apparentlyjessy

Cupcakes for Charity 2011 - April

2011-05-04T10:57:00.007+09:30

April

A tad late here sorry. I did do the sale on the third week of the month, but between Easter and looking for a new place to live, things have been pretty hectic around here.

So belatedly here are my Easter cupcakes! I made vanilla cupcakes, with a caramel filled chocolate Easter egg baked inside, and sweet sweet butter cream frosting.

Each Cupcake was topped with little speckled chocolate eggs. All proceeds I raised went to Animals Australia, a national animal protection organisation. They have a great mission statement:

"Animals Australia believes that we can create a better world for all through promoting kindness to animals. Our goal is to significantly and permanently improve the welfare of all animals in Australia."

This was my mid-morning snack this morning, it was tasty tasty! Strawberry Pocky is the best.

Things I love right now.

2011-04-14T21:32:00.006+09:30

With the cooler weather coming early this year, there are more blankets going on the bed. I love my first ever crochet blanket, which I think I forgot to blog about when I finished it last year. Bit crooked, but I love it nonetheless and I look forward to beginning a new one this winter.

I love my little box of brightly coloured threads. I've been slowly but surely working on belated birthday and baby shower presents. The list is still rather long, but I hope to have some time over the Easter long weekend to knock off a few more projects.

I love our local Roller Derby League. This is a logo of my favourite team, The Salty Dolls. The very team that a friend of ours recently got on to, so made it extra important to go along and support them. I am not a sports loving person at all, but I find the derby games are really exciting and fun to watch.

I love home made sushi. People at work always ask how I manage to make them, and I have to say once you've done it once and know how, it's really easy! No harder than putting a sandwich together, the only thing that takes a while is cooking the rice and having the patience for it to cool. I mainly make tuna or teryaki chicken ones.

Lastly, I love these two stinkers. They have been confused by the recent day lights saving time changes, and have been waking me up at ungodly hours of the morning for breakfast, and are ready for dinner way too early as well. There's a whole lotta meowing going on in the kitchen!

MOAR DINOS!

2011-04-06T09:55:00.001+09:30

I got these three dino's from a car boot sale a month or so ago. I loved them, luckily the guy had quite a few of them, as I'd never had enough money for the set. So when I finally did have the spare change, I headed straight for his stall! I love the Dimetrodon the most out of the three. Each one is about 2.5cm. So cute!

The Handwriting Game

2011-03-29T12:15:00.005+10:30

Becky from Strumpets Crumpets recently nominated me to play The Handwriting Game. My handwriting is pretty messy most of the time, but sometimes when I have a nice pen I can write neatly. I have to write a lot of nursing notes at work, and a nice pen can make the difference to my day!

1. What is your name / blogger name?
Jessy, or apparentlyjessy

2. What is your blog URL?
www.apparentlyjessy.blogspot.com

3. Write "The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog"

4. Write Your Favourite Quote
"Game Onnn!" From Waynes World

5. What is your favourite song?
3 Libras - A Perfect Circle, a really beautiful song, you should listen to it if you haven't heard it.
(If you listen carefully, you might get a clue as to how I came up with my blog name)

6. What is your favourite music right now?
I have lots of favourites, and a wide variety of tastes, but I've been listening to Sia and Temper Trap a lot lately.

7. Is there anything else you would like to add about your handwriting?
Meow! I draw that kitty a lot, have done for years, one day I'd like it tattooed on me, really tiny.

8. Choose Thee Bloggers to follow suit:
Danelle - One of my first blogging pals
Donna - One of my newest blogging pals
Holly - One of my favourite bloggers

Loki is Growing!

2011-03-25T11:11:00.001+10:30

My little loco Loki is growing fast! This is the stare I get whenever I am eating something, it's like he is trying to hypnotoad me into giving him my food.

Cupcakes for Charity 2011 - March

2011-03-23T10:00:00.000+10:30

March

This month the 3rd Thursday conveniently fell on St Patrick's Day. I made up Chocolate Guinness cupcakes with coffee butter cream frosting. I have always wanted to try out the beer cake thing so this was the perfect opportunity. I only made 2 dozen cupcakes to sell this time, as I'm a bit tired of desperately trying to convince people to buy the last few. Murphy's law, these cupcakes sold out REALLY quickly, and lots of people were upset they missed out. I seriously can't win!

Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes - Recipe from Annies Eats.
Makes 24 large cupcakes

Ingredients

1 cup stout (Guinness)
16 tbsp. unsalted butter
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups all-purpose flour (I used Self Raising Flour and omitted the salt and baking soda)
2 cups sugar
1½ tsp. baking soda
¾ tsp. salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners. Combine the stout and butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the cocoa powder and whisk until smooth. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the eggs and sour cream to blend. Add the stout-butter mixture and beat just to combine. Mix in the dry ingredients on low speed just until incorporated. Divide the batter evenly between the cupcake liners, filling them about 2/3 to ¾ full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean, about 17 minutes. Allow to cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Frost as desired and nom nom nom nom.

All proceeds were donated to the Red Cross Japan and Pacific disaster appeal, instead of my usual animal charity, as while sick on the couch I watched probably too many hours of the disaster footage, and I really felt like I needed to do something for the people who were so lovely to us on our holiday in Tokyo last year.

How lovely is this fundraiser print from Etsy seller This Paper Ship. I think its great how crafty and creative people band together to help each other out in times of need.

Thrifting Finds

2011-03-21T08:00:00.000+10:30

I've managed to go to several Sunday morning car boot sales this year. I mainly go there to buy cheap fruit and vegetables from local farmers (half the price of the supermarkets). Sometimes I'll come home with some good loot, sometimes I'll find nothing at all. These are my favourite recent finds...

These wooden cat salt and pepper shakers are just so lovely, and were actually a find from late last year. I bought them from a man who had hundreds of salt and pepper shakers, his mother had collected them her whole life, and when she passed on he didn't know what to do with them all. So selling them seemed like a good idea, and I am glad, as I found these beauties amongst them all.

I had to buy this vintage ice cream tin, despite it not being all that nice on the inside. The design on the top was so intriguing and cool, who knew Sunkist made ice-cream!? Apparently they did in the 60's. And well, isn't the red dancing elephant on the side so sweet:

Lastly, this was a recent find. I was drawn to it because of the cute red rabbits. When I opened it up it seemed to be some sort of clutch purse, or maybe jewellery box. The seller wasn't really sure what it was meant for, she let me have it for $2!

The inside compartments are separated by these shrimp, such a strange animal to pair with singing rabbits! Once I clean it up a bit I think I'll use it for storing sewing bits and pieces in.

Thrifting is so much fun. Have you found any bargains lately?

The Garden of Unearthly Delights

2011-03-19T08:00:00.000+10:30

Once a year a magical garden pops up in the city of Adelaide for the Fringe festival. I love going and absorbing the atmosphere.

I almost missed out this year, but luckily made it there on the final weekend. There was a cricket plague which while gross, was quite entertaining too.

We saw a fantasticly fun show, called the Freak and the Showgirl. I also indulged in hot chocolate and Dutch profitjes (sort of like mini pancakes) yummo!

St Patrick's Day

2011-03-17T20:42:00.004+10:30

Happy St Patrick's Day!

I like all the green on St Patrick's Day, such a bright happy colour. I baked up some Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes to sell at work today, they went like hot cakes, I'll blog about them soon.

I also made up these two clover brooches (I've made a similar one previously) the orange one I sent to Becky from Strumpets Crumpets to thank her for sending cheery Holiday cards my way and brightening up my day. The pink one I made for myself, and sported it proudly at work today.

Hope you have had a good St Pat's Day too!

I ♥ Snail Mail

2011-03-15T17:00:00.000+10:30

I have been lucky enough to receive a couple of sweet things in the mail recently. Jodie from Kittyrobot sent me these darling vintage kitty buttons because she thought I have been doing a good job with my Cupcakes for Charity resolution. It was such a thoughtful thing for her to do, and made me grin all day, and every time I look at the buttons.

Also, my Valentines swap arrived from Alexandra from Russia. She made me this amazing rabbit which I absolutely adore (she made it without a pattern!) plus a cool heart lollypop, which is too pretty to eat. Thanks for being a great swap partner Alexandra. Here is what I sent her.

Hooray for snail mail! I don't really get much (except for bills, there's always plenty of bills) so when it arrives it is so exciting. Have you received something awesome in the post recently?

Dinosaurs!!!

2011-03-13T13:38:00.001+10:30

Way back in January I got tickets for Darren and I to see the Dinosaurs Alive! exhibit for his Birthday. I took along my new camera and had some fun snapping pics. Darren and I have both loved dinosaurs from a young age, and we really revelled in seeing these giant robotic recreations of the dino's we loved as kids.

My favourites as a kid were the triceratops and the stegosaurus. What were/are yours?

P. S : See my new blog banner? Alicia from The Red Deer made it for me because she is nice and an awesome blogging pal. I love it, thank you Alicia!

Cupcakes for Charity 2011 - February

2011-02-28T18:25:00.000+10:30

February

This month I made Blueberry Vanilla Cupcakes to raise money for The Australian Marine Wildlife Research and Rescue Organisation. I used my stock standard Magnolia Bakery vanilla cupcake recipe, and added in dried blueberries. The frosting was vanilla butter cream, and the cakes were topped with a fish shaped lolly and rainbow sprinkles.

Australian Marine Wildlife Research & Rescue Organisation (AMWRRO) provide marine wildlife services to South Australian sea and estuary waters. They work to save sea birds, dolphins, seals, turtles amongst many animals. I love being a fan of them on Facebook as they update with happy rescue stories now and then.

Trip to Melbourne - Instagram Pics

2011-02-27T13:19:00.015+10:30

Here is a small snapshot of my time in Melbourne in Instagram pictures. I wish I lived there, Melbourne is full of awesome...

We're going on a trip!

2011-02-20T11:32:00.013+10:30

Isn't he cute in this pic? He is really a very mischievous cat, our toes and hands are covered with scratches and bite marks. Loki likes to attack us through the gaps in the stairs. All good fun really, but I do think owning a new kitten is preparing us for children, it is a lot of work. You can really see the long hair on the tips of his ears in this photo, Darren says they are like devil horns! He is growing really fast, and has a ravenous appetite.

I am pretty excited at the moment, because this week I am off to Melbourne with this crazy bunch - Kelly, Joel, and my Darren- to see Iron Maiden!
Hehe, I love these photos so much! Kelly had a Puri Kura themed Birthday last weekend, and did an awesome job of making her own photo booth for the occasion.

I am looking forward to going to Melbourne, because it is an awesome city to explore, with plenty to see and do, much more than Adelaide anyway. I really love the Queen Victoria markets for the awesome foods, especially breakfast pizzas! nom nom nom.

I'll be sure to blog about it when I get back, and will blog about February's Cupcakes for Charity too. Hope you all have a great week.

P.s sorry for the weird look of the blog at the moment, playing around with design and getting photos bigger etc. Hopefully it will look prettier soon!

Happy Walentines Day!

2011-02-14T16:08:00.008+10:30

Darren and I are not a particularly romantic couple. We really don't "do" Valentines Day. That being said, I don't mind the holiday for its lovely colour scheme, I have had a thing for the pink and red colour combo for years. We didn't grow up with Valentines Day as a popular holiday like it is now. I first learnt about it in Primary school, when I read an American book with characters that were dinosaurs who went to school, and a triceratops girl was giving handmade Valentines Day cards out to her classmates... yeah...

So anyway, I participated in a Valentines Day swap hosted by Beck from Strumpets Crumpets and Amber from Hoot-n-Annie.

I haven't received my parcel yet, and my partner - Alexandra from Russia hasn't received hers yet, but I thought I would share what I made despite our non-arrivals! I emailed Alexandra not to look at my blog yet!

I had been scouring the internet for some inspirado for my craft, and came across this cute tutorial on Make It Do. I didn't really follow the tutorial as such, winging my own version of it. I had lots of fun making pom poms, something I haven't done for years! I made the heart so it could be worn as a brooch, or hung like an ornament.

Tonight, I whipped up a quick Valentines garland, Darren bought us salt and pepper squid which we ate while watching Fantasia (a childhood favourite of mine), which was really sweet of him! So I guess we did "do" Valentines day this year!

Lastly I'll leave you with a video that I saw recently that melted my heart, I mean it has cake in it! If you haven't already seen it, please do watch it, I promise you will smile!

diy valentine's cakes from tiger in a jar on Vimeo.

Go look at Google!

2011-02-08T16:29:00.004+10:30

Today is Jules Vernes Birthday. Google is honouring him by making the Google Banner a 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea inspired interactive feature for the day. Go check it out, I spent at about 1/2 hour playing with it, and it totally made my day!

Today is also my friend Kimmy's Birthday. Happy Birthday Kimmy! <3 xox

I've also discovered Pinterest, I can see it's going to be a big time waster, but might be a good way for me to 'bookmark' pages that inspire me! Add me if you are on it too!

My Swap with Holly

2011-02-06T12:30:00.010+10:30

Last year I organised to do a crafty swap with a girl whos blog I have admired and followed for a long time, Holly, from Hollyrocks. She is a very sweet genuine, down to earth girl, who is also very talented with making beautiful things. I have admired all the things in her Etsy store, wishing to buy everything.

Our packages both arrived just in time on Christmas Eve, which was such a nice early Christmas surprise for both of us. I had so much fun opening up the box Holly sent me, there was just so much inside!

Everything Holly made me was very personalised, she used my favourite colours, and I loved her designs for me. This earring and clip set has been worn so much since I got it, everyone compliments me when I wear them. They are so well made too, not even the slightest fingerprint is left on the clay, which just amazes me.

