Starfishes

FO Shirt Skirt & NEW BLOG!!!

2010-07-01T03:36:00.000-07:00

So folks, I mentioned that I had made a skirt out of my bf's old shirt. Well here is the finished result:

BUT if you want to find out more, I have blogged about it...on my NEW BLOG!

Su Sews So-So

http://su-sews-so-so.blogspot.com/

Just as I have separated all my cooking posts to SU-YUM!, I decided I would do the same for my sewing. It's still a work in progress as I still have a few bits and bobs to add to side bars and such.

So if you are a follower on Starfishes, it would be so great if you became a follower on my new sewing blog (and/or the cooking one too of course!). My blogging on Starfishes is probably going to deminish from now on as I want to focus on my two new blogs for now. I'll keep Starfishes active though so we can still access the old posts.

Let me know what you think of the new sites!!!

xxx

SU-YUM!

2010-06-29T07:14:00.000-07:00

I have decided to keep my cooking posts separate to this blog and have created a new blog called "SU-YUM!". The main reason for making a new blog for cooking is to create a personal resource which I can use to scan through or search for inspiration whenever I am desperately trying to decide what to have for dinner!!

Even though I'm building it purely for a personal reason I've decided to make it public so if you fancy checking it out then go here:

http://su-yum.blogspot.com/

Let me know if you try out any of the recipes and how you got on. Equally, if you have any amazing recipes you think I should try then, by all means, send them through!!!

xxx

P.S. Promise the pics of my sHirt sKirt is coming soon - just need to get some decent pics of me wearing it (no easy task I tells ya!)

P.P.S I made up a muslin for New Look 6902 over the weekend which turned out well. Perhaps a little big so I'll try to make the adjustments and then get down to sewing the 'real thing' soon - can't wait. I tell you, this sewing malarky is addictive! (Proof - I was all excited about getting home last night to sew when I got the puppy dog eyes from Sir who thought my time would be better spent sitting next to him while he watches his flippin NCIS (he's addicted!)...man was I in a foul mood that night! lol! But I know, I can't complain...I'm lucky to have someone who wants to spend his evenings with me!)

Du pain...du vin....du Boursin....

2010-06-25T01:23:00.000-07:00

Salut!

I'm back from my hols in France. We stayed in a gorgeous converted farmhouse on the edge of a tiny, but very quaint, french village to the south of the Loire Valley. The weather was a little disappointing (especially since they were having a bit of a heat wave back home - typical!) but we made up for it by eating - and boy did we eat! The diet went out the window for sure...so much cheese, baguettes and wine! And it was lovely playing with my niece and nephew who live in Australia and I only get to see once every 2-3 years.

Anyway, I thought I'd share a few of my very French photos:

xxx

P.S. I finally got my sewing machine out of hibernation, dusted it off and last night I made a skirt out of an old shirt of Sirs - I'll post about it soon :)

Purrsday

2010-06-17T00:27:00.000-07:00

Happy PURRSday folks!

Have you heard of Simon's Cat? If you haven't you have to check out http://www.simonscat.com/. If you own a cat, or have ever owned a cat you can't help but laugh at these cute cartoons - they capture the cheekiness of cats to a T!

My favourite has to be the original cartoon: Cat Man Do:

http://www.simonscat.com/catmando.html

Meow!

P.S. Desided to remove the video and just put in a link as the clip was too big for my blog and I couldn't get it smaller - twas v annoying!

Bon Voyage!

2010-06-11T04:06:00.000-07:00

I'm off on my hols folks! Off to stay with my family in a farmhouse in the French countryside : http://www.lamaisonenpierre.com/

Can't wait - my brother and his family who live in Australia will be there so it will be a proper reunion - and I'll get to meet my 2yr old neice for the first time...very excited!!

I've a fun wee Purrsday lined up for you next week, but apart from that I'll be back in a week and a bit.

xxx

Purrsday

2010-06-10T00:05:00.000-07:00

Happy PURRSDAY everyone!

Today I'm focusing on feline-related jewelry from the wonderful handmade on-line store which I am sure we all know and love: Etsy

From Left to Right

Top Row:

1. Silver Cat Pendant from Zooz Jewelry

2. Silver Cat Ring from Silversmith HK

3. Cat at the Piano from Paper Sparrow

Middle Row:

4. Cheshire Cat Smile Pendant from Live this Life 777

5. Siamese Cat Pin from Jamie Guevarra

6. Flirty Kitty Ring from Cynical Red Head

Bottom Row:

7. Scrabble Tile Pendant from Blue Finger Studios

8. Maneki Neko Earrings from Auryn Design

9. "The Stalker" Art Resin Pendant from Alisa Paints

I love them and want them all!!!

Meow Meow

Pattern Challenge: Finished Skirt! McCalls 2220

2010-06-09T00:41:00.000-07:00

Hooray! I am finally posting a finished item for the Pattern Challenge! I have to admit, it wasn't one of my 'goals' that I set out at the beginning of this challenge....but hopefully I can still include it!

Anyway, if you have been following the blog a little (and if so - thanks!!!!), then you will know that I have been sewing (for what seems like an eternity) a simple skirt. I used McCalls 2220:

View C

Some images of the construction process:

Nearly there...just need the waistband on. Check out my Argyle slippers!

And the final result:

I'm not going to do a proper review of this pattern like a lot of you do because...well because I made the skirt so flippin' long a go I have forgotten!!!!! But I'll just summarise:

The pattern was pretty much easy to follow. A few things I was not 100% sure of, but I would put that down to this being the first pattern I have ever followed so the terminology is new to me. Luckily I have a mum who is a seasoned pro at sewing and she explained a lot for me

The hardest part for me was definitely the waist band (of course - the rest is just straight lines on the machine!) - there were a few strong words exchanged between me, the sewing machine and the fabric at times when trying to join everything together on a curve...fun times! I also somehow ended up with the front button section NOT overlapping (eh?! How did that happen??!!)...so I made a little loop out of the red material and use that as the button closure. Ironically, it actually makes a nice feature and adds a nice pop of colour!

The pattern doesn't include a contrasting band at the hem, but I decided that (after I had cut it out - tut tut) that it was too short for my liking. So I found a little bit of lovely red cotton in my stash and added it myself. The funny thing is that I wasn't really feeling the love for this skirt the whole way through making it, think to myself "well, I probably won't wear this as it's a bit boring but I'm making it to learn how to sew" - and as soon as I added the red band I totally fell for it! Amazing how adding one small thing can change something completely!

The main negative I have for the skirt is that the dark blue cotton attracts white fluff like bees to honey and it gets crushed the moment you put it on which is a big pain.

All in all, I'm a fan - and I'm just happy that I have finally made something all by my ownsome! And as a little added bonus I made a matching flower brooch out of the red fabric:

OK - lets try and keep this momentum going and get some more FOs churned out!

xxx

Self-Stitched-September...The planning

2010-06-08T03:22:00.000-07:00

Right, as I work 8-4 in an office most of my wardrobe for SSS will have to be 'business' attire and therefore I need to choose pieces accordingly. Luckily our dress-code isn't too strict so I won't have to make myself a full-blown tailored suit! I also have to remember that it will be September...in Belfast. Sometimes we may have to odd burst of sunshine but I think I need to prepare for wet and cold weather!

So what I think will help me get through SSS and ensure that I still look decent is:

1 or 2 pairs of trousers
Looking for patterns I have so far found:

Simplicity 2700

Simplicity 3686

I quite like the look of the wide trousers on the girl far right on Simplicity 3686, with out the black line down the side though. I also know that the overlapping button on the waistband is a style that suits me.

1 pencil skirt

Butterick 5391

This skirt isn't quite 'pencil' but think it would work quite well. This may also be a contender for trousers as well - kill two birds with one stone (and save money - patterns are expensive in the UK!) - I also like the fact that it's called 'Fast and Easy' - my kinda pattern!

1 full skirt

Butterick 5285

A possible 'full' skirt - but I'm not convinced. Think I need to keep looking. Anyone have any suggestions? Actually, I just remembered a skirt which Tasia from Sewaholic.net made that would be perfect: The Armani Skirt. It's McCall 5803, which on a quick search I can't find...I hope it's not out of print! Eek!

1 or 2 tops

Some options include:

McCalls 5977

McCalls 5851

McCalls 5884

McCalls 5851 might be more suitable for wearing out for drinks or socialising rather than work. And for McCalls 5884 I think I would make view A or B as I'm not totally convinced with the big sleeves on view C.

1 or 2 dresses

McCalls 5923

New Look 6723

I love the tartan in the McCalls 5923 and I'm totally loving the Holly Go-Lightly style of New Look 6723. I'm not quite the wisp of a thing that Audrey was so not sure this style would suit me.

I am also in possession of Butterick 5353 so I think I should definitely make this pattern:

And finally, if that's not enough for me, I was thinking it would be nice to make a Autumnal coat of some shape or form:

New Look 6685

McCalls 5525

On second thoughts...maybe I should make a coat first, and then I can cheat and just wear it every day to work and that would cover me for my one 'Self-Stitched' item!!

The next thing I need to think about is a colour scheme so I get maximum 'matching' with all my pieces - eek! That's the hard part. I love so many different colours that I know I will find it hard to choose. I suppose that because a lot of this is for work, I should make some pieces in black. And then perhaps match with red for a classic look which I know will suit? Not very exciting is it! It would also be good to use up some of my stash...not very much (aka none!) back or red in there! I think I need to think about this a bit more!

And finally, I haven't thought much about what I could make to wear on the weekends...that might be a bit trickier! Again will have to get thinking about this...

xxx

P.S. I have FINALLY taken a photo of the pattern I used for make my first (and, erm, only) skirt so I will be posting the end result very soon...maybe even tomorrow if you're lucky! Yeay!

P.P.S. I have just looked back through this post and I have come to the conclusion that I am definitely MAD/CRAZY/DELUSIONAL!!!

Self-Stitched-September...AKA Am I Crazy??!!!

