Handmade Monday and a bit of this and that.

Monday has rolled round again, and I am now in my 40th week - eekkk! Quite how much longer I am going to have to wait I have no idea, but the end is very much in sight!

Since it's Monday, don't forget to have a wander over to Wendy's Handmade Monday link party to see what everyone's been up to.

It's been a mixed bag of crafting over the last week. Saturday night saw round 3 of the Takeaway challenge. It was my turn to cook and armed with a recipe book from Quorn (one of those 'collect vouchers and send off the p&p' things) I made a korma, this time it was a quorn one. It took a while longer to make than Tim's did last week, and employed the use of my blender to make the paste. Apparently it was a *curry-off* to see who's was better, but as soon as Tim tasted the sauce in the pan he said I had won because it was more like a korma than his was last week. Probably because it used coconut milk and not tomatoes as its base.  Verdict? Definitely milder than last week, but I still spent most of the night in indigestion hell, and I think I'll have to give up the curries for a while.

The foody fun with Caoimhe carried on yesterday when we made tea together. Armed with a booklet from The Vegetarian Society specifically aimed at cooking with kids, we attempted a frittata, we had to tweak the recipe a bit to include stuff we actually had in, but it was great fun to make and with a bit of initial encouragement at the beginning, was eaten as well - so a result! Lots left for some lunch for me today, which is a bonus!

I've had a bit of a play with my Big Shot as well this week:

The bird in the middle is cut with one of my dies, and in true frugal mode I have used a picture from a catalogue (a bunch of flowers advertised in my Next Directory actually!) I also used a bit of Mod Podge to add some sparkle to the plain white backing paper. And the Next Directory has continued to be useful. Yesterday me and the Flip Flop made a hanging heart for Grandma, decorated with cut up pieces of catalogue page. Who said recycling is boring! (Think Tim is gradually getting the idea that my hoarding can come in useful sometimes!)



I've also made a start on the squares for the throw from The Art of Knitting collection I am accruing. I am also collecting the Art of Crochet, though have used the free wool that comes with that for other projects...ooops! I decided to buy both collections initially for my own use but also as a reference guide for the girls as they get bigger. Lots of patterns in there to keep them amused and tips and techniques as well. I came a bit of a cropper with the first square, however, and have already informed my mum that I will be paying her a visit to help me sort it out! The problem is not in the knitting (a basic garter stitch square) but in the decoration, which is an embroidered heart. Now embroidery isn't my bag (it is a form of sewing after all!) But the instructions are terrible and given my pregnancy addled brain I can't make head or tail of them. So, some help is required from the Old Lady. And I'm sure that Miss Gallerys 1 and 2 will no doubt be saying something similar in the future!

Phew, it's actually been a busy week! Feet up this afternoon I think.

Til next time!