Boutonnerie

The Greenhouse

2011-09-28T00:05:00.000+01:00

To some extent, it is where I've been living the past week or so, as everything has ripened, all at once, and demanded attention.

But it is, also, however the name of my new Etsy shop, GreenHouse Bazaar. I struggled a little for a name as all the ones I wanted were taken, but in the end, the idea of Green, Home and the fact I live in a mishmash of styles on a smallholding, all came together.

Some new pieces are listed already, others will be moving over from my original textiles shop, and more are in progress.

I have a head full of ideas, shelves full of fabrics, some incredible samples of organic and fairtrade textiles, so do please come by and visit!

Sneak Peek

2011-09-13T22:12:00.003+01:00

I have been cutting. And stitching. And, as I once wrote as a job description"I take big pieces of fabric and cut them into small pieces. Then I sew them back into big pieces"

This is the unfinished top for '3 shirts to the wind'

The lines and stripes are staggering drunkenly all over and it was made from, well, 3 shirts of mine. Couldn't really call it anything else!

An apple a day...

2011-09-10T21:04:00.006+01:00

...keeps the Dr away

if this is true, we shan't be visiting him any time soon. Not that we ever actually do, but that's another matter.

September is here and whilst trying not to fall into a mire of cliche about mellow fruitfulness, the garden really has surpassed itself this year.

Remember this?

today it looked like this:

The fruit trees have done well this year (cue gratuitous pic of pretty apples) after being transplanted, we have nearly recovered from shifting 20 tonnes of brick rubble and top soil and all in all we are quite pleased with life at the moment.

What I am slightly less pleased about is the prospect of finding homes for these

Anyone for pie?

Rags to Riches

2011-09-10T01:33:00.003+01:00

Well, that is the idea!

A long time ago (though not very far away)I started my first business, making quilts, bags and generally anything that could be made out of patches. I loved it, it was fun and I used almost exclusively remnants and roll-ends of fabrics.

I loved the recyclingness (grammar police? shush!) of it and I loved the unexpectedness of creating. What I made came from what I had, what I could find. Nothing was really planned and a huge element of luck and chance influenced the final results.

For some reason, I downplayed this aspect and even deliberately tried to move away from it. Instead, I chose fabrics and colours simply for what they were rather than what they could be.

Looking back, a mistake. I lost the fun and I lost the excuse to hoard scraps and pieces "just in case". Life was a little more organised, but ever so slightly more sterile. A number of other things got in the way - losing my studio space, a prolonged renovation of a new house, Little Button* - and a pressing need to have the haberdashery business in a state where bills could be paid.

*I love her to bits, but toddler + pins + shears is never going to end well.

But this past week, a visit from the incomparable Ali made me rethink. And so it is back to basics - a new look, a new online store and a new range of bags, quilts, throws - anything I can make out of patches - from recycled, upcycled, (bicycled?) or eco/organic/fairtrade fabrics.
There will be handmade haberdashery along the same lines, a revamp of boutonnerie, a changing focus at Overspill and all in all, a quiet revolution in where I am going and what I am doing.

I doubt it is the easiest decision I've ever made, but I do hope it will be one of the best ones.

Of course, if it isn't, I shall just blame Ali!

The View Across The Table

2011-02-16T13:29:00.002Z

Finishitis

2011-02-11T13:04:00.004Z

Bit of a new one for me, I'm usually suffering from the opposite!
Whether it is spring, the gentle discipline of 101 in 1001 or the sudden realisation that if I don't get a move on, we're never going to move house, all sorts of things have started to come together.

Making a book has been at the back of my mind for a long time. There have been some tentative forays with scrap fabrics and spare paper

but with 101/1001 I realised I wanted something big enough to write in and to stick things in.

As I'm clearing out, it all had to be made from things to hand. So, 1 stray bamboo placemat, some pieces of faux suede from the fabric mountain, printer paper and linen thread hanging around from windchime experiments:

Happy New Year

2011-02-01T12:28:00.003Z

Really? Yes, really! I've never been terribly good with dates, deadlines, diaries or calenders so for me, given that I am 9 months out of 12 up to my elbows in compost, the idea of a new year being right in the middle of winter is a little odd.

