New Years Eve...

Cant believe its New Years Eve already, it seems as though its been ages since it was Christmas! For some strange reason this year i just cant wait to get all of the decorations down and get back to normal!
Ive blitzed the kitchen today after another baking session yesterday - i made cranberry and white chocolate cookies and another big batch of rocky road. Diet starts tomorrow......erm ok then, Monday at the latest!! LOL
Thank you to my lovely hubby who has made my new banner - its taken from the new website which is really starting to take shape!! :D

Sweet, sweet things...

I feel at home when im in the kitchen! I mean, once i put that apron on its like adding a pair of underpants to the outside of your outfit, slapping a big S on your chest and feeling invincible! LOL No one can burst my little bubble once im in the kitchen :) I dont know if its the smells or the hands on feeling of making things from scratch and watching them transform from raw ingredients into something that (sometimes) resembles what its meant to end up looking like! :)

Hands up - i cant make meringue! I tried again yesterday and i dont know if its just because i hate my gas oven (ive always used electric until this house!) or if im just one of those people who will never master this angelic desert! Please say someone has a foolproof way of making it out there - give me a shout and save my sanity please :D

Heres what i made yesterday - peanut butter and chocolate cups, then fresh cranberry and lemon scones :)Todays mission is cranberry and white chocolate cookies, lemon sponge cake, peanut brittle and chocolate/chestnut cups. Yumm!!

OOhhh does anyone know where i can buy cooking lavender and roses from? Ive tried searching but have come up with very little option and would love to knowif someone out there has sourced some they rely on.

What do you do??

What do you do in these days between Christmas and New Year?? Its kind of a no mans land isnt it - do you stay in pjs? Do you spend all day at the sales? Do you not move from the sofa overloading on sugar from your Christmas sweets? What do you do?? Can you tell im lost today LOL
Ive spent the day uploading goodies to my Folksy store and sourcing out new craft fairs. DH has popped into town to pick up some bits so i can make a start on some baking this afternoon! The kids are playing on their video games and its really quiet here - Christmas tiredness kicking in i think :)

My littlest boy turned 4 just before Christmas and i cant believe how grown up he looks - boy does he have the 'ive been here before' attitude too! :) He was trying to see around me to watch tv so i got a half smile and a look that said 'out of the way' LOL

Me and my coat...

ok this coat has been spoken about a lot so i thought it best to share a pic! My lovely dh and littlest sis conspired to hide this away from me for Christmas (bearing in mind dh cant keep a secret to save his life i think he did well!) :D Its kind of bold and the colour is really bright compared to my usual greys and blacks but i love it so much!

I have sorted out my exercise dvds and bought a padlock for the fridge (not really but some serious willpower will be needed) as im going to try and shift all the excess weight by the end of March! That gives me 3 months to lose about 2+ stone - not sure about posting before and after update pics etc but if i manage to take one without making me look like a weeble i will do :D
Im hoping that the couple of things that are lined up will keep me too busy to eat - i will share what they are as soon as i get the ok from those involved but until then my lips are sealed! ;)

Merry Christmas :)

Merry Christmas to everyone! We had a really relaxed day yesterday with little sis staying here overnight. Me and said sis woke at 6.30am and proceeded to wake all of the kids and make hubby run downstairs to see if Santa had been.....HE HAD!! :D Obviously the boys and of course me and dh were good this year aswe were left lots of pressies! I got my very much coveted coat from River Island, La Senza pjs, books, sweets, lots of travel stuff (journal, countdown clock etc) and we were all really spoilt! I even forgot to ge the camera out while the boys opened pressies!

We stayed in pjs all day and just chilled, ate, watched tv, ate, played games, ate some more and fell asleep really late while watching Wanted (Angelina Jolie....fab!)
Today was spent at my other sisters where we were all spoilt yet again by said sister and my mum! We have eaten all day long and played lots of Wii games etc. I got a beautiful pj and dressing gown set from my mum, a new fuzzy hot water bottle, special sister candle, Katie Perry CD and lots more fab stuff and we all have money to spend in the sales too!! Wohooo!!
Ive hardly seen the boys as they had their heads burried in their games systems today - so cute!! (can you also tell who got a tattoo maker from Santa) :)

Nigella Christmas - Rocky Road.

This is so delicious i couldnt resist taking a pic! It tastes divine and im sorry but amaretti biscuits and brazil nuts are the only way to go now! :D

One cup of camomile tea, a slice of rocky road and im now one step closer to Christmas! :D

What to bake first??

I still need to do all the Christmas baking!! Infact i still need to do the shopping before i can even start the baking!! EEK! Heading off to Tesco this morning with elbow and shin pads ready for a rugby scrum in the turkey aisle!

