Another year over eh?
This time of year always seems to fly by for me, maybe it's because we are usually on holiday around this time. Which means our days are filled with lazing about and drinking so the time seems to pass faster.
It has been an odd year, drastically split in two halves. One full of joy with visits from the family and talks of future travel and the second part full of bankruptcies, worried faces, protests and people hoping their jobs will still be there in January.
Well we didn't let the kreppa put a dampner on our festivities and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves this year. Who knows when the next time will be when we buy alcohol!
We were invited to a bbq at some new friends home. T is Icelandic and W is a Newfoundlander, great people and lots of lovely kids! :) I had been bought some silicone chocolate moulds for xmas, so I made them some chocolates with a bag of Joi Fel white chips. I melted the chips and filled the moulds half way, let them set them popped in a piece of glace cherry and filled up with the rest of the melted chocolate. Before I had put any chocolate in the moulds, I grated some dark chocolate into them, for effect really.
They look really cool, if I do say so. Very filling, even one is a lot! They look great in my HR chocolate box :D .
I made panna cotta for dessert tonight, it's from a box, but it was still gorgeous! You only add the cream and milk and heat them up, then put them in glasses or ramekins and cool for a few hours. I had never had before and thought it was devine!
Well that's all from me for 2008. Happy New Year :)
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Thursday, December 25, 2008
let it snow, let it snow
Now that everyone has opened their gifts, I can reveal what I made them this year. Everyone got the same themed gift. A keychain with 2 photo's of them with us on their visits to Iceland.
It took me a little while to figure out how best to print out the tiny photo's needed for the keychains, but in the end, I used iphoto and their collage theme in printing. You can then zoom in or out, to make certain areas of the photo the focus. It worked really well and I thought everyone would appreciate the small gifts.
l-r:Ali, mam, dad, Peter and James(since he hasn't been here, I had to go back to 2005 to find a pic with both of us!)
The backs:
Stephen's family also received keychains and I made a keychain and earrings for my friend SJ up North:
I received lots of fimo and a gift card for the craft shop, so lets hope I am more productive in 2009 :)
Gleiðileg Jól
Karen
It took me a little while to figure out how best to print out the tiny photo's needed for the keychains, but in the end, I used iphoto and their collage theme in printing. You can then zoom in or out, to make certain areas of the photo the focus. It worked really well and I thought everyone would appreciate the small gifts.
l-r:Ali, mam, dad, Peter and James(since he hasn't been here, I had to go back to 2005 to find a pic with both of us!)
The backs:
Stephen's family also received keychains and I made a keychain and earrings for my friend SJ up North:
I received lots of fimo and a gift card for the craft shop, so lets hope I am more productive in 2009 :)
Gleiðileg Jól
Karen
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
A New Addiction
In Iceland they have Jolasveinar, 13 Yule Lads that come down from the mountains, one each night from 12th Dec until 24th Dec. They deliver very good kids small gifts in their shoes, that have been left on the window sills. Each lad has a different name according to what is his pastime. For one it may be licking the spoons, another slamming the doors. In olden times the lads were an annoyance to families, which is where they get their names and pastimes from, but these days they are good.
Well Stephen and I partake in this cultural event and receive a nice gift for every day in our shoes :) I've received some lovely Icelandic chocolates, silicone chocolate moulds, candles etc
For today I made Stephen some geeky items with my newly acquired Hama beads. I had wanted to play with these for ages now, since I have been on Cut Out + Keep. I had a lot of fun playing around with them last night and even made two small decorations for the tree :)
Needless to say Stephen was very happy with his geeky keychains and beer mat :D
And the decorations:
There is one bead in the wrong place on the snowflake and I was so annoyed when I saw it! grr
Well Stephen and I partake in this cultural event and receive a nice gift for every day in our shoes :) I've received some lovely Icelandic chocolates, silicone chocolate moulds, candles etc
For today I made Stephen some geeky items with my newly acquired Hama beads. I had wanted to play with these for ages now, since I have been on Cut Out + Keep. I had a lot of fun playing around with them last night and even made two small decorations for the tree :)
Needless to say Stephen was very happy with his geeky keychains and beer mat :D
And the decorations:
There is one bead in the wrong place on the snowflake and I was so annoyed when I saw it! grr
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Why does it always rain on me?
