Take A Deep Breath...

This feels strange.

I've been so absent from this homely space i have created here, and I've missed it. I think i got out of touch because I've been soo busy with the shop and about a million other things on my plate; so Ive decided to try and get the wheels rolling on this little baby again. I can't promise that there will be as much talking and typing as before but I'm really going to try.
I've spent the best part of today making me a little something. What with everything that's been going on I've not given myself anytime to make for me...if that makes sense? soooo I've decided to give myself a bit more time to stitch for me. anyway...back to what i did today...

It involved three pretty bowls with sparkly gold sequins and twinkly gold beads, a lovely red cardigan (Christmas isn't over yet!) a needle and some thread...ohh yeah and about 2 hours sat on the sofa....

The outcome??....

A rather fetching cardigan for me to wear out this new years eve. What do you think?? Ive been craving an item of clothing adorned with sequins but everything out on the shops was a little bit pricey (either that...or not quite right)soooo what would any self respecting craftster do??

Yep...make it herself (or at least sew the sequins onto a cardigan she picked up in a charity shop herself).

Well...i feel like I've only been her five minutes and its time for me to go all ready. Id just like to finish this off by saying that things are pretty hectic in my neck of the woods at the moment so i could really do with the company of you lovely people out there.....if there's any of you still there??

Have a very merry and super fantastic new years this evening.

I'll see you soon

xxx

Sorry Sorry Sorry

Sorry i have been absent from bexsbuttons. T

he shop is getting busier every week and im not sure how much i will be able to post here...especially with Christmas coming up; StuffedNonsense needs regular stock, the shop in Cirencester will want some more stock before the proper festive season AND StuffedNonsense has been accepted to do a craft fair in Bristol on the 12th of December...PHEW! Its brilliant and i'm not complaining at all...just wanted to let you guys now that i do still exist.

Hey!...here's a thought...if you want to catch up on on StuffedNonsense a bit more (well...at least once a week anyways!)

Anyways...see you soon??

xxx

Recent Thirfty Finds...

Hello all!! i hope that you are super fine and dandy! Ive had a few good finds at the charity shops recently and Ive been meaning to let you all know about it! Times a little bit short at the moment...because of the shop it turns out that i only get one day off a week where I'm not at the cinema or the shop...so I'm afraid I've had to keep putting this back!

Anyway....

Onto the main topic of conversation! Bargains of the vintage kind!!!

First up we have some very very pretty china found for 50p each!!Such a cute little cup...I'm pretty sure that the plate i brought to match isn't a saucer but its close enough for me!

And two equally cute cake plates. i've been looking for some for ages (for a cake themed project i have in my head!)...i think that these two were worth the wait.

The next one is new today!!

No No No...your eyes are not deceiving you...this lovely find was only 35p! its one of those wooden block games where you have to make the different parts of the picture match up.

AND its still had instructions!

I think the picture are great and they kind of remind me of some of Richard Scarry's illustrations (who i love!)

This is probably callede saving the best until last... This suitcase! i have had this for a while now...it has such a great story behind it. you see the RAF tag on the front? well the main i got this from had just left the forces. this was the suitcase he was given when he first joined... the date and the name of the ship he was on are written on the front, as well as a few other doodles. It sounds silly but i feel like i have a little bit of history there! Do you want to know the best bit?....

It was free!!! i saw it outside of a rubbish bin on my way into work...i walked pass then did a double take...as i cautiously stepped a bit further towards the bin the man came out of his front door and i started to walk away! it thought i was going to shout at me!! instead he called me back and told me if i wanted it was mine!! my grandad (an eternal skip hunter and bargain spotter should be proud!)

Well...that's all for this week. its looking like I'm only going to get the chance to do one post a week so I'll save up all the lovely bits of the week and give to you when i can! deal?

Righto...dinners nearly done!

Take Care!

Some Secret Sewing...

