2011 handmade olympics celebration...

how terribly thrilling to find out moi, my granny knickers, you and your knick knacks of choice have nabbed ourselves not one but two medals in the peachy handmade olympics of 2011!!

one GOLD for fave thifty site and one SILVER for fave inspiring goodie

truly this is quite remarkable and such an occasion cannot pass without some kind of 'hurrah hooray' celebration thingy. have you noted it seems to be all we do these days 'hurrahing' there and 'hooraying' here, still it would be most 'non hurrahing and non hooraying' of me not to mention this moment of goodness.

so my dearest readers, it would appear along with the medals comes wonderful prizes in the way of gift certificates to peachy stores on Etsy. the generosity of these folks is amazing and so yesterday not only did i hear the peachy news of the results but also i have been given $250 worth of gift certificates!

as i mentioned before, in my athletic world, everyone is a winner and so i wish to pass these 'winnings' onto you my dearest readers, for without your voting kindness i would not have won.

i decided after some pondering to go back to my 'random button picker thingy' of tuesday and despite it's kinda pants way of picking i have found 5 lovely folks to gift these 5 lovely gifts to.

first button number was Sharon #48

i doubled it to get

the next button winner, which was Heather #96

they both won my original 'hurrah hooray' giveaway

this morning i roughly divided the remaining entrants after button #96 and found my winners that way. it was not a perfect division job by any means but i did the best my failing eyesight and scrolling abilities could manage without being driven to madness, so forgive me and my slightly inaccurate ways...

and so without further a do we have the winners of the handmade olympic gift certificates

so kindly given by these lovely etsy folks, whom i might add were more than delighted i should wish to pass these on, such is their niceness

adorn and cherish

mousetrap vintage

vintage by alex keller

t scarf

squid whale design

and the 5 fabby winners are

naturally carol

maria (angel in the attic)

katie bee

sylvies garden

paperbird

congratulations my dearies! i will be getting in touch shortly after i have let Little Olive and Used Dog out to play 'snow angels', giving you all the nitty gritty you need to claim your prizes.

of course i wish i could hand out prizes to each and everyone of you, however i hope you will be most happy to wear today's 'gold sticky star' complete with 'olympic champion' written by Little Olive and Used dog, who stayed up most late last night working on them.

yes some have letters missing as their little paws do have trouble holding a pencil, but it is the thought which counts.

please wear your gold stars with pride, i have placed mine upon my granny knickers, so when i go to the grocery store this afternoon, i will know underneath my 'everyday plain clothed in disguise ordinary folk' attire, an olympic gold and silver medalist is lurking... i suggest you do like wise :)

and with that, i must just say once again, a large thank you for your votes, for once again being most kind to me, for your lovely comments this past week and just for generally being the peachiest readers one could ask for.

she is hoping your weekend is full of goodness, a little bit of peachiness and indeed why not some peskiness, cause who doesn't love a bit of pesky in their lives ~ Tif

things to like, cont'd

things to like:

* a snow day at mossy shed

* little olive and used dog early this morning

* yarn to save my sanity with another day off school

* setting aside iffy coloured yarny project and learning to crochet bobbles

* new love of bobbly crochet resulting in a need for crocheting bobbles all day long

* a little corner set aside for 'bobbly crocheting sanity saving' moments during the snow day

she is thinking this could be the beginnings of some sweet sweet times with Mr Hook ~ Tif

things to like or not...

things i like today:

* Portland, Oregon

* especially Portland with Our #2 as my companion

* spending quality time with my lovely friend Lola in Portland

* benches in Portland

* finding a dottie angel cottage in Portland, perfectly perfect just as it is,

with lovely yellow paint trim.

