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

update on Used Dog...

it has been many years since i wrote a christmas wish list 

but this year i have one, 

it is quite simple and i am only asking for one thing:

1. a clean bill of health for my constant canine companion

i have high hopes it will not be too much to ask for.

last night, Used Dog came home. 

she made it through the operation which turned out to be a tricky dicky one, 

leaving her with several layers of stitches and 30 plus staples in her side. 

but still her little eyes shined brightly 

and her tail wagged when she knew she was home.

('cos that's what doggies do best, even on bad days)

we lay side by side in the lounge all night long. 

just me and my secondhand dog. 

now some may call me insane, but i think not. 

for my dog has been by my side through good and bad for over 11 years, 

so at a time in her life when perhaps she is not feeling the bees knees,

 i think it perfectly sane for me to lay next to her, 

so she need not be afraid.

the next few weeks her side will slowly mend, 

the staples will be removed 

and the long wait will be over. 

we will know if our Used Dog, 

despite the doctor's concerns, 

has a clean bill of health 

and a few more happy doggie years left on this earth

so i must take a moment to thank you all so kindly,

for all the fingers and paws crossing you have been doing

on behalf of our Used Dog

and may i be so bold and ask if perhaps

you may care to continue to do a bit more 'crossing'

until we know she has a clean bill of health.

i know it may be tres tricky to go about your daily lives

with crossed fingers and paws,

but even just a little 'quick crossing'

 every now and then would be spiffy.

and tonight, 

when Used Dog comes home to the shed again,

after another day at hospital

and we lay in the dark,

just her, me and my florence nightingale cap.

i will be sure to tell her of your kindness 

whilst i administer half hourly doses of ear stroking.

she will be back tomorrow with the peachy 'one little bird' to share ~ Tif

a long day at mossy shed...

today Used Dog is in hospital for an operation.

we have told her to be brave

we have told her "we love you Used Dog"

and now all we can do is keep our fingers and paws crossed

(a little tricky for a little critter with limbs on the short side)

and wait patiently for Used Dog to come back home to mossy shed so we can feel whole again

~ Tif and Little Olive

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 :)

a bit of tartan, some good fortune, perhaps a smidgen of snow and a little thanks...

for the past two days i have been wearing my elf cap upon my bonce. alas and alack, i have not been wearing my Paddington Bear pyjamas despite the temptation of their flannelly goodness and the crappity crap dreary weather. they are not quite like the ones he wears, for if i recall (and we all know how iffy that can be) he wore pinstriped ones, or perhaps that was my own Paddington Bear, now i am thinking he wore ones with flowers on. well mine are tartan and i like to think if Paddington had gone across the border into Scotland he would have liked a pair of tartan pj's to remind him of his travels.

mine are made from Stewart tartan no less.

"how could you possibly know such a thing Tif?" i hear you inquire.

well dearest reader, first off may i congratulate you on your inquiry, i think it is always important to be inquisitive of such matters.

well as luck would have it, many many moons ago in my late teens i lived in Edinburgh for several years and worked a day job at a Barrow which stocked buttons and ribbons, and many of those ribbons were tartan. and being what my job was, i was often called upon by inquiring tourists to name a tartan or two. oh yes those  long ago days of cutting ribbon and counting out buttons all come flooding back when i stumble across a tartan or two.

'weather bug' has informed me that it is going to snow, he appears to be a little iffy as to the details and when i try to pin point him down he becomes quite vague. 'weather bug' is an app, he lives on my cell phone, i have reached the 21st century, i have a phone that does things other than dial a number. i am struggling with the other things it does but luckily for me, i live with teenage lads :)

so i have a handy dandy 'weather bug' who appears to change his mind hourly and now i have a 'fortune cookie' app too! never has life been so thrilling to get out of bed at 6:30am for the school run than when one has a fortune cookie waiting for you. i just tap its little shell and out pops my fortune for the day. two days ago when my phone rang causing me to panic as it rarely rings and being one of those smart phones you press things without wishing to, just trying to get it out of your bag. well all i was trying to do was answer my phone, a perfectly innocent thing to do, but instead i pressed the 'button tile' to my fortune cookie, which is okay normally because it would just show me my fortune again for that day, reminding me less i had forgotten. however in my need to get back to where i wished to be, i double tapped it. gosh, do you know, my fortune cookie got cross with me. it actually told me off. it said something along the lines of 

"do not be greedy, one fortune a day, come back tomorrow".

after which i was quite upset for there appeared no where on the screen i could tap out a message to my fortune cookie explaining the tres terrible mistake, telling him, i was not intentionally being greedy and to please forgive me so i could go about my day without feeling wretched. but no, nowhere and so i was left with that feeling of having done something wrong. the power of what appears to be a harmless little app...

but today is not the day for talking tartan pj's and fortune cookies, although can i just say, if 'weather bug' gets it right and snow comes a tumbling from the sky, i'll be donning my flannel pj's faster than my lads can shout "snow day, no school".

today is the perfect day for me to say "thank you kindly". it was so spiffy to see so many of you at my 'joyful' shop update, you kindly spent your hard earned pennies which resulted in not only me wearing an elf cap but also my peachy friend Laurie. she came by on tuesday to help me and i must say her 'elf cap' was far prettier than mine. i am thinking i need to 'dottie angel' mine up a bit.

