Hello, and welcome to my very first blog post! This new blog will provide insights into the world behind my business. But first, I guess I’d better start off by introducing myself and my business…
I’m Natalie, and I’m the designer and maker behind Buttonbela, a small craft business based in the UK. I live in Birmingham, I’m a teacher by day, and I could live off Walkers Sensations… oh, and wine. Pinot Grigio Blush is my current fave. I’m organised, yet super messy (anyone else?!) – though I’ve heard that’s a trait of a creative mind, so I’ll continue to use that as my excuse ;) I’ve got an adorable Westie called Charlie, I love cheesy music, and I’m very girly – I love pretty flowers, romantic novels, chick flicks, you name it. Although I also can’t get enough of those weird Channel 4 documentaries – you know the ones that make you feel instantly more normal? Yeah, they’re the ones. They’re totally addictive
Anyway, I guess you’re probably more interested in my business and how it started, so here goes. My business officially began in 2015 under the name ‘Bright as a Button Gifts’. I’d spontaneously purchased a hot glue gun, and my Grandma had a million buttons (all colour co-ordinated of course), and I thought I might be able to make a fun hobby from it. The first thing I made was a button family for my mom, one with pink and blue heads. To be honest, even with all the changes I’ve made in my business since then, that’s still a firm favourite with both myself and my customers, and hasn’t really changed that much since that very first time. Why fix something that isn’t broken, right? Those first few months were largely spent making things for family and friends, and using my new-found love for hot glue to stick buttons on EVERYTHING.
Enter 2016, and I decided I needed a rebrand. I wanted a more original name, so after weeks of brainstorming, Buttonbela was born. Did you know that ‘bela’ means beautiful in Portuguese? Yeah, me neither initially. I made a few new products and came up with a logo (the writing you see in my logo is actually a totally unique font that was handwritten by yours truly), and thought that I was good to go. Since then, Buttonbela has continued to grow and change more gradually.
Firstly, I developed a total obsession with Instagram, which spurred me on to continue to make new and pretty things. There’s such a welcoming creative community over there, which totally inspired me – join me on Instagram here.
Other than that, I guess most of the other changes I've made have been through simply experimenting. I keep reinvesting everything into my business to buy new supplies and equipment, so I just play around with what I have until I stumble upon something I'm happy with. I love creating new things, and can lose hours just sketching and trying things out.
More recently, I started making greetings cards in addition to my button frames, which are now some of my all-time favourite products. I also began learning calligraphy. If you’ve ever had an interest in calligraphy, you HAVE to check out Becca over at The Happy Ever Crafter – her lettering is beautiful, her resources are simple to follow, and she is a genuinely lovely person. Another fab resource is Karin at iPad Lettering - she's great if you want to learn lettering on your iPad like I did, and she has so many handy hints and tips.
Anyway… I could talk for hours, but I think that’s probably enough for now. If you’ve enjoyed reading, you can become a member which will automatically subscribe you to the blog. And if you like what you’ve seen here, don’t forget to check out my shop to see my latest creations.
Until next time!
Natalie