Beep beep, beep beep, yeh....

There is a song somewhere, sometime... it has that line in it "Baby you can drive my car, ta da da"... New tiny tiny buttons called "Beep Beep Buttons"! The tiny button that make a BIG NOISE..... Another new collection - Limited Edition - 9 bags (no make that 8, i sold a pack last night) of, what i call: LIQUORICE ALLSORTED - you get why huh?

Then a few new mixes / combinations just to inspire people and give a bit of variety / choice to you button bags.... MAMA LOVES DISCO (miaaooww pussycat)

CHERRY PIE... mmm, a good mix of boutons, makes me want to eat PIE!

TICKLED PINK - my favourite of the new mixes. If 50g of each pinkish shade is too much for some customers, you can have a 100g mixed bag of the 3 pinky shades i have on offer.

These are only in BigFish.etsy.com at the moment but i hope to put them on Folksy too :)

Don't fear - that hasn't turned into a complete button blog! I am just in button mode right now... it'll soon be some other mental obsession.... x

Me and My Button Story...

The story of My Buttons and Me, is not a long story - although it feels like one huge, long, winding story that has both thrilled and exhausted me! I thought about it all this morning when i received a beautiful handmade cupcake card through the post from a button customer... it thanked me muchly for accomodating her button obsession and getting the goods to her etc... and there were a million things i wanted to say in reply...

So i thought i would say it all in my little Blog!

BUTTONS are really really very important to some people. I am one of those people. I remembering finding some incredible buttons at a huge Craft Fair, years ago. The buttons inspired me so much that i made lots of new buttony accessories and felt decorations...

I began selling my button covered goodies alongside my cards (that i already sold at Craft Fairs) and they soon took over. Everywhere i went with a buttony Brooch, people asked me about it...

I wore one of my button brooches into an independant local gift shop and, give or take half an hour, i walked out of that shop with a wholesale order for buttony brooches! Feeling a bit happy with myself :) i couldn't believe my craft empire was actually 'launching' so to speak - without me really trying...

I began buying Craft Supplies in BULK as i took on more wholesale orders and opened a shop on 'etsy'. It seemed the best way to increase my profit margins - i couldn't keep buying in small quantities from HobbyCraft anymore.

My first wholesale Button order was £70.00 and i remember SWEATING with fear that i was spending so much on buttons!!! By this point, i had resigned from my Part-Time job and i knew i wanted to be a 'stay at home Mom' but i also wanted to make stuff and try to earn some money, so i had to take big steps....

My need (ok, obsession) for new buttons kept growing and i thought "where do other people buy their buttons from?" Where were crafters buying beautiful buttons from and where could they buy in bulk numbers and not individually or 'on cards' from out-dated haberdashery shops...?

I realised there might be a little space in the market for me to sell some buttons on to other button lovers, but i was worried of course. Would people buy from me, should i open a new 'etsy' store, etc...

What is the worst that could happen - i asked myself? I buy loads more buttons and have to KEEP them all if they don't sell!? No great hardship hey??? so i launched BigFish.etsy.com x

Obviously, if you read my blog at all, you know that the "Button Shop" has not fallen flat on it's face x and i love all of you who have shopped with me. I sort of want to tell you all that:

a) i really care about you and your buttons because they are MY buttons too! That is the joy of buying from an independant dealer! I handpick your buttons myself....

b) it is crazy busy and TIRING and exhausting - searching for new button suppliers / searching for the supplier of a particular tiny button i found somewhere / ordering / finding the money to pay! / organising stock so i can find it all in my tiny home / BAGGING THEM!! can you imagine the time spent weighing or counting these bug..... beauties by hand!? (deep breath Kirsty, and relax...)

SO, when a customer sends me a handmade cupcake card that 'Thanks me' for spending the time finding what she needs and trying to fulfil her button requests... then it means so much to me!

My last button invoice cost me £600. It frightens me silly still, to spend so MUCH money on buttons (they are 'just' buttons after all) but you can understand a little, of how much of my crafting soul goes into buttons...

Thankyou for reading the abridged story of My Buttons and Me x

Ebay Joy...

Ebay is truly Love / Hate for me...
There are items that take a month to arrive - clothes that aren't what they seemed - furniture not fit for use - dvd's that don't work... (the mistake buys go on and on)

And THEN you find a gem **BLING** >>>>>>> Oh Yummy Yummy 1970's dress.
You can see i had trouble photographing it to it's full effect!

It is much brighter than it seems here and sets off a gentle tan with it's neon pink.

Fits very snuggly (especially after a gentle handwash - i was scared i'd have to sew myself into it after it met warm water)

It is floor length with a sort of fish tail at the back.

