Creative Genius.

I've been flat out this past week getting stuff up and running for the new business. Busily putting together gift boxes, earrings and looking for some inspiration for my bangles. Website is fully up and running and i've had my first sale!



Noodlebox Gift Boxes - $4
Pillow Gift Boxes - Large $3 Small $2

My earrings are now available on my website! $5 per pair! www.2pmatthebuttonfactory.com


Really excited about getting my bangle stock so i can make some decoupage bangles!
Off to make more noodle boxes!

♥ Amanda

Been a while..

I know, I know, i said i wouldn't let this blog lapse as i have many others in the past.. BUT i've come back so it hasn't really lapsed, right? I'm so excited tonight. My mum has been working like an absolute champ today and has pumped out my new website!

www.2pmatthebuttonfactory.com

All it needs now are the paypal links and we'll be up and running! Watch out! lol
I'm full of all sorts of wonderful crafty ideas at the moment. I'm waiting on my first batch of self covered earring supplies to arrive - can't wait to get onto those! And i'm also looking into noodle boxes as gift boxes to sell alongside my button products. I'm thinking of an arty strip of some nice wrapping paper around them. Perfect for christmas time. And personally, i'd be more than happy to pay an extra $2-$3 to avoid having to wrap my gifts! lol

Also need to make up some business cards - pop one of those into each of the noodle boxes. Maybe drum up some repeat business.

Lots of big ideas floating around at the moment!

Many thanks to my financial backer and web designer - Mum!

♥ Amanda

Flu + No tissues + No car = Ugh.

So life has its ups and its downs, right? Well today would definitely be one of the down days! Struggling to remove myself from the couch to do even the smallest task of feeding myself! Its days like these I wonder what others must see in myself? What do I see in myself?
Seriously, maybe I am bi polar? Two days ago I was on the biggest high, strutting around with my head held high. Life was good. Then suddenly, crash! I'm back at the bottom again. This is ridiculous.

Stupid $9,000 car decided this morning that it doesn't want to go anymore! Why pay decent money for a car when you still have the stupid bloody issues with them! I missed an appointment this morning and had to call up and sound like a complete bogan to reschedule cos my car wouldn't start. Its goes Rrr.. Rrrrrr.. Rrrrrrrrrrrr.. Fucking battery. I swear I did nothing to make it angry this time, unlike last time.. So now, even if I wanted to leave, I can't. I'm on house arrest.

I have my first ever hospital admission on Friday to have my wisdom teeth yanked out (thankfully I don't need my car for that!) and I'm considering writing "not this one" on various limbs like House so I have some chance of leaving without having a limb accidentally amputated. Yes - I have great confidence in the hospital staff.

Also, I still have the flu.
Flu + No tissues + No car = Ugh.

Take a pill and perhaps thing will right themselves..

End of season.

So i guess it is the absolute worst time of year for my uggs to be looking so damn cute! I did my shoot this morning and I'm really happy with how the photos turned out - even if i did get there and REALLY couldn't be bothered doing it! We're coming to the end of our season (the warmer months are upon us!) But hopefully I might still sell a few of these for newborns? I've uploaded a photo of my favourite pair - Two Tone Ash & Bone.



I mentioned in a previous post that I was heading to a new market last weekend in Epping. What I didn't mention since was that it was a monumental waste of time! I spent all day in the freezing cold, making my flu even worse in order to sell TWO beanies. The next day we split up and did two more markets but all in all, the profit from three markets was less than we usually take in one.

HOWEVER, instead of giving up, this weekend we are trying two more! Deloraine - we did reasonably there the last time and our usual Esk. Gotta try and fit in as many markets as we can before we pack up until Agfest in May.

On a side note, I got a call this morning from my dentist..... I'm scheduled to have my wisdom teeth out next Friday - ARRRGH! lol

♥ Amanda

Paddle Pops & Ugg Boots.

Interesting combination; paddle pops and ugg boots but it kind of sums up my life of late literally and metaphorically.. Let me elaborate.

In the literal sense - I've been making an absolute crap load of ugg boots lately and I'm planning another shoot for them tomorrow so i can advertise them properly. And I found a box of paddle pops in the freezer that I had completely forgotten about! Rainbow ones even!

Metaphorically - My life is so up in the air at the moment! No job, no matter how many jobs I apply for!! I think I've applied for about 25 over the past few weeks and I've only gotten one interview. I spend my days doing nothing I'm pretty sure I'm going crazy!

