Photo Thursday IX

So, today it is officially December, so the countdown to Christmas is on, and lights and decorations are allowed :) I went to the garden centre today, on a misguided mission to see some tortoises (great plan... they hibernate, so were not on display), but did get something from my trip, which was getting to see the beautiful 'wish tree' that was et up outside for charity. I used a slow exposure to get a slightly different feel to the picture, and this is what I ended up with. I think it is pretty :)

An Ode to a Friend

I used to be joint owner of a gorgeous golden brown and white hammy and still miss her to this day, especially when I watch videos of her, as I found I did this evening. We lost her in on the 9th of May due to a terrible infection on her entire chest and tummy. We had been treating it for two weeks, but in the end it must have been her time, as it just did not heal :( She was only a year and 2 months old, so it was a shock to both of us. I know that many may think she was 'just a hamster', but she was my first adult pet and really did mean so much to me- I will never get another hamster to replace her.

I have been making a memory book for her, including many of the photos, as well as anecdotes and a copy of cards she 'sent' on special occassions and one sent by the vet upon her death. I wanted everything in one place, so it was there if I ever wanted to reminisce and I thought this week that I would make it my goal to finish it, as it is not so raw, but I also wanted to note down the memories before they may start to blur, as time makes them do.

I wrote a poem to go in her memory book- it is very childish really in style and not at all sophisticated, but these things don't need to be. I just wanted to capture the memories and her. I am relucatant to post it here, but at the same time it helps me achieve more catharsis than writing it alone did. Here is what I wrote:

"The wheel stopped spinning long ago,
As around the house you preferred to roam,
Finding crannies and cosy nooks,
Never being contained by our makeshift cage of books.

The hamster ball again was futile,
Although you humoured it for a while.
In the end you wanted to be free,
To scamper around, everywhere, with glee.

No place was unattainable to you,
From the top of bookcases to the fire's flue,
But one day you were on a fruitless trail,
And my how we laughed as we discovered your jail.

Trapped in a plant pot- so innocent,
Hours in there, you must have spent,
And so we discovered your zest for life,
Your adventurous spirit and brushing aside of strife.

You made 'spider-ham look a breeze,
Hanging from the ceiling bars with ease,
The smiles you provided us were endless,
Our gratefulness for you, we could never truly express.

Coming home to scurrying every night,
Always provided so much delight,
We couldn't wait to see what you would do next,
You always knew your own mind, didn't stick to the text.

You were so smart- even knew your name,
Each trip you had out was truly a game,
One minute you were hidden under the bed,
Next, gracing us with a nuzzle from your soft, tickly head.

We loved how you poked yout head out of the cage,
Then ran wild along the top, as if it were your stage,
In and out of tubes you liked to dart too,
You even made a food corner, and another for the loo!

Intelligent, beautiful and full of love,
We felt you were really meant for us,
Your warm body provided us love and comfort,
You became more tame than we ever could have thought.

Cookie, you were an amazing friend,
A true companion right to the end,
As your owners we felt so much pride,
We hope you always feel our love, wherever you now reside."

This is Cookie:

<3
Maybe one day there will be more about her here, but for now I want to leave it on happy pictures of her just being her :)

Photo Thursday VIII

In tribute to the fact that this week saw it being cold enough for the first fire of the year (yes, I am lucky enough to have a proper open fire, eek!), here is a picture I like from last year. It is a bit blurry, but has the little lines on it which I like, to show how fires dance around and radiate the heat :)

Catterday VII

The two of them sleeping together :) a rare site, but a very cute one when it occurs!

Chocolate Roulade

Yesterday I made a yummy chocolate roulade :) I tried one before with my friend, but we did not let it cool long enough before we put the buttercream we used for the middle in, and it was a bit sickly as a result. This time, however, it has turned out really well. I used the recipe below:

Cake:
175g plain dark chocolate (I used a mix of Bournville and Lindt)
3 tablespoons warm water
5 separated eggs
17g caster sugar

Filling:
225ml double cream
40g icing sugar
20g cocoa powder
1 teaspoon of coffee powder, disolved in 1 tablespoon of boilng water
Extra icing sugar to dust

Preheat the oven to 180 (gas mark 4, 160 for a fan oven). Grease and line a 35 by 25cm swiss roll tin. Melt the chocolate (in the microwave, or in a bowl over a boiling water in a saucepan), and one melted stir in the tablespoons of water. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar and then add the melted chocolate to this. In another bowl, whisk egg whites until stiff. Fold them into the chocolate mixture, carefully so you do not lose air. Pour this into the swiss roll tin and bake for 15 minutes.

