Buttons, buttons, buttons and a trip to the V&A!

Just recently I have been suffering from a severe button fetish brought on by buying some beautiful glass buttons from an MNer, this was followed by a couple of ebay purchases (the tin full of buttons in the middle pic being one of them). Of course, darling daughter has caught the bug too and rather fancied her own tin of buttons, so every week we visit the habby stall at our local market and I treat her (and me) to a few buttons, you can see a very small selection of dd's buttons at the bottom. We've also had a few goodies from the charity shops, the Sally Army shop being one of the best for real vintage buttons and she's even snapped up a few that I really want to pinch but 'she got there first'. I'm particularly fond of her big pink 60s style resin ones that she got from the habby man, so much so that after failing to prise them from her grubby mitts, I had to make a special trip to buy some of my own.'

Today, I made my much anticipated trip to the V&A, so no crafting but plenty of gawping , so much so that I managed to only 'gawp' at the lower levels. I unexpectedly, loved the Ottoman exhibits in the Middle East section, think it was the combination of the blues and greens in the tiling and textiles that did it and in case you're reading mother, blue and green are meant to be seen, not just when you're dining with the Queen! And the furniture and wall hangings in the Europe section just off the tube tunnel made me feel awed, even the ones that weren't to my taste, just because so much toil and sweat must have gone into them.

The fashion section was lovely, as expected and I did actually press my nose up against the glass trying to see the tiny stitchwork of the courturiers and I think I have a new appreciation for Vivienne Westwood, I can see where her ideas come from. In fact so engrossed was I, that time passed me by and I didn't get a chance to see the upper levels, so another trip is on the cards, I feel. I really want to see the Textiles and the Galleries, so while I am still a free woman (which is only until May) I am going back.!