My younger sister had some rubbish news last weekend. She is in her final year at a Performing Arts and Dance School, but she has just found out that she can not receive any funding for her last year. this is bad bad bad news because mum and dad don't have a huge amount of pennies so Rachel is stuck....unless Rachel and the school she is at can talk some sense into the people who fund her accommodation. I'm not 100% sure of all of the details but i know for a fact shes down in the dumps so i thought a surprise present was in order. sometimes mum and Rachel read my blog so I'll only give you a glimpse...you've always got to put some buttons in it haven't you?!Sleepy time??

I thought i should pop a little something in for my mum and also my nanny (as shes visiting on Sunday)Well...that picture isn't too ambiguous really is it?!

I also listed a load of children's bits and bobs over on StuffedNonsense's folksy shop... a load of bibs like this one...

and also something new we were asked to make by the shop in Cirencester...

We kept a few back for the shop. We've called them 'Dummy Tamers', you attach one end to the dummy (with a press stud) and the other connects to the push chair/pram (with a button and hole)

I found this great looking new magazine called Cloth Magazine, you can find their website here. When pay day arrives tomorrow i think I'm going to order a copy!!

Righto I'm off for a bath and some book...have a nice evening dearies.

xx

I went to the charity shop today and...

Came back with a bounty of buttony goodness. i normally pop into the one shop where i found all of these lovelies and i often comeback with a few buttons but yesterday was a real haul!!LOOK....

Some of these are to go to the shop but I'm going to keep a few at home. now the shop is open i don't have any at the house. It was a friends birthday yesterday and a lovely evening was planned, except i got a stupid migraine half way through, but I'm OK now.

Anyways...just thought i would let you in on the buttony goodness.

xx

Im Really Sorry...

At more poor effort at blog writing...I'm not sure what happened but some how i fell of the blogging bus...anyways...i think I'm back on it now so....

The shops is looking really good at the moment (hope that's not bragging!) It just looks so full and fresh and light...

Our coffee table is looking all lovely and full up at the moment...if you look close you can see the amazing felty creations of Bagladee and the recycled leather key rings of Inkander
This is Steve...welcoming all of our customers as they come up the stairs

Check out El's artwork on the door!! Cool huh?

I've also been making some nice smelling creations with some lavender which my dads friend sent up to me...mmmmmm smells nice...quite Shabby Chick dont'cha think...

Righto...I'm writing this at the shop so i have to return to shop keeping duties...

soon my dears

xx

Dont Panic!!

Just a quick one (minus pictures I'm afraid) to let you know that I'm still alive...I've been a bit busy unfortunately (or fortunately...which ever way you look at it!!). In the last week i have...

a)watched these films ... (500) Days of Summer and District 9. Both of them were really good, but 500 days of summer blew my mind!!

b)Gotten my hair cut like Zooey Deschanel.

c)accepted,priced and displayed another two suppliers wonderful items in the shop.

d)cut out and sewn 11 bibs

e)been out on the high street bribing the people of Cheltenham to come to the shop with lollipops

f)had an exciting and a little bit secret photo shoot in the shop!

g)AND worked at the cinema!!

O.K. That's it i think....I'm going to hopefully coax my camera to work tomorrow so i can show you some snaps!!

Thanks for hanging in there!!!

Humph...

Hello everybody. I hope that you are OK.

I feel a bit sorry for myself at the moment. i woke up this morning with a stupid sinus headache (for those who don't know i have a lot of trouble with allergies...especially dustmites and cats...when they get in my head they GET in my head), but trundled into work, but once i got into work i just hit a wall, i was soooo tired and my arms were all achey. So Jon (one of the managers and good friend) let me go home early. Except I'm all lonely at home because arth is at work! what a loser i am! Anyway, Ive decided to self medicate....Rooibush tea, galaxy chocolate and a good book...if i can keep my eyes open long enough! The book is by Neil Gaiman who is my number one favorite author. He wrote Coraline, the book the recent film was based on, as well as loads of other great books! I was out on Cheltenham high street again this yesterday. Instead of giving out flowers with flyer's on...i was giving out cup cakes with little flags advertising our shop in them. It went well...until i was left with four and a rather determined wasp. its stupid really...being 23 and scared stupid of wasps! i managed to off load the last four as quick as i could and then ran away with my tail between my legs!
I have to admit that i cheated and brought the ready made cakes....i iced them myself tho'!!
They brought in a few people and there some other peeps came in for a browse...so its slowly getting better.
I made a few more bits for the shop as well...
Some bib panels printed...now all i need to do is make the bibs!
Some new fabric bracelets...
And some new dust bunnies...in colours which aren't as summery as the other ones...its getting colder all ready isn't it? In a way I'm looking forward to it being colder, this is the first time we've been in a house with central heating AND double glazing!!! (no more ice on the inside of our windows!woot woot!)

