my craft space

vintage buttons, measuring tapes and magical things

Today I have been working on a few different small projects. I've been painting, drawing and sifting through buttons and nifty things for a swap with a friend. I dragged out more buttons and things to inspire my crafting and the notes I'm writing for a little story in my battered notebook. I hope you are all having a lovely crafty Friday. I have done my housework...or as much of it as I can stand to do without pulling my hair out. I have made cheesecake and there is a pot of chicken bubbling on the hob to shred for chicken burritos later. I feel I have accomplished something today, aside from drinking three cups of coffee...What have you been up to today?

Craft Club: Strawberry Pincushions

Why a craft club? Why not. After much dithering, daydreaming and wittering I spoke with Caroline at the Book Boutique about my wish to start a Craft Club up. She agreed and I Decided on a date and then figured out how to make an Event on Facebook right here. Please click if you feel like venturing into the deep dark heart of Derbyshire and dragging your crafts along.

CRAFT CLUB: STRAWBERRY PINCUSHIONS

Learn to make strawberry pincushions. Come along to the craft club and make some small strawberry pincushions. We shall have some small strawberry making kits available to purchase or bring your own fabric and sewing supplies.

Where: the Book Boutique, Church Street, Ripley, Derbyshire.

When: Monday the 26th of September
Time: 7pm-8:30pm
Contact: Apryl meridianariel@hotmail.com with any questions you may have.

The Craft Club is a brand new friendly and informal place to hang out with like-minded crafty folk. We’ll be here at the Book Boutique In Ripley 7pm until 8:30pm on the Monday the 26th of September. If things go well there will be more meet ups in the future.

Please do pop along and join us. Please feel free to bring along any craft project you are working on, chat, learn some new skills, browse the bookshelves and have fun. There will be tea and cakes to purchase and we really hope you have fun joining us for some crafty fun.

Caleb the Imp

Caleb the imp is small and lonely little creature, prone to mischief, bouts of melancholia, lover of fairy tales and converse shoes. He is a tiny bit huffy and stubborn, but you didn’t hear that from me. He is wicked, and sweet, a charmer and a procrastinator. He has a way of generating messes that make you forget about the job you were meant to be doing. Caleb love listening to fantasy stories of broken knights, hysterical dragons and forgotten magical realms, and watching epic fantasy movies and shows like Game of Thrones, Conan, Camelot, Legend of the Seeker and Labyrinth to name but a few. Did I mention he loves shoes? Because he really loves converse shoes, he won’t go to a home without any chucks in the house, and may drive his owner to buy more and more shoes. He says the shoes are his pets and his friends.

You must be careful if you own Caleb for you might come to harm tripping on carefully arranged piles of converse. He mostly means well, honest, but Caleb is an imp and that means trouble no matter how many shoes you own.

Caleb and my favourite chucks

Caleb was made from a Converse One Star button down shirt, vintage buttons, vintage doily, and toy filler.Caleb was stained with a mixture of coffee, vanilla and cinnamon. He is meant to be a decoration and not to be roughly played with my small children, due to his button eyes. Caleb the imp is a one of a kind creation, and I hope that you love him as much as I loved making him. I mean just look at that face, how could you not love him?

Caleb is listed in my etsy shop.

I've packed my case

I have packed my case but not to run away. I have filled a small vintage case I thrifted a few summers ago with geeky badges and poison apples for a small display in the Book Boutique. It's a local book shop that opened not too long ago, family run and filled with very nice books. I may end up spending whatever money I get for any sold badges on new books.

