Winner of the 500 giveaway! :)

Sorry i havent had a chance to do this before now but here we go...

Here are your random numbers:

36

Timestamp: 2010-03-31 19:26:18 UTC

Congratulations JACKIE POCOCK !!

Email me your addy honey and i will get your goodies posted out to you tomorrow in the hope of still getting them in time for Easter! :)

Coffee and Walnut Cake :) - Week 13.

Shopping list for this cake :)

Here we go...

Gather together your ingredients and preheat the oven to 180 degrees c.
Add all of the sponge mix ingredients to your mixing bowl.

Mix thoroughly until all blended.
Pour into your greased/lined tin.
Level off the top and pop in the preheated oven.
Bake for 35/40 minutes and once removed from oven leave to cool in the tin.
To make up the icing add all of the ingredients to the mixing bowl and thoroughly mix together.
Pour and smooth over the cake.
Try not to lick the spatula and make sure you have a plate or tray big enough so it doesnt drip over the sides - yep i had a lovely pool of coffee icing on my worktop!! LOL
Cut, serve and enjoy! xxx

One last little bit of eye candy - look what i picked up in TK Maxx for £3! Pot stand and tea towel. Perfect for spring, they are starting to sell off all their Easter goodies so keep your eyes open for bargains :)

Banana Frog Blog Hop...

A big welcome to the first Banana Frog Blog Hop!! :) Take a look around all of the girls blogs for lots of motivation, inspiration and fabulous ideas on how to use these great stamps!
I made this birdhouse card and decorated it using the Cherry Blossom stamp from the Kawaii Kokeshi set. I stamped it in chocolate brown and dotted glossy accents before sprinkling with Baby Pink Flower Soft. Theres so many ways to use these stamps and the fan i used for the owl feathers the other day is in the same set :)

Take a look around the rest of the design team blogs, from here hop over to Julies blog and you will then be given a link of where to hop next :)

Thanks for taking part :)

EDITED TO ADD

Thank you so much for all the comments and visitors to my blog :) There have been a lot of comments about the Flowersoft product, i didnt even think to pop a link up so here goes....
This is a link to Crafters Companion - they currently have the flowersoft for sale, ive only just realised and please dont buy it all until ive checked out my basket!! LOL The one used on the above owl card is Soft Baby Pink, you need to empty it out of the tub it comes in and run it through your fingers to loosen it all up - i just popped mine straight into those plastic containers that are £1 for 10 or so. It lasts forever as you only need a little each time you use it! :)

Coffee and Walnut Cake :) - Week 13

Week 13 already!!

Im not a huge fan of coffee sweets but give me a slice of coffee cake any day - the walnuts and frosting are just a bonus and since this is a Mary Berry recipe it should be a good one! :)

Shopping List for Week 13!
Makes one 12x9 inch traybake.

For the sponge

• 225g (8oz) soft magarine
• 225g (8oz) light muscovado sugar
• 285g (10oz) self-raising flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 4 eggs
• 2 tbsp milk
• 2 tbsp coffee essence
• 85g (3oz) walnuts, chopped

For the icing

• 85g (3oz) soft margarine
• 225g (8oz) icing sugar, sifted
• 2 tsp milk
• 2 tsp coffee essence
• walnut halves to decorate

I will pop the link to this post onto the Wednesday step by step too :)

Winners of the Easter DotComShop Giveaway :)

CONGRATULATIONS LADIES!! x

Here are your random numbers:

51
35
54
60
38

Timestamp: 2010-03-28 10:12:45 UTC

51 is Jude

35 is Apple Valley

54 is Mandy

61 is Aaron1 (no blog)

38 is Sarah (no blog link)

Please can the winners email me asap to debbie(at)countryheartandhome.com and i will pass on the addresses for your prizes to be sent out to you :) Congratulations xx

I only have 6 more projects to do before the rest of my diary for April is clear! It gives me a little more breathing space and i wont have to worry about last minute deadlines etc as it nears the end of the month! I sneaked a little peek at what my Little Gifts of Kindness Calender says for the 29th April..........

Inhale, Exhale, Relax, Repeat!!

How cool is that!! LOL

Someones birthday on Monday....

Its my little soldiers birthday on Monday and since i do the shopping list then i thought i would dedicate todays post to the kiddo thats growing up so fast! We decided this year that Christmas is becoming far too commercialised and we will focus more on their birthdays as it is THEIR DAY! :)

He will be 7 and it feels like yesterday when he was born (then again it feels like yesterday when Ben was born and hes coming up to 14!!EEK)

I have picked a few of my favourite pics from the last couple of years, some make me smile, others make me laugh and one makes me want to break my heart for the problems he had with his ear and all because of an open pore! Happy Birthday Jake, we love you so much!! :)

Freebie Friday Five Hundred!!

