Grateful......

 I woke up on Sunday at 6am to go for an early morning bike ride with my cycling buddy neighbour and was greeted with this stunning sunrise as I stumbled into the lounge. It certainly made getting up early on Sunday worth it. It was a bit of a chilly start but once we warmed up it was a beautiful calm morning for a bike ride too with the bonus of very little traffic at that early hour. 

Yesterday I was reminded of how very grateful I am of the people that have been put into my life in the last couple of years. When you go through something challenging in life you learn quickly who in your life are true friends that 'get' what you are going through and know exactly what to say at the right time. They are the ones that stick around and are not just there for the big dramas. One such person is Lily who lives far far away from me in Dubai. We have actually never met but have connected through our blogs originally and now keep in contact as regularly as life lets us. Lily is a very talented creative person and I wish she lived closer. Every now and then, usually when I am least expecting it a 'surprise' parcel will arrive from her containing beautiful things, often made by her for me and my daughters.  She made all of the above earrings and .....

 picked out this selection of Washi tape on her recent trip to Tokyo. She also made me an ' infinity scarf ' of which I forgot to photograph before the light faded tonight. It is of course beautifully sewn and made with some bright colourful fabrics thoughtfully chosen for me. Thank you Lily for your thoughtful, generous spirit and your faithful friendship.

 Yesterday I spent most of my day in my little sewing attic sewing these new journal cover sets for my Etsy shop whilst listening to podcasts and music. My girls are now back at school and it was nice to be able to completely focus on what I love to do and that is to create beautiful things.

These covers fit A5 and A6 journals and with the elastic band that keeps everything together plus with a penholder on the front of each one they are all ready and waiting for inspiration to strike. The small one is the perfect size to fit in a handbag and the larger A5 one also happens to be the perfect size to double up as a mini Ipad cover/keeper as one of my other good friends found out recently.

I sell them as a set of two over here in my shop.