Bexs Buttons

New Pictures...

2010-05-27T00:57:00.000-07:00

Just a few snaps of some recently acquired charity shop gold....

Please may i introduce you to Betty (on the left) and Balthazar (on the right), you can see one of the pretty handkerchief's i have taken to pinning to the wall, and the strange but appealing skiing lady)A collection of five white china horses for £2! they are not shown in their best here on the tatty, soon to be painted and re-vamped, shelves. only one of them has a broken leg but their previous owner had repaired so its all good.Some new brass owls to sit upon the 'knick-knack' shelf, i didn't intend for it be mainly full of feathered things but its going that way.

Anyway, time to go and make in the shop

A Favorite Part of The House...

2010-05-16T11:30:00.001-07:00

It seems that i stop by here just about often enough to clear the worst of the cobwebs away doesn't it?

i just wanted to stop by and show you one of my favorite spots in our house at the moment.Its on the wall directly opposite to where the sewing table is. the cabinet is one of my prized possessions a) because it is lovely and b) because i carried it all the way to the house from town (about a 25minute walk) all on my tod....i honestly thought i was never going to be able to raise my arms above my head ever again, they hurt so much)

I'm not sure what it is about this set up but i just really like it, i plan for the whole wall to be almost covered in lovely framed pictures of various birds, there are a few up all ready.

The little set of shelves was a bargain from a charity shop, i think it was the princely some of 4 pounds! i intend to display all of my very important nick nacks which seem to magically appear in my shopping bags whenever i go into charity shops.
anyway, I'll post some more pictures when i finally get the space finished, there's not much left to do just a few more licks of paint here and there.
anyway, have a wonderful Sunday evening!!

Things That I Am Liking Quite A Bit...

2010-04-21T10:18:00.000-07:00

hello!!

I wanted to pop by and show you some of the lovelies i have acquired in the last few days...much to the dismay of my bank account...

I guess this one didn't break the bank. i stumbled across a rather lovely vintage bed sheet in the charity shop, which was perfect for some curtains i had been planning. Ive been slowly but surely renovating my sewing corner of the house...poor old Arth gave me free rein in the colour department...hence the teal and ochre yellow scheme!You can see some lovely teal here, Ive yet to pin up all of my 'notice board/mood board' whatnot's. I'm really pleased with it and think the curtains came out lovely...very dottie angel.
The next two are the ones that did the damage to the bank account...

well the print and pattern one did anyway, the other one was a bargain from Oxfam. The Print and pattern one is packed with inspiration and I'm glad i brought it despite the lack of pennies residing in my poor bank account!

I couldn't leave this little fella behind, hes a candle and i have no intention of lighting him ever, he's going to sit by my button jar and guard my them and my pretty coloured plastic knitting needles!
Well, that's all for now...
Have a lovely evening.

P.S. If i don't mention my shocking blogging skills I'm hoping you wont notice them either. I'm sorry to be absent but its just a bit busy for me...shopwise and not shop wise.

A Friend From Across the Sea...

2010-02-17T02:33:00.000-08:00

We've had a visitor staying for the past few days...Arthurs baby sister came to stay with us during some of the half term. As a little present for her (its her birthday next week) I secretly made this little creation...Please excuse the rather dark picture, but I had to make her once the little lady had gone to bed. I like looking at the first sketch of something and then the real thing, this one turned out allright.A little embroidered face.She was gratefully received! The little rabbit is called Lopsy Lapin, and as I type this she is employed in a complicated game of hide and seek. I was going to call her lopsided lapin but its been abbreviated to lopsy...which i think is better. Might make some more of these for the shop...

We went to Cirencester yesterday, they have a good museum which we thought that the sister would like to go to. I wanted to go too because there was an exhibition of this ladies work there...I really enjoyed it and brought lots of her post cards because there's no way my bank balance could afford an original...but i can keep dreaming! Why not take a peek, it really is lovely work.The postcards have been stuck straight up on my sewing wall. My favorite is the lion one.(please don't look at the nostalgic picture of me and my sister in the bath! got to love the colour of the bath tub!)

Speaking of art, I've mentioned my friend Chris Rixon before, he drew me the Bex's Button picture...well he drew some birds recently and as i love birds and have grand plans for a 'Wall of Birds' (when i finally get around to decorating my bit of space...its going to be a wall of pictures of birds, all in brightly coloured frames, and the wall they hang on is going to be either a pale blue or pale yellow, so the frames stand out nice and bold.) I asked him if I could purchase two of them, he was really kind and actually gave me two prints! look at them!!!

As you can see, being the highly organised person that I am, I don't have any frames for them yet, but I had to put them up because they are soo wonderful. He uses only drawing pens, which is amazing when you think that that means its all individual lines on the feathers! If you like what you see please check out his website, I bet you wont be disappointed!

Well, I think I've bombarded you enough for one day!

Be back soon.

Bonjour!!

2010-01-25T04:47:00.000-08:00

Hello my lovelies? How are you all today?

I've been super poorly over the last few days...some sort of extra strength cold...I've only just gotten my voice back and I'm left with quite a good raspy cough (which makes me sound like a velociraptoroff of Jurassic park...that scene when they are in the kitchen...remember?)

Needless to say...i was knocked for six...soo much so that i couldn't even sew 'Woe is me!' But that didn't stop me thinking about what i wanted to sew! Which leads me onto some pictures... (and probably some explanations...)

That lightly drawn moustached critter you can see in this picture is called a Crabbitz; we've had a recent invasion of them at the shop... not that El or I are complaining. They are a cross between a cat and a rabbit and like most things in the shop we kind of came across them by accident. I decided i wanted to embroider a picture of one due to a few reasons 1. El recently drew some super cute pictures of them 2. we had a few embroidered pictures in frames at the shop but sold some in the last few weeks so needed some more and 3. i was probably hallucinating on cough medicine when the thought crosses my mind!!

Anyway onto the next picture...half way through sewing... please excuse the slightly blurry picture...I'm using an old camera which was kindly given to me by a friend (my other one gave up the ghost!) You can see that the Crabbitz has a speech bubble...inside that speech bubble you can see that he is saying 'Parlez-vous francais?' The idea is to do a little series/collection of them all saying funny little french sayings...What do you think? we are going to put them into some cute little wooden frames we have...i think they would look really cute up on a wall and i have to admit I've grown a little fond of this one...he might have to stay...well its always best to test run new ranges right??Here he is with his body all finished. i plan to keep the colours quite simple...black with one other colour...here it is green in his bow tie...I'm also thinking of doing the outline of the speech bubble in green too, i think it will bring everything together nicely, what do you think?

I'll post you another picture when I've finished embroidering the words (i get an hour break at work so I'm going to save that for then!)

Anyway...I'm off for a quick browse around the charity shops before work (first shift back since i got sick...fingers crossed I'm OK for it!)

Speak soon

My Bargain Sense Was Tingling...

2010-01-06T10:27:00.000-08:00

Soooo...

i wondered into town with Arthur (i say wondered but really i battled my way through near Arctic conditions...that's right followers, Cheltenham has finally got the snow!), at the time he thought he was going in to work but they called him on the way in and said he didn't have to come in because of the snow (later on i had to tell work that there was no way i would be able to walk in to town from our house...its literally a skating rink!.) Anyway, i digress, we thought we might as well have a wonder around the shops which were open. We enjoyed a delicious bacon sandwich and coffee,and i also picked up the most recent sew hip (FINALLY Smiths got it in). However i was satisfied...i had an itch still, i knew there were bargains to be had...so we wondered around a few charity shops, and by the end of it had definitely found the source of my tingling bargain sense.

In one shop i found 2 hand knitted bunny shaped egg cosies, a new Richard Scarry book, and a lovely little mouse ornament for the grand total of £2.50.

In the next one i found 8 square metres of some lovely heavy grey and black tweed fabric for £10, (an absolute bargain as i was looking at some similar stuff in a fabric shop and it was just under £10 pounds for 1 metre!) This fabric is going to come in sooo handy for the shop! I also found a brown leather belt for £1. (apologies for the paint pots and untidy bedroom picture, we are in the midst of decorating and this was the only room which had any where near enough light)

But the best was definitely saved for the last shop we went in. The weather was terrible by this time, i couldn't see a thing because i had to take my glasses off (they were getting covered in snow!) But we battled through and as a reward for our Arctic Explorer skills i found the most wonderful hand embroidered throw/wall hanging. It was priced at £5 and i didn't hesitate to take it to the till it was beautiful, love at first sight! But it got better, when i went up to the till the lady told me that all linen was half price! This beauty cost me £2.50!! Just look at it...

I am in awe of the time and skill this must have taken. It's lined with a linen type fabric, but this is only sewn on the sides...leaving the top and bottom ends open which is why i think it may be a wall hanging...I'm probably going to use it as a throw on our bed tho'.i think this is my favorite part...thousands and thousands of little stitches all hand sewn on. i consider myself quite a patient sewer (who spends 2 hours sewing on sequins onto a cardi) but when i think of how long just little piece took the person who made this....Those pretty pink flowers...yep...french knots!i wonder how many?I'm in love with this stitch, I've no idea what you call it but it looks soo intricate, i love the colours too.Lovey blues and satin stitch, this is one of the many flowers.

O.K. I'm going to stop bragging about my finds now...i may be snowed in but that doesn't mean i can't potter about the house.

Ohh, before i go...i made five more of the little monsters for the Indoor Picnic on Sunday...

There are a few more snaps and info of the event over on the shops blog.

Stay Warm and Safe! (and sorry for a rather long post!)

Back So Soon?...

2010-01-04T15:20:00.000-08:00

I know. I can't believe it either...but here i am...and its only been a few days since my last post!! (Well i said i would try didn't i?!)

I'm writing this after a shift at the cinema. Its quite bad there at the moment, and most shifts are a struggle for me. There will always be something which irks me or upsets me. i had a shift on Wednesday which was one of the worst I've ever had. the queue was constantly out of the door and almost to one of the entrances to the complex which the cinema is in. It was horrible. People were trampling and shoving an old lady who was struggling to get off the escalator because the foyet was soo crowded! an old lady for petes sake!! COME ON PEOPLE! its a cinema not a sinking ship! There were also people who found it highly amusing to watch me clean up a drink that they had spilt...yeah cos its funny that i get paid a pittance to clean up their mistakes! Seriously guys..it was such a bad shift i rang Arthur up and cried at him on the way home! my mantra whenever I'm in there is 'think of the shop' and 'this is a job not a career';if you see a crazed looking lady mumbling these words to herself then you know that's me...pop over and say hello because (despite the tirade of abuse that has just spilled out of fingertips and onto this blog) I'm actually a nice person!

Right...where was I?ohh yep...i just thought you might like to see some frosty pictures i took whilst on my way into town ( i was on a paint buying mission...but more of that later!)

i like this one the best. it was a really peculiar type of frost...it looks super spiky but soft at the same time!
ohhh....just wanted to let you know about this event which El and I will be at this Sunday...Bristol Biggest Indoor Picnic. Its to celebrate the launch of The Love Of It website, and it looks to be an awesome day...soooo many cool stalls and what nots going on! if your local please come and say hello. El and I will be teaching people how to make little critters that look a little bit like this guy
Right....

And So To Bed

xxx

Take A Deep Breath...

2009-12-31T07:46:00.000-08:00

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

2009-10-24T10:24:00.001-07:00

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...

2009-10-05T09:53:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-09-24T13:09:00.000-07:00

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.

I went to the charity shop today and...

2009-09-22T01:33:00.000-07:00

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.

Im Really Sorry...

2009-09-19T08:10:00.001-07:00

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

Dont Panic!!

2009-09-08T07:18:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-08-30T10:07:00.000-07:00

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

After All Of Those Words...

2009-08-24T05:58:00.000-07:00

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

Just a Little One!

2009-08-22T13:41:00.001-07:00

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

A Favour Coupled With A Giveaway...

2009-08-13T07:24:00.000-07:00

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

I'm Home!!

2009-08-09T09:10:00.001-07:00

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!

Swaps and Buttons!!!

2009-08-03T12:43:00.001-07:00

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??

2009-08-02T07:26:00.000-07:00

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!!

A Bit More With It Now...

2009-07-28T02:02:00.000-07:00

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

Pictures For You...

2009-07-25T13:32:00.000-07:00

No words tonight I'm afraid...I'm dead on my feet and on my way to bed all ready...Once more, thank you

Its All Come Around Soo Quickly..

