nifty & nice... #1

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do your stems feel a little top heavy?

are things weighing you down a little?

thinking you may need a helping hand?

good old vintage plastic knitting needles!

not only nifty

but extra extremely nice looking too

footynote:

* this nifty & nice idea came from my adopted auntie

* use only knitting needles you are not too bothered about 

as some can go a little squiffy below the soil

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nifty & nice... #2

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find an odd little shelf in the thrift store.

bring it home, hide it in a cupboard.

have an epiphany 3 months later.

drag little shelf out,

lop off its top

(with a bit of care and consideration.)

disguise dodgy treacle brown stain

with same paint as kitchen cupboards.

ask very nicely a little doggie

who lives in a suitcase

if she would care to move

from her little space

after 3 and a half years.

marvel at how quick

your little doggie 

is to take advantage of the move

and in turn

question if life living under an island

had not been quite so thrilling 

as you had thought...

shuffle shelf under island,

if not quite fitting,

do a bit more loping

and deny it was anything 

to do with your pants measuring.

and voila! some display shelves

for knickity knacks

and knackity knicks

'nifty and oh so nice'

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nifty & nice... #3 {wordless wednesday}

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nifty & nice... #4

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in my 'make kitchen ship shape, tippity top' again mode, i thought it rather grand to add some display storage due to all cupboards having doors. as we saw earlier in 'nifty & nice... #2' this was achieved under the island. i also achieved it opposite the island in the bit that is supposed to be a kitchen knook and house a table but our table is around the corner, thus leaving a wall free for a medley of free standing kitchen storage. (and now also little olive and her suitcase)

so i heaved and i hoed a very battered shelf from Gladys into our kitchen and plonked it 'a top' an old sideboard which has seen all four clan members through as babies and now resides as handy dandy storage for waifs and strays of china bits and bobs. i was tres delighted with the results. spent a happy few hours arranging my pyrex collection (other treasures) on view, after years of being kept in the dark. 

do note: little olive in her new little space, perfectly situated for surveying all that goes on at mossy shed
do not note: little olive's rolly polly pudding look, left over from winter...

the next day a little thought came to mind. "well yes it all looks most lovely but in a few more days it will be caked in a layer of dust and floating dog hair no doubt". i banished the little voice. several days later it piped up again. "gosh, doesn't that big old jumbly bumbly lot of clutter on those shelves do your minimalist head in". hush, be gone i cried....

3 days later i needed several pyrex bowls for dinner... darn, drat and double drat. that pesky voice was right, a layer of dust and other floaty around bits that happen to have past on by and plonked themselves in my bowls were laughing at me. now i had to clean the bowls before i could put the food in them. then again i could not, but i knew what i had seen and in all conscience could not do such a thing... the little voice could be heard loud and clear. "dust and jumbly bumbly clutter will be your undoing. it will send you to the funny farm within a month". this time i listened

so i pondered as it required rather a lot of pondering i felt. not able to return everything back to behind doors having shuffled other stuff into the 'behind doors' space, i was having to come up with some nifty thinking, yes this called for a cunning plan if ever a cunning plan was called for. and there it was, just as it always seems to be. something prompts something else and before you know it, you arrive at a tippity top solution you wish you had thought of in the first place, thus avoiding dust and jumbly bumbly things to have happened in the first place.

yes i needed some kind of doors (irony of it as it was the doors in the first place which prompted me to wish for an open shelving space) but i did not have any random doors lying around my shed. its just not a thing i collect... so fabric would have to do. 

after a little bit more thought, a bit of dabbling with Miss Ethel, some pinking shears, a piece of old curtain fabric and 2 springer rods later, i had myself 2 fabric doors.

 i did not hem the sides, i did not fret nor lie awake at night worrying one fabric door was wider than the other. no i did not. all i cared to see was the jumbly bumbly piles which had at first looked so delightful and in turn, became dust catchers and a dizzing array of clutter, had been 'abracadabra-ed' away by some rather natty looking fabric doors which i do believe any granny worth her granny chic salt would be proud to have in her kitchen.

gosh, not only nifty but extremely granny chic nice...

what's that little voice? "don't those curtains make it a little tricky dicky to remove bowls when you need them?" 

i'm not listening, not listening, fingers in ears, can't hear you....

