The Chocolate Cafe

Flowers and Celebrations

2008-03-30T15:25:00.005+11:00

I promised more great layouts, and I tried really hard to find some, but these were the best I could come up with. As you can see, I am still really behind on my scrapping, but I am getting caught up....slowly.

One afternoon we were heading down the peninsula to Patonga and whilst passing through the national park we realised the Waratah were blooming so we pulled up, when for a bit of a hike and I shot some amazing photos of the NSW state flower. This layout, I'm proud to say, uses all scraps from my scrap bin, other than the full sheet I used for the background. All of it is Bazzill I think, it sure looks like it anyway. I cut the tag and title using my Fiskars Shapecutter and added a ribbon from my stash and some penwork using pink and green gel pens. I wanted to keep this one really simple to let the photos really stand out.

These are photos of some of the other wildflowers (or maybe their just pretty weeds) that I snapped on the same day. This layout uses patterned paper from The Paper Company and Chatterbox. The cardstock, fibres, and flower cutouts all come from my stash. The title uses letters cut out using my Fiskars Shapecutter and letter stickers from Club Scrap. By the way, we did eventually make it to Patonga that day, just a little later than planned.

This one of my MIL birthday uses some more of those fab papers from the Flea Market collection from HOTP. I added some matching Bazill card, ribbon from my stash and chippy letters I got from the bargain store. The tags and labels come with the paper collection, I just used a brown gel to journal with.

This one is of my daughters year six graduation day. All of the patterned papers, stickers, tags, labels and embellishments come from a Daisy Hill album kit I got from Big W in Dubbo, NSW over a year ago. I just loved the colours of this kit, and they worked with these pics. I added a couple of bits of yellow cardstock from my stash.

This last one documents the first, and one of the few, swimming days of the summer. Everything on the layout, papers, cardstock, rubons, tags, chipboard, stickers, etc is from TLC. The only extra bits are some ribbons from my stash.

More Layouts to Share

2008-03-30T14:56:00.003+11:00

These are some more of the layouts I have been working on lately. I still have to get 'round to photographing some of the looming, knitting and crochet I've been doing, but I will get there eventually. All of these layouts feature my wonderful husband.

The first one uses a kit I got at the scrapbook shop in Dubbo, NSW when we were still living in the outback of NSW. I came across when I was sorting out some stuff and thought it would work well with this photo. I have no clue who makes this patterned paper, but it is really pretty. Everything was in the kit (I just punched out the flowers and cut the title using my Fiskars Shapecutter). I didn't add anything except the photo.

This next one uses yet more paper from that now infamous KI Memories stack (which just might last forever) and chippy letters from the bargain shop. These photos and the one above are still from when we visited the Japanese Gardens.

Go the Mo! (okay not really) but this next layout is all about "Movember" (no I didn't spell it wrong). For those of you who don't know, Movember is all about guys getting sponsers to sponser their mo and raising money for mens health. Hubby decided to take up the challege so, of course, I had to document the event. This layout is the result. Let's see, I used some really old Club Scrap patterned and plain cardstock I had in my stash, along with some ribbon and TLC monogram and rubons.

Since I documented the mo growing, I also had to document the mo going...it seemed the only fair thing to do. I definitely prefer my man clean shaven...I don't get whisker burn that way. This layout uses all Basic Grey papers and stickers from the Skate Shoppe collection. I fell in love with it and bought the entire collection, and I now only have a couple of sheets left.

This last one of hubby's birthday uses more Basic Grey. This time it's from the Gypsy collection, including papers and mini monograms. I also used some really ancient Provocraft stickers, Heidi Swapp photo corners and some cardstock and ribbons from my stash. And look...I'm even in one of the photos! It does't happen often because I'm usually the one taking them. Unfortunately, I kinda clash with the rest of the layout, but I had to go with the colours everyone else was wearing.

That's all of them for now, but there are still more to come!

