make your own kits

Well another weekend has come and gone all too quickly!

Last week I finally got around to finishing some more 'make your own' kits. I have made a handful of these as gifts for little girls, and on request, so thought I would finally bite the bullet and sell some too!  They went well at Kraftbomb yesterday, so I have listed some in my felt shop too.

I only have 2 Felt Butterfly Brooch kits and a handful of Felt Flower Hair Tie kits left, so will add them to my 'to do' list for the Devonport Craft Market this Sunday.

Hope you all had a lovely weekend. Spring is in the air here... it's lovely!

Kraftbomb turns 2!

Kraftbomb turns 2 tomorrow! Hope you can make it along.

11am-2pm, Sunday 29th August, 2010
Grey Lynn Community Centre
Main Hall - 510 Richmond Road, Grey Lynn, Auckland

Crunchy Lemon Muffins

It is gray and drizzly here today, perfect weather for some warm crunchy lemon muffins.

Ingredients

2 cups self raising flour
3/4 cup sugar
75 g butter
1 cup milk
1 egg
grated rind of two lemons

Topping
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar

Method

Preheat oven to 200 C. Mix together flour and sugar in a large bowl.

Melt butter, then mix egg and lemon rind and beat well with a wooden spoon, to combine. Add liquids to dry ingredients and combine only until the ingredients have been lightly mixed.

Spoon into lightly greased muffin tins. Bake for around 15 minutes. When muffins are cooked, stir together the topping and drizzle over the hot muffins. Let them cool and take them out carefully, and place on a wire cake rack.

Steaming cup of coffee and warm crunchy muffins for morning tea - enjoy!

my creative space: daffodils and costumes

My creative space isn't too creative at the moment! I finally finished (well I still have to hand stitch hems and pop on some hooks & eyes, but the large part is finished) all the costumes I had to sew for Bella's school show - Joseph and the amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.  I am so glad they are done, and will be trying to remember not to put my hand up again next year!!

My day mainly involved two terrible 2 year olds, Lucy and my nephew Alex, who actually turns 3 next Tuesday, so hopefully he wont be so terrible after that :-)! We ended up taking them down to the beach after lunch to 'run them out' - they had a wonderful time, it was really mild this afternoon. Spring is in the air.

Bells came home from school today telling me she had to have a yellow hair band in her hair tomorrow as it is Daffodil Day, so together we made some little felt flower hair ties after school, one for Lucy (pink of course) and a yellow one for Bells.

For more creative spaces, head over to Kirsty's.

inspired by

After a morning of art on session at playcentre I have come home completely motivated and ready to get my teeth into something. Funny how watching kids create can spark that in you!

With coffee in hand I have been enjoying this lovely book on traditional Cook Islands quilting. The colours and design are just inspirational.

saturday baking - chocolate brownie

It has not stopped raining for about 24 hours here in Auckland, so we have had a rather slow morning. This afternoon we are off to visit some friends that have come up from New Plymouth for the weekend, so baked a sticky rich chocolate brownie to take with us. This recipe is really simple and quick to prepare, so have attached it here for you to enjoy (although I am sure you all have a brownie recipe up your sleeve!).

Chocolate Brownie

100g cocoa (1 cup)
200g melted butter
400g caster sugar (2 cups)
4 eggs (at room temp)
1 tsp vanilla
90g self-raising flour (or just under 3/4 cup)
1 tsp baking power
1 cup chocolate buttons – chopped (you could also add nuts and raisins if you like)

Method
Sift cocoa into a large mixing bowl. Add melted butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Mix to a smooth paste. Sift in flour and baking powder, and then add chopped chocolate. Mix well.

Pour mixture into a 20 cm x 30 cm Swiss-roll tin. Bake in a preheated oven at 150C for 40 minutes.

Don’t be alarmed at the amount of sugar in this recipe! This is the correct amount and not a misprint!!!! 

my creative space: brooch kits

My week has pretty much consisted of sitting with Lucy curled up on my lap (she is so miserable and just wants to be held poor mite), but she has spent a good chunk of this morning asleep, so after the school run, breakfast dishes, washing, quick pick up etc I had a little time to finally make a start on putting together some more felt brooch kits!

I feel like I have had my right arm cut off this week. I have so many ideas swirling around in my head, and a long, long 'to do' list, but no time to achieve any of it. At least I have made a small start today!

Head over to Kirsty's to see what everyone else is up to.

getting organised

It has been a bit of a funny old week this week. My mum broke her wrist on the weekend, so has been staying with us for a few days so I can help out with meals etc until she has her waterproof cast on next week. Lucy also has a nasty flu and has been totally miserable all week... so not much time for anything really!

I have been quietly ordering supplies and planning for the next few months leading up to Christmas (yes, I am already thinking about Christmas in August!!). It has just dawned on me how many markets I have committed to between October and December, so had better start getting organised. 

A lovely parcel full of Echino and Kokka fabrics arrived for me this morning from Japan... just to brighten up my day! Hopefully I will get a bit of sewing time this week, I am having withdrawal symptoms.

my creative space: sparkles and sorting

My creative space today involves sorting out my overflowing scrap drawers into little scrap packs...

Cutting into some new oilcloth destined to be sewn up this weekend into purses.

...and lots of pink 'princess' playdough

Cooked Playdough Recipe: 
 

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1 cup water
1 Tbsp oil
2 tsp creme of tartar
food colouring/dye/paint powder...
glitter *

Cook and stir for 3 - 5 minutes until mixture comes together. Keep in a covered container, or snap lock bag. 

*this is optional, but definitely necessary if making 'princess' playdough :-)


I hope your Thursday is going well. I am desperately looking forward to the weekend!

For more creative spaces, check out Kirsty's blog.