Button Patch

Run down of the last 7 months

2012-04-22T20:39:00.004+01:00

Well who went and changed the blogger dashboard? And when? I don't blog for 7 months and they go and change it. Bloomin' cheek! Actually it looks quite funky and user friendly (I hope).

7 months since I last blogged. 7!!!! What have I done during these months? I'm not entirely sure apart from Birthdays, Christmas, toasted the arrival of 14 new baby teeth with Calpol, and generally cleaned a lot of snotty noses. It has been one grim cold after another round here.

Here is a very quick run down of the last 7 months.

I turned 37. Gulp.

Rose had her 4th Birthday. 4! How can that be possible?

Christmas was chaotic and kept to a minimum. We agreed not to go too mad with presents and food and focussed on the children having a good day. Which really released me from all the stresses that Christmas can bring.

We celebrated Belle and Bobby's first Birthday. We made it! Incredibly hard work but so completely worth it. Well just look at them. We are blessed with out 3 beauties.

Creativity has been sporadic and slow.

I did decorated these plain red blankets with appliqué hearts.

I made a rag wreath garland for Easter.

The general consensus from the family was it was 'messy' and 'would it be hanging around after Easter?'. I knew what they meant but I had been intrigued enough to want to make one and they always seemed like such a great way to use up left over fabric.

The most exciting creation was a new appliquéd embroidered canvas' pictures for a customer who contacted me via the Button Patch website.

It was a real joy to do. I was delighted how the text with a script font turned out.

So there you have it a quick run through of the last 7 months. So blogger will your new funky set-up tempt me to come back and blog sooner than 7 months? I do hope so.

Sew Serendipity - Kay Whitt Book Review

2011-09-03T21:37:00.001+01:00

My copy of Sew Serendipity by Kay Whitt dropped through my door from Amazon yesterday. It looks even better than I had hoped.

The photos are inspiring. Sassy, funky, wearable and exciting. Love this skirt. Perhaps it will be the first one I attempt. I'm thinking polka dots and buttons without the applique swirl.

The book is ring bound so it should make it really easy to put it next to the sewing maching and follow the instructions.

The instructions are nicely illustrated and appear very clear and straightforward. It will be interesting to see if they are as easy to follow.

The patterns that are located at the back of the book look really scary! But then I haven't made any clothes from a pattern before so I am hoping they aren't as difficult as they look. I'll let you know.

If you would like a copy you can buy it from Amazon by clicking here

Tunic Top - Button Replacement

2011-08-29T21:20:00.003+01:00

When I visited The Makery in Bath a few weeks ago I picked up a selection of buttons

They were only 35p each. Hearts, kittens, flower and butterflies were printed on them. As soon as I saw them I knew exactly what I wanted to do with them.

A smock top, which I had bought when on holiday in Portugal 2 years ago, had some fabric buttons on it which had started to wear thin. These buttons were exactly the right colour, design and size to replace the fabric button.

Original fabric buttons next to new buttons

Within just one evening I had managed to replace each fabric button with my new finds and it is so therapeutic to dip into sewing again with a quick project and one which made me feel very self righteous when finished.

Projects like these are just what I need at the moment. Sewing which is useful but doesn't require a lot of time or thought.

In other news, last night was the first night that both of our 5 month old twins slept through the night. It was bliss.

The Makery, Bath

2011-08-06T22:16:00.002+01:00

Photo: courtesy of The Makery

My day off from my little brood was all that I hoped for. Great company, good food and a very inspiring visit to The Makery Emporium. Ahhh just what I needed.

'A haven of creative delights. Rare handpicked fabrics. Vintage haberdashery. Beautiful buttons. Pretty ribbons & trimmings' is what the flyer for The Makery Emporium promised and it didn't disappoint. It is a beautiful, happy and enticing shop.

Located in the heart of Bath but tucked down the pretty, bunting festooned Northumberland Place.

Photo: Courtesy of The Makery

A treasure trove of delights.

Photo: Courtesy of The Makery

Many of the fabrics, ribbons, buttons and trimmings I had never seen before which was so refreshing and exciting. As was meeting the owner Kate. She was very welcoming and helpful. Her enthusiasm for her shop and workshops shone through and it was a real pleasure to listen to her talk with such obvious passion for all things creative.