* my hens eating their morning porridge to keep their little skinny chickie pea legs warm

* the moments of 'book inspiring' thoughts which seem to be coming thick and fast

* word of the week ~ PESKY

* cadbury's mini eggs are in the shops

* Used dog and her lumpy bumpy body

* my latest crocheting endeavours

things i do not like today:

* a snow day from school with no snow

* samuel whiskers making PESKY morning visits to the chicken coop

* book thoughts being interrupted by clan activity within the shed

and then said thoughts disappearing into the black hole within my little head

* broken buttons

* cadbury's mini eggs tempting me from the cupboard

* Used dog's lumpy bumps reminding me she is old

* the iffy-ness of my color choices for latest crocheting endeavours

she is declaring it a pyjama day for the shed ~ Tif

and the winners are...

before we get to the winners, you know me, i must just say several things...

firstly, you truly know how to lift spirits on a low day. just reading the comments made me smile and feel uplifted, and what really really made me smile is knowing we are all alike when it comes to the moments which make us happy. it is the simple things in life which lift us up. when it all gets a little too much, or perhaps life has dealt us some crappity crap cards, it is the little things which brighten our mood, so thank you for taking the time to share.

secondly, indeed my 'random button picker thingy' was as i suspected a little nutty, but i did go through with it, or should i say 356 buttons did. not just any old buttons (actually they are old) but brave heroic buttons who have seen many things in their lifetimes. once stitched to uniforms and now in a tin lurking in my studio waiting for this moment of utmost importance so they may show their bravery all over again. Carlos my trusty camera (i will have to shorten his name i think, or lengthen it to 'untrustworthy') did the best he could to capture the moment but unfortunately lost focus during the 'death defying' button moment as they hit the ground. he is down to just one working mode since last summer and sadly over the past few weeks it would appear 'auto' will not be with us much longer either. he did what he could and who am i to make a little camera feel any worse than he already does, knowing his days are numbered and the great Las Vegas in the sky for cameras is beckoning.

and thirdly, the brave buttons overcome with seeing some action out of their little tin, took a huge leap of faith on our behalf. many jumped for joy when they reached the cook pot, thus bonging right on out again. others i am saddened to say, did not fair so well (distressing to see i know) but a few made it into the pot and stayed put (thank goodness) waiting for me to count them and then Our #3 to double check the numbers...

and yes, i did hug each and everyone of them afterwards, even the wounded ones for it was quite the ordeal they went through.

and so for my 'hip hip hooray' give away the two winners are:

the peachy Sharon

"if the weather is warm and sunny, i retreat to the porch for a bit of porch sitting where i can see cows and chickens and a donkey, and can be assured of the wet nose of the cutest corgi ever to come over and plant a kiss on my cheek or knee... it then becomes impossible to feel too low. if the weather is chilly, i find myself in my comfy chair by the fire, where again, i call on my little doggie to provide the needed snuggle..."

and

the lovely Heather

"a few things that can lift my spirits on a low day:

- receiving a package or unexpected letter in the mail

- snuggles from my puppy elsie

- a great, forgotten about song coming on the radio while driving and blasting it while singing all the words

- retail therapy, especially a good thrift find"

so hurrah hooray for Sharon and Heather and for everyone who so kindly entered my giveaway and cheered all our days with your wonderful 'pick me ups'... and indeed for forgiving my terribly thrilling but obviously quite pants way of picking a winner :)

she is thinking you can guess what she spent the rest of her day doing ~ Tif

the Olympics, Portland and my granny knickers...

they say it is going to snow, drat and double drat is all i can think of.

me and Our #2 are heading out on the highway tomorrow, just the two of us on a road trip to Portland. a couple of days ago i was struck down by the thought, by summer my flock will be down by half in the space of a year. my time is running out fast, the wheels have been set in motion, another set of wings are beginning to stretch...

tomorrow morning, lack of snow permitting, i will pack my toothbrush, my pyjamas and a pair of large undies and the two of us will spend some quality time together for a few days.

to distract me from the 'will it, won't it snow' and my mothering heart strings i have a tale to tell, so if you are sitting comfortably then i shall begin...

it would be quite true to say, i am not the athletic type, in all my 42 years i can only recall one athletic moment of glory and even then it was accidental and not wanted.

around the age of 13, we had to run for miles across the surrounding countryside for PE. it was bitterly cold and being of the scrawny sort, i did not fair well in winter conditions. i think being in a tee shirt and navy blue nylon elasticated granny knickers did not aid my warmth. i ran my blimen' heart out that day, for the sooner i got back to base the greater my chance of staying alive and not being turned into an icicle.

