Oh You Pretty Thing

Hello all! Gosh, I have been so busy with buttony that I haven't had a chance to do anything else. Finally managed to finish this little hand embroidery, something I have had in the pipeline for ages, I wanted to do some text based work, song lyrics, poetry etc. How are YOU?

Creamy Buttons

The French buttony haul is being put to good use in bracelet form, there are some real gems in this bunch, it has taken me twice as long to make this bracelet as usual as I am oooooing and arrrring over each buttons.

Miss Jackson

I have just spent a lovely morning with my friend Abi Jackson. She makes the most incredible clothes and accessories as well as teaching and championing the handmade movement. She is on a quest to re-introduce people to sewing, stitching and making. Below is one of her beautiful dresses, made using vintage curtain fabric and adorned with a lush satin bow. I have been taking photographs for the website I am building for Abi and when it's finished you will be able to keep up to date with all of Abi's new projects and workshops, well well worth it.


In the meantime do pop in and visit her shop in Northampton's Fishmarket Gallery.
Thurs - Sat 10-6.

Does anyone know........

how to safely clean ink pens......both my favourite beloved pens are blocked and a bit crusty. Far too much e-mailing and not enough proper letter writing. Do I soak them in warm water or just run them under the tap?.....any advise would be gratefully received.

Deary deary me....

I have beem such a terrible blogger..... just been so so busy.....
Woman & Home buttony bracelets, so many orders keep flooding in, thank you all my lovely customers.
So much sewing sewing embroidery to be done.
I have GOT to out all my studio storage and get things tidy for the Christmas planning and making and selling rush.
My head is chock full of ideas for new work and even though I have had a horrible cold I have never felt so inspired and busy.......NOT TO MENTION all the lovely soup I have to make with the veggie harvest and the pictures I took on holiday that I haven't posted. oOOoooOoooOo I need an extra hour in the day or I maybe I should knit myself a wife!

Postal Strike

Dear Post Office people.....please please try to come to an amicable arrangement...a postal strike during the Christmas season is really really bad for me.
Hugs and kisses, Sam xxxxx

Buttony

This is a small selection of the vintage buttons I bought as a job lot in France....I have begun to sort them and these are the muted tones. As a treat I allowed myself to open one packet and wasn't at all disappointed, like a bag of my favourite sweets I got all excited.....BUT I mustn't get too engrossed in marvelling at each individual gem until they are all sorted properly.......oh and what fun that will be.

Back

Got back from holiday on Saturday and have just about caught up with orders and e-mails and enquiries. Had a great time in France with family and managed a visit to my favourite haberdasher in Dinan. A absolute treasure palace, did a deal on 7 kg of vintage buttons...oh yes I am looking forward to sorting them all out. I will post pictures if I am not too mesmerised. How have YOU been?

Sneeze

Since the children went back to school I have been a victim of every bug and cold and virus there is. After a lovely summer running around in the fresh air they are cooped up in a warm classroom and are bringing home all kinds of lurgy! I feel totally rubbish! As a consequence I have been a terrible blogger and I do apologise. I am in the process of re-working all my online shops and re-vamping my website. Also lots of preparation for new designs and of course the Christmas rush. I am doing a bit of travelling to get new and beautiful supplies, some from my favourite antique haberdashery in France....a real treasure palace of goodies, I can't wait!

And The Winner Is!

SOOoooOOo all the names went into a Fortnum & Mason's Christmas pudding box......it was very tense.........a small blonde child was torn from his PlayStation to pick a name........he squeezed his eyes shut very tightly and plunged in......he swirled and swirled the names around until he finally picked one......he got concerned that the ones he didn't pick would get upset but I gave him a Jaffa Cake and he's ok now.



The winner of the bracelet is KHRISTI! Well done and I will e-mail you right away.
Thanks for all the great blog suggestions....some really interesting stuff out there.

Mrs Gibson Mercantile

SoOooOooO firsty let me say that I haven't forgotten about the giveaway, I will be making the draw on Tuesday......good luck everyone!
Secondly I have decided to open a supplies store on Etsy......I have a HUGE collection of vintage and antique haberdashery treasure which is taking over my studio, house and frankly my life....arrghhhh. I will find it terribly hard to part with a lot of it but I am just too busy to do anything creative with it and it seems such a shame to have it all stored away. I will be listing it slowly and with care, I want to make sure I photograph it all beautifully...well to the best of my ability.
Here's a taster.....



Yummy vintage cotton trim.




Fab 1950s cotton fabric.

Early Bird

SOOooOoo I just bought my first Christmas present from this shop, Girls Can Tell , I am not freakily organised or usually this prepared but I think I had better get shopping before I become too busy or skint. There is the temptation to spend all my bracelet money on Folksy and Etsy before I get the stuff I really need like shoes for the kids and food.
I want Christmas to be lovely and stress free so I am starting now.

GIVEAWAY!

Following the success of my Woman & Home appearance I have decided to do a little giveaway........You will receive a button bracelet in the colour/s of your choice and a pair of matching sterling silver earrings. All you have to do is leave a comment suggesting a blog that I might like to read, it can be a crafty blog or any other sort of blog, I particularly like lifestyle/ decor blogs and anything a little quirky or unusual. The winner will be picked out of a knitted hat by my children at some point in the next week or so. Good luck!

WOOooooOO up to date!

I am totally up to date with all bracelet orders and other work related stuff. YAY! After the feature in Woman & Home things have been very very busy indeed but I have managed to make all the bracelets and get them out the next day PHEW! The house is a total mess and the children have been living on 'treat' food (like in 'Mermaids') but I have just about managed to keep it all under control. All those years of organising and preparing have paid off... I now know I can function as a full time busy artisan. Yes I did go to Tesco in my slippers BUT all my customers are happy.
Many thanks to my lovely husband for the full support and 'hurrahs!' every time a new order came through.

Press!.... part 2

The lovely team at SewHip asked me to do a pattern and 'how to' of one of my embroidery pieces. I chose a simple skeleton key, they are quite in vogue at the moment and easy for a beginner to master. The resulting magazine piece is just brill and I am so grateful for the team for making the work look so beautiful. I hope lots of people make one up for themselves. SewHip have featured lots of excellent UK crafters and they are really championing the movement.