and off she goes, exotic fringe, granny undies and all...

righty ho, just counting out 10 days worth of my little vitamins and wondering why i chose today to cut my bangs/fringe with the kitchen scissors. i am now sporting quite an interesting looking fringe line. i have told myself it is perfectly acceptable for it to curve up in the middle above my nose and that in fact many may think it the latest look from hair catwalks from glamorous places such as Paris. i am thinking a little exotic here...

however, i do not have time to fret about my exotic looking fringe, for i have critters and children to sort.

upon my pottling around the shed with 'post-it' reminders stuck to my chest i noted my daffs are looking peachy and springy. i am wondering if they will still be there upon my return, looking not so peachy and not so springy, it is kind of comforting to think they may well be... things like that make one feel like life may whizz on by some days and be a little surreal, but the things which matter most like family and their little habits, stay the same. yes it is quite true to say, i hope i do arrive home to find my daffs bedraggled and way past their best on the windowsill.

gosh blimey i am getting all melancholy on you dearest readers, i guess that happens from time to time especially when i am flying on my own.

let us move on from such thoughts and before i head off on my red eye to old blighty this may be the perfect time for me to mention my up and coming workshops on the beautiful Suffolk Coast in England, this summer.

yes indeedy i need to rustle up a few more peachy dearies so we may have a perfectly fabby time of things in a beautiful cottage over looking the sea, vintage fabrics and lots of time to stitch to our hearts content whilst Angela does a brilliant job of providing us with wonderful homecooked food. walks on the beach, tea around the firepit and quality crafting time with some lovely likeminded crafty souls...

if you like the idea of being a peachy dottie angel dearie this summer (i know i do), you can find all the nitty gritty over at Angela's lovely place. any questions or other such things you may be wondering about, do not hesitate to contact Angela at ritchieacecamps@yahoo.ca

if your questions are more along the lines of

"Tif, why would you chose to cut your fringe with kitchen scissors the morning of leaving to visit England and meeting all those lovelies you have lined up?"

or indeed

"Tif, instead of darning three pairs of tights in their heels and leaving it to the last moment, do you not think a trip such as this is worthy of a new pair of tights?"

or perhaps

"Tif, when will you be getting your derriere into gear and making summer apron wraps for your little shop?"

then may i suggest you do not send those to Angela because i am quite sure she does not wish to talk about my exotic fringe shape, nor my darned socks and quite possibly not my derriere.

however the little bit about the apron wraps, may i be so bold as to answer here and now since you asked so nicely. for indeed upon my return from recharging my british batteries, i have plans, big plans which involve me, my ever-so-lovely Miss Ethel and dottie angel's newly adopted auntie and her trusty sewing machine. together we will beaver like we have never beavered before and after we are all 'beavered out' i hope to have summer apron wraps, lovely high hope flags and little sunshine sacks hanging in the shop window ready to meet Mr Spring and Master Summer.

oh yes! i am positively looking forward to claiming back some quality stitching time for dottie angel

she is wishing you a peachy few weeks, perhaps a little beavering of your own and will be back before you know it, exotic fringe, granny undies and all ~ Tif

homeward bound...

"well that's that then"

i announced to my man in early january as he arrived home late from work to survey the leftovers on the table from our chinese takeout.

"what's what Tif?" he asked with a little trepidation in his voice

(gosh isn't that a spiffy word, Darren dictionary is aiming a little higher these days)

i held in my little mitts a tiny piece of paper,

"it would appear the fortune cookie gods have spoken" upon which i read their wisdom to him as he helped himself to the remains of supper

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

i gave him credit, he did not bat an eye, just calmly pointed out as he always does when i claim every fortune that comes out of a cookie to be spookily accurate, that it is possible to read anything and everything into them.

i allowed him to digest his meal before i pointed out 'Old Blighty' is a place of cool climate, this time i noted his eyes rolled heavenwards. he agreed indeed it was and how fortunate i was going back there this summer so i was able to once again claim my cookie fortunes have a canny knack of coming true.