I had been wanting some cupcake ornaments from Holly for such a long time, to put on my little pink Christmas tree, and really, hanging these cute little cupcakes on my tree on Christmas eve, it felt like it was finally complete, and made the day really special.
In the package I was also sent a San Fransisco Oven mitt, pink polymer clay buttons, some shells from Mexico for my sister (so thoughtful!), and some peppermint candy, which I gobbled up it was so tasty!

I made Holly a personalised tote bag, amongst other things, head over to her blog post about our swap to check out what I sent to her.
Go check out her Etsy store too, so many awesome things in there!

Thank you Holly for being such an awesome swap partner!

My latest Hero.

2011-02-02T08:55:00.001+10:30

This is my latest hero. Jules Verne.

When I was locked away in my sewing room for a solid week of mad making of presents the week before Christmas I listened to a lot of music and I also listened to audiobooks. I like listening to stories while creating, it just seems to go really well together.

I had been wanting to try out audiobooks for ages, but never really wanted to pay for them, total stinge I know. One night when mucking around on iTunes on my iphone I discovered iTunesU, under literature there were tonnes of classic literature, under 'Lit2Go', for FREE!!!

After visiting Tokyo DisneySea I had really wanted to read Journey to the Centre of the Earth, and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, as they were the two main rides of the park, and were SO cool.

I listened to Journey to the Centre of the Earth first, and wow, I was enraptured by every single word, the whole adventure was extremely thrilling, I think it helped that the narrator was very good at what he does, he really brought the characters to life, and was really good at building suspense and excitement.

I am now listening to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and it is equally as wonderful. Next in line, Around the World in 80 Days! Jules Verne really knew how to create an adventure and I love all the science and nature entwined in the tales. I liked him even more when I discovered he was a cat lover.

I believe cats to be spirits come to earth. A cat, I am sure, could walk on a cloud without coming through. ~Jules Verne

When I was doing research on Jules Verne, I came across works by artist Jim Tierney who for his thesis in illustration designed covers for 4 classic Jules Verne Novels...

Seriously, how cool are they!? Each book has interactive covers, which you can discover more about here, there is an awesome video on how the books work. Sadly, these books are a one off, which really makes me dismayed as I would dearly love to own this set, the design, right down to the print is impeccable.

When I did a big order of Threadless T-shirts in their mega sale before Christmas, I got this t-shirt, as it reminded me of the adventurous stories I had been lost in recently:

It seriously is the best t-shirt, I wear it all the time. I also got Darren Zombie t-shirts, this one, and this one. And a couple of cool designs for my sister, here and here. I really could spend loads of money on Threadless, the t-shirts are such good quality too, the fabric feels so nice.

Australia Day!

2011-01-26T08:30:00.004+10:30

Today is Australia Day. I'll be hanging with my sister, enjoying a BBQ and some Pavlova she has made. Might even take a dip in the pool, and listen to a bit of the Hottest 100. I am happy to be an Australian :)

Addit: Here is a pic of my sister with her first ever Pavlova, it was delicious!

Cupcakes for Charity 2011 - January

2011-01-25T17:14:00.006+10:30

January

The floods in QLD, NSW and VIC, have affected many Australians. But I have to say, I was really very worried about all the animals these floods would effect, pets, farm animals and wildlife alike.
Like many others, I wanted to do something for these helpless animals, so my first fund-raiser for the year I chose to donate to the QLD RSPCA, who lost an entire animal shelter during the floods.

I raised $110 all for the QLD RSPCA!!

In my rush to get this done, I totally forgot to take pictures of the cupcakes until it was too late! Oh dear, not again, *smacks forehead*
I'd like you to imagine almond flake cupcakes, with spoonful of home made apricot jam in the centre, frosted with cream cheese frosting, and topped with a coconut apricot roll! Delicious!

Almond and Apricot Surprise Cupcakes - Adapted from Woman's Weekly NZ
Makes 18 or so cupcakes

Ingredients

165g butter, softened
1¾ cup caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs
3 cups self raising flour
1¼ cup milk
1/4 cup crushed flaked almonds
½ cup apricot jam (I used this recipe for microwave apricot jam that is very quick and easy, I highly recommend it, my jam turned out perfectly)

1. Heat oven to 160°C fan bake. Line a 12-hole standard muffin tin with paper cases. Place butter, caster sugar and vanilla in a bowl and beat with an electric mixer until pale and creamy.

2. Beat in eggs one at a time. Sift dry ingredients together and fold into mixture, alternating with the milk, fold in almonds. Stir just enough to combine into a creamy batter.

3. Three-quarter fill prepared cases. Hide a heaped teaspoonful of apricot jam in the centre of the mixture of each cupcake.

4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cupcake mixture (not in the centre where the jam is!) comes out clean. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

I ♥ Keyboard Cat

2011-01-22T20:13:00.006+10:30

When I first saw Keyboard Cat on Youtube, I was enamoured with it. The cat, the keyboard, the tune, the look of disinterest in Keyboard Cats face. Whenever I am feeling blue, this video never fails to cheer me up. (My Grandpa is in hospital again, I needed cheering up tonight)
When I saw the Keyboard Cat t-shirt on Threadless I squealed! But then was so sad to see it had sold out. So when they did a reprint last year, I had it ordered in seconds! It is now one of my favourite Tees.

Speaking of cats... Loki is keeping us on our toes, he and Týr are becoming firm friends! They chase each other up and down the stairs and play fight constantly in their waking hours, sometimes Týr gets a bit rough though. Loki loves to attack our ankles and pants when we are walking which is funny and annoying at the same time.

I finally got my new camera! With the help of Christmas money from my family, I was able to pick up a Canon DSLR 1000D for a very decent price in the post Christmas sales!! I was so excited to bring it home, and can't wait to get started using it! Holly, I'm hoping for a nice bright sunny day tomorrow so I can take some shiny pic's of the beautiful things you sent me! Woot!

Some Aussies are in a bit of strife!

2011-01-12T16:39:00.007+10:30

(Image Source)

Australians up in QLD are in a bit of strife with severe flooding causing a lot of damage, after many days of heavy constant rain. Some towns have had flash flooding, with little warning. Sadly the death toll is at 12 at the moment, with many more missing. 40,000 homes are believed to be affected, the numbers expected to rise. Watching the news has been quite harrowing.

I worry about all the animals and wildlife who are so helpless during natural disasters...

(Image Source)

There have been a few heart warming rescue stories like this one, where a man took his tin boat out and rescued many kangaroo's. There was also this amazing photo of a green tree frog hitching a ride on the back of a brown snake (normally enemies) through the flood water.

(Image Source)

I will be doing a cupcake fund-raiser next week for the QLD RSPCA. If you would like to help out too, you could donate to either:

QLD RSPCA Flood Crisis Appeal or the QLD Premiers Disaster Relief Fund

Stay safe people of QLD, we are thinking of you.

New Family Member!

2011-01-07T16:13:00.004+10:30

Please welcome the newest member of the Bearmangler Clan...

We brought Loki home from the RSPCA this morning. Our hearts were breaking after seeing many news reports on the amount of animals being dumped after Christmas. He is so sweet and has taken to us immediately. However Týr is not very impressed and has done a lot of creeping around and hissing, poor boy, he has been the spoilt only 'child' for 6 months, so this will be a bit of an adjustment for him!

Loki, like Týr, is named after a Viking God. The Viking God of mischief, hehe hope he doesn't live up to the name too much!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-03T16:53:00.007+10:30

Happy New Year!!

I have good feelings for 2011, I think this year will be an interesting one. At the beginning of 2010, I made a new years resolution to bake cupcakes and sell them once a month for different animal charities of my choice. Unfortunately I failed as I only managed to do 9 of the 12 months. So, this years new years resolution was easy, try again!

I want to be more organised about it this year, I plan to do it on the 3rd Thursday of every month. I want to plan ahead and make a 12 month plan for which charity to donate to, and what flavour cupcakes I want to make, rather than decide as I go.

Here are the charities, in no particular order, I wish to raise money for this year:

RSPCA South Australia
Animal Welfare League South Australia
Australian Orangutan Project
Animals Australia
Adelaide Zoo
Nature Foundation South Australia
~~Australia Zoo Wildlife Warriors~~ QLD RSPCA
Australian Marine Wildlife Research & Rescue Organisation
WWF Australia - Adopt an Animal
Free the Bears Fund
Guide Dogs South Australia
Save Foundation Australia

So far the new year is going well, today I put a deposit on a new camera, just need to wait for more stock to come in!
My boyfriend and I are going to make an effort to be more healthy, and I have had a good time today finding some interesting new recipes to try on Taste.com.au, a fantastic resource for dinner and dessert ideas!
Of course I would like to craft and blog more this year, but I am not going to loose sleep if life gets in the way a bit ;)
Oh, one last new year resolution, I AM going to start preparing for Christmas much earlier this year, I loved giving handmade gifts, but I am going to give myself much more time so I don't stress too much!!

What are your new years resolutions?

Christmas Recap

2010-12-28T15:21:00.008+10:30

How was your Christmas?! Mine was lovely! It began with time off of work, and our yearly tradition to bake and decorate gingerbread cookies...

I decorated my little pink Christmas tree, I dearly love my white fluffy lights...

I made some of my own ornaments this year, I was inspired by a nostalgic memory of our old chenille Father Christmas ornaments, sadly disintegrated with age. So, I made my own kitty ones, I was helped with a tutorial from here, easy as pie!

On Christmas Eve, just in the nick of time, a parcel arrived from Holly of Hollyrocks, I will blog properly about our swap soon, but I was very excited to have new little cupcake ornaments from her for my tree:

This year, as I have mentioned, the budget was very tight. I spent the first week of my holidays working away at my sewing machine, all hours of the day, hand making all the gifts for my close friends and family.
Unfortunately, I had little time left between finishing and wrapping the presents, plus I was so sleep deprived I wasn't thinking straight, so have no photos of my hard work! I did manage to remember to photograph what I gave to my two best friends though:

I made them clutch purses from this pattern, and felt ornaments.

I made Darren and myself our own set of lined Christmas Stockings, using the cutest vintage style cat and dog print, with a very helpful tutorial from here:

Also, after seeing many different versions around the internet for Christmas cookie mix jars, I decided to make up a batch of my own for friends and family, I used this recipe. I topped the jars with pretty fabric, that I thought could be used as a doily afterwards:

Perhaps after chasing down my family with a camera I'll blog about what I made for everyone else next week! (hoping for a new one very soon thanks to generous support from my family for Christmas!)

It's been a while...

2010-12-09T10:46:00.016+10:30

Hello there, sorry for my longer than planned absence! My poor beloved laptop died, and I had to wait to save up for a new one! Luckily my Birthday was close, and birthday money helped speed up that process!! I managed to forget about my own 2nd year blogiversary, oops!

Well it's time to get back on board, and try and get out of this 'I don't own a decent camera so don't feel like blogging anything slump'

I've made lots of cupcakes, some of which I completely forgot to take photos of, oops! I did do Cupcakes for Charity for October, I made Marble Jaffa cupcakes and raised $95 dollars for WSPA.

I also made some Lemon Blueberry cupcakes with a lovely new friend Emma, for her work colleges.

(pic by Emma - tinselwig)

Friends had a Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) party, which was pretty awesome fun! Always looking for an excuse to don one of my wigs!

(pic by Emma - tinselwig)

There was pretty cool decorations.
I made cupcakes, which took forever to decorate:

Here is a pic of my boyfriend and I, sorry for the crappy iphone pics!

Darren wore creepy white contact lenses, really made him look scary!

In November my 26th Birthday rolled round, and I had a 'potluck' dinner party, which went down really well, my friends are all great cooks! I made pulled pork, my god, us Australian's have been kept in the dark about that one for too long! I had a little bit of a lantern and tissue paper pompom theme, which was bright and fun:

(pic by Emma - tinselwig)

Me & my Kelly-pie <3

(Oh please check out Kellys Etsy store, she has the coolest Mario inspired bags, I am amazed they haven't sold out!)

My birthday cupcakes were delicious, I used a Lemon Cupcake recipe from Alicias The Red Deer that I had been wanting to try for months, as it had an unusual ingredient list. I adapted it slightly, adding strawberry puree with an amazing result! Here is the adapted recipe:

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes Adapted from The Red Deer
Makes 24 cupcakes

4 eggs
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
1/2 tsp salt
Finely grated rind of 2 lemons
1 1/3 cups plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup almond meal
160ml cream
100g unsalted butter, melted
Juice of 1 lemon

Strawberry Puree
1 punnet of strawberries hulled, blended with 2 tablespoons of caster sugar, and 2 teaspoons of corn flour.

Preheat the oven to 170C. Line 2 12-hole muffin trays with cupcake cases.
Put the eggs, sugar, salt and lemon rind in a medium mixing bowl, and using the whisk attachment on our electric mixer for 3 minutes or until light in colour. Sift in the flour and baking powder with the almond meal and cream. Whisk until well combined. Add melted butter and lemon juice and whisk again.
Spoon mixture into cupcake liners until 1/3 full, then add a teaspoon full of strawberry puree, then top with more mixture until liners are 2/3 full. Bake for approximately 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
I used lemon cream cheese frosting, swirled with leftover strawberry puree for the topping. Then decorated with fondant flowers.

Lastly at the beginning of December my little sister turned 18!! She had a Mexican themed birthday party which was a real blast! Did you know Mexican food is my favourite cuisine?

She'll kill me for putting this photo on my blog!

As the budget is a bit tight this year, I got crafty making gifts for my sister:

I made this lady bug clutch purse, getting piping right is a skill that's difficult to master! Free pattern from Here.

