Happy July!

Happy July everyone!

Hope this month is a great one for you all.

The Dorothy Days Xx

The Dorothy Days - Things I love this week...

Would love to hear what you are loving this week, please let me know in the comments section below.

The Dorothy Days X

Happy 2015 from The Dorothy Days

Hello everyone!

Happy New Year to you all. I can't believe that it is now 2015. 2014 seems to have flown by so quickly and so much is different now than it was a year ago, feels so strange thinking back.

Just wanted to wish you all a wonderful new year. I hope that 2015 is a good year for you all and a time to make a fresh start if 2014 was a difficult year. Thank you to all of you who have supported The Dorothy Days in 2014. You have all been amazing and it has been wonderful to see support not only from those in the U.K (particularly local support) but also those across the other side of the globe. I can't even begin to tell you how exciting getting feedback from a customer is about their purchase or someone messaging me to say they enjoyed reading my blog or my tweets. Excited about what is in store for my shop in 2015 and also for the Dorset Etsy Team.

The Dorothy Days Xx

The Dorothy Days - Things I am loving this week...

• Blueberry Muller Rice (I can't get enough of this at the moment!)
• Mint tea made from fresh mint leaves and boiling water
• Thick socks!! It has certainly been cold this week so my thick socks have been in high demand!
• That it feels more like Autumn. I miss the sunshine but I do also love the Autumn and can't wait until it is cold enough to get the fire lit!
• Spending time catching up with friends and family. I have been doing a lot of it this week and you just can't beat it! 

Christmas preparations!

Hey everyone,

How are you all? thank you to everyone who has been commenting on my blog, really nice to read your replies. Can't believe that it is November, Christmas is going to be here in a flash! I have done two Christmas craft fairs and now will be focusing on getting my shop prepared for the holiday season. So much to do and to make but trying to get as many things made and listed before Christmas is here. 

This week I have been making lots of hair grips for my shop as I thought these would make lovely stocking fillers or as a secret santa gift. 

I have made them in all different designs.....some wooden ones, some button ones, some fabric ones. Here are a few of the designs I have listed so far.....

My wooden heart hair clips, how cute are these?! Click here to view

 Set of two vintage style floral fabric hair grips/ bobby pins by The Dorothy Days Click here to take a look

These fab retro style hair clips are some of my favourite Click here to view

I have updated my shop with the last shipping dates for Christmas.....

Wednesday 4 December Asia, Far East (including Japan), New Zealand
Thursday 5 December Australia
Friday 6 December Africa, Caribbean, Central & South America, Middle East
Monday 9 December Cyprus, Eastern Europe
Tuesday 10 December Canada, France, Greece, Poland
Friday 13 December USA
Saturday 14 December Western Europe (excluding France, Greece, Poland)

and I am also taking custom order requests and gift requests too :)

All set for taking Christmas orders and hopefully will get even more Christmas gifts up soon. Watch this space!!! 

The Dorothy Days 

Please click here if you would like to see what else my shop has to offer

3000 Twitter Followers!

We did it, we did it!! Finally reached 3000 Twitter followers, I am still in shock! Thank you so much everyone for all your support.

Today I have been....

…..eating ridiculous amounts of banoffee pie (it is just so good!), drinking lots of Earl Grey, meeting lovely local Etsy sellers, photographing new items for my shop, shipping orders off to their new homes and trying to work out why I have quite so many jumpers!!

The Dorothy Days

Roald Dahl quote - Quote of the Week

Today I thought I would share with you all one of the loveliest quotes that I have come across so far and also one of the truest quotes :). 

 “A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.” 
― Roald Dahl

Hope this quote inspires you all to be extra lovely this week :) !

The Dorothy Days Xx

The Dorothy Days is now on Tumblr!

Hi everyone,

Thank you so much to those of you who have been reading my blog this week. I hope you all have a fantastic weekend.

This week I have decided to bite the bullet and get a Tumblr account. I have heard good things about Tumblr and so have decided to give it a go and try it out and see if I like it.

You can now find my Tumblr blog here

Please take a little look at my new Tumblr if you have the time :)

I am still very new to it so trying to work it out still but hopefully I will start regularly posting over there soon. I will of course be keeping this blog going too but in addition run the Tumblr.

Best wishes to you all

The Dorothy Days

Art to cheer you up on a gloomy rainy day

Hello everyone,

Today it is raining like mad here in England. I love listening to the rain but the rain today is the kind of rain which is really fine so gets you soaked but doesn't have all the lovely sounds of 'proper' rain. The sky looks miserable and it is really chilly here too. All in all it is a rather gloomy day! So I was thinking of things that I could post on here which would cheer us all up and I thought what better than some beautiful art to share with you all.

I have picked paintings which are all very different but hopefully you will enjoy looking at.

