on the road...

i have no idea where the first half of this year has gone, but gone it has...

in a few hours me and my lads of 2 will be winging our way once again across the pond to spend a few happy weeks in old blighty. it will be a bit of a whirlwind of a trip, with never staying still in one spot for long and upon our return i will be up and running again on this here my shiny place.

our granny chic book goes to print in less than 2 weeks and i will be able to share all about the goings on with the book and indeed where you may pre-order if you so wish, when i am back from my travels.

i am so looking forward to meeting fabby dearies next weekend at our crafty day workshops.

i am tres excited to be seeing all my brothers and their families together for the first time in over 5 years to celebrate my folks 50th wedding anniversary. 

i am thinking how lovely it will be to meet up with all my man's family and spend quality time together and say our final farewell's to Papa.

i am thrilled to be visiting with my soul sister Debbie and also my book writing buddy Rachelle.

i am beyond giddy to spend 4 days in Istanbul with my clan, together again for a short time.

so many 'i ams' but really truly the biggest 'i am' of all is none more so then having 10 whole peachy days of hanging out with my girls and being a clan again. for to me, that is the best thing of all...

and so quite simply put

'i am so happy to know for a short while, i will feel whole again'

it just leaves me to say a big old thanking you all kindly dearest readers. this half of the year has been an odd old half, many things have gone on and many changes have taken place, thus there have been times my blog has sat quiet, waiting patiently for me to appear. you have been most kind to me and indeed most patient. i wish you all the happiest of happy times in the coming weeks and hope you will take time out to feel a little crafty at least twice a day whilst i am gone

cheerio for now and see you in early august, all spickity span with crafty souls well and truly polished

Tif

a bit of bling...

yesterday eve i got the urge to do a bit of blinging.

i do like to bling things,

indeed it would be quite true to say

anything which comes my way if it stands still long enough

 will eventually be blinged.

in fact upon tippity tapping this,

i have reflected upon my life

and do believe not a day has gone by when i have not 'blinged',

such is my need to do so.

a little bit of bling,

be it on a thrifty find

 or an old friend found in the cupboard,

can be just the thing

to cheer up something a little tired or lost.

(myself included)

a few weeks back,

my blinging ways

led to an old cardi having new buttons.

this old friend will now be travelling across the pond with me

in a few short days

last night's bit of time spent blinging

resulted in some clogs looking spiffy with woven ribbon detail.

just a few happy moments with some peachy ribbon

from a fabby dottie angel dearie in Holland

and a bit of good old mod podge.

i got my bling fix,

i am happy,

my clogs are happy,

now that is my kind of bling.

i think i will call it

'granny chic bling'

from now on...

Tif

a note about used dog ...

this afternoon upon seeing Used Dog back to her usual perky self after a couple of days of jippy ways, i noted how lovely her complexion was for a dog of such great age. i found myself envying her youthful ways and admiring how well she wears her whiskers. quite obviously these words of admiration did not fall on death ears, for a beam worthy of bright rosy pinky red gloss balm spread across her lovely chops. 

a beam worthy of sharing, for without a doubt, bound to cheer up any day...

Tif & Used Dog

frocks and such like...

in amongst the intense nitty gritty of the past few weeks of granny chic book madness (more of this thrilling subject tomorrow), i have been taking little breathers and dabbling with Miss Ethel. when Rachelle (my spiffy book writing buddy) came to stay, we decided upon the peachy idea of having co-ordinating frocks for our up and coming workshops in old blighty. not to mention important busy businessy meetings we are attending in the big smoke. we did not wish to be matching but nicely complimenting each others 'interesting handmade' attire, as one does.... there is a fine line at our age and one we must not cross

each of us, either side of the pond has spent stolen moments whipping up a few frocks. each one we tweak or add a different detail to and in doing so, have given a basic shaped frock a whole new look with a bit of bling here or a bit of bling there.

