Happy New Year you lovely Buttoneers!
2016 – I have so many new ideas to share with you, more adventures to take and exciting possibilities to explore.
Also, Eliston Button is 2 years old on the 7th January!!! Whhhaaatt!!?? Crazy Pants! Be sure to check in and join me for the celebrations!
I have so many hopes and dreams for you 2016, but above all, please be kind… Continue reading
Hello there lovely Buttoneers! It’s almost Christmas!! I am very excited – I really am a big kid amongst the pretty, twinkling fairy lights and the decorating of the tree, not to mention the Christmas songs and films and festive socks (that one is for you Saree!) I am already getting a bit carried away! More than anything this year though, I will be super glad of a little break. To be around family and friends. To just stop for a while and soak it all in. To put on the brakes, sit in front of the telly or knit and sew just for me…maybe pull out some Christmas crafting that isn’t just for the blog or snuggle down under a thick fluffy blanket with a good book. All will be calm. All will be still. Well, a girl can dream can’t she!? 😉 I can guarantee I will be bouncing around in my festive pyjamas waiting to be able to tear open prezzies and fill my face with turkey! Who’s with me!?
Well, What a year! It has been Crazy Pants with capital letters this year.
I for one will be super-duper glad, with jingle bells on top, for the new year to come around, so we can all start a fresh and grab hold of a bit of hope and possibility again.
As you lovely Buttoneers know, this year was a tough year for us – I wrote all about it in my post ‘It’s Not You…It’s Me (And Why This Isn’t a Break Up)’ so rather than go over old ground, feel free to pop over and have a read.
All of the negativity and stress and anxiety led me to lose the hold I had on my life. It all sort of knocked my legs from under me and for a long while I worried that I had lost my mind, let alone my creativity! But, alas! The ice started to thaw, time became a healer, I found ways to cope better with situations and slowly but surely I found my way again. Bit by bit I started to blossom with ideas and excitement and love for what I do again. Hooray!
I learnt a lot about myself. I learnt a lot about people. I learnt about what was important to me and what was not.
I learnt that to just show up, to just sit at my desk and type or make or paint or sew, to just start…was, some days, enough.
I found out that my brain needs as much care as my body (and that honestly, both need to improve!) I found out that I really love what I do but also found that I shouldn’t overdo it. I found that I have a fire inside of me that lights up at the mention of art, craft, design and adventure. I found out that I am strong if I put my mind to it. That I can get through the toughest of times if I just remember to turn on the light (Thanks to J.K.Rowling for that one) I found that people can be horrendous and spiteful and terrorise others BUT, that if you look closely you can sift out the good ones, you can spot the real ones, the ones who are full of love and happiness and have huge hearts. They are my people. I want to be in that tribe.
I learnt that no matter what, I have a support network of family and friends (including my ever so patient and understanding, superhero fiancé) My favourites, behind me and I know that no matter how tough it gets, no matter what bad decisions I make, or however much I hibernate away, they are there, standing next to me, holding my hand.
After I was shook through the sieve this year, I learnt who the pure gems are. I learnt where and what and who my gold nuggets are…
Hello there lovely Buttoneers! It is almost Christmas and I am super excited, especially now that I have been adventuring to some late night shopping festivities! What is it about Christmas markets that make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside and as excited as…well a kid me on Christmas morning!?
I love the smell of mulled wine that lingers in the cold crisp air…the scent of chestnuts roasting (on an open fire!?) The bright twinkly lights that give a sense of magic just around the corner…the stalls of handmade goodness, mince pies, gifts and festive foods….the happiness that soaks into your soul as you wander around without a care in the world…Christmas perfection!
At the weekend, my fiancé and I adventured out down the road to the beautiful Cotswold village of Broadway which is just about ten minutes away from where we live – It is my fave! They had carollers, brass bands and so much Christmas spirit – not to mention all of the lights!
The sparkly twinkle fairy lights looked divine against the creamy golden Cotswold stone buildings and we easily felt like we had be transported back in time…it is the most quintessential Cotswold village. It is not hard to see why it was voted as number 1 in AOL’s ‘Best Christmas Destination in the UK’ this year!
It really was chocolate box material!
Pavilion Interior Design have the most beautiful showrooms and each one contains a new theme of gorgeous and enchanting items. I have a bit of a thing for delightful doors and this one was a beauty! It felt so warm and inviting and felt like a total wonderland to peer into through the glass.
Every single shop had outdone themselves with their window decorations and displays. Each one unique and magical filled with glitter and sparkle and elegance.
Hello there lovely Buttoneers! It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! It feels like just last week I was on ‘An Autumn Adventure’ over here (I literally was! ;)) and wham! Just like that, we are into Winter and thinking about Christmas. Blimey!
I thought I would create a little post about all things Winter and Christmas with a cheeky nod towards the Eliston Button Etsy Shop as ideas for your handmade Christmas gifts and, a sneaky hat-tilt towards making and soaking up the holiday cheer with my festive tutorials!
