My dh and I are attending a Christmas party today. The host is providing the barbeque and as is often the custom with these “dos” the guests are asked if they would provide a salad or sweet. I had a fun day yesterday making our contribution. I’ve noticed quite a few variations of these on the web so wanted to try some for myself.
I cooked mini carrot cupcakes. The usual base I’ve noticed is brownies which sounds yummy but I wanted to try something different and I think it has worked quite well taste-wise.
Some of the recipes used white chocolate or white icing for the trim on the strawberries but I’ve used cream cheese frosting. I need some practice piping the mixture neatly.
Normally I wouldn’t construct them until just before they were to be eaten but because we had to leave early, it is a 3 hour trip, I had to finish them last night. I hope they don’t get soggy.
Bye for now,
Just a quick hello today to show you the last, well the last that I remembered to photograph :(, of my Christmas cards. They are all posted and that is a huge relief.
Click here to go to my instructions on how to make a “tee pee” card.
I had made other cards with sparkle and rosettes and others with trees and gems but in my haste to post I forgot to take photos for you. Because of this the rest of the photos are all of the tee pee cards.
The cute Santa stamp is from a Whipper Snapper set “Christmas Cuties”. The tree die-cut is from Taylored expressions “Trim the Tree”.
Hope you have finished your Christmas cards and can enjoy this weekend without any pressure.
Bye for now,
I’m having a nice little break from card making at the moment (apart from my own Christmas cards) so I thought I’d show you some more plants from our garden, so you don’t forget I’m here 🙂
This definitely isn’t native to our area or even continent but it seems to love the conditions. This group of plants are from South Africa as far as I know.
It is a King Protea. The mulch around it is a fairly coarse gravel and it seems to work very well.
We are very impressed with the results we have from the proteas, leucadendrons and leucospermum. Here are some of our plants (I show you each year but I think it is worth showing you again because they are so pretty and we have a few new shrubs).
Hope you enjoyed the photos.
Bye for now,
Our garden seems to be teeming with all sorts of life at the moment, some of which is good for the garden but others which are just a BIG nuisance.
These are the good –
The bees love the “lamb’s tongue” (can anyone tell me what the plant’s botanical name is?)
Rosella’s love to eat the flowers from the dandelions – good birds. There have been lots of other parrots including cockatoos and galahs around also.
These little sweeties are my favourites. Above is the male and below the female. There are a few families living in a “mock orange” bushes (don’t know their botanical names either). My dh has left his ute out of the garage lately because he has some gravel in the trailer. The male wren is so proud of himself that he sits on the rear-view mirror and keeps looking at himself – I guess he really is just checking out the competition.
A very poor photo of a blackbird. It is so difficult with a small camera to sneak up on the birds, and these hop around so quickly.
These are young magpies – not very well-groomed – it was a very windy day. I love to hear the magpies warble, it warms my heart. They are outside my window singing as I type.
Now for the ugly – well they are cute but VERY naughty in our garden and almost in plague numbers. They love to ring-bark our new plants.
They could hear me sneaking around inside the house but I was able to get a couple of quick shots – I mean photo shots 🙂
To add to the baddies list there are foxes lively down near the creek and they torment our dog at night by copying her bark. They must be fat because if they are living off rabbits their supply is endless.
And as for these pests – anyone want some we have plenty to spare?
I apologise for the lack of cards and papercrafting goodies but I’m sure you know how busy it is at this time of the year. Later this week or the start of next week I might be able to show you some of the cards I have made for Christmas.
Bye for now,
Well my annual market experience is over – phew!
A couple of days before the market our weather decided that it was close enough to summer to send days in the high 30’s°C (high 90’s – 100°F). Not only having to cope with the sudden rush of heat from quite cool temps but then we have experienced thunder storms every day/night (our poor dog is terrified). Last night after the market our house lost power because of the storm (no computer :cry:). Lunch time today we have power restored 😆 and cooler temps.
The market was very busy and I’m sure would have been successful for all concerned, but it was very HOT and crowded. Just as everyone was packing up to go home down came the rain (I felt sorry for the stall holders who had outside sites) and thunder and lightning. Lucky for me I’m very slow to pack up, even though I did have help. By the time I was ready to pack everything back into the car the rain had stopped.
Here are some photos I took just before the market opened.
I had a good night but the best thing was meeting friends I don’t get to see very often. I’ve been fortunate enough to make friends through this blog as well and it was just lovely to be able to meet a “new friend” who traveled for 3 hours to visit me at the market. Thank you so much Julie. I have spoken with her on the blog and via email but to meet her in person was a thrill. Not only did she travel all that way but Julie presented me with some home-made relishes – Yummo! Thank you SO much Julie, so great to meet you. What lovely people there are out there in “blog land”.
You might not see me for a few days while I sort myself out and see what I can keep and what has to be given away or used up (not very much thankfully). I’ll have to recover a bit but mostly it is my craft room which will need some tender loving care. 🙂
Bye for now,
Just popping in quickly to remind you that the Pleasant Street PS “Christmas Fest by the Lake” is on this Friday, 30th November from 5 pm – 9 pm. Providing the weather smiles on us it will be a great evening. If you live near Ballarat or can drive here it should be worth a visit to top up your Christmas stockings.
I am starting to sort out what I have and what I still need to do –
If you are able to make to the market I would really love it if you introduced yourself to me in person. Would enjoy meeting you.
Right oh – that is enough time off, I’m back to it now.
Bye for now,
Our ddil celebrated her 30th birthday on Wednesday, but the party is tonight so couldn’t show you the card I made for her before now.
