Birthdays, Bargains and a Ta-Dah!

No, not my Birthday yet I'm afraid.

My Mum's. I made her some yummy (albeit abit GIANT) butterfly cakes.

Didn't you just used to love these as a kid? I don't have enough butterfly cakes in my life I've decided.

I must change that.

I had a play around with some gift wrapping ideas too, here I've used brown paper, garden twine and ...

wallpaper border!

I used a paper punch to cut circles out of the wallpaper and mounted them on scalloped discs (also cut with a paper punch) to make coordinating gift tags.

Not bad huh?! What do you think?

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Today I have had a (very) rare Charlie free day.

I popped into town and some how ended up in a Charity shop (!?!?) ;-)

Where I found this pretty vintage dress. It was initially RATHER LARGE even for me.

So I did the good old inside outy, pin me uppy trick then whizzed it through the sewing machine.

Hay Presto! It fits!

I Love it.

Finally for my Ta-Dah!

I did finish my hexie cushion that I mentioned last time.

It ended up being half the size of the original plan.

Put plans are made to be broken.

Thanks for being here.

Lots of Love

Katie

xxx

Crocheting Gifts

I just wanted to pop in quickly today to share a couple of recent makes with you.

Makes of the wooly kind...

Two little hobby horses, one for my son and one for our god-daughter.

(It would seem I got abit carried away with the stuffing in the little brown horse.)

I found the pattern for free, here.

Crocheting the pattern itself was easy peasy, put the whole thing together, not so much.

Here's a little ear warmer I made for my Mum.

I crocheted a simple DC band and added the flower from a design in Cute and Easy Crochet by Nicki Trench.

The last few days have been boring, to say the least. We have so much snow here it's unbelievable. I've hardly left the house since Wednesday. I have been trying to find little projects to occupy myself (and avoid housework.)

Today I picked up the hexie cushion I started ages ago.

Who knows, perhaps I'll even finish it :-)

Lots of Love

Katie

xxx

Cake anyone?

Happy Saturday ladies!

I hope you all have lots of lovely things planned.

I am still catching up with my "Christmas Chaos" posts.

It was such a busy time, that I didn't have much chance to post or get over to your blogs.

But I can assure you lots had been going on.

Here are a few little creations that have been rustled up in my kitchen lately.

The Christmas Gingerbread House!

This was the first time I had attempted a Gingerbread house from scratch.

I had been planning it for a little while and collecting little sweeties that I thought suitable.

I had a nosy around Pinterest to get some ideas, then sat down to draw up the pattern.

I used graph paper (I've never been a great measurer!) which made life much easier.

I first drew the piece for the front/back wall, the gable end where simple enough after that.

The roof proved most tricky, but I got there in the end.

After the important components were done (and I realised I had a fair bit of excess Gingerbread dough!) I faffed about with a chimney and dog house!

There was still plenty of dough left for multiple gingerbread men and angels too. :-)

After all the pieces where baked (and Charlie was tucked up in bed!!!) I got to constructing the house.

I used royal icing to stick it all together then added the sweeties.

The Snow dog and Snowman were Joe's creations. He spent ages carving a carrot nose out of a Dolly mixture!

I got through a kilo of icing sugar that day, I thought I'd make a huge batch and do the Christmas cake (which I will share with you soon) at the same time. Don't tell my Dentist please!

Below, a Birthday cake made for my Sister.

She loves pink, so I added a fair splodge of gel colouring to the cake batter.

Once baked it was VERY pink indeed, I wanted it to be a bit of a surprise so I whipped up a chocolate fudge icing as a disguise, then added a whole giant tube of pink smarties to the top.

You can't have too much Pink.

And lastly today, some cupcakes I made for a Birthday tea for Charlie we had with friends.

I must share Charlie's Birthday cake and the Christmas cake with you soon.

... Must hunt out the pictures ...

Have a great day and thanks for reading.