2009-07-24T00:40:00.000-07:00

hello ladies, are you all still there? I'm sorry to have been absent from the blogging world...i went away to 2000 trees (the best time EVER!!) and then i had to work loads of hours in the space of 4 days and then i had to get ready for the shop....which opens TOMORROW!!!

Id just like to let anyone who reads this blog know that you are one of the biggest contributors in me and el opening our shop, without the words of encouragement i regularly receive from you guys i would have fallen at the first hurdle. you guys are ace thank you.

i would also like to thank my most fantastic boyfriend Arthur, thank you for listening to me when I'm panicking in the middle of night, thank you for telling me i can do this, and thank you for always believing in me.i owe you more than you could ever no.

Lastly but by no means least, thank you to my mum and dad for giving me the work ethic i have today. i am truly grateful for all they have taught me. Thank you to Alison vfor driving us to IKEA and putting up with el and i taking ages to decide on some bloody shelves, and tghen letting us take over her car in order to fit it all in (i knew those years of playing tetris would pay off!) Also thank you to my friends, Jon for telling us me an El could do it and believing in us, Amy for cataloguing ALL of our stock in one day and for saying from the start 'you can do this'. Thank you to Ben for this most amazing opportunity. Thank you to all of you guys who were there from the start, coming along to the first ever sales we did (Sarah, Alix, Lorna...) thank you to soo many more people who i cant all remember

Right....that's all the rubbish soppy stuff out of the way...

I WOULD LOVE IT if any of you guys could pop over tomorrow and say hi (take a look at what you helped create?) the shop opens at 10 and there is going to be a little tea party throughout the day...lovely cups and saucers, pretty cakes etc etc.

Anyways fingers crossed i dont let you all down!!

Tea Vicar??

2009-07-15T12:30:00.000-07:00

Hello Dearies, how are you all?? I'm getting excited because I'm going off to 2000 trees on Friday!! its a local green music festival, Arthur brought me a ticket for my birthday (yep...he's the best!) i had a bit of panic the other day as i went to buy a tent with my very very limited pennies as i had seen a few cheap ones...and they looked a bit more waterproof then our little one we have at the moment...but EVERYWHERE was sold out (of the cheap ones anyway!!) but I've calmed down now and have put our current tent up to air it out, fingers crossed it will rain tonight and i can check its waterproof in the morning!!! Ohh dear, you still there? Ive just realised Ive written a load of trollop on not buying a tent...ohh well!!

I did make three tea cup pin cushions when i got back from work (eurgh...the first day of Potter madness). They are for the shop which is good because it gives me an excuse to buy pretty cups...They are pretty easy really...Take some pretty tea cups
Some pretty fabrics and some threads...
With a few gathering stitches, a little pit of stuffing and some craft glue and taaadaaaa...

my favorite one is the one at the back, there's a tiny little chip on the cup tho'.

Well....Ive got to get back to the making, i owe my dad a belated birthday card (i didn't forget...i just remembered a day before his birthday...whoops.) I'll leave you with a picture of some Tomato, Basil and Mozzarella Muffins (they are great heated up)

I've just realised that this post rambled all over the shop...sorry, arths out at work so I'm all on my tod with no one to talk too! thanks for putting up with me!!!

Some Baking To Go With All Of The Making!

2009-07-12T01:25:00.001-07:00

Hello!! i feel much better now that EL and I have decided to put the shop opening back. its given us that little bit more time to make sure everything is ship shape...next on our list is to get the sign done...we are going to do it ourselves (which good be interesting!, fingers crossed it will look fab)

Anyway, I've been wanting to do some baking these last few days. i think its got something to do with not feeling so stressed but also down to having a nice kitchen!! so the other day El came around and we made some cup cakes...

The icing went a bit strange and felt a bit like moose when you ate it...but the cakes were yummy!!I also made some delicious coffee and gingerbread, I've made this before and this one tastes just as yummy (as you can see...i made this yesterday evening and looks whats left!!!)

Both Arth and I (and El too i think!) have ten hour shifts at work today so we decided to get up a bit earlier and have a nice breakfast before we head off for an extended stint in the land of cinema....

Dippy Eggs and Crumpets with lovely strong coffee!! i thought it would be nice to decorate the breakfast bar (ohhh how posh!) with a cute little jar of sweet peas! it was a lovely breakfast...I'm going to think about it all day so that the cinema doesn't get me down!

Right...well like i said...ten hours!

see you soon

So....In My Absense What Did I Do?....

2009-07-10T02:41:00.000-07:00

I feel a bit bad dear readers, it seems that as soon as i decide to get back on track with this blogging business i get behind again...sooo i did a marathon photo session today and now i have some pictures to show you....perhaps you should put the kettle on...there are quite a few...Some new brooch designs, i really like these...kind of like a twist on a rosette brooch. i cant decide which is my favorite one, the pink or the purple??
Some pretty button bracelets, toggle ones and normal ones.
Button and charm necklaces...I'm not too sure about this one, i think the colours are a bit too much for me.
But i quite like this one.
And I'm quite fond of this one! but i think that's because my favorite colour is green!
Hair Clips...I'm liking the little blue and red one top left...
These are called Bag of Whimsies. They are a little bag full to the brim with buttons,ribbons,fabric scraps, some beads, pretty bits of fabric and other pretties. not sure how they will go but they are fun to make and i think they look pretty.

Still there? OK...a few more then...

some pretty long necklaces...Ive made them long enough to either wear in one long chain or double up. the one with the multi coloured little buttons is my favorite. it looks so pretty and delicate yet funky, and looks great with a plain top on.

O.K. i better give you a break or you will get square eyes. there are lots of monsters and other plushy creations waiting for you over at StuffedNonsense. Right...no rest for the wicked (or for people who have a shop to open and unpacking to do!!)

Take Care!!

A Change Of Plan...

2009-07-09T07:26:00.000-07:00

Just a very quick one before i head off to work today....

El and I went to have a look at all of the furniture in the shop yesterday and it made us realise that we were not going to be ready in time to open this Saturday. So we have decided to delay the opening of our shop until the 25th, this way we will be better with the standards in our shop...for example...we still need a sign for out the front, by delaying the opening we will be able to get that just right, build up a stock pile of stock in case we sell lots (wishful thinking?) on the first day.

Soooo, sorry to mess with your plans if you were thinking of coming but I'm afraid your going to have to hold of for a little bit longer. But i promise that it will be worth it when it does open!

Right.......

2009-07-06T12:38:00.001-07:00

HELLO HELLO HELLO!! I'm very sorry to have been away for so long but I'm back on the ball now. my checklist is getting slowly smaller (even though it still seems so big..) we have brought all of the furniture for the shop, the craft fair on Saturday has happened (not as well as the first one but it still happened), we are in our lovely fantastic wonderful new home....all that's left for me to cross off is getting lots more stock, packaging it, pricing it, helping get the furniture together for the shop, opening a shop, making a sign for the shop, making a sign on a stick for the shop, and lots more but I'm sure if i read anymore of the list what little sanity i have will disappear!!

i know what will make me feel a bit better....showing you some pictures of the house....if you want...

Our super cool kitchen, with a breakfast bar (you can just see it behind the knife block)
EEEKKKK! look at all this crafting space i have!! i was going to use one of the spare rooms for a sewing room but the light is fantastic here and there is plenty of space. hmmm, it looks a bit higgildy piggilidy here but i think that's just how i work...
The conservatory, being in here when it rains is awesome!!

and the garden, can't wait for some more sun!!

I'd also like to send you all an invite to the opening day of mine and El's shop: StuffedNonsense. We will be opening on the 11th of July (this Saturday) Opens at 10 at closes at 5. we hope to have a tea party set up going on but I'm not sure how our funds will stretch to cups and saucers and stuff...I'll keep you posted. The shop is on Albion Street in Cheltenham (for those who kind of know Cheltenham, its at the back of Debenhams). It is above a shop called Proud Lion (a fantastic comic book shop...if your coming please say hi to Ben he is a lovely man who has given me and El such a generous opportunity, we are soooo grateful to him...) Right....think that's it apart from the fact that i would love it if you could come, I'll be the lady jabbering away to herself in the corner.

im still alive!

2009-07-06T08:46:00.000-07:00

hello everyone! I'm sorry about the poor state of posting around these parts but Ive been stupid stupid busy!! Arthur and i have just moved house (yesterday in fact) and in between that, a craft fair and opening a shop in 5 days its been insane!

I'm writing this at El's house, fingers crossed...when i get back to our new 3BEDROOM HOUSE!! the Internet will be working properly so i will show you some pictures of whats been going on!!

I promise I'll be back soon!!

Buttoned Up Day Off

2009-06-22T12:42:00.000-07:00

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

Dont You Love Days Off?...

2009-06-19T01:15:00.000-07:00

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!!!

Look Who Emerged Off Of My Sewing Table..

2009-06-17T06:05:00.000-07:00

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!

Buttons Before Work...

2009-06-14T02:41:00.000-07:00

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!!!

Has it really almost been a week??

2009-06-11T04:04:00.000-07:00

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

New Things Made..

2009-06-05T01:00:00.000-07:00

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!

Yesterday....

2009-06-02T04:12:00.000-07:00

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

Lovely Vintage Pages...

2009-05-29T00:36:00.000-07:00

Morning Everyone!!I'm up early today because Arth has work at 9...i thought i might as well get up with him as i start at 11 anyways!!
I took some pictures of the pages i so cruelly ripped out of the old annuals from the auction. i felt terrible doing it but most of the books in a pretty poor condition and the only thing i could do with them was to save the best bits.Ive got an idea floating in my head to use some of the pictures to make a sort of collage picture...that's not how to describe it....imagine a picture frame with one of the pictures below as the main focal point, but around it I'm going to use fabric scraps, buttons, other paper etc to jazz it up...i guess its going to look like a mood board in a frame....hmmm we will see...

I'm quite happy today, Arth and I have been offered a lovely house to rent which sounds fantastic, we are going to go and look at it Sunday. Also, its my birthday on Monday and we've decided to go to bath for it. i love bath, and who knows...maybe i will have some birthday pennies to spend whilst I'm there??

Righto....I'm off to get dressed, i think I'm going to sit in the park for an hour before work and read...

Take Care

Buttons Anyone??

2009-05-27T15:32:00.000-07:00

Righto...i promised a more coherent post yesterday so this is my attempt...(although I've just finished a ten hour shift at work so i don't hold out any hopes!!)

i thought id show you a few snaps of the great buttons i got at the auction on Monday...these are just a few of the good ones!!

some pretty flower buttons...

some fairly old wooden ones which make me think of ties..

some rather smart metal ones...

lots of these shank buttons...the smaller ones make me think of trifles...

And some absolutely beautiful glass ones, there were ten of the big hexagon ones you can see at the back.

It was the first Craft Night in last night i new it would be a bit quiet as it was the first one...this one was but it still went well so i booked the next one for the 27th of June...if anyone wants to come.

OK...I'm going to go and count down the minutes until Arthur gets back from work...hes bringing me some takeaway food...naughty i know but there is nothing in the house and im starving!!

I'll be back in soon with some pictures of the bits i took from the old annuals i got at the auction!

Take Care

Im Still Alive!!

2009-05-26T13:14:00.000-07:00

Hello out there!!

I'm really sorry for the lack of posts of the weekend. i went back to King's Lynn (where i am originally from) for a family weekend! Mum and Dad don't have a great Internet connection so i had to leave off of the whole Internet world!! we got back today tho'...after a 5 and half hour train journey!!! ridiculous!! but it was worth it! i had a great time!!

Whilst away for the weekend i lost my auction virginity!! Yes people they let me lose in an auction...more fool them!! it was great, my nan and grandad were there. Grandad is THE BEST bargain hunter ever....if hes not THE BEST he is a definite contender! he is always pottering about in his shed with tools and what not so he bid on a few monstrosity's which i think were saws of some sort!! Can you hazard a guess at what i brought? (im not going to offer a prize because its soo obvious..)

Yep! you guessed it....BUTTONS. a big 'ol tin of them with some corkers in!! i got a bit caught up in it all because another lady was bidding for them too! i had had my eyes on the lot since the start of the day and the buttons were lot number 313 so were right at the end!! i was determined to take them home with me! after i had one the bid i had to sit down for five minutes...i was shaking like a leaf!! The buttons were all ready matched up by color and put into sandwich bags but some had gone all sweaty and the colour and ran on some of them so here they are before i spent an hour washing each one...

and here they are drying out in the sun! There are some beautiful red ones!! I'll do a separate post for them later!!

