The Most Wonderful Time of The Year...

First of all, I have been terrible with keeping up with this here blog. It's been quite a whirlwind lately, filled with lots of lovely things that have been keeping me rather busy. I had a lovely 2 weeks of winter sunshine in Tucson surrounded by cacti, filled with pumpkin pie and my first dash of eggnog. Those weeks were so relaxing but as soon as I touched down, (after a rather bumpy ride home in the storms!) things went up a gear as it is now so close to the holiday season and move to Delaware day. 

All my gifts are bought and wrapped and cards are sent out, so in that way I have managed to keep organised. I have made some really nice American inspired gifts including my first attempts 'cookies in a jar,' pretzel rods, chocolate marshmallows (inspired by these badboys), easy fudge bites (which I have NOT perfected, which clearly I am not bothered about ARGHHHHHHHH), gift card holders - which made handy little envelopes for the recipe cards for my cookies in jars and I am going to make some mitten shaped sugar cookies and some exciting cupcakes. When I find a minute. 

Though I did spend an inordinate amount of time in Target whilst in the States, I did enjoy buying gifts from independent sellers this year. I have to say, I have found some amazingly talented crafty folks through the ever growing medium; Instagram. It has introduced me to loads of great sellers and stores that I would like to share with you all. They are both UK based and American but they usually ship worldwide. I've had a couple of parcels from the US that have cost as little as $3.50 to reach my door! Bargain. 

1. Polkadots and Petticoats - The shop is shut for Christmas but I got a lovely Santa scarf and some cross stitch patterns for 50% off! Great sale, lovely parcel.

2. Poppy and Fern - Hand embroidered jewellery, so cute. I am waiting on a cactus necklace that I ordered on holiday whilst they had Black Friday sales on. Exciting! 

3. Oh, Sweet Joy! - She has a lovely blog and a lovely shop. If I suited headbands or if my head would fit in a headband, I might consider buying one. Alas. My head is stupid. 

4. Sarah's Cards Ltd. - This shop is a stockist of lots of nice American craft supplies, as well as UK ones and recently had an a-m-a-z-i-n-g sale. 

5. Lovely Tape UK - If you like washi tape or nice tapes as much as I do, check out this site. I recently won some Christmas tapes from them and can't WAIT to get mi mitts on them. 

6. Poppy England - I have never bought anything from this website but I frequently dream of owning one of their dresses. 

7. The Fabbadashery - This is really local to me, but I popped in there for the first time this week and loved it. Such nice staff, gorgeous fabric and ribbons and so good to have a craft shop in town that runs fun workshops! 

8. Artsyville - This lady makes GORGEOUSNESS. So bright, fun and colourful - right up my street. I love everything she makes. 

9. Pinkfresh Studio - I'm addicted to pretty tape, please don't judge me. 

10. Pink Paislee - I also won a prize from these guys! I'm getting pretty lucky. Or I just enter too many giveaways. They have allsorts of loveliness. 

11. The Heart Gallery - My favourite shop in the whole wide Universe and stars. I love LOVE LOVE it loads. 

12. DeGrazia - I visited the DeGrazia gallery in Tucson this year and thought his works were beautiful and really enjoyed the gift shop, ha! I love museum gift shops. 

There are lots of small businesses out there that are making a living doing what they love. It's so nice to be able to pay a small part in supporting those people in exchange for nice things!!! It's also good to get some unique gifts to share with friends and family at Christmas time! 

I will aim to share my sugar cookies with you this week - virtually of course - along with some Christmassy pictures as this is my favourite time of the year by FAR. I am averaging about 5 cheesy holiday films a week at the moment but still haven't had a mince pie yet! Crazy. 

Happy Shopping! 

Much Love xxx

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A Pug's Life.

I am spending some time over the next couple of weeks looking after my Uncle's 2 pugs, Harry and Alfie. I have never looked after a dog in my life and up until a few years ago, had a pretty bad phobia of them. I didn't know where it came from, but I was lucky enough to meet a couple of dogs that cured me of my fears. These two twin brothers have a good routine and tend to sleep most of the time, which unfortunately seems to be making me rather sleepy too. 

