So much has been going on in recent months, more of which you can read and get up to date about on my other blog attached to my website www.buttonfayre.com
I'm very excited to have almost reached 12,000 likes on my Facebook page, it's incredible and such a huge accomplishment, and I'm even more excited that so many of these people have become firm friends whether they're clients or other business owners.
Facebook really is a wonder and we all have a bit of a moan about it now and then but where would we be without it? It's opened up so many new doors for me, so many opportunities, and I'll always be grateful for that.
This blog post is all about showing off some work from 2014, a year full of challenges and promises for me. Here goes....
I adore these brooches and they're a fresh, brand new, design for 2015. I'll let you in to a secret and if you're reading this then you're one of the first to know! I'm going to be using the yo you flower theme a lot in some new cushion designs I have planned....and I'm not giving any more away than that, he he he.
Orders for these can be placed by contacting me on my Facebook page and they make wonderful accessories to brighten up any coat or outfit, plus wonderful gifts too!
I'm currently in the process of designing and sewing up quite a few of these ' Hooly Hoop Art ' pieces which are new, modern, versions of the original Button Fayre ' Hooly Hoop ' design. They're very exciting and a wonderful addition to any wall.
This beautiful textile art piece was a real favourite of mine in 2014, so much so that it stayed on my wall for quite some time before I was tempted to sell it.
I've always loved mixing old and new, vintage and modern. This style works well for me because the excitement of using something old with something brand new is just too much, I love the heavy contrast, even in something as simple as an old antique frame with a new textile art piece inside it.
Yes, I do sew other items apart from cushions and textile art pieces. In fact, I can sew just about anything but I rarely follow patterns as they get me all cuffuddled ( if I'm totally honest ) and as the design process gets me going, so does the design of the pattern too. I really do design absolutely everything from scratch and then construct and sew it into something 100% unique.
Ok, I admit it! This was my favourite cushion design of 2014 and I love it so much because I used the art of appliqué to not only design and create a basic design but to also add texture to it in shapes and forms. It really was a lot of hard work and hours and hours of designing, cutting out and then sewing, but so worth it.
Here are a few of my bestest designs and they make me so happy to look at them, what else can I say?
Happy New Year for 2015 with all of the scrummiest, jelly beaniest, wonderful, wishes from me and I hope to see you around on Button Fayre for some chats and fun.
Lucy x
Button Fayre loves having lots of fun with designing and sewing and loves even more to be able to give something back to all the loyal followers.
So, here's the end of October giveaway to win a gorgeous custom designed ' Button Fayre Street ' house decoration.
So many people love to share and spread the word and so a massive thank you to all for the wonderful support so far and the giveaway will run until Sunday 2nd November with the winner being announced shortly after 8pm.
Best of luck to all!
Lucy x
I was recently asked to design and make a ' rainbow ' themed item for a joint giveaway which was fantastic for Button Fayre but at the time I was going through some turbulence at home with one of my daughter's being poorly.
I already have one daughter with severe Crohn's disease which isn't at all easy and so when another one became poorly in February, and remained poorly since, it was quite stressful to say the least and all came to a head a few weeks ago with a stand off battle between my GP and I. He repeated that it was simple anxiety and I repeated that it was more....I know my daughter and so insisted on having blood tests and a scan for starters.
When they found a congenital kidney abnormality ( nothing serious but just needs monitoring ) it was such a huge relief after all of those months of knowing that something was wrong and being told it was nothing, but I found my head spinning with it all, especially after a two day hospital admission for further tests which threw me off course in family life and with Button Fayre and orders of course. These things can't be helped though and so I let everyone know what was going on work wise and had a ' mini holiday ' ( this is what I've come to call the hospital stays since my other daughter with Crohn's was diagnosed 4 years ago at aged 9 ) in hospital, purchasing girly magazines, sitting and playing Hangman and Scrabble and getting on with the necessaries.
My time in hospital was very anxious as a parent of course but it also gave me some time to think about the future of Button Fayre, organising which kinds of Christmas gifts I'd like to sew, and for the rainbow giveaway. So, sitting at the large window, looking at the outside world ( it's very pretty and green, orange and red around here right now ) it gave my muddled thoughts inspiration and I love nothing better than these moments in life because they're actually the best times to find inspiration, when your mind surpasses the ' norm ' and you can float off into a make believe world where the clouds are fluffy pink candy floss, the sea turns into green jelly and you realise that life is actually there for the taking and that you must appreciate every single second of it, taking every single opportunity that comes your way and loving all of those amazing people around you......family, friends and the folk that give the world some colour.
When I got home I set to work on my rainbow themed giveaway prize, a pretty textile art piece and nothing extraordinarily extravagent but something a little special because as an artist it was so close and personal to me.
