Phone blogging

Has changed my tiny world, and I like it.
Sitting on the comfort of my sofa, watching the amazing new E4 series "how I met your mother" and blogging. Toot toot.
So onto something cute, today I worked and then came home and turned these.....


Into 16 mtrs of this.....


I love love love it. So cute, I can't wait to hang it. His room is going to be amazing!
And that's it from me 2night, xxx

Ps: 2morrow is the start of moving day!!!

-- Posted from my iPhone.... How very 2009 of me!!!

OMG cosmo

Dear Cosmo Cricket: Can you do no wrong?

NOPE!

nutmeg is GORGEOUS and I cannot wait till this arrives in the UK *swoon*

Today I....

Feel a bit creative...
I am painting a series of canvases for Fin's bedroom, along side making cute bunting. I ordered some fabric from a cute online store yesterday, and true to their word it arrived today. I love it. I thought I would only have enough for two alcoves in his room, but it turns out that I had enough to cut 113 5" wide triangles!!! So, that works out at around 565 inches of bunting, which means I'll need 16mtrs of ribbon to sew then on.... Um, oh my!!!


It will look a bit gorgeous me thinks!!!

Something else that is gorgeous....



-- Posted from my iPhone.... How very 2009 of me!!!

Bear Hats

So cute! Have you guys seen the polkadot robot blog? Well, they made these COOL bear hats the other day - and I loved them so much, and wanted one for Finlay, but couldn't really afford one from their shop as they are fairly expensive :-( ......... So, I got a friend to knit him one, and she made one for me too!

Toot!
How cute are they!!!? (very) And, toasty warm. We wore them round a car boot sale today and got a fair few admiring comments. Bless him, what a cutie-bear. Fin's has little pompoms hanging from his, mine has mini plaits. Check out that knitting, this woman rocks!
hehehe, these photos make me giggle.
:-D

Fiskars Friday Project

Yes, I know its Saturday... but It didn't feel right posting something pretty after posting the poop cakes! (Laura asked me if it was Ben who iced them, I had to quickly point out that it was the young men that I work with, who may all have learning disabilities, but clearly have strong sense of humours!- I luv those guys!) Anyway... onto something less poo shaped (I hope!!!)
As you know, Fridays are the day I get to upload some DT work on the Fiskars blog (For September anyway... so sad that next week is my last!) Well, I decided that I would decorate some of the cute jars that I told you about recently. Where we are moving too, my scrap area will be slightly "open" so I need some better storage, and these jars have come in handy for that. (Also, I plan to decorate some for the kitchen for cupcake sprinkles etc!!!)
I used some of the Cloud 9 paper (available from Fiskars) and also the cool tools they sent me to play with. I love how they have turned out. The "BLOOM" one proved to be a little tricky to stick down, it refused, and every time I turned my back the wrap pinged off! So, with a trusty stapler I can now report it has been in place for a good 12 hours now lol!

If you want to try this, I recommend getting one of those fancy coffee jars or even try your local sweet shop, as they often sell "fancy" sweets in these style jars, and may have some empties (or you could just eat the sweets!)Right - that's all I have to say for today - I have been mostly decorating with Ben over at the new flat, Finlay's room is a sunny yellow, and will have little red robot features (I finally get to use a wall decal that I have had saved for nearly a year now!) I am also contemplating hand painting some funky bunting in the alcoves of his room. hmm... more thinking to do on that one!

Night night blog land!

Minty poop cakes

So, this is what happens when you let boys ice cakes..... Double choc chip cakes, with mint and Oreo cookie poop style frosting.... Seriously, I don't need to imagine what dog poop on a cuppy would look like anymore, (not that I did that much anyway...) and, nore do you anymore either!!! Voilà. Kinda hard to eat without cringing. Tasty, but wrong wrong wrong!!





-- Posted from my iPhone.... How very 2009 of me!!!

Oh the potential!!!!

Ummmm, amazing. My mum spotted these for 50p each outside our local sweet shop! Literally begging to be bought, decorated and stuffed to the max with ribbons, buttons etc!!! Cutey McCutey!! I have seven in total - and there is another load at the shop that I might have to go back for!!!

-- Posted from my iPhone.... How very 2009 of me!!!

Peanut Butter Cucpakes (of joy)

I had a few comments about the recipe for the cakes I uploaded yesterday. They are delish, but be warned, they are RICH and you may want to halve the recipe, as it makes 18-24 cuppies!

(normal size cupcake papers are used, but if you love jumbo cupcakes, use muffin cases)

Peanut Butter Cupcakes:
ok - So, you will need:
225G (8oz) Unsalted butter (softened)
225g (8oz) Caster sugar
225g (8oz self raising flour)
4 eggs
115g (4oz) smooth peanut butter (crunchy work as well if that's all you have)

If you like using sugar syrup, you will also need 4 tbsp Caster sugar, 4 tbsp water and drops of vanilla essence. Before you start your cupcakes, boil together sugar and water till the sugar is melted, and then pour into a glass to cool. When luke warm, add about a teaspoon of vanilla essence. This is your sugar syrup, which you can keep in the fridge for weeks!