i came in second place, the PE teacher turned and congratulated me, i assumed upon the fact i was still alive with my heart pumping wildly trying to keep my fingers and toes from dropping off. i did note even in my distress she had a somewhat astonished look upon her face. for indeed anyone who knew me back then, would know i did not move very fast, indeed even today i do not. unless i am heading to a thrift store, then i find my pace is picked up tenfold.

i began to feel lightheaded when i heard her talk about Cross Country Meets, representing the school at the next championships, how i had been picked for the team...

i was aghast! i had been tricked! i was under no knowledge i was trying out for a school athletic team position, i was just under the impression the PE teachers were doing what they always did back then, make our lives miserable and then have a good laugh about it in the Staff Room afterwards.

i do not know how, all i know is i did not represent my school. i am quite sure my mother stepped in and wrote a note saying due to skinny legs, bad circulation and mental trauma bought on by having to wear giant nylon underpants in front of large crowds i was not able to participate on the school team.

for the rest of my school years i laid low in PE and never ever caught the teacher's eye, for if i did she looked at me with the look of failure, of one who cannot and will not amount to much.

but ha ha! hee hee! roll on quite a few years and here i am today in my giant granny knickers, this time safely tucked under clothing so as not to be gazed upon by others and it would appear my PE teacher was wrong about my athletic abilities. for i have been shortlisted for not one but two events in the 2011 Handmade Olympics... now that is my kind of athletic event!

i am totally thrilled by this news, which i received a couple of days back. i must say a large 'thanking you kindly' to the folks who took their time to nominate me, to the judges who shortlisted me, and to any other folkie doke involved in what appears to be a very big thing indeed, especially the lovely RicRak herself

the two events i have been shortlisted to compete in are

Event #4 ~ our favorite handmade goodie that inspires loveliness & wellness

for my lappity lap blanket

and perhaps the one i am most chuffed about

Event #6 ~ our favorite thrifty or vintage-forward blog, shop or site

for this here shiny place, my 'ramblings of dottie angel'

as you will be able to see from the links, i am amongst a peachy bunch of other finalists, who i am quite sure have their own memories of PE as a child and indeed may very well have worn the same giant nylon granny knickers. well not the same exact pair, cause that isn't possible, but a pair similar perhaps in equal horridness and due to skinny legs, the elastic too loose around the legs thus revealing underwear to all the boys.

but i digress, haunted by my PE knickers...

and so my lovely dearest readers, if you may care to cast your vote in my direction i would be most delighted, especially in Event #6 and does not matter what the outcome of the events.

at the end of the day we will all be wearing our knickers, large, small, with elastic or without (and if you must insist, i will allow thongs, although they do nothing for insulation purposes) accompanied by our gold sticky stars, which i have stocked up in, for everyone is a winner in my athletic world :)

and talking of stocking up, i think i will be having to put a 'wanted' notice on my studio window for any passing buttons who may indeed be out of work and looking for a bit of excitement in their lives. i was unable to comment amongst your lovely answers to my giveaway for it would throw off my very tricky brainy technical way of counting the amount of entrants, but i must tell you, each and every comment i have read and felt uplifted by, thank you so kindly for sharing.

she is wondering if any random buttons in Portland fancy a change of scene and will see you on tuesday after the buttons have done their death defying deed ~ Tif

a 'hip hip hooray' giveaway...

oh it is so grand to be back, so grand indeed... my grandness led me to do a little jig not five minutes ago, around my studio with clippity clogs upon my feet. Little Olive tucked up in her suitcase joined in tippity tapping her 'way too long' nails upon the floor.

(she is aiming for the Guinness book of records title 'longest nails on the littlest doggie')

Used Dog did her usual prancing, alas her old age makes prancing a dangerous occupation these days and therefore only moments such as this high level of grandness can i allow such prancing behaviour.

now they are settled back into their mid morning slumbers and i am able to get on with my 'hip hip hooray' giveaway.

for indeed a birthday or two needs to be celebrated and what better way then with a giveaway. 'tis been 4 whole years since i opened my little shop and despite it often sitting there with empty shelves i am truly blessed by wonderful customers, many of whom have come back to shop over the years again and again, so i am thinking 527 sales is worthy of celebration.

and as if that were not enough, my happy shiny place, the place i like to ramble upon is just shy of turning 4 too! gosh how terribly thrilling to be celebrating two birthdays and more to the point how terribly thrilling you are still reading this here ramblings after 540 rambles. surely you deserve way way more than a gold sticky star!