[Shhhh! Buttoneer Insider Information Enclosed: For any order made in the Eliston Button Etsy Shop before 25th December, I will send you a free handmade mystery gift AND 15% off your next order!! – Am I good to you or what!? Details at the end of this post! Shhhh!]
*cough* *cough* So, Here is a fun little round up of just some of the handmade loveliness in my shop…
You can get swept away with the ‘Oo La La’ of French charm with my Embroidery Hoop Wall Art…Take a walk along a driftwood covered beach with golden sand between your toes in my Fabric Collages…Add a touch of whimsy to your hair with my Embroidered Felt and French Knitted Hair Accessories…or even pretty up your ears with my Embroidered Felt Petal Earrings…
…You could decorate your home with love with my Quilted Fabric Bauble Decorations – These come in traditional Red and White (like in the opening photograph) and Pastel Pink and Smoke Grey!
My Embroidered Felt Flower Brooches from my ’27 before 27′ blog challenge are still available too, some have sold now, some I have re-made with my crafty little fingers, some are waiting to find a loving home…
Hello there lovely Buttoneers! Here I am, back as promised in the last instalment of my Create 28 blog challenge – Typographic Quote Illustrations, with the second in a double whammy Create 28 week. Do you remember waaaaay back at the very beginning of this crafty little corner of the bloggerverse? Right back when I created a tutorial for Quilted Baubles? Well, since then, not only is it one of my most viewed blog posts, but many, many of you have asked if I will ever make them to sell as you don’t have the time/resources/inclination to make them.
Originally, I always answered this question with a resounding “NO”. I love them, don’t get me wrong, they might actually be one of my favourite things to make, but they take hours to make and even though it is a seriously rewarding outcome, your fingers and thumbs hurt from pushing in all of those pins!
Anyhoo, things changed. At the beginning of 2015 – January 13th to be precise (Lucky me!)…
I made a rather un-thought-out, not-at-all-planned selling of my soul announcement, that I would be going on 28 crafty adventures for the Eliston Button Etsy Shop before I turned 28 in June…
This forced me to create a list of ideas. How could I not add these beauties to the list!? They would have felt so left out!
So, without further ado and because I have a lot of love for you all and your feedback/requests…No.24 & 25 in my Create 28 blog challenge is…Quilted Ball Decorations!
40 squares of fabric, 209 metal pins and a lot of crafty goodness makes up this eye-catching and unusual quilted fabric hanging decoration. Perfect for any time of the year as a beautiful splash of rich colour in to any room but especially lovely at (but definitely not limited to) Christmas time due to its traditional colour palette of rich red and crisp white.
Each square of fabric was lovingly folded and quilted into shape and secured with a pin to a central polystyrene ball in each section to make sure they have a strong hold. The fabric was carefully selected for its vibrancy and 100% cotton properties to give a bright star pattern and a clean crisp fold line.
The polystyrene ball in the centre means that the hanging ball decoration is super lightweight with the fabric giving it enough weight to hang beautifully from the ribbon.
A massive Happy New Year to you lovely Buttoneers!
Here is to 2015 and hoping it is a happy, healthy and handmade one!
See you on the other side!
What are your New Year plans? Do you have any New Year’s resolutions? I would love to hear all about it!
Meet me for a chat with a cup of tea or a cheeky glass of champers in the comments below. I’ll click the kettle on and pop the cork!
Hello there Buttoneers! This is my final post of 2014 before I take a break over the Christmas period (that still sounds soooooo weird!) and I just wanted to pop in and say hello before I hang up my sparkly blogging pyjamas and put my buttons away until January.
This year has been absolute crazy pants. I pressed that big scary publish button on this blog on 7th January, kept my head (just!) above water and just kept swimming (like a crazy lady with arms flailing and my hair all shockingly frizzy effortlessly full of volume)
Which means that Eliston Button is almost 1 whole year old!! Can you believe it!? Keep your eyes peeled next year – I may have a few surprises up my crafty little sleeves!
January seems like such a long time ago for me this year but in other thoughts it seems crazy to me that I have been blogging for almost a year. I made a few blog posts before I launched too; my most popular being my Quilted Christmas Bauble Tutorial and my Handmade Christmas Round-Up
I then launched into my ’27 before 27′ Blog Challenge where I challenged myself to make 27 different felt flower brooches before I turned 27 in June. This was crazy!! Not only had I totally underestimated the time and work that would go into writing blog posts and photographing everything, but how hard it would be to get my crafty imagination into gear sometimes up to twice a week to design, embroider and craft together 27 flowers in a relatively short space of time. It was tough but I am soooooo glad I did it.
It gave me the opportunity to craft every day and even though there were a lot of tears and midnight panics and near breakdowns, I learnt a lot.