Long Time No Blog

2008-03-30T14:18:00.005+11:00

Well, I've been a bad blogger. I've been so busy doing stuff I haven't had time to blog about it. Now I have some catching up to do. It's going to take a few posts to get back up to speed. I still have to scan/photograph some of the stuff I want to post here, but I will get around to that....eventually. In the meantime, I will show you just a few of the layouts I have been working on. These are all from the pictures I took when we visited the Gosford/Edogawa Commemorative Gardens. If you visit the area, I highly recommend a short visit to the Gardens, they are beautiful and best of all they are free. In fact, so is the ajoining art gallery!

This first lot is part of a six (yes I said six) page spread just showing off some of the gorgeous gardens, ponds and statuary. I kept them very simple because I didn't want to detract from the photos themselves. I used cardstock from my stash, patterned paper from a MAMBI pack I got a Spotlight a couple years ago, tiny eyelets from my stash, a bronze gel pen for the journaling and I used my Fiskars Shapecutter to cut out the title. The first two-page layout below opens (barn door style) to reveal the four-page layout (further below) on the inside. I just use extra sticky double-sided tape to stick stick page protectors to the edges of the page protectors in the album to make a (or in this case two) double-wide pages that fold into the centre of the album.

This next one is a layout of my two favourite people (my hubby and daughter of course!) feed the koi at the Gardens. This one uses some Rusty Pickle papers and alpha stickers that I have had floating around my stash for awhile, cardstock fibres also from my stash, and Heidi Swapp photocorners.

This one of my gorgeous daughter hanging out in the Tea House uses a bunch of papers from that KI Memories stack I'm always on about, ribbons I got on special at Spotlight a little bit ago and letters cut out using my Fiskars Shapecutter...oh...and a gel pen for the journaling.

I had a riot doing this next one. I know it's a bit funky do dah but like it. The window in the Tea House is round, but because I took the photos on an angle, it looks oval, so I decided to use lots of ovals on my layout. I had these really cool oval patterned papers in that famous (or is it infamous?) KI Memories pack and the matching solid came from the same pack too. I used my Fiskars Shapcutter to cut all the oval shapes and the title and a gel pen to journal. I love these silhouette photos, they look so cool with the view of the garden in the background.

Some More Scrapbook Layouts

2008-02-28T16:46:00.004+11:00

This first one uses some Club Scrap papers and cardstock I have had since shortly after I started scrapping (about 9 years ago). The ropey letters are Provocraft (also from a long time ago) and Dress It Up buttons. The pictures are taken from the forshore. I was playing with settings on my camera and this is what I got...not necessarily the best, but I like them.

I was haveing some fun with my circle cutters on this next one. The cardstock is TLC, and the patterned paper is KI Memories. The epoxy stickers are part of a pack I picked up at the dollar shop. I cut the letters with a Fiskars Shapecutter.

This Dads Day layout uses some cardstock from my stash, TLC patterned paper, TLC rubons and a TLC chippy shape. The typewriter letters are punched from a HOTP paper and the brads are from my stash.

This next one is my new favourite layout. The cardstock is from my stash, the patterned paper is Fancy Pants Designs (I just love this stuff), the chippy shapes are from Collections, the blue chippy letters are from my stash, the pink chippy letters are Scenic Route and the heart brad is from Creative Impressions and the ribbonand ric-rac are from my stash.

This was a quick one, not too fancy. Bazzill card, letters cut using a Fiskars Shapecutter and ribbon from my stash.

Well, that's it for now. I'll share more when I have more!

What I've Been Up To

2008-02-26T06:45:00.006+11:00

I've been slack with posting, but with good reason. I have been busy creating. So today, I'm going to take the time to share my latest looming projects. Up first is a scarf and hat set I made for my gorgeous daughter. Be kind, it is my first ever project on my new round looms. They are made with Moda Vera Dazzle, in the Blossom colour. Because it is a bulky yarn, I used a single strand.

The scarf is twelve stitches wide and I'm not sure how many rows long, but a lot. I used three balls to make it. The hat was done on the second largest loom. I didn't make a brim because I like the way it looks rolled up at the bottom. The little flower was a crochet embellishment I picked up on sale at Spotlight for only 50 cents (regular price was about $4). I was going to crochet something to put on it when I found this one.

