I'm back!

I'm back!
I know, I've been a bit quiet of late, but it's been so miserable here with constant rain and grey gloomy days. It takes all my effort just to get up in the morning and go to work. It certainly doesn't inspire any creative goodness! I have been spending a lot of time in front of a lovely fire, reading and writing.

But today, well today is Friday and I have the day off work. And to add to this today is fine. Yes, fine. A gloriously sunny day with the bluest of blue skies. So it's time to put the book down and put my gumboots on and go for a walk outside. Wanna come?

The spring bulbs are a riot of colour, thousands of them, the smell is divine. In an attempt to bring Spring inside I now have daffodils in every room of the house, even the smallest :) They bring a smile to my face!

Blue on blue!

 

Wow, the plum tree is loaded with blossom! The smell is heady and the bees are working overtime.

Even the apricot tree is promising lots of fruit this summer, yay! And there are a few satsuma mandarins still left on the tree, the last of the season so they should be super sweet.

I'm leaving mud puddles all round the garden and it's flicking up all over my trousers! Arrgggg!

I'll leave you with some spring happiness and I'll be back soon, I promise!
Hugs
Cx

what do I collect?

I was asked to fill two pages in a zine on what I like to collect.
So I sat back and thought about this, probably because I was asked to create inside the boundaries of two pages of a paper zine.
The first problem is that I'm not into collage, paint, or paper and I struggle to work in these mediums.
Of course I can, but I prefer not to, and I like to challenge myself to not work in them.
The second problem was that I probably could've filled way more than two pages with thing I like to collect!

So here goes with a few of my favourite things and what better way to add them to the page than in free motion stitching!

I've completely taken ownership of the zine page, hope you like it Nathalie!

Carole x

being creative in the kitchen

It's my daughter Traci's 27th birthday today, and we've both taken the day off work to spend together. But I thought I should make a special birthday cake for her this year, so I attempted to make a Red Velvet Cake.
Amongst the ingredients it has 30ml of red food colouring in it and 2 desert spoons of cocoa, and 6 eggs, and made a rather large cake! I used 3 tins and everything was going well until I tried to get them out of the 'well greased tins' and you can guess what happened next! (of course the name of my blog gives it completely away!!)
Anyway they stuck to everything including the tin, one cake broke completely in half, one cake split in half, half sticking to the tin and half coming out, and one almost came out ok, but left a chunk in the middle stuck to the tin. You can imagine by now that I'm being very good natured about all this!

But once the icing had gone on, you couldn't tell any difference. Doesn't it look gorgeous? And of course it has to have birthday bunting! lol

The best thing was that Traci loved it! And my it did taste good! The frosting in the layers and on the outside was made of cream cheese and white chocolate, mmmmmmmm!!!!

However, as nice as it tastes, I'm not sure that I will make another on any time soon!!

Gotta go, cake's waiting!

Carole x

Here is the link to the recipe I used. (for those brave women amongst you!)

don't do as I do!

Just thought I'd pop in and tell you all not to do as I do, or I should say did. I was using some white PVA glue. When I was finished I thought I'd wash my brush, so I put some water in this jar and left my brush sitting in it.
However, I forgot completely about it and in due course the water evaporated and I was left with just glue in the bottom of the jar. Now I have a totally useless brush! So don't do as I did!

What cautionary tales can you share, and do you have any helpful tips from your art room?
Look forward to hearing them.
Carole x

playing on a Sunday

It's been a bit quiet in my sewing room over the last few weeks, but today I added a couple of touches to a project to make it ready to send off in the mail. Wonder where it will pop up next?

What have you been working on over the weekend?
Carole x

If you are passing through Rotorua...

Mr M&M takes a dip in the naturally heated spa pool

There are two places you should take time to visit if you can. One is Kerosene Creek.
It's about 25km south of Rotorua and is signposted on the main highway. Turn off the highway and it's a short drive down a narrow metal road.
It is a creek in the middle of the bush, which has two pools fed by waterfalls in it, with nice hot water. It's quite popular but you need to make sure you don't leave anything of interest in your vehicle. We've been there several times and never had any problems, but there are lots of tales of cars being broken into.

The second place to visit is the Whakarewarewa forest.

Redwood Memorial Grove track

It's know for all the Redwoods growing there and there are loads of tracks of varying levels and times. Something for everyone. It's an amazing place. Most of the Redwoods were planted around 1901and stand approx. 67 metres tall.