"ah ha!" i chimed in, "my fortune says 'soon', therefore it must be talking about sometime closer than July." i waited... nothing.

and so i bided my time, waiting and watching for the moment to strike and like all canny plans one sits upon, the time eventually comes. my time came in mid February and with it a cheap flight back to Old Blighty for a few days to spend quality time with Our #1 and recharge my british batteries.

tomorrow, me, my three pairs of clean undies, along with three frocks, three pairs of woolly tights (which still need darning) and one pair of clogs will be winging our way back over the pond for a whistle stop tour of a small island. Our #1 and myself will be doing a whole lot of travelling but it will be grand for we have so much to catch up on since we last met in December. we will be meeting and greeting peachy folks where ever we go. those peachy folks include (and not in any particular order)

my mother and father

my brother Ben

my soul sister Debbie

Joanna, lovely editor of soon to be released Mollie Makes

(will be sure to talk about that on my return)

Louise Dearie from my dottie angel camp last september

(she will be kindly taking us on a trip around Spitalfield market and brick lane)

the peachy Emily Chalmers (eeeek!)

and lastly, the day before i head back to my shed

the SELVEDGE spring fair,

where upon i will meet

my friend Gloria,

my buddy Fran

and plenty of other lovely dearies who will be at the fair

as you can see there will be lots of miles to cover inbetween the happy meet ups. this is grand for it will give me time to sit and natter with Our #1 whilst i do a bit of crocheting. along with the undies and frocks i will be packing some yarn and a special hook, her name is Grandmother Hook and she belonged to my grandmother Jane. there is real age to this hook of mine and it shows when looking at the lines upon her.

together we will be working on some 'itty bitty' garlands like the one you see in the pictures today, upon my return i will be finishing off the appliques and then popping them into my little shop window. all profits from the little garlands will go to relief funds aiding Japan.

i have noted everytime i crochet or stitch something for another, i spend all the time i am stitching thinking of them... these little itty bitty garlands will be no different.

Carlos my trusty camera, will alas be staying behind for he is unreliable as a travelling companion these days, so instead i will be taking a new fellow. he is called Leonard and he has a trusty lens and appears to have a liking for dim and dingy corners...

i have twiddled with all his bits and despite extensive studying of his manual (causing me to break my 'no reading manuals' rule) i cannot find his soul. however i have told myself Leonard has a lot to live up to and therefore i need to give him more of a chance, so together we will be taking pictures of our travels and with a bit of high hopes, will have a nice lot of snap shots to show on our return. i have put him in a fine and dandy floral travel pouch to make him feel worthy and therefore heighten the chances of him showing me his soul and thus, me and him getting along nicely.

righty ho, i am away to gather up my undies, frocks, tights and clogs. leave penciled scribbled notes all over the shed for remaining clan members to heed and as i see Mr Sunshine has come out to play, i may well take a few moments to stand on an acre of moss with my chickie peas and enjoy his rays. just for a moment though, for tights need 'a darning' for i do not think i can possibly get away with 'stirruped' tights in clog sandals...

she will be back tomorrow with a final 'ta ra' ~ Tif

the tale of me and Emily Chalmers...

if you are sitting comfortably, then i shall begin...

once upon a time lived Tif, it was many moons ago and she was misplaced and some may say, quite positively lost in a land of reproduction furniture and fancy front living rooms.

one day, Tif found herself pottling in the book store as she was apt to do, of a friday afternoon with a young clan. she thought it most nice of the book folks to place the children's books next to the craft and interior books. as she perused the shelves whilst glancing over at her clan from time to time, her little beady eye spied 'flea market style' upon the shelves of creative goodness.

Tif gasped 'thee gasp'... upon taking down this peachy book and beginning to turn the pages, she knew this was a wonderful happening to outdo all happenings that had ever happened to her in a book store before. After several page turns, it became quite apparent to Tif she was no longer alone and lost with her granny chic loving ways.

