Constellations

Marmalade Choc Chip Pudding

2012-02-02T13:02:00.000Z

Wow i don't know how long I've had this recipe sheet but by golly i will be making it again, real soon. Quick, easy and delicious. The only reason i didn't photograph mine was because my brioche was kinda underneath the custard but the next time i may jiggle it about. Well worth a go...

6 Plain chocolate brioche
Marmalade
Custard
Belgian Chocolate

Cut the brioche in half and spread each side with marmalade, the recipe calls for taste the difference Valencia orange marmalade but i used Asdas basic marmalade. Add 15ml of custard to the bottom of the baking dish (the recipe requires a 1ltr dish) i used what i have. Lady the brioche 'arranging so they stay upright' this bit threw me! Pour over remaining custard (150ml) and sprinkle with grated dark chocolate. Cook in pre-heated oven at 180 oc gas 4 for 20mins. Yum!

Loveheart Shortbread

2012-01-30T17:13:00.002Z

So, wow nearly the end of January, the time continues to tick away. Anyone would think i have nothing to share but i have been busy behind the blog lol. So today i made Mary Berries shortbread, it was infact her ginger shortbread but as i couldn't find any ginger and had already been inspired by a friend to dip it i went down the Valentines route. I omitted both lots of ginger but added 1/2tsp of Vanilla and then cut them out with a heart shaped cutter and later when they cooled i melted some white chocolate and strawberry chocolate and iced the top of some of them with it. I have yet to taste one but am very much looking forward to trying it :) and so starts my inspired month of hearts and love :)

I maybe back later to share some more creations with you :)

Art Journal Challenge

2012-01-06T16:52:00.000Z

So when perusing my favourite blogs i came across this post where one of my fellow (past) DT members was joining an Art Journal Challenge. Of course i got the bit between my teeth and both me and my son got stuck in. The challenge was BUILDINGS. So down we sat at the back end of the holiday and this is what we came up with. Brett wasted no time, he's only well Six today but five then lol. Mine is not quite complete but for fear of time slipping away from me i am posting now :)

I am looking forward to the next one, why not stop by and see what shakes :)

You can find the challenge over at the Craft Barn

2011

2011-12-30T20:39:00.002Z

It's almost upon us,

comes but once a year.

Time to raise our glasses

and wave goodbye to the year.

Look back on all that's

been and gone.

Memories good and bad.

Plans to look forward

to what before us lies.

Resolute to all good things

onward, upward, fly.

So farewell to 2011

Strangely i'll be sad to see you go.

No doubt i'll shed a tear or two but no one needs to know.

Don't wait up!

Griddle Pan Waffles/Epic Hot Chocolate

2011-12-29T10:17:00.005Z

Well this morning seemed like a good day to try Jamie Oliver's Griddle Pan Waffles. I have been back time and again since watching the recent festive episodes and tried the Epic Hot Chocolate also pictured above as well as the semifreddo. So as you can see i pulled all the ingredients together and let them rest as suggested and once hubby was up got on with cooking it. It seemed to be doing quite nicely until i tried flipping it as suggested. Our pan sat to one side slightly which mean't one side was more than ready but not so much the other but we split it in half and got by. So out came one half in one complete piece whilst hubbies half came out in kinda odds and sods lol. I sliced mine into pieces like Jamie did but refrained from dipping it in the hot chocolate.

My first impression of the waffles is NO to salt. If you're going to eat these with a fried egg or bacon on top then i'm sure that's nice but not when you prefer as i do a sweet topping. I pretty much never used salt and my taste buds were like, what is that all about. So i would make it again without salt if it's for a sweet breakfast. As for the Epic hot chocolate, in all honesty i just don't feel it's that 'epic'. I struggle to get the 70% cocoa solid chocolate to melt thoroughly and am aware of the texture of all the ingredients if that makes sense but i'm pleased I've tried it now, it's all experience. So the countdown continues, New Year is just around the corner. Do you have plans?

2011-12-26T10:10:00.000Z

That time of year

‘It doesn’t feel like Christmas’.

Is what I say each year.

‘But what does Christmas feel like?’

replies mummy dear.

It doesn’t feel like Christmas.

For all the time we spend.

Preparing for that special time,

and hoping it won’t end.

Each year I try to recapture,

those memories so dear.

When a small glass of sherry

was a treat once a year.

When on the bed each morning

a stocking would be found.

Brimmed with lots of goodies

that cost less than a pound.

No tiptoeing at the crack of dawn

to look under the tree.

A quick squeeze and a shake,

‘Oops that’s not for me!’

We’ve put up decorations,

tinsel and our tree.

The house is covered in fairy lights

as far as the eye can see.

‘But Christmas is for children’,

is what I’m being told?

But I still want that excitement

even though I’m getting old-er.

It’s getting too commercialised.

The true meaning been forgot

but you don’t have to jump on the wagon

and get the lot.

So when this Christmas comes around

we’ll enjoy it all the same.

Because although each Christmas is different.

The memories remain.

Kerridwen Jeffery

I wrote this some years ago now but each year the same thoughts run through my head, what does Christmas feel like for you? My mum said yesterday we base our thoughts of Christmas on old memories and hope that each year will live up to them, but some of those memories are from childhood when the stress we put on ourselves as a grown up don't exist, the magic still prevails.

I don't know how much longer i shall be adding to my blog, i love to share my thoughts but sharing is what counts where blogs are concerned and it's so nice when someone stops by and leaves a comment. So if you stop by and have a read and have a moment, please say hi.

Happy New Year 2012, i hope you bring with you some good cheer :)

Foot note! These are my thoughts and feelings please do not steal those and claim them as your own but better still find a quiet corner with pen and paper and see what thoughts come to mind and before you know it you may have your own festive poem :)

More Festive Delights

2011-12-19T18:37:00.001Z

Ok so it's been baking, baking and more baking. Today i made Merry Berry Cheese Bars. I found this recipe over at Silver Boxes and saved it as you do with a view to trying it and today was the day. Fortunately i had all the things i needed although i did think maybe i wouldn't. I swapped cranberries for blackberries and was slightly confused about the jellied variety so used just the juice from the tin which of course gave a lovely marbled effect to the cheesecake layer and gave that layer time to set before trying to crumble the remaining mixture on top to which i added some packet crumble to fill out the gaps. Well i have tried a little but am looking forward to a proper piece with cream later :)

These cupcakes are just a basic vanilla cake with buttercream icing to which i added some Mocha spread (with coffee beans pieces) found at Lidl which made for a lovely tasting buttercream and then added the orange cinnamon stars on top for decoration. Got to play with another of my nozzles too :)

The Christmas trees here were vanilla buttercream piped on with very little green colour added, was a bit concerned when i saw all the E No's that were in it. Pastel tree's, less predictable lol

The following two cupcakes were made using rolled out fondant icing. I topped the cupcakes with buttercream and then cut out the shape with a traditional cutter. I pre-made the snowflakes using the same fondant icing adding a touch of blue and left them to harden over night and added the silver balls.

This was made the same way and the snowmen were bought as they were. These are also pretty tasty if i do say so myself :)

2011-12-12T14:26:00.000Z

Can you tell what i spent Saturday doing....details to follow when it's not so late :)

Chocolate Marshmallow Muffins

Gingerbread Mincemeat Crumbles...

Gingerbread Snowflakes

All behind!

2011-12-09T12:03:00.012Z

It's my Blogoversary, thanks to Teena in Toronto for pointing that out. Happy Blogoversary to me :)

So over at Christmas Cards All Year Round you will find the final challenge for this year and my final challenge as part of their DT. Sadly i declined from continuing due to new job obligations of which there are now none as i gave up one job to be more flexible for the other and then lost the other. That's a story for another day...

So the challenge for this month was Anything goes and so i adopted a card technique found in a magazine which i will add when i find it to make funky trees. Here are my three (yes another month where i only manged three, that said i made quite a few others it's just that a friend bought them from me. Anyway here are my three funky trees.

I really like how these turned out and the are pretty simple to do and use up lots of bits of paper so keep them for other trees.

I have been baking as is the norm for me, surprisingly i haven't been put off. Today's baking was some Tangy Lemon Squares. Why is it you never have the right size tin...hey ho improvisation seems to have worked and if there is a next time i will endeavour to try something smaller.

