reasons to be cheerful (and a little giddy)...

reason one:

we went on an easter holiday trip across the border, we came back with cadbury's easter eggs.

Used Dog and Little Olive came back from their little hols smelling like indoor air fresheners

reason two:

after wishing for an age and a day to start making homemade frocks, over the past few weeks i spent my 'sabbatical of sorts' doing just so. armed with a roll of wallpaper i set about making a pattern for what was inside of my head. i am most thrilled with the results of my sunshine frocks.

of course some may say they are glorified potato sacks with a tie here and there... and indeed they are not far off. but with rose coloured specs and a pair of clogs, they are perfectly perfect dottie angel frocks to me

reason three:

hip hip hooray! my dottie angel book is going to second print. this is simply thrilling news and one that has me positively beaming with crafty pride. many many thank yous to those of you who bought the book, were so kind in your response upon reading it and in doing so encouraged others to buy a copy too. there are a few left of the first edition with the little glassine envelope of goodies and you can find the nitty gritty here 

reason four:

in a couple of weeks our little routine at mossy shed will fly out the window with the arrival of a new member of our clan. i am giddy and nervous all at the same time. i cannot believe it has been three years since we have invited a critter or two into our home. three whole years in which i have seen the numbers dwindle in our shed, 'beings and critters' have left and it is high time we upped the numbers again. madness and insanity is bound to follow but what is life without a little of both

reason five:

i have made it through four months since seeing Our #1 and Our #2, and realize i only have two more to go. i have made it over the half way line and am on the homeward stretch. 

we will see each other in old blighty this summer. i am not thinking about the fact it is eight months till they actually come home to mossy shed and that by the time they come home, it will have been a whole year since they have been home. no sirree, that would not be the thing to do.

reason six:

tomorrow my 'dottie angel' camp starts. 

i have spent the last few days making a huge iceberg of crafty goodness in my old studio. 

in the morning i will squeeze my iceberg into the back of the van and head to Seattle where upon 13 wonderful dearies will be taking trains, plane and automobiles from across the state and the pond to meet me. for the next few days we will embark on a frenzy of crafting till our hearts content, making handmade goodness and new friendships

reason seven:

a secretive secret which i will share next week. one that has been behind the scenes for a while but now, can move to center stage

Tif 

a little ray of sunshine...

Mr Sun appears to be busy across the pond.

however last week he did pop by briefly

 but alas, with little warmth.

such was our overjoyment at his little appearance

(albeit a brass monkeys appearance)

me and my chickie peas launched ourselves into 

'spring mode'

i got busy with the kitschy fake flowers

whilst they got busy with pecking

and a 'little bit of laying'

later that day, Polly kindly came by to thank me

for their new spiffy springified coop.

i thought to myself,

how thoughtful and kind.

the next day Mr Sun was shining down elsewhere.

Bingo B who loves a bit of 'sunbathing' meowed

"hey, don't go, come back Mr Sun... i'm over here"

i pointed out to Bingo B,

(in the nicest possible way as she is rather old and batty

and i did not wish to upset)

her attempts were most admirable.

however, 

next time she might have better luck

if she waves in the right direction

Tif

venturing out of the shed...

yesterday i ventured forth on a mission,

a mission long overdue and put off for the longest time.

and what may that mission be i hear you ask.

well the mission of buying a pair of jeans...

~ pause ~

yes, worthy of a pause as folks across the land,

gasp, inhale and then exhale with a nod of understanding.

i have two criteria when it comes to jeans,

they are always worn with a frock or smock 'a top'

and they must be able to 'do up'.

the former is not a problemo due to a closet full of frocks

but the later over the past few years is.

i only had 3 pairs in my closet,

2 stopped being my fine friends at 41 and 3/4's year of age

and the last pair, 

the used to be 'loosey goosy, needing a belt pair'

well since turning 43 we have not been on the best terms.

as most do in my circumstances,
 i have looked around for others to blame,

namely Mrs W. Machine and Miss T. Dryer

but when i have looked around, in doing so

i can no longer deny the growing derriere

that has latched itself behind.

so on Monday i bravely went out,

now please note, i do not live in the epicenter of denim fashion.