I am ridiculously nervous about having my crafts on show so please come hold my hand and tell me it will all be alright and that people will love my lavender filled poison apples and bookish pin badges. I did have some jewellery on sale in another shop a few years ago but I wasn't nearly as nervous about that. Possibly because the bracelets I made were tucked away with a little card and my little suitcase of fairy tales is on display on the counter. Please if you are local to Ripley, Derbyshire pop into the Book Boutique, wander around, have a chat, buy a book and buy a badge too? Pretty please with sugar on top? I'll make you a coffee.

display

I dithered over what to take to the shop to display, and decided to take in some of the little poison apples I have been obsessed with making the last few days. I have made apples before but every time I have made them I have used a different pattern*. I think my little case display turned out OK, it is very me with bits of paper, poison apples and pin badges. I may bring in a small doll or the half finished fox plush I have hidden under my desk.

display

*When I say pattern what I really mean is what shape of scrap fabric I have and what I can do to fit it together. Mainly whatever if buzzing about my brain. I really don't do patterns so very well.

p.s. please can you like Meridian Ariel on Facebook ? And while you are at it will you like the Book Boutique too? *flutters lashes*

Moo mini cards

strange little dolls, jewellery, vintage, geekery & fairy tales

I wanted to share with you my moo mini cards that arrived the other week. Most of the pictures I used were ones through instagram, and a few from a secret project I'm very excited about. I know I'm totally obsessed with instagram, I even added an app on the right hand side of my blog that links to my instagram. I'm really pleased with this set of cards and wish that I had ordered more, next time huh? Anyway I must run off and get some housework done or at least put the coffee machine on while petting my moo mini cards...definitely the latter option.

What's in my bag

I'm not much of a girly girl most of my handbags are simple and functional, my favourite bags are probably the two men's leather satchels that I have had forever or so it feels anyway. For the last few weeks I have been using a book bag/shopping bag I got in the sale at American Eagle Outfitters last April. I bought it on my birthday with a larger red satchel/man bag as my present. Why am I going on about bags? Well A Thrifty Mrs blogged about her's yesterday and as H is having a lie down on my bed watching cartoons I thought I would work on a quick blog post while I drink a cup of tea. Yes really I have a cup of tea.

the contents of my bag

First there is the vintage flowery purse it holds all my precious pennies and paper..and occasionally random buttons too. I found that purse in a thrift shop in Railroad Square in Santa Rosa while shopping with Apron Thrift Girl a few years ago. It's lived in my various bags ever since.

A little dusky pink leather card holder it was ridiculously cheap in T.K. Max and I had to have it to hold a random assortment of credit and store cards.

A few of my new moo cards in case I run into anyone to swap with or anyone that enquires what do I do all day.

Ipod and headphones. I can't walk without my headphones on listening to whatever music I'm currently obsessed with.

House keys with a little torch/flashlight.

Notebook for doodling and writing plus a pen and pencil to do said writing.

A silver fruit knife that my dad gave to me.

A birdy pouch that most of the small junk fits into. I bought the pouch in the shop at the end of the Seattle Underground tour.

That's about it for my handbag though there are a few things not in there. I quite often bring a book with me where ever I go but I just started reading A Game of Thrones yesterday and I'm not lugging that house brick with me everywhere. Also Matt has a tendency to give me his wallet, keys and whatever else he doesn't want to carry for himself. And I often carry snacks or the DSi for Harrison.

So what's in your bag?

the two badges on the outside of my bag.

A manga badge and a Serenity quote I typed.

Molasses Rye Bread Recipe

Molasses Rye Bread Recipe

Ingredients:

2 packages dry yeast

1/2 cup warm water

1 tablespoon sugar

1 cup warm water

1/2 cup dark molasses

1 tablespoon salt

2 tablespoons oil

3 cups rye flour

1 1/2 -2 cups bread flour/plain flour

1/2 cup cornmeal (semolina)

Directions:

Soften yeast in 1/2 cup warm water.

Stir in the sugar and let stand until frothy and bubbly.

In large mixing bowl combine the yeast/water with 1 cup warm water with molasses, salt, oil and rye flour. Mix in the plain (bread) flour until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Knead the dough and then let it rise in a covered greased bowl until it’s doubled in size.

Punch the dough down and shape into 2 large round loaves or 6-8 small rolls.

Placed the loaves a few inches apart on a greased and cornmeal dusted cookie sheet. Sprinkle a bit of the cornmeal over the top of the loaves as well.

Let loaves rise in a warm place until doubled.

