Button Fayre has been very busy lately designing and sewing for an exhibition, now on 20th June and celebrating the ' Féte de musique ' here in France too, completing orders and generally designing.
Of course it helps to have some sunshine in your life and mine not only comes from up there in the big blue sky but my family is also my sunshine and inspiration, especially my children whom help me to grow and evolve as a person and as a business in so many wonderful ways. Their faith in me, their joy and happiness when they see something I've designed and sewn, and even their moments of frustration when I need to get something complete and ask them for just 5 more minutes, it's all a huge learning curve for both myself and for them and I hope I'm giving them a wonderful example.
The ' GREAT BUTTON FAYRE ' sewing buzz competition is closing in 3 days, 1st June. It's flown by and there are the most beautiful entries so far with lots more on the way, it's an incredible example of human nature and kindness and I'm so proud to have set it up and even more proud to have the most amazing friends and colleagues in the crafting world.
Here's a photo of some sunshine on a daisy cushion I recently made, I love it! Where's the sunshine fallen upon in your home recently? Do you have a corner of the house that you just love when the sunshine comes in?
I hope the sun is shining wherever you are in the world today,
Lucy x
I thought this might be interesting.....I'm not going to say much on this post because I want it to be visual and I'm going to post a few photos of a work in progress, from start to finish, as I love photos like this!
Let your imagination go wild, even try and get into mine through these photos if you want, and most of all, I hope they inspire you to get creative.
' Ooooh, which ones shall I choose for this brooch project today? '
' I've just spent the afternoon freehand machine embroidering these and then machine sewing the flowers on to give a 3D effect, cute! '
' Let's prepare them to sew up into a brooch! '
' Here we go.....action shot! '
' Et voila! '
They're cute aren't they? They're called ' Folie Mixture ' jug of flowers brooches. Folie because it's French for a bit of madness and rhymes with ' Dolly ', because these really do remind me of Dolly Mixtures when I look at them, it's the mix and match of buttons I think, he he he.
4 gorgeous brooches sewn up in 5 hours but of course I've not shown you every last detail about how to sew them up, it's my little secret BUT I assure you it was great fun choosing the fabrics, working out the design, freehand machine embroidering and then sewing them up.
Lucy x
I really, really, love mixing old and new, I always have and used to drive my Mum crazy with finds from out and about that she would call ' junk '. I would put new life into my treasure though and still do, in fact, living in France really helps my addiction of looking for ' treasure ' with all the flea markets, vides greniers and brocantes, you really could go wild with it all and at such great prices too. Lucky just isn't the word!!
I'm now on the hunt for all things textile or textile'ish and want to start using lots of different mediums for my work to really start bringing a 3D element into Button Fayre.
Here's a recent hoop ( available in Button Fayre's Etsy land ) and is just so lovely, using found bits and bobs, new Liberty fabrics, sequins and more, it truly is so beautiful but boy these hoops take some time, this one was a 5 hour job but oh so pleasing to the eye.
More of this to come but I've also just spent the last week and a half designing and decorating my new studio. This room used to be my therapy room when I practiced reflexology and hot stone massage but was then somewhat of a ' squat ' for my teenage son and I've now reclaimed it, yay!
I've gone for white....something I don't think I've EVER done! My whole house is a hive of colour and I've never been afraid to use some of the most vivid colours but I wanted a peaceful room, pure even, in which to think, design and create. However, I did find a wonderful vintage piece of wallpaper that I could never afford as a whole wall piece and so decided to buy just enough that I could frame to the wall and it looks amazing.
I've once again mixed old with new and come up with this, my own little haven to sew in.
I love it and of course will be adding to the walls in the way of my work and shelving but some quirky narrow shelving I think in which to display smaller pieces as I don't want the room to feel cramped, I need a good feeling in here to keep my thoughts clean and alive.
The ' Great Button Fayre Sewing Buzz ' is going so well, 40 entrants so far! Only a couple of weeks to get all entries in though so finger's crossed for everyone, I can't wait to get them and I truly thank you all so much for your love and support.
Sewing magic to you all,
Lucy x
Maybe the title of this blog is a slight exaggeration but wouldn't it be great?! I can just imagine bright, colourful, beautifully sewn, Button Fayre hoop art all over the place and I know it would make me happy, he he he.
