Tackling Button Mountain

My crafty mo-jo has yet again failed me

i believe this has a lot to do with the mountain of buttons on my desk

i have decided to tackle the problem before i experience a button landslide

in an effort to re-ignite my crafting

i have been carding up a set of buttons a day

and adding them to my Etsy shop

http://www.etsy.com/listing/94917397/wooden-floral-button-trio

*sold*

http://www.etsy.com/listing/94677073/lucky-buttons?ref=v1_other_2

http://www.etsy.com/listing/94620771/jubilee-fancy-button-set?ref=v1_other_2

http://www.etsy.com/listing/91879238/10-x-filligree-mirror-backed-vintage

http://www.etsy.com/listing/94223991/fancy-filligree-mirror-backed-buttons

http://www.etsy.com/listing/94224187/blue-bunny-buttons

http://www.etsy.com/listing/34900890/cute-and-kitschy-childrens-buttons-and

if you are after any particular buttons please ask

i bet i can find them!!!

haberdashery happiness

oooh a box full of lovely-ness just arrived at my door
so i thought i'd share the photo's of the delights inside

needles pins and thimbles

lovely old measuring tapes
ribbon and darning mushrooms

i just couldn't resist this box of Cash's embroidered initial tapes
V.B. must stand for Violet Button right?
ok so that's not my real name but
hmmm maybe i could change it?!

and well these buttons were rather expensive
i got eBay bidding fever BUT wow
they are so cute and it is Easter

could you have resisted????

lovely post today!

look LOOK what the postman brought me today!

my lovely friend Lisa knitted these for me

it was her first attempt at cable
isn't she clever?

i LOVE them!
i look like some old victorian granny
in a shawl and miser's mittens!!!
{but i am very happy!}

*******
my christmas wreath won the crafteroo advent calendar competition
and here's what i won

a book about stupid sock creatures!

it's great!

a scrapbooking calendar

and a Hotdog and me
http://www.folksy.com/shops/hotdogandme
sock creature set

it did come beautifully presented in this bag
this photo was after it was rescued
from the dogs jaws
she is getting really naughty in her old age :0(
no real harm done though :0)

*******

plus some new listings in my Folksy shop
just in time for Valentine's

hearts
http://www.folksy.com/items/232297-half-a-dozen-hearts-of-glass-vintage-buttons

bullets
http://www.folksy.com/items/232273-coral-bullet-buttons?shop=yes

vintage haberdashery wreath

i decided to make a haberdashery themed wreath

with some of my "stash"

i got the idea for it when i was playing with
these stitch counters

i used an embroidery hoop as the base

the red buttons are large '60's coat buttons with a brass loop shank which i fastened between
the two hoops

i then wrapped the tinsel around the hoop and
threaded the large bakelite needles through the tinsel
and skewered the ball of wool

i made two tape measure rosettes which i tied on

and then wired on two pairs of vintage scissors

i wired the stitch markers threaded
onto a plastic crochet hook
to the top of the wreath and added a yarn loop.

i'm really pleased with it :0)

carboot sale fun!

I've been poorly for the whole of the easter school holidays
quite a lot of it i spent lying on the sofa holding on for dear life
i had viral labyrinthitis - it was horrible
but i'm 95% better now - yipee :0)

*******
to celebrate my return to health -
i persuaded my long suffering partner to take us off to a big carboot sale
we found some fantastic BARGAINS!!
we even left most of them there!

this was the first thing i bought - how cute?
long suffering partner said "ewwww -they saw you coming"

now for all you vintage button fans
you would've been in HEAVEN
unfortunately they were SUPER expensive
and due to my dizzy head it was
really hard work looking through
all FIVE HUGE tins of buttons

long suffering partner just shook his head and walked away taking smallest child with him!

i only bought a small handfull
but it was a case of quality over quantity
LOVE the terriers
and do you think that is Dopey from SnowWhite?
i'm still thinking about this stall now it was FANTASTIC!!!

these items came from a stall that was selling everything for 10p each!
i also bought a birdhouse and
a random unspecified plant,
the man said it had yellow flowers
and was tall that's all he could tell me!!

and these gorgeous vintage 1974 playmobile red indians
were too nice not to buy!
i'm pretty sure i had some like this when i was little
my son has spent ages playing with them

cute !

oh yeah and as i stepped out of the car i found a fiver on the floor!!

