Give-away Winner & other bits . . .

Hello to you all dear friends & readers,

I have a winner of my angel giveaway  :-)

I wrote all the names out on pieces of paper (many of them twice) & folded them up 4 times & popped them all in my old vintage enamel teapot ... the Mr got to draw the name out yesterday ...

My beautiful Peace Angel will be flying over to live with Shane at

roseslaceandbrocante.blogspot

Congratulations to you Shane & I shall be emailing you for your address details.

But I would like to say a huge THANK YOU to all of you that entered my little giveaway ... 
I have never had one before but I must say, I really enjoyed it . . .  your lovely comments & all of you stopping by & taking the time to enter ... thanks SO very much & I shall definately be doing this a little more often now  :-)

from Pinterest

Continuing on from my Raggedy Angel last week, I came across another naked raggedy body in my sewing room mess the other day ... I do not know who this pattern belongs to ... I have a doll like this myself, bought for me by my Mum many years ago on a trip to Australia. 
A customer once asked me to make one for her so I made up my own version of the pattern 
(though mine has turned out much fatter I notice)

I particularly love Raggedy Annes & it has taken me a great deal of willpower over the years Not to begin a collection of them

I have had to quickly pop this little sweetie in the Cottage as she was beginning to look right at home on my couch !!!

 When I first began blogging just over 2 years ago I won a giveaway from Louana from here ... I won her gorgeous little bundle of fat quarter vintage sheet fabrics - it honestly made me SO happy - you can read my post about it here

I had great plans for these vintage sheet fabrics  ...  but had never actually done anything with them ...
so yesterday I had my first attempt at making a roundie cushion from this gorgeous book

As it required some mathematics to work out my dimensions, I had been procrastinating for a good long time.  
(My Maths teacher did not sit me down the back of the class for no reason at all you know - maths was never, ever my forte) 
However ... I must say ... I was most chuffed with my first attempt

I just love my new roundie ...  what do you think ???

As I didn't have a round inner (as the pattern stated) ... I simply drew around a large round tray I had & then stuffed the inside with fibre fill (you stuff it from the middle, under the button closure)

I am currently mid way through my next attempt in which I have drawn around a (very) large round enamel basin & am making this one up in darker colourings using some gorgeous vintage sanderson fabrics from my treasured stash ... I shall share it with you next post I promise  :-)

Last week while waiting in town for an appointment, I popped into my local Animal Care Op Shop ... it was my lucky day as I came across these little treasures buried under a pile of old sheets

I must confess ... they didnt quite look like this when I purchased them  (in fact they rather changed colour after a good soak)

Though things are really brown & tired looking here now, I noticed my lillies had opened in the corner of my native garden & snapped these pics last week

click on the collage to enlarge them

The white seems to really stand out against all the green of the natives & I love their fragrance

Well dear friends, I must away as The Mr & I are milking this weekend & I will be late & get a "telling off" again !!!
Thanks again for your visits which mean so very much to me

I just always LOVE this little quote from the film "The Help" ... how very true 

Wishing you a great week ahead - & some creative time would be just that extra special   :-)
with much love & friendship to you all
Julie x0x0

Raggedy days

Good afternoon dear friends & readers & welcome to my new followers

It is so lovely to have you stop by for a visit  . . .  thanks so very much  :-)

When my friend Claire owned her gorgeous little patchwork Shop in Hawera one of the very first patterns I purchased from her was a Sun Valley Primitives design called "Raggedy Angel"

Claire also sold the rather large corrugated iron wings that were used in the pattern

I eventually made the angel up & she used to hang just outside my entry door greeting people & generally hanging away there quite happily - I found an old grainy photo of her back then ...

The entry door to the left is no longer there as we removed it when we altered our kitchen

As you can imagine, being dressed in red, after hanging out there for a few summers, the red fabric had faded to a shabby pink & she was most tatty & neglected looking.  

She was relegated to the back of a cupboard for a year or two ...