Also this month i have been going gingerbread mad lol

I have made and love gingerbread mince pies, never will i be tempted to just have pastry for my mince pies again lol. Also cheesecake bites borrowed from created by Diane

This is my gingerbread mince pie with crumble topping, i have done bother ordinary tops for them and crumbly ones and the crumbly ones are my favourite :)

These are Diane's cheesecake bites but instead of using a ball of gingerbread i rolled it out again like i did for the mince pie and piped the cream cheese in. The gingerbread rose leaving a bit of a gap from filling but they still got eaten lol

Well that's me for today. Wishing you all seasons greetings :)

Reindeer Embroidery Hoop

2011-11-21T08:21:00.000Z

Just a quick post this morning to show you my Reindeer Embroidery Hoop. Having seen lots of use for Embroidery Hoops this last few months i bought two of a local lady and up till last week hadn't made any use of them but after seeing the Reindeer in Simply Homemade Issue. i couldn't help but have a go. This took no time at all to do. I cut the reindeer out one day and pretty much sewed it all up the next. I am pretty pleased with the way it turned out. Linking up with Jennie over at Craftomatic for her Monday Link Party. Stop by and see what everyone else has been up to :)

November has arrived

2011-11-01T13:56:00.001Z

and with it a new challenge over at Christmas Cards All Year Round. The challenge this month was to use a sketch and I'm glad my sketch appears the same as Claires because my programme implied differently lol.

So here are my high five for this month :)

These were made with help from the freebies that came with Creative Cardmaking issue 33. Great freebie thanks :)

Don't forget to check out all the other inspiration made by my fellow DT members :)

2011-10-30T13:21:00.001Z

Gosh my postings are getting few and far between of late. So much to do and so little time lol. I shall be back in a few days with Novembers challenge over at Christmas Cards All Year Round :)

So we've almost finished half term, pity Halloween is the first day back at school but what can you do. My son keeps asking when we're going to put the decorations up and i keep telling him that what we have is up. We have decorated the Owls...

We have decorated Pumpkins (as of the night before last)...

My hubby did the one above...

I did this which initially was supposed to be an Owl but ended up just being a rather strange face lol...

We have odds and ends around including some toilet rolls that we decorated...

this was supposed to be a crafty project with my son but soon became mine with some help from hubby...

Also this week we've been to Stratford for a viewing of some photos that i had done as part of a 'Model Experience' makeover. I managed to whittle the choices down to two which came as part of the deal but am now awaiting their arrival. I took the chance to take some more pictures in Stratford and then played around with them using Picnic...

Here is Mr Shakespeare himself ;)

and a spooktacular view across the river...

We've been to a Halloween party where my son took great delight in dressing up as a Vampire!

and lastly i got a job!

Or another job i guess. I have been searching for that illusive job that inspires and full fills ones needs. I still do a bit of hairdressing, i deliver leaflets two mornings a week which has done wonders for my weight but come rain or shine or snow i have to go, i write poems for e-cards but now i am helping out in a kitchen for The Jolly Good Pud Company who makes all kinds of wonderful baked goodies for weddings, special events and they also sell on our local market. You know how i love to bake and bake i have already and I've only been in two days this week, or three if you count yesterdays Cup Cake Basics class but that was more pleasure than work. One thing i had to master was decorating cakes using icing bags and nozzles and i was pretty pleased with what i turned out yesterday...

It's hard to choose favourites but you can see all that i decorated in the top picture and some close ups of a couple. They are going down quite well so far and i have baked some more cupcakes of my own to decorate later. So as you can tell it's been a pretty full on week and golly it's Monday tomorrow and most things return to normal...or do they ha ha ha ha cackle cackle lol...

Play Time

2011-10-04T11:02:00.000+01:00

Well for the last few weeks i have been stopping by the Play Date Cafe and admiring their weekly challenge but what with one thing or another i haven't had a moment to take part. Today i got a bonus day off and as is me i was actually like 'oh what to do', not for a lack of things just making a decision. Anyway i had a look through one or two draws and thought, oh yes the Thanksgiving print outs from last year, look at the colours they pretty much fit the theme so i went with it. Three not my monthly five but three is better than none although i may need to make more but I'm happy i got to play, got to take part and got to use something that may well have stayed in my draw. Please stop by the Play Date Cafe and see the other creations inspired by their colour theme :)

Whoooo knew lol

2011-10-02T12:05:00.000+01:00

Here we are and it's October all ready, gosh all of a sudden time seems to have picked up speed. Anyway a new month meant a new challenge over at CCAYR and this month the challenge was

'So... your Christmas cards this month need to have at least one of what are considered Halloween colours (orange, green, purple, black). We'd also like to see a punch or die cut somewhere on your card and this can mean regular punches, Spellbinders dies, border punches, something that was purchased pre-done, etc!'

So here is what i came up with...

I introduced green as it seemed the most appropriate colour for both Halloween and Christmas and fortunately i had these lovely stickers which i think i bought from a £1 shop and had never used along with the metallic paper clips which would have been wasted for fastening things together but add more of a festive feel and finish off the cards nicely. I have used a punch on the papers although i suspect it should have been what was punched out rather than the shape which was included but penny has only just dropped lol. Anyway if i do say so myself i love these cards, the colours and the simplicity and it helped me use something that would have otherwise stayed in the draw. Here's to the festive season and all that follows :) Don't forget to stop by and see all the other lovely creations made by my fellow DT members :)

Here comes September

2011-09-02T08:47:00.000+01:00

Well can you believe another month is over and September starts, by next week the hols will be over with and the kids back to school. Strangely the end of this holiday crept up on me, i thought we had another week to go and part of me will actually miss having my son around although I'm sure i will soon fill my day.

Anyway a new month and a new challenge over at Christmas Cards All Year Round. This months challenge involves your 'stash' and you can do whatever you chose providing what you use is over a year old!

So here is my inspiration for this challenge and it was a good excuse to look at things that have been sat around for sometime now doing nothing...

I made this months challenge using some Debbie Mumm 'Gingerbread' punch outs. I'm not sure how long I've had these but it's a long time so it was really nice to finally make use of them. The cards were mounted on cream card and distressed (as is my thing lol) and then re-mounted on some festive paper from a gift I was sent early last year that also had gingerbread men on but I didn't use enough of the paper for that to be apparent. Finished touches with gold stickers also coloured with markers and bits of ribbon and rub-ons. Another five in the bag :)

And here is my newest canvas, i made two of this type of thing yesterday but the other one is for a present so I'm keeping it under wraps. I like the idea of being able to enjoy the look of a card but keep it up all year round or seasonally accordingly :)

Have a great weekend :)

Choc Chip Muffins (with the choc chips lol)

2011-08-30T13:22:00.000+01:00

So once again when browsing the blogs i follow i found this recipe over at Bakerella for Choc Choc Chip muffins. This recipe involved sour cream which to be honest i had no idea about and nor do i now either but i had a go. I got a recipe book out which gave me some idea about converting cups into grams. I do have cups but 'cupping' marg or butter isn't easy and so i began. I have to say this followed a sponge which i shall be jamming and creaming in the not too distant future so it's been a baking morning. Anyway the only way my recipe differs is that i didn't add any salt. Rarely do i add salt because i nearly always use butter (with salt), infact bar chips i hardly ever use salt on anything. Anyway i mixed up the ingredients as directed and popped them in the oven, tick tock, tick tock...

I have to admit they do look pretty tasty and yes i manage 12 i believe it was in muffin cases (bigger than the usual cup case anyway) and once I'd finished my lunch i tried one...Wow i will definitely be making these again and I'm hoping as they have choc chips in my son will happily eat then too, fingers crossed. Thumbs up from me :)

I am linking up for the second week running over at A Spoonful of Sugar for Weekend Baking :) Don't forget to stop by and see what your inspired by :)

Choc Chip Oat Slice

2011-08-21T15:27:00.000+01:00

So while perusing my favourite blogs this morning i came across this post for Choc Chip Oat Slices. I scanned the ingredients and realised that within reason i had most of them and thought I'd give it ago. Now the important bit that i was lacking was the choc chips but hey we can get by without them, better with but beggars can't be choosers. I also didn't have enough coconut but thought i would use up whatever i had left but due to having to leave the house before i baked them that got forgotten. Anyway i made them and they look yummy and if they are as yummy as they look i will make them again WITH choc chips and coconut :)

Hope your Sunday is going well :)

Just a little something...