Icing:
Now, there are no set weights for the icing - it is simply a mix of icing sugar, peanut butter and softened unsalted butter. I used a block of butter, half a small box of icing sugar and about 3 heaped dessert spoons of peanut butter - I like to add a few drops of vanilla extract too.
This makes LOTS of icing, as I love to pipe whirly peaks onto my cakes, hence the quantity - but if you prefer to spread your icing on, you won't need half as much as this! If you are planning on piping - don't use crunchy peanut butter as it clogs in the nozzle of the piping bag.

Method:
Preheat the oven to 175oC (350of/ gasmark 4)
Using an electric mixer, or a hand blender, cream the butter, sugar and peanut butter together, then add the flour and eggs and whisk till smooth and creamy.
spoon into 18-24 cupcake cases (Salisbury's at the moment sell some cute DrOetker cases with butterflies and polka dots on!) And then bake in the oven for 20 minutes (check them at 15 minutes if using smaller cases - the tops of the cakes will be springy to the touch when they are done, if they don't spring back when gently pressed you will need to leave in for another 5 minutes)

when baked - take out and put onto a cooling rack -When the cuppies are warm to the touch (but not hot) prick the tops of the cakes with a fork, and brush on some of your sugar syrup - about a teaspoon per cake is plenty. (this step is optional, but delicious and fun!)
when the cupcakes are cold to the touch, they are ready to ice. If you ice them before, the icing will melt over the cakes and look bad!
You can decorate with sprinkles, or my favourite, chocolate covered peanuts for that extra indulgence!

now the best part ... EAT!


ok - and whilst I am on the subject of Peanut butter lushness, are you a fan of Peanut butter cups? (Reeses etc) Well - then grab a pen, as you will wanna write this down lol!

These are some I made last Christmas - hence the festive star decorations, however, they are perfect to make as after dinner treats, a girlie evening in, as a birthday gift, a rainy day, when the sun shines etc etc etc...

They really are amazingly delicious - and my friend Shaun has nicknamed them "little drops of heaven" lol (any friends fans will know what he means!)

It couldn't be easier.
All you will need is:
50g Soft dark brown sugar
200g Icing sugar
50g Butter *unsalted - softened*
200g Smooth peanut butter

also
200g milk chocolate beans
100g dark chocolate beans
to decorate - sugar stars, chocolate sprinkles or edible glitter etc

Method:
Place the sugars, the softened butter and the peanut butter in a mixer and blend together - this should turn out like wet sand in consistency.

Lay out about 40 mini cases (petite four cases are best - and widely available)
break off a small some of the mix, roll into little balls, and push into the case cakes so that they cases are about half full.

put the chocolate beans into a glass bowl, and place on top of a saucepan of water - bring to the boil ensuring that no water "flicks" into the chocolate. The chocolate beans will melt fairly quickly. I got my chocolate beans from a local confectioners, however, if you cannot find them, then buy good quality milk and dark chocolate bars and break them into squares before melting.

once melted - you can turn the heat off under the saucepan, and if you keep the bowl on top, the chocolate will remain melty for a fair while. - Spoon the chocolate over the peanut butter mix in the little cases, till it reaches the top of the case. Make sure it covers the peanut mix well. Now you can sprinkle on your decorations, or add the stars etc - so they "set" together. Place in the fridge for a quick set if you need them in a hurry! (literally, this recipe only takes about 15 minutes to do start to finish!!!)
These make AMAZING gifts, if you make them pretty, you can stack them in a little box etc.
I made about 100 of these last Christmas for people, and they went down well, even among those who claim not to like peanut butter! (Yes, I MADE them try one lol!)
And if you like Reese cups - then these really will become a tradition in your kitchen.
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iPhone randoms

Ok, yay for blogging iPhone aps!! Even if it did cost me £1.79.... It was totally worth it. However, I realise now I need to take better and more intersting photos lol. Here are a couple of camera roll randoms....
Silicone cup cases!!!


Hand sewn woodgrain on my sewing machine,...


The peanut butter cupcakes (as promised) if you want the amazing recipe just leave a comment/email . Xx




I made all the guys two with their initials on. Yum


And now i'm off to bed!! Xxxx

um...

Oh wow. I forgot I had a blog! *Insert some lame-o excuse about why I have been AWOL* seriously, I could list about fifty, but the main reason is Tonsillitis - me and Finlay. I also have been busy painting the flat we are moving to on the 1st!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK - so, I know I haven't mentioned this before, but it is something I am super nervous about *seeing as we haven't sold our flat yet* - but when we noticed the flat across the road become vacant, we jumped at the chance. When I say "across the road" I literally mean, the flat, directly, across the road. Its a bigger garden version of ours. I am not looking forward to not having the Internet for a while during the transition, however, it has a garden. If you know me, you will know that a garden has been my ongoing NEED for my soul, my son and my sanity.
The flat is lovely and big, however, the previous occupant had some strange taste, I assume that one day she went to a DIY store and went like this:

Lady "Hello 1970's DIY store"
Store guy "Why hello lady who clearly has no taste"
Lady "Yes! That's me, now my good man, wrap me up a goodly amount of EVERY 3D wall paper you have in store! - today I must cover every inch of my home in it - and while you're at it, please also sell me 1000 litres of nicotine yellow gloss paint for ALL my woodwork"

So - we have been busy with large tubs of white emulsion and white gloss to eradicate all of the above. Photos to come on that one. So, onto other RANDOM things that fill my life.....
(aside from tissues, antibiotics and staying in bed!)

