Recently I have started making up what I call 'Inspiration Packs' to sell in the shop and on my stall at fairs. They've proved to be quite popular, mainly because there is such a revival in home crafting and scrapbooking at the moment. They are a mixture of original old documents/pages/pieces and also papers and stickers that I have printed out myself directly from vintage fabrics, letters etc. Nicky over at The Vintage Magpie bought a pack from me at the last fair, and spent some time with her daughter today making lovely labels from the bits in the pack, go take a look!

If there's anyone out there interested in buying an Inspiration Pack, I have put together two very different ones that you can buy; just send me an email!

Pack No.1 is called 'Roses', pictured above, and consists of the following:

Two original illustrated pages from a book on botany,

An original handwritten page from an old book,

3 x A4 printed papers,

5 round printed stickers,

and 2 original Victorian flower scraps.

The cost of the Roses pack is £6.50 + £1 p+p

Pack No. 2 is called 'Airmail' and consists of the following:

An original page from an 1814 book on Cornwall,

An original handwritten page,

An original bank receipt,

2 x A4 and 1 x A5 printed papers,

a sheet of 9 printed stickers,

Two original old stamps,

a luggage label and four blank cards (with envelopes) of two different sizes for you to decorate.

The cost of the Airmail pack is £8.00 + £1 p+p

Last week I had a phone call from a charity called World Vision, asking me whether I might consider sponsoring a child in the developing world. It's something I have been meaning to do for some years now, but I'm ashamed to say had just never got round to doing. So I said yes, and two days ago I received notification of the child I am now sponsoring. He's a 10 year-old boy called Kou, and lives in a very mountainous region of Laos, a land-locked country in South East Asia, next to Vietnam. (You can choose whether to sponsor a girl or a boy if you wish, and also which part of the world). This is the card that they provide you with to send to your child as the first point of contact. You are encouraged to write, and send small simple gifts (such as pencils and notebooks) for birthdays and at Christmas, and in return your child will write to you. The money that you give monthly goes to a community project where your child lives, and so benefits the whole community; such as access to clean drinking water, essential healthcare, agricultural assistance etc. The projects are chosen and run by the people of the community, overseen and assisted by a World Vision Project manager. Once all the goals of the project have been reached, the project ends and a new one begins elsewhere, and you are invited to start sponsoring a new child.

I know that I am very fortunate, and I find it incredibly humbling to know that my life is now in some small way connected to this little boy on the other side of the world, who is growing up in a harsh and difficult environment, quite unlike my own childhood in every respect.

Perhaps some of you reading this are already child sponsors; I would love to hear your experiences. If you are interested in finding out more about World Vision, then visit their website: www.worldvision.org.uk

If I have encouraged even one more person to take the decision to sponsor a child then this post will have been worthwhile.

"We will not rest until every child in every part of the world enjoys the right to life, dignity, justice and hope so that they can fulfil their God-given potential and, one day, see their own children grow up to experience the same."