Little Bits of Magic

In this world changes come at us fast and furious, sometimes they can be overwhelming. But despite the pace and uncertainty, there are so many small things in my live that ground me and make me feel that despite the pace....life is wonderful!!! They may be small and trivial but they really can change how I feel.

Small everyday miracles can lift me from the humdrum and exhaustion of the daily grind and make me think "Boy, life is good". I never cease to wonder at how the insignificant can make me feel so much better...so look around..the world is full of ordinary, mundane daily delights!!

Have you ever watched the dawn come up, with it's gorgeous colours and fantastic light? The first pink glow that radiates slowly across the horizon as the light gradually blossoms into a cascade of colours. As the light gets stronger it floods the landscape making everything look new and bright...full of promise. It's a sight that fills me with calm and warmth...no matter what the new day brings.

One of the simplest delights for me is climbing into a freshly changed bed and feeling the crisp, clean feel of the bed linen and the fresh, clean scent that lingers after washing...it's such bliss!! I snuggle down feeling pampered and spoilt...even though it was me that changed it earlier...it's just that feeling of freshness and comfort that I love.

Candles always fill me with wonder..no, I'm not simple minded...just in awe of the hypnotic feeling from staring into that soft flickering flame. It makes the shadows dance and the room looks so totally different, with deep dark pools hiding the corners. Now that is relaxing...the magic of the flame!

The smell of fresh coffee, baking bread, birdsong...they all are really trivial things that assault my senses and make me feel that life is good. They all work as wonderful pick-me-ups to my jaded senses, waking them up and sending glorious messages to my brain.

How many things can you think of that do the same for you? I'm sure that the list is endless, so think about what does it for you and indulge yourself just a little!! Let's face it they are not costly, you don't have to travel miles, they are there on our doorsteps....our own little bits of daily magic!!

Now, as I promised I have a little set of elements to add to the Everyone Kit. I hope you like them. Tale a look and see what you think.

Your can download them here

Have a wonderful evening and remember to watch out for your own little bits of magic!!

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Inspiration and Fear

After the worries and laughter of an other busy week in life's calendar I often like to ground myself by taking a look at the garden. Life amongst the flowers goes on regardless of the ups and downs, nature rolls on uninterrupted. It's amazing how a garden can bring feelings of calm into the chaos. I love to check and see what changes have happened...which flowers are out...which have wilted away. It's full of inspiration and gives me back that sense of reality. The reassurance that life and nature go on, a never ending cycle, no matter what....good or bad.

The good news today is that our two swine flu ladies are much better. It's a nasty little virus but for most of us it's seems to be like a bad bout of seasonal flu.

I think the media hype has made us all fearful that something awful will happen if we catch it. It is horrible, but then again all flu types are something to avoid. Even so, I have to admit it made my poor heart jump when I knew it was in the family....that panic feeling was not far away. I had to change gear quickly back into sensible mode before I accelerated and changed up into panic!! I always was excitable!! It's amazing how deep breaths and sensible thinking work...if not give yourself a virtual slap on the wrist and a good talking too, lol! There's no need to panic...yet!

There is such a thing as knowing too much, or perhaps I mean knowing more than we need to know. We can end up feeling like we're watching water flood over a plain and seeing it slowly coming towards us with no way out.....I think the swine flu issue is one of these. Plus we always fear the unknown...well, I do. It's a bit like waiting to go into labour with your first baby...you know what will happen but not how it will feel. So we always imagine the worst.

So how do you get the balance right between information and planting the seeds of terror in peoples minds? That's the hard one, perhaps situations like this always cause panic? I have to admit that I don't know the answer...what I do know is it's not nice but most people have nothing to feel terrified about. It like everything else...will pass and life for most of us will continue on little changed.

Okay, enough of my homegrown philosophy, lol!! Below you'll find the download link for the rest of the Everyone Papers. I have left this one as one download and not split it, I hope that works for everyone...any problems let me know. If you missed Part 1, then scroll down to yesterdays post and collect them.