They are so funny, they just follow me everywhere! I go to the toilet and they sit outside and wait for me to come back out. I get changed in a morning with the bedroom door shut and I can hear them breathing right under the door frame. I come out of the bathroom after a wash and they act like they haven't seen me in years. 

I sat down the other night at the table to do some Christmas crafts and told them to go to bed which was just around the corner but they couldn't see me - once I moved their bed so they could watch, they were quite happy. Occasionally they got up and sat right under the table so I couldn't even move my legs.

Right before bed they are supposed to go outside for one last toilet trip but in order to get their lazy bums out you actually have to plonk them outside yourself. They just look at you as if to say 'I don't think so somehow.'

The weather has been quite nice somedays and on our walks there have been some mighty fine views:

I have found some time to do a few more Christmassy stampy/decorationy things:

This is my favourite tag so far! 

Ribbons

Unfinished Salt-Dough Decorations

I have had time to watch a few movies which is good because I have a rather huge selection to go at. After years of hearing it referenced in Friends, I finally know what Sophie's Choice was and I'm currently watching 'Wyatt Earp' as I embark on the Western film selection. I had previously read about him in one of my educational Wild West books but the film is pretty good too (and 3 hours long!) I have watched both my favourite Comedies - 'I Love You Man' and 'Bridesmaids' along with a really cheesy Christmas related one I found on TV last night. 

I've started reading one of the large print westerns I found in the library for 25 pence the other day called 'Mail Order Bride.' It's great because I can read them without my glasses on in bed! Ha. I bought four at the time and went back to buy the rest but it seems that there is another large print western fan in this town, and it 'aint big enough for the both of us. I also baked some experimental healthier oatmeal dark choc-chip cookies for snack cravings that are made with no eggs or butter and wholemeal flour.

 At this point, I will say I have been here the grand total of 2 1/2 days. A lot can be done in 2 1/2 days. 

Much Love xxx

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Ode to Washi.

As many of you may know, I have been really busy lately trying to think of creative ways to fundraise for my upcoming American internship, other than relying on my fundraising page. I didn't want to simply ask people to throw their money at me to send me to pursue my dream job, but wanted to make nice things that would cause people to think of me when they are wrapping gifts, making hampers or spreading jam on their toast. Though, that does sound a bit weird. Anyway! I have loved this chance to get my craft box out and make nice things.

Recently, I was lucky enough to win a lovely giveaway, sent all the way from America from this beautiful blog created by this beautiful artist. I have had a quietly growing obsession for my beloved Filofax ever since I bit the bullet and bought one, which in-turn, has led to a quietly growing obsession for washi tape. What is washi tape, I hear you cry? My computer certainly doesn't know, as it keeps auto-correcting it to 'wash,' so I had better show you.

The Winning Washi

This is washi tape.

This is MY washi tape.

Along with this parcel of beauty from Aimee, came some other little brightly adorned things - one of which was a handy card filled with suggestions of how to use my tape:

Some of the things like sealing envelopes and using on gift bags are things that I like to do - they just make everything look so P.R.E.T.T.Y. The tapes are also quite strong so they stick to things really well.

                                               

I haven't had a lot of time to get making because I have been distracted by Christmas crafts as well as working and travelling as preparation for my big adventure, but here are some of the things I've been able to do with this tape:

I decorated plain pencils and brown tags (below)

I made cupcake flags

Geek moment. I decorated my Filofax.

I have started to make tags containing my Delaware address to hand to people so we can write to each other (these were a bit of a test!!).

I was so excited to win something, especially something to add to my craft box, especially ESPECIALLY because it came from America! This is the current extent of my small washi obsession:

Most of them were bought in small packs with 2 or 3 in for about £1.99 and all of them are being used in my fundraising craft making so that my friends, is my justification. Some of the other things I plan on doing with the tape are:

• Decorating tea-lights
• Making mini-bunting for cards 
• Wrapping Christmas presents/fundraising items
• Jazzing up my own craft items like jars/tins for pens and pencils

Some of my Christmas tags featuring the washi!

Thank you ladies for inspiring me, I wholeheartedly recommend following their blogs and checking out the artsyville store to get your own beautiful items if you are that way inclined! 

Much Love xxx

p.s. my lovely little artwork arrived today from Lori, all the way from Florida to a cold and blustery England! Thank you Lori, I love my little package !! xx 

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Fundraising Update.

