In other news, I’ve just taken my first order for a button bouquet (no photos available yet, because I haven’t quite got started on that…) I’ll be making the bouquet in March, because in a couple of weeks I will taking a month off and doing that thing that my mother and grandmother have been nagging me about every time I’ve seen them for the past, I don’t know, five years, and Going On Holiday. This means that obviously I won’t be able to immediately send any jewellery to anyone who orders it while I’m away, because I won’t be in my house, but I’m leaving my shops open with big notices on them saying “I’m Not Here” and stuff. I’ll send out any orders that are placed between 16th Jan and 28th Feb 2012 once I’ve got home and recovered from the travelling – that’ll be 1st March, I’m hoping.

My friend Mel said she wears mostly blue and green, so the necklace is mixture of vintage buttons in different blues, greens and neutrals. It’s finished with sterling silver findings. The larger buttons on this one are all around 16mm across, and the total length is just under 50cm. If you’re interested in commissioning a necklace a bit like this (whatever colour scheme and length you fancy), prices start at £35 – get in touch and I’ll see what I can do…

These handmade Christmas decorations were made by my sister, Nicolar, who does a lot of very nice textile work.

I commissioned a set of four different styles from her after seeing her orange stars and Christmas trees made with felt and buttons – as well as those two decoration styles, there are also green stars and white snowflakes, all finished with buttons and lovely blanket stitched sparkly embroidery thread.

Here is my first felt bead necklace, which will be the start of a collection of felt jewellery at the Unexpected Boutique (well, slowly..)

There’s a matching felt bracelet, too:

This set features a pair of clip-on earrings. I don’t usually have these available for sale on my sites, but if you want any of the hook earrings that are listed made as clip-ons, just get in touch and let me know.

Thank you to everyone who filled in the survey – I found out a lot about what I’m doing right, what could be improved on, and the types of jewellery that most people prefer to wear.

Also, it gave me inspiration for some new products. Lots of you said that you like bracelets that are stretchy, rather than have a complicated catch to do up. I’ve always found that lobster clasps are too fiddly, although they’re secure, whereas toggle clasps are easier to do up but not quite so safe and that the bracelet is sometimes in danger of falling off. I thought maybe I was being a bit fussy – I always wear elasticated bracelets – but it seems that lots of you feel the same way. With this in mind, I’ve added a new elasticated button charm bracelet to the range – it’s a more delicate style than the chunky elastic button bracelets.

I have survey entrant and fellow jewellery-maker Sarah to thank for the inspiration for my other new product – she suggested that hair accessories might be a nice addition. So I’ve made lots of button bobby pins, in bright colours that match the button rings and stud earrings.

The survey is located here. Thanks for your input…

I added some leaf shapes behind the buttons, made with layers of herringbone suiting fabric, so the result was this:

I’d never used herringbone fabric before – but after making these I’ve become rather fond of it. Since I have some leftover after making the buttonholes I’ll see what other herringboney things I can come up with…

However, over the years I’ve had lots of requests for longer button necklaces. Making longer styles with wire doesn’t really work as the wire gets bent and tangled without a neckline to rest on. So I make long button necklaces using a strong nylon cord. The trouble is, with a normal method of button threading, it’s easy for the buttons to get flipped over when they’re on a long cord, so unless the wearer sits quite still, it’s easy for some of the buttons to end up backwards.

Fortunately, I have devised a Cunning Plan. (Even more fortunately, it does not involve a turnip.)

When I make my longer button necklaces, I make them completely reversible. Small buttons are layered on top of larger buttons on both sides, so that the button cluster looks the same no matter which round it is – simple! In between the button clusters I’ve added beads for a bit of variety, too.

At the moment I have two colour schemes for sale at buttonjewellery.co.uk: bright multicoloured, and ivory. Click on the images to visit the shop…

Buy this necklace >>>

Buy this necklace >>>

With this in mind, I decided to attempt Stealth Shoe Shopping. I was on the lookout for a specific pair of shoes, but pretending not to. You see?

It sort of worked. I found some practically new, not-exactly-what-I-was-looking-for-but-it-would-do sandals for £5 in a charity shop. The only issue was their inoffensiveness. They were practical, comfortable and not exactly frumpy, but they weren’t entirely thrilling:

So I decided to make them offensive.

I took a piece of fabric, sewed loads of buttons from my button collection and some beads from old, broken necklaces onto it, leaving some plain fabric around the edges – then I wrapped it around the main strap (over the toes), sewed it down and here is the result:

As a finishing touch, I sewed one button onto the ankle strap, too:

The whole shoe:

And then, of course, I had to do it all again to the other one…. (Although I think odd shoes may be in. The other day I saw a woman wearing one wellington and one turquoise pump.)