Buttons, books and goodbyes

A lot has been happening over the past few weeks and I am behind on my blogging as a result, which is a shame because I have a rad (does anyone still say that?) dress post to write up. However the main reason for my absence is largely due to a chain of events that have been put in motion following my decision to take a new job *insert excited squeal here*! My departure from my current post is imminent and today I had cause to have a final meeting with two very close colleagues, M & K. I'm not going to lie, I did cry pretty much the whole way home and it really got me thinking about relationships and the things that make you click with some people more than others. 

There's few of us who can spend all our days pleasing ourselves, sewing, gardening, drinking cups of tea etc. Whilst that would be my idea of heaven, work is a necessity for most of us and we end up spending around a third of our waking hours each day working for 'da man'. As I get older, gulp, I realise I've been pretty fortunate in my time to work with some truly fabulous people. Some have come and gone over the years and we've drifted apart. Others have become permanent fixtures in my life who I couldn't imagine being without.

Saying goodbye to M & K today left me feeling quite empty in one way but I know have become a better colleague (I hope) and a better person for having worked with them. M bestowed on me a truly thoughtful gift which cheered me up immensely and will remind me always of the wonderful woman she is and how lucky I've been to know her. I was presented with a beautifully wrapped antique box adorned with two chickens (she knows me so well) and filled with gorgeous, old buttons!

The other gift was a 1946 edition of the Charles Boff book, How to Grow and Produce Your Own Food. This is truly fantastic and really relevant nearly 70 years later. I've chosen some of the coolest images to share below.

Cool inscription

Ties and moustaches are clearly standard gardening attire in the Forties

Full of handy tips on dispatching chooks and dealing with the tricky issue of being egg-bound

So as one door closes, another opens and if my new colleagues are even half as wonderful as the ones I've just farwelled I'll be incredibly lucky and happy.

Scrap-tastic cushion

That's scrap-tastic, not crap-tastic - just in case you read it wrongly.
Anyhoo, I'm hoping you're all sufficiently recovered from the silly season. I have to say I spent most of my time in the company of lovely friends and family, mostly eating, drinking and being merry and my crafts lay sadly neglected for a couple of weeks.

When talking with my fellow bissum, Marion, yesterday she rightly asked what had been keeping my crafty brain cells occupied over the holidays. The answer was embarrassingly little it would seem. Not wanting to let the team down I set to this evening on a project I have been mulling over courtesy of my favourite crafty book of 2012 'Granny Chic' by the gals from Dottie Angel and Ted & Agnes.

One of the projects involves making a round cushion cover. Being a firm believer that you can never, and I mean never, have too many cushions, I purchased a round feather cushion insert months ago and it has been languishing in the lounge room, gathering dust waiting for a night such as this. The eagle eyed among you will recognise several of the fabrics I have used in this project, they're the old linens that just keep giving. I thoroughly recommend having a crack at this yourself if you've got some scraps of sweet fabric to hand. The insert cost £3 or £4 from Dunelm Mill and it took only an hour or so to finish so terrific for those of us with short attention spans.

May 2013 bring all of us excellent inspiration and the desire to do something useful with all those bits and bobs we have cluttering up our homes. Go forth and craft I say!

 xx

Choose a large, cheery button for the centres

Thrifty haul

After a very productive morning at work today I was lucky enough to have the afternoon off. Pondering how best to use to this new found freedom I decided I would pay a visit to my local thrift shops. I had some bits and bobs I had been hauling around in the boot of my car for the last week which needed to be dropped off to a charity shop so off I went.

Upon entering my favourite local store, aptly named 'Charity Begins at Home', I was filled with a sense of purpose and was more than a little bit excited. I wasn't disappointed. This shop seems to receive regular donations of crafty haberdashery so I was in heaven. Elbowing others out of the way (kidding!...or am I) I picked up an awesome old curtain firstly with the pleasing price of only £3. Curtains are the forgotten heroes of thrifting. They come in some fantastic designs and are terrific value for money because of the amount of fabric you get.

Not to be deterred I moved over to the shelves holding all the sewing oddments. I picked up some great buttons on their original cards, along with new spools of coloured thread. All of these items were only 50p a shout- result! I'm not averse to buying new sewing paraphernalia when the need arises but if you pick the basic staple items for next to nothing, why not!
Other things I'm always on the look out for a buckles (for making belts) and handles (for making awesome bags). These both formed part of my plunder today.

All these items are on top of the curtain I picked up. Can you spot the wee buckle at the top?

Lastly but by no means least, I made my way to the ubiquitous doily box. Every self respecting thrift store has one. It pays to have a quick look at each item before throwing it into your basket with wild abandon because due to the very nature of these items, they can often be stained. Don't let the odd mark put you off though, you can applique over them when transforming them into something else wonderful.
I managed to walk out with 12 linen place settings, a clutch of lace edged hankies and a few other beauties.

All in all it was a very fruitful half hour and £20 well spent and will provide plenty of entertainment for the long weekend.  Oh, did I mention the super cute vintage Marks & Spencer blouse I picked up for £1 complete with peter pan collar!

Happy crafting fellow bissums.
xx