Rod and Huia

A late Christmas present arrived yesterday for my Mr Rockstitch. I found it on Toggle an online gift shop in NZ that has very cool selection of local craft and art.

I thought it was a very clever idea from Aimee Gruar of Birdsong. She has sourced abandoned and near extinct vinyl records, then cuts silhouettes of birds out of them. Mr R's is an extinct Huia. It arrives in it's original record sleeve. Fantastic. Then all you have to do is blu tac it to the wall.

Perfect. And a little bit of NZ for us.

Jam Drops

I made Jam Drops yesterday. The batch lasted maybe an hour at the most. Everyone loved them! So I thought I would let you know the recipe. I found it in a Woolworths Fresh magazine that I picked up at the supermarket (Issue 46 Dec 09). They are scrummy and easy.

1 cup self-raising flour
1/3 cup custard powder
80g butter, softened
1/3 cup caster sugar
2 tblsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup jam (I used plum)

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C. Line 2 baking trays with non-stick baking paper. Sift flour and custard powder together.
2. Beat the butter and sugar together until pale and creamy. Add milk and vanilla and beat until combined.
3. Add flour mixture and mix together to form a soft dough. Roll heaped teaspoonsful into balls and place on trays leaving about 5 cm space between biscuits for spreading.
4. Using your thumb, make an indent in the top to fill with a little of the jam.
5. Bake for 15 minutes until golden. Transfer to wire racks to cool. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. Not that they will last that long!

Enjoy.

Happy New Year!

These are our solar powered, colour changing lanterns that make our funny little backyard look kind of ok. Especially on New Years Eve.

I wonder what 2010 will bring? Hopefully lots of good things for everyone. I'm looking forward to lots of Brown Owl meetings with very clever Owls. Going on lots of adventures with the family. We are still discovering South Australia but are desperate to go on a road trip to Daylesford in Victoria. Fingers crossed I will be learning lots of new things, more info later........




I had to show you the New Years spread. We ate outside under the lanterns. The main dish being Chicken Cacciatore from Jamie Magazine (Issue 4 July/August 2009). It was deeeelicous and so easy. I really love the magazine. Jamie Oliver is the Editor-at-Large. It's beautifully art directed and printed on lovely recycled paper. I have a bit of a paper fettish to be honest, and the smell of paper and ink, fantastic!

Finally, Chrissie Crafts

A tote bag and a medal.



Pinup Girl Bunting



Another medal and a table runner. All the crafty gifts I made in December.

Nice.......

I have to admit I get a little ratty in the school holidays. Terrible thing to admit. My beautiful boys get a little too noisey. A little too grumpy with each other. But then this happens. Cooper wrote this message himself, without any hints from me! Nice.

We are getting a little bit excited about Christmas. Two more sleeps. There are already lots of pressies under the tree. One from my beloved which I can't quite figure out. And there is one from me to him, which he will never work out! That's the joy of Christmas.

Ho, ho, ho!

My first ever quilt!

This is the first of many quilts. I had lots of fun making it. Once I got going I just couldn't stop. As you can see the main theme is spots. Just for a change.

Happy Birthday Prue!

Here is a very spotty tablecloth that I made my dear friend Prue for her birthday. With it's own bag!

Have a wonderful day in sunny Auckland Prue. Miss you. x

A lovely surprise!

Was so nice to see this guy in the middle of Rundle Mall. He is similar to the Santa I grew up with in Auckland, originally on the Farmers Department Store in Hobson Street. Except he had a rather dodgey beckoning finger.

More to Macy Home

Another batch of medals are on their way to Macy Home in Auckland.

Owls for Lainey.

My very clever friend Prue knitted this for our Lainey (modelling) who is off to Scotland for Christmas. Lainey has a fondness of owls, so it is perfect for her.

My place and yours - That's nice, that's different, that's unusual

Toni from Little Suitcase chose this weeks theme -That's nice, that's different, that's unusual.

I looked around our house and couldn't see anything that was different. Apart from it being very small.

So being new to Adelaide and in fact Australia. We have only been here just over a year. And coming from New Zealand, the thing that I used to find really wierd was how there were roller doors on the windows. How everything always looked so closed up!

Until summer hit it all became clear. In NZ we don't really have the issues with the heat. We open up all the windows and doors with the first sign of sunshine.

It's not unusual now, but it was in September 2008!

Not long now!

First day of December. Up goes the christmas tree. Love the smell of pine leaves, but fake is the go! Up goes the christmas bunting and the boys santa stockings. 24 more sleeps.........

Viva!

I was very excited to hear that a stylist picked up one of my medal brooches from Macy Home in Ponsonby (Auckland). And here it is published in Viva which is a weekly supplement in the national newspaper The NZ Herald.

It was in the "Upfront" section on page two!

Clever Cake Stand

On Wednesday at Brown Owls we made this cake stand. The idea was from Donna at Red Wrenny Rambles.

So easy and so quick.

You need a few vintage plates in different sizes. Larger at the bottom, smaller at the top. With cups seperating them. A tube of Bostik Super Glue. All you do is put a small amount of glue around the rims and bases of the cups. Place them in the middle of the plates. And there you have it.

Simple.

Softie for Mirabel

This guy has a bit of a crazy look in his eyes, but someone will love him! He is off to Pip from Meet me at Mikes in Melbourne for the Softies for Mirabel 2009 Project. Hope he enjoys the trip!

Bunting Madness

I just love making bunting. There is just something special about flags. One side is Christmassy the other for any time of the year. And it's so simple. I used a quilt triangular template which made it really easy to cut out.

My place and yours - Collections

Kate from Fox's Lane has come up with the theme for Pip's 'My Place and Yours' meme.
My Collections.


There are a few collections happening in our tiny cottage. I used to collect snowdomes until they all went a bit 'off', so I left them in Nz. My favourite collection is the espresso cups, especially the Keith Haring cup at the front. Then there are the candles. And of course magazines. Just can't get enough magazines. And my small pile of craft books. Better not mention the bag and coat collection which is too huge to photograph!

Summer Frock

It is REALLY hot here in Adelaide. Since the weather has been recorded, which is somewhere around 130 years, it has never been this hot at this time of the year! I'm sure it's the first of many heatwaves so I had to make another summer frock. This one is made out of seersucker fabric. I have always loved seersucker. It is a New Look pattern #6890. And it was sooooo easy.

My place and yours - Blog HQ

This weeks theme is from Ninon - Blog HQ. Here's mine. My tiny table in the corner of the kitchen. It's also my Craft HQ. It's even sometimes Dining HQ. I dream of having my own workroom.......

Weekend at the beach!

Amazing. We packed up the trusty Commodore with the esky and whipped down to Port Noarlunga. Only 20 minutes away. And it was stunning. The water was a bit nippy but we managed to have a few swims. Fantastic. This is why we shifted to Adelaide!