Things have been very busy lately as I start to get organised for 6 months in America. We've tried to think of creative ways to raise some money to send me over there and I have to say, it has been really fun! 

Our house is beginning to look a little like a jam factory at the moment, I've been experimenting with different flavours and ways to decorate which make them look really homemade:

I have just made the black forest jam which is full of autumny/wintery berries and has been my favourite experiment so far. My mum makes the lemon curd which seems to fly off our kitchen island along with the strawberry jam. I have so far tried; raspberry, blueberry, mixed berry and black forest flavours. We are especially enjoying the jams that make larger quantities as they tend to make 1/2 jars which unfortunately aren't big enough to be sold, so they sadly end up on our toast. Shame. 

I have also been very busy bringing together the plans for my big American themed party. I had some amazing party supplies donated from www.partypacks.co.uk which will look amazing! The night is going to be filled with American style food and drinks, live music performed by some of my very talented friends, a very American quiz (that I need to write!), a raffle and craft/homemade stalls also made by very talented friends. 

We have been trying out 2nd hand markets too which has been great because we get rid of some of our clutter whilst making a bit of money to add to the pot! They have been nice markets because we've done some great people watching and met some nice folk. I also have a new job helping out a friend in establishing his own Charity which is keeping my mind busy and doing something useful! I am so thankful for that opportunity. 

Nearer to Christmas I'm planning on making and decorating my own salt-dough Christmas decorations as I did last year, Christmas cakes, present tags and small gift ideas that will no doubt be found on Pinterest! I also just won a beautiful set of washi tapes from this beautiful blog that are being shipped over from America so I hope to make some nice things with those! It's so nice to be creative and make nice things that people will enjoy, but will also get me closer to pursuing my dream.

I'd like to thank everybody who has already contributed to my funds, big or small - it means the world to me! If you would like to support me, please check out my Go Fund Me and read all about what I will be doing in America. I have been contacted by Delaware this week and will be attending a training day next week so it is all beginning to feel very real! What a fun time. 

Much Love xxx

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Pretty Princess Biscuits.

I have a very busy weekend ahead, so it is just after 10:30pm and I am sat in bed watching The Big Bang Theory whilst supping on Navajo Green Tea. Tonight, I did some baking inspired by this beauty of a book that goes alongside the new Series of The Great British Bake Off:

These vanilla biscuits are for my niece's 2nd Birthday party this weekend (can't believe she is 2 already!) and I am pleased with how they turned out. I won't write the whole recipe, the link for it is right here. They are absolutely easy peasy and the best bit is you can eat the dough before it's cooked and it's still yummy. Not that I did that. I used a crown cookie cutter that I bought for the jubilee, but I'm sure you can still buy them in stores!

This is the page that inspired the icing:

To ice the biscuits I needed these lovely things:

- Royal Icing Sugar

- Wilton food colouring

- Harlequin Pearls

- Gold pearls that I have been dying to use since I bought them

- Teenie tiny hundreds and thousands

- 3 pots to mix icing in

- Disposable icing bags

- Tiny nozzles

I wanted to completely cover the crowns but I didn't mix enough Royal Icing, so next time I will know to fill the bowl higher!

The finished products!

I think they are pretty cute!

Fit for a Princess...



Much Love xxx

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My First Etsy Purchase.

Just before I went away, I ordered my first item on Etsy. I've looked at it loads, as it's full of really quirky and original things but have never actually ordered anything. A good welsh friend of mine posted a link to my facebook page with some scraps of cowboy fabric on it which I instantly fell in love with and bought it on an impulse. By the time I got back home, it had been shipped from America (Los Angeles to be precise) to my rainy house in England. So today I popped to our local market to buy some fabric glue and binding tape to make some bunting with it!

The bundle cost me about £6 and so far each piece has had enough fabric to make 3 flags for my bunting. Now that I have the glue, all I will have to do is buy more binding tape which cost me about 80 pence for 2 metres. I think I will get at least one more longer bunting out of this or two shorter ones as 2 metres doesn't go as far as I thought it would! I am by no means great a sewing, but I've made bunting once before and you can only see it's imperfections up close! Plus, I prefer the look of it being 'rustic' which basically means it can look a bit rubbish because you've made it yourself.