This is a work by Henri Matisse called  View of Notre Dame, 1914. It is an oil on canvas work and is now in the MOMA (Museum of Modern Art)

This is one of my favourite art works. When I first started studying art history I was taken to the National Gallery to see some of the art works. This is one of pieces which really blew me away. It is a million times more beautiful when you see it up close and the colours are amazing. It is a portable altarpiece and was painted in c 1395. The artist is unknown and they also do not know if it is French or English. It is known as the Wilton Diptych. I have to stop myself rambling on here about how amazing this piece as I love it so much! Maybe I will write an art post soon on it :) 

Wheat Field with Cypresses - Vincent Van Gogh - 1889 - National Gallery - London

 Girl with Ball by Roy Litchenstein 1961. This is one of his earliest pop art pieces and is taken from an advert in the New York Times. It is now in the MOMA

Rain, Steam and Speed - The Great Western Railway which is a painting by  JMW Turner painted in 1844. It is now in the National Gallery in London.

Hope this cheered you up a little on this gloomy Friday afternoon and hope that you are all looking forward to the weekend ahead. Have a great one!

The Dorothy Days X

The Dorothy Days - New items in my shop

Happy Friday everyone!

Hope that you have all had a good week. I have been working really hard on my shop and listing lots of new items. I am feeling rather proud of how the shop is looking and how much it has grown recently so I thought I would share with you all some of my favourite new listings.

I am trying to expand the range of vintage items which I have in my shop so recently have been listing some lovely vintage children's books. The books have the most wonderful vintage illustrations and are lovely to read as they are a real reminder of how much the world has changed, technology has moved forwards and how much people's attitudes have changed. It took me ages to list the books as I ended up reading them all as they were fascinating as they give an insight into the era in which they were published. The book above is one of my favourite of the ones which I have recently listed. It is 50 years old and not only does it have lovely illustrations but also is a really sweet book as it is meant to help children feel less nervous about going into hospital. 

 You can view my section of vintage children's books here

This is another one of my new listings - a vintage tea cup and saucer set made from English bone china. This set is so so beautiful, one of the most beautiful I have ever had in my shop and I think it would make such a lovely wedding gift. Click here to view this vintage tea cup

I have also been adding some vintage brooches to my shop including this one which I thought would be perfect for the Autumn because of its lovely brown and amber colours. 

Both vintage and handmade brooches are available to buy here

Hope that you like my new items :)

The Dorothy Days Xx

The Dorothy Days milestone - 8000 Tweets!

Hello everyone :),

Hope that you are all having a wonderful weekend so far. Just wanted to share with you some exciting news.... today I reached another milestone and have just tweeted my 8000th tweet!! Was rather excited about it so thought I would share my excitement with you all. Massive thank you to everyone who is following me over on Twitter. 

Here is to many more milestones :) !

Enjoy your weekend.

Best wishes to you all

The Dorothy Days Xxx (On Twitter here)

P.S Big big hello to all my Russian followers. I am getting a crazy amount of views from Russia. Thank you all so much.

Happy Mothers Day

Hello everyone

Happy Mothers Day to all of my followers in the U.K. Is anyone treating their mother to anything nice today? I bought a card for my mum at the makers boutique in Brighton. It was handmade by a local artist and has beautiful birds on it. I know that she will really like it. I am visiting her on Mothers Day and going to spoil her and have a good catch up. Have any mothers reading this been treated today? Any breakfast in beds?? cups of tea? flowers? chocolates?! Let me know in the comments section below, would love to know how you are all celebrating. I hope you all have a wonderful day.


The Dorothy Days Xxx

Lovely things that happened last week....

• The sun put his hat on :) and we had beautiful blue skies over Brighton.
• Beautiful little lambs were born on my friends farm and more are on their way. They are so perfect.
• Lovely cups of tea, lunches and catch ups with friends.
• I got views on my blog from all around the world including Mecca.....how cool is that?! Big hello to all my followers from around the globe :) thanks for viewing my blog
• Spring flowers started to bloom
• Homemade banoffee pie.....need I say more!!

What lovely things happened to you this week?

The Dorothy Days

Christmas time in August?! and some beautiful treasuries

Hello everyone :),

Wow!!! Hasn't it been hot these last few days?! I can't believe how hot it suddenly is, it is absolutely beautiful. How have you all been enjoying the last few days of sunshine.....hitting the beach?....relaxing in the garden?.....eating as many icecreams as possible?! I have to admit I am rather guilty of the latter!

I have been doing lots of thinking about Christmas which I am quite excited about (I know I know....Christmas talk ALREADY and its only August!!). I am trying to decide which items are best to stock and should I stock more vintage or more handmade? I am also considering making some gift vouchers for the shop for the Christmas season. I thought I could make some really pretty ones and have some digital ones for people who need a last minute gift and don't have time to wait for posting or prefer to have them sent digitally and also some handmade gift vouchers which will be sent in the post. Opinions needed.....do you all think this is a good idea and something that people shall like ? I would make them really pretty so they are a nice gift to receive :). Also, which denominations should I use? £5, £10 ,£20 £50 ??  I am really excited about getting my shop ready for the Christmas season and I am also really excited about all the craft and vintage fairs that I am going to in the run up to Christmas :) ! I am going to be a very busy lady but I can't wait!!! Christmas time is one of my favourite times of the year. I love buying presents for people and spending time with family and friends as well as being snuggled up in front of the fire.