(please note, at this time Tif did not know her granny chic loving ways had a name such as granny chic, that lovely little term of description came later in her life, but for this story i popped it in because it does describe so well what Tif liked)

Tif clutched her 'find', indeed hugging it like an old friend, she then rustled up her little clan and headed home to her cookie cutter new build in Edward ScissorHand land.

from that day forward, Tif kept her little 'flea market style' book by Emily Chalmers on her bedside cupboard. some days when she was a little lost, she would open it and lose herself amongst the pages.

(i am thinking it quite true to say, if you were to ask Tif, she would probably be able to tell you each and every room laid out within its fine peachy pages, was the extent of her attachment to the book.)

roll on quite a few moons, possibly over 50 of them or more and Tif found herself sitting at her little desk tippity tapping away at pennings for her own book. on reflecting over the past few years and indeed the fateful path which led her and her clan to live at Mossy Shed, Tif got to pondering. she pondered all the way back to when she was a little girl and then back again to where she was today. how the events which had led to her writing a book, upon reflection all appeared to be connected... even her stumbling across Emily and her wonderful world of 'flea market style'

it was late, Tif was a little punch drunk from writing most of the day on and off, in a moment of madness whilst the clan slept above her head she wrote to Emily Chalmers, introducing herself and her world of dottie angel, telling Emily of her admiration for her lovely books and then she ended her letter with some high hopes.

the next morning at 6:30am Tif's alarm woke her with feelings of the morning after and what had she done... she wrote to her soul sister Debbie and told her of her doings, her soul sister told her she was not nutty. however Tif was not convinced, accompanied Mr Doubter and his little voice of uncertainty. yes indeedy he was in fine mocking form and throughout the day continued to remind her less she forget and may it also be known, there was plenty of pacing and hand wringing as well

(i have put that in because all good stories need a bit of pacing and hand wringing).

the following day, after the morning after, Tif glanced at her emails and then she felt a little giddy, she sat down calling Used Dog and Little Olive to her side, for indeed a moment such as this must be witnessed. there in Tif's little inbox was Emily Chalmers no less and even more incredible were the words Emily had tippity tapped the other side of the pond in her lovely nest.

Tif read the mail several times over, then her and her canine companions hoppity skipped a couple of laps around the shed and then promptly collapsed in a little heap on the floor with tears upon their cheeks

(actually Used Dog and Little Olive did several laps but did not shed a tear. Tif, however only managed one hoppity skip lap due to unfitness levels, but was very good at the tears side of things, i know this to be true as i was there)

after some nattering, Emily and Tif discovered they had quite a bit in common, those bits including a love of second hand goodness, furry friends, sharing the same age, kindred spirits and believing in fate, oh yes and they both liked grannies.

and so it came to pass, Emily and her lovely self, thought Tif's high hopes were perfectly achievable and spent her time wisely with pencil and scrap of paper in pocket waiting for moments of 'brilliant thoughts' to hit. at any given time Emily could be seen scribbling her little 'brilliant thoughts' upon her paper, then safely tucking it away whilst she went about her busy creative days in Caravan and elsewhere.

and as for Tif? well the little piece of paper Emily carried in her pocket served as a reminder to never ever doubt what a little bit of 'high hopes' can lead to...

dottie angel

the peachy crafty life of Tif Fussell

foreword by

Emily Chalmers

the end

she is washing undies and packing twinkies for travels to a small island called old blighty ~ Tif

where's dottie...

oakie dokes...

magazine round up

1: the peachy folks over at Frankie Mag in Australia bought out a lovely mook in November called SPACES. a mook is what happens when a magazine and a book get together. SPACES is jammy packed full of inspirational creative homes and work spaces from around the world. some of the folks you will have probably heard of and others will be new to you. i still can't believe Mossy Shed is in their fine pages amongst such lovely folks and their collections.

