Coffee and Craft

A Cupcake Book Cover!

2012-01-25T21:02:00.000+10:00

Ages ago, I bought a dress from Ruche and it came in the most gorgeous vintage-esque paper bag. I couldn't bring myself to throw it out, so for... longer than I'd care to admit, it was stuck to my whiteboard. It was one of those things that was useful for something, but I had no idea what for.

Then I needed a notebook, and my idea was born, a cute book cover!

Of course, it needed something cute and colourful - I decided to embroider a lemon meringue cupcake (using a pattern by Wild Olive) on the front! In interest of being able to actually see the lemon (or meringue, depending on how you look at it)-ness of the icing, I used four strands - two of a lemon yellow and two of a white. I can't actually remember which colours I used!

Turns out, doing french knots on paper is really, really difficult, especially if you're not 100% sure as to how to do them. I'm glad I found some googly eyes in my craft stash, I think they look cute.

It's also coated in several coats of homemade mod podge, I can't remember where I found the recipe, but it's half PVA glue and half water. Admittedly it's not great as glue, but it made a really nice sealant; I've dropped a bit of water on this book (by accident, of course) and it didn't destroy my hard work!

I can't wait to try this technique out on a few more books! I just love the individual cuteness of this book!

Until next time,

Posted at:

5 Things Sunday, 2012!

2012-01-22T22:27:00.002+10:00

Bringing back my regular Sunday post in 2012, 5 Things Sunday is a post containing five good things about my week - they can be anything from a website which has made my week great to an event to my good intentions. It's my way of focusing on the good things that have happened during my week, rather than worrying over the bad.

1. Spending time with my family
To explain, I spent a week at the beach with my family over Christmas, then spent two weeks staying with my cousin and her fiance for her hens night.

It was a lot of fun! It's the side of my family who I rarely see (they live quite far away from me), so it's really great to spend time with them. Not to mention, the fortnight I spent with my cousin and her fiance was the longest holiday I've had on my own.

This was the view we (my parents, bro and I) had from our balcony - the photo does not do the view justice at all, it was just amazing. Especially on the days like the one above, when we could watch the boat race. At least, that's what we agreed it was.

One of my cousins and I also went on a day trip to see our Grandma - it was great to spend some time with her.

I also went to my first hens night! But that's another story =)

2. Coming home from the holidays
I'm not denying it, I loved my holiday. But coming home is always absolutely fabulous, get back into my normal routines and just being around familiar territory.

...Also it's not 38 degrees at home. Hehe.

3. Downton Abbey!
Yes, this so deserves a mention

I got hooked on this while on holiday - my cousin got seasons 1 and 2 for Christmas, so we had several evenings curled up on the couch with a drink watching this show. It's just so amazingly done, the characters are just amazing, and I like the fact that there aren't any minor characters, and it simply doesn't feel like any of the characters are left out.

Season two also made me so sad =(

4. Kitten d'Amour
This shop is amazing. It's got the most demure yet sexy vintage-esque clothing, which is successfully the most comfortable I have ever worn. Sad thing for my bank account is, it's expensive.

This is my new dress! ... Ok, it's not a great photo, but it's so much cuter in real life, and I just love how comfortable is is. I know I'm repeating myself there, but it's awesome how comfortable it is. Can't wait to wear it ^^

5. Girly days with Mum
I've been making an effort to spend more time with my mum - just because we live in the same house doesn't mean we spend much time together. So while we were on holiday, we went out for coffee, and tried "the best cappuccino on the coast".

I only realised I took a fuzzy photo after we got back... It was a pretty great cup of coffee, in my books. I just can't believe it came with a mint and a tiny teddy. Seriously.

All in all, I had a great Christmas, new years and holiday in general!
Until next time,

Oh Micky, you're so fine...

2012-01-18T22:06:00.002+10:00

One of my cousins is getting married soon (can't wait for the wedding!), so she decided that her hens night was going to be cheerleader-themed. To that I breathed a sigh of relief, what does one wear to a hens night that isn't themed?

