Counting my blessings

Recently I took part in my first blog hop and I had beginners luck!  Above is the wonderful gift I received this week from Shelly.  I don't know what to expect as Shelly had not given details on her blog, but I must say I was amazed when I unwrapped the jiffy bag.  What generosity!  I have met such wonderful people through blogging and feel so lucky to have received this gift.  I can't wait to start using the stamps and inks!  I know I have already said it Shelly, but a huge huge thank you.

Right now things are very difficult at my place of work.  NHS cutbacks are hitting where it really hurts and lots of people are badly affected.  The next couple of months will be very unsettled and I don't know where this will lead other than the service will be closed on 31 March.  My team will be split and redeployed and I am trying to keep positive and hope that something good will come out of all this. 

This evening we had a chinese takeaway and I had to smile when I opened my fortune cookie.  Let's hope this is a good omen for me and others affected.

Because my work situation has taken up much time and energy I have not had much opportunity to do much creating.  However, I came across this tutorial and really enjoyed making these fabric flowers.  I love vintage and making my own embellishments.  The buttons came from a charity shop so I thought them perfect for these flowers.  They are made out of cotton sheeting, torn into strips and wound round.  I plan to experiment and make more adding fine net as I wind.  The ribbon was made by simply fraying one of the cotton strips and printing along its length.  I love this Vintage stamp and it was perfect for this. 

My son is staying with us this weekend so I am enjoying his company and tomorrow will be another day of catching up with my family and relaxing before another week begins.