I thought i would just let ya'll know that the giveaway over on StuffedNonsense closes tomorrow (all you have to do is head over and subscribe/follow our blog and you could win a basket full of our lovelies!)

Right...I'm going to rest some more, we are off to Bristol tomorrow (its the last day of the Banksy exhibit and it was El's birthday yesterday so we are going to brave the queues!)

See you Soon

xx

After All Of Those Words...

I thought i had better give you some pictures!!...

I've had such a fantastic day today so far. recently its been a bit tough to see Arth around the house, as i start work he's finishing so we've just been passing each other on by! but today he isn't working and I'm not in until 4 so we've had a lovely morning and afternoon together!

We wondered into town earlier on and popped into a paint shop to get some colour cards (we're in the process of decorating the bedroom)...lots of lovely colours to choose from!!! we are going to go for (or something very similar) the green one second one in from the left, on from the bottom (its got writing on it) we're going to put it on one wall, which will be the one where the bed goes, and we have grand plans for a cool tree/branch silhouette picture on it too. i also picked up the yellow ones and some pinky ones for the craft room. how exciting!!

We stopped of for a coffee too....mmmmmmm

There's no way i could drink anything as strong as Arth's coffee!!, I'm a wuss when it comes to caffeine and coffee (i wasn't allowed it for quite a while when i was a kid, i had terrible migraines and the banned me from eating and drinking 'trigger foods' like caffeine, cheese,nuts, chocolate etc etc) i just thought that the crema (hey check me out showing of my coffee republic training!hehehehe) look very pretty.

i mentioned i was going to the boot fair yesterday, well i did....but the pickings were slim! i did find this rather lovely pair tho'...They are salt and pepper pots! how cute! i also found the interesting peach coloured buttons and some nice grey shell ones. i did find some other nice buttons but the lady wanted 50p each for them...I'm not tight but i thought that was a bit too much so i left them behind!!

I also wanted to show you what the flowers i was handing out on Saturday looked liked...

i was rather taken with this little red one!! I'm going to be out on the high street again this Saturday but we are going to try it with cupcakes instead!

Righto'...I'm off to read a magazine and enjoy a cup of rosie lee

xx

Just a Little One!

Hello guys. i hope your all ok. i thought i had better pop in and let you know whats been going on in my buttony world at the moment!! i had a bit of a rubbish day yesterday, Friday's are my days in the shop (el does Thursday's and we do Saturday's). There are two sewing machines at the shop; both of them are pretty old (and if I'm honest in need of a good service!) but they normally chunter along quite well. However they both just flat out refused to do ANYTHING on Friday! It was soo annoying, i was in such a mood to make lots too and i couldn't!! i lost my cool in the end and quickly jumped into a taxi (now we are on the house we love about 25minute walk from town centre) to get my more modern machine, but by the time i got it too the shop I'd just lost my funk! So i sulked for most of the day, but felt better after a lovely bbq for a friends birthday.