Anyway....back to summer time as it feels very strange to be speaking about Christmas and being snuggled up in front of the fire when it is boiling hot and beautifully sunny here!!

I have been lucky enough to be featured in some beautiful treasuries this week and I thought I would share a few of my favourites with you all :) .Both have beautiful summer fresh colours in.

'Silver and Citron' by CTMercantile

Vintage and handmadeetsy team finds

Shocking Citron Green Tie Wa... FascinationVin... $25.00	Vintage 60s Clip Earrings ME... KMalinka $35.00	Vintage Enamelware Ladle Sco... whatnotsandsuc... $18.00
Wedding, Mother's Day, J... Thebracelettre... $95.00	Vintage Everlast Aluminum C... PriorMemories $22.50	Mod Butterflies Ice Bucket VivaChloe $14.00
Vintage Chrome Tray with Bak... BeeJayKay $75.00	wooden button earring, butto... TheDorothyDays $4.00	Bright chartreuse Hen on a N... reconstitution... $37.50
Alpaca Mexican Jewelry Broo... DEJAVU143 $18.99	divine vintage 1980s BETTE W... shopcaramiavin... $285.00	Roselane California Pottery ... behindtheorang... $36.00
Green Relish Server // Divid... pearlsvintage $28.00	Vintage Swedish tablecloth /... Scandivintage $11.00	Boho Long Leaf Dangling Brus... cottoncandystr... $10.00
Beeswax Kitty Candle- Set of... GURLPWR $17.00

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

I love the fresh summer colours used in this treasury :). Reminds me of how beautiful and lush the grass looks in the fields around my house.

'End of Summer Freshness' by amandajocrafts

Fresh, summer-y finds from the Interactive Blogging Team! Let's celebrate the final month of summer :)

You Are My Sunshine Embroide... LilyandEveStit... $35.00	Anchors Nautical Scrapbookin... pipersplace1 $6.25	Retro Hair Accessory, Aqua D... ChatterBlossom $22.00
Kitchen Art Typography Art Q... FlourishCafe $25.00	Hey There, Sunshine - Robin&... HopeForBinati $4.00	ORGANIC Diaper Clutch, light... RedstuffDesign... $20.00
Baby headband with felt hear... CUTIFULbaby $14.00	Light Blue Earrings, Guitar ... HausofAriella $8.00	Emerson Quote Print - In the... LitPrints $15.00
Typewriter Print: You're... Vividplease $12.00	Split Log Tealight Candle Ho... DeerwoodCreekG... $20.00	Vintage style earrings, cott... TheDorothyDays $4.00
Greeting Card - New Baby - A... KristenReneePh... $2.50	20% OFF - Whipped Soap - Coc... LillyQueenBath $4.80	Beaded Leather Bracelet - Vi... beadsandbrass $26.25
Landscape Photo, Fairy Ring,... AncientEchoesA... $16.00

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

I also love this treasury by Amanda which has lots of amazing finds :)

Thank you both for including me in your wonderul treasuries and hope you are all enjoying summer :)

Best wishes

The Dorothy Days X

 

New items in The Dorothy Days vintage and handmade shop

Hello everyone :),

For the last few days I have been busy crafting and also adding new items to my Etsy shop. It has been lovely weather for crafting and I have been sat outside in the garden making the new bits for my shop. I thought I would share with you all today some of my new items in my shop as I am super excited about having them listed !

I really hope you like them :)

 First up are these lovely vintage shoe stretchers. They are in great condition and can either be used as they are intended (to stretch shoes and stop them getting crumpled) or would look beautiful displayed. They are a men's size 8 (size stamped on the back). Please take a look at my vintage shoe stretchers here

I also listed this delightful vintage tea set. This teaset is made from English bone china and has such a dainty and delicate floral pattern. It is truely lovely!! The tea set comes with teacup, saucer and cake plate all of which are gilt which adds to their elegance. Drinking tea from this teacup would certainly make you smile Please take a look at it here

One of my favourite colours is this retro ice blue colour so I couldn't resist making some hair clips (bobby pins) in this colour! I am selling them in little packs of three and they will come on one of my handmade gift tags so are easy to give as gifts and you can write a message if you want. They are super cute for going back to school!! I am also selling them in a light pink colour :)
Please click here to have a look at my retro blue hair clips

I also made some matching earrings which you can see if you click here.

What do you all think !?

I hope that you like them and that you are all having a great weekend

The Dorothy Days X