i am quite sure if i caught the bus 

and headed to the heart of the big city.

it may be a little different.

however i did not wish to catch a bus

so i stayed closer to home.

home where you have the choice of teen jeans

with interesting faded areas and quite a bit of bling

and on close inspection, a lot of lycra.

now in my experience jeans with lycra

do not do. 

or i could cross over the walk way into the 'mom jeans' department

where i become really frightened and out of my depth.

after wandering around not knowing where to look,

i stumbled into the lads department.

i started to note, firstly,

lads 'washes' of jeans are far far preferable

and secondly,

they do not have to deal with bling or lycra.

i chanced upon a pair with a nice 'ordinary' wash

and dared to try.

new 'lads' jeans in ordinary wash, but look dodgy in this photo, i am blaming Ivor 

on driving home to my shed, 

my newly 'dared to try' jeans next to me on the seat

i wondered if 43 is not only the age where your derriere starts to spread

but also if its the age you start to go into changing rooms

and decide if the item 'does up' without causing discomfort

then it 'will do' and promptly buy it

without any care how it actually looks.

i told myself, (to calm my fretting ways).
i have not crossed this line, no sirree!

instead i will believe

 my 'lad' jeans are perfectly edgy bohemian

when worn 'rolled' with a frock and clogs.

to encourage my 'lad' jeans to give off this appearance

i added a decal to my well worn silver clogs.
(when i decal something, i always feel better)

and this morning as i tippity tap this tale,
clothed in 'lad' jeans, frock & decal~ed clogs
i have also added to my attire
my rose coloured specs
(they come with a life long guarantee and never fail me)

Tif

discoveries of the utmost kind...

i love a day when a discovery is made,

a discovery of minute proportions in comparison

to many in the world,

but one which changes something within your own.

i would not say my discovery is worthy of calling our local paper,

nor climbing upon our roof to shout for all to hear.

however i do marvel at its discovery

for once again i am left, 

upon discovery of my discovered thing,

marveling how something you have had all along,

can upon one moment of 'ah ha'

become of use.

" we are a little sad, our lives in the kitchen no longer required, due to worn out spots & blobs of cooking "

last week,

 upon wrestling my growing braids into place

upon my bonce.

i noted as always the front looked done,

and the back did not.

i noted this is because in fact, i had done the front

and as always, neglected the back.

after 2 nights sleep, 

the neglect was even more in evidence.

to tame the matted back and highlight the smooth front

i rustled around in my scarf collection.

but just as i had thought before my rustling began,

all scarves in my possession just would not suit.

and so as one does,

i thought of ties, and when one thinks of ties

one thinks of apron strings

and without further ado,

this very thought led to some careful snippity snipping.

after keeping waistband and ties intact

i had myself a natty bit of vintage string 

to adorn and control the growing nest upon my head.

such was my delight, upon seeing it from Ivor's point of view

several more half aprons 'volunteered up' for the chop.

 " yippee! yippee! a new life, how thrilling to spend our days wrapped around Tif's birds nest hair "

they did not fret nor fear 

their bodies would be left discarded and unloved.

for i told them of my crafty plans... 

" oh how loved we feel again, our strings in Tif's hair & our body bits as a perfectly peachy cushion "

Tif

a 'false sense of spring'...

two months into the new shiny year and i always come unstuck. it happens every year, i embrace the new year with all the wonder of starting a fresh, then by the time february bids farewell my 'freshness' is going stale and i realize despite the odd days of sun, spring is still a long way off. then just like every year, i rustle around my drawer marked 'good for rustling in during blearghy months' and pull out my thrift store kitschy plastic flowers. more often than not they are of the pink variety, happy bright pink and brilliantly peachy pink varieties are in there too.

i then proceed to go around our shed, plonking mixed bunches in likely looking containers to add a bit of cheer. yes springifying the shed is my only way to get through those pesky weeks before Mr Spring truly comes a~calling.