My mum won a bid on a basket full of vintage linen...which she won for £6!!!

She kindly gave me a great table cloth...buts the light has gone and I'm sleepy after a horrible train journey so I'll post about that later to!!
I also got a huge box of vintage annuals...so from the 70's but there were a few books from the 1930's!! although the covers were a bit battered so i may have committed book sacrilege and taken out some of the better pages to make things of later on...please don't hate me!

Right, I'm sorry if this post seems a bit haphazard but I'm all over the place. it was the craft night in this evening which started at 6, however i didn't get in from the train journey until about half 4! so my brain is all scattered.i promise you a proper coherent post soon!!

Take Care

Rain On...Rain Off...Rain On...Rain Off...

2009-05-19T12:57:00.000-07:00

Hello all.

Isn't this weather kind of annoying? i love being inside in the rain, especially in our bed room as it is in the attic so it sounds awesome; but I'm not such a fan of it when i keep getting caught in these peculiar five minute down pours which keep happening around these parts! It gets all on my glasses, so then i take them off, but then i wonder around looking like a squinty mole...which i imagine is not too attractive.

Arthur and I went to Cirencester because we both had the day off it was so lovely and green thanks to the rain (so i shouldn't really moan about the weather!)

We decided to go there because i wanted to chase up MADE (the shop which sells StuffedNonsense stuff). They had said they would email a few weeks ago with an inventory of what had sold but we hadn't had any. Turns out there was nothing to worry about, they were just going to add April's sold items on May's sold items. There's a post on the StuffedNonsense blog with some pictures of our stock in the shop.

There's an awesome antique shop in Cirencester...we couldn't resist a little peek...

We finished the trip off with some coffee and cake at an amazing coffee which roasts its own beans!!

The smell was wonderful!!

The Cup Cake was Lavender and Lemon...interesting.

I'm trying to be crazy organised, i mentioned in a previous post that everything is going to happen all at once in late June early July, so i madea few button necklaces for our stall at the next craft fair ...the light was a bit rubbish so i decided to hold of on the picture taking. But on another crafty note...

My mum asked me to make some bibs for the twins which she looks after. these were a nice simple project...i just sat back and enjoyed sewing them. i used rubber stamps and fabric paint to print the messages on the front.....

O.K, I'm going to head off, feeling a bit tired and melancholy so I'm not going to chew your ears off any longer!

Take Care!!

Drum Roll Please.....

2009-05-18T06:27:00.000-07:00

Hello Ladies, i hope you are O.K.

As i promised myself yesterday...today is the day that the work starts...
So...

i finally got around to booking a room for the first ever Craft Night In. i couldn't get the date that i was hoping for so i had to get and earlier one ,Tuesdaythe 26th of May....except now I'm worried that the date i got is too early. Oh well...if people can't make it then I'll book it for mid June instead, if no one can make this one. I'll see what the feedback is. If any of you ladies are local and want to pop over please do!! its going to start at 6pm and finish up at 8pm.

The gig last night was great!! i had a lot of fun and the music was wonderful! it wasn't a very busy gig, which was good because we got really close to the front without getting squashed! I took a few pictures but my camera didn't fair to well...

The supporting bands were O.K. i really enjoyed the first group which were called Talons...but i wasn't to sure on the second group they were called Three Caged Tigers..

The gig was at the Guildhall in Gloucestershire. its a pretty small venue but it was great inside, the bar was really funky. you cant see it too well but there was a plaster mould thingy (I'm such a philistine!) that had two cool looking people with theatre masks on...but my camera was playing up..

Before the gig goers descended...

See...we were really close!!

Right....time to open the office again...and email all of the people who emailed me about Craft Night In...

See You Soon

The Last Day Before...

2009-05-17T04:20:00.000-07:00

...The hard work begins.

Hello Ladies. How are you all?? Thank you for all of the congratulations and happy thoughts!! it is the most amazing news ever and I'm really glad to be able to share it with you. I'm going to take loads of pictures for you all, so that you can see how it goes. ohhh, i forgot one important thing when i posted yesterday...El and I are going to call the shop StuffedNonsense...its the name that we use for all the stuff we make and its the name of our folksy shop so we've just decided to carry it over. Sound O.K.?

Soo Today is my last day of sitting around...my last day of rest!! Which means

Lots of lovely cups of tea...

Yummy cream cakes...

Sitting on the sofa by the wide open sash window enjoying the breeze and the story...

And going to see 65 Days of Static this evening with friends....perfect!!

As of tomorrow every spare bit of time is going to be taken up with stitching, organising and probably pulling my hair out! everything is going to come together really quickly...Arth and i will be moving house end of June/start of July, the next craft fair is on the 4th of July, El and I can move into our shop by the 6th of July!!PHEW!!! i hope its not too much...i think it will be O.K. Me and El have lots of people to help us!!

Right Then, I'm off to enjoy Sunday (and perhaps a nap....i got in late last night and danced the night away so I'm in need of a few more zzzz's i think!)

Take Care

The Most Amasingly Fabulous News!!!.....EVER!!

2009-05-16T09:14:00.000-07:00

Thank you for your lovely supportive comments on my last ,rather undescriptive, post
Well...its offical from the 6th of July El and I will have a shop!!!!!!!!!

Right....ok....details....

its a sub let property. we are renting it off of the lovely Ben who rents the whole building, his shop is downstairs and its called Proud Lion (its an awesome comic shop). Entrance to our shop is through Proud Lion. We have the WHOLE of the top floor which is a lovely size, not to big not to small.

Here's the best part, the first 3 months are rent free and then after that it is £200 a month. now i think this is a deal too good to pass up. i doubt that we would find another place like this for as cheap, and there's also the bonus of having a landlord who we kind of know. Our opening hours will be the same as Proud Lions, as Ben has to be there for us to gain access (at least for the first 3 months just whilst we get to know each other and insurance things get sorted out) We are not going to be able to open 6 days a week (Proud Lion is are shut on Sunday's), because we're still going to have to slog at the cinema to pay our rents on our flats...so we are looking at opening Thursday's, Friday's and Saturday's. Ben has told us that these are the busiest days at the comic shop anyway so that's good.

Now we have to get our head around stuff like registering as self employed and opening a business account....serious stuff!!!

We've got a lot to learn but both of us want this soo much that I'm sure we can make it work!!

I'm soo grateful to Ben for giving us this incredible opportunity!!!

If any of you lovely people have any hints, tips or advice please please let me know!!!!

Right...onto a more crafty note....i ordered some buttons from Sarah. i went for a mixed bag of yummy flowery ones, when they arrived they were in the awesome envelope that you can see in the pic!! I've pinned it up in the sewing corner...

I read Sarah's blog and id recommend her if you were thinking of buying anything from her. really quick postage and a great product too!!

I also got this lovely cosmetic purse from Emma. i sent her an old sew hip which i was finished with, she had been trying to find it for a while, and she kindly offered to send me this lovely as a thank you!!!

Its got really cool sparkles on one corner.

and a really cute heart charm on the zip. Thank you Emma!!

O.K That's all for now. I'm going out for dinner in a bit and I've just seen the time!!! ahhhhh!!! after dinner we're going out as a good friend is up from Manchester and well....i think we need to celebrate!!!!

Take Care my lovelies!

Shhhhhh...

2009-05-14T12:46:00.000-07:00

Hello lovelies!! WOW!! thanks for all of the comments on the last post. i have some crazy exciting news for you all but I'm not giving too much away right now because i don't want to get carried away. its a very grown up decision and i want to make sure that i (we) do it right (keeping our feet firmly on the ground....

but....are you ready for this...

El and I have been given the incredible opportunity to have an actual shop in Cheltenham...one with a window and bricks...what i mean is its real....not something from my imagination. I'm not going to say much more because it is early days but...at the moment....it seems very probable.

Whatcha think of that then???!!!

A Second One!...

2009-05-13T10:42:00.001-07:00

WOW! Thank you all for the lovely comments about the coin purse. i have run it past El and we've decided to take your advice and we've put an order in for some more clip frames. to test the water i managed to prise my little paws off of this beauty and have listed it up on our folksy shop...please can i keep it??? Plllleeeeaaassseeee!!!

i had another crappy day at work (please excuse the language) today i was politely informed by an ohh so charming customer that i only get paid five pounds an hour so why should i care?!ohh yeah and the he said "shut up. im not talking to you anymore" so i got a bit upset but remembered all the words of advice you guys gave me before and i soon cheered up....and the big boss manager told him off to...which helped!!

Before i go i have an idea to run past you lovelies....I'm going to organise a craft night called "CRAFT NIGHT IN" (hehehe get it??) its going to run alongside the Lovely Little Cheltenham Craft Fairs

Basically...its a craft club...like Stitch and Bitch clubs but not about knitting so much. a night when crafty people can meet other crafty people and eat some cake, drink some coffee (or wine....) and spark some creativity. my plan is to see how the first one goes and then I'm going to book a room for the same time every month. once they get going i hope to have group projects. when it gets to this stage i think I'll give the lovely people who come a shopping list so that they can bring everything they will need to make the project. well that's it...what do you think? silly idea or fun idea??

Right...dinner time!!

Take Care

Look What I Made!!!!

2009-05-12T09:02:00.000-07:00

Afternoon peoples. i hope you are OK and have got to see some of the sunshine today!! I'm really pleased with myself because today i managed to make something i have been longing to make for ages!!

i found some great purse frames on Saturday night which came in great colours and were quite a reasonable price. Ive been waiting and waiting and waiting to make a coin purse with a clip frame, don't ask me why...i just have. Well they arrived today and i succeeded in my crafty ambition. i followed some instructions from an old sew hip....

I made this one for my mum as it is her birthday on Saturday...i hope she likes it. Ive also got a coral coloured frame which I'm going to save for myself. Right....I'm going to go and wrap up some stuff i need to post tomorrow. have a nice evening!

Lovely Lovely Swap Goodness!!

2009-05-10T07:34:00.000-07:00

Afternoon my lovelies. How are you all?? I'm sat writing this on the sofa enjoying a rest after walking up the race course for the car boot fair (not an amazing one this time....some rick rack and four special buttons...but i had fun so I'm not going to complain!)

My day off yesterday went a bit wrong. Arth and I were going to go to Cirencester so i could take some pictures of the StuffedNonsense stock in MADE...we decided to catch the bus from a different stop (one closer to our house) but the silly thing never turned up...well i say never...it was half an hour late by the time we decided to give up. I'm 100% sure we weren't being stupid and waiting at the wrong bus stop i checked about a million times!! So we had to change our plans.Instead we went to the Curious Cafe for Lunch which was scrummy, but i still felt a little disappointed for the rest of the day...i really fancied a trip to Ciren...grrrrr.

But i soon cheered up when i got my swap parcel from Steph !!! I loved everything in it.....

A lovely big pincushion...its so lovely i don't want to put my grotty old pins in it...i might have to get some pretty pearly ones to go in it!!

An awesome necklace!! with really bright buttons and crochet rings and balls. (my camera didn't want to play when i took this pick!) but trust me it is wonderful!! it went straight round my neck!!

The most amazing corsage brooch!! the colour matches my coat perfectly and it is sooo soft! i love the texture that the green wool on the bottom gives the whole brooch!! i kept stroking it yesterday!

And a crochet kit. id mentioned on Steph's blog that i wanted to learn how to crochet as my Nana (my dads grandma) was a master of it and used to crochet granny squares until the cows came home!! I'm going to knuckle down one evening and try and figure it out!

Thank you soo much Steph...i loved every item you sent!!

I had another go at the plush toy i made in the last post (i wasn't happy with the size of the head on the first one) I'm a lot happier with this one...i like its little french knot eyes and its small smile...

I'm definatly going to make some more...but I'm faced with a dilemma now....what should i call them???Any ideas??

Lastly i also messed around in my scrap box and came up with this little piece of patchwork, i followed instructions in one of my old sew hip magazines.... its pretty small (about the size of a coaster), so its not practical for all that much. i was thinking of sewing it onto a card for my mum...its her birthday soon and i thought it might look quite striking if it was backed onto a cream color?

Right...I'm a bit engrossed in a book at the mo' (which is good...i haven't read anything in a while!!!) so I'm going to leave you to you Sunday afternoon...Ive got work at 6 on the new Ben and Jerry's ice cream counter...yummy!!!

