***A GIVEAWAY***FOR YOU***

Just to spread a little LOVE around the bloggersphere I'm hosting a little giveaway for one of my handmade dotty heart brooches. I am indeed very dotty about dots and this dinky brooch has red polka dots fabric and a tiny little blue dotty button!

To enter all you need to do is to follow this little dotty blog and leave me a message to say you'd like to enter .....if you are already a fellow blogger buddy then fab..just leave me a message to let me know you want to join in!

If you would like a few chances of winning then you can also share the picture above on pinterest/ flickr/ facebook (my facebook page is www.facebook.com/littledottybirddesigns and there is a post to share there)or give me a mention on your own blog...and for each way you share the love...I'll give you an extra chance. All names will go into a hat to be drawn on Monday 4th February at 7pm.

So just let me know if you want to join in and if you've shared...well I think that's it!!?? oh and its open to folk all around the globe!

on a random note..this is the little cafetiere cosy I made for the Mr. It's the first time I've made one and I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. The writing scrawled across it reads "Owl always Love You"...I'm a sucker for a pun!

I am in love with a book called "Findings" by Kathleen Jamie, it is so beautifully written and I'm now scheming and dreaming about visiting Scotland again, especially the Orkney Islands...I would love to go there!. Thank you to my lovely friend for introducing me to her work. x

on a final note...the winner for the facebook giveaway, which was pulled from a hat by my trusty assistant little M,  turned out to be MJ from Wander Wonder Discover blog who I have followed for a few years now and happen to think is very lovely indeed! So a little heart is winging it's way to the USA..how exciting!

Well, that is all folks!!

I hope you are well, warm and happy

Love Dotty xx

(If you would like to buy a little dotty brooch of your own..they are for sale in my ETSY SHOP too.)

52 Lists - Week 2 and 3 (falling behind already..eeek!)

waaah! It's been another busy week in the Dotty household of slightly groggy kids recovery from colds, being stuck at home for a day when the roads all iced over, birthdays (Mr Dotty!), lorries getting stuck in the farm lane leading to rather long detours and having lovely friends visiting! phew...and just the normal old humdrum of life with little kids and a huge desire to be making and sewing and sewing and making!

This was the birthday card I made for the Dotty man! He had asked me for a card with these words on it so that he could give it to student teachers and folk a his school. I chuckled to myself as I write in it... yeah...well done for being born!  I'm going to tweak the design a bit before I get them printed but I really like the idea of cards with either no writing or very vague statements that can be used for a lot of different occasions. 

but anyways...the lists...the lists!! I really haven't changed since I was at school, I'm still always just a bit late with everything! Last weeks list prompt from Moorea Seal was to "List Your Greatest Comforts".  I've really been enjoying writing these lists, I'm not a list making type of person but there is something quite therapeutic about sitting down and being a little introspective for a time. 

My list was:
Sitting in the warm glow of a fire
Fluffy Slippers and new socks
Birdsong
Daydreaming
Losing myself in a good book
Getting into a freshly made bed
To lay in the shade of a tree on a hot summers day (we do get the odd one ib Cornwall!)
Beach-combing
Stargazing
Breakfast in bed and an undisturbed lie-in (a RARE treat indeed!)
The smell of Sweet peas, Rose Geranium and Jasmine.
and...a long hot bath!

This weeks prompt is to  "List the things you should be proud of" 

The aim being to "List your efforts, your best qualities, your dreams and hopes, how you learned from a hard situation, and anything else that helps you recognize that you have reason to be proud of yourself."

I am going to write it now..as I sit here blogging.....sometimes it's fun to see what pops into your head!

Giving birth to my children at home (I was very fortunate and lucky)
Raising my two bright, beautiful and spirited children (and just about keeping sane)
Having the confidence to promote and sell my work
Getting my Degree in Applied Psychology 
Keeping a very calm and cool head in some times of major crisis (then falling apart a bit later on!)
Helping my friends and family through some very demanding and traumatic times
Learning new skills and finding new inspiration and creativity each day
My ability to use humor and make others laugh, even in pretty dire situations
My ability to see the best in people and my desire to help others
My home cooking and preserve making...I'm getting the hang of it now!

well I think that's it...are you still there?? It was a long wordy post I know! I feel very self indulgent just rambling on about myself but I guess that's what I mostly do in this here blog space! I do recommend you have a little go with the list making! 

Well, I've got to run..

thanks for visiting me! 

Love Lisa...the Dotty one

and THANK YOU for the flowers dear friend!! A lovely burst of colour on such a gloomy old day! 

Birds, Badgers, Beach huts ...and frogs!

I would firstly like to introduce to you Prince and Princess Froggy..these were lovingly and speedily sewn by me for my daughter for Christmas after she fell in love with a Froggy Prince I made for my Nan (read about him here) .  

