Wednesday Already...

Hello all Friends!  It's Wednesday evening already - amazing! The week is flying by...

However, I have made a little progress this week, in various ways.

But first: When I looked up from my desk this morning, this is what I saw -

I said "Hello, what are you doing, up there?"

"Hello. I'm peeping...."

"Peeping at what?"

"At you. What are you doing?"

"Reading my mail"

"Why?"

"So I know what's going on. Why are you peeping?"

"So I know what's going on.  What are you doing now?"

"Looking for my camera."

"Why?"

"So I can take your picture..." *Click*

"Oh!  Why did you do that?"

"So I can show you to all my blogging friends. You look so sweet, peeping down at me, little Peeping Puppy!"

I mean, really, who could resist that face?  I shall have to sell him soon, or I'll end up keeping him!

So, onward and upward...

I finally gave in and signed up to Shimelle's new class! For any who don't know, it's called "Something from almost Nothing" and is about using up your vast amounts of Stash! The first prompt arrived this morning. It was about using up metal stuff, like brads, eyelets etc etc

So, I made this:

Hmm, looks a bit odd actually. I think it's because it was taken from a strange angle. 

Anyway, you may notice I have used no fewer than 14 Brads on this one card.  Not to mention the various fabric flowers I've been hoarding, also the papers I printed off last year (Kirsty Wiseman's fabby "Patti Picklicious" CD) and some mauve ribbon I bought about 2 years ago because I liked the leaf design, and a bit of purple ribbon that came wrapped round a birthday cake or something... and some spare art paper I have had for at least a year...

I did not use a single thing that I bought more recently than a year ago! I'm pleased with myself about this.. I've been trying not to buy stash (unless it's for a paid piece of work). Besides, like most of us, I have loads (and loads, and loads...) of stuff already.

Something From almost Nothing, Day 1 - Success!

And another success, is that I do have the commission, to make another Baby book, similar to the one I made for my niece.  The lady who wants it has chosen her papers, from a vast array I offered her (see my "Papers" page link on the right!!).  This morning I went out to the local scrapbook shop, to buy the pale pink cardstock needed for the pages.  I got a couple of lengths of ribbon too, as I wanted some that complements the papers nicely. I'm going to get started on cutting the card for pages this evening, then the fun begins!

Off to do some Work! Bye All...

Ah, before I forget... if you're one of the various Blogging folks who've been thinking/talking about/doing a Journal or Art Journal recently, take a quick look at this post on Useful Books' Blog.

Oh and don't forget that my Book Week Giveaway closes on Friday evening. If you haven't entered yet, go and look at the Giveaway Post and leave your comments. You might win you know!

Putting the Sun in Sunday!

Today has been so sunny and nice. It wasn't very warm - in fact I don't think it even made it as far as 10 degrees C today - but the sun makes everything seem warmer and lovely.

Sherlock has perked up no end.  The sunshine suits him. He went out into the garden today, on "Bird Patrol"

Here he is, watching some of "those birds", from their favourite feeding step.

Then he came back indoors, for a few cuddles from his favourite Servant:

Life is Sweet!

It was so nice, that we went for a walk by the river in the afternoon, followed by tea at Nando's restaurant.

Sunshine at 4:30pm

Tree Climbing

Mind you, it was pretty chilly, even with the sunshine. By the time we'd walked across the bridge, along Longholme Island and back over the Town Bridge, to Nando's, my face and ears were freezing.  I was glad to get back inside, but glad also that I ventured out and got a bit "woken up" by the sun!

Did I say I'd do penance for the pizza? Hmmm.. how did I end up eating chicken in Nando's, I wonder?  Soup and salad tomorrow, I think. But that's no hardship - I love soup! We did have a voucher for a free "Whole Chicken", since we're such regulars that our Loyalty Card was full (and we'd already claimed the free "1/4 Chicken" and free "1/2 Chicken" that you got when the card was 1/2 and 3/4 full! ).  We had a lovely dinner and it was all fairly healthy food. 

Today felt a bit like a holiday. I love the sunshine, but especially when it finally returns after a dull, grey, wet winter!

Busy Saturday and A Recipe

Well, I've had a busy day... Dropped J. at his Saturday morning club, then popped into my mum's to make sure she was doing okay. She is recovering, but I thought I'd hang around til it was time to go and get J. Did her jobs, then settled down with these:

As you can probably work out, there are four more rabbits, part-made.  The stuff on the left is the second of these:

Can you resist that face?

This one was finished last night - while J. was bouncing at his trampoline club. Is it cute, or is it cute?

More photos:

It's hard to put them in the shop sometimes... I'd really like him for myself.  You know, the little bell on his collar really jingles! I love him to bits. And there's another on the way... two puppies, rabbits, kittens..oh my!

Then I made some of these:

 

Banana and Chocolate Muffins

I thought I might share the recipe, as lots of people commented when I mentioned them before:

Banana and Chocolate Muffins

Ingredients:

50g margarine / butter, softened

50g chocolate chips / chunks

75g soft, brown sugar

110g plain, wholemeal flour, sifted

pinch of salt

1 ripe banana, mashed

1 large egg, beaten

1) Heat the oven to 170 degrees C / 300 degrees F / Gas no.3

Grease and line cake pans or use paper cases.

2) Put flour, sugar and salt into a mixing bowl. Add the butter and mix well.

3) Add beaten egg and mashed banana.

