Thursday, 12 May 2016

An overdue catch up


Oh I've been a rubbish little blogger this year haven't I?

Things were a bit mental work-wise at the start of the year, but I'm more or less back in control and with that has come thoughts of writing again. I've missed this space and how it was slowly turning in to an online scrapbook of all things I adore. I've come back a few times over the last few months just to trawl through the archives and rediscover the things I did years ago. And it was while I was doing this that I realised how future me would regret not keeping this blog updated.
So I'm back and what have I been up to?

Well. Do you temember these girls?


No they're not coming back. Although we are getting chickens again and I could not be more happy about it. I never wanted to rehome our last brood if I'm being completely honest, but money was tight so we had to scale right back. While we still have to stick to a strict budget at home, finances aren't nearly as worrysome. So chickens here we come!
We'll be getting bantam hens this time around as we don't have the space to section off half the garden like we did before. Three bantams will fit perfectly in the little coop we have and they can live happily at the bottom of the garden under the apple tree. They'll get the sunshine, whilst also getting plenty of shade during hotter days, cover during wet ones and will have a section of the flower bed for dust baths. Hopefully this will result in some happy hens.


Some work needs to be done first though. The coop needs a little TLC and I want to make a 'bottom' for it so that they can scratch the dirt without actually burrowing deep enough to escape under the fence and in to next door's garden! I also want to extend the coop's run to give them a bit of extra space.

That little lot should keep me out of trouble and if it doesn't, there's always Me Made May.


Me Made May (#mmmay16 on Instagram) is a challenge which happens, unsurprisingly, every May. During which time you are encouraged to try and wear more of the clothes that you've made for yourself throughout the month. Some people post photos of their outfits, although you don't have to do this. This year I decided to take part and pledged not only to wear my handmade clothes more often, but also to go through my wardrobe, identify any items that I needed and try and fill those gaps with clothes that I'd made myself.


When I went through my wardrobe I found that I really needed some new pyjamas as I'm still using my woolly Christmas ones! They're starting to get a little thread bare, not to mention too warm to be comfortable. I need a lighter coat for the warmer months too as I spend a lot of the time roasting in my current one . I'd also like a dress that I can just throw on when it's really sunny outside. Something that's both comfortable, flattering and colourful. I don't ask for much! So I raided my stash and found a polka dot jersey that's just perfect.


I love the cut of my Edie dress pattern so I'm going to tweak that and make an off the shoulder, ruffle dress with it. That will check the comfortable and flattering boxes, while the fact that it's bright yellow will satisfy my craving for bright colours.

And that's me! These are just a couple of the things keeping me smiling this month and I'll be back with another update soon. Pinky swear.

Monday, 28 March 2016

Four

She's longer, leaner and a hell of a lot sassier than she was this time last year.


Still very much in to Frozen and all things princessy, but this doesn't irk me the way it once did. She's confident and has a healthy outlook so if she wants to wear a princess dress and sing Let it Go (that song will not fucking die) then I'm not going to stop her.
In fact what irk me that it's ok for girls to do what the boys do, but god forbid a little boy put on a tutu or play with a doll. So I've decided that if Alessi wants to embrace all things that are traditionally 'girly', fuck it. She is a girl and that's not something to be ashamed of. If we make being a girly girl to seem like such a bad thing to our kids at such a young age then maybe we are as much a part of the problem as those idiots that say "no she can't". But I'm veering wildly off track, so I will save that rant for another day.


She had her first proper party this weekend, complete with bouncy castle, cocktail sausages and friends from nursery. It was crazy and I barely saw her in the tea making/food organising haze. Those moments where I did snatch a glance at her, what I saw made me so happy. There she was, confident and happy, surrounded by her friends and just being Roo. A happy kid.


Some of the things she loves at the moment are:

Brown Bear, her ever faithful partner in crime and squashy pillow
Cheese, forever with the cheese
Disney princesses (current faves include Elsa, Anna and Merida)
Playing with her dolls house
Shopkins
Stickers
Fighting her Dad. He barely gets in from work before "DADDY, FIGHT!"
And luckily for me, cuddles. May she never grow out of those


And for balance, some things that she's not so keen on:

Carrots
Jeans (or any trousers that aren't leggings - too lumpy)
Socks
Clothes that are brown
Wearing pants
Having her hair brushed

In just over five months she starts school. Holy shit. Moving on quickly..

Happy birthday my little firecracker. Love your face to the moon and back.
xoxoxoxox

Tuesday, 1 March 2016

And the winner is..

Lisa Warner!

Two goodie bags will also be winging their way to Sarah of Mostly Yummy and Caleigh very soon. 

Congratulations ladies and thank you to everyone who took part and helped to make this the best giveaway yet!

Wednesday, 3 February 2016

A Birthday Giveaway and a Big Thank You


On March 1st, The Dress Tree turns three!

I got a little emotional last night as I looked back over the last three years. There's of a lot pride here and a pretty big sense of, "what the hell was I thinking??"
To say I jumped in at the deep end without a clue as to what I was supposed to do would be an understatement! A lot of hard work and late nights have gone into making The Dress Tree what it is today - a small yet viable business which brings me so much joy. It still blows my mind to imagine that there are people dotted around the world who wear something that I've made. Or that people take time out of their day to leave a comment, send me a message or in some other way, give me encouragement to keep going.
It's really hard not to get too slushy, so I'll stop here. Just know that I am deeply grateful to every one of you who have supported me over the past three years. This is more than just a business to me and you will never know how much your encouragement has meant.

As a thank you I would like to giveaway a skirt from the shop. All you need to do to be in with a chance of winning it is to answer a simple question "which skirt would you choose if you won?" You don't have to follow me anywhere, like anything or comment on this blog post. And it's just one entry per person, so everyone will be in with an equal chance.
Your choice isn't set in stone either. I will contact the winner once the giveaway has finished to find out which skirt they would prefer. And I do mean any skirt too. It could be one of the ready to ship ones, or one of the custom made ones. Although if it's the latter, it will take a little longer for me to send it to you as I will have to make it first! But that's ok isn't it. ;)

So pop on over to the shop, have a look at the skirts and enter the giveaway. I mean, only if you want to. You don't have to, it's not as though I'm the boss of you.

But I am the boss of me and that is, AWESOME!!!


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