2011-08-08T06:45:00.000+01:00

Here's a little something i whipped up yesterday. I enjoyed the results from the last canvas i did so i was looking forward to trying another one. I couldn't resist using my Owl stamp and combining it with the tree stamp that came free with Simply Homemade and i think the combination works well and with a bit of distressing here and there voila. This is a present for a friend of mine, her birthday has already been and gone, a bit like mine which was a week ago today, time really does fly by but i hope to get it to her before too long. I am taking part in Jennies Craft-o-manic Monday where there are lot of other creative folk sharing there creations so don't forget to stop by and see what they've all been up to :) Happy Monday :)

Garden Candle Jar

2011-08-05T16:31:00.000+01:00

It's amazing what you can achieve even with your son home on holiday. I started this on Wednesday and then got side tracked with my Home canvas that i posted about yesterday. Anyway today i was determined to finish this so i can start on the other canvas. I made this with the garden in mind. The evening is already drawing in and so this might be a good time to try and sit out in the evening while we still have some warm weather to sit in. There are quite a few things in the garden that need lighting up including a wire star i bought recently at a car boot so here's to it, joined by a glass of wine too :)

Birthday celebrations and creations :)

2011-08-04T17:38:00.000+01:00

Gosh how the time flies almost the end of another week. Well my week got off to a great start with it being my birthday on Monday. We spent the day in Stratford and on arrival it was pretty hot and humid and i was thinking how was i gonna survive but the heat let up a bit and the breeze kicked in a little which eased things. It was just a leisurely wander round after having something to eat and our usual visit to the Christmas shop. Yes on the 1st August on a hot summers day we were admiring Christmas trees and deccies :)

I had a cake this year too and boy was it a cake and a half.

Here is is

It's rare that i get a cake and mostly it's because i baked it but this year my hubby really excelled when he got this ordered. You know me and Owls, it's nearly gone now which is just as well really lol.

I had some lovely gifts including flowers, wine, baking book, little handmade felt owl, candle making kit, toiletries, Owl ornament for the garden and last month hubby treated me to some new clothes although typically i still had nothing to wear to a wedding reception this last weekend lol.

This is now the second week of the holiday and hubby went back to work yesterday. I have found a little creative time regardless of my son being home which is nice. Here is today's creation

This was a white blank canvas that i distressed and then built upon the paper pieced home. I like how it turned out and am looking forward to the next one :)

Oh yes and creations of another kind. Having rifled through my sisters Slimming World recipes i couldn't help having a go at a few and this i made for a friends birthday.

Yoghurt Gingerbread (or my version lol)

Pinch Punch...

2011-08-01T08:00:00.002+01:00

Well I'm writing this in advance as tomorrow will be a busy hopefully exciting day. Tomorrow is the 1st August, my 39th birthday. Yes I'm working my way backwards now lol. Tomorrow is also the new challenge over at CCAYR and the first month that you will see my cards as part of the new DT. The challenge for August is to use four of the following on your cards.

Chipboard
Hand stitching
Ribbon
Inking
Stamping
Textured paper (embossed is good!)
Metal embellishments
Alphabet stickers or rub-ons for the sentiment
Stripes

I did struggle a little with this but not because i didn't know which to do more to do with the fact that i decided to use black and white as my theme for this set of cards but with a little help from my dear friend Georgina i got there. I hope you like my cards. Check them out tomorrow :)

Here are a few more creations i had time for this month :)

This card and the one below it i made during a craft evening with Tina of Stampin Up. This is only the second time i have joined Tina and some other ladies for a card making evening but it's always very enjoyable and has given me an insight into the SU products. You can check out her blog at Crafting at the little white house :)

This card and the one below have both been made using the free templates that came with Simply Homemade my favourite crafting magazine. I love the way these cupcakes turned out and yes I'm still distressing lol the novelty hasn't yet worn out. The top card was well received by a good friend of mine and the second cupcake will probably arrive with another good friend tomorrow in time for her birthday on Tuesday. Happy Birthday to Georgina and Jo :)

Well i should be in Stratford tomorrow as it's my birthday too. We are hoping to picnic and hubby has something up his sleevy so time will tell. Enjoy the sunshine while it lasts and ttfn :)

Think it's time for a blogover

2011-07-18T13:58:00.000+01:00

I don't get to post so often of late but when i stop by now to check out what my fellow bloggers are up to i see things that don't mean so much now. Ads for blog hops I've taken part in, adverts for things i enjoy but am not enthused about, awards which i am always greatful for and lists of thing that in the past were important but not so much now....So what draws you back, what would you like to see?

I feel that this blog represents me and has been one of three, that's me too, lots of strings. Time for a shake up. I too will be having one of those in the very near future. My life had a large one several months ago and I'm off for a make-over photo shoot type morning and am very much looking forward to seeing the results. Watch this space :)

Ohh Christmas is coming

2011-07-06T12:33:00.000+01:00

and the goose is getting fat lol. Yep you heard me right although in all honesty as some of you may have noticed i have been making Christmas cards all year round so far with the exception of June where sadly time seemed to run away with me. But the tides have turned and guess what?!?!?

I am now on the DT over at Christmas Cards All Year Round! How cool is that. So now i will be taking part in the monthly challenges from a slightly different perspective in that you will now see my creations as part of the monthly inspiration :) I am chuffed to have been asked and am already working on my cards ready for the month of August. So pop along and check out July's challenge, get a head start on your festivities and everything will be all white ;)

Well nearly made it!

2011-05-31T15:09:00.000+01:00

Ok well four out of five, nearly but not quite. Will expand on this months challenge when i get a mo but for now here are my four cards for the month of May :)

The day before the Royal Wedding

2011-04-28T14:17:00.000+01:00

Well it's nearly the day everyone has been talking about.The wedding of Prince William and Kate. I am not into pomp and ceremony but will no doubt want to see what all the fuss is about tomorrow, in and around whatever else we end up doing having an extra day off.

Inspired by the Royal Wedding i set up a swap challenge over at Ivy's Attic to make an Atc. Sadly only one other person expressed an interest and i don't know as yet whether she made one or not but here are my three as it stands, was going for five but what with holidays and personal stuff looks like we're going with three.

Victoria Sponge Cake

2011-04-17T16:27:00.000+01:00

So i realise this isn't the most complicated of cakes but i am on a mission of sorts. I bought a bargain baking book at the car boot last weekend called The Big Book of Baking, i would link it but i can't find it. So i thought i would plod through it trying out the recipes i like and making a note of how successful they are and whether we liked them. When i tried this on Friday it was a disaster. I think my problem was that i used one large tin instead of two smaller ones (she recommends 8" Sandwich tins). My cake sunk and i thought it was just a visual thing but when i cut it in half it wasn't cooked in the middle either so I'm afraid it sadly went in the bin. Anyway today, perfect, that said we haven't eaten it yet lol. So here is the proof in the pics :)

Will share the rating later ;)

Poem In Your Pocket Day

2011-04-15T07:40:00.002+01:00

becomes Poem On Your Blog Day...

This morning i read this post over at JolieArt. All about a poem written by Alec aged 9. So as it was Poem In Your Pocket Day yesterday, which btw I've never heard of and being a bit of a poet myself i didn't want to let the opportunity to go by. Now finding a poem to share wasn't an easy task. I have written so many over the years about all sorts of subjects, lots on Christmas my 'favourite' time of year but i flicked through my folder and decided to share a seasonal favourite. You can read more about Poem In My Pocket day, i was gonna abbreviate that but I'm sure you can work out why i didn't check out the link. In the mean time here is my poem :)

The seasons are changing,

the leaves from green through brown.

Creating a cascade of colours,

below me on the ground.

The light is fading,

the nights are drawing in.

Starting to feel cooler,

time to stay in.

Time is moving faster,

carrying us on her way.

Soon snow will be upon us,

as winter comes to stay.

The snowman puts on his hat and scarf

for another day.

Whilst children finish snowball fights

and put away their sleigh.

There is a buzzing in the air

and a spring in my step.

The bulbs are pushing through the ground

but won’t be seen just yet.

Finally in all their glory

A rainbow of colour I see.

Lapping up the sunshine

and scenting the air that I breathe.

The seasons are a changing,

the leaves from green through brown…

Kerridwen Jeffery

April Challenge or not as it seems

2011-04-13T11:17:00.000+01:00

Ok so this was my entry for the April challenge over at Christmas Cards All Year Round...until that is i reviewed this months challenge. So the shortfall was that i was so keen to crack on and use my newly learnt knot with ribbon that i completely forgot about the 'use an oval' part of the challenge...Que Serra i guess, I'm pleased with the way they turned out and it's five more in the pot which makes 20 so far this year.