(although i am thinking they are in themselves, quite the prize)

so for my 'hip hip hooray' giveaway i will have two prizes

(gasp!)

to celebrate two wonderful moments in my cyberworld history and to say a grand 'thanking you kindly' in the besty best way i know how.

the winners will be picked using buttons! i am quite delighted when this thought struck my cogs this morning.

(the sort of delight that results in a little hand clapping and gleeful squeal)

yes indeed, a jar full of buttons will indeed risk their little buttony selves so i may pick out two winners randomly. each entrant to this giveaway will become a number, the final number of entrants will become the final number of buttons in the jar. the jar will then be held up high, the buttons will then become a little fretful at the height of which they are held.

i will do this all blindfolded so i will not have to see their little buttony fretfulness. i will then dangerously and quite recklessly tip the jar over towards a waiting large 'cookpot thingy' container below and with a bit of luck some of the little buttons will make it into the container. i fear a few will miss the mark and others may just plain faint with the whole trauma. i do so hope no button will end up broken, not sure i will be able to forgive myself.

upon looking in my cookpot, i will count the buttons and there will be winner number one! hip hip hooray!

i will then deduce from this number as to whether i will double it or halve it, and then we will have winner number two! hip hip hooray! i will then take those two numbers and match them with their entrants to the giveaway...

for example, 72 buttons land in the cookpot, #72 commenter in the giveaway is the winner.

(i gave that example as quite honestly having reread the whole button fiasco thing it all seemed somewhat confusing, but do not fear i do know what i am doing, but i don't think the buttons quite realize it just yet)

i will be giving away two 'loopy-de-loop' embroideries, i made quite a few of these last week and i experimented with letter sizing. i have decided to go with itty bitty sized letters and so two sweeties with their larger lettering are looking for new homes. i think the upside of their large lettering is one does not need specs on to read them.

'you are my happy'

and

'i am thinking nice thoughts today'

you can see them looking most 'doilified up' on the left hand side of my blog page and way way way on down, at the foot of my blog page

(which really makes me smile)

i have no idea if anyone would ever find her but she is waiting as a little happy thought. they are sewn on to vintage sheeting and ready to be pinned up in their new abodes. i am also going to pop in a 'most happy' notebook and a 'perfectly peachy' tea towel with each loopy embroidery, so they may travel safely in numbers.

here is the nitty gritty if you wish to be entered to win one of these sets of prizes

and please do read the nitty gritty

1: please answer the following question

"what lifts your spirits on a low day?"

(here i would say, crocheting and a cup of tea perhaps or talking to Our#1 on skype)

2: be sure to leave a way for me to contact you

3: due to my ridiculous button counting, number thingy picking ways, you will have to enter here on my blog, so i am unable to take emails this time around (big sorrys here)

4: does not matter where you are in the world you are welcome to enter

5: i will close this competition on Sunday 20th Feb (9pm pacific time) and announce the winners after the buttons have done their thing, on Tues 22nd Feb

6: i think that is it, although i must say i will be strict, if the question is not answered then i will not publish your comment, (that sounds terribly strict doesn't it) only folks that have done so will become a death defying button

7: if my brilliant button picking random thingy does not workout then i reserve the right to think up another hair brained scheme for picking the winners

i am quite sure there will be something else that pops into my little brain but for now i just wish to thank you for your custom in my little shop and your lovely comments over the years on my little blog, without you i would not be doing all that i am, nor all the things that lay out before in the coming months... they are down to you all and for that i am thanking you kindly

GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED

she is off to get the crock pot out, the oven gave up the ghost over a week back and 'tis time to bring in the big guns, ha ha, hee hee ~ Tif

wisdom whilst wearing a headscarf...

i am delighted to report,

my

headscarf wearing,

hand stitching,

book penning,

derriere

has kicked into first gear

and whilst the going is good,

i need to keep on 'a stitching' and 'a penning'.

so i think it would be wise for me to take a little blog break, but shall we have a rendevous time? i think that would be quite lovely, something for me to look forward to, because i will miss my shiny place and of course you, my dearest readers of the utmost kind.