also, before my shop update, so many many kind folks have been coming to my little shop and buying the book. you have taken time to write me fabby feedback upon your purchases and also to send me emails with how much you love the book. this is wonderful to know...

so with a week to go till thanksgiving, i truly am most thankful for your kindness, your custom and your lovely comments you continue to share with me. i've said it before and i will say it again, you are the bees knees for sure.

she notes, it is one month tomorrow and her girls are home for the holidays ~ Tif

a 'joyful' update today...

i am not here today, i am over here,

hanging things in clusters in my shop window.

how nice, clusters throughout the day.

i am thinking if one saw every day in clusters

it would make things quite nice.

i'll do a cluster of laundry and then craft,

another cluster of feeding the clan, then craft

and so forth...

yes i do like myself a cluster or two

she has rediscovered her love of paddington bear pyjamas now winter is upon her, and thinks a cluster of pj's in flannel would be grand too ~ Tif 

'thing' friday...

thing one:

it is tres gloomy in the shed today, i know this to be true for just now i saw from the kitchen, that the family room looked tres dull and marched in there to pull back the curtains, only to discover i had already done so earlier. this tells me two things (within 'thing one'). it is tres gloomy and my ability to recall what i did ten minutes earlier is on rocky grounds

thing two:

a chance comment by a peachy reader reminded me of my lost 'little happy monkey' tray. i had two, one for display and one for use. a little while ago i lost my 'one for use'. i do not recall taking him out of the shed for a walk. i tried without vain to recall my last movements within my shed with my little tray, but alas and alack, the old recall cogs just will not turn. it has been over 5 weeks since i last saw my little tray. just thinking about him somewhere lost in our shed makes me sad... looking out and seeing perhaps me walking past, thinking i would spy him and gather him up and then no, i just walk on by, unable to spy him amongst the piles

thing three:

this sunday, when the weather will be at an all time 'gloomy low' i will be at the Assemble shop, beavering away with lovely dearies. i think this is a fine and dandy way to pass a gloomy day and i am actually rather giddy about it

thing four:

my rippley blanket is complete and i am most happy indeed. despite the fretting of colours, i do believe it turned out 'a-okay'. i know i am happy with it, because i have feelings of not wishing it to be shared with my clan members. this is a sign of me liking it very mucho. here is a few things you may wish to know if you are interested in what i did. if you are not, then you are welcome to skippity skip this bit. i do not mind one little bit.

* i used chunky yarn, 

* i made my own chunky yarn for some colours by doubling and tripling strands of yarn together

* i did a basic chevron pattern i learnt off YouTube

* i used a Mr Hook size 7

* i did four rows of each colour in double crochet (triple crochet UK)

* there was method to the madness of the colour placing

1 row of cream

1 row of colour

1 row of cream

2 rows of colour

1 row of cream

3 rows of colour

1 row of cream

4 rows of colour

1 row of cream

* i have discovered that when i add a healthy dose of cream to my crocheting it always appears to pull it together.

* i finished off my rippley blanket with an edge, the edge consists of

1 row of single crochet

1 row of picot crochet

and there you have it, you can make it any size you like. mine is perfectly sized for one large being and one small being to share. as i do not have a small being in my shed, i am debating allowing a little critter to snuggle in next to me. but no large beings. no they can have the other pile of blankets i have made over the years which are now looking rather loved. this will be my very own exclusive Tif's blanket... 

i am wondering now if i need to put a note pinned on it, reminding others they may look but not touch. then again, that would make me seem like a meanie, so perhaps i'll just hide it somewhere so others cannot find it. but what if i did that and then my recall cogs do not turn and i lose my lovely blanket along with my lovely 'monkey tray'? would that serve me right for being a meanie and not sharing? oh my goodness, i am now left with a quandary within my brain of what to do here...

thing five:

i don't have one, i did but its fallen into a black hole in my brain, due to anxiety coming on through fretting about the safety of my blanket. i'm sure it was super thrilling and really interesting, but once again, alas and alack, we will never know.

she is wishing you a happy dandy weekend with recall skills in tippity top condition ~ Tif 

a 'small being'...

i do not have any 'small beings' lying around my shed.

i have plenty of 'little critters' and 'large beings' but that would not do.

as luck would have it, 

i found myself a perfectly perfect 'small being' on tuesday,

courtesy of a fine friend and her shed.

photo credited to fine friend

photo credited to fine friend

photo credited to fine friend

gosh darn it, after going cold turkey for 3 months, she has broken down and is back on 'chocolate spread on white toast' again ~ Tif

willy nilly...

this week is all about getting photos done for my joyful shop update

(please look to the right if you do not know about this and wish to know more)

(please do not look to the right if you do already know about my joyful update, or indeed, do not wish to know)

yesterday as i took a breather, i looked around me at the piles of handcrafted goodness and little forsaken souls alongside of knick knacks, all waiting patiently for their moment to shine.

they all looked so peachy just hanging around, twiddling their thumbs, so i snapped them right there and then with Frankly Frank's help. 

here's just a few of those snaps. 

no particular order, 

just a willy nilly collection of what i saw

she has found a rather lovely 'small being' and on thursday will be sure to share ~ Tif