Goodbye 30, Hello 31

Crikey, I can't believe it's almost been a whole year since I turned 30! (My birthday is in early June) Where does the time go, huh?

Turning 30 last year inspired me to dig out a whole bunch of photos to make a collage with one photo for each of my 30 years...

It was so much fun, I thought it'd be nice to keep on adding to it as the years go by. So I sorted through my recent photos last week, and picked a fun picture from Christmas...

... me playing board games with my sister. The game being played? Jungle Ludo! This was a much beloved game in our house when we were growing up, we even developed our own version of the rules :)

It's the perfect photo to represent this past year, I think, as this past year has been all about spending time with my family. I moved back in with my parents unexpectedly but have decided to stay for a bit to save up some money, and I've been very much enjoying stuff like kitty cuddles, home cooked meals (yum!), getting to see my sisters more often and helping my youngest sister plan her wedding.

Work-wise there have been some ups (a new book) and some downs (closing my supplies shop) this year. Mostly though I have been working fewer hours - keeping things ticking over and putting bigger plans on hold - so I could spend more time with my mum, who was diagnosed with breast cancer early last spring. If you read my blog regularly you may remember how I was a bit absent from my blog this time last year because of "family stuff" - well, this is what that was about!

We were very lucky that the cancer was caught early, but as anyone who has experienced cancer in their family will know, it's been a scary and stressful time. My mum (who is a very tough cookie) has gone through surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy and come out the other side smiling, and with as close to an "all clear" as I think it's possible to get at this point. Best birthday present ever.

Coming Soon - Mollie Makes: Feathered Friends

I've got some fun news to share with you guys today... there's a lovely new craft book coming out soon, and it's got some projects by me in it :)

Following on from their Christmas craft book, the team at Mollie Makes have put together a book of bird-themed crafts: Mollie Makes: Feathered Friends.

I was delighted to be asked to contribute a couple of felt projects to this book - I'm really looking forward to showing you a sneak peek of them when the book comes out in a few weeks time.

Mollie Makes: Feathered Friends will be published here in the UK by Collins & Brown on 6th June. It'll be available direct from Collins & Brown at Love Crafts, or you can pre-order it from Amazon UK.

For those of you outside the UK... the US edition (published by Interweave) is available for pre-order from Amazon USA (though the publication date in the US is a bit later this summer, I think) and I've spotted a Dutch language edition that's been published too (called Mollie Makes: Birds). Lots of birdie goodness!

[P.S. Just to let you know, the Amazon links in this post are affiliate links]

A Lovely Tea & Biscuit Tin

Check out the new addition to my growing collection of yummy tins from M&S:

Such a nice design, huh? Perfect for a tea and biscuit fan like me :)

It's by Kate Wilson of Little Doodles, whose work I love - I bought one of her birdie prints years ago, I unfortunately don't currently have the space for it but it used to hang in my old kitchen & made me happy whenever I saw it.

Plus the biscuits inside were pretty tasty too! Om nom nom.

Photos From This Week - Craft Supplies & Cats

Crikey, this week has been super busy! I have been ticking things off To Do lists like crazy, but I've mostly been working on secret stuff I can't show you guys yet though (boo). I can show you some of the yummy, colourful supplies I've been using though :)

Pretty glass beads (I especially love those turquoise blue ones, so lush) ...

... and lovely spring shades of thread. Pink and orange together? Yum!

Thanks to the bad weather we've been having, our cats have been spending lots of time snoozing indoors and keeping us company this week.

Our big cat likes sleeping on the sofa while I'm working in the lounge (how he manages to sleep upside down like that, I have no idea). He is sitting next to me on the sofa as I type this, actually! He likes having a whole seat of the sofa all to himself and gets very grumpy if he finds a person sitting in what he regards as "his" seat.

And our small cat is always very happy to find me sitting on the sofa with the laptop as it means she can yowl at me until I put the laptop down and let her sit on my lap instead :)

She doesn't always choose the most convenient times (pesky kitty!) but I think being able to rearrange my workday around "kitty cuddle breaks" has to be one of the great perks of being self-employed.

May Sponsors

Say hello to my current sponsors!

Blooming Felt sells 100% wool felt sheets, colourful fairtrade felt craft supplies like felt beads and felt purses, plus a whole bunch of other crafty goodness like buttons, ribbons, flat pad findings, embroidery floss and fabric:

The Bellwether (formerly known as Miso Funky) sells cross stitch samplers with a modern twist (and a bit of spicy language!) along with coasters, needlework kits, cards, and stitch-able stuff like iPhone cases:

Asking for Trouble sells illustrated stationery, accessories and gifts using cute characters inspired by Japanese kawaii:

Mason Bee sells detailed hand embroidered pieces and embroidery patterns, often featuring bees!

Cherry and Cinnamon is the work of Bridgeen Gillespie, a freelance illustrator who sells kitsch and cute embroidery patterns & and fabric:

Lucky Cat Handmade sells key fobs, glasses cases, pencil pouches and purses:

And The Dusty Attic sells handmade felt brooches and other accessories:

P.S. Interested in promoting your shop, company or blog? I've recently reduced the price of my ads, so ad spaces on my blog start from the bargain price of just $5 for 30 days (that's about £3.25! BARGAIN). Your shop will feature in a sponsor post like this one and I also give new sponsors a shout out over on my Facebook page. Click here for more info re: rates and my blog's traffic, and to buy an ad.