I'm Having A Lil' Giveaway

I hope that this post finds you all doing well! Wow! It is already February, well almost, and it is time for a little giveaway in celebration of YOU and Valentine's Day. Of course, a little Valentine's giveaway HAS to have some reds and some pinks!
A little PINK and RED vintage apron.....
...a handmade LOVE sachet pillow done in sweet red fabrics and a vintage LOVE BIRD hand towel....
...two CD's with relaxing and romantic music (you will need to provide the candles, champagne and bubble bath.... wink!)..... oooo la la!
...a little set of Babooshka dolls and a little Matrioshka doll key chain...who traveled all the way from Russia - with LOVE!

....a sweet vintage framed needlepoint...

...and one of my handmade pennant banners done in reds and whites. This size is perfect to hang over a mirror or hutch.

Little tea cup prints...

...and little cherry prints...

...and must have ginghams and polka dots!

I will be picking the name of the winner on February 6th. All YOU need to do is to leave a comment on this post. If you don't have a way to leave a comment then you can email me at www.sweetcottagedreams1@comcast.net and let me know if you would like to enter. Our International friends are included, too.

To get your name in TWICE, just post the giveaway on your blog and let me know that you did so.

Now I am off for another week so that I can finish more of the sachet pillows for ETSY. They will make it there eventually.......I won't give any specific dates. The batch I had to list were purchased from some very sweet blog friends. So off I go.....into the wild blue yonder.....or something like that!

Till next week I leave you with some sweet sounds from my favorite movie "French Kiss."

Au revoir and les étreintes à vous.

tootles.......

Hard At Work

Do you think I can dig to China? Man! This is hard work!!

I think I need a tasty beverage .... glub, glub, glub - burp.

Now a little snoooooooze will do! I am beat!

Disclaimer: Doogs did not consume any alcoholic beverages nor will he be participating in any 12 step program in the near future. However, if you must know....he WILL knock over your Guiness bottle if you leave it on the ground. Afterall, he is a true Scotsman and likes his ale!

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Thank you all for your interests in the Sweet Dream pillows. I will be putting some on ETSY by Thursday (sorry, I said Wednesday earlier however I didn't quite get them all done). Like Mr. Doogie, I have been busy at work here with sewing and setting up a little space at a local antique mall. With that being said, I will be taking a wee bit of a break but will be back this weekend to announce a blog giveaway in celebration of Valentine's Day - because I HEART YOU!

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Sweet Dreams

With Valentine's Day soon approaching I thought that I would make some little "sweet dream" pillows. In the center of each pillow is a little cross stitched heart and the word LOVE that I designed. Inside the pillows is fresh lavender and polyfill. Just tuck the little pillow near where you sleep and you will be sure to have "sweet dreams".

A Fun Frame

What do you do with old vintage film cartridges? Use them as frames! Just hot glue your favorite old photo on them and you will have a one-of-a-kind piece.

A Must Have....

Sometimes a guy just needs a little jolt for the day.....burrrp.

Some Sweet Delights....

Hi there! I'm back and trying my darn-dest to shake off the nasty little flu creature that seems to be desperately hanging on to every cell in my body. Little bugger just doesn't get the hint that I don't want him around anymore. Kind of like getting rid of the old clingy boyfriend that used to give the most awful wet and mushy kisses. Blagh! Know what I mean, jellybean?

I would like to thank everyone who has sent their get well wishes my way. Laughter is THE BEST medicine and I had a lot of spoon fulls of chuckles with comments left. Thank you!

Blogging sure has brought a positive element to our world and I am a very lucky recipient of such sweet graces. The photo above and below is a recent giveaway that I won from the sweet and creative Elyse. It is a little organizer set that she made from a can. I just love it and it will be perfect on my desk. Elyse recently opened her ETSY shop and sells some lovely "tinkered treasures" (isn't that cute?) on her site.

As if winning the set wasn't enough, she also blessed me with this Treasured Blogger award. Of course, I just LOVE the cottage! Thank you so much, Elyse!!! xo


Now the next few pictures are treasures sent all the way from Magnolia, Texas from my very precious friend, Kathy!! Many of you may have had the treat of getting to see her home at her sister Tina's blog. Kathy and I first met when she bought Tina a pottery vase from me on eBay and we have been friends ever since. Kathy is very creative and made the wonderful flower vase pictured above.
My husband had to pick up the enormous box that she sent. It was chock FULL of all kinds of amazing things!

Scotty book ends, a Scottish Santa, vintage scotty picture and a sweet bottle with a vintage picture of a girl and a dog....