It's almost Jóladagur. This year is going to be a little different for Stephen and I, it is the first year either of us will have worked the 25th! For me, having always worked in retail, working up until 6pm xmas eve is pretty usual, but never, NEVER having to work on the 25th was a huge bonus.
Somehow, we have managed to escape it the last 4 christmas seasons in our current job, but we got stuck with it this year. Hopefully we will be out and finished early, so we can run back and put the turkey on.
To make matters slightly worse, all that lovely snow we have been having is due to end tomorrow, with rain forecast for the week. We have only had one un-white Dec 25th since living in Iceland and even then there was a little.
Anyhoo, I made myself some seasonal earrings to wear in work on Jóladagur. They started out in my head as snowflakes, but I realised they would work great as laufabrauð, so that is what I am saying they are!
I made them with white glittery fimo :)
My brother received his extremely late birthday gift yesterday. It was a tshirt that I designed a comic strip for and printed it on.
Here's what the comic was like:
I will post pictures of the couple of gifts I made for people after the 25th.
Somehow, we have managed to escape it the last 4 christmas seasons in our current job, but we got stuck with it this year. Hopefully we will be out and finished early, so we can run back and put the turkey on.
To make matters slightly worse, all that lovely snow we have been having is due to end tomorrow, with rain forecast for the week. We have only had one un-white Dec 25th since living in Iceland and even then there was a little.
Anyhoo, I made myself some seasonal earrings to wear in work on Jóladagur. They started out in my head as snowflakes, but I realised they would work great as laufabrauð, so that is what I am saying they are!
I made them with white glittery fimo :)
My brother received his extremely late birthday gift yesterday. It was a tshirt that I designed a comic strip for and printed it on.
Here's what the comic was like:
I will post pictures of the couple of gifts I made for people after the 25th.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Don't Step in the Mushroom Ring!
I finished my mosaic class on Monday last. I am (again) so glad for Stephen's encouragement to get out there, he knew I really wanted to try this out and just needed a huge nudge ;)
All of us who had taken the course, (there ended up being 3 of us)were very happy with our finished items. Personally, I think we all did a great job too. Everyone gave it their all and we each did something very different. Our teacher Alice was full of pride.
Alice had helped us out in between the last two classes, by glueing on our edge tiles, as we would not have had the time to do all that and put the grout on and clean them up in the final class. So, kudos to her for that :D
Without further waffle, here is the piece I made for moi.
All of us who had taken the course, (there ended up being 3 of us)were very happy with our finished items. Personally, I think we all did a great job too. Everyone gave it their all and we each did something very different. Our teacher Alice was full of pride.
Alice had helped us out in between the last two classes, by glueing on our edge tiles, as we would not have had the time to do all that and put the grout on and clean them up in the final class. So, kudos to her for that :D
Without further waffle, here is the piece I made for moi.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Chocolate Madness
Today was such a beautiful wintry day. The kind of day you want to walk around everywhere and take pictures of everything, just to remember how pretty the world looks covered in fluffy snow. Also with the moon at it's closest to earth in over 15 years, the scenery was pretty spectacular! Pity then, we were in work :(
It is also Stephen(my boyfriend)'s birthday today. I baked him a chocolate sponge cake, my first ever chocolate cake. It turned out really good. I used the recipe I have for a regular victoria sponge cake and just added cocoa. Then I made up chocolate butter cream.
Chocolate Buttercream
75g Unsalted butter
175g Powdered sugar
3 tbsp cocoa
milk
Cream the butter, then add the sifted sugar and cocoa, beat into the butter. Add enough milk to make the mixture spreadable.
I received a very cool silicon heart mould for making chocolates from Stekkjastaur, the first Icelandic Yule Lad. So I melted some Icelandic cooking chocolate and made a couple of chocolates up. They look so professional! I can't wait to try out different versions.
I have been really enjoying my mosaic classes. I have one more left, this Monday. I decided not to do the mirror, instead I am doing a long rectangular candle holder. I have not decided wether to give it away or not, so no pics yet :D
It is also Stephen(my boyfriend)'s birthday today. I baked him a chocolate sponge cake, my first ever chocolate cake. It turned out really good. I used the recipe I have for a regular victoria sponge cake and just added cocoa. Then I made up chocolate butter cream.
