i didnt realise it has been quite so long since my last post,
it has taken since the beginning of may to go through the process of buying our first home, so i think you can let me off not blogging for that very stressful period!

we have now got our new house keys, but dont move in for a while as it needs a whole new re-wire and the kitchen wall is coming down! (very much a project, i feel like Sarah Beeney is going to walk in at any moment!)
oh and because its taken so long for us to exchange contracts, the garden resembles a wild meadow!

this week i have been mostly..... getting ready for, MK Vintage & Handmade Fair
a market outside John Lewis in Milton Keynes, that a lot of my crafty friends have done before and thoroughly recommended, we're all going to be there this weekend, Saturday 9-7 and Sunday 10-6
(yes, very long weekend - takeaways guaranteed!)

thought i'd share some photos on here instead of clogging up your instagram feed.....

beret hats with interchangeable flower brooches

hairgrips before being buttoned...

dont they look pretty in sweetie jars!

collar scarves

pretty heart earrings waiting to set

all packed and ready to pick up Quirky Boots!

so thats me now, finishing off a few more brooches and hairgrips and getting an early night before the manic weekend! Deanne from Quirky Boots is sharing my stall, so I'm picking her up at 6am tomorrow!
yes thats right i said 6am! eeeeek!

please do give me a prod and wake me up if you come along over the weekend!
love & buttons, michelle xxx

i think i've just about got it sorted.......

packaging and presentation are two things that are really important to me 

- yes, i will buy a book just by the cover!

i always try to take the best photos that i can - i do re-do them every now & again 

- and everytime think "how did i sell any of them with photos like them before?!"

so when "Postage-Gate" came about, i took it as a good opportunity to re-brand and re-juvenate my shops!

i designed my logo a long while ago when i launched my new website 

(which is currently offline while i update it)

and now i've finally got round to ordering some business cards with the same design!

i can't wait to use them!

i've added some new products to my NOTHS shop, 

that i made at Christmas as special orders, 

these chunky bracelets & rings have gone down really well :)

i'm rocking the polka dots at the moment 

 realising i can use them in a whole host of other ranges that i make - it ties them all in together, & creates matching sets of things that can be given for gifts

(more polka dot hair accessories on their way soon!)

and my favourite thing i've been mostly doing this week is decorating these gift boxes for my earrings

i realised to cut postage costs, i can package earrings in boxes

and so i just had to buy some stamps to decorate them with!

My friend Fran - Little Gift Store makes the most gorgeous rubber stamps,

 so i asked her to make me some buttons! 

i think she's excelled herself-they are so intricate 

(she even had to make her own tool to make them!)

i hope you love them too!

so as i was saying, i think i've just about got it all sorted on my NOTHS page

still to come is my own website - but i will let you all know when its back up

and i think i'll do a SALE or something to reward you all for your patience!

lots of love & buttons, michelle xxx

 

lately i've been mostly....

.....very busy doing grown up things!
button it has kind of gone on the back burner for a while, which is frustrating me in a way - i'm happiest when i'm creating, but sometimes exciting things in life have to take priority!

firstly, back about a month ago me & my fiance went to see where we're planning on having our wedding -

a waterfall in Scotland near Fort William called "Caig Falls" where Bonny Prince Charlie was rumoured to hide out in the olden days. We'd already had our hearts set on this place since seeing it a couple of years ago, but we needed to find a hotel to have the reception at.
So we enjoyed the hottest week ever in Scotland and found the hotel straight away!
Lots of walking and eating at gorgeous restaurants later we were driving back to Northamptonshire planning our guest list for May 2014!

Next up on the list.... (wedding, house, dog then kids - thats just how life goes)
We've been house hunting recently since we saw a 1930's bay fronted semi go up on the market and then sell before we could see it, we looked around the next door & put an offer in for that - which was beaten just before we went to Scotland - so frustrating, but as everyone said - everything happens for a reason...
Last week, the original house came back on the market - and we got first dibs to see it!
Our offer has been accepted and we're going to arrange our mortgage on Friday! Eeek!
Fingers crossed everyone! :)


So after all that, I hope you'll forgive me for being a bit quiet!
I am still busy sending orders out, and I will soon be re-jigging my shops due to Royal Mail price increases - which needs a whole blog post to itself!

I have also just been accepted onto 2 big-ish craft fairs in September & October, which will keep me busy preparing for - i'd better get those knitting needles out again ;)

catch u soon!
lots of love & buttons, michelle xxx

this week i 'ave been mostly...... trying to catch up

time has been running away from me lately...
working part time, selling online, and attempting to have a social life is a bit too much sometimes!

since my last post we've updated the Warkton Village Craft Market blog (see last week)
with photos of the lovely day we had...

i loved having an excuse to wear my vintage apron made by Billie who has been to Warkton before

as anyone who has had a stall at a craft fair will know, it is knackering!
all you want to do afterwards is slob on the sofa and have a takeaway
its even worse when you're the organiser and have to pack everything away and collect the signs from the grass verges around the village!

so last week was spent relaxing and getting over the busy market weekend...
still the orders kept on coming through Not on the High Street so there was no rest for the wicked!

i have also been making new products, which need photographing and editing, but up til a few days ago i didn't have any bulbs for my halogen studio lamps - silly me let one fall over and the bulb broke!

luckily mr button it ordered some more (they are actually his lamps!) and decided to buy a light tent too - which helps me out no end now!