But today? yes. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, the soil is no longer doing it's permafrost impression and things are starting to grow.

A couple of days ago Little Button and I sowed the first seeds. Well, she did really, I just passed tools and tried to keep things contained. Lot of fun, lot of mess and she is now devastatingly proud of her seeds in the "warm seed house", 'propagator' being a bit of a linguistic challenge when you are only 3.

It was, I think, the same day that I came across the idea of 101 in 1001 - a list of 101 things that you want to achieve in the next 1001 days. Despite my dislike of organisation, this one grabbed me. Possibly because it is less structured than a to-do list and possibly because it starts today (my own new year) and ends, 2 years, 9 months down the line, shortly before I turn 40. erk.

I'm not posting my own list here, so mch of it is so odd, so personal or so boring that by the time I'd edited them out, all that would be left would be Work Harder, Grow More, Stop Faffing. But a great set of coincidences (including good weather. Good weather always helps) has got me out of winter sluggishness and finally inspired to do all the things I keep putting off, be they work or play.

So, to all of you, happy new year. Let there be growth!

Coming Soon

2010-03-28T15:08:00.007+01:00

New toys!

I have been off for a while, planning and organising. Now The Boss is also self-employed, making Boutonnerie work properly is even more important. There has been a site revamp and some resorting. Still some work to do, but I'm getting there.

There is also a whole bundle of new stock coming in the next week. My Lovely Babysitter is arriving tonight to take care of Little Button for me for a couple of weeks so I shall be hard at work.

So...
Felt packs to accompany the felt squares
New vintage buttons
A whole new section for Embroidery
and a fair few haberdashery basics.

On top of all this, I've been making. My first experiments with polymer clay didn't work that well - they looked pretty but were simply not robust enough. The second days work went better:

They all still need sanding and finishing, a task not helped by Little Button being firmly convinced they are sweeties!

When the weather warms up, I can start prepping the alder and there may even be some fruit wood toggles coming too, once I get around to doing the pruning!

So, do come by and visit - I'm having so much fun with Boutonnerie! For now, I'm off to sort the stockroom and find somewhere for the Lovely Babysitter to sleep. As she, and the button, says, life is...

"I could make that"

2010-03-23T15:50:00.005Z

Without doubt, the single most infuriating thing to hear when working at a craft fair. That or "I made one like that and it didn't cost anywhere near that much".

Of course it doesn't cost that much to make yourself - you probably aren't counting your time or making a profit in order to grow your business/feed your kids/pay bills/etc.

But even if none of that matters to you, and you could make it yourself, would you? Would you be able to make it to the same standard as someone who does this day in, day out, who is practiced at what they do and who has skills (and possibly tools) that you don't?

Take, for example, this wonderous shop of delight: Tea Loves Cake on Etsy

I bake. I'm not a bad baker but I don't massively enjoy it and I tend to have more near-misses than genuine hits. Best summed up in that phrase 'good, plain baking'. Fruitcakes, gingerbread, the occasional muffin. Could I make cupcakes like these? Possibly. Am I going to? Highly unlikely!

Leaving aside the impressive vegan credentials, this is just beautiful. My icing never looks that smooth and as for making handmade flowers to decorate it? I've never done it, never wanted to do it and I know my skills well enough to know just how long it would take for me to get them looking that good. Being honest here, it would never actually cross my mind to do it!

For selling, particuarly online, is all about buyer's perception and seller's presentation. When I came across Tea Loves Cake I sat there, mouth open. The cakes are beautiful. We all know that they are not a useful* purchase, in fact the recommendation to "Once you receive your cupcakes remove them from their recyclable box and store them in an airtight container at room temp. until you are ready to eat them." made me laugh because I know, in this house, that they wouldn't even make it into that box!

To sell, successfully, you have to have either something people need or something you can make people think they need. Not conning or scamming, I don't mean that, but presenting in such away that anyone who sets eyes on your wares instantly thinks "GIMME"

*in the way of wellies or a loaf of bread. Of course, whimsy, beauty and frippery do fall into the 'necessities' category, unless we're all doomed to uniformity.

So next time you think "I could make that" be honest enough to ask youself if you really would. Or whether you should treat yourself to a little bit of beauty and reward someone else for their creations?