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nifty & nice... #5

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Mr Spring is quite the tease these days.

flashing bits of himself here and there,

then disappearing again...

i imagine he's off, 

flashing someone else

however, i know

there will come a time

when he stops his flashing ways

and just gives us a bit of full exposure

i need to be ready,

i need to be ready indeedy!

being ready can be involve all manner of things,

for all manner of folks

i wish it involved having clean windows

inside and out

but alas after 5 years

and a gazillion fir trees

i do not have those.

my man did do his besty best last year

(i dared not voice it out loud)

but he was fighting a losing battle

from the beginning

however when Mr Spring comes around

for an extended stay 

i will not note the crappy film of dirt 

across the windows,

nor the need for fresh paint upon

the 'less than white' walls

after 5 years...

no sirree!

for i have a plan,

a plan where

i will distract myself

and any others that may happen

to be in the vicinity,

by pointing and saying

in quite a knowledgeable tone

(secret to folks thinking

you many know what you are talking about

and hence pay attention.

my clan are wise to it,

after all these years

but i'm hopeful

random passing strangers

will not be so)

"oh goodness, 

how marvelous and magnificent,

to see Mr Spring

and gosh, what a coincidence,

i just happened to be ready

with 2 very spiffy springy 

new cushion covers

upon the settee"

and of course

i have no doubt

those passing bods will exclaim.

"oh hurrah hooray, 

how extraordinarily nifty,

and may we be so bold

as to add,

quite simply, perfectly nice.

yes, Tif

without a doubt

nifty and nice!"

i might blush,

i might look at the ground

and not catch

any passing bods eyes

but inside 

i will feel a little happy,

just a tad

to know i was ready

for Mr Spring and his

full on exposure 

if perhaps you wish to be ready too,

if you live with high hopes

that Mr Spring will one day soon

expose himself in your direction

and need some springified cushions

in your springified nest

 you can find 

all you need to know

over here

to make similar

'patched and pieced'

cushions

or

your could be just like

little olive

forget the business of patching and piecing

and just find the nearest

handy dandy blanket 

and be

ready and waiting

to welcome 

Mr Spring

into your home

the best way you know how

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nifty & nice... #6 {wordless wednesday}

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nifty & nice... #7

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today's thrilling episode of 'nifty & nice' comes from Our #1 who does have a name. oh yes she does. i did not give birth 21 years ago and look down at the battered and bruised little miraculous being in my arms and declare " i love you more than life its self and if i never do anything ever again, other than this, this will be enough and we will call you 'Our #1' ". 

no, no i did not. i said all of the above minus the 'Our #1' and instead said 'Our Meggie-May' which in turn, as she grew wiser and older, turned into 'Our Meg'...

and so it comes to be, Our Meg now lives across the pond, many miles away in the heart of London, working for the most delightfully 'nifty & nice' Lisa Levis (nee Stickley) and in her spare moments she is doing quite a few spiffy things. one of those spiffy things is feathering a nest. on tres limited funds this is happening via secondhand and handcrafted goodness which of course, has delighted moi no end. (although truth be told i would so very muchly like to be near so we could pottle and create together, her first nest)

the other day (actually the other week but its taken me this long to tippity tap about it) Meg showed on the world wide web her nifty & nice crafty jars. immediately i wished to find a little glass jar victim of my own and then i thought, perhaps i am not alone, perhaps you too may care to do the same. so for today, here is a most nifty & nice way to treat your glass jars via Our Meg, 

(be them saved from the brink of recycling or indeed as Our Meg did, found for a quid).

yippee! take it away, Meg's photos....

take your glass jar, tape off the area you wish to keep clear, pop it on its head and with spray paint suitable for glass, give it a nice even coat. might need more than 1, best to have 2 lightweight coats then 1 drippy hippy one. patiently wait for the paint to dry. if you are not the patient sort, distract yourself by learning the alphabet backwards, making a daisy chain or indeed, playing 'catch a leafy' if its autumn in your neck of the globe

when dry, add nick~nacks and paddy whacks if need be. consider it a perfect place to store crafty supplies, or perhaps tea bags and sugar in the kitchen. or if you are keen on baths, how about bath salts? i would not know as i do not have bath salts, but i could keep my cotton wool pads in them instead i am thinking

but wait, there is more... glass bottles no longer required for condiments, may indeed be perfectly suited to the same treatment, resulting in a rather peachy flower vase for your rather kitschy fake flowers (be sure to remove all labels, sticky stuff and left over inners before commencing with the tape and spray paint)

oh yes, i think you will agree, well on the nifty side of things and rather nice to boot.

thank you kindly Our Meg for letting me 'show and tell' your crafty nest moment and also, just so folks know, these are Meg's photos, so if perchance you are a 'pinner' please credit her. thank you muchly

'over and out'

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Rhody, the Doctor & me...