I started by trying to find some inspiration for what to wear - I love waist high skirts, so I wanted to do one of those, but I couldn't find a cheerleader-ry reason to do that. All of the costumes I found were either really, really slutty, or too short, or even a dress (I didn't want to wear a dress...). Then, I ran across a photoshoot that Diana Agron did for GQ magazine:

Photo found at: famewatcher.com

Of course, I love this. It's super cute, while being (...if I lengthened the skirt) reasonably modest. I have shame, you know.

My idea was originally just to make the skirt, and buy a tank top while I was up there - I figured it would be pretty easy to find a purple or orange top... In hindsight, even over the post-Christmas sales... Bad idea. But I'm moving on.

I did my pleat research, I went to Spotlight and bought my purple fabric (I'm loving their bargain bench. It's still my weakness...), bias binding and other things for my upcoming projects. Seriously though, pleats are so difficult to do for the first time! With a lot of stress and general annoyance later (and the decision to only pleat the front of my skirt, so at no point during the night my ass would be exposed...), I decided to wait and ask for help from my aunt while I was on holidays.

Weeks later, I finished my skirt with a lot of help from my aunt. This, is the finishes result:

That's the back! You can see it's slightly uneven...

I felt like a giant blueberry. Or whatever the appropriate purple fruit is. A mulberry? Either way, it's not a part of this story. But what is, is one of my cousins then decided to tell me I was working with the colours of the Melbourne Storm team... Ah well.

So the next day, I went back to my aunt's, we went to Spotlight (not my usual one), and found the perfect fabric! and contrasting yellow fabric! (yes, even after being informed that I was using the colours of a football (it is a football team, right?) team I still wanted to use it) All in all, I've sewn with stretch for the first time (and look forward to doing it again), and produced the following uniform, which I'm super proud of.

My top!

That's my full costume! Must learn to get someone to take my sewing photos more often... Yes, I'm raising my arms in that photo, just to be clear, hehe.

As always, until next time,

PS: I totally want to update these photos sometime, my camera is ...let's go with not playing nicely much any more.

Welcoming the new year!

2012-01-11T22:45:00.001+10:00

Since I've been away on holidays, I'd scheduled posts for when I thought I'd be away, but turns out I was one week short! Ahh well. An extremely belated Christmas and happy new year to you and your families!

As a sort of way to welcome the new year, (and the fact I can't upload photos onto my borrowed iPad...) I thought I'd share some of my resolutions!I hate coming up with resolutions! Especially ones which I'll actually do... (tried the "eat better" and "actually do exercise" before...) So here are some of my resolutions for 2012!

1) sit my third grade music theory exam
I've been meaning to do this for years. I have the knowledge, I just need to sit the damn thing... So I intend to do that this year!

2) successfully post a blog entry, or have one scheduled every Wednesday
I really want to do this, because blogging keeps me crafting, which I do love! And hopefully this will help me with my next goal...

3) don't have a sewing / crafting project sitting around for more than two months
This, is my weakness. I find a pattern, purchase what I need to make it, get distracted, ignore the project for months on end, do a little bit, find another pattern, and the cycle repeats itself. I have way too many half fininshed projects, so I figure if i set myself a "time limit" I'll finish them! Fingers crossed!

4) Write an (age) before (age) list.
I've seen them around quite a bit in the blogs I read, they're like "30 things I want to achieve before I turn 30" (I'm not turning 30, as comfortable as I am blogging under my real name, I'll contently keep my age to myself =p) not sure whether to start now for this years birthday, or start for next years. (I'm thinking better late than never, might start for this years birthday!) The list seem like a great way to organise what I want to achieve, and (in theory) should act as a motivator! I hope so, anyway.

My "5 Things Sunday" feature should start back up on the 22nd of Jan, (I'm still on holidays this Sunday!) which I'm really looking forward to doing again this year!