Creative Frenzy

2010-03-20T17:19:00.007Z

Well, not only has there been digging, playing with fabric, taking silly arty pics, but there has also been knitting. I had a little break a few days ago - it seems to have put the lead back in my pencil when it comes to new ideas.

I have felted one rug and knit another:

Scraps and oddments of blues, greens, purples and greys. 3 strands on 15mm needles. The main strand is a frogged Noro sweater. Heresy? Maybe, but it made me look worryingly like a boiled egg topped with an egg cosy and besides - I can no longer wear wool. It has, however, made a very pretty felted rug!

And while hunting out all my bits and bobs of colours for the rugs I found these:

A whole box of Colinette Giotto pieces. They're not full skeins, so I have the fun of combining colours (something that can keep me amused for far too long). I've used these in the past for the Ribbon Scarves but this time I've decided to go for something lighter and lacier. Something that might just work well with the new shawl pins in stock.

Just because...

2010-03-18T23:49:00.005Z

...they're pretty!

A Bagful of Promise

2010-03-17T21:40:00.006Z

The Boss has been fulltime self-employed for exactly one month now and though he does frequently drive me up the wall (and get underfoot more than the dog + Little Button combined) I have to say it is the best decision he ever made. We still havne't quite worked out a perfect routine of work and childcare yet, but we are getting there. more importantly, we both feel we now have enough time to plan ahead, explore new ideas and experiment, rather than just Red Queening it and hoping for the best.

So, I went exploring. Really, the best thing about self-employment is the opportunity to wander at will through pretty websites and getting to call it 'research'.

And look what I found:

and

and

Aren't they gorgeous?

I have great plans for these. There is some work to be done before I'm ready to offer up the final pieces in Overspill and Boutonnerie but I have to say, when this bagful arrived on the doorstep, I couldn't wait to get going!

On the outside

2010-03-16T15:53:00.008Z

There is more to life than buttons (shocking, but true!) and the other side of life is spent trying to make half an acre of brick rubble, mud and nettles actually grow something. Sometimes I win - sometimes I don't. Recently, the prizes have been going to the forces of chaos. Of course, the flood didn't help - hard to dig when under 9' of water - and the next year a very tiny Little Button didn't help much either. But this year, I'm determined to take gold!

This may be over-optimistic on my part. Certainly, it isn't looking promising! The main problem is that although we have a lovely amount of space here, the house itself was once part of the brickworks. Famous brickworks, historically important brickworks, but nevertheless, brickworks that dumped all the spoil and misfires all over the land that was one day to become my garden.

And so - where there should be earth, there is brick. What soil that is there is a deeply unpleasant mix of clay and brick chippings. And, at best guess, there is 60 tonnes of brick bits to move before I do more planting.

This patch is going to be an orchard. One day! I'm slowly digging out the bricks, pulling up the weeds and some day soon will cover the whole area with the contents of 5 compost heaps. We have saved some topsoil from other excavations and then the trees can go in. At present, they are down in the veggie plot, but it's too frosty, too damp and if they grow more than 6" they're going to shade out the neighbours greenhouse. I don't think I could live with myself if they did that!

I've already cut down the alder sprouts coming from the stump:

A lot of this will be saved for button making and toggle making. As they are quite young shoots, they have grown lovely and straight and really - there is nothing better than the colour of fresh-cut alder!

Dorset Buttons

2009-11-03T16:32:00.004Z

It is slightly ironic that, living in the cradle of the Industrial Revolution, I fell in love with these buttons...

"Dorset buttons were a traditional way of making buttons before the industrial revolution." Alix tells me. They were made by women as a cottage industry until a draper opened a centre in Blandford to centralise the selling. Unfortunately, the coming of the Indutrial revoloution and the arrival of machine-made mass-produced buttons all but killed off this intricate craft. It is fabulous to see that it hasn't died out completely! There are many patterns around, many flat, some hightopped. All of them amazingly intricate and beautiful.
I asked Alix how she got started..."I have always made things - knitting and sewing taught by my mum and sisters. I love fabric and yarn. I never think of myself as nimble but I adore making these Dorset Buttons. I have made some tiny ones just for the joy of doing it. I have a small daughter who is crafty and I hope I can teach her."

