Welcome To Keith Blogs: things that make me smile

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ten reasons to love Used Dog...

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reason one:

its been over 11 years since we found you, abandoned twice with little hope, at a last chance shelter. you looked at me with those 'puppy pound' eyes, (just as you have every day since) and melted my heart.

reason two:

you taught 4 young children how to love a doggie, you gave them memories to take into their adult lives of 'our first family dog', something so simple and yet such a gift

reason three:

you wear a floral neckerchief

reason four:

you keep secrets better than anyone else i know

reason five:

you taught a pesky dog how to be a little less pesky and in return, said pesky doggie taught you in your twilight years to be a 'little pesky'

reason six:

when you spy a squirrel at the bottom of the yard, you still believe there is one half of a 2 year old greyhound inside of your aging 13 year old body

reason seven:

you fall over, but always pick yourself up

reason eight:

despite the odds stacked way way against you, nearly 5 months on you are thinking about changing your name from Used Dog to Miracle Dog and quite rightly so

reason nine:

you are without a doubt, the most preciously peachy second hand forsaken soul i have ever found

reason ten:

for nearly 12 years you have been my constant canine companion, my best friend, and my good fortune

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she and Used Miracle Dog are thanking you most kindly for all the 'fingers, toes, paws, claws, wings and hooves' crossing over the past few months ~ Tif

going cold turkey...

i appear to have a new addiction, as with most addictions it creeps upon you unawares. now as addictions go, i do believe it is on the lower scale, closer to 'harmless' and quite far from 'dangerous' but then again, is it...

i am blaming my newly acquired addiction on Ivor the ipad and a little pesky doggie who lives in a suitcase.

it started with the occasional 'instant pic' and now has escalated into daily pics. and whilst i'm confessing, i will mention, the daily pic i post to the world wide web is only one of many i took that day and deleted. and that is where i know my addiction has got out of control...

i have become secretive with my instant 'little olive' pics!

i snap them, look at them, warm my heart with her sweetness in them, and then delete them for fear others would see my need to photograph my little doggie countless times in a suitcase throughout the day, as a sign of insanity.

yes an addiction that you wish to hide or fret what others may think, is a worrisome one to have. so today i took my last 'happy snap' of a little pesky doggie with legs of little length and am going cold turkey.

i have told myself for one whole week i must go without taking a pic and posting it out for others to have it pop up on their feeds, roll their eyes and go, "seriously, not another". i am not even allowing myself to take sneaky secretive ones either, no sirree! none of this, 'just let me take one and delete it, no one will ever know' business, for that is a rocky road for sure.

so cold turkey is it, i am not sure i am strong enough, i am not sure i can make it through and to be honest i am not sure why i have to really, but i do! because the little voice inside my head has told me so. has spoken loud and clear "Tif, get a grip you daft addicted bat" and therefore i must listen.

i am already shaking, it has only been 40 minutes since i took the final, 'no more for a week after this one' instant joy happy snap... the one you see just above this, the one where little olive is being pesky, waiting for folks to walk past in neon anoraks, (flaunting their keep fit ways at us) so she may woof at their flaunting ways alongside her buddy 'used dog'. i note how handy it must be for her that i placed the stool there last night, how convenient she has a little 'leg up' at the front. i note how sweet and perfect her little patches are and her velvety over-sized ears, i note... i note i need to go cold turkey

Tif

a 'little string of happy hearts' how~to...

i must admit to not being one for decorating for valentines, however i do like hearts and i do like little strings of happy for their ability to brighten the day, so why not i say...

before we begin, several things

several thing one: you could make this little string longer and larger if you so wish by using full sized book pages and more of them

several thing two: if you do that, you will probably have to use something more sturdy to string them altogether

several thing three: you do not need a trusty sewing machine, there are ways around this and i will pop them in brackets where relevant in the recipe below

several thing four: due to the nature of how i have stitched the pages together, it is a tres delicate little string so care is needed when handling the happy hearts

a 'little string of happy hearts' how~to

skill level:

easy peasy lemon squeezy

ingredients:

* old book pages

* happy coloured thread for trusty machine or hand embroidery thread

* scraps of decorative papers (wallpaper, scrapbooking paper, wrapping paper etc)

* handy dandy glue stick

* little paper label of sorts (more on that in recipe)

* spiffy paper scissors

* trusty sewing machine (optional)

* 15 minutes and a cup of tea

recipe:

* with 2 or 3 book pages held together, fold and tear in half, and then in half again, so you have 4 quarters when put together, make a whole page

* with trusty sewing machine and happy coloured thread stitch around your torn pages. this is for two reasons, one to keep the layers together and two, because its a jolly thing to do

(if not using a trusty sewing machine, just glue your layers together and set aside to dry. perhaps consider adding faux stitching with a coloured marker, could look mighty fine)

* cut out happy hearts from your scraps of paper, do not draw them on first, eyeball them so each one will have their own personality and charm

* with glue stick in hand, spend a few moments attaching each heart to its own little stitched book page, once again do not worry about the placement greatly.

* if you happen to have the 'little lucky bunny' postcard which came with my book, then cut out the tag saying 'please hold on to my heart', if not, do not fret nor weep at Tif using something which you do not own. you can hand write your little tag or indeed print one off like i did, if you have a handy dandy printer

* take your happy heart pages and with a trusty sewing machine stitch them in a happy line. be sure to leave plenty of thread either end of your happy heart pages so you have something to hang them up with. also leave a little gap when sewing them together so they dingle dangle nicely. don't forget at the end to stitch your tag on. i did and had to go back due to my forgetful ways.

(if you are not using a trusty sewing machine, take a needle with embroidery thread and carefully so as not to tear the book pages, hand-stitch running stitches along the top of your book pages)

* admire your little string of happy hearts

* hang your little string of happy hearts in a place most suited to maximize the happiness they give off and where others may too appreciate the sentiment behind your little string

Tif :)

fabby fabric from a silly old suitcase...

oh golly gosh, nothing quite like a piece of fabby vintage fabric to get my creative soul feeling a little crafty and that is exactly what happened when a wonderful parcel full of peachy goodness arrived on my doorstep a few weeks back.

lovely Maartje from silly old suitcase blog had a give away, a very generous give away where upon several of us won! when i heard the news i was pretty giddy with the anticipation of what my little prize would be. for just one look at Maartje's world with her crafty vintage talent has my little heart beating faster. on a side note here, if perhaps you are amidst the blearghy winter feeling where every thing around appears a little dreary and drab, may i suggest you visit Maartje and her 'silly old suitcase', to me it is a 'light box' blog, one that is bound to lift your spirits and you are left feeling like a little ray of sunshine has been to visit. such colour and such prettiness abounds from every photo you come away ready to fend of Mr Deary and Mr Drab with a "be gone dull guys! i do not have time for your depressing ways, no sirree, i am filled with happy sunny colourful thoughts thanks to Maartje and her little old suitcase filled with happy things"

and so my package of goodies arrived before Christmas, where upon i hung several dingly danglies around the shed made by Maarje's own fair crafty hands and then i sat and hugged the other part of the parcel, for it contained a length of vintage fabric like no other i had seen before. a fabric worthy of a long hug, my very fabby fav type of vintage fabric...

ugly pretty no less!!

with a shed full of gleeful decorations and clan, i wisely placed my new love where i would see her daily, reminding me of things to come when the shed was cleared of decorations and clan. so i waited and whilst i waited i pondered, for such was her ugly pretty beauty i knew i needed to do her justice.

roll on to January, i was in full on shed clearing mode and along with the crappity crap things like cleaning out drawers, recycling and thrifting, i interspersed it with jolly things, like re-covering our old IKEA couch with a pair of wonderful vintage Sanderson curtains found on Ebay, which had also been biding its time waiting for a quiet moment. once the loose cover was miraculously made, i realized my couch was no longer a couch, but a settee, for a settee sounded so much grander and Sanderson fabric is grand in my books. i dared to wonder if the handcrafted gods were on my side, after all i had managed to make a slip cover out of 2 curtains surely they were...

