Tea and sympathy

- in the form of shortbread.

After several weeks of coughs, clods, fevers and general busyness (hence the long absence) you just need to sit down with a nice cuppa and something comforting.
Sunday comfort took the shape of shortbread it is super easy to make and is well worth the hour it takes to bake in the oven.

Here is the recipie I use (it is a modified Delia one)

• 180g butter
• 2 tbs of muscavado sugar (for a caramel flavor)
• 75g sugar
• 1 tbs Vanilla extract
• 180g plain flour
• 80g semolina (for crunch)

1. Pop your oven on to 150C


2. Mix sugar and butter until light and fluffy.


3. Mix in the flour and semolina until you get a smooth dough and clean bowl. (But don't knead it!)


4. roll out on a lightly floured surface until about as thick as your finger and pop into a baking tray.


5. prick all over with a fork.


6.place in the middle of the oven for 60-70 min -or until golden and firm in the center. When you take it out of the oven score it with a knife or pizza cutter so you can easliy break it into dipping fingers when cooled. Cool on a rack. 


7. Enjoy with a nice cup of tea, some knitting and a good movie.

Making logo and labels

After a lot of back and forth I have finally decided on a logo and now I'm having some woven labels made (30x30mm) so I can add them to the things I make. It is very exciting!

And now I need your help! 

I want to order 2 or 3 versions of the label but which color combos should I do?

Here are the options:

Which one is your favorite?

Birthday party ideas II

After a big meal you still might want a little sweet -so why not overindulge (guilt free) on home made blackberry ice-cream? 
For 6 people take 

• 5dl frozen blackberries (or other frozen fruit)
• 4 tbs of fat free yogurt
• 3 tbs of honey
• 1 tsp of vanilla paste (or just use vanilla yogurt) 

Blend/crush with your hand held blender -my Bamix does it in around 6min.
As this is a healthy, fat free dessert feel free to mix in some chocolate chips and crushed meringue.   

I just managed to take a picture of it before it was devoured - I had to work quickly due to mouth watering hence the bad lighting. So you'll just have to imagine the intense deep purple of this super easy indulgent dessert.     

Birthday party ideas I

Last Friday I had the honor of hosting a birthday party for my dear friend Mary. 

We had such a lovely girly evening -good food, nice wine, lots of chocolate, stimulating conversation, cupcakes, great coffee and did I say chocolate?

What's a party without a birthday bunting? 

How do you make a bunting in less than 15min and not enough time to get out all your crafty stuff? You use paper-dollies!

Cut 5 paper-dollies into quarters and spell out Happy <3 Birthday! -one letter on each triangle with a marker. Tip: Don't write with them in a pile as the marker might stain through

Then you just thread a ribbon through the holes in the dollies. Hey presto!

    
Happy Birthday!

Autumn

It's November, dark, cold and wet and still a bit early in my book to start doing Christmas decoration around the house. So in an attempt to enjoy November with all it's color and not jump ahead to Christmas I've made some fabric leaf bowls. They are so easy to make and look very cozy scattered on our table. You can fin the how-to here at Martha Stewart. 

Love in the toybasket

 Do you remember her?

After a year of waiting and yearning this lovely lady has finally found the man of her dreams! Living in Oxford it of course had to be a man in tweed and corduroy. 

I hope they have a long and happy life together. 

My own fabric!

It has arrived - samples of my own fabric design. It really fun, you really need to try it. 

Here are the results - same design in different color combos and on different fabric. The colors turned out as I thought apart from the one at the back in the photo - it was supposed to be pinky apples on a light blue background... 

The colors in my photos aren't the best representation either...but these I really liked. The knit jersey (the top one)was really lovely. It's a nice creamy color. I'll be getting some of that. 

Go over to Spoonflower and give it a go!