a parcel arrived this morning. i was expecting it, but i certainly wasn’t expecting it to be so very beautifully presented. you should have seen my face

this is part of the reason why i love to shop indie, the time and effort that goes into every aspect of the work is tangible. it’s as though the creativity and aesthetic sense bubbles through whether you like it or not.

but you might be forgiven for missing the whole point of the package from the previous pic. what i was expecting were these:

fabulously original coral and silver earrings from boldsimple @etsy. the first earrings i’ve bought for about 7 or 8 years after i’d pretty much decided i don’t do earrings any more. how much do they rock?

ps how are the pix looking? i made my little light tent, but i think my lamp just isn’t bright enough. they’re also disappointingly grainy - although i guess that could be from being set to 400 iso, is digi the same as film in that respect? happy with the white balance though, had forgotten i had settings for that.

one of my earliest memories is being at my childminder’s house and playing with her tin of buttons. it was a huge round biscuit tin that must have held at least a thousand buttons. i could sort through them for hours at a time, matching them into sets, arranging them by colour, examining each one in minute detail. my favourites were the tiny faceted clear glass ones, victorian, i guess.

almost as soon as i had a baby i knew i had to get a button tin - for sorting, not sewing purposes - but it’s taken me until now to get round to it.

as soon as i saw this tin i knew it was the one. this isn’t the first of this design that i saw - that went for more than i was prepared to pay - but there are loads of them knocking about on ebay, although this one seems to be in unusually good nick. it’s marked CWS biscuits - co-op wholesale society. i can’t date it stylistically, i initially thought it may be 1930s but this page reckons it’s c.1910.

i have a pitifully small collection of buttons that i’ve carried around for the last 15 years, and even though it’s a small tin i thought they needed some company. so i bought buttons too.

1940s plastic buttons…

buttons on cards…

buttons by the bagful.

i’m not sure i can bring myself to let M loose with them - let alone actually split them up and permanently attach any of them to anything. perhaps i should have a few happy hours sorting them tomorrow, to get it out of my system