2010-06-07T00:29:00.000-07:00

If you didn't realise, last month was 'Me-Made-May' - didn't you know?! Thought up by the lovely Zoe from 'So, Zo...'. The concept was to go the whole month wearing only clothes which you have made yourself, or, a lighter version, to wear at least one thing made by yourself. I watched with great interest and admiration some of the many bloggers who partook in this event - there are a lot of talented seamstresses out there (for example Tasia from Sewaholic.net)!!! All very inspiring.

And now Zoe has announced a new project: Self-Stitched-September!

After some consideration and thought I ended up signing up for this project! Eek! Am I totally insane?! I have made one skirt in half a year....not very productive (and I haven't even posted about it yet - a disgrace no less!)...how will I cope with wearing at least one item of clothing every day which I have made myself? Hmmm....I may end up wearing that skirt to death I fear! But, I thought - why not? This is the perfect kick-up the bum I need to finally get all those ideas out of my head, through the sewing machine and onto my (slightly squidgy) body!!!

So therefore I announce:

'I, Suzanna Wilson at starfishesbelfast.blogspot.com, sign up as a participant of Self-Stitched-September. I endeavor to wear at least 1 handmade or refashioned item of clothing and/or accessories every day for the duration of September 2010'

Now comes the fun part...the part I am very good at....the thinking and the planning. Oh how I love the planning.....it's the carrying out of plans which I'm not so hot at!!

So tomorrow I'll post about my thoughts on what I will need in my Self-Stitched wardrobe (currently consisting of one skirt!) and what patterns I may be using.

xxx

Spicy!

2010-06-04T00:14:00.000-07:00

Dinner last night: Spicy beef salad with homemade potato salad - YUM!

Dead easy to make:

Spicy Beef Salad:

Mixed salad leaves

Sliced red onion

Tomatoes, cut into wedges

Red Pepper, diced

Brie, diced

Pine Nuts, lightly toasted

Green and Black marinated Olives, sliced

Mix and dress with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper

Top with spicy beef slices (which i bought pre-prepared in Tesco!)

Potato Salad:

Boil baby potatoes, dice, mix with chopped spring onions, good mayonnaise and some wholegrain mustard. Add salt and pepper to taste

Purrsday

2010-06-03T00:58:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Purrrrr-sday - a new feature day here on Starfishes! I really am no good at sticking to one theme...I know that's what you should do to get maximum readership and to get your blog noticed (blah blah blah)...maybe it makes your blog easier to label - 'ah...this is a crafting blog' or 'this is a cooking blog'. Well, I just can't do that - I like too many things!! This blog is more like a snippet of my brain...always with loads of random things going on inside!

Anyway...on to the main event. I LOVE cats. Unfortunately I don't have one of my own...so I have to live vicariously through other people's cats, cats I meet on the street...or cats related things I find on-line! So I'm making a feature day on my blog which will just have random wee things related to all things feline. (erm...Sorry if you hate cats!)

To kick start this feature day off I have to admit that I 'stole' my first image from another blog! Tsk tsk, I know. I've just discovered this lovely blog called Conversation Pieces, by the lovely Zoë over in Bonny Scotland (ahhh...I miss Edinburgh...went to Uni there). Her blog really is lovely so I recommend going over and checking it out. She shared with us last Friday a very funky bird box which she found on the Urban Outfitters site and when I saw it I laughed out loud! What a brilliant idea - I LOVE it!!!!

Anyway, enjoy the rest of your Purrsday guys

xxx

My ever-growing STASH!

2010-06-02T01:51:00.000-07:00

Well I finally got around to trying to sort out my 'sewing' room in my new abode....but even after a full day of sorting it still looks like this:

Horrific hey! Sir uses this room for his laundry too so it's a fight for space really!

Anyway, while I was sorting through all my stuff I was able to finally get to my material stash and I thought I'd share it with you and let you see all my many many plans (oh I'm so good at planning....just not so good at carrying out my plans!)....

One of the boxes filled with material waiting to be transformed....

This is a big piece of purple cotton batik which my mother gave me (her material stash is OBSCENE!) as I was looking for something to make this:

I've cut the pattern pieces for the option second in from the right on the brown haired girl (short light blue with dark blue band/straps) and I've cut out the muslin so hopefully I will be able to get this dress made soon (hmmm...I cut the muslin out in April!!!). I'm still trying to decide what colour to make my band and straps though. What do you think would look nice with the purple batik?!

Ikea Fabric

I LOVE Ikea fabric! I love how unusual it is and I love how CHEAP it is!!! So I have a lot of it waiting to be used for stuff. Most of it I bought before I knew what I would do with it!

This is upholstery weight so I would like to make a bag with it. Or perhaps a pleated skirt.

Quite light weight cotton so I plan to make a nice summer dress or skirt with this. Haven't decided on a pattern yet though.

Another lovely light weight cotton, planning on making a maxi dress from the New Look pattern above with this material. I LOVE maxi dresses!

Again, heavy duty cotton so this will probably end up as a bag of some shape or form. I love the crazy tree pattern on this - reminds me of Dr Seuss!

I'm all about red and black - I love them together, so I fell in love with this material as soon as I saw it! Planning on making this into a bag as well.

Old Curtain Remnants

Yep, you read that right! I was in a (pretty crap) fabric shop in Belfast and happened across a remnant basket which was full of old curtain samples...going for £1.50 each!!!! So I am in there almost every week now looking for new finds. This is what I've snatched up so far:

The picture doesn't really do this fabric justice. It has a lovely texture to it and it very heavy weight - so again, I'm thinking a bag.

This one is lovely, but again the photo doesn't do it justice. Its a lovely duck egg blue with a cream spot which is raised. Heavy weight again so will probably end up as a bag.

Love this one! Heavy-ish so think it will be a bag as well.

A lovely light weight voile type fabric (I'm sorry, I really don't know my fabric types so I could actually be totally WRONG!). It's sheer (you can just about make my sewing machine out underneath it) so I thought it would make a really cute blouse (which I would wear with a little vest underneath of course!) - perhaps pussy bow style....just need to find a pattern!

Another favourite. I am hoping there is enough fabric here to make a pleated skirt. I don't have a pattern yet, but I'm looking...or I may try and copy a skirt that I already have (which I bought two of from River Island in the sale years ago.....and I LIVE in them for work - the cut really suits me). I'll probably make the pattern go around the skirt, rather than up and down as it's shown here.

Randoms:

I took the head-staggers one day and bought this half yard cut of Liberty fabric off EBay for about £12. Crazy for me...but the pattern is called Susanna - so how could i not!!! Its a lovely fine light weight cotton but since I only have half a yard I'm not sure what I can make with it.....I'm hoping I can get a little strappy top.

This was given to my by my mum again. Nice little texture detail on it and there is a TONNE of fabric. But I'm not sure what to do with it at all. It's quite heavy weight so I'm not sure. Maybe a structured dress or a pencil skirt?

Cute little floral pattern. I only have one meter of this so it limits what I can do with it. It's also a poly-cotton, which isn't that nice. But perhaps I'll make a little strappy top from this as well.

Well that's it for now! You'll have noticed that a lot of the material is destined to become bags. That's because when I first started on this sewing venture I had planned to make bags and sell them! I may still do this, but I'm obsessing about making clothes now instead! If I could make ANYTHING at all that would be good! If you guys have any thoughts or suggestions on things I could make then let me know!

xxx

I'm Loving It!

2010-06-01T04:47:00.000-07:00

Sir and I nipped into Maccy-Dees for a wee bit of sustenance between service and reception at a wedding we went to on Saturday - top tip for anyone heading to any wedding this summer (just don't tell the bride!)!

xxx

P.S. Slightly crafty related post coming tomorrow - PLUS a new 'feature day' starting on Thursday

P.P.S. If anyone is interested in seeing pics of the wedding from last Sat then let me know and I'll do a post on it. Beautiful old Manor house for reception location.

Babushka-ya-ya

2010-05-28T03:35:00.000-07:00

Just a couple of ladies who keep me company at work...

xxx

Spotting the Small Stuff...

2010-05-27T01:17:00.000-07:00

Just a short post.

I thought it was interesting to see the detail in some of the street signs in town. You don't usually think of Belfast as having 'Quarters' but we do...and having a 'Linen Quarter' is a lovely thought.

The Dark Hedges - An amazing story

2010-05-24T06:14:00.000-07:00

Well I hope everyone had a brilliant weekend. We were blessed with gorgeous sunshine and high temperatures so it was just lovely.

I thought I would share the most amazing story about me and the Dark Hedges (N.I.) that happened to me recently. I have posted about them before here, but I'll tell you the background about them again.

Back in 2007 I went to see the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition in the Natural History Museum in London and out of all the photos one really took me back. My first reaction was "where in the world is that?". After closer inspection I actually laughed out loud when I discovered that this eerie scene was actually a place in Northern Ireland! So ever since then I have always wanted to take the trip to find the "Dark Hedges"

Original shot taken by Bob McCallion (source)

I must have been driving my friends nuts talking about this picture, as for my birthday last year I was treated to a photograph of the Dark Hedges taken by a friend who lives near them:

AND Sir bought me a framed print of the original shot taken by Bob McCallion:

So that weekend after my birthday we decided to take a day trip up to find these elusive hedges so that I could see them for myself. I tell you, they certainly are elusive...we had to ask several people for directions to find them. But it was worth it, and here is MY version:

This is a little country road that you would never even know about if you weren't looking for them. Ironically, even though it was 'in the middle of nowhere', there was another guy there at the same time as us taking his own pics...and I thought to myself "oh dear, I bet he's really annoyed at us because we are getting in the way of his shot".

Here's the AMAZING part of this story: earlier on this year I got a comment on my blog, followed by an e-mail...from the photographer Bob McCallion, who took the original version! I was honoured that he had found my blog and found my version on the dark hedges. But to make things even MORE amazing, he had a picture in his possesion which he thought I was IN!!!! In his e-mail he attached this:

And there I am, with Sir....IN BOB McCALLIONS PHOTO!!!!!!! Aparently he has been 'searching' for the girl in the pink ski jacket for ages, tormenting his wife trying to find the couple in his photo...and lo and behold...he found us! I just couldn't believe it. And last week I recieved a signed print of the very photo to have as my own. I love it - it is just gorgeous, and I love it even more than the original shot - the lighting is so fresh and vivid. Who would have thought that back in 2007 when I first saw that photo I would have ended up with my own personal version taken by the very same photographer!

xxx

P.S. Sorry for all the 'sample's on the last pic, but it'd not mine to share so I thought I'd better do something to 'protect' it!

