper?

I don’t consider myself a zen person, but I do seem to have been influenced a lot by eastern culture; I do martial arts, collect kung-fu flicks, have japanese tattoos and love japanese art and fashion….

-Who would win in a fight- a tough Samurai warrior or a brigade of smiley faced cupcakes?

I think the samurai would overdose on the cupcakes- the smiley ones are usually poisonous, so beware!

-Have you ever run across anyone wearing Cute Institute buttons?

Do my friends and parents count?! if so, yes and it makes me very very happy!

-Do you wear buttons yourself? If so, what was the first button you loved to death?

I wear them all the time! My favorite button I made has a closeup of my cat’s face. It was adorable! I put him with the rest of my badges during one of my craft sales for just for fun.  Believe it or not, someone bought it!

-How/where do you wear your buttons?

I tend to lose em’ often if I put them on my purse or hoody…  I’ve decorated some cute ballerina shoes, used them to attach my tops and dresses to my bra (yes, very classy, but practical!), and they work perfectly to replace that missing button on your pants. When I feel sweet, I’ll put on a cupcake badge, if I feel badass, I’ll put on a skull!

-Have you had any problems with fans trying to sneak off with handfuls of your dessert themed buttons?

I caught a bunch of ninjas one night trying to steal my new stash of pins. That didn’t end well!

-Have you had to expel anybody from the Cute Institute? I need to know what heinous acts to avoid- I pride myself on being a model student.

I rarely expel my pupils, so no need to worry!… But, I do not tolerate art theft. Just be original AND be yourself!!! cheers! +____+

Visit Tesha at The Cute Institute!

We wish we could check this out…  Badge Bomb button designer Noah Lyon’s work will be featured in an upcoming event showcasing works that prove pens are much mightier than swords:

“An exhibition of pen and/or marker drawings including photographs of the pens used to make them.  The over one hundred drawings in this exhibition cover a broad range of pens from the generic ball point to the traditional rapid-o-graph and feather quill to the modern array of jell and artists’ pens.”

Peep these links for more info and radness: 

Retard Riot , Lump Gallery , Lump Gallery Blog , PENNED flickr

And don’t forget about Badge Bomb’s “Retard Riot” button series, straight from the brain of Noah Lyon!

Retard Riot buttons on sale through Badge Bomb and manufactured in the USA by One Inch Round Buttons.

Hey Badge Bombers! Streets of Jeremyville button sets have arrived and they look sweet! We’re going crazy over this fresh Badge Bomb loot.  Behold!

Streets of Jeremyville goodies will be available for pre-sale at Badge Bomb’s booth at the POOLTRADESHOW and soon here at Badge Bomb.

All Streets of Jeremyville eventually lead here.

Manufactured in the USA by One Inch Round.

Q: What’s one of the greatest things about Portland?
A: Voodoo Doughnuts!

Atleast in our land of custom buttons, we enjoy many a Butter Fingering or Maple Bar:

http://www.oneinchround.com

What exactly do we do with all these donuts? Well to be quite honest, we bought 2 boxes this week, then we washed them down with coffee, and we’ll be back for more next week! Maybe they are the source of inspiration for some creative art buttons? Who knows!

Check out Retard Riot AKA artist Noah Lyon’s awesome pinback button packs!

These six button packs feature some of Retard Riot’s coolest one inch art buttons!

Check out his home-grown button collection!

Check out the new button packs from Montreal’s “the cute institute”! Featuring Samurai, Geisha, cats, and more sweet treats!

Button packs available on the button packs page.

Or visit the cute institute’s button store here.

USA Made by One Inch Round Custom Buttons

YEAH!  One Inch Round - the sole maker of Badge Bomb products was recognized today with this awesome RecycleWorks Award from the City of Portland’s Office of Sustainability. Here we are today celebrating with this cool “Bike Sprocket” plaque that they presented to us - another sprocket for our car-free workplace!  

Check it out,  pics from Jonathon Hill-Jacquard’s (our in house art director) show that opened at the Tyson Gallery as part of Portland’s famous “First Thursday” last week! Keep an eye out for Jonathon’s button line “Jugtown”, currently locked up in Badge Bomb R&D.