Bake loaves at 190C (375F) for about 30 minutes (20 minutes for small rolls) The crust will make a hollow sound when tapped lightly.

Serve warm with plenty of butter.

Cook’s notes: my recipe is the combination of a few different recipes from food.com and a clone recipe for Outback Steakhouse’s bread. I would have used the recipes I found exactly but I only had a cup and a half of plain flour to add to the bag of dark rye flour I bought from Caudwell’s mill. I’ve not strayed too far from the recipes other than I used Billington’s natural molasses sugar (a very dark brown sugar as I had no molasses).

I’ve heard that the bread will freeze very well but we ate it all up before there was a chance to freeze it.

crafteroo button swap sent and recieved

button swap sent

I am terribly behind on my blogging. That whole summer thing of 'lets play all day and we wont do much' that didn't work and somehow I haven't caught up on blogging, writing, reading the tower of books beside my bed, or caught up on the housework. Ok so I probably wouldn't have caught up on the housework anyway because who *actually* does that? Seriously? We have been out and about on family trips and never seem to have stopped. It has been fun though. Today Harrison is at holiday club for the day so along with getting to grips with the housework I'm going to attempt to catch up on blogging. I promised some recipes and some pictures of thrifty finds and to blog about having started a facebook fan page for Meridian Ariel things. But more of that later.

framed button art I sent Caroline

About seven ages ago I signed up for the Crafter..oo Button Swap... A simple little swap of button-y goodness. I dithered though. I could not think for the life of me what to make for my lovely swap partner Caroline. Eventually while out thrifting for buttons and other crafty things I found a little brass frame and some inspiration. It was small and circular and had faded dried flowers in it. I was drawn to the frame and that afternoon I gathered together buttons, lace and vintage keys to find a way to display them in the frame. It was a bit if a tight fit and I may have got craft glue all over my leg and the carpet but was pleased with how the frame turned out with a slightly darker edge.

handmade button mint creams I received

I added a slightly sinister strawberry pin cushion and sewed some vintage buttons onto a vintage playing card and added some more buttons to a little pouch to make sure there was enough button-y goodness. I entirely forgot to add any chocolates or sweets to the swap package as I was in such a hurry to get it sent off to Caroline as I was so terribly late in sending the swap. The very same day I sent the swap I received the parcel she sent me.

buttons, buttons and doily buttons received!

I was amazed by the parcel Caroline sent because it was filled with buttons and some awesome button shaped mint creams that she made. I did not share them with anyone they were hidden on my desk where nobody goes but me! I loved the crocheted button doilies she made for me and have put them in a safe place on my desk. I'm almost tempted to use them for doll making though. Thank you so much for swapping with me Caroline.

secret message holder and picnic plans

Saturday morning I made a secret message holder for H using an old key chain and a pet i.d. that had been kicking around the house forever. I typed the note and gave the secret key chain to Harrison wrapped in a bit of tissue paper. He has spent all weekend twisting the pet i.d. capsule open and shut and reading the note 'Dr. Horrible is my hero.' over and over again. I told him he can type his own secret note or the location of a secret hiding place and we will play spies. Or possibly list the secret location of food stores in the event of an alien invasion or zombie apocalypse. A simple thing to make a boy happy.

______________

picnic plan update: Its been a manic few weeks here with awards, organizing the school summer fair and more things than I can remember to blog at this moment in time. A few interested bloggers, twitter-ers have said that they are free to come play on Mondays or Wednesdays so I'm going to call the shots and say:

Picnic Blog/Tweet Up

Where: Chatsworth Grounds

(meeting near the car park on the grass near the trees leading up to the shops)

When: Monday the 8th of August

Time: From 11am-4pm (ish)

What to bring: a picnic, the kids, craft work in progress bag if you want to sit and sew/knit/sketch while picnic-ing and chatting. Cake works too but is not essential as Chatsworth has excellent cake and coffee.

Nothing is set in stone I figured this would be as flexible as possible with many different people coming from all over the place. I just thought it would be great to have a little get together. I may possibly be mad, as I like many of you I'm an anti-social introvert, But I have met quite a few bloggers and twitter people and so far we have all got on like a house on fire.