...a little creamer and two scotty ornaments. Not shown is a fabulous scotty dog stocking holder that will hold little Duhgall's stocking next year. She also sent a wonderful white rooster and a little silver bird. Kathy, you have a heart of gold and I love everything!!! Thank you! xo

Now Jean in Virginia - sweet Jean - is a frequent visitor to many in blogland and I am richly blessed to have her as a blog friend. Jean surprised me with a sweet parcel that held a darling Scottish Santa and a little scotty dog soap. She also sent scotty cookie cutters and a little notepad, of which I put away already. Jean has a little Cairn Terrier by the name of Maggie. If only Doogs could meet Maggie - I know his heart would be skipping beats because she is quite the blonde beauty! Jean, you know I just love my presents and thank you so very much!! xo

Miss Lallee (aka Miss Laura) surprised me a beautiful gift of one of her crocheted scarfs (I have it on in the photo below) and this fabulous handmade ornament. Look closely, that is Duhgall in the center!!! Clever Lallee saved one of the pictures I had posted on my blog and used it in the ornament. Needless to say, I just giggled when I opened it!!! She also sells adorable handmade creations on her ETSY, so go and check it out if you haven't already done so. Laura, thank you sweet friend! xoBelow is a lovely bookmark that the loving and delightful Denise surprised me with. It is my very favorite color and will come in handy to keep my place while reading. Denise is a sweet Christian woman with a beautiful and heartfelt blog. Thank you, sweet Denise! xo

Miss Jean gave me several sweet gifts this year - some of which are all eaten and others put away. However, these sweet Wheaten Scotty Dog shakers will remain out all of the time. She thinks I need to have more white scotty things around the house being as someday I would like to have a Wheaten Scotty dog. For now though, this pair is pretty cheap to maintain and don't make little potty or pee messes. :) Thank you, Miss Jean - oh, and Mr. In The Garden and Maggie, too!

The little bird ornaments were made by the very talented, Eileen! They are love birds and I love them! Eileen made them from vintage feedsack fabrics and added little bells as their feet. Eileen is another blogger that I met this year when I entered her Summer Stash Quilt Challenge. Eileen is quite the accomplished seamstress herself! Thank you, Eileen. xoAll the way from The Land Down Under came this very kind award! Kate, thank you so, so much for sharing this award with me! You sure made my day all the brighter with this sweet treat! I am honored and still smiling at your sweet gesture! xo

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((hugs)) and :0 laughter your way!

A "Flu"ke - Or Irony With Word Verifications

Dontcha just love those word verifications that pop up before you can leave a comment? Sometimes they are annoying as heck and difficult to decipher and sometimes they are actually a pretty funny mixture of letters.

Before Christmas I was visiting my sweet blog friend, Michelle (Cowboys and Custard) and was reading about how ill she was. She had been stricken with the nasty flu bug and was literally "saddled" and neck deep in Kleenex. Her long and growing list of things to get done before Christmas had to be held off till she got better. I was leaving her a couple of messages and that is when the irony popped up. Preholi - hmmm...kind of like preholiday? Pre-holiday pain-in-the-butt flu is more like it. A bit strange, ironic...so I got out my camera. You know, anything for blog fodder. Right?

Ok...and this one popped up...Fluckle. Now WHAT is a fluckle? Is it a new form of Flu? All I can say is that Blogger is lucky that they had the "L" in between the F and the U. Anywho, both words kind of struck that ol' bone of mine. Any of you ever had this happen to you?



I believe Michelle is feeling better and it is probably because her dear and loving husband, Mr. Custard - also known as Nurse Flo - gave her plenty of the proper nursing care whilst she was housebound. For a funny read, be sure to read Michelle's guide to a healthy Christmas. As for me, I believe I am still in some state of delirium from all of the sleep and Theraflu. Or it could be because I had a few shots of whiskey in my teee...teaa..tae. t. e. e. .......................................zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.............................. pardon...I dozed off. Honestly, just one shot before bed and I slept like a princess. Well, maybe not a princess as I look more like a wretched sea hag that bears a striking resemblance to Rudolph - but more like Carl Malden.

Thank you so much to all of your for the get well wishes and the phone calls. I just could hug you, but then again that might not be a good idea afterall.

Till the next post....ta ta. Sneeze. Sniffle. Cough. I have some thanking still to do to some very sweet and thoughtful friends!

Comfort Food - Kahchoo!

Nothing beats comfort food.

Sneeze.

Hack.

Sneeze again.

Mumble....sneeze...cughcugh...yack.

I am in need of a warm blankie, some TheraFlu and watch the movie The Holiday for the third time...but will settle for a plate of Chicken Divan at this moment. It is warm and comforting to the soul.