Here ’tis –
I’m so sorry that the colour is completely wrong in the photo – the card is actually a deep purple really, but try as hard as I might when editing the photo I just couldn’t get the true colour. You’ll just have to imagine a lovely deep purple.
I have decided that purple is my new favourite colour. Don’t know why it isn’t used more often.
The stamp is from La-La Land “Ruffles Marci”. I might add the card to the La-La Land Gallery.
Well I’m off now to enjoy the celebration dinner.
Bye for now,
I love today’s title, it rhymes so nicely and I’m also loving today’s Tic Tac covers.
I saw this idea on-line. They used a recycled box and wrapped it with dp to make a box to put little goodies in. I’ve made a template to fit a BIG box of Tic Tacs. The dp I’ve used is heavy weight and works well.
I will give you the details of the template after the Christmas Fest is over, but for now you will just have the photos.
Hope you enjoyed today’s post.
Bye for now,
“Procrastination refers to the act of replacing high-priority actions with tasks of lower priority, or doing something from which one derives enjoyment, and thus putting off important tasks to a later time.” – Wikipedia.
This is what I have been doing while I should be making “market goodies” (well some of the time anyway) –
A 1000 piece Ravensburger Jigsaw Puzzle. It has taken me a couple of weeks in between other things. It seems a shame to put it back in the box, but back it must go.
Here is a closer look at the Little Elf –
The dark corners, which were ferns and plants where horrible. But I persevered and tonight I finished it. Woo hoo!
I thought I would show you because I haven’t any paper crafting goodies to show you yet.
Bye for now,
I am thrilled to be able to show you this project – and it wouldn’t have been possible (because I wouldn’t have ever thought of it myself) without the generous and inspirational Amber. If you haven’t visited Amber’s wonderful blog Damask Love – craft is in session you should NOW! She has very kindly allowed me to make and show you this cute “crayon box” which is completely her creative idea with just a couple of small touches by me.
I have added a “Teacher” quote.
Inside is a Business Card Holder which I purchased at Office Works.
I have added a little pencil which miraculously fitted exactly into the Business Card Holder.
I’ve also added these items which fit in well behind the calendars. I think I’ll also add an eraser.
On the back of the box I’ve added some “Peel & Stick Blackboard” so the student can write their own message to their teacher with chalk .
I’ve made the little template for the box myself because I don’t have the Clear & Simple Die 😦 If you are interested to have a copy of my template let me know. I’ve actually added a frame around the blackboard since I took this photo.
What do you think – would a teacher think this is a fun little gift?
Bye for now,
The fun challenge at Out of a Hat Creations this week is “Locks & Keys”.
Here is my contribution –
There are several versions of this little “Santa’s Key” poem, but I like this one.
Hope you enjoyed this project. Have to go now and get busy with my market goodies.
Bye for now,
Found myself chanting this under my breath as I was cutting out my little project – (oh dear how old am I?)
“1, 2, 3, mother caught a flea,
put it in the teapot to make a cuppa tea,
flea jumped out,
mother gave a shout,
in came father with his shirt hanging out”.
Do you remember turning the skipping rope to this rhyme? Do children even skip now-a-days?
Before I get too far off track let you show you my little teapots.
Inside the teapot I’ve added 4 sealed teabags.
Sorry about the lack of posts recently but I have been making multiples of projects – that takes time because I get bored after the first one and procrastinate A LOT. 😦
Bye for now,
It was one of my dgs’s birthday party on Saturday. The weather was lovely and I think everyone had a fun time. Our present to him was a garage for tiny cars – you know the ones I mean. So to keep in theme I made a car card.
Here is the birthday boy looking very serious – but then a SUPER HERO never knows when trouble might strike. lol
and his little sister, so happy that she is now allowed to join in with the party food
and his cousin who is engrossed with making bubbles. He was so cute all dressed up for the party.
Bye for now,
Just out of interest, what do YOU call your “container to hold money, cards, receipts etc” which is carried in your bag? I call mine a purse, but there are different names in use. I think most women in Australia would agree with purse, but is it different where you live? Love to hear from you.
You might be wondering why I ask? Well it was on my mind as I made this purse/wallet for my ddil’s birthday.
I love the paper I have used. I have it in red as well and have used them for shoe shaped cards but I think it is perfect for a purse as well. Is it crocodile or snake-skin do you think? 😀
I made it to fit the gift voucher I had purchased for her.
With just a bit of sewing on my mini sewing machine, and a few simple embellishments I think it came up well. The oval on the right just says Happy Birthday but it doesn’t show up on the photos very well.
Bye for now,
On Saturday morning we stopped in Geelong (a city about 1½ hours from home) to have lunch. We sat opposite these whimsical bollards –
Aren’t they fun. There are over 100 bollards stretching along the waterfront. They have been made from huge wooden pylons, many recovered from the Yarra Street Pier which was destroyed by fire in the 1980’s. The wood was sculptured and hand painted to depict many of the events and history of the Geelong region. Read more about the bollards and the artist Jane Mitchell HERE.
Moustaches must have been the “go” for bandsmen.
The band leader is clean-shaven, perhaps to differentiate himself from the “mere” band players.
Here are a few more bollards –
Look at these “floozies” in their skimpy bathing customs. Disgusting.
This couple has packed lunch for their “jaunt” to the sea-side. I think he might have a cucumber sandwich in his hand and she has her driving goggles.
Hope you enjoyed visiting Geelong’s foreshore.
Bye for now,
Cards & Co
Cards & Co 