Welcome to the DropZone...

 These Buttons are now available in their smallest size!!

(They all look the same size in these photos....)

But these are the DROP size = 1.5cm / 0.55"

Listed in Stripes at the moment but the same is available in spots.

 Brights & Academics

i think the Academics are welcome relief to the onslaughter of BRIGHTS

 I am so happy with this new size and i have been using them on some of my new Christmas Decorations for the SnowFish range. Perfect.

The stripes are my favourite

So smart and little

Listed, once again, in their sets of 80 at present but you can get any combinations in sets of 10.

And that is today's shop *News*

Over and out.

Stunning *new* trims on a GIANT Wooden Spool... "why Kirsty, wiz these luscious ribbons you are really spoiling us"

 Oh My!

Giant Wooden Spools, wrapped with pretty cotton ribbons to sew on your projects.

I *heart* handmade

made with love

Union Jack

 These are so lovely that i had to offer them for sale on the spool.

I will list them in 2m lots also... then i get to keep the wooden spools for myself  :)

 The Union Jack trim is here in time for any of your 2012 projects...

 I love new products...

I just L O V E them!!

More stuff to come...

and some sewing projects too.

Felt Colour Charts...

 Ok, this cannot be ranked as 'Major News' but ,

there are now Colour Charts available in the FuzzyFish shop.

 Tonight i shall add the Chart to the LovePaperFish shop also.

Long long overdue, a reference sheet to the 28 colours available in packs or by the half metre upwards.

And, for all those who i have been chatting 'FELT' with - no movement on the Wool Felts or the Bamboo Felts as yet. There is a question hanging about if we can get the quantity we need to keep Felt Lovers fully stocked in the exact colours they need.

I do try... i hear the call of the Crafting Queens....

It wouldn't be Monday Morning without a shop Pimp, now would it?

 What a Windy day?

I don't know about where you are but, here it is Blowy and i'm feeling a bit Dorothy, scared that if i step outside i will have landed in Oz!?

 "Ding Dong the Witch is (which old Witch?) the Wicked Witch

Ding Dong the Wicked Witch is dead....."

 *new* buttons (what else?)

I have been making up packs of Button Brooch Party Favours which are just so cute and muchos fun. I'm not greedy though. I'm not the sort of person who would keep all these to herself.

They are too fun not to pass on.

1.25inch / 3.4cm - a great big size and i would LOVE to see what people have been making with these.

Personally, i'd love to see used on knitwear or as bag / purse fasteners. The are so vibrant. A real statement button.

 This new blue stripe is gorgeous and just makes my heart ache. So nautical :)

This is what i have named 'Denim Blue' - i love it.

I am listing these in single colour sets and in mixed colour sets.

 And i have always been a complete girly polka dot fan... but i find myself loving these stripes so much more?

Every colour i have in Stripe i have in Spots - 10 colours.

 Raspberry, Strawberry (pale) Sky Blue, Denim Blue, Purple, Vanilla, Mint, Orange, Aqua, Red

In both designs.

 And Button Tags.

I know. I win no awards here for complex craft design but.... not everybody has a big stash of buttons to glue onto tags (can you believe that?)

And also, i have been packing these into stacks of 10 as cute party favors.

Imagine a party bag filled with button tags? a button brooch? chocolate.....

*kirsty dreams of greatest party bags in the world, ever*

 In other excting news:

The GARDEN ROOM - Hair and Beauty salon, Upper Boddington

now holds a small stock of PaperFish products.

You don't need an appointment to pop in - you can just go round and shop, if you want.

They are holding:

Cards & Gift Tags

Lavender Patchwork Hearts

Purses and Tissue Holders

Button and Felt Brooches

and the range will be extending soon. If you're local - pop in for a last minute gift?

Egad, i had such a busy week last week - so much on my mind.

I managed a RRRRuuuuuNNN this morning so now i need a bowl of fruit, a big fat coffee and 2 hours under the sewing machine.

Have a great Monday xxxx don't get blown away and avoid all Witches.

*NEW* Cath Kidston Fabric Pack

 So.... for the Fans of Cath Kidston and her amazing fabrics:

A pack of 5 large sheets Double Weave Cotton.

