a right family banner...

i had a moment of crafting madness yesterday...it all came about when i realized my walls lack any family photos. i seem to almost have an aversion to displaying the residents of our shed and i do not know why... perhaps it is my fear of the 'school photo' look, that has kept me from doing so.

in our last house i had a nice collection going up the staircase, featuring black and white shots taken on a trip to San Diego when the kids were little...we travelled along the coastal highway up to San Francisco, for two weeks we lived like gypsies and it felt so good.

every time i see these photos they conjure up a time for me that tugs at my heart strings, where does the time go and where have these babies gone. they stand before me now, on the verge of spreading their wings and it makes my little heart ache to know my nest will change over the next few years...

so armed with the photos, a thrift store bed sheet, a few scraps of lace, a cup of tea and Miss Ethel, i set to work with making a 'family banner'...

very simple really,

1. take some photos.

2. cut fabric large enough to leave a border around the photos.

3. wash and dry fabric pieces so you get a nice frayed edge.

4. place photo on fabric and stitch around edge with sewing machine, leaving threads for a 'crafty look'.

5. after sewing all the photos down, add some lace and doily bits for added detail.

6. lay your photos on the floor, rearranging until you get a pleasing display.

7. one by one attach to a long length of lace or ribbon with the sewing machine.

8. hang on a wall and feel your heart swell.

she's wondering if it will ever warm up ~ Tif

what she really wants...

nellie knows what she wants and what she wants is 'chickens in the backyard' but alas nellie doesn't have a backyard to call her own. she lives in the city in a high rise block and dreams of life on the farm. on the weekends nellie discards her conservative office clothing and dons her apron skirt along with a sweet cardi, headscarf and bashed up biker boots. she pulls her patchwork vintage drapes over the window to shut out the world, settles herself down on a midcentury modern couch and watches re-runs of 'little house on the prairie'...some may say nellie is a dreamer, but nellie just shrugs her shoulders and says "at least i know what i want"

this sweet apron skirt is upcycled from

a cotton thriftstore slip (dyed a pretty soft tealy seafoam color)

an antique traycloth

a thrifted cotton blouse

an antique collar

a vintage lace doily

a button

scraps of fabric

and

vintage lace

you can find nellie in my little store

she's wishing you a lovely spring weekend (ever hopeful) ~ Tif

thrifty thursdays...

hurrah...it's the start of a regular feature on my little 'space'.

thrifty thursdays is where i will show you the evidence of my thrifting from the night before.

i am thinking this might be quite interesting because quite often as i wander the aisles of my local thrift store i glance at other carts (i am quite sure we all do that and then wishing we hadn't if we see something we really wanted for ourselves). more often than not i am thinking "oooh, well they must be an ebay seller" or "ummm, are you quite sure you want that" and in turn they gaze upon my little 'haul' and are quite possibly thinking "what a load of old crap" but of course i like to think they are admiring looks with a hint of envy

anyhow we will soon see...as i show you my haul from week to week, you can judge for yourselves dear readers.

there are two lines that come to mind

"oh Tif, that's just totally grand, what a steal"

or

"oh Tif, that's total tat, what were you thinking"

so i shall leave it up to you, my discerning readers...

1. a lovely chinese robe which i added a bit of lace to...

2. a patchwork quilt not unlike ones in japanese craft magazines, that quite honestly made my heart skip a beat

3. a sweet little plate, perfect for tea and biscuits, and perfect for my vivant store

4. a head scarf from Liberty's of London...enough said

i am thinking it might be interesting to film a 'thrifting' excursion and pop it on YouTube...our #1 and our #2 however are thinking NOT, as our #1 commented to my 'brain storm' of an idea late last night

"oh no mum you can't do that, you'll end up getting loads of hits but not for the right reasons, you'll be one of those YouTube people that are ridiculed"

and then our #2 added "and of course do you really want the world to see the 'real you' in your bi-focals"

she's thinking it over, whilst you decide if it's a load of 'tat' or 'treasure' ~ Tif

where are the elves when you need them...