I got button and glue happy crafting this picture frame (from a boot sale!) in my sisters room colour theme.

And I hand sewed this cute Pointy Kitty, his head was a bit heavy for his body! You can make one too, the free pattern is Here thanks to Wee Wonderfuls.

I have also been working on a swap with the gorgeous Holly from Hollyrocks, we are both watching our postmen like a hawk with anticipation, I made her one of my favourite tote bags to date! I am very excited, and cant wait to share when both our mail arrives!

It's fun making personalised crafty gifts for people, albeit a little time consuming. This Christmas will be a crafty one for us this year too, and I have been busy scouring the internet for ideas on what to make for my loved ones, but don't you reckon its bloody impossible to make things for boys? My Dad has been the hardest to come up with ideas for! If you have any ideas that you would like to share I would love to hear them!

What a mammoth post! I am off to write Christmas cards and get some sewing done! Perhaps once the madness of Christmas is over I'll think about doing a give-away!

Cupcakes for a 90 year old!

2010-10-05T22:02:00.005+10:30

I have been a bit slack in the cupcake baking department. For the entirety of September, I only baked one batch! Gasp! I didn't even do a cupcakes for charity sale, which I feel SO guilty about.

The only cupcakes I made were for my Grandpa's 90th Birthday party. Family came from interstate for this occasion, as it was a pretty huge milestone, especially because Grandpa had pulled through after major surgery for bowel cancer earlier this year.

One of my childhood memories of my Grandpa was, he ALWAYS had a peppermint lifesaver in his mouth! So I wanted to do peppermint cupcakes, and a couple of days before the party I came across a perfect recipe on Nigella Lawsons website called "The naughty senator's peppermint and chocolate rum marble cake" Perfect!!

I made the recipe, and got 36 cupcakes, then frosted them with peppermint cream cheese frosting. I may have gone a bit overboard with the peppermint essence, as my boyfriend said the frosting was a bit like eating toothpaste! hehe

I have been working steadily on my first granny square blanket over the weekend, it's totally going to be finished just in time for summer, silly procrastinating me! To break up the project a bit, I worked on crocheting a pillow cover for my craft chair, and was very happy to finish it within a week:

My kitty Týr loves it!

Hope you are all off to a good start for the week. I am really enjoying the warmer weather, but annoyingly feel like I am coming down with a cold, it could be hayfever though . Lots of water and rest for me!

❣✮Swap with Zoe✮❣

2010-09-19T11:52:00.010+09:30

Before I went overseas I organised to do a crafty swap with Zoe from Dream Come True. With moving out and overseas trips between us, it kept getting put off to a later date. I have to say though, with all the delays and emails back and forth, I have really enjoyed getting to know Zoe more. Finally this week, both our parcels arrived!
Zoe was kind enough to share her photos with me, as the weather here has been rather gloomy, and the natural light in my place can be rather pitiful in the grey days.

Here is what Zoe sent to me:

This beautiful bright colourful wreath Zoe hand made for me!

And a whole parcel full of goodies!! I love every. single. thing!

(The kitty coasters are beyond awesome, I think they look pretty cool on the coffee table!)

Isn't Zoe just the sweetest most generous gal!? I think she got me to a T, and I love everything!
Zoe also has an adorable Etsy store you should check out.

♡Thank you Zoe♡

Here is what I sent Zoe:

I made Zoe a personalised tote bag. I was inspired by her blog design, bunnies and flowers!

Zoe has is a really girly girl, so I used lots of pink pretty fabric, and picked lots of girly goodies!

I made her a box pouch and a had a good at making a pretty wrist cuff too!

Another successful and very fun swap! I love doing it, receiving something personalised and special in the post is a very nice feeling, just as lovely as a Birthday or Christmas present!

This morning when I checked my blog I realised I had reached 300 followers! What an awesome surprise! I am super chuffed and happy about that, so thank you to each and every one of you, I have made some lovely friends through this blogging thing, and I plan to keep meeting more!

Love! xox

Cupcakes for Charity - August

2010-08-30T14:06:00.003+09:30

Monday 16th of August is Australia's RSPCA Cupcake Day. Lots of people get involved and it is a great fund-raiser for the well known animal charity. This year I sold chocolate mint cupcakes at work, and raised $105, it was a big success. I had help with baking and decorating from my beautiful friend Elise, it's so much more fun to bake cupcakes with a friend!

The idea for the round cat and dog faces was inspired by the wonderful Lindsay from Coco Cake Cupcakes, her cute animal cupcakes never fail to make me smile!

It's not too late to contribute, if you would like to, you can donate here.

Chocolate Mint Cupcakes

Ingredients

1/2 cup boiling water
1/4 cup butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups Self Raising flour
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 block of Cadbury Chocolate Bubbly or Nestle Aero Mint, chopped finely

Method

In a mixing bowl, combine boiling water, shortening, sugar, cocoa and hot chocolate powder. Beat until sugar is dissolved.
Add sifted flour alternately with the beaten egg, sour cream, and vanilla, gently stir in mint chocolate.
Fill cupcake cups about half full.
Bake at 350°F or 180°C for 20 -25 minutes. Frost with your favourite frosting. Enjoy!

Oreo Cupcakes & Cute Stuff!

2010-08-12T16:55:00.006+09:30

Look what recently arrived in the mail! Oh my goodness, a handbag couldn't possibly be any more perfect for me! I have been carrying around the same blue handbag for years and I decided enough was enough I wanted, no NEEDED a new one! I was browsing Sick for Cute (the cutest online store!) and saw this bag. My heart stopped, it had to be MINE!

And so now it is! And such an awesome price for a new bag really! Also, as there was a 'back to school' sale on, I nabbed this very cool T-shirt for $8! Bargain! I unicorns about as much as I love cupcakes! Really, you should go check out Sick for Cute, the prices are great and shipping is very reasonable and speedy too!

This week I had my friend Kim over, she recently got home from China and was dying to have one of my cupcakes! At work there was a charity bake sale put on by the ward next to mine, and I said I would love to contribute. So Kim and I got our 'bake on' and whipped up these very yummy Oreo cookie cupcakes!

I was dying to try the 'often mentioned on the internets' method of putting half an Oreo on the bottom of the cupcake liners. Worked out great, the extra surprise at the bottom of the cupcake pleased everyone! The cupcakes had crushed Oreos in the batter, plus an extra on top of the cream cheese frosting. Tasty!

Oreo Cookies & Cream Cupcakes - adapted from 'Crazy About Cupcakes'
(the original recipe had a misprint in the method which I have corrected)
Makes about 20 cupcakes

Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
about 2/3 cup Oreo cookies, lightly crushed (roughly 6-7 cookies)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Insert liners into a medium cupcake pan, then place 1/2 an Oreo cookie in the base of each liner.
2. In a large bowl cream together the butter, sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer until fluffy, about 3-5 minutes.
3. In a separate bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
4. Add the dry ingredients to butter mixture. Mix until integrated. Stir in the milk. With an electric mixer on low speed, beat for 30 seconds. Turn the mixer up to medium speed and beat for 2 minutes. Add the egg whites. Beat for 2 more minutes. Carefully fold in the crushed Oreo cookies, don't over mix.
5. Fill the cupcake liners three-quarters full. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of cupcakes comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in the pan. Top with desired frosting and half an Oreo!

Last week when going through my iphone pictures, I found this awfully cute one of our kitty cat Týr stuck inside a cardboard box. He has the cutest innocent expression on his face!

Baw! What a cutie!
Hope you are all having a good week peeps!

P.s: Next week is our national RSPCA Cupcake Day, if anyone has any cupcake flavours to suggest I try, I am all ears for ideas!

A couple of things I've done recently!

2010-08-01T14:35:00.005+09:30

Not having access to my sisters beautiful SLR camera since moving house has been a real sad thing for me. I loved that camera, I am really looking forward to being in a financial position to by myself one one day. In the move I also misplaced my point & shoot camera momentarily, but have recently found it again!

I took a few photos on my iphone of things I had been doing:

My first completed crochet project, which I forgot to photograph until after I'd wrapped it oops!! I began this baby blanket back in April, for a girl at work, I didn't manage to finish it until recently and the baby was well and truely born! I chose the colour scheme to match her nursery. I really enjoyed crocheting this blanket, one giant granny square is so easy and fun to do! (Underneath the present, you can see the tops of a brown paper perpetual calendar I decorated one night not long ago at Brown Owls. )

Last month, a lady at work approached me to make her some cupcakes for her mothers 70th high tea party. She wanted pretty cupcakes with flowers on top, with a pink and pale green colour scheme. I had free reign on what flavours to bake!

I used my favourite Lemon Blueberry recipe for these cupcakes, with cream cheese frosting, and topped with a royal icing flower and leaves.

These cupcakes were the very popular Lemon 'Diva' Cupcakes, injected with lemon curd, frosted with cream cheese frosting, and topped with tiny rosettes and leaves. The lady at work said the cupcakes went down very well, one lady even asked if they were ok to eat, as she thought they were fake!

My sister and I love going to the Brighton Car Boot sale on Sunday mornings. We hadn't been in a long time due to the weather being to miserable, but luckily enough last Sunday we had a beautiful sunny day for it! We both got some awesome loot (and cheap vegetables too!), but my favourites of the day had to be these pretty triplets:

I am also chuffed to report that I was able to buy 88 cans of cat food for the Hahndorf animal shelter with the cupcake money I raised, and my boyfriend helped me take them up yesterday. As a thank you, we got a tour of the cattery, and we were able to pat lots and lots of happy cats. We thought it might make us sad, but in fact it was good knowing that these people cared for these cats, and despite needing homes, they were all happy and content and well provided for!

Cupcakes for Charity - July

2010-07-25T21:59:00.006+09:30

In an attempt to be more organised this month, I have successfully done my this charity sale earlier in the month! I chose the Hahndorf Animal Shelter as the charity to donate to this time, because they are a shelter that has a no 'put down' policy, they hold onto every cat and dog they receive until they are able to find them a loving and suitable home. I found out about them from their fund-raiser calendar sold at my vet, which was full of heart warming stories of animals who had finally found a home and family.

So to raise money for a heart-warming charity, I thought of selling heart warming "hot" chocolate cupcakes, with marshmallows in the shape of a paw on top. (I got the idea for the marshmallow paw from here)

I searched the internet for a hot chocolate recipe, but didn't really find one I wanted, so I used a chocolate cupcake recipe (one with sour cream - yum!), and added a whole lot of hot chocolate powder to the mix. The cupcakes were frosted with chocolate butter cream frosting, and topped with the marshmallow paw, then dusted with chocolate powder.

Again, I sold the cupcakes at work, to my very supportive colleagues, and was able to raise a whopping $108! I called up the shelter as they don't have an online donation option on the website. The lady said, I could just bring in the money to them, but what they would really love is if I could go spend all that money on Whiskers cat food tins, and bring them in instead! I am thinking that's a whole lotta cat food!!! But I don't mind doing that, Hahndorf is a lovely area, and I am sure with the help of my boyfriend to help me carry the tins we will make a fun day of it.

So without further babbling...here's the recipe:

"Hot" Chocolate Cupcakes - recipe adapted from Group Recipes

Ingredients

1/2 cup boiling water
1/4 cup butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups Self Raising flour
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Extra heaped tablespoon of hot chocolate powder (I used Cadbury Drinking Chocolate)

Method

In a mixing bowl, combine boiling water, shortening, sugar, cocoa and hot chocolate powder. Beat until sugar is dissolved.
Add sifted flour alternately with the beaten egg, sour cream, and vanilla.
Fill cupcake cups about half full.
Bake at 350°F or 180°C for 20 -25 minutes. Frost with your favourite frosting. Enjoy!

Cupcakes for Charity - May

2010-07-21T17:40:00.008+09:30

Apologies for posting this post so late, two months late in fact. I guess things got a bit crazy with going overseas and moving house. It sure has been a super busy year so far. Unfortunately I do not have any photographic proof these cupcakes ever happened, my sister accidentally deleted them off her camera before I had had a chance to download them. Perhaps I'll draw you a picture...

I decided on raising money for bears, and fittingly made honey flavoured cupcakes topped them with creamy honey frosting, and topped them with a cute tiny teddy biscuit! I sold them at work, and they smelled so very good.

I was able to raise $90 for the Free the Bears Fund. A wonderful charity working hard to free bears held captive in countries like India, Cambodia and Thailand. I really urge you to take a look at their website to see the plight of such beautiful creatures, and to see heart warming photos of the bears they have saved so far.

Honey Cupcakes - Recipe adapted from BakeSpace

Ingredients

½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup honey (I used normal honey, you could used creamed too)
¾ cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
2 cups self rising flour

Method

Preheat oven to 350F/180C.

In a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, sugar, and honey. Beat for about 3 minutes, until light and fluffy.

Beat in egg, scrape down sides after blended. Add in vanilla and beat for another 30 seconds.

Starting with the flour first, alternate between flour and milk, ending with flour. So 1/3 of flour, ½ of milk, 1/3 of flour, ½ milk, 1/3 flour. Blend until fully combined.

Fill cupcake liners 2/3 of the way full with batter. Bake for 20-22 minutes.

One whirlwind week in Beijing!

2010-07-11T19:17:00.011+09:30

What seems like months ago now, but was only in May, my boyfriend and I went on a trip to Tokyo and Beijing. I've already posted some of my photos from Tokyo, now it's Beijing's turn!
Beijing was definitely a completely different world compared to Australia. We had a good time, but were initially a little overwhelmed with how different it was, especially after a trip in a Beijing taxi!