2: FLOW magazine is dutch, i cannot read a word of it but does not matter, for their visuals are so delightful i am happy to just look at all the pretty pictures. they have mentioned dottie angel before, but for this issue asked to use my pictures to illustrate an article of D.I.Y crafting. i need to get my friend Marjan to read it to me over a cup of tea i am thinking

3: a nice little mention in Inside Out, an australian magazine ( March/April issue) for my ramblings of dottie angel shiny place

4: Selvedge's latest issue has a page listing the lovely wares they like on Etsy. was greatly delighted to see our perfect peachy tea towels featured amongst the lovelies they picked out (have yet to see the latest copy in the flesh, but Debbie tells me it is grand)

other nitty gritty businessy busy stuff

1: lovely store Het Grote Avontuur in Amsterdam is stocking our handy dandy notebooks, just one look at Anna's peachy website has me a little giddy. the notebooks have done so well she has restocked on them! Anna's bricks and mortar store looks just peachy and i am rather made up to think my book will be amongst such lovelies upon the shelves come summer

2: Verandah in England has two lovely locations and is a collective of designers and craftmakers, their website is well worth a ganders and we are most chuffed our notebooks are now available to buy from both the Norwich and Holt store

3: Mies en Moos is a lovely dutch online store featuring all sorts of goodness and in amongst it all are some handy dandy notebooks. Michelle who runs her little online store is most delightful indeed.

4: my fabby friend Gloria from The Laundry will be running a stall at the SELVEDGE spring fair on April 2nd in just a few weeks. the fair features 30 wonderful folks and their wares. Gloria alongside of her peachy wares will have dottie angel notebooks and tea towels for sale. this is indeed most spiffy for more reasons than one, but the other reasons will have to wait until monday...

so there it is, hurrah hooray, a lovely thank you to all the peachy folks above and indeed to the others who featured dottie angel upon their blogs. it is most kind

she will be pausing for thought tomorrow, and will be back on monday ~ Tif

pondering thoughts on 'wheres dottie'...

last year in september when i was spending quality crafting time with my dearies. one lovely dearie asked me quite a telling question. she asked it in the most kindest of ways, but basically she asked why was i so pants at telling folks about the places i have been featured in. there upon followed a brilliantly brilliant conversation between the two of us, over a pile of vintage doilies resulting in me agreeing i was pants indeed. my lovely dearie laughed, especially when i ended it with, "i think it is the Brit in me". she then proceeded to tell me, many folks actually are interested in that sort of thing and indeed would love to know what i am up to and other such stuff.

the thing is, i never sat down to ramble on this blog with thoughts of being noticed. everything over the past few years has evolved on its own, i just continue to tippity tap just as i did the first day four years ago, talking about this and that, finding a smile in the day and crafting. slowly but surely lovely folks such as yourselves have found me and with this has come interest from others, one being magazines who wish to feature our shed or my creations and as anyone who has been in such a boat will know, it is most flattering to be asked. however more often then not, i have declined, due to a feeling of being a little overwhelmed by all the attention.

on occasion however i say "yes thank you, that would be nice" because the magazine or person has interested me, they are doing something i admire and i am delighted to be part of it. when the lovely publication appears in my mail box, i have a ganders, feel most proud inside for a short moment and then pop it in a drawer where i am collecting such things so one day my grandchildren will know a little bit about what their granny did when she was not quite so wrinkly.

after much pondering of my conversation with my lovely dearie and realizing i need to find some way to figure this out, i have devised a cunning plan. yes indeedy, my little cogs have turned and i do like it when that happens. i have come up with 'wheres dottie', it will be a category upon my sidebar and every now and again i will do a 'wheres dottie' post. within the post will contain a little round up of where dottie angel has featured in recent weeks and indeed perhaps other things which relate to 'businessy busy' stuff. i do not know the actual nitty gritty details, for as is often the way with my plans, i think it through half way and then just go with 'high hopes'.

those folks who may be interested will go

"ah ha! how spiffy, today i can find out which magazine Tif has waffled on in"

and then discover it is a foreign magazine, not available locally and in turn be driven nutso by my 'wheres dottie' post.