Oh Brother - what a Singer!

2010-05-20T04:08:00.000-07:00

Ah dear...still working on my catchy post headings....think I need a lot more practice! Ha.

Anyway, I was in my local Oxfam shop and came across two rather retro sewing machines. So out came my iphone and I partook in a little bit of sneaky photography! Check these guys out:

I love the way old sewing machines come built into their own table - very convenient. These are fun, but I have been so bad at using my 'new' machine that I have no need to buy these. But had there been an old black metal singer like this.....:

...THAT might have been a different matter! (source)

And while I was searching for the pic above I came across this beauty:

(source)

Wow, I love it! How gorgeously ornate. Wonder what it's stiches are like!

Right...these sewing machines have made me DETERMINED to get that attic room SORTED asap and get sewing. I honestly have a list as long as my arm of things I REALLY want to sew. And I keep buying material and not using it so my stash is getting a little out of control.

xxx

Sugar'n'Spice Dinner Party

2010-05-17T03:03:00.000-07:00

Well as I mentioned in my last post, last Saturday I hosted a "Sugar and Spice and all things Nice" dinner party - the theme chosen to celebrate the imminent arrival of my friends baby girl in June. There was definately a fair bit of organisation, planning and prep required, and I worked all day saturday, but I think it turned out a success. Just seeing the girls faces when they saw the table was worth it!

This is going to be quite a photo-intense post....but those are the best kind aren't they!!!! So lets get on with it....

Prep in the kitchen....peppers sitting ready to be roasted....veg par-boiled ready to be added to the curry at the end...lots of bowls full of various ingredients!

Minor DISASTER! I had never made the 'baked raspberry cheesecake' before so I wasn't prepared for how much mixture there was...it barely fitted into my tin...and then it rose A LOT in the oven. I honestly didnt know if this would be edible or not....check out the pics further down the post to find out what happened....

The table cloth was an old sheet I decided to keep (I hate throwing material out...so many possibilities for making things!). I tied 'pink' scarves and bits of 'pink' material around the chair backs for added colour. And because of the Sugar and Spice theme, I scattered the table with sweets, cinnamon sticks and cloves - and then some sparkly spots and butterflies for added girly-ness!

The menu! I found a great website called Download and Print which has a whole range of beautiful invitations which you can download, costomise on Word and then print! So I was able to find a pretty invitation (which was actually for a wedding!) and adjust it so that it showed the evenings menu instead. I thought this added a fun touch to the night. Since I didnt have accesss to a colour printer I just coloured the butterflies in by hand afterwards. I didnt own the right colour napkins so I just bought paper ones, wrapped them in pink ribbon and slotted a lollypop in with it - and then a pink raspberry ruffle at the corner of the menu for extra 'sugar'!!

The menu was as follows:

Sparkling Pink Cocktails

- these were made by drizzling a teaspoon of homemade raspberry and strawberry cooli (heat raspberries, strawberries and icing sugar in a pan until jucy, mash with a fork and squeeze through a sieve), a squeeze of lime juice and then top up with cava. Mocktails were made for the drivers and the mum-to-be by substituting the cava with sparkling mineral water (which had a slight lime and elderflower flavour)

Roasted Peppers Stuffed with Halloumi and Couscous

- I substituted the mushrooms for sun-blushed tomatoes, which added a lovely zing to the flavour

Fragrant Thai Green Chicken Curry

- with added baby corn (coz I love it!)

Baked Raspberry Cheesecake

- with added strawberries which was a nice extra. And served with vanilla ice cream and creme fraiche

The food:

Ta-da, once the cheesecake had cooled, it dropped back down to 'normal' size and after slicing and decorating with cooli, berries and cream it was 'presentable'...and tasted pretty nice too!!! No close-up of the starter (but if you look at the first pic with the girls at the table they are about to tuck into the roasted peppers - so if you squint you can see it!

The girls enjoying their cocktails (all wearing pink of course!)

Trying to feel for a kick!

And lets just throw in a pic of the hostess in her 'pink' outfit as well!

So a fun night for all and I think the girls had a good time :)

xxx

p.s. BOY did a cook too much rice! So with the left over I made a mix between Nasi Goreng (Indonesian fried rice) and egg friend rice with chicken, peas, sweetcorn, peppers, tomato, corriander and lime for sunday dinner with Sir - tasted delish! And ALSO spicy tomato, bean and chorizo soup with rice thrown in, which we are having for lunch today. I'll see if I can take some pics.

I'm also adding this to Made by You Mondays over at Skip to My Lou - check out loads of other brilliant homemade craftiness over there by clicking on the link below:

Suzie's Super Scrumptious Sore Back Bettering Banana Bread!

2010-05-14T01:08:00.000-07:00

Hmmm...yes...well...I AM back, I promise! I'm being very bad at posting at the moment so I'm sorry about that! My excuse? Well I was away with work all this week. To Croatia tho, so that was rather nice. First time there. But unfortunately I didn't really get an opportunity to take pics...so nothing to share with you this time unfortunately. But if we win the project over there (I was over trying to win new business) then I will be back and I will make sure I take lots of lovely pictures for you all!

So, back to todays post. My lovely friend Meliosa (Irish name, pronounced Mel-lisa) was in a small car crash recently, the poor thing. Everyone involved ok but she did hurt her back quite badly and has had to take a lot of time off work to recover. I thought that I would make her a little something to help ease the pain...and what better than my 'infamous' banana bread...however, this time it was extra special :

Suzies Super Scrumptious Sore Back Bettering Banana Bread!!

Hee hee, just a little bit of fun, but I thought I'd show you how I wrapped up the bread.

On a positive note, Mel is doing much better and is starting back to work again.

I'm looking forward to the weekend. Sir is off up north to Portrush to watch motorbike racing all weekend (snore) so I have the house to myself! And so I am taking the opportunity to have the girls round for dinner. Since one of my friends is expecting a baby girl in June (eek so soon!!!) I thought it would be nice to have the theme 'Sugar and Spice and All Things Nice' as my theme and of course everything will have a pink theme running through it and I have asked the guests to come in pink! My menu is (hopefully) as follows:

- Sparkling pink cocktails when they arrive (mocktail for mum-to-be and any drivers)

- Roasted peppers stuffed with couscous and halloumi cheese

- Thai Green Chicken Curry

- Baked Raspberry Cheesecake

- Coffees and chocolate mints

- LOTS of wine!

So I have the cheesecake as the 'sugar', the green curry as the 'spice' and hopefully everything will be 'nice'!!!! The peppers are because on of the girls coming loves them and apparently never gets to eat them because her boyfriend hates them!!! I have lots to do tonight and tomorrow but I think I have picked things which are easy enough to prepare so hopefully I wont be running around like a fool at the last minute!

I'll make sure I take lots of pics and post them up here next week!

Hope you all have a lovely weekend too

xxx

I'm Back!

2010-05-05T07:53:00.000-07:00

...did you miss me?!!!

Well I'm back, and you may notice a few changes around here! I thought I would take the time away as an opportunity to give my blog a new look as the old one wasn't quite working for me! What do you think?

Moving house is SUCH hard work - I have been busy busy busy for the past two weeks, and I STILL have so much more to do...it's just a never ending load of boxes to unpack! And trying to find space for all my stuff in my boyfriends house is very difficult - hence a trip to Ikea was called for to buy extra storage boxes and what-not. Oh how I love the storage boxes.

I'm planning to convert my boyfriends upstairs attic room into my sewing room. I say planning because at the moment it is just FULL to the brim with boxes and bags and stuff. In my mind I can see what it would be like, but it just seem like such a long way off getting to that....rather demotivating at the moment! But I have a massive list of things I want to make on my sewing machine so I am DYING to get this room sorted. The sooner I do, the sooner I have nice things to blog about!!!!

So in the mean time you may have to just put up with some of my more random posts. And to kick it off lets have some pics of SPRING!!!

xxx

We will be right back after this short break....

2010-04-19T04:38:00.000-07:00

(source)

I've been pretty crap at keeping my posts up to date recently and I know it's only going to get worse before it gets better so I'm going to put my blog on 'pause' for a few weeks. I'm in the process of moving house and everything is just a bit chaotic at the moment! Hopefully I'll be back with some interesting posts at the start of May.

xxx

Spotting the Small Stuff...

2010-04-13T07:54:00.000-07:00

I love the way that if you look closely at your everyday life you can spot things that you'd otherwise not even know was there because life is all too hectic these days! There are a lot of interesting things around Belfast that I bet not a lot of people notice. So I thought I'd take a few snaps of them and share them with you guys periodically.

Today is the interesting graffiti that's on the wall beside my office:

A potential Christmas card print I was thinking!

xxx

I've been playing with the idea of having a few regular posts - either weekly or monthly...but it's whether I can stick to it or not!

For now I'll say that this theme of "Spotting the Small Stuff" will be semi-regular...in that you'll see it pop up on my blog again now and again, but as to when the next one will be....it'll be a surprise!

Killyleagh, N.I.

2010-04-12T02:43:00.000-07:00

On a rare sunny Sunday Sir and I jumped in the car and headed in search of more 'new' places in N.I. to visit. Cue Killyleagh. Not new to Sir, but very new to me. And I can't believe it has taken me so long to discover such a gorgeous little village so close to me!.

This is as close as I could get without trespassing!

The main thing that hits you as you drive into the village is the very impressive Killyleagh Castle. On gettting out to take some shots I discovered this is actually an inhabited castle! How amazing! Four hundred years ago Gawn Rowan Hamilton's ancestor James Hamilton arrived in Co Down and settled in Killyleagh Castle (if you are interested in reading about the family and the history check out this link). I also discovered that the towers of the castle have been converted into self-catering appartments - now that would be an impressive place to stay!

Apparently the top of the towers are used as patios.