Any Questions?

Who wants to go on a picnic?

There are so many of us like minded crafters, creatives and friendly folk on twitter it would be nice to all meet up. I have been thinking for awhile now that we should have a picnic tweet-up at Chatsworth during the summer holidays.

Lets chat and gossip in person while the kids form an intricate tribal infrastructure in the manner of Lord of the Flies... hmmm ok maybe not quite that. I have mentioned a picnic a few times on twitter and Facebook and thought it was time to blog about it and put some sort of plan together. Many of you have expressed an interest in a meet up-tweet up, some of you have come to the little crafty meet ups at Starbucks near ikea Nottingham. So who is with me for a big summer meet up?

I will need a little help to narrow down a day or two that would be ideal for meeting up? You don't have to have kids to meet up but as most of the people on my twitter feed do it makes sense to plan something out that can keep the kids busy as well. There are a lot of things to do at Chatsworth especially the farmyard and playground, plenty of places to let the kids roam and nearby favourites like Caudwell's Mill, Stanton Moor, Matlock Bath, Scarthin Books and more. Oh and I also know where there are some lovely fabric and quilt shops nearby if you are of the fabric persuasion.

So who wants to come out to play?

Can you help me figure out a date? (With Matt being a wedding photographer we don't tend to go far in the summer holidays so pretty much all days are clear with me.

Will there be people willing to give rides to others who don't have transportation there?

I'll be on twitter if you want to ask me anything.

car boots, junk warehouses, and garage sales

doily and vintage buttons

The last few weeks I have cut down on my blogging, days have been busy with school activities, half term holiday outings and general running around like headless chickens. Today I will share with you some of the little treasures I have found in the last few weeks. Some may call this modest hoard junk but it is all bits and pieces of things that I will use to craft dolls, monsters, jewellery and whatever else takes my fancy.

key and cog collection, almost too pretty to craft with

This weekend started with going to Cromford to the little festival that took place on Saturday. After the mystifying and quite frankly terrifying sight of a prancing unicorn-man I spied a sign that read 'Garage Sale' and a little arrow. I blinked twice and we turned around and went to find two little garage sales down the road from each other. I bought some doilies, a vintage chain, an airplane pin (for H) and two bags of toy filler all for the princely sum of £1. I may possibly have been quite giddy at this point as you just don't see garage sales here... ever. From Cromford Mill the previous week I managed to find a lovely letterpress tray that will be going up on the wall in Harrison's room to display lego figures (it was half filled with them about ten minutes after we got it home.

vintage baking tin, watch parts, keys and other treasure from Wirksworth

Last weekend we went to Wirksworth, it was late in the afternoon and we missed out on the farmer's market but still had fun roaming around the antique, chocolate and charity shops. I bought a vintage sea shell cake tin, from the vintage rooms. A little rusty, dusty and there was a bit of burned black cake left in it too, but it sits on my desk full of the bits and pieces that inspire me and I will be working with to create new dolls and monsters. After that Harrison and I explored an antiques shop that looked more of a hoarder's home then a shop, boxes piled high bursting at the seams and a little old chap running the place that I swear walked straight out of and 80s fantasy movie. I found buttons and vintage watch parts that made my little heart sing as they were exactly what I needed to finish the Steampunk Red Riding hood doll.

treasures from Banana junk Warehouse in York

While Harrison was on his half term break we went up to York for the day, we had a ball roaming the walls and streets and I was allowed an hour to rifle through the junk in Banana Warehouse. I found a little wooden box, more vintage buttons, vintage measuring tape, a large spool of orange thread and a mother of pearl belt buckle (which was similar to one in Duttons button shop that cost more than I paid for everything I found.

Lego treasure beyond compare

On rare Sunday morning when the day is clear and Matt isn't rushing off to a wedding or a wedding fair we sometimes go rummage around Tansley Car Boot sale. It's bleak up on the fields where the car boot and market are held but the view is outstanding. On the last trip up we found a stash of lego, vintage ladybird books and a crystal growing kit. Treasure for everyone.

