Been Busy with New Things and 10% OFF in my Folksy Shop.

Yes that's right....I've been extremely busy designing and creating new things but I'm not complaining because that's what I love to do. I am proud to showcase my new work here. I've now added printed aprons to my kitchen accessories, they're bright and colourful and also very useful. They're available for sale in both my Etsy and Folksy shop

I've recently reopened my Folksy shop and so to get things started and to kick the shop into some action I am having a 10% OFF sale over the Easter holidays. Just use code LOVEPATTERN 2016 at the checkout. Thank you. 

Here two new card designs that I have recently added to my Folksy shop-

Volume 2: Scented Cushions

Hello...feast your eyes on my lovely cushions I've made this year (this is a tiny selection). I haven't got much time to blog these days as I'm super busy with trade and gallery orders, however I'd still like to show you what I've been up to! Thank you....thank you.....thank you......

 

 

 

New Things.

It has taken me some time.....let me tell you, to get out of holiday mode. To be honest I still want that lovely warm, positive holiday feeling and there's one suitcase I haven't unpacked yet. I think that's more down to laziness than wishful thinking though.

Any way to get me back into the swing of things this week I have made a number of small handmade items, as it is extremely satisfying to see results at the end of the day. Also if I sit around in a dream world I'll never have another holiday. It's time to be proactive!!!! Oh yes!!

 Here's what has kept me busy this week-

I sell buttons so I thought BUTTON BROOCHES! I know they're not original and that other crafty types make them but I needed that kick of satisfaction to get me out of my post-holiday gloom. So on this occasion I'm not beating myself up about originality!

These boys are big- a true statement!

 

Satisfaction guaranteed

 

Ribbon tying, gluing, sticking, sewing. All in a days work. 

 

Sewing, 

 

embellishing, crafting....

 

I enjoy making lovely things.

I have listed everything in my Handmade Textile shop
@ http://www.etsy.com/shop/onceinthenorth

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

A Few New Bags and My Mum's Vintage Button Collection

Oh yes vintage buttons.....let me show-

My mum gave me these buttons almost 20yrs ago and she had them for a long time before that. Let me tell you that my mum was a bit of a trend setter in her day, living in London during the 60's and going to art college. FAB! So I've always imagined that these buttons would be able to tell a few interesting stories.

Sometimes I've kept these beauties in a box or a jar, I've stored them away and I've had them on show. I've always admired them and also been curious by them. Just recently I took another good look at them and found myself wanting to use them in my textile work and designs. I'm not sure why I haven't done this already.......I think it's been a lack of confidence or maybe not wanting let some of them go.

However I have made a couple of cute clutches/purses and embellished them with my mum's buttons

 This pretty blue cornflower clutch is my favourite out of all the bags I have made recently. I love the HUGELY OVER SIZED turquoise button- this is what I call perfection.
My bag is for sale here-
 http://www.etsy.com/listing/77154492/handmade-clutch-in-cornflower-blue-and

I think perhaps it is also a matter of patience and waiting until the right fabric or even design idea comes along!

All of my bags are for sale at http://www.etsy.com/shop/onceinthenorth

I think I will take some more pics of these lovely buttons to show them off!

By the way please ignore- spelling mistakes, puntuation, gobildeegoop....I caught the sun very badly yesterday and I'm starting to feel rubbish! I will correct any errors tomorrow.

  

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!

FREE P&P TO THE UK- on 30g button bag collections

I really should post more blog updates........that's a note to myself!!!!

So over at Once in the North 2  we have decided to offer FREE P&P 'on 30g button bag varieties' TO THE UK ONLY...sorry lovely folks in far away beautiful lands. This is for a limited time only. Why are we doing this? Well we have neglected our lovely shop for some time as sewing and sewing has taken over our lives, but now we have free time to dust the cyber cobwebs, invest some TLC and add new buttons and new life into our shop. This is the first of many promos as buttons are so forgiving and they should be part of every ones life.......come on button lovers let me hear a cheer!!!!!

Lovely RED, WHITE and BLUE  buttons. So royally majestic and oh so proud- each bag (which means each colour) is a 30g mixed bag of beautiful buttons.

Colour, colour, colour lots of lovely colour that's what my second button bag promo consists of

six bags/six colours each one with 30g of mixed glorious scrumptious colourful zesty buttons!

Please note if I could give these beauties away I probably would but I have growing girls so I have to earn a living, it takes time to sort them and weigh them but I'm happy to pay for the postage if you take them off my hands.

Thank you very much kind crafting sirs.

Sewing Circles

Craft fairs are looming upon me once again so today I'm sewing circles.

I use many bird motifs in my work and I enjoy incorporating Russian Doll images but I am so incredibly passionate about colour and this is why I have most fun sewing circles. I would have to say that I love colour so much my that all my crafting and textiles projects are based around the relationships of colours. Even down to the smallest item I make I have to use the correct colour combination of fabrics and buttons. I'm perhaps more obsessed with using colours than buttons. Its a wholesome obsession! Right?

I find circles a great way to experiment and combine those tones and shades that you thought might not work well. But what an amazing, zingy feeling you get when it actually does. It sends ripples right through my body sometimes. If it doesn't look so hot there's no need to despair you might just need to cut out one more circle in a different fabric either patterned or textural to bring it altogether. I have a lot of confident using colour but I'm drawn to the brightest oranges, pinks and reds, it's quite a challenge for me to use subtle greens and blues or muted beiges but I get stuck in and give it a go. I also find sewing circles to be very relaxing and therapeutic. ZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

I've also been experimenting with mushrooms! Well felt ones. I've had so much fun that mushrooms might become the new circles, they're definitely going to 'crop' up in my textile projects!