Sponsor Sugar – The Orange Windmill

It is time to spread a little sweetness and sprinkle some sugar on one of my lovely sponsors! Shirley, from The Orange Windmill and Trees. Hides., is the author of a pretty wonderful and crafty blog. By the way, isn't she too cute?! Love her little avatar! Someone I would love to have a cup of coffee with and craft together. Sorry, back to the feature...On her blog, Trees. Hides., she features many creative artists, does super cute DIY demos and has one of my favorite weekly link-ups where you can show off your latest craft creation. She also is the owner and creator of her own shop on Etsy called The Orange Windmill. 

You will quickly be able to see why someone like me would love her creations. She makes beautiful little leather journals just waiting to be filled with magical stories, whimsical thoughts and flowery aspirations! At least, that is what I would fill them with. You could just as easily use them to keep your treasure trove of goofy doodles of the neighborhood grump yelling at kids from his front porch. 

I'm going to let her to tell you a little about herself and how she came up with her shop name and how she creates her little literary treasure chests:

"Hi, I'm Shirley. The Orange Windmill is a place where I sell my hand-bound journals. I love journaling - I've been doing it since I was a young girl. The best part about Christmas for me was the excitement of receiving a new diary - fresh, blank pages ready to be filled with all my secrets!

I make all my journals from scratch. For my leather journals, I find the leather from a tiny local upholstery place, where they have leather remnants of leather in a bin. I take them and give them new life and purpose as a journal!

For my vintage hardcover journals, I use vintage books that are falling apart and breathe new life into them as journals - they are truly one of a kind! I tear each sheet individually to fit the journal cover, and then bind the pages to the cover.

This process is therapeutic and very rewarding for me, being able to create something new and beautiful from unwanted materials. I strive to be conscious about the amount of waste I create in making my journals. I have not thrown out a single piece of leather, as I'm sure I will be able to use it eventually.

I've named myself The Orange Windmill because I'm dutch (the windmill is iconically dutch), and my favourite color is orange. For all you windmill fans out there, sorry, I don't make windmills."

Okay, did you all hear that? She is a local business supporter, handbinds these beauties, gives new life to vintage, AND tries to be eco conscious! I love this chick!

One of her newest ventures that she has recently embarked on is the creation of iPhone covers with the leather that she uses for journal binding. I actually find these quite charming. They have the same antique charm with the cute handmade quirkiness of asymmetry. Hand-stitched leather with adorable floral accents. I think pretty much everything in her little shop would make perfect gifts and stocking stuffers for the holidays. The journals are gender and age neutral so the whole family would love them. The same is true of the iPhone covers, so make sure to give her shop a good look over to see if any items would tic off a space on your gift lists.

To view her blog, Trees. Hides., click here.

To shop her store, The Orange Windmill, click here.

***********Stay tuned, gorgeous followers!!!***********

Check back tomorrow for your chance to get your hands on a beautiful leather journal of your own for FREE! Shirley has very generously decided to hold a giveaway! YES!!

If you are interested in becoming one of my lovely sponsors, please click here for more details.