Apart from the gorgeous castle, the main street of Killyleagh is so quaint, with all the buildings painted different pastel shades and dotted with lovely looking cafe's and pubs. Unfortunately as it was early on Sunday none of the spots were open, but Sir did inform me that the cafe there is very good. I think I may be back!

View of the castle at the end of the main street

A short amble finds you at the shores of Strangford Lough and a new delevlopment of houses over looking the water. Well...Sir was in love! I've never seen him so exited about a place. His dream would be to have a house with access to water so that he could get up in the morning and fling his kayak in and go off for a day long padle. I have to say I wouldn't complain with that kind of set-up either! It really was gorgeous, helped a lot no doubt by the gloriously sunny day. Sir is wanting to sell his house in ther next year or so, and I have a feeling he may be looking for his new one near here! The only issue is the commute to work.

We spent the rest of the day in a nearby country park called Delamont Country Park (including compulsory picnic and then Mr Softy icecream of course!). Unfort I didnt take any photos here - sorry guys!! But it was a lovely place so I'm sure I'll be back.

xxx

Long time no Post - Whoops!

2010-04-09T07:44:00.000-07:00

HELLO! Oh dear, I have been very bad at posting recently! In my defence...I was away on a wee mini-break with Sir over to Edinburgh. Twas fab and I loved dragging Sir around all my old uni haunts. We even went on a ghost tour and visited in the underground vaults - really good fun and scary (for ME anyway)...but alas, no ghosts were spotted!

Crafing wise, I STILL need to take a photo of myself wearing my blue & red skirt so that I can post about the finished item. Hopefully this weekend - although I'll have to find my tri-pod as Sir is off visiting family (so jealous how many holidays teachers get!). I have also started making a muslin for a summer dress. I measured myself and got very depressed when the measurements came out as the size 14 on the pattern (erm HELLO, I'm a size 10 in the shops!!!! Am I in denial or something??!!). So I am making the muslin out of the size 14 and keeping fingers crossed its too big - my mum recons it will be. But those are the measurements I came up with! I don't get it! Ah well, its all a learning process I guess!

It may take some time for me to get anywhere near finishing the dress though as my priorities for the next month are to PACK and MOVE house!!! Yep, taking the giant commitment leap and moving in with Sir!! Eekk!!!!!! He's being really great about it and not panicing too much (perhaps inside he is!). Although, saying that.....I told him the other day that I was just going to cancel my Tesco card and we could both use his....and he nearly had a mental breakdown! Use HIS card....and what about all the points HE has saved so far???!!!! Lol! The thought of sharing his Tesco card was faaarrr more of a commitment to him than me sharing his house! He is an odd one. But I guess thats why I love him (awwww - bleahhh!).

I am LOVING this weather this week - SPRING HAS SPRUNG (ah the cliche!)! And to mark the change in the season here is a wee pic of some daffs I took while in Edinburgh:

A novel use for fingerless gloves/wrist warmers!

2010-03-24T09:08:00.000-07:00

I meant to post about this ages ago, but what with my computer being banjaxed I am only getting around to it now.

I have a severe lack of vases in my house and on Valentines Day I recieved a single red rose from Sir (part of the Marks & Spensers Valentines Meal Deal - it was soooo good!) and didn't know what on earth to put it in. I wanted to have it on the table while we had dinner so I needed something then and there. Cue the only thing I could think of: a wine bottle. Only the label was still on it and it looked a bit ugly. So after a bit of searching around I spotted one of my red fingerless gloves (that pull up to your elbows) and wondered what it might look like on the bottle...and here is the end result:

I ended up with a bit of a 'French Bistro' feel to the dining table, which I loved! Ok, it might look a little silly, but for a last minute trick I was happy enough.

Once the rose withered I decided to move the red cover over to the bottle with the candle in it and have kept it ever since:

I have a red/black/white theme going on in my house so it fits in really well.

xxx

I like to move it move it!

2010-03-22T02:05:00.000-07:00

One of my all time FAVOURITE animals has to be the ring-tailed lemur. I just love them. They have so much character.

Sir and I took a trip to the Belfast zoo recently and I took a few snaps:

This guys stance made me laugh so much!

I love their bright yellow eyes

And their long stripey tails...curled into a question mark

Another one of my favourites - Meerkat

And another - a Marmoset, not sure which type unfort.

xxx

A trip to Scrabo Tower, Northern Ireland

2010-03-18T04:53:00.000-07:00

As part of my goals for 2010 I wanted to get out and see more places in Northern Ireland. So Sir and I set off a little while back on a nice crisp Winter's day to visit Scrabo Tower. I've been to the base of the tower before but have never climbed it....does that mean I can or can't count that towards achieving my goal??!!! Anyway, for those who aren't familiar to Scrabo Tower, here is what good ol' Wikipedia has to say about it:

The landmark, which is visible from most of north Down, was built on a volcanic plug above the town in 1857 as a memorial to Charles Stewart, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry who was one of the Duke of Wellington's generals during the Napoleonic Wars. The 3rd Marquis, or "Warring Charlie" as he was also known, inherited the title and family seat of Mount Stewart after his brother, the 2nd Marquis, committed suicide. The 2nd Marquis is better known as Viscount Castlereagh who served a term as Britain's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.

The tower was built to designs attributed to Charles Lanyon and WH Lynn, and now stands in a country park. The park has several woodland walks and parkland through Killynether Wood. The view from the hill and the summit of the tower extends across Strangford Lough, scattered with its many islands, to the Mountains of Mourne and the Scottish coast. The tower houses two floors of displays and a climb of 122 steps takes the visitor to the open viewing level.

View out of one of the windows

View up to the top of the tower (if you flip this it looks like your looking down into a bottomless hole....makes me feel queasy!)

View North from the top

View South-East from the top....excuse the ugger pic of me! Love the view of Strangford Lough from here though...beautiful, especially on such a lovely day.

xxx

Moroccan Meatballs

2010-03-15T07:13:00.000-07:00

I decided to try a new recipe which I found off one of my favourite food websites: BBC Good Food. This is actually the first time that I have ever tried to make meatballs (of any variety) and I was nervous that they would all break up in the sauce with too much stiring. But it all turned out beautifully and I was really pleased with the result. I would definately recommend for anyone to give this a go, and I will definately be making this again.

Ingredients:

500g lean minced lamb

1 red onion , grated

2 garlic cloves , crushed

2cm chunk root ginger , grated

a pinch dried chilli flakes

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground cinnamon

olive oil

2 x 400g tins plum tomatoes

200ml chicken stock

½ bunch coriander , chopped

HERB COUSCOUS

200g couscous

50g butter

350ml chicken stock , boiling

½ bunch coriander , chopped

½ bunch parsley , chopped

Method:

1.Put the lamb, onion, half the garlic, half the ginger and half the spices in a bowl and season well. Mix (clean hands are best) and form into little meatballs (you'll make around 30).

2.Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large non-stick pan and add the meatballs in batches, frying until browned all over. Scoop out, then add the rest of the garlic, ginger and spices and cook for 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and stock and season. Simmer for 10 minutes, then add back the meatballs and cook for another 20 minutes until sauce is thickened. Stir in the coriander.

3.To make the couscous put in a bowl with the butter and some seasoning. Pour over the chicken stock and cover with clingfilm. Leave for 10 minutes. Stir the herbs through and serve with meatballs.

Top Tip: I added flaked almonds to the couscous and it added a lovely crunch to the whole thing.

Enjoy!

xxx

Flower Brooch number 2

2010-03-13T15:13:00.000-08:00

I loved the brooch which I had made for my friends birthday i knew I had to make one for myself. This time I used a heavy duty fabrc from Ikea, so its a lot more rigid. Its nice to try out the brooch with different fabrics and I do like it in the heavy stuff, but I think flimsier fabric suits it better. For this pic I've attached it to one of my hats, but I've been wearing it mostly on my clothes and I'm loving it...I think I will be making many more of these!!!

(Again, just to say that I got the pattern from the tutorial over at Wise Craft)

xxx

New Pages

2010-03-11T10:01:00.000-08:00

Sunrise view from Whitehead, Northern Ireland

Just a quick post to draw attention to the fact that I've added a couple of new 'pages' to this blog.

1. About: a basic run down of all the different subjects I plan to cover in this blog

2. 2010 Goals: I've dedicated a page to this as I want to make sure I actually achieve them and don't forget about them!! I've got the running total achieved on there too

xxx

Strangford, Northern Ireland

2010-03-10T09:12:00.000-08:00

One of my goals for this year was to visit at least 4 new places within Northern Ireland. I believe there is a lot for me to discover about this country and I'm looking forward to exploring!

So I can tick off one out of 4 as Sir and I had a wee trip to the very sweet seaside town of Strangford, which is found one side of the narrow inlet to Strangford Lough. It's a very quaint little town with nice old cottages and interesting shops. It also has a ferry crossing point over to Portaferry, although we didnt go on it.

Here are some photos of the area:

I really like this little village. It would be a very nice place to live...but the commute to Belfast would be too much to hack every day for me!

xxx

Reversible Tote Bag and Fabric Flower

2010-03-08T09:00:00.000-08:00

My friends birthday was coming up and I was trying to think of what to get her. She is quite a 'crafty' person herself and loves making her own cards in particular, so I thought she might appreciate a 'home-made' pressie!

So I set about making a tote bag (since this was my latest achievement - see previous post!). This time I decided to follow a tutorial and found a brilliant one on Skip To My Lou, which is actually reversible - bonus! Again I had to use what material I had to hand, this time it was very sturdy fabric from Ikea (white with black 'bunting').

I was a bit stumped as to what to make the lining with as nothing I had really went with the Ikea fabric. After a bit of searching around I found a flowery scarf which I had bought from Primark, but not yet used, and thought I might as well use that!!!

I was a bit nervous about making the straps, as it requires you to fold the fabric over 4 times, and I was worried my needle might break. So I adapted it slightly and only folded it three times. However, I think I should have stuck to the 4! Saying that, it worked out fine anyway. I really liked the method for finishing off the opening of the bag, and actually using this as the place to turn the bag the right way round. It ended up looking very professional (well...in my opinion anyway!).

