Blog Day 2011

It is always fun discovering new and interesting blogs. In honour of Blog Day this week, here are some of our current favourites from around the world.

Myrtle and Eunice (Australia) - In her own words, Tania is a "designer and craftster of the slightly obessive kind". It is always entertaining to read of Tania's latest crafting exploits - be it yarn bombing a tree, designing crazy hair, or pom poming,  you never quite know what you will find! The witty dialogue, beautiful photos, and the ability to think outside the square, makes this a delightful read.

Pink Penguin (Japan) - Ayumi has a wonderful talent of combining fun Japanese textiles in her patchwork projects to make lovely zakka items for the home. She shares lots of wonderful tutorials and snippets of her life in Japan. 

Cha de baunilha (Brazil) - Bela is one of the sweetest bloggers around! She designs and sews lots of projects for the home. Her blog is bilingual (English and Portuguese) and there are always pretty projects to admire.  

Ric Rac (Australia) - Jodie is one of the most imaginative and original crafters around, with a wicked sense of humour to boot! She designs and sews lots of adorable softies, creates wonderful entertaining stories featuring her softies, dabbles in screen printing, and can create magic with selvedges. 

Mamas Kram (Switzerland) - Doris brings creativity into all areas of her life - in her creative projects, her gift wrapping, her gardening, her home decorating. Her blog is beautifully photographed and is always a wonderful place to visit and be inspired. Doris writes in German and google translate is available in her sidebar. 

A Field Journal (USA) - Olivia is a graphic designer and designs some wonderful crafty projects for a range of craft magazines, and shares beautiful images of her work on her blog. I adore her Christmas projects. 

Hope you enjoy our recommendations. What is your favourite blog?  We would love it if you let us know in the comments so everyone can check them out and find some new favourites! We need to update our blog reader with some new inspiration.

Book Review: Georgie Porgie by George Calombaris

Thanks to Penguin Australia, we were recently sent a copy of Georgie Porgie to review. Anyone who knows us,is aware that Sarah and I are huge Masterchef fans, so we were thrilled to receive an advance copy of George Calombaris' recent cookbook. This book is targeted for children and teens (or anyone just starting out in the kitchen). The book is styled in a fun fresh way, with lots of collage and photos of George scattered through the pages, which would make it visually appealing for kids. With Mastechef and Junior Masterchef, inspiring a nation to cook, this book would make a great gift for the Junior Masterchef in your family.

The recipes are all fairly straightforward, but are more interesting and inspiring than recipes usually found in kids cook books.Some of the recipes have a Greek flavour and are probably ones that George himself learnt to make when a child. ( such as Chocolate Baklava, Greek Salad Cornets, Cypriot Ravioli).  As well as the ingredients, each recipe also makes a mention of special equipment that will be needed. There are recipes for treats and snacks, as well as recipes that would make perfect family meals.

The book is set out as a A to Z, with everything from Apples, Bread, Chicken, through to Yoghurt and Zucchini. This is a cookbook that is going to get plenty of use at our place. It was released on August 29, 2011 by Penguin. You can read an interview with George here.

Book Details:

Published:29/08/2011

Format:Cloth Books, 216 pages

RRP:$39.95

ISBN-13:9781921382567

ISBN-10:1921382562

Origin:Australia

Imprint:Lantern

Publisher:Penguin Aus.

Book Review: Handmade Wedding

The lovely folk at Penguin recently sent us a copy of Handmade Wedding to review.  It is a gorgeous book, that contains over 40 projects and ideas to add a special handmade touch to your wedding. The projects range in complexity from simple ideas that can be easily made to more complex projects for experienced crafters. Everything in the book is beautifully photographed and styled. It would make a lovely gift for someone planning a wedding.

The book is divided into chapters that cover Before the Wedding ( invitations); Getting Dressed ( hair clips, boutonnière); Ceremony ( bouquet, wreath); Table ( place cards, table signs)'and Party (cupcake toppers, photo booth props). 

The projects are styled around the wedding theme but many of the projects would also work well for a special party or celebration (anniversary party, engagement party, or special birthday). Project templates are included. The contributors are all bloggers from around the world. 

Book Details:

Published:29/08/2011

Format:Paperback, 240 pages

RRP:$35.00

ISBN-13:9780670075287

ISBN-10:0670075280

Origin:Australia

Publisher:Penguin Aus.

Imprint:Viking

Weekend Baking: Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sarah is on the mend again after her nasty virus that has plagued her over the past 2 weeks. She has spent the weekend competing in the Tournament of Minds (where she put her creativity to the test in a different way) and catching up on school work. During a break this afternoon she whipped up a batch of her favourite Chocolate Chip Cookies - a tried and tested recipe that taste delicious with a cold glass of milk. They also freeze well for the school lunches this week.