and they were, for unfolding my lovely bit of 'silly old suitcase' fabric i discovered there was enough to make 3 spiffy back cushions for my newly Sanderson-ed settee.

oh joy, oh happy day, when once again i stood back to see the completed transformation of IKEA couch into a settee of vintage Sanderson goodness along with some ugly pretty cushions worthy of a joyful tear or two

how marvellous i think to myself every night whilst sitting upon our settee, that i was lucky enough to win such an amazing piece of fabric and my hope is Maartje will see just how suited it is to living in our Mossy Shed. thank you kindly Maartje, for your lovely fabric, your wonderful happy blog, for cheering up the cold winter months and indeed your silly old suitcase filled with crafty vintage goodness

once again she finds herself waiting in anticipation of Mr Postie and what he carries in his Van ~ Tif

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

round and round...

'tis no secret, i am partial to a stool or two in our mossy shed. i appear unable to say no to little waifs and strays of stools i come across in my daily travels. however there is one stool i hold dear, above all the other little stools within our nest. now of course i know it is terribly wrong to have favorites but i cannot help myself. for the stool in question has been there all my life...

(i am quite sure i have told this story before but as it is buried deep with in the rambling archives of this here blog, i'm just going to repeat myself rather than try to find it as i fear it could take all day to unearth it)

as a small child i would sit on a stool at my mother's dressing table every sunday evening. where upon i would don what can only be described as a shower cap attached to a long flexible tube which in turn was attached to a box which was attached by a cord to a plug in the wall.

my mother would switch it on, the cap would inflate and hot air would start to dry my tresses. after half an hour, my mother would remove my head from the hairdryer of sorts and say "voila", where upon i would sit there silently praying that this time my hair would come out poker straight and gloriously shiny. upon opening my eyes, every sunday the vision reflected in the mirror, told me once again, my prayer had not been answered and thus a week of going to school with kinked, fuzzy, cow licky hair proceeded until the following sunday when i started praying again...

despite the horrors of my childhood hair-do i still look back fondly on those moments, and i am quite sure that is mainly to do with the stool upon which my derriere sat. for it was a glorious tulip stool and its fine form, is to me, one of the best a stool can have.

nearly 14 years ago, my mother kindly entrusted the tulip stool to me. in the years that followed it has had many little coats of various grandness, some quite dubious, like fake fur, or lilac sateen, but still it never felt unloved. recently, (and when i say recently i mean the past 10 days), i got itching to be stitching it a new little jacket.

inspired by lovely folksy round cushions, i took one large doily and started going 'round and round' with strips of lace, fabric and one embroidered vintage doily for the middle.

i spent many many happy moments with embroidery floss in hand. i then went a little nutso on the french knots which are my fabby fav thing to do. they are so peachy, you do one and it looks just right, and so you do another and before you know it, there are many little knots doing a brilliant job of looking spiffy.

after which i took my large decorated folksy doily and appliqued it like a cap 'on top' my stool.

i am most happy with my lovely folksy stool

however i must confess, i was not happy with my man when he came in from running around a soccer pitch for 2 hours in the rain last night and promptly sat his derriere down upon my fine and roundy stool! it took all my willpower to remain quiet, i took deep breathes followed by recalling my 'labouring' breathing exercises, for fear of what was happening to my french knots under the soggy soccer gear. i thought i had it under control, i really did, i channeled my inner kindness with all my might, thinking of the long day at the office he had had, and how i needed him to fix a lamp for me and all those other good things he does for me daily but alas, no! my french knots and their fate was too much to bear. i could not get past 2 minutes before i burst and had to ask him to find another stool to plonk down on... any stool, any dumptie just get off my french knots hoppity quick 'pretty please'

she has 3 lads haircuts and one 'constant canine companion' bath lined up for her thrilling saturday morning ~ Tif

footynote: a little message for Katie (Bob) i have tried to send you several emails today, alas they keep on bouncing back to me, not sure why. could you please email me again with your email address so i can respond to you. many thanks :)