Pork pie tins from Cromford Days

doilies, buttons and vintage chain from a garage sale!!!!

letterpress printer's tray from Cromford Mill

I'm linking to Apron Thrift Girl for her fab Thrift Share Mondays and Her Library Adventures' Flea Market Finds

Now back to the reality of sorting out all of my craft supplies. I'm decluttering and getting rid of various bits of fabric and beads that I won't use, so that I have room for more of the things that I do use. So that totally means I can thrift more right? I'm also hoping that by tidying and sorting things out it will inspire me to get one with crafting, writing and listing said crafts in my poor little etsy shop. I'm hoping I will have a few sales and be able to order some new moo cards and pluck up the courage to exhibit my crafts at a real craft fair. *wibble*

Dr. Horrible t-shirt

If you have visited my blog before you will know that I am a geek. Utterly. Completely. Geekily so. I love Science Fiction, Horror, Fantasy, books, movies, tv shows, and web geekery such as Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog. We own the movie/video and the soundtrack. Harrison and I listen to the soundtrack when he helps me cook dinner and we watch the blog with sweet popcorn and Harrison sings along with all the songs.

I looked into making a Dr. Horrible lab coat but my sewing skills are not quite up there with following patterns so I thought I would buy a red shirt and add buttons. Job done. Except it wasn't. I looked for weeks for a plain red t-shirt, I had no luck until today when I found a shirt in a thrift/charity shop for .75p! So I dug through my white button jar for eight similar sized buttons, found where I had hidden a spool of red cotton and needle in hand a Dr. Horrible t-shirt was born.
If I could embroider I would add the symbol on the pocket of Dr. Horrible's Lab Coat. I can't, not without getting in a tangle and steam pouring out of my ears. Harrison is playing in the garden with the Dr. Horrible Soundtrack on playing his favourite song 'Brand New Day'.

steampunk strawberry

steampunk strawberry pincushion

A little while ago on twitter the delightful Eirlys of Scrapiana tweeted about her pincushion vintage fabric strawberries on the cover of Mollie Makes magazine issue 2. If you are lucky enough to track down a copy of the magazine inside is a strawberry tutorial, written by Eirlys. I haven't been able to track down a copy of Mollie Makes, there is a dreadful lack of the good craft magazines around here (somebody should do something about that.

Scrapiana/Eirlys challenged me to make a strawberry on the darker side, something zombified or steampunk or dripping in blood... honestly what do people think I am?... *looks at books, dvds and dolls and monsters*Never mind don't answer that. ;o)

scrapiana Eirlys

@

@meridianariel PS Please take my strawberries over to the dark side. I need to see that. ;)

the above is an actual twitter quote. See !

I haven't been crafting much recently but with scrapiana egging...or should that be strawberry-ing me along I gathered together some scraps of material. Sent her a few messages as I didn't have the magazine to work from. And worked out a strawberry with her help and past experience making the Slightly Sinister Strawberry last year. I sacrificed a small rusty key and the inner workings of a watch that I bought the other weekend in Wirksworth and went to work crafting a small steampunk strawberry. It was fun to have been challenged and I look forward to seeing who else adds their strawberries to the flickr group.

I think I may need to make another Slightly Sinister Strawberry. Something a teeny bit darker than the previous one turned out last year though I still love the story and Lillian too.

A Clockwork tale of Red Riding Hood (Part the first)

I know I'm a little bit behind on blogging (read as 'hugely immensely behind on blogging, writing and crafting') but I'm working on it...honestly.... I offer you the beginning of the fairy tale I am writing for the Red Riding Hood doll I finished making the other day with the addition of a few well placed cogs I managed to dig up in a antiques shop Wirksworth. I'm hoping that if I share the first few paragraphs of the story it will encourage me to finish writing Red's fairy tale and list the doll and figure out how I will print out her story in zine form. So here goes...