Anyway! Hmm tried to geek it up a little and put 'whinging' in end tags but the silly blog spot thought it was a legitimate end tag and didn't show it! So I'll end my whinging and return to something productive; making ugg boots and eating paddle pops!

♥ Amanda

Officially Unemployed.

So it's official, I am unemployed.

It may seem like an incredibly bad decision quitting my job when I'm actually looking to find more money but with the hours that I had been getting I'd had to rely on government benefits to survive anyway. And they way they compensate for your working income I was working my crappy old job for less than $10 an hour. It just wasn't worth it.

A little confusing but I think that made sense. So anyway, It doesn't really give me a whole lot of extra time (5 hours more a week) but at least I don't spend the rest of the week dreading having to go there! My week is now divided between making beanies and uggs flat out and hunting for that ever elusive full time job. I had an interview for a dental assistant position on Tuesday but I didn't hear anything back so I guess I didn't get that one.. But since then I've applied for another two positions. Fingers crossed. I'll keep applying until someone gives me a go.

Got a busy weekend coming up, trying out a new market in Epping - Not sure how its going to go but its worth a try! Then on Sunday if its not raining I'm going to head into Esk on my own and mum's going to head out to Evandale. Splitting up has always done wonders for the pocket in the past so hopefully doing the 3 markets this weekend will provide us both with some much needed extra cash!

Hopefully I can start up the safari fund soon!
♥ Amanda

Due to lack of interest, tomorrow is cancelled.

My life seems incredibly repetitive and ridiculously mundane at the moment. I'm still applying for ridiculous amounts of jobs to no avail. Still getting the unapologetic rejection emails, one after another.. I'm desperate to get out of the job I'm currently in - 5 hours a week just isn't enough to survive.

So I'm spending my time building up my Ugg boot stock - So far I have sizes 10, 12 & 14.. Thinking about attempting 16s although I'm not sure they will work but that will have to wait until I have a decent amount of stock in the other sizes.

I've also been building up more self covered button stock especially in the snap clips I've found a lot of posts that state that hot glue does not work for them and when you snap the clips open the buttons fall off but after some experimentation I've discovered that if you use enough glue they stay on fine.


I REALLY want to get started on my wrap bangles again but I just don't have the money to buy the bangles OR the ribbon at the moment. Especially when there is no guarantee that I'll get my money back. My self covered buttons look great but even they are not covering the price of materials at the moment. I guess they will eventually - maybe once the website is up and running but I'm not holding my breath.

I guess its time I started on the boots again for the day.. At the very least I'll have quite a few to choose from for the market on Sunday. Next week I'm going to have to start on some more beanies - running low on some colours.

♥ Amanda

Creativity Abounds.

I have been so creative lately!

I've started on the kiddy uggs - which are still in progress but I'm pretty sure I have the pattern down finally. Soon to be available in 10, 12, 14 and MAYBE 16cm.

I've also decided that I'm going to start making bangles again - Ribbon wrapped ones which I was making some time back as gifts which I'll add as part of my 2pm at the button factory range. Not technically a button but it fits with the rest of my products.

Also, tonight i got all my self covered buttons sorted to make up some snap clip ones. I tried this a while back but i couldn't get the buttons to stay on - the wire technique wasn't working for me and hot gluing them wasn't secure enough. I've read a few posts online that recommend a product called E6000 which I'm going to attempt to track down tomorrow and try. Along with the snap clips i have bobby pin and hair tie buttons that I'll photograph as soon as i can get back to the market to pick them up (I forgot to bring them home with me Sunday).

I've had a bit of a look online and i've found a couple of tutorials on how to photograph stock and have it look professional - You know, those photos of products you see where it appears to be floating on a white background.. Well I'm going to have a bit of a try at that and see what happens.

Unfortunately I jumped on to my website today for the first time in quite a while (too long considering its under construction) and it appears it has been reported as an attack site - bloody hackers uploading shit onto it because its been idle for so long i assume. Going to have to get the mother onto this pronto! Not going to sell anything from a website which no one can access!

Anyway, once its back up and running, check it out!
www.2pmatthebuttonfactory.com

♥ Amanda

Uggs

Yep, So I've been trying my hardest not to become a blog whore however, I have exciting news! A lady came by the market this morning and wants approx 25 products to display in the Tamar Tourism Center in Exeter =) That's a big order for us and couldn't have come at a better time! I'm still getting no work so money is tight and a few hundred $$ from this sale will be a BIG help.