Love Katie

xxx

A Post from Lisa ...

Good afternoon ladies, I hope you are all having a good week (and are keeping warm!)

I asked my friend Lisa to write a little blog post for me and she has also kindly given us her fudge recipe too! Enjoy, Love Katie xxxx

Hello everyone, well I promised Katie that I would write a little post about our stocking swap experience, I have never written a blog post before & I tend to write like a speak, I ramble & bounce from point to point which no real structure so please do forgive me. haha 

I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed the swap, I read a fair amount of crafty blogs & always wanted to participate in the various swaps that are offer because I absolutely looove to make things (when I was young I used to make clothes for my dolls out of tissue lol) so I relish any opportunity to whip out my sewing machine & craft box but unfortunately the swaps are usually only open to people that have blogs themselves & as Katie mentioned I don’t have one, so I was over the moon when I saw that the stocking swap was open to everybody , I couldn’t type fast enough when I asked the Undomesticated Scientist if I could sign up. 

So the day came when I was assigned a partner....cue Katie, I had a little read of her blog for a little insight & I was blown away by it, she’s so friendly & the blog so sweet & girly but when I saw the things she makes for her swaps & craft fair etc they were amazing & so professional so while very inspirational for me I just thought ‘wow’ not sure my stuff is really gonna cut it here, but I figured it’s the enjoyment of taking part that counts & she seemed like such a lovely lady that I felt sure she would appreciate the thought  (& I was right about her being lovely, she really is) So I got to work generally I really like to make little zippy purses, bags, brooches, key rings etc if I’m making a gift, they’re really quick & simple to do, useful, & always look completely different depending of your fabric & embellishment choices, so after that I thought it would be nice to add a little sweet treat so I decided to make some fudge & some brownies, now I would really love to be able to tell you that I slaved for hours over a hot stove making the fudge but the truth of it is that it’s incredibly simple & wonderfully tasty & you can really make it your own by adding your own flavours, 20-30 mins start to finish put it in a pretty box & impress your friends with your excellent ‘culinary skills’ I’ve added the recipe at Katie’s request got a new iMac for Christmas from Santa... I know spoilt much! So I’ve been trying to find my way around so I had a bit of a play with a the collage programme is why the recipe looks a bit fancy & Delia-esque 

I will add this disclaimer, I take no responsibility for any broken healthy eating New  Year’s  Resolutions this recipe is certainly NOT  healthy its full of butter & sugar but that’s what makes it sooooo good

When I received my box swap box from Katie I was amazed,  I must admit to being naughty, I didn’t wait until Christmas to open my, opened it immediately & I knew it was going to be fabulous because that box she had put everything in was covered in pigs!! Big deal I hear you say but I am obsessed with pigs...I’m a bit weird like that lol.  

I won’t go through what Katie sent me as she has already done it in her post, but needless to say I was overwhelmed & so very grateful for all the wonderful things she sent me & the time & effort she put in, so Katie the hugest thank you & biggest hug I send to you! It has been an absolute pleasure getting to know you & I feel I have made a new friend! 

I'm sorry this has been so long ... I told you I was a rambler!

Thank you for reading.

Love Lisa xxx

Better late than never ... Christmas swaps

I know I know...

Were well into January and I'm only now posting about Christmas.

I have been meaning to share these swap goodies with you.

Like I said ... better late than never.

Firstly, A little Christmas swap with my friend Lynda...

From Lynda:

Goodies Include: Lovely books and magazines, socks, sweet treats, sticky notes, some Cath Kidston goodies, a Hope and Greenwood advent calendar, an awesome Christmassy tea towel, some lovely stitched gifts made by Lynda and lots of bath treats.

All of which were wrapped beautifully in Christmas papers.

(I know, spoilt rotten again, aren't I!?)

This is what I sent to Lynda:

 I made: a little hexie stocking, some felt star decorations, reindeer cake toppers, a toadstool sewing set (scissor fob, needle case and pin cushion), some Christmas spice sugar scrub and a beaded heart decoration.