 yesterday my rustling ways unearthed a couple of kitschy strings of flowers which i recall finding at a craft shop a good year or so ago. i have always been rather fond of these strings and their ability to look most pretty. so i hung one up and then proceeded to take a few scraps of my precious Liberty pile of fabrics (kindly donated to me by the peachy Rachelle) and with a needle and thread, added a little bit of dottie to it. not a lot, just a little, but i am thinking one could really add a lot and have quite the time with 'dottie angeling' such a string of flowers.

i noted, little lucky bunny looked in need of a bit of cheer too

and once again, i am left marveling at how adding a few happy scraps of fabric to a little string of flowers does a wondrous job at adding to my 'false sense of spring' within the shed and my head. 

such is my marvelling ways, tomorrow i'm going to pottle around our shed, taking snaps of all my 'false sense of spring' signs i have rustled up with the contents of my drawer and show them right here on my shiny place. yes, that is what i will do, for right there and then, i have made tomorrow, now look most thrilling...

 goodness, who would believe a few stems of fake flowers plonked around a shed, had such power to take one from 'bleargh' to 'less bleargh, more happy'. 'tis a small mircale and those are the besty best kind of all...

Tif 

'three things & one note' monday...

thing one: shop talk

oh happy day! tomorrow is shop update day! alas and alack, due to beavering interrupted by the scoundrel Mr Lurgy, my quality time with Miss Ethel was somewhat curtailed by his shadowy presence and thus not every bit of handcrafted goodness was completed.

does not matter in the least, for it means the other bits and bobs waiting patiently in my studio to be finished will lead to another shop update in a couple of weeks

fortunately for me, Mr Lurgy stayed away from my adopted auntie and her trusty sewing machine Mr Bill, so apron wraps are bountiful, hurrah hooray

my new 'hodge podge' range of sacks has me most happy with their spiffy ruffley roundie fronts

appliqued cushion covers and a lappity lap blanket will also be looking for their forever homes

thing two: giveaway talk

i am positively overwhelmed by your wonderful imagination cap wearing over the past few days! i have so enjoyed reading each and every comment, and so has my mother! only this morning she told me on the phone just how much she was enjoying what folks had come up with. we both marveled at the cleverness of the ideas and how creative you all are. thank you so kindly for rustling around your kitchen drawers to find your little imagination caps. if you have yet to find yours, 

(having had my mother sort through my 'kitchen drawer of crappity crap' this past visit, i too would have had trouble locating mine. now however it is tippity top sorted condition and pride of place is my imagination cap, right hand corner near the back)

do not fret, if you still need a little time to enter, then a little time you have. i will announce the peachy 3 winners on wednesday

thing three: correspondence

i think today is as good a day as any to say thank you to all those that have mailed me of late, i must tell you, you have brightened my inbox with your cheery words, interesting tales and kindness. i love hearing from you and i will respond, just may take me a little longer... and yes, 'a little longer' is rather stretching it i know :)

oakie dokes, just a final note, not quite a thing, so a note is more fitting i feel, 

one note: time of shop update

i'm popping things in my store window at 1pm pacific time (give or take a few moments) tuesday 14th feb. now if my little cogs have calculated this correctly, that means 9pm UK, 10pm Europe and 7am Australian time. do not rely on my little cogs though if this is something of importance to you, might be worth double checking with someone in the know. i am sure there is someone in the know about these things somewhere, i wonder where though

she notes its monday, its raining, but its not getting her down ~ Tif

bleargh...

for the past few days Mr Lurgy and his pesky ways 

have been lurking in the shadows of the shed

he is a persistent little blighter with his achy tendencies

and one i do not care to entertain

however the voice of wisdom in my head this morning tells me 

"'tis madness Tif to continue, madness i say"

and so i must listen to the wise voice, taking a few days leave, to return on saturday, 

(Mr Lurgy or no Mr Lurgy)

for saturday is a tres thrilling day, a particular milestone i wish to celebrate

and celebrate we will...

 with a fabby 'MOO & dottie' giveaway!

she is wishing you a spiffy remainder of the week and will see you on saturday ~ Tif

buttons, twitterings, books and a bit of instants...