"Colour and pattern everywhere inspire me. I love to see how colours work together and how the piece grows. I love variegated threads that change and reveal themselves to you as you sew."

"Each button is made by sewing the thread round a ring. Depending on the thickness of the thread this can take some time. Then I wind the thread round to create the spokes. It takes a lot of practice to get the middle point dead centre. Then I sew the thread in between the spokes. There are many different patterns and colour combinations although sometimes the single rich colour is the best one."

Though traditionally they were made from rings of sheep horn and fine white thread, I have to say I do prefer Alix's more modern vibrant pieces!

Buy them here

Kanji

2009-10-31T11:34:00.005Z

As well as all the new goodies at Boutonnerie I've got a fair stock of vintage buttons for sale too at Overspill. A while back I bought in some from a friend and had a happy day or so sorting, cleaning and counting. Yes, I play with buttons and get paid - does life get any better?

Anyway, deep in amongst these buttons were some Civil Defence ones, some British Red Cross ones and a few others that dated the collection to somewhere around the 1940s - 1950's. And there was this one:

The back is Bakelite or some other form of early plastic, as is the symbol on the front. What with the Mr and his business I'm getting moderately familiar with oriental bits and pieces and my hunch said 'Japanese' as opposed to Chinese or Korean.

But that was as far as I got. Trying to play snap on Google with kanji is no my idea of fun and a bit of a waste of time. Last night, though, I got chatting with Cindy and she cast a bit more light on things.

Now, traditional Japanese clothing doesn't have buttons. Things are folded and tied, elaborately, and apart from clips and bone fastenings on some armour pieces, buttons aren't really a feature.

But it seems the kanji (Cindy agrees most likely Japanese) is kotobuki, derived from the characters for 'long life' and 'celebration' and as such may well have been part of some sort of gift. A pouch perhaps, containing something for a special birthday? Maybe it marked a coming-of-age date? Perhaps even good wishes at a birth?

I had planned to sell this on, but I have to say I'm getting intrigued by it now. What is it? Where did it come from and how on earth did it end up in England?
I'm also wondering what to do with it. The silk bags over at Etsy were, originally, inspired by some Japanese folded patchwork. There isn't any obvious link there (except in my own mind) and I've recently been using Japanese dyeing techniques to colour-match thread for an antiques restorer.

I'm sitting writing this in a room filled with obi, sageo, a yari, katana and tanto and every sort of sword fitting you could imagine (and some you possibly can't). And a statue of Fudo-myoo standing in the corner.

Thinking about it, maybe this one isn't for sale after all!

Nix on ix

2009-08-26T13:16:00.002+01:00

It's not so long ago that I was singing the praises of my (now ex) webhosts. I recommended them, I was delighted with them, I really thought they were the bees knees!
They started off small, had reasonable rates + top notch customer service. Then they grew.

And then I got a strange message from google saying my WP blog was blacklisted becuase of malware. huh? I spent 2 days working through the database trying to find the offending post. Customer Service at IX managed to tell me there was a problem, but nothing more. Never did find the problem and I had to abandon the blog.

A few weeks ago I found that boutonnerie.com had stopped appearing on google. ok, so we're small and new and were unlikely to be at the top of the rankings, but even googling for the name brought up nothing.

Then I couldn't log in to the admin section.

Then everything disappeared.

Then IX gave me a series of completely useless instructions and restored my files from a backup made 2 days after the database got wiped.

Then I found a new host.

While in the process of moving, the site on IX was hacked.

Then I moved even faster into the embrace (well, reasonable terms + topnotch customer service) of my new host.

So, if you are wondering where we've been, we've been moving. But I think we are settled now and I hope you'll drop by and see us!

Help!

2009-07-01T09:37:00.004+01:00

I have it. For the next 2 months I have a babysitter and I can't tell you what a relief it is. Or how much I'm managing to get done in those 2 hours a day!

Boutonnerie is almost fully stocked now with all the pieces I have to hand. There is a new Maker Page, I have a new trade account opened.

And I might even have time to blog!

Maker Page - Alison

2009-06-08T09:14:00.006+01:00

I've been so caught up inbuying new buttons, commissioning new buttons, photographing new buttons etc, this poor blog hasn't had all the attention it need. Poor lonely blog.