Fairy Helebores

2011-03-25T13:37:00.000Z

So today i started out dropping my son off at school and then on to his fairy godmothers house to cut her hair. She is a good friend and we could talk for England and envariably do. When i had finished cutting her hair and putting the world to rights she treated me to some Reiki. It was bliss to chill out and be pampered. Eventually the time came to up and adam and home again. Arriving home just before lunch time having been out all morning left me feeling at a loss to know what to do next. Lunch at the end of a shopping month isn't very inspiring so i swapped lunch for mowing the lawn. It's the first time this year and we have had a lovely week i hope it continues for Laura over at A Place for Tea when she arrives next week. She inspired this post with her Friday Flower Post. This fairy had been labelled for the car boot (in my head that is) then i thought oh maybe i'll take her to Glenny's (fairy godmother) for her fairy garden. Then i thought there is no place she would rather be than underneath the droopy but beautiful heads of the helebores the only thing that has a flower in the garden. So here she will reside and the garden well there is still plenty to be done but i'm pleased to have got the grass trimmed back :)

Spring is sprung

2011-03-24T12:41:00.000Z

So at the weekend i managed a trip to Hobbycraft whilst we were over at my mother-in-laws. I picked up a polystyrene wreath and some eggs. I set to work as soon as was possible sticking torn lilac tissue paper to the wreath, it took a few coats but got there eventually and i like the dark and shade created by the over lapping of the paper. Then i thought everything was going to come to a standstill. The eggs are quite large and were hanging from ribbon but i removed that and glued them with my glue gun. The soft lilac birdie was one i made a while ago who had been nestled in with my lavender. I recycled the two butterflies, they were pocked into a plant pot downstairs having come with flower arrangements. Then i tweaked with some pipe cleaners and glued some smaller butterflies to some short pipe cleaners and added some beaded pins through the button holes on the flowers buttons and voila. I'm pretty pleased with that :)

March Challenge

2011-03-24T12:34:00.000Z

Ok so here are my five challenge cards for the month of March. The challenge this month was...

'Since March is the 3rd month, we'll be working in threes! Your cards needs 3 patterned papers and 3 brads, eyelets or gems. You may add other embellishments, a sentiment, card stock, etc as well.'

I enjoyed paper piecing these Robins, and distressing them. Plenty of scope within the requirements. Added all sorts of little gems to them to emphasize their speckled belly's, i know it's thrush's that have speckled bellies but so did one or two of my robins care of the papers. You can check out the other submissions for this challenge over at Christmas Cards All Year Round :)

May Luck be with You

2011-03-11T11:48:00.000Z

Ok so i know a little more about St Patricks Day now than i might have before. Strange how many little celebrations come and go and we either don't celebrate them or are not even sure why we celebrate them. I don't celebrate St Patricks Day, I am not Irish but i appreciate now that it's not just the Irish that do.Anyway i got asked to write for a St Patricks Day ecard over at BirthdayAlarm.com and you can find it here May Luck be with You Hope you like it :)

Eggstravaganza

2011-02-23T12:57:00.000Z

Lol, having been lent a largish circle punch to continue a card theme i started i got inspired on Sunday to try my hand at another project. I've seen lots of banner type projects round the net so pulled out some paper doilies that i was given and had a play with some ideas and this is what i came up with .

I laminated the paper doilies after distressing the edges with a stamp. I added some distressing to the purple circles and then inked up the letters which were already purple but a paler one like the circles. I added the Easter egg decals and then punched some holes on both sides of each piece and threaded some purple cord through from back to front. I have yet to hang it, it's a bit early yet but i hope it'll hang straight. Quite pleased :)

CCAYR - February Challenge

2011-02-16T16:50:00.000Z

Here is my complete collection of cards for the challenge over at CCAYR. The challenge for February was to include some red and or pink and some dimension. Wasn't hard to include some red and even pink went down ok. The dimension comes by way of foam pads raising the cute doggie on the front. First time I've made good use of the doggie stamp so pleased with that :)

Lots of Love

2011-02-10T14:02:00.000Z

Ok so it's nearly that time and yes i have kept myself busy. When I'm not doing the usual things round the house or delivering leaflets i do get crafty and when I'm not making Christmas Cards i spread the love lol.

So

here is my first creation for Valentines Day. Made using a metal heart hanger from the £1 shop. The main heart originally had a smaller heart hanging in the middle of it crudely attached with what looked like a large staple so i unhooked that and removed it. Then i played around with felt roses after my little experiment below and adds some pipe cleaner embellishments and glued it all with my glue gun. I have to say even on this white background it doesn't do it any justice, it does look nicer in real life but I'm pleased with it.

Next

Here are my strung hearts. All cut out of card and punched and embellished with white gel pen. I laminated them for extra strength and durability and they are attached to each other using white shower curtain rings which come in very useful for this type of thing. Ideally this should hang in a window so the light shines through the punched holes on the large heart of the stars on the smaller ones but it is hanging from the ceiling. I quite like it simple as it is. Just goes to show all you need it a bit of imagination and not alot of money or time :)

Happy Valentines Day...Mwah!

Food for thought

2011-02-07T13:22:00.000Z

Ok so i had to share a little tip bit i learnt about recently much to my benefit and maybe yours.

So i like to think of myself as a fairly healthy person. In the main i suffer from mental issues rather than physical ones. Yeah I'm mental i know you already know that. So when i say mental i mean in the past on and off for several years i have suffered from Panic Attacks, Depression and OCD. I haven't had any of these things for quite some time thankfully but about two months before Christmas my Panic Attacks came back to haunt me. They have always been very random with no obvious indicator which makes them all the more difficult to avoid. So after their arrival and i may add this is not really what this post is about but bear with me i had a mad run of 'dis-ease' to use Louise Hays term. Last year one of the most obvious issues i suffered from was indigestion. When i say that i don't just mean the odd burp either. When it cropped up last year i went to see the doc eventually because the indigestion would sit behind my breast bone and cause such congestion and discomfort, she put me on Omprazolle, excuse if I've mispelled that. I guess in time that worked and the indigestion went away. Occasionally when i felt like things were getting bad again or if my tummy was a bit topsy turvy i bought Actimel, which i might add i love and would happily drink all the time. Anyway. As various issues over Christmas came and went the last thing remaining or things was my anxiety and indigestion. One Friday i sat at the PC looking for natural quick fixes for indigestion. One or two things that came up time and time again was Lemon and Honey! So for an instant experiment i added 1tbsp of lemon juice and one tbsp of honey to some hot water that evening before bed. The next day was one of the most comfortable days i had had in a very long time. So the next morning for my first drink of the day i had hot water with honey and lemon, the same again. So here we are over two weeks later. My indigestion is pretty much non existent. If i burp now it's what i would imagine most people do maybe once or twice a day. I have no discomfort, no jumbly tummy and even the toilet visits have vastly improved. I have read lots and lots of information about honey and it's uses and it seems to be a good all round healer and one i am very enthused about. The lemon also but apparently you do have to watch the enamel on your teeth!

So on that note please consider the use of honey in your diet it could just be the thing that works and no need for medication and un needed expense. Please refer here for lots more information on the subject of honey. The anxiety in the main has also not reared it's ugly head for a couple of weeks but then i have read that honey also helps with that. You can read about that here. So in the main i would say round of applause for honey. Give it a try :)

I appreciate i am not a doctor so if in doubt always consult a doctor but if it works for you natures treasures offer some relief :)

More than meets the eye

2011-01-22T18:39:00.001Z

It's been about a year since i got inspired in the recycling department. It's stuck and now i see more and more uses for supposedly useless items. On almost a daily basis i see more inspiration on the www. So here are today's creations, in part inspired by my fellow bloggers and the rest down to me.

This little brooch was made using a shrunken jumper. I played around and played around and finally after being inspired to have a go at making a material flower/rose settled on this. The picture doesn't really do it much justice, but i think you can get the jist.