A Clockwork Tale of Red Riding Hood (Part the First)

by Apryl Lowe

My name is Rowan but most people call me Red. I live in a village in the heart of the forest. There is no silence here, the forest is filled with clanking and ticking of steam driven machinery cutting down trees. Vibrations shake the earth beneath my feet as the miners drill deeper and deeper under the ground, searching out new veins of precious metal. The sound of metal against metal fills the air near the blacksmith’s forge, ribbons of black smoke curl as they rise from the rooftops.

Today is my eighteenth birthday. Mother says I shall leave now to visit Grandmother in the Cottage. Mother has been up all night sewing me a hooded cloak, the colour of ripe red berries, the colour of my left eye. The one the villagers say is cursed and evil. Mother says it’s nonsense, that it means I will always see the truth of things. I have always been the finder of things, keys, coins, cogs and jewellery. Mother says I could find a diamond in a snow storm or weed out all the lies the peddlers spout and find the truth hidden in pretty words.

Today I leave the forest forever. I leave Mother, our small house and head to the city like my father did before I was born. I have been chosen to go to Grandmother as Father was before me, as so many were. Mother refuses to talk about it, she will only say that those chosen go to serve Grandmother in the Cottage and never return. She fears the truth I will see no matter how honeyed the lies she might speak.

Mother refused to walk with me to the platform. I stand with three other villagers, two girls and a boy, each of us carrying a basket filled with gifts for Grandmother, shiny copper and brass springs and cogs with decorative scrollwork, some with tiny chips of precious gems, and golden threads. I grip my cloak tightly around me the basket heavy over my arms. Leaning against my boots is a worn leather satchel, filled with what few belongings I own. The train whistles before pulling to a stop at the platform, plums of steam bubble around the black engine as the breaks sigh.

A man leaps out from the train a book and pen in his hands. Brass goggles obscure his eyes, he is smartly dressed in a navy uniform with highly polished scrollwork and gears decorating his chest. His left hand is mechanical, a clockwork construction of brass. I tilt my head to catch the faint sound of gears turning as the man examines the clockwork pendants each of us wear. The pendants are the sign of the chosen grandchildren. I am forbidden to tinker with mine though it lies warm against my skin and makes my teeth itch.

to be continued....

************************************************

Ok that's the first half, I have another paragraph written and extensive notes for the rest of the story I just need a harpy on my back to get me writing again.

Tangerine Sweet Rolls

Tangerine Sweet Rolls

Ingredients:

Rolls:
1 1/4 oz. pckg. Yeast
1 c. warm milk
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/3 c. melted butter
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
4 c. all-purpose flour

Filling:
1/2 cup butter softened
1 cup sugar
2-3 tablespoons tangerine juice

grated tangerine zest

Icing:
7 tbs. butter, softened
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
1/4 cup (2 oz.) cream cheese
1/2 teaspoon tangerine zest

2-3 tablespoons tangerine juice


Directions:

Disolve yeast in milk. Mix in sugar, butter, salt, eggs, flour. Mix well.

Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface. Knead into a large ball (the dough is a very wet dough and very sticky and messy). Cover; let rise 1 hour.

Roll dough into a 21 x 16 wide rectangle.

Mix the filling ingredients together and spread over the dough rectangle. I just use my fingers to spread it generously over the dough.

Carefully roll up the dough. Using very sharp knife cut into 1 inch wide rolls, making sixteen. (If you want fewer, bigger rolls, cut them wider.)

Grease (butter) your preferred baking pan (11x 15 pan.) or use grease-proof baking paper as I did. . Let the rolls rise for at least 30 minutes (they will double in size).

Preheat oven to 400F (205 C)

Bake until the rolls are golden brown. .

Remove the rolls from the oven and let them cool slightly before covering them in icing*.

*Icing: Cream together butter, icing sugar, cream cheese, tangerine zest and juice with an electric mixer. Spread onto the warm rolls. They can be eaten warm but I think they taste better once completely cooled.

