So Waterperry's christmas market is over for another year - we had a great time selling our delights and showing off our knitting and crochet skills with a few demonstrations but most importantly we made it through the cold in one piece! (with the help of some thermals and quite a few hot water bottles!)

Whilst we're updating the online shop and adding some new bits in time for all your christmas shopping we thought we would share with you some of the photo's we took at the start of the weekend!

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Yes we finally have to admit that Christmas is well and truly around the corner! The gift rush has started and as any crafter knows this is the busiest time of the year! (But we wouldn't have it any other way!)

Our christmas highlight comes this weekend as we'll be having a stall at the very festive Waterperry Gardens Christmas Market. Running on both saturday and sunday (26th / 27th Nov 2011) in the grounds of Waterperry Gardens in Wheatly, Oxfordshire the christmas market will click start your festivities! The market will be filled with talented local artists and craftspeople providing beautiful and unique gift ideas with an emphasis on british handmade products - there will also be decorations and wreathmaking demonstrations plus a well stocked tea shop selling lots of seasonal goodies! Not only do they have the delights of the festive market but there are inpsirational presents-a-plenty in the Gift Barn and Gallery.

There's loads to see and do at Waterperry it has everything from a saxon church to acres of gardens! An experience not to be missed!

Take a look at Waterperry's website for more info: www.waterperygardens.co.uk  

Come and say hello! We've been beavering away so we have lots of delights to show you we'll also be unveiling some new products too!

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p.s Father Christmas has even been known to pop by in previous years!

pp.s Oh forgot to say ... it's outside! Wrap up warm!

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Hello,

Zoe here, thought I would write the next addition for the Random Button blog, bit of a challenge as Laura's last blog recommendation involved cake (as every blog should!).

The v&a museum currently have an exhibition called 'the power of making'  this is a must see. Running from 6 September 2011 – 2 January 2012 - it has an eclectic collection of pieces from a giant gorilla made of coat hangers to an evening gown made of dress makers pins.  Each piece is beautifully made, my personal favourite included the crochet bear (obviously!), the flooring and the ceramic eye patches. There is also an interesting video which shows the different process involved in making each of the pieces.

Image:

Crochetdermy bear

Crochetdermy bear, © Shauna Richardson

I visited the exhibition after work one friday evening. (Opening times)  The V&A host late nights on friday once a month. There is a cocktail bar and music in the main entrance so its perfect to go and relax, take in the exhibitions and have a cocktail at the same time!

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Blog time again!

So this week we've been putting our social networking skills to the test (It feels like we've been spending more time sat infront of a computer than creating!)- but we're now part of the twitter phenonemon! You can follow us at www.twitter.com/Random_Button to keep up to date   our day to day ramblings! We've also created a new facebook page so follow the facebook   link on the left hand side and like our page - don't forget to spread the word!

We haven't just been computer geeks this week - we've spread the Random Button empire a little further - Cakewalk is a lovely vintage shop in Ilkley, West Yorks and from this week they will be stocking some of our jewellery items so we've been busy creating a special autumn collection for them! Check out their website to see what other pieces they sell www.cakewalkvintage.co.uk

Whilst we've got your attention we thought we would share a little shopping gem with you ... If you love vintage, antiques, furniture, cake etc then you'll be very excited about visiting this treasure trove ...

Station Mill Antiques Centre in Chipping   Norton is well worth a visit - sadly last year it was devistated by a   huge fire but they are now up and running again with even more   wonderful   delights than before!!   You'll be amazed at what you can find - most antiques centres these days are dark and dusty places but Station Mill is light, bright and inviting - especially their cafe that sell homemade lunches and delicious cakes!!! Whether glass, ceramics, furniture, textiles, gifts, jewellery, paintings are your thing its a great place to spend some (or if your like us too many!) pennies on some one off or vintage pieces!!

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So I thought I would finally get round to writing our first blog! Yep it’s taken some blood, sweat and tears but eventually after a long time in the making the Random Button blog is now up and running, so if you’re reading this then it’s a good excuse to relax for a few minutes go put the kettle on and grab a few biscuits – we know you want to! Here we can keep you up to date with all the creative happenings at Button Towers, things we like, things we dislike and if you’re lucky we might even share some of our trade secrets with you!  Let me take this opportunity to introduce the creative geniuses (cough cough!) that are the brains behind Random Button – Well there is myself Laura … a compulsive knitter and big fan of cake who takes care of the day to day running of this small empire and Zoe … who, when she’s not earning a crust in London uses her spare time to make some of our delicious creations! (She also likes a biscuit or 2!) We also utilise the expert skills of Christina when it comes to the technical/photographical stuff … she’s good at paper maché but she still has her ‘L’ plates when it comes to knitting. Over the next few weeks we’ll be working on uploading more products to the online shop, adding some more stockists to the list (fingers crossed!!) and creating some new and exciting pieces! You might as well bookmark us!!

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