it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.... finally!

The silly busy season is upon us, and although it is still as busy as last year for me, I have more time and I am slightly more organised, so thankfully it doesn't seem as silly :)

Last weekend I attended my last fair of the year ...
It was a lovely day with lots of Christmas shoppers, and lots of bored looking men! (well done to all the other halves at this time of year for putting up with our girly shopping trips!)

(Artisans of Market Harborough - a lovely fair which has two more dates before Christmas),

Due to Black Friday I also had a lot of online orders to process, so it was a pretty busy weekend.
I had made sure to book in a date night with Mr buttonit, for the Saturday night, as I knew the rest of the time would be spent working. Although I could have easily fallen asleep in the cinema!

I had a bit of a research day on Sunday, and went to meet my mum in Leicester, and have a look around the Guildhall Craft Fair. Friends of mine had stalls there, and I am thinking of applying for next year.
The Guildhall is a lovely old Tudor building, which reminded me of the Old Grammar School where Artisans of Market Harborough is held. There was a roaring open fire, and lots of nooks with stalls in.
Definitely a lovely Christmassy atmosphere, and I shall be enquiring about booking a stall soon.

I am planning a full and busy event calendar next year, as it will be my first full year working for myself (minus the 3 mornings i do for Little Stamp Store).
I am also hoping to have a space in Vintage Fleur in Kettering, to sell from.

Its a good job I like to be busy!

Anyway, I'd best get back to work,
Just so you know, my virtual shop doors will close at midday on Friday 19th Dec (only 2 weeks away!)

November already? (Lamport Hall round up)

so, in my last blog post i said i'd be back next week with tales from Lamport Hall... 
Well that was nearly a month ago now! (i did think it was a bit over-ambitious to blog every week!)

I can't believe how quickly time is flying by, it really will soon be Christmas!
As I predicted I am nowhere near ready for it this year (i say this every year!), and I'm realising now that I really should have quit the day job earlier!

Lamport Hall Gift and Craft Fair is a lot of peoples first Christmas Shopping day of the year, and it was a lovely weekend, with not too bad weather (good for an almost outside event in October!)

I tried out some new display items (my pigeon hole box) and made some special Christmas cards (baby's first Christmas etc).

Everything was well received, especially my poppies, which seem to sell more and more each year, this year I raised well over £100 for charity :)


And so the Christmas season is well underway now, at least the weather is feeling more wintery now, and I can crochet well into the evening under my granny blanket!

Next, I will be at my local schools Christmas fair next week, and then My Little Vintage's fair at Bosworths Garden Centre all weekend on 15th & 16th Nov. 
Artisans of Market Harborough is back in the newly refurbished Old Grammar School in Market Harborough very soon, and fingers crossed its all ready for the 29th Nov when I'm booked in for a stall!

better get cracking then! but before I do, I thought i'd leave you with my morning dog walk view, absolutely gorgeous! have a great day folks xxx

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Enjoying the weekends again

I can honestly say, this weekend has been the first one in months, maybe even years, that I've properly enjoyed.
I've not felt guilty that I should be working, and I've actually done proper weekend stuff. That I've been putting off for months (maybe even years!)

I took the plunge and became self employed last week.
I now work 3 mornings a week for a friend and her business, and the rest of my time is for me and my business. Thursdays and Fridays are now my "work weekend" meaning I have Saturday and Sunday free to spend with Kev (Mr button it) and Walter our 6 month old Husky puppy

I really did underestimate just how much this would change my life.
I expected to feel happier, but didn't quite realise just how much happier, in even just the first few days. Its amazing, and I wish I'd done it sooner. 

The first thing I did on Thursday morning - my first day at my desk, was write a to-do list... 
It really helps me to "brain dump", get everything out of my brain and onto paper, so that the creative side of my brain can have some time alone, to get on with fun stuff
I divided my paper into two halves, one side work/business related, and the other house/life related. 
Keeping the two separate is a tip my new boss Fran gave me, she said "keep weekend stuff to the weekend". So although it was so tempting to get on with the decorating I've been wanting to finish for months, I wrote it on my "weekend" list, alongside fixing (restuffing & sewing up) Walters toys.
A job, that if I hadn't written it on my list, I probably would have put off for another week, but seeing his little face as I gave his stuffed octopus back to him, all fixed and ready for him to pull apart again, I'm glad I did.

Thats one of my top listing tips - make sure you do everything on your list. 
I would carry jobs over to the next week, but then they never get done, and you never get the sense of satisfaction of ticking off every item, and throwing the list in the bin. 
So another tip that goes with this one - be realistic.
I knew I would be limited with time, and that the last few days would fly by, but with these two lists I feel satisfied with my achievement, and that I've not just wasted my first self employed week.

Feeling very positive about next week, and one of my biggest craft fairs of the calendar - but i'll tell you more about that next week,

Have a splendid week folks,
love & buttons, 
michelle xxx