Beaker Button Blog

I'm using my blog for self publication this time. I do lots of talks and demonstrations, not to mention workshop, making Dorset buttons. One of the things that normally comes up is how fast can you make them, and I tell people that a good button maker could turn out a gross a day (that's 144 buttons!) I've always wanted to see how many I can make in a working day so I'm holding a Dorset button challenge on 20th February in the shop. I will be making as many as I can in 12 hours. I'm going to aim for 144 but that is one button every 5 minutes and even I'm not quite that fast, If you want to come and support me then please do. I won't be teaching but you can come and eat cake and drink coffee and squish the woolly goodness on offer. We're going to be raising money for Parkinsons UK, a charity close to my heart as I have a friend with Parkinsons. If you can't make the shop but you want to support the cause I've set up a just giving page here  so...

I don't normally use my blog to winge about the bad things that happen to me. I prefer to stay positive and see the bright side, and I like to project that bright side to my few readers. After all, you've probably got problems of your own to cope with, without having to listen to mine. However, something horrible happened at the Christmas Farmers market last year which made me really think. I thought I would share these thoughts with you all in the spirit of self discovery. I hope you don't mind. The Sunday before Christmas was a bad day for many reasons. We all have them I know, where if it can go wrong it will. Thankfully I don't get them very often but this particular Sunday more than made up for the lack. The crowning bad point was discovering that someone had stolen my needle felted rabbit from our stall at the farmers market. You might remember him if you follow our Facebook page. We made them as a group with Erica from Arts, Rush and Cane. He did a sterling...