And so here is the first of the Maker Pages. There are 4 more to come and with luck there will be many more in the future...

Alison of AliBaliJewellery

Alison makes handcrafted silver jewellery from her home studio in Edinburgh. I was delighted when she agreed to make a set of exclusive pure silver buttons for Boutonnerie.

In her own words...
I have a pretty serious day job and I started making silver jewellery as a means to de-stress at the end of a busy day.I've always been what you would describe as 'artistic', doing a short stint at art school in the early 90's. I make jewellery that I would like to wear. I love colour and texture and that comes through frequently in my designs. It was my love of texture which inspired me to use precious metal clay, you can achieve textures with this material that would be pretty impossible with traditional silver smithing.

Precious metal clay is worked with whilst wet. At this stage you roll it, imprint it, shape it, and work out any textures that are required. It is left to dry before being reworked and sanded.

It is then fired, using either a kiln or a torch. The fine silver particles in the clay bind together to form fine silver (99% pure) which can then be polished to the desired finish.

The finished pieces are all on the Silver Button Page.

Introducing Linda

2009-06-06T16:30:00.004+01:00

A new maker for Boutonnerie .

Linda, of LeafGreenHandmade, has been hard at work making sewing rolls for me to stock. Not only are these the ultimate gift for the new or disorganised seamstress (sorry - I refuse to use the word sewer!) but some feature handmade buttons, some are made from fabric samples that would otherwise have been tossed if I'd not rescued them. The ultimate in sustainability!

Linda's Maker Page is here and the sewing rolls are gradually being added here

Maker Pages and More!

2009-05-20T14:08:00.003+01:00

After the weekend's victory over coding (yes, I'm allowed to crow. No, I'm not tellling you how long it took) I've been fighting through the little quirks of KompoZer and OS. This is not the fun bit.

However, we have the first of the fine silver buttons listed at http://boutonnerie.com/ and the extra photo pages up too.

Silver Spiral: http://boutonnerie.com/catalog/spiralextra.html and
Watermark: http://boutonnerie.com/catalog/waterextras.html

There are 3 more amazing silver buttons to come. Next week I start on a non-buttony addition to http://boutonnerie.com/

Victory is mine!

2009-05-16T17:57:00.004+01:00

The first of the Maker Pages is complete!

I still have a way to go, but each handmade listing will have a link to the Maker Page of the Maker, as well as a page of extra photos. Komposer is my friend.

http://boutonnerie.com/catalog/alison.html

The page is still fairly basic, there is soem tweaking and beautifying to be done, but having got over this first hurdle with only a couple of scrapes (no broken legs, no barked shins) I'm really feeling quite proud.

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow...

2009-05-15T12:28:00.004+01:00

It does seem, some days, as if this entire project is moving at a petty pace, but like a swan, while there may be calm serenity on the surface there is a great deal going on underneath.

Honest!

The commercial listings are almost finished bar some last-minute stocktaking to see how many of what I really have and this weekend we venture back into html.

I haven't done much coding for a long while and even past experience was pretty basic, so the next few days should be...interesting. If on Monday morning I am greyfaced, white haired and gibbering then you'll know the coding won!

Generally, I like using OSCommerce for Boutonnerie. It is easy to use from the back-end and it is a familiar format for those who I hope are my target market. True, I can't add frills, flash, bells and whistles but then, even if I could, I probably wouldn't. The one thing about this format that does irritate me is that each listing has only one photo.
So, as I'm moving on now to the handmade pieces, not only do I need to write a Maker Page for each person but each handmade listing is going to need another page of pics. I have elegant silver buttons, I have fabulous polymer clay buttons, I have sewing rolls and I have more buttons coming. Simply not possible to show them in all their glory with a single 100x80 photo.

And just as a sneak peak for what is coming next week:

Eye of the storm

2009-05-11T21:30:00.002+01:00

Amidst the weeks chaos I did get a couple of straight hours to work on the site. Ribbons are now up, as are felt squares. The squares I scannned as we were having a typical Derbyshire spring day (wet, blutery, lights on in the house at midday) and I though I'd get more accurate colours.

Hm.