Remove and leave to cool for 3 to 4 hours- do not worry if it seems to deflate at this point. Get a length of tin foil or greaseproof paper and scatter some icing sugar over this evenly, laid out on a worktop. Turn the sponge out onto this and remove the backing paper. Prepare the filling by mixing the 40g of icing sugar with the other ingredients and whisking them until stiff. Spread this onto your turned out sponge:

Scour a small cut a few centimetres from one end and then fold this over to start your roll. Then lift the tin foil/ greaseproof to help you roll the whole shape, pulling it with you as you go. Do not worry if it cracks a little, as there should be a few on there due to the nature of the sponge and the rolling action. You should be left with something like this:

 (side view of cake, which is the end that was rolled over)

 (end view)

It was actually really easy to execute and yummy anyway, even if it cracks a bit, so don't worry if it does not go perfectly first time. Just ensure you leave the sponge to fully cool and you should be fine. Serve with strawberries for extra yumminess :)

Photo Thursday VII

This week will be another animal themed photo (I might as well rename this Thursday post!)- and features Lions from the Safari Park :) I included 2, just because I like them both :)

A String of Stars

I saw an idea on Pinterest that piqued my interest- it was linked back to here originally.

Source: ohcrafts.net via Someone, on Pinterest

I have decided to have a go with a star cutter I have, since we have 4 paint charts lying around from a recent living room redecoration at my parent's house. I am thinking they could either go on the Christmas tree, or be strung up around Christmas time for a bit of extra festive cheer :)

I simply cut the strips of colours out of the books and used my cutter to get two of each colour- I want to make a long chain, or several smaller ones, so have cut quite a few already to start.

I wanted to add a couple of larger stars on for the ends and at intervals on my thread, so made a template by simply cutting a piece of spare card out, using the stamp on it and then getting the original bit and drawing around the missing cut out, slightly larger. I could then cut around this on colour squares to make bigger ones. Here is one I cut, and my template.

Thread your needle and thread and simply press it through the star in two places near the centre. I tied a small knot after the large one to secure it in place. Then thread more smaller ones on the thread, using the needle again:

After 4 smaller stars I once again repeated the large star and kept going. The colours are not so good on the next picture, but you can see how it started to work and look good with just a few more on it:

I have done a little more since, but have not got a photo yet. There is still quite a way to go, but it is fairly fun and very easy and practically free (all you need to buy is thread and a cutter, if you do not have them). Hopefully it will be a nice Christmassy touch for the house this year :)

Compare the Meerkat

I needed to buy new car insurance today, so went through CompareTheMarket. It worked out slightly cheaper than confused.com and gocompare anyway and meant I got to claim a meerkat toy for my mum (she loves them!)- hopefully it will be the one with the tie or the one in the green jacket, as they are her favourites. I was a bit sad I did not get to pick the toy, as I thought you could, but was pleasantly surprised that they do a nice little message (as above), which I am sure mum will love.

Favourite Adverts

I am quite a fan of adverts- every now and again you get nice ones, funny ones or just entertaining ones that actually liven up the ad breaks, rather than making them tedious things you sit through so you can watch the next part of The X Factor, or whatever floats your boat. Some of them aren't so good (I hated, to much controversy amongst friends, family and the world it seems, the Cadbury's adverts, like the one with the Gorlilla), but some can be really good.

My favourite ever ad is a foreign one actually, which I saw for the first time on Tarrant on TV as an early teen. Cows are one of my favourite animals and this advert not only involves them, but is sweet and funny too. The product does sound a bit iffy though to be honest. Here it is:

I also like a current cow related advert, which was actually the incentive for today's post:

Even though it has been out a while, for some reason we were all sat around the TV today and my dad was finding the Cow-e-oke hysterical and it was just a lovely moment. An advert that can make you all smile is always a good thing.

I also like the one where the cows get the grass out of the vending machine on their break- what a novel idea!