or perhaps, other folks who are not interested in that side of things to do with dottie angel will be able to say

"ah ha! i see this is not for me today, i do not do businessy busy stuff. i will come back tomorrow when Tif is talking about her undies and Samuel Whiskers in her attic"

(yes, he is back and from the sounds of things, he is a father)

so with all that being said, i am rather pleased with this plan, for over the coming weeks and months there are things i wish to share and are part of the way my dottie angel world has become to a certain extent. strangely surreal some days, i cannot ignore it is changing and i need to find a way with being okay with that, being thankful and enjoy it for the wonder it is, without my little shiny place losing it's ramblerly way :)

she will be back tomorrow with her first 'wheres dottie' post, just to give you a heads up ~ Tif

the peachy world of Planet Fur...

there are so many reasons to love Marlous and her wonderfully peachy world of Planet Fur.

below are just a few...

reason #1: Molly the cat and her bunnykins

reason #2: pretty wall mounted animals all beautifully hand stitched

reason #3: Marlous' new nest, filled with handcrafted details, thrifty finds, plenty of calming white and bold splashes of color. actually it was the chair you see in the first photo which stopped me in my tracks and caused me to take a closer look at Marlous and her lovely world. yes, i admit it, i was overcome with chair envy, oh well yes and fabric envy too...

reason #4: blankity bunnykins hand stitched from recycled goodness, one of which lives at mossy shed. upon arrival, 'blankity' having travelled the seas with his vintage security puzzle piece safely tied around one ear, became firm friends with pesky 'pom-pom' squirrel and together they spend their day wisely plotting silly tricks to play on other forsaken souls within the shed.

reason #5: Molly the cat again

she is wearing her editing cap today whilst holding in her hands enough material to write two books ~ Tif

footynote: please note all images belong to Marlous and Molly, i wish they belonged to me but they do not. i kind of think you knew this but i had best say it anyhow. not the bit about me wishing they were mine, the bit about the images belonging to Marlous and Molly :)

note taking...

before i hoppity skip to a 'day at the office' several things to note...

note one: when thinking up a cunning plan to make peace with ones man in the way of a marmalade sandwich, t'would be wise to actually check the larder cupboard first. upon inspection just now, i see it is bare of marmalade. on closer inspection of what else i can rustle up apart from my chocolate spread, i have spied a lettuce leaf destined for Speedy the Tortoise. now i am torn between Speedy having his breakfast and my man being offered a lettuce 'peace' sandwich

note two: my 'simply sampler' blanket is coming along a treat, albeit slowly. i have noted it is going a little wonky in places but i am thinking this will add 'charm' to the finished sweetie. however if you are waiting on me to do a bobbly how-to i fear the wait maybe longer than you may wish to sit and twiddly your Mr Hook. but no worries, for the lovely Cuckoo has done a marvelous job at showing us all how to achieve a lovely bobbly crochet. i am actually in awe of her fabby tutorial because not only has she done a tres peachy job of it but Cuckoo wrote this with babe in arms, and i am talking about a few days old babe in arms with little ones running around too! i think that is brilliantly brilliant and worthy of a gold sticky star in my books

note three: i am not one for buying US magazines often, however there is one magazine i have come across recently which i must tell you has me rather giddy. it is called Anthology and features creative and inspiring folks and interiors with soul. every page is a treat to look at and it is beautifully presented. i am most happy to have found a US magazine which ticks all the right boxes for me

note four: i noted this morning around the same time as noting my lack of marmalade, that Little Olive and her crocheted blanket have become the best of friends and seeing her all slightly 'tubby' in her little nest of crocheted goodness makes me smile. nothing quite like a furry friend.

she is thanking you kindly for the lovely comments this week and wishing you a little bit of happy for the weekend ~ Tif

wrestling with hiccups, pennings and a blankie...