Chocolate Buttercream
75g Unsalted butter
175g Powdered sugar
3 tbsp cocoa
milk
Cream the butter, then add the sifted sugar and cocoa, beat into the butter. Add enough milk to make the mixture spreadable.
I received a very cool silicon heart mould for making chocolates from Stekkjastaur, the first Icelandic Yule Lad. So I melted some Icelandic cooking chocolate and made a couple of chocolates up. They look so professional! I can't wait to try out different versions.
I have been really enjoying my mosaic classes. I have one more left, this Monday. I decided not to do the mirror, instead I am doing a long rectangular candle holder. I have not decided wether to give it away or not, so no pics yet :D
Sunday, December 07, 2008
Chewy Oatmeal Goodness
It's already one week into December and it feels like I have no time at all. I have not one present completed, not one bought or any cards written. Nothing new there! ha
I am suffering from a major bout of procrastination and have been for some time. So I baked instead of crafting, hoping that would spur me on. It didn't have the desired effect, but mostly because the cookies I chose to bake created a mass of dough! I only have one shelf in my oven, so I could only bake about 5 cookies at a time. I ended up baking 29 cookies and was still left with about 1/3 of the batch.
The cookies were oatmeal raisin cookies. I followed the recipe, just adding sliced cooking cherries to the recipe. There is quite a lot of butter, I don't think I have ever baked with 1/2 pound of butter before, but it did make extremely delicious chewy cookies.
This is one recipe I will keep bookmarked and will force me to buy another shelf for the oven! It took me much too long to bake the ones I did.
Anyhow, here are some photos.
I am suffering from a major bout of procrastination and have been for some time. So I baked instead of crafting, hoping that would spur me on. It didn't have the desired effect, but mostly because the cookies I chose to bake created a mass of dough! I only have one shelf in my oven, so I could only bake about 5 cookies at a time. I ended up baking 29 cookies and was still left with about 1/3 of the batch.
The cookies were oatmeal raisin cookies. I followed the recipe, just adding sliced cooking cherries to the recipe. There is quite a lot of butter, I don't think I have ever baked with 1/2 pound of butter before, but it did make extremely delicious chewy cookies.
This is one recipe I will keep bookmarked and will force me to buy another shelf for the oven! It took me much too long to bake the ones I did.
Anyhow, here are some photos.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Piece by Piece
I enrolled in a mosaic workshop which began Monday last. It's run by a Canadian named Alice Oliva Clarke, who has lots of great pieces of her mosaic art around Reykjavik and her town of Hafnarfjordur. I found out about it through facebook and I am so happy Stephen encouraged me(I mean badgered me!) to get out and try it. It is on every Monday until 15th December, for three hours each night.
Originally there were supposed to be four of us in Mondays class, but only two of us showed up, myself and a German woman named Maria, who is a landscape gardener. For us it was great as we received a lot more advice and attention from Alice, than we would have had there been two more.
First we practiced breaking the tiles, which is pretty tricky to do right! Of course they don't have to have perfect edges on them, but you need to get them to fit in place right.
We get to make two pieces. I am using a mirror as my big piece and a smaller rectangle piece with a hole for a candle as my second. I started the rectangle piece on Monday and it was looking pretty good. I am looking forward to next week to attempt more and to see how we put it all together.
Maybe I will have some pics next week too.
Originally there were supposed to be four of us in Mondays class, but only two of us showed up, myself and a German woman named Maria, who is a landscape gardener. For us it was great as we received a lot more advice and attention from Alice, than we would have had there been two more.
First we practiced breaking the tiles, which is pretty tricky to do right! Of course they don't have to have perfect edges on them, but you need to get them to fit in place right.
We get to make two pieces. I am using a mirror as my big piece and a smaller rectangle piece with a hole for a candle as my second. I started the rectangle piece on Monday and it was looking pretty good. I am looking forward to next week to attempt more and to see how we put it all together.
Maybe I will have some pics next week too.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Chocolate and cheesecake. What else do you need?
We spent the weekend in a mini hibernation, hiding away from the cold. It was great, but as usual went way too fast.