Cooks notes: I had been wanting to make some orange sweet rolls since I first had one at the Blackbird Bakery on Bainbridge Island off of Seattle. We visited there again in April and I had another Orange Baby Roll and knew that I would have to bake my own once I was home again and in a baking mood. I used tangerine instead of orange as I knew I wouldn't get any argument from the peanut gallery about them being too zesty. I researched recipes then went with the same dough I use for cinnamon rolls (I like the recipe and I wasn't about to start fiddling about with lard). I zested 5 tangerines and Boy helped squeeze the juice out and drank the few tablespoons left after I used what was needed for the rolls. I Also pressed the rolls down once in the pan so they were more flat to spread out instead of up.

black bean and cheese enchiladas

Ingredients for the Enchilada sauce:

two bell peppers chopped (any colour will do)

1x chilli pepper (red or green)

two cloves garlic (sliced)

1/2 a large onion

3 tablespoons oil

one teaspoon cumin

salt and pepper to taste

1 teaspoon oregano

2 tablespoons flour (to create a roux or use cornstarch to thicken the sauce, or cheat and use onion gravy mix)

2 1/2 tablespoons butter

2 cups water

fresh cilantro(Coriander) about a good handful of washed leaves and stalks

to make the bean and cheese enchiladas you will need:

wraps (I used coriander and garlic flavoured wraps but any will do this is a quick recipe)

a can of black beans (drained)

2 cups grated cheddar cheese

sour cream or creme fraiche

Instructions:

heat the oil a large frying pan. Add the garlic, onion, peppers and chilli and fry until nicely coloured.

In a sauce pan melt the butter and add the flour to create a thick roux. (ignore this step if you are being lazy and using cornstarch or onion gravy mix *ahem* which you will add with the water)

Add the onion, garlic, peppers and chilli to the pot with two cups water, cumin, salt, pepper, and oregano. Bring just to the boil and switch off.

Add the fresh cilantro (coriander) and blend the sauce using a blending wand (stick whatever you call it, or an actual blender).

Set the sauce aside while you prepare the rest of the dish.

Preheat oven at 180c (356F)

Open the package of wraps (tortillas) and place a few spoons of black beans and a few spoons of grated cheese. roll up the wrap and place it in a 9x13 baking dish. Repeat until the dish is full of wraps (I left mine open on the ends but you can wrap them like a small burrito if you prefer.

Pour the sauce evenly over the wraps/enchiladas.

Sprinkle more cheese on top.

Pop the dish in the oven until the cheese is golden brown on top and the sauce is bubbling on the sides.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream.

cook's notes: This is a quick down and dirty recipe. I have made plenty of chicken enchiladas and sauce before so I knew the basics but as it was getting late I decided to mod what I normally do to adapt it for time and laziness. The sauce isn't that spicy as H was eating with us but has just enough bite that we were all happy. Because the sauce was quickly made it tasted very fresh and zesty. If I had had some lime I would have added a few squeezes to the sauce. I know the basics of making a roux but really could not be assed to make it so thickened the sauce with a few spoons of caramelized onion gravy. Everyone loved dinner and there is still half a pan to reheat for lunch today.

literary crushes, procrastination and doll making

A few days ago while procrastinating on twitter and chatting with a few of my best geek friends I got the worm of an idea to make a doll inspired by Neil Gaiman himself. Mr. Gaiman is one of my favourite authors, he is cool, nerdy and all around fantastic. So with very little encouragement from the twitter peanut gallery I set to work sewing a new doll and ignoring the housework. But don't tell my husband that.

The dolls and monsters I make start life as scraps of fabric, lace and vintage buttons. I sit at my desk and play with ideas and fabrics until the pieces come together with the threads of small stories and fairy tales in my head. For me making the dolls and writing their little stories are one and the same, an outlet for my creative side. I make them for the love of craft and making things. This doll won't have a story because he is the doll of a wonderful storyteller and you should own his books already and if not then run out and buy one today.

Neil Gaiman the doll is made with scraps of cotton fabric, toy filler, and vintage buttons (green as that is the closest colour to hazel I had in my modest button stash. I did my research). I thin grunged up the doll with a mixture of coffee, tea, vanilla and cinnamon to at an aged look and a lovely smell.