a few hiccups in the proceedings this week. not the sort of hiccups which cause you to be driven insane and drink lots (water that is) but nice hiccups involving lovely folks and my book pennings.

one of my hiccups involved a pottle around Goodwill in the big city with Marjan. upon pottling i came across a lovely peachy blanket for the even lovelier sum of $3. i exclaimed to Marjan this blanket had 'little olive' written all over it. arriving home to my shed i washed said peachy blanket and laid it on the couch.

as soon as i had done so, i was overcome with little blanket lust, i wished to keep my newly found blanket to myself and not share it with Little Olive. such was my wanting for the blanket, i hid it from Little Olive less she see its yarny beauty and become attached. this morning however i have given myself a stern talking to about Little Olive's need being greater than mine (how i came to that conclusion is beyond me as we all know, the little doggie has more crocheted blankets than any other doggie i know) but still i did.

my pennings are all starting to come together and tomorrow my man is taking me to work with him. it is not 'take your woman to work' day, rather because he had a bright idea as i sat in bed this morning in the early hours explaining my inability to visualize what i had written in a book form.

(i said this in a 'nutshell' to you, but to him it was very long winded and fretfully worded, and i note his head was under a pillow for most of my long winded fretting)

so he suggested i come to his work place and print off all my pennings and then read them as if they were a book, therefore i would have a better idea of whether indeed i had repeated myself on several occasions, where gapping big holes of important pennings were missing and perhaps as he also suggested, i may actually say to myself, "blimey Tif, despite your doubting ways, you hold a book in your hand"

this is terribly thrilling, for i have never been and sat in his office at work, due to allergies bought on by corporate work spaces but it will be fine and dandy for i shall be sure to take my allergy medicine an hour before i arrive.

i am wondering if it would be nice of me to bring a sack lunch for us, a marmalade sandwich for him and chocolate spread on ryvita for me. i think i failed to mention this little detail before, but i have given up white toast this new year and in its place i now have ryvita. it is not far off cardboard but when butter and Cadbury's chocolate spread is a top, it becomes edible. i would have to sandwich two ryvitas together to avoid chocolate spread getting all over his marmalade sandwich but it would be quite a nice moment of sharing.

on second thoughts, perhaps i should keep his marmalade sandwich hidden until the point where he is driven nutso by my

"i can't find my documents on this little usb thingy, oh my lord, i have lost my book! it is gone, GONE forever... this is a tragedy, one of epic proportions. where for art thou my book"

all the time my voice rising in panic levels, drawing attention from the other folks in their little offices across the way, four walls and artificial lighting. then when i get to the point where he is ready to say

"look why don't you go home to the shed and i'll sort it"

with an exasperated look upon his face accompanied by another grey hair.

i will rustle around in my large bag, unearthing crochet, car keys, purse, my lost sanity and volia! a marmalade sandwich :)

suddenly all will be forgiven, in that instant he will forget my disabilities with computers, my inabilities to stay calm and focused and transport himself back to 25 years ago when we first met and he fell for my... well actually i do not know what he fell for, but he must have fallen for something to have stayed around so long.

yes, that is what i shall do, i will use the marmalade sandwich as a peace offering within what is bound to be a fiasco of me trying to locate and print off folder after folder of random pennings and piece them into a book where upon i will sit in his spare swivelly chair and insist i read it all out loud, where upon my man in his swivelly chair will quietly place his head upon his desk, marmalade sandwich slightly out of reach and silently weep

she is now quite giddy about tomorrow and wondering if she should change out her large bag for a very 'important businessy looking' corporate brief case ~ Tif

on a roll...

yes indeedy, whilst we are on a roll,

"what sort of roll is that Tif, a bread roll, or perhaps a tootsie roll?" i hear you cry

oh dearest dearies, you are quite the cards are you not! no i am talking a wallpapering roll. (ha ha hee hee, brilliant pun 'tis it not!)

for we had Ben and his little coat of modge podged patchworked wallpaper

and

the lovely Mrs Monkey and her newly adopted baby with their mighty fine wallpapered ears.