Recently I found her body & the wings & decided to give her a new lease of life

I mixed up a spray bottle containing 3 teaspoons parisian essence & 200 ml white vinegar & liberally sprayed over all the faded calico parts that would show

She got to lie out in the sun on a large fluffy towel to dry, & I can assure you, she was not mistreated in any way.

Oh yes this is the life .... lying here in the warm sunshine ... starkers !!!!!

I showed you a sneaky peek last post of the new dress under construction ... the design is quite like stitching a penny rug with all the felt pieces making up the "tree" design

Today I completed her & hung her on my dining room wall although she is not going to stay here - I just havent found quite the "right home" for her yet

I had planned to redo her hair (which is thick jute string that I originally hand dyed) but my good friend Leeanne suggested I leave it as it is - all sort of scraggy looking

I just love the mottled effect on the corrugated iron wings

I kept the original star that she is clutching, but covered the centre felt stars with masking tape & gave the calico a good spray with my parisian essence mixture 

I like to hang my dolls on the wall for a few days & walk past them to decide if I need to embellish them any more or change anything ... already I have decided she needs some brown cheek blusher & some red berries tucked into her star, hmmm ... perhaps a rusty button at her neck .... ??? . . .

This past week I had my last group booking - a Rural Womens Group bought their lunch to the garden & ate in the shade of the trees & had their meeting 

The doves very much enjoyed the additional company to the garden but made the meeting a little difficult with their loud noises & deciding to swoop in & out every now & then - they are becoming very settled & at home now

My friend Jan thought they were ornaments when she walked up the steps last week & got such a shock when one turned its head !!!!!!

As they tend to stand either in their food dish or on the edge & kept tipping the dish over ...  I notice The Mr has given them one of my vintage enamel plates to eat out of ...

just about to climb into the food bowl !!!   notice how the bits we dont like get tossed out !!!

Along with my last group booking I also completed my very last order this past week . . .  Sandra had ordered 3 large sized cushions from me to go on the back of a sofa bed in her sleepout - she requested that they be approx 25 x 25 inches, in wool blanketing & a pale blue colour scheme

I decided to make up a patchwork effect using a variety of blue blankets I had in my stash - these cushions turned out huge & took a mountain of stuffing ... but Sandra was delighted with them

Her main concern was how to sneak them in without her husband noticing ... I couldn't offer any suggestions but I wished her lots of luck  :-)

Having no more group bookings or orders is actually a first for me ... I have never been in this position before & thought I would feel rather concerned ... but I actually feel quite calm about it ... perhaps this will give me some time to really enjoy being creative for a change ??

I made up a few more sets of scented Spice Mats from my kiwiana fabrics as there were no more left in the Cottage ... these always tick along as they are a great gift for sending overseas.


You may recall two posts back when I mentioned my vintage cane shopping trundler ... a trademe purchase ... how I hadn't yet decided what to do with it   :-)
Well it was a post comment from dear  Shane that got me thinking ...
 & so I filled it with my dried hydrangeas & sat it on a sheltered area of my outside deck - I love the combination of blues & the different pastel shades
 

Thanks so much Shane for the inspiration

Although things here are rapidly turning brown & crisp I took some snaps of my wheelbarrow which is still flowering away happily - I water it each night & the begonias & lobellia are still thriving

Thanks so much to you all dear friends & readers for stopping by 
 I shall be back at the end of the week with the draw for my angel - best of luck to all those that have already entered - there is still time if anyone else would like to pop their name in the giveaway -
here are the post details for you to enter

Hoping you have a lovely week ahead,
much love & friendship to you all,
Julie x0x0x0x

A Giveaway, an anniversary & a "sort-of" birthday

Hello dear friends & readers,

I have decided to have a little give-away on my blog ... there are a couple of things I have to celebrate which made me decide to do this . . .

source Pinterest

Firstly this month is the 10 year anniversary since I had my accident - fell out of the hammock, & broke my neck
This in turn, lead to my little Cottage being constructed for me  :-)
(which in turn lead to me beginning my little blog about my life here at Threadbear Cottage)