i am struggling of late to get any 'crafty' time in with Miss Ethel...

it is becoming glaringly obvious that i need to be more organized with my life if i am going to juggle 'it all'...no easy feat for a lot of us, i am quite sure...

and so dear readers last night i left out some work in my studio hoping the elves would hear my cry and do their thing. ("insanity Tif...it's just a matter of time")

i awoke to happy chirping coming from my studio but alas, on close inspection it was not from little elves busy sewing but my little chicky peas saying "Tif, where are you, we are here and ready for our morning ritual of cleaning, feeding, watering and learning our names".

i did manage to steal one hour of the day and finish up a cushion cover before my motherly duties were required from me ...

she is off thrifting tonight and quite excited to see what little treasures are waiting for her ~ Tif

it's just a chicken coop...

friday i rushed down to our local farm supply shop to pick up Orla and Little Eva...two speckled sussex chicks less than two days old.

as they are over a week younger than the other six i have set them up in a space of their own until they grow stronger. for the first eight hours they cried and cried...

used dog and Bingo were most perturbed by the wee chickies plight. i feared for their little lives and i feared for my studio turning into a mini petting farm.

after a whole day of 'distressing' on everyones part, i found the answer...Terry Wogan and his soothing tones, ever since we have Radio 2 playing day and night.

saturday we started the hen house...my main thoughts were about the color, my man's were about actually constructing a coop that would deter the predators that roam our neighborhood when we are tucked up in bed. he got busy with the 'how to' and i got busy with the 'umming and ahhhing' over a couple of paint chips...

"it's just a chicken coop, Tif" he remarked

"just a chicken coop" i spluttered..."it's not just any old chicken coop, it's THEE chicken coop for all my little chicky peas". that would be

Little Eva

Orla

Big Bertha

Pigpen

Fatty (from the Beano)

Polly

Billy no mates

and

No name

(can you tell the ones i was actually allowed to name and the others that were named by a ten year old?)

i then proceeded to tell him that all the books and websites have told me that chickens do not care what their dwellings look like as long as they are kept dry, clean and fed.

but i have decided that quite honestly how do we really know that, surely a chicken would appreciate a little extra in life, such as colorful bunting on the outside just to jolly the day up and i am thinking also a radio for company...

Sunday we started to put the sides together, i had painted the frames a lovely duck egg blue...i noted my man was not being careful with the paint work and more intent on getting the coop level. (which i do agree can be a tricky job and also quite important, but none the less my paint work was in jeopardy) as i was about to complain that my paint work was not being treated with the respect it was due, he looked up at me with gritted teeth and said

"it's just a chicken coop"...

Monday, my man leaves for work...i shout out to the chickies "oooh, daddies leaving"...as the door closes i hear him mutter "oh Tif, you really are turning into a right old mother hen"

she's hoping you will visit 'paper n stitch' this month ~ Tif

things to note...

1. having wee chickies in the house chirping away, makes it feel like 'spring has sprung' be it day or night...

2. when the eye doctor starts a sentence with "well, of course your age isn't helping your recent eye problems" you know it's not going to go well...

3. if dottie angel wishes to open another shop on etsy that's all well and good, until Tif tries to make it happen. four hours later she is triumphant...but lacking any wares...

4. sewing with chickies chirping in the background influences the crafting process, leading to summer 'apron' skirts being created with 'feeding the hens' in mind...

5. a pesky squirrel can get up to all sorts of trouble including being on the home page of etsy

6. seeing this sweet yellow clock and having to come up with a justification 'to buy'...it took all of five seconds and it was in my cart...

