....hedgehog rescue......

...sometimes a little love is all that is required....

...last week i found this abandoned hedgehog in my local charity shop...

...a little shabby round the edges...

...but fundamentally all in one piece...

...and lovingly hand stitched for 

somebody....

somewhere.....

some time ago....

...unable to resist a toy sob story..

she had to come home with me....

...to be squirrelled....

nothing too drastic..

..a bow of course...

..a few buttons, a furry collar...

...and a little pocket patched with love..

...i thought my work was done...

..until i found this ear-less bear

by the sea...

...how could i walk away?

...a serious cry for help 

that couldn't be ignored...

...so with some words of reassurance

 from miss tiggy...

...this old sheepskin bear 

awaits his makeover!

x

....puppy love.....

...i just can't resist puppy material...

...there was a very large piece of this...

..so i made a few lavendar bags to start off..

..and backed them in this lovely 

french vintage ticking...

.....oh that?

...i think somebody must love me very much..

..because cute parcels arrive in the post...

...and the gifts inside are just so me...

...this perfect little brooch is from

happy doodle land

 ..so thank you my secret admirer...

..you know me so well!

x

....the look of love.....

...'un coup de coeur'...

...whatever it was...

...i loved this bunny instantly...

...not just a fleeting thought....

...but a sense we belonged..

...together forever...

...she was crafted by the lovely sophie..

..and spied on her beautiful blog

fading grace

..i'm not sure where she's going to live yet..

..she looks cute everywhere..

 ...i'm smitten by the mittens!

..do pop to sophie's shop..

 treat yourself to an early valentine

here!

time for tea!

what treats have you had today?

x

.....finding treasure......

...today i had a quiet thrifty wander...

...seeking but not knowing 

what i was looking for.....

...until i found it...

..a lovely old ladybird book...

(99p!!)

..the lovely illustrations are by a.j.macgregor...

..the little boy reminded me of someone..

...he is very like christopher robin....

...my special doll is made by the 

artist r.john.wright...

..he lives in my guest room with all of his friends....

...i was so lucky to be given

 this wonderful collection when my squirrel parents moved house....

..the attention to detail is amazing...

..these little sandals have perfect little buckles..

(i think piglet is my favourite)

...so in finding this book...

...i re-found some treasure...

..that was already mine.

..what a lucky day!

x

....here today....

...we have been busy crafting outside....

...but he didn't last long....

....somebody wouldn't share twigs nicely....

...and nibbled the carrots when mister snowy started to melt....

(what is this stuff?)

...it was lovely while it lasted...

...but it will be gone tomorrow...

x

....hidden treasure!

..this is a story of surprises....

...of finding joy in unexpected places...

...of lasting friendships...

...a story about a monkey who had a secret!

...every year my squirrelling parents

try to travel to holland to visit 

the utrecht vintage toy fair...

...they always return

 with the most amazing 'finds'(I WANT TO GO!!)...

...they stay with our dear dutch friends..

.. who share our love 

of antiques, vintage, childhood nostalgia...

...this year our 'vriendiin eekhoorn'

(dutch squirrel friend??)

discovered an endearing norah wellings monkey

(remember my binky?)

..fell for that little face and adopted him!

..but once home it was felt that all was not quite what it seemed.... 

..with a little explorative investigation..

...and a delicate operation...

...a large piece of vintage fabric was discovered stuffed inside our little monkey!

....quel suprise!!!!(i know...french not dutch)

...as you can see it is very unusual...

..it has lovely little illustrations...

..and quirky little sayings...

...in english!!!...

...the material was gently packaged up..

..and kindly sent back to england with

my parents......

...to be 'vanilla squirrelled'

 into something crafty...

...hmmmm what to do?

...my mum asked me to make something special

for her friend (of some 30 years)

to send back to holland ...

...a gift of friendship...

...so i mooted and pondered...

...gathered together a mix of materials, ribbons, buttons....doilies!....

...and pondered and mooted...

..and made a trio of lavender pillows...

....that will hopefully last another 

30 years...

...a symbol of a lasting friendship...

...and a special little monkey...

...with a hidden secret.

x

...heart felt.......

...there's a bit of a 'felty revolution' going on....

....i noticed lots of felty projects

in this month's mollie makes magazine...

...i love to sew with felt...

...and i love felty makes...

...this gorgeous dolly was a christmas gift....

...she's beautiful....

...but what makes her even more amazing is that she was made by a very talented

15 year old girl!(wow!)

..this week also saw the welcome arrival

 of billy badger...

...billy was lovingly crafted by

emma at ooh betty...

..the little miss foxes were very impressed by his swagger and style....

...but i think he had other ideas....!

...do pop over to the 'ooh betty'

etsy shop here 

( 25% of all sales of emma's lovely makes

are being donated to the millies trust charity)  

...i also found some old loved felties

in my monkey cupboard...

(i don't think that banana's for sharing!)

..these felties clearly stand the test of time...

..and one can never have too many!

x