tiny happy

grey day

 

 

 

It's a very grey and rainy day here today- so my pictures have turned out rather dull. But I wanted to write about these cookies made on the weekend- inspired by this post at angry chicken. They're 'chocolate-espresso snowcaps' the recipe is here at Martha Stewart. And they are very good, although a medium amount of patience is required in the making: you have to melt chocolate (I used a double boiler) and then mix it in to the dough when it is cool, and freeze the soft dough until it's firm enough to handle. But the texture of the cookies is a bit like brownies, but with a strong coffee flavour- yum. (I didn't roll the uncooked cookies in as much icing sugar as was suggested in the recipe because I knew my children would insist on eating some). I'm thinking of making some cookies for Christmas gifts this year- maybe a selection wrapped up nicely for the teachers, neighbours, etc.

Also on the weekend, I rediscovered a very old box of paints that were given to me when I was a child by my grandfather. They're all dried up in little glass jars now, and took a lot of water to reconstitute, but it was really fun to have a little paint of some every day objects in the kitchen. I recommend it for relaxation.

crochet on paper

 

 

 

I printed these postcards on my gocco machine today, inspired by my vintage crochet and lace collection as well as a beautiful necklace made by the generous and clever Margie. It's a slice of lightweight wood, covered in cream crochet, with a piece of Liberty lawn as the 'chain'.

I'm thinking of these dark blue doilies on card as being both a homage to crochet, the craft I don't think I will ever be able to do (believe me, I've tried so many times) as well as substitute, Southern-hemisphere snowflakes.

miniature clothes

 

 

I've been enjoying working on these dolls lately- I've made a few for kids' birthday presents and there are a few half-made bodies lying around for Christmas, too. They're very simple dolls really, just plain cloth bodies with embroidered faces and wool fabric hair. I need to find some 'blonde' wool somewhere for my nieces' dolls- they're all golden-haired. I think the nicest thing about this design is that the dolls are quite large- nearly 20" long- so they're a good, decent size for children to carry around with them and dress up.

This week I finished these two dolls- one (I imagine her name to be 'Marigold') is off to the daughter of a friend, but Sam, the boy-doll complete with checked shirt, is in my etsy shop  update today. I'm determined, in the new year, to make more things specifically for boys!

wild

 

 

It feels like summer has arrived: today, at least. The first cicadas of the season are singing from the tree outside our kitchen door. And there's a vase of wildflowers on the table. Definitely worthy of a small embroidery (coloured silks on black wool) in their honour, I think.

by the estuary

 

Here are a few of the photos I managed to take at the family wedding this weekend. I kept forgetting to use my camera- especially as the bridal party arrived- I was too busy watching everything!

The ceremony took place in a field edged by an estuary, underneath the manuka-wood structure you see there, wrapped in ribbons. There were tin buckets of flowers everywhere, and lots of peonies. It was very beautiful! And, of course, so was the bride- breathtakingly so. The children were so well included in their aunt and uncle's wedding- K was the flowergirl and A the ring-bearer. They took their roles pretty seriously- they'd been practicing at home for weeks, after all. Keira wore the flowergirl dress I'd made- the fabric was chosen by the bride to coordinate with the other outfits: with an organza overskirt. The pattern was Butterick #3351.

I'm rather sad it's all over now!

a picnic blanket

Tom's brother and his fiancee are getting married this weekend, and at the last moment I decided I needed to make them a little something to go with the wedding gift we bought them in Norway. After a bit of thinking, I settled on a picnic blanket- the sort that can stay rolled up in the car for impromptu glasses of wine on the beach or lunch at the park. It's completely inspired by the project in Soulemama's latest book- thank you, Amanda! I had been collecting vintage sheets for this very purpose- I love their faded softness and the nostalgia of the prints. To make the blanket, I simply cut them into medium-sized squares and sewed them together, adding a layer of thick wool fleece for the backing. I tied the blanket together in the corners of each square with grey embroidery thread.

Wishing J and G a very happy life together, with lots of time for picnics.

ceramic

 

 

 

I finished sewing up a summer top for K using the 'queen' embroidery from the other day. I used a drapey kind of light weight cotton, good for wearing over other things, I hope. And she seems proud to have her artwork displayed like that.

And I'm rather proud of the new additions to my second-hand ceramic collection- all of these came from our local Recycling Centre (kind of like a rubbish tip with a shop for reusable things- do you have these where you live, too?) Although the wildflowers cups (top right) came from my dear friend Helen in the North Island. I like how similar they are to the ones I found here. Vintage Crown Lynn, I think.

swans

 

 

I took these photographs of swans when we were on holiday in Germany at the end of last year. They were gathered together on a lake in the winter sunshine, and were somehow quiet and dignified. I came across the images this week on my computer and the lovely swans inspired me to embroider this felt pin. It's part of my small shop update this week. 

See you tomorrow!

cheesy

There are fresh flowers in the house, a present from my Mum's garden. Poppies and roses- ahh, spring.

This afternoon the kids and I made 'cheese straws' which are a rather British-y afternoon tea thing that I've been making since I was little. They're a bit like cheesy, flaky pastry biscuits. Kids love them especially: both the eating and the rolling out of dough with their little hands.

Here's how i make them:

Cheese Straws

1 cup flour (you could use plain or wholemeal or a combination)

2 tsps baking powder

a pinch of salt, and one of cayenne pepper

75gms butter, chopped into pieces

approx. 1/2 cup milk

3/4 cup grated cheese (strong-tasting is best)

Sift flour, baking powder, salt and cayenne into a bowl and then rub in butter until the mixture is crumbly. Stir in cheese. Then add milk slowly until you have a firm dough. (I do all these steps in a food processor but a bowl and spoon works equally well). Roll out onto a floured surface and cut into 'straws' (like long crackers) or other shapes. Sprinkle with extra grated cheese (or perhaps poppy or sunflower seeds) and bake at 200 degrees celcius for about 10 minutes.

kings and queens

 

 

The children have been drawing a lot of kings and queens lately in their artwork. I think this is largely inspired by all the Narnia stories we read them over the past year, plus the 'myths and legends' they've been reading at school. But in any case, I like this theme a lot.

Over the weekend, I noticed that they were 'collaborating'- Arlo would draw a castle with knights and flags, etc, then Keira would paste a giant picture of a princess/queen on top- 'to make it more beautiful', she said. Luckily, he didn't seem to mind. (He's a long-suffering type of brother.) I decided to translate one of her characters into embroidery so that I can sew it into a summer top for her this week. I chose the lady with the see-through skirt.