Poorly kids mean no pics lately but it was Ethans birthday on Saturday and he had a good a time as he could - temperature through the roof and a cough to rival someone smoking 90 a day meant we didnt do much apart from eat cake! lol

I have been making lots of goodies lately - will be uploading to the website after Christmas :)




This 2 tier baby cake will be available on the website etc once im done.
Please keep checking back for lists of when the new fairs are taking place - i will post all details here and i hope to see you there :D

Catch up.......

Do you think its possible to get RSI from using a punch?? LOL My hand is hurting so much! Then again i must have punched around 5000 (yes that is three 0's!!) scallop circles. I have made so many new exclusive design tags ready for the website going live, theres packs of journal spots and lots of packs with jewells and stamped images etc - so many different ideas. (so many sleepless nights too!) :)

Thought you might like to see what i used a couple of the gingerbread men for - ive made a couple of these little advent calenders. The gingerbread men are painted with chalkboard paint so easily wiped down as you count down the days :)

Busy week!

Such a busy week what with my mum being here and crafting for the fair this afternoon. Im off shortly but couldnt leave this blog untouched again - im under threat of losing limbs if i dont update!! LOL *love you really girls*

Here are a few more bits i have done along with some pics of the boys playing in the snow (yes i said snow - we have had masses of the stuff - and theres more talk about winter being bad this year!!)

One fair down, one to go :)

Thanks girls for being so patient with me and allowing me to share the stuff as i have gone along towards the fairs :) I thought you might like to see how it all looked set out....
Excuse the bad lighting - its no wonder my head is thumping, everything had an awful orangy tinge!! There was no room to set up the display stand with my necklaces on and no where for the cream tree to go with the canes and gingerbread men on but it was good and i think it looked cool all the same :)
The chocolate bouquet was going to be a raffle but when we got told off for having what they thought were real cakes (they were very territorial about their own cake/raffle/tombola stalls) we thought it best not to even get it out of the car!! *eek*

Check out these cute sprinkles i bought from Whittards of Chelsea - the perfect topping for my whipped cream and marshmallow filled hot chocolate :)

Basket case!!

I have basket'd (is that a word!?) up some of the things for the fair and im really excited now! lol How sad is that! LOL The kids laughed at the snowman poop when they came in from school today so i think that one might go down well with the other kids at school :)

How sweet are these?!

I got the idea from a couple of the threads on MSE. They are bars of soap wrapped in a facecloth and made to look like little reindeers! How cute are they? Super easy to do too so lots of fun for the kids to join in with too :) The white mugs behind are being stamped and turned into kiddies chocoholic mugs :D

I have also made 6 of these chocolate sets - fine china mug, hot chocolate sachet, chocolate finger biscuits, marshmallows and a sugar stiring stick from Whittards of Chelsea :) I still have the snowman soup to make as my cones didnt arrive today as expected but im kept busy anyway so maybe thats a good thing! LOL

Buttons galore!!

ADDED:- Ive just finished bagging up my bunting and i think it looks ok - what do you think??I have just watched the best film i have seen in a while -August Rush! Its such a heart warming adorable film that its now on my Christmas list. I recommend it to anyone out there who wants a sweet, everything you wish for, dreams can come true kind of film :)

While i sat watching it i pinned all these buttons onto my Christmas star. It didnt take too long concidering how many buttons and pins were used (no, i didnt count!) LOL

Bunting :)

I have just finished sewing the beads and flowers onto my first finished length of bunting :) Its shown here on the head of my bed to show the length of 10 points :DBeen shopping today and bought lots more envelopes etc so i can finish the sets of cards off too. Im making broth this afternoon so im having a crafty day finished off with comfort food - what could be better! :D

A little birdhouse in your soul....

I have had that song going round in my head since i saw this cute little project! Thank you so much to Nichole Heady for the template - i am going to make a load of these little birdhouses and pop them on my cream tree for Christmas :) (this isnt finished off properly as i just wanted a quick go to see if it was simple to do - it is simple and Nichole is a genius!)

Edited to add:- I just finished some more for my tree - these are addictive! LOL

Chaos, cards and TFIF!!

Thanks to Claire for the fab card display boxes! I have placed some of the cards in there and i cant believe the difference it makes to the presentation! White table cloths are bought, i now have some fab snowflake paper to decorate the middle of the table and a lot more bits have been made and are in the process - including lots and lots of handbag cards! lol Look at the chaos! ARGGHH TFIF as i really need a lie in - must read more of my book and try to chill as the Christmas fever is starting to hit home!

Pink'd out!!

Its like an explosion in a Pepto Bismol factory here lately! Especially since my October PINK swap parcel came today from the lovely Elaine :) Isnt she a star, look at all these goodies!I also made some pink bunting but im waiting for the binding to arrive so have temp sewn it onto ribbon to see if it looks ok :)