If you are between the ages of 25 and 50 with a punk rock or indie sensibility, somewhere you have a dozen one-inch buttons.  They may be hanging from the leather jacket you had when you played bass in a band.  They may be in an old shoebox along with ticket stubs and a pair of black-rimmed buddy holly glasses.  A Tacoma small business is taking advantage of this button market in a big way.

Two years ago Rochelle Wells was working at a print shop making CD covers, band posters and buttons.  The medium was correct but the execution did not give her the control and creativity she needed - so Wells and a friend went in together on a one-inch button maker.  Today, you can see her Lithium Love buttons all over T-town.

So why buttons?

"I have a lot of fun.  It is really, really fun," Wells answers enthusiastically.  She goes on to explain the buttons help connect her to the community.  She really loves Tacoma; loves interacting with artists and musicians. "It's about meeting people," she says.

The name Lithium Love comes from a crazy manic happiness that encapsulates fun accessories like buttons, Wells tells me. 

"Lithium is such a weird medicine with such a weird stigma," she says. "I view the buttons as my happy side." 

At first Wells started with the familiar one-inch buttons, but this quickly turned into hundreds of wonderful vibrant wearable images.  Next, Wells started doing magnetic necklaces using the same images and press.  The necklaces, Wells admits, were her daughter's idea.

The locally-made buttons can be purchased at a number of boutiques around the Tacoma area including: Vanity, Orange, Box Top Vintage, Mad Hat Tea Company, Amocat, Peabody Waldorf Gallery and Nine Lives.  Recently the buttons gained retail space at the University of Washington bookstore in Seattle. 

An active artist in the community, Wells can often usually be found with her buttons at local events like the Art on the Ave or Music and Art in Wright Park.  You can also see her work at Sanford and Sons monthly swap meet.

Lithium Love has also produced buttons for local retailers like Guitar Maniacs, as well as for clubs and groups like the Tacoma Cult Movie Club. You may have also seen Wells' buttons advertising local Tacoma bands such as Girl Trouble, Apache Chief and Motopony.

After only a few years, it feels like Wells' buttons are turning up everywhere.

"I just went to the gas station and this girl was wearing one of my buttons," she happily notes.