Photo: Courtesy of The Makery

She started with The Makery in Walcot Street where they hold a variety of creative workshops. Workshops range from sewing, upholstery or bookbinding. They even hold children's parties or hen parties. I was particularly interested in a workshop which covered the sewing of zips and button holes. Two skills I have failed to master properly. In addition to the workshops they also hold a Friday cafe. Where for £5 you can go along in the morning with your own project, eat cake, drink tea and use their sewing machines! Sounds like a wonderful way to spend any morning.

Bath really has been lacking in shops like The Makery and I do hope this and the workshops are a great success.

So I returned to my lovelies refreshed and relaxed. Now they are happily tucked up in bed and I am enjoying blogging, drinking wine and flicking two new magazines. Mollie Makes is a magazine we bought at The Makery. I haven't encountered it before so I am very much looking forward to having a good read of this. Ahhh bliss.

Escape to Bath

2011-08-05T21:10:00.002+01:00

I am in much need of some time away from my dear children. It's been almost 5 months since the twins arrived and I have been away from them a total of 25 hours. Of those hours 15 of them were without any children. This is not healthy for me and for them. So I am off to Bath tomorrow.

Now what I love doing to help me relax is to get creative or be amongst creative things. So me and a good friends who also loves all things pretty and creative are off to The Makery for a good old mooch around.

I hear they have an emporium. An emporium, I can hardly breath with anticipation, of gorgeous fabric, buttons and ribbons. Then it will be off to my other fabric heaven Country Threads followed by a little lunch and home again to see all my lovelies.

Country Threads

Inside Country Threads

Hopefully refreshed and ready for action once more. Spare a thought for my dear husband who will be looking after all 3, on his own, for the first time.

I will let you know what I find.

Moving The Family Over To Another Blog

2011-06-25T22:41:00.001+01:00

Not very grubby faces.

So I have ummmeeddd and ahhhheeed but finally I have decided to take the plunge and set-up another blog. It's a sister blog about my family. I feel that the Button Patch blog should be more concentrated upon sewing/creative/business and the sister blog can be filled with my ramblings about the family. A way of me to record the very special years of raising a family.
The new blog, Grubby Little Faces, is up and running but it will take sometime before I am entirely happy with the layout. If you would like to follow me I would be absolutely delighted. Obviously my family wont be completely absent from this blog. There will no doubt be some cross over.

I have also set up a new twitter account for this blog @GrubbyFaces should you like to follow me there too.

Wish me luck. I don't know where I think I will get the time or the brain capacity to switch between the two but I have to give it a go as it has been niggling me for a while.

Hey what about you? Do you blog in several guises? Do you wear different twitter hats? I would love to know.

Skulking Around Blogland

2011-06-17T22:29:00.001+01:00

I've been enjoying the garden. Although the last few days haven't been quite a gorgeous as when I took these photographs.

This is one of my favourite corners of my garden.

So posting on my blog has proven to be a bit tricky over the last 3 months since the twins were born but I have been getting my blog fix by skulking around other blogs and there are some very clever, funny, and creative folk out there.

Thought I might try to ease myself back into blogging by mentioning some of my favourite places to skulk.

Post Gets Cozy one of the first blogs I ever visited & one I can't go a week without logging onto. Her photographs are gorgeous and her writing warm and inviting. She almost put me off starting a blog as her blog is exactly what I would like mine to be and I know it never will.
Jane Brocket - loves bright colours, knitting and domesticity. Her posts are crammed with bright, vibrant photography. Her writing is both inspiring and intelligent.
Cherry Menlove - a fellow mother of boy and girl twins but someone I came across a good 6 years ago when I had just discovered the world of blogging. Gorgeous photography is paired with a stylish and upbeat take on life.
Vintage Vicki this lady blogs about her love of cooking, sewing & family life. A very pleasant blog to visit after a tough day.
Pipany and the Poltisko Farm through seeing her beautiful notebooks featured in a Not On The Highsteet catalogue is how I found her blog. The beautiful Cornwall coast is the backdrop to her busy life with family, pet and sewing her favourite topics to blog about.

So there are my 5 great blogs to skulk around when I need to escape from my world into another.

Nest Building

2011-04-11T20:58:00.002+01:00

Spring is here and nature is getting very busy. We spotted this cheeky chap sitting on a disgarded tennis ball happily shredding the fluff off it presumably to line it's nest. I would love to see the finished masterpiece - twig entwined nest lined with fushcia pink fluff! Surely his home would be the envy of all his feathered friends.

On other news our little chicks are growing quickly. 4 weeks old already and their personalities are beginning to show.