A new advert I saw last night and really like is the new Volkswagen one, although it may be because it features a song I love. Much better than the other recent one with The Kinks, which made me a bit sad :( This is the new one:

The only other one I can think of, and find, on the spur of the moment, that I loved at the time, is the 'Hate Something, Change Something' advert by Honda. The song is the key I think, but the imagery is lovely too:

Thinking of music, the John Lewis advert from last year sprung to mind too. Ok, it is one that is a bit abstract in that you have no clue what it is for until the end, but it was done really well and is so lovely, as well as having a great song for it:

My all time favourite advert has got to be one I can't find anywhere anymore, much to my chagrin. I have it on an old video which I used to record Friends on when it was on early mornings before school (apparently in 2004, according to my research) and it is the old Specsavers Sloth advert. The sloth busks on the underground and his friend comes along and there is an exchange:
'hey, what up with you man?'
'no money'
'you spend it all on fast cars?'
'no, contact lenses'
'you shoulda gone to specsaverrsss'
For some reason that used to be the highlight of my day sometimes and I would love to see it again, although that may ruin the magic somewhat!

So yeah, a little reminiscing for a Monday night :) I hope there are many more ads I love coming up in the future, and not too many loathsome ones (yes Haribo, I am looking at you!)
 

(8)Kick off your Sunday shoes(8)

Some will and some won't recognise the title of this post, but for those who don't, it is a line from the song Footloose, which was of course the title of the major 80s movie that originally featured it too. I am not quite an 80s child- my birth just crept into the 90s, and I have no knowledge of the original film at all- I haven't even watched it any of the many times it has been shown on television over the years. To be honest I knew very little about it, but thought it did not really seem my cup of tea, so did not bother to find out more.

I saw a screening of the new version today though. I saw the trailer a few weeks ago in 'Friends With Benefits' and was not blown away, however, I thought since I had free tickets then why not? The film is funny and pretty much believeable. The characters are developed well and relatable and it was just a nice, fun time at the cinema. I don't know whether having low expectations made this better for me, as it blew them away, or whether it really was that good. I can't imagine the original being much better to be honest and this remake was done well I think, bringing the story to a more modern age with iPods, technology and modern songs, but keeping it quite conservative with a small, religious, town setting.

Apparently the plot differs slightly from the original, such as the character Ren McCormack having a different backstory. At the heart it is still a fun packed movie with plenty of drama and dancing to go around. The opening sequence was pretty spectacular, with some fine footwork being displayed throughout, and the dancing scenes were some of the highlights of the film (watch out for a highly amusing scene near the middle where friend Willard (Miles Teller) starts learning to dance) and there was a definite cute factor in the form of Ren's little cousins Amy and Sarah as well. A good standard of cinematography and some solid performances by the cast (particularly Dennis Quaid as the Reverend). A nice film (probably more a girly teen flick than anything aimed at much older people- although my mum really enjoyed it too), that has enough in it to leave you feeling upbeat and glad you chose to watch it. If, like me, you were reluctant then give it a try, even if you wait for the DVD release.

Catterday VI

This week has to be my own baby- Galaxy. He reminded us so much of Yoda when he was little, as he used to sleep looking like this. We actually got a little toy yoda from McDonalds at one point to compare, and it was uncanny. Now he is all grown up he doesn't look the same anymore, but he still does the ears occasionally, much to my delight. This is one of my favourite ever photos of him:

Cherry Blossom (sort of) nails

I can't get a very good picture of my current nail art, as the design is quite subtle, but I am absolutely loving it. I decided to try out a cherry blossom design and it has worked well. I think next time I will try doing this on a coloured background (maybe a sky blue?), as it is the blossom itself that is failing to stand out much if you do not see it in person.

Here are a couple of photos that give you a sort of view of them :)

I literally painted the base of my nail with a nude shade, waited for it to dry and then drew on black lines in branch shapes. After that dried I dotted on pink dots with a toothpick and voila :) I used polishes from the 17 range at Boots and they have lasted 5 days so far (I top coated them yesterday, as I forgot at the time). It is so simple, just a little time consuming- perfect for doing whilst you watch a film or favourite TV show though.

Cute Congratulations Card

Ah, a lovely alliterative title :) I wanted to show a little card that I made last week for a friend who had a baby. I wanted to send a little something just to say congratulations and racked my brain for a simple and easy to execute (I had about half an hour to make it) design, that was still cute. In the end I came up with this:

I used foam (you can get packs with lots of colours in Rymans, or Hobbycraft) felt and a sheet or card and coloured paper. Cut out a rectangle of foam, and then a small, long, strip for underneath. Fold the felt in half and draw a footprint shape on it and then cut it out. You should now have a pair, so put them with the slightly bigger curve inwards. Then cut out a few little ovals (I did this with doubled over felt still, to get them matching) for toes- this is the trickiest part and you may have to try quite a few times until you get a suitable looking size for them all.

