buttons, twitterings, books and a bit of instants...

since the shed's contents of bods has halved and all is quiet, i have used the opportunity to sort things in my head and my shed. this has been most brilliant, for many things within my head have been nagging me for months, little things i wished to do but never seemed to find the time nor the energy for, at the end of last year. so i did the best thing i could at the time, i made a note of those things and waited patiently for a new spiffy year. for me a new spiffy year is all i need to find a bit of motivation. whilst i've been pulling out cupboards and drawers, manically shredding and donating, i have also been twiddling in cyber land.

buttons

hurrah hooray is all i can say, for my new blog buttons.

my dandy friend Marjan did a peachy job indeed. i said "oh can you do this and can you do that" and voila! she could because she can. thank you Marjan you are the bees knees

books

yes indeedy after floundering around the place and being quite honestly pants at the whole facebook thing, i have finally pulled up my facebook knee socks and with it, a dottie angel page is up and running.

facebook page

this will be where i tell nitty gritty businessy things like 'today i put this in the store window' or 'today i really like this peachy find or folk'. i have no doubt it will be sporadic in its postings because i have not found a pesky passing gnome to help me just yet. but none the less, if you so like to know such things then please do hop over and find me

instants

it has only taken me nearly 4 months to figure out i could have an instant photo album. 

it took Our #1 to come home for the holidays for me to see the light. i live in a PC world through and through but in the summer i rebelled and trust me, it truly was a rebellion. i took my piggy bank along with my rebellion and bought an ipad. upon arriving home with rebellion product in hand i pondered what to do next. the pondering took 4 months and my daughter to assist. now i have music playing all day long in the shed and best of all, something which has me inspired like i have not been in a long time, the ability to take instant snapshots. 

and last but not least

twitterings

yes indeedy, whilst pulling up my facebook knee socks, i also pulled up my twittering ones too.

twitter page

 i find wearing them both at the same time, the layered look, works rather well for me. i have high hopes they will not fall down from the weight of two pairs of socks at the same time. the elastic seems in pretty good nick and so things are looking bright in that department.

i'm not a brillantly witty nor super chatty twitterer. some days i am better than others, some days the inner voice gets to talk and others i just link to a snapshot or blog post.

its been good to have a break, so many things i feel like i have started to sort which means over the coming weeks i will have that feeling of being less overwhelmed and more in control and for me, that is the best way to start a fresh shiny new year

Tif :)

mr and mrs monkey...

rescued from the shelves of despair, mr and mrs monkey have found true happiness in their twilight years. mr monkey having no sense of smell is unawares of mrs monkey's need to wear her 'eau de toilette' on the heavy side. and most peachy indeed is mrs monkey, being very hard of hearing, is not kept awake at night by mr monkey's tres terrible snoring. one might think an old monkey may not snore when his nose is a fabric button, but think again because he does.

this lovely little tea tray celebrates mr and mrs monkey's fondness for each other and quite frankly, makes me smile. big enough to enjoy tea for two or indeed perfectly suited to be hung on the wall as a reminder of what makes us happy in life.

if you think mr and mrs monkey would be most suited to spend life in your peachy nest, then you can find them sitting in my shop window, waiting patiently for their forever home.

she is off to visit her adopted auntie in her little gray cottage tomorrow ~ 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

limited shop talk...

gosh i do like that, 'limited shop talk'. its a bit tricksy dicksy of me though, for it would appear upon reading my blog title, i am going to be talking about my shop, but in a very limited small way, which no doubt has you breathing a sigh of relief, for after all i have talked a lot of shop this week.

but no! ha ha! hee hee! you are quite right about the shop talking bit, but not the limited short bit, for limited is actually a shortened version of 'dottie angel limited'...

oh yes, clever and sneaky and may i say, a little brilliant!

however i do promise, pinky promise, hand on heart kind of promise, after today there will be no shop talk for a while. i will hang up my travelling sales cap and be wearing my book writing cap. which actually is not a cap but a headscarf. yes i will don a different headscarf every day next week, i may have to borrow one or two from used dog, and i will waft around the shed, in my headscarf and book writing attire, pencil behind my ear poised at the ready to record any snippet of dottie angel wisdom that strikes my little cogs.

