Work Space Work Place

Today I stumbled on a facebook page called "Where Women Create" which shows the amazing spaces which women have created as their own space in which to work and play. It reminded me of Virginia Woolf's " A Room of One's Own" where she says that in order to write a woman needed an independent annual income and a room of her own in which to work.
Apparently against all the odds, Jane Austen produced her masterful novels sitting in the living room in the evening with other members of her family, while she pretended to write letters.

I can't say my workspace is as glamorous as the those on the facebook page, but until recently I had a spot at the kitchen table and now I do love having my own corner in which to leave my work and ideas scattered around waiting for me to shape them....

What does your work space look like?
Blue x

Beautiful Life

As we head towards the end of the year, I had a lightening bolt of inspiration the other day to fuel me into 2013. While I walked along watching the ripples in the sea I decided that I would ask myself everyday "What shall I do today to make my life more beautiful?"

And then I knew that if I hold that in mind 2013 will be a year of goodness.

What will you do to make your life more beautiful today?

We are off on holidays for a week or so, Happy New Year, Blue x

In miniature

 
Following on from Blue's beautiful puddings (thank you for mine!), I set to on a smaller scale... crushing homemade chocolate shortbread and combining melted chocolate (the real stuff - not those awful cooking melt things). Following a good chilling, they can be formed into little balls. Drizzled with white chocolate and topped off with a shiny jaffa and some jube leaves they turn into miniature puddings.



I like to wrap them individually in cellophane with lots of ribbon to gift to friends, family, teachers, pet feeders and the like.

Variations include the addition of brandy soaked sultanas and cranberries (hope you like them Blue) or cherries instead of jaffas.



Merry Christmas everyone!

Just in Time!

I thought I was never going to get to it, but today I made my Christmas Puddings, all 7 of them. Some for friends and some for us. None for family as I don't think they would post very well. (Note to self: could try next year if organised enough.)

I measured and poured the ingredients into my big preserving pan, and then as friends popped in on their daily walks round the beach we all stirred and wished and for those who couldn't come I telephoned them and they wished by phone - there are some traditions that I just love!

Happy Christmas Season!

Ahhhhh..... tissue

Many years ago a friend gave me a wee money saving tip ... keeping pretty tissue boxes and refilling them from the less-pretty boxes. Who would know?!

I've taken that idea a little further by decorating the tissue boxes so they tie into a colour scheme. You can use any spare scraps of fabric, stunning paper, pretty ribbons, sparkling beads, dried rose buds or whatever takes your fancy. (Tip: I used Modge Podge to glue the fabric and paper on).

Scent the tissues by placing cotton balls in the bottom of the box before refilling. Sprinkle the cotton balls with your favourite essential oils, or spices (cinnamon stick, cloves etc). I am currently using Dolphin Clinic Mandarin Pure Essential Oil for that clean citrus smell.

I also use these oils in my home-made cleaners - but let's not think about housework today!

Blues and Greens

Now that summer really does seem to have put in an appearance in the Bay of Islands, blues and greens are everywhere here on the beach and in the garden.

Last night we ate the last of the broad beans our Boy had grown, we ate them blanched with olive oil, lemon juice and black pepper, delicious. All of us had some, pretty amazing for this house that we all ate the same thing!

I started messing about on the sewing machine today and made a diary cover out of some fairly psychadelic fabric and as I sewed I floated ideas for creating it into something quite different, filled with colours and quotes and pictures to get the imagination jumping! Then of course I had to make another one.... 

Spots and circles

Tis' the season to spend up large!

While doing some Christmas shopping I came across this great plaque. I had to have it!

The internet is great source of inspiring quotes, funny sayings and of course awesome images. Mounted on polystrene they make a great present (and are really light to post). Give it a try (or cheat like I did and buy one!!!!)

Angels and broomsticks!

In the Christmas spirit, I got out my watercolours and some water colour paper (I got mine from one of my favourite lurks - The Scrapbooking Shop).

These angel cards are so easy to make for big and small people as they are not meant to be precise - infact they look better if the pen outline and paint overlap. I improvised too using some of my stamp pads instead of paint. Glitter glue also works well.








And just to make you giggle:

Women are angels

And when someone breaks our wings ...

we simply continue to fly on a broomstick

We're flexible like that!

Cheats Mince Pies

As soon as we hit 1st December the Small People decided that it was definitely the right time to put up the Christmas tree and get Christmas underway. So as they rifled through the boxes of decorations loading the tree up so that it was weighed down like a ...well like a Christmas tree, I went into super Mum mode and made Cheats mince pies.

     

 Store bought pastry, store bought filling, a quick bit of rolling out, 12 minutes in the oven (for the 12 days of Christmas?!) and hey presto a dozen mince pies. Spicy, Christmassy smells, Christmas carols trilling out over the stereo and Miss Small went to work with the icing sugar. They looked pretty presentable and they were scoffed down pretty fast too.

Who says you need to be too hair shirt about living the good life!