Be Back Soon

Yesterday was a great day at The Handmade Expo. Lots of customers wandering through and my favourite addition to the stallholders - Jeff and his woodfired pizzas! Happily, Micky assures me he will be back next month. The new tractor and train designs rolled out the door so quickly I wasn't organised enough for a photo. I'll try to snap a few this week.

It will be a bit quiet around these parts until the end of the week. We are packing up the buttons and dog and heading to my Mum's place for some country style R & R. It is also my nephew's birthday so we are going to be part of the shenanigans. His Mum has organised a Mad Scientist party which will be a hoot. Happy Birthday Dom, my beautiful godson! May your year ahead be joyful and blessed.

Hope you are enjoying your weekend and if you are on school holidays, RELAX!

THE HANDMADE EXPO - Stallholder of the Month

I had some very exciting news this week. The Handmade Expo Girls chose me as their stallholder of the month. I had a feature on their blog for the week and a stallholder profile in the print ad they ran in the Ipswich papers. It was a lovely way to start the week and I really appreciate the support and interest from Liesa, Micky and Miriam.

I'm still busy preparing things for tomorrow's Handmade Expo. One day I will have nothing to do but sleep the night before a market...alas, it is not the way things will pan out tonight. I am really looking forward to tomorrow's market. I am hoping to take some initial tees with me and I have some little tractors and trains on long sleeve tees for the boys which are hot off the Janome.

Come on down and say hi! There'll be wood fired pizza, great coffee, cupcakes and the usual sausage sizzle to feed the body and a host of crafty, handmade goodness to feed the mind and spirit. I'll be the one with the bags under the eyes!

Thought for Thursday

Let a joy keep you. Reach out your hands and take it when it runs by.

Carl Sandburg

This morning my two little ones spent almost an hour in the bath. They were a bit sandy after their morning play and when my Molly Girl said, "Bath", I couldn't refuse. Talking is a new skill for our girl and it was the first time she'd said that word. Her new word total for the week is 3 so we are on fire!

Once they'd given themselves a bit of a hoozle to remove the dirt they grabbed the basket of bath toys and selected cups and paint brushes. Listening to the giggles and squeals of joy as they painted the tub and the walls with the bubbles was magic. We could have played that game all day! I hope your day was joyous, too.

My Creative Space

This week I have been playing with some more products in our Made for Me range. This range started with a request from Kylie at Buzzi ‘n’ Moo and it has proven to be a very popular addition to the Cute as Buttons line up. The new initial and name tees have also come about thanks to requests from lovely customers!

Some of my newly acquired d’oyleys have been put to good use and Deb’s leftovers are also being given a new life.

I'm still not completely happy with the girl name tees (2nd photo) and am tossing around a few other ideas to help get them right. What do you think?

Pop over here to see the creative space of the wonderfully, crafty, folk at Kirsty’s place.

Flea Market Finds

My Flea Market Finds cost the princely sum of $2 at a school Trash 'n' Treasure market. There has been a great deal of familial debate as to the purpose of the items. Mr Button assumed they were an abstract table ornament of some kind and was surprised to learn they were just resting on the table en route to the sewing room. The 6yr old button thought they were a small clothesline for the dolls.
The female, 2yr old, button thought it was some kind of bubble wand.

The male, 2yr old, button recognised the potential of those clips and proceeded to snap all and sundry whilst making wild, crocodile noises.

Of course, I am sure you've worked out that with a coat or two of white paint, these will make excellent displays for hair ties and hair clips on the Cute as Buttons market table.

For more Flea Market Finds, visit Sophie over here.

Thought for Thursday

I only feel angry when I see waste. When I see people throwing away things we could use.

Mother Teresa

Stumbling across clever and passionate recyclers is one of the fantastic side benefits of this crafty, handmade, sub-culture that exists in blogland. There are so many people finding ways to love and reuse things that someone else has thrown away that you can't help but be inspired. The BrisStyle Eco Market on July 10th is a one stop shop for Earth friendly, recycled, goodness. Be sure to pop that date in your diary. I'm taking along my Christmas list and hoping to cross off one or two or five more gifts. Hope I see you there!

The One That Got Away

Image: Renee

As I was browsing through Renee's photos from the Boutique Markets fashion parade, I spied something familiar in the background of one of the dog shots.

