Salt dough

If you are stuck in on a rainy day I recommend you give this stuff a go.

mould the dough into whatever you want bake it till it is hard then white emulsion it before you decorate.

it looks like porcelain or clay when baked and emulsioned white so the possibilities are endless.

I did silly masks with Fin Merryn and his friend Frank but you can just as easily make a pot or sculpture.

recipe; 100g salt

340g plain flour

225-350 ml luke warm water.

bake at 125 (degrees c) for 30 mins then put heat up to 170 (degrees c) until browning.

peas and soup

This week I have been making up some vintage dresses for a customer. I love the whole 60's 70's styles and prints so when she brought round these old patterns my eyes popped out.

I will be making some for myself too I think.
I love this kind of job it beats prom dresses and curtains any day.

I have made some dodge stuff in the past, you end up doing all sorts of stuff to make a bit of money.

I have also pulled my peas. its so satisfying popping the cases to reveal the little peas inside.

never thought I would love something like popping peas when I despised them so much at school.

merryn tried to help although most of hers went on the floor or flying into the other room.

She still didn't eat any though. never mind I wont push it or she might never appreciate them later.

I have also set up a second etsy shop 'Wsoup'.

This one is to sell adult clothes and jewelry , I will be screen printing , up cycling and constructing various clothes for the shop as well as bags and other accessories
Some of these vintage patterns will no doubt find there way onto the site too .

Ill keep you posted on the progress, early days still but I have stared with a few bags.

Love for Lotta

I love the Lotta Kuhlhom fabrics in Ikea at the moment. I scanned this one in to show you.
I must stock up before they sell out.
I also dug out merryns old dress today. I made it when she was born and to my delight it now fits her as a cute top. I'm so rubbish at throwing things out I even have trouble parting with some of the things I make for the shops.
What a donut, I am destined to never make any descent money if I cant even part with the stock

Lizard and frogs

I saw this and thought it was so brill it deserved a mention on my blog. It is such a random picture has nothing to do with the lizard or frogs but it is just genius, don't you think.
A crochet car, I want one.

Anyway.........................We have just come back from a short break in the lizard, Cornwall.
With two young kids in tow, holidays are some what different.
You have to keep on the go to ware them out, so we got to explore this beautiful part of Cornwall inside and out. Came back exhausted, but sad to leave.
When we got back I was so excited to find out the tadpoles in our pond had become tiny frogs and i just had to take this photo.
They are tiny but perfect in every way, how cute.

A bit of art this month

I have been back on the drawing this month and have come up with a few new designs for my art cards for the shops.

Here is a sample of my favourites. They are a work in progress so need a bit of a tweak.

I'm desperate to get some new art on my living room walls as well but when this will happen know one knows.

My brushes are a bit crusty from lack of use and computers are so much quicker
How lazy do I sound.

making madness and market stalls

I have had a mental few weeks with just too much going on for

my poor brain to cope with.

My brain has been relatively dormant and just getting jealous of

all the hard work my poor hands have been doing.

I had two weeks notice to get a good market stall spread together and

a newly built conservatory to furnish. Not to mention that new dress for mummy bear

I promised my 4 year old son. I promised Fin I would suitably dress poor mummy bear a week ago and at last made good on my word.

Fin picked this velvet like fabric out and the flower button pin himself and took great pride in dressing her in the new glad rags.

I was meant to re-cover the whole corner sofa in our new conservatory but only managed two pillows, that was a bit of a cop out.

The cushions are nice though!

Maybe I will cover the sofa in cushions instead to re vamp the tired old thing.

My husband would kill me though he has the whole bloke phobia against cushions going on.
I will have to slowly increase there number in a stealth like way.

Maybe he wont notice?

Maybe mummy bear will fly ?

Seed Cathedrals and blossom cordials

First I want to share with you these fantastic photos of Tom Heatherwicks Seed cathedral.
This is Britain's entry to Shanghai's 2010 expo.
What an incredible building made out of 60,000 transparent rods each containing a different single seed currently being held in Kew gardens seed collection.
Kew have been frantically trying to preserve as many of earths plants as possible due to whole plant species disappearing every year .
some of these tiny seeds that make up this amazing hairy building could have been used to make medicine that keep your granny alive for an extra five years, or hold the key to curing cancers.


The inside is just as spectacular, with the light shimmering through the rods to illuminate the cathedral like calm inside.
Isn't it spectacular, lets hope we win this years expo and that we get to see it over here in Britain.
Back to The seeds of my labour, which are proving fruitful in the garden. My mint and herb beds are explode into life. I made these yummy lavender biscuits and have been making various blossom cordials for the store cupboard.
My favourite has been the dandelion cordial which was drunk so quickly i only had half a bottle left for the photo.

I think every one should have a go at this one. Bottle that blossom to remind you of the summer sun in the depths of winter ,here is the recipe:

1/4 carrier bag of dandelion heads

3 lemons (zest and juice)

500g sugar

1.5 litres boiling water

shake the blossoms as you pick them to free any bugs.

Pore into a large container ,add the boiling water and continue to boil on the hob for 15-20 mins.

Turn off the heat, cover with a clean tea towel and leave over night.

Strain the mixture to remove the flower heads, add the lemon juice, zest and sugar.

Boil for 1/2 hour then pore into sterilised bottles while still hot and screw tight.

These should last at least 6 months unopened and 1 month once opened if kept in the fridge after opening.

This recipe also works with other blossoms such as crab apple blossom, elderflower and meadow sweet.

Give it ago you will be hooked.

Fin made some glasses whilst I was busy picking crab apple blossom of my tree.

And I found this unfortunate fellow inside the poly carbon roof sheet which will be our new conservatory.

Cooked alive in the sun, poor thing.
Preserved in plastic a bit like the seed cathedral, now that's a thought?