This is my gorgeous girl modeling the fashion scarf I made for myself. It is my second ever looming project and I so love the way it turned out. It is made with Moda Vera Medley, colour no 54 (which is pink, red and green). I fell in love with this yarn when I first saw it and I just had to get some. I made the scarf with a single strand of yarn. It is 14 stitiches wide and I used three balls to make it.

This is a close up showing this amazing yarn. I can't wait to get some more in another colourway to make another one!

This is a winter hat I made. My first hat, but third project on my round looms. I made it on the largest loom so it fits me, but is a bit big for my girl. Her pony tail kind of fills it out though.

The brim is made with Moda Vera Flurry (not sure of the colour because I can't find the ball band but it is pink, rose, silver and charcoal grey), 1 strand, and Moda Vera Wisp, colour 48 (which is a lovely charcoal colour with little shiny flecks), 1 strand, held together. The Wisp is one of the softest and prettiest yarns I have ever seen. I have some more of it in a soft pink colour to make something for my girl. Anyway, I get distracted. As I said, I used one strand of each for the brim, I worked about 12 rows then made the brim then I changed to two strands of the Wisp to work the rest of the hat. I worked about 20 rows or so, not exactly sure, but I got to the end of the ball so I did the gathered top and finished it off.

Below is a close up of the hat, just to show you how soft and pretty the yarn is.

That's it for today, but I have to tell you I will have more the share very soon.

Friday Fun

2008-02-08T06:20:00.000+11:00

I have been exceptionally inspired this week, which has been a nice change from recent times when I was sure that my mojo had gone walkabout permanently. I'm still working on all the photos I got printed before Christmas, and the 200+ photos arrived yesterday from Snapfish. Boy am I going to be busy. I haven't forgotten that I told you I had another yarn project to share either. I have probably one more evening's work to go on it then I will snap some pix and share it here. In the meantime, here are some of the layouts I have been working on this week.

This layout uses some Chatterbox papers I have had for ages, Bazzill cardstock, a Bella blossom, Heidi Swapp chippy letters and ribbon and rubons from my stash.

This layout of my wonderful hubby uses KI memories paper from that giant pack I have been working my way through lately, cardstock from my stash, Heidi Swapp chippy letters, saftey pins from Creative Imaginations, and fibre and ribbons from my stash.

This one of my gorgeous daughter uses mostly scraps from my scraps bucket, so I'm not really sure who made the papers, other than the 'K' which is a scrap of Bazzill Bling cardstock. The rubons are TLC and some I picked up from the $2 shop, Heidi Swapp photo corner, the chippy bits are from collections, painted with MM paints and then coated with Kindyglitz for some sparkle. The phototurn and ribbon are from my stash and the sticker is from a pack I picked up at the $2 store.

Most of the papers and embellishments used on this layout are from a Heidi Grace pack I picked up at Big W. The exceptions are the black cardstock, chippy letters and stripey ribbons, which are from my stash, and the flowers which are from Petaloo.

The spring layout uses Basic Grey papers (I'm so addicted), flowers from Prima, a TLS sticker, Eyelet Factory eyelets, Kaisercraft rhinestones (they have some really nice bling at the moment) and ribbons and cardstock from my stash. I cut the title letters using the Fiskars Shapecutter my wonderful hubby got me for Christmas.

That's it for now. I hope you have a great weekend. I promise I will put up some pix of my yarn project as soon as it is finished.

Scrapbook Layouts

2008-02-04T17:07:00.000+11:00

I've been busy trying to catch up on my layouts before my huge photo order (230 prints) arrives from Snapfish. I still have about 80 or so photos to get through from the last lot before I can start on the new ones. Anyway...enough of that...here are the layouts.

The first one uses paper from KI Memories, prima flowers, letter stickers from American Craft, stickers from Pebbles Inc and brads and a scrap of cardstock from my stash.

This layout featuring my gorgeous furbabies uses TLC paper and cardstock, embossed stickers from Marcella and Dress It Up buttons. I used a template to cut out the letters.