Until next time,
-C

Review: Red Velvet's DIY Dress Up Course

2012-01-04T19:00:00.000+10:00

As you've probably figured out by now, a while ago I bought Red Velvet's DIY Dress Up course to practice my sewing skills and learn some new techniques. Since I'm away on holidays, it's time for me to review it!

I have just one thing to say about this:

I cannot recommend this course enough.

It has been possibly the most amazing thing that I've bought - I've learned so much from it. My sewing skills have improved, and it comes with projects that I'm actually happy to say I've made, and will actually wear. I cannot wait to keep posting the things I make through this course this year, it should be so exciting!

Until next time,
-C

Fruity Goodness!

2011-12-28T19:00:00.000+10:00

Welcome to the first of my pre-written Christmas post! I didn't want to leave with no posts (I do that way too often), so hopefully this works!

Early November, I was on a cooking spree. Red Velvet cupcakes, followed by my First Ever Fruitcake (yes, I do think that it deserves capitals, it's kind of an epic feat, hehe).

I love this fruitcake, it makes the kitchen smell of Christmas - mixed spices and dried fruit and whatnot, not to mention it's totally moist!

And for the first time in Coffee and Craft history (well, provided I haven't done this by the time this post ...posts itself), I'm actually posting the recipe!

Original Source: probably the back of some Sunbeam dried fruit package...

Light and Easy Boiled Fruit Cake

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 1 - 1 ¼ hours

375g Sunbeam Mixed Fruit
¾ cup soft brown sugar
1 teaspoon mixed spice
125g butter
1/2 cup sherry
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons marmalade
1 cup self raising flour
1 cup plain flour
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

Topping (Optional) (I didn't make the topping)

1/3 cup toasted muesli
chopped Sunbeam walnuts and cherries to decorate

Preheat oven to 150oC

1. Place the Sunbeam Mixed Fruit, sugar, spice, water and butter in a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer gently for 3 minutes, then remove and allow to cool. (I accidentally left it there for more than an hour - I have no idea if this helped at all, but it did end up really moist)

2. Add the sherry, eggs and marmalade. Fold in the sifted flours and soda, mixing well.

3. Place the mixture in a greased and lined 20cm round cake pan.

4. Bake in a slow oven for 1 - 1 1/4 hours or until cooked when tested (NB Cover loosely with a sheet of foil or brown paper if top of cake is over-browning during cooking).

Tip: For a crunchy topped cake, sprinkle over the muesli and decorate with a few walnuts and cherries before baking.

Merry Christmas!
-C

A book and macaroons and sketches, oh my!

2011-12-21T11:18:00.000+10:00

I adore making my books look prettier. This initially started all the way back in February when I made a "cosplay diary" (which is yet to be used... heh), and I was really looking forward to making another. This one was inspired by A Beautiful Mess post from ages ago (which I can't find...).

It was all about an inspiration book - something to sketch / write stuff down in. So I bought a sketch book. It was a plain old boring black A5 sketch book - really dull. I'd just gotten Wild Olive's Sweet Treats embroidery pattern, and the stack of macaroons pattern was just so adorable! And exactly what I wanted.

The top stitching was a convenient cuteness to hide my really wonky cutting. Seriously though, how adorable are those macaroons!

See, adorable!! I have to say, this is possibly my favorite way to decorate a book now, it was so easy to do (measured the height of my book, doubled it and added 2cm (which wasn't quite enough, but it still worked)) as well!

That's the inside of the book! I totally looked up my sewing machine's manual to find that stitch. Which works surprisingly well, I was impressed.

Until next time
-C

Before and After, Red to Floral

2011-12-14T15:54:00.000+10:00

I found this adorable little coin purse ages ago now, while clearing out my sewing drawerss (I have a few drawers where all my fabrics and things go). It had a really cute little necklace in it, which I've worn a few times, but I think the real score was this purse.