As an added bonus I decided to make a pretty fabric flower brooch out of some of the remaining lining fabric. I found a very good tutorial for it at Wise Craft. The button is just one I had in the house. I recon the brooch turned out very well and I know my friend really loved it.

I was running late for her party when I remembered to take photos of this bag before wrapping so they aren't the best. And I forgot to take a photo of it in the 'reversed' option too!!! Whoops!

I really loved how this bag turned out, and I especially loved the thickness of the Ikea fabric, it really helps keep the bag in shape and I know itill be sturdy enough to carry loads. It was very hard to give it away...thick I may have to make one for myself!!!

xxx

P.S. Since I used Skip to My Lou's tutorial, I thought it would only be appropriate to join in in her 'Made by You Mondays'! Click the link above to check out loads of other things people have been making! :)

Pocket tote bag

2010-03-05T02:45:00.000-08:00

*Holding my breath as I write this...the computer might crash!*

Well as I mentioned in a previous post, life has been ticking along, even if my computer hasn't, and I have a bunch of things I've been wanting to blog about but haven't been able to.

So here is the first one...

I had had an idea for a tote bag with a pocket on the front that would allow it to be tucked into itself so it could be stored in my handbag when not in use. I know this is not a 'new' idea, but it's not something I've seen around so I thought I had to give it a go anyway. So one night I got to work and whipped something up. As well as anything else, this is also the first time I have made a tote, so it was a good learning experience for me. Here is the end result:

So, it's pretty basic and I just used things I had round the house to make it. I made the tote bag by looking at other tote bags I had as I didnt have a pattern to hand. The corners at the base are pinched and sewn so it has a bit of width to the bag - good for storing extra stuff! When I was making it I wasn't 100% sure how the pocket was going to work - I initially thought I would turn the pocket inside out and tuck everything into it, so I made the pocket lined. As the bag developed I figured I didnt need to.

I added a nice big button to the front of the pocket and attached a long faux suede loop (which used to be a broken necklace I never got round to fixing!) and when the bag is 'open' this hooks over the top to the back....

...and gets hooked round a small button on the back. The only button I had that matched the front one and the bag was pretty small. If I were to make this again I would use a bigger button. But this one still works.

To pack the bag away you fold in the sides the the size of the pocket, fold in the straps and then fold it all into the pocket (whoops, I should have taken photos of this!). You then wrap the loop around the pocket/folded bag and around the big button. End result is a neatly folded away bag ready to pop into your handbag and be used for your next impromptu shopping trip!

So what would I change:

1. As I mentioned before, the button on the back is just a little bit too small, so I would use a bigger one.

2. I think the pocket is perhaps a bit big, so when it's all folded up it's still quite a big thing to carry around in your handbag - I have quite a big handbag so it's ok for me...but probably not for everyone.

3. Finally, the fabric I used for the bag (the spotty stuff) is very thin and I'm nervous it might not stand up to a serious amount of heavy shopping going into it. But it was all I had to hand when I was making it. Again, if I were to make this another time, I would use a stronger fabric. Saying that....it DID survive a trip to the Asia Supermarket where I bought a tonne of stuff:

xxx

P.S. See those noodles packed into the top of my bag? They are the BEST!! I grew up in Indonesia and these are the Indonesian version of Super Noodles and they are 100x better and tastier. If you are ever in an Asian Supermarket look out for Indo Mie noodles (mie is the Indonesian word for noodles...who would have thought!) and give them a go - they are AWESOME! (oh and they usually only cost abot 30p a packet - bargain!)

Pattern Challenge: New/additional patterns

2010-03-02T03:00:00.000-08:00

I decided to treat myself to a few new sewing patterns since I just got a promotion in work (yeay me!!)! Since I made my goal for the pattern challenge (see previous post) to make three summer outfits I knew I needed some more patterns to work from so after finding the Sewing World website, and discovering they are having a bit of a sale (although this could be a permenant sale?) I have opted for the following:

I love maxi dresses so I might try and make one with this pattern....altho that does use a LOT of material (and I'm trying to keep costs down! - Does anyone know any cheap UK based fabric websites??)

From this pattern I plan to make the blue and white top, I love the contrasting white band.

And finally I also bought this pattern. The most expensive and I think it will also be the most difficult!!! But I just love the style and I know it is a cut that will suit my shape very well. I thought it would make a very smart dress for work during the summer. I know I have already identified 3 other summer patterns to make (the two above and the one in the previous post and therefore my Pattern Challenge Goal achieved), but I thought I'd just show this pattern as well any way!

I tell you, if I DO manage to make all of these patterns I will be VERY pleased with myself!!!!! I shall endevor to keep you posted!

xxx

Pattern Challenge!

2010-02-26T14:28:00.000-08:00

Hi ho folks - I am back! Ok, it may be temporoary as my computer is still acting up...but keeping fingers crossed nontheless.

And I'm kicking off the wonder of being back online with the announcement that I am joining in on the Pattern Challenge which Sarah from comeandseetheseitz.com is hosting! It's a fun group who all make their own personal pattern sewing goals, blog about them and also share them on the designated flickr group too. I thought it would be really interesting to follow how everyone else gets on...and it also gives me a bit more insentive to reach my own goals!

Speaking of which.....my goal for this pattern challenge is:

- To make 3 summer outfits by June 30th

The first of the three will be a dress....from the pattern below:

I'm not sure which yet, but I think it might be A or E...or B.....
I also need to decide what fabric to make it out of. It's a simple enough pattern, but I'm new at sewing so I'm starting easy.
I'm also looking forward to picking out 2 other patterns to work on.

Wish me luck!!!

Pancake flipping and flippin' computers!

2010-02-16T03:08:00.000-08:00

(image from HERE)

HAPPY PANCAKE TUESDAY!

I hope you are all tucking in to mountains of fluffy pancakes loaded with butter / maple syrup / sugar and lemon....or as I had today in work: strawberries and cream! Oh yum!

Unfortunately my home computer is STILL playing up and I can't connect to the internet. Sad times I know. Especially since I have about a months worth of blog posts ready and waiting to write about! To give you a taster of a few things I've got in the pipe line have a look below:

- I finally got round to making my first bag - yeay! Its a little tote bag with a pocket in the front. You tuck the bag into the pocket when not in use and it's easy to carry in your handbag...so I will never be without a shopping bag - oh so eco-friendly ;)
- I have also finally finished my skirt! I've added a lovely red band round the bottom and I am pretty pleased with it. It even FITS! ha ha.
- Moroccan meatballs - tres delish...so I'll post a photo of the finished result and link to the recipe
- A couple of day trips to some beautiful places around Northern Ireland

See - I am DYING to get back to the blogging! You may think that surely THIS post is 'blogging' - but the thing is that I can't upload my own photos on this computer. As I said...sad times.

In the mean time, I have updated my sidebar somewhat. One of the main new additions is the rolling list of Goals achieved so far in 2010. These are based on the Goals which I set out in the post you can find HERE. I'm hoping this will spur me on and inspire me to reach ALL of my 2010 Goals. I'm already feeling bad about not having even started into my fitness goals!

xxx

Messing around with some photos

2010-02-05T05:30:00.000-08:00

Hello! Hope you haven't missed me too much (thats a lie, I really hope that you have missed me terribly! lol). My computer is still being fixed but I have access to another one for the time being. Unfortunately all the posts I have lined up involve photos that are on the other computer...but because I really wanted to do another post I thought I'd share a few photos which I salvaged from my facebook account and have been playing around with.

I always like the effect of blank & white and sepia photos, and I have these settings on my camera. But whenever I am taking photos I always tell myself that I will just take the photo in colour and then later on I can have the option to play around with the effects later. Typically I always forget to and they all remain in vibrant colour.

So...I thought I'd play with a few photos which I took while I was a sailing holiday in Greece last year....

I'm trying to go for a real 'old' feel to these photos...but not sure I'm quite acheiving it.

I quite like the effect on this one...It's like looking back at the old Polaroid photos my mum and dad have - which have all turned a yellow tint.

As I said, I salvaged these from my facebook site so the quality isn't the best. Keeping fingers crossed I get my laptop back this evening!!!!

Have a great weekend folks

xxx

@#!?%!

2010-01-28T04:41:00.000-08:00

My home computer is STILL acting up so I haven't been able to post anything this week. So frustrating! Sir has taken it into work for his IT guy to have a look at it....fingers crossed he can save it.

xxx

From Sarajevo with love....

2010-01-25T11:57:00.000-08:00

Yeay! The computer is working again...for now! It is extremely tempermental and may crash at any moment, but hopefully it will be content long enough for me to finish this post.

So as I said previously, I was away last week in Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina, with work. The work was very hard, especially as everything had to be through an interpreter. But I was totally won over by the city. Its very small and compact, and although it has been through quite a severe past, the 'old' town which had survived and been regenerated has so much charm. Here are a few of my photos:

View from my hotel, which was on the edge of the Old Town

Some of the old City walls

Typical street in the Old Town

One of the Mosques in the Old Town

A selection of the typical wares which the 'traditional' shops sold. A strong Turkish influence you can see. I was VERY tempted to buy the shoes...but as I knew they would just sit around looking 'pretty' rather than being used my sensible side managed to tear my romatic side away!

Oh yes - the BEST cheese cake in the world can be found in Sarajevo! But you need insider knowledge to find this lovely coffee shop....its hidden at the top of a very big shopping mall...and you would never just walk past it without knowing where to look!

Much to my surprise, there was no snow when we arrived, but it started to fall on Thursday...

And a little lay the next morning. This is the central Mosque, seen from my hotel.

As you know, Sarajevo was in the middle of a war in the 90s and there is an ever present reminder of this throughout the city with a lot of the buildings peppered with bullet holes.

This is the sign on a door into a very fancy coffee shop...we were told that guns were common place here!

But onto more light-hearted things...how awesome is this hairdressers - they have TVs built into the mirrors!

And my favourite photo! This grinning cheshire cat can be seen hidden all over the city. This was the best rendition of him I found. Love him!!!

