Orange Beauty

When i returned home from my holiday at the begining of September, i was shocked to see a trailing plant i had purchased just before i went away had almost died!
I immediately plunged it into a bucket of water although i really thought i had lost it, all the leaves were crispy!

Anyway it did survive and here it is in all its glory:-

Thumbergia (Orange Beauty)

Mixed Button Packs

After two years of buying, collecting and selling buttons, I was prompted to go through my entire stock of single buttons and small sets to come up with these sumptuous packs.

The packs contain a mixture of new, second-hand and vintage buttons.

Hope you like the results - these packs (and a few others) are available to buy from my MISI shop.

Love Buttons on MISI. Love Buttons on Etsy. Love Buttons on Folksy. Love Buttons HQ.

Cupcakes by Charley

Yesterday i visited Harrogate in North Yorkshire, i didnt visit the famous Betty's tea shop because there was a very long queue for most of the day!

Bettys Harrogate

We had lunch at Truffles cafe and Chocolate shop, the food is home made and lovely, you also get a free chocolate each with your meal.

Later on in the afternoon we found Charleys cupcake shop or should i say Cupcakes by Charley

These are the cakes we chose (my husband didnt partake)

The shop also has a small cafe where coffee and tea is served with the mouth watering cupcakes.

At http://www.specialistauctions.com/  you will find  this cup cake coaster ideal for your mug of coffee while eating your cupcake.

Cupcake coaster - new

I also found this lovely piece of art for all the cupcake lovers to drool over

Original cupcake art

And lastly a cupcake but alas made out of soap so you cant eat it, but you can wash away all the chocolate and sugar from your face!

Cupcake soap



Crail Pottery

Crail is a small town in the East Neuk of Fife. It is situated south of St Andrews on the east coast of Scotland. My husband, Rob, and I visited on a recent holiday in the area. We had fun exploring the harbour, pottery, and shops, eating ice cream, and just wandering around taking in the scenery and pretty cottages and houses in the town.

Crail Pottery is well worth a visit if you like handmade ceramics, earthenware and pottery. It is run by, and features the work of, the Grieve family. There were a number of styles, from terracotta herb planters to ornamental pieces featuring decorative patterns and glazes, to plain, but beautiful, everyday pieces.

Rob chose this cup and saucer.

And I picked this one. Ideal for morning coffee!
They cost £12.50 each.

Here is part of the interior of the shop. There is quite a lot more to see inside, plus an outside area.

Here is Crail Harbour.

Report by Julia of Love Buttons HQ.

Modern Buttons

I've managed to get my hands on some fab new button stock for Love Buttons HQ. Hope you like them!

These 'shark's tooth' toggles are the perfect finishing touch for a chunky knit, or a handmade bag, or for your vintage duffel coat! They are priced at £1.10 each.

These gorgeous flower buttons are available in three sizes and various colours (pink, yellow, blue, black, red and purple). They have been very popular for adding colour to knitted items and craft projects, such as funky, modern jewellery pieces. These 15mm diameter buttons sell at 22p each.

Another best seller is this large coconut button with coloured lacquer. It comes in cream, purple, red, turquoise and charcoal. They are priced at £1.40 each for a huge 40mm button.

Need a button or two? Why not browse Love Buttons HQ, Etsy, Folksy and MISI and see what you can find! Always happy to combine postage and packaging costs between sites - just drop me a line for a combined invoice :o) Julia x

Museum buttons

While on holiday in Hereford last week i photographed a few buttons from various museums that i visited, the buttons below are from Leominster Folk Museum (prononced Lemster) in the UK.

These tiny buttons are 19th century Hoptons Cordonnet buttons which were made  from doubled twisted coarse silk thread.

These are Mother of Pearl buttons, used on a wide variety of clothing especially childrens clothes such as Christening Robes or even Workwear. These days such buttons are prized by people who make hand made jewellery.

This plain brown Victorian dress had a set of 8 black glass buttons with gold lustre flower detail, at specialistauctions we have a variety of antique/vintage glass buttons for sale

just click to visit the glass buttons categories      Glass buttons and Glass button

The buttons below are in the Hereford museum

Horn was a by-product of the cattle industry and was used for domestic items such as lanterns, horn beakers and buttons. These buttons along with bone would be used on everyday clothes such as workwear (smocks). The buttons above are sliced slivers worked into shape and polished.

Horn products for sale at specialistauctions

Powder horn