Sunday 29 September 2013

Always pretty in pink

I haven't taken part in Beverly's PINK SATURDAY for ages, but a little boot fair purchase made me think that I really oughta. One of my favourite sellers was at the boot fair the last time I went, and I had to purchase a few things, of course. You see, this lovely fella has been selling beads and sequins from his aunt's estate for the last few years. His auntie was a dressmaker, specialising in beaded evening gowns and costumes, and going by what her family has been selling over the last 4 or 5 years, her stash must have been enormous! Last Sunday, amongst other things, I bought a bag of these absolutely gorgeous very light shell pink sequins from him and I really wanted to show them to you, because they are so so pretty. Had to include a few other pinks as well though, lol, you know me, a couple of pics are never enough for a post!
Anyhoo, here are the sequins I so fell in love with -





And here are a few other pinks, which I brought back from France -




I'll show you some of the other goodies I bought from him in another post.

Thanks for stopping by. Toodlepip xxx

Thursday 26 September 2013

Grey Dey Thursdey No. 4

I already told you in last Saturday's post that I had been dyeing some lovely old French linen and laces in shades of elegant grey/gray, and that I was saving the pics for this post so that I could link up with Petite Michelle Louise's GREY DEY THURSDEY. I was really happy with the way they all turned out, and as soon as my finger is up to crafting with fabrics again, I'll be making a collage with some of the bits and pieces. I keep thinking about it, so sooner or later I will have to get stuck in :-).

So here are some pics of all the gorgeous greys I have been surrounding myself with -










Aaah, beautiful, elegant and calming. 

Hop over to Petite Michelle Louise's blog and check out the beautiful greys!

Toodlepip xxx

Sunday 22 September 2013

Our Beautiful World - FALL

Fall ( or Autumn to us Brits ) colours are quite pretty, I love the soft and gentle shades of yellow and brown, and even the occasional orange bit, even though orange is probably my least favourite colour. I really didn't want to miss another Sunday photo party over at the Our Beautiful World blog, but I just haven't had the time to go out and shoot pics. Instead, I picked a photo I took a couple of years ago on an autumnal walk in the woods with the dogs and our oldest granddaughter -


I hope you are having a wonderful Sunday wherever you are. Toodlepip xxx

Saturday 21 September 2013

What a silly moo!

I have been an even worse blogger now that we are back in the UK than I was in France. This time I have a good ( or bad, depending on how you look at it ) reason. I haven't been able to type for a few days. Actually, I haven't  been able to do very much at all. You see, I was quite inspired by Petite Michelle Louise's Grey Dey Thursdeys. It got me thinking about all the beautiful shades of grey/gray which I hadn't really paid that much attention to in the past and I just had to dye some French linen and vintage French laces in shades of grey/gray to have more of that elegant colour :-). I was chuffed to bits with the results. So much so that I decided to put a few grey/gray kits together for my Etsy shop, and I had so much fun finding all kinds of embellishments. And then it came to cutting the linen. Lovely 100 year old linen. Out came the cutting mat, the rotary cutter and the large quilting ruler.  And thats when it happened, just a split second of inattention, and instead of slicing through layers of French linen, I rotary cut through the side of my index finger instead and took a slice off. Nuff said,eh? It is only just now that I can bear to put the bandaged finger to the keyboard keys.

I am going to save the pics of the lovely grey/gray stuff until next week for Michelle's Grey Dey Thursdeys linky party, but I couldn't have a post without any pics at all, could I? So here is just one little teaser -


Oh well, just one more then, lol -

Off to have a cup of tea and rest that poor abused finger of mine again.
Toodlepip xxx

Wednesday 18 September 2013

Back in the UK

It feels strange being back in the UK after three months at the cottage in France. No veggie garden to tend, although I have about a million of tomatoes, which we brought back with us, to make into chutney and sauces. Lots of noise from cars and people, and not from cows or tractors. But it is rather nice being back in my proper craft room :-). And, I got to open my little package from Kimberly at ArtJoyStuff with the PRETTY swap ATCs.