so i thought to myself as i sit here tippity tapping, why not finish up the week with more wallpapering moments within the shed. then we can all be done with it and move on to yet more thrilling things next week. if perhaps you think it can't get more thrilling then me talking wallpaper talk three posts in a row, then if i were to mention i have a little thing called 'wheres dottie' lined up for next week, then perhaps the monitor which records levels of thrillingness somewhere might just have peaked a little above the wallpaper thrilling mark. who knows, only the person who owns such a monitor would know, but i like to think it will peak quite nicely.

a few weeks back, i do believe this was when i was on a blogging break, headscarf donned and pennings going well, i had a moment, another antsy creative moment. this time my victim was our entrance way wall.

'tis a little bit of wall and indeed the very reason why i fell in love with mossy shed. i have said it before but for those that perhaps are new, or indeed slept through when i said it before (and who could blame you) i will recap.

you open our front door and right in front of you is my wallpapered wall. it is not very far in front of your nose, and if i take a 'face on' photo i have to stand on my doorstep to take it.

to the right is the stairs and the step down into our lounge, to the left is my studio and the narrow hallway to the kitchen. no doors, just open doorways.

last year i found some retro goodness from the peachy folks at 'h is for home' and promptly papered our little wall. (please see above) i was delighted with the results and do not understand why i had to go and let my antsy mood take such a risk. yes i 'risked it for a biscuit' and afterwards, as if that wasn't enough 'biscuit risking' behaviour, i then hammered lots of nails in the wall and covered my newly risky bisky wallpaper with vintage plates.

now i am not the first to paper their wall in different strips for sure, however when i have seen it before, it has always been with lighter brighter more retro florals and because of that reason my doubting ways took a hold

after which, i stood back and thought "blimey Tif, this is a bit exotic even for you". i then began to fret, worried i had lost my tiny tasteful mind, visions of dolls and their knitted toilet roll covering skirts came to mind. i felt a little faint... just as i was beginning to feel super duper dizzy the handcrafted secondhand gods intervened. they handed me a pair of rose colored specs and told the little voice within my head called Mr Doubter,

"actually if you look upon this wall of many 'goings on', it is no different to the way Tif patches her cushions together"

suddenly Mr Doubter high tailed it out of the shed door and ever since everytime i walk through mossy shed's front door, rose colored specs firmly upon my nose i am most delighted with the results of my antsy wallpapering moment

she is thanking you most kindly for cheering her week with your sunny comments and is wishing you a peachy weekend ~ Tif

a happy ending...

these two found me one week apart in my local thrift store,

both waiting on the shelves of despair,

both in need.

Mr Monkey needed a new nose

Mrs Monkey needed a pair of new ears

and

they both needed love

nearly a year on,

i am delighted to report their love is still going strong.

however unbeknownst to me they had secretly wished to be parents

so when a little baby monkey found me today

whilst 'a pottling' around the thrift store,

their little secret wish came true

after a new pair of ears

i stood back to admire the family.

i noted how they looked made for each other

and how interestingly of all,

little baby wooden monkey's ears were

the color as his mothers

but the shape of his fathers

she now has 'we are family' and 'reunited' going round and around in her head ~ Tif

oh how i love thee, modge podge...

last week when my plans to 'continue pennings' fell apart due to snow days, my creative cogs got antsy, this antsy-ness led to me quite frankly not being very nice to know.

as i sat upon the couch in pyjamas, crochet by my side and my clan under foot (not exactly under my foot but just 'there') i picked up my lovely copy of MILK decor, which the mail man had delivered a few days before. i cannot tell you how delighted i was to have it finally in my mitts. the lovely Jenny from LittleBig had sent it out the beginning of january and obviously my little magazine had travelled the seven seas to get to my doorstep 6 weeks later.