oh my goodness! i have just looked at my Snoopy Calendar, a christmas gift from Our #4, so i might find the perfect date to rendevous and my little eyes note it is the Chinese New Year today!!! how terribly thrilling for little lucky bunny and his cape of crochet sitting all spiffy and 'good lucky' up there on my blog banner.

well that just made me most smiley and even more excited about the two chinese fortunes i have sticky taped on Colin the Computer. they are both from recent fortune cookies that came my way over the past few weeks.

one says

'you will soon vacation in a place of cool climate'

and t'other says

'you have remarkable power which you are not using'

i am wondering if i should dust little lucky bunny today, so his luckiness stays at optimum lucki-ability (what a grand word, lucki-ability, Mr Spell Checker scoffed at it but i rised above his scoffing ways and did not allow it to cloud this happy new year day)

so why don't we aim for Tuesday 15th Feb for our little 'hurrah! back together again' day

and just so you know in advance, cause i cannot wait until the 15th to tell you.

upon my return i will be planning a give-away, to celebrate a lovely happening that happened this week, till then, i wish you a few peachy days, ney a week or so of doing what you like to do best, and if you need a little help with this, do not forget wise 'dottie angel do' number four.

'do feel a little crafty at least twice a day'

she is wearing a red floral headscarf today, courtesy of her lovely friend Carol and it is doing quite the handy dandy job of aiding her pennings ~ Tif

Mr Shrew, a note or two and thrifty thoughts...

note one: debbie on her side of the pond and moi on mine, have spent the last day and a half marveling at how lovely you have all been towards our latest 'dottie angel ltd' adventure. as of this moment of tippity tapping i have 'checked and double checked' addresses and she has 'wrapped and double wrapped' notebooks for over 50 sets. words can not describe our delight in hearing the bell on my little shop door ring so many times. truth be told, we are a little gobsmacked.

we are thanking you most kindly for your response, if you are reading this and stopped by for a set of 'most happy' dottie angel notebooks, it was lovely to see you and we hope you will be most delighted with your purchase.

note two: thus far, i have been wearing my book writing headscarf for two days, it is a lovely coral granny pink number i found at the thrift store. 'tis a little summery for sure, but Mr Sunshine has popped his head out from behind the clouds so it felt quite fitting. yesterday when i was immersed in the world of dottie angel writing, Little Olive took full advantage, taking a nap on the couch. Little Olive on the couch is a 'no-no' and i must say she is very good about this, after all she has a suitcase full of crocheted goodness and did have a playpen until her cardboard eating ways got the better of her.

when i found her napping self (taking advantage of my distracted ways) she immediately stood up, claiming she needed only to use the couch as a 'step up' so she may admire the artwork which was tricky for a little doggie with short legs to see from the ground.

note three: in the name of research i have been looking through my archives upon this here rambly place.

upon reading several posts about thrifting, thrift stores and thrifty finds, i have whipped myself up into a thrifty feeling frenzy and now all i can think about is going to a thrift store and getting a thrifty fix for my addictive ways. good grief this is not the kind of thing a book writer needs to distract herself with, i tried to find posts that do not mention the thrill of the thrifty find, but alas it would appear they are quite thin on the ground. i have taken a few moments off from my research, splashed some cold water upon my perspiring forehead, whilst thinking it will take more than a cup of tea and a chunk of chocolate to steady these shakes. i am not sure i am strong enough to fight the 'urge to thrift', i fear i am weak and will by tonight surrender to my addiction.

note four: as noted in 'note two' (if you skipped a little, then you may have to go back, but do not worry, we will wait for you to catch up) Mr Sunshine has appeared. as is always the way, little teeny tiny critters are lulled into thinking it is time to wake up and forage for some edible treats.

poor poor little Mr Shrew, i can only say it was not how i wished your day to go, nor mine. for finding you on the stairs, left by a feline friend of mine, scared not half to death but completely, on the first sunny day of the year was quite a trauma for me, but i imagine it was even more so for you. whereever you are little Mr Shrew in that great Las Vegas in the sky, may you have eternal sunshine...

she has her florence nightingale cap balanced on top her book writing headscarf due to needs of a clan member and is noting it is causing her forehead to perspire even more ~ Tif