end of last week i wore my new red frock with handy dandy kangaroo pocket to test it out. the panel down the front has given the effect of a tabard of sorts (thus a nod towards granny's and their pinnies).

 i've made my handmade frocks from beginning to end without trying on in-between (once again risking it for a biscuit). so when i popped it on my heart sank as i realized the fawn ditsy fabric down the front did nothing to give me a radiant complexion but more one of having just been sick. so i threw caution to the wind and did the 'button bling' deed, placing two around the neck line to lift things a little. this very act frightened me greatly, for one has to be a little careful when blinging out floral frocks... too much bling and it resembles something an eight year old would wear. 

my blinging fears were unfounded and the buttons appeared to have done the trick alongside my new miracle face cream which claims to make me look fresh and not haggard according to the info on the box. as it is a 'hint of a tint' sort of moisturizer to fill in all the cracks and crevices on one's face and even things out, i am hoping for a small miracle. i am keeping my fingers crossed i don't break out from a reaction as is the usual way and indeed upon peering closely in the mirror today i noted i no longer looked 43 years, 9 months and 1 day but rather 43 years, 8 months and 21 days!! goodness what a miracle indeed

whilst out and about with the sun shining, in my new frock, with blingy buttons and miracle cream up against it, i noted i was the palest person in my town, i have no idea where folks get their tans from, they must be from a bottle or a bed but certainly not from our recent pants weather. i very cleverly distracted folks from my luminous pasty pins by my new bright rosy pinky red gloss balm which was found at the same time as the miracle cream. it is the sort which stains your lip and in doing so gives you a bit of perky colour. a clever distraction technique from pasty palour if ever there was one

so there we have it, with frocks made, complexion tightened up and lips worthy of Colin Firth stopping by, i feel i am ready for the coming few weeks of travel. although a thought has just occurred, having got my lips all ready for the off chance Colin Firth will drop by, i will not be here to receive him for i will be away travelling. i doubt with his busy schedule he will have time to hang around waiting patiently for my return and embrace. hopefully word will be slow to get out to him and thus i will have returned back to mossy shed before he arrives wishing to admire my newly glossy balmed rosy lips

and just a frock note, for there are many and i appear to have lost the frock plot with thoughts of Colin... however one worthy of a note, Rachelle and i are plotting and planning. tis our hope, patterns for our frocks and other such endearing granny chic attire will be available in the future in some shape or form, no matter your shape or form. hip hip hooray!

righty ho, over and out

Tif 

little olive and her aspirations...

little olive has got wind of the Olympic games coming up shortly in old blighty. not quite sure how as i do not recall mentioning it, nor catching her reading the news, but i am guessing things like this eventually find there way to even little critters.

upon discovering such an event was taking place, she inquired if she may take part. not wishing to dash her hopes i gently had to let her down. i noted that try-outs were a long time ago and all teams were full. i also told her 'four legged' folks were quite rare on such teams and perhaps she may care to look elsewhere for a spot of competing.

obviously she was not deterred and after a few days past, requested information on Crufts Dog Show. after perusing the criteria for canine companions and the categories i felt once again perhaps she was barking up the wrong tree. without wishing to further rain on her parade instead of telling her she did not qualify for any category as far as i could tell, i asked her what she felt were her special talents and indeed what categories was she thinking she may enter...

little olive then proceeded to show me in great detail the categories she would enter with a most hearty helping of high hopes

category 1: i can't see you, so you can't see me

category 2: a caterpillar pondering life

category 3 : two caterpillars sleeping

(i spy with my little eye something beginning with 'c')

category 4: listening at all times

category 5: sleeping like butter would not melt in my mouth

category 6: snuggled up in bed

category 7: perfectly tucked up in bed all by myself

little olive has high hopes for a rosette in 1 or 2 of the categories but she has shared with me, her hopes for gold are placed firmly in category 7.

i have not the heart to tell her i do not believe there are gold, silver or bronze at Crufts. perhaps there are, for i am not well versed on their awards and more to the point is, i do not have the heart to tell her Crufts does not actually have a single one of these categories. however upon seeing her display of giftedness in certain areas, (which cannot be denied), i will be writing to the top dog of Crufts, enclosing little olive's resume and photos and be asking him to consider adding several new categories before the next show...