Now that the mini-breaks are over and the book is finished it's back to stitching!
Keep warm and dry everyone, summer is on its way!
Carole x

a baby and a quilt

 I know you've been waiting patiently for this post, and I've been very quiet of late, but we've had a lovely trip to Auckland to meet our first grandchild, Neve.
And of course a new baby is a great excuse to make a new quilt!

Granddad has his first cuddle

 Neve is now 2 weeks old, and what a gorgeous wee thing. So small, so perfect and so sleepy.

I get to have a wee cuddle too

I think I could quite possibly bought her home with me!

And here is her wee cot quilt in pinks, lemons and lavender.

Have a lovely week everyone and I promise not to fill this blog with photos of Neve!

Carole x

Neve has arrived!

Neve Catherine born 2.30pm Sunday 1st July.

Mother, father and baby doing well.

Grandparents thrilled. 

I'll share a photo when I get one.

Thanks for all your good wishes.

Carole x

Waiting for a baby

This weekend my stepson and his wife will hopefully give birth to their first child and our first grandchild.
The mother-to-be was admitted to hospital last night to be induced. Nothing happened. We are waiting...... it's killing me!!

Just have to wait with some of these, home made lamingtons. Just need to add a dollop of whipped cream to each one....

Will keep you posted
Carole x

Re-stocking my Etsy Store

card set 5

card set 6

card set 7

card set 8

These will be listed in my Etsy Store over the next day or two. They are sold in packs of two and come with a matching envelope and are blank inside so can be used for all manner of occasions.

Those of you who also make journals, these are perfect to add in as an extra pretty page.

card set 9

card set 10

card set 11

card set 12

A lovely card arriving in your letterbox is the best surprise, especially if it arrives for no apparent reason except that you care about the person you're sending it too!

Carole x

Feel like a little shopping therapy?

Why don't you pop into visit Jenny at her Etsy store, The Makers Studio? I've discovered she has in stock the most gorgeous laces, (amongst other handmade goodies!) and her laces are very reasonably priced. I'm sure she will post to your sewing room if you ask nicely!

Have fun!
Carole x

I feel like hibernating!

I really do feel like hibernating, actually I feel like I am hibernating! It's been so cold.
However I do have a wee zine to go out into the wide wide world. It will be fun to see what secrets it contains when it comes back!

And of course you just can't expect me to hibernate without the essentials!

It was my very first gluten free chocolate cake. I made it to take to work as a colleague is allergic
to gluten. He loved it!
Not bad for a first attempt!
Now, back to my bear cave......

Carole x 

Very chilly mornings

We've been having some very chilly starts this mornings. 0, -1.7 and -2.6 degrees C.
Please send me some summer!!

Carole x

a lovely way to start the morning

Feijoa and grapes

When you slice into your morning serving of fruit and it smiles back at you, well, what a fantastic way to start the day!!
Don't you think?

Carole x

In love again....

I managed to spend a little time stitching over the long weekend and worked with a few wee yoyo's.
Isn't this the cutest darn yoyo you've ever seen? I think so! It makes you just want to reach right out there and touch it.
Oh and if you haven't already guessed, I've got a thing for yoyo's :)

Carole x

A little card art

I've been making a few more cards.
They will be added to my Etsy Store. They are proving popular at craft markets because they can be used for all manner of occasions.

Carole x

Stitching over Queens Birthday Weekend

Hope you managed to get some stitching in over the long weekend!
Carole x

postal intrigue

Remember Project Zine that the QB5 girls are all working on? Well Linda's zine arrived recently and it's been waiting patiently for me to add to it.

It's packed full of old photos. Memories. Family, friends, lost love? Mmmmm..... wasn't sure where I was going with this?

But decided it needed an element of intrigue. A slight air of mystery.

A letter....? An inheritance....? A lost love....?

Childhood sweethearts....?

Separated in times of war? Who is Isabella Stewart of Wellington, New Zealand?

And just who is Q Mathews of Reids Air Field in England?

The QB5 girls are all listed on the right of this blog, check them out for zine progress. You'll have to wait until Linda gets hers back again to hear more about the letter!

Wouldn't it indeed be intriguing to find a mystery letter tucked inside an old album of photos?
Carole x