oh but such gladness was mine to know my little copy of MILK was so brave and determined to make it stateside to mossy shed's mailbox. issue 4 is jammy packed with peachy interiors, yes it is about children but quite honestly i could not find a thing it in that would not appeal to an adult. any magazine which has a fabby donna wilson cushion on the cover is going to be my sort of a read. well upon perusal, with antsy cogs accompanying my perusing moment, i stumbled across these stools. immediately i rustled around the kitchen drawer, found my detective cap and went 'a hunting' for clues and then as is often the way with me i discover the very thing that caused my heart to pitter patter has been around for quite sometime and others have known this for said 'quite sometime'.

back on my couch, antsy cogs still nagging and now my heart in stool lusting mode like never before, a thought appeared. the sort of lovely thought one has from time to time, yes i would put it as a 'ah ha thoughty' thought!

eight years ago we bought two ikea stools, the lovely bentwood ones which alas they no longer produce. at the time of purchase i had plans for them but my plans got no further then stenciling a damask pattern on one of them, promptly leaving them out in the rain and ruining the wood. the little damask number was beyond help, but the other one was okay for life as a painting stool, on close inspection his wood was all cracked but he was a sturdy little number and so for the past years he lives in the garage waiting for the moments i require his broad shoulders to stand upon so my paint brush can reach the ceiling areas.

once i thought of Ben in the garage (he originally was called Benjamin by ikea) and my wallpaper collection, i was inspired! and so i went about feeding my antsy creative hunger merrily, whilst my clan continued to be underfoot, cutting and stitching pieces of wallpaper.

now here is what i found to be true for me and Ben. first off i have always used wallpaper paste and had no trouble whatsoever with it sticking and as that is all i had to hand then i used it. i also discovered it was easier to cut the rough size out, stitch with the help of Miss Ethel and then glue the piece. upon placing it on the stool carefully i smoothed it out and then went around the edges with a Stanley knife, most cautiously, to get a really spiffy neat edge.

after much stitching, patching and piecing, i stood back to admire Ben and his new coat of patchwork. my antsy cogs were riding high, i was in love for sure. the next day i came downstairs to greet Ben and admire his coat of many wallpapers, but alas Ben and his coat had not faired so well, areas were peeling off and quite frankly i wished to weep at my new loves condition.

"do not panic" i said to myself wisely, "keep a calm head and think Tif"

i repasted the pieces and held them down, willing them to adhere to Ben, but alas again they would not behave.

but do not fear nor weep for Ben and his little jacket of patched paper for there is a happy ending... yes indeed, MODGE PODGE is my new best friend, i had heard about its clever ways but never taken a chance, partly cause the bottle appeared so little for the cost involved. how wrong i was, silly silly me! i want to shout it from the shed's roof top "i love modge podge" indeed i am thinking of getting a t-shirt printed with the very words, but that would be silly cause i don't wear t-shirts so instead i may get a bumper sticker for the car.

can i tell you why i love modge podge with all my little antsy creative heart strings, because once it had glued down Ben's paper coat, not only did it stay there, but when i put 4 layers of it's gluey goodness over the paper and stitching, suddenly Ben had a coat of what can only be described as an oilcloth looking loveliness.

every time i pass by Ben i have to touch him, to check his smooth good looks, so far i have allowed no member of the clan to go near him for he is so peachy i wish to keep him all to myself.

as i tippity type this large long ramble he sits beside me, looking peachy perfect...

and yesterday, why yesterday he suggested how grand it would be to perhaps relive the good old days, so i climbed upon his broad shoulders this time not for a spot of painting but for a spot of bench mondaying...

and who was i to disagree

she is wishing to modge podge the whole of mossy shed and is looking for her next willing victim within her four walls ~ Tif

footynote: okay so typical moi, apparently upon closer inspection of my little wonder pot of glue on the kitchen windowsill tonight, it is called Mod Podge. i have no idea why i cannot ever quite use the right word for something. i believe i inherited this trait from my lovely granny... still i think i like modge podge better so perhaps i will stick with it. ha! stick with it, nice one Tif :)