I decided to do a little house with a beautiful rainbow above it but already being the kind of artist that loves the abstract side of life, and with the recent anxiety as a parent, my rainbow became all muddled up. This wasn't an unhappy muddled, to the contrary, it was me, the happy person that I am, the person that loves to fill the world with colour and just so happened to feel all topsy turvy at the time, hence this gorgeous rainbow that may not be conventional but it was my little escape from reality, I hope you like it.
This is now on it's way to it's new home, and owner, and I hope she loves it.
If you would like your own Button Fayre textile art piece, representing some of me and maybe some of your own input too, then please do get in touch with me on Facebook, it's always a pleasure.
I hope you enjoyed the story behind my recent piece and I'd love to hear about your inspiration and thoughts too.
Lucy x
Super duper 8,000 likes giveaway over on Facebook!
www.facebook.com@ButtonFayre
If you're like me then you'll know what it's like to fit a full time job around family but I love it so much and I think I'm giving my children some good life's lessons too about being organised, running a business from home, having patience, time skills, and general happiness in the household because good old Mum's doing what she loves.
I've been feeling really quite overwhelmed for a few weeks now and even more so recently since reaching 8,000 likes on Button Fayre's Facebook page. It was only a month ago that I reached 7,000 likes and I'm only now sewing up a family tree cushion for the wonderfully patient lady who won it because I've been fitting orders in too of course. So, whilst sewing up a 7,000 like giveaway prize I'd decided to run another wonderful giveaway to celebrate reaching 8,000 likes and decided upon a freestyle, freehand machine embroidered piece.
As you can see in the above photos, those two pieces couldn't be more different in design and texture and so I can't wait to see what theme the winner comes up with, just so that I can push myself into a new challenge and find out what I can accomplish. Doing giveaway's for me is mostly about being given challenges, setting goals to see if I can stick to them and getting to know what potential clients like, I love it.
If you'd like to enter this latest giveaway then head on over to Button Fayre's page, link above, and allow me the pleasure of a new challenge.
I've also recently been involved in another giveaway, a really massive joint one which went super well and I'm currently involved in another joint giveaway, details on Button Fayre's Facebook page, where I had to design a woodland themed item and so came up with this, a gorgeous toadstool Christmas stocking. The stocking was appliquéd, freehand machine embroidered, and hand painted to give it a uniquely special handmade feel and I hope the winner loves it.....plenty of time to enter this one as it only started yesterday.
I love twisting and turning the ' norm ' into something different and magical and so these toadstools kind of remind me of Christmas lollipops.
Best of luck to everyone that enters any of the giveaway's and so much is happening right now, so many new designs, that I'll write another blog very, very soon, to tell you all about it.
Lucy x
I'm very guilty indeed of absolutely loving every single season and after having quite a rubbish summer here in the Limousin I'm now looking forward to the warm Autumn days and the colours they bring.
Children are back at school next week and we have a huge thing going on because our twins are starting nursery which will feel very strange. There's not been a day go by in the last two and a half years that I've not spent with them both and now all I want to be is a fly on the wall, he he he.
So, looking on the positives, this is going to allow me more time to work which will be fantastic and I can really start to get Button Fayre going, fitting in more orders and generally having a fab time with fabrics and my sewing machine, plus more time to write regularly on my blogs, updating Pinterest and fitting in chats with other crafter friends.
Somehow I've actually managed to come out with some beautiful designs over the summer but it's not hard when there's so much going on around here with festivals, carnavals and general French going's on's, I'm very lucky!
The above cushion was designed during my two week holiday time actually and as I wasn't under pressure, time wise, I was able to pick it up, put it down, and relax with it which was nice. It's the first time I've added quite a large design using fabric paint too ( they're the rays of colour on the left hand side ) and this design is so wonderful simply because I'm able to offer a piece of Button Fayre at a very affordable price and there will be more coming in this range which is exciting.
This gorgeous cat cushion is one of 5 orders I've had under a special offer and turned out so beautifully. I really love it when I'm asked for certain colours because it changes the whole look of the basic design and so I've had real fun with these and am still designing and sewing the last two.
I've also managed to sew up a few Kindle Paperwhite cases too which are all quite beautiful and I love adding vintage buttons to the modern fabrics, it always looks so quirky and works really well.
I'm able to sew up any size case and was asked to make a Samsung Galaxy 2 tablet case which was super fun and these might just be popular in the festive period, hope so!
I could show you more but I'll stop there so that I can tell you quickly about the giveaway I recently run.
It was an amazing experience and I had lots of new visits to my Facebook page which was brilliant, it's always good to keep things fresh and up to date so that when new visitors come, as well as old, things are exciting.