7. the red heatlamp from the 'wee chickies' at night, makes it quite understandable if a passing stranger were to mistake our home for the local brothel...

she's been wondering why you have all looked so far away, soon to be fixed with a pair of bi-focals, gulp ~ Tif

not 'medium' news but 'big' news...

am i a walking encyclopedia on chickens?

not quite...

am i a 'mother hen'?

oh, yes i am...

she's taking her new role very seriously ~ Tif

not yesterday and not tomorrow but just today...

today is an inbetweeny kind of day...yesterday i was super duper busy putting a few wares into my shop and then trying to get photos of mossy shed. this proved a tricky one to pull off, several things do not work in my favor when taking interior pictures.

#1. i actually don't know any settings on the camera other than the one our #1 leaves it on (just typing this has almost but not quite shamed me into reading the manual)

#2. the sunlight when it appears is never ever in the right place, we have large windows and they seem to cause me no end of trouble

#3. the piles that have accumulated, this always happens when i turn my attention to my little shop. last week i was beavering away in my studio, blissfully unawares of the outside world...i think it is the best feeling in the world, just you, your fabric stash, your faithful sewing machine and no one to bother your thoughts.

but of course the downside to this is i am also totally unaware of my surroundings inside of the shed. thus giving everyone free rein to 'dump and run'...and so when the sun appeared yesterday and i felt the need to 'snap' a few frames there was 'disaster' all around. i spent rather a long time not actually dispersing the neglected articles to the right location but merely shifting it from 'a' to 'b' and back again so it would not be on 'film'.

perhaps dearest readers, you do not believe me and my 'pile' issues so i have taken a snap shot as evidence...

my lovely styled shot

and now the real world

i mentioned this was an inbetweeny day because tomorrow i have big plans, the kind that involve chickens...("oh my, oh my...are you getting your chickens Tif?") now now, not quite as big as that, so let us put it as 'medium plans'. i am off to my 'chicken 101' workshop...according to the 'blurb' when i leave the workshop i will leave knowing all there is to know about keeping some chickies in an urban backyard setting. i reckon, combined with the 'knowledge' they will bestow upon me and the three books i have already read, i will be prepared...in fact i will more prepared for our wee chicky peas then i ever was when i had my children. i never read a book for my impending motherhood, i did my 'ostrich in the sand' technique and made it up as we went along...as my man said the other day "Tif, you have managed to keep your children going for 17 years i think you can keep a few hens alive".

i had hoped to wear my lovely knitted hat to the workshop, but alas that isn't to be...i don't know what bothers me more, the fact that i lost the hat or that i can't remember the last time i had it. i purchased my fine 'head attire' when visiting my mum a few weeks back, it fast became my best friend in the freezing temperatures and best of all disguised my 'why did i cut you' hair style.

on returning to the shed i wore it several times, once to meet our #4 at school "oh, em, what's that you're wearing" followed by that look of 'please don't let anyone know i'm with you'.

then again, to head out thrifting one cold evening...our #2 exclaimed with fits of laughter "do you know you have a mushroom on your head, what's that all about?"

and again when me and my man went out for a curry one night (this happens about once every five years) as we were sitting at the table he asked "don't you want to take that thing off your head?"

i even phoned the curry house and shouted down the phone in a vain attempt for them to understand the words 'knitted hat' but to no avail...

and so my little heart aches for my lost hat and my lost memory. on an up note, i managed to squeeze a piddly amount of hair into some pigtails today...

i miss my pigtails, i know they are more suited to 'young girls' and not so much 'aging women' but you can't escape the convenience of them, plus the added bonus of pulling the facial skin a bit tighter...a free face lift if you will

so i leave you without a birthday cake, ("phew" i hear you sigh) but you are not getting away with it so lightly. in celebration of 'two years' of waffling i will be adding a couple of regular features to my blog.

first up

'cooking with Tif' ("run for the hills" i'll pretend i didn't hear you say that)

and second up

'a question of crafting' ("oooh, that sounds quite intriquing" i know, i thought so too)

she will see you on monday with a 'first' for dottie angel (calm yourselves now) ~ Tif

the color yellow...

if someone stopped me in the street to do a little market research and asked the question "madam, would you mind telling me your favorite colors?" i would be sure to say