I made this for the FISKARETTES blog - It was my Friday project. I used the cool fiskars circle cutters, and the deckle scissors to distress the edges.
The paper is jillybeans soup staples, and the flower is prima, mmmmmmm pretty flower!

um, what else?
I made fudge chunk shortbread - mmmmmmm! It was good too!
I also made peanut butter cupcakes for the guys at work today - and my gosh they were good. With a peanut butter icing too, very very rich and they literally disappeared in seconds.
I think I have a photo on my iPhone.. can I upload to my blog direct from my iPhone?This was my recipe book that eve - what a mess! I must confess, not one of the pages had a proper recipe written down, all were on scraps of paper shoved in! Not anymore, I sat and wrote them all in :-) I feel so angelic!
and then....I found these gloves that a friend knitted me about 4 years ago! (if not longer!) I wore them LOADS back then, but stopped for a while, and then "lost" them in my junk drawer. I love them, they are so toasty warm, Ben doesn't like them so much, so I will have to pick and choose the days I wear them... I love the face that you can change the ribbon lacing, at the moment it is white - but I am thinking some polka dot may soon make an appearance...

Because I have been poorly, I am SOOOOOOOOO late and behind on my LSNED book - I literally have to do a gazillion pages, but I WILL do it - as I cannot fail to complete this book, its my first online class and I would feel like a failure if I didn't do it! Plus, I have used thickers etc in it already, and I wouldn't want to waste them on a half done project....
yup - these pages are not in order thanks to bloggers random photo selection choice!

I also taught at the fabulous GoGo Storyteller day event on Saturday - It was amazing fun, and meeting people whom I chat to on the boards was cool too! I will blog some photos of my book 2morrow when I have taken photos of the inside. I loved what people did with their project - and I can't wait to see some of the finished projects.
Right - I am literally all blogged out for this evening... night blog land!
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mmmmmmmm October GoGo kit!

Check out that colour palete of lushness! The October kit is right up there with my favourite GoGo kits ever - it's so beautifully subtle, and features some of the delish new October Afternoon papers, aswell as the must have Cosmo Earth love range.
Here are my layout designs this month...I hope you like, I found myself scrapping with a more "torn edge" style of scrapping this month. I am usually really anti tearing, but found myself strangely drawn to it.
The is one is Octobers Mini kit - which is packed full of papers this month, including Jillibeans (yum) and Earth love.

If you want to see more GoGo layouts that the DT have made - then swing by the gallery here
and get inspired!
*********
Also - I just wanted to offer my congratulations to some VERY talented ladies, who were picked to be on the Fab new Scrapbook Inspirations DT - the new look mag is really cool, and has some new funky features.
I am lucky enough to know some of these girls in real life, Laura, Jen, Sam and Chloe - who are all really lovely - and totally deserve a place. Well done girls. xxxxx

Sunday woe

Sorry I haven't blogged much of late - I have been poorly for the last 10 days, and its only just come to a head, I feel like poop. Finlay has got laryngitis and spends all night coughing, which sounds so painful, and the only way to ease his pain is just to sit him upright on me/Ben. I wish I could master the art of sleeping upright - and I would spend all night like that with him.
I have gotten a bit behind on Shimelle's "learn something every day" class - I don't feel I have learnt much these last two or three days, apart from perhaps that Vaseline is good for sore noses, and that the painful cry from one of your children at 2am can tug on heartstrings you never knew you had before.
This is a photo of us last week when we were "brewing" for the full effects of the infection.
you wouldn't know he was ill by looking at him here. Those eyes! :-DI tried to cheer us all up and made cuppies, by following the recipe in the Salisbury's magazine, (if you haven't got that mag - go get it! that lady is an inspiration!!!) Sugar syrups - mmmmmmmm!
Anyway - these were raspberry and vanilla cuppies.
They were a bit too sweet really - but you learn by your mistakes in this world!
So, on the lack of crafting front, I was browsing through folksy today - and found some of these cuties!
HUGE button badges - how lovely are they! Imagine one in every colour..

I just love how it looks on her jacket.

And this gorgeous "Clutter bucket" (cute title!) The fabric is so pretty, and green, yay green.

mmmmmmmmm oh yes please!

Pretty! (you see that picture of cuppies in the background? I have that on a lap tray hehe!)

This would look cute on Finlay's bed.

And this is just amazingly funky...

That's literally it from me, I am pooped and need a hot bath to clear the head cold!
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