Baking with the Flop!

It's been a fair old weekend again. I hardly seem to have got anything done, but on the other hand, don't really know what happened to the time! So Monday rolls around again, and of course that means it's time to visit Wendy for Handmade Monday I didn't get time to visit all the blogs last week, so it is my ambition to make sure I do this week!

I don't know if any of you caught Kirstie's Handmade Britain last week, but I managed to watch it on Saturday morning thanks to my V+ box (there are advantages to having a small baby, who gets you up before everyone else in the house!) and I really enjoyed it! Even Himself sat through it, which I really didn't expect him to! The only problem then was Kirstie made scones for a country show event, and of course having seen them, Tim decided that was how I was going to spend my afternoon! Still, it gave me a bit of quality time with the Flip Flop, while daddy looked after the Bud. We had lots of fun and got covered in flour (at some point I'm going to have to concede defeat and buy her a pinny to wear when we're baking!) I did take several pictures of her making the dough and cutting out the scones, but of course they were rubbish because she just wouldn't keep still long enough!
This was the finished product (well 2 of them at least!) :

They weren't the best scones I've ever made, which I put down to the rough handling they got from Caoimhe (I think the gluten got worked too much) and also I did use a different recipe this time too...Hugh F-W's, with an egg added as well. But they still went down well!

I also made an ATC for my lovely hubby, just to remind him that even after nearly 17 years together, he is still my soul mate and best friend. I think having two small kids makes it a bit hard on a relationship sometimes, and I'm hoping that one day I'll learn how to split myself into 3 equally... then maybe I will be a true goddess!

I also learned today that my Big Shot works on my old jeans, which I am quite happy about. But more about that another time!

Til next time!

My first ATC!

What have you got me into Ms Edwards! ATC's, if you don't know, are Artist Trading Cards, miniature art work 2.5" by 3.5", traded, never sold, but those are the only rules. I love looking at the cards on Sharon's blog, so had to have a go myself!

I enjoyed the challenge of making it, and fitting art onto a relatively small area.

Continuing with the papercraft theme, I can now show you my friend's birthday card, as she has received it.



I think that stamp is becoming a favourite, and I expect to use it more often!

On Tuesday I turned the Big 4-0. Not quite sure how it happened! I wanted a hassle free tea, so in true Goddess mode decided on pasta bake, which I made whilst Caoimhe was at nursery, to heat up later. My pasta bake is a great store cupboard standby, as I always have pasta and chopped tomatoes in the cupboard, and can generally find cheese and veg. I use up whatever little bits of leftovers I've got. It can also be made in the morning and then just takes 20 mins or so to heat through and crisp up. (Grated cheese sprinkled over the top does that well!)

I realised the flaw in my plan when I went to the cupboard and found very little pasta in there! Not sure how we can run out of pasta really! But I did find a packet of chilli penne at the back of the cupboard, bought and forgotten about, but mercifully still in date, so that went in to bulk it out. Not really the best choice, as it was spicier than I thought it would be, and Caoimhe decided she didn't like it! But it was enjoyed by the adults so didn't go to waste!

Today I'm linking up with the Handmade by Me Blog Hop hosted by Caroline, so have a look at the sites linked there, and add your own link too!

Til next time!

Another Monday, Another Week...

My blog is a bit late this week, as we have not long been back from a lovely weekend in York. Well, it was lovely up until about Saturday teatime, when the lurgy seems to have hit and we have had a visit from the Snot Fairy. Caoimhe had already been sniffling for a few days, so it was inevitable we would all catch it sooner or later. In any case it was fab to catch up with the Mackays and introduce baby Teaghan to them.

On Saturday morning me and the Flip Flop even had a bit of time to decorate some gingerbread men

We also got stuck into some paper crafts at the end of last week, before we went away. Caoimhe seems to enjoy using mummy's 'sheen'. which is what she calls my Big Shot, so we spent a happy hour making hearts, stars and flowers. In true Domestic Goddess mode, I did a bit of recycling, and used the pages of my Next Directory:

Waste not, want not!

We used some of the flowers to make a card for Auntie Cathy, the rest have gone into the tub for another messy play day.