On our first day in Beijing, we went on a tour to the Great Wall of China. Little did I realise it was going to be one of the most gruelling days of my life! It turned out, we were just dropped off at one section of the wall, and then were told we had to hike through 30 towers, and be at another section in 4 1/2 hours!

It was really one of the most breathtaking views I have seen, but climbing up and down those towers, with extremely steep inclines and descents, with the steps crumbling away, was such HARD work! I mean, imagine doing 10 gym sessions in a row, that's really what it felt like, I was sure I was going to die of a heart attack!

There was hawkers following my every move for about half of the journey, they kept trying to sell us t-shirts and extremely expensive bottles of water. One woman kept telling me she knew a short cut...no way I was following her!

Yeah! I had to climb that! But the going down was the hardest part, my legs were like jelly and the footing unstable. With much coaxing from Darren, I made it. I did! I made it! Only 1/2 later than we should have been, and the bus didn't leave without us, much to our relief!

This moment was the greatest feeling ever, the hike ended with us sliding down a great big flying fox, and a short boat ride across a river.

This picture was taken from outside the Forbidden Palace, right near our hostel. The walls were immense and the whole place was really majestic and impressive.

My friend Kim was the main reason we went to Beijing, she was living there for a year to study mandarin, and I wanted to take advantage of having a friendly tour guide in a country I probably wouldn't have normally chosen to go visit. Kim was fantastic, and I cannot thank her enough for showing us around such a big, strange, fascinating city!
The above and below pictures are of the night food market in Wangfujing street. There was every animal/meat imaginable on sticks waiting to be cooked and eaten. I was not game enough to try anything strange! Darren and Kim really enjoyed their toffee fruit though!

We were really lucky with our accommodation, I picked the Peking International Youth Hostel to stay at, as it was recommended in our lonely planet guide, and I am so glad I did! They were warm and friendly, and the place was so well cared for, the garden really was something special...

Here is the typical picture of us in front of the famous portrait of Chairman Mao in Tiananmen Square.

A view from the top of a large hill in the Summer Palace. It was a painful hike up more stairs, as my legs were still non-functional, but the sights up the top were well worth it!

I really enjoyed having my name painted out in beautiful pictures, buy a lady, who was telling me what each character meant, but I know I'll never recall it all!

Our time in Beijing was a real learning experience, and I will never forget it. I think next time we travel we will be more confident and adventurous thanks to this holiday.

Kimmy and I in front of the Beijing Olympic stadium. Thank you so much Kim, for being such a gracious and hospitable friend, we really appreciated your time and help, (especially with the haggling!) and I am so very proud of you for taking the plunge to live overseas for a year!

I still have plenty of catch up posts to do, must tell you of my cupcakes for charity efforts next! Hope you are all having a good week! x

I'm back!

2010-07-09T23:03:00.006+09:30

Photo taken by Caitlin

After what felt like an eternity, but was really only 6 weeks, we now finally have the internet connected at our new abode! I feel like I have a part of myself back now, and look forward to catching up with my wonderful blog friends.
Soon to be posted, our week in Beijing, my cupcake fundraiser escapades, of course a bit of craft, and perhaps a look at my new craft room. Nothing makes a Jessy more happy than her own craft room with internets in it! Stay tuned!

Moving house!

2010-06-12T15:30:00.005+09:30

(Image Credit)

Hey there blogging friends, just wanted to update you, and explain my absence!
I have finally moved out of home and things are going well, we have taken out cat Tyr and we are all settling in well. Our only problem really is we are having real difficulties getting the internet connected, both providers we have tried are taking ages to do anything about it! I hope to be connected after the 28th of this month, fingers crossed, I am having serious withdrawals!

I just wanted to mention I did do the Cupcakes for Charity for May, raising $90 for the Free the Bears Fund with honey flavoured cupcakes! I will be sure to write a post on that and our time in Beijing and our new home soon!

Hope you are all safe and well, I miss your blogs terribly! <3

A little look into our time in Tokyo!

2010-05-24T19:34:00.010+09:30

I am so sorry for my long time away! I have actually been back home for 2 weeks, but I have put off blogging about our holiday, because I don't really know where to start! How can I tell you about it all in one succinct blog post! Especially since we took 2317 photos!

I thought I might tell you about Tokyo, first, then next post will be about Beijing.

We loved Japan, we found the people so polite, and helpful, and as a tourist, it was very English language friendly. There was so much to see and do, we really only got a glimpse of Tokyo in the 7 days we were there. These are just a few photos...

Darren and myself on the Disney Monorail.

On our first day in Tokyo, we went to Tokyo DisneySea! It really was one of my favourite days of our holiday. I can see why they call it the happiest place on earth!

Me with Daisy Duck!

In the centre of the park was this giant volcano, it seemed to erupt every hour or so.

There was a spring theme throughout the park, with cute performances. I was besotted with this purple cat, it was the most beautiful costume I have ever seen.

This photo was taken in a theme park in a shopping centre, in Sunshine City, Ikebukuro. I was so happy with how many cat things there were in Japan, we were in heaven really!

We did a day tour to Mt Fuji, it was a really awesome experience! We were so lucky to see Mt Fuji on a clear day, my Grandma told me that means we are destined to go back someday.

These were so swan boats were cute, I had to stop and take a photo! This was on Lake Ashi.

In Akihabara, we went to one of those kooky maid cafes! Unfortunately we couldn't take photos of anything except the food (this is the cutest sundae I have ever had!) so I can't really show you how crazy it was, you will just have to take my word for it!

The famous Harajuku, Takeshita-dori shopping street, it was so crowded there!

There were so many adorable dogs we spotted in Tokyo, many treated like children, these cuties were in a special doggy pram!

We found this cool goth kitty in the back streets of Harajuku.

This was on Jingu Bridge, where we were expecting to find lots of young people dressed up to parade their fashions, like Gothic Lolita, or cosplay, unfortunately there were very few, despite us making sure we went on a Sunday afternoon, the crowd was mainly focused on this group of hippies offering free hugs!

So there you have a quick little glimpse into our time in Tokyo, I could really write a 5000 word essay on it, but I fear I would bore you all!

My next post I'll have a few pictures of Beijing!

Up, Up and Away!

2010-04-24T09:37:00.006+09:30

(Image Credit)

I have been M.I.A this month, I apologise. Life has been pretty hectic planning our overseas trip and taking care of Grandpa and the family. I am sad to say I just haven't had time to do my cupcakes for charity sale for April, I am going to make up for it by having two sales in a month later in the year, but I cannot help feel like I have failed on my resolution.

Tomorrow we take off for our holiday in Tokyo and Beijing, I will be sure to take many photos and blog about it. This will be my boyfriends first overseas trip, and my first time in Asia, so we are both so excited and very nervous too. There has been so much work in research and planning, I had no idea there was so much involved, but thank goodness for the internet and google, they have been my best friend of late!

I am very excited to see my friend Kim, she is taking time from uni to show us around Beijing and I am so grateful for that!

I haven't made any cupcakes this month other than a batch for a baby shower for a girl at work. The cupcakes were strawberry and white chocolate, with cream cheese frosting. I'll leave you with the recipe, see you when I get back!

Strawberry & White Chocolate Cupcakes - Recipe from taste.com.au
Makes 18

Ingredients

60g butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup (115g) caster sugar
2 eggs
1 cup (250ml) milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups (375g) self-raising flour, sifted
250g (1 punnet) strawberries, washed, hulled, roughly chopped
1/2 cup (95g) white choc bits

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C. Line 16 x 1/3 muffin pans with paper cases.
Beat the butter and sugar until pale and creamy. Beat in the eggs, milk and vanilla.
Use a large metal spoon to fold in the flour until just combined. Gently stir in the strawberries and white choc bits.
Spoon the mixture into the cases. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes until golden.

ஐ Happy Easter! ஐ

2010-04-05T20:19:00.010+09:30

Happy Easter Friends!

Hope you have all had a lovely holiday weekend!

I have had fun playing with a printable Easter kit I won from a recent give-away from Paper Glitter! Thank you Linnette!

I made Vanilla Cupcakes from a recipe Clara of I Heart Cuppycakes wrote about recently (they turned out beautifully, I recommend it!). I popped a caramel filled Easter egg in the middle before baking for a delicious Easter surprise!

Back to work tomorrow sadly!

Cupcakes for Charity - March

2010-04-02T10:05:00.006+10:30

So, I am a couple of days late on posting about my March fund-raiser, but this week has just been so busy! I assure you I did sell all of my cupcakes in the last 2 days of March, I just haven't posted about it until now. I keep leaving it till the last minute, which makes me stressed out! I must remember to be more organised for April, as we will be flying out of the country by the 25th!

For March I raised money for the Animal Welfare League of South Australia. A very wonderful organisation dedicated to the care and welfare of lost and abandoned companion animals. If you would like to make a donation too, here is their website.

I tried to sell cupcakes at my sisters high school this time, I made more cupcakes of a smaller size, and charged a lot less each. Unfortunately, I guess the school kids weren't the right demographic, as I was only able to sell a dozen there! I took along the cupcakes to my Grandpa's rehab hospital, where the lovely nurses there bought a few more. So the remaining I had left I took to work and they sold like hot-cakes, I guess the cheaper price went down well.

The whole process of doing these fund-raisers each month is quite fatiguing, and at times disheartening. The amount of times I have had to listen to people exclaim that I am charging too much for the cupcakes, it gets me really down. I have a much better understanding of the people who dedicate their lives trying to get people to part with their money for a good cause, they must have very thick skin. Not that I am going to let this stop me, I am determined to do a fund-raiser every month this year if it kills me!!

The cupcakes were vanilla cupcakes, with colourful chocolate chips through them, frosted with vanilla butter-cream, and topped with a cute bone shaped lolly/candy:

In other news, I would like to show you the crochet I have been learning. Back in February I mentioned I was being taught how to crochet by the lovely ladies at the Brown Owls craft group I have been attending. I have been enjoying making granny squares while I watch TV in the evenings, I find it helps me wind down after a busy day, it's very relaxing.

My Grandma was so delighted when she found out I was learning to crochet, as my Great-Grandmother was an avid crocheter. I was very pleased when Grandma gave me her collection of vintage crochet hooks, and showed me a few of the tablecloths and doilies she had of her grandmothers. I can only hope the hooks have some lucky effect on me and I can become as skilled at it as her one day! For the moment, I am still learning, and the granny squares a little wobbly, but I guess that will only improve with time and practice! I cannot wait to make enough to make a blanket. Aren't the bright colours fun?

It's not long until our holiday to Tokyo and Beijing! I am having real troubles organising our vaccinations, apparently there is a national shortage of the Hep A vaccine. Luckily I found out about a "Travel Doctor" in the city who has some left.
My other dilemma is finding out whether or not we should be buying a Japan Rail Pass or not, I am not sure if we will use it enough in just Tokyo to make it a worthwhile (and very expensive!) purchase. If anyone has been there and has any advice please do share!

Hope you all have a wonderful Easter weekend. I will be posting about my Easter makings soon!

♣ Happy St Patricks Day ♣

2010-03-17T10:50:00.005+10:30

I don't quite know why I like this holiday, it always happens in the middle of the week, and I am not all that fond of beer or Guinness. I think the reason why I like it is the abundance of green, and clovers! I baked mini Apple Cupcakes with white chocolate topping for the occasion.
I used a recipe from the Wilton website, and while the method is a bit unusual, they turned out to be nice little bites of goodness!

I have to apologise for my lack of blog commenting, my Grandpa is very unwell, after emergency surgery last week, and I have been busy visiting the hospital and keeping the house in order for Mum. Grandpa is 89, and is doing ok for someone his age, but we certainly are not out of the woods yet.
Any-who, here is the recipe for the Apple Cupcakes...

Apple Cupcakes - Recipe originally from Wilton
I halved this recipe and it made 12 mini cupcakes

Ingredients:

2 Eggs
3/4 cup Milk
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/3 cup Butter, melted
2 1/4 cups All-purpose Flour(I used SR Flour and omitted the baking powder)
1/2 cup Granulated/Caster sugar
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 tablespoon Baking Powder
2 cups Granny Smith Apples, peeled and chopped

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C. In large bowl, beat eggs with milk, butter and vanilla. In separate bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and cinnamon. Add to egg mixture; stir just until moistened. (Do not over mix.) Stir in apples. Pour into prepared pan 1/2 - 2/3 full. Bake 18-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean. Cool in pan on cooling grid 5 minutes; remove from pan and cool completely.

Cupcakes for Charity - February

2010-03-01T21:36:00.007+10:30

For February's cupcakes for charity sale, I wanted to donate to an animal cause in much need of help. Recently while on a tour at our local zoo - during a very awesome wedding reception- I was reminded of the plight of our native Tasmanian devils, who's wild population in Tasmania is threatened by a dreadful facial tumour disease.

I urge you to go to this official website to read more on the situation.

On Friday last week I sold cupcakes at work, a lot of my co-workers have been genuinely interested and very supportive of my charity efforts, which is wonderful. I made Devil's Food Cupcakes, with a chocolate mousse like frosting, topped a royal icing heart. These cupcakes got rave reviews at work, I recommend the recipe that follows!

I was able to raise - $120 for The Save The Tasmanian Devil Appeal

Devil's Food Cupcakes - Recipe from foodnetwork.com

Ingredients

3/4 cup boiling water
3/4 cup cocoa powder
6 ounces/170gms butter
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon fine salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
2 1/2 cups cake flour (I used Self Raising Flour and omitted the next 2 ingredients)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup buttermilk (I used a milk and white vinegar substitute)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, or 160 degrees C.

