We woke up to a beautiful, sunny day today, which made such a big difference to all our moods. Added to that, Jim booked the day off so that I could work and relax a little (often the same thing) after a very long week. So I decided to spoil myself and spend a little time making something for me.

I'm a huge Orla Kiely fan and was in heaven when I visited her store in London with my sister-in-law a couple of years ago (I had so much fun with her that day - I'm desperate to do it again). It was quite incredible to see all of her beautiful prints in one place and I could have happily spent a fortune.

(Orla Kiely shop, London)

Instead I just bought a couple of notebooks and promised myself that I would treat myself to one of those lampshades one day!

Of course I'm no nearer to being able to afford an original Orla lampshade today than I was on that shopping trip, but after buying some of her fabric on Ebay last week, I decided that it would be a good idea to make my own.

So this morning I spent a happy half hour, with the sun streaming through the studio window, putting this shade together, whilst Jim and the girls played with playdoh.

I had intended to use the shade on a lamp we have in the front room, but once it was finished I realised that it would look perfect in our bedroom - to read by, in what will be our reading corner (assuming that the solid oak shelf that Jim put up, doesn't fall down on top of me, again).

I love how it turned out - and although it still wasn't super cheap (worked out at about £20) it was a fraction of the cost of an original. And when you take into account that it's on a huge, solid wood lampbase that I got for £10 in the Habitat sale (love the Habitat sale) it works out pretty good. Oh and no, I really don't think you can have too much Orla!

Thanks to everyone for your lovely comments and emails. I found it too hard to say the other day but Mom has cancer and we're all just hoping for the best and trying to stay strong for whatever she has to go through.  And knowing that there are so many people out there hoping for the best too really does help. Thank you xx