Take Care

P.S. i almost forgot i saw Coraline the other week. Neil Gaiman is my favorite author so i was really worried about this adaptation but OH MY GOD!!! this film was amazing. anyone who has an appreciation for craft and hand made items would really enjoy it!! especially the bit at the start!!!

A Little Friday Evening Project...

2009-05-09T00:52:00.000-07:00

Thanks to El swapping a shift with me yesterday i had Friday evening off...which meant i was able to indulge in a little brainstorming at my sewing machine!! I wanted to make a plush toy that was more spring/summery. When me and el had took our stuff to the shop in Cirencester they mentioned that they liked the tartan tearaways but thought they were a bit too 'wintry', sooo i put my thinking cap on and this is what came out....Shes O.K. but I'm not happy with the size of her head...I'm going to give her to arth's baby sister, I'm pretty sure she will like it. Right....I'm off to have another go!

Oh, Steph got her swap and loved it!! I'm really relieved about it!! phew!!

Wonderful News....And A Little Spoiler (So Dont Look Too Closely Steph!)

2009-05-06T13:19:00.000-07:00

Hello!!!! How are you all??? I'm on a bit of buzz today...after yesterday going soo well (seeing mine and El's stuff in the shop) we put the extra stock we had on our stuffednonsense folksy shop....El finished doing about 2 hours ago...and guess what?!!! we've sold TWO monsters all ready!! AND to a returning customer as well!!!
So on a high, i came back from work and finished off my Freestyle Swap which is loooonnnngggg over due!! Ive taken some (what i hope are ambiguous photos) so that you can have a peak!!

I hope Steph likes these!! I'm a bit worried because the wonderful items that she makes look so professional...I'm not sure how my little makes will look next to hers!!

Anyways....its a friends birthday so I'm going to go out and sip a lime and soda!!! how exciting!!!

Take Care!

Thankyou.

2009-05-05T13:08:00.000-07:00

Id like to start this post off by saying a big thank you to all of you for your comments on the last post. they really cheered me up and restored my faith in society.

Today El and I took our stock to MADE in Cirencester...we were both a bit nervous because we weren't sure what they would take. There was no need at all for us to be nervous as they took almost everything (apart from a few brooches and a few tartan tearaways but that was only because we had brought a few too many of them) When we got to the shop we were having a look around and guess what??? we saw some of our stuff out all ready, we had given them some samplers and they had put them out on display. it was such a wonderful feeling to see our stuff out on display, i was very proud !! And i was even more proud when they told us that some of our samples had all ready sold and that they had some money to pay into our account!!! They loved the dust bunnies...which is good because i would have been annoyed if i had sewn 32 pairs of eyes on today for nothing!!!! El took some pictures on her phone....

After we had dropped of our lovelies we went for a wonder....i decided that i HAD to go to the button shop that sells buttons by the scoop because i didn't have enough little buttons...(hmmm I'm pretty sure that was a big fat lie! and we found some purple and some red hounds tooth fabric for 4 pound!!!...you cant see the purple to well here but its a really bright shade.

Right...I'm off to have a drink and celebrate having a shop with our stuff in!

Such A Rubbish Horrible Day.

2009-05-03T12:25:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone...please excuse me for the next few sentences but i need to get this off my chest. i was working a 9-4.30 today...my shift started off OK, although i had a splitting headache. But about 2 hours into my shift and it all went down hill...down a really steep hill!!! i think that every single grumpy/annoying/horrible/miserable customer came to my till. i had pretentious teenagers (i don't like to stereotype but i would money on them being cheltenham ladies) who thought that not only could they talk to me as if i was a retarded robot but that they could bitch about my colleagues in front of me. apparently it would seem that if you wear a cineworld hat you have no ears...or independent thought. After id gotten over the teenagers i then had numerous people who took the prices of stuff in the cinema personally and as a consequence blamed me. But the real icing on the cake was a man who through a hissy fit because the hot dogs weren't cooked. what would he rather?? a nice 'hot' hot dog (which i offered to take through to his screen for him!) or one that would give him a squiffy belly because it wasn't cooked properly. He was soo mean that he made me cry after he had been kicked out. I'm sorry to moan and groan but by writing about it here i am able to prove to myself that i am articulate enough to better myself over them.

phew!!!!

Anyway. on Tuesday el and i are taking our stock to MADE. I'm really looking forward to it...but also worrying because we have no where near enough stock....hence these little guys are going to be transforming on the sofa with me this evening.....

About 25 dust bunnies...and guess what?? i didn't ruin any when i was turning them the right way round!! i made the ears a little bit wider than the other ones and it has made a real difference. hopefully i can get all of these stuffed and closed tonight....hmmm wishful thinking methinks?!

Do you remember a while back i posted a picture of some of the seeds that we had growing in the pots on our window sill....well there not seeds anymore...

Well, the dust bunnies are waiting. I'm sorry about the tirade at the start of this post....

Just a Short One..

2009-05-02T11:09:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone! Just a quick one. i thought id post a picture of these because they looked pretty. had a horrible busy day at work today so i needed something crafty to take my mind off it, but i was too tired to do anything big....so i picked apart some broken jewellery i was very kindly given....

xxx

Some Pretty Little Sewing Projects...

2009-04-30T10:18:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone! Thank you very much for all of the great comments on the button necklaces! it seems the white ones are peoples favorites....me and el are trying to get the colour combos right so your comments were really helpful.

El and I sold another monster on Folksy the other day, which is fantastic!!!.....except when we went to package him up (Hermes the elephant) we realised there was no way we could sell him, he was just a bit too scruffy!! so we messaged the person who brought Hermes and offered a refund or a new Hermes....the gentlemen who brought him said he did not mind sooo.....

I thought it would be nice to include the little elephant because of all the messing around we did...

They look kind of bemused here!

I also finished one of the gifts for silkie sue's free style swap....this is just a little sneaky peek...hope it doesn't give too much away!!...

And lastly....look at these really cute tins that Arth brought me today...

They were from a new charity shop which opened last week...these were only 50p!!!! I've no idea what i will put in them but i like paisley print so maybe i'll just put them on a shelf and admire them !!!

Right, off to the horrible place that us tescos...my tummy is grumbling.

See you soon!!!

New Pretties...

2009-04-29T09:29:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone. Ive had the day off today so El came over to make some button jewellery for the shop in Cirencester. We are going to take our stuff over there on Tuesday coming....eeek!! it still kind of scares me that they want to sell it. What if they change their mind? or What if they don't sell any of our stuff?
Anyways....here's the necklaces that we made today...

This one is actually red and blue..not the funny browny orange colour it has came out as here.

And this one is actually blue and dark orange but the colours didn't come out fantastically.

And this one is purple and yellow...believe it or not!!

This one is made from some of my shell buttons, which means some of the buttons are probably really old.

I like this one...its kind of nautical and the three buttons in the middle look cool because they are squares...i think they kind of set the whole thing off.

I quite like this kind of design for button necklaces. the extra line of buttons on the back gives it more of a structure. some of them look quite short here but they all rest at about collar bone height... the shell one is a little bit longer tho'. The necklaces were quite popular at the craft fair so fingers crossed these will go down well in Cirencester.

Ive had the day off of work today and I'm glad of it (it means i can hide from people). Last night we went to a staff preview of Wolverine, i absolutely loved it...don't get me wrong it isn't going to get any best film awards but i genuinely think that it was a good portrayal of the history of Wolverine. I love X-Men and do not call myself an expert in the slightest, nonetheless i thought that seeing never on screen before Marvel characters was fantastic. who cares if dead pool turns into some crazy unbelievable monster that can shoot lazer's from his eyes?? HELLO!! your watching a film about a man who has metal claws that come out of skin!! I dont think believable characters are a huge issue!! as you can probably guess....im one of the few people at the cinema who did enjoy it. Whats annoying is that people have asked me if i liked it and Ive said yes...but the people just turn around and say "yeah...but you only like it because of Hugh Jackman" THIS IS NOT TRUE!!!!

Phew, i hope that doesn't a) bore anyone and b)offend anyone from work!!

Right, I'm off to see if i can coax my sewing machine to work properly...wish me luck.

xxx

A Wonderful Weekend!!

2009-04-27T05:30:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, i hope you all had a great weekend. I'm just about rested after running around like a loon for most of mine. I promised that i would post about craft fair loveliness and boot fair finds! So here you go...

So you all know about the craft fair on Saturday. it went really well and there were only a few quiet patches. towards the end of the fair, when everyone was thinking of packing up, i managed to persuade some of the lovely ladies to do a swap with me!! boy was i lucky!!! here's a list of what i swapped....
A Fabric Shopping Bag from Sue (Top left), i love the pretty pink roses.

A Gorgeous Pair of Earrings from Liz(bottom left,hooked on the sparkly bracelet) the pictures not great of these but they are droplets and there is a small turquoise enamel globe with pink roses.

A Fantastic Green Beret with Green Buttons on from Scaff (middle Right). This is perfect for me, i love the big baggy beret hats that are around at the moment and green is my favorite colour.

A Pretty Little Lavender Heart from Cara (bottom left, inside the bracelet). Ive put this is my fabric draw which is see through so i can still see it and it will keep some of my fabrics fresh!!

A Whole Stack of Vintage Tea Towels From Sue (bottom right) Sue very kindly gave me these as a thanks for organising the craft fair! how lucky am i?

Last but my no mean least, i got an Awesome Sparkly X-Men Bracelet from Sophie!

I Love X-Men and i was going to buy this myself but she offered it up as a swap. How funky is it??!!

O.K...so that's all of the craft fair swaps mentioned.

My parents came up for the weekend. It was soo good to see them. i live a long way from them so i only get to see them about 5-6 times a year. it was great to have them here for the craft fair. mum was a great help and was outside the strand handing out flyers to passers by!! so it probably thanks to her that there were quite a few customers. Thank you Mum!! Mum and Dad also brought a huge load of fabric and buttons up with them. There's no way i can photograph them all,but rest assured there were some beauties!! Here's a picture of some of the awesome buttons...

some of the ones which mum brought up were my nanas so they are super old!!

On Sunday we went to the boot fair and i came back with some bargains. if you look at the top picture...

Middle Left: a funky yellow/brown colored dish for £1!! I'll probably use it at other craft fairs. Also next to it you can see a complete set of butterfly brooke bond tea cards, for £1 again! I'm going to use them to make gift tags out of...you can also see a great vintage Agatha Christie paper back (for those of you who don't know...i love Christie...especially Poirot ones!!)

Middle Back: a small red leather vintage satchel for 50p!! Ive been keeping my eyes peeled for something similar to this as the one i have is on its last legs. this is great replacement!!

There were of course button finds but i couldn't help myself and Ive put them all in the right jars now!!

Well i reckon i have chewed your ears off enough now...sorry its a long post but it was a busy weekend!!!

Take Care

PHEW!!!!

2009-04-26T09:35:00.001-07:00

Well Well Well!!! Everything went soo well yesterday! This is the first chance i have had to sit down and have a breather!!

The craft fair was fairly busy...but most importantly to me everyone who had a stall was happy. i was worried i would disappoint them in some way!

There was a lot of interest in the next one (in two months time).

I forgot my camera tho'...so there aren't as many pics as there could be but my dad was there and he had a new digital camcorder so he took a few, but some were blurry...heres mine and els stall...(we had sold some stuff buy the time it was taken..)

Thank you all for your kind words of encouragement about the stupid sewing machine! I'm just going to send her to the doctors and hope for the best! in the mean time I'm back on my one from the stone ages!!

I'm going to do a proper post tomorrow because i have some pictures of swaps that we did at the end of the craft fair and also pictures of the wealth of buttons and fabric that my mum brought up with her....ohh yeah and some car boot finds!!! i just wanted to let you know that I'm still alive!!

P.S. jo, you left cards at the craft fair, i have brought them back to mine.shall i post them up to you??

A Broken Sewing Machine!!! A DAY BEFORE THE BLOOMING CRAFT FAIR!!!

2009-04-24T02:43:00.001-07:00

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!

Stupid sewing machine has decided it is going for a career change., instead of being a machine that sews lovely neat stitches in lovely neat lines its going to become a horrible angry machine who likes to chew up the bobbin thread and make horrible catchy gratey noises!!

FINE!!! i didn't want to make bibs at half nine in the morning anyway!!!!