At the beginning of the month I bought some cream cheese with the intention of baking a cheesecake, but I always forgot to pick up the biscuits for the base. I needed to make something before they went out of date and wasting them on crackers is just out of the question!
I found a lovely recipe in my bookmarks, for a chocolate cheesecake. The girl had taken the recipe and made it into mini cupcakes, so I went to the original site and baked the actual cake.
I was quite worried at first as my uncooked cake looked nothing like hers. Mine seemed to have too much cheese mixture on top. And with my ancient cooker I was pretty nervous that it would cook unevenly. When the time was up and it still seemed unready, I turned off the heat and let it sit in there and cook slowly. Which seemed to work out.
It turned out fine, just a different balancing out of the cheese and chocolate mixture in mine. The texture of the cake is like a muffin and has a nice creamy texture from the cheesecake mixture.
The cocoa powder I used, I had just bought in Te og Kaffi the other day. It's a Belgian brand and so delicious.
At the beginning of the month I bought some cream cheese with the intention of baking a cheesecake, but I always forgot to pick up the biscuits for the base. I needed to make something before they went out of date and wasting them on crackers is just out of the question!
I found a lovely recipe in my bookmarks, for a chocolate cheesecake. The girl had taken the recipe and made it into mini cupcakes, so I went to the original site and baked the actual cake.
I was quite worried at first as my uncooked cake looked nothing like hers. Mine seemed to have too much cheese mixture on top. And with my ancient cooker I was pretty nervous that it would cook unevenly. When the time was up and it still seemed unready, I turned off the heat and let it sit in there and cook slowly. Which seemed to work out.
It turned out fine, just a different balancing out of the cheese and chocolate mixture in mine. The texture of the cake is like a muffin and has a nice creamy texture from the cheesecake mixture.
The cocoa powder I used, I had just bought in Te og Kaffi the other day. It's a Belgian brand and so delicious.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
In China We Trust
The economic crisis almost cost me and possibly thousands of Icelanders the highlight of their year.
What is that you may ask? Well the New Years Eve fireworks of course. Our banks are still unable to process foreign payments/transfers, so the importer of the fireworks is unable to pay the Chinese company! Luckily for us they have a good relationship after years of business together and seeing as the profits from the fireworks go to a good cause, the Chinese company have agreed to give the remaining items on credit. YAY
Landsbjörg are the people involved in importing most of the fireworks into Iceland. They are an association of volunteer search and rescue teams. They receive most of their income from the sale of the fireworks.
Lets hope we can all still afford to buy them and end this tumultuous year with many a big happy BANG!
In other news I am very unmotivated to make any crafts. I have begun a design for my father's xmas gift, which looks good so far. Other than that I have no ideas!
There has been lots of snow and sleet over the last few days, so it's mostly gone now. Winter is officially here :D
What is that you may ask? Well the New Years Eve fireworks of course. Our banks are still unable to process foreign payments/transfers, so the importer of the fireworks is unable to pay the Chinese company! Luckily for us they have a good relationship after years of business together and seeing as the profits from the fireworks go to a good cause, the Chinese company have agreed to give the remaining items on credit. YAY
Landsbjörg are the people involved in importing most of the fireworks into Iceland. They are an association of volunteer search and rescue teams. They receive most of their income from the sale of the fireworks.
Lets hope we can all still afford to buy them and end this tumultuous year with many a big happy BANG!
In other news I am very unmotivated to make any crafts. I have begun a design for my father's xmas gift, which looks good so far. Other than that I have no ideas!
There has been lots of snow and sleet over the last few days, so it's mostly gone now. Winter is officially here :D
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Frozen Assets
It's finally here, the crisis they were denying as far back as a year ago. The economic crash has happened, the big bad banks have collapsed and left us with an angry British government(and others) breathing down our necks for their citizens cash. Meanwhile us little folks on this icy rock cannot transfer money abroad, we have to show a valid plane ticket to obtain any foreign currency. We have food store managers telling us to stock up on canned food as they will run out soon, due to their lack of payments to their suppliers!
The streets are occupied by foreign Tv crews and journalists eager for a quote, only yesterday Stephen and I were approached by a Japanese Tv crew to answer some questions on the economy!(we said no).