Tif and little olive

risking it for a biscuit (or two)...

last night, i risked it for a biscuit...

as i drove Our #4 to soccer practice i was overcome with melancholy thoughts of 'yonks ago' when time appeared to be on my side and a carefree attitude as to how i spent it, was mine.

so i turfed Our #4 out at the soccer sidelines and made a bee line for our local thrift store, hence risking it for a biscuit. for indeed that is just what it was, for in times of late, our local thrift store has been more pants than peachy in its offerings. the truth of the matter is, the shelves of despair on every visit are filled with crappity crap, so much so, it had caused me to stop frequenting it. i was given no choice but to widen the circumference (a mathematical word especially added to this ramble for my dad) of my 'thrifty turf' when it came down to jolly thrifty days out.

as i pulled into the parking lot it felt like old times again. upon opening the door i was greeted by familiar faces behind the tills ~ a smile ~ a nod ~ an acknowledgement of my existence ~ it felt grand to be back on home hunting ground.

i picked up a wheelie basket, thinking a trolly would not be necessary from past experiences and set out upon my usual route, first left, (clippity clop), down the aisle, (clippity clop), labelled knick knacks, (clippity clop)

(best point out here, the sound affects are not of me on a horsey, for a horsey i do not have, nor me on a goat, for a goat i do own but it lives in foreign climes doing good deeds for others, no the clippity clopping was my clogs, for nothing saying 'thrifting with intent' then a pair of peachy clogs on your feet)

i felt my journey down the aisle of forsaken souls one of folly, for it has been the longest days and nights since finding a little lost soul waiting patiently for me. but it would appear, today was a day, my folly ways were not in vain, for sitting there, up high (sensibly for one of such a delicate disposition) slightly apart from the others, (which i took as shyness rather than aloofness), was a mother cat and her kittens. i noted her kittens must have been quite pesky for she had to keep them on a leash, less they wander off, fall over the edge and come to a hideously horrid end on the floor several shelves below. yes they were living a high rise life up there at the top and being a sensible mother she was taking no risks.

my heart skipped a beat, very carefully i checked her bottom, my head had already told me 'japan' but i needed confirmation and there it was in the way of a very nice slightly loved but still very obvious, 'japan' sticker. it was this moment that reminded me of what joy a small little find of ceramic wonder can bring when out and about pottling the shelves and racks of despair. how the rarity of the situation i had found myself in was quite remarkable. years gone by, ceramic friends were two a penny but now those days are gone... chances of finding one or two (truly peachy ones) a year are low in recent times. i marveled at my good fortune as i carefully uploaded my feline friends into my wheelie basket and rattled along with them through the rest of the store, pondering important things such as names, listening to their tale of woe...

oh good grief! this is not the thrilling jolly post i have planned, i fear if i go any further it will head into a deep hole of melancholiness filled with looking back on the past few years and how things have changed, bleargh bleargh and bleargh.

"get a grip Tif!" i hear you cry

"quite right" say i

do not fret nor fear for my grippy ways dearest readers, they are all still intact, just slightly, ever~so~slightly, off track. but all there when i last looked...

although some may think otherwise

Tif

time spent with my book writing buddy...

when me and Rachelle started plotting and planning her trip from across the pond to mossy shed, we did not know at the time we would be writing a book together, nor we would be running crafty workshops together and many other things we did not know which have come our way since our early days of plotting and planning a week spent together. its funny how things go like that, the besty best things in life never appear to be ones you plan for but ones which appear without ever really looking for them. i am quite sure i have said that before, i am more than sure i only said it a few posts back, but the way my little foggy cogs are running these days i am none the wiser and i hope therefore, those of you with unfoggy cogs will forgive and forget any such faux pas on my behalf.

