Progress!

Some small progress has been made at last as I have finished painting my craft desk.  It took a mighty 3 coats of paint and one of primer and now looks like this...

I was going to leave it all white but today I found some very cute pastel blue sticky back plastic in Wilkinsons so I've decided to cover the top with this.  I figure this will be a good work surface and if I scratch, mark it I can just stick some more over it!

Today I also bought this fabulous crafty book...

....it's full of amazingly cute (as the name suggests!) craft projects that are simple yet effective.  My favourite so far are these adorable cloud cushions that I'm very eager to try out making...

Once again if you like what you see here you'll love my Pinterest so come and have a look and and start following me!  : )

Getting on with it...

I have started to get underway with things this afternoon.  I've put a coat of mellamine primer on my desk which is currently drying v.slowly (and stinking out my living room) and have also painted a pin board that I'm going to be using to pin up photos/cut-outs/bits and bobs that inspire me.  This is how it began...

and this is it now....doesn't look like much but it's given it a lift with my favourite pastel colours and will look great when I put it up on the wall and start pinning! 

Talking of pinning, have a look at my Pinterest if you want to see more craftiness!  I've just started a new board with pics of some very creative handmade cards like these...

Clever crafty storage...

Still gathering ideas.  This idea is soooo clever and I already have a few of these Ikea storage boxes painted in yummy pastel colours!  I'm thinking of putting up some in the corner of my craft space and using them to store my jars of buttons bits and bobs!

Craft space inspiration...

As I am staying at my parents this weekend not a lot is going to get done to my craft space so instead I'm researching some ideas for organising everything.  I'm loving this post on Everything Etsy 22 Tips to Organise Your Craft Room, in particular I'm liking these jars which are not only very useful but look gorgeous...

Creating a Crafting Space...

Being a crafter in a small flat is a tricky thing and is something that has often put me off starting new projects (this is my current excuse anyway).  It can be disheartening when you make a wonderful crafty mess with buttons, fabric, thread, pins etc. only to find you have to clear it away so that your living room actually resembles a habitable space again.  So, I'm thinking that if I have a small area in my flat set aside as a craft work space I am much more likely to use it and, more importantly, keep using it.  Over the last few months I have been searching for inspiraton and have begun to build up a picture of what I want my space to look like.  If you want an idea of what I've been thinking have a look at my profile on Pinterest as there are loads of piccies, these are some of my faves...

Looking at work spaces like these inspires me to create my own as I know I would LOVE working in an envirnoment like this.  I'm also trying to achieve this on a budget, mostly because I don't have a lot of money to spend but also because I believe it's not necessary to throw a lot of money at a project like this, some of my most creative ideas/makes have come about as a result of thinking outside the box and recycling old materials.

At the moment the space I have to work with is looking a little sad and dull...

....very sad and very messy!

My first task is to sort out a desk.  As much as I would love to buy a cute little vintagey sewing desk I really should work with what I've already got.  Painting this plain Ikea desk will hopefully give it a bit of a lift and I'm also going to look into getting some patterned sticky back plastic to cover the top. 
I also want to get some bits and peices up on the walls.  Sadly I can't go mad with shelving as I have a rented flat and can't do a lot of DIY but I'm hoping to get a pinboard up and some frames.

At the moment my desk is a mess of ongoing craft projects so I'm hoping that by getting this space sorted I will inject a bit of organisation into things as it's seriously lacking at the mo!

This blog featured on T-Party Antiques has been of particular inspiration to me tonightt, so many amazing images:

T-Cozy

I'll be posting pics of my progress soon as I'm eager to get going and get inspired again!

Beginning with buttons (of course)

So here goes...my first blog, as part of my new years resolution for 2012 I NEED to start getting serious about my craft making and in a bid to do this and maintain my creativity I am starting Buttons, Bits and Bobs!  I'm not much of a rambler and find that my favourite blogs are the ones with the prettiest pictures and least writing so will try to keep this as focused as possible on my craft projects, likes/dislikes, and general inspirations.  You may have already noticed from the title of this blog that I am a button fan.  I'm not entirely sure when this love of buttons began but I'm pretty sure it began at a young age when I first saw my mum's tin of buttons...no two buttons were the same, the colours amazing and the mystery of where all these buttons used to belong was too compelling for me.  I now have my own button tin...I aspire to a jar of buttons....

I find it almost impossible to use my favourite buttons on craft projects which is a little weird but I think some buttons are just too good to be sewn onto anything, to me buttons are to be admired in there own right.  I can't imagine why anyone would not like buttons but apparently there are a select few who fear them (koumpounophobics)...

 Anyway, I try to feature buttons on most of my craft projects so although this must seem like button rambling it is in fact very important to me and provides me with much inspiration.  I am currently working on a felt button necklace which I will get round to photographing a displaying here at some some this week.  That's all for now, going to sort through my button collection!!