Phew....sorry about that....i feel much better after that tirade!!

I'm going to go off and price up the things which the sewing machine did sew nicely before this morning!!

Take Care

Spare a Thought For My Poor Ol' Sewing Machine...

2009-04-23T09:12:00.000-07:00

Phew!!! I've just finished sewing 11 coin purses...you should have heard the noises that my poor old sewing machine was making by the end of it all. but at least i now have a nice round 15 for the craft fair.I think there are some lovely combinations here...i just hope that the people who come on Saturday think so too!!

I had a late night last night....making jewellery!! ohh yeah!! i know how to have a good time!! hahaha...here are some of my favorite necklaces from yesterday...but there are lots more...

The one in the middle has buttons which are a lovely shade of green...i think they work well with the brown buttons. I think that the coral coloured buttons on the white necklaces are lovely too....i have a few of them left!!

Right...time to make the zip pull for the coin purses...i must have been wicked because i don't seem to be getting any rest!!

Here's a picture of a caterpillar i took today...i wonder what he will look like as a butterfly??See you soon!!

Mice and Coin Purses...

2009-04-22T03:24:00.000-07:00

Morning!!

I've been busy already today!! I cut the fabric for 11 coin purses....

My fingers are now have a scissor shaped indentations on them!! ouch!!
I also thought i would post a picture of some new creations i came up with yesterday. They are called button mice and they scurry along collecting up lost and forgotten buttons. They keep them all in pretty jars inside their little mouse holes. I'm quite taken with these...they are super easy to make and i think they look quite cute.

They have pretty buttons on their sides...this one has a heart on it...although it is brown and you cant see it too well here.

They have tails made from string and the tails have a button tied onto them. i think this one looks cute and a bit confused as to why I'm taking a photo of it!

Well....i don't think there will be any making in the park today, its a little chillier than yesterday...so i think its going to be button necklaces and bracelets inside.

Tomorrow is going to be all about sewing those coin purses together and sewing some bibs!

Phew!!!

See you soon

Sunshine Sunshine Sunshine!!

2009-04-21T10:59:00.000-07:00

Phew!!! Ive been taking full advantage of the lovely sunny weather we have had. All the windows in the flat are wide open washing is drying outside. lovely....

Ive been crazy busy for the craft fair. yesterday and today el and i took the sewing to the local park....

I look like a ten year old here!! short legs!!

It was lovely...although we did get some funny looks from passers boy and some lovely chavs informed us that we were boring!! As a result of our sunshine sewing we have...

(left to right) a stripey little monster, a little baby monster to go in the pocket of a bigger one, a happy cat, a super cute little plump, and a giraffe. not bad i reckon!! oh yeah...and there was a little bit of sun burn.

Today wasn't as productive...i took some dust bunnies to make and as they so often do lots of them didn't work and i ended up swearing lots...so i came back to els and made some mice and that made me feel a bit better.( hmmm that's a funny sounding paragraph) I'll post some pictures of the mice up tomorrow...so that you don't think I'm a complete nutter.

Right dinner time!!!

see you soon

Boot Fair Finds!!!

2009-04-19T08:34:00.000-07:00

we went to another boot fair today. as always i was on the hunt for more buttons.....and this boot fair came up trumps!!!i found this tin for FIVE pounds...There were soo many lovely ones in here...beautiful flower shaped ones, lovely metal ones, and some great basic brown and black ones which will be perfect for the new necklaces i have come up with.

i also found this beauty for 20p!!! Ive used it to put my pens, scissors and paint brushes in. its now sat quite at home on the sewing table! (please excuse the mess monster that lives under my sewing table...)

I meant to show you this little cup and saucer ,which i found in cirencester, in my last post but i forgot.

I think its soo cute and funny too....i can just imagine a surly dad getting given this on fathers day by his kids and then having to try and fit is big sausage fingers into the little handle!! The purple flowers are really pretty and i love the cursive writing on it too. it only cost 50p!!!

Lastly....my pass it on parcel arrived yesterday. it was great because i was pottering around in the flat waiting for arth to come back from work and so i hadn't heard the post. Which meant that Arth came through the front door with a lovely little parcel for me....

Thank you Sarah!!! i love them!! such a great idea!! Ive got one hanging up by our calender and the other is hanging under the button jar shelf!!

To anyone who is in my pass it on....i haven't forgotten I'm just really busy....who's clever idea was it to organise a craft fair...and then leave most of the making until the last week?....ohhh right...that was me!!

Righto'...I'm off to the cinema. we are going to watch Let The Right One In, its a Swedish horror film which is supposed to be great, and cineworld in cheltenham doesn't normally get films like this so we are going to go whilst we have the chance!!!

Take Care m'dears!!

Two Episodes of Deadwood and....

2009-04-18T03:15:00.000-07:00

Bonjour!!! How are you all??

I had a productive night yesterday. I finished work at 6 and neither me nor arth could be bothered to cook soo (Shhhhhh don't tell on me) we had fish and chips!!! YUMMY!!!

Afterwards i felt a bit lazy so i made these fellas...
in front of two episodes of deadwood! i love this TV series and it makes me grateful for arths love of all things western cos i wouldn't have ever seen it if it wasn't for him!!

I've finally brought some batteries for my camera so i thought id post you guys some pictures of mine and els recent trip to cirencester...

First stop was this fantastic,wonderful,marvellous shop....(did i mention that they are going to sell StuffedNonsense stock?!!) We dropped some of our stock in for them to have a look at and they asked us lots of question which we must have answered OK. we thought it went well so we stopped of here...

The Brewery Arts Centre for a celebratory cup of tea and coffee.....and cake....and a scone...

We were still on a bit of high after this so we went for a wonder around the shops and we came across one called Lexy Loves.....ohh my god!! i don't know about Lexy loving it but Bex definitely does!!!!

Look at this!!!!

O.K. the picture isn't too good. but those jars you see there?? they are packed full of lovely bright funky buttons!!! the idea is you take a scoop....pick out your favorites....and take them home for 3 pound a scoop. i don't think its too much really...the buttons are really unique and half the fun for me was picking out the ones i wanted. the shop also stocks great trimmings, fabrics and books as well as lots of homemade cuteness. if your local i would strongly suggest popping in...although hands off the buttons!! they are mine OK??

Righto'!! time to go and have a cup of tea and some millionaires short bread. I should be posting quite a bit over the next week, Ive booked it off so i can make and get ready for the craft fair (sorry to mention it again!!)

xxx
P.S. Eloise...if you are reading this...Ive done the pay it forward thing to the people who commented after you but do not fear!!! i have a little something for you....i was going to offer you 25% off of stuff on the stuffednonsense stall next Saturday?? sound OK to you??

Ohhh WOW!!!

2009-04-16T12:46:00.000-07:00

Afternoon Ladies. How are you all? I hope your ready for this post....its kind of groundbreaking (for me anyway.)

I don't know if any of you remember but a few posts back i mentioned that El and I went to Cirencester to hand out some flyers for the craft fair, and that one of the shops we went into asked us to bring in some of the stuff we make as they would probably be interested in selling it for us?

Well.......we took some up yesterday and they loved it!!! we took quite a big selection...dust bunnies, tartan tearaways,little snoozes,necklaces,brooches,gift tags,bibs,purses. The only thing they said they wouldn't take was the purses as they all ready have a lady who makes them. The people that work there said the nicest things about our stuff...'beautiful and stunning' were used! I'm so very happy for this opportunity. Its another step along the way to owning our own shop for me and el. i really am soo lucky to have someone like el to partner up on this with. a big thank you to her and a huge thank you to arth for encouraging me every step of the way.

after finding this info out Ive come to a conclusion regarding this blog and where i want it to go. I'm going to use this blog to show pictures of the StuffedNonsense products but if people want to find out more info then they should pop over to the StuffedNonsense blog.

I'm still going to post here all the time like i normally do...just I'm going to try and separate StuffedNonsense stuff from my general craftiness....make sense??

On other news....i had a little meeting with the local newspaper about advertising the craft fair. i really only went in to find out what the deadline was to put an advert in but the lady was sooo friendly....she even took some flyers to hand out and said if she needed anymore she would photo copy them. how nice is that??!! I'm pretty surprised at how quickly i seem to have developed organisational skills!! i cant believe that it only 8 days away! I'm soo nervous that no one will come and keep racking my brains to see if Ive missed anything!!

Well, i guess Ive chewed your ears off enough by now! i haven't got any pics today as I'm on arths laptop...mines gone a bit squiffy so I'm hoping if i leave it alone for a day or two it will stop sulking and start working properly...not that I'm an I.T. specialist or anything.

See you Soon

oh...a massive thankyou to you guys too, your comments have given me soo much more confidence in the stuff i make too!

I Love Car Boots!!

2009-04-13T06:35:00.000-07:00

Hello!! I'm back after a busy Easter weekend at work!! whilst working over the weekend a friend told me that there was a car boot on Monday and that it wasn't too far....just by the race course. so we decided to go...we got to the race course but couldn't see a car boot...we wondered around in case we had missed it but still couldn't find it....so i pounced on some passers by and asked them for directions. it turned out that they were going to it too, and new the way. turns out that we had to walk out of cheltenham to get the car boot. but it was well worth it, and the exercise did me good!!! look what i found!

of course....buttons!!

and fabrics, all of them have patterns on them but most of the patterns are little flowers so you cant see them too well here. i think the lady who was selling these had just recently lost her mother and was selling her mums patchwork supplies, i told her that i would put them to good use. i got these lovely green/grey buttons, and little card of pearls from the same lady. it all came to 1 pound!!

a pretty book of poems, i love the yellow and black print.

arth found a copy of clever Polly and the stupid wolf, a book he loved as a child...and still does love. his mum uses it when she is teaching and her copy is getting a bit tatty so we brought this too. both books cost 50p!

Then i found these white converses with a white and pink tongue for....1 pound!!!!

i also got a little guillotine but i didn't think it would make a very interesting picture so i left it out. all in all we spent...4.50p!! well worth the long walk.

well done to Emma loves stitching, shabby chick and Katrina. if you can email me your addresses i will send them out to you, its bexsbuttons@hotmail.com.

Righto' that's all for now, I'm glad that all you lovely people had a great Easter!! I'll be back soon with some pretties hopefully!

Pay It Forward!

2009-04-11T10:26:00.000-07:00

Just a quick one, i'm doing this thing called pay it forward....heres how it worksFor those who don't know, it goes like this - the first three people to leave a comment will receive a hand made gift from me! The only thing you have to do is participate and carry on the gift giving to three more people...as soon as you have left a comment do a "pay it forward post" on your blog and continue the giving. ive signed up for the one over on Sarahs blog. its such a great idea!!

im off to go round a pals for dinner and then some drinks...could get messy!!

happy easter!!

HAPPY EASTER!

2009-04-09T07:26:00.000-07:00

I figured id go ahead with my happy Easter message today because I'm working all weekend...its alright tho' because i have Monday off and so does arth too!! I'm sure that many of you lovely organised people have done the Easter egg thing (or the crafty equivalent) but i thought id post about a great offer on at whitards. if you buy one of their mugs you get a free Easter egg and it comes all wrapped up. arth and i went their today and brought one for each other...id been sneaky and already decided which one i wanted. Take a Look...

(please ignore the fluff on the sofa!) i chose the cute pink polka dot bird mug and arth chose one with a funky rainbow pattern!! i think this is a great deal because you pay around 4pound for a cadburys one that comes with a mug and the mugs are no where near as cool as these ones!!

see.. mmmm chocolate doughnut!! you can see a new tartan tearaway in the top right corner of that picture! i made another 3 today, phew!!! I'm panicking about not having enough stuff for the craft fair so for now arth has to live with whirlwind type thing sitting at the sewing table in the corner of our living room...spare a thought for him!

Right...you know what I'm going to say....

Ive got to go to work soon so im going to sign off.i think tomorrow i am going to make Easter cornflake cakes for people at work....and for me of course...

Im Still Here...

2009-04-07T07:59:00.000-07:00

Alright everyone?

i had to work all of last weekend so i didn't get too much time to do any stitching...i managed to make another 10 dustbunnies for the craft fair....i had to take them into work to finish tho'! i started to get a bit worried about not having enough stuff for the craft fair but then i decided to take a week off work before it soo fingers crossed...i can get a shed load done then!!

i finished these two today...(i haven't got work until 6) El and i have decided to make a few more like it and i think we are going to call them 'tartan tearaways' what do you think to the name? anyway without further ado... i give you

Robert the Tartan Tearaway....and

Frederick the Tartan Tearaway.