We are lucky in that we have no savings here, we don't have a mortgage or kids to send to school and feed, so we can cut back and sacrifice where needed. One big cut back this year will be online shopping. No more bargains from the US, for our xmas presents. This year it will be an even more crafty christmas.
Also this will be the first ever christmas day in work for both of us. Not an exciting prospect, but on the good side we are on holidays the day after for a week ;) For us though, once we can celebrate New Years as usual that is fine by us. You have not had a New Years eve until you have watched the fireworks from Perlan!
This is New Years Eve 2005, there is some mild swearing ;)
The streets are occupied by foreign Tv crews and journalists eager for a quote, only yesterday Stephen and I were approached by a Japanese Tv crew to answer some questions on the economy!(we said no).
We are lucky in that we have no savings here, we don't have a mortgage or kids to send to school and feed, so we can cut back and sacrifice where needed. One big cut back this year will be online shopping. No more bargains from the US, for our xmas presents. This year it will be an even more crafty christmas.
Also this will be the first ever christmas day in work for both of us. Not an exciting prospect, but on the good side we are on holidays the day after for a week ;) For us though, once we can celebrate New Years as usual that is fine by us. You have not had a New Years eve until you have watched the fireworks from Perlan!
This is New Years Eve 2005, there is some mild swearing ;)
Monday, September 22, 2008
Breithlá Shona Duit a Mháthair
It is my mother's birthday today. Happy Birthday mam :D
I made her a necklace and matching earrings for her present. I got an sms from her this morning and she loves them, and the boxes too, which I completely forgot to photograph!
I used these pearlescent beads, I'm not sure what they are exactly, but they look great. I also used some smaller sead beads and another purple slightly bigger bead.
The boxes I presented them in I bought in the craft shop. They are just plain white paper boxes, a small one for the earrings and a long rectangular one for the necklace. They come with some kind of foamy padding in the protect and hide the item inside.
I wrapped the boxes in some peach paper speckled with gold. Then I used some rub on stickers. They looked lovely believe me, I shall try to get my mam to send me pics.
So here are the earrings. I really need a better set up for taking pictures. The light is so bad down here in the basement!
The necklace, the catch is a silver plated magnetic one. I am interested to see how it lasts, as it is quite heavy on the chain.
This is a necklace I made for myself.
I made her a necklace and matching earrings for her present. I got an sms from her this morning and she loves them, and the boxes too, which I completely forgot to photograph!
I used these pearlescent beads, I'm not sure what they are exactly, but they look great. I also used some smaller sead beads and another purple slightly bigger bead.
The boxes I presented them in I bought in the craft shop. They are just plain white paper boxes, a small one for the earrings and a long rectangular one for the necklace. They come with some kind of foamy padding in the protect and hide the item inside.
I wrapped the boxes in some peach paper speckled with gold. Then I used some rub on stickers. They looked lovely believe me, I shall try to get my mam to send me pics.
So here are the earrings. I really need a better set up for taking pictures. The light is so bad down here in the basement!
The necklace, the catch is a silver plated magnetic one. I am interested to see how it lasts, as it is quite heavy on the chain.
This is a necklace I made for myself.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Feeding the Stress Monster
As of today I have 14 hours until I have to get up and go to work! The other night I just had to bake something to take my mind off the approaching day.
I wasn't in the mood of setting up the wobbly water bath for the cheesecake, so I looked for a recipe for mini cakes. I have just started using evernote and moved all my cheesecake recipes over, so it was so much easier to find one, than searching through the lists of recipes in bookmarks!
I found a perfect one and got started. It is pretty much the exact recipe for the cake version I love to make, only the sour cream gets mixed in with the whole mix, instead of layered on top, like the cake does.
They turned out really well and when we finally tasted them yesterday, they tasted great too. Some though, had a bit too much biscuit base, as it's kind of tricky to figure out how much you have put in, in the muffin pan. Still they are quicker to whip up than the cake(except for the 3 hour cooling in the fridge! Stephen didn't appreciate that!)
One mini cake is enough for me, in one sitting.
After I popped the mini cheesecakes in the fridge I still had more baking power in me, so I searched for another recipe, something new. I came across a recipe for Gingerbread bars with Lemon Cream Cheese Icing. I didn't have ginger, so I swapped it for cinnamon, I also swapped the molasses the recipes called for, for golden syrup. Everything turned out delicious, so I think they were fine to swap:D I also left out the lemon extract they tell you to use(it being a company recipe!) I just added more lemon.
