I'm Having A GIVEAWAY

Yes I am! I haven't had a giveaway for a while and I'm thinking that if it goes well I might make a regular- say monthly, thing of it!

This giveaway is all down to the computer crashing and getting a phone call from my daughter's school to say that she wasn't feeling very well. I'd just made a cup of coffee too! But the fact that I had to drive ten miles to pick her up meant there was no chance of it still being hot when we arrived back home. Anyway she was fine and it was kind of enjoyable watching i-Carly in the middle of the afternoon. It also give me an overdue opportunity to sort through my craft supplies and textile pieces. So there you have it!

One lucky person will receive....

 my Party Supplies Bag, filled with buttons, ribbons, pom-poms and bows. A lovely rosette of flower pins, these are fab for pinning big wads of fabric together, button holes for weddings and for display. Also one of my textile badges which are the things I sell most of at craft fairs.

 I have taken a few individual photos of each item but I am not happy with these pics. It is not a fantastic day for bright light at my house today. But hey don't let that put you off this fab bag goodies!!

 Nom nom! Buttons! This is a great little starter pack for a button collection.

 I use these pins myself. They are perfect for holding numerous pieces of fabric together, especially wadding when making bags or lavender cushions!

This is just one of my cute textile badges that I really enjoy making! I make these when I need to kick start my creativity and I am lacking inspiration, they are are quick to make which is very satisfying and rewarding!



So there you have. If you would like to enter this giveaway then just come and say 'Hi' in the comments box. My GIVEAWAY will END on MONDAY 11th probably about 6ish!

Oh yeah- GOOD LUCK!

This competition is now closed

Foody Friday

I don't actually know why I've listing a number of button bags at http://www.etsy.com/shop/onceinthenorth2 with foody titles. Maybe its because I've built up an appetite working with children all afternoon. Or perhaps it's something to do with it being a fabulous Friday....who knows? Not me! It's probably because I just love eating-

  Nom! Nom! Ice- Cream lovelies  I've listed these buttons in bags of 30g and 100g. I've discovered that 30g button bags are my best sellers at craft fairs- not everyone wants a big bulky bag and that's why I've decided to list them in my shop. I really love the pastel sugaryness of these buttons.

I'm soooo proud of this photograph. It may only be a pic of buttons but I do wrestle with the camera as I'm no natural photographer. I've definitely captured the rich chocolate and coffee colours of this scrumptious button bag. I'm also selling these buttons in bags of 30g and 100g.

I think I will now go and enjoy some real food, I have made myself very hungry!

Summertime Supplies Party Bag- Buttons X Ribbons X Bows.

As if I haven't enough to do with my life- today I've been putting together a collection of party bags. I'm calling them party bags but really they're a yummy colletion of buttons and ribbons.

I'm starting to get in the Summertime party mood- you know long and lazy, hopefully, warm summer evenings (fingers crossed). Which got me thinking about things that make me happy. We always have big family gatherings in the summer and there are always treats for the children and then I thought....party bags! Hooray! I love a good party bag. So I have put together my style of party bag wish list containing buttons and bows and ribbons and pom-poms. Nom! Nom!

 I have sorted through many, many buttons and put together a very good multi-coloured mix of approximately 30 buttons ranging from teeny buttons to big buttons. There are some with spots and some with stripes, buttons with two holes, four holes, some with a shank, solid, transparent, pink, purple, green, orange, yellow...... But stop! This supplies party bag also contains bows, pom-poms and best of all 1mtr each of two double delicious ribbons- so basically 2mtrs of ribbon!!!!!

This assortment of supplies is a treat and perfect for starting your own button collection or for doing some wonderful craft projects.

Latest Edition

Those of you who know me or who read this little blog.....that's not very many of you lovely folks but I do cherish those of you who put time aside to read my ramblings. Anyway those of you who are lovely enough to follow my blog and pass comments may have realised a common thread either within my work or with the supplies I sell? That common thread is COLOUR!! I think I have discussed my passion for colour in a previous post so I won't bore you any further with the topic of colour- I really want to show you my new colour scheme of button bags.

I have put together a collection of one type of button in a single colour- I don't do this very often as I like to have good mix and variety of colours and size. However this new buttons range is so beautiful and I think pretty classy I felt it a shame to mix the buttons.

This is my classy black, white and red range and available for sale now at onceinthenorth2.etsy

 

Chunky Round Red or I might call them cerise buttons 

 

These little beauties look like they are made from shells or pearls......extremely cute! 

 

I love these clear pink buttons- I think it's because they remind me of jelly fish!

 

You have to agree that these are very beautiful. 

 And these big beauties are sublimely super frilly and fun!   

 I think these would be ideal for big button brooches or I would probably use them to embellish a bag.

Finally, I want you to watch this space for new button and supplies news coming soon........I'm talking about a proper shop!!!!!!!!!

