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. 

Journal covers in the making.....

I can't remember what my inspiration was when I started making these journal covers but I do know that I like to have pen/pencil and paper at the ready when inspiration strikes. I also know that I like to make plain, everyday items pretty and inspirational to look at. The above journal cover set was the first one I made and my good friend Darleen promptly purchased it as soon as I showed it to her so I guess that spurred me on to make more. 

Of course the best thing for me about making these journal covers or keepers is putting the fabric combinations together. Out of the 3 sets above I think my favourite would have to be the one on the right made from one of Heather Bailey's prints. I love her fresh modern retro vibe she has put into this fabric collection, the vibrant colours and the detail in the paisley motif. 

I have just added these sets to my shop this morning. The larger size fits an A5 journal and the smaller fits a A6 journal so the smaller one is perfect for on the go journalling/sketching down of ideas as they strike. The elastic bands holds everything together and the elastic pen holders ensures there is always a pen handy as well as the paper :-)

Parental Christmas gifts.....

 I didn't make as many handmade gifts this year as last year just because of time constraints but I did make an exception with my parents as they are probably my biggest fans (as they should be of course :-) and really appreciate my handmade gifts. So this year for my Mother I made this writing compendium based on the one  I made here. I picked out some pretty floral prints that I thought she would like and embellished the outer cover with some ric-rac and machine embroidery.

 A while back now I raided my Mothers button tin so I thought it was only appropriate to chose a button from her past and this button is such a pretty one don't you think?

 I've had this hen fabric for ages and since my Mother likes hens I decided it was the perfect use for it.

 And here's the back with some pretty blue and grey ric-rac that coordinates perfectly with these pretty prints.

 Now my Dad was pretty easy too as he admired my bible cover so I made covers for two of his three bibles. These are fairly quick to whip up once I've made the fabric choices and the pieces are cut out.

My favourite detail is the ribbon bookmark on this cover where I have simply combined the purple woven tape with the aqua ric-rac.

 Here's the back of each cover. As you can see I used some lovely vibrant Bali Batik's and I tried to avoid anything too feminine or pretty.
Suffice to say they were both happy with their respective gifts made with love :-)