Stitching.

Today I felt like some mindless stitching.  As per ALWAYS, I neglected my large stitching project that has been hanging over for far too long........  Anyways, I just wanted a quick, simple little sumpint to relax with whilst my little man slept.  Now I don't know if this is the done thing, or if it's something that's frowned upon by the stitching community, or maybe something children do at School, but I think it's way easier way of getting a design from paper to the fabric.  My scrap piece of fabric was Home Dec weight and therefore way to heavy to hold up against the window to trace my image on.  I don't own a fancy projector or light box, so I improvised.  I started tracing the inner circle of my little embroidery hoop on some plain white copy paper.  Then freehand (roughly) drew my words (LOVE) inside said circle.

Flipped my drawing over and traced the lines on the back.  Put my scrap of fabric into my hoop and cut out the circle and placed it inside the back of the hoop with the wrong side of the words visible from behind. 

This is what I followed when stitching with a simple running stitch.

I got my stitching fix and am pretty pleased with the results.

So tell me is this something that is done or shun?
Stay safe
Kristin

Shopping!!!

So I hit town yesterday, in search of some presents for Mothers Day! Of course I wore my new top that I made for the 'I will wear it in Public' Garment Sewing Challenge.  It was a cool 15 degrees celcius here yesterday so I teamed it with a scarf and jacket.  My top has been washed and worn now and hasn't fallen apart so I'm one happy camper!  I will get to the making of it in my next post but for now I'm too excited about my purchases so back to my shopping trip...

 

 I found these awesome candlestick holders (that I wanted for myself) for Mum and this awesome yellow lamp for me.  I know I wasn't supposed to be looking for me but I couldn't not get it, it will go perfectly in our new house (that's what I told my husband).

 Isn't this just fabulous?!?

 So back to the candlestick holders, I brought one black and one white, cool huh?

 Anyway Tragedy struck when I was getting them out to wrap.......Sorry MUM!  I may or may not have placed them on the bench a tad bit over-enthusiastically, ok I did... and one broke :(

I've glued it and had it stacked with books all morning, I'm hoping that it will hold and I can cover the yucky yellow glue up with a bit of white nail polish or something, fingers crossed.
How's everyone else going with Mothers Day gifts?
Kristin

Finished my first item of clothing....ever!

I only have selfies (a term my 15 year old cousin used which means pics taken in a mirror of ones self!  The kids of today just have words for everything hahaha)  I will post more detailed info about it soon but I'm just too excited to show y'all!

 

This pic is supposed to show the cute little glittery buttons I used, can you see em or just straight up my nose?

And wearing it with a blazer, coz it sure is cold down here!

I'm off to town today to buy Mothers Day gifts and I will be wearing my new top, I will get pics to show for sure.

Just as a side note (completely unrelated) If you noticed my nails and thought they looked super shiny and pink, let me just tell you that I had them done three weeks ago!!! Its a product called Shellac and IT IS AWESOME!  It is painted on your own nail like nail polish and set in UV lamps.  Once its done (in like 15 -20 mins) It's hard as, so you can get straight in to washing dishes and doing laundry!  It doesn't feel heavy or snap off like gels or acrylics.  I will so be getting it done again, love it!

Have a super dooper great day
Kristin

Building Days 22 - oh I lose track....

Pictures of our house over the past couple of weeks.  We've had a fair bit of rain and I went away for about a week so I'm all over the place but you get the gist of it hey!  I've also chosen our kitchen products.

FYI the timber door is to represent our timber floors.  We are sticking to the predominately white colour scheme, having a few black features and a window splashback, can't wait!
Kristin

I will wear it in Public - Garment Sewing Challenge

I am participating in another challenge being held by the fabulous Rikka of Ricochet and Away.  It's the 'I will wear it in Public' Garment sewing challenge, just quietly I am packing it!

Never having sewn any item of clothing before, let alone used a proper pattern I feel this will be a massive learning curve.  Knowing that I am way out of my depth I figured I had better get a start on my project now so as not to fall short as I did on the previous challenge when I failed to complete my entry in time.  Today I headed in to Spotlight today to peruse their patterns.  Sticking to the Easy category obviously.

I really loved the dress in the top left corner of the top left picture and got really excited because it was especially for beginners like me!!!  Unfortunately when I got to the filing cabinet there was no 2147 left :(  so back to the books I went.... After much page turning I decided upon this pattern

and as luck would have it, they actually had it!!!  I also found some pretty patterned voile to use

So I'm set to get started.

Any words of wisdom before I delve into unfamiliar territory???
Hope all are having a fantastical Friday
Kristin

Peppermint Aero Cheesecake

If your a fan of Peppermint Chocolate like myself and don't mind a slice or two of cheesecake then boy do I have a recipe for you!  This is a super quick and easy, very tasty (not so good for the hips and thighs, maybe if I eat little slices it won't matter) recipe for you to try.  Be warned It's delicious and you may get addicted and want to make one every week (I may or may not be speaking from experience!).

INGREDIENTS

You can use either a flan tin with removable base or a round spring form cake tin, whichever you have.

BASE
1 x 200g pct Chocolate Ripple biscuits
90g butter (melted)

FILLING
118g Peppermint Aero Chocolate (could use other mint flavored chocolate block)
250g cream cheese (can use light)
1/3 cup castor sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp gelatine
1tbs water
1 cup cream (must be cream that can be whipped so generally light does not whip so well)

METHOD

BASE

• Crush biscuits (either with fancy food processor or the old fashioned way of a plastic bag and rolling pin), melt butter and mix together.  *when you squeeze a small amount of mixture together it should hold a shape, if its still too crumbly add a tad more melted butter.
• Press mixture into your greased tin (I use a flat based glass to compact)
• Place into fridge whilst you make your filling  

FILLING

• Beat cream cheese, vanilla and sugar until smooth
• Place hot water from kettle into a pyrex (or heat resistant) jug and add gelatine, stir until dissolved, then cool.
• Whip your cream 
• Add cooled gelatine to cream cheese mixture and mix through well
• Add whipped cream to mixture and fold through
• Melt (carefully) your chocolate until runny (but not too hot) and fold through also
• Pour mixture on top of your base and smooth out top.
• Refrigerate for 4hours or until set

This is lovely served with Ice Cream and a drizzle of choc mint Ice Magic makes it even more special.
Happy baking :)
Kristin

A bit of unashamedly touting;)

 I've put my doily cushion and chevron quilt up for some public scrutiny by entering them in the Feather your Nest competition over at Stumbles and Stitches.  Voting is now open for a couple of days so if you wish to partake get on over and vote for your favorite, there are some fantastic entries to peruse. 

Hope your having a great Tuesday
Kristin