Rule Britannia... Rule Buttonia

With Royal Wedding fever upon us all, we had to have some appropriate buttons. If you look closely, one of those buttons in the picture even has Britannia on it. Get us.

And if you've seen some of our felt rolls, ric rac mixes, & button jars in John Lewis over the past few months, you may fancy looking out for our new colourway - Rule Britannia. I think mini felt bunting in red, white and blue with a bit of button & ric rac embellishment would be perfect for all your Royal Wedding street parties. I may even get around to doing this myself. These felt rolls are only available in John Lewis, and are of a limited quantity, so get your hands on them quickly or they may be gone before you get a chance!

And the winner is... drum roll please

None of you!

Haha, only joking.

Before I tell you, I should tell you what inspired this colour mix. It was a range of fabrics from a French company called Mas d'Ousvan - I don't have any left but here is a link to one of my favourite prints: Angele Bleu

I didn't want to tell you the inspiration because I like people to make up their own minds without interference from me. And I loved all the ideas of beaches and vintage and linen, but at the end of the day what still kept coming back to me was the idea of provincial france. And while I'm not going to go with quite that, I think it's only fair that the winner is:

I am inspired (email me with your address and I'll get your winnings on their way to you!)

So ladies & gentlemen (although I get the feeling it's MAINLY ladies!)

Here is is:

"En Provence"

But fear not the rest of you - I may have another naming competition coming up soon, and with that one I promise I don't have any secrets. Keep your eyes peeled.

Oh, and by the way. If EVER anyone feels like coming up with a new colour for us - we are always looking for new ideas. And if we use your ideas we will of course always give you buttons in return!

Help! I need a name... but I'll give you something in return, I promise!

So, usually I am pretty good with coming up with names for our theme bags, (in fact, often the name comes before the colour!) but sometimes the names take longer to come up with than others. It's then that I usually turn to the rest of the ButtonCompany team, and usually they come up with something that helps. But this time we are all stumped.

Soooo, I turn to you, button fans. I know I have severely neglected you, but hopefully I can make this up to you.

Come up with a name, and send it to me either as a comment here, or send me an email.

The winning name gets a 100g theme bag of this new colour. But I need it soon, as our trade show is coming up, and I need all the paperwork done for that. Ok?

Purlesque Launch

Hi, we are Purlesque, a little craft/ knitting boutique based in Liverpool city centre, and we absolutely fell in love with the new Kokka fabrics from the Button Company!  We just had to get some!

We also thought they were worth throwing a party for, so on the 12th of June we hosted a launch night for the new fabrics, more of the Button Company's scrummy buttons and some of the stuff we made from these gorgeous items. 

 We transformed the shop into a summer haven planted some flower buttons into some plant pots and crocheted some cacti.

  Sarah baked some yummy cakes and a good time was had by all! The fabrics have been a huge success and customers always comment at how unique they are and unlike anything they have seen before. Can't wait to order more!

To keep up with more from the Purlesque team, check out their blog !

New Echino 2009!

New echino collection ordering NOW!

JG-99100 100 100% cotton double gauze
Col. A

Col. BCol. C

JG-99100 102 100% cotton double gauze
Col. A

Col. B

Col. C Col. D JG-99100 101 100% cotton double gauze

Col. A Col. B

Col. CCol. DJG-99200 200 100% cotton sheeting
Col. A
Col. B

Col. C Col. D JG-99200 201 100% cotton sheeting

Col. ACol. BCol. CCol. D

I've got another secret. And it's one you're gonna want to find out...

Someone told me the other day that I could never be a spy, because I sound like a herd of elephants chasing a herd of buffalo, running for their lives on an african plain, the sound reverberating in the silent morning like thunder at midnight, like, well, the noise I make when I run, apparently.

There is another reason I could never be a spy, and it is not really my fault.  It is totally physiological.  Something happens to me when I have a secret to keep, especially if it is a good one.  My dad is the same.  When he has done something naughty or mischievous, you can tell it.  It's all in the eye.  And I am the same.  The secret bubbles around my body, peeping out wherever it can, desperately trying to tell someone it's there.  

And once someone knows there is a secret being kept, well, it's only a short while before the secret is being shared, isn't it?

So, for all you shops out there who are coming to see us at the Stitches trade show in later this month, CHECK THIS OUT:  We ain't just buttons any more.

*gasp*

What?  Now, don't worry, we still have the buttons - and many a luscious one too.  It's still who we are and what we do.  That could never, and will never change.    

But we kept seeing all this lovely stuff that's hard to find on our little island, but I know many of you crafty types would like to buy it so:  

for the jewellery maker:

for the sewer:

to the patchworker & felt lover:

for the general crafter:

*eek!*

so to anyone who hasn't planned yet to come to Stitches (and who is eligible) I suggest you get on the phone and get us to send you a leaflet which lets you get in, nice and easy, like.

I would love to entertain you on our stand, which is J42 methinks, or nearabouts.  I am liable to be so excited I may do a little dance.  But don't hold me to it.

Oh dear, I guess that's one step further away from MI5 then.

See you then x

sneak peeks...

Here at Button Company we have been beavering away trying to get some new fabby colour mixes out to you... you're going to have to wait a while, and we are still thinking of names for these mixes, and I shouldn't really show you these (one of them was only born yesterday).  So if you don't tell anyone, I won't.

The one above is probably one of our most vibrant mixes to date... rachael and I were discussing yesterday that it makes us think of 80's pop videos - something by wham! perhaps.

And then there is this one below.  

and you may have seen this new one, pop up in the shop a short while ago.  I like the fact that the pink is more fuchsia, more popping.  It's amazing how different pinks can be - when you put this next to the hot pinks, the colours are amazingly different.

there are others, but the colours haven't been photographed yet.