Included in that order are my newest products. Some gorgeous little Uggs (Pattern available for purchase on ravelry.com by Mon Petit Violon) They seem to be pretty popular so far.. Not entirely sure about the price I have on them but I'll wait and see how well they sell before I change it..


This means I'll be flat out this week making more! To fill the order, stock the stall and quite possibly a few to list on Etsy, madeit, and Oztion. I've also found a pattern for a crochet button and because I'm having so much trouble finding suitable buttons for the uggs without paying a fortune for them so I'll be working on making those too and depending on how well they work out i might sell them individually or in packs also =)

Its going to be a busy busy week!

♥ Amanda

Faceless Triumphs.

I've decided that due to a disturbing lack of craft supply stores in Launceston and my inability to locate ANY 6mm eyes, my amigurumi creations shall be faceless. This and the fact that i really haven't mastered mouths - they tend to look somewhat sinister..

But i think they still look pretty damn cute without faces.. It just makes them a little different!

On a more positive note, i've finally found some wide leg jeans! The search is over and I didn't even have to buy second hand! This is such a triumph.. Thank you Just Jeans, you have forever enriched my life. It has been impossible to find wide leg jeans which have a high enough waist to not display a significant portion of crack every time you bend slightly. The only down side is that they are a fraction too small until i wear them in so for the moment, they are almost cutting me in half! Well, as they say - No pain, No gain... Or something..

♥ Amanda

The Finished Product.

He's done! And a lot sooner than i expected..


How cute is this little guy? I'm really proud of my efforts here despite the fact that he took me almost 8 hours (on and off) to produce.. I may give him a go in a few different colours as hopefully it should take half the time now I know what I'm doing!

A big shout out to Owlishly for the pattern and opportunity to make such a cute little man.

♥ Amanda

Little Dinosaur Boy..

This little man is going surprisingly well.. That is after I made half of it having confused my sc with hdc - really, how does one accomplish this? He has the cutest little arms! I'll throw up some photos when he's finished.. Its looking like its going to be a veeery late night. I must finish this!

Unfortunately Spotlight didn't have the right eyes when I went in today so he will be somewhat eye-less until I can locate some..

♥ Amanda

First template = FAIL.

Yep, so the first template I tried really didn't work.
Let's see how this one goes..

And so it begins..

Well I’ve just spent an incredibly mundane hour scrolling through multiple template sites in the attempt to find the ‘perfect’ template for my new blog. I have since discovered that it does not exist as even if my HTML skills were more sufficient than the occasional , I would still be unable to create the ‘perfect’ template. An incredibly cute template featuring a mammoth almost won this attempt; http://btemplates.com/2010/blogger-template-mammoth/ Along with many other various cute cartoonish templates. The age old debate; stylish or cute. I guess my fetish for the black, white and red combination has won out which should in no way be taken to be a reference to any kind of sporting team.

This hour worth of browsing for templates has followed an entire afternoon of browsing through amigurumi patterns online. One hundred and forty pages of amigurumi patterns.. and WOW there are some incredible ones out there. I've recently discovered Ravelry and the incredible talent that is showcased there! Most noteworthy I believe are the talents of one Mia Zamora Johnson. I've purchased the pattern for her little Luke in dinosaur costume. When it arrives I'll give it a go and see what happens.. HOWEVER I am not known for possessing a great deal of patience so I may never actually finish it.

So! Being that this is my first blog post, i guess i should talk a little about me.. I'm a 23 year old who has very recently left uni but that is a long story in itself. I work two jobs, neither of which take up much of my time (hence my ability to spend all day online in search of amigurumi patterns and the 'perfect' template). The more interesting of the two jobs is a small business with my wonderful mum in which we produce crochet beanies for sale online and in various local markets. Most of the work is done by mum but there are a couple of designs that I produce for it;

I produce these in a variety of colours and I'm quite proud of them. Its a fairly simple design but they've proven to be quite popular. The main issue i have is in locating bulk buttons for the center of the flowers as ideally i want the same button in multiple colours.

Along with these beanies, I also produce self covered button accessories. A range i call '2pm at the button factory' which will be available from a website as soon as I can be bothered properly photographing them. The site has been 'under construction' for quite some time now and will be for the forseeable future lol

Anyway, that's me. Hopefully someone has made it to the end of this blog without falling asleep. Comments more than welcome, as I'm not entirely sure I've gotten this whole blog thing right.. I might go and browse a few for some tips and try again tomorrow =)

Until then.

♥ Amanda