Beautiful (or as close to beautiful as I can get because I'm clumsy and a disaster when it comes to perfection) delicious vanilla cupcakes with raspberry cream cheese icing....
....and then I turned my back for 30 seconds to sort out something and that's when Starbuck the cat (named after the original Battlestar Galatica Starbuck, Scully's nickname on the X-files, and the coffee of course because well you should know why) heaved his lardy ass up on the counter and ate the icing off of two pretty pink cakes.
Tangy sweet fresh raspberry icing made with real raspberries, the few that H didn't pinch that is.
*sigh*
thank goodness Matt rescued the rest and we have a tray of scones that Frizbe brought over this afternoon too.
So a few days ago the floppy haired werewolf postie (he totally is a werewolf and is friends with the Carpet Flogging Vampire, its a lovely town I live in) posted this mystery parcel through the door. I opened up the first layer of of parcel paper to find the green ribbon wrapped present with 'blog me' , 'pass on the random act of kindness' and the lovely note in the above photo ' Meridian Ariel, keep on following your instincts and your passion. Loving your work, The Cupid Concept'.
Inside the parcel (which I carefully unwrapped and in no way whatsoever tore into like a wild thing, totally did not at all do that. Honest. *shifty look*) were dark chocolate covered coffee beans, mini sparklers, and a little match box absolutely stuffed with vintage buttons and beads.
I don't know who sent the parcel, where it was from, nobody who I have asked will admit that it is them but then again admitting you are the mystery gift giver takes away some of the fun. The concept seems to be ”follow your passions and share them”. A ‘random act of kindness’ sent to me because I'm following my passions. Is that what I am doing? with my blogging my crafting and baking? Stepping back from the everyday to follow my passion for the things I make and do?
My friend Claire of Things We Make was sent a mystery gift too. Though she swears she didn't send me mine. I think it's a very sweet concept and will be contacting the blog to see if I can share the random act of kindness and keep things going. We all need a bit of mystery and happiness in our lives.
'OOOh a monster giveaway! Love it! First off congratulations on 500 posts! And thank you for sharing all your creativeness with us. I have enjoyed following your blog.'
Congrats Jill !!! I will email you soon! -------------------------------------------------------------
Thank you everyone who left a comment on my blog for the giveaway and for all my posts. More giveaways soon I promise!
Oona cant believe her eye! And me either, I have been a little stunned all morning. Oona is one of my favourite creations so far and its nice to know that somebody else likes her too! You can read Oona's story on my blog if you scroll down a bit or visit her etsy listing. Oona comes with a story card typed on a vintage typewriter too if you want to buy her!
I would also like to say I'm abysmal at that whole screen capture/prnt Scrn thing and resizing it.
ALSO tonight I will be drawing a name for Millicient the Vampiress doll so please sign up for the giveaway while you can!
Amarantha is a tiny little library demon. Books unwanted and unloved have a way of finding themselves in her possession. Sad lonely little books thank have no library, no bedside cabinet, no shelf to call home. Books that weep their sorrows in tears of black ink.
Amarantha dresses in gowns of newspaper and lace, with shining buttons of onyx black and heart’s blood red. She drinks only their bitter ink tears and takes their sorrows away. Amarantha dreams only in black and white. Midnight black and lace white dreams and nightmares of words and stories and book upon book. Reading you will always find her reading and singing to her books.
She loves her books, her charges and hugs them and dusts them to keep them tidy and clean on the black painted shelves in her bespelled library. She will lend you her books, but the price is high, she will keep your soul on hold. And if you are cruel and steal her books and never bring them back, then all the shame on you my friend for you may find yourself a sorrowing book on a black painted shelf in the library of a tiny demoness.
She needs a home that loves books as much as she, and you may find that once she is there that you have books on your shelf that were never there before. And when you go out shopping books will hop in your cart, and you will never leave a bookshop without a sad little book or two. Flea markets, garage sales and boot sales will be the place where you cannot resist the call of the poor little books and their inky tears and cries. For once Amarantha the tiny demoness lives in your home you’re under her spell too.
Amarantha stands about 7 in tall. she is made from cotton, vintage buttons, vintage doily, and yarn. She was stained up with a mixture of coffee, vanilla and cinnamon. She is a primitive style doll and meant for grown up kids, as small children may work her buttons apart. Amarantha comes with pretty card with her story typed on it with a vintage typewriter. She will be wrapped in vintage dress pattern paper.
Thank you for having a look at Amarantha and reading her story. Please convo me with any questions you may have.
A few months ago Megan (Vintage Violet) of maximum RABBIT designs sent me a lovely parcel for my birthday, in the parcel was a little kit she had devised to make a button stamp. I kept the little kit in my desk waiting for the perfect project to use it on. Today I found that project in a plain little tea towel I bought from Ikea a few weeks back.
Vintage Violet make a button stamp kit
So after I finishes all my housework for the day I sat down to craft, putting together the stamps made from vintage spools and decorating them with some torn strips of vintage book pages. I love how the stamps turned out and they were really fun to stamp with. I have told Megan she needs to sell the kits in her etsy shop... you would buy them wouldn't you? So please put some button kits in your shop Megan!!!!
button tea towel
I stamped the tea towel with fabric inks, I only have red and espresso (OK its black but it sounds better as espresso doesn't it? I didn't name it that) coloured inks but I need to order more as I have a stack of tea towels to stamp through!
and a close up
p.s. don't forget to leave a comment on the doll giveaway post, I will draw a name on Friday!!!
A few posts back was my 500th blog post! I'm quite amazed that I have managed to keep up with blogging for 3 years, but to have done 500 posts.. wow... I know I'm not the most prolific blogger or crafter but blogging has become an important part of my life.
