Tomte / Tomten... warning: could be addictive!

 Some of you will be thinking "what the foolhardiness is Tomte all about?"

Some of you will be saying "oooohhh i love the Tomten!"

Think: Gnomes, Scandinavia, Nordic, small Elven folk

If you like the Moomins and the such - you'll love this colourway / this theme.

 I have just ordered this: The Tomten - Astrid Lindgren; Hardcover

She wrote Pippi Langstrumpf

and so begins yet another brief obsession.

I am going to try and dress in these colours over the Winter and fully embrace my inner Scandinavian.

**wish i had the long blonde hair and even longer legs**

Think of me in my mock Pine Cabin, as the snow gently falls, wearing my knitted Reindeer jumper

"yurder hooden janksisit faaa"

And my home thus decorated in Red, Grey & White

 NOT content with yet another Button Wreath in, yet another amazing colourway...

i decide to make myself a matching Button Bouquet for the Sitting Room.

 EEeeeeek - i was terribly happy with myself about this :)

*rosy glow*

Displaying my bouquet took a few minutes of titivating.

I had no vase small enough so i used a vintage Milk Bottle and pushed it full of matching Felt balls...

 And finished it with some snowy pom-pom trim and a big red bell.

It really is the simple things that colour a lady happy

see: http://afteralltheworldisabeautifulplace.blogspot.com/

and you'll see what  mean...

 The Balls, i have been selling in a Tomte set for a long time

http://bigfish.etsy.com/

and i do intend to make a matching garland with some of these - if i don't sell out already

*sigh*

i know it looks like i spent all day messing about in tomte world today

but i did do other things too....

 x x x

oooh, *squeal* clever me....

 Ok, so not massively 'clever' but just 'bigger'

I have been making smaller button wreaths for some time, and they have gradually been getting bigger and bigger! This Whopper is 10inches across / 25cm

Any bigger and the weight of it would just drag the shape of the circle downwards.

He is sold *proud*

but i have been making another in these traditional colours - then a big wreath in Aqua and Red Buttons - and also just started a Gingerbread Wreath with multi-colured buttons.

I get addicted to making things like this.

There is no great 'design' to them but the time and labour of love is obviously in the buttons and their colourways and how they sit next to one another.

 I shall be sick of sewing these in 2 weeks time! but for now, it is fun.

They are a real statement piece for a Christmas Home and you know, we love our Christmas Decos.

 And, just so you know, there are a few sheets of white glitter felt in the Fuzzyfish shop.

I have bought a few stacks to make Hallowe'en ghosties with "mwahahahaaaaa"

they are going to look ace when the kiddies start on them!

And these are mini flowers / snowflakes. I ordered the wrong size so there will be a few metres listed in the Etsy BigFish shop and some i will save for my Kids Craft Workshops.

Feeling the Autumn air this week - glorious!

Photography for the internet...

So sorry if you arrived at this post thinking it might be full of good 'TIPS'...
I find photographing products for the internet, sooooo hard! Nothing ever seems to look as good in the photo as it does in 'real life' And how can you get a good sense of scale and size from the picture alone. I am not adding a ruler / measure to the picture as it doesn't add to the 'scene'.
Putting my head in the shot is not really an option either!

This wreath is quite a large size but really, only the shot with my head in, shows it's size... so i have been around the house looking for appropriate hanging spaces with the right amount of light...

It is like a QUEST that never ends.

An internet shop needs: clear, colourful pictures that are as 'true' as possible.

The picture needs to convey the size and the 'usage' of a product.

The photo needs to look professional and clean.

It needs to be in focus.

It needs to be cohesive to the rest of your shop.

It need to pop out of the screen and see "LOOK, i am interesting and a bit pretty"

I love the possibilities that photography offers.

I am often disappointed in my own execution of the shots.

Other shop owners know what i mean??

Weekend Lovin x

Part 2 of our Manchester 'crafting' weekend... So, my little girl got given her very own mixing bowl and accessories by our GORGEOUS friends x how happy is the ToddleFish?!

My very own Christmas gifts from MrsB... mmmm chocolates!

Look at the box!! You just know i will own this (empty) box till I am an old lady. How perfect? How well does she know me?

Isn't she lovely? Isn't she won-der-ful.... pretty MrsB sat with her yummy Christmas teapot... Hair to die for, the cutest pair of flared jeans, a fantastically huge Christmas Tree.

I ADORE this knitting ball wreath she made for their front door. I want one so badly - the *want* shames me :(

And ToddleFish at the hotel in front of the hheewwwgggeee New York style Christmas Tree...

Christmassy Chutney - in large vat size (no smaller jars available) gifted to my friends.

I am so lucky to know so many crafty, pretty, exciting people X

Thankyou FamilyB for a great day - see you in the Wintery New Year...