since the shed's contents of bods has halved and all is quiet, i have used the opportunity to sort things in my head and my shed. this has been most brilliant, for many things within my head have been nagging me for months, little things i wished to do but never seemed to find the time nor the energy for, at the end of last year. so i did the best thing i could at the time, i made a note of those things and waited patiently for a new spiffy year. for me a new spiffy year is all i need to find a bit of motivation. whilst i've been pulling out cupboards and drawers, manically shredding and donating, i have also been twiddling in cyber land.

buttons

hurrah hooray is all i can say, for my new blog buttons.

my dandy friend Marjan did a peachy job indeed. i said "oh can you do this and can you do that" and voila! she could because she can. thank you Marjan you are the bees knees

books

yes indeedy after floundering around the place and being quite honestly pants at the whole facebook thing, i have finally pulled up my facebook knee socks and with it, a dottie angel page is up and running.

facebook page

this will be where i tell nitty gritty businessy things like 'today i put this in the store window' or 'today i really like this peachy find or folk'. i have no doubt it will be sporadic in its postings because i have not found a pesky passing gnome to help me just yet. but none the less, if you so like to know such things then please do hop over and find me

instants

it has only taken me nearly 4 months to figure out i could have an instant photo album. 

it took Our #1 to come home for the holidays for me to see the light. i live in a PC world through and through but in the summer i rebelled and trust me, it truly was a rebellion. i took my piggy bank along with my rebellion and bought an ipad. upon arriving home with rebellion product in hand i pondered what to do next. the pondering took 4 months and my daughter to assist. now i have music playing all day long in the shed and best of all, something which has me inspired like i have not been in a long time, the ability to take instant snapshots. 

and last but not least

twitterings

yes indeedy, whilst pulling up my facebook knee socks, i also pulled up my twittering ones too.

twitter page

 i find wearing them both at the same time, the layered look, works rather well for me. i have high hopes they will not fall down from the weight of two pairs of socks at the same time. the elastic seems in pretty good nick and so things are looking bright in that department.

i'm not a brillantly witty nor super chatty twitterer. some days i am better than others, some days the inner voice gets to talk and others i just link to a snapshot or blog post.

its been good to have a break, so many things i feel like i have started to sort which means over the coming weeks i will have that feeling of being less overwhelmed and more in control and for me, that is the best way to start a fresh shiny new year

Tif :)

happy shiny year

wishing

you

a

brilliantly

for

2012

Tif

(back to rambling on the 16th Jan)

one little bird studio and giving thanks...

i do like Leanda, i like her a whole lot.

and as i thought perhaps we are getting to that time of year when you may be making wish lists, or thinking of another to gift to, it would be a perfectly perfect time to introduce you to Leanda.

one little bird studio has the most peachiest of prints and one little bird studio belongs to Leanda. 

i marvel at her wonderful work, how time after time she comes up with images i would happily hang on my shed's wall in a heart beat. yes i marvel at how gifted Leanda is with her designs.

recently she has produced some prints which made my granny retro heart skip a beat. especially this spiffy number. so much so, it is now hanging on our shed's wall. the most beautiful midnight blue background truly makes me happy alongside of the wonderful pops of bright colours.

whilst i was waiting for my 'home sweet home' print to wing its way to my door step (which may i add, it did so very safely in the sturdiest of cardboard mailers i have ever come across, my kitchen scissors were no match for its sturdiness, thats how sturdy it was!)... well as i was waiting, Leanda only went and popped her 2012 calendars into her shop.

gosh, see, take a look at this one in all its mustardy glory

now does that not make your granny retro heart skip a beat all over again. 

surely if ever there was a person who does not do calendars, and they happened upon Leanda's 2012 calendar print, i am without doubt they would be converted into being a calendar loving folk. how do i know such a thing? what proof do i have? well i don't really, but none the less, i'm a believer and i stick by what i say, and that is, the 2012 calendar from one little bird studio, is quite the most peachiest calendar i have laid eyes on.

i do think showing you the wonderful printed world of Leanda, is a lovely note to end on, for tomorrow it is Thanksgiving, my favourite American holiday, and so i will be taking a week off until December 1st when i will return for the joyful gleeful season!

hip hip hooray!

so for now, i will leave you with saying "thank you" for the kindness you have shown me and my constant canine companions this week, for all the offers of fingers, paws and fins crossing over the coming few weeks. and indeed for all your wonderfulness over the past year, from the incredible embracing of my book, to your continuing wish to visit me here on my shiny place and being most generous with your comments on my crafting, time and time again. 

you have truly filled my heart with such a brilliant feeling of warmth, 

and are such an important part of my world.

so once again, i can only say it the best way i know how.