The icing was really delicious, very lemony, but a nice compliment to the cream cheese. I will definitely make these bars again, next time with the ginger ;)
I wasn't in the mood of setting up the wobbly water bath for the cheesecake, so I looked for a recipe for mini cakes. I have just started using evernote and moved all my cheesecake recipes over, so it was so much easier to find one, than searching through the lists of recipes in bookmarks!
I found a perfect one and got started. It is pretty much the exact recipe for the cake version I love to make, only the sour cream gets mixed in with the whole mix, instead of layered on top, like the cake does.
They turned out really well and when we finally tasted them yesterday, they tasted great too. Some though, had a bit too much biscuit base, as it's kind of tricky to figure out how much you have put in, in the muffin pan. Still they are quicker to whip up than the cake(except for the 3 hour cooling in the fridge! Stephen didn't appreciate that!)
One mini cake is enough for me, in one sitting.
After I popped the mini cheesecakes in the fridge I still had more baking power in me, so I searched for another recipe, something new. I came across a recipe for Gingerbread bars with Lemon Cream Cheese Icing. I didn't have ginger, so I swapped it for cinnamon, I also swapped the molasses the recipes called for, for golden syrup. Everything turned out delicious, so I think they were fine to swap:D I also left out the lemon extract they tell you to use(it being a company recipe!) I just added more lemon.
The icing was really delicious, very lemony, but a nice compliment to the cream cheese. I will definitely make these bars again, next time with the ginger ;)
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Good enough for a Queen
A wave of domesticity came over me today and after the hoovering and washing of dishes, I got a craving for cake. I decided I wanted a sponge cake today, so I googled a recipe and got down to business!
As I was gathering my various ingredients and bowls, I realised I no longer had two sandwich tins. I had used one of them to hold my fimo creations in while being baked in the oven a few months back. I had gotten distracted and they had almost blown up! So the tin was unusable.
It was ok though, it just meant it took a little longer to make the cake and gave me time to get the stuff ready for our dinner of home made burgers and mash :)
I used this recipe for the cake and raspberry jam and my own buttercream for the filling. I sprinkled it with confectioners sugar on the top.
With my new electric whisk it makes creaming the sugar and butter in recipes like this, so much easier. The only things I really could do with now are, a sieve and a cake cover.
The cake looked great, just a touch of golden on top and nice and bouncy. It tasted so good. Not too sweet, just soft enough. A small enough slice was just perfect. I will definitely keep this recipe on file.
Stephen thought it was delicious and in return I got a foot rub :D
As I was gathering my various ingredients and bowls, I realised I no longer had two sandwich tins. I had used one of them to hold my fimo creations in while being baked in the oven a few months back. I had gotten distracted and they had almost blown up! So the tin was unusable.
It was ok though, it just meant it took a little longer to make the cake and gave me time to get the stuff ready for our dinner of home made burgers and mash :)
I used this recipe for the cake and raspberry jam and my own buttercream for the filling. I sprinkled it with confectioners sugar on the top.
With my new electric whisk it makes creaming the sugar and butter in recipes like this, so much easier. The only things I really could do with now are, a sieve and a cake cover.
The cake looked great, just a touch of golden on top and nice and bouncy. It tasted so good. Not too sweet, just soft enough. A small enough slice was just perfect. I will definitely keep this recipe on file.
Stephen thought it was delicious and in return I got a foot rub :D
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Scrap Bag
Today is the first day of my(and my boyfriends) holidays, so even though we decided just to chill today, I thought it best to start as I mean to go on and step away from the internets for a while.
So, I took out the shell of the bag I had knit a few weeks back and made the lining for it.
I knit the bag with some wool I had been bought for my birthday, it was two balls of lovely rainbow coloured yarn. I don't know wether this has a specific name, but it varied in thickness and is really nice. Anyway, with just two balls, I couldn't think of what to knit, but then I looked in my stash. I found one ball of rust coloured yarn and one of a dark plum colour, both Icelandic wool. So I cast on some stitches and began to knit a bag. It turned out well, I think.