Give it a try sometime.....

Chicken Divan

* 1 large bag of frozen broccoli, rinsed and drained well (or you can use 1 bunch of fresh that is cooked).

* 6-8 chicken breasts that are cooked and chopped into 1-inch cubes

* 2 cans cream of chicken soup

* 1 cup low fat mayonaisse

* 1 Tablespoon lemon juice

* 1/4 tsp curry powder (note: I use 1 tsp because I love curry)

* 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter a 13 - 8 - 2 inch baking dish. Arrange broccoli on bottom of dish. Layer the cooked and cubed chicken over the broccoli. Combine all of the other ingredients and pour over the chicken and broccoli.

Cook uncovered for 30 minutes - until bubbly around the edges.

Serve with rice, green salad and a good crusty baguette.

Old Pictures

As a kid, trips to Grandma and Grandpa's house weren't always on the top ten favorite things to do - especially since Grandma was a bit of a worry wort and a "neat freak". My brothers and I would sneak down to the creek and do things we weren't suppose to do, like get dirty and dig up worms. As a result of doing naughty things, a trip to the sofa for a time out was always in store. What made matters worse is that there were endless minutes of soaps playing on the TV. Eww! People were kissing! I'd rather be chasing frogs! There was one picture over Grandma's couch and I would just stare at it for what seemed like hours. It was an old green tint photo from a World's Fair held in San Francisco. It was a tranquil photo of some white columns next to a pond. There was something magical and mysterious about the picture. I think that that picture embedded a passion inside of me for old pictures, especially those of landcape and green tinted.
I have a large shelf over our couch that holds a few of my favorite old pictures. Some are landscape, one is of Yosemite Valley in the 1920's....

...but my favorites are the old cottages. The last one here reminds me of the Bodega Bay area in California - you know...where the Alfred Hitchcock movie The Birds was filmed.

Now I am just thankful for having served time on my Grandma's sofa. Perhaps it wasn't really that bad afterall. If only I could sit there again with her - but this time I would probably watch the soaps along with her.

Oh, and if you are wondering where Grandma's picture is now, it is at my sweet Mom's house. She told me I can have it the next time I go to visit. I bet you can guess where it is going to go......

Have a lovely weekend......

See you next week.

An Evening Glow & A New Look

With the cold and dampness that the Winter months bring, there is nothing better than being snuggled up under a warm blanket at home. Having a few lights on in the evening casts a wonderful soft glow in the room. Little table vignettes seem softer - as if all in harmony together with their colors blending ever-so-softly together.
The muted colors of a favorite old oil painting are even softer under the amber glow of the light.
Dried hydrangeas made their way from the Christmas tree to a little silver tray that is layered on old books.

Now I just need to put in a movie and get me a tasty warm drink.
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The New Year also brings a NEW LOOK to my blog! For quite some time now I have had a certain design in my head and AMBER pulled it all together for me. Thank you, Amber, for being such a pleasure to work with. You saw my vision and made it all happen so perfectly!!!!


Stay tuned, dear friends, as I will be having a little giveaway in a few weeks to celebrate YOU and the New Year!

A Little Cabinet Re-do-a-do

Taking down all the Christmas decorations lends itself to "fluffing" and revamping spaces. Do you find yourself looking around at your home and desiring some changes? I find this to be, especially after all of the seasonal decorations are put away. It is always great to go out and find new stuff, however I like to just move things around to give favorite display areas a "new" look.
A little vintage soap tin is placed on top of an old match holder. I found this vintage
"for rent" sign at a flea market and have it placed on the beadboard ledge above the la-treen. I hope it conjures up a smile, or two, and maybe some quarters left for "rent".

A Victorian souvenir wall pocket is hung from a knob on a cabinet. I tucked old millinery flowers inside.

The little cabinet I like to re-vamp every so often. At Christmas it held little cottages and bottle brush trees.

This is my favorite little picture that I leave up all year. My favorite old photos are the black and whites, especially of children. Their expressions really are so cute!

A little soap vignette and the scotty was a gift from my friend, Sarita.

Don't forget to deck out the tops of a shelf. Here is an old shabby white gesso mirror that is displayed behind some old vintage Big Ben clocks, an old door stop and my favorite little white creamers.

The clocks don't work, but I don't care. They are just little treasures that make me smile.

So for some "fresh" looks, how about pulling out some items that you have tucked away in a cabinet or closet? Move some things around that maybe you have had in one place for awhile. You will be surprised how a little change will do you good - for a good feeling and at no cost at all.