"teal, chartreuse green, white (does that count), duck egg blue and a sprinkling of pink on occasion"

but as i look around my studio and home i realize of late, the colors yellow and orange have seeped in...not bright yellow, more sludgy yellows and muted oranges but then my eye catches my latest thrifty find, a teapot and i note it is 'bright'...how can this be, i am not suppose to be a yellow/orange person and yet it is plain as day...

my blog header inspiration...

my wallpaper...

my latest bags...

my latest cushions...

my studio bookshelf...

my thrifted teapot...

my summer sandals...

she's missing tomorrow, as the shop has new stock arriving ~ Tif

footnote: (can you tell i like my footnotes this week) take a look over at Fran's blog for some truly fabulous color therapy :)

part two...

the next morning found us in a nearby cafe with hot chocolate and pastries for breakfast, it was most important to keep 'well fed' for our day ahead...

we headed towards Islington high street passing many a famous landmark along the way...(now it is quite possible that we passed LIBERTY the day before but as it was several weeks ago and my short term memory isn't that hot these days then add in the tramua of discovering my 'hat' is no longer my best friend, please allow me this moment of 'not in quite the right order')

since becoming a 'brit abroad' i spend most of my time in the UK marvelling at the lovely old buildings and wishing i was surrounded by it on a daily basis...our main reason for Islington high street was to track down the lovely store LOOP.

our whole pilgrimage to london was to see the stores featured in all those lifestyle magazines every month and discover for ourselves if they are as lovely as they appear in print...

we located LOOP just off the beaten track,

just the prettiest yarn store...it's a little space just chocked full of talent, creativity and lovely yarns...after breathing it all in we headed out to see what other treasures lay around, soon coming across

TOAST

AFTER NOAH

TWENTYTWENTYONE

NOA NOA

and a lovely eco furniture store who's name escapes me but where we found the felted butterfly lamp often featured in magazines and i'm excited to find it is now

available here

so all in all an extremely successful 'fabulous at forty' trip to the big smoke, our only regret was not making it to

CARAVAN

ALFIES ANTIQUE MARKET

LISA STICKLEY

but not bad for 24 hours...

at 3pm we caught the train home, weary but happy and once again took up residence in Debbie's home with a cup of tea, chocolate bar and yarn...

she's thinking it doesn't get much better than that ~ Tif

the one in which Tif and Debbie go to london...

we stepped out of the soho hotel with our little map of london clutched in our mittened paws and a pile of post-its containing scribbles of 'must see' shops...

first stop Heals...a lovely furniture store. our purpose was to test out all sofas and chairs, giving our personal opinion of what was and wasn't working for our derrieres. the sofa we were most anxious to see was of course thee LUSK sofa by orla kiely (i promise this week will be my last time of talking about 'our orla' for a while...i am beginning to sound a little 'orla nuts' these days. so next week i shall move on to chickens...yes that's right 'Tif the mad chicken lady' will be moving into the shed)

now back to the pressing issue of me and my pal's bottoms doing a 'goldilocks' around Heals...

well let me tell you, we were most impressed with the whole range...it just lifts the heart looking at it, but of course we needed to really test it out so that's what we did and yes dearest readers, it passed the test. i wouldn't say i could fit my whole family plus four legged friends upon it comfortably but i can say it was most lovely to look at and if i happened to be offered such a lovely seat for my mossy shed i would not pass it up...

quick smart, as time was not on our side and we had 'many a store' on our list...we legged it (yes, no wheels...just our wee aging pins) over to Saltwater

now here was a treat and a half for our diminishing eyesight to fall upon. quite honestly, we are now number one fans of this little boutique tucked down a side street that we only found because Debbie has retained a few of her marbles since school days and seems to possess an 'organized' streak that can out do most...

we totally fell in love with the oilcloth products...they have aprons, little bags and purses in the most wonderful designs. (unfortunately i can't find these on the website, i believe they are made from ends of line fabrics so only a few are available from the actual store).