I made a lining out of an old t-shirt and reinforced the straps with fabric too.
So, I took out the shell of the bag I had knit a few weeks back and made the lining for it.
I knit the bag with some wool I had been bought for my birthday, it was two balls of lovely rainbow coloured yarn. I don't know wether this has a specific name, but it varied in thickness and is really nice. Anyway, with just two balls, I couldn't think of what to knit, but then I looked in my stash. I found one ball of rust coloured yarn and one of a dark plum colour, both Icelandic wool. So I cast on some stitches and began to knit a bag. It turned out well, I think.
I made a lining out of an old t-shirt and reinforced the straps with fabric too.
Friday, August 08, 2008
I need more earrings
I made this tonight, it's based on a project from CO+K. I turned a hair dye box inside out, and stamped some cute hello Kitty and Totoro stamps on. All the earrings I made, except the cute mushrooms, my friends brought them back from Prague for me :)
I've been having huge problems being motivated to make anything of late. My main problem is getting away from the computer! Once I do that I am fine.
We are on holidays from Tuesday, until mid Sept, so we have planned to have at least 5 days free from internet, tv and computer games... well we shall see how that goes ;) We are going camping, don't know where yet, maybe down South to Vík. Have to find a place for the kitty in the cat hotel first.
I've been having huge problems being motivated to make anything of late. My main problem is getting away from the computer! Once I do that I am fine.
We are on holidays from Tuesday, until mid Sept, so we have planned to have at least 5 days free from internet, tv and computer games... well we shall see how that goes ;) We are going camping, don't know where yet, maybe down South to Vík. Have to find a place for the kitty in the cat hotel first.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Scones
I baked some scones the other night during a craving for some nibbles. They are yummy.
I used the same recipe as before, but I also added some sunflower seeds.
I used the same recipe as before, but I also added some sunflower seeds.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
The Only Cake You Ever Need
I baked myself a birthday cake today, only 4 days late! I was pretty much too hungover yesterday, so I left it until this afternoon. I used my new electric mixer I got as a present from Stephen :D It made beating so much easier.
The cake I made was a baked cheesecake, which is easily becoming a favourite of mine. This one is taken from Nigella Lawson cookbook, I got the recipe from another food blog, her photo's were just too hard to resist! It's a basic cheesecake but with a sour cream topping. I followed her instructions, except I think the time it took the cake to set in the oven was 40 minutes.
Also, I forgot the blueberries! So, I just used some blueberry jam for tonight and for taking pics :D
Well we waited all evening and finally at 10 pm we got to taste a slice. It was well worth the wait! The cheese part was perfectly tangy and soft and the biscuit base was the perfect crunch level too. Stephen would have been a little happier with more biscuit base, but I thought it was fine.
It is very rich, even though I thought I cut what was a slim piece, we were both very full after it. Although it being after 10 at night, could have had an effect on that too ;) I used Icelandic cream cheese(low fat) and Icelandic sour cream(15%). Just for the cheese alone, it cost me around 1000kr/£6.56/8.20e, so it's not a cake I would be baking all the time. I suppose for the once a year I have someone over, it's gonna be whipped up ;)
The cake I made was a baked cheesecake, which is easily becoming a favourite of mine. This one is taken from Nigella Lawson cookbook, I got the recipe from another food blog, her photo's were just too hard to resist! It's a basic cheesecake but with a sour cream topping. I followed her instructions, except I think the time it took the cake to set in the oven was 40 minutes.
Also, I forgot the blueberries! So, I just used some blueberry jam for tonight and for taking pics :D
Well we waited all evening and finally at 10 pm we got to taste a slice. It was well worth the wait! The cheese part was perfectly tangy and soft and the biscuit base was the perfect crunch level too. Stephen would have been a little happier with more biscuit base, but I thought it was fine.
It is very rich, even though I thought I cut what was a slim piece, we were both very full after it. Although it being after 10 at night, could have had an effect on that too ;) I used Icelandic cream cheese(low fat) and Icelandic sour cream(15%). Just for the cheese alone, it cost me around 1000kr/£6.56/8.20e, so it's not a cake I would be baking all the time. I suppose for the once a year I have someone over, it's gonna be whipped up ;)
Gifts for a Fairy godmother
It was my godmothers birthday last week, I had one idea in my mind for a while about what I was going to make for her, but at the last minute I changed my mind. I was in work and an idea came to me of using the small mirrors I have, to make a brooch.