This glass jar was covered with the sleeve of a previously recycled jumper the roses also made with other oddments from this jumper. I saw this idea here i think the idea of cute woolly jars storing your pencils or brushes is far nicer than just empty jars but then you know me and jars :)

And finally, no element recycled this is also one of this weeks creations. Made using a fairy transfer from a book sent to me kindly by my friend Senta. All hand sewn and filled with sunshine, love and lavender :)

Pixie Magic

2011-01-14T14:10:00.000Z

This little cutie arrived in my letter box this week. This sweet little pixie has travelled all the way from Mexico from my creative friend Ale. I was lucky enough to win this hand painted bookmark.Thanks so much Ale, i am going to laminate her to protect her from page wear and tear. So pretty. You can check our all of Ale's wonderful creations over at with blueberry heart Happy New Year Ale :)

Five Festive Trees

2011-01-10T16:11:00.001Z

So how organised do i feel. Five Christmas cards finished and we're not even at the end of January. These cards were inspired by a craft leaflet at Hobbycraft for these teabag folded tree's. Thought I'd give it a go and gosh they work so well for using odd bits and pieces of paper that's piling up, you know how you hang on to all sorts. So I'm ahead of the game and was also able to enter these into January's challenge over at Christmas Cards all Year Round, the challenge was anything goes so voila :)

A Very Merry Christmas :)

2010-12-21T18:29:00.005Z

Re-cycle...

2010-12-03T16:36:00.000Z

on it goes. It's stuck with me all year round and it's so rewarding. So for this project i took two jar lids. Sprayed them with traditional gold spray on both sides. This took several coats and in between i painted some red acrylic paint and then sprayed over the top again with the gold, i intended to distress but the only sand paper in the house was stripping back more than i wanted so i left them with the odd hint of red showing through. On the inside i rustled up two hama bead pattern kinda snowflakes and glued them on either side. I added some red rik rak (is that what you call it?) to hang it with and then glued it together. I added some rik rak round the frame of both lids just to finish off. So what do you think? I see scope for more but this late in the day i might be pushing my luck lol alongside my other unfinished, or not yet started festive projects. Happy December :)

Excerpts of 'Thanksgiving' UK

2010-11-28T18:09:00.000Z

So with thanks to my lovely friends across the pond my friend Jo and i adopted Thanksgiving this year and celebrated in our own creative ways. I made a Thanksgiving cone which I'm not mad about but have had a few compliments about and incorporated some glittered cones that i did last year. I brought out my ikea wire tree and having printed of some lovely Thanksgiving freebies gave my hubby, mum, dad and son a tag with their name on and everyone wrote a little word of thanksgiving on it and attached it to my tree so thanks to them for joining with me in giving thanks. We enjoyed a lovely roast dinner which mum helped with, homemade bread sauce and some lovely chocolate sauce which we had with cream and waffles for pudding. My biggest dilemma this meal was making sure that nothing came near the meat for my dad, bless him. It was a juggling act, more so than normal when my roasties normally go in with the meat, our cooker is small enough as it is. Still i thoroughly enjoyed it and then we headed into town to see the Christmas lights go on the best of which was the fireworks. Full of greatness :)

Let them eat cake...

2010-10-31T10:04:00.000Z

Well much like last year this year has been a fun lesson...in baking. The year started with drop scones c/o my dear friend Senta when she sent me a packet mix from the states. The next thing i picked up on was flapjack followed by cookies, scones, various cakes and of late cup cakes. The best thing is it's such fun experimenting with different flavours, and the various things you can add. This last batch of cup cakes had plain vanilla cupcakes c/o the recipe from the back of the caster sugar pack with Carnation caramel added to the icing along with orange colouring and Halloween chocolates.

This lot of cupcakes had choc chips and marshmallows in, i haven't tried one with marshmallows yet as the one i had was full of choc chips lol but they look suitable for Halloween with a slightly gruesome look to them lol. Hubby assures me they taste lovely. So the fun continues and the calories well hopefully they keep burning :)

Ghouslish Cupcakes or not as the case maybe!

2010-10-27T12:50:00.003+01:00

So this morning has been a baking morning, wasn't planned but nice that it turned out that way. I have whipped up some Condensed Milk Cookies only i swapped the plain cm for the Caramel version, which actually doesn't say cm at all but i used the same quantity and added some white choc chips instead. They'll all go down the same way whatever.

I am cooling my cupcakes which are kinda muffin size. To help with the Halloween theme I've swirled seedless raspberry jam into the cake mix thought it might represent well I'll leave that to your imagination. For the topping i intend to make an icing using more of the Caramel from above as i thought it might make for an interesting taste and also will lend itself to the colour of the icing especially as the muffins are in brown cases. Anyway at this point this is all pie in the sky guess work, time will tell and i will share the pics too :)

Ok so i iced my cakes with icing sugar and butter and several tsp of the Carnation Caramel :) Some i just used a knife and some i got away with using my cheap icing set with alteast i know with a bit of perseverance it works. The let down for me was the Halloween chocolate which had wonderful Halloween designs on the outside but on the inside was plain :( Still i shall persevere and search for some more Halloween chocolate and maybe some food dye other than black (which i didn't use for these and came out grey when i last did). Not tried them yet but will do later :)

So here it is the finished cup cake, complete with caramel icing and a Halloween decoration, they taste delicious :)

Come in sweetie, sit down

2010-10-15T11:58:00.001+01:00

would you like to join me for a brew and something to nibble on too!!!

Ha ha ha cackle cackle cackle lol

Help yourself dearie, what's in them you ask, oh i just whipped them up this morning with some very special ingredients that have been in the coven, i mean family for years, top secret mind, for me to know and you to find out ha ha ha ha ha................................

Oh yes the bats dearie, help yourself, their very tasty especially now they've stopped flapping around, dunk them in your brew, it'll warm you through ha ha ha....

Ok that's enough of that. My morning practising my Halloween baking. First stint with the icing bag didn't work out too well so may have to have another go with that. Be interesting to see Brett turn his nose up at the grey'd icing but he may get daring enough to try one. Fairy cakes are very tasty on their own so he could always try the undecorated variety. Sadly he won't eat the batty cookies either as they have currants in but hubby and i will lol.Oh yes i forgot to mention the little ghosts were from some Halloween cakes we bought last year from Asda, being plastic i kept them and recycled them :)

So what plan do you have for all hallows eve?

Double Trouble

2010-10-14T14:31:00.001+01:00

Take one empty phone box...

Distress all exterior edges of the box with silver ink pad and emboss with silver powder...

Measure up suitable papers and apply with glue to all panels...

For me it was about Halloween, Magic, Spells etc etc

Cut out smaller piece of black card for top of lid and apply the same ink pad and powders and emboss round distressed area. Add beautiful jewelled Owl stickers to center stage and shazzam there we have it.

A magical little box, now i need to make a little black cushion for the inside and then decide what little blinging item will reside :)

Tick Tock

2010-10-14T12:09:00.000+01:00

Do you get the feeling someones trying to tell you something?

Me I'm not sure what the message is. Time keeping has always been a bug bear of mine having worked in a hairdressers or as a hairdresser my entire working life, lateness mean's getting behind with appointments or just your day in general so it's extremely rare that i am late for anything. When i finished work around 5yrs ago this next month in preparation for swapping scissors for nappies i stopped wearing a watch like i stopped wearing jewellery, make-up, clean clothes and all that comes with a new baby lol.

So one asks oneself how do you end up with not one, not two but TEN watches!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So having been through my jewellery/accessory draw i am trying to halve my collection and keep those that i might wear occasion/mood allowing. The set above i got bought for my 40th this year, it's a lovely set but as yet it's never been out of the box but my sister bought it for me so I'll be staying. The round bangle watch is pretty as a piece of jewellery so that too will be staying, interestingly the same lady that bought me that also bought me a Marcel Drucker watch which has the stones in it which will also be staying. The charm watch was bought by another friend of mine who also bought atleast one of the other silver ones but i like the fact that you can clip the charm watch onto a handbag and have time...Well it's hard isn't it to part with things but one can only wear one watch at anyone time so the parting continues...

Halloween Candle Jar

2010-10-11T10:31:00.002+01:00

So the recycle theme definitely stuck. All this year i have been re-using jars in all sorts of ways for popping a little tea light in. Having been inspired by Not So Idle Hands in a round about way i cracked on and started my first Halloween jar on Friday possibly can't remember exactly. I distressed the owl and stuck him together and having bought some tissue paper on Saturday set to cutting the paper into strips and gluing them onto the jar. Once they were all on i added some more (diluted i might add) glue on the base with a view to letting that dry and re-applying to the entire jar, but!!! the glue ran a little down the jar and i liked that it did that, it kinda added to the distressed look so i let it dry out and then distressed some more with a bit of black ink over the runs and left the jar as it was and then decorated, bar a bit of bling round the jar neck and a few bats the Owl is the star, as he should be lol. I have a new jar drying, definitely more along the lines of Emilies of NSIH once he is finished i will share him with you also. That's not all either i plan to make more lol :)

Sorry the lit up ones never come out clearly but at least you can see how much it shines.

