Its been a long time.....

Hellllooooooo! Anyone still there? Its been a long time since I wrote my last post....a very long time! Sorry! Its been a bit of a strange summer but I'm back!

I lost my crafting mojo for a while and motivation was at an all time low but something has finally happened to kick me back into gear. A lovely package arrived on my doorstep. And what was in this lovely package I hear you cry. These beautiful things:

Look at those pretties sent to me by the lovely Bonita of Beaky Crafts. Aren't they gorgeous? The little Russian Doll is lavender scented and oh so cute. The felt ball bracelet is almost permanently on my wrist and the cute little crotchet daffodil brooch is pinned to my black coat ready to brighten up my winter.

My dodgy camera can't really do them justice - check out Bonita's shops on etsy and folksy for some much better shots!

Thank you so much Bonita :o) I have two reasons to say thank you - first for the lovely PIF gifts and secondly for giving me a kick and making me feel like a spot of crafting again! The people who signed up for my PIF gifts will be pleased to know that i am nearly finished making my gifts (finally! sorry guys!) and they will be winging their way to you shortly - I am setting myself an absolute deadline of the end of September.

Right - time to get back to crafting!

Busy, busy, busy.....

Sorry for the lack of updates around here recently, I've been a very busy bee! (Note: I didn't take this pic - I didn't have the energy to chase bees round the garden waiting for the perfect shot!)

Working on some cactus pin cushions for my folksy shop. (Geddit, catctus - pins, needles.....man, i'm a genius ;o) )

Playing with my parents camera and taking pics of my mum's beautiful orchids.

Working on my PIF gifts for Sue, Wilkie and Sandra. (If you still want to get involved then visit their blogs and find out if they have any places left or who their gifts will be going to.)

Tending to my sunflower seeds. (I know most people grow sunflowers when they are about 8 but I love sunflowers and clearly I'm a late bloomer!)

Helping my Dad clear up this tip (this is less than a quarter of the junk - he has issues throwing things away!!)

Experimenting with my felt balls (more of which in a later post!)

Enjoying the rare British sunshine. So rare in fact that when I tired to take a sunshiney picture below the sun went in!

Taking my first painting and drawing class. Not sure about the results but it was fun :o)

All of which I present as an explanation for not giving you the bloggy love you deserve! And also a chance to show you what I've been up to. I'll be back with some proper crafty bloginess soon.

Dotty xx

Pay it forward update

Hurrah! I now have three people signed up on my PIF post.





The three people who will be receiving handmade gifts from me are:

Bee Designs - look at her beautiful papercraft designs and all the gorgeous stuff in her etsy shop - I love that collage!

Turnip Creations - Wilkie shares my love of monsters and you should definitely check out some of her plush creations.....

Pepperberry and Co - Sandra has started a lovely craft blog which is also very funny....she would really like some more stalkers so you should pop over!

You should definitely go and check out all three of these blogs and if you still want to get involved in PIF then leave a comment on their posts....simple!

Now I need to decide what to make! I've seen that on some people's PIF posts they have given themselves a year to complete this but am going to try and complete my gifts *fairly* soon. After all, who knows where I'll be in a year....travelling round the world hopefully!!

Right - to work!

Dotty xx

PS. Welcome aboard ladies - please send me your addresses to my email: thedottyone(at)hotmail(dot)co(dot)uk.

Folksy Shop & New Creations

A few people have asked me if I've ever thought about selling my creations. My parents have also suggested it but I think they may have different reasons - their house is overrun with my various projects! I have been wondering about it. I spend ages on etsy and folksy looking at all the beautiful things people have made. Its quite intimidating and makes me think that the things I've made can't even compete! There are so many talented people out there. After umming and erring about it I have decided to throw caution to the wind and open a folksy shop - just to see what happens....after all there's nothing to lose!

I haven't had much time to put much in my shop yet. I'll put a link up when I've had time to upload some more items. In the meantime, here are some pics of some plush strawberries I've made which are in the shop. I'm addicted to making these - they are so fun to make.

I'm of to take some pics of some more things to upload to my shop. If anyone reading this has an etsy or folksy shop I'd be interested in any tips you have - please leave me comments!

Dotty xx

PS. There is still one place left to pay it forward if you want me to send you something lovely and handmade.

Pay it forward.....

Exciting news!!! I have joined this thing called pay it forward. For those of you who don't know, this is how it works:

All you have to do is leave a comment. The first three bloggers to leave a comment will get a hand made gift mailed to them from me. (Please remember to leave a way for me to contact you). Once you have left your comment do a ‘pay it forward post’ ASAP on your blog. Then continue the gift giving to the first three people who comment on your blog…and on it goes - good idea eh?

I've decided that if I don't get three comments (this is a kinda new blog - I may not even have three readers!) I am going to do some toy society drops so that I still do my bit. (I will blog about the toy society in another post because this is another fab idea!)

I signed up for PIF on Beaky's blog. I'm very excited about receiving my gift from Bonita - look at the beautiful things in her etsy and folksy shops. I'm so lucky :o)

That's all for now - I'm off to do some crafting and maybe even plan some PIF ideas!

Dotty xx