There is chilled out little boy. Loves to snack, sleeps like a dream (IN THE DAY) and will happily chill out in his moses basket just looking around.

Here is yummy baby girl. Fantastic at feeding, loves to kick around on the mat in the morning and is a sensitive soul who doesn't like surprises.

The Twins Have Arrived

2011-04-01T12:16:00.002+01:00

Nearly three weeks ago our family celebrated the safe arrival of our gorgeous twins.

I had gone into hospital to be induced but after the midwife broke Twin 1's waters it was all systems go and within 3 hours our son was born weighing a respectable 6lb 4oz. His arrival was swiftly followed by our baby girl (feet first) just after 1pm weighing 6lb 12oz.

With the incredible support, understanding and strength of my husband and the hospital team I managed to deliver these two incredible babies without a c-section and only on gas and air. It wasn't meant to be like that. I had signed up for as much pain relief as the medical team thought I should have. As Annabelle was breech I had been highly recommended to have an epidural which I had whole heartedly agreed to. However the speed of which I started labouring and a very busy delivery ward meant that pain relief was going to be somewhat absent. Sometimes though these things work out for the best in the end. Don't get me wrong it was painful. Very painful. I have stitches where I wish I didn't have stitches. There were times I got very cross with my husband and I am ashamed to say I nearly punched the doctor after he roughly examined me without realising I hadn't had an epidural. However it was was mercifully quick.

We are all getting to know each other. They are gorgeous little bundles and have stolen all our hearts. There has been some really tough days when juggling everyones needs has been impossible and there have been tears but each day we are learning how we are going to work as a family.

Apologies for the delay in letting you all know via my blog but things have been busy to say the least.

Week 37 Twin Pregnancy - Accepting all the help I can get

2011-03-07T21:31:00.001Z

We made it. Its week 37. My belly is stretched, my fingers are plump, my feet are swollen and my breathing is laboured but we made it. My dumplings and I have reached the key twin milestone of 37 weeks.

How we have managed this is due to the fantastic amount of help we have received from parents, parents-in-law, friends, our little girl and of course my dear husband.

We generally live quite a self-sufficient life as we have no family near-by. We first moved to the West Country in 1999 purely because that was where the work was for my husband. It was over 100 miles away from both sets of family. We got our first house, got married, had our dear little button girl and have moved 3 times around the area since then. We have met some lovely people and made good friends but we have been quite proud of our independence and what we have achieved without the 'usual' support of a close family network. However with 2 more babies on the way we had to concede we needed help. We swallowed our pride and asked (well we didn't really need to ask they just knew) and, like any good family, they came running.

So here I am 37 weeks pregnant. Every day, thanks to our parents, I get a two hour nap. Two whole hours! The last time I experienced that I was a student. We have friends who have lent us amazing amounts of baby stuff and have looked after our little Button girl when we have had to go for hospital appointments. My dear husband has taken over bath time, has moved mountains to be home at a decent time, helps me in and out of the bath, and has taken on all the responsibility for our dog.

Then there is my dear little Button girl. When I think about how amazing she has been it makes me cry. She has been helpful, understanding, and adaptable. She has learnt to put her own shoes on (and sometimes mine), she helps me unload the washing machine and when I drop something she shouts 'don't pick that up Mummy I can do it as I can get it easier than you.'

So, on behalf of the dumplings and I, thank you. It is because of you that we are here. At this milestone.

Clare
xxx

An Essential Book For My Small Home Business

2011-02-28T22:25:00.001Z

What could I do to help my business, while pregnant with twins, and my fingers are too sausage shaped to sew?

That's the question I asked myself when I painfully decided to put Button Patch production on hold. The answer came quite simply via Twitter and the lovely Jane from Snapdragon's Garden who was talking about an intriguing book called ReWork: Change the Way You Work Forever . In her blog post Jane spoke about how the book challenges the assumption that large businesses are the only ones that succeed and make money. The writers actually advocate keeping things small, simple, agile, not worrying about status or fancy offices, not trying to be something to everyone. Jane runs a very successful eco-business which creates beautiful embroidered products. The sort of person I aspire to be. So after reading her review it suddenly became obvious what I could do during this 'down-time'. The best use of my time would be to read and educate myself as much as possible about starting and running your own business. Its the sort of activity you mean to do when you are actually in the depths of creating and selling but there never seems to have the time.

So I ordered ReWork by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson and I love, love, love it and wanted to share this book with you.

