Just arrived !

Woohooo! Our newest granddaughter has finally arrived! Emily was born last night. She kept us waiting and biting our nails, lol, she was 6 days late. But, she is the sweetest little pea. 

We have just come back from the hospital where I spent half an hour or so cuddling her. I am so proud of my son and Ashley, they are wonderful parents and Emily's big sister Grace already loves her little sis oodles. 

I so want to take some pretty pics of Emily and family but that will have to wait until they get home and settled in. The hospital room was too dark to take decent pics. Still, little Emily is such a cutiepie, she looks gorgeous even in pretty ordinary pics -

Mummy and Emily -

Daddy and Emily -

Uncle Nick and Emily -

Wonderful white gifts

Not a day goes by without me seeing evidence of the incredibly generous spirit of the bloggers in our corner of blogland. There are many giveaways, beautiful swaps, and gifts for special occasions or just because.

And I was the humbled recipient of one of those, a just because gift from a dear bloggy friend. A little while ago Salma emailed me to say that she had collected a few little bits and pieces which I might like, and that she was sending me a little package. And a couple of days ago that little package arrived. My goodness, this girl knows me well, just have a look at the lovely lovely things she sent me -

Beautiful pieces of lace fabric -

The sweetest little lace embellishments -

This tiny little scrap of paper was pinned to two tiny little fabric samples -

Handmade broderie anglaise trim -

Some wonderful pieces -

including this gorgeous collar -

and this darling little handkerchief with the sweetest little embroidery, the name Molly -

this piece of fabric is amazing, embellished with tiny beads -

aren't these things just so lovely?

Then there were these gorgeous laces -

and the cutest little sewing accessory I have ever seen, a little drum to store needles -

two more little treasures, a lovely old cabinet card, and an exercise book with some sweet drawings -

I am so delighted with these beautiful things and just want to look at them and touch them for a while before I start thinking about what projects I could use them for. Thank you so very much, Salma, I really am humbled by your kindness. 

Salma's blog is written in German, but even if you don't speak the lingo, it is worth visiting her blog, because her photography is so amazing, fresh and modern and so uplifting. Guaranteed to brighten up the dullest day.

I'd like to link this post to Becky's Blissful Whites Wednesday party over at her TIMEWASHED blog. There are always so many beautiful whites to drool over. 

Toodlepip xxx

That ain't Granddad on the broom!

No, you are right, it is not, it is a warty old witch, lol, but it seems Granddad might have done some flying as well...

Well, that kinda worked, lol, getting both challenges for this week into one post title :-). We are up to the letter G for the Tag Tuesday challenge and when I made my list of G words, Grandfather jumped out at me and told me his story. He was a bit of a lad in his youth and travelled to many strange and wonderful places, but when he returned after many decades, something about him had changed. Can't quite put my finger on it......

These days he spends a lot of time at the bottom of the garden, talking to the flowers and insects. And I could swear that sometimes his feet don't quite touch the ground.

The word for the Every Inchie Monday challenge was Broom, and somehow I had to get a witch onto the broom. She gave me a lot of trouble, as witches are wont to do, and the broom wasn't very obliging either. Fortunately, they have now flown off and I am breathing a sigh of relief -

What a strange week I am having, lol.

Toodlepip xxx

A little bit of PINK

I was rummaging through a box of doilies and tablecloths this morning, and I came across a few pink and pink trimmed pieces. It reminded me that it was Pink Saturday today over at the How Sweet The Sound blog, so I took a few pics to share with other Pink lovers.

First up is this sweet flower doily in the softest shell pink and green -

So sweet and romantic, don't you think?

Next, a set of dressing table or sideboard doilies, a larger centre one and a couple of smaller side ones in a much richer deep pink -

This next one is a gorgeous crocheted white tablecloth trimmed with pink -

Oh, and this little doily is so sweet as well -

I have a set of these tea napkins in a kind of salmon pink colour -

and lastly, I just had to take a photo of this gorgeous vintage French chocolate box. I love the all gold interior and the beautiful rose fabric covered lid. The roses are a kind of errmm, rusty? pink -

Wishing you all a lovely PINK Saturday, and a beautiful Sunday for tomorrow.

Toodlepip xxx

Trying something different

A couple of weeks ago, I bought the latest Creativity magazine, because it had a great stamp set on the cover. And yesterday, I finally got round to using it, yay. Usually, I stick with paper backgrounds, you know, old handwriting, maps, music paper, that sort of thing, but this time I wanted to do something else. I used a couple of spattered distress paints and dabs of gold paint for the background. When that was dry, I used a couple of the gorgeous stamps from that set, and then all that was left to do was find an image which suited the stamps.  As I said, not my usual style, but I like it -

Busy, busy, busy today with house stuff, so off I toddle again.

Toodlepip xxx

Perfect timing!

Firstly, I would like to wish you all a very Happy Valentine's Day, may it be filled with love and fun and sweetness.

And now to the perfect timing of the post title. You may remember that I took part in a lovely swap organised by Kimberly from ArtJoyStuff, a 'I'm Dreaming of a White Valentine's Day' tag swap. And today, with perfect timing, my Valentine's Day swap tags arrived. They are gorgeous! Each and every one of them is a little work of art -

From Joanne at the Vintage Dragonfly blog -

From Becs at Rebecca Rose Designs -

It was so beautifully packaged, I had to show you a pic of that as well -

Why do I always forget to package mine nicely, sigh.

From Jane at Aralia Jane blog -

From Sue ( sorry, couldn't find a blog for her ) -

From Carol Pohl ( sorry, couldn't find a blog for her either ) -

And from Sylvia at Little Treasures -

Aren't they all just fabulous?  I am so happy to have received such gorgeous tags. But that wasn't all. Kimberly is fantastic swap hostess and she enclosed such a sweet Valentine's goodie bag -

Big thank you hugs to Kimberly and to girls who made these amazing tags.

Toodlepip xxx