Monday, 23 January 2012

Happy New Year!



Oops! Bit late!

If you ever are tempted to move house at Christmas time all I have to say is don't!

So it has been busy at Dottie HQ, getting HQ sorted and
some new snazzy designs! What do you think?

I am loving my new look HQ, particularily by new riibon storage that my lovely oh put up for me at the weekend.

It is galvanised steel guttering and I love it!



Back later this week....promise!

Friday, 30 December 2011

Oops - a bit late! Merry Christmas!


I hope that everyone has had a truly wonderful Christmas! We have been busy settling into our new home which has had its fair share of challenges! Before Christmas though we managed a truly magical visit to see Father Christmas in Lapland. It really is the most amazing experience to have!

We got to drive snowmobiles. There was even a tethered one for the small people to drive!

Sledging of course!

The most amazing Ice Palace where we sat on ice seats and had hot chocolate!


A rare photo of all of us before we headed into see Father Christmas!


And of course the main event - meeting Father Christmas! Always good to hand your list in personally, especially if you've just moved house!! Happy New Year :o)

Tuesday, 6 December 2011

Tequila cake - My kind of recipe!






How to make Tequila Christmas Cake!

1 cup water
1 tsp.Baking soda
1 cup sugar
1 tsp.Salt
1 cup of brown sugar
Lemon juice
4 large eggs
Nuts
1 bottle tequila
2 cups dried fruit


Sample the tequila to check quality.

Take a large bowl, check the tequila again.

To be sure it is of the highest quality, pour one level cup and drink.
Repeat.

Turn on the electric mixer.

Beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl.

Add one teaspoon of sugar.

Beat again.

At this point its best a make sure the tequila is still OK.

Try another cup...just in case.

Turn off the mixerer thingy.

Break 2 leggs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit.

Pick the fruit up off the floor.

Mix on the turner.

If the fried druit gets stuck in the beaterers just pry it loose with adrewscriver.

Sample the tequila to check for tonsisticity.

Next, sift two cups of salt. Or something.

Check the tequila.Now shift the lemon juice and strain the nuts.

Add one table.

Add a spoon of sugar, or some fink.

Whatever you can find.

Greash the oven.

Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall over.

Finally, throw the bowl through the window.

Finish the tequila and wipe counter with the cat.


CHERRY MISTMAS!

Sunday, 4 December 2011

Moving House!

No smell of Christmas @Dottie's yet as we are moving house on Tuesday! It is total chaos as we try to pack everything up and keep the children's lives as normal as possible! This week in addition to moving we are attempting; swimming lessons, ballet, piano lessons, brass lessons, Judo, a Nativity, 2 Christmas concerts and 2 parties!

Dottie's is still open for orders although any orders placed in the next day or so will be dispatched by the end of the week rather than my normal 24 hour turn around!

It's an exciting move (although only 2 miles) and the beginning of a new adventure!

I'll let you know if we survive the move!!!

Monday, 28 November 2011

And the winner is......





Tanya from Cards With A Difference!

Please get in touch with your address so I can send you your book :o)

Tuesday, 22 November 2011

Happy 6th Birthday Dottie Designs!

Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me!



It's hard to believe that Dottie Designs is 6 today! It's been a long and winding road and was started with Greetings Cards whilst I was still serving in the Royal Navy!

Not a card in sight now (although I do have some loyal customers who buy all their cards from me without even knowing what they are getting!!)

So to celebrate I thought I would have a little giveaway! If like me you cut "good idea recipes" out of magazines then you need one of these to stick them in to keep them all together!

No tricky stuff to do, just leave a comment if you would like to win it! Of course it would be very lovely if you were to follow me on Twitter or like me on Facebook (links on the left) but don't feel you have to!

Recipe Book

The book has 28 pages, 56 sides to stick, glue, write...whatever you like really! It comes with a lovely box so you can keep it nice and clean!

Giveaway winner will be announced on Monday 28th November and will be selected by some as yet undecided random choosing method.

Good Luck!

I'm off for some celebratory cake!

Thursday, 20 October 2011

Brushing Shoulders (almost) with Theo Paphitis!



I really like Twitter. It is an endless source of information and inspiration. There are people to chat to day and night about anything!

Every Sunday night there is an opportunity to have your business tweet retweeted by Theo Paphitis of Dragons Den fame. 1000's of hopeful businesses send a tweet with links to their website and hope that he might pick them to retweet to his zillion followers!

Well last Sunday it was me - yay!

By monday I had a 4000% increase on my website traffic, some orders and lots of enquiries!

Exciting times at Dottie HQ!