Little Miss Melancholia

Melancholia is wistful and some might say wise. She is an expert on morose and obscure poets. She can often be found wandering aimlessly on cliff tops and moonlit moors. Rainclouds follow her every step. Every time she turns the radio on a song of hollow hearts, acoustic guitars and melancholy lyrics fills the room.

She tried to grow a garden once but only with weeping willow and love-lies-bleeding grew. The roses and forget-me-nots all withered and died. Poor little Melancholia never had any friends for long the all seemed to move away, or suddenly died in a quietly tragic way.

Miss Melancholia is made with cotton, vintage buttons, acrylic wool and scraps of fabric and vintage doilies upcycled into something new and magical. She was grunged up with a lovely smelling mixture of coffee, tea, vanilla and cinnamon. Melancholia will come with her own hand stained and typed story card for you to keep. She is an art doll and not meant for small children to play with due to small buttons. I have listed her in my little etsy shop.

doodling on the road

While we were away in April I sorted out a little craft kit for myself, with a few pens, pencils, buttons, needle, note cards, three moleskin notebooks for gifts/swaps, vintage book paper, thread and thread cutter. Things that were small and I knew that the needle and tiny thread cutter were safe to take on the plane with us. Mostly I doodled in my sketchbook on the flight (when not occupied watching half a dozen films that I wouldn't have paid good money to sit in a cinema to see).

After the initial zombie state when I had a few minutes time here and there I pulled out my collection of assorted craft supplies (which I kept adding to as we went to thrift shops and estate sales) and went to work doodling and sewing buttons and letting my imagination roam.

I had a slight obsession with doodling little imps, I even doodled an imp on a plastic travel bag for Harrison before we left on holiday. It was nice and I was glad that I remember to bring craft supplies with me. In the past I have traveled with knitting, which is good but I loathed the circular knitting needles that were the safest to go through security without being confiscated.

The crochet hook and book didn't work out so well as I just got fed up of not understanding the Idiot's Guide I had bought and read a magazine instead.

If you are a crafter travelling I think it's important to bring something crafty with you, even if it's only a notebook and pen to roughly sketch ideas. I find that my creative sparks when we are away and bumming around various coffee shops. and then more coffee shops... and possibly a few more too. I have quite a bit of blogging and crafting to catch up on but I was sorting out the rogue pile of holiday stuff on my desk and found some of the doodles and button cards that I brought back with me.

I suppose I best go hand some laundry out and get a few more housey jobs done before Matt and Harrison get home from getting haircuts. I will cry and rage if the Boy's hair is too short...*sob*

sugar cookie dough truffles

Sugar cookie dough truffles

Ingredients:

· 1/2 cup butter, softened

· 3/4 cup caster/white sugar

· 2 cups flour (I used self-raising/all-purpose)

· 1-2 teaspoon vanilla extract

· Sprinkles or edible glitter.

· 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

Directions:

In a medium sized mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add the flour, milk and vanilla. Mix well. You may add coloured sprinkles to the ‘dough’ as I did.

Shape into 1 inch balls by rolling teaspoons of dough in the palm of your hand. Place the dough

balls on waxed paper-lined baking sheets and pop the tray into the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes until firm.

In a microwave safe bowl, melt the chocolate by microwaving it for a few seconds at a time stirring until smooth.

Dip the dough balls into the chocolate; place on waxed paper-lined baking sheets. Sprinkle with edible glitter, sprinkles or more chocolate.

Refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes.

Cook’s notes: I had intended to make cake batter truffles but when I researched recipes most of them called for readymade cake mix, which I don’t have as I never use the stuff. I then researched cookie dough truffles. Most of the recipes called for condensed milk, which I rarely ever have in the cupboard as Matt has a tendency to eat it all, I ignored this and decided to play with what I did have (the ingredients to bake a cake minus the egg of course). They were fun, very sweet and easy to make, H only ate the ones not tainted by dark chocolate and asked to make them again so I take this as high praise indeed and made sure to scribble down my recipe as such.