The next one uses Cherry Arte paper, some very old Bazzill cardstock from my stash, Bella flowers and brads, American Craft letter stickers and some lace and ric-rac from my stash.

The next two use Daisy D papers, Bazzill cardstock, a Kaisercraft flower, ribbons, rubons and a button from my stash. The letters were cut with a Fiskars Shapecutter.

This layout of my lovely daughter making me mother's day brekkie uses papers from a Brenda Pinnick pack I picked up at Spotlight. The flowers were made with a large funky flower punch and circle punch for the centres. I cut the letters using a Fiskars Shapecutter and hand cut the matting for the letters.

For the ducks layout I used more Brenda Pinnock papers (not from the same pack though), Bazzill cardstock, a scrap of hand made paper, EK Success letter stickers, Petaloo flowers and some ric-rac from my stash.

The Koolewong layout uses more of the papers from the KI Memories pack, Collections brown typewriter alphabet and rubons, photo turns and brads from my stash. I did some penwork with my trusty white gel pen and a cirle template too.

And last, but not least, one of me! I used some papers from the DCWV glitter stack I got for Christmas, DCWV cardstock and glitter mat stack, ribbon, chippy letters, gemstones and iridescent flowers from my stash. I should say, these photos (as my journaling states) are among the very few of me with my hair dyed a chestnut colour. I didn't like it so dark so after a couple weeks I went back to blonde.

Have I bored you yet? LOL. I guess that will do for this installment. Till next time...have a cuppa ready for me!

Look What I Made!

2008-02-01T06:24:00.000+11:00

I haven't been doing any scrapbooking because I've been busy making this for my gorgeous girl. Isn't she lovely? Okay, so I am biased.

I got the pattern for free here (http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/60485.html). If you want to download the pattern, you will need to sign up for an account. It's definitely worth it because they have stacks of really cool patterns.

I made it with Anchor Magicline No. 2 cotton in the pink colourway that I picked up on sale at Spotlight earlier this summer. I made a size medium for her, but if I had it to do again, I would make a medium, but make the bra cups in size large and modify the pattern accordingly. This is because the cups seem a little small and don't seem to cover as well as I would have liked at the sides. My version is also two rows shorter than the pattern calls for because I ran out of yarn (they only had so many balls in the sale bin). I didn't worry about it being about 3cm shorter because it is an adult woman's pattern and my girl is only 11 and not yet adult height, although she is taller than a lot of the shorter women I know.

I'm in the middle of another project, which I will share when I have finished and taken some pix.

The Time Has Come

2008-01-30T20:07:00.000+11:00

For my baby to start highschool. Can you believe it? I sure can't. I'm sure she was just a tiny baby not that long ago. But still, here we are, the first day of highschool. She looks so grown up in her new uniform....don't you think?

She hasn't lost her silly sense of humour though, as shown in this goofy pose she struck whilst I was snapping some pix to record this milestone.

She does have a much more serious side now though, as you can see in this shot (I think she had had enough of me taking happy snaps).

She had a great first day at her new school. Let's hope that everyday is as good as the first one.

Some Recent Scrapbook Layouts

2008-01-22T07:14:00.000+11:00

Well, I've been a little slack with sharing of late, so I thought I would do a little catch-up. Actually, I'm still catching up on my backlog of photos I have to scrap too. All of these photos were taken before we moved back from Cobar, but I have only just got around to scrapping them over the summer.

This first one uses a bunch of Sandylion papers (and a Sandylion border sticker), a chippy flower and buckle from TLC and some ribbons and a button from my stash.

I used some of the papers from the huge KI Memories designer paper pad I got from Spotlight fro this next layout. I have distressed them all by sanding with fine sandpaper. The chippy letters and photo corners are from Heidi Swapp. I covered them with some of the plain paper from the paper pad and then sanded them. There is also some black fibre and some word beads from my stash.

This is another one using papers from the same KI Memories pad. I also used some cardstock from my stash that I have had for eons. The chippy letters were picked up really cheap at the $2.00 shop. The ribbons came from a giant ribbon pack I got at Big W. The photo corners are Heidi Swapp. The flowers were made with my new medium funky flower punch and a circle punch for the centres.

