A look back at my month with photos, blog posts, plans & goals progress, links and more.
What I’ve been up to
July is always a bit of a lost month for me as the Tour de France is practically a full time job. I haven’t been anywhere or done anything of note since mid-June. That’s my choice though and no regrets. I was a little surprised to realise the beach has almost turned into a meadow while my mind was elsewhere.
I’ve been getting a lot of joy from the hydrangeas around town, still one of my favourite flowers. The weather has see-sawed between heatwave and rain+wind, neither of which is ideal.
Purchases & Gifts
I didn’t buy anything (with real money, see crafts below) this month but at least I get new things from Pusheen Box four times a year. The summer box had a very cute theme and made me wish I was going on holiday. I am going to London for a few days soon but it’s not going to involve any pool time.
Things I Wrote
- TdF in the Life
- June 2026 Recap
- Summer 2026 Pusheen Box Review
- Peanuts & Snoopy Buys and DIYs
- Cute Cats Craft Kits, Patterns & DIYs
- Kawaii Bumblebees on Etsy
- Summer Flowers Crafts & DIYs
- Cute Characters on a Tropical Vacation
- New At San-X This Month
- Kawaii Links Roundup
- Kawaii Trinket Dishes to Buy & DIY
- Quirky Decor for a Happy Home
Shop News
If you still like cute stuff – and bargains! – my Summer Sale is now on. Use this link or the code SUMMERSALE for 25% off 40 products including items already on sale (minimum order £5). There’s stationery, keyrings, stamps, pins, aida fabric and more.
Things are getting harder and harder for tiny businesses so I appreciate your order more than you can imagine. Restocking products is mostly on hold right now so if you’d miss something if it never came back, don’t wait!
Plans & Goals Progress
Books: Somehow I am still only halfway through The Count of Monte Cristo. I finished 2 other books, now 3 ahead of schedule. You can see them all in Books, Comics & Zines I Read in 2026.
Crafts: I made another cross stitch card for my dad’s birthday using patterns from the Cute Kawaii Cross Stitch book (Read my review). I adjusted the orange ice lolly a little to be the same height and width as the rocket pop and changed the colours as well.
I mentioned last month that I needed to make more flowers for my new vases and I ended up buying a felt flower wreath kit from The Handmade Florist instead, using all my Etsy gift card money. I do plan to use the templates to make additional flowers on stems but I was also supposed to use that money to try new crafts so that’s a fail. I expected to finish this during the Tour but didn’t get further than cutting out the pieces (very few boring stages this year).
Cycling: Tour Fever has come to Zwift too (they sponsor the women’s TdF) and I’ve completed 4/5 stages. I’m extremely glad that virtual Alpe d’Huez and Ventoux are optional. The Paris Champs-Élysées theming is so perfect that I even enjoyed doing 50 laps around the Arc de Triomphe. Also feeling very confident about my 2026km goal – currently 1242.5km completed, 65.7km ahead of schedule.
Nothing much else to report!