 I do love making these little folk but I 'm quite new to doll aking and there are so many tricks I need to learn..they can be pretty fiddley to make!

and for no other reason than i'm being rather terrible and avoiding doing any work..I'd like to introduce to you a special pair of rooks, we fondly call George and Mildred...random yes I know..we are quite well acquainted as they nest in my chimney..somewhat unfortunately, as one day I would quite like to have reinstated it! 

and on the sewing front I've been squirelling away doodling some new designs for badger, squirrel and hedgehog door name hangers. I will be trying out the new designs tomorrow! My daughter, Little M was joining in and stenciling deer...maybe I should try a deer too!?

and the final B is for beach huts...these lights are sooo sweet and lovely and I'm especially pleased as I won them in a giveaway with the fabulous lighting company Essential Decoration did a giveaway on their new facebook page.  Please go and check out all their gorgeous lighting....they have some Morroccan style light that I'm a little too in love with...I may have to treat myself rather soon!! .

well...thanks for bearing with me..a slightly rambling and dotty post as per usual! I do so love to hear your feedback..I'm a lonesome cyber nerd a little too much in these cold months whilst my partner seems to be continuously marking books and writing lesson plans etc etc...Being an English and Media Studies teacher seems to make for A LOT of wordy things to mark.

oh and one last thing...I promise...if you are still there...? Please do enter the giveaway on my facebook page.  If yo are not on facebook then keep your eyes peeled for there wil be a giveaway starting this week!!

well well...that was supposed to be a little post...whoops...goodbye folks and thanks for stopping by xxxx

Love Lisa...the DoTTy OnE

and I give to you...My heart (a giveaway!!!)

Just a quick post to say that I've ***finally*** begun to list a few items in my etsy shop and to celebrate this rather humble but none the less great achievement I'm hosting a giveaway tomorrow on my facebook page. See here for a link or search for little dotty bird designs.

and for those of you that are not of the facebook variety..fear not.. because I'll be doing another giveaway here next week!

One of my Dotty little heart brooches is up for grabs so keep yer eyes peeled!

 It may seem silly but as excited as I am at listing things on etsy I also get a bit anxious about the whole thing...It's venturing out of my friends and family audience and selling online is a whole new thing for me. Do any of you lovely fellow bloggers sell online..any tips are most welcome!

Thank you for visiting...oh how I hope it snows tomorrow! I'm stupidly excited!

Take care

Dotty xxx

Inspired..52 lists...Week 1

Hello there,
I am not usually a list making type of girl...but I thought I'd try something a little different. I'm going to join in with Moorea Seal who is running a little project called 52 lists..there will be a different theme prompt every week. I just feel like I need a little something new to inspire me, I'm feeling a bit bogged down in my messy chaotic mind...so many things I'd like to do...where oh where to start!?? (at the beginning of course I hear you say!!) 

So the inspiration for today's list was simply 'list the words that touch your soul'. I wrote my list whilst snuggled in bed next to my poor sick little girl, who is now sleeping again. It is so eerily quiet in the house, I miss her constant chattering...even though it drives me crazy too!

So here goes...

 My words...most of which popped into my brain instantly were:

nurture
create
dream
freedom
dance
flowing
kindred
family
mother
earth
liberation
fly
love
innocence
beauty
discover
heal
courage
serene
fleeting
remember
patience
peace
grow
feel
release

Its quite an interesting exercise and quite telling about my state of mind and where I am in my life. I'm going to find myself a nice book or maybe decorate an old one to keep m lists in. I realise this is a bit of a different sort of post to the norm..but I hope you can find inspiration in it too.

it's back to raining again today but I took this lovely shot early yesterday morning..so peaceful. Those two little Jackdaws are always together, they all sit in pairs in the tree. I think these are the pair that nest in my chimney.

Take care

Love Dotty 

xxx

and another thing....Jenny Blair (the artist formally known as Love & Peas ..ha!) has forwarded me the link to her fab tutorial on how to make your own note book...please take a peek, they are most lovely indeed! The tutorial is here. I will definately have a go..hopefully it will be finished before the end of the year to store all my inspiring lists!. x

love is in the air...

Hello there friends!

Hope you are keeping warm on this chilly winters night. I'm tinkering about with some designs for Valentines day cards. I'm going to keep them simple and not too mushy! Of course...they are mostly birds...I'm a bird crafting addict...I confess!

Here is this evenings work in progress...

and I might have to make some Owly cards too (a printed version of Owl dance card is in my etsy shop).

well...really must stop faffing about and procrastinating...it's Friday night and its time to party craft!

take care my lovelies

sending some love, light and laughter to ya'll

Out with the old....in with the new!

I've got that new years buzz today...wondering what the next year will bring...so many questions...so many possibilities!
....will my children eventually learn to play together without it ending in a brawl?
....will I ever sort out/ebay/carboot the growing pile of stuff that is beginning to take over my craft room?
...will there be some snow....? pleeeeease I have a sledge at the ready but we've not even had a frost yet!

 The first mission this year is to get some chickens. My parents have moved in next door so between us we should be able to care for them, I keep being told how easy they are to care for but as I have never owned a pet I'm a little nervous! Any advice on which breeds to choose would be most welcome. We are looking for interesting eggs and funny feathers rather than prolific layers (daft I know!).

Anyways, gotta go dig the garden now! Hope that your new year is off to a good start too...what are your missions and plans  for the year??! x

Take Care, 

Love Dotty 

xxx

I didn't have a pic of a chick...so a  Flamingo will have to do!!