Then glue the feet onto the foam, as central as possible (although, you can of course cut the foam down again after). Fold over your sheet of card and glue (or double sided tape) a sheet of coloured paper to it if you do not have a sheet of card in the colour you would like to use. Stick the foam with feet on in the centre top, then write your message on the other strip of foam and glue, or double sided tape, it below the first one.

Leave it to dry for a few hours if you can and then you can write in it and send it off :) easy, but lovely.

Company Covers

I have just seen the November covers on Company's website and can't believe they shot 4 different looks! I hope all 4 shots are inside if you don't get that cover, as I can't really afford all 4 covers but love Jade Thompson and was rooting for her to win the competiton from the very beginning.

I think 'ladylike leather' or possibly 'sexy folk' is my favourite.

I think the judges were right in picking Jade this year. Juste was a great model, but they were spot on when saying Jade is the one women will love and want to be- she is stunning. Her look is slightly different and she is instantly recognisable really.

The Revlon campaign featuring Jade is being launched soon too and 'behind the scenes' shots are posted on Revlon's Facebook page. Hopefully we will see even more of her soon too. Having never watched BINTM before this year and not getting hooked straight away either, I have to say I am loving seeing what has happened afterwards :)

Photo Thursday VI

I went to the Safari Park last Thursday and here is a close up of a Lemur mum and her baby:

Very cute and amazing that we got to have them walking around with us. Look at their toes!

Cupcakes :D The best gift

So, Beth and I had dinner and a Big Bang Theory marathon today and she came armed with cupcakes! She has made the most gorgeously chocolate cakes (something that I sometimes struggle with), apparently flavoured with Bournville Cocoa, which is a great tip. They are topped with Vanilla, Stawberry and Mint butter creams and all taste amazing. I have to say though, the mint choc combo is the best in my opinion- those two flavours always just go together really well.

Here is a picture of the beautiful cakes :)

The buttercream was mixed by hand as well, which I thought was really impressive. I really do rely on the mixer too much for baking I think.

I will definitely be demanding more of these when she is back from uni! I bet these will be gone within days though as everyone is already eyeing them up- I may be naughty and hide them just for me :D

Preview- Quilt back

I thought for today's post I would just share a few preview shots I took of the back of the quilt. There are two sides to it, so there are a couple of shots of each. It should be all finished for good tomorrow!

When I spent hours working on the front and it was finally done I was in love with it. When I see this side now though, for some reason I am starting to prefer it. I think too long staring at something must do that to you :P It will all be over soon though and I will miss it!

Photo Frame Wall

I had a spare wall in the spare room/ my study and wanted to do something with it for a while. Originally I was going to do a simple 3 big photo frames, 2 with blue fabric and one with a gorgeous blue and pink bird print fabric I got off eBay. However, I have always wanted to do a photo frame collage, and since it is my space I thought why not- I can have a wall full of the people and things I love and not have it look quite so teenager-y as just blu tacking a load of photos and postcards up as I used to do/ have elsewhere in the house.

I already had some black, silver and beechwood coloured frames from Klick agees ago (they used to be in my old flat), so I reutilised them, as well as a leatherette Wilkinsons frame I had, and stocked up on some gorgeous teal ones, a big blue one and a few more black and silver ones, from Ikea. The 'step' frame and blue frame with 6 photos in it, as well as the big white frame, are from B&M and kind of inspired me to go ahead with the project when I saw them, as I thought they would be perfect.

When in Ikea I also saw the magnetic board that forms the centrepiece. I loved the idea of having something the frames could surround, as I could stick anything on it and have it as a mood board or just put other things I love, that don't necessarily fit in frames well, on it. I also used some letter magnets, as I love them :D

It took a while to drill the board in and hammer in all the nails for the photos, but it is definitely worth it. If you are going to drill, make sure you check if it is a stud wall or not before you start, to avoid DIY disaster. I did not really plan the location of my frames, just put one up then held the next in place, so it would not touch the other one, and put a nail in there too. There was a little reshuffling, but it was so easy to do. The hardest part was deciding which photos made the cut.

