Stitching and Macarons - Warning, smug post alert!!

Happy Sunday folks - albeit a very freezing cold, wet and windy one!!  I am, however, feeling very smug with myself!  For the last couple of years I have tried and tried and tried and tried to make those gorgeous little French Macarons that you pay a fortune for in the shops!  Ask my boys what a tough journey it's been - not for them, they've enjoyed every single disaster!!  Once or twice I have gotten close to what a macaron should look like but never actually the real thing.  However......  Yesterday I bought this gorgeous book (£4 WH Smiths)



I read all the tips, went into the kitchen and about an hour and half later emerged with these:

Look, they've got 'feet' and everything!!!  Woohoo!!  What a process though, and they didn't last long!  I even ground the almonds myself in a pestle and mortar - not sure I'd want to do that again though....zzzzzz...  Inside they were soft and mallowy, and I managed to make 20 of them!  My only regret is that I didn't have enough icing sugar left to make the buttercream filling so I had to improvise with a tin of whippy cream - not as good, but still delish!!

I also managed to make a card yesterday which is perfect for this month's Totally Tilda challenge which is "Stitching"

I am just loving these new stamps from Magnolia's Summer 2012 collection.  Doesn't Edwin look adorable with his little pal!!  Coloured with Copics (don't ask which, I never take note!).  This card, along with a couple of unmounted stamps from the new collection, are for sale on my ebay site, if anyone's interested.  The link is on my sidebar. 

That's my lot for today.  Sunday is a day of shopping and washing for me so I'd better crack on!  How I would love to be better organised so I can have Sunday's all to myself!! 

Have a good one, and thanks for stopping by!

A better week

Happy Wednesday blogland.  Had a bit of a trying week last week and didn't manage to get round to posting my Midweek Magnolias project - maybe I'll squeeze it in at the bottom! 

This week has been much better, starting with the fab news that my Patchwork card won the Bearly Mine challenge a couple of weeks back which put a huge smile on my face! YAY!!  My only bugbear really is that I have had no crafting time at all for over a week and I'm getting withdrawal symptoms.

However, I did manage to make this for this week's Midweek Magnolias theme which is an Open Theme this week, before it all got manic.  I am spending a lot of time gazing at the amazing projects on http://www.stempeleinmaleins.blogspot.com/ lately and this was one of the projects that I just had to have a go at:

It was incredibly easy to make as the instructions are so clear and really easy to follow, as is the case with all of their projects.  I am also going to show this off in Magnolia Down Under Challenges who's theme this week is "Anything but a card"



Tilda close up

Last week I made these 'Popsicle' cards (Ice Lolly's to you and me! LOL!!)

These were really great fun to make and although they are quite simple and 'uncluttered' I think they are really sweet and effective and I am going to be pitching this idea for our class's Summer Fete contribution.  I think these could be a great seller on our stall and simple enough to be made by 6 year olds (with a little guidance).



And that's my lot for today.  Why don't you get over to Midweek Magnolias to see what my lovely teamies have been creating.  You are guaranteed to be thrilled and inspired.  We have a new Guest this week also, Ineke, who's gorgeous creations have kept us Oohing and Aahing since the blog kicked off 8 weeks ago - doesn't time fly!!

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great day :o) xx

A trip down Memory Lane

Tomorrow I become the mother of a teenager!  Thirteen years ago today I was officially under doctors orders to sit with my feet up and do nothing for fear of my breech baby putting in an overdue appearance!  Everything had been going hunky dory till I was nearly two weeks overdue and had to see the consultant.  My regular Obs had gone on a year long exchange trip just a few days before and I was gutted because he'd been so fab all the way through my pregancy.  I met with the Exchange Obstetrician who told me almost immediately that my baby was presenting breech and therefore I had no option but to go for an Elective Casearean.  He then sent me home telling me that I was to do absolutely nothing whatsoever until it was time for me to go into theatre.

And tomorrow that awkward baby becomes an awkward teenager - I can't believe how quickly the years go by!  He is now a good 6 inches taller than me, has more facial hair than his dad, is hilariously funny (sometimes!! other times not!!!) and is looking forward to going to High School in just a few short months where he'll begin the GCSE process that's going to hopefully help carve his career.  My baby's all growed up, and I am so proud of him.  We are currently waiting for delivery of a book of short stories in which his story has been published - so exciting!  I took him to Malvern a couple of weeks ago to do his Grade 1 drum exam which he passed and so for his birthday we have bought him a drum kit! OMG, now he just needs his bedroom sound-proofing!!

Anyway, onto my creation for today.  Over at MDUC their theme this week is Flags and Banners and I made this card:

Much as I love Magnolia images, I tend not to get very excited when a new collection comes out and am usually happy to buy one or two particular favourites from that collection, but I always get really excited about the Summer collections, and from what I've seen so far of the new Summer collection, I really want them ALL!!  As soon as I saw this gorgeous image I immediately thought of Enid Blyton stories - don't you think she has a look of the b/w line drawings in the old books with yellow pages?  Even as I was colouring her I couldn't get those childhood stories out of my mind as I thought about all those times I would read under the blankets with a torch because I was made to put my bedroom light out.  I used to yearn for midnight feasts and exciting adventures, and as I was colouring I could smell the pages of those books!  I used Grace Taylor Vintage Papers and this K&Co vintage chipboard sentiment finished it off perfectly.  I kept it as simple and 'uncluttered' as I could because I wanted to try and recreate a retro piece. 

Well that's my lot for today.  Back to work tomorrow so I have a busy, busy day ahead - lots of bunting to put up for my teenage son too!!  Thanks for stopping by!  :o) xx

....and relax!!!

Aaaah, bliss!  I love end of term holidays - two whole weeks of chilling out!  Chill being the operative word here - OMGosh!!  What happened to the sunshine??!!  Admittedly we haven't had it as bad as some parts of the country, but we have had some pretty huge snowflakes this morning.  However, the gale force winds and (much -needed!) rain have managed to stop it from settling!  Oh well, can't go very far in this so I shall just use my time wisely by continuing along my Copic journey! LOL!!

I've used Copic markers to colour my Tilda for this week's Midweek Magnolias theme which is Homespun Style.  This week we have asked for you to think about all those little things that make a house a home and I have used some of Donna's wonderful Country Collectionpapers from Bearly Mine Designs.  All of Donna's papers are just sooo gorgeous but this beautiful patchwork set is one of my all-time favourites and I thought of these immediately when the theme was set.  Unbeknown to me at that time, Bearly Mine Challenges themselves have the theme Patchwork this week, so I can show this card off there also! WooHoo!!  Here's the card:

Hope you like!  My lovely teamies over at Midweek Magnolias have created more sensational projects for you to have a drool over too, so if you're here, please pop over and give them a little love too because they've worked so hard to keep other crafters motivated and inspired, and it really shows in their fabulous creations.

Well that's my lot for now, just looking out of the window and wonderin' if I should saddle up the huskies and give the ol' sleigh a good dusting!!  Be back soon, hopefully it'll be a bit warmer then!  Thank you for stopping by! :o) xx