Yayy we reached 500 followers on a Friday and i couldnt think of a better way to end the week than a giveaway :) Included:

Easter Chocolate/Biscuit/Cake tray
Pink Pastry Brush
Blue Whisk
Green Spatula
Pink Set of 2 Storage Tins
2 Happy Chic Egg Cups
Pack of 5 Mini Lindt Bunnies

Thank you all so much for the support and encouragement - pop your name down via Mr Linky below and i will announce the winner on Tuesday :)


Also go check out the Banana Frog Blog for a step by step on how to make a fan stamp turn into an owls feathers! ;) I think hes so cute, the owl is a template from Craftwork Cards i picked up last weekend in Harrogate. The stamps are the Kawaii Kokeshi set from Banana Frog and all the little sprinkles at the bottom are flowersoft.

Im off out to a crop from 6-12 tonight so having just had a nap i think i best go get packed otherwise it will be another 'throw random bits in the bag and forget the most important things' night! LOL

Hearty Raindrops and we are almost at 500 followers!!

I made this card for the P K Glitz blog and wanted some raindrops but didnt have an actual raindrop punch (and my freehand cutting is pretty pants!) lol I used the EK Success small heart punch and punched out Wonderfilm. Cut the hearts in half and peeled off the backing paper so that they were positioned on the card upside down. I then peeled off the fronts of the Wonderfilm and sprinkled with Aquamarine glitter glitz, added a ragged edge Nestability oval and a little umberella - sentiment is from Papertrey Scattered Showers stamps.

We are only 2 followers off 500 and you know what that means!! In fact ive been out today and picked up some bits im sure you will love (think Easter kitchen) :)

You have 2 days left to get your name in for the DotComGiftShop Easter Giveaway too - see post here :)

lol one last little bit - ok well its not exactly little!! Im sure those who are on facebook etc have already seen the pic but for those who dont do FB then heres my bump as of this morning, 35 weeks 1 day!! I swear if i someone put a pin to it i would fly around the room!! LOL

Pad Thai Noodles with Chicken :) - Week 12

Shopping list for week 12 - click here :)

I am going to add the links for the shopping lists to step by step Wednesday posts as i think more and more people are dropping by and dont know about the Monday Shopping list and Wednesday Step by Step. At least this way youve got it all in one go :)

Right, Ben just described this as the best tea ever! I now have raging heartburn (it was either the peanuts, onions, lemon juice.....infact pick an ingredient or just blame the baby!)....whatever it was it was well worth it!! This is a definate 'will make again' recipe!

Step by Step for Week 12.

1. Soak the Rice Noodles in hotwater for 20 mins until soft (or cheat like i did and buy ready to wok ones!) ;)2. Beat the eggs with the salt and pepper and heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a frying pan. Pour in the egg and make a thin omlette. Place on a plate and cut into thin strips - leave to one side for now.3. Heat the remaining oil and fry the garlic and thinly sliced chicken until the chicken is tender and garlic is golden brown.4. Add the noodles and chillies, stir fry for another minute. (i bought a jar of Lazy Chillies but they have seeds in so it was a little hotter than it would have been using normal chillies as per shopping list)5. Now add the spring onions, peanuts, fish sauce, lemon juice and brown sugar. Heat on high for another minute or so.6. Toss in the beansprouts, mangetout and omlette strips. Cook for approx 1 minute and serve piping hot.Enjoy xxx

Non edible yummies! :)

This is a sneak of the upcoming April sketch on the P K Glitz site. Remember to check back on the 15th for a full reveal - i love this layout! :)

The postie was nice to me this morning and brought a big box of Bo Bunny goodness! Ive sat and sorted it all out, hooped up all the ribbons, labelled the backs of each page of a swatch card batch..........and im about to make a start on some new projects *happy dance* :)

Tonight we are looking forward to ordering pizza, watching Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs and having an early night!

Upcoming blog hops.....

Just thought i would share a couple of projects ive been working on and also the dates of some upcoming Blog Hops! :)

Bookmark your diaries as we have goodies to give away too!!