It only took me about 1h 30mins and I stabbed myself just once on my left thumb, so really it was a pretty painless process. For the template, I used this website. It is SO easy to do, trust me!

Here is the fabric in all its cowboy glory.

This piece was what sealed the deal, however - I couldn't bring myself to cut it up so I think i'll just stare at it every now and then.

This was the template I used to cut the flags

To make it, I needed fabric triangles, the template, a pen, fabric glue, binding tape, cotton, pins and a needle.

I managed to get about 3 flags out of each scrap, with pieces left over for other crafty things.

All I had to do was draw these on using the template!

These are the flags, all ready to go!

I glued the flags using a small amount of fabric glue and pinned them in place and let the glue dry. I then did a simple straight stich by hand to hold the flags in place.

Can't wait to put it up!




Much Love xxx

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Banana and Chocolate Chip Goodness.

So, tomorrow is my good friend's birthday BBQ in this wonderful rainy weather. I asked her what she would like me to bring, and banana cake was requested. Luckily, I have this really great recipe that I found in some random magazine and thought it sounded exciting. So I tore it out and gave it a whirl! The original recipe is iced with an incredible passionfruit icing, (which I could eat all day) but it was requested that this time it was plain. I did some playing around with the recipe anyway so it became...


Banana and Chocolate Chip Slices with Dark Chocolate Drizzle


Equipment: 


- Mixing Bowl
- Weighing Scales
- Wooden Spoon/Electric Whisk
- 20cm Round Cake Tin


Ingredients:


- 160g of Unsalted Butter
- 165g of Light Brown Soft Sugar
- 2 Free Range Eggs
- 350g of Mashed Banana (about 3 1/2 bananas)
- 150g of Plain Flour (sifted)
- 100g of Self Raising Flour (sifted) 
- 1 tsp of Bicarbonate of Soda
- 2 tbsp of Hot Milk
- 1tsp of Vanilla Essence
- 80g of Dark Chocolate Chips (I do realise they come in 100g bags, but refuse to say where the other 20g went.....sometimes I snack when I bake.....)


For the Topping:


- I used this bad boy, which you simply place in a bowl of hot water until it melts, split the edge of the bag and drizzle over your cake - so easy! 

Method: 


1) Heat the oven to Gas Mark 4/180oC. Grease a 20cm round cake tin and line with greaseproof paper. Beat the butter and sugar in a bowl (use a wooden spoon or electric whisk) until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add in the mashed banana.


2) Combine the bicarbonate of soda and milk in a small jug and stir into the banana mixture. Stir in the flours, in 2 batches. Lastly, add the chocolate chips and vanilla essence and pour into the tin. 


3) Bake for about 45 minutes and then place on a rack to cool.


4) I then sliced the cake, and added the drizzle - but you can leave the cake whole if you wish. 


5) Should you wish to try it with the passionfruit icing (SO YUM) simply mix 160g of Icing Sugar with 2 tbsps of passionfruit pulp and pour over the cake. 


Here they are:

Much Love xxx

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Confession: I cheated at baking.

So I decided it was time to try my hand at Cake Pop making. Last week I purchased a really cute book (check it out here) telling me all about it, and everyone I had spoken to had told me they were ridiculously easy to make. After I read through said book, I began to think they were a lot more fiddly than I first thought.

I continued my research and struck gold in the form of this beauty:

Here it is, the cake pop maker. It boasted that it would create perfectly round cake pops in under four minutes, no messing. Does it work, I hear you cry? Big fat YES it does. Usually, I choose to do everything the hard way when baking, I hate using microwaves and pre-packaged flavourings and much prefer making everything from scratch. I quite like feeling the burn of my biceps when creaming my butter and sugar together. So this badboy was a big step for me. 

I have promised a set of cake pops to my friend who is running a Charity Clothes Swapping party so I tried not to use up a lot of the nice sprinkles I have with my practice batch, but here they are:

I used a Chocolate Batter, and added 'Simply Melt' White Chocolate.

Now that I know the machine works, and works very well, my next batch will be on sticks as they are supposed to be and I will experiment a bit more with the decoration. I would highly recommend this product to anyone who loves baking! I'm sure it would work well if you are baking with children too.

P.s. they taste pretty nice too!

Much Love xxx

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