Confession 6 a long time coming!

I have to admit it has been a very long time since my last confession, but I have committed many sins!   I have been extremely busy, we moved house in October..and I think i started packing in July! Slowly sorting through all our stuff and doing lots of clearing, so I did abstain from buying buttons etc for a couple of months ;) My button stash along with the fabrics and beads was moved into the back room of the shop,which is now my workspace..except there is now no room to work lol! It started off very tidy, but gradually..
I have added to it again. Visiting Shepton Mallet Flea Market is very dangerous!
These are just some of my recent finds.
I have added a Vintage market to my website, which means I can collect all the lovely vintage haberdashery and patterns as well as old knitting patterns and needles.  It is going to take me a while to list everything but I am determined this year to really work on the website, and of course the more bit I sell the more I can buy ;)
I have also, been busy running button workshops. With help from two of my knitting friends I ran a Dorset button Workshop, (I was being taught and making tea.) starting off making a traditional Dorset button, then playing with different yarns and adding beads to make them more funky!  Great to add a bit of glam to finished knitwear.
My Button workshops also went really well, everyone ends up leaving with the most amazing necklaces.

Claire only just got away with leaving with the one above, she obviously had a good eye for a button ;) and accumulated a stash of all my favorites..I did try saying it would look nice with some of the plain ones mixed in.. *note to self do remove favorite buttons before sharing* lol
It is amazing the way people see colour, everybody is so different I loved all the necklaces that were made and it does inspire me to get making more :)
Sending out lots of button love xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

where have all my buttons gone ?..

I have been using up a little bit of my button stash.  

The bracelets below have buttons sewn onto a very thick glittery yarn in different shades of blue. So I can wear some of my lovely vintage buttons :)  These sell really well and I will putting some of these on Etsy and Folksy this week.

I also make lots of mobile phone socks, which are great for using some of the larger buttons.
I love this button Necklace made with a 1960's (I think) perspex button. I only bought 6 of them and really wish I had got more.
I use buttons with the felt flowers a lot, I really like to find contrasting colours and add beads in to the middle.
These little heart brooches use quite a lot of buttons and i have used some of my favorite vintage ones on these.

I have these little hearts for sale in my shop and my aim is to make kits up, with the brooch backs and a little bag of vintage buttons..it will be good fun sorting the buttons to go in the bags.
I do have a whole lot of buttons that are in a secret stash, that i know are very old and should not be used on crafts. mmmm think I need to have a little look at them and remind myself which ones they are.

Last week i was very lucky to get 3 gifts of buttons a little bag from a customer,  a gorgeous vintage tin full of buttons from Laure aka (Deja vu on ravelry) and a little box kate found on her travels. So  I have plenty of button therapy lined up for when I need it :) Thankyou so much girls :)

Confessions, 3, 4 and 5!

I had been working really hard and not had a button fix for ages, I read marianedwardsdreamweaver blog and really had to get out of my shop and hunt down some buttons. She found the most fantastic button shop in NYC (unfortunatly), I cannot spare the time to go on holiday at the mo so i think I should hurry up and make my shop look like that!

Confession No 3

Tony and I escaped on Friday morning for a coffee at Shaftesbury, so I just had to pop into one of the second hand shops and found this cute basket full of sewing bits..no buttons though.  It was very strange for me and Tony to be out on our own..we were nearly skipping down the street!  George ran the shop while we were out, he has some very handy free lessons on Friday mornings, next Friday (need to save up first) I am going to visit The dairy House on My own...very very dangerous for a button addict!!! mmm I may need an escort...just to help me load the van ha!
Confession No 4.  We did a car boot on Sunday to get rid of a lot of Arthurs old clothes and Toys..that was the idea and probably the only way I could get Tony there he he!  I went for a little wander when I had set up our bits (half an hour before the publics allowed in) it was huge, I only went two stands away before I found this lovely tin of pearl buttons, I had to open the tin to find them. Rule no 1 of hunting for buttons at car boots..always look in the tins!!

This was an expensive tin of buttons from someone who does vintage fairs, but still quite a bargain I think. Pearl has been used for centuries and  I know in this tin there are some carved pearl buttons from the late eighteenth century to early nineteenth century so well over a 150 years old. I can't wait to go through this tin of buttons and clean and sort them.  I know I have a stash ready for my next fix when needed.

Confession (and its a big one!) No 5
I went back to our stand and made a nice cup of tea..for Tony, Arthur was having fun collecting cars, and then went off again two boots the other way.  I spotted this box  and opened one side of it, my jaw dropped open and my heart started to pound, then I opened the other side and pulled it right open..then I dared to ask the price while biting my lip to make myself look in pain and not too excited :)

The price was far more than i usually would buy things for at a carboot, but I had taken more cash with me with the idea of getting stock for the shop (how lucky am i that I can use that excuse to feed my addiction.) any way I stupidly said ok without even bargaining because it was well worth the price, but I really must bite my lip a bit more and learn to haggle! mmm need a few more lessons I think.

Today I opened it up properly and looked at the stash inside, I love the cotton reels and the vintage knitting and crochet patterns.

How fab are these? If you click on the baby knitting book you will see it describes different forms of underwear..I want know what Pilch Knickers are????
I have just lost some pictures somewhere, of some lovely mens crocheted ties..which I am definetly going to make!

Ok so heres the biggy! having already purchased the above on the same stall I spotted these buttons and asked how much they were, 'oh no dear they come with the whole box' then I noticed the box (always look in the box!) and I really really wanted the buttons, lip biting again (totally raw on one side now!) I asked how much taking into consideration I was about to buy the other Box.
They did the both of them for a figure I just happened to have in my pocket, whoops!!  Tony nearly choked on his tea when he saw me walking back with the boxes (man followed me with second box) we were supposed to be clearing the junk, he said his normal 'she's gone mad' and then I showed him inside the boxes and he totally understood..Bless. Arthur was to busy playing with his cars to notice. 
How gorgeous are these buttons, some from the 50's and 60's and the mop in the front actually looks 20's but not sure.
I have had my button and vintage fix for a while.  I tryed to stay put at the carboot after that, well I did find some vintage needles and some bangles to cover with ribbons.
I think if we added up what we had made against what I spent we would have made a loss!

We had such a fun day though, Tony begrudgingly (but with a smile) had to admit he had had great fun, he did manage to go walkabout to, but not sure he bought a lot, I was to busy peeping into the back of the van at my stash to notice ;)