tiny happy

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‘tiny happy’ was a journal of my handmade life from 2006-2025.

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Happy New Year, friends. Hope you had a happy end-of-year break and you found some time to relax. 

I had a nice holiday with the family, and managed to do some reading, some walking and some thinking. Also I spent time by the sea, including the place you see above, which is somewhere I've been visiting for as long as I can remember.

You might have noticed I have a new blog banner- one with my name on it. For a while now, I've been pondering the direction of my creative work and what I can bring to the blogging world. The 'tiny happy' name very much represents a time when I had small children and its purpose was to reflect a simple, d-i-y domestic life through writing, projects, ideas and photos.

That blog was established in 2006, and it's now 2014. I'm 'making' less, and working as a journalist in an office. Those toddlers have grown into long-legged and inquiring older children who are constantly reading and writing stories themselves. They don't take kindly to posing for my camera, and would rather I played a card game with them than work on a sewing project while they sort buttons into coloured piles. 

In addition, I want to explore my own creative path through writing, textile art, pattern design and photography. I considered deleting 'tiny happy' altogether in order to have a complete change and new space for my creative work.

But in the end, it came down to my complete lack of technical skills. I couldn't work out how to redirect the URL to a new site, and so many of my networks are built around this blog. Not to mention, it provides a useful record (for me) of many recipes, patterns, ideas, etc.  

So I've kept the same address, and just made a new title for the site- my own name. I hope I still have something to offer for my readers, but in a way, I aim to focus less on what my perception of what an audience might look like or desire.

I would love to stay in touch with you as I find my way along this new path.

Most importantly, thank you for the years of support and interest in my work- I can't properly express what they mean to me.

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48 responses to “refresh”

  1. Orsolya Avatar
    Orsolya

    Dear Melissa! I’ve been silently reading your blog for years now, and I love it. I would especially thank you for the recipies and the patterns this winter. For Christmas my daughter (7 years old) and I made at least 6 doves from your pattern as presents and we also made some chocolate fudge and apricot balls (with my boys, 11, 9 and 5) to give. I admire your work and wish you a very nice and happy new year! The new banner is beautiful 🙂
    Love from Hungary.
    Orsolya

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  2. tinyhappy Avatar
    tinyhappy

    thank you very much orsolya! all the best,
    melissa

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  3. Becka Avatar
    Becka

    How exciting! I’m really looking forward to seeing where this new direction takes you. I totally know what you mean about feeling like you want to move forward and change but there is so much tied to this space. I’ve been feeling the same way for awhile now and not sure that the name Bliss in a Teacup really reflects who I am/we are anymore but it feels really scary to change that up! But, like you’ve done I think it is really good to be honest about where our lives are and while I know many people read your blog perhaps initially because of what you’re making I’m sure they stay for your unique voice in your writing. At least I have, anyway 🙂

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  4. Anna H Avatar
    Anna H

    I’m so excited for you, Melissa! And excited for all of us, too – I can’t wait to see where you go with this, and where you take us!
    Xx

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  5. Ella Avatar
    Ella

    I’m pleased you didn’t delete tiny happy altogether, and super excited to see what creative treats we’re in for this year. Can’t wait!

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  6. tinyhappy Avatar
    tinyhappy

    thank you becka, its good to know im not alone in feeling like this, and maybe we can meet up when you get to wgtn?

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  7. tinyhappy Avatar
    tinyhappy

    thanks anna- it will be good to see what happens… : )

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  8. tinyhappy Avatar
    tinyhappy

    cheers ella- i was worried about how i would find my favourite cake recipes if it was gone..!

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  9. Heleen Avatar
    Heleen

    Whatever you call this blog and no matter what you get up to, Melissa, know that we love reading it and will come back for more! xx

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  10. Heather Woollove Avatar
    Heather Woollove

    I love that you’ve finally given yourself top billing, but am happy that you’ve kept the link to the tiny, happy blog that I’ve loved for years. 🙂
    Please tell your mother hello for me!

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  11. tinyhappy Avatar
    tinyhappy

    thank you heather, of course i will!  

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  12. Denise | Chez Danisse Avatar
    Denise | Chez Danisse

    A new beginning. Exciting. Looking forward to it, Melissa.