£12.00 ebay treasure - i wore it on Saturday night... (and well in to Sunday morning... for which I am still paying the price with a soft head averse to noise) for a "Summer of 1969" party. You know me, i'd wear it for a non-themed event, vintage clothing gives me so much pleasure.

And i had to share with you: ManFish and MotherFish who threw themselves into the idea of a 1970's Festival Theme with such enthusiasm... i don't know where i get my sense of colour and fun from.....?

Colour and Fun!! (remind me to show the photos of us all dressed as the AntHill Mob)

I love sharing my world with you x enjoy the sunshine my friends!

scrap bags....

Post and run... I'm incognito (you've not seen me, right?)
P.s. *NEW* Lulu Guinness sunnies x Just wanted to say there are 4 Scrap bags of MINI felt in the Folksy shop....

And 4 new Scrap bags of light cotton square scraps in the Folksy shop too.

They are all pretty much identical, mostly Japanese quilting fabrics BUT with a FAT Q of my yummy Toadstools and Apples fabric too....

It's good to share x

Sharing the Craftiness...

New selection of Butterfly Party Badges - Paper stolen (well purchased) from the ever wonderful Paperchase shop x A new file drawer system - mainly for allll those button mixes! Shame it's white as i wanted one in red :( from IKEA (that trip i went on, on Monday!)

As THIS aqua set is my sisters and she may want it returned to her soon....

AND i really have had a bunting week!

I made this pretty design for my daughters bedroom x

And this gorgeous line is called 'BRIGHTON PIER' as my sister is moving to Brighton soon and i love Brighton too ( UK seaside town for the US reader!)

Carnival Bunting - very much like the 'Frida' set of two weeks previous but it sold and so this is it's replacement, similiar but different. Bright, funky and 'carnival-esque'.

My personal favourite 'REGATTA' - i luffs it - reminds me of colourful sails on fast little boats!

And finally, ....this week, i have sold many sets of these:

Off cuts / Scrap Bags of the yummy Bunting fabric. All small pieces that would be perfect for smaller projects like hair pins or brooches or.....

What a fabric week x

All work and no Play....

My school-Marm look...
I have been working way too hard and though i LOVE it, i need to relax a bit too.What's been going on?
New needlebooks on the production line... a few new designs and some of them repeats. I still love making these and they might be my fav product to sell...

But i also love making BUNTING because, although i play about with the fabric combinations for ages 'before' sewing.... once they are made up and ready to hang you get to really see how bright and fun they are. These are a 'b*gger' to make and a joy to sell.

The bubbly one above is my current favourite! so party-esque.

This one above is called 'Frida' as in Kahlo and it is sort of Morocco / Spain / Fiesta in style.

And the line below is a Retro Party mix. Spots and flowers, mmmmm....

Now, i have felt to cut, childrens paint brushes to clean, scissors to stack, bags to pack for a craft fair tomorrow, a child to dress and a supermarket to visit............. I need a day off!

FuzzyFish...

HA! Over the next few weeks, you may notice an increase in blog posts and Flickr photos involving FELT... The FuzzyFish is born... an online 'etsy' shop dedicated to the joy and colour of that medium many of us love - FELT! mmmmmm x

Of course it had to join the FISHY empire so the name FuzzyFish was an immediate choice - a 'Fish' shop with an ironic edge (never take yourself too seriously, that is my motto)

Of course, after hours of photography, editing, felt in and out of boxes, swatch book making, listing each individual size and colour.... I am hating felt right now.

I am wondering if i took large fourth helping of Nigella's Chocolate Cake without really needing it and this could be 'theee' slice that makes me sick?

The FuzzyFish Felt shop is not going to make my fortune, i know. Tis a competetive market and many people prefer wool / wool blend felt to my 100% acrylic. But this is my felt of choice - i love it! I love the colours and i love the fabric to work with, it is a dream. And, as i buy it by the van load anyway, it seemed odd not to have an etsy shop to sell it all in too?

MMMmmmm, fuzzy, felty dreams in 24 techni-colours ... i'll introduce the new colours all separately in later blog posts ... not because I am attempting a 'hard sell' but honestly because the colours look sooooo good i love the colour fix of seeing them all on screen.

Oh, Luscious Neon fix - 80's revival - i want to play x

P.s. I owe my little Sister a huge thankyou for:

Handing me rolls of felt in the 'photographic studio' (!!)

Organising the colours and the stock control system

Making the Swatch books

Cutting all those little Fishes out

Being good company even though she had a stinking rotten cold

Working on a new shop Banner (on it's way...)

I now declare the *new* Felt shop officially......... open x