So there you have it! A quick guide through Sarajevo. Not your typical tourist destination, but definately a very interesting city! If you want to know any details about my trip (places to stay etc) then send me a message and I'll see if I can help at all.

xxx

Computer says 'No'!

2010-01-25T03:01:00.000-08:00

(Image from HERE)

Well I'm back in the UK and last night I was all set to upload some of the photos of my trip to Sarajevo...but oh no - my computer desided to pack it in and it wouldn't even turn on!!! Disaster! I know nothing about fixing computers so I'm not sure what to do!!! Will work on it again tonight and keep my fingers crossed that I can get it working again!!! Eek!

xxx

Miss Sarajevo

2010-01-19T13:55:00.000-08:00

(Image from here)

Whoops! I've been a bit lax with the ol' blog the last few days - sorry about that! Just thought I'd write a wee post to say that as I am currently away in Sarajevo with work and wont be back until late Sat there will be a bit of a break from me until next week I'm afraid.

Ironically, I had actually done a wee bit of 'crafting' last week and was really looking forward to blogging about it ASAP...but life got in the way....it does that sometimes! lol. Anyway, when i return I'll show you a pretty cute tote (bit of an american term there, but ah well, might as well embrace all things - and terms - crafty!) that I whipped up as well as a cute way to wrap up a homemade banana bread for a gift. Bet ya can't wait!

And I'll be sure to take some pics of Sarajevo too and post them. This is my second visit here (I was here last Sept) and I'm glad I'm back as it's a really lovely city - I'm looking forward to it (hmmm...apart from the work which I know is going to be shi...I mean CHALLENGING!!!!) ;)

xxx

Food for thought

2010-01-13T12:55:00.000-08:00

Although I don't really believe in Astrology I do find it fun to read my horoscope from time to time, and I do find that I hold a fair few of the typical Libran traits. My mum gave me, as a stocking filler, one of those books which lays out your fortune for the coming year. I don't think I will read it in any great depth, and I certainly won't let it dictate when I decide to do or not do something. I was, however, touched by a couple of quotes that were cited in the book. Totally unrelated to Astrology, but I thought they were poignant enough to share:

If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle for the ordinary

- Jim Rohn

If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there.

- Lewis Carroll

I really like both, but I particularly like the one by Lewis Carroll. I am presuming it is from Alice in Wonderland. I really love that book. I see Tim Burton has made it into a movie - I'm looking forward to going to see that!

Thats all for today folks, still feeling a bit under the weather. For info, the photo is one I took when travelling around Thailand back in 2005.

xxx

A selection of Christmas presents

2010-01-12T12:27:00.000-08:00

I thought I would share a few of the lovely things I was lucky enough to get this Christmas:

These lovely terracota caddies came from TK Maxx and I spied them on an outing with Sir who was clever enough to pay attention and come back the next day and get them for me :)

More Brownie points for Sir - another item I really wanted. These newly released editions of the Penguin Classics have GORGEOUS linen covers - I would love to collect them all. I think they would look great all lined up on my bookcase (what....books are for reading you say?!).

And a very funny gift from my mum. Especially funny coming from her as she is the eternal 'dieter'! Worth reading the small print on it.

I have been smitten with yet ANOTHER winter cold so I shall sign off now and wrap myself around a Lemsip and Manuka honey hot drink and hope it clears up soon. Just found out I am off to Bosnia and Herzegovina next week with work so I would really like it to be away by then. Fingers crossed!

xxx

2010 Goals

2010-01-11T15:45:00.000-08:00

Oh dear, I have been meaning to post my 2010 goals for a while now, but what with one thing or the other I am only getting around to it now - and I haven't even polished the list properly, so it's just a rough idea for the time being:

1. Crafting

- I would like to really get into the crafting scene this year. Teach myself how to make various things and, fingers crossed, actually make them well enough to sell - either online or at craft fairs (or both!). Including:

- lined zip pouches

- various types of handbags, inc clasp top

- hair accessories

- establish this blog a bit better and hope for regular comments (which I love!)

- make some summer clothes for myself - dress/skirt/vest top etc.

2. Fitness

- Loose 1 stone by Dec 2010

- Run 10 miles non-stop by Dec 2010

( I may adjust these goals as the year progresses. I would be happy to meet these goals, but if I can exceed them then all the better. But for now, I'm happy with them as they are)

3. Travel

- 1 big HOT summer holiday with diving involved! (think this will be Thailand)

- Trip to France with my family (who are dotted around the world normally)

- at least 2 weekend trips away with my boyfriend (already planning Barcelona in March - yeay!)

- Visit at least 4 new places in Northern Ireland

4. Activities

- Learn to water ski

- Learn to surf

(it helps that my boyfriend can do these things and has all the equipment! I did try both this year, but failed miserably!)

5. General

- Stop biting the skin around my nails (tmi? lol)

- Try 10 new recipies

- Learn to reverse park my car properly (I am DIRE!!!!)

- Keep my home paperwork in order (urgh, pet hate!)

Oh my goodness...when it's all written down like that it's actually quite a lot isn't it?!! Perhaps I have set myself too many targets for this year. Well, if I achieve even half of them I will be happy! But I think a lot are achieveable and I have started putting the wheels in motion for some of them already anyway!

On a side note, I have set up my computer at home so I hope to be a little bit more diligent with my blogging (part of my goals after all! lol)! Watch this space ;)

xxx

Mushroom and Spinach Risotto

2010-01-05T08:27:00.000-08:00

Argh! I am getting very impatient waiting for my computer to download music to my phone so I thought I would do another wee post to pass the time!!!

Last time I went to Tescos there was a big bag of spinach on sale so it was sitting in the fridge waiting for me to decide what to make with it. In the end I opted for one of my favourite foods - risotto! Again I got the recipie from the Good Food website (I love it so much! I actually have an ever expanding pocket folder full of my fav recipies from there). As I also had some chicken waiting to be used up I poached this at the same time and sliced it for a bit of added protein.

And here is an extreme close-up of the end result - YUM!

xxx

(I'm off now, music download complete - woohoo!)

And the crafting begins!

2010-01-05T01:46:00.000-08:00

Well I was planning on this post being about my 2010 Goals (not resolutions, I never keep them!), but I made a couple of cute little clips last night which I thought would be more fun to share instead!

I have been hankering (lol, what an old fashioned word - love it!) to get a glue gun for ages and finally got round to it last week and I have been itching to use it. So I rushed home last night determined to make something. After searching round the house I managed to find some plain metal hairclips, some material, ribbon, and the best bit - a few (very old) worry dolls, and so I set to work! I think the end results are pretty cute. They are very simple, but sometimes that is the best way.

For the worry doll clip I glued a scrap of material onto the clip first. This was probably the hardest thing to do, and I think I may need to perfect this if I do it again as some of the material is fraying and I would like it neater. But happy enough for a first attempt.

The bow clip is actually salvaged from a Christmas present. I wouldnt be able to tie a bow as neat as this myself, so not sure I could replicate this clip!!! Think you can buy bags of ready tied bows in craft shops tho so that would be fine.

xxx

2010: A Space Odyssey

2010-01-04T02:20:00.000-08:00

...I mean 'Happy New Year!'

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and New Years break. We were lucky enough to have a White Christmas...so I thought I'd share some of my pics:

Coke can frozen in the lake!

Brrrrr! And after all those cold photos here's a nice cosy one to warm us up!

Ahhhhh - toasty!

Well it's back to the ol' grind stone....

xxx

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2009-12-17T02:42:00.000-08:00

...Aka how to make my boyfriend fat with MORE baking!

In my last post I mentioned the present I made for my secret santa - a Christmas Muffin mix. Well how funny that for MY present I also got a baking mix!! This one wasn't home made, but the principle is the same, and it came with a very cute little heart shaped cutter tied on with a gingham ribbon:

All I had to do was add 30g soft butter and 3 tsp water, mix, roll, cut and bake for 8 mins! So since it was so simple I thought I'd give it a go...

I think rolled the dough out a bit too thin so the cookies kind of ended up like blobs instead of hearts, but they tasted delicious! Thanks Rachel :)

Yum yum yum!

Christmas treats

2009-12-14T04:35:00.000-08:00

This weekend I hosted a bit of a Christmas dinner party for 4 of my closest friends. I worked super hard for it but I have to say that it was a huge success and everyone had a lovely time. To ease the load (work wise and expense wise!) one of my friends brought the starter (a delicious cauliflower and three cheese soup) and another brought the ingredients for dessert (Eton mess, made with raspberries). The main course and other bits and bobs were left to me. I made us a big roast ham dinner with roast veg (parsnips, carrots, butternut squash, red onions and garlic) and roast potatoes (par boiled then drizzled with olive oil and paprika before putting in oven - lovely!). There was a bit of stressing on my part that I would either under or over-cook everything, but I am very pleased to say that it all turned out perfect.

We then a bit of a break to enjoy the X-Factor final (I know, you gotta love it!) and I then served dessert, fresh coffee, cheese and biscuits, homemade mince pies and we had crisps and dips dotted here and there as well. I can tell youthat we could hardly move an inch by the end of the night! But I would rather there was too much to eat than not enough. There was so much food that we didn’t even cut the Christmas cake I had made! Here is a pic of the cake anyway, I guess I may save it for Christmas day itself (unless my boyfriend discovers it first!):

Due to much protest from my boyfriend there is no icing on this cake, just a super thick layer of marzipan and then a sprinkling of icing sugar!

The girls and I had also arranged a Secret Santa between us so the gifts were swapped on the night as well. I was quite nervous giving my gift but I think she liked it. I decided to 'make' my gift and I found a really nice idea from the Good Food website (I love that site!). I layered a 1L jar with the ingredients for Christmas Muffins and then attached the instructions on a pretty star gift tag and wrapped red raffia around the lid and attached a wooden spoon. Because I was a bit nervous that it might not be 'enough' (although I would have been delighted with the gift) I also bought a pretty pearl bracelet as well. Here is a pic of the muffin mix:

I was thinking this would be a nice idea to sell at a Christmas craft fair - but I think there may be legal implecations rearding selling food so perhaps not a feasible idea. Anyone know if this is true?

xxx

Christmas Continental Market

2009-12-10T06:24:00.000-08:00

For the past 5 years now Belfast has held it's very own Christmas Continental Market in front of the City Hall. This for me has come to signify the start of the festive season and once the stalls start being erected I know Christmas is on the way. When the Christams lights are turned on it is a really magical place to wander through - it's a feast for all senses...walking past the many stalls there is so much to see, so many different smells, wonderful things to eat and Christmas music being played (and things to pick up and touch - just so that I cover all sense! lol).