this moment was when i wished i had a bigger 'baggage' allowance, but alas i needed to be selective and so i purchased an apron (i seem to have an abundance of aprons and yet can not appear to cook, they do nothing for my skills but at least when wearing them i feel like i look the part), a bag and a dress...nicely discounted that i would never had tried on but Debbie insisted and just like the 'undies' issues she was right.

we then skipped next door as the snow began to fall (it was just like one of those british movies, london cabs going by, people hustling and bustling home from work, snow falling, shop lights glistening, i half expected Colin Firth to appear at any moment...) and ended up in VV Rouleaux to check out all the trimmings etc...

by this time our aged pins weren't doing so well and the cold was setting in, so we took a cab to Monmouth Street...and there admist the busy london life was the gem we were looking for...

Orla Kiely's store.

(click on 'london' to see a wee peek of her store)

words cannot describe just how incredible the attention to detail is within these hallowed walls...everywhere you look, be it up, down or all around is her signature style...we spent a good happy hour just "ooohing" and "aaahing" at frosted window panes, the staircase rail, the ceiling panels ...everything covered in her trademark patterns. we could quite happily have moved in for good...in fact i would like to think heaven may happen to resemble the inside of an orla store...

eventually the sales girls needed to go home to sleep, (although if i were them i would have used the perfectly lovely bed from Orla's range, all set up with her bedding on...thus never having to leave...ever)

so we had to vacate the premises...sigh and head back to our hotel, which was quite honestly the poshest hotel we have ever set foot in. the day ended perfectly with us tucked up in our beds, a chick flick on, chocolate bars and crochet by our sides...after all we needed to be well rested for the day ahead...more sites to be taken in and more stores to discover...

part two tomorrow ~ Tif

footy note: dearly departed 'hat' (as seen in my orla kiely day out pic)...if you happen to be reading this please come home...i miss you and am sorry i left you behind last week, the snows have come again and i need you like i have never needed you before...our friendship has been for just a wee time, four weeks to be exact, but i know we were destined for great things together...please dearest hat come home to me...

and the winner is...

"excuse me" said Tif in her rather natty 'florence hope pinny' to used dog

"do you have a minute? i know you are sleeping but it is after 10:30am and my readers are waiting...i was hoping that you could 'spare a mo' to help me with my orla kiely grand drawing"

"what's that you say? oh, well i see...i hadn't anticipated there would be a fee involved, ummm, that's kind of awkward. i totally understand you are saving up to get your gray roots done on your wee goaty, which is a worry for an old gal like yourself, but i really don't have that sort of money available. if you don't mind 'used dog' i shall seek help elsewhere and you just go back to sleep"

a few minutes later, several willing victims were located around the shed, they are never far away on 'teacher training days'...usually found loitering close to a 'monitor' or 'tv screen'...

and so without 'further a do' and the reason why we are gathered here this morning, i give you (drum roll please) my little orla kiely prize drawing moment

first up

the tea towel...

congratulations DI!!

(excuse blurry pic, it's such a struggle to get 'quality' assistants these days)

second up

the oven mitts...

congratulations FRANCESCA!!

how terribly thrilling and exciting,
thank you for all your lovely comments, i have so enjoyed hearing your 'thrifty dream finds'...it has brightened my week and got me back into the swing of things...next week will be action packed as my wee little blog is having a birthday, it's not every day you reach the grand old age of two and i think we should mark such a miraculous event. so dearest readers if you can contain your excitement until monday i will be back at my little keyboard 'tippity tapping' away with ramblings of london, a few creations in the making, my favorite color of the mo, a birthday cake (now that sounds worrying) and to top it all a 'first for dottie angel'...so please join me in celebrating two years of 'i have no idea what i am talking about'...

she's wishing you a lovely weekend and it's good to be back in the driving seat again ~ Tif

footy note: 'lovely di' and 'lovely fran' please drop me a line with your addresses and i will 'hop skippity jump' as fast as my 40 year old legs will allow me, to the post office where your 'orla goodies' will soon be winging their way to you :)