and what will i use to scribble my wisdom upon? i hear you ask, well luckily for me i will have in my apron pocket a handy dandy notebook... not just any old handy dandy notebook, no sirree! a handy dandy notebook from dottie angel ltd no less :)

"oooh, Tif, you are a sneaky one with your sales pitch" i hear you cry

"oh yes indeed, this old girl still has it" say i, with a little smirk

they have been a long time in the making for sure, Debbie and myself took over 8 months to get to where we are now with our 'most happy' trio, but we are here now and most delighted with the outcome of our latest 'dottie angel ltd' adventure. of course i am not the one living with huge amounts of notebooks in my nest taking up the best part of one room, but Debbie assures me they look so peachy in their large quantity that she is 'a okay' with it. i have no idea if that will be the case several months down the road but let us not dwell on such things.

instead let us dwell on their peachiness...

small enough to fit in one's bag for handy dandy note taking, impromptu list making and any random doodling required on the go. printed and made in old blighty, from beautiful recycled paper and card stock, each notebook features a dottie angel picture, a dottie angel wording and some lovely vintage fabrics. the colors are soft and vintagey and we are particularly delighted with the inside covers.

something about opening up a handy dandy notebook and finding a little extra inside to make the day a little brighter.

i could waffle on and on about them, but my sales cap is slipping and all the NITTY GRITTY can be found here if you so care to read. and if you do so care to read, then please especially note these 'most happy' threesome will be mailed from ENGLAND just like the perfectly peachy tea towels are.

best of all, we are able to offer these wholesale, so if any passing lovely shop owner thinks these sweeties may indeed be most handy dandy upon their shelves, just contact me tif@dottieangel.com so we may talk shop :)

righty ho, i am off to sort out my head scarves and make the mountain of laundry look like a molehill before another week begins and just before i do,

may i just say little olive is beaming with your lovely comments from thursday. may i also just say by saturday little olive's cardboard playpen had to be confiscated due to another 'health and safety' regulation stating little doggies can only eat 'x' amount of cardboard before they come a cropper.

i noted upon me having to remove little olive from her playpen that used dog had sat quietly by during the whole proceedings. for she is a wise old dog of 11 years and has learnt from experience that cardboard eating is not a healthy past time, thus proving growing old has its good points.

she is thinking this week's word of the week will be 'handy dandy' cause she wishes to use it in the grocery store. "oooh no thank you! i have bought my own 'handy dandy' bag to use" ~ Tif

dottie angel do's... part two

truth be told, i like to 'snippity snip' fabrics into pieces and then spend many happy moments patching them all back together in a random fashion. however for the dottie angel tea towels, i did not allow myself a pair of scissors, other than for cutting threads. my plan being, to see if just using two oversized tea towels, one could make several gifts in a very short space of time. therefore being contenders for

'gifts to make and give this gleeful season'.

both the laundry bag and the cushions are very basic in their construction, if you can sew a straight running stitch on a sewing machine you can make these easily. having done so myself yesterday, i am thinking a length of lace on the pillow envelope closure and a few little fabric tags on the laundry bag seam would give them a little extra. i would also go as far as to suggest one real life vintage doily appliqued on, amongst the printed ones might look quite peachy...

"how exotic" i hear you cry, "i know!" says i

laundry bag ingredients

* one pair of oversized dottie angel tea towels

* around 3 to 4 yds of twill tape

(or something similar for drawstrings)

place tea towels right sides together and pin

leaving a three inch gap before you start sewing,

sew down one side, along bottom and up the other side

once again leaving a three inch gap at the top

whilst bag is still inside out,

pinch your two corners flat

and stitch down creating a nice bottom for your bag

now turn your attention to the bag opening.

still with bag inside out

fold back the top of both tea towels 1.5"

sew along edge being sure to leave a nice wide gap

for your draw strings to run through.