The winner was Sam Belsey and she's very excited about her family tree cushion that's going to take me a couple of weeks to complete but I'm very excited too, even more so by her enthusiasm, and so a huge congratulations to her.
I'll be talking a little bit ( nooooo, it's not too early for crafters, he he he ) about Christmas and the upcoming range ( already started on Button Fayre's Facebook page ) in the next blog post because it's such an exciting time of the year to work towards it all, I love it.
Lucy x
My goodness, it's that time again and I don't think I've ever done such a huge giveaway either!
I'm thrilled to have recently reached 7,000 likes on Facebook and so to celebrate I'm giving away a beautiful family tree cushion. These take me anything from 15-20 hours to design, cut, prepare and sew and so it really is a fabulous opportunity to own something gorgeously unique.
If you would love to win this cushion then please head over to Button Fayre on Facebook, link below, and follow the rules....they're actually very easy and so it won't take you long.
www.facebook.com/buttonfayre
Best of luck to all and I'll be back soon with a more lengthy blog post and lots of summer holiday news.
Lucy x
For those of you who've never attempted a textile art piece before then this could be the tutorial for you.
For this tutorial you will need only you, your sewing machine and a freehand machine embroidery foot ( although not obligatory ) and some spontaneity.
The above piece is part of a piece I made a few months ago now and is rather complex and took a lot more time than the piece will do if you follow the instructions in this tutorial BUT it gives you an idea of what you can complete if you have the passion and time for it and creating art using fabrics is really something super special, another way of using your imagination and letting yourself go into a whole new world.
Everyone has their own unique way to sew, their own style, the colours they like and the fabrics they choose, and no one way is more right than another and so this is an opportunity to really let you hair down and have some fun.
I started this tutorial by deciding that I wanted to challenge myself a little, given the time limit of 3 hours and by means of the fabrics I chose . So, I chose fabrics that are all completely different in textures, strengths and thicknesses.
There's some pink netting, hessian, 100% wool fabric and some velvet cord, oooh, I also decided along the way to add some blue corduroy.
Have a feel of the fabrics in front of you, do they already shout an idea out to you? Do you have a particular style you like, or a particular style you're used to? I followed the theme of flowers that Button Fayre loves so much and everything else was quite literally done and decided as I went along.
Next I started to think about the design I could create with what I had in front of me and used some templates I already have ( I make all of my own templates and then keep absolutely everything for future use ) to start cutting out some flower shapes.
You can make your piece as simple or elaborate as you wish too, you can add ribbons and embellishments, laces and buttons, anything you want to!
I love working with different coloured cottons and so chose a bright pink for the sewing work in my design and then started to cut out strips of the pink netting, twisting it around, to make flower shapes.
Now you're starting to get somewhere, it's an exciting feeling isn't it?
Next I set up my freehand embroidery foot to my sewing machine ( this isn't obligatory at all, I felt it easier with the thicker fabrics I have but you can sew like this with a normal foot too, I even freehand machine embroider sometimes with no foot at all! It all depends what you're used to and feel comfortable with ) and started to sew, twice, around the edges of my flower shapes.
Once I'd sewn all flowers into place I started to prepare the pink netted flowers, just by sewing along the bottoms and cutting any excess away so that it'd be easier to sew them on to the hessian and overall design.
Things really started to take shape at this point but I was also running out of time and so here's a photo of the completed flower design.......don't stop just yet though, there's still some more sewing to do.
I freehand embroidered a name into my design at this stage because I'd decided it would make a lovely gift for a friend and I also added some sequins and a hand embroidered flower. You can add anything you wish to!
The next stage involves securing your edges and you can choose a backing fabric to cover the inside of your sewing piece. Once you've measured your outlines and are happy you have the shape you would like then simply set your machine back to normal, with the normal sewing foot, and sew a tight zig zag stitch all the way around the outside of your piece. This is optional. I'd already decided to turn this design into a wall hanging and thought the outside edges might look nicer if they were finished neatly.
I then simply pinned some ribbon into place and sewed it along the zig zag stitching I'd already done to hide it a little.
Isn't it an amazing feeling once you reach this stage? I'd started this spontaneous piece with no real idea in mind of what I wanted or how it might look once complete and at this point you can sit back and admire your finished work, giving yourself a huge pat on the back.
Don't worry if it didn't turn out as you'd hoped, it's all a learning experience! I'm not a huge fan of hessian but thought this piece might look interesting with so many different textures involved. It was also a relatively fast piece to complete, all in the time limit of 3 hours but you can really go to town with lots of designs once you feel confident enough and never be afraid to try using as many types of fabrics, ribbons and embellishments as you can find.
The finished piece, a unique, handmade, piece of textile art that you can proudly hang up in your own home or give as a gift to someone special.
Enjoy!
Lucy x