Just behind the the dog leads, at the start of the carpet, you will see the elusive blonde haired and blue eyed model who went to extreme lengths to avoid strutting his stuff. He was caught on camera as he made a fleeting appearance in pursuit of a smooch with a dog. I thought I'd pop this one up so you could see the complete set of Little Buttons.

Thanks to Miriam from Bubba Chenille for his pants. He quite fancied himself. He just wasn't prepared to be fancied by the rest of the world!

If you're looking for us tomorrow you will find us in Ipswich helping Liesa celebrate Handmade Heaven's first birthday. Cute as Buttons has been a part of this heavenly venture since day one and we are delighted to celebrate her success. She has some great giveaways and specials to help celebrate and online shopping is most welcome.

Didn't We Have A Lovely Day?

Thank goodness it is a Public Holiday in my neck of the woods today. Yesterday was a wonderful, completely exhausting day and we needed a little bit of recovery in the form of a long weekend. It was the Kids and Pets Big Day Out at the Boutique Markets at Hamilton. Quite literally, every man and their dog was there to join in the fun. Mr Button, the Little Buttons and Nanny Button also came along. The petting zoo was a hit and so were the crazy antics of the balloon, bending man. We were also lucky enough to be beside Marcus the guidedog who was patted and admired often and well by the young and old alike.

Part of the programme for the day was a fashion parade. We tried to prepare the little ones for the event by chatting about what would happen. We practiced walking down the red carpet when no one was watching. We got ready with time to spare so no one was rushed or stressed. We were somewhere in the middle of the pack so they could watch and see what they needed to do. Leasl announced it was our turn. Two of the Little Buttons sashayed their way down the carpet with big smiles, but, the third was nowhere to be found. Will decided to take to his heels and was found in the dressing tent stripping himself to his nappy. It would seem some of us are just not meant to be in the spotlight!

Image: Renee

Happily, we did manage to get some clothes on him a bit later. He even made a brief appearance on the red carpet albeit to kiss one of the canine models. My crew stayed around to help me pack up and thanks to a brief tutorial from Jules of Earthly Jewels, Mr Button has now mastered the art of dismantling a marquee. This is a skill I intend to put to great use. It really was a lovely, happy, day!

Thought for Thursday

Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.

Edith Sitwell

Oh, I do love winter. My week held; a comforting coffee and chat courtesy of Liesa when I popped into Handmade Heaven to drop off some orders. I also bought some of the snuggly flannelette pyjamas she has in the shop for the little buttons and I am predicting a comfy night's sleep for all.

Good food this week was a knockout batch of Apricot Chicken. One of those old favourites that is yummy and delicious on a cold winter's night. Your Mum probably made it for you when you were a wee one.

COAT 1.5kg of chicken pieces in flour.

COMBINE a 405g tin of apricot nectar with a packet of French Onion soup mix in a small saucepan.

STIR until it thickens.

PLACE chicken in a casserole dish.

POUR nectar mixture over chicken.

BAKE in a moderate oven for 1.5hrs.

GARNISH with toasted almonds and fresh green herbs.

Which brings me to tonight. Whilst we don't have a friendly fire to sit beside, Mr Button does have the heater roaring and we are wrapped in blankets and sipping tea as I am working on this post. It is a picture of domestic bliss. Ahh, there really is no place like home!

My Creative Space

I am trying to multi task tonight with my preparations for tomorrow's BiDM and some sweet making for our School Fair on Sunday. In the BiDM corner of the house you will see lots of this:

and a bit of that:

In the School Fair neck of the woods you will see some of this:

and a LOT of that!

Must remember not to mix the two areas up as I am sure people will not take kindly to blobs of caramel fudge on their newly purchased goods! Please note: Mr Button would like to be credited as the maker of the caramel fudge. He has thrown himself into the maelstrom that is our kitchen and is saving the day/putting his shoulder to the wheel/making his wife love him a wee bit more.

Visit the Kirsty the queen of creative spaces here to catch up with lots of other wonderful folk.

Planning Your Weekend?

If you've started thinking about what you are going to do this weekend, be sure to set aside some time to take a stroll through the beautiful grounds of St Augustine's Church on Racecourse Rd at Hamilton on Saturday. You will be greeted with a vision of handmade loveliness at the BrisStyle Designers Market. Shop there from 9am - 2pm and then pop into one of the lovely spots on Racecourse Rd for a bite to eat. I have already started shopping for birthdays and Christmas! Cute as Buttons will be inside the hall so stop by and say howdy while you are there.