And as promised, here are a couple of pictures of cards from birthdays now gone:

Both cards made use of my new stamps, I need a lot more practice, but have found them fun to use.
(ps Sharon, you're gonna have to wait to see yours!)

Just time to remind you all that since it's Monday, don't forget to have a look at all the other lovely websites linked up on Wendy's blog for Handmade Monday

Til next time!



Time for Tea

Time for Handmade Monday once again. How time flies! So have a bimble over to Wendy's blog and see what everyone's been doing this week.
This week I'm also linking up with the Sunday Blog Love link on Cherished Treasures (thanks for that Jill!) So i think I'll be busy blog hopping later!
It has been one of those funny weeks this week where I don't seem to have had a minute to myself, but nor do I seem to have acheived anything either. It was Caoimhe's first day at nursery on Tuesday (which she absolutely loved, as I knew she would!) but even though I was big child free for 3 hours, I still had little miss with me, and she seemed to relish the fact that she could have all my attention. I was hoping for a bit of a sleep from her to get on with some of the card making I need to do but she had other ideas of course!

I did manage to make one card, my mum's anniversary card (is it really a year since The Cake??) and safe in the knowledge that she doesn't visit the Interweb very often I can post it up here.



I didn't want to make anything too fussy, I wanted to make something that looked simple but elegant. Not sure on the elegant side of it but I think understatement works here. In any case the majority of it was done one handed so bonus points must be awarded for that!

I also managed this week to make cards for my stepmum, neice and friend. On the birthday front, I think there's just my sister's card and present to make now so I feel like I'm more than halfway there (as soon as I decide what I'm making her for her birthday of course!) Of course I'm not going to post up pictures of the finished cards as the recipients have yet to open them, but you can see my stepmum's card as I'm sure she won't peak here before next Saturday!

As you can see, my Tattered Florals die is being used quite a lot!

I'll post up the rest of the cards in a couple of weeks when the birthdays are over and done with!

The one thing I did acheive this week, which I am incredibly happy about, is I fullfilled my ambition to find an old teapot, with a good pouring spout, not a fancy one, or one that only holds enough tea for a barbie doll, but a good old-fashioned tea time teapot. I have always looked for one in charity shops over the years, but never found one to my liking. I did see a teapot, quite easy on the eye, and not too expensive, in Sainsbury's a few weeks back. That was a good size too, but just wasn't....right. Then this week I found one in the Wooden Canal Boat Society Charity shop £2, complete bargain and for a good cause too.  

I have obviously used it a lot of times in the short time it has been in my family! It reminds me of tea time, at home or at my grandparents (both sets of course, but mainly my dad's side) Tea from a teapot had a huge place in my early life but seems to have been forgotten about since I left home. Tim is not a big tea drinker, so I never really carried the tradition on (though we did have a teapot as a wedding present, that sadly got broken) But it is now having a revival, and we've had tea from the teapot at teatime this weekend, instead of having juice. It'll be tablecloths and bread and butter with everything as well before we know it! But there's nowt wrong with that, is there!

Continuing with the tea theme, I found a couple of sad and lonely looking teacups and saucers in Sainsbury's sale aisle as well. And although we *proper Northerners* drink tea from mugs! I couldn't leave them on the shelf. I'm hoping inspiration will hit and they will become a present of some kind for someone.

Any thoughts gratefully received!

Well that's about all from me this week. I probably won't get chance to take part in Handmade Monday next week as we are spending the weekend in the lovely city of York,We will no doubt be spending time in the National Railway Museum especially as we have to introduce Teaghan to trains (it's a Lee thing) and it;s Caoimhe's favourite place in the world!  And we'll be visiting friends too.

So til next time!

Another Handmade Monday.

Once again Wendy is hosting Handmade Monday so don't forget to have a look at what everyone's been up to this week. As soon as the girls are settled in bed tonight, that is exactly where I'll be heading!

October already! Bit hard to believe it, the year is going by so quickly, and the weather has not been particularly autumnal either, has it?! October in the Gallery household means only one thing. Birthdays. There's millions of them. Well, ok, that's a slight exaggeration. But from both sides of the family we have 6 birthdays this month. And a wedding anniversary as well. So there will be a fair bit of card making going on this month!