Today on the other hand was wonderful!! El and I had come up with a plan to hand our pretty flowers with flier's for the shop on. I'd tried just giving out flier's the Saturday before but it didn't work at all (people wouldn't take them.)However..it went really well, the people that took the flowers really smiled once they had one which is great (even if they didn't pop into the shop for a peek.) I waited until i had give out all of the flowers, which was about 1 and quarter hours, and then headed back to the shop...i wasn't sure if the flyering had helped at all...but it turns out that it really did! Yep!...for the first time since the opening day we were busy! El and I now have some serious stitching to be doing before next Thursday! It was wonderful, i was really beginning to worry that it wasn't going to work, but after today i feel a bit more hopeful! Even the people who didn't buy anything were happy to browse and everyone said that the shop is amazing! HOW COOL????

Other good news...El and I took a lot more stock to MADE in Cirencester, thinking there would be some left over to pop on the shelves at the shop....but they took it all!!!wohoooo!!

Right, I'm sleepy and my Horlicks is getting cold (yes I'm a 23 year old who would rather stay in drinking hot malty drinks!)

I'm off to a boot fair tomorrow so fingers crossed i will have some delights to show you!!

Sweet Dreams

xx

A Favour Coupled With A Giveaway...

Hello Lovelies? Hows it going?? (shes says in a pleading voice...)

I thought i would let you know about a giveaway (bribery i wonder??) over at StuffedNonsense. At the shop we run a monthly giveaway, but its been a teensy bit quiet their so we have decided to open it up to followers of the StuffedNonsense blog...(is that the sound of a catch coming??)...to be in with a chance to win a basket filled with lovely creations all you have to do is subscribe to/become a follower of StuffedNonsense blog by the end of this month (August). Sound fair???

I hope you don't mind me being a tad cheeky and asking you follow my adventure on another blog too but it would help El and I a lot...the more people that know about our lovely shop the better!!

Well, i have to go now...cineworld is calling me out to 5-Cls shift.

Have Fun and Take Care

xx

I'm Home!!

Hello everyone! I hope that you are all fine and dandy!! I've just got back from a lovely holiday in North Wales with my Mum, Dad, Sister and her boyfriend...unfortunately Arthur couldn't get the time off of work!! We were staying in a camp site near Abergele, in this wonderful specimen of tent!And here is my suite that i stayed in for the week...
The journey was a bit long...although i shouldn't complain, poor old mum and dad had to drive over from King's Lynn in Norfolk!!

We went to lots of lovely places but for me the best place we went to was Bets-y-Coed. This little village, right in the middle of Snowdonia, is BEAUTIFUL! We went there to see a local natural attraction called Swallow Falls...i don't think i need say anything...the pictures speak for themselves.

It was such a beautiful place!We walked back along the river and had soo much fun! Rachel (my sister) nearly lost her shoe in mud, Dean (Rachel's boyfriend) attempted to swim in the river! It was hilarious! and soo pretty. After we had walked back we went to another place (i cant remember the name!) that had an insanely high still functioning aqua duct. It turns out i have a bit of thing for heights...as in I'm scared of them! but look how high it was!!! and there was only a little metal fence between me and the very long drop! This picture isn't too good, you can't see the River Dee underneath....because i was too chicken to take my hands off of the railing to take a picture from on the aqua duct (this one is from the safety of actual ground!!)

We also went to great sea side town called Llandudno, it did just what it said on the can!

Along the Promenade (that's my mum in the white top on the right, and my sister just in front of her)
This is taken from the Pier (which i didn't take a picture of....how silly am i!!)
It had some scary clowns...
great vintage coaches...
This little rabbit was carved out of table in a park that Mum and I wondered through, (after we had chickened out of going on a cable car up a big old mountain/hill) there were lots of statues, tables and chairs carved into Alice and Wonderland themes.

I was pretty happy and content with Llandudno...but it got a million times better when i nipped into a charity shop and came out with....(hmmm, can you guess?).... What a surprise!! This tin is very welcome!! the buttons at the shop were getting a bit lower than i would have preferred so these should help to top them up!!

Right, I'm sorry if this post has been a bit picture heavy...I'll be back soon with something craftier! enjoy your Sunday evening peeps!

xx

Swaps and Buttons!!!

