Using the scraps

When I finish a project, I try and use the scraps lying around on the table to make a card or a tag.

This tag flew around the world to be part of a 'tag gate' of encouragement, for a lady called Tina who is very sick and undergoing treatment.

It is a lovely idea and this is the finished piece here below.

(photo courtesy of The Polka Dot Barn)

Sydney

We recently enjoyed a few days in Sydney. I had won $10 flight to either Sydney or Melbourne and what could have been a cheap trip for one, turned into a not so cheap holiday for the family - but it was a good time. (Haven't we colour co-ordinated ourselves well with the background in the photo above??? Of course it was all planned...lol)

We did a lot of walking and ended up with sore legs. Most of the time the boys were happy but I think they were ready to sit down at this point! This photo was taken at Taronga Park Zoo and you can see the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the top right of the photo and a giraffe coming out of the top of B's head.

Of course we went to see "Wicked" as I mentioned in a previous post and the boys gave it a thumbs up with the comment it was "awesomely wicked - but not as good as Phantom of the Opera". And yes I have sold the other lot of tickets.....

This chair in the corner of our hotel suite was sooo comfortable, I wish I could have brought it home with me.

(Sue at Divajools is having a giveaway for some lovely earrings she has created - pop over and leave her a comment so that you have a chance to win them)

Paris

We have been planning our "holiday of a lifetime" for next year, and have just made the final flight confirmations.... Next year is a big one for us, with special events and we thought before cherub 1 gets another year older and we have to pay adult fare for him, we would 'bite the bullet' and 'head for the hills'.

Paris is part of our itinery and we are planning on spending 6 days there. I have been searching for the 'perfect' place to stay. We have already decided that we need to stay somewhere in the centre of Paris - and of course I have this vision that we need somewhere with a balcony & probably a cable TV (so that husband and I can sit outside with the cherubs being happy inside watching TV). I have found so many places that fit my requirements but why are they all over $2000 per week?

I've decided that here in Australia, we are very spoilt with the size of our residences and can't get over that a lot of the apartments that we have been looking at are 30 square feet or less! I'm sure the hotel room that we stayed in recently, in Sydney, was bigger than that!

Anyone want to join us in Paris and share our accommodation????? lol

Wicked? No - not really.........

It has been interesting to read on other blogs that some of you experienced a bad day last week too - was it something that was spread over the internet?? I couldn't talk about my 'stuff up' for a couple of days....but now I can laugh about it!

It all began when husband woke up thinking that he had wet the bed - instead we had a major leak in our water bed. All was sorted out temporarily & we were back asleep when one of our cats (Sam) started making a terrible sound. Our neighbours cat had come through the catdoor and was an intruder in our house. He delighted in weeing down our hallway, what a delightful aroma, that is. Sam was our defender and the catfight took place in our laundry. Water & feed bowls tipped over, cat fur everywhere and wee - yuck.

The next day was the day for cleaning the above, ordering a new mattress, finalising our holiday for next year and an unexpected call from our accountant needing some figures 'straight away'! Surprise, surprise I had thought that this day would be my play day, but it wasn't to be.

We are off to Sydney soon for a mini family holiday soon, and I thought I would surprise the family with tickets to "Wicked" - all was good - except I bought the tickets for the wrong day - we won't even be in Sydney then.

I don't think I should have been on the internet that day....so if anyone would like 2 adult & 2 concession tickets to see Wicked in Sydney on Thursday 12th November, please contact me....I will happily sell them to you at a considerably cheaper price! Or if you know anyone who might be interested.................. please????

A red, black and white theme here - the hat is ready to be posted to my giveaway winner - hope you like it Shirley? And the necklace was one that wanted to be made to go with a new jacket that I have!

I hope you are all having a better week, this week!

Hello there!!

Remember the soldered charms that I had made for a wedding? Here are the finished coathangers with the charms attached....cream dupion silk one for the bride and flower girl, black velvet for the bridesmaids and blush pink dupion silk for the mother of the bride.
The "BS" was the initials of the bride and groom - they went on the end of the row of chairs, at the wedding.

Here is Marion working on the wedding cake - it was HUGE and I wish you could tell just how big it was, from the photo. If you know the size of the Kitchenaid mixing bowl on the left of the photo, you might be able to appreciate the size of the cake. I couldn't lift the two layers.

The wedding was last weekend.

Marion is now in Queensland, recuperating!

I have been remiss in acknowledging a Swap that I was involved in with The Chocolate Crow Trader. We were supplied with a template of a doll shape and we had to create something from that. This is the lovely doll that I received from Julie Duncan of Cloth to Creation.

I had given you a glimpse of these wooden chips used in a necklace but I hadn't shown you the finished product. This necklace was sent to Pam as part of the swap.....she has a photo of herself wearing the necklace and it looks pretty good on her, I am sure it would have been better if she had shown her lovely face as well....... Details of the template and the swap can be found here.

My "Favouritist" Cake

The "Lemon Feather Cake" is my favourite cake to bake and to eat.

I don't make sponges very well but this cake is lighter than that and almost foolproof. It just needs a good sprinkling of icing sugar before you serve it. (the photographed cake was for my sister-in-law to take to her workplace, and she gave it the sprinkling, before it was cut).

The top of the cake forms a nice crust, so there is no need to top it with anything other than the icing sugar (or powdered sugar)

6 eggs (separated)

275g castor sugar

zest of 2 lemons and juice of 1 lemon

150g potato flour or cornflour

Beat egg yolks with sugar until thick and nearly white. Add lemon zest & juice and flour. Whip egg whites and fold into the yolk mixture.

Grease cake tin or tins if you prefer to bake in 2 tins..........and bake for 50-60 mins at 180C (350F)***** You need to check it earlier than this as sometimes the cake is cooked a lot quicker**********

Turn out and cool on rack - if you have just baked the one cake then cut in half and fill with lemon cream. Otherwise join the 2 cakes with the lemon cream

Lemon Cream: Whip 300ml cream and add 255g lemon butter - fill cake and dust top with icing sugar.

**The photographed cake is a large one in which I used 10 eggs and used 600ml cream and 430g lemon butter for the filling------yumm!!!!!**

Just lying around

The boys had a friend over during the holidays, for a sleepover - and he brought his little teddybear with him. Poor little bear.

Also lying around the house was "Sam" , enjoying the sun!

When I was in Spotlight towards the end of last week, I found a packet of wood chips apparently used in mosaic work. I loved the green colour and thought they would be great to use in a necklace. As soon as possible I had to have a play to see if my idea would work and I'm quite happy with the result.

Love that green!