It has incredibly small accessable chapters which means you can pick this book up and read any chapter that takes your fancy and then put it down. Yet you are left with a really thought provoking idea that you will mull over for the rest of the day. Therefore ideal for reading in your lunch break or for anyone who is constantly interupted (stay at home Mums and Dads for example).

Chapters that have particularly made me think are:

Long-term business planning is guessing. Totally agree. I used to work for a company who were obsessed with 5, 10, 15 year planning and it would take months of work to create these plans. Months that could have been spent 'doing' rather than 'guessing'.

At-Home Good - Jane, picked-up on this chapter too. It covers the notion that how many times have we been seduced in a shop by an item but once we get it home and unpack it we find it disappointing. The chapter discusses how we should focus on the product. To start caring and delivering more. I cannot begin to tell you the thrill I get when I receive feedback from customers exclaiming 'it's better than the photo' or 'it's so nice I am ordering one for my friend'. That is the buzz that I love from this business and that is what get's you through the hard days.

A strong stand is how you attract superfans. The authors recommend you draw a line in the sand and stick to it. In other words, if you try to be everything to every customer, then you won't please any of them. I have been asked to create things for my stockists that I know will sell but it isn't what I wanted to create and would mean I would have to lower the standards in order to sell them at the price a customer would expect to pay. This doesn't fit well with me. It's better to really please my base and forget the rest. I'm all about providing beautiful products, made well, and my time is better served doing this than trying to please everyone.

ReWork is a fascinating, thought provoking and energising read (how many business books can you say that about?) and should definitely be one for your reading list.

Do you have any books that you could recommend for me to read with a business focus? I would love to hear about them

Clare
xx

Using Red in Our Home

2011-02-24T22:01:00.004Z

The colour red has become one of the key colours within our home. It's warm and welcoming and goes so well with the white furniture and walls that we seem to be so fond of round here.

It all started with the coffee pot, shown above, which I fell in love with as soon as I discovered it in a local charity shop. I use it a lot for displaying flowers in but never coffee.

Since this purchase I have been gathering various red objects to fill shelves.

A red polka dot jug from Laura Ashley

A cheeky stripy red chicken purchased by my husband for my Birthday.

A little jug from e-bay and the now familiar mantra 'Keep Calm and Carry On' postcard framed. Which I try to keep to but fail regularly.

A gingham lavender heart made by a friend sits happiliy next to a blue stripy T&G cup.

You may remember from a previous post that the draught excluder I made was predominantly red.

So when we recently decorated our front bedroom which is part of the original house and can be quite cold it was natural that the colour red would be used too.

The wallpaper and lamp are from Laura Ashley and the chest of draws are from Ikea. White is still the predominant colour but the red just lifts it slightly.

We are lucky enough to have a gorgeous fireplace in our bedroom. I'd love to have it working. Can you imagine it on a cold winter's night? Snuggled down in bed with the fire flickering. It's a very unusual fireplace as there is a window set directly above it. The chimneys go either side of the window. It's amazing the attention to detail the Victorian's put into their houses - even the workers cottages like ours.

You didn't think there wouldn't be a red lavender heart made by me not lurking around somewhere?

I love picking up modern items like this Ikea lantern and mixing it into some of the older parts of our home.

Sometimes it's the small details that matter like these cupboard doorknobs or

this light cover from Laura Ashley

or this beautiful applique Home Sweet Home pillow which I so wish I could claim to have made.
When the colour red really comes into its own is when it's dark outside, you close the curtains and turn on the table lamps and suddenly you are in a cosy, warm and very welcoming home.

This is one of my favourite corners of my home. It makes me smile.

I hope you enjoyed this little red tour of our home.

Thank you for your wonderful comments yesterday about our pregnancy. I shall continue to post blogs to keep you updated on our progress.

Clare

Week 35 Twin Pregnancy - I dream of sleep

2011-02-23T22:12:00.001Z

Sleep is my main preoccupation at the moment. I am desperate to have several good nights of sleep before these little dumplings arrive. However I think the combination of them shifting around, the size of my bump, my constant need to visit the loo and the fact that I get so hot at night makes sleep very difficult. There was a period of time when this pillow, DreamGenni Maternity pillow, was the answer to all my dreams.

DreamGenii Maternity Support Pillow

It supported my bump and reduced the strain on my back. What it also really helped with was my irritating habit of sleeping on my back. Because there is a smaller pillow on the other side it discouraged me from rolling on to my back during the night. Midwives had warned me not to let this happen as it can restrict blood-flow.