The colours are accurate. Better than the camera would have given...but...resizing and cropping has led to some odd effects. Essentially, any stray fibre - and felt is never completely one colour - has pixillated itself like nobodys business! Hence the colourwarp.

The plan (stop laughing at the back. I always have a Plan. Whether or not life conforms is another matter) is to get the commercial items finished this week. I have the first of the handmade buttons here (and being treasured), the first of the handmade sewing items. I have 3 different makers lined up to produce buttons in different materials - but I want to give them all sufficient limelight. I also need to give people sufficient time to make.

So, once the commercial items are listed then we start on the handmades and the Maker Pages. If you are making for me, be assured I will be in touch soon asking all sorts of inconvenient questions!

On the plus side

2009-05-06T21:12:00.002+01:00

We are now indexed by google, we have the sitemaps sorted, the handmade sewing rolls are here and are perfect! The plan is to fill them up - needles, pins, thimble, tapemeasure etc as they would be a real treat for a new seamstress or as a gift. They are wonderfully well made and really beautiful.

Also by the same post came the first of the handmade buttons. The photos I saw of them before they arrived were amazing, but now they are here, I don't want to let them go! They will be the most expensive buttons on the site, but at handcrafted, pure silver...they are worth every penny!

And today I have contacted 2 new makers both of whom I'm delighted to say are happy to help stock www.Boutonnerie.com We are still working out the details but I'm happy to know that there are more good things on the way to the shop and that Boutonnerie is making a start in helping artisans increase their business!

A Spanner in the Works

2009-05-06T21:05:00.002+01:00

No, not a spammer. Though the number of people who seem to think I want to lose weight, enlarge non-existent bits of my anatomy or buy a gold watch have to be seen to be believed!

Where was I? No idea, these days! The Mr has gone and broken himself. Not disasterously but in a manner that means he cannot bend down, cannot lift anything and can't comfortably stand up for long. This will get fixed but in the meantime I may be little absent. More than normal, that is. For though I am no shrinking violet, no delicate petal, there are things I rely on him for. Things we both took for granted - lifting sacks of feed or compost, carrying the laundry out to the garde, helping move boxes in the stock room, carrying parcels to the post.

Strange - and irritating - that one small thing can cause so much upheaval to what we fondly liked to consider as the smooth running of the household.

And so - if you are wondering what is happening with boutonnerie.com, or wondering why I seem to have vanished off the face of the planet, I promise things are happening but just at a slower rate than planned.

Feminism, the free market and the perception of handmade

2009-04-29T12:10:00.004+01:00

First, a question: do you think that it is right and fair that a black or asian man should be paid the same money for the same job as a white man?

I suspect that your answer is “yes” or that if it isn’t, you are sufficiently socially aware to not voice those thoughts unless you know you are amongst people who agree with you.

Any deviation from this line of thought is just not acceptable in today’s society. Any company grading pay by skincolour would, rightly, be hauled up in front of a tribunal.

So – do you believe that any person doing equal work with any other person should be paid an equal amount? Yes? And that pay should not be dependent on colour, gender or sexual preference?

Good.

And do you think we have, as a society, made great progress since women had to give up work upon marriage, women were barred from universities and that the prescribed role of women in society was to be wife and mother?

Tell me then why UK womens pay is 12% lower than mens and that last year the gap actually widened?

Now, I am a socialist. A good oldfashioned one that takes Marx’s strictures “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need” not as a call for greater control over individuals behaviour but a moral comment on the variable capacity for work between individuals and the mutual support necessary in society. I don’t object to capitalism as such, but I abhor the extremes and feel that any society that claims the name must, by definition, provide adequately for those who cannot support themselves. Tax the rich, feed the poor, but if you can work, then get on with it. It may be somewhat basic as a political ideology but it’s lasted me 30+ years without any major revisions!

However, browsing around yesterday trying to crystalise some thoughts I came across this site: http://www.theprometheusinstitute.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=127:the-feminist-manifesto-how-and-why-to-rescue-feminism-from-the-left&catid=46:freedom&Itemid=35 that feels feminism has been ill-served by socialism and that fighting through the free market is the best way to female emancipation. I have many disagreements with that idea, not least that it does rather exclude all women whose chosen career is not subject to free market forces but…“Who is the enlightened woman of modern society? She is an entrepreneur who discards the victim mentality, along with her Che Guevara poster. She accelerates the upward mobility of her career through merit, instead of loafing around on the Affirmative Action couch. She relishes the contrasting shades of masculine and feminine sides of men and women, respectively, and refuses to blame men for all societal wrongs in this world.

