The Outlook for Thursday

Weather

It has rained here everyday for the past fortnight. I am more than over it. the ground is so sodden that even in the breaks you can't send the kids out for a play. Feeling sorry for myself? You betcha! But that is pretty normal for New Zealand. I am pretty sure when Crowded House wrote 'Four Seasons In One Day' they were thinking about Auckland, whatever else they may have been trying to convey!


Summer sunshine - my FAVOURITE weather, just seems so far away. And songs about sunshine are just a bit difficult for me to be inspired by when the rain is pouring down my window. It is just cruel. 


I had decided to just the KISS principle this month (you know, Keep It Simple, Stupid!) so I raided my supplies again... and found the perfect answer. I am sure many people will recognise the Tim Holtz stamp I have used! But to pull it all together.... 


A classic 80's (famous in NZ!) song, that always makes me feel sunny on the inside! And it has our weather pattern picked! 

DD Smash

The Outlook For Thursday

I started with Bazzill cardstock which I painted with Tim Holtz distress crackle paint; then made a cloud shaped template with which I made the clouds, inking over the top in a blue shade. Then I made a quick isobar sketch over that, added the stamp and a rock candy glaze. I managed to stick to my KISS intentions - how about that! No idea how I am going to manage next months challenge.... but I will leave that to the last minute.... I would like to say just kidding, but I have a funny feeling....

Kitschy Kitchen

And so began our Retro Cookarty Weekend....

My immaculate workstation!  

Just in case you thought I had the whole table, five of us managed to make paster pieces (incomplete; a work in progress!) at this one table! This photo only shows half of the women who came!

I have (of course) still to finish my altered book, and I will post some photos soon; but first of all, I am posting the recipe swap and my ATC cards.

What an awesome weekend! So good for the soul, *sigh*. I feel like I am jet-lagged or something though, like I have 48hrs or something that I can barely account for.... it went so fast it feels like a bit of a blur! I am all dazed and confused, but gleefully craft-drunk; new term I just made up, I think... feel free to use it ;) Actually, I did feel a little hung over on Saturday for no good reason other than needing some more sleep and a good coffee. I got the coffee :)

I was not the only one to pick a red and white themed card. I don't know why but it was an immovable decision for me. I don't have a red kitchen, btw. And if I was going to have a retro kitchen (bring it on!) I would choose a pastel teal/lemon sort of combo. I think. But my tastes are many and varied, and if I ever settle on the 'perfect' kitchen, I will probably die of surprise (at my usually non-existent decision making prowess) and then it will be of no use to me.... Any-whoo... I found this dinky little advertisement of a Mother and Daughter wearing aprons, the selling point reading 'for thrifty Moms and Daughters too'. As it happens, my daughter and I do seem to have matching aprons. Completely by fluke, but there you have it. It looks cute on her, not so much on me but that is another story.

So, picture and colour theme in hand and mind, I raided the art supplies. I used acrylic paint, inks, copic  markers, crackle, florist wrap, cupcake papers, paper doily, wool and thread, jump rings and shrink plastic. After getting them all to shape and size etc, I sewed them all together with my little beast of a machine. (You think I'm kidding. Well, maybe more of a mouse than a beast, but it would like to be a beast if it ever grows up - which I doubt, and so is practising....)

And here are the results. :)

Stamp - original size next to jump rings for comparison

Detail of cutlery

And to finish, something sweet.... I made my grandmother's Harmony Tarts for the weekend's er, sustenance, and swapped the recipe. And it was delicious..... I saw more than one worn out artist go back for more than seconds, and I have to say that it was deeply gratifying! I am only sorry I forgot to take a photo of them first! But here is the recipe.

Grandma’s Harmony Tarts

1 roll puff flaky pastry

2 egg whites (3 if small)

½C sugar per egg

¼C coconut per egg

Lemon essence

Raspberry jam

Beat egg whites until stiff. Gradually add sugar, then fold in coconut and lemon essence. Cut pastry to fit greased muffin tins and prick. Add a small teaspoon of jam to each and spoon meringue over. Cook in hot (200C) oven and watch. If meringue burns, turn oven down. Remove when pastry cooked. Run knife around pastry and cool in tray.

Counting Sleeps!

One more to go!

I have been looking forward to this all year (so it's only been 6 months- you get my point)!!

I am packing, in my own particular, distractable way, for a girls art weekend :) Yippeeeee *does happy dance* :)))))

We are making an altered book/album/journal -depends on who you are; I'm not a purist ;) Mash it all together, I say - let mixed media reign! Can you tell I am excited??

The theme is brilliant: Retro Cookarty. How cool is that! We are starting with an ATC and recipe (with samples!) swap tomorrow night, and getting our craft on all weekend..... (PTL for baby sitters I say!)

Hopefully I will be able to share  some photos of this extreme self indulgence/therapy session with you soon; but in order to set the mood, I though I should (it's practically an obligation...) share some retro pics.....

NOT THIS WEEKEND!!!

Now to go buy some coffee....!