Whisk together boiling water and cocoa. Cover and set aside. With a mixer, cream together the butter, sugar, salt and vanilla extract. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and continue creaming until light and fluffy. Sift together the flour, baking soda and baking powder and add this mixture, alternately with the buttermilk. Add cocoa and water mixture and mix until thoroughly combined. Scoop into cupcake pans and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

Feeling a little Oriental...

2010-02-20T19:41:00.014+10:30

Photo taken by Caitlin

That is because I have just booked flights for my boyfriend and I to visit Tokyo and Beijing!!

We will be off at the end of April, and will spend an adventurous week in each city. I think Japan will be absolutely fascinating, I am looking forward to seeing all the sites, and am mostly excited about Tokyo Disney!!
We are going to China because one of my best friends - Kim is studying in Beijing University, and I wanted to take advantage of having a tour guide we know in a country I wouldn't naturally want to go visit, I think seeing the historic landmarks of the country will be amazing.
This will be our first overseas trip away together. I have been to Europe twice before, once as a child, and once touring with a choir, so this time around I will have to organise everything myself!
If anyone has been to either place and has any travel tips, or if you have any general travelling advice please do share!

Kim recently came home to visit us during her semester break, which was awesome. She asked me to make her a sleep mask as she had just moved to a very bright dorm room...

I embroidered the mask using a vintage embroidery transfer from Q is for Quilter on Flickr.
(Sorry for the crappy photo, and crumpled fabric, there was little time to take a decent pic!)

On a recent visit to Janel's blog Run With Scissors, I saw she had commissioned a portrait of her beloved pup Catalina by a talented artist Silje. Immediately after seeing it, I knew I would love one done of our beautiful kitty Týr. I contacted Silje and she was lovely, and was able to do a portrait very swiftly and at an extremely reasonable price!

As you can see Silje did a very good job of capturing our little chubby kitten :)

If you are thinking of getting a portrait of your pet done, visit Silje's Flickr stream, you will be instantly impressed!

I am off now to watch To Kill a Mockingbird, and eat dark chocolate mousse, which I made in my BRAND NEW KITCHENAID!! It arrived earlier than I was expecting and I have to say, it looks even better in person, and is a real DELIGHT to use. I am looking forward to the hot weather dying down so I can finally bake some cupcakes!

Happy Valentines Day ♥ Jessy

2010-02-14T16:06:00.008+10:30

Happy St. Valentines Day Friends!

Hope you all indulged in some sweet treats!

Darren and I don't exchange gifts, but I do like to bake up something for the occasion, today I made chocolate mud mini cakes...

Please excuse the wonky angle of the cakes! Really I just wanted an excuse to play with a new tip from my Wilton kit. How cute are Vintage Valentine Cards? I have loved them since I discovered them on Flickr. Late last year, I found some for sale on Etsy, boy did I buy them fast! Not entirely sure what to do with them, I popped them on top of these cakes...

Recently my friend Kelly had a Birthday, and so I made her her very own apparentlyjessy tote bag. I always think of Kelly when I see strawberry print fabric, so it was very fun personalising this gift for her...

Happy Birthday Kelly-pie ♥

I recently joined the Mitchem Brown Owls craft group. On Saturday I was taught how to crochet my first granny square! I found the group very friendly and welcoming, and I look forward to doing more crafty things with them!

Cupcakes For Charity - January

2010-01-31T12:18:00.005+10:30

As I mentioned in my previous post, I made a New Years resolution to hold a cupcake fund-raiser for a different animal charity each month this year. This month though, after watching the horrific images of the Haiti earthquake aftermath on the news, it just didn't seem right to raise money for any other cause...

So all the money I raised this month is going to the Red Cross Haiti Disaster Relief Fund...

I baked 3 dozen Hummingbird cupcakes for the sale, which we held at my Mum's theatre group's garage sale. I used a Pina Colada recipe I had used previously, and simply added a couple of ripe banana's to the mix. The cupcakes turned out nicely - very light and fluffy. I iced them with cream cheese frosting and used my now treasured M1 tip!

We raised $126 in total!

Recipe follows...

Hummingbird Cupcakes
Makes 18 cupcakes

Recipe adapted from - Pina Colada Cupcakes in Crazy About Cupcakes

Ingredients

1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/3 cup pineapple juice
1 tablespoon rum
2 teaspoon vanilla
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I just used Self Raising flour and omit the baking powder & salt)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup shredded coconut
1/3 cup crushed pineapple
2 small overripe bananas - mashed

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line cupcake pans with liners.

2. With an electric mixer at medium speed beat together the melted butter, pineapple juice, rum, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
(Ok, this step is kind of weird, I have made this twice, and there is no way that butter and pineapple juice is ever going to mix into a light and fluffy mixture, so I just start mixing once a few eggs are in the mix and it works fine!)

3. In a separate bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

4. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture 1/2 cup at a time until combined. Fold in the pineapple, banana and coconut.

5. Fill the cupcake liners three-quarters full. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of a cupcake comes out clean.

Frost with desired frosting (I used cream cheese frosting) and top with a sprinkle of shredded coconut.

I am pleased to say that after a bout of hot weather and subsequent listlessness, I have got my baking and sewing mojo back! I am working on a top secret Birthday surprise for my friend Kelly, she is holding a rather amazing give-away at the moment on her blog, so pop on over and check out her amazing work!

Oh and more exciting news! After much hard saving, and combined generous Birthday and Christmas gifts, I was able to get together enough money to purchase my very own KitchenAid Stand Mixer this week! As the colour I wanted - Ice - was out of stock when I bought it, I will have to wait till the end of February before it arrives. I cannot wait!

Much Love!

I'm back! ☺

2010-01-06T21:36:00.008+10:30

A Belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!

I am now home after a month away house/doggy sitting and limited internet access, I had two blissful weeks off work, where I did nothing but read, sleep and went for swims in the pool!

I had a very nice Christmas with the family, having two of my cousins join us from Canberra, I hadn't had a Christmas together with them since I was quite young, so it was quite special, and wow we cooked the best turkey ever!
I made Christmas cupcakes for my lovely co-workers, and even though the season is well and truely over, I wanted to share pictures of them...

I usually have an aversion to shopping and the post Christmas sales especially, I just can't handle the crowds, but I managed to spend a fortune in the very cool sleepwear store Peter Alexander. I was so overjoyed by this find I had to share...

Isn't the vintage kitty illustration print on these pyjama pants just FABULOUS!?

So for my New Years Resolutions I have set two goals. I did not want to make the same old crappy 'loose weight' goals. So with some thought, I have decided to have a cupcake sale most likely at work, to raise money for a different animal charity every month. If you have any favourite animal causes you would like to recommend, please let me know!
The other goal of course being selling tote bags on Etsy, I have finished one new one over the break, but would like to complete a few more before opening for business!

So here's to a fabulous New Year!

Cupcakes, Ponies and Christmas

2009-12-14T18:30:00.007+10:30

I have mentioned before that my boyfriend and I house/dog sit several times a year, this time it is for three weeks at a lovely house with two Spoodle puppies. I love the dogs, but they are a lot of work, they have been barking a lot at night at possums, so I am feeling a little sleep deprived!

Also I am deprived of the internet there! I have had to travel home in order to catch up on my blogging; I will apologise in advance if I don't get back to you or don't visit as often as I would normally like to.
This will be our first Christmas away from home, and I have been missing the smell of our real pine tree that we normally get. But I consoled myself with a new pretty pink Christmas tree with the cutest new ornaments, cupcakes and My Little Ponies!

I love my fluffy white lights!

Isn't it lovely?? I am looking forward to the Christmas traditions we have like having my boyfriends sister over for gingerbread cookie decorating, and building the Ikea gingerbread house with my sister. I also plan on baking lots of Christmas cupcakes for my lovely workmates, I am thinking I will make gingerbread, red velvet, and peppermint candy cane flavoured ones, hardly original, but awesome Christmas flavours that I enjoy!!

Happy things to report:

My mum has been allowed to put weight on her leg now, so that means no more crutches!
I had a bit of a teary moment when I saw Cat's Little Miss Cupcake blog post, with my cupcake tote bag prize touring the beautiful city of Paris! Thank you so much Cat!
The mermaid tote bag I made for Becky was featured on One Pretty Thing, thanks Rachel!
The bird/turkish delight cupcakes I made were featured on Cupcakes Take the Cake! Thank you girls!

Last week of work before holidays! Woo!

Turkish Delight Cupcakes

2009-12-03T08:53:00.007+10:30

Sorry I have been a little bit slack with posting lately. It's that busy time of year, when you spend all your spare time searching for perfect Christmas presents and recipes, writing Christmas cards, deciding on a colour theme for decorations, and dreaming up what the Christmas table setting will look like. For our family, we do not decorate for Christmas until after my sisters Birthday on the 1st of December, we don't want her celebrations overshadowed by Christmas goings on!

This year my sister turned 17, and made a very mature decision to hold a dinner party for her friends. She spent ages choosing what she was going to serve, and did almost everything herself.
I gave her a hand with decorating, her invitations where yellow, white and black with birdies, so we went with those colours and birds for the theme.

We had a table with nibbles, lollies, tea cups & cupcakes ready to go for dessert...

Photo by Caitlin

The table runner fabric was from Ikea, it was black & white with bird print, I bought a yellow fabric pen and added yellow accents throughout the print. The fairy lights strung above the table provided a magical atmosphere.

Caitlin asked me to make cupcakes for dessert. One of her favourite flavours of mine is Turkish Delight cupcakes, so naturally she chose them. I used the cutest black and white polka dot cupcake liners, and the sweetest ceramic mould to make the fondant birdies on top. I finally am a proud owner of a Wilton M1 tip, after visiting about 4 cake decorating stores, someone finally had one in stock! Oooh the swirls it makes are so so pretty!

Caitlin did such a good job, she worked so hard and it all went very smoothly, I was super proud of her. I was also very impressed with her group of friends, she has definitely surrounded herself with wonderful, kind, well adjusted people.

Turkish Delight Cupcakes - Recipe adapted from Women's Weekly Cupcake Cookbook
Makes 15 Cupcakes

Ingredients

1 1/2 Cup (225g) self-raising flour
1/3 cup (35g) cocoa powder
3/4 cup (165g) caster sugar
185g softened butter
3 eggs
1/2 cup (125mls) milk
1-2 teaspoons of Rosewater essence, according to taste
2/3 cup of Turkish Delight chocolate bar cut up into small cubes
1/3 cup of finely chopped dark chocolate

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C/ 160C fan forced. Line holes of muffin pans with cupcake liners.
2. Sift dry ingredients into large bowl, add remaining ingredients, except the Turkish Delight and chocolate; beat with electric mixer on low until speed until ingredients are combined. Increase speed to medium; beat until mixture is smooth and has changed to paler colour.
3. Now add the Turkish Delight and chocolate, gently fold through the batter (I like to sprinkle mine with flour first to try and stop it all sinking to the bottom)
4. Drop 1/4 cup of mixture into cases. Bake for about 20 mins. Stand cakes for 5 minutes before turning onto rack to cool.
5. Frost as desired, I used a simple buttercream for these cupcakes. Enjoy!

Hope the rest of the week goes nicely for you all! I am so ready for the weekend already!

Latest Blog Swap!

2009-11-16T17:04:00.010+10:30

Recently I got a lovely surprise when I went to collect my mail! I had organised to do a crafty swap with Becky of Strumpets Crumpets a little while ago, and I was was overjoyed when I opened my soft and squishy package! Becky made me a beautiful cushion, with gorgeous Anna Maria Horner fabric, and it has the most amazing hand embroidered details.

See? Isn't the embroidery fabulous?

Becky also made me the cutest handkerchief, I LOVE the font and the cupcake design:

Thank you Becky, I really love love love what you made me with so much love!

You should go and check out Becky's blog, she is always making the coolest stuff!

Becky has also received my package so I can show you all what I made her too!!

Becky loves mermaids, she has a really nice mermaid tattoo on her back, which I think is totally awesome, which is what inspired me to make her a tote bag with a mermaid felt embroidered centre...

Becky also loves her cute little pooch Mickey, so I thought it would be fun to make her a box pouch (using this tutorial) with "Becky loves Mickey 4eva" on it! I even found a cute magnet which reminded me of Mickey at a market, and had to include it in...

As little extra, I made Becky a 'pin' wheel (using this tutorial) with the same fabric I used as the lining of the tote bag, I chose orange fabric as she is from Florida and well, I know there are a whole lotta oranges there ;)

I love swapping, it is such a fun thing to do. I get a real kick out of making really personalised gifts that my partners will love. But I think I need to focus more on my dream of making bags to sell on Etsy now... I have some time off before Christmas, and I am so hoping it wont be too busy so I can get heaps of sewing done!

Mum Update: Mum went into the fracture clinic today and had her cast taken off and was x-rayed, only to have the cast put back on again for another week! But she was told her fractures are healing well, so all in all good news.

Hope you all have a swell week!

Giveaway Winner!

2009-11-08T15:38:00.008+10:30

I sincerely apologise for taking so long to announce my give-away winner. You see, ever since Halloween life has been a little bit hectic, as my Mum fell off a step ladder and broke her leg!

After a few days in hospital we found out she probably wont need surgery, and she was able to come home with crutches and a full leg half-cast. I am sure she will come to enjoy her forced time off work once she learns how to relax a bit!
I in the mean time have become the stand in 'Mum' in the household, keeping busy with a bigger share of housework, cooking and being the taxi driver!! So Mum, I do hope you rest up and...

I really enjoyed reading every one's responses to my give-away question, there were some really interesting answers. The majority of people seemed to go for dazzlingly clever, and that is what I would have chosen too. However there were some very good responses for angelically good and divinely beautiful as well.
I am overwhelmed by all my new followers, I wish you a very warm welcome and hope you enjoy my blog! I will hopefully be able to visit you all soon when I have a chance once we settle into a new routine here at home.