Busy Bee's

2010-10-07T13:30:00.000+01:00

So today has been a nice mixture of things that needed to be done and one or two that just chose to be done. This morning i had some errands to run in town but on my return i thought i would take a leaf out of Delia's book and try some of her scones. Turned out ok i think, definitely miss the vanilla extract though so next time that has to go in. Here they are...

You can find the recipe here

After than my little task was to start putting out one or two seasonal things. So i cleaned up my vase with my twiggy lights and stripped it of everything on it and swapped them for my autumnal/Halloween items, all i might add handmade my me last year :) One of my pieces of art from last year is adorning the walls above the vase too but there are still two to come out, just need a bit of dusting...leaves a turning :)

and here is one of last years pieces of art.

'Inspired' Think Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month

2010-10-01T18:40:00.000+01:00

Bingo, i think Blogger has been playing up this afternoon.

So having been inspired by Joni of Pop Art Minis with her pinked up Halloween art i thought i could run with this and so i did. This is another cute robin to help raise awareness for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. She will be winging her way to my Ivys Attic Etsy Store as soon as i can and the rest of the family joining her :)

Recycled Christmas

2010-09-28T10:56:00.000+01:00

Well earlier in the year i did a blog hop and the theme was recycling and it's kinda stuck so when i planned on doing my Christmas cards for this year i knew i would be recycling the cards I've had from previous years. The theme over at Christmas Cards all Year Round was to

'The September challenge is going to be a card that is any shape other than the standard 4 1/4 X 5 1/2. It can be square, rectangular, circular, big, small, whatever, but not the standard size. You card must also have gold, silver, crystal or pearl on it somewhere as well!'

So i set to it with some inspiration from this book which i borrowed alot last year and equally this so far lol

Here are my five cards for the challenge at CCAYR

A minute here and a minute there

2010-09-27T13:58:00.001+01:00

Today is my second Monday with my son in full time school. Monday is unofficially a housework day but i got so hot this morning that when I'd finished the bit of housework i planned to get done i moved onto some baking. I had been browsing Nigellas Christmas and found a recipe for Christmas morning muffins and wanted to have a go. I swapped the cranberries for orange and lemon peel and with the exception of changing the demerera sprinkles on top for golden caster sugar i popped them in the oven and left them too it.

Here they are, i enjoyed one after lunch with a nice cup of coffee. I think i may swap the orange and lemon peel purely because orange juice and zest goes in the mix and maybe something less citrussy may contrast better plus the ingredients required specific spices and i used mixed spice and was a bit wary so next time i will add more spice :)

So before i go pick my son up this is a card i whipped up using some bought downloadable papers found here

Simple but effective i think :)

Not a bad day so far, i like the days when i get to do a bit of everything i enjoy, and yes i don't mind housework when i'm in the mood and that's negotiable right now lol!

Great British Bake Off

2010-09-22T12:12:00.000+01:00

So did you get caught up in the GBBO, i so enjoyed following this series of amateur bakers showing their skills and giving us early learners inspiration to try new things. Today i did just that, i baked scones. Using the recipe found here at the BBC Good Food site. Now in true GGBO style i almost forgot the caster sugar so added it just before i took the dough out. Didn't have a brush to paint the top with egg so dunked the tops in it before putting them on the baking tray. Mixture might have been a bit thick so they were mostly big scones and the largest of them which was the first one i went for was slightly doughy near the top so i think they could have done with a little longer in the oven but apart from that quite pleased. One of the nicest scones I've had in a long time and it didn't leave that feeling in my mouth :)

Check out Ruth from GBBO over at her blog The Pink Whisk and go online to see how you could raise money for Children in Need or check out the GBBO recipes here :)

Hive Creative Challenge - Autumn playtime

2010-09-15T12:38:00.000+01:00

Well here is today's piece of creativity inspired by the Creative Challenge over at the Hive

Yesterday i was inspired by Art Attack, a children's art programme where Neil blew paint with a straw, then i added the leaves by splashing carefully some lovely colours. I'm sure we've all done it as children. I had a go yesterday and then today i knuckled down and did an Autumn tree complete with it's Autumn gown of many colours. I really enjoyed this technique and will definitely be using it again. There is alot to be said for child's play. I remember my son bringing home a funky painting he'd done using marbles. Drop the marbles in the paint and then onto the paper in a tray of some sort and wiggle it around, such fun, I've done that too. Go on unleash your inner child :)

The Great Owl Challenge

2010-09-14T17:09:00.000+01:00

Recently i joined the Hive, it's a mine of creative information from all walks of creative life. Dennis threw out a challenge to make an Owl, not sure he was expecting quite the interest that followed but just goes to show how popular they are. I know i love them but I'm obviously not on my own. Anyway i was thinking, dangerous i know, how or what would i do and yo and behold i thought oh yes I'll make a paper mache Owl, never done paper mache before, or atleast not for many many years but the gauntlet got thrown down and the wheels in motion and here we are under a week later.

Whootah!

I used a balloon as the base for my owl, layer upon layer of newspaper followed by some recycled paper bags. The eyes are a mixture of bottle tops with googly eyes in with a bit of string for decorative effect and a bit of purple mesh behind. I added a bit more purple mesh for his belly and then used my sons hands on the wings and part of my hands for his feet, these shapes were also covered with recycled paper bags and additional colour added with an orange ink pad. I have glittered his wings and feet so he has a bit of gold sparkle. I think hes not bad considering I've never done it before. Hope you like him :)

Chapters

2010-09-07T17:02:00.000+01:00

As one door closes another one opens,

but i want to stay inside.

It's here i bought my ticket

for a special kind of ride.

No idea where this journey would take us,

or what we would see along the way.

No sat nav or AA to guide us,

to lead us to this day.

Time flies when you're having fun

but it wasn't always this way.

This journey had it's ups and downs

as any parent will say.

No umbilical cord to join us

but by my side is where you'd be.

My shadow would never be lonely

with you for company.

So this chapter is nearly complete,

A blank page stares back at me.

Ready to put pen to paper

to fill with love and memories.

Dedicated to Brett Niner on nearly the eve of school.

Written with love and tears!

Lets get cutting

2010-09-03T11:51:00.000+01:00

So today i told my son that we were having a lazy day which basically means we're staying in. I wanted to do some baking so he watched telly, played in his room and generally kept himself amused while i baked. I thought i would have a go at some no bake cookies and then wanted to make some cookie dough to roll out and cut out. Anyway i had a go at my friends No Bake cookie recipe but changed some of the ingredients. I'm not a big fan of cocoa so missed that out, i also skipped the peanut butter as my hubby and son don't like it either. The recipe is as follows

1/2 cup of butter
4 tablespoons of cocoa
2 cups of sugar
1/2 cup of milk
1/2 cup of peanut butter
2 cups of rolled oats
1/4 teaspoon of vanilla
Pinch of salt (which i forgot)

So melt the butter, cocoa, sugar and milk in a pan and then bring to the boil, the important bit, for one minute.This bit worries me a bit but i think it did it for a minute, then add the remaining ingredients. So in went the oats, coconut (50g), 4tbsp of lemon curd. Much like the frogs last week i ended up with a runny mixture, i added more and more oats to try and thicken, dry it up. I'm not sure whether this is down to converting cups to our measurements but at this point i knew spooning some onto baking paper that they weren't going to set. I'm no master baker so having dropped a tray full some of which were more oaty and spread less and one or two kinda melted i decided to put the rest of the mixture in a rectangular baking tray and into the oven for 15 mins or so. So hopefully a bit flapjacky. Feel free to suggest where i am going wrong with these types of cookies, not the full boil, not enough oats, not getting the quantities right?

Any i move on...next was to find some roll out cookie dough which i did here i followed the ingredients again, converting some and using my cups where the packets were accessible. I mixed everything together and added 150g of choc chips then rolled it up put it in a tub and into the fridge. It stayed in the fridge while i completed above. I got it out and rolled it out as best i could, it was slightly crumbly but i got by. There were no cooking instructions with this recipe, helpful! so i cooked them at gas mark 5 for round about 15ish minutes.The are solid and very tasty and look great but i do need to make the dough a little more pliable and then it will spread more easily and the dough will go further. We have nice thick heart and choc chip men, I've eaten one and finished my sons as he apparently doesn't like them, shame. So that's me all cooked out for one morning. Could do with a sleep now lol.

In the eye of the beholder

2010-09-02T09:05:00.000+01:00

It's an age old saying that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, personally i think beauty is there for all of us to see just some need to open their eyes more than others.

