Being away from home so much recently means I'm frantically behind with everything. But today I left the house and met with friends as I knew I needed the distraction, the laughs, and the visual stimulation to help me through the next few weeks.

We met at the glorious Victoria & Albert Museum where we dined, caught up, chatted, talked beads and spent a lovely time in the Heatherwick Studios exhibition. Thomas Heatherwick is an incredibly talented man (you may have seen his cauldron at the Olympics?) and the show was filled with wonderful things. You have until the 30th September to go and see it (even if you're in another country a flight to see it wouldn't be overboard in my mind- that's how good it is). But then his mum, Stefany Tomalin, is a founder of the Bead Society of Great Britain and we all know how incredible beaders and bead lovers can be.

Pictured is my newly finished bead embroidery project- which has been ongoing behind the scenes for quite a while. Not only is he unbelievably cute but he hides a secret measung tape- function and form in one.