Making me happy this week is ...

It's been a very busy week, but lots of things have put a huge smile on my face amongst all the boring chores.  The first thing that has really made me happy is that after only one week of having my online store up and running, I've sold three items!!  I am beyond excited and can't wait to add a few more things over the next week or so to see how they go.  So far I have sold one tea cosy and two pairs of earrings.  One of which is winging its way to Edinburgh which is fabulous.  The thought of my earrings being worn on the other side of the world is really fantastic!  As my tea cosy addiction grows, I had to make another one to add to the store.  

Bright, cheerful and deliciously stripy.  I love making these, probably because they are quick and you get instant gratification.  I do still have that feeling of 'is it perfect enough to sell' with anything I make.  But I figure if I've done the best that I can do and someone still likes it then that's good enough isn't it?  I'm sure I'm not alone in having these feelings.  Do you feel the same?  

Over the last week these two lovely books arrived in my letterbox.  They were birthday gifts that had come from overseas so took a bit longer to arrive.  I keep flicking through them both and thinking of all the things I want to make.  I'm seeing a few uninterrupted late nights ahead of me so I can get my hook out and have a go at a few patterns.

Miss 4 was invited to a birthday party at the weekend and I had to share some of the pictures with you.  It was amazing - I can't think of any other way to describe it!  This was the craft table all set up beautifully, ready for the children to get creative.  The most fantastically clever Diane was the craft tutor at the party, she had presented everything in the most stunning way, right down to the glue being in a pretty floral cupcake papers!!  I mean, just look at the beautiful bags that contained bits and pieces for the children to take home to make another project - just gorgeous.

Beautiful fabric hearts were folded and hand stitched by all the little ones, then decorated with buttons, sparkly beads and pearls.  When the children went and ate all their pink party food, Diane attached their creations to a headband ready for them to collect at the end of the party.

Here is what my wee girl made!  I think it's absolutely beautiful and she has worn it every day since, getting compliments from everyone she meets.  What a fantastic idea for a party.  It seriously took all my self control to not dive in and join them!!

It's monarch butterfly season and we came home from kindy last week with a small swan plant complete with caterpillars.  They promptly stripped the plant of all its leaves within 24 hours.  We had an emergency dash to the garden centre to ensure they didn't starve and now we have 8 caterpillars of varying sizes happily munching away in the garden.  I'm not too sure how long it will be before they go into a cocoon but we keep checking on them every morning and again in the afternoon.

A bit of caterpillar acrobatics going on!  Boy, they can eat.

My small folk love the bunting I made recently and while we were outside doing a spot of pavement art, we decided the garage could do with a bit of bunting!  I think tonight we'll have to add a chalk welcome mat to the path outside our gate - it looks so sweet.

I just had to add this before I go.  My local village chocolate shop has one a national competition for these chocolates, so it was the perfect excuse to pop in and try them.  Sea Salt Caramels - oh wow.  They are quite possibly the most delicious chocolate I've ever tried.  There were ten of these but somehow three of them disappeared on the short drive home.  Weird how that happens!  I think I may need to pop in again today.  The diet will have to start tomorrow!

Have a fabulous week!  See you again soon.
Leah
xxxx