She rejects the notion that capitalism is a modern form of patriarchal oppression, because she realizes that the market is amoral and a mere reflection of societal wants and needs. She opposes legislation and policy that is inherently discriminative of any sex.”

So – where is this going and what does it have to do with pricing hand-made articles?

She is an entrepreneur who discards the victim mentality, along with her Che Guevara poster. She accelerates the upward mobility of her career through merit, instead of loafing around on the Affirmative Action couch.
Well, after years of doing craft fairs I have noticed that men making jewellery tend to have no problem whatsoever charging good price for their work and getting it. I have seen one woman welder trying to explain that yes, she did indeed make the metalwork she was selling, no, her husband wasn’t the creator and despite demonstrating her skill, some of her audience simply could not comprehend!

She relishes the contrasting shades of masculine and feminine sides of men and women, respectively, and refuses to blame men for all societal wrongs in this world.
I used to sell quilts and throws. I stopped, not because they didn’t sell, because they did, and at 3 figures too, but because I gave up my studio space. One occasion though a woman passed by my stand at a craft fair, looked at the prices and demanded an explanation because “she’d made a quilt and it didn’t cost anything near that much. My ex-husband, rising to the occasion, demanded to know how long it had taken her!
She flounced off. Sometimes, the idea of universal sisterhood seems a very, very long way off…

She rejects the notion that capitalism is a modern form of patriarchal oppression, because she realizes that the market is amoral and a mere reflection of societal wants and needs.
Again and again I see, not overtly, but in myriad subtle ways, the idea that women, doing women’s crafts (knitting, sewing etc) should not charge for their time.
Women are consistently paid less in the workplace. You know those salary ranges “dependant on experience”? Experience or gender? Remember we agreed at the start of this on “equal pay for equal work?”
It has been calculated that the unpaid work women do in the home would cost £30-45, 000 to replace with hired help.

Many times on the forum I have seen women with growing, successful businesses complain that their husbands “don’t understand, aren’t supportive, think they are wasting their time”. Wasting time away from that £30-45K worth of unpaid labour, perhaps. Being charitable, I doubt these men are setting out to undermine, but the perception that a woman's work and financial value is inherently less than a man's seems so deeply ingrained that they may not realise what they are saying or doing.
Even my own generally enlightened man had a fit of growling, chestbeating and chucking the bones around the cave entrance when I pointed out he was not solely responsible for the family finances!

She opposes legislation and policy that is inherently discriminative of any sex.
Even my most argumentative self can't pick holes in that one!

The Etsy forum is filled with uncertainty. Am I good enough? How should I price this? What should I do……? And of course the fabulous trainwrecks where someone attacks classy handmade (it must be a reseller!), less good handmade (it lowers the tone), vintage, supplies, unprofessionalism, professionalism, high prices, low prices etc etc etc. Where did we put our spines? Why do so many women still believe that their time and skills are not worth paying for?

Now, I’m not suggesting issuing your SO with a weekly bill for housework and childcare (but do please share with me the reaction if you do!) but – think on this…
In western recorded history, our so-called equality is just a tiny blip on the timeline. In many ways we are still 2nd class – we work harder, for longer hours, for less pay.
Are you a SAHM (and dear god how I loathe both epithet and stereotype) or do you have a home-based artisan business? Why does your reproductive status have to come into it?
Do you make and sell as a hobby? If you are selling in the UK then you should be declaring your income anyway – so why not consider yourself to be what you are – a self-employed artisan?
It is less than a century ago that we got to vote and only 10 years since a married woman’s earnings and property were no longer taxed as her husbands.
Despite all the legitimate grumbles, we have it so easy compared to the rest of the world. I know that, you know that. We have it easy compared to women in the past.

So, when the uncertainty kicks in and you reckon your time and skills aren’t worth anything, just pause a minute, listen to all those silenced voices, past and present, and see if you can hear them telling you what they think your time is worth.