i only used one light, and will probably use another from the right side to even out the shadow,
but i am loving the way the tent diffuses the light
and i absolutely love these buttons i found in my stash - proper vintage!

this week i 'ave been mostly...... preparing for the first craft fair of the year

not a craft fair i was selling at though,
this was the first Warkton Village Craft Market of the year!

i organise this market with my friend Deanne Quirky Boots
in the gorgeous setting of Warkton, nr Kettering
and we LOVE it!

we used to panic every month, "have we done enough advertising?", "have we got the right stalls?", "have we got everything?"...
and with it still being a cold and dreary February day, we did wonder if it would be slightly too quiet, but soon after 10am people started trickling in, and it was pretty steady all morning!
by 2pm the cakes had nearly all run out!

our dream is finally coming to fruition,
a monthly handmade event that supports local artists and crafters, in a friendly environment
providing an alternative to high street shopping for visitors to come back every month and see different items

it really does have to be seen to be believed though - lots of people think "craft fair" they think granny knits and pocket money toys, not our market!
we strive for the best top quality stalls with lovely crafters who will help make the friendly atmosphere for the day,
everyone chats together and makes new crafty friends, and helps each other out with tips & supplier info.


like i said before, we LOVE it! and i hope it shows! :D
(photos from yesterday on Deanne's camera still - will post them soon!)

this week i 'ave been mostly...... taking time out

after finishing a stack of valentines day cards ready for posting on Saturday, I set about giving myself a bit of me time :)
lying on the sofa on friday night watching telly, I was very nearly falling asleep - so I got my crochet hook out and got a couple more squares for my blanket done :)

Then Saturday came around and I had a day of doing lots of lovely things - firstly was going to look round a craft fair a friend was organising - Little Gift Store - where there were lots of Warkton stallholders - so in true chatterbox style I had to renew my car parking ticket twice!
This is how Warkton looked from Kettering - all pretty in the snow - hope it warms up before this Saturdays market there!

And after all that me time, it was time to go out for the night with the boyfriend to see Sarah Millican!
I kinda billed it to him as our Valentines night out - even though I knew he probably wouldn't really appreciate her humour as much as if I was to take a girlfriend, but he laughed quite a bit and said afterwards that  it had been funny :)

the highlight for me was the woman sat in front who shouted out (after being asked why would you take spare pants when you go away for the weekend) "i've got a pair in my handbag right now!!"

We went for dinner beforehand too, to Little Tokyo in Leicester - very scrummy Japanese food - if you havent tried it yet, you really should!

Now, after such a busy Saturday I was going round to a friends house yesterday to have tea & cake and general girly chat....
but knowing that she has just got into sewing, I took a dress pattern round that a friend gave me years ago for my birthday-with some GORGEOUS fabric, and thought we could "have a look" at it, and just ponder actually making it....

this is what I came home with!
8 hours of trying to decipher an American dress pattern, 1 of those trying to work out one of the steps and why it wouldn't look like the picture,
lots of tea & cake later, we have made a DRESS! :D

so chuffed with myself and so thankful to lovely Lisa for helping make sense of a scary pattern!

what a lovely weekend! didn't really want it to end....

this week i 'ave been mostly...... making valentines cards

i am really enjoying the messages i'm being asked to write on peoples cards, and getting repeat orders from men who ordered one last year has really put a smile on my face :)

this is how my desk looked yesterday...

i've had to buy more little red buttons due to the high demand!
and i've also had to set a last order date for guaranteed delivery for Valentines Day
= 8th Feb (get your orders in quick!)

i can happily report orders have also picked up for heart earrings, and probably due to the snow last night I sold a beret today!

also this week, i 'ave been.....

• dreaming up new ideas
• getting home from work very tired and not wanting to do much
• trying to banish the winter blues 
• and eating a lot of cake

but now the snow is here my winter blues have gone! :)

this morning i am sitting in my armchair watching all the people out walking, or rather sliding in the snow, while i sit in my dressing gown knitting, and my boyfriend keeps me topped up with tea - perfect sunday if u ask me!

hope everyones enjoying the snow (if you were lucky enough)
happy sunday xxx

this week i 'ave been mostly......

....thinking about blogging.

it just doesnt come naturally to me, talking about what i have been doing, or what i want to do is generally saved for "actually talking" (my favourite thing apart from buttons)
i just never really put the time aside to write a blog, or read other peoples, as i always feel i should be being creative in other ways instead, like- write a blogpost VS crochet a granny square!

but new year, new beginnings, and since the new year began, i've been following my lovely friend and fellow crafter evajeanie's blog as she is doing "a post a day" about something she has handmade each day.
now, i am definately not productive enough to do this, and also, i'd forget! but it got me thinking i should blog more regularly, so you can get a bit of an idea about the girl behind the buttons.

now, on a slight tangent (i promise you will get to used to my random brain!), the famous "Fast Show" comedy program was a staple for me growing up, and one of mine and my brothers favourite sketches every week, was the guy who would say..."this week i 'ave been mostly eating......" 
so i have decided every week i will be tellng you what i 'ave been mostly "doing" this week!

and maybe i'll tell you about what i've been eating too - i do LOVE food!

so to get things kicked off...
this week i 'ave been mostly... buying lots of wool to make a crochet granny square blanket for myself, and been crocheting some bright spring coloured brooches to put on my website

 and i made broccolli & stilton soup from scratch.....it was rather yummy

stop by next week, and see how the blanket is coming along!
lots of love & buttons, michelle xxx