So without further ado, the winner is...

Congratulations Cat a.k.a Little Miss Cupcake! I think fate/karma must be on your side. And I am a winner too, it's so exciting that my bag is going to be paraded around the streets of Paris! I will be in touch soon to get your postal details!

I had a lovely Birthday on Friday, thank you very much for the well wishes. Had a fantastic family dinner at my favourite Chinese place called Lim's - the reason its my favourite? The staff sing me 'Happy Birthday', while bringing me a sparkler laden fried ice cream dessert, AND I get a nice bottle of champagne from them too, what more could a girl want?

I will leave you with my VERY late picture of the Halloween cupcakes I made. I hope you all had an awesome Halloween :) I was dressed up as a mermaid before our unexpected trip to the hospital!

Please send my Mum some get well love, it all helps :)

Blogoversary Giveaway!!

2009-10-19T16:39:00.009+10:30

Yep! I have been doing this blogging thing for an entire year! In some ways it doesn't seem like a whole year, and in others it feels like much longer than that!! I have been so lucky to have made some wonderful blogging friends, and I truly appreciate all the support and encouragement from everyone who has left me such sweet and kind comments, it has allowed me an outlet to be creative and express myself outside my day job. I wondered if I would tell my story of how my blogging journey began, or how my blog name came about, but I think I will bore you with that another day! All you want to know is WHERE IS THE GIVE-AWAY right!? lol

(This pic was taken by my sister Caitlin in a fun photo shoot we did yesterday, many more from the series to come! )

So without further ado...

You could WIN this cupcake tote bag, designed, hand crafted and sewn with love by me:

It could be YOU turning heads with this sweet and colourful bag!!!

Can you see? The lining is made from the cutest cupcake pattern...

To get you started on filling this bag with necessities and goodies, I am including some MIKI Passionfruit Lip Sorbet, a handy cupcake magnetic address booklet, and a pack of the most adorable Sniff designer tissues!

How to Enter:

You MUST be a follower of my blog. Everyone can enter, I will ship internationally.
Leave a comment telling me your answer to the following question...
Don't forget to leave a way for me to contact you!!

I have been racking my brain on what question I would like to ask for my blogoversary give away. However after recently watching Ann of Green Gables it was abundantly clear...

Tell me: Which would you rather be?
Divinely beautiful, or dazzlingly clever, or angelically good? and why?

You have until the 6th of November (My Birthday!) to enter this competition, I would very much appreciate it if you spread the word about this via Twitter or on your blog!

Good luck everyone, and thank you again for your kindness and support,
it means the world to me!

Moon Lantern Festival

2009-10-07T20:38:00.008+10:30

Last weekend I went into the city for Adelaide's OZAsia Moon Lantern Festival with my Mum, sister and her friend. It was a gathering of people from many different backgrounds to celebrate and admire the beauty of the moon at its fullest on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month of the Chinese calendar. Traditionally, families and friends across Asia gather to celebrate the mid-autumn harvest moon and light bright lanterns and eat moon cakes together.

During the evening we watched contemporary and traditional music and dance performances; enjoyed delicious Asian food; visited an array of market stalls offering lanterns and crafts. Later on we were treated to a parade of many beautiful lanterns, each carried along by four people. Some of the lanterns were made by school children, it was so good to see young ones involved in such a multicultural and harmonious event.

The night ended with a spectacular display of fireworks, I came away from the night thinking how proud and lucky I am to live in such a fantastic multicultural community. I bought a moon cake to take home and try, red bean flavour. I love the design on the top of cakes:

Also during the weekend, my Dad took my sister and I out for a really nice picnic at the Mount Lofty Botanic Park. It was strange weather, quickly alternating between cloudy and cool - and sunny and hot - typical Adelaide Spring weather really! Here is a photo of the park I wanted to share:

I am enjoying the greenery while it lasts! Soon it will be Summer and everything will be much browner! I have had the whole week off work- BLISS! - and have been working on a few sewing projects.
Tomorrow I am off to Melbourne with my boyfriend to see the Slayer/Megadeth concert - secretly...I am more excited for Megadeth!

What are your plans for the weekend? :)

Thank you to my sister Caitlin who took these photos for me!

Baby Shower Cupcakes & Pandas!

2009-09-26T12:13:00.006+09:30

Here are the photos of the cupcakes I made for our work baby shower for Rachael. The sex unknown I went for a mixture of pastel pink, blue, yellow and green. The toppers were little penguin lollies I got from my new local lolly shop (i.e. cupcake topper heaven!) How cute are they!?

The cupcakes are the Lemon Diva ones I made previously, with an addition of orange zest and lemon curd filling, and of course I went with cream cheese frosting, my favourite!

Rachael was spoilt with a huge basket of gifts from every one at work, I get so darn clucky when I see little singlets and onesies and socks! I wanted to make some flannelette blankets like the ones my Mum made for my sister when she was born. I hand embroidered them with a gorgeous 'Baby' design found on Needlecrafter.com. I love how soft and cosy this material is, it does look a little bit fuzzy in the photo...

Last weekend I was very lucky to attend a special function in at the Hilton in Adelaide. It was a fund-raiser for the two beautiful giant pandas - Wang Wang & Funi - that are soon to leave China to come live at the Adelaide Zoo. The hotel was stunning and our superb meals were prepared by Simon Bryant from The Cook & The Chef. We were entertained by the Brighton Secondary School Symphonia, for which my sister plays percussion. It had been ages since I had seen her play and I have to say I was mighty proud of her tympani skills! I am very excited for these amazing creatures immanent arrival. Thank you Mum for taking me!

Giant Panda Funi - Photo from here.

Hope you all have a swell weekend!
I am going to spend mine sewing and catching up on some well deserved rest.

＊ Spring & Fruitcake Cupcakes ＊

2009-09-16T16:48:00.012+09:30

Spring for me means pretty flowers, an abundance of birds and bugs, raging hay fever, and unpredictable weather! I was down feeding the chickens at sunset last week, when I noticed our nectarine tree had blossomed already...without me knowing it! The blossoms were actually glowing in the sunset light, so I ran back up to the house to grab my sister and her camera so we could capture the beauty. There were so many more amazing blossom photos, it was hard to choose, perhaps I will share more soon.

Spring also means my Birthday is coming soon. I will be 25 this year, I feel the customary 'Oh no a quarter of my life is over and I haven't achieved half of what I should of by now' melt down will hit me soon.

I shouldn't deplore really, my Grandpa just turned 89! Woah! We celebrated with all the family together, we went out for a 'pub' lunch. Afterwards we came home and I served up fruitcake cupcakes that my Grandma had secretly requested me to make.
I have to say these were not the most pretty cupcakes I have ever made, but when we ate them, they tasted delicious, and filled me with nostalgic memories of eating Grandma's Christmas fruitcake, with sweet thick royal icing, during my time at my Grandparents place throughout summer holidays. Ahhh I love bouts of nostalgia...

Fruit Cake Cupcakes - Recipe from Cupcake Creations
Makes 12 Cupcakes

Ingredients

90gms Butter - softened
110gms Brown Sugar
2 Eggs
1 tblsp Orange Marmalade
2 tblsp Sweet Sherry (Brandy would work well too)
500g Mixed Dried Fruit
100g Plain Flour
2 tblsp Self-raising Flour
1 tsp Mixed Spice

2 tblsp sweet sherry - extra (I would add a couple more next time!)

Method
This is where I differed from the recipe a bit. Before I began, I soaked my mixed fruit with the marmalade and sherry overnight, a la how G-ma and G-pa have always done it!

1. Preheat oven to 160C/320F.
2. Line a 12 cupcake pan with heavy duty liners, the foil ones are ideal.
3. Using an electric beater, beat butter, sugar and eggs until just combined.
4. Stir in mixed fruit, sherry and marmalade mixture, until well combined.
5. Sift in flours and spice. Mix well.
6. Spoon mixture evenly into 12 cupcake liners. Don't worry if they seem full, this mixture does not rise much at all, take a moment to smooth the mixture over the top with a butter knife.
7. Bake for 50 minutes, keep an eye on them, they make take longer in some ovens.
8. Remove from oven and immediately pour the extra tablespoons of sweet sherry over each cupcake. Allow cakes to cool completely in pan before removing them.
9. Top with dusted icing sugar, or cut out circles of royal icing and top with half a cherry.

I would like to start introducing you to our 4 kitties, this week... please meet Honeybun...

Honeybun has appeared previously in a post about Peachy-keen/Bananarama cupcakes!

Honeybun came to us first out of the four. We had been in contact with our vet, looking to adopt a cat in need. They introduced us to Honeybun, a gorgeous tortoise shell cat, who was on strong stress medication from living with a giant, and I mean GIANT labrador called Barney.

We took her into our home, and she soon settled in, and was able to come off the medications. Honeybun loves sleeping in bushes in the garden, and is always always the last to finish her dinner, I think she actually likes to taste her food rather than inhale it, her special favorite treats are tiny tastes of milk, and bits of Vegemite on toast! Honeybun rarely looses her collar, and she is often disgruntled with the boy kitties, I like to think she is the prim and proper lady of the pack.

This sweet picture is by my sister Caitlin.

Cupcake Hero! - Banana Caramel Cupcakes

2009-09-08T09:10:00.010+09:30

In my previous post I mentioned I had another cupcake order! A dozen cupcakes in three different flavours for a gorgeous gal Lauren, for her Birthday! We worked together to come up with the flavours, and Lauren gave me free reign on the cupcake design. In the bustle of making and decorating these cupcakes, I didn't have time to take any decent photos, but luckily enough for me, Lauren took some real beauties!

Jam Doughnut cupcakes, with cream cheese frosting, and apricot jam centre:

Chocolate Hazelnut Cupcakes, with a gooey Nutella and roast hazelnut centre, and rich ganache frosting, sprinkled with chopped roasted hazelnuts:

And finally Caramel Banana Cupcakes, light fluffy banana cake, with a decadent caramel frosting, topped with a jersey caramel, banana lolly, and a drizzle of chocolate:

I was lucky enough to have a few extra of the banana caramel cupcakes, and boy they were delicious if I don't say so myself! So, I thought I'd make this recipe my entry into Cupcake Hero!

Banana Caramel Cupcakes - Recipe from Australian Women's Weekly Cupcakes
Makes 16 Cupcakes

Ingredients

125g softened butter
3/4 cup (165g) firmly packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups (225g) self-raising flour
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon mixed spice
1 cup mashed overripe banana
1/2 cup (120g) sour cream
1/4 cup (60mls) milk

Method

1. Preheat oven 180C/160C fan forced. Line muffin pan with paper cases.
2. Beat butter and sugar in bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time.
3. Stir in sifted dry ingredients, banana, sour cream and milk, in two batches.

4. Drop 1/4 cup mixture into cupcake liners. Bake for about 30 minutes. Stand cakes for 5 minutes before transferring onto wire rack to cool.

Caramel Frosting - recipe adapted from Best Recipes

Ingredients

2 cups icing sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons sour cream
60g butter
Decorations - lolly bananas, jersey caramels, melted chocolate.

Method

1. Melt butter and brown sugar in saucepan on medium to low heat and stir until sugar dissolves.
2. Blend in sour cream, and bring to the boil.
3. Remove from heat and transfer into a bowl, leave to cool for about 10 minutes.
4. Sift in icing sugar and beat with electric mixer, keep adding icing sugar until mixture is of a piping consistency, holding stiff peaks.
5. Put into piping bag and pipe swirls. Top with a lolly banana, a jersey caramel, and drizzle melted chocolate over the top! Mmmm then enjoy!

I'll let you know when voting begins!!

This weekend, I saw off my dear friend Kim at the airport. She is off to Beijing, China for a year to learn Mandarin at a Chinese university. I am so proud of her for taking such a big step in her life, and am secretly envious of the grand adventures she will have! I have blossoming plans to go visit her in May next year! Kim will be blogging her experiences at "Kim's Adventure In China", go check it out!

Before Kim left, I made her a promised and long overdue tote bag, and a passport cover. Kim asked for purple hues and Cherry Blossoms, I really enjoyed working with these colours:

For the passport cover I used Bunnybum's tutorial again as it was extremely helpful when I made one previously. I guess I had better make myself a passport cover eventually too!

I have a busy few weeks coming up, I will try and keep up with blogging amidst all that is going on. My uncle from Canberra is over to help us celebrate my Grandpa's 89th Birthday this Friday, I will be making him fruitcake cupcakes. I have a baby shower coming up which I will be making cupcakes and gifts for, and a new swap in progress with the very cool Becky from Strumpets Crumpets.
Also, I noticed my first year bloggoversary is looming very quickly, and I have a HUGE give-away planned to celebrate! Stay tuned folks!

☺ RSPCA Cupcake Day ☺

2009-08-28T11:12:00.008+09:30

Hey all, I am back after a short break, had to recover from a dreaded winter cold! The same cold which caused me to be a little late on the RSPCA's Cupcake Day... but better late than never hey?

I was very excited to participate in the RSPCA's Cupcake Day, as it has combined my love for animals and cupcakes! I made my favourite recipe for vanilla cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery, and frosted them with vanilla cream cheese frosting. Decorating them with a fondant paw print inspired by the RSPCA's logo.

I was able to raise $112 for an extremely good cause!

I love reading about other peoples pets on blogs, and I was thinking to myself that I haven't really introduced you all to my pets yet... so I surmise to rectify that! Starting off with my beloved chickens!