Today is a day for.......

Coordinating the most beautiful fabrics I can find.....

 .........collecting ribbons and trims in contrasting colours and tones (lots of yummy vintage buttons).....and of course using much savvy design know how!

Today is a day for bag making! I'm so excited that I am dancing as I'm posting this blog.


I will return with pics of my finished baggy delights!

Newness!!!!

Happy New Year to all- my lovely, jubbly, bubbly followers!! Here's to a NEW start and all that.

This is a NEW blog post, the first of the year and I want to share a few NEW items with you.

These are my new, fun and functional lavender pillows. I think this little patchwork bird is here to stay and you will be seeing him a lot over this beautiful new year (I'm trying to be positive here- I'm not a fan of Jan)

WOWEEEE! BIG buttons! These I love a lot so much so they give me tingles every time I look at them. They are also new in my Etsy supplies shop

These are medium sized buttons of the same kind- soon to appear in my shops.

Beautiful new ribbons of all varieties- grosgrain with polka dots, fine woven gingham ribbons, satin cutout ribbons and very fine ribbon with thread stitched through. Each one as lovely as the other. They make me buzz with excitement and this is why I felt the need to share them now. I promise to list them in my shop, I won't keep them all to myself!

Finally....a NEW do! MMM! Not the most flattering of pics and especially with no make-up on, but in my defense I had just returned from a gruelling two hour walk. My hair is mainly purple by the way! My favourite colour.

Our New home....not really, I just love this little gingerbread house I made with the girls over the festive hols and thought it was worth sharing.




See you all soon.

 Have you noticed the new look blog?

Phew! Time to catch up.

Hello! I'm back, but only very briefly. I have been so busy lately well I should really say sew busy. For the past few months I have spent every waking minute (or it has felt like it)  pinning, cutting, sewing,  doing applique projects and then embellishing everything with buttons or ribbons......I really put my back into it. Literally! I ended up with the worst back ache I have ever encountered. It was all in honour of this wonderful craft fair that I was privileged to be part of- Nostalgia Meets Design!

I'm sorry to say that this is the only image I have from the event. As organised as I try to be such as blogging about craft events beforehand to drum up some interest, when it came down to it I simply ran out of time and steam. When the day came it was actually a relief to sit down for the entire day. I put so much effort into producing beautiful good quality work that I think I wore myself out. Anyway I'll stop twining because it paid off I sold lots of lovely things and I've been asked to supply to Trade! Which is the direction I want to go in.

Here is a taster of what I was selling

A sexy festive table runner! Ooh! La! La!

Lovely lavender pillows. ZZZZZZ!

Funky Gingerbread Men decorations! I know a few other designers are making these but this is my version!

Christmas Tree decorations- these went down very well

Pom-pom bunting.

I also made a few kits basically because every time I do a craft event I always hear somebody saying "Oh! You can make that yourself" This really winds me up! I'm convinced these types of people never go on to actually make anything, or if they try they'll never produce the quality that I strive for!! Not that any body said it at the Nostalgia Meets Design or NMD as us in the know call it. HA! HA! Thats a joke!

I sold Christmas Tree kits and Gingerbread Men kits.

Here we have my Christmas goody bags. They are packed with buttons, bows, a string of eight pom-poms and festive shiny sequins! I'm selling them here  

http://folksy.com/items/978341-Christmas-Supplies-Goody-Bag-?shop=yes

I shall try to blog more often, as Toyah once said "It's a mystery to me...." how some folks manage to sew, make, produce, then list it all in their on-line shops, blog about their new creations and find the time to be a parent!!! Answers on a post card please!!!! 

B is for...........

                                                              BUTTONS......

BUTTONS.........

BAGS...... BABUSHKA.......

and BIRDS

                                                              All new in my folksy shop

I love buttons! You love buttons! We all love buttons!

Here are some things that have made me happy this week and so I think they are worth sharing.

I have always had a soft spot for gingham and I love the daintiness of daisies. I once designed and made a purple gingham dress and some daisy Fimo earrings specially for a lecture at art college. Oh! How pretentious but I loved every minute of it. So imagine how I jumped for joy when I found these gorgeous mouth watering little beautys at http://www.cardsandcraft.co.uk/ . They are so perfect together and I am eager to start creating.


I've also recently bought these must have flower buttons. Yum! I do feel very fortunate that not far from where I live is a small yet perfectly sized haberdashery. It is stocked with everything a crafter could possibly need including a wall of buttons, yes a wall of buttons!



My girls. They always put a smile on my face- although not when they spend the whole day on their DS'. But today I don't care because it's the Easter holidays and we can just chill. No clock watching for two weeks, no making packed lunches before I've had time to fully open my eyes and no uniforms to iron. I bet my youngest daughter won't even wash her hair! I love it.