turn bag right sides out

and press nice bottom with Mr Iron,

next, admire your nice bottom

taking your twill tape, cut into two even lengths,

thread one piece through the top of bag

(may need to use a safety pin for threading)

and back through the other side

knotting the two ends together

repeat in the opposite direction with other draw string.

i must admit the top of the bag does look a little iffy

before you put in the drawstrings,

but when they are threaded in,

everything appears to fall into place nicely

and voila! a simple laundry bag perfectly perfect

for hanging around

cushion cover ingredients

* an over sized pair of dottie angel tea towels

* two cushion inserts

(i used sizes 14" x 14" and 12" x 16")

with design facing upwards

fold the bottom and top of tea towel inwards

to the right size for your cushion,

this example is for the 14" square cover

pin along the right and left side

again in this example it is 14"

sew your two pinned sides

turn cushion cover right sides out,

carefully making sure corners are pushed out fully

press with your Mr Iron

and fill with cushion pad

Voila!

the dottie angel do's and the doilies design fitted both these 'how-tos' rather well, plus the cotton they are printed on is very soft even before washing and like i said before, adding a few extra details would give them a more handcrafted look. i know for me it was a struggle not to 'snippity snip' the rules up and patch them together with vintage fabrics but i think for quick and easy gleeful gifts or 'anytime of the year' gifts, they are perfectly perfect just the way they are.

she is back to her 'snippity snipping' ways today, whilst keeping a beady eye on pesky little olive ~ Tif

footynote: silly, silly me! i thought something was missing, has been one of those mornings :)

i am missing a cushion! so just a little footnote to say, using the other tea towel with the doilies, i made another simple cushion cover to match the dottie angel do's one, that being the size 12" x 16" i mentioned earlier. i am pleased to report they are most happy spending quality time in a chair together

dottie angel do's... part one

some days when Mr Sun won't shine

and Mr Blah seems all around,

i am thinking it quite nice

to have a reminder of how to 'perky up' the day.

now some may say

"how Tif, could a tea towel possibly perky up my day?"

and usually i would be inclined to agree,

although saying that,

there are so many tea towels

out in 'tea towel world' doing a grand job at cheering up a nest or two.

however this perfectly peachy pair

of over sized tea towels are tres clever,

not only do they have the ability to 'perky up'

a corner of your kitchen with their pretty looks.

but they are also handy dandy

at reminding us of how to live the 'dottie angel' way

yes indeedy, several months ago

whilst rummaging around some boxes in our garage

i came across my granny's old exercise book.

this chance encounter resulted in a 'ta da' moment of the utmost kind.

the results of my 'ta da' moment being the

dottie angel do's

1. do have high hopes

2. do follow the righteous and goodly

path of thriftiness

3. do think you are most peachy perfect

4. do feel a little crafty at least twice a day

5. do wear your slip peeking out from

below your skirt

6. do embrace all that is granny chic

and give it a forever home

this pair of sweeties would be perfectly at home doing the dishes,

hanging around on a wall looking pretty

or being used to make a cushion or bag.

they do not mind which you do,

they are just happy if you are.

all this grand tea towel fabbiness

was made possible by two spiffy folks.

folk #1. my soul sister Debbie and partner in businessy things such as this

(yes 'tis true, we are now 'ltd')

she wore her little 'business cap', the result being,

these lovely quality tea towels are printed in Old Blighty

and wrapped nicely in yarn,

ready for their new homes.

and

folk #2. my long time cyber buddy Francesca Iannaccone

from Mrs Eliot Books,

who so kindly saw what was inside of my head

and made the design appear!

i am a mega fan of Fran's lovely work

and was totally delighted when she agreed

to collaborate with Debbie and myself.

lots of other nitty gritty stuff about the tea towels

can be found in the description of them in my little shop.

i must tell you, i am pretty delighted

with the results of our first 'dottie angel ltd' product

and in thrilling 'part two' if i maybe so bold,

even bolder than today

i will be sharing a little 'how two'

for making this peachy pair into cushions and a laundry bag.

i know this to be bold,

because as i tippity type,

i have yet to actually make them into cushions and bags...

she has high hopes, she has not counted her chickens before they hatched ~ Tif