Here is how it turned out for me:

I did not want to go too OTT and fill the whole wall, although may do at some point. For now I like it as it is :) the bulb and fitting you see on the wall is a Ikea nightlight (the blue star one)- I just did not have the cover on when I took the picture.

I may still do some work on this, or try it again somewhere else as well in the future, but I like it for now and think it is certainly a nice enough first photo frame collage.

Bookish

I have just discovered Bookish, which is a lovely literary themed gift website. There is not a massive amount of stock in each category (not the ones I have viewed anyway), what they have is lovely and I have already made a purchase.

What I really want is the paper roses, but I have decided that my budget definitely can't stretch to £7 for one little decoration, however fabulous it may be. I may well attempt to make some myself in the meantime. Their scrabble brooches are lovely too though, and reasonable at the same price as the roses, since you can actually wear them and use them to liven up outfits. I have bought the 'Love' brooch for my best friend, as I think she may like it :D (fingers crossed!) and it links in with the 'J' scrbble tile ring she got me, which is amazing and which I have mentioned on here before. Unfortunately, after buying it I spotted the 'Tea' version (it wasn't under related products or the brooches when I looked), which would suit her, and me actually, right down to the ground. The sentiment of the love one is nice, and more meaningful, anyway though, so I am sure it is just as good a choice.

This is definitely a site I shall revisit, perhaps for future presents for book loving friends and family, and which offers nice, fairly unique, stock. The shipping costs are quite low as well for first and second class, so that is always good. I will update this if it turns out to be a bad experience with them, but I am pretty sure that it won't be and am greatly looking forward to receiving the brooch and browsing lustfully on there again in the near future.

Homemade Chicken Pie- Attempt 1

It was requested that I make a homemade chicken pie- something I have never done before. I chose a recipe out of a 'comfort food' cookery book and adapted it slightly. For one things it had nuts in the original recipe, and this was for someone who is severly allergic to nuts. Vegetables were also changed and the stock used was different. It turned out well though, according to the hungry tummies that tried it (I don't like pie).

The recipe, as modified, is below:
250g plain flour
Pinch of salt
100g butter
75g solid cooking fat
Roughly 6 tbsp cold water

250ml chicken stock
700g bitesize chicken pieces
100g potato, chopped
1 beaten egg
75g cheddar cheese, grated
2 spring onions, chopped

Mix up the pastry by rubbing together the fat/ butter, salt and flour until it is breadcrumbs, then add the water in slowly, adding more or less as needed until you have a good texture. Wrap it in cling film or a sandwich bag and leave it to cool in the fridge for an hour. The chicken, veg and stock should be prepared while you wait. Heat the stock on the hob until boiling and add the chicken and potato- when it comes to the boil again, simmer for 30 minutes. Then remove from heat and cool for 25 minutes.

Grease your pie tin. Get the pastry out when ready and roll it out to cover the base of the dish, trimming the excess edges with a knife. Drain off the liquid from your filling and add the grated cheese, spring onion and egg, mixing it all together well. Put this inside the pie base.

Roll out the lid of the pie. Brush around the edge of the pie base (as in picture), with water and seal the lid in place by pressing down firmly. If you wish to, you can brush the pastry over with a small amount of milk at this point, to help get an even cover, and add any decorations you may wish to cut with the excess pastry you have left over. Make sure you add two X shaped vent holes at this point (see on finished picture below, one is on far side and opened slightly during baking, and one is to the right of the leaf decoration).

Preheat your oven to 190 degrees celcius (170 fan) or gas mark 5 and bake for 45 minutes.

 Remove it from the oven, plate it up with whatever you like and serve :) Voila!

I was a little reluctant to make a chicken pie without gravy, but the cheese in this gave it a different little twist. It was the only recipe I had to hand at short notice and turned out pretty well. It was agreed that it could benefit from gravy for next time though (you can just serve it with it though, if you prefer), but other than that the actual result got a resounding positive- the. My test subject ( :P ) is a big fan of the pastry on pies in particular and said that this pie definitely lived up to those expectations, so I think the cooking time on the recipe is perfect. A good first effort I think.

Catterday V

A rare moment of peace- sleeping with his toy Zebra- Zebedee :) We still find the little guy all around the house sometimes, although he is sadly missing 2 limbs now as the cats aren't always known for being the most gentle of creatures.

Photo Thursday V

A nice shot from our holiday :) I loved the fact he landed on some fruit and managed to get a fairly nice close up. There will probably be a few more animal/ butterfly pictures pop up on here over the next few weeks.