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  13. Lucy Avatar
    Lucy

    I think that’s a great move, bold and confident and very 2014! I think about changing mine too, but I’m too chicken. It does need a makeover, but there are so many other things to be done (sigh)…

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  14. Rosa Souza Avatar
    Rosa Souza

    New directions, new beginnings, new places. It’s life itself always changing, moving, flowing. I wish you courage and energy to make the most of it! All the other good stuff, like success, will be just consequences of your bright soul! Love Rosa

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  15. pneuwarum Avatar
    pneuwarum

    Wonderful! I’m always thrilled to read anything you write. 🙂

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  16. Jennie Avatar
    Jennie

    I totally understand your reasons for the change!
    I love following along with your makes, thank you for being an inspiration for so many of us!XXJ

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  17. Kay Sneddon Avatar
    Kay Sneddon

    Hi Melissa,
    All the very best for your future projects. Hope to you in Nelson again before too long.

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  18. Marine Avatar
    Marine

    All the best for your future – i am convinced it will be a great success! I am so relieved you did not delete tiny happy 🙂 i love to go back and look at your easy recipes and simple craft makings

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  19. gita Avatar
    gita

    Congrats on making such an important choice in voicing the direction you want to take in living your creativity in a way that offers growth and room for change! as a mama of a 20 year old and a 3 year old (!) I know very well both the intensity of those years of mothering small children and how quickly the kids grow and evolve- offering us mamas a chance to stretch our own wings and have more grown up focused time. it’s an important transition, and especially if you have work or a public persona that centers on little ones. your blog is inspiring. thanks for sharing your passions! i’ll happily follow along as you take this new path.

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  20. Tash Avatar
    Tash

    Hi Melissa,
    I don’t blame you for wanting to have a fresh start now that you’ve got a new focus in your life and a new direction to head in. I’m glad that you’re keeping Tiny Happy as a blog because I’ve been reading since you began and would mis not being able to peruse the archives every now and then!
    I eagerly await your posts now that you’re back from your – idyllic-looking – holiday 🙂

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  21. Littleminx.wordpress.com Avatar
    Littleminx.wordpress.com

    well I think it’s just lovely – and a lovely start to a new year.. changes and turns in the road. There’s something to be said for plodding with a certain sense of anonymity when your life is diverted by small children and a slower sense of being, but now it’s your time to be you. Just you – which is wonderful. I truly look forward to following the continuing progression in your life xx
    (and p.s thank you for not deleting my favourite blog)

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  22. Ceri Avatar
    Ceri

    Good luck with your new direction Melissa. And I’d like to thank you for the recipes too. 🙂

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  23. Elena Avatar
    Elena

    Sounds sound and I’d love following you in your new direction whenever you have the inspiration for it.

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  24. amy b. Avatar
    amy b.

    Your blog has been an anonymous “tiny happy” part of my week for several years now. Our lives change and evolve with our families but we are always searching for the simple tiny happy elements that tip our day to the bright side. Good luck in your adventures, Melissa and I’m sure what comes about in your continuing journey will bring inspiration and retain the simplicity and nourishment of craft and design that is obviously your gift.

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  25. christy Avatar
    christy

    seems a wise move and I so gad you have kept the old archives up for those of us still with little ones and a bit of crafting time!
    good luck with this exciting next step in your world!
    p.s. looking out for your new book here in Canada, with hope!

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  26. tinyhappy Avatar
    tinyhappy

    thank you h. xxx see you later on this year i hope!

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  27. tinyhappy Avatar
    tinyhappy

    thank you denise and i hope you are well : )

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  28. tinyhappy Avatar
    tinyhappy

    cheers lucy- it does feel slightly out of my comfort zone but hopefully will work out all right. and i know just what you mean about other tasks that cumulate…

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  29. tinyhappy Avatar
    tinyhappy

    thank you for the kind words rosa.xx

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  30. domesticali Avatar
    domesticali

    I know what you mean about blogs changing as children grow and pleased to see you striding forth under your own name!

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  31. Ariadne Avatar
    Ariadne

    Blogs are the diary of our lives(every day lives, craft lives etc) and to delete this would mean simply to destroy your own memories. It is good to make changes in life but you put so much work in making all those blogposts so maybe it is better to keep them. To change the name and maybe features would be great for you so keep it on that path!Thanks for sharing this and not deleting it without telling the world. AriadnefromGreece!

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  32. caireen Avatar
    caireen

    I know what you mean – I’ve also been feeling that I’ve outgrown The Patchworkdress that it was a time in my life and that growth is done and old now – I think its a sign that you are ready to be seen perhaps less ‘diminutively’ – the full Melissa!! All your new moves sound exciting! Best wishes and happy 2014. Caireen x

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  33. Beth Avatar
    Beth

    I am glad you kept all of the tiny happy. Your ideas are always refreshing. I might need to look something up.

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  34. Rose Avatar
    Rose

    Thanks for not deleting it too. I’ve read this blog for years – it was the first creative blog (or any blog actually) that I discovered, and it opened up a whole new world for me. I’ve just moved to Darwin from NZ and so really want to keep reading this blog, whatever the new format, for a taste of home. Thank you and good luck with your future plans.

