Buttoned Up Day Off

Evening Ladies.

i had today off and to start with i felt pretty poorly, i seem to have picked up a cold from somewhere, and so i didn't get too much sleep last night because my throat had turned into a cactus!! but i feel a bit better now (i think the dime bar cake helped...yummy!!) Like I've mentioned before i feel like i can't just waste days off now that the opening date for the shop is looming closer and closer, so i made 9 pairs of ear rings and finished 5 brooches...

Some Glass and Plastic Button Droplets, i think these are quite romantic looking...

Some Funky Plastic and Metal Droplets, they make me want go disco dancing...
Some Solid Plastic Droplets, i think these would go great with a plain t-shirt...
and some Cute Plastic Droplets, the white buttons on the left hand side earrings are pretty old...
I thought that i got a bit caught up with the Button Bouquet Brooches i made for the craft fair so I'm trying to make sure there is a mix match of styles for the shop. I'm worried that these Flowe Brocches are a bit too plain and simple but similar ones I've made before have been popular so maybe its just me!
The red and black one is my favorite.

El and I also opened a joint bank account today too....eeekkkk!! serious stuff hey? we thought it best to go for a simple joint account for the first few months...at least until we have sorted out our business plan we're only going to use it to pay for things like rent and insurance. (apparently you need one to apply for a business account even if you don't want to borrow any money from them!?)

Right...I'm about done in, going to go and have a shower and probably fall asleep on the sofa!

take care

x

Dont You Love Days Off?...

Thank you for all of the lovely comments about Katya (that's what i have decided to call her...hope that's not too obvious

I had yesterday off from Cinema work but that doesn't mean that i had the day off from StuffedNonsense work!!

I managed to make another sock monster, do 2 new shadow boxes AND varnish 2 of the frames i had done already as well as one of the new ones. I only have one which needs a few more layers of paint and that's because i did something different with buttons and paint on the frame...I'll show you properly when they are done! Pretty good days work i reckons.... (ohh yeah and Arthur and I signed the contracts on our new house....yayyyyyyy!!!!)

He's called Lionel and he likes to go disco dancing...
you can kind of see what I'm trying to do with the buttons on the pink frame...we shall see...I like the picture of the skinny monkey. i think that the modern writing on the re-purposed fridge magnets looks really good with the font on the backing paper...

This one makes me laugh because it makes me think of a blackmail note from an elephant...a little bit sinister in a silly way...

I'm not sure if i should have cut out the letters a bit more neatly...ohh well its done now...

I think the little girl on the elephants back looks quite cool...i like her hair.

Lastly...I'm going to try and post a picture of me when i was a child every Friday...i signed up for it over on Dawn's blog. Dawn's blog is ace...and her pictures are lovely. Anyways....here's a picture of me,my mum and my younger sister (not so younger now!!!) we were on holiday in Devon...i think we were at a Haven holiday park. Check out my hair!!! (whats worse is that i haven't brushed my hair yet so my hair isn't looking that different to what it does in the picture!!)

i think I'm 7 years old here.

Anyways...another delightful ten hour shift at Cineballs...i mean Cineworld...whoops! Have a good Friday!!!

xx

Look Who Emerged Off Of My Sewing Table..

Alright Everyone? thanks for the comments on the buttons...Ive put some to good use all ready.

a few people asked about the shop...its going very well...the decorating (which we didn't have to do...thank you Ben!!...)is almost finished and the counter is arriving this week. On Friday (pay day) El and I are going to do such a terribly exciting thing and buy our insurance! PHEW we know how to have fun around here!!Apart from that I'm trying to find some pennies to by shelves and other bits and pieces for the shop.

Actually...perhaps some of you can help me here...I'm trying to get my head around freecycle (for the sake of the shop and also for the sake of our lovely lovely new big house)...i had to put in a reason why i should join my local freecycle group which i did but i don't know if i have been accepted or not...have any of guys done it before? (Jo, i know you've mentioned it before...any hints?)If any of you could give me some advice that would be lovely!!! Once the counter is in the shop I'll take some pictures for you...if you want to see??
I'm a bit tired today (a late night staff preview of Transformers 2 to blame for that....it was good tho') but I'm kind of feeling that i cant really justify lolling around doing nothing so i made this long legged lady (long being the operative word!!)

I'm not sure on a name for her yet, but i know that she is an Olympic Gymnast from Russia..

Look at her medals (or shiny buttons...shhhh i wont tell her if you don't...)

Right....Arthur's back from his first job of the day in a bit...then its only two hours till we both head out for a shift at the Cinema, so I'm off to make some fajitas. hopefully they will shine through the murky cloudy grumpy weather.

Take Care!

x

Buttons Before Work...

Just a really quick one before i totter off for a ten hour shift at the horrible land of cineworld (spare a thought??) Arthur's mum and baby sister came round yesterday and brought some birthday presents and a big bag of buttons!!! soooo many great ones....i took some pictures of my favorites (even though i loved them all..)

Trust me...these ones just skimming the surface...

the cutest ever wooden buttons...some great flowery plastic ones..gorgeous green and gold glass ones...and some cute plastic ones...

