This is...my collection!

So in my last post I mentioned there may be a little more to come on buttons...so brace yourself! This week's 'This is...' theme is 'My Collection', so this is where I display my (possibly unhealthy) obsessions. And of course, was it ever going to be anything other than buttons?

I'm sure my meagre collection is nothing compared to many more seasoned crafters, but I love it all the same, and it seems to be growing very rapidly. And I must say, it is not really a new obsession. As a child, I loved nothing better than sitting up at the table with my Grandma's button tin and sorting them by size, then by colour, then by pattern. Because of these happy memories, I love everything about buttons. I love the way it feels to scoop your hand through a big pile of them, the chinking sound they make against each other, and the different tactile intricicies of the patterns on individual buttons...ok, so enough about buttons already. I love 'em. You get it. Moving on now...


These are only a very small portion of my very old classic novels/poems collection (it was too dark downstairs to photograph them there, and they were too heavy and cumbersome to cart all of them upstairs into the light). When I was at Uni I would scour the Op Shops in Melbourne (Caulfield South always had the best ones, in my opinion) for old classics (I was studying literature as part of a BA at the time, so very into poetry and wearing black!!!). Again, my love for these books goes deeper than just thinking they are kinda cool. I love the musty smell of old books, the heavy feel of thick yellowed paper (and some of these books have gold edging on each page!!!!) the warm soft feel of the binding. And that's not even starting on the jewels found inside these books - which is one thing in particular I love about books in general. It doesn't matter how old and tattered a book is, the story itself is as gleaming and new as the day it was written. I love that!!!!! And does my love of collecting books end there?....oh no folks, it doesn't....


So I guess everyone kinda knows about my obsession with Enid Blyton books by now. Again this is just a small selection of my actual collection. At various times in my life I wanted to be: a fairy, a child who found fairies, the naughtiest girl in the school, and George (from famous five). Of course, I also wanted to own a magic wishing chair and find a magic faraway tree....actually I still want that....

So there you go. This is not actually the sum total of my collections....I could have added vintage crockery, science fiction books (in fact, I could have just gone with a general book collection, as our bookshelves are heaving with the entire works of many authors from Tom Robbins to Isaac Asimov - Matt is also a bit of a book collector). But I think this selection probably says the most about me. And as for the beginnings of new collections/obsessions...well let's just say I'm developing an unhealthy interest in aprons, brooches and soft toys....and leave it at that.

Oh, and while we're on the topic of aprons (hello segue!!) I have put an apron into the Tie One On challenge (run by Amy from Angry Chicken), and the Flickr Gallery is now up. I feel like a bit of a newbie having my apron posted next to so many fine sewers (such as Meg from Montessori By Hand - her apron is so gorgeous I just had to go and order the pattern!). But I have decided that this year is the year of the LEAP for me. Which means just jumping in the deep end and having a go. So that's what I've done. Anyway, here is the apron I submitted (the theme was 'Polka Dots').





I strongly suggest checking out the Tie One On gallery to see everyone else's submissions. There are some real works of art there. But be careful....like me, you may find yourself tempted to start a new collection....