Although slightly controversial, I think that our 'Belfast Eye' (a mini version of Londons) makes a very nice backdrop to it all. Some say that it takes away from the history of our grand City Hall, but I don't agree. I certainly think that the City Hall is a magnificent building, and I think we (speaking for the locals!) do take it for granted at times, but the Wheel just adds a modern twist to it all. The view is pretty impressive from the top as well!

Anyway, here are a few shots of and around the market:

Making crepes

xxx

Spotty Tape - Giveaway prize!!!!

2009-12-09T06:53:00.000-08:00

I recieved my Giveaway prize from Quaint Living today! I LOVE IT!!!! Alice also enclosed a really cute little Christmas postcard in the envelope as well:

I got the pink spotted and the grey spotted tapes. They actually work really nicely together as well. Not yet sure what I will use them for, I will have to get my crafting hat on for ideas! For now tho I taped them onto the back of a business card of mine (I'm in the office at the moment so it was whatever was close to hand!) and made a sort of gift tag with a hole in the top for string. I actually think it looks pretty cute:

Thanks Alice :)

I am loving this new blogging world I have discovered! Long may it continue! I'm still trying to crack how to attract new people to my blog but hopefully I'll get the hang of that soon too.

xxx

4....is the magic number!

2009-12-08T05:02:00.000-08:00

I took these photos during the summer but thought I would put them in a post as I just thought they were brilliant!

I was in London with work one day during the summer and on my lunch hour I took a wee walk around some of the streets. I'm not very familiar with London so I was wandering quite aimlessly and happened upon this sculpture, which on closer inspection was made out of umbrellas:

I thought this was pretty cool as it was...until I walked round to the left and saw it from another angle:

It's the Channel 4 '4'!!! How brilliant is that?!!!! I was also quite excited that I had stumbled across the Channel 4 studio's and hung around a little while to see if I could spot any 'celebrities', but no joy.

xxx

P.S. I am so excited to say that I have won some very funky spotty or tartan tape from a blog giveaway!!! Alice from Quaint Living e-mailed me last night to give me the good news that my comment was picked by her random number generator! So delighted! I really love reading her blog as she has a great eye for photography and makes really yummy food. I'll definately post a photo of the tape when it arrives. Yeay!

Draft Excluder

2009-12-04T01:53:00.000-08:00

I had mentioned earlier that I would put up a couple of photos of the very simple draft excluder that I made for my boyf, so here is that post. I made it because Rob needed one and was about to chalk out for a very ugly expensive one embellished with victorian dancers (I don't know, it was hideous!) and I said that I could make a very simple one for a fraction of the price. So from the same shop we managed to source a piece of remnant material and got a cheap pillow from Tesco and I got to work. To be honest, the hardest part was trying to cut out a rectangle with 90deg angles from a piece of fabric which had no straight edges! I don't yet have any proper equipment for such things so I was using all sorts of straight edges and right angles that I could get my hands on. I opened up the pillow and used the stuffing for my creation. The result was pretty good, and it only really took me about half an hour (as I said, the thing that took the longest was getting a perfect rectangle!). And here is the end result:

This is a close-up of the end I left open for stuffing and then sewed shut on the sewing machine - a little wonky...but it was the first thing I have made on my machine so I'm still learning!!!

And here is the final result in place. Never trust a man to take measurements - look how short it is!!!!!

One of Rob's friends saw the draft excluder and couldn't believe that I had made it, so I was very pleased about that. All in all, not a bad start to this whole crafting business.

...I just need to get round to finishing that flippin skirt!!!!

xxx

"Holidays are coming...Holidays are coming..."

2009-12-02T03:34:00.000-08:00

'Tis the season....!

That was my attempt at the infamous Coke ad that is played this time every year. Once I hear that I know Christmas is just around the corner!

And with December comes the tree! I was round at my boyfriends house last night to help him decorate the tree. He is just a big kid when it comes to Christmas and would bedeck his entire house if he had the funds for it! So when it comes to the tree - 'the bigger the better' is his motto....and he did himself proud this year. When I walked in and the monstrosity in his living room I couldn't stop laughing - WAAAAY too big for his room, with the tip almost touching the ceiling! But saying that....it does now look perfect:

The above photo is with the flash, but I prefer the ones without the flash:

(boyf in background taking his own photos)

Shame about the ugly big TV! But I do like this angle, with the stripey stocking in the foreground. It will be lovely when we have a fire lit as well!

Thought this was a very nice decoration. I'm contemplating making this my Christmas card for the year. What do you think?

xxx

Inspirational Salmon!

2009-12-01T07:19:00.000-08:00

What a treat! I had shown my little blog to Kelly, my work mate, who started salavating over my Pesto Salmon post and decided to try out my simple method. Today she greeted me by showing me this photo:

Yum! Kelly's version of my easy steamed pesto salmon. She agreed that it was super easy to make and was really moist and full of flavour! I'm so pleased.

xxx

Christmas Present!

2009-11-30T04:12:00.000-08:00

Almost December folks! Not long until Christmas! And I am (slightly smug-ly) delighted to say that I have almost ALL my Christmas presents bought! This has got to be a record for me, I am normally only just starting at this point in the year. Perhaps it is the influence of my very organised boyfriend, or perhaps it is because my parents are jetting off to spend Christmas in Australia and I had to get their presents bought before they left. Probably a bit of both.

So I thought I would share a few snaps of some of the presents I have bought. The receivers don't know about this blog so there is no danger of them peaking!

A box full of goodies! Lets see what's inside....

Inspiration for my boyfriends next house.

A personalised diary for my dad.

Filled with photos of his grandchildren and family.

I put corresponding photos on the dates for peoples birthdays

For mum. A book which promises fail-safe bread every day! And no kneeding required which is a definate bonus for my mum. I look forward to her trying it out!

The box is also full of toys for my neices and nephews. It's so hard to buy for them because I have to post them off to England and Australia so I have to buy things that are 'flat' and lightweight.

xxx

Dinner!

2009-11-26T05:41:00.000-08:00

I know I kind of intended for this blog to be about crafty stuff, but to be honest it's turning into an 'all things I love' blog instead! Thats why I've posted a load of photos (since I love photography) and why I am now posting a bit about cooking (oh, and I have my banana bread post too!).

I love fish, but I have to admit that I find it a bit daunting to cook. You have to cook it for EXACTLY the right amount of time otherwise its either under- or over-done! But my mum introduced me to a brilliantly easy way to cook a fillet of salmon that gets its beautifully cooked everytime.

Place the fillet into a shallow bowl and add whatever 'flavourings' you would like. In the photo below I have opted for a little drizzle of olive oil, a crushed clove of garlic and then a spread of pesto over the fillet. However, my favourite additions include sesame oil, garlic, ginger, chilli and soya sauce for a lovely asian twist. Cover the bowl in cling film and pierce an few holes. You will then want to get the rest of your dinner ready as this cooking is done super fast! Once you think everything else is almost ready, bung the salmon into the microwave for a max of 3 mins on high (check after 2 just to be on the safe side) and you will get a perfectly moist, steamed salmon fillet that tastes divine!

Salmon with a pesto crust

Carrots and Broccoli for sides (note the lovely RED collinder!)

The final result!

The 'unfortunate' thing was that I had to eat this dinner in about 5mins flat as I was heading out to a Beyonce concert that night and had left myself NO time to get ready! The concert was AMAZING by the way - wow that girl can sing!!!!

xxx

I love all things RED!

2009-11-25T05:57:00.000-08:00

2 posts in one day - go me!

This post is just a group of photos from around my house of all the lovely red things I have. My kitchen and living room are red white and black and I get a little carried away buying lovely things for it - if its red and white spots I LOVE IT! Its actually turning into a bit of an obssession....and Im getting slightly concerned!

Three gorgeous tin boxes from Ikea

Not an awful lot of red, but I still love it! Early Christmas present from my boyfriend x

My very sweet espresso cups (came with a red italian coffee maker too!) And a selection of some of my novels - including a very funny retro book called "Learning to Drive in Pictures" which dates back to the 70s - they had odd rules back then!

A beautiful hand painted wine glass which my boyfriend brought back from Norway for me (yes, he spoils me so!)

A very old enamel coffee pot which used to be my aunts until she got sick of me coveting it so much she gave it to me - bless her!! I do love it. But I don't use it for coffee. To be honest, the most common thing I use it for is as a vase for flowers.

So there you go, a little collection of lovely red items from my kitchen. Oh I love red!

xxx

Oh and a quick note to say - I finally got my first comment! Woo hoo! So excited! Hello and thanks to Brinja! :)

Before and After

2009-11-25T05:39:00.000-08:00

I think I had said I would post these pics a while back, but I have only gotten round to taking the photos now! Anyway. When I got my lovely sewing machine from my dear kind parents (keeping them sweet in case they ever read this blog! lol), I realised I would be best to have a dedicated space for it to live - and the spare room was the obvious choice. Except as you can see it was a bit of a mess:

Well I guess on the grand scheme of things its not THAT horrifically messy - but when items don't have 'homes' its hard to put them away anywhere! So after a trip to Ikea and the purchase of numerous storage boxes (which fit into my Ikea shelves) and a desk (£15 - what a bargain!!!!) my room now looks like this:

Ta-Da!

Ok, I do still have a big box of crap thats hiding the the corner there, but its all stuff that either I plan to sell in a car boot sale or else its old clothes that I have Grand Plans for once I get a couple of projects firmly under my belt on the sewing machine!

xxx

Testing the sewing machine

2009-11-23T02:32:00.000-08:00

I realised that I never put up a close-up photo of my new sewing machine, so here is it:

One of its really useful functions is the button hole foot attachment. I was able to make quite a neat button hole after only a couple of practise runs. The foot has a place to put the actual button in it so that the machine automatically makes the button hole the right size for the button! The photo above actually shows the machine with the button hole foot in place, and 68 is the corresponding function number. Below is a photo of a rather neat button hole (with corresponding button beside it) done by Moi!