We only have 3 at the moment, and all are reaching over 4 years old, which is old age for a chook! They no longer lay eggs, and spend their days wondering around our yard, eating bugs and scratching around the plants. In Autumn and Winter, our olive tree gives a bounty of olives, and these 3 girls love making a morning pilgrimage to the tree to see what has fallen. Nothing makes me happier than to look out the window with a cup of tea and watch the chickens in the yard, I don't think words can describe the joy they bring me.

The latest thing my chickens love doing is looking into our lounge room window. They have a fascination with us, and I adore their interest! My indoor cat Týr loves to have staring competitions with them, I must remember to photograph this next time it happens!

Ok, I am off to start on another cupcake order, 12 cupcakes, 3 different flavours! What fun! Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

Chocolate Pineapple Cupcakes

2009-08-16T13:44:00.012+09:30

I recently made some cupcakes for a work colleagues Birthday. We'd had some lolly banana's given to us at work, and had a discussion on good they would taste in a chocolate cupcake... I set out to make them, but sadly after searching two supermarkets I could not find a single pack of lolly bananas! So instead I bought a pack of Pineapple Lumps, apparently a NZ candy, and used them instead. They tasted great!!

I used the same chocolate cupcake recipe as I did for the previous posts Choc Chip cupcakes, except this time I added chopped up Pineapple Lumps into the batter. I loved how as they cooked the lumps bubbled and oozed, and made a 'caramel like' texture in some parts of the cupcakes! I frosted the cupcakes with yellow cream cheese frosting with a tiny dash of coconut essence in it, then topped the cupcakes with chocolate sprinkles, al la NZ Cupcake Queen does with her 'Perky Nana Cupcakes'.

nom nom nom

Chocolate Pineapple Cupcakes - Recipe adapted from Women's Weekly Cupcake Cookbook
Makes 15 Cupcakes

Ingredients

1 1/2 Cup (225g) self-raising flour
1/3 cup (35g) cocoa powder
3/4 cup (165g) caster sugar
185g softened butter
3 eggs
1/2 cup (125mls) milk
2/3 cup of Pineapple Lumps cut into small cubes

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C/ 160C fan forced. Line holes of muffin pans with cupcake liners.
2. Sift dry ingredients into large bowl, add remaining ingredients, except the lump cubes; beat with electric mixer on low until speed until ingredients are combined. Increase speed to medium; beat until mixture is smooth and has changed to paler colour.
3. Now add the Pineapple lump cubes, gently fold through the batter.
4. Drop 1/4 cup of mixture into cases. Bake for about 20 mins. Stand cakes for 5 minutes before turning onto rack to cool.
5. Frost as desired. Enjoy!

I have had several people ask me for tips with using cream cheese frosting, honestly, my number one tip is to keep the cream cheese in the fridge right up until you use it! It tends to hold its shape much better this way. The only other tip I can give is test the consistency of the frosting in the bowl by using a spoon and seeing if it will hold a peak first, if it wont hold in its shape there, it ain't gunna hold its shape coming out the piping bag! If it is looking too runny, you can either add more icing sugar, or you can give it some time in the fridge then come back to it later. Hope that is somewhat helpful!

Here is the photo I promised of the beautiful things Chelsea Ann of Itty Bitty Birdy sent me! Isn't she the most amazing crafter/artist!? I love the beautifully hand crafted 'Cupcake Queen' wreath she made me, and the yo-yo headband is SO sweet!, it will look so good with my wigs.
I also adore her incredible illustrative skills, she remembered which prints I loved most of hers from her print shop, and added them to the package! I cannot wait to find frames fitting for these beauties, and will proudly hang them in my future dream studio/craft room. I am so lucky to have met such a beautiful, sweet, kind and generous girl. This swap has really reaffirmed my love of the blogging world, I am so lucky to be connected with such wonderful people!

I am going to finish up by showing off pictures of the tote bag I made for Chelsea Ann in return. I hand embroidered the felt centre of the bag, using a free vintage embroidery pattern on Flickr as a guide. I so loved the colour combination of yellow, orange, red and pink.

Swing Girl Tote Bag

Yo-yo necklace

Felt decorated Compact Mirror

Hopefully one day soon I will be able to open my dream Etsy store and my bags and accessories will be available for you all to buy!

Jam Doughnut and Choc Chip Cupcakes

2009-08-09T09:30:00.016+09:30

Hello all! I have been a busy little bee of late!

I have to say that my self imposed time limit on how long I spend on the internet each day has resulted in procrastination levels decreasing, and productivity levels rising! I have also been spending much more time with my family, and it has been wonderful. Last night we had a family game of Monopoly, something we haven't done in years! I lost, but I didn't mind :)

Unfortunately it does mean I am being a bit slow on replying to emails, comments etc and I do sincerely apologise. I am also missing out on talking frequently to my friends online too, and I do miss you guys, but I think I need to keep this up for myself to maintain a healthier mind at the moment, I honestly think I was a little bit too addicted, and am now feeling much freer!

Last week my boss asked me to make her some cupcakes for her twin daughters 15th Birthday, the only requirement was they had to be pink and purple, the flavours I could have free reign over, I happily obliged.
After racking my brain for a few days I decided upon Jam Doughnut, and Choc Chip Cupcakes. I slightly changed some basic recipes from my new Woman's Weekly Cupcake cookbook, and both turned out perfectly.

After 'injecting' the Jam Doughnut ones with strawberry jam, they were frosted with pink cream cheese frosting, and covered with coloured sugar. The Chocolate Chip ones I frosted with purple butter cream frosting and popped silver cashous on top.
The fondant frangipani's were made with my new Flexi-Craft moulds I got from a craft fair, they were good fun to use, and were super easy once I got the hang of it.
My boss was very delighted with these cupcakes, and I was pleased to be doing another order!

Jam Doughnut Cupcakes - Adapted from Vanilla Butter Cake recipe from Australian Woman's Weekly

Ingredients

1 cup (150g) Self Raising Flour
90g Softened Butter
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/2 cup (110g) Caster Sugar
2 Eggs
2 tablespoons Milk
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/4 cup Strawberry/Raspberry Jam for filling

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180/160 fan forced. Line muffin tin with cupcake liners.
2. Cream butter and caster sugar together in bowl until light and fluffy, add eggs and vanilla extract beat until combined.
3. Add in sifted flour, cinnamon and milk. Mix on medium until mixture combined.
4. Drop 1/4 cup of mixture into cases. Bake for 20 minutes. Stand cakes for 5 minutes before turning onto wire rack to cool.
5. Put jam into bowl and microwave for 10 seconds, or until jam is a thinner consistency. Inject using piping bag/syringe into centre of cool cupcakes.
6. Frost as desired, then sprinkle with castor/powdered sugar!

I was so excited by a visit from the postman this week, as I received a package from Chelsea Ann from Itty Bitty Birdy from our arranged swap! I will blog about it properly later in the week, when I get a chance to take photos of each exquisitely crafted item, but I couldn't resist showing you a sneak peek. I am beyond tickled pink with everything she made for me, I am so lucky to have met such sweet generous girl - Thank you Chelsea Ann ♥ !

I can't wait to show you the tote bag I made for her too!

I am off now for some more quality family time, my cousin is over from Canberra and we are going to go have lunch with our Grandparents! Hope you all have had a great weekend too! <3

Once I caught a fish alive...

2009-08-02T14:57:00.012+09:30

During my week off work, which seems like an eternity ago, I finally finished the tote bag I promised Mum for her Birthday present. When I asked her what she would like on her bag, she replied that she wanted a cat. So I showed her some pictures on the internet, and when she saw a cat designed by Cathy, she said "that one!!". So I made her a tote bag totally inspired by this gorgeous blue cat. With Cathy's full permission I can show you some pictures of what I came up with:

Thank you so much for letting me post pictures Cathy!
You should go check out her Etsy shop, its got some really cute things in it!

I am really loving the colours blue and orange together. You can't see properly in these photos, but the inner fabric has tiny little blue fishes on it.

I also made some fishy cupcakes to go with the bag! I have seen fish cupcakes done often now over the blogosphere, but my original inspiration for these cupcakes was from Kitchen Doughdough's blog. We don't have Goldfish shaped crackers here in Australia, so I was pretty happy when I found these ideal fish candies!

I decided on salted caramel for the flavour of the cupcakes, and used a recipe from ever trusty 'How to Eat A Cupcake's' blog. I loved the caramel flavour of this recipe, my only advice is don't over fill the cupcake liners, as these babies rise a great deal!

Now I also promised you some pictures from AVCon, and well to be honest, I was stupid I didn't take my camera out of my bag, so I don't have many to show! Here is a very small sample:

Kelly and I - she made both of these outfits!

This guy was the coolest, and had the best costume in my opinion. He stayed in character the entire weekend, and was ever obliging to pose for photos!

The second best costumes where these girls, the Pac-Man ghosts (Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde), the red one played the Pac-Man music!

Kelly did really well with her stall, we pretty much sold everything by the second day! I learnt a lot about anime and cosplay, and look forward to watching a whole bunch and going back next year! Hope you all have had a nice weekend, I am going to go sit in the sunshine and continue reading Middlesex for Indy Grrrls book club! <3

Cupcake Shower Cap

2009-07-28T08:07:00.005+09:30

Hey all! What a humongous busy weekend I've had! I spent it at AVCon (Adelaide's anime, video gaming and cosplay convention), helping my friend Kelly with her stall, she sold many Lolita accessories, it was a great success! I promise some pictures soon.

I just wanted to post a quick photo of a present my darling sister Caitlin brought home for me from her recent trip to Sydney. She went over there with her school's orchestra to compete in nationals, and her school got GOLD! I am super proud of her!

I was so chuffed when she presented me with this awesome shower cap...

Isn't it the coolest!? Caitlin got it from a boutique store called 'Pretty in Pink', and I am so glad they have a website! I've been drooling over the gorgeous fabric prints, and I am pretty certain I will be getting one of the sun hats for summer!

Anyway, I hope you all had a swell weekend too! <3

Lemon 'Diva' Cupcakes

2009-07-19T10:20:00.013+09:30

I am back! Did you miss me? hehe I have been away for a week puppy sitting. Two very energetic spoodles, who had a habit of getting very muddy while I was at work! It was hard work, but a good adventure. I have to admit it was good having a break from the internet, over the last couple of weeks I have realised I do tend to spend way too much time online, and think I will try and limit how much time I spend on my laptop in the future, its so easy to procrastinate in the online world!

Last weekend, my favourite radio station Triple J, played the 'Hottest 100 of all Time', a count down of songs voted by the public, it is only done once every decade. I urge you to go have a look at the list, I myself was pretty happy with many of the songs that ended up in it!

While listening to the line up of awesome songs, I made some Lemon Diva cupcakes that were made by Julie on an episode of Master Chef Australia a while back. Julie added the zest of 3 lemons to a basic cupcake recipe, and won the invention test with it! I was a little scared to use 3 lemons worth of zest, and was only brave enough to use 2, I thought it turned out with a perfect balance of lemony taste!

Also in the pictures is the very shiny tea set I scored from the car boot sale a couple of weeks back, with my fine bargaining skills, I managed to get the price from $40 down to $26! Sweet!

Lemon Diva Cupcake recipe - originally posted on the Master Chef Forums.

Ingredients

100g unsalted butter, softened
185g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla bean extract (I halved this)
2 eggs
200g self-raising flour
1/2 cup (125ml) milk
Zest of 2 Lemons (or if you are braver than me, 3 Lemons!)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (160C fan-forced). Line muffin pans with paper cases of your choice.

2. Beat butter, sugar and vanilla bean paste with electric mixer until pale. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until just combined. Add the flour and milk in alternate batches and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined. Add flavourings of your choice, i.e. the lemon zest!

3. Spoon some mixture into paper cases. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Decorate as desired.

During my week off I finally finished off a very belated Birthday tote bag for my mum! I promise pictures soon! Hope you all have had a lovely weekend! <3

Cupcakes for Hillness

2009-07-06T12:42:00.010+09:30

I am lucky enough to have remained friends with my high school girlfriends, we have been friends for over a decade now, and are still really close.

Now Hillness is a strange name you might think... but having two Jessica's in a group of friends is a little confusing , in an effort to make things a little less complicated, I was nicknamed B, and her Hillness.

Hillness - Such a gorgeous girl!

Hillness was the first of us who made the big leap and bought a house! We are all so proud of her, and perhaps secretly a little envious hehe. After much nagging, Hillness finally threw a housewarming party, and a fun one it was too! I offered to make cupcakes for the occasion, and Hillness chose the flavours...

Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes, which I change a little to
Chocolate Cookie & Raspberry Cupcakes

Orange Blueberry Cupcakes, a slight variation on the
Lemon Blueberry recipe I posted

And finally I made a third batch, vanilla rainbow cupcakes
because every time I see rainbows, I think of Hillness!

The Chocolate Cookies & Raspberry cupcakes were adapted from a recipe in 'Crazy About Cupcakes' (Fittingly a gift to me from Hillness a couple of Birthdays ago!). They were quite tasty, so I would like to share the recipe with you:

Choc Cookie & Raspberry Cupcakes - adapted from 'Crazy About Cupcakes'
(the original recipe had a misprint in the method which I have corrected)

Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
2/3 cup chocolate cookies, lightly crushed
1/3 cup fresh or frozen raspberries (thawed on paper towel then lightly dusted with flour)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Insert liners into a medium cupcake pan.
2. In a large bowl cream together the butter, sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer until fluffy, about 3-5 minutes.
3. In a separate bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
4. Add the dry ingredients to butter mixture. Mix until integrated. Stir in the milk. With an electric mixer on low speed, beat for 30 seconds. Turn the mixer up to medium speed and beat for 2 minutes. Add the egg whites. Beat for 2 more minutes. Carefully fold in the crushed cookies and raspberries, don't over mix.
5. Fill the cupcake liners three-quarters full. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of cupcakes comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in the pan.