OK, first up the Bo Bunny project that was on the blog today was spotlight on brads - have you seen these glittery brads!! How cute are they!! I know theres a box of Bo Bunny goodness on its way to me with the new lines in too to create some projects so im mega excited right now!! :)

Over at the Banana Frog Blog it was my day to be features for Project of the day. I made a banner for Jake - who said boys cant have bunting type banners! :) I love the little planet and spaceship stamps from the Retro Space stamp set. The letters are digital from Nitwits and just printed onto photo paper :)

Blog hop dates......

Banana Frog 30th March

Bo Bunny 2nd April

P K Glitz 2nd April

I forgot to take some piccies of the goodies i got at the weekend! EEK! I bought some chipboard templates which are supercute (owls, manequins, elephants etc and all a decent enough size for some major projects i have lined up!!) ;) Also got some nestabilities, lots of bling pearls and gems and a couple of other cute bits :)
Met one lady who use to come to the classes i taught, thankfully she collared me otherwise my mushy brain would have been completely oblivious *big wave as i know she reads my blog too* - also i nearly met another reader of my blog but the whole place was heaving and by the time she went to speak i had disapeared :( Tell you something ive never been so shoved and pushed but happy at the same time!! LOL No one was nasty or anything it was more just like a *I WANT STASH* fever had overtaken everyone! LOL ;)

Pad Thai Noodles with Chicken :) - Week 12

Whenever we visit my favourite restaurant i always order the Pad Thai Noodles with Chicken! Its yummy enough to fill you up but not enough where you feel guilty! lol

With 20 mins soaking, 25 mins prep and 8 minutes cooking then its not exactly time consuming either :)

Shopping List for Week 12300g Thick Rice Noodles
3 tbsp Veg Oil
2 Eggs
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper
100g Boneless Chicken
1 Clove Garlic
3 Spring Onions
3 tbsp Roasted Peanuts
3 tbsp Fish Sauce
3 Red Chillies (seeds removed)
1 tbsp Lemon Juice
1/2 tsp Brown Sugar
120g Beansprouts
50g Sugarsnap Peas

Im so excited to see if this tastes just as good as the one from the restaurant! :)

I will be back later with a seperate post about the past weekend and upcoming projects and blog hops! :)

Easter Giveaway!

Are you looking for Easter Presents other than chocolate this year??
Thanks to the lovely people over at DotComGiftShop i have 5 of these Make Your Own Feltcraft Rabbit Cushion kits to give away!! :)Arent they fab!! Perfect as a crafty present for someone who is just starting out, a weekend project for yourself or just a little something special thats handmade to match your decor etc :)

Take a look at the rest of these fab goodies ive put on my list - chocolate is out of bounds this year so i thought i would drop a few hints to hubby about some pretties instead :) Whats not to love about fluffy bunnies, little chicks and birds nests filled with fab eggs!! Check out the pages of Easter goodies over at the shop you wont be disapointed!
Leave me a comment telling me what your favourite thing about Easter is and i will pick 5 winners when the competition closes at midnight on the 27th of March :)

P K Glitz Password keeper...

There is a challenge over on the P K Glitz blog right now to make a password keeper. Make something pretty and try to recycle something at the same time and you could win a $25 gift certificate to spend at the P K Glitz store! :)

Heres the run down on how i made mine.....

I took 2 blank white cards that i have had lying around for a while, i lost the envelopes a while ago but didnt want to just waste the cards. I sprayed them with the Ritzy Ditzy Glitz in Amethyst and let it dry.
I then cut the cards down the already creased fold line...
Taking a sheet of the Wonderfilm (super super double sided sticky sheets!!) I punched out a strip along the bottom.
I then placed this on the bottom of each of the sprayed sheets and trimmed to size.
Peeled back to reveal the sticky....
...and sprinkled with Merlot Micro Glitter Glitz.
Using the small brush i got rid of the excess glitter - believe me this stuff is so fine and sparkly you only need a teeny bit!
Laying one of the sheets face down on the table, place another sheet over the top so that you end up with a pattern at both ends (one one side and one the other)

Fold the card in half and both of those sparkled edges will face the same way.
Taking a co-ordinating colour ink pad stamp a couple of images onto the front of your password keeper ( i used the Abundant Blooms stamps from My Stamp Box)
Place one of the folded cards inside the other and punch 4 holes along the joins for the ribbon.
Thread the ribbon through the top fastening tightly with big knots so it wont slip back through and decorate with a title or name etc...
Voila, finished :D

Tune in tomorrow for an Easter Giveaway from Dotcomgiftshop - I just heard some of the Mothersday packs were posted yesterday so please let me know when you receive them :)