That's about all Ive got time for now. but I'll leave with an awesome conversation i had with Arthur's baby sister, Dot...she was telling me all about the Marx brothers and did an awesome impression of harpo...then she was telling me who she preferred the most Buster Keaton or Charlie Chaplin...and finally finished off by telling me all about Dracula and that she changed her name to Dorothy Dracula Wyman...i swear that little girl is too cute!!

wish me luck at work!!!

xx

Has it really almost been a week??

i think i should start off with an apology for not being around that much. i feel like Ive neglected my 'ol blog a bit and also that i have been struggling to keep up with all of the other lovely blogs i follow (whos silly idea was it to run a craft fair, move house AND open a shop all withing 2 weeks of each other....hmmmm?). I'm all caught up now tho' so fingers crossed i wont feel like I'm being rubbish anymore!!

Even tho' Ive been away from the laptop for a while i haven't been laying about idle! El and I did a fair bit of work with regards to shop business....public liability insurance, product liability insurance, going self employed, coming up with a floor plan for the shop, finding suppliers and other such ridiculously exciting things! (no....I'm not being sarcastic...honest....)

And of course we've both been on a non stop stock making mission...hence the reason why on my evening off last night i spent 2 and a half hours sewing dustbunnies bums on...and then their eyes (which i have only just finished this morning.) But we're now the proud owners (until the shop opens) of 26 dustbunnies! PHEW!!

Here they all are posing for a group shot...if you've read about dustbunnies on this blog before then you know that to have 26 dustbunnies all together out in the open is quite a rare thing...normally they hide from humans and prefer to watch us living our lives from behind books, cups and saucers and other such things...

There are a few slightly bigger than normal bunnies in this lot...i like the one on the left with his flowery button eyes!There are also some smaller than normal ones...i think i might be a little bit taken with the blue one!And i also used some crazy bright buttons as eyes on a few...

Well...I'm afraid that's me stitched out for the rest of today.i think I'm going to put together some packs that el and have been brainstorming for the shops...more on those later!!

Take Care M'Dears

xx

New Things Made..

Hello Guys...thanks for the birthday messages!! we are having a big party tomorrow...hope the weather picks up by then (there's supposed to be a BBQ!!)

I'm really trying to keep on top of the stock for the shop...I'm not sure if I'm getting anywhere...but the stock bag is getting fuller so i must be doing something right!

i finished these two little guys yesterday...The one on the right is a grumpy one (because he uses trains a lot and they are often late...that's why he has a cute clock button on his chest.) The one on the left is a happy sleepy eyed little lady who loves to fall asleep in the sun after she has picked and eaten cherries from her garden (that's why she has a cherry button on her chest.)Here are their faces....i think the grumpy ones face is a bit too square but its sewn on now so will have to do!!!

I also made these....

i mentioned before that i wanted to use the pages from the old annuals i brought at the auction for a project like this. I'm really pleased with how they came out...just need to touch up the paint on the frame and then i think I'll be happy. here's a close up of the collage inside

i think this one is my favorite the writing underneath the picture says 'left,right,left' (my camera is acting up again!)

This one is made from old comic book strips (i think it was a megatron comic) the writing says 'Its all fun and games until...'

The only thing I'm wondering about with these is whether i should just leave the frames painted or decorate them some more. i think i'm going to try and do one covered in comic strips but i think that the frames with more vintage images inside would benefit from a frame painted in solid colours (I'm thinking more pastels....baby pink and a soft yellow maybe?) What do you think??

id also just like to mention a blog i follow...Ruth over at nice day designs is a very talented lady who takes plain clothes and makes them new. i think its a great idea, with places like primark churning out clothes in there millions its great to see someone creating something one off and unique. i like the idea of recycling clothes too (el and i try to do it where possible in StuffedNonsense) you've got to try and help our tired 'ol planet where you can!! Shes also running a little giveaway at the mo...why not check her blog out...im sure you wont be dissapointed.

Well its that time in the morning when i have to think about going to work (i hate that time in the morning!) my best friend is travelling up from kings lynn to stay for the weekend...which means the party is going to be even better!!!!

have a great weekend m'dears!

xx

Yesterday....

I mentioned in my last post that it was my birthday on Monday and that we were going to go to Bath...which we did. it was such a lovely day and i had the best time! We went with a few of our friends...we laughed...we shopped...we drank in a few beer gardens...then we came home and i got surprise presents!!

i had some from Arthur in the morning ( the first sandman book, an Agatha Christie graphic novel and a cool t-shirt with a button design which Arthur had drawn on,) which i was more than happy with!! but El, Jon, Dave and the rest of the fairview guys (Johns other house mates) had brought me some lovely presents including...in the top left you can see the two books arth brought me. Fairview wise...next to them on the right is a 'gansta rap coloring book' (which is hilarious!) and a cute ladybird notebook...at the bottom are some cute postcards which were also from the guys at fairview.

But the most amazing present was.....

A DUST BUNNY T-SHIRT!! El drew the design and took it into a shop in town to get it printed!! how amazing is it!! the black print has a kind of velvety feeling to it. i am well and truly in love with it!!! we are going to look at getting a few more designs printed for the shop...see how much it costs first!

So that's my birthday done....I'm having a party on Saturday and i really hope the weather holds out because there's going to be a BBQ too! (and a some swing music in a local park before hand...its free apparently!)

I played around with my sewing machine and a pair of socks today....

And made this cute little lady. she is called Dotty Sue...Ive had to put her straight into the stock bag i have for our shop because i could feel myself getting too attached!!

Shes sporting one of our brand new tags which we printed our self. We brought some the fabric printer paper and its worked a charm. we decided they would look cool if we sewed them on quite scruffily...kind of adds to the charm...

Righto... i can smell lunch cooking so I'm going to go check its not burnt!!

Take Care

xx