Secondly it is coming up 2 years since I started my blog - kind of my 2-year birthday & seeing as I have never had a give-away before, not even for my 1st birthday, I decided it was long overdue

This lovely linen angel is based on the Rosalie Quinlan Peace Angel from the book Gift ... however I have altered her slightly ... she is dressed quite neutrally in a linen dress, doiley pinny, & her wings & bloomers are Lynette Anderson prints. Her hair is hand-dyed mohair & her little peace-stitched heart is raw linen. She has 2 mother-of-pearl buttons on her bodice

Although she has hung on the wall watching over me for the past few days ... she is equally as lovely just sitting ...

Would you like to win her perhaps ???
The Giveaway is open to Anyone & I will post to Anywhere in the world
All you have to do to enter is leave me a comment on this post & if you are a follower, let me know, & I will put your name in the draw for two entries.
You don't have to be a follower to enter but if you are, then you get two chances  :-)
Is that simple enough ???
Also I will be adding a few extra goodies in with the parcel - a couple of little surprise extras.
I will draw the give-away at the end of this month.
(incidently Peace Angel is 43 cms/ 17 inches in length)

Last week I posted about the 2 ring-neck doves that had come to live in my trees - this week they have become even more quieter & have let me get right up close to them at times

The dove in the background had lots of feathers missing around his neck - apparently he was very picked on by the other birds when in the aviary - I am so pleased to see them all growing back again slowly now he is free

Every night I give The Mr little reports about our daily "progress"
He assures me that it is not actually me they are so fond of, but rather the $12.00 worth of dove mix I bought for them at Bin Inn

According to him it is purely "cupboard love"

However these visitors to the garden this past week, have not been quite so welcome ... 

If you look at this next photo you will notice the tall solar lamp at the foot of the steps, just to the left - this was taken in spring a couple of years ago

The solar lamp had been a gift many years ago but unfortunately it had blown over many times & was no longer able to be straightened so we decided it had come to the end of its life
However, I saved the glass dome that was around the bulb as it was quite solid & had never broken in all the times the wind had blown it over

This week I gathered together the dome, a $2.00 glass dish & a $1.00 wine glass from the Op Shop - I had a little project in mind

I tipped the wine glass upside down & glued the plate to its base ... then I added a sparkly diamante star which I think had been a christmas decoration at some stage

All I need now I feel, is a pretty glass flower or bird perhaps, to adorn the top of the dome

I was rather chuffed with my $3.00 project  - what do you think??

This piece of vintage embroidery had sat in the bottom of a box of linens for many moons - I had always loved it & wanted to do something with it

The thread I have used is an Op Shop purchase - almost like a linen type of yarn - very old

Although I had soaked it, it still had a couple of marks & was very thin & worn in places, but I really loved the design on it
The fabric was so thin it almost felt like it had been stitched on an old flour bag
I cut around the best of it, turned it under & blanket stitched it onto a lovely piece of wool blanketing in a similar colourway

I decided it could make up the last cushion on my couch

It hardly shows up the gorgeous striped blanket unfortunately

Looking at my photos I am thinking that perhaps I should add 4 large bakerlite buttons to the edges of the embroidery to complete it . . .  hmmm . . .  what do you think ??
I also stitched the original blanket label (which was in great condition still) to the back of the cushion

Lastly to share a couple of sneaky peeks of some prim dolls I am currently working on . . . 

Incidently the lime green is masking tape - no the dolls legs are not striped green/burgundy !!!!!

I hope to have the completed dolls to show you next post.


While grocery shopping last week I treated myself to one of these lovely fragrant candles at Pak-n-save ... for $4.99 they smell delicious & are so enjoyable

This one is the raspberry one but I have also tried the pumpkin spice one .... 

Wishing you a wonderful week dear friends & readers
Please do enter my give-away if it appeals to you
Thanks as always for your visits which I so appreciate
with much love/hugs/friendship,
Julie x0x