But I've put the kettle on so that I may sit with you for a few minutes and tell you about this week's WIP, albeit belatedly. Do you like my buttons? I have been working on these in the evenings, they're for the Christmas Market. I have been making lots of buttons (photos to follow in the coming weeks) and stitch markers, and it's now time to put them onto cards to keep them neat and tidy for presentation purposes.

I have a substantial collection of buttons. Some of them have been rescued, some of them have purchased, some of them have been gifted, and some of them have been hand-made. The gingerbread man, above, is one of my very own polymer clay buttons. 

This particular collection, above, was rescued at quite a high price to save them from the tip. I say "rescued" and not "purchased" because they have a lovely story. Somebody's granny passed away, and she left behind a house full of things. Amongst these things was a collection of buttons - jumbled into a bag, stored away for a rainy day when a button might fall off a coat or need replacing. A bag of treasures. I remember my own grandma having a tin of buttons that would come out to be played with on Very Special Occasions. Each button has it's own story - where does it come from? Where are its matching friends? What garment was it used on originally?

There are over 70 years in buttons jumbled into this bag. And, the button inheritor wasn't having any of it - these bits of pre-loved and cherished haberdashery notions were heading for the bin, unless someone took it off his hands for a fee. Bah. 

In the spirit of Christmas, I liberated them. There are over 1,000 of them now sitting in a giant pie dish on my craft table. Some of them will be restored and sent off to Christmas Market to acquire new homes and new projects. Some of them will stay here with me. None of them will end up in the bin.