It's a Wrap

My fabulously talented friend had a birthday recently. She collects just about everything - and everything I thought of to get her I thought - she's probably already got that....! And she is a market/thrift shop EXPERT - there is NO WAY I could give her something unique and have that, you know, real 'Wow, what a good idea' sort of gift! (A vanity of mine, I always want to give 'the PERFECT gift'.... Who knows when one hits a mark like that?!) So I opted for the next best thing! I was recently given this awesome biscuit tin - remember the ones that were at Grandma's, always full of home baking? Everyone needs them.... Sure, it was full of awful production line bikkies, but the potential for a chick who is, I think, well on her way to a self sufficient lifestyle (it won't be long before the goats arrive, I am sure!), to fill with her own delicious home made goodies (did I mention for HER birthday she invited us all around and cooked up delicious, love-infused bowls, and glasses, of goodness?) was right up there. And I was super excited about it because it was a Jubilee memorial tin, with a cool pic of Her Maj on it :) It is the little things....! While a tin is great, bought cookies generally aren't... so how does one zhoush (!?) it up a bit? 'Pimp My Biscuit Tin'.....

Cool tin, right?!

I also had a cute wee pair of earrings.... so out came the cuttlebug, with Tim Holtz's Tattered Flowers die; some Pearl Mists; a fair bit of lace and ribbon; and a thrift shop find - an old table cloth with (machine, I suspect, but no matter) hardanger stitching. I should have said, oodles of lace and ribbon. Should be enough to make... well, I can't wait to see what!

So, a gift that can be used again, and again. And it looked cute. Pleased, I was! And bless her, so was she. But she is just so darn nice....!

Such A Nice Way To Start People

Babies :)

I am privileged to have two amazing sister-in-laws; I totally lucked out in the in-law department, they are an amazing family and I love them to bits. God bless them, they have shown me such grace over the years and I am constantly inspired and encouraged by them. Recently one of them had a gorgeous new edition to an already amazing gaggle, or is that giggle? of kids. In my own sweet time (ie, very late!) I made a few things to send over the ditch, and I thought I'd post them to share.

After you've had one, or two, or more... children, you generally don't need more kids toys or books, and you have learnt what you really need and what just takes up space (this is all my theory!), so it is nice to get something for YOU. After all, after you have kids, it is less and less about you, so every now and then is really nice! (I never thought much of Mother's Day myself, until I learnt that it is a great time to get some things done that you don't usually; like someone else doing some house work (beats breakfast in bed!), or get a hair cut - anything you normally have to post pone for one need or another!) And sadly, because we live so far away :( I didn't want to buy clothes in case they we too small/wrong season etc. Hard to return or swap them! And that was another long winded way of getting to my point, which is when one wants to give something special to someone special and doesn't know what to give, it is a great excuse to make something !

One of the very talented ladies in my ATC club (which I should mention by now meet at New Zealand Scrapbook) is an especially gifted book maker/binder (I am sure there is a proper name - sorry Andrea!). Please check out her blog. She runs some delicious classes - I highly recommend them, and they are such fun, and relaxing at the same time! So off I went...

We leaned how to make the covers, dye the pages, and bind them together. It is a very therapeutic endeavour!

Ooooooh! How I love colour!

I had to go back to finish the first one, which meant I could make two! Yippee!

And you can never have enough bibs. I saw this on Pinterest and thought it was too cute. And easy!

And here is my sweetie nephew, unimpressed at his cape being put on backwards!!

Cutie! Such a cutie... I need a cuddle!

ANZAC Day

ANZAC Day is an interesting day. We reflect, we remember, we give thanks.

If you want to find out more about the ANZAC story, try the links here and here. As our kids are quite young we haven't made it to a dawn parade for many years, but we try and watch it when they are televised, and we talk about the stories and learn lessons about WWI. It is not a cheerful subject! But we remember all ANZACs who served and are serving in all wars. We especially remember the kids Great Grandfather who served and reflect how it changed our family so much. There is so much to be said, but here is not the place.

One other way we remember ANZAC Day is a bit more fun - with a spot of baking. ANZAC biscuits are the best, and the kids were begging to bake them this year. In fact, my daughter (miss 7) even insisted on recording the process.... so she is our 'featured photographer' in this post!

The recipe we use is from the Edmonds Cook Book - world famous in New Zealand! It has been published in various forms since 1907, making it an icon here! But there are many, many variations, and a bit of rivalry - as always, between Australia and New Zealand over who makes them best etc. Actually, there is alot of that just in NZ.....

If you want to know a little history of the ANZAC biscuit, try here.

ANZAC Biscuits

Ingredients

1/2 cup Plain Flour

1/3 cup Sugar

2/3 cup Coconut (dessicated)

3/4 cup Rolled Oats

50g Butter

1 Tbsp Golden Syrup

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

2 Tbsp Boiling Water

 Directions

Preheat oven to 180C and line two baking trays.

Mix together flour, sugar, coconut, and rolled oats.

Melt butter and golden syrup. Dissolve baking soda in the boiling water and add to butter and golden syrup.

Stir butter mixture into the dry ingredients. Place level tablespoonful of mixture onto cold greased trays. 

Bake for about 15min or until golden.

Take some photos while you wait.....

Makes 20. Be in quick!