Hello! I hope you’re in the mood to look at a whole lot of buttons this Monday morning because that’s what I have to share. (I know- I need to add some variety to my yarn colors next time to go with the button cards in the pictures, it’s a lot of blue and yellow!) I’ve been meaning to share a shop update here for awhile, but once I do a button photo shoot (with literally hundreds and hundreds of pictures, I took over 600 pictures one day, just to give you an idea) it takes me awhile to process all the pictures and then do the listing in the shop for each individual button set. I typically begin a blog post to share all the new listings with you, but by the time I’ve got all the buttons posted (over a span of weeks or even months, posting some each week) many of the buttons have sold by then, so I don’t publish the blog post. That being said, some of the button sets pictured above have indeed sold, but most of them are still currently available in the shop.

It can be tricky for me to find the time I want to post new items in the shop, especially when we are busy with festivals and markets. When I’m hanging out at home with Bracken throughout the day I can cook, clean, do laundry, and even package up orders, all the while mixing in bits of homeschooling throughout our day, but I’m not able to have very much computer time while we’re together. I prefer it that way because I like my days to be filled with activities that he can either participate in if he would like to (I love when he helps in the kitchen) or ones that he can do his own activities nearby (like playing in the garden while I’m taking pictures of buttons outside.) I aim to wake up earlier (or go to bed later) to catch up on e-mails and to share in this space, and some days that happens and some days it doesn’t. I’m not writing all this to complain, I’m very grateful for my life, I’m simply sharing it to explain why it can be a challenge to keep up with everything on the computer and why I hadn’t listed more in the shop. (But I wonder if there is such a thing as “catching up” on the computer, even with ample time?)

However, I’ve been working to get our shop filled up for all of our far away customers who aren’t able to purchase our buttons in person at fiber festivals. (For those of you who are nearby, we’ll be having a large selection of buttons at the upcoming Black Sheep Gathering in Eugene, in June.) Jeff has been working like crazy lately, he loves making things, and we’ll need plenty of new stuff to fill up our booth for upcoming festivals. Bracken was really missing time with his dad though, and Jeff was really missing time with his boy, so we’ve started one day a week where they have some time just the two of them. They usually choose to spend it in the garden (now that the weather is getting nicer), which they both enjoy so much. I’ve been spending that time posting buttons in the shop and it’s felt great to be getting some focused work time on the business, since it’s challenging to list new items in the shop with a lot of interruptions. (Jeff works from home every day with his family here, so he knows very well about working amidst countless interruptions.) One of the great things about their time together each week, is that Bracken knows that if his dad is busy working and he wants to do something together, there will be time to do it and his dad won’t just be busy and working forever. (It can feel that way for a kid, huh?)

This shop update is all buttons, but I plan to have shawl pins in the next shop update because we’re currently sold out of all our shawl pins in the shop. For those of you who have been wanting them, they will be back! As I’m tying buttons on cards, I fall in love with so many of the button sets. I love them all for different reasons and in different ways. Some buttons are made in woods with rich, deep hues, and others in light and subtle colors. Jeff has been making so much variety- with a wide range of woods and with a wide range of designs. If you’re looking for buttons for a project and don’t see what you need listed (or if you like something above and it is sold), Jeff also makes custom buttons. The best way to order custom buttons is to send me a conversation through the Etsy shop because I can keep all our custom orders organized there, in one place. Oh, and remember I promised some button sets to go along with the Comfort Cowl pattern? I did list them, but they’re almost all gone now. I’ll try to be quicker in letting you know next time!

I have a lot of buttons to start tying on cards for our next fiber festival and I need to get started now so I don’t have a billion buttons to tie on cards at the last minute. (Live and learn, right?) With the beautiful weather, I’m thinking tying buttons on cards outside is sounding pretty nice right now! I’m planning to set up an outdoor button-tying station in our yard and I know Bracken will be very pleased with that idea because he only wants to be outside right now. I don’t blame him, it felt like such a long, rainy winter here and this turn in the weather is so appreciated!