I never kept a diary, I tried, I got give several for birthdays but I never had the knack for the daily scribblings. I always carry a journal with me and write ideas, notes, and doodles but nothing like a diary. I don't vent very often on my blog because I like to think of it mostly as my happy place, that things are positive and creative here (I do have a drabble/writing blog that encompasses my darker thoughts).
I know I haven't got the largest reader base but I treasure the comments from those of you who do come to visit my blog and leave your thoughts with me. I know I have been a little obsessed with making these little monsters lately, it has made me feel so creative to make them and write funny little stories for them, so I hope you don't mind if I giveaway a little monster for my 500th blogpost giveaway, and a few others bits and bobs too.
Meet Milicent the Vampiress
I'm working on Milicent the vampiress story and will send a copy of her story to the winner. All you need to do is leave me a comment with your email address so I can contact you. The winner will be chosen by me with the help of Mr Random Number Generator next Friday the 23.
I will also choose a second winner from the last few doll posts on Friday to win one of my book page doodles and perhaps a bracelet from my jewellery stash.
Meet Dexter the imp.A small and lonely little creature, prone to mischief, bouts of melancholia, procrastination, and is addicted to bad sci-fi movies. Dexter will tell anyone that he used to be a well renowned actor appearing as one of the goblins in Labyrinth. I don’t believe a word of it, imps are notorious liars, and after all he is an imp and not a goblin.
When I said they used puppets in the Labyrinth he didn’t take to kindly to me and ran off in a huff. Later I found that all my bookmarks were removed from my books, the cutlery was in the wrong place in the cutlery drawer (I really hate that), and all the labels peeled off the cans. It probably wasn’t my wisest move calling him a liar to his face.
Dexter is wickedly good at procrastination and can be paid off in chocolate coins and Haribo sweets to leave you alone to get on with things... but if you let him he willshow you the best websites for losing time and video games to steal your day. He has a way of generating messes that make you forget about the job you were meant to be doing. He has a knack for finding the trashiest shows on TV that somehow magically seem to be on when you walk past the room and you just sit down for a minute, three hours later you are still sitting there. But like I said he is easily bribed, and quite easily distracted by shiny things.
Dexter is tolerably good at revenge as well, if he doesn’t getdistracted by cakes and TV, you can send him off to annoy those driven people that always get things done and never ever procrastinate. Is that a good thing? Probably not but everyone should procrastinate a bit. If you ever feel the need to sit down with a bowl of popcorn and watch a terrible movie on Syfy, then Dexter is your man...er imp, though the movie quotes can get on your nerves.
Over the last few days I have been attempting to narrow down the emails that seem to have magically clogged up my inbox. OK maybe not magically after all. Within the clutter of my inbox was an email from CSN Promo Team enquiring if I would like to review one of their shops or do a giveaway on my blog for a voucher for anything from Ceiling Lights to Cookware. I looked at the CSN sites...mostly the cookware because more than anything else I like to potter about in the kitchen, and I emailed them back saying I would like to do a review and a giveaway for my readers.
I think most of the time I get emails from Amazon telling me all about items on sale, books that I do NEED, shoes that I have never looked at, and the magic of the Kindle (Which I haven't the money to buy but would love to review a kindle for my blog if they sent me one to review *hint hint*). So thank you CSN for emailing me and giving me the opportunity to review some cookery items and your site and allowing me to give my readers a treat to.
So please keep commenting and check back for the giveaway... it wont be the only giveaway on my little blog in the next few days.
Coat the bottom of a large pan (one that has a lid) with a few tablespoons vegetable oil.
Add 1/2 cup popcorn kernels.
Cover pan.
Turn stovetop burner to medium or medium-high heat.
Let kernels cook, shaking occasionally to prevent burning.
When the popping slows to 3 to 5 seconds between pops, remove pan from burner.
Allow to cool a minute or two.
Pour popcorn into a bowl.
pinkish red popcorn
For the Vanilla Syrup
Mix milk and sugar in a sauce pan and on medium heat bring to a boil.
Careful not to let it burn and do not scrape the sides of the pan or the sugar will crystallize.
Add vanilla extract (or any other flavouring) and your choice of food colouring (we used blue and red as I got vetoed on the black food colouring *sulk* I have two bottles of the crap to use up) and mix well.
Place the popcorn in a large bowl then pour the hot liquid over it and coat as evenly as you can, you can put as much or as little syrup over the popcorn as you like.
Spread baking paper to dry. You can place the baking paper onto baking trays and place in a low oven (200°F or 100°Cfor 10-15 minutes to help dry out (harden) the popcorn.
vaguely teal-ish blue popcorn
cook’s notes: the recipe has been lurking in my big blue folder of random recipes that hides behind the bowls in the cupboard, I have no idea where I wrote it down from but my guess is that there will be hundreds of diffrent versions on the interwebs to play with. It was fun to make though I don’t think I used half the syrup that the recipe makes, so next time I think I will halve the amount of syrup and see how that goes. H picked the colours red and blue, though I was rather low on blue food colouring so it came out a rather nice shade of teal, and the red is more a very dark pink than a true red. It tasted lovely with the vanilla, and H and his little friend J thought it was great fun to help make, and more fun to eat of course.
today's post was brought to you by the letter P
P for popcorn
p for popcorn on my carped
and p for being p'd off at blogger messing about while I try to blog this.
Beautiful (or as close to beautiful as I can get because I'm clumsy and a disaster when it comes to perfection) delicious vanilla cupcakes with raspberry cream cheese icing....
....and then I turned my back for 30 seconds to sort out something and that's when Starbuck the cat (named after the original Battlestar Galatica Starbuck, Scully's nickname on the X-files, and the coffee of course because well you should know why) heaved his lardy ass up on the counter and ate the icing off of two pretty pink cakes.