What we like about these cookies is that they don't have too much butter, and are crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside. 

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients: 

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

1 egg

2 tablespoons golden syrup or honey

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups of plain or all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 160 degrees C (325°F.)

In a large bowl, beat butter and brown sugar until well combined. Add egg, syrup and vanilla and beat until smooth.

Add the flour, baking soda and salt  to the butter-sugar mixture and stir by hand until almost combined; add chocolate chips and stir just until blended. 

Drop spoonfuls of dough (or use a small ice-cream scoop) about  5 cm or 2” apart on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with nonstick spray. Flatten each a little with a fork.  Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until pale golden and set around the edges but still soft in the middle. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Makes 20 cookies.

If you have been baking something recently, we would love for you to join in the fun and link your recipe up below.

If you would like to add our weekend baking button to your bog, here it is!

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Homemade Japanese Washi Tape

Ever since spotting the Handmade Custom Paper Tape over at Just Something I Made, I have been keen to make some. Melanie from Crafty Japan, sent me some offcuts of washi paper and as I am a big lover of Japanese Washi tape, thought some handmade washi tape would be just the ticket.

I used some double sided tape with an adhesive backing (available from Big W, and scrap booking stores)

and applied it to strips of washi paper and then cut it to size.

I wrapped it around some pieces of cardboard tube and secured with a twist tie.

It works beautifully when gift wrapping

and to decorate wooden pegs (clothespins).

I think my addiction to pretty tape is getting out of hand - fortunately we have lots of birthdays in the next few months.

Lemon and Passion Fruit Butter

This is an easy Lemon Butter recipe that is made in the microwave. The passion fruit adds a nice flavour to traditional lemon curd/lemon butter.

Ingredients:
1 lemon
150 g (5.3 oz) sugar
50 g  (1.7 oz) butter
2 eggs
3 passion fruit

(makes 1 1/2 cups)

Using a deep bowl, add finely grated lemon zest and the juice of the lemon. Add the passion fruit pulp. Mix in sugar and eggs and stir until well combined. Add the butter. Cook in microwave on 100% power for 5 minutes, stirring well after each minute. Watch the mixture to make sure it does not boil (or you will end up with scrambled eggs). Bottle in sterilised jars while hot.

Refrigerate Lemon butter for up to 2 weeks. It is delicious on toast or as a filling for sponge cakes.

Winner of Go! Baby Giveaway

Thanks so much to everyone who entered our Go! Baby Giveaway that was sponsored by Accuquilt. We have really enjoyed playing with our Go! Baby Cutter and hope you enjoyed our tutorials for a Modern Circle Pillow and Easy Felt Garland. Stay tuned for more tutorials featuring out other dies soon.

Congratulations to Kirsty from You had Me at Bonjour for winning our giveaway.

Don't forget that Accuquilt are giving away 22 Free Quilt Patterns if you sign up to their newsletter. You can click on the link below.

Accuquilt have another fabulous giveaway going at the moment. Here are the details -

Camp Quiltalong Prize Giveaway

Join in some campfire fun for a chance to win great prizes totaling over $1500!  Fons & Porter, Fabric.com, and AccuQuilt have teamed up to provide us all with a huge giveaway on Facebook.  Simply “Like” these Facebook pages and gain access to all three sections of a secret code that unlock your chance to win!  Follow the camp trail on the bottom of each sponsor’s page and it will take you to the next campground to retrieve the next section of code.  Once you’ve captured all three pieces of the secret code, go to www.accuquilt.com/indianblocks and enter the full code to register to win! 

Your summer camping trip begins at AccuQuilt, so get GO!-ing at http://www.facebook.com/accuquilt?sk=wall#!/accuquilt?sk=app_10467688569

Sarah and I have another terrific giveaway planned for next week, so please check back soon for more details.

Review: Mollie Makes

I first spotted Mollie Makes on a few craft blogs a couple of months ago and have been eagerly awaiting the opportunity to purchase my own copy (I have a weakness for crafty magazines). The Mollie Makes website lists where the magazine can be found in Australia (and the USA) and when I discovered one of the places was the newsagent near my workplace, I have been stalking it for the past couple of months waiting for my first glimpse! Today was my lucky day a they had a pile of Issue 2 for sale (although the current issue is No 4). It sells for $12.95 in Australia which is quite a bit more than the GBP 4.99, but well worth it. Digi issues are also available but I prefer a paper copy myself.

The beautiful photography and styling, the matt pages, and the retro feel make this a lovely magazine to inspire. It promises a mix of making, thrifting, collecting and crafting and does not disappoint.  The projects are an adorable mix of sewing, embroidery, paper crafts, party  ideas, crochet, dressmaking, and softies - something for everyone.