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i have no idea where this shrub called Rhody has come from...

i do not recall in five years ever seeing it before.

i am highly suspicious of  Rhody.

i watch Doctor Who.

i know what goes on out there.

i am thinking Rhody was sent from another planet and is of another life form disguising its self as an innocent over sized bit of shrubbery between ours and our neighbour's yard. i am thinking it could quite possibly have evil intentions of taking over the earth and eradicating the human race.

"oh yes, i'm not stupid you know" i told Rhody when i took its picture, i thought this would be a good way to let it know, i knew it was up to no good. i warned Rhody, "i have my beady eye on you, one false move and i know just what to do"

oh yes, i've seen how it works, i will stand in my yard and shout to the skies above "doctor, doctor... can you hear me, doctor? i need you doctor". it might get a little messy and no doubt i must be prepared to get a little frightened but i have no doubt, the Doctor will save the world from the evil clutches of Rhody the Shrubbery and all will be well just in time for teatime.

how do i know? because i've seen it on the telly, therefore it must be true...

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last week & this week...

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i added a few bits to the old dusty shop shelves...

one bit last week

and 

two bits this week

this makes me most happy.

these 'few bits' i like to call

'little wall patches of positivity'

and

i have high hopes

more will follow shortly...

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dottie angel & society6

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today i am wearing my 'salesman' cap, its been quite the while and i have to say with my top knot and butterfly clip is not the most comfortable but hey ho, lets go...

one of my new year resolutions alongside of 'make space for opportunity to come knocking' was 'set up a society6 shop'

well 5 whole months later i have only jolly well gone and done it! its taken me several days to set up for several reasons...

reason one: i have a humongous archive of pictures over the past 6 years of dottie angel and that takes a lot of time to shift through

reason two: popping prints in the shop was easy peasy as 1 2 3, however re-sizing things to become something other than a print was not my forte and required a lesson in Gimp from Our #3

and

reason three:  i am a tortoise these days, long gone are my days of being a hare... and surely knowing the outcome of that little tale, a tortoise is 'a okay' with me

so there we have it, 46 dottie angel pictures are now in my dottie angel society6 shop and i could not be more hippity happity about the whole darn thing.

my little society6 shop is filled to the point of overflowing with dottie angel goodness and in turn has filled my little heart and head with glee.

here's just a sprinkling, ney smidgen of what you will find...

art prints

in all different sizes

framed art prints

if you click on one, you will see the choice of frames

stationary cards

most handy dandy for every eventuality

iphone & ipod cases

never in my life have i wished as much as i do now for an iphone. i would like a different cover for each day of the week, a bit like the 'monday to sunday' knickers one wore as a child

ipad cases

nifty and nice, 'nough said

iphone & ipod skins

see above about my 'monday to sunday' knickers

laptop and ipad skins

a perfectly perfect way to make lappity laptop and ivor ipad look the bees knees lying around on the coffee table

cushions

so kitschy, so colourful, so darn slightly wrong! if you click on them in the shop, you can see all the sizes they come in

so ta dah! 

dottie angel & society6

who would have believed it...

oh! and just in case a dearie or two may happen to bring their piggy bank whilst window shopping i have a bees knees coupon for free shipping the kind folks at society6 gave me. alas it appears to not last more than 24 hrs, expiring midnight pacific time on the 31st may, however, i am thinking, better than nothing at all.

copy and paste this handy link

http://society6.com/dottieangel?promo=9d25b4

(it does exclude, framed art, canvases and cushions with inserts, but a okay for cushion covers)

and plonk it in the necessary place during checkout.

gosh, i truly am quite professional at my instructions today. as i have yet to actually try it myself i am hazarding a guess there is a necessary place at some point during checkout. i am thinking i will have to give it a go myself... test it out, be a guinea pig, oh! be a Mister Muchly

no no no! Mister Muchly, do not distract from my salesman spiel with your 'just too muchly cute ways'...

darn and drat it

oakie dokes, well that's me and my sales pitch done. 

over and out for now,

Tif x... oh yes, well alright then...

Tif and Mister Muchly x

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