I realise that this is probably all really basic stuff, but it's all new to me and this blog is to chart my learning curve so I'm including it all! The machine has quite a list of stitch types and I will have fun trying them all out.

xxx

First Craft Project

2009-11-19T01:00:00.000-08:00

Well I thought it was about time that I attempted to use my sewing machine! My mum, bless her, was very excited about the whole situation and scurried off to her sewing room and came back with a 'make your very first skirt kit' (Lettie Wilson Copyright 2009 - lol, joke!) where she basically gathered up every thing I might need to make a skirt.

So, now that I have tidied my spare room, put up my new desk and officially have NO excuse not to start (I'll put up a 'before' and 'after' shot of the room soon) I have to start on the skirt.

First step...read the instructions. Think I got two words in before I was completely LOST! Dressmaking patterns are not written in English! It was like reading a foreign language. But I was determined to at least START the whole project....so I have pinned all the pattern pieces to the material and cut the pieces out. And I shall be making a visit to casa Wilson for a translation of the instructions so that I can actually start sewing everything together! But it's a start!

(P.S. I have actually already made a VERY simple thing on my sewing machine for my boyfriend - a draft excluder (who says romance is dead)! Next time I am over at his house I will try to remember to take a photo so I can put that up on here too)

The Dark Hedges

2009-11-13T03:05:00.000-08:00

This is a really magical country road in the back of beyond. I stumbled across the exsistence of this place when I was at the Natural History Museum in London at the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition in 2007. The photograph really took me aback, and even more so when I discovered that this place was on my doorstep (well in Northern Ireland anyway!). Here is a link to the original photograph: The Dark Hedges

My boyfriend actually surprised me with an framed print of the original photograh this year for my birthday - I was so touched.

And then that weekend we decided to go and find the 'hedges' for ourselves and the photo on this post is my version. It was a great wee day out although we had to ask quite a few people for directions as you would never find it on your own!

xxx

On an Autumn's Afternoon....

2009-11-12T07:05:00.000-08:00

The sun managed to break through the heavy grey clouds, the rain gave us a day off and we were greeted by the most glorious day last Sunday! What better way to spend a sunny November afternoon than go for a walk in the Mournes (our wee, but stunning, mountain range in Northern Ireland). My wonderful boyfriend even made us a picnic including much appreciated steaming hot coffee - bliss! Definitely a great view for lunch. I was blown away by the gorgeous array of Autumnal colours - it was on a par with the scenes we are more used to seeing from the likes of Canada.

The rain promptly returned with full vigour the next day, but it was great to make the most of our one dry day. I hope we get at least a few more days even remotely like this one as there are so many beautiful places in Northern Ireland that I have yet to explore! N.I. really is a stunning country....when the rain finally clears away!!

xxx

P.S. Please click on the last photo to see it in proper panoramic view!

Skeleton Sketches...

2009-10-29T15:15:00.000-07:00

Oh dear...bit of a break since my last blog, things have been a bit hectic!

Well, what have I been up to lately. Well I finally have my new desk made and up in my spare room...so little excuses left to keep me from starting my craftiness. Still have a touch of tidying to do...but nearly there. One 'crafty' related thing I have been up to recently is making my costume for the Halloween party Im going to. I still have a small bit to do, but here are a few photos to show the work in progress:

I just used gloss paint as I didnt have time to go out and buy fabric paint and I figured I would only be wearing it once! I'm kind of regretting that now as the SMELL is pretty intense and doesnt seem to be fading at all....and it turned out so much better than I thought it would, so it would have been nice if I had used a paint I could wash. Ah well.
I also bought tights which have bones down the legs and black gloves with boney fingers painted on them. It looks pretty cool - I'll see if I can remember to put a pic up of the finished result.

But that might not be for a little while as Im off next Monday to Kosovo with work!!! Just for a week, but it will be a very intense week full of awful, boring, intense meetings. Believe me, I'm not actually looking forward to it. But I am looking forward to seeing what Pristina is like, it will be my first visit to Kosovo. I do love visiting new places!

Blog-tastic!

2009-10-22T05:45:00.000-07:00

Wow, I am really enjoying my adventure into the new (to me) world of Blogging! There is just so much out there and so many terrific blogs. As is obvious, I am brand new to this whole scene and perusing through the blogs I am, hopefully, picking up tips etc on how to make a good/interesting blog in the hopes that one day I may have a reader or two following me! If you ever stumble across my page then it would be absolutely lovely if you left me a little 'hello!' as a comment.

For now though, I have updated my links on the right hand side to link to some of the latest blogs I have discovered and love reading every day - hope you enjoy them as much as I do :)

I bought out the whole of Ikea!

2009-10-22T01:20:00.000-07:00

Well I had my trip to Ikea yesterday - god I LOVE that shop. I honestly could have bought everything in there (um...and perhaps I pretty much did!)! I brought my friend Kelly along with me to try and keep my spending in check - but she made things worse! She kept pointing out all these cool things and giving me total validation as to why I HAD to have that item in my life!

The main reason was to get a cheap, simple desk to create a new workstation for my sewing machine. And I was very pleased to find a small, basic desk for £15! How brilliant is that! And then I got to the storage section...oh dear...I think this could have been my downfall. I am now the proud owner of numerous storage boxes (of all shapes and sizes), glass jars and more! I'll take some pics of all my purchases tonight and put them up here tomorrow.

Now I just have to tackle the chaos that is my spare room and make space for my little desk! Should be fun - eek!!!

Flowers

2009-10-21T01:18:00.000-07:00

Some photos I took from my parents garden last week. The sun was casting a lovely light on everything and inspired me to take some photos. I played around with my Macro and flash settings and hopefully I got some good shots.

Banana Cake!

2009-10-20T04:40:00.000-07:00

I am making a conscious effort to post more blogs and I know a key to good blogging is photos. But its so hard to remember to take photos of the things I've been up to and I often find myself remembering well AFTER I have been somewhere, or made something, or eaten something, that I should have taken a photo for the blog! Doh!

Well last night I made my infamous Banana cake as requested by my work colleagues. I am always nervous about over or under cooking it - I think perhaps this time I might have slightly under cooked it. But I think it still turned out pretty well. To be honest, one of the things my work friends like about it the most is the icing (which is just water and icing sugar!)! The cheek! Ha ha, well as long as they still like the end result, I'm happy. Here is a couple of pictures showing the carnage caused in the making (I'm not a very tidy cook - but I promise the kitchen is nice and clean again now!) and the end result:

For information, I use this recipe from the Good Food webiste (I LOVE that website!).

Happy Birthday to meeeeeee - New Sewing Machine!

2009-10-20T01:59:00.000-07:00

Well I just turned 29 last week (last year in my 20s - EEK!) and my parents came up trumps with their present to me - a brand spanking new sewing machine!

Now I have no excuse to get cracking on my many many plans. Well I have one excuse....no where to set it up! So I think a trip to Ikea is in order.....I'm bringing my friend Kelly with me to stop me from going crazy and spending waaay too much money.

Banner!

2009-08-12T07:10:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post to say isn't my banner cute! Its taken from one of my photos from my holiday in Greece earlier this year.

Really fell in love with Greece. First time I have ever been there - I would definitely recommend for anyone to go - especially try a sailing and diving holiday like I did. I went through Mystic Blue.

Speaking of which - there are some amazing holidays on Responsible Travel - all with an ethical twist to them...which is always good for the conscience ;)

Inspiration...

2009-08-12T06:37:00.000-07:00

One of the motivations for starting this blog are the number of really great craft-related blogs out there. As I say, I'm only just getting into the world of blogging (work is slow these days!), but I have come across some really great ones.

I'm sure everyone has heard of Etsy, but I've only just discovered it - what a revelation! The site is amazing. I hate the way the high street turns us all into clones and everyone ends up wearing pretty much the same thing - where is your individuality! One of the problems over here in Belfast is there is little choice other than whats on the high street. Unfortunately we don't have many independent boutique-y type shops, so this website (Etsy) offers us a bit of that.
Another site similar to that is Coriandr - and the great thing about this site is that its UK based!
My dream would be to have a wee 'shop' on either of those sites.

Blogs which I find inspiring are:
Peapods
Small Measure
Cloth.Paper.String
Brinja

Finally, a great site I have just discovered is Design*Sponge - full of great crafting ideas as well as design inspiration and tasty looking recipes too!

A new beginning

2009-08-10T07:26:00.000-07:00

So this is my first post.

Please bare with me...I am new to the world of blogging, but I hope that I can do it justice.

As I said in my 'welcome' note, I have recently been overcome with a huge desire to be creative and to perhaps make a little bit of money out of this. I'm school I always loved art (and I think I did pretty well at at - I got an A* in GCSE), but I had to give it up to focus on subject more 'suitable' for getting into University. And because of that I'm afraid to say that the creative side of me has been severely neglected for many years now.

I have always grown up in a very creative environment - my mother is gifted when it comes to sewing. From before I was born she was making clothes for herself, as well as the rest of her family. She is also brilliant at embroidery, knitting and also went through a massive quilting phase. If I could produce things even half as skilled as her I would be happy. So she is my inspiration in all of this! In the future I'd like to put up some photos of her work as I think they should be shared with the world - so keep checking back and hopefully I'll get around to this!

What I would like to do is create a mini business for myself, making and selling things from my home in Belfast. At the moment I plan on specialising in bags - you can never have too many bags! But I love photography and would also like to see if I could do something with that as well - perhaps small greeting cards etc. Once I get more used to sewing (and er...I might need to purchase a sewing machine!) I'd like to make some of my own clothes (but that will probably just be for myself for the time being!)

Once I get a decent amount of merchandise gathered up I'll trying selling them at local carboot sales, and also see if I can sell some stuff on ebay or other Internet sites. There are also some local craft fairs, but I need to do a bit more research into those I think.

Anyway, enough for now... :)