It's useful and all, considering my wallet isn't exactly coin friendly.

In all honesty, it could be so cute. I love the adorable gold clasps at the top, and the fact that it's pretty sturdy for being questionably old.

Since I made some homemade ModPodge yesterday, I decided to knuckle down and do something awesome - cover it in my favorite fabric. You know, the adorable scraps of fabric that hang around because they're big enough to be useful but small enough to be practically useless to most projects.

Now it looks so adorable! I'm actually really happy with how it turned out! Especially since I conveniently had some gold ribbon which looks cute with it.

...Ok, so the ribbon was because I cut the fabric a little too low. It still totally makes my coin purse look even cooler.

I couldn't figure out how to cover up the red bits near the clasp, I tried to get the ribbon to curve around but it didn't quite work. Pretty sure it's not too noticeable unless you're looking...

How adorable is that clasp? It's still shiny, sturdy and just wicked-cool looking.

And above is the requisite before / after shots!

Until next time,
-C

Posted to:

5 Things Sunday

2011-12-03T01:09:00.001+10:00

If this is the first time you've read it, 5 Things Sunday is a list of 5 things which have made my week awesome! I find that it's a great way to sum up the week and to look at all the fabulous things which happened, rather than just the really bad things ^^

1. Being a Teacher
I love being a piano teacher. I get to teach people about something that I love, it's just so rewarding and a fabulous job. Sometimes, at the end of the year, my students give me Christmas presents; it's mostly chocolate, but still.

It's chocolate! ...Cadbury's Roses are just so tasty as well...

2. Parties!
Well, party. I was apprehensive about going for the sole reason I was pretty sure I knew noone except for the host. Turns out it was a lot of fun, and I'm actually looking forward to going out and catching up with people next time, rather than "sleeping in" and avoiding it. Lesson learned!

3. The Darkmoon Fair!
I'm talking about World of Warcraft here. Just to clarify. Hehe.

It's been revamped in the latest patch and is totally awesome and kickass! Yes, mini games amuse me. Plus an accidental team of dancing bears at the Tauren Chieftans concert is also highly amusing.

I wasn't kidding. It was a lot of fun. (I'm the bear in the center of the screenshot)

4. Results time!
Ok, so I generally hate this time of semester - the waiting to see if I've actually passed my subjects for the semester. This time was no exception. But... I PASSED! I was so excited that I'd passed one of my subjects in particular, that I may have started crying. It was such a relief to pass, it meant that my degree wouldn't have another extra year added on. Now to figure out what to do with the first semester of next year...

5. Date Night
I love my boyfriend and all, but we don't have "date nights" very often - it's just as easy (and infinetly cheaper, for two broke uni students) to hang out at home. So when we decide to do a date night, it's generally awesome. And we generally end up scrapping those plans (this time, much to my disappointment) and doing something else. This time, instead of doing dinner and a movie, we bought some fish and chips and sat (in the car, it was 9pm at night) by the river, chatting about everything and nothing.

It was really nice.

Until next time,
-C

Sunday's 5 Things!

2011-11-26T20:51:00.001+10:00

If this is the first time you've read it, 5 Things Sunday is a list of 5 things which have made my week awesome! I find that it's a great way to sum up the week and to look at all the fabulous things which happened, rather than just the really bad things ^^

1. Black Friday Sales
Being in Australia, my local stores don't have these sales, however my favorite online ones totally do! I've got a cute jacket from Ruche on the way, plus my first purchases from ModCloth! (Two adorable dresses!) I can't wait to receive them in the mail!!

2. Thanksgiving
On some blog which I can't remember earlier this week, they were talking about thinking of 10 things from that day you were thankful for. Oddly enough, this is a really fabulous way to end a day, and in all honesty, even though some days it has been hard, it's been a really good way to relax. I can't wait to keep doing it, especially on those days that just suck.