I was also keen to get one of these as it will come in really handy when I am feeding the twins. It's really long but not a plump as some maternity pillows so I should be able to wrap it around me and get two of the babies up for a cuddle. I got mine pillow from Mothercare but they are available elsewhere.

We saw our consultant last Thursday. Everything was looking very positive although one dumpling is breech but they aren't too worried about that. It looks like I will be induced at 37 weeks unless these little ones have other ideas.

I am aware of how my posts are more about my pregnancy and less about buttons, fabric and all things creative but I hope you understand that I'm finding it hard to concentrate on much else.

Clare
xx

Counting our blessings with our twins @ week 33

2011-02-07T21:34:00.002Z

When I am required to iron which isn’t very often now, with all the help I am receiving from our parents, I iron sitting on my sofa with the ironing board on one notch before collapse. This is one of the adjustments my ever increasing bump has made to my day-to-day life.

The bump is really heavy now. If I bend over I feel as if I could topple head-over-heels. This heaviness means unless I am sitting down I am constantly aching. My back aches and my sides around my bump burn sometimes. The lovely physiotherapy department have now given me a very attractive belt to strap around it to help take some of the weight.

Although my body doesn’t seem to have been designed to conceive the conventional way (we went through IVF) it appears that, once pregnant, my body is pretty good at providing us with an uneventful pregnancy and we are incredibly grateful for that. Before getting pregnant we were given lots of leaflets describing the ‘realities’ of a twin pregnancy and it was terrifying stuff. I am so lucky that a lot of the risks have so far passed us by. I hope and pray this will continue.

I have moved into a new phase of really looking forward to these babies coming. I want to get on with it. I want to fling myself into the non-stop feeding, nappy changing and comforting. I want to start working out how on earth I am going to juggle the demands of a 3 year old with the demands of two new-borns. This isn’t because I have some misty-eyed, rose tinted view of how lovely it will all be. Oh no! It’s more to do with the fact that I can’t bear listening to all the well meaning comments like ‘It’s going to be hard work. How you going to cope?’.

The answer quite simply is we are going to have to cope and that’s just it. I want to roll my sleeves up and get on with the work. To stop worrying and start doing. I want to begin to get to know these two babies and making them part of our loving family and to stop talking about them as if they are here to only cause trouble and mayhem. They are a blessing.

A blessing which was put into sharp focus this week with the incredibly sad news that Amanda Holden and her husband’s baby had died 7 months into the pregnancy. She was due the same week as us. I cannot begin to imagine what they are going through and in the glare of the media. I dearly hope they are left alone to mourn with those that love and care for them. I cuddle my bump more than ever now and count our very special blessings.

Clare
xxx

Love.....

2011-01-27T13:36:00.001Z

When I love someone it makes me want to be the 'best' I could possibly be.
The best daughter
The best lover
The best mother
The best friend

This was my entry for the competition on Poppy Sparkles Blog to win a gorgeous Valentine's necklace by describing what love means to you and I won.

So on Tuesday this lovely item dropped through my letterbox all beautifully packaged.

Thank you Viv its absolutely beautiful. My 3 year old loves it too. She wanted to wear it and there was no way I was letting her. So I tried to find her something similar in my jewellery bag but she was not impressed in her words 'these necklaces aren't pretty. Your new one is beautiful'.

Clare
x

My First Blog Award

2011-01-20T22:00:00.000Z

Talei Loto of the blog Musings of an aspiring scribe made me smile last week by awarding me my very first Blog Award for making her smile.

A lovely award to be given and one which I am keen to pass onto to other bloggers who have made me smile in the last few weeks.

Kirsty of Sixty One A - for her gorgeous Cornish Cottages

Viv of Poppy Sparkles - inspiring blogger/tweeter and gorgeous jewellery maker

Millie Moon of Millie Moon Shop - a beautiful local fabric shop

Lizzet of The Fabric Loft - inspiring ideas and gorgeous fabric

Kyleigh of Papercuts - graphic designer using paper and scapel. Just had a baby.

Congratulations everyone. Thank you for making me smile for a variety of reasons.

Have a lovely weekend. Keep smiling.