What's going on right now? Well, I suppose a blog is a great place to kind of put a little bit of you into things too and so it's a great time to say that I have a couple of rather hectic, stressful, weeks coming up so may be a little slow with Button Fayre but will do my best to stay on top of things ( and thank goodness I do have Button Fayre to keep me sane! )
My eldest daughter will be getting on a bus from our small town at 8am on Saturday 3rd May and heading towards St. Raphael on the French Riviera! She travelled up to Paris for a job interview last week, a two day trip as the travelling itself took 7 hours with several train changes and the metro to deal with, which was pretty nerve wrecking for both of us ( I was calling her every half an hour ) and we were over the moon to receive a phone call the day after she came home to say she had the job!
So, now my problem is the fact that she's leaving, it's pretty heart breaking and I didn't think I'd ever feel this way. The last 20 years has flown by and feels like she's always been with me and now she's flying away but I'm so incredibly proud and so happy for her too, she's a wonderful young woman and I know I've done a great job with her.
I also have to travel back to the chidlren's hospital in Limoges this Friday with my other daughter ( the one with Crohn's disease ) for an appointment with the anaesthetist as she's being admitted on the 8th and 9th for further examinations under a general anaesthetic and of course I'm going to stay with her....I've told her we're going to buy magazines and take books and just have a really girly time together in our pj's, he he he.
So, as you can see, it's a bit of a turbulent personal time for me but I'm taking it all in my stride and positively, it's onwards and upwards in this house!
I've been super busy today getting a 4 inch hoop order done and it's beautiful, truly stunning. It took me a lot longer than I'd anticipated but that's just because I'm a perfectionist and love designing too, I can't help myself but to add extra things here and there and although I have a fixed idea of the design, once I start sewing it's inevitable that things may get changed slightly or added to....that's the beauty of sewing though!
Here it is and I hope you like it, I was asked for specific colours and used mostly Liberty fabrics for the flowers which look so pretty on their own, nevermind the hand sewn embroidery which really makes it fly.
I LOVE doing hoops, I'm loving them more and more as I evolve with them and what better way to decorate a wall!
Next time I'm going to tell you more about my new studio/craft room plans as the focal point wallpaper's turned up, I'm skipping with excitement because it's gorgeous.
Oooh, don't forget about the ' Great Button Fayre Sewing Buzz ' competition on my Facebook page too, a wonderful opportunity to use your design and sewing skills to the max, really let go, and be in with the chance of winning some beautiful prizes! There's a children's category too and all entries are extremely, warmly, welcomed because I'm running an online auction with them all in July to raise money for CICRA ( research for children with Crohn's and Colitis ). Thank you, thank you, thank you so much to all entrants so far and to all who are in the middle of sewing their hearts out especially for the competition.
Lucy x
I'm a colourful person, in fact, I'm a very colourful person. I've always loved filling my home with colour and have never been afraid to go for bright colour schemes. I seem to have mellowed somewhat in my 30's however and now use colour that doesn't clash too much although I make up for it in Button Fayre's design work....it has to come out somewhere!
I'm about to start decorating my new craft room, well, it was my therapy room when I practiced reflexology a few years ago and then it became somewhat of a ' squat ' for my almost 18 year old son ( if you have a teenage son then you'll know why I called it a squat ). My eldest daughter is about to fly the nest which is exciting for her but it means that my son moves into her bedroom and I get my room back, yay and yippeeeee. This time around it's being painted white, yes, plain old white. However, there's a good reason for this in the shape of some gorgeous vintage 1970's wallpaper that's on it's way to me as I type and I'm going to use the paper as a focal point on the main, largest, wall in the room, almost as though it's been framed. I obviously can't show you until it's done so you'll just have to imagine for now but trust me, it's going to look amazing.
Spring has well and truly sprung now and some of my first bulbs have already blossomed and started to whither but fresh ones are always coming through and I spent some of last week out in the garden, in the sunshine, planting some gorgeous plants in my secret garden, I even have a rose bush now, yay!
I love the spring so much, the world seems to come to life again with colour, but I don't forget the winter time as it's a moment full of colour too, darker colours yes but still colours!
I've been run off my feet lately, bursting with new ideas, and just haven't found the time to get them all going properly but have been treading the water with them bit by bit and am feeling rather proud at the start I've made. I think the biggest thing I've been doing has to be hand sewn embroidery. I've been doing this for as long as I can remember and adore it but it's just so time consuming and considering that one cushion design can already take me anything up to 18 hours to achieve then is it any wonder I've not yet considered adding some hand embroidery into things? This spring I've forced myself and so happy I did, the results are astounding and I've loved mixing machine appliqué, freehand machine embroidery and hand sewn embroidery together, what gorgeous results!