There are all sorts of beauty all around us, we don't need to travel far to see them or pay charges to see them, this was in my friends garden standing proud and being maintained by the bee's during their industrious process of collecting pollen and there must be pollen a-plenty on a big sunflower, it must be like pollen heaven :)

These beautiful lillies were in the same friends garden, aren't they just beautiful, like a work of art with their frilly petals and beautiful spray painted colours and their wonderful scent wafts the air.

This i took in my garden, it's been a while waiting for the deep red to bloom and in the mean time the ladybirds have taken up residence. This morning i popped out to see if there was any progress and this has opened up enough for me to see a glimmer of autumn colour. There are many heads on this sunflower so it's late performance will bring about a splash of beauty and colour now that many blooms are on their final curtain.

It's there, can you feel it, Autumn is coming, more beauty to follow, keep your eyes peeled :)

All kinds of everything

2010-08-29T17:07:00.000+01:00

So on a Sunday morning when i get the chance there is nothing i like better than a good old mooch round a car boot. Today was one such day. The weather was chilly and blowy but dry so off we went.

It's interesting what grabs you at a car boot. For Brett it's about anything and everything for me it's about books, recycled stuff and somethings that sometimes surprise me.

So today the first things i bought were from a friend of mine whom nearly a year ago ran into me doing a car boot and was instantly like, oh i can't look at your stuff. Didn't bother me and i saw this first tin, yes you hear me tin and was instantly attracted to it. I think it's about the colours and texture, not sure what I'll do with it but at 20p i know I'll find some use for it :)

The next thing i bought from the same friend was another tin, i think you can probably see why...

This little tin is just one of those that originally had sweets in it but it's kinda cute and it's wheels spin and i just thought it might brighten up a bit of the kitchen or something along with my Snowman tin that comes out.

Then i spotted this on a different table. I ummed and arrhed thinking would i make use of it and if so what would i put in it. In the end at 50p i thought yes i would use it, it goes with our decor and I'll find something small enough to pop in it nearer the time, cute isn't it :)

Infact with a new baby being born in December or there abouts that might work nicely :)

So that's me for today, might see if there are anymore on tomorrow and who knows what I'll find.

Challenge 42 and Get Sketchy Challenge 53

2010-08-29T12:34:00.005+01:00

So i made this card up for Challenge 42 over at Michelle Perkett Studios the theme for this challenge was back to school. I also based this loosely on a sketch from Get Sketchy

So this is using Mary Margaret and as is my theme i paper piecing i used two different papers to achieve this result. Having done that i applied a clear ink pad and sprinkled clear embossing powder over her, twice infact. This made some of ink and colours bleed a little but as I've been doing quite a bit of distressing i didn't let it put me off lol. She is pretty shiny now which made it kinda difficult to photograph which is why i used several different shots so you can get the general gist of the card. I used a dream tag from some other coordinating papers, dream sequence kinda fits the events of the last few months trying to get my head round my son going to school, gosh where does the time go. I recycled some floral ribbon which came in a bag of crafty bits from someone i don't even know but inked it to co-ordinate with the other colours.I tried to keep it a bit girly as I'm planning to give this to my friends daughter for her birthday today. Anyway i hope you like it.

Baking Day - Tried and Tested Frogs

2010-08-28T13:27:00.003+01:00

So today i was a bit undecided what to bake, i could go the safe route and do something I've already done or try something new. Usually i bypass recipes that requite cocoa but today i thought what's the worst that can happen so today i did no bake Frogs :)

This recipe requires

400g granulated sugar
110g butter
60g cocoa powder (sifted)
125ml milk
1/2tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
150g porridge oats
100g unsweetened desiccated coconut (i think mine was sweetened but hey)

Line two baking sheets with greaseproof paper or baking parchment.

Combine the sugar, butter and cocoa powder and milk in a saucepan over medium hear. Bring the mixture to the boil, whisking (stirring) occasionally to remove any lumps. Reduce the heat to medium-low and boil gently for 5minutes. Remove the saucepan from heat and stir in the vanilla extract and salt. Add the oats and coconut and stir to combine.

Spoon rounded tablespoonfuls of the mixture on to lined trays. Chill for at least 1 hour.

Peel the 'frogs' from the paper and store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

This recipe is taken from this well thumbed book, i had to scan my favourite recipes in order to return this book to the library, i had had it a few weeks. I think this would be an excellent Christmas present suggestion don't you :)

I have to say i did lick a rather large spoonful of this when i had finished and found it pretty tasty so once they are cooled they are going to be pretty addictive but I'll keep you posted :)

They look great,
They taste great, even Brett finished one :)
This recipe made about the 35 suggested.
So i would give this recipe a 7/10
(might make these again without the cocoa just out of curiosity)

ICSketches 80

2010-08-27T08:05:00.001+01:00

So here we are again, yesterday i knew i needed to make another card so i popped over to ICSketches and borrowed their new sketch.

I made this card up using Meljens Monday freebie which was so appropriate for the person I'm making it for (well i thought so) so i paper pieced it, looks like this is going to be my new method for some digital stamps lol. Played around with the sketch a bit and voila.

A Little Creative Time

2010-08-21T11:16:00.001+01:00

So this morning i spotted two challenges care of Meljens Designs and couldn't help myself. A bit of paper piecing and voila :)

I think the Halloween theme is definitely getting the better of me as is the kinda distressed look, i used to think i hated it but I'm getting into it now. I had alot of Halloween stickers which have helped finish off the last two cards I've made. I am entering this in two challenges. Sketch 79 over at Inspirational Card Sketches - Meljens Designs found here and Challenge 21 over at Meljens Design Team and Challenge Blog found here.

The Challenges was to use this sketch

and the other challenge was a colour challenge to use Brown Orange and Teal, fun fun fun :)

Here's one i made earlier lol. I printed off a few different papers this morning so put this one together for a friends birthday.Thought i would share.

Recipe no. 3

2010-08-20T10:28:00.001+01:00

Today i am using a recipe found here at Waitrose. This one has been in the cupboard a little while and i know I've used it several times. They are currently cooking in the oven and cooling on the rack :)

Ingredients

125g butter, softened
100g light brown soft sugar
125g caster sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
225g self-raising flour
½ tsp salt
200g chocolate chips

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C, gas mark 4.
Cream together the butter and sugars until pale and fluffy. Slowly add the egg and vanilla, beating between each addition. Sift in the flour and salt and mix. Mix in the chocolate chips.
Roll the mix into balls the size of hazelnuts. Put on baking sheets lined with baking parchment (bake in batches). Bake for 10-12 minutes, until just golden. Cool on a rack and serve.

I have to say after making the Flapjack cookies at the beginning of the week they take some beating!

First impressions

They look great,

They taste great,these are crunchy cookies as apposed to chewy but very moorish.

This recipe made enough to fill a plastic biscuit box

So i would give this recipe a 7/10

Stop Oh Yes Wait A Minute Mr Postman

2010-08-19T13:04:00.001+01:00

Ok so yesterday i had a fantastic parcel come all the way from my dear friend Senta in Utah. I've never met Senta but like one or two ladies across the pond in the states we've become really good friends, as much as you can when you never see each other, thank goodness for Email, Facebook and Skype. So last year me and Senta decided to have a crafty swap which was great fun. This year we thought we'd do another one. It's sometime since we agreed to have another one but these things take time amongst all the normal day to day things we have going on. Anyway my parcel to Senta went a few weeks ago and she has it now and loved all her goodies only one of which i think i have a picture of which I'll try and add. Mine came yesterday and i have been stalking the postman for days lol.

Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow about sums it up. Now in my box was a combination of things. On my Ivy's Attic page i suggested a crafty swap which three of us took part in, me, Senta and Melissa. My item goes to Melissa and still needs posting. Melissa's parcel is going to Senta and is now in the post or has arrived but i was lucky enough to get Sentas creation. The theme to our crafty swap was to make something that represented us or where we come from...

Here it is, isn't it amazing. The card with the ribbon tells you a bit about Utah and on the box Senta has painted a little map about Utah. The cricket and the Seagull were in the box as the crickets were eating the crops and the seagulls ate the crickets and saved the crops (in a much more abbreviated story) Personally i think this is wonderful, thanks Senta, so much. Mwah.

This is the contents of my box layed out on the bed!

So amongst my amazing collection of goodies was a handmade cupcake which is adorable, a fabulous recipe book all pieced together, just for me, how exciting, can't wait to try out the recipes, a Reese's cake bar mix, which after the Drop Scone Mix at Christmas will be the most fun to make.