I also sent: some Yankee candles, a birdy scarf, diary, magazines, mug, labels and tape, Christmas socks, napkins, sweeties, a knitting pattern and ladybird book.

I really enjoyed this swap with Lynda, shes so kind and sweet.

Stocking Swap

Before Christmas I entered a Stocking swap hosted by The Undomesticated Scientist.

This was another great swap. I was paired up with Lisa Wiggins. At the moment, Lisa doesn't have a blog for me to link too (but I'm going to work on that!).

Lisa really is so talented, she makes the most beautiful things, you all really deserve to see the goodies she creates.

This is what I received from Lisa:

She made me: The most wonderful personalised stocking, a cute owl, an awesome card, bath bombs and soap, a russian doll key ring, a brooch, a tree decoration, a drawstring bag and pencil case (in this great Russian doll fabric!) and some homemade brownies and fudges!!!! The best I've ever tasted in fact.

I have asked Lisa to write us a little post with here recipes, so watch this space.

(Like I said, she's very talented isn't she!? And she had been very busy too, making all these wonderful goodies. I am so lucky!) 

I also received: a personalised tree decoration, some Yankee candles and votive, gingerbread men, mulled wine spices, fabrics and buttons, some Cath Kidston and a chocolate orange!

I'm sorry the fudge and brownies did not survive long enough to make it to the photo shoot!

But luckily for you, I did manage to take this picture (before they got scoffed!)

I sent Lisa:

A crocheted stocking, pig, owl and robin tree decoration (all made by me).

Some nuts and chocolates, candles, glitter pens, a Cath Kidston makeup purse, button soaps, an owl hand warmer, handmade card, a dried fruit hanging decoration and some crafting goodies.

I was so disorganised before sending this swap, that I forgot to take a picture.

Thank you Lisa very much for taking this photo and sending it to me!

last but by no means least...

The Advent Swap

This wonderful swap was hosted by Lynda at Hookin with Laalaa.

(unfortunately I can't link to Lynda at this time)

As you may know, this swap included 24 little presents (one for each day of Advent) and one larger present to be opened on Christmas morning).

I had intended to add pictures of the goodies to Flickr. I think I managed to do the first few days, before finding myself "snowed under" with Christmas preparations.

So instead I thought I would do a quick round-up.

I was paired up with the wonderful Judith. Judith is also not a blogger, but with out this swap we never would have met and I'm so glad I have. She also makes the most wonderful things.

To Judith:

I shan't list all the goodies I sent and received, we would be here all week!

I thought I would just give you a little detail about the handmade items I sent.

These Included: Some star decorated (like the ones I sent Lynda), A heart garland and beaded heart decoration, handmade reindeer cake toppers in a handmade envelope and a crocheted lavendar owl.

Whilst thinking about how I would number the parcels (and rummaging about in my "fit to burst" craftroom) I came across some tiny envelopes with matching cards. Just what I needed! I stamped numbers 1 - 25 on the mini envelopes and stamped a different Chrsitmassy image on the inside of each little card and coloured them in. These really remind me of a picture advent calendar we had as kids, I was so pleased with them.

From Judith:

Lucky Lucky me.

Each day I opened a parcel, I was just blown away by Judith's generosity and talent.

Amongst the items I received was:

A magazine, painted dolly pegs, drawer liners, a tea towel, yarns, soap, bath products, candles, diary, a mug.

I also was lucky enough to receive a hand knitted washcloth (by Judith), some of her lovely cross stitch, a wonderful handmade card and (perhaps my favourite thing ever!) a hook roll, made by Judith to hold all my crochet hooks.

All in all, three wonderful swaps. I can't thank Lynda, Lisa and Judith enough for their kindness.

Thank you for reading and well done if you made it to the end!!!

Happy new year.

Love Katie

xxxx