book week... day four

yesterday i was distracted by Miss Ethel and Miss Margery,

i do not often speak of Miss Margery

and there are reasons for this.

Miss Margery belongs to Our #1

and on many an occasion i have sat in my studio

hearing the floorboards above shake with her usage.

i feared for Miss Margery and the sewing traumas she endured

at the hands of Our #1

actually, her name isn't Miss Margery,

Our #1 gave her a name quite unsuited to her lovely stitching ways.

so upon discovery of Miss Margery holed up in the back of the closet

after Our #1 left the shed for the bright lights of old blighty,

i took her out,

dusted her down

and called her Miss Margery.

she travelled alongside of Miss Ethel, to the big city

for our grand dottie angel workshop weekend.

upon returning to the shed,

i have placed Miss Margery in my studio

and yesterday she showed me her coat of many stitches,

let us just say, i was smitten.

together a threesome of the utmost kind,

(not seen since the days of dorothy, mr hook and dr hook)

resulted in handcrafty goodness

soon to be hanging in my little shop window.

but for today, we will continue our grand book week

hip hip hooray!!

Lotta Jansdotter needs no introduction i am quite sure,

she is a crafter, designer and artist extraordinaire.

Lotta appeals to me,

in the way japanese craft books appeal.

in all their pretty, handcrafted, inspiring goodness

combined with the clean lines i look for,

when living with handcrafted.

most of all she appeals to me for a particular reason,

many moons ago,

when i first stumbled across Lotta Jansdotter

i read a little bit of blurb

and the blurb told of Lotta being a self taught crafter.

i gasped 'thee gasp'

and knew right then and there,

i wished to hug Lotta on the spot,

thank her for saying it with pride.

it is interesting to look back now, quite a few years on

and see it was a defining moment for me and my crafty soul.

to know Lotta had succeeded with her own crafty soul,

wonderful aesthetics and beautiful self taughtness,

gave me the confidence to start up my little shop on Etsy,

to ramble upon this here shiny place

and

to continue along the righteous and goodly path of handcrafting.

Lotta's lovely book Handmade Living opens the door to her world,

showing how she creates her signature scandinavian style

within her beautiful home and studio.

allowing the reader to truly get a glimpse into her handmade world,

highlighting her inspirations,

her family traditions

and her decorating style,

page after page of a handmade life is revealed,

it truly is a lovely book indeed

she is trying to muster up some of that same confidence and drive to the big city on her own, gulp! ~ Tif