4) Beat thoroughly to blend well together.  Add the chocolate chips / chunks.

Beat for 2 minutes, to incorporate air into the mixture. 

5) Spoon into cases and smooth tops. 

This mixture makes 10-12 small cakes

Or 6 large muffins

Or, if you double the mixture, as I did, you can have both!

6) Bake until golden and firm (15-20 mins), checking after 10 mins and turning / swapping shelves in the oven if necessary. 

Test with a skewer or sharp knife, leave to cool for a short while, then turn onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Just a word about the chocolate: Use good quality, dark chocolate for this recipe, if you possibly can.  The cakes are nice with milk chocolate or chocolate chips designed for cooking, but they are really great with decent quality dark chocolate chunks in.  If you don't have chocolate chunks, don't despair! Break bar-chocolate into bits and place in a plasic freezer bag (nice and thick!).  Bash with a rolling pin to break into nice chunks.  I like this kind of chunks best, as they are not all the same size, so some bits are bigger than others - a good surprise!

These muffins taste lovely. The mix of banana and chocolate is great. They are really nice eaten slightly warm and they make a good dessert, with cream (!), ice-cream, or custard sauce.

If you haven't scoffed the lot all at once, store in an airtight box/tin for up to a week.

This evening, we were piggies and sent out for pizza for our dinner.  Expect me to be eating nothing but gruel all week, to make up for it! (well, and the odd apple or grape, salad etc...)

That's my Saturday - hope yours was good too!

By the way, don't forget to leave your comments on the previous post, to enter my World Book Week Giveaway

World Book Day Giveaway (Belated!)

Hello all Blog Friends!

I'm a bit late with this post, but I hope you'll all forgive me. My mum has had a bad tummy bug this week and I've spent a lot of time helping her. So consequently everything at home has "slid" a bit!

Yesterday was "World Book Day" - though I think the definition of  "World" is a bit flexible, since, as far as I'm aware, it was only celebrated in the U.K!  Still, it's a bit of fun.

As I am a Book Binder and have a shop on Etsy to sell my work. Also, as I love to give presents and my books are always well-received as gifts, I thought I would have a little Giveaway. 

I am also celebrating the birth, on Tuesday, of this young lady:

Therefore, my giveaway book just has to be Pink!

Book Prize One

This is a small, felt-covered sketchbook or mini album. It has stiffened covers, covered with soft pink felt and lined with lovely mauve mulberry paper.

The sections are stitched with silver thread, which shows on the spine. There are 12 pages (24 sides) of good quality, thick drawing paper.

The paper is stiff enough to hold scrap pages, or photos, though the book wouldn't take too many thick embellishments before going out of shape.

It would be great as a pocket sketch book, notebook for planning a special occasion (a baby shower perhaps?), even a small guest book for a special party - I'm sure you could think of your own use for it! 

It measures approx 5" x 4.5".

 

To make it extra nice, I will attach a ribbon fastening, in your choice of colour. 

To Enter this Giveaway:

Leave a comment, telling me your colour choice for the ribbon tie and whether you'd like it to wrap right round the cover lengthways (like this book), widthways (like this book) or just be attached at the front edges, with or without a brad or button (like this book)!

Book Prize Two

I thought it might be nice to offer another little book also.  A while ago, I bought two hand-made books from Helen Coldwell, of Bad Books. 

I have a dear little mini-note book here, with a leather-look cover, lined with Liberty print fabric. 

The pages are of stiff, creamy-peach coloured paper and it has a stitched binding, which shows along the spine.

It's a sweet little book, only 3 1/2 x 2 1/2 inches in size, with 40 pages (80 sides). 

It would fit in almost any pocket or handbag, to hold your special notes or little sketches - how about that "Ideas" notebook that was being discussed in Blogland the other day? 

 

Mini Notebook by BadBooks on Etsy

To Enter this Giveaway:

Leave a comment to tell me what you'd do with this teeny weeny book!

Winner:

If you leave a comment for each book, then you're in with a chance to win both!  I will select two comments at random, one from the "Pink Book" comments and one from the "Mini Book" comments. 

The giveaway closes on Friday evening next week (March 12th).

* * *

Also, while we're on the subject of Giveaways, why not pop over to my niece's blog? Keri-Anne is having a giveaway, in collaboration with That Unreliable Girl.  The prize is a print of one of Keri-Anne's lovely photographs. 

Two giveaways for the price of one - Bargain!

Happy Friday!

I Won a Prize! and Commissions

Wow! I won a Blog Giveaway! I'm so thrilled...

I'm a regular visitor over at The Nerd Nest, who have had a few giveaways, with prizes selected from their treasure trove of foraged finds for their funky vintagey Etsy shop. I have entered them for fun, but I never expected to win a prize.  Today I was catching up on some posts from the last couple of days and went to take a look and see what happened with the giveaway.. and I was the winner!! I'm sooo excited. Follow the link to see the goodies I won (and have a look at their fun little blog)!

My sock bunnies are proving popular.  Today I sold the yellow one, with the bow-tie. 

I also got a commission from my mum, to make two for her.

And when I got home and logged into my shop, I had an enquiry about making a photo album/memory book like the baby book I posted on Sunday!

I sent her a quick quote and some notes and I'm waiting now to see if the customer wants to place the order. 

Life is Fun!

Oh, and I made this to go inside the front cover or on the first page of C & DC's baby album: