Made from scrap

Made from scrap
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Showing posts with label Upcycling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Upcycling. Show all posts

Saturday, 14 January 2012

The Peachy Crafty World of Dottie Angel

I know many of you will be familiar with the Blog The Ramblings of Dottie Angel it is one of my favourite Blogs.  Dottie Angel is the Alter Ego of Tif Fussell.  Tif is a Brit who has put down roots in America.  Her blog is filled with her craft pursuits and her wonderful Granny Chic Style.  This is her fantastic book that I thought I would share a few pages of with you.  It is the perfect book to 'look' at and read with a cup of tea and a biscuit to dunk.
Each page is a visual treat of crafty goodness.  The majority of Tif's work has been rescued from, what Dottie calls, "The Shelves of Despair", that are present in every thrift or charity shop.  Tif works her magic and turns beautiful fabrics and objects into something more beautiful.  I recently rescued three crochet doilies for the princely some of 20p, they are destined to be turned into something lovely or "Peachy" as Dottie would say.  Dottie uses her own vocabulary and has names for inanimate objects, there is a glossary at the back of the book explaining these terms, most are self explanatory like my favourite 'Crapitty Crap'!
It will eternally perplex me why my 'Lucky Finds' and clutter do not look this aesthetically pleasing.
There are 'How to' pages in the book with simple Dottie Angel projects that any fool could make to beautify their living space.
There is a touching little story about this rabbit and how he found himself sitting on "The Shelves of Despair" and then he found a forever home with Tif and she even made him his own handmade crochet cape.  Doesn't he look lovely in it?
He is now rather a special rabbit and has been seen by a global audience.  I am a sucker for a happy ending.
The simplicity of each piece of work really appeals to me I think it is all lovely.  It is the perfect Coffee table book.  There are even 'Chicken Pics'.
There are also some great photographs of Tif's dogs enjoying their home made blankets.
I shared with you in a previous post my 'Happy Tray'.  This is a firm favourite with everyone in the house now.   It has pride of place in the living room and is in use daily.  It does make us very 'Happy' to use it.  Every house should have a 'Happy Tray', chickens and at least one crochet project on the go.

A craft book is not quite complete for me if it does not have 'Crochet' projects in it.  Tif also loves to crochet.
What a lovely sentiment to share.  If we are having sunshine this weekend it will be accompanied by a crisp frost, in most places in the UK we are having a cold spell.  Brrr.  I really recommend this book, the snippets I have shown you are a very small sample of the whole.  It is a very funny, uplifting and creative read.   A book to show you how to turn your 'clutter' into 'treasures'.   A charity shop will never seem the same again as you man your 'Rescue' missions.
Hope Your Weekend is Positively Peachy.   X 

Sunday, 24 April 2011

Kiwi Spinning Wheel Trolley - A Thrifty Invention


I love my Ashford Kiwi Spinning Wheel but it is not very portable.  I found this shopping Trolley in a Charity Shop last weekend.  (The dog wanted to be in the picture and I didn't want to argue.)
The Spinning Wheel did not fit on the frame like this.  So my parents found some old board/wood.  Then my Dad attached these bracketty type of things.  They hold the board tightly onto the trolley frame.


My Mom found some old carpet and my Partner found some strong glue (it was seriously called 'Sticks Like S**t'.)  It seems to have done the trick anyway.  The carpet stops the wheel from slipping about.


The wheel can be strapped on using strong elastic cord and there is still room to put the trolley bag on back to front to carry my stash!  I have no idea where I am going but now my wheel can come too.

Is this ingenious or what!