Finally Experiencing Nirvana

As a child of the 90s, I am somewhat asahamed to say that I am pretty much a Nirvana virgin. Apart from 'Heart Shaped Box' being included on a mix CD made for me, and hearing Lithium on Marley and Me (yes, that is completely shameful I know...) I had been pretty much unaware of the band for most of my life. Of course I had heard Lithium, Come As You Are and Smells Like Teen Spirit amongst others, but I never attributed them to anyone, or knew anything about them at all. The odd story about Kurt Cobain cropping up in the newspapers was probably the most in depth I had ever gotten.

On April 7th I saw the Foo Fighters film though (which is amazing for any fans out there!), and through Dave Grohl learned a little more. I still had little interest in the band though,or should I say, no real motivation to look up more. When I watched Pearl Jam Twenty they cropped up yet again though, plus it is the anniversary of Nevermind this week, so maybe it is time to delve further into them? I am starting with Kerrang's free CD this week. 'Nirvana Nevermind Forever' features covers of all of the original Nevermind tracks. I am listening to it right now and am enjoying it quite a lot actually.

I am not sure why I have never really pursued an interest in Nirvana before- I guess nothing ever really spurred me on to and they weren't anything current that I could read stories about as they happened (if that makes sense?). I am interested though, not so much in the full story even, but just in listening to their music and hearing more about the development of that new music scene from Nirvana and Pearl Jam, to name a couple I know about, emerging from Seattle in those couple of seemingly influencial years. They say Nirvana are an influence on, and somewhat paved the way, for some modern artists, and the floods of messages and comments in the Nevemind anniversary articles seem to back this, so it is worth hearing where it can be traced back to if nothing more. Hopefully I will remember to actually pursue this. The album is just coming to an end and I loved a couple of (new to me) tracks especially, so that is a good start :) I am going to do the same with Pearl Jam too, as I know too few of their songs, and loved a couple that featured in the film. I may update this at some point in the future to share my possible new love of their music.

It's Been a While...

I haven't posted for a few weeks and have actually really missed it. My internet has been messing around loads (I write a post and then it goes and cuts off and won't connect for the rest of the night) and I also had an issue with spilling tea on my laptop (oops!) and then heading off on my roadtrip! It has been a pretty busy couple of weeks really.

I was back to work today though and life is getting back to normal and not the post holiday high so much, so I thought it would be a good time (whilst my net it being alright again as well, touch wood!) to start posting again.

I wasn't sure what to post on this one: I have made lots of progress with my quilt; I have done a few little projects; I have lots of holiday pictures; I saw a good film yesterday (Pearl Jam Twenty) and I have stuff to generally chit chat about I suppose. I decided in the end though that this had to be about one thing: Glee- Season 3.

The new episode has been aired and I sat and watched it in a pretty excited state. I loved the inclusion of 'It's Not Unusual' and had a little bop along (I seem to like the older ones- 'River Deep, Mountain High' is one that stands out in my memory from last season. The episode wasn't one of the best, but it looks like there are some potentially good new strands that will come together to form the main issues of the series. One being Quinn and that great new look she is rocking. So yeah, I am turning into a Gleek. I started watching the later episodes of last series online because I just could not wait for it on E4, and it seems this time I couldn't even bare to go a day without seeing what is new at McKinley high. Oh well. I just have series 1 to watch now then and I guess I can officially join the universal Gleek ranks :D

Catterday IV

This week I wanted to show both brothers together again, so here is a cute snap of them interacting with each other:

Galaxy is in the collar (which he took off about a week later, and has never been found since) and Styx is the one without.

It is the little gesture/ paw out, that gets me smiling everytime at this.

The 10 Minute Cushion

I thought another tutorial might as well be posted since I have made this today. I know my blog seems very sewing orientated at the moment, with the quilt on the go and my random little projects, however, there will probably be a massive gap where I do none at all- I am quite prone to fads in my projects really.

Anyway, this is such a simple way to make a cushion that it can be done in 10 minutes. I bought a cushion insert and some fabric when I was in Ikea, uni shopping with my friend (I just picked up a fabric she said she liked) and it will be a cushion for her, to accompany her quilt.

Start by measuring your cushion. You want the length of the fabric to be 2 and a half times the length of your cushion. For example, for a 50cm cushion, you will need 125cm of fabric. Then mark off the width and allow about 3cm extra when drawing the 'cutting line' on your fabric.Then cut the fabric to this long rectangular shape.