Rachelle weaving her 'ted & agnes' magic on a granny chair in mossy shed

and so it came to be, after our happy week was planned, a book came our way, a book which required every minute of our waking thoughts for the deadline was 'pie in the sky' but together we embraced it, we ran with it and we loved every single minute of it... the days when we were riding high with our crafty cogs in full gear and the days when we could not get round the next bend, having spun off the track and landed in a ditch. we picked each other up, we dusted ourselves down, adjusted our rose coloured specs and pulled up our granny chic knee socks and got back in the driving seat. now looking back over the madness of a month and a half i know without a doubt i could not have done what i have without my besty book writing buddy by my side. holding hands across the pond until the time came for her to step onto a plane and wing her way to spend time with me and my clan at mossy shed.

found out and about pottling with my 'lucky thrifty shiny penny' called Rachelle

a vintage decal or two doing a peachy job

most of our dandy week spent together was deep in book stuff, with Cath our photographer spending 3 days and 3 nights with us, it was full on book thinking mode for all of us. so the first day of Rachelle being ensconced in mossy shed we worked on book nitty gritty, for this was our first opportunity to really discuss and understand what we were doing photo-wise. the unknown of what we were about to do, both of us being new to the whole photo-shooting and styling side of things, had us wondering what we had got ourselves into... however i am going to save that for another day, for i fear the ramble will be so long, folks will have been able to have left their homes, gone grocery shopping, got back home, unpacked and put it all away, made a cup of tea, seen the news headlines and patted their dog in the time it would take to read such a ramble.

Rachelle's hand luggage found at the thrift store

another peachy find by Rachelle,  alas and alack, she had to leave it behind, i promised to take care of it on her behalf

in-between all the 'must dos' for the book, i felt it most important to show Rachelle a bit of my world outside of mossy shed. so that is what we did. in 2 days, 1 before Cath arrived and 1 after she left, i took Rachelle out and about to see the delights of our area and when i say delights, i mean second hand and crafty delights!

in a radius trip of 80 miles we covered, 2 huge thrift stores (my favs), 1 large vintage mall, 1 adopted auntie, 1 fleamarket, 1 extraordinary fabric store and a fly by viewing of the space needle. in our 80 mile round trip we put the world to rights, we plotted and planned our next adventures, we laughed and we were both each others 'lucky thrifty shiny penny'. 

after many years of looking for a vintage postcard rack, we stumbled upon one, once again marveling at the chances

on returning home Rachelle required extra luggage for all the treasures found on the shelves of despair and the racks of fabric delights. now both in our abodes, once again with a large pond between us, we are surrounded by memories and keepsakes of the most spiffiest week ever. it is not possible to put into words sometimes just how much a time, or a place or a person has meaning to you, the words just can't be found to describe the wonder of it all. when i tried to explain to my man just how it all was for me, words failed me and all i could say was "what Rachelle and i have is so extra ordinary, the friendship found through the online crafting community and what it has led to is a once in a lifetime kind of thing, the sort of thing to be treasured and to be thankful for... for the rest of one's days"

Tif

three cheers...

there are lots of jolly festivities going on this weekend across the pond.

it has made me feel a long long way from home.

in a nod to my roots,

i stuck my aunt's old union jack tea towel on our front door

and now i feel a whole lot better.

such is my love for my newly 'tea toweled' front door,

i am leaving it up there forever and a day.

next week i will be back to regale those that may wish to be regaled,

the goings on that have gone on over the past week in mossy shed.

the mischief, the mayhem and the madness

till then, three cheers to those in old blighty

Tif

footynote: not wishing to make anyone feel left out,

for that would never do...

three cheers to wherever you are on this fine globe of ours, 

this happy weekend!