I used 3 small round mirrors, a jem I found in one of my tubs and a pin back.
I then bought some more smaller lava stone beads for earrings and put the turquoise shell beads with them.
I bought this cute little round display box for them and put some purple felt in to cover them top and bottom.
I used 3 small round mirrors, a jem I found in one of my tubs and a pin back.
I then bought some more smaller lava stone beads for earrings and put the turquoise shell beads with them.
I bought this cute little round display box for them and put some purple felt in to cover them top and bottom.
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
And in return, you shall receive..
A few posts back you will see I made a lava stone ring for Queenfairypants. I made this for her as we were involved in a clothing swap. I didn't have any clothing to swap so I made the ring and today I received my skirt for which I swapped :) It's a lovely hippy/Indian style skirt. Queeny swapped it as the dye ran after she washed it the first time, to me it just looks like it's been tie-dyed.
I also received a few days ago the gifts from Knittin' Kitten, which was another swap. KK bought a top, fabric painted it, did some embroidery and added a lovely tassley fringe to the top. It's lovely, maybe a tad tight round my hips, I may have to alter it there.
Also KK made me a beautiful choker with a Celtic style symbol :) I was very pleased with the gifts.
I also received a few days ago the gifts from Knittin' Kitten, which was another swap. KK bought a top, fabric painted it, did some embroidery and added a lovely tassley fringe to the top. It's lovely, maybe a tad tight round my hips, I may have to alter it there.
Also KK made me a beautiful choker with a Celtic style symbol :) I was very pleased with the gifts.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
I Am a Machine
First off, I cannot believe I have JUST figured out how to get a title above each post. doh! So I am sorry for the lack of them previously, it makes everything seem all run on-y.
I was browsing the new projects on CO+K and saw the cutest little fimo charm bracelet, made up of kinda cupcake fimo creations! So adorable, so obviously I had to make me some of them. I decided to make earrings and a necklace charm.
Then I made some fimo hair sticks. For one of them I utilized an old leather wrist cuff. I had already cut off the strap and buckle as I am allergic to the nickel in them! So, I just cut a hole either side for the stick to go through, I love those leather hair holders. Anyway I still have the sticks in and they have held my hair in place for around an hour now. yay
I was browsing the new projects on CO+K and saw the cutest little fimo charm bracelet, made up of kinda cupcake fimo creations! So adorable, so obviously I had to make me some of them. I decided to make earrings and a necklace charm.
Then I made some fimo hair sticks. For one of them I utilized an old leather wrist cuff. I had already cut off the strap and buckle as I am allergic to the nickel in them! So, I just cut a hole either side for the stick to go through, I love those leather hair holders. Anyway I still have the sticks in and they have held my hair in place for around an hour now. yay
Bzzz Bzzz
It's a beautiful day out today, so inspired by the bee I dodged, I fished out some nik naks I had in one of my crafty boxes. I thought I had more bees but I only had one left, so I made him into a necklace and used the wooden stars for earrings. All I did was make an eyepin out of some wire and glue that to the back and then put on a jump ring and attached the earring hooks and necklace. Very simple.
Frankenstein is the way forward.
This is something I made the other day. Well I say "made", it's more like I Frankesteined some stuff haha
I took the top half(knee length) of a Monsoon skirt that was previously floor length-but too hard to walk in-and chopped it in half, then I took the remnants of another item, which was the bottom frill part of an M & S Per Una dress(bought for under 1000isk at an outlet store here) that I hacked off. I had already made the top part of that dress into an above the knee version.
I took these two parts and sewed them together, stitching a red ribbon along the join. I wore it out today and it feels lovely.
I took the top half(knee length) of a Monsoon skirt that was previously floor length-but too hard to walk in-and chopped it in half, then I took the remnants of another item, which was the bottom frill part of an M & S Per Una dress(bought for under 1000isk at an outlet store here) that I hacked off. I had already made the top part of that dress into an above the knee version.
I took these two parts and sewed them together, stitching a red ribbon along the join. I wore it out today and it feels lovely.
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