This one is really simple. The Basic Grey paper was so pretty, I didn't have to add much. I didn't want to cover it up. All the cardstock is Bazzill (don't as my the colours because they are all scraps from my scrap box - LOL). The letters were cut using a template. The flowers were made using Carl punches and I used tiny silver eyelets for the centres.

More Basic Grey paper here (don't you just love the stuff?) and bazzill card (I know the colour is Java because it is my favourite dark brown colour). I used a scrap of pink bazzill to mat the photo. I cut around the flowers and leaves on the paper and tucked the photo underneath. I journalled with a gold pen around the leaves. The chippy letters are Scenic Route.

Yet more Basic Grey papers. (Yes I have and addiction.) The card is Bazzill from the Doodlebug line. The letter stickers are from American Craft. The chippy buckle is TLC. The mesh and ribbons are from my stash.

And now for something completely different. I try, at least occasionally, to use up some of the million different bits of 'must have' pattern papers I have collect over the years. I used up a stack of those on this layout. All the papers are diamond dust papers from Paper Adventures (so they have lots of bling!). I cut the butterflies from one of the papers and used foam tape to pop them up a bit. Unfortunatly, the scan doesn't do it justice. It really is pretty and sparkly.

This layout is another one made with papers from the KI Memories pad, except the orange paper which is some old TLC paper from my collection, as is the chippy buckle. I have distressed all the papers with fine sandpaper. The chippy letters and brackets are from Collections; I covered them with the orange paper and then distressed them with sandpaper. The ribbons are from the pack from Big W I mentioned earlier and the flowers are from my stash.

Although it doesn't show up well in the scan, this layout uses Bazzill Bling paper. The pattern and texture papers also have the same pearly finish. I couldn't tell you the brands, they were A4 sized sheets I picked up at my local craft shop in the cardmaking section. The lacing is opalescent (although it doesn't look it in the scan) and it is from Francheville. The letters were cut using a template. The flower and gem are from my stash.

This one uses cardstock from my stash (no idea were I got it since I am such a collector). The flower paper came from my local craft store, but I couldn't find a brand name on it. The ribbon is from the Big W ribbon box. The ric-rac is from my stash and the epoxy sticker is from a pack I picked up at the $2.00 shop.

Well, as they say in the cartoons....that's all folks. I hope you enjoyed them.

Preserves

2008-01-18T06:37:00.000+11:00

It's that time of year in her Australia, the time when home gardeners have a sudden glut of tomatoes and maybe a zucchini or two that has gotten overly large. You know what I mean, one day the zucchini are lovely and finger-sized and then seemingly overnight they grown into something resembling a club that any self-resepcting caveman would be happy to carry. Don't get me started about the whole tomato thing. It seems that there is a conspiracy among the tomoto plants in the garden. Even though flowers and eventually tiny green fruits appear at varying times and you think 'good, looks like I will get a continuous supply of tomatoes for several weeks', the plants hold a meeting and agree on a date to ripen the fruit. So what you end up with is nearly every tomato plant in the garden, no matter what size the fruits are, with lovely red ripe tomatoes, all at the same time. Even if you aren't a gardener, or aren't the recipient of garden donations from well intentioned friends and family, you might just not be able to resist the seasonal bargains on fruit on veg and find yourself with an over abundance of tomatoes ('Did I really buy that many?'). Well, I have a solution. I have made both of these recipes dozens of times, and they are always a hit.

Spiced Tomato Relish
Makes about 6 - #20 fowlers jars or 4 #27s

3 kg ripe tomatoes
500g onions
4 Tbsp salt
6 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp chilli powder
6 tsp mustard powder
4 cups vinegar
4 cups sugar

Skin tomatoes and cut into chunks and place in large saucepan. Peel onions and chop finely and add to saucepan with tomatoes. Mix in salt. Mix curry powder, chilli powder and mustard powder with a little of the vinegar to make a smooth paste. Stir vinegar into tomato mixture along with spice paste. Mix thoroughly. Bring to the boil and boil for about an hour or so to reduce by about 1/3. Add the sugar and continue to boil, being careful not to burn it, until it is thick. Bottle and process.