Wholesaling Handmade Buttons

2009-04-28T09:11:00.005+01:00

Is actually turning out to be harder than I thought it would be!

Part of the problem, I think, is that many sellers are already pricing their handmade items at wholesale prices. As well as selling commercially made items, I do actually sell handmades. Sometimes. I see a lot of people get confused about pricing, but really, it is easy.

Cost of materials + your hourly wage/overheads x time taken + % profit = wholesale
Wholesale price x N = retail, N being the markup. I double it, but everyone has their own preference. For those making small, repeatable items, you can scale up depending on order size.

Really. Not that hard.

The point about selling wholesale is that the person buying large quantities is going to be doing a lot of the work for you. They're not trying to get rich off the fruits of your labour. Really. They will have a shop to maintain, or a website to host. They need to promote, store, package and post your items. They will need to advertise. Not on free PW blogs that have a handful of readers, but targetted advertising that will bring in lots of customers. And, with all of this, they still need to have their business profitable in order to support the artisans who supply the store, increase product range and pay the bills.

Granted, not everyone is trying to run a business. For some it is a hobby, a fun pastime that brings in a bit of money. Fine. But wouldn't it be nice to actually make a bit of money?

Try pricing for retail. You might even end up selling more.

I should know better

2009-04-26T22:55:00.004+01:00

...than to suggest, in public, a timescale on anything!
However, despite delays, setbacks, mishaps and near-disasters, the first few of the clay buttons are done.

This is not the best photograph in the world! They are still on their backing paper (baking parchment - brilliant stuff!) and are still in need of a second coat of varnish. But, we are getting there.

And also on the theme of getting there... http://www.boutonnerie.com/ is now live and working. There is still a great deal of work to be done on the commercial stock, but very soon the first artisan-made buttons will be here to be listed!

Making buttons

2009-04-01T14:34:00.003+01:00

Last week was the first foray into actually making. I had, as usual, a head full of ideas but I've found that this alone is not enough to guarantee success. Usually, it leads to frustration and disappointment as the world fails to conform to my plans. (The small person has the same problem. But she is allowed to bellow when things go wrong. Apparently, I'm not).

Anyway, having been dissuaded from getting kiln (bah! what d'ye mean, we've nowhere to put it?) I reckoned I've give some airdry clays a go. Supposedly they dry rock-hard. Hmm. Am I too cynical when I immediately spot this phrase as a potential for disaster?

So, I squished and squeezed, pummelled and rolled, moulded and pressed, drew out designs and left a whole heap of button-shaped objects to dry. I got a bit distracted by the process (think: plasticine for grown-ups) and even more distracted by the fact that my brand of choice smells of marzipan but I was good and restrained myself from using up the entire kilo. Life here being as it is I only got a chance to check them this morning. And guess what?

Rock solid!

Sanding, painting and varnishing come next - this is not a highspeed process. But I am absolutely chuffed to bits that they worked!

Coming soon...

2009-03-25T08:42:00.000Z

Well, yesterday I worked most of the day on uploading pics and descriptions to the website. Promo material has started to go out and I reckoned it might be a good idea if people had something to look at.

It is tedious and really not my favourite part, but around a third of the commercial button listings are done now. There is light at the end of the tunnel!

I'll carry on with more today but I need to make a decision. Do I include other haberdashery items - beads, bias binding etc and slowly move everything over to this one site thus making my business more focussed, or do I keep the site focussed on buttons and buttons alone and sell the other things through other sites?

Thoughts?

All about the buttons

2009-03-23T17:05:00.000Z

It started small. A couple of unusual and pretty ones filched from Mom's button box. The it grew - I needed buttons for my handmade purses and knit wear. Then I found myself buying in bulk at wholesalers. Then lots of vintage buttons from ebay, which I sorted then sold off the spares.

Then an offer. 60 000 stock clearance. 60 000 became 70 000 when the lads got fed up with counting. Another offer: another 50 000.

And then ideas came. Handmade buttons. Handmade by other makers in techniques I don't have time or inclination to master.

And so Boutonnerie.com was born.

Boutonnerie def: "the making and selling of buttons"

That'd be me then!