Buttons, Buttons, Buttons…..

I’ve got a serious button fetish, I love them and every time I see a great mixed selection I have to buy them. I’ve bought them on Etsy and from discount and crafting stores. My love of buttons is only second to my love of fabrics.

Here’s some of my collection



BIG BUTTONS



and little buttons.

I love what you can do with them



sometimes a fastener




and then sometimes purely for decoration.

Then there’s the incredibly clever people who take using buttons to a whole new level



both of these amazing bouquets were created by the very talented Liza from Letters4Lilly

And finally there’s the people who continuously put temptation in my way



Sally from JamboChameleon is responsible for these temptations

Time to go get creative with buttons again.......

Old School Crafting

Remember the days before you were allowed near a sewing machine? If you are like me and have been crafting since you were a little person there would have been a time when you picked up a needle and thread to sew a dolls outfit because your mums sewing machine was off limits. Each item would have been painstakingly stitched until it became Barbie’s favourite outfit or a new set of shorts for your favourite teddy bear!! There of course was a time when this was the way that most households made their clothes, needle and thread. A few days ago I left the sewing machine switched off and returned to these roots. Inspired by a discussion with a friend about ‘Old School Crafting” this is what I came up with

This clutch purse is totally hand sewn, yes folks as mentioned before the sewing machine was unplugged and neglected for this one. The flap is decorative only and is attached to the front of the clutch.

This is the back

and these are some detail shots. I’ve used my favourite cotton floral for the lining and the outside fabric is a cotton canvas.
Inspired? take the challenge and sew something entirely by hand. I’d love to hear about your results

New Toys

I was a little bit evil this week…. I splurged and invested in a new laptop in the end of financial year sales. So I’ve had a busy couple of days getting to know my new toy and syncing it with my pc. I can now view all the files on my pc from the comfort of my lounge chair. And for the first time  I am having a play with ‘Windows Live Writer’ which is what I’m using to write this post.
Hopefully this new toy will bring with it the inspiration to blog more frequently as I’ve been a little tardy with my posts in recent months. It’s been a hell of a year in my world, things just didn’t happen in 3’s it was more like 5’s and 6’s. But I’m 5 days away from some well earned leave from my job so I’ll have some time to share recent events and some new projects with  you.
But as I’m writing on my new laptop it’s a little difficult to share a photo of it with you so instead I’ll  share the photo that is my new desktop back ground. And with all the wonders of modern technology here it is from my pc via my home group network

This was Charlie at the beach, the photo was taken a couple of months ago on an out of code disposable camera. When I had the photo’s processed I took the opportunity to also have the negatives put on a CD.
See you soon
Libby