I'm only going to talk about my latest cushion design for today though ( if you'd like to know a bit more about the other things going on then take a look at my blog over on my website, www.buttonfayre.com ) and what an amazing design it is too, something really and truly unique. I've used my appliqué and freehand machine embroidery skills to bring something already gorgeous into the world and not only that but I spent, quite literally, hours on some hand sewn ideas. We're talking sequins, pearls, beads, in fact, anything sparkly and creative that adds colour and real life into the design.
Take a look for yourselves and it's available to purchase on my Facebook page or Button Fayre on Etsy, I've not had the time to add it to my website yet but will do so asap.
It's such a stunning design and almost 20 hours of work from start to finish which is why I feel so proud, whoever purchases this is kind of purchasing a piece of Button Fayre history too, it's wonderful.
I love flowers and I love sitting here drawing them and then cutting them out to use as templates. Some of the flowers I used in this cushion design are cut out from vintage flowery fabric but the rest have been cut out from my very own templates ( and I use my templates a lot throughout all of my designs ).
I hope you like it and I almost forgot to say about the giveaway over Button Fayre's Facebook page! It's gorgeous and you could win a fabulous newly designed brooch, a ' House Meadow ' design, super pretty with some machine and hand sewn embroidery work.
Happy Easter Monday to you all!
Lucy x
The great thing about the spring is that summer is almost upon us and when the days are longer, brighter and warmer, it makes you feel ' full of the joys of spring '...I love that expression.
I had a great week-end designing a wedding present which also gave me the idea of what I'm planning on making for the summer CICRA auction. I've been spelling CICRA wrong all this time and feel awful about it, I'd gotten it into my head as CIRCA and so a huge apology to everyone for that.
I'm extremely excited about the ' Great Button Fayre Sewing Buzz ' competition and there are well over 20 entries so far which is amazing and a massive thank you to all because every penny counts towards the research into Crohn's disease.
https://www.facebook.com/events/236763479781446/
Abbie and I are off to Limoges on Wednesday to the children's hospital to see her specialist and I'm feeling apprehensive because after Abbie's recent flare up with absolutely no help at all from the specialist I do feel rather cold towards her now and am not sure what I'm going to say yet...I'm quite an impulsive person and do tend to say it how it is and so hopefully she'll appreciate my honesty! he he he
Helping CICRA means so much to me because they were there when I had no-one else to turn to and it would feel so good to be able to donate towards the research that may one day find a cure for these awful IBD illnesses.
I've managed to catch up with all recent orders and so this week will be working on my own designs, the wedding present, items for the auction and a few other ideas I've had over the week-end.
I do really adore mixing old with new and my house house is like it, there's nothing more exciting than adding something you've found in a brocante to your decor and I'm a bit of a hoarder for vintage tea cups, plates, jugs and vases.
Last week I made some coasters and bunting with some vintage fabrics I've recently found ( I've already told you about the coasters ) and so here's a photo of the bunting. I find things like this super funky as not only are you re-creating something modern out of old but you're kind of adding something unique to history too.....that's a bit deep! he he he What better than using a part of history to re-create more history in the world of art and craft?!
It's gorgeous isn't it? I've started this off at a special price too and there are over 4 metres of bunting in this photo too, it's just such a fabulous way to brighten up your home or garden.
Have a super day,
Lucy x
I've absolutely no idea yet, how Blogger works, nevermind Google Plus! I really need to spend a few minutes looking into how I might find fellow crafters on here and even friends. If you're on Blogger then give me a shout! I am really enjoying this blog though, it's so easy to use.
I've spent a lot of time designing behind the scenes this week and managed to sew up 12 coasters today, yippeeeee. However, they've disappointed me somewhat due to the time they actually take, that as a small business I just have to take into consideration when pricing, but their originality and the fact that they're lovingly home made just has to count. The second however is that they're so super funky that I could actually go mad designing and making them, I'm filling my garden tables up with these this year and am sure they'll be a pleasure to put my glasses of home made lemonade on. I think I'm going to make some table mats next but as usual my time is precious and I already have so much to be getting on with..... they're on their way though!
So here they are in all their funky glory, if you look closely you'll see an appliquéd apple on one of them and it's adorable.
I do love mix and match and my whole house is this way, and everything in it! These coasters have been made with some vintage fabric finds and a couple of new fabrics too and so not only are they a set of 6 totally different coasters, they're also a set of 6 different coasters that have been made with fabrics from different generations, how cool is that?!
These things float my boat, he he he.
Lucy x