One card has been made already, I had a bit of a go with my stamps the other day, which I enjoyed and was pretty pleased with the result. I would love to show you the card but since it's for a birthday yet to come, I don't want to spoil the surprise for the (lucky!) recipient. Some more card making will no doubt follow.

We've been having a little bit of messy play today, and little Teaghan was able to take part, much to Caoimhe's amusement.

The flower petals are Caoimhe's hand prints, the bees are her thumb prints and the leaves are Teaghan's foot prints. It was fun to make, and I'm sure we'll come up with new ideas that incorporate the prints of body parts!

A short and sweet one this time, as it is nearly tea time, my busiest time of the day. More so today because I also have to get little Miss Flip Flop's stuff ready for her first day at nursery tomorrow! She is very excited, obviously, and I only hope it lives up to her expectations!

Have a lovely week. Til next time.

Kiddie crafting

Morning all. Well what's with this weather?? Not that I am complaining, it's nice to have some warm, sunny days. Would have been quite nice to have them in the summer though!

As it's Thursday I am once again taking part in the Handmade by me blog hop hosted by Carolee crafts so don't forget to have a look at the other sites linked there, or even better add your own!

I thought I would blog about my lovely daughter Caoimhe today, since she has been quite productive in the creative department. She loves making things, as I suspect most kids do. She likes painting the best she tells me, though she is equally happy making cakes, making cards or playing with her play doh. This week she has had a baking session with Grandma and a card making session with mummy.

With grandma she made biscuits. Piles of them. My mum has a book which uses one dough for 50 different kinds of cookies (eurgh I hate that word!) I can't remember the title (though a good guess at 1 dough 50 cookies might be worth a stab at if you want to look it up on amazon!) They made Easter biscuits and raisin and banana biscuits.Both utterly delicious!

Yesterday we decided to make Nana's birthday card and I let her loose on my Big Shot - with lots of help of course.



(sorry about the quality of the pic btw! She just wouldn't keep still!)
I even let her use my brand new Tattered Florals die!

The paper I used came from a £1 craft bag from the pound shop. It is basically off cuts but worth a quid for kiddies' crafts really. And I just added a dot of blue glitter glue in the middle of each flower. Obviously she didn't do all the card herself, but I was impressed with the contribution she did make. She obviously enjoyed herself too, because we now have a tub of die cuts to use on other projects.

Well I am not going to waste such a lovely day so that's it for now!

Til next time!

Win!

Handmade Monday is on once again. So don't forget to have a look at what everyone's been up to!

Last week I was lucky enough to win some blog candy thanks to Rowena at Craftypagan Designs It includes some lovely stamps, which I am very much looking forward to trying out. I have not really done a lot of stamping, apart from the odd bit here and there on a card, so it will be fab to have a good go and experiment with these stamps. The parcel also included some fab papers, which I am sure will look great with my new tattered florals die. I'm chuffed to bits to have received it, and can't wait to get a bit of time to play!

Not much in the way of creativity has gone on since last week. The week seems to have gone by really quickly, and to be honest I'm not sure I've done an awful lot of anything. Of course we did have the now obligatory weekly bake and I trawled my cupboards and my recipe books for something to make. It's fair to say that I was a bit Mother Hubbardish last week. There was very little except flour, cocoa and dried fruit and it was just lucky that I remembered my *in an emergency* muffin recipe, which basically means I can make muffins out of whatever I have hanging around (within reason, of course, not really sure I could safely include chilli or tomato ketchup in the mix!)

Here it is:

1lb self raising flour

9oz sugar

3oz butter

310ml full fat or butter milk

1 large egg.

'flavourings'

Sift flour, rub in butter, add sugar, milk and egg and whatever flavourings you want. Spoon into muffin cases and bake for about 20 minutes at 200c.

I added 7oz of dried fruit (raisins, sultanas etc) a teaspoon mixed spice, and I exchanged about an ounce of flour for an ounce of cocoa powder. But you could pretty much add whatever you wanted to, blueberries, jam, apples, bananas, chocolate... give it a try and let me know how it goes!