I think a subscription might just be top of my Christmas wish list this year......

Weekend Baking: Lunch Box Treats

Our resident baker, Sarah, has been sick most of the week and this is the first weekend in memory that hasn't seen her baking up a storm! It has fallen to me to make up some treats for the lunch boxes . I wanted something quick, so made up a couple of our favourite slice (bar) recipes.

Chocolate Chip and Oat Slice

This is a quick and versatile slice to make. You can add any dried fruit you like (sultanas, apricots, cranberries etc) and so much nicer than commercially made muesli bars.

• Ingredients:
• 75g (1/2 cup) self-raising flour
• 75g (1/2 cup) plain flour
• 90g (1 cup) rolled oats
• 70g (2/3 cup) desiccated coconut
• 140g (2/3 cup, firmly packed) brown sugar
• 130g (2/3 cup) sultanas
• 95g (1/2 cup) choc bits
• 125g butter, melted, cooled
• 2 eggs, lightly whisked

Preheat oven to 180°C. Brush a 17 x 27cm (base measurement) slice pan with melted butter to lightly grease. Line the base and sides with non-stick baking paper.


Sift the combined flours into a bowl. Add the oats, coconut, sugar, sultanas and choc bits, and stir to combine. Make a well in the centre and add the melted butter and egg. Use a wooden spoon to stir until well combined. Spoon mixture into prepared pan and use the back of a spoon to smooth the surface.


Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown and firm to the touch. Remove from oven and set aside to cool completely. Cut into squares to serve.

* Sultanas are dried grapes similar to raisins.

Almond Cream Slice

This slice is a family favourite. It has a cake like base with a caramel almond topping. 

You can find the recipe here.

Thanks to everyone who has been joining in on our weekly baking posts.  Hope you have all been finding some inspiration. If you have been baking something recently, we would love for you to join in the fun and link your recipe up below. It is great to see that the linked recipes are getting lots of traffic.

If you would like to add our weekend baking button to your bog, here it is!

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Scrap Buster Gift Tags

While sorting through my fabric scraps, I was pondering if I should keep so many tiny scraps. I found some of my favourite fabrics - and for some favourites,  these small pieces were all I had left.

I made up some Scrap Buster Gift Tags, using some shipping tags and price tags that I had in my stash. I also made up some small tags using scraps of card.

I cut small pieces of fabric to fit the card, and then sprayed them with starch to make the fabric crisp. Using the sewing machine, I stitched the top of the fabric to the tag, and added a length of Divine twine.

I now have a bunch of pretty tags to attach to gifts.

Here are a couple of our past projects featuring quick ideas for gift tags.

Quick Crochet Gift Tag

Postage Stamp Gift Tags

Easy Felt Garland

Since making the Modern Circle Pillow last week, I have had circles on the brain. I cranked out a bunch of felt circles using the Go! Baby. Then I stitched them together and had a garland in under an hour. I am full of the flu at the moment and this was about all the crafting I have the energy for.

Thoughts on the project:

• I used up felt scraps in lime, green,  red and white that I had in my stash. I found that the cheap acrylic felt is stiffer and works better for this project as the circles hold their shape better.
• Using  masking tape, I marked 1 inch on either side of the needle on the sewing machine. This made it really fast to line up the circles and feed them through. (See image below)
• This would be a fun project for a child who is learning to sew. It comes together quickly and garlands can be made for any occasion or to add some colour to a bedroom.
• You could cut the circles out of scrapbooking paper for a different look. Accuquilt recommend not to use the Go!Baby to cut large amounts of paper, and to treat the dies as you would your fabric cutting scissors. Paper punches in a 2 inch circle size are readily available and would also make for a quick project. It would look great in double sided paper.
• It is tricky to photograph garlands!

Don't forget to enter our giveaway to win a Go!Baby Fabric Cutter and three dies from Accuquilt. You can enter over here. Entries close Monday August 22 at midnight WST  (Perth Time).

You can sign up here to receive 22 Free Quilt Patterns.

Kokeshi Projects

Sarah and I collect Kokeshi dolls - we bought some in Japan and some online. There is something about their simple shape and painted details that really appeal.

Here is a round-up of some Kokeshi inspired projects for other Kokeshi lovers out there:

Japanese Paper Dolls Tutorial from Kimono Reincarnate

How to Make a Kokeshi Doll Ornament with Zakka Life

Kokeshi Doll Tutorial by Restlessrisa

Free Prinatable Kokeshi Gift Tags from Creative Mamma

Free Prinatable Kokeshi Doll Recipe Cards from Creative Mamma

Kokeshi Doll Printable from Activity Village

Three Kokeshi Dolls - Free Digital Stamps  from About.com