Note: Use mild or hot curry powder depending on how hot you like it. I use mild because that suits my family's tastes.

Zucchini Relish
Makes 7 - #20 Vacola Jars

12 cups coarsely ground zucchini, unpeeled (3 very large)
5 medium onions
1 red capsicum
5 tablespoons salt
4 cups sugar
4 cups white vinegar
3 tablespoons cornflour
2 teaspoon mustard seed
2 teaspoon turmeric
2 tablespoons celery seeds

Coarsely grind the onions and peppers. Stir in zucchini and salt. Cover and allow to sit for 3 hours. Drain and rinse well. Combine the remaining ingredients to make a syrup, boiling until sugar dissolves and mixture has thickened. Add to vegetables and cook for 20 minutes. Bottle and process.

Note: If you don't have overgrown zucchini, just use more normal sized ones. I'm not sure how many you would need, but if you try it and can share that information, I would appreciate it.

I have have not given instructions for the actual preseving process or how to clean the jars, etc. I am not an expert in preserving, just someone who loves to make yummy things and be able to store them. You will need to refer to the instructions that came with your preserver for that information. I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as we do.

Spot and Dot

2008-01-15T06:55:00.000+11:00

I thought I would share with you some pix of my furbabies, Spot and Dot. They are two very adorable moggies that we adopted a little over a year ago, and they have brought us so much joy and many laughs since then. In honour of my two spotty furbabies, I am also posting some cat quotes that you can use in your crafting.

A house is not a home until it has a CAT.

Cats are just children with fur.

Cats leave pawprints on our hearts.

Dogs have owners, cats have staff.

"Dogs come when they're called. Cats take a message and get back to you later." -Mary Bly

"As every cat owner knows, nobody owns a cat." - Ellen Perry Berkeley

"There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats."- Albert Schweitzer

"Beware of people who dislike cats." - Irish saying

"In a cat`s eye, all things belong to cats." - English proverb

"In order to keep a true perspective of one`s importance, everyone should have a dog that will worship him and a cat that will ignore him." - Dereke Bruce, Taipei, Taiwan

"There is no snooze button on a cat who wants breakfast." -Unknown

"I have studied many philosophers and many cats. The wisdom of cats is infinitely superior." --Hippolyte Taine

Cats
Cats sleep,

anywhere,

any table,

any chair

top of piano,

window-ledge,

in the middle,

on the edge,

open drawer,

empty shoe,

anybody's lap will do,

fitted in a cardboard box,

in the cupboard,

with your frocks-

anywhere!

They don't care!

Cats sleep anywhere.

- Eleanor Farjeon

"Cat people are different, to the extent that they generally are not conformists. How could they be, with a cat running their lives?" - Louis Camuti

Santa Photo

2008-01-11T15:11:00.000+11:00

This is one of today's accomplishments. I did several LOs today, but I like this one best, so I will share it with you. Like many of my LOs, this one features my gorgeous girl, this time getting her photo taken with Santa. The background paper is from the Kaisercraft winter wonderland collection, bazzil cardstock, MM fibre, Bella jewelled brad and the stickers are part of a couple packs I picked up at the discount store.

Adventures at Taronga Zoo

2008-01-10T06:55:00.000+11:00

I've been too busy to do any scrapbooking at the moment (even though I got some very yummy goodies for Christmas), but I will get around to doing some pages and sharing them here eventually. I promise. In the mean time, I want to share with you some pictures taken at Taronga Zoo on the weekend. It was an overcast day and it rained off an on all day (with hot, humid sunny spells in between the showers) but that didn't dampen our spirits or stop us from having a fabulous time. In fact, I think the rain kept the crowds away, so it meant we didn't have to wait long to get close to the enclosures or stand in any queues.

I'll start with a couple of my favourite Aussie animals. I love this picture of a 'roo mum with her joey peeking out.

Who can resist taking a picture of a sleepy koala...certainly not me. How cute is this?

