a 'sabbatical of sorts'...

my philosophy

"if i go to sleep at night

knowing i have visited my imagination,

however fleeting it may have been,

then i know i have spent

my day wisely"

most of what i do relies upon,

my spontaneity,

my imagination

and

my family

those three sweet things in my life

have got buried of late,

and so i have decided to take

a 'sabbatical of sorts'.

to dig deep 

and recover the things 

which make me happy and whole.

allowing me to continue 

upon my chosen path

clearing away the draining debris

which has become a daily distraction.

for now,

my store is closed

and my blog posts will be sporadic.

i will continue to pen postcards

across the pond 

and dabble with Ivor when inspired

darren dictionary has informed me

a sabbatical is taking time out 

to rest, 

to grow 

and 

to learn

and that is exactly what i plan to do,

alongside of spending quality time with

my lost spontaneity, my misplaced imagination 

and my patient family

i wish to live by my philosophy again.

and in doing so, 

i truly believe,

one day soon,

i will look over my shoulder

and see standing beside me, 

in all her bohemian, eclectic glory,

dottie angel

waiting patiently for me...

~ Tif ~

'three things & one note' monday...

thing one: shop talk

oh happy day! tomorrow is shop update day! alas and alack, due to beavering interrupted by the scoundrel Mr Lurgy, my quality time with Miss Ethel was somewhat curtailed by his shadowy presence and thus not every bit of handcrafted goodness was completed.

does not matter in the least, for it means the other bits and bobs waiting patiently in my studio to be finished will lead to another shop update in a couple of weeks

fortunately for me, Mr Lurgy stayed away from my adopted auntie and her trusty sewing machine Mr Bill, so apron wraps are bountiful, hurrah hooray

my new 'hodge podge' range of sacks has me most happy with their spiffy ruffley roundie fronts

appliqued cushion covers and a lappity lap blanket will also be looking for their forever homes

thing two: giveaway talk

i am positively overwhelmed by your wonderful imagination cap wearing over the past few days! i have so enjoyed reading each and every comment, and so has my mother! only this morning she told me on the phone just how much she was enjoying what folks had come up with. we both marveled at the cleverness of the ideas and how creative you all are. thank you so kindly for rustling around your kitchen drawers to find your little imagination caps. if you have yet to find yours, 

(having had my mother sort through my 'kitchen drawer of crappity crap' this past visit, i too would have had trouble locating mine. now however it is tippity top sorted condition and pride of place is my imagination cap, right hand corner near the back)

do not fret, if you still need a little time to enter, then a little time you have. i will announce the peachy 3 winners on wednesday

thing three: correspondence

i think today is as good a day as any to say thank you to all those that have mailed me of late, i must tell you, you have brightened my inbox with your cheery words, interesting tales and kindness. i love hearing from you and i will respond, just may take me a little longer... and yes, 'a little longer' is rather stretching it i know :)

oakie dokes, just a final note, not quite a thing, so a note is more fitting i feel, 

one note: time of shop update

i'm popping things in my store window at 1pm pacific time (give or take a few moments) tuesday 14th feb. now if my little cogs have calculated this correctly, that means 9pm UK, 10pm Europe and 7am Australian time. do not rely on my little cogs though if this is something of importance to you, might be worth double checking with someone in the know. i am sure there is someone in the know about these things somewhere, i wonder where though

she notes its monday, its raining, but its not getting her down ~ Tif

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 :)

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 

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 

giddy...

i awoke with a giddy feeling today, 

as i ate my breakfast i pondered all the reasons for giddiness within my day. after which i went out, upon returning i had promptly forgotten all but one of the reasons to feel giddy. i think that is the story of my life these days. if i do not make a note of things, they vanish into the little black hole in my head, never to be seen or heard of again.

whilst hoping for a bit of giddiness recall to happen, i waited for a break in the rain clouds, so i could photograph my one remaining reason for giddiness today.

'perfectly peachy pinnies'

for the joyful shop update

they make my inner granny soul giddy with a wave of nostalgia for days gone by. the time when one donned a pinny in the morning and took it off last thing at night. yes i like to think my 'perfectly peachy pinnies' would be most suited for any 'granny loving' soul worth her 'granny loving salt', spending her day happily wearing them.

there is a front, a back and best of all, they are reversible, thus two pinnies in one, just like my granny wore.

tomorrow we are off to my adopted auntie and her little grey cottage for bonfire night, this of course is the perfect reason to wake up all over again with giddiness...