I mentioned that my sea side swap parcel from LissyLou arrived the other day. I'm a very lucky lady, when i opened up the box it was in i instantly felt guilty there was LOADS of little presents in it! i hope that Lissylou isn't disappointed with the parcels i sent up....hmmmm.I love the little beach hut fridge magnet. There was also some chocolate shells (i haven't eaten them all yet) and a cute wooden heart with a beach hut on which is hanging up in the downstairs bathroom. Thank you Lissylou, it really cheered me up after a slow day at the shop.

My mum, dad and sister are here at the moment. we're going camping in whales tomorrow for a week, and as they live along way away in Norfolk they've split up the journey by staying over here for the night (its great to see them AND it saves me the train fair to Wales!!) Mum brought me a goody bag filled with buttony goodness yummy yummy...

The picture is a bit dark here (the light was just going) but there are some great shapes and most of them are in lovely pastel shades. thanks mum!!!

Right, I've got packing to do and shop emails to write! I'll make sure i take my camera with me tomorrow so i can entertain with you pictures when i return!(aren't you lucky!)...I'll be back in a week!

Selling In Our Shop...Anyone??

Hello!!! What is this wonderful thing called 'A Sunday Off??' I've heard of them...but can't remember the last time i experienced one!! hehehehe.

Thanks for your comments about the badges at the 'charming' people who visited the shop!! It was a quiet week at the shop, we had a few custom orders to do (which the customers loved...thank you to Jack, Lynne and Alix for coming to us!!) but apart from that foot fall was a bit low!! i got a bit mopey about it yesterday...i don't think it was helped by this...

The British weather is being quite charming at the moment isn't it!? Don't worry tho', I'm out of my funk now and back on the ball. El and I (and Arthur too!) have come up with a big plan for a secret event in the next few weeks so watch this space!

I wanted to put a proposition to all of you lovely bloggers out there. El and I want StuffedNonsense to be haven for local craftsters (is that too cheesy?). we want our shop to be place people come to soak up the atmosphere of hand made things, we also want the shop to be a place for sellers to sell the wares from. you dont have to be local, but we we were wondering if any of you would be interested in selling some of lovely items in store. we won't work on commission instead (depending on the size and cost of your items) we are going to ask for a monthly 'rent' type payment. meaning that the money made from your items selling will ALL go to you. Anyway..that's the bare bones of it, i don't want to put loads of details up here in case no one fancies it and then you would have all been bored to death...so if you want more info please leave a comment or email us at stuffednonsense@hotmail.co.uk. (hope that wasn't too brain numbing for you!!)

The quest for Bulk Buttons goes on...I've asked around some craft forums but nothing has come up yet. so if any of you know where i can buy bulk plastic buttons from pretty please could you let me know? i know that people spend a long time and a lot of effort finding and maintaining their suppliers, but this is proving to be one high hurdle to jump over!!

Righto, I'm off to play with a new note book i got today. Have a Happy Sunday!!

P.S. my sea side swap arrived the other day!! I'll post some pictures tomorrow but id just like to say a big THANK YOU to lissylou!! it was a great parcel to receive in the post!!

xx

A Bit More With It Now...

Thank you for all of your lovely comments about the shop. Saturday went very well, apart from some visits from some rather peculiar people who didn't 'get' the shop (one lady said "but what does it do?" and "is this it?") everyone loved it. we are open Thursday, Fridays and Saturdays 10-5, so if any of you want to come and say hello, please do!

We hope to sell other peoples handmade wares quite soon too, we are just ironing out the creases with that. so if you think you might be interested then please get in touch!!

I found a new toy (well arth found me new toy) in a charity shop yesterday...so i spent a bit of my evening making...

Badges!! its only a kids badge maker so i can only make one size, but i still managed to get very addicted to making them....

i made some fabric ones...
some Richard Scary ones...
And some comic book ones..
Right, I'm off to work for another delightful 12-10 shift...aren't i lucky?
before i go, i was wondering if any of you lovely ladies know of a place i can buy buttons in bulk? I'm struggling to find anywhere and before long , if the shop goes well, we are going to need some more!!
Have a nice Tuesday!
x