Wednesday 9 October 2013

The candle burned out long before the legend ever did.....


Happy Wednesday peeps!  Here I am once again with some of my crafty offerings - sadly minus a Papermill DT badge, but hey-ho! Onwards and upwards.......

It's been quite a roller coaster couple of weeks here. Following a steady deterioration of health and  old age, my dear old Mom-in-law sadly passed and last week we said goodbye to her in a beautiful family ceremony that she would have thoroughly approved of and enjoyed.  It was also the day that we met our gorgeous new great-nephew, Jerry, for the first time which sent my maternal hormones racing!  What an absolute darling he is, and I could have snuck him in my handbag and brought him home with me!

This week I have been baking once again.  This time I have been salivating over some of the most delicious iced cookies (although we call them biscuits here!) and have been desperate to try my hand at them.  However, having never done any 'proper' icing before I was a bit tentative.  My friend next door gave me a tutorial on how to make icing bags with parchment paper (I know, pretty basic but I just wasn't getting it!!).  So armed with my newfound skill I spent Friday night knocking them out like I was on piecework!    Saturday morning came and I baked my first batch of biscuits.  Typical me, didn't bother following a recipe so had to guess at the oven temperature and time.  I think I overbaked them by about 10 minutes because the almost black bricks that came out of the oven indicated that I needed to make some adjustments.  So I turned the oven down slightly and baked them for much less time.  This time I only overbaked them by about 3-4 minutes.  But they were OK enough to start icing.  EEEEEK!!  Virgin territory.  I made a batch of royal icing, split it into 4 different bowls and coloured each bowl a different colour and set to work.  Here's what I came up with:
 
I have truly not been this excited about something for such a long time!  I couldn't believe that I'D made these!!!  Of course the boys wanted to tuck in immediately, but I made them wait until they were completely dried and set so that they would taste better (plus I just wanted to keep gazing at them!! LOL!!!)
 
So now I'm chomping at the bit, desperate for a bit more 'Me' time so that I can have another bash at another lot.
 
I've also managed to get a little papercrafting done since I last blogged.  This adorable little caravan is something that I created for a lovely lady that I work with:



and then last night, at the 11th hour, I finally got to put the finishing touches to my card for this week's Midweek Magnolias theme which is Song Birds.  I had a rummage through my stamps to see if anything sprung up and as soon as I saw this stamp, I began singing Candle in the Wind, so I used this sweet Tilda to make this card, and I sang the song over and over while I was colouring her with my pencils!

OK, that's my lot for today.  I'm off to gather inspiration for my next batch of cookies (or biscuits!)  Please pay a visit to Midweek Magnolias where you will see the most amazingly delightful samples that our wonderful DT have created for your inspiration.

I'm showing off my card in the Time for a Magnolia challenge this week too.  They have a Bingo board, and I opted for the bottom line, Flowers, White and a Tag.  Also I am sharing with Marvellous Magnolias as they have a Christmas theme.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week. :o) xx

4 comments:

  1. What a beautiful Christmas card and so wonderfully coloured! Thank you for joining us at Marvelous Magnolia, good luck and I hope you will join us again in the next challenge.

    Hugs
    Gina x

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi, your card is stunning love the blue, the design and your colouring is fantastic. Thank you for joining us at Marvelous Magnolia this week.
    Hugs Charlotte

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a beautiful card Anne! I love the way you've coloured this adorable Tilda. Thanks for joining us at TFMC. Hope to see you again next time.
    Hugs, Diana

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Anne, those cookies are amazing, they are so pretty. I have that cutter but have never tried it, you inspired me to pull it out of the cupboard and give it a go
    The caravan is inspirational, how do you come up with such wonderful ideas.
    And last but by no means least, your card is so pretty and sweet. You really are a talented Lady.

    xxRosxx

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting my blog, I hope you leave with a smile!