You can download the rest of the papers here

Have a wonderful weekend and check back for the Elements to complete the kit!!

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Where Will I Start?

This is a long one...hopefully you'll indulge me!

This week has been a whirlpool of events, full of surprises and a few shocks thrown in for good measure. But all in all...it's been manic busy!! A bit like living in a washing machine on the spin cycle.

Sunday was a family lunch as my Aunt is visiting from Scotland. She's my mum's youngest sister and is only three years older than me. It was lovely to have everyone around the table and the chatting went on for hours afterwards with all the catching up we had to do. I cooked like I was feeding the 5,000 and then some and then I chattered on like I was the 5,000. When I get in full swing I really am a motor mouth, lol.The bad part of the day was that DH's bad back started again and the poor man was so uncomfortable even with the pain tablets. He looked like he was 100, he was so bent up. Plus my youngest son was going on holiday early Monday morning so there was lots of packing to do on that front, I didn't want him forgetting his shorts and socks again!! All in all...a busy, busy day.

Monday was a shock day....Charlotte was diagnosed as having swine flu. She felt so rough and she had no energy at all...just pains and aches and a high temperature...all the non-fun things in life. Then the thoughts start running to "Will Ali and Lilly get it?"...so far they are both okay. Lilly did have a temperature on Tuesday but she seems fine at the moment, so fingers crossed they escape it.

But...in the evening my mum called to say my Aunt had been taken sick.....and yes it looked like swine flu...aah!! She had a high temperature, headache, vomiting...need I go on. She too had taken to her bed.

Tuesday dawned and there were two sick ladies in the family, both spent the day in bed feeling pretty rough and DH was still doubled up with the bad back. But life continues and things have to get done...work waits for no man...or woman come to that.

Wednesday was much of the same, plus I had started re-grouting the bathroom. I always was a glutton for punishment with a whacky sense of timing! I spent most of the time scrapping out grout and sealant with a large hooked thing...don't know what it's called, but it hurts if you stab it in your fingers!! By evening I was a heap on the sofa...no energy and just longing for my bed. I didn't even get my Entrecard drops done...not enough energy left. The good news was that my aunt was feeling better after a second day in bed. A really positive note to end the day on.

Today, Thursday, Charlotte saw the doctor as the swine flu has really irritated her neuroglical problems, plus she needed some more B12 shots and some iron. She is really in the wars!! But ...her swine flu does seem to be getting slowly better...so there was some good news on that front.

The highlight of the day was Lunch with my mum and two of her sisters and their husbands...it was hilarious!!! We went to the pub restaurant that my eldest son and DIL run in Milford. It was not their lucky day as our seriously strange but lovely family descended on the place, lol! The conversations ranged from debates over childhood days, to some rather riskque items!! But I can honestly say that I have not laughed so much for a long time....in fact I almost choked several times listening to these ladies chatter. Crossed conversations and threads added to the Mad Hatters Tea Party feel...it was tremendous and had a wonderfully excentric feel to the whole event. We Brits do excentric so well lol!!

So...that's my week so far in brief!! We're not the healthiest family at the moment.....but we really are funny when we get together...trust me...it's true!!

Now, on the design front I have been working on a kit that I thought I would share earlier in the week...before life carried me away!

I wanted a kit that could be used for males or females...so no ribbons and bows or pretty flowers in this one! I really find layouts with men and boys are so challenge to find the right papers and elements. The tendancy is to design darker kits for men and often they don't fit with my taste. Plus I wanted it to be a kit that would work for everyone...hence the name.

I'm not sure if it worked but have a look at the papers and see what you think. There preview shows 10 of the 12 papers included. I have split the download over two days, today and tomorrow, as the files are so large.

 

If you like them you can download the first of the papers in two downloads

here and here 

(Sorry it's so large I had to break it up!)

See you tomorrow with the second part of the papers.

Now I'm off to get my feet up. I think I've earned a break for a few hours, lol!

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