*******

what i left behind :
an old rocking horse £2.00
aluminium jelly moulds - mummy rabbit {i have a set of babies} a baby hare and a fish
AND
five HUGE tins of all vintage buttons!!!

*******
i also got really bad sunburn on the back of my neck from looking at all the goodies!

christmas button tree

Last week i made this button tree - i'm sooooooooo pleased with it!
and just in case you didn't know - you can click on any of my photo's to see them BIGGER!!!

vintage button tree in mother-of-pearl button snow

vintage button tree - wooden spool tree - thimble tree & knitting nancy!

as it has many of my favourite buttons on i have only pinned them on with pearl-headed pins - so it can be dismantled after christmas.

{Incywincy says they look like fairy lights!}


It is made with a styrofoam cone shape re-cycled from a previous decoration i made years ago, i wrapped a piece of black felt{which was being thrown out by a friend of MIL's} around it and pinned this in place , then i covered the shape with a layer of green buttons with a few red ones and then started layering it up with lots of floral buttons and the three bakelite swallows and four gorgeous "bambi" buttons - i mainly stuck to green, red & black buttons but i can see me repeating this idea in candy colours for easter and i think it would look great as a hallow'een tree in purple, orange, green & black colourway too.

{This project is made with completely re-cycled supples the only thing i bought new were the pins and i'd bought them to go in the cupcake pincushion and had only used a few.}

unfortunately the photo's aren't as good as i'd of liked because the light quality has been awfull lately it's either been grey and overcast or the sunshine has been pouring through the window bleaching all the colours out!! I'm thinking about going on a basic photography course as i'd love to improve my photo's , i really need to force myself out of the house in the winter though as it's so nice and cosy indoors.

i went shopping today and went to the shop i used to work at {for sixteen years} http://www.bluegallery.co.uk/ and bought more styrofoam shapes - i might actually run out of suitable coloured buttons - i feel eBay calling!!! I was supposed to be making a start on christmas shopping today but was pretty much unsuccessful - if i only had to buy for little kids i'd do fine there are so many nice toys and books and clothes - grown ups are really hard to buy for especially MEN.

right i'm off to put more photo's on flickr, then an early-ish night as i'm working tomorrow - that's two days this week - i'm out of practice and will be exhausted by tea-time!!

time flies . . . . .

i find it very hard to resist these vintage floral buttons - the violet daisy has to be my new favourite!

i'm afraid i haven't got anything crafty to show you this week - i have made something very gorgeous BUT it is a secret for now! oh. . . . . i just can't resist showing a little glimpse of it . . . .

i have however been buying "STUFF" as my partner would call it {that's when he's being polite} so i will share my thrifty goodies with you instead!

what a sweet little face this "heidi" has, i found this lovely but battered book in the most bargain of bargain bins along with a copy of "lolita" and "good wives" and another book i'd never heard of and bought purely because it was in large print - these books are destined for re-cycling in my altered art but i'm going to have to keep the loose cover of "heidi" .

found this little stack of vintage dishes and couldn't resist them i thought they'd be great for displaying/photographing buttons in - isn't it strange how our{maybe it's just me!}tastes change with age - ten years ago i wouldn't have given these a second glance - now i may even use them to eat from!

below are two vintage aprons - one looks almost perfect and it's twin is rather worn and much more "vintage-y" lovely soft fabric.

and i also bought a couple of vintage embroidered cushion cases - i actually "know" what i'll do with these!