"thank you kindly dearest readers, you are the bees knees to me"

she is wishing you a wonderful happy thanksgiving in the USA and is wishing everyone else an happy week too ~ Tif

a bit of tartan, some good fortune, perhaps a smidgen of snow and a little thanks...

for the past two days i have been wearing my elf cap upon my bonce. alas and alack, i have not been wearing my Paddington Bear pyjamas despite the temptation of their flannelly goodness and the crappity crap dreary weather. they are not quite like the ones he wears, for if i recall (and we all know how iffy that can be) he wore pinstriped ones, or perhaps that was my own Paddington Bear, now i am thinking he wore ones with flowers on. well mine are tartan and i like to think if Paddington had gone across the border into Scotland he would have liked a pair of tartan pj's to remind him of his travels.

mine are made from Stewart tartan no less.

"how could you possibly know such a thing Tif?" i hear you inquire.

well dearest reader, first off may i congratulate you on your inquiry, i think it is always important to be inquisitive of such matters.

well as luck would have it, many many moons ago in my late teens i lived in Edinburgh for several years and worked a day job at a Barrow which stocked buttons and ribbons, and many of those ribbons were tartan. and being what my job was, i was often called upon by inquiring tourists to name a tartan or two. oh yes those  long ago days of cutting ribbon and counting out buttons all come flooding back when i stumble across a tartan or two.

'weather bug' has informed me that it is going to snow, he appears to be a little iffy as to the details and when i try to pin point him down he becomes quite vague. 'weather bug' is an app, he lives on my cell phone, i have reached the 21st century, i have a phone that does things other than dial a number. i am struggling with the other things it does but luckily for me, i live with teenage lads :)

so i have a handy dandy 'weather bug' who appears to change his mind hourly and now i have a 'fortune cookie' app too! never has life been so thrilling to get out of bed at 6:30am for the school run than when one has a fortune cookie waiting for you. i just tap its little shell and out pops my fortune for the day. two days ago when my phone rang causing me to panic as it rarely rings and being one of those smart phones you press things without wishing to, just trying to get it out of your bag. well all i was trying to do was answer my phone, a perfectly innocent thing to do, but instead i pressed the 'button tile' to my fortune cookie, which is okay normally because it would just show me my fortune again for that day, reminding me less i had forgotten. however in my need to get back to where i wished to be, i double tapped it. gosh, do you know, my fortune cookie got cross with me. it actually told me off. it said something along the lines of 

"do not be greedy, one fortune a day, come back tomorrow".

after which i was quite upset for there appeared no where on the screen i could tap out a message to my fortune cookie explaining the tres terrible mistake, telling him, i was not intentionally being greedy and to please forgive me so i could go about my day without feeling wretched. but no, nowhere and so i was left with that feeling of having done something wrong. the power of what appears to be a harmless little app...

but today is not the day for talking tartan pj's and fortune cookies, although can i just say, if 'weather bug' gets it right and snow comes a tumbling from the sky, i'll be donning my flannel pj's faster than my lads can shout "snow day, no school".

today is the perfect day for me to say "thank you kindly". it was so spiffy to see so many of you at my 'joyful' shop update, you kindly spent your hard earned pennies which resulted in not only me wearing an elf cap but also my peachy friend Laurie. she came by on tuesday to help me and i must say her 'elf cap' was far prettier than mine. i am thinking i need to 'dottie angel' mine up a bit.

also, before my shop update, so many many kind folks have been coming to my little shop and buying the book. you have taken time to write me fabby feedback upon your purchases and also to send me emails with how much you love the book. this is wonderful to know...

so with a week to go till thanksgiving, i truly am most thankful for your kindness, your custom and your lovely comments you continue to share with me. i've said it before and i will say it again, you are the bees knees for sure.

she notes, it is one month tomorrow and her girls are home for the holidays ~ Tif