3. Chuck

For the last fortnight, Chuck has been my show of choice while playing WoW, and it totally is fabulous. It's a hilarious spy TV show, involving some rather impressive ninja-ing (...yes, that is a word), something called the "intersect" and I'm currently watching a set of episodes with Timothy Dalton in it (and I should have mentioned, it's totally awesome). Yes, I'm extremely excited.

4. Crackle Polish!

I love me some crackle polish. Especially with the white and red combo, it makes me feel so Christmassy! Also it makes me look like I've put a lot more time into my manicure than I actually have. Yes, I'm lazy. Seriously though, this stuff is so hard to apply. Which is a total shame (sarcasm intended.)

5. Being Well Prepared for Christmas
Presents? Parents, check. Bro, check. Secret Santa, not check, but I know what I'm getting. Boyfriend, not check, but we're not "doing" Christmas until he gets back from his family holiday, so more time for me to find something.
Copious amounts of embroidery and cross stitching for the road trip? Of course. I have some Wild Olive patterns (which I'm so excited to use), a few My Little Pony cross stitches to work on.

I love this prepared-ness. It's fabulous.

As always,
Until next time,
-C

It's a Christmas-sy Time of Year

2011-11-24T18:53:00.000+10:00

I love Christmas. Giving gifts to other people is such a fabulous feeling, especially when the gift-ee likes the present. For the past 2 years, I've taken to giving my students a bag of lollies with a small gift in little bags. The first year I made little paper bags with named baubles (which I showed off in one of my first posts!!), last year... I can't actually remember! I think it was giant fluffy pens (...yeah, I was out of ideas.)

This year, I'm so excited as to what I'm giving them.

I actually made bags, and practiced my embroidery skills by embroidering their names. Thankfully I only have a few students, so it really didn't take too long. I used Wild Olive's coffee bag tutorial as inspiration for this project!

I intend to fill them with lollies, like usual, which means I get to eat the leftovers, hehe.

Thanks to this project, my embroidery skills have improved, but I can't say the same for my ability to sew in straight lines... I'll get the hang of it eventually, I swear! Hehe.

I also used green thread! In all honesty, I prefer the green thread embroidery, it looks so much better in my opinion. However, I am also loving the ribbon! ...Mainly because it involves polka dots, my all time favorite pattern.

What I'm also including for my female students, is some little (matching, of course) hair bows! My male students get extra lollies, or so I'm planning.

I actually made little wrappers to go with it (where the white lace is), but as it turns out, they were way too tiny to actually put around the bows... I can't even remember what I originally got this lace for it's been so long...

All in all, I'm looking forward to handing these over to my students in 2 weeks!

...and eating the leftover lollies.

Until next time,
-C

The Day of 5 Things

2011-11-20T11:41:00.001+10:00

1. Going Out

I don't go out with my friends much - I mean, we hang out at uni (for my uni friends), and we hang out at each other's places (my school friends), but I haven't gone out in a while. Hence why yesterday was 5-Thing worth.

It was a friend's birthday, so we went out to lunch with his family (which was paid for! Omg!), followed by (a few hours later of course) dinner at a restaurant called Amici's! Got to meet a whole bunch of really nice people, most of whom I knew their names because I'd been told stories about them, and eat a rather delicious meal. Here in the story I bailed from the group (couldn't figure out what I'd do all night at the games lab at uni, so I figured it best to bail), and caught a train home with 2 friends.

...I'm totally sticking to my personal rule of never ever catching the train home alone late at night. It's so creepy.

2. Practically finishing Christmas Shopping

Yeah that's right. Half way through November and I'm practically finished. (Yes, that is totally something to boast about) I've done my immediate family, just got my boyfriend (who is impossible to buy for) and my Secret Santa extended-family gift. Woo.

3. Discovering Markets

At work I had a student tell me that there was a random pop-up market just around the corner (literally) from work. I can't believe I hadn't noticed it before! It's tiny, adorable and