And one of my own cuddly koala....well, okay, it's my daughter with a giant stuffed koala, but she is cuddly anyway.

Don't you just love elephants? Well I do. The new elephant enclosure was amazing, and so were the elephants. They can be so entertaining to watch.

Time to spot the zebra. (I'll give you a hint, it's not the one in blue!) This is hubby posing with his stripy cousins....LOL.

This was one of the few gorillas that would show its face. Most of them were sitting with their backs to me. I guess they're over getting their pictures taken.

On the other hand, these paler skinned, furless ones were happy to pose for some pictures. Actually, this is me with my daughter posing with some gorilla statues outside the gorilla enclosure.

And some more pictures of my cheeky girl with some statues. First with a komodo dragon.

Then with a seal near the newly constructed Great Southern Oceans area (which isn't fully open yet).

Hubby had to get in on the act too. Look and him with a penguin on his head!

Hubby gets a free ride on a richshaw in the Asian enclosures area. Look at the girl pedal...LOL. Actually, I have a picture of the reverse as well (her riding him pedalling....well pretending to). There were several of these rickshaws scattered around the walkways.

Altered Canvas

2008-01-09T16:54:00.000+11:00

I made an altered canvas to give to my mother in law for her birthday at the end of last year. It's fairly simple, but I like it, and so did she. So I guess that is a win-win. I picked up a bunch of these canvases at Riot Art when they were having a moving sale. I got 4 of this 6x6 size and 4 in 8x8 as well. This is the first one I have altered, but I have some great ideas for the others too.

The background was painted with MM paint (I mixed a darker pink and white to get this pale colour). The flower paper is Daisy D's. After painting the canvas, I stuck the paper down with Craft Smart Glaze Paste then gave the whole thing a coat of Glaze Paste. Then I attached the matted photo of my gorgeous daughter.

The flowers are Prima, the jewel brad is Bella.

I'm not sure what brand the ribbons, rubons, beads and stickers are.

The butterfly was part of a sticker sheet I picked up at the $2 shop...what a bargain.

Delish

2008-01-08T06:44:00.000+11:00

I have finally perfected the most delicious cake recipe ever! If you love tropical flavours and want to make something that is sinfully easy but is sure to impress, this is the recipe for you. I should say, I got the original recipe from the Super Food Ideas magazine and I tweaked it until I was happy with it. I hope you love it as much as I do.

Hummingbird Cake
Makes 8 Serves

2 cups plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 large, ripe bananas, mashed
175 ml canola oil
450g can crushed pineapple in natural juice
Vanilla buttercream icing (see below)
Toasted shredded coconut

Vanilla Buttercream Icing
1 Tbsp margarine (or butter)
1 1/2 cups pure icing sugar, sifted
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
Milk

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and line the base of a 6cm deep, 22cm (base) springform cake pan. Sift flour, baking powder, salt, bicarbonate of soda and cinnamon into a large bowl. Add sugar, aand coconut. Stir to combine. Combine eggs, banana and oil in a large jug. Add egg mixture and pineapple (juice and all) to flour mixture. Gently stir to combine. Spoon batter into pan. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool cake in pan for 5 minutes. Release side and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Meanwhile, make buttercream icing. Mix together margarine, sifted icing sugar and vanilla in a small bowl until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add milk, a few drops at a time, mixing well with each addition, until the icing is has a good spreading consistency. Spread icing over the top of the cooled cake. Sprinkle with toasted coconut. Slice and enjoy!

Hello World

2008-01-07T21:10:00.000+11:00

Isn't that the first program we all learned to write? Well, maybe not, but it seems appropriate. I hope this blog will be a place for me to share my ideas, creations, photos and perhaps some wit and wisdom (not necessarily my own).

I'll start by sharing a photo I took a few months ago when I first moved back to the coast from the outback (a story I will share another time). This was taken whilst on a walk with my husband and daughter.

This is a view of some of the moorings on the Brisbane Waters, taken from Koolewong. I can't believe we ever thought we could live without this.

Breathe deeply. Don't you just love the smell of the fresh sea air? I certainly do. It definitetly beats the smell of hot, dry red dust.