Next up, neaten the two shorter ends, by hemming them. Fold over about 1cm of fabric and sewing (with a sewing machine is best, as it will be stronger, but it can easily be done by hand), along it.

The next part is folding your cushion. You need to make 2 folds.
1) Start with your fabric design side up, measure 25cm (using the 50cm cushion example again, so half the length of your cushion) from one end and 50cm from the other end.
2)You now want to, fold in the ‘flap’ of 25cm (or whatever the ‘half’ length of your cushion is), the back of the fabric should now be facing you.
3)Then fold the other end of the fabric over itself, so the end will now sit on the fold at the other end. This should mean the fabric in front of you is 50cm in length now.
The image below shows the 3 steps, so click it to enlarge if you need to.

Your fabric should now look like this (this is the back of the fabric, it is just a bright one that the design shows through). As you can see, the flap is folded over inside.

Now, simply pin up the edges of the fabric and sew along them. You should now have your complete cushion, just inside out.

As you can see, here is the fold over flap, before we turn the case the right way around:

Now, turn the case the right way around:

Put your cushion insert in:

Next, tuck the flap over the top (like on the inside of a pillowcase), and you should have something that looks like this:

 

As you can see, the flap just sits there. You can secure it with a button or suchlike if you wish, but it is fine just left as seen above. This one piece design with the external flap means that it is easy to remove the cover to wash whenever you wish, as well as being an extra quick way to make your cushions.

There we go :)

Photo Thursday IV

I find it weird that I am already 4 weeks into my blog and am pretty proud to have posted everyday. I won't keep it up for too long I am sure, but this is the most dedicated I have been to anything in a while :)

This week's photo will be a nice one from my last holiday (years ago now :( ), as I wanted to get all my summery ones out of the way whilst it is still technically summer. It could be argued that September brought it to Autumn though, so this is my last chance for quite a while. We will be on snow scenes before we know it!

Here is a beautiful shot of a view down into a harbour in Halkidiki, Greece:

There are a few nice shots of scenery from the holiday, but this is my favourite as it combines the Mediterranean feel white walls, with nature/ greenery and the sea :) It makes me feel warm and transported to that holidaying mood, which I can hopefully capture ready for my roadtripping adventure this September. I definitely need more recent holiday memories, judging by fact this was over 2 years ago now!

A Very Handmade Bear

I am not sure what to blog about today, as there are a couple of potential things, but nothing that really stands out. I have decided to go with a post about these little guys. I made the goldy/ brown one months ago and the blue one one of the weekend nights.

They look very handmade (especially since I just noticed the fray I have not corrected on the blue one yet), but are cute I think and very simple to make for a little gift. All you need is some fabric (one for the body, one for the nose and one for the outfit, if you want them to have one), something to stuff it with (the gold one has old duvet wadding and the blue one an old pair of tights) and a needle and thread.

Draw a basic template onto the main fabric, having it doubled overm so you get two of each bit:

Cut it out and sew around the edge, leaving the neck open on both the body and head, ready for stuffing:

Then turn them inside out (this can be a little tricky- use a pencil to poke in and help you push out the arms and legs fully) and stuff them, using your own discretion to decide how much to put in.

Then cut a small circle of fabric for the nose, place a little stuffing in the centre and fold it around it, sewing the edges together. this can be done fairly roughly, you just need it to make a little ball when you are finished.

Sew this onto the centre of the face.
Finally, sew the neck together, with the bottom of the neck piece either tucked into the body (as with the blue one), or overlapping on the outside (like the gold one, which was easier). It is tricky holding it in place, but is easy enough to sew in a straight line alone it once you get started. I just used a running stitch that went through both sides.

Then, if you want to, you can add an outfit. I simply cut a large rectangle of fabric and lay the bear on it. I then marked where to cut it for the arms and neck and did so. I slipped the fabric over the bear's head and cut it to the length I wanted it, then sewed down the edges of the fabric. Fot this blue bear, I decided a dress should be worn and wanted a little more shape, so I simply cut out another thin strip of fabric, put it around the waist, and sewed it at he back, to secure it into place.

And you are done! It took me an hour and a half or so, including the preparation, so not too time consuming and with a lovely little end result :) This pair are officially 'Hermin' and 'Hettie'.