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  35. Ellie Avatar
    Ellie

    Good luck with your new directions… there’s a season for everything, and knowing when a change is right for you is a gift. I’m glad to still see tiny happy as the URL as I think the name will always, for me, evoke my own discovery of blogs (yours was the first I came across) and the great pleasure they bring to me. But let your own name shine… you deserve it!

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  36. Sally Avatar
    Sally

    I have appreciated your blog for some years now and enjoy your writing, inspirations (music and food ideas) and crafting. I look forward to your new directions too. Like the others above, I am grateful that you are continuing to write here. Best wishes, Sally.

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  37. Maureen Nandini Mitra Avatar
    Maureen Nandini Mitra

    Dear Melissa,
    Unlurking for a bit to say I really, really love the name “tiny happy.” There’s so much meaning in it. I’ve been following your blog for years now and it has a quality of quiet pleasure that I value very much and that quality is reflected in the name. I keep coming back to this blog in the middle of especially busy days. It reminds me to slow down and take a breath and take joy in the small pleasures of everyday life.
    I’m happy and excited about your new phase in life. I wish you every success. And I do hope you will retain “tiny happy” somewhere in the picture.
    All the best.
    Maureen
    California/India

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  38. tinyhappy Avatar
    tinyhappy

    thank you pneuwarum : )

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  39. tinyhappy Avatar
    tinyhappy

    thank you jennie, and i love what you have been making lately..!

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  40. tinyhappy Avatar
    tinyhappy

    hope to see you soon, K.

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  41. tinyhappy Avatar
    tinyhappy

    cheers marine- glad it is useful.

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  42. tinyhappy Avatar
    tinyhappy

    thanks for the thoughtful words gita.

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  43. Annika Avatar
    Annika

    I’m excited to see which direction your blog will take!

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  44. Becka Avatar
    Becka

    Yes please! I’m actually back in Hastings for the night but finally with a bit of internet to do some catching up as ours hasn’t been set up in our new place yet. Fingers crossed the modem came today so I will email you when I get back x

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  45. Charlotte Avatar
    Charlotte

    Lovely new direction, excited to follow along with you!

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  46. Angie Avatar
    Angie

    I find it sad that you would want to delete your blog. I’ve been reading right from the beginning over the last few days – as a new reader. It’s as if a light has gone out and you’ve put up a ‘done that’ sign up over the door’, which seems somewhat dismissive of all that you achieved and the goodwill from others that was also much in evidence.
    I loved reading your blog very much and I feel that had I got to know you through your writing over some years as some people will have, it would have made me sad for it to suddenly disappear. Favourite blogs are like old friends so we don’t suddenly cut them off we visit from time to time and have affinity. It all seems a bit utilitarian to be honest and from feeling a great affinity with your posts I have ended up feeling despondent and disconnected – like the readers never mattered anyway. It almost seems like you are saying that now you have grown up you are putting away childish things.
    Life moves on yes, but absorbing the past rather than throwing it away seems preferable. The past is an inevitable part of us that forms us.
    Your children are still very young, well I think so, there are many years of nurturing left that they still require. I thought the name Tiny happy referred to small pleasures form little things. There was always so much else you wrote about other than the children, which was why I was surprised your book was about things for children.
    I must admit I liked the tentative beginnings of the blog best. It seemed more organic and authentic and less self aware. Now it seems a much more trendy and contrived affair. Perhaps success breeds ambition which needs something to feed it.
    It just seems I was just a little too late here. Silly of me to be bothered. Anyway, I wish you well and hope your dreams are realised. How could I not?

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  47. tinyhappy Avatar
    tinyhappy

    Hi Angie,
    Thanks for your message, and Im sorry if this post upset you. As you can tell, I didnt delete my blog, and in this post I was merely putting the idea out there- probably to test myself more than anything. Its a strange thing to write a blog for so long, its been almost 8 years for me now, and I have truly appreciated my readers all the way through.
    – Melissa

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  48. Heleen Avatar
    Heleen

    Angie, it’s a pity you took this post so personally. Melissa is a very honest, generous blogger and person, and the words ‘trendy’ and ‘contrived’ would be the last ones I’d choose to describe this blog, or her for that matter. As you say, life goes on. This blog is only a facet in the author’s life, who over the last two years has managed to study full-time, write a book, keep up a blog and still have a life to blog about. For most of us it’s pretty hard just to do do a few of those things. Tiny Happy is no more, but I still enjoy coming over here and reading the same type of writing by the same (busier) person, just under a different header.

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