As well as that there is a magical Fairie magazine, a crafting magazine and a Dover book of Fairy folk transfers for me to play with :)

Then there is a tortoise making kit :) and some amazing Victorian hanging decorations which will look fab on my twiggy light up branches cause they're not Christmassy so i don't have to wait.

I am so chuffed with all my amazing goodies, how wonderful, it made my day thank you Senta :)

This is the candle jar i made for Senta which i haven't shared until now so it didn't spoil the surprise :)

Card Challenges with a seasonal twist ;)

2010-08-18T16:14:00.001+01:00

Well i got to be creative today with this sweet image from Michelle Perkett found here she is called Mary Margaret The Teachers pet BUT having been in the startings of Halloween mood i wanted to do something completely opposite and did a naughty Mary, i think it worked too lol. I printed her off several times onto patterned papers and cut out the different elements and then glued them together, yes glued, I'm almost out of everything adhesive and my last double sided tape went missing two seconds after i got it out of the draw right up till i was almost finished lol. The sketch was from Paper Craft Planets Sketch group found here, this is what it looked like

So here is Mary Margaret out trick or treating for Halloween i am entering this in the sketch challenge above and for challenge 41 over at Michelle Perkett Studio. Well done to all the new Design Team members :) I have also (thanks to Jan) entered this in
Operation Write Home Stars & Stamps blog where the challenge is also to make a card using a Michelle Perkett digi and guess what Michelle is the sponsor too, three times a charm :)

Here it is

Flapjack Cookies

2010-08-17T16:13:00.012+01:00

Today's recipe comes from Never Eat Wobbly Jelly As my two favourite things to bake are Flapjack and Cookies i just knew i needed to make a Flapjack Cookie so i went on the hunt and found this recipe.

Victoria's Famous Flapjack Recipe:

6oz Traditional whole rolled oats

5oz Sugar (i used golden caster as sugar was low)

5oz Plain flour

1 tspn bicarb of soda

2 tbsp Boiling hot water

6oz block butter

1 tablespoon Syrup

(makes around 34 biscuits)

Oh yes and i added 4oz of desiccated coconut!

Preheat oven to 180oc

Mix the oats, sugar and flour together in bowl. In a separate bowl mix the boiling water and bicarb of soda, then mix into the oat mixture.

Melt the butter and syrup in a bowl over boiling water. Once melted add to the oat mixture.

Roll into small balls and place on a baking tray covered with baking parchment, press two fingers into each blob. Make sure they are too close together as they will spread. If you're using one tray, do it in three batches.

Pop in the oven for around 12-14 mins, they won't take long.

leave to cool on the tray a bit to crispen up, then onto a wire rack to fully cool.

They are in the oven as i type and i obviously need to make tspn size balls not tbsn sizes lol but i'm sure they'll go down just as well. Back to rate later :)

First impressions

They look great

They taste great, lovely and chewy

This recipe made atleast 54
(some of which were big and some smaller)

So i would give this recipe a 8/10

and will be making these again with choc chips :)

If this is still showing up with great big spaces please forgive me i may have to repost it wont behave, grrr

Recipe no2

2010-08-13T10:02:00.003+01:00

This recipe is one i have in the cupboard which means it's one I've tried, i think i remember saying it was one I'd use again which is always a good recommendation. This recipe is for all purpose cookie dough and then the variations are at the bottom of the recipe.

Makes a truckload of cookies!

225g unsalted butter, softened

375g light soft brown sugar

50g caster sugar

3 tsp vanilla extract

2 large eggs

400g plain flour

2 level tsp bicarbonate of soda

The variations are as follows:-

For oatmeal and raisin cookies, reduce the flour to 300g and add 200g rolled oats, 1 tsp cinnamon and 200g raisins. For double peanut butter cookies, replace the butter with 225g crunchy peanut butter (and a little milk if necessary) and stir in 200-400g unsalted or washed peanuts. For dark chocolate chunk cookies, replace 50g flour with 50g cocoa and stir in 400g dark or milk chocolate chopped roughly. Forapricot and almond white chocolate cookies, stir in at the end 200g chopped apricots, 200g chopped blanched almonds and 200g chopped white chocolate.

This recipe is taken from here I have halved the ingredients with a view to having some ingredients left over for other things and have used a mix of dates and mixed peel amounting to 200g.

First lot just out of the oven, they have had around 15mins but the first batch are slightly over brown so may turn the oven down a bit.

First impressions

They look great
They taste pretty good
This recipe made about 60 (and that was half the ingredients!)
So i would give this recipe a 7/10

Tried and tested recipies

2010-08-10T13:05:00.001+01:00

So today just for a change i am baking cookies lol. Yesterday i tried baking some cookies using a recipe i found online which suggested you could use marg instead of butter, anyway i wasn't in the best frame of mind and although i did what i should have i was less than pleased with them. Actually later on they tasted fine. I must admit i do get a bit muddled when it comes to eggs and quantities. We buy large quantities now as i use them for baking as well as cooking and sandwiches but when it says large i do as a friend suggested and add another egg so whether that was a contributing factor to the less than satisfactory cookies i don't know.

What i do know is i expect cookies to look a certain way and taste a certain way...
So i am doing a tried and tested experiment for me and anyone else that likes making them. I am so muddled with all the different recipes i have tried that i am going to log them and rate them starting with this one Chunky Chocolate Cookies found over on a fellow blogger blog Pumkins and Toadstools

4oz (115g) unsalted butter

4oz (115g) light muscovado sugar

1 egg

1tsp (5ml) vanilla essence

5oz (150g) self-raising flour

3oz (75g) porridge oats

8oz (200g) roughly chopped chocolate.

Preheat the oven to gas mark 5 (190C/375F)

Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl until smooth and fluffy.

Add the egg and vanilla and mix in well.

Fold in the flour then add the oats and chocolate and stir until evenly mixed.

Spoon onto greased baking sheets and bake for 15-20 minutes or until beginning to turn pale golden in colour.

Transfer to cool on a wire rack and enjoy.

Now the only thing i have done different is substituted 200g of chocolate for 100g of currants and 100g dates purely because i used up all my choc chips yesterday and I'm up for anything in my cookies so as i had currants and dates left they went in.The first batch are in the oven now and when i have them out and cooled and tried them I'll be back to rate them.Thanks Michele for sharing your recipe and some hints and tips regarding your experiences making them. I think as a non baker you do wonder about using different sugars and ingredients and how much difference it'll make :)

First impressions

They look like cookies yay!

They taste yummy

This recipe made more than 20 too which is always a bonus lol!

So i would give this recipe a thumbs up and 7/10

Stamp Scrap & Doodle Saturday

2010-08-07T18:11:00.000+01:00

I have just made this for tomorrow. We are off to a dedication (which i think is much like a christening). I really was concerned about what i could do for a card but found this lovely poem online and borrowed it. I tried to keep the card simple and hope it doesn't look too funereal. Coincidentally the challenge over at SS&D Saturdays is simply this 'no images only sentiments, die cuts or other embellishment' so i think this works, lucky me :)

It's my party and i'll cry if i want to...

2010-08-06T08:12:00.000+01:00

You know me (well most of you do anyway). I am always full of bright ideas, some of which come to fruition, most of which don't. Sometime ago i had an idea that to celebrate mine and hubbies birthday, our 40ths we should have an 80's style fancy dress party, what fun.There was another quite important element to this party but on the off chance that that may occur sometime in the future I'm going to save it.

Anyway as you know there has been no fancy dress party, due to finances it got cancelled.

Jason celebrated his birthday in several different (quite successful) ways. Me i tried, first there was a trip to London and a 'surprise' show, then i tried to organise a potting party but time marches on and there were yes's, no's, maybes and no answers so in the end i thought enough is enough and called it off. By now you can imagine that my interest in my 'big' day was waning.

Thanks to my 'Parent Group' friends for my Hobbycraft vouchers and cake, complete with candle :) Thanks to Glenny for my b'day lunch.Thanks to family and friends for all my cards, pressies and facebook comments and thanks to Melanie for making me and Brett lunch the day after :)

It really sounds like i'm moaning but maybe you can understand a little why it felt like somewhat of an anticlimax when my birthday arrived :-(

Not even a cake to celebrate with on the day, so today almost a week later, i bake myself a cake complete with sparkler candles because after all it was my birthday, a special event of which there are few and you only get to be 40 once and from here on in I'm going backwards...Maybe a photo or two to follow depending on how my cake works out...