Monday, March 31, 2014

Decoupage Clothes Pegs

I was going to visit a friend the other day and realised that it was her birthday, so I decided to make her some decoupage pegs, they are now gallantly holding up the stems of her orchid, hey why not. I kind of got carried away and made a few more sets and a lady from Japan saw my vintage music ones and well they should be just arriving by now.  I think they are a lovely inexpensive gift so I thought I would share them with you, and if you don't want to make your own I have just listed some in my Etsy shop, just saying. My favourite set are the ones below with the vintage washing day girls. Have a great week. xx

washing day
Bird cage & Roses
Moths
Florals
Pink & Green floral
Vintage music
Postcard
Vintage lace & Flowers
Blue Hydrangea

Sunday, March 30, 2014

Smoked Salmon Tagliatelle. Delicious


I was going to type out this recipe but found it on line along with a picture which I forgot to take last night when we ate this. Out of this world and takes 8 minutes from start to finish. This one calls for whisky but I make mine with vodka. If you like smoked salmon then I highly recommend this dish.


Ingredients
  • 225 g egg tagliatelle (good quality)
  • 2 tblsp softened butter
  • 1 shallot (thinly sliced)
  • 150 g smoked salmon slices (cut into strips)
  • 1-2 tbsp whiskey
  • 120 ml cream
  • 1 tblsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Method

  1. Bring a large pan of water to a rolling boil. Plunge in the tagliatelle and cook for 6-8 minutes until al dente or according to packet instructions.
  2. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a heavy-based frying pan and sauté the shallot for a couple of minutes until softened but not coloured. Add the smoked salmon and continue to cook for a minute or so, stirring until it lightens in colour.
  3. Sprinkle over the whiskey and continue to stir until it has evaporated. Pour in the cream and allow to heat through, then season to taste.
  4. Drain the pasta and return to the pan. Add the smoked salmon cream and parsley, stirring until evenly combined. Divide among warmed wide rimmed bowls and serve at once.


Thursday, March 27, 2014

The Life & Death of Trellis

Well Trellis would have been eight years old  next month but he finally fell last night in a gale fit to blow the house down let alone poor Trellis. Still he did a great job supporting my every growing Rosa Banksiae and now we have the task of trying to extricate him from the rose, not going to be an easy task but needs must.

2005 just before Trellis and our love shack

2006 and growing fast

2008 and the Rose is magnificent see our little love shack, well it's a shed really but we made it into a spare bedroom for visitors
2014 the fall but going to wait till it finishes flowering before I tackle it.


Have a fun weekend

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Chris Brooking.. Firecraft Minatures

Introducing Chris Brooking who lives by the sea situated in the beautiful county of Devon, South West of the UK. 

Everything he makes and sells on Etsy is done as a hobby, he has been making miniatures since he was a young boy and somehow has never stopped. Chris tries to use scrap materials as much as possible mainly to keep his prices at an affordable level and I for one hope he continues making these glorious little miniatures.  Look at the fabulous detail on his items and if you pop over to his shop you will see more. Lovely work Chris pleased I passed by your shop.










Friday, March 21, 2014

Spring Giveaway Garden Marker & Monogram Guitar Pick


Well its official, spring is here and to get you in the mood for a spot of gardening I have a great giveaway sponsored by a mother and daughter team who each have their own shops on Etsy.
A monogrammed guitar pick from  Angelorian Tradition  & from  Linda's Garden Path a very cute metal stamped spoon garden marker with a quote reading "A beautiful garden is a work of the Heart". Combined value $27.00 (€19)

Give away is open WORLDWIDE and easy to enter, finally a huge thanks to Crystal and Indy for kick starting spring for us. Good Luck everyone. Below I have popped a small selection from their shops, to see more just click on the links above.














a Rafflecopter giveaway

Friday, March 14, 2014

Paper Panda.. Paper Cutting Artist


If you have not yet seen the glorious hand cut paper gifts & creations from  Paper Panda then you are in for a real treat. Louise Firchau who describes herself as "a big ,cuddly, tattooed, jovial lass who loves anything Alice in Wonderland" started Paper Panda in 2010 making typographical lyrical papercuts from recycled paper.
You can read her full story here where she explains where her inspiration came from. Louise has also taught thousands of people to papercut through online groups using a papercutting starter kit. You can also find Paper Panda on FaceBook where she posts daily. I love to read her posts and watch her work in progress, here are just a few examples  but she has many more and each one will bring a smile to your face.










Paper Panda on Twitter






Thursday, March 13, 2014

Amazing what you can do with Paper Napkins..... + Tutorial

I found a tutorial for making Napkins transfers and so collected all the things I needed to get started. It called for  a food wrap which I thought was like cling film so I  thought that would work, wrong as it did not bond to the card. I went to 3 shops and found various types of plastic wrap and guess what none of them worked either. Then I thought of my freezer bags and so I just cut of the bottom and then slit them down the sides and used the side that has no white print on it decided to try that and yay it did. I have now found out that the Americans call it Saran Wrap and I have some coming my way soon. The tutorial (link below post) is very simple to follow and if you  don't have the proper food wrap then a few freezer bags will get you started, so now your your ready to go. My granddaughter Poppy made the Red Rose card and we put some paper inside and then used a hole punch and added ribbon to hold it all together. Fun project


These could be cut in half to make small gift tags


These would look great scattered on tables at a wedding perhaps
My favouruite is this journal cover
I was amazed that it worked on  clothes pegs

This was Poppy's choice of Napkin
Poppy's finished Notebook

Napkin Transfer Tutorial

Monday, March 10, 2014

A Quick March Round the Garden this Morning

What a beautiful day here in the Tarn this morning, glorious sunshine although still a nip in the air but it's going to be deliciously warm in the next few hours. I spent most of the day yesterday weeding, thee most hated job digging up millions of wild garlic and the more you dig them up the more they seem to multiply. I was going to throw my poppy seeds over a patch that I had cleared but the wind choose to do it for me, it blew the dish of the table and as to where they landed  I have no idea but might find out in a few weeks time if they germinate.








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