I am thrilled to bits with them, the girls did such a gorgeous job. But have a look for yourself -



The first one, one the left, is from Tracy Dean -

The middle one is from Saucy Chick Sherry ( sorry, I don't have her blog addy)-

The one on the right is from Becky Swartzlander -

As always, Kimberly was a great swap hostess, thank you so much, Kimberly.

I have sooooooooo much catching up to do, its crazy, I haven't made my weekly inchies or tags for a few weeks now, and I am feeling terribly guilty. It has taken me a couple of days to change all the French listings over to UK listings ( grrr, why can't all countries have the same price bands, rules, costs?) and of course there are all the usual things to do when you have been away for three months. I so want to visit all your beautiful blogs, but I think that might have to wait a few more days. I hope you understand.

Now I am off to the post office ( thankfully a lot closer than the one in France ;-) ), to post a couple of orders and then I'll tackle a few more pounds of tomatoes. Oh joy.

Toodlepip xxx

Monday 9 September 2013

Pretty little witches

I am taking part in another ATC swap, which Kimberly from ArtJoyStuff is hosting. The theme is Pretty Little Witches, and this is what I came up with for the swap -









I love her swaps, she is such a sweet swap hostess.

Dang, it gets dark early these days, I can't quite get used to that yet. It does feel quite autumnal in the mornings now as well. Sigh, methinks the summer is almost over. But we did have a good one, yay!

Wishing you all a great start to the week, toodlepip xxx

Sunday 8 September 2013

OUR BEAUTIFUL WORLD - BUBBLES

 I was so honoured to be asked to pick the prompt for this week over at the gorgeous OUR BEAUTIFUL WORLD blog. I picked BUBBLES! And here are the results of covering practically the whole of France with bubbles ;-) -










Dang, it was difficult blowing bubbles and trying to take photos of them at the same time, you have no idea how many bubbles I blew and how many photos I took, just to end up with these few, lol.

This last photo of my oldest granddaughter was taken a few years ago, but I had to include it. This is what blowing bubbles is all about, chasing them and trying to burst them with a big smile on your face -


Check out the other BUBBLES photographs over at the OUR BEAUTIFUL WORLD blog.
Toodlepip, xxx

Thursday 5 September 2013

Grey Dey Thursdey No. 2

I am once again taking part in Petite Michelle Louise's Grey Dey Thursdeys linky party. I didn't think I had much in the way of grey when I first read about Grey Dey Thursdeys, but I do have some greys, well, enough for this post anyway, lol.

I found this light grey office stamp holder the other day at a vide grenier -



Vintage drawer handles. Silver metal covered in white paint, which has thinned so much in places that it looks grey. I got these in a little box full of odd metal bits and pieces -

From a very different era, a beautiful greeny grey silk pleated belt, I would say Edwardian era. I wish my waist was small enough to wear it -

Decades apart, but somehow the colour palette draws them together quite nicely -



Antique pharmacy bottle with a pretty label. The label itself is rather warmer than grey, but the writing and especially then darling little angels are a deep grey rather than black -


Antique stoneware cheese molds/moulds. Love these in the kitchen for storing and displaying all sorts of kitchen implements in them -



And to finish off with, a very vintage Suchard trade card in lovely shades of grey ( and white, and black :-) )-

We'll be going back to the UK for a month or so in just over a week, so I am busy busy busy deciding what to take back, packing up the brocante finds I can't send from here ( because I have almost run out of packaging material, lol ), and preparing listings for little items I can still post from here. Might have a quick sale before we leave, if I have time to organise it. I have so much catching up to do with inchies and tags, no idea when I will be able to get back into the craftavan and get on with that. 

If you love the colour grey/gray, then hop over to Michelle's blog and check out the other lovely grey/gray posts. Even better, take part yourself!

Thank you so much for visiting! Toodlepip xxx