I think their stories are going to have something to do with being mischievous little monsters who often get into trouble but don't mean any harm. they are all going to be made from tartan or have tartan on them somewhere.

That's about all Ive been able to manage around here!!

Ive put my name down for this swap over at Silky Sues.

i like the idea of it being free style!! why not put your name down?

I was given an award today but I'm going to sort that out tomorrow if you don't mind!!

Right, sausages are cooking and my belly is growling!! see you soon

I've Been Busy...

2009-04-04T00:57:00.000-07:00

Happy Saturday Everyone.

I had a day off yesterday (which was good because it came round quick but i don't think its going to feel so good by Thursday when Ive gone insane from no day off in a while on the Easter holidays....i think I'm going to have to think of my happy place...a lot)

I was very productive yesterday and made a whole stack of stuff.

'BRING ON THE PICTURES...!'

First i made these cards from some great (and cheap) charity shop finds...

I think the buttons finish them off nicely.

i found a little stamp set for 3 pound! yesterday so i put it to good use.
Then i made these little fellas....

They are for the stuffed nonsense stall at the craft fair (if you look close you can see our new tags on their sides!! how exciting!) they are lavender scented plush hangers....to go on a baby's cot or door handle in their room....the lavender will help them sleep...in theory.

here's this little fella practising his new job. i like their sleepy eyes. i hope that these will become one of the designs that is unique to stuffednonsense, like the plumps and dust bunnies. (woah...that sounded a bit professional.)

Lastly...i made this little monster...

He is called Sting because he is yellow and black like a wasp,but he is not mean and nasty like a wasp.

Well that's it. the fruits of my day off. i learnt one very important lesson yesterday....don't get lavender oil in your mouth....tastes nasty!! Oh, what do you think of the cards and snoozes....their new to me and i want to make sure that they have some appeal before i go on a making binge and make loads!!!

I'll be back soon...I'm not at work until five...who knows whats gong to spring out of the sewing corner by then???

Did I Mention That...

2009-04-02T04:01:00.000-07:00

I LOVE..Arthur. he brought me these super fantastic shoes as an anniversary present (i was happy with the flowers! but these are definitely welcome!!)
Winning a give away on a blog and then getting the bag that i won in the post!!! (i missed the parcel man delivering it...so Arthur went to pick it up and brought it in to me at work....a very welcome distraction from a 12-10 shift!!)

Great Charity Shop finds...the little red book on the right is an address book with the coolest illustrations....for 1 POUND!!

And i also love blogging and seeing what other crafty types are doing. thank you to everyone who reads my blog and comments. every comment means something to me!

THANK YOU!!

XXX

Did IMention I Love Days Off...

2009-03-31T12:50:00.000-07:00

Hello!! I've had a busy day today! a big ol' group of us went to Cirencester today (a village local to Cheltenham. A friend had recommended it as there were quite a few gift shops which would probably take some flyer's for the craft fair.

Which look like this by the way...

El did them (she is a very talented young lady and i am very happy to be working with her!!)

Anyways...the trip went very well. lots of people took some flyer's (apart from one horrible lady who said no because 'if people go to your craft fair they wont come to my shop...'. Jo, the friend who tipped me off, recommended a great shop called MADE, a little shop which sells crafts from local people. They were very positive about the craft fair and best of all asked me and el to bring in some of our stuff as they may be interested in selling it!!! The day was finished off with some...

Great charity shop button finds...

Some interesting cake (Gluten Free Carrot and Walnut hmmmm not sure about it)

Coming home and making some button drawing pins...

Finding a much much much quicker way to make dust bunnies (YAY!! no knitting needle incidents)

And making a pin cushion for el...as a thank you for working so hard on the flyer's.

Phew!!! sorry if i overloaded on the pictures....I'm off to watch the recording of number one ladies detective agency. thank you to the tips for the pincushions. i made els from a lighter fabric and it works a ot better!

See you Soon!!

xxx

An Idea in the Making....

2009-03-30T07:06:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! i hope you are all well and happy. i met with some of the people who are doing stalls at the craft fair...i was a little bit nervous about it, but it went really well. I'm very happy that i decided to organise this craft fair. i hope this one goes well because if it does I'm going to try and do them every 2 months!!

i keep seeing these gorgeous pin cushions in vintage cups and saucers, and i have been thinking about making them for a few weeks now. anyway whilst having a browse in a charity shop the other day i came across a cute little bowl for 50p and thought it was a good opportunity to have a go at these pin cushions. i had a go before i met the lovely ladies of the craft fair. what do you think?

id say i would give it an 8 out of 10. i think the fabric i used is a bit too heavy so whenever i take a pin out it lifts out of the bowl. perhaps i could glue it in? or maybe use a thinner fabric so that the pins come out easier? any suggestions? (how cute is the little bowl!!) hehehehe i just realised that if this works i can buy more pretties form the charity shops and not have to worry about where i can put them!! GENIUS!!

Right then....I'm off. i need to go and find some info about buses to cirencester. the flyers are ready for the craft fair and Ive been told there are some crafty shops there that would probably take some! (also Ive been told the charity shops are good there too!!!)

Speak to you tommorow!!

Second Tea Towel Wallet.

2009-03-28T06:44:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone! we had a lovely evening last night. every year we always go the the same restaurant for our anniversary, it is normally a really relaxed place which serves lovely Thai food....except in between this anniversary and the last it must have changed owners because it was very different!! the food was still yummy and we had a good evening but the atmosphere was all different...a bit snobbier.ohhh well things change i guess.

i did some baking today but forgot to take a picture. i think if i had they would of looked quite pale anyway. i made lemon and white chocolate muffins...they taste yummy but they look real pale.

i also made another wallet....its a small one (i thought it was too small but Arthur reminded me that some people like small wallets) its made from the same tea towel as the one i made two or three posts ago...

I'm quite pleased with how the fabric looks in these pictures....nice and vintage. i also like the big flower on the back of it.

i was supposed to but this up yesterday but i forgot. a while back i did a swap with a friend at work. i would make him a monster and he would do a sketch for me. i have the sketch by my sewing table...i think it is just ink. anyway he said that he had coloured the sketch in on photoshop and that he would email it to me if i wanted....what do you think?....

His name is Chris Rixon, the work he does is soo incredibly detailed...i don't understand how he does it!! he said that i had to post a picture of it here and i have...so there you go Chris.

Right...that's all for now i think.

Take Care

WOW!!! What a Great Spring Swap!!!

2009-03-27T07:21:00.000-07:00

My Spring Swap Parcel from Claire over at dolly dollop.

I am one lucky lady!!! I'm sorry about the quality of photos but i had to take them in a rush because the battery light started to flash on the camera!!!

a super cute union jack heart brooch...this is going straight on my coat!!!

some lovely spring time bunting!! cant wait to put this around my sewing corner!!

A really cute spring chicken!!! i had seen these on Claire's blog and fell in love with them!! I'm soo pleased to have one of my own!!

Some yummy chocolates (which i most certainly have NOT eaten already!) and some la toile fabric (a very welcome addition to my stash!!)

a gorgeous union jack cushion with super cute fairy fabric!!!
And a BEAUTIFUL spring time plate!!! I'm very happy with all of the gifts but i love this plate!!!! i have another plate in a similar shape but different decoration.

Thank you soo much Claire, you've put the items i sent to you to shame!!! thank you!!

Also a big thank you to Fairienuff for organising the swap....i want to do another one now, i enjoyed this one soo much!anyone know of one going on??

Right, it looks like those pesky monsters, which break into the flat and leave little messy piles everywhere,have popped in for a visit!! and i have to wash my hair and pluck my eyebrows!!! me and arth are going out for dinner tonight for our anniversary!!

Take Care My lovely little chickens!

Just a Little Scrappy Thing.

2009-03-26T05:59:00.000-07:00

Hello! thank you very much to everyone who commented on my grumpy post yesterday...your comments really cheered me up!!!

I've done a bit of stuff for the craft fair today...trying to find places to advertise the craft fair....i registered it on a website i found which has listings of craft fair....but after that i kind of got stuck. any suggestions?

Whilst puffing out my cheeks and looking at my laptop with a very bored look on my face i made this....

My nan and grandad gave me about 5 metres of this strange fabric type stuff, apparently it is used to make hats stiffer. Jo mentioned what it could be called a few weeks ago but i cant remember what she said!! anyways i like it...it is a little bit scratchy but it will do for my coat. what do you reckon?

Right better be off now...got another one of those annoying 'stuck right in the middle of your day shifts!'

I'll be back soon

First of the Tea Towel Wallets

2009-03-25T06:33:00.001-07:00

afternoon everyone, i hope you are all well. i have a stupid headache today....I'm not too surprised, i went to bed a bit grumpy and stressed out, whenever i do this i always wake with a bad head? maybe it is because i sleep with a frown on my face?? hehehe.

i was grumpy yesterday night because my job at the cinema is really grinding me down at the moment. i know some of my friends from the cinema read this...so don't take offence. I'm just finding it hard to deal with the place at the moment. because it is quite a big chain there are lots of rules which suggest (to me) that they don't trust anyone who works for them. i know that there are some dishonest people which probably work for any of the cineworld cinemas but im not one of them. i kind of take it very personally when we have to follow 'silly rules'. oh dear...i really didn't mean to rant about the cinema. i know you shouldn't moan about your job as there are soo many people around which don't have one but it just got me a bit depressed yesterday.

Anyways, on a less depressing note. i made the first of the tea towel wallets for the craft fair today. I'm pretty happy with it but not 100% (Arthur always says that i am never 100% happy with anything i make!) i think the button goes quite well with the fabric.

i used some pelmet interfacing when i made this and it has given it such a better shape and is soo much sturdier then other interfacing Ive used before.

i was a bit worried that it would be a bit difficult to get any money or change out but i think it should be OK.

Well, there you have it...the first tea towel wallet. i can get a bit obsessed with making wallets once i start...i don't know why it just seems that once i make one i have to make a shed load more....so followers of this blog....i hope you like wallets!hehehehe

Right...I'm going to do some boring replying to emails and other such.

take care everyone

Look What Came In The Post Today!!

2009-03-24T05:42:00.000-07:00

i was perusing through ebay the other week, looking for some tea towels to make some wallets for the craft fair and found a collection of six which looked good. i put a bid in and won!! normally i just go for the buy it now option on ebay but not this time!!! i got all of the towels for just under five pounds!!!! and they came all nicely wrapped up...something i have never seen from the other stuff i have brought on ebay. look....

and here are the tea towels...I'm very happy with them and cant wait to get going on the wallets tomorrow!!!

The weekend in Bristol was great...i brought lots of glass jars and relaxed too!!

Right, i have a few things to finish up so I'll be back soon!!!

Look who just checked in...

2009-03-21T03:48:00.000-07:00

Morning all!!! firstly thank you for the lovely comments about the new hairdo...I'm used to it now and i like it!! (which is good i guess!!)

Ive been busy this morning sorting out the table plan for the craft fair! i think i managed to fit everyone in. if any of you are local please pop over and say hello...if you want. it would be lovely to meet the people who read the jumbled up words i type here!!

i just finished these two creations for the stuffednonsense stall...

This is Black'n'Blue. he is a retired bare knuckle fighter...but has left his violent past behind. he has decided that he would like to grow old gracefully and has found that he has a passion for visiting stately homes. he has lots of plasters on him because he still has a bit of healing left to do!

I'm not sure what this fella should be called....i hand sewed him and i think that makes his legs and arms look a bit lumpy!! what names do you think???

Right...I'm off to pack an over night bag!!(ikea today...bath tomorrow which means Ben's cookies tomorrow!!!)

Have a great weekend and mothers day to all you ma's out there!!

Taaaa Daaaa!!