she is wishing you a weekend of giddy ~ Tif 

footynote: hurrah hooray! one giddy reason has been retrieved from the black hole. yes yes, how could i forget, i am all giddy over my new knitted wrist warmers which turned up in my mail box a few days back! do you see them in the photo, well they are handmade by the lovely Jane and her spiffy ancient knitting machine... i wonder what his name is, i imagine him to be quite the sturdy fellow and quite hard work some days when he is playing up. the stitches are itty bitty and there are 24,716 of them, in my one pair of gloves. can you imagine that many stitches in one pair of gloves? not me, because i am crappity crap at knitting itty bitty stitches. plus i suffer from 'second sock syndrome' so even if i wished to make some, i would only ever have one hand warm at a time. no, much better i wear a lovely pair that Jane made, that way i have two warm hands at the same time... i am looking forward to a whole nesting season with these sweeties on my hands without a doubt.

a 'Joyful' update...

hurrah hooray for a 'joyful' shop update.

i have never done one of these before, 

hard to believe but its true.

so i have thrown caution to the wind

and quite likely my sanity alongside it,

and this year i am doing one.

there will be over 40 handcrafted goodies

going into my little store on 

monday 14th november.

i will list things in clusters,

because i do like a cluster this time of year.

the clusters will be listed throughout the day 

and into the evening.

my hope is, 

this will mean where ever you may live

upon this round and peachy earth of ours,

you will be able to stop by for a ganders.

if you do decide to stop by

may i suggest you bring along your rose coloured specs.

then you will also be able to

enjoy the vast array of home baked goodies 

(which will look edible but i cannot promise they are)

and a favorite tipple or two.

do not fret if you forget them,

i have several pairs to loan out

 so you may enjoy the refreshments 

alongside the peachy joyful decorations hanging above your head.

there will be old favorites like

sunshine sacks, apron wraps

and wall hangings.

there will be new sweeties like

 perfectly peachy pinnies and

lappity lap blankets

and when they are gone

(or perhaps i should say 'if they are gone')

alas and alack, that will be it for this joyful season,
as my adopted auntie and i will be taking a little rest...

she is looking forward to seeing you there and will be sure to have her reindeer antlers on so you can spot her ~ Tif

three thrilling things...

to add an element of thrillingness to an otherwise frill-less week...

early morning in the shed, nesting mode well and truly in gear

thrilling thing one: every day this week i am removing one unmarked pyrex dish from the freezer, due to the length of time it has been in there, it is impossible to know what the contents are. this has added a mystery to dinner time and an air of thrillingness as to what we will be eating. all dishes contain something different, however i note they all share one thing in common, the colour orange

thrilling thing two: my nesting instincts have kicked into 'high nesting mode' and i am beavering away on making winter window coverings. i am using nubbly fabric found on ebay, which any granny worth their granny salt, would be proud to hang at their windows, and flannel. yes flannel, like you find at the fabric store to make soft and cozy things for small beings. to me the thought of hanging flannel curtains has me in a current state of giddiness which in turn has led to an element of thrillingness with the whole project

a nubbly little number most suited for granny curtains

a flannel fabric to make windows feel cozy and loved

thrilling thing three: over the past few weeks me and my adopted auntie have been beavering away on dottie angel goodies. i noted she has done a much better job at staying on track, where as i have gone off the rails most days with things like flannel curtains distracting me. however when i am not de-railed, i am thrilled to be thinking of the 'one and only' tres grand shop update i am planning in november... in time for my fabby fav time of year, the gleeful season. 

she is torn between completing second flannel curtain or stitching the 'epiphany' for the shop update which hopped into her little cogs this morning ~ Tif 

blankets on the brain...

i have several drawers in my little brain 

and within them are stored many things to ponder.

they are labelled and they are quite a nice set of drawers. 

i would not say until the other day they are painted glossy custard yellow,

 but now they are.

for if i cannot achieve a custard yellow cupboard in reality

i can at least have one in my imagination.

one little drawer is labelled 'crafty must makes'

and a few weeks back i opened it.

from out of that little drawer in its fine and dandy coat of glossy yellow

leapt 'fabric lappity lap blankets'

"ah yes" i thought to myself, 

"of course that is where i popped you well over a year ago to keep you safe"

for the first time in yonks i feel like i can stop still,

open these drawers and see what lurks within,

waiting for their moments to shine...

'tis a good feeling.

over the coming weeks with high hopes, 

myself and Miss Ethel,

my adopted auntie and her Mr Bill,

and a pile of vintage and used fabrics

we will be beavering away on 'lappity lap' blankets.

two sizes of course!

one for little critters and small beings

and one for medium beings who perhaps care to share with another,

or perhaps not.

and then when we are all beavered out,

i will hang them in my shop window in a cluster,

for in my little drawer marked 'crafty must makes',

alongside the scribbled note saying "lappity lap blankets"

was a side note saying

"Tif, hang in a cluster, for a cluster of lappity lap blankets

 truly will make your crafty heart beat a little faster"

a 'lappity lap' blanket, this one will live at Mossy Shed for she stole my crafty heart

she has dallied in the yarn aisle whilst her #4 kicked a ball around the soccer pitch with a coach who appears to have lost his watch ~ Tif