1 Cherry, 1 White Bird, 2 Florals and a Stone spot - all of these are my Favourites. Lord knows why i am selling them on!

 only available in the FABRICS section at:

http://www.lovepaperfish.com/

my lovely store for buttons & bits that seems to be an endless list of updating and tweaking.

 In my http://paperfish.etsy.com/ store i have been listing these very cute

Button Tag Packs!

 Weeny Button Tags in packs of 5 that make awesome little gift tags for childrens gifts or to stick on a bottle of wine for a host gift. Also great to pop in party bags as favours for the more grown-up party bags.

 I have been making lots of Greetings Cards which has been great as i never get a chance to work with paper and fabric. I love how every card can be different and it doesn't matter. The freedom to make what i want, instead of stuff in 'batches'

 I love imagining 'who' will receive the cards and whether or not they like them.

It makes me feel proud. And it's always nice to receive a card from a friend.

 Tags lying all over, drying out...

They look so funny, like they are breeding at an alarming rate!

I have been doing very little of late, except go Running, Weight Training and Crafting.

Although i did go and see HANNA at the cinema the other day.

have you seen it advertised?

Good for those of us who are interested in Children and the innocence of children and childhood - that great painful chasm between the innocence and adolesence.

Good film but a 12A??? it was a bit Gory....

Maybe i'm a wimp? (But oooohh, Eric Banna...)

x

pOm pOm Trimmings are here....

I know, i know, too much to handle.... brain   cannot   compute

pOm pOm (i love that word) Trim.

£2.70 per metre in Aqua, Apple and Raspberry

or you can order a card of 15m / 18yds for £31.00 so you can have lots and lots of it for your bags and purses and cushions and fun-ness.

paperfishltd@googlemail.com - if you want to order.

 each pOm is about 1cm so a great size for clothing and accessories. Not too 'in your face'

I could just look at those colourful photos all day. It would be enough for me i think.

 Another awesome book in the shop, is THIS!

Crafty Supersta by Grace Dobush.

Although directed at the American market it is still full of great tips on setting yourself up to sell Crafts.

 It is a beautiful book with nice fonts, lovely Matt paper, rounded corners, direct contents....

 How to handle ETSY.... really, i know i have said it and said it but i wouldn't order a book unless i loved it. LovePaperFish has already sold a couple to some locals who want to give 'selling crafts' a go.

 I have about 5 copies left in total and then they are gone.

Pass it onto a friend when you've finished or even sell it on if you want. That is the best way to re-use books in my humble opinion.

We might need a bigger webshop... and a bigger studio at this rate!

 (looking for staff... those who don't mind a terribly wage, a crazy ole boss, and much tea and cake!?)

I'll get you, My Pretty... and your little Dog too!

 In Today's Commercial News.....

The shops will now be stocking "Ribbon Bags" full of colour co-ordinating 'pretties'.

It was decidedly unfair that i get to play with lots of ribbons and play 'mix n match' when you, at home, cannot see what fun it is! So i listed a few bags that i have enjoyed playing with and that you may find of use or inspiration.

 I can do a custom mix of pretty much any 2/3 colour combinations - minimum of 8metres. The reason i use 8 - 10mtrs is that i can sell it cheaper. It costs so much to list and sell 1mtr of trim on the net that it seems like bad economics.

 All the colours for the Polka Dot Ribbon reels are now listed on ETSY in BigFish. Available via paypal in GBP if you are interested. I have all colours in stock at present but as they sell, there may be a wait between supplier - myself - and delivery. Red and Pink and Plum have been the most popular colours.

(note to Maker/Sellers - if you are interested in any colours for Christmas Projects it is wise to order very early as Chrsitmas deliveries are notoriously slow)

*Kirsty did NOT mention christmas in the month of January*

 Any Ribbon (pretty much) that you see in any of my photos, are available to order by the reel. LovePaperFish has provided great prices for ladies buying ribbons for wedding projects. If it isn't up 'For Sale' doesn't mean i cannot negotiate certain supplies for you.

I am genuinely happy to help :) i get alot of satisfaction from selling my Pretties!

 The LovePaperFish site has been broken for sooo long now, i despair BUT i intend for it to be up and running soon. Where are all the hours in my day going to?