2009-03-19T11:33:00.000-07:00

Soooo...this is me....what do you think? Ive got a bit of a dorky smile on here but it will do. i think i like the new hair its very different to what it was before. i guess that now would be a good time to do an award i got given a while back from Nicky at hollypops. i have to put down seven things i love, here goes....
1. i love Arthur ( four years next week)
2. i love sausage dogs.
3. i love buttons...especially unexpected jars of them..
4.i love my family and everything that they have taught me.
5. i love being creative and making things.
6. i love it when people buy the stuff i make
7. i love my friends.

i have to send this to seven more people :
Bonita at beakycrafts
Bethany at bethany allen.
Mel at country in the town.
Maranda at mandMstudio
Kirsty at CraftyFish
Sarah at the blueberry patch.
Louise at thirtyfive flowers.

o.k. your go now!!!!
oh, just wanted to post a picture of this little found i sniffed out today...
for ONE POUND! and it says Wedgwood on the bottom!! (not sure if its real though) i love the colour...it made me think of the 1920's...i think I'm going to use it drink hot chocolate from!!

Right...that's all for now...we are going to go to the flicks tonight...young Victoria or gran torino...

take care

Fresh From the Button Bouquet Brooch Press...

2009-03-18T07:43:00.000-07:00

i enjoyed making the button bouquet brooch for Claire that i decided i was going to make some for the sale...which is what i spent ,y time doing today....until i ran out of brooch backs grrrrrrr!!! What do you think...I'm not sure which one i like the most...i Will say that i am little bit wary of these as i have seen similar brooches on folksy, but i think mine are different enough as the ones i have seen are not on felt and are like buttons on top each other (maybe they are glues) I'm not sure. either way i think I'm safe with these ones.

thank you for you comments on the things i made for the swap. its my first swap and i was a bit worried that i hadn't done it 'right'.

The craft fair plans are going well. all of the stalls are now gone!!! now i just need to give myself a headache over the table plan!! arth has said he will help me, which i am very grateful for!! we are going to go to Bristol on Saturday to see his folks, Alison said she would take me to ikea!! which will hopefully mean that the button storage problem solved....but will probably lead to a fabric storage problem after i buy lots of pretty fabric from there!!!

Right...I'm off to make some lunch/tea both Arthur and i have work at 5!! day off tomorrow tho'.....and if it looks OK....I'm going to post a picture of my new hair....that's right I'm going to put a face all of these ramblings you have soo kindly been reading!!

Take Care

Lovely Spring Time Makes...

2009-03-17T04:19:00.000-07:00

NOTE: CLAIRE IF YOU ARE READING THIS....LOOK AWAY...

i finished making all the bits i wanted to send for the spring time swap which is organised my pixiedust. it was a spring time/Easter swap...i decided to go with the spring time theme. (inspiration was definitely not striking when i tried to think of things to do with Easter, i had eggs and rabbits...that was it.)

So with out further ado..

A spring time coin purse...i did a little patch work thing on the top with Amy butler and free spirit fabrics which have flowers on and/or are pale green and pink (from those great scraps bags from the eternal maker.)

you cant see it too well here but these are actually a very pale green and they are flowers...so i thought spring time.
a pretty pearl and pink bracelet...i hope this is spring time enough...

This is my favorite thing in the swap!!! i hope the colors on this one are spring timey enough...what do you think? I'm going to call them button bouquet brooches...expect to see lots of these at the craft fair!!!

Well....that's all for today. i have a stupid shift which starts at 2.30 and finished at 10.30!!! its right in the middle of every part of the day!!!! grrrrrrr!!!

And The Winner Is.....

2009-03-15T05:23:00.000-07:00

That's right!!! i picked the winner of my first ever give away today.....Here they all go into the owl jar i brought the other day(i knew i would find a use for it!)
Shake them up!!!
Pick them out...i had my eyes squeezed shut....that's right I'm a 22 year old acting like a five year old!!
And the winner is Nicky from Hollypops. Congratulation Nicky....if you could email your address to me (bexsbuttons@hotmail.com) i will send your bounty to you as soon as possible!!

Thank you to everyone who entered i really enjoyed doing this soo i may do another one soon...who knows

xxx

Just Checking In..

2009-03-14T08:40:00.000-07:00

Afternoon!

just popping by to see how you all are....i had planned to have done a little bit of something but i lost my temper. i was all organised and cut out and sewed together 10 miniature dust bunnies.....then promptly stuck the end of my knitting needle through SIX of them and had to throw them in the bin!!!!.So i thought id finish a brooch i was making last night....but then promptly sewed the brooch back on the wrong side!! so i got stroppy and didn't do anymore!!! i went to meet Arthur from work and had a big old pork and stuffing baguette then came home and fell asleep on the sofa!!! the snooze was good but i have to go to work soon and i feel like the day has just flown away!!!

i thought i would post about a great giveaway on a lovely ladies blog, her name is Maranda and you can enter the give away here. she sells the most lovely looking fabric....and very often makes me jealous of the fabric goodness at her finger tips!!! Ive got a day off tomorrow and I'm going to try and solve the problem of turning the dust bunnies the right way round without ruining them...any suggestions? and I'm also going to draw the winner of my giveaway!!! hehehehehehe. right until then here's a picture of a chipmunk i took last week.....

xxx

Button Earrings Anyone???

2009-03-12T06:36:00.000-07:00

phew!! Ive been busy... after i posted last night i went on to finish of a custom order of a batch of jewellery for girls. After Alison sold some of my jewellery at the school she teaches in, one of her friends asked her if i would make a batch of jewellery for girls as she wanted to use them as presents for when her little one goes to parties. i made 8 pairs of hair clips, 5 bracelets and 3 necklaces. i hope that that's enough and that the sizes are OK....turns out I'm no expert on the sizes of young children's wrists!!

I took a look in the drawer where i keep stock for the stuffednonsense/bexsbuttons stall, and decided it looked a little bit bare....soooo knuckled down to some button sorting and these are the outcomes....

i had hoped to do 5 pairs of droplet style earrings but i only had enough findings for 4 droplets so i made a pair of studs too...these have always been really popular at previous sales i have done. the buttons on the two top pairs are fabulously vintage....I'm not sure if they might be Bakelite or some such thing?? does anyone know how you tell what buttons are made of??

i like the packaging for these...the backing of sheet music makes the earrings look extra cute i think.

i was worried the other day that i was blogging too much, but then i figured that when i blog it kind of helps me switch of the crafty scatter brain side of my brain for a few minutes. its only going to get worse in the next month with the fair coming up...poor old arth, hes going to lose his girlfriend to buttons,table arrangements,fabric and thread.

I'll be back soon i imagine!! Oh, thanks to everyone who has entered the giveaway...there's still time to enter as I'm going to close the competition on Sunday...just comment on the post 2 or 3 posts below. Thanks for all of your comments about what you are likeing...im glad other people appreciate Richard Scarry!!

Take Care Pumpkin Pies.

Things That I Like Alot At the Moment...

2009-03-11T07:01:00.000-07:00

Afternoon all,

i met up with jo from ThingsHandmade today and we spent a lovely couple of hours talking about all things crafty. i had a great time, and Jo kindly offered to run the kids Arts and Crafts stall at the craft fair, which is very generous of her. thank you Jo.

When i got off the bus in Cheltenham i popped into the Oxfam bookshop and found a little pot of gold. Which brings me on to the post title of things i like at the moment....

RICHARD SCARRY BOOKS...(i know the manager of said bookshop and i think i might have scared him a bit when i screamed after he said 'yeah we have a Richard Scarry book'.) Ive been after one for agggggeeesss. the illustrations are incredible; which was one of the reasons why i wanted one, but i also wanted one because i have memories of going round to my grandmas and me ad my sister reading an old copy of the 'wonderful world of richard scarry.' which was my dads!!i am soo incredibly pleased to have this in my book collection. LOOK...

I also like....

JAM ON TOAST (we brought some posh jam the other day and i cant stop eating on toast.)

And i like this quite a bit at the moment

COFFEE (i used to be more of tea girl....and i still am in the morning....but during the day it has to be coffee for me.)

I especially like....

Finding bargains like this little fella for 50p!!! I'm not sure what i will put in him...but at 50p i couldn't leave him behind. i seem to be collecting owls at the moment....ohh well, i guess there are worse things to collect.

Righto, i reckon that about enough from me today. what about you guys? what are your favorite things at the moment??
Take Care
xx

Give Away!!!!

2009-03-09T08:15:00.001-07:00

That's right this is post number 100!!!! which means a lovely give away!!! all you have to do is leave a comment on this post (with a way for me to get in touch sooo...if your commenting from your blog i can get in touch that way, or if you don't have a blog leave an email.) il leave entries open until Sunday 15th. there's going to be nice little collection so give it a go!!!

Right onto other things....this is me as a super hero!!! i found this on Rowans blog (http://kitschensinkuk.blogspot.com/) and thought i would have a go.Hehehehehe its funny no?

Also....drum roll please....

i made this lovely lady for the stuffednonsense stall in April...

this AUDREY ANTEATER, if you want to find out more of her story check out stuffednonsense (link on top left of this page)her tongue is amazing!!!

Right, only a quickie...soup time now!!!

(please enter the give away everyone...i was worried about doing this in case i got spurned but hey!!!)

I'll be back soon!!!

Lots of presents made.

2009-03-08T06:05:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone, thanks for all of the get well soon wishes. the horrible cold is on its way out, which is a very good thing...obviously.

Ive been busy making up presents here, march is a bit busy, its my sisters birthday and mothers day (so that's two presents there.) i was almost finished but went back a square because i wasn't happy with my mums brooch soooo i made this one which i am happier with.Hope its not too wintery...

Then it was onto Rachel's (my younger sisters) birthday presents,shes going to be 19 soon...makes me feel old!!! Red is her favorite colour so i made a few bits with that in mind...

That's about all Ive had time for this weekend. One of the ladies who brought some dust bunnies from stuffed nonsense LOVED them and ordered 6 more so i finished off them...AND to top the stuffed nonsense business off someone brought Colin as well. BYE BYE Colin!!

StuffedNonsense is going really well at the moment. its great to work with someone else, on the sewing nights me and el have its not like work we just chat and make cool looking monsters.

Well, that's all for this weekend...Ive got to go and register more dust bunnies on folksy PHEW!!

Take Care M'Dears.

P.S. Whats that?.....Nearly 100 posts you say?.....i smell a giveaway!!!

Eurgh...how did all of this stuff get in my head over night?

2009-03-05T08:55:00.000-08:00

well, as you may guess from the title i am ABSOLUTELY full of cold. my head is quite small... how can i fit soo much grossness in it?? despite the germs Ive done a bit today...lots more emailing people about the craft fair but i also got to have some time making these.... did i mention before that i love buttons?

today i also uploaded some pictures belonging to one of the ladies who will be at the craft fair. her name is Cara and she makes beautiful dresses for girls and lovely little wire fairies...

Ill put this pic up here (if you want to see more check out the craft fairs blog.)

cute, right?

Well I'm off to go and make snuffly noises with my nose and eat some more marshmallow and raspberry biscuits!!

Take Care Everyone

Yummy Finds in the Ol' Charity shop

2009-03-04T07:03:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone, Ive been busy the last few days and it hasn't helped having a horrible snuffly scratchy cold which makes my head feel all fat and hot....eurgh....Arth has it too. I'm going to paint red crosses on the windows tomorrow!!

I went for a wonder around the charity shops today and came out with these lovely little finds...

I LOVE this little owl...especially the colour and the little bemused look on his face. i got the mugs because we have two which are are very close to giving up!!!

It was a late night for me and el yesterday...we had to post an awful lot of stuffed nonsense orders out....well when i say awful lot i mean 3...which is quite a lot really!!! if anyone doesn't know, stuffed nonsense monsters come with their own unique story and hand drawn picture...

for example...

Here they are all waiting to be wrapped and sent to the post office...Right...Ive got work in a bit...another late night tonight, theres a staff preview for The Watchman...i hope its worth staying up for!!

Take Care M'Dears

I had to share this, even if it is two in one day...

2009-03-02T13:44:00.000-08:00

Me again...i just found this on the Internet and i had to post to let you guys know about it. one of my favorite, if not number one favorite, author is Neil Gaiman. whilst perusing the Internet i found this....its Neil Gaiman reading one of his up and coming books. if you go here you can read him talking about why he wrote it and also who for...Tori Amos!

i love the bit in the video when the birds all fly across the screen.

anyways hope you like

Look at this little monster...

2009-03-02T09:50:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone, hope your week got off to a good start...

Today Arth and I went to Pittville Park to look at the animals and flowers (there's a cute little cafe there too and we had hoped to go there but it was closed.) It was lovely, I'm glad we went when we did because it clouded over a little bit once we got home.

i spent a fair bit of today emailing people about advertising the craft fair and stuff, i felt like a proper business lady...I'm not sure i liked it.