For the frosting I made a butter cream and added more raspberries to it, then topped the cupcakes with more crushed chocolate cookies.

So I just wanted to finish up by thanking everyone that visited my Mad Tea Party, and left such kind and sweet comments, and especially welcome my new followers, I truely appreciate your support! Also, thank you to my sister Caitlin for kindly lending me her new camera to play with lately!

I finally have an entire week off of work, and plan to sew my little heart out! I'll keep you updated! <3

☼ A Mad Tea Party! ☼

2009-06-27T17:31:00.029+09:30

"What day of the month is it?"

" The 27th of June!?!"

Then it is time for a tea party I say!

An exceptionally MAD tea party! (2nd annual of course!)

With plenty of pretty dainty tea cups...

And deliciously decadent sweets!

The table was set - and a Mad Hatter, a White Rabbit, a rather Evil Queen and perpetually surprised looking girl attended!

Such luscious colour and whimsy!

Much tea and tomfoolery was had!

Everything was made with the very BEST butter.

It was a perfect sunshiny day, a magical miracle really, for the middle of...gasp! Winter!

The Queen was rather fond of ordering executions! "Off with her head!!!"

"How dreadfully savage!"

And the slumberous Dormouse was quite comfortable stuffed in his tea pot...

"Twinkle, twinkle, little bat!
How I wonder what you're at!"

You know the song perhaps?

"I want a clean cup! Let us all move one place on!"

"Off with her head too..."

"Take some more tea...?"

Be sure to click on the photos to see all the little details!

♥

Many thanks to Vanessa from A Fanciful Twist for hosting this wondrous and fun event! She very much inspired this photo shoot.

Of course, many special thanks to my magnificent friends for helping me bring this idea to life...

Kelly - from Aetas in Vitae

Rose

And Rose's boyfriend Michael, who played an excellent Mad Hatter!

I would also like to give a special thank you to my Grandparents, who let me borrow my Great Great Grandfathers striking silk top hat from 1949...

In the hat box there was this inspiring inscription...

The tricky to read word is 'flowers'

Love you Grandma and Grandpa

♥

Favorite Photo

2009-06-20T21:48:00.003+09:30

A little while ago I was tagged by Alicia from The Red Deer to do this:

It's really simple. I love how every photo tells a story. Some short stories, some long tales. I want to know what is your favourite photo of yourself. Everyone has one. The photo they look at and smile. It reminds them of something, some time, some place. A moment in time.

So share the photo, share the story and then tag three other people. I want to see photos and stories all around the blogosphere.

So I had a tough time choosing a photo...but this one definitely stood out in my mind as a favourite:

This is my partner Darren and I dressed up for my Dad's wedding several years ago. The day was full of mixed emotions for me, a really long story, but I definitely very much enjoyed getting into a pretty dress for the occasion, and Darren just looked SO darn good in a suit!

Now, to tag three people:
Butterflyfood
Strumpet's Crumpets
The Diary of an Indy Grrrl

My First Cupcake Order! :)

2009-06-13T15:44:00.005+09:30

A couple of weeks ago, a lovely girl who had found my blog contacted me, asking if I would take an order for some cupcakes. At first I was a bit nervous, I have never made cupcakes to sell (other than for charity) before. But I said yes, and an order for half a dozen passion fruit cupcakes with cream cheese frosting was placed! So I made them today, I got the recipe from this blog here. I really hope they were enjoyed!

I loved making the cupcakes to sell, but I don't think I want to open a store or anything, I have a feeling I would loose the passion for making cupcakes if I had to make large orders all the time! That being said I think small orders from local Adelaidians would be welcome though! I am going to add my email address to my side bar for any enquiries!

Passion fruit Cupcakes - Recipe originally posted on cupcaketastic's blog
Makes 6 cupcakes

Ingredients

30g butter, softened
1/2 cup (110g) castor sugar
2 eggs
1 cup (150g) self-raising flour
1/4 cup (60ml) passion fruit pulp

Method

Preheat oven to moderate (180C/160C fan-forced). Line standard muffin pan with paper cases.
Beat butter, sugar, eggs and flour in small bowl with electric mixer on low speed until ingredients are just combined. Increase speed to medium, beat until mixture is changed to a paler colour. Stir in passion fruit pulp.
Divide mixture among cases, smooth surface.Bake cakes about 20 minutes. Turn cakes onto wire rack to cool.

I used a hospital syringe to 'inject' the cupcakes with passion fruit pulp, then frosted the cupcakes with my usual 'throw it all in the bowl' cream cheese frosting...with added passion fruit pulp and yellow colouring. I topped the cupcakes with a hand made fondant flower!

I said brrrr it's cold in here!

2009-06-09T20:15:00.012+09:30

It really truly is winter here in Australia now, the nights are unbearably cold, my toes and fingers are so difficult to warm up, I know I shouldn't complain...it's not like its snowing here! We have had glorious amounts of rain, and every ones lawns are back to lush and green, I love it.

The two things I enjoy so much about winter firstly is the comfort food, and secondly the interesting aromas outside.
I love the food we cook in winter, big hearty soups, casseroles, and piping hot meals. The desserts are awesome too, there is nothing better than warm puddings in winter, there are a few recipes I have taken a liking to and will be trying soon from Marie's blog 'Marie Cooks Britain'. The aromas outside are just so rich, the crisp smell of rain, and the homely cosy smell of our neighbours wood fires, oh the wafting smell of roasts, so good.

So stuck inside, and lacking the internet over the weekend, I got quite a bit of sewing done. I've been working on Mum's B'day tote bag, way overdue. Also I complete two hand embroidered felt cupcake magnets for a swap on Swap-bot. I hope my partners don't visit...I'm about to spoil the surprise! I took these photos before they were finished, they were neatened up around the edges!

I also recently sent off a polka dot swap....
Manda if you are reading this before you have received my package STOP! hehe

I made this matching kitty coin purse and compact mirror set for Manda, who loves all animals so much. I really enjoyed making this set, it was definitely hard to part with, but I know they were going to a very good loving home!

I have been super lucky recently, as I have won not one, but TWO blog giveaways! The first one I won was a buttonhead and sonnyboy bag from Jettas Nest, eee so cute! I love her style, and the little painted faces are just gorgeous, so much personality!

The second give away I won was via Lovely Little Dear - Bec interviewed Jody aka Applenoggin, who is an awesome crafter, very inspiring entrepreneur! Go check out her Etsy shop. I won this adorable little strawberry ice cream plushy brooch!

So the postman is going to begin to think I have the hots for him... as I'll be watching him eagerly as there is so many exciting things arriving soon! I'll let you in on a secret...I will be sporting a new wig soon... shhh! Oh and I finally ordered a cute new watch, nursing without a watch for the last 3 months hasn't been easy!!

Ok, that's it from me for now, hope you all have a lovely week! <3

French Toast Cupcakes

2009-06-02T21:08:00.004+09:30

Today was a lovely day.

I had my beautiful friend Kim over, we put on pretty aprons and and then we baked cupcakes! It was perfect winter overcast weather for staying inside and cooking, chatting and drinking tea.

We made 'french toast cupcakes'. I figured it was the cinnamon and maple syrup that made them "french toasty", I got the recipe from 'How to Eat a Cupcake's' blog. We injected the cupcakes with some melted cinnamon honey, and frosted them with cinnamon cream cheese frosting, playing with a couple of different tips from my new set.

I think the cupcakes tasted lovely, the cinnamon was the main flavour, perhaps they were a fraction on sweet side, but I think they went really well with a cup of Twinings 'simply tea', which is my current favorite everyday tea.

French Toast Cupcakes - recipe from 'How to Eat a Cupcake'

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I used self raising flour and omitted the next two ingredients)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and then cooled
2 eggs
2 tsp maple extract
1/2 cup milk

Method

Preheat oven to 350'F, or 180C and line baking pan with paper liners.
Mix together flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a small bowl.
In a large bowl, whisk together butter, sugar and eggs until smooth. Make sure the butter is cool or you’ll have scrambled eggs.
Whisk in maple extract and then alternate between whisking in flour mixture and milk. Make three additions of flour mix and two of milk. Beat until smooth.
Scoop batter into prepared pan and bake 20-25 minutes until golden brown and tops spring back when lightly touched.
Cool the cupcakes on a rack for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely.

I then injected them with the cinnamon honey using a syringe and then frosted the cupcakes when cool with cream cheese frosting, then dusted them with cinnamon.

Ruby, I ♥ you!

2009-05-31T19:21:00.004+09:30

I finished house/doggy sitting today. I adore looking after Ruby, she is just the best dog in the world. When it comes time to leave I get a heavy heart, cause I just get so attached to her! I always come home hoping that I will own a lovely natured dog like Ruby one day.

We went on some really nice walks together each day, I love walking through this particular suburb, its full of huge houses, old trees and perfect gardens. It's so funny when Ruby sees a cat or a bird, and even though they run or fly off, she keeps searching for them for ages!

I got a new toy recently, and I am already addicted to it! Yep, Darren and I took the plunge and got iPhones! I am still new to it all, and writing a message seems to take aeons! I would love to know if anyone has any applications they would recommend? I need some games!

I attended a wonderful afternoon tea on Saturday, with a sweet group of lolita girls! It was organised by my gorgeous friend Kelly. We dined at a place called Saldechin, it used to be a huge old bank, which has been transformed into an Asian themed tea room! I had pork buns, rich mousse cake and iced tea!

I wore my green wig for the occasion, sadly I don't own any lolita clothing, I was the only one without a pretty frilly skirt, but Kelly is soon to help me rectify this! Lolita fashion is totally fascinating to me, and I am looking forward to learning more about it!

✿ Jaffa Cupcakes ✿

2009-05-24T11:04:00.010+09:30

I am house/doggy sitting at the moment, I knew I was facing a Saturday night in alone with my new S&TC box set. I knew I would need something to snack on during my hours in front of the TV!
In Australia, Jaffa's are a classic orange flavoured chocolate candy, that is traditionally eaten when you go to the movies. I had seen lots of Jaffa cupcakes by the NZ Cupcake Queen, and was feeling inspired.

Orange and chocolate has got to be one of my most favourite flavour combinations, and I remembered making orange marble cakes as a kid. I found used a recipe from here, I frosted them with choc orange buttercream. The cupcakes are light and fluffy, and the choc orange flavour is really intense!

Marble Jaffa Cupcakes - Recipe from 'Good to Know'

Ingredients

175g (6oz) caster sugar
175g (6oz) unsalted butter, softened
175g (6oz) self-raising flour
1tsp baking powder
3 large eggs, beaten
1tbsp fresh orange juice (I added about a 1/4 teaspoon of orange essance too)
2tsp finely grated orange rind
1tbsp cocoa powder blended with 2tbsp hot water (I used about 2 and a bit of coco!)

Method

Put the sugar, butter, flour, baking powder and eggs in a bowl. Beat with an electric whisk for 3 to 4 mins until pale and creamy. (I actually creamed the sugar and butter first, then added the eggs, then sifted the flour and baking powder in last)

Transfer half the mixture into a second bowl. Into this mixture, fold the orange juice and rind. Fold the cocoa into the first bowl.

Spoon the two mixtures randomly into cupcake liners. Draw a knife through the mixture to create the marble effect.

Bake at 180°C/350°F for 20 to 30 mins until firm. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for 5 mins, then turn out and cool completely on a wire rack.

Frost and enjoy!

Thank you all so much for your kind comments lately, and I am overwhelmed by all the new followers too, I think I would like to celebrate with a give-away soon, so once I get home next week I'll get started on that! <3

All for a High Tea Party!

2009-05-18T11:26:00.016+09:30

What a busy week it was last week! I worked hard on making a Birthday present for my friend, she had a High Tea party yesterday.

I wanted to make her one of my tote bags, a yo-yo necklace and a coffee cuff, and I somehow got it all done in one week, I was even sewing yo-yo's in my lunch break at work!

I love the coffee cuff, I followed a tutorial from here. I think I'll have to make one for myself next, as there is a fantastic newly built Hudson's coffee place in the hospital I work at, and I am almost having a daily coffee now! I could sell them to all my co-workers too!

It was so nice to sit and talk to friends, drink tea and eat together, I think we need to do it more frequently. I got dressed up for the occasion in one of my wigs, I feel like I don't wear them enough, and they are so handy for covering up a bad hair day!

I was asked to bring some of my cupcakes along, 8 to be exact! So I made 4 blueberry lemon cupcakes with lemon curd filling and cream cheese frosting, and 4 dark chocolate pistachio cupcakes with ganache filling and ganache butter cream! Gosh the blueberry ones were so delicious! I will post the recipe because I thought they were so tasty!

Lemon-Blueberry Cupcakes - from Basic Cupcake Recipes

Makes 12 cupcakes

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup blueberries dried/frozen/fresh

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, 180 degrees C. Blend the butter, sugar, and eggs together in a bowl until creamy. Mix the flour, soda, and salt together in a small bowl. Add dry mixture to the batter, a little at a time, alternating with the milk. Add the lemon zest and lemon juice.
Add blueberries and hand stir until evenly distributed through the batter (I used frozen blueberries, I thawed them on a paper towel and then gave them a light dusting with flour prior to adding to batter).
Place paper liners into muffin pan. Fill each liner 3/4 full. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick or cake tester stuck into a cupcake comes out clean.

I frosted them with a 'Jessy's made up' cream cheese frosting, after injecting them with lemon curd...I actually used a proper hospital syringe!

Hope you all have a really sweet week! <3