Not just about crafting but about blogging and people and…well…me!
In February, My fiancé and I found our dream home and after renting for almost ten years together, we decided to take a giant leap onto the property ladder and buy our first bought house.
Hello Buttoneers! Can you believe that the last Button Colour Adventure was right back in September!? Blimey! Where has this year gone? Here are Part One and Part Two
As I was wandering around like a lost child at the start of my Christmas shopping (I am hopeless until I buy my first gift and then I turn in to super shopper and get really organised! Anyone else like this?) I was taken in by the magic of Christmas.
I am always mesmerised by the lights, the sparkly decorations and the colours of Christmas that surround me wherever I go…
…So what better than to document them this year in a Button Colour Adventure.
It will be interesting to see if/how they change over the years too, to possibly see tends and waves in styles and designs, to see whether or not I can resist buying one of those teal glass bottles to stand next to one of those gorgeous glittery trees that I may just have to purchase, or indeed resist the temptation of buying one of those adorable Christmas gnomes!
We shall see, but for now, be swept away with me on a trail of colour, glitter and Christmas imagination…
Hello there Buttoneers! I have a lovely last minute holiday season dose of crafty goodness for you today. In fact my lovelies, this is the last Tutorial Tuesday of 2014! Wowee! Doesn’t that sound weird!? I am not nearly ready for Christmas yet let alone for a whole new year!
Well, in my crazy last few weeks I have been thinking about crafting at Christmas time and wondered what I could do with all of the remnants of fabric and scrap ribbon and lace pieces that I have hoarded carefully collected over the years that are taking up much needed studio space…
…which is when the magic happened! That ah-ha! moment when it all clicks into place…I would combine the two and create a fabric scrap Christmas garland!
Not only will it look super festive but help with the hoarding problem collection.
Then I thought “how can I make a Christmas craft without making a quick and easy tutorial for my Buttoneers!?” So here you go…Enjoy!
Hello there lovely Buttoneers! It’s almost Christmas!! It has come around sooooo fast so I wanted to drop in with a quick reminder about the Eliston Button Etsy Shop for your last minute handmade goodness to treat yourself or to give away as gifts to your loved ones.
All of my felt flower brooches are handmade and hand stitched with love and embroidery. They are all different and the designs are based on my 27 before 27 blog challenge that I completed this year. Multiples of some have been made but each one is unique – which is what is so lovely about buying handmade.
Before I go headstrong into showing off my own handmade crafty bits and pieces I just wanted to sum up why I think everyone should shop handmade…
Hello there lovely Buttoneers! It’s time for another Tutorial Tuesday! This time I have a super easy ten-step guide of how to make your own handmade fancy envelopes. I know…I know…you get an envelope with your shop bought Christmas cards, why bother making them…
Well…just look how pretty they could be and really personal, you could even line them with photographs. I am so bored with plain old red, white or green envelopes for my shop-bought Christmas cards, I mean I spend enough on them; the least they could do is have a fancy schmancy envelope to feed the stationery geek in me! Not to mention when I find the time to make my own crafty Christmas cards, how snazzy they will look all dolled up in a handmade super-cute envelope.
Your cards could turn heads at the Christmas party as if you’ve just rocked up in your underwear and a pair of stilettos…except with maybe a little more elegance!
Last weekend we went Christmas shopping in Bristol and as I had pretty much finished my Christmas shopping, I was able to wander around and soak up the festivities and beauty of Winter and of course Christmas.
{You can find part one of ‘Hello Winter’ here}
My festive nails for the occasion
Hot Chocolate in a Christmas Mug 🙂
Before I dash off to do my Christmas food shop, wrap presents, wail along to Wham’s ‘Last Christmas’ and snuggle under a blanket with a cup of tea to watch Christmas telly, I wanted to do a quick round up of the things I made this Christmas season because don’t forget…
Happiness is Handmade!
Christmas Sparkly Bauble Clip-on Earrings for my Sister who refuses to get her ears pierced!
So glittery!
A while ago I came across a video tutorial for a quilted bauble and was left in complete awe. They were beautiful but there was no way I was going to be able to make one. Weeks later I came across the website address scribbled on a scrap of paper (I have hundreds of these in my studio) and felt that same tugging feeling like I just had to try it out, however awful the consequences, with the thought that if it didn’t work out then I simply wouldn’t blog about it, or better still, I would blog about its failure. After all, a failed craft story is probably more interesting. So I went to Hobbycraft, bought a few polystyrene balls in different sizes and some household pins and set to work literally pausing the video tutorial after every new step!
{here is the original video tutorial link}
I loved it and after 40 square pieces of fabric, 200 pins and sore fingers and thumbs I was pleased with its outcome and pretty darn proud of myself!
You can find some different colour versions for sale in the Eliston Button Etsy Shop too or carry on to the tutorial to make one for yourself 😉
Eliston Button 