After all of the serious stuff i made this little fella for stuffed nonsense... i introduce to you...

Martin the Angry Monster...

He has a big tail on his back but the picture of that came out pants so i haven't put it up. As you can probably see he is an angry little fella, this is because he has short arms and cant reach anything...so really he is more frustrated then angry. He likes to sit outside a cafe and enjoy a nice cream tea....as long as someone can pour the tea for him (his arms ya'see they aren't big enough to hold the pot!)

I'm not going to putting too much up for sale at the mo....I'm trying to build the stock up for the fair in April. I'm worried I'm going to leave my stall til last minute because I'm organising everyone elses!!

Right, I'm off to put dinner in the oven...pork casserole...yummy yummy

A seasonal visitor is on its way....

2009-03-01T07:17:00.000-08:00

We went for a little walk today with our pals. we went to a great cafe on bath road called the curious cafe and had tea. There were soo many pretty things to see.
Spring is definitely on the way....

I love crocuses.

At our flat there are even more signs of spring...we planted these about 2 weeks ago....

Its funny...Ive been checking the pots ,for signs of life, on our windowsill religiously for the past week and nothing, i forget today and when we get back from our walk BANG! there they are. perhaps they are shy seeds?? They are from a meadow mix so there could be anything in there!! We're going to plant a some more seeds tomorrow too.

Lastly, we went for a wonder around the charity shops yesterday and Arth brought me this!!! its sat on top of my fabric cabinet and Ive put all of my 'on going' projects in it (or WIP'S??) Its made from wood and a straw type thing...

Right...well you know I'm going to say it....yep that's right....i have to go to work in a bit so I'm going to sign off for now

I'll be back tomorrow!! (day off!!!)

A Little Bit More News

2009-02-28T09:53:00.000-08:00

Evening All!

The gig last night was much fun, after the bands had finished we went to an awesome bar called font. it had the most amazing decorations inside..the wall by above the bar was covered in decoupaged black and white butterflies!! It looked lovely!! i couldn't take any pictures because my camera was being rubbish bad.

What i really wanted to post about was to tell you guys that Ive opened up a blog for the craft fair it is www.lovelylittlecheltenhamcraftfair.blogspot.com .

I'm going to try and post pictures of the venue on Monday (next day off) and also when people confirm I'm hoping to post pictures of the sellers stuff.

Hmmmm, well that's it really....Ive just gorged on pizza and chips...yummy yummy yummy (i love Saturday dinners)

Speak To you Soon

Pretty Buttons But Ugly Apprehensions.

2009-02-27T01:10:00.000-08:00

Bonjor everyone? How have you been?? i heard through the blogging grape vine that no one can comment on my blog because the letter verification thingy wouldn't load. Ive taken it off for now, i figured I'm going to give it a few days...I'm a bit scared about the spam thing tho'.

Well Ive (and El actually) have been busy doing stuff for our craft fair....the other day we made these cute little sets...Alison told me that they sold very well at her school so we made some more...

There great fun to make because i just get to indulge in my button obsession. i also finished off these yesterday...the peculiar pictures because i don't want to give everything away....(they are mothers day presents....shhhhhhh.)

I'm not sure about the top two...i had to hand stitch some of the lining and I'm not the neatest hand stitcher. And I'm kind of worried about the button brooch (its for my mum and I'm pretty sure she doesn't look here...that's why the picture isn't as cryptic) i wanted one of those humongous safety pins...the ones with a funny folded bit at the end (like nappy pins but instead of the plastic bit on the ended its folded into a similar shape...eurgh i CAN NOT describe it) anyway i couldn't find one so went for the biggest safety pin i could find...but I'm worried it just looks like some buttons on a safety pin.

Feeling like this about the stuff Ive been making recently,which is stooooopid. i think its because take up on the craft fair has been slow, a few people have been in touch but they are unable to make it....but said they would defiantly be interested if i do others. so its not a failure, I'm just being silly.

Right I'm off to make a bag for me. I'm going to Manchester this eve to watch a gig and stay with some friends and i want a little over the shoulder bag to keep my purse and phone safe.

Take Care Lovelies

xx

P.S. heres the finished bag....hope it stands up the crowds....one of the bands is pretty heavy...im scared of being squashed hehehehe.

made from a recycled tartan skirt, it goes over the shoulder and fastens with two chunky buttons from the ever increasing collection.

Phew!! i need a cuppa after these!!

2009-02-24T04:44:00.000-08:00

I had an awesome day yesterday (warning!!! over load on cheerfulness!!)

i found a skirt and some trousers for 2 pounds, i got them because the fabric is great for the new style coin purses I'm doing. I made myself a cute little coin purse. These two things were cool enough. BUT then i went into work and a friend from work had brought me in the BIGGEST TIN OF BUTTONS EVER!! and also a HUGE bag full of fabric for Stuffed Nonsense!!! THEN two of my other pals from work came in and brought me and arth three cookies from Ben's Cookies in Bath. If any of you have ever been to bath and not been to this place then i strongly recommend you go next time. the cookies are like little drops of heaven!!!!

Here are the buttons before they went into jars...i now have no space left in my jars and need more as well!!!!

Check out the lovely pile of orange buttons....and the Ben's cookies box.
Ive just finished 3 more coin purse too...whenever I'm doing a sale i try to do things in batches of 5 so these three make 5. i like them all i think but my favorite is the pink and grey one.

I really enjoy picking out the buttons to attach to the zips...the hounds tooth button was just meant to be i guess!!

Ohhhh...one more great thing happened yesterday. Arthurs mum took some of my jewellery to her school as she always gets comments about the pieces she wears...and i sold lots and lots of it!!!! Wonderful.

Right I've got an annoying shift at work today...stuck right in the middle of the day at half 2!! I'm going to go get some lunch.

See you Soon

EXCITING NEWS!!!!!

2009-02-23T06:44:00.000-08:00

I've finally stopped procrastinating about it and have booked the Strand on the 25th of April.

"Whys that?" i hear you ask....well.....im going to organise a craft fair there. They have abig function room upstairs (Ive done previous sales there by myself.) I want to do a fair with other people but couldn't find anything in Cheltenham (well, there was one but they didn't get back to me...sob sob sob) So that's it really, Ive taken the matter into my own hands and I'm going to organise one myself.

I guess the next logical step would be to find out who is interested in doing the sale. and to find that out it would probably help if i gave you some information about the strand and where it is.

Its almost in the town centre so it is very easy to get to. there is a car park just opposite it which helps a lot for transport. The Strand itself is a lovely little pub...don't judge it by that fact. it has two function rooms which are free to hire out (meaning no charge for the stalls.). Ive gone for the bigger one. it also has quite a few people who go there for lunch on Saturdays so admissions to the fair are more or less guaranteed. i reckon there's enough space for 8 maybe 9 stalls (as in normal sized tables)

i want to get an even mix of products (i.e. not 6 jewellery stalls and 2 bag stalls for example) Based on this fact i may not be able to accept every applicant (that's if there are any at all!!!)

i want people to know that you don't need to have any previous experience to do this, Ive done two by myself selling just my own stuff. if i can do it anyone can!! Perhaps your a creative blogger looking to put your lovely handmade items out there? Maybe you're a seasoned craft fair goer and fancy doing one in Cheltenham? either way please email me at bexsbuttons@hotmail.com

Phew...i hope i wasn't talking to myself there.

(oh...I'll wait and see what feedback i get from this then i'll post some pics of the Strand up etc etc.)

Thanks Chickens

What Is This Fabled Day Off??

2009-02-22T07:04:00.000-08:00

That's right!! BOTH Arthur and I have today off.....a Sunday......off.......no cinema at all!!!! Its been great so far!! Opened up a few of the windows because the flat is foisty from the winter. we have big sash windows which don't really fit into the window holes to well so over winter we huddled up and batten downed the hatches, but that meant the flat got no fresh air for a few months....soo its really good to have that freshened up smell you get when you open up the windows....lovely.

I'm sat on the sofa looking out of our window at this massive holly tree we have in our back yard. i like doing this and watching out for the little birds we get....lots of small pretty ones. i know i have moaned about our flat quite a lot previously but its still a lovely little place. its definitely nicer to live in during the spring and summer.

I was determined to make some lovelies today and i think i succeeded. Ive had a pair of tweedy type fabric trousers upstairs in the airing cupboard for ages, i like them but the shape is all wrong, so i cut them up today!!!GASP!!! and made these......

I Think my favorite is the brown and beige dotty one, it has a better shape. The yellow one is slightly more square shaped. But the fabric is soo cute on it...(if slightly crazy.) Both of the purses have a really cute co-ordinated button pull on the zip. After i finished them you would have heard this conversation...

Me: I'm sure i can keep one of these purses. Arth: Really? Me:Yep i need a new one anyway... Arth: you have about twenty purses upstairs Me: no i don't. Arth: yep I'm pretty sure you do Me: Not twenty more like ten. So on and so on.

Right, I'm going to pop those babies up on folksy (as i went upstairs and counted....there were twenty so no excuses) Ohhh, talking on the folksy front....i sold another thing on my shop and me and el sold our first stuffed nonsense creation!!! (round of applause please!!) I also figured out how to get the little folksy button, its there on the left!

We are having a pancake party tonight too, all of pals are working on pancake day so we are going to do it tonight instead.PANCAKES WOHOOOOOO!!!

Take care my little munchkins

What is this....blogging???

2009-02-20T11:29:00.001-08:00

Hi everyone!!! I'm still alive, just been horrible busy at work because it is half term. i don't think that it has been quiet on anyone of my shifts this week!!!

Arthurs folks came round yesterday. it was lovely to see them without having to rush off quickly for work, although i had to go at 4 i still saw them for a long while. Arthurs baby sis liked her present i think, which is always good.

The other day El and i had another sewing night for stuffed nonsense and we made these....

At the top you have Stripey Phillip a lovely little fleecy creation from El's fair hands.

I spent the night making the miniature dust bunnies, I'm quite attached to these and they are a great way to use up the fabric scraps i get from the scrap bags which i have an addiction to. The spotty one on the end has metal in his ears so they are bendy. I've decided to change the dust bunnies story....Have you ever wondered what happens to dust after you have wiped it away? It becomes Dust Bunnies!! Shy little creatures who spend their time hiding in nooks and crannies watching how humans live their lives.

Other than that m'dears I've not had a chance to do anything crafty...I've got a few more bunnies to sew up today, i will pop them up tomorrow.
xxx

Finished!!

2009-02-17T07:17:00.000-08:00

Fresh off of the press today!! I've just finished arthurs sisters present, i pretty happy with it, it looks lots better now that the birds are on it.

Just a short post today, I've got work very soon. would have posted more but I've spent the last half hour registering some more bits on folksy. a brooch,2 pairs of earrings and a bracelet. PHEW!!!

Right now i really have to go to work!!!

xxx

Sleepy Eyes.

2009-02-16T10:55:00.000-08:00

Evening everyone. Soooo I've got something important to say....yesterday, after i moaned to you poor people about not selling anything on folksy....I SOLD SOMETHING!!! i sold the red set of gift tags which had been up on folksy for about 4 hours!! and the angry and happy cloud clips which had been up there a while!!! i was so happy to check my emails when i got back from work that i actually did a little dance.....just a little one!!

So today i packed the order up with a few extras. i thought id add the extras because when i read other blogs and people get parcels on them with little extras i always thought that it looks soo nice. and as the lady that had ordered from me was the first i added an extra set of button clips. i hope she doesn't think its strange.

I'm so happy for crafty types like me and people that read this blog that we are able to sell our wares so easily on the Internet, its good that if people are thinking of starting their own business they can do so without the overhead of a shop to pay for. i still really really really want a shop but that's going to take at least a million years!!!!

Anyway, back to the point!!! i started this today, its a wall hanging for Arthur's baby sister.

Ive just got the last strip in the middle which will have bright birds going down it. i was a bit worried it was a bit too girly but arth says its fine so all is OK.

on another note, I'm seriously going to look at organising a craft fair in cheltenham. if you are interested please leave a comment with your email and Ill get in touch. even if you don't normally comment or think that the items you make are no good, drop me an email and we will have a chat....if you want. ohh, the fair will probably be in Cheltenham as well.

Right, I'm going to doze for a bit, i got a head ache today so i took some painkillers but they've completely zoned me out.

no xx's today only zzzzzzzzzzz's