(she says, shopping for Vintage Furniture and baking chocolate cakes)

 ALL Polka Dot Pretty Button Bags are now packed in lots of 130. 10 each of 13 colours.

The same for the Gingham / Plaid Button Bags - in lots of 130.

Again, i am able to offer such better value when sold like this - and the colours are so tempting. These are by far my favourite of alllll the buttons i sell.

All Felt colours are in stock.

I can announce that the price of my felt is not rising with the increasing of VAT - huzzah! and long may this continue...

I am worried mostly about the cost of postage increasing as Felt is surprisingly heavy to send.

I'll do my best xxx

Commercial Break now ended.

Fun Vintage finds to follow sooon.....

Button Frenzy... Sale News...

 So, i have begun re-stocking the buttons after my Christmas chillaxing.

I had a huge box delivered, which is allllways exciting and i thought you might enjoy it too...

I always add extra buttons to my colour mixes so a customer will get unique and exclusive button mixes from my shops. It is part of the alchemical button mix process that i really enjoy.

 http://bigfish.etsy.com/ is expanding slightly over 2011.

I don't want to BoMbArD the customer with an overwhelming choice of buttons but... i do want to start offering any mega Crafters / button obsessives a larger amount of buttons at a better price.

So, i have decided to introduce a WHOLESALE section to my BigFish store.

 Individual button bags with 100 of each colour. Yum Yum!

Also a pack of 1,300 spotty / gingham buttons with 100 each of 13 colours.

I am not sure if i can financially stretch to hold this much stock. Running my business is a constant 'cash flow balance' (isn't any business?) but if they are not available to you directly, i can order them in very swiftly.

So.... i have already launched the SPOTTY wholesale button bags.

Soon to follow, will be these fantatsic Reels of Ribbons *swoon* i know.

I am a spoilt crafting brat and, quite frankly, i hate having random cuts of ribbon held in baskets - i want a REEL. So i can snip off ribbon whenever i feel like it. Secretly, i think you feel the same...?

Well, you can always indulge in a reel of just your favourite colour if you can "justify it". They will work out much cheaper than buying by the Metre, especially if you sell on your creations.

I think there will be a choice of 14 colours on these.

 

 Whilst un-packing the delivery box, many button bags burst (yes, that is very messy and very annoying....) but look at the mix that i discovered! If they hadn't burst i would never have seen hooooowwww pretty these 3 colours look together!

This is called "Boy Girl Party" and is available as a 100g bag

Disco pink, Aqua, White and healthy scattering of spots and stars and hearts to compliment.

 ... i am exhausted after all this *news*

[deep breath and continue]

Gingham buttons will follow the spotty buttons and spotty ribbon reels, when i get a spare hour in the next week or so. Available in 5 new colours and ALSO in the wholesale 100 bags and 1,300 collection.

 SALE * SALE * SALE

There will be a mega 'one day only' FREE POSTAGE offer coming soon.

Keep your eyes on the blog as i will announce the date here: Maybe end of Jan / Begin of Feb. My delightful UK customers will enjoy the rare - once a year only - opportunity to shop for supplies and pay far less than the rest of the year.

Why would i do that? It is no scam people, the prices are not 'going up' to compensate or anything.
{disclaimer: some prices will rise 'soon-ish' to accomodateVAT increase only}
 It allows me to move on older stock and boost cash flow... nothing more sinister. It is also a bit of a thankyou to blog readers and regulars for choosing to buy from me :) i appreciate it!

 In bewteen book-keeping & button listing... i am trying to make things for http://paperfish.etsy.com/ i have had requests from some lovely ladies for more Lavender cushions and matching sets of things. I love you for asking but i cannot start any big sewing till February. The odd little thing will get listed though (like the hanging PinPuffs above) If you are willing to wait, i would be so happy to get sewing again.

And lastly.... HOW does Kirsty fit allll this into her life? (I hear you cry)

1. i bought a tracksuit... it is the beginning of the end for me. I have never owned one but it sure is good for running up to the 'School Run' and between the Studio and the Post Office.

2. i made this awesome chocolate cake... energy = choco burst = tasty = happy.  New Year diet might be out of the window.

I know all this is alot of *news* to digest right now. Normal flippant, meaningless, storytelling blogging, will resume soon.

xxx