Clare

Book - Pattern for Draught Excluder

2011-01-13T12:57:00.003Z

Thank you for all your lovely comments about my weekend relaxing and making my draught excluder. A few people have requested information about how I made my draught excluder. The idea and measurements come from Sew Fabulous Fabric: 20 Charming Ways to Sew Fabrics into Your Life

The instructions are very easy to follow and the finished product measure approximately 90cm x 22cm. I did add another 10cm on the end as our doors are a bit wider than normal.

There are some lovely projects in the book which are all pretty manageable.

I have recently become a member of twitter and I am slightly obsessed as its a great way to get in touch with creative folk. One such person is @lollipopdaisy who asked for details on this draught excluder as she wants to make one in the shape of a daschund. Well I can confirm the book also contains details of how to make a very cute dog. Could you use this to convert the excluder into the daschund draft excluder you tweeted me about?

So if you fancy having a go at your own you can buy this book via Amazon.

Have a good Thursday.

Red and White Appliqued Patchwork Draught Excluder

2011-01-09T15:59:00.005Z

We have blue skies and sunshine here today which means I can take photos of the draught excluder I made yesterday.

This button was in a bag of buttons I picked up from a charity shop. I love it.

I need to make a really large draught excluder for the back doors. They are awful in the winter. On a cold windy day they let a gale whistle through. So now I have done this I'm inspired to try something bigger.

A very relaxing weekend is now coming to an end. I am sitting on the sofa expecting the arrival of the family at any moment. Goodbye quietness, the TV remote control, long undisturbed baths, lie-ins, and meals for one. Its been great but I'm looking forward to saying a big HELLO to cuddles, noise, love, and laughter.

If you fancy having a go at this the pattern I followed it can be found in the book. I will blog in detail about the pattern in the next day or two. Sew Fabulous Fabric: 20 Charming Ways to Sew Fabrics into Your Life

Lady of Leisure

2011-01-08T23:03:00.002Z

So no sooner had our furry dog come back from his holidays but he was whisked off with my husband and Little Button Girl for a few days stay at Granny & Grandad's.

I have been left alone as its now too uncomfortable for me to travel for long in the car plus I have so many pillows around me when I sleep that its easier for me to stay here. It is also a great opportunity for me to rest and enjoy sometime to myself as when the twins arrive the chance may not arise again for quite sometime.

So I have languished in bed, I have had incredibly long bubble baths, I have read lots of magazines and I have started and almost finished a sewing project for our home.

This was my heavenly place today. Dining room table, fabric, sewing machine & laptop all out. No little hands trying to touch everything.

I worked on a patchwork draught excluder for our front door. I'll post finished pictures tomorrow as the light is too poor now. I haven't made anything for our house for such a long time. All recent sewing projects have been for the business and you spend a lot of time working out the cost, time, price ratio of something. Anything that takes too long to produce and therefore will be too pricey for customers gets dropped. However when the projects for you its a great feeling to just add things and sew long complicated embroidery onto it just because I wanted to without worrying if I will be able to produce a good quantity of them at a reasonable retail price.

It wasn't all sewing today I took lots of rests. This cup of tea and cake never tasted so good.

Its been a lovely break and just what I needed. However the family will all be back tomorrow and I will definitely be ready to see them and have the house full of their noise. A house just isn't a home without the ones you love in it.

Furry Fella Goes on Holiday

2011-01-05T22:46:00.002Z

Our dear furry boy is on holiday for a few days and the house feels very strange without him. A local couple we met through walking our dogs are kindly looking after him for a few days on a trial basis. We are hoping he will want to stay there for a few months when the twins are first born. This will give him space away from the mayhem and noise. It will also give us more time to get into a routine without worrying about him getting enough exercise.

Our house just feels incredibly empty without him. There's more room on our sofa for a start.

The irony is that he is probably the easiest one to look after out of all of our children!

We all miss him especially Little Button Girl who has built up a very special relationship with him.

Goodbye 2010.

2011-01-03T21:46:00.000Z

A year in pictures from the Button Patch home.

The personalised baby name embroidery pictures proved very popular this year.

I ventured into the world of blog swaps and received this gorgeous items from Ali at Cupcakes and Biscuits .

Lots of new cards were designed.

I saw a good friend get married.

Lots of gorgeous smelling lanvender hearts were made and sold.

It was a hot summer with time to spend enjoying the garden.

We even managed to plant some vegetables and use our recycled greenhouse.

I took part in a craft fayre at Lacock. Where I met the lovely Helen from Home Treat Home.....

who asked me to sell my work in her & her husband's shop in Melksham.

I celebrated with my brother, John Ford, at his end of year show and was overwhelmed by his amazing stone carvings.

I created & finished projects which had been bubbling away in my mind for a long time.

We saw a lot snow at the beginning and end of this year.

Most importantly of all was these little creations. Who we hope we will see safely arrive in 2011.

2010 was a great year but I am looking forward to a very exciting (and busy) 2011.

The Near and the Dear Ones

2010-12-26T23:08:00.000Z

Christmas this year was spent with my nearest and dearest and I am so pleased to say I thoroughly enjoyed every moment. This year I really wanted to make a big deal as our 3 year old daughter is at a wonderful age of discovering about Christmas. I am also very aware that next year, all being well, there will be two babies who will add a very different dimension to the celebrations.

The Christmas Cake was iced and completed with snowman and snowball throwing penguins. Little Button and I spent one of the days we were snowed-in decorating a gingerbread house with icing, sprinkles and smarties. We didn't make the actual gingerbread as I had managed to pick this kit up for a very reasonable £2.35 at Ikea.

The table decoration was made using a door wreath and we added the ribbons and presents.

The homemade liqueurs were bottled and labelled.

Of course the extra bonus element to this year's Christmas was the snow. It was still on the ground come Christmas and was the perfect finishing touch to the day.

Merry Christmas everybody.

Little Bits of Christmas

2010-12-14T22:15:00.000Z

Over the last few weeks I have gradually been decorating Button Patch house for Christmas.

The newest addition to this years Christmas traditions is a wooden advent train. It has been a great deal of fun to have and every morning little button finds the appropriate draw. I have been filling it with little finger puppets, wooden beads, and golden coins. No surprises when I say the golden coins have been the biggest hit. Chocolate in the morning before breakfast can only mean its Christmas!

The tree is looking very twinkly and traditional with red and white decorations. I was very proud of myself for not being too controlling by letting Little Button decorate it. I even managed to wait until she was in bed to rearrange a few so that we didn't have all our decorations at 2 feet.

Out Christmas angel is looking over us with her cheery smile and crazy curly hair for another year.

Christmas cooking is well on its way. I have pre-prepared and frozen the cranberry port sauce, stuffing, sausage rolls and bread sauce. I have done this with the hope that it may take the pressure off on the day. Today I made our family's favourite 'Coconut, chilli and pumpkin soup' ready to freeze and then we'll have this for Boxing Day lunch. Its warming, wholesome and spicy which is exactly what I need to eat after an indulgent Christmas day.

On the twin pregnancy I'm doing OK. I am feeling heavy. I now surround myself with a nest of pillows at night and I have to plan how to roll over onto my other side. I do feel tired and often grab a nanna nap at about 3 in the afternoon. I can now feel my belly resting on my lap when I drive - eek. My stomach is constantly moving and there is very rarely a time when it is still. It is the most amazing experience and I can only marvel at how my body is coping with this extra pressure at the moment.

Thanks for stopping by.

Christmas Biscuit Happy

2010-12-03T20:34:00.000Z

Myself and Little Button embraced Christmas today. Christmas songs playing, Christmas candles lit, Christmas cutters found, gloopy icing made and lots of pretty sprinkles bought. We began our first batch of Christmas biscuits and we had a lot of fun.

I think my favourite moment was watching Little B standing on her little chair to reach the icing, smoothering her biscuits with icing and bobbing away to 'Jingle Bells'. The look of pleasure on her face while she lovingly decorated her biscuits was to me pure Christmas.

Thank you to everyone for their kind congratulation on our exciting news. I think we are excited and scared in equal measures which is understandable as we are about to embark on an amazing adventure!

I've been busy

2010-12-02T22:03:00.000Z

I have a great excuse for being away from my blog for so long.

I'm pregnant, with TWINS. I haven't had the energy, enthusiasm or brain capacity to write my blog or do anything creative but now, at 20 weeks plus, my body and mind are permitting me to sit at my computer for a short time in the evening. I've missed it.

Button Patch has been put into limp mode. I'm not doing anything other than what needs to be done to keep the business ticking over for when I can come back. The lovely Phil and Helen at Home Treat Home in Melksham are still selling my creations which I'm so pleased about and grateful. We hope the amount I have created should keep us going for quite sometime.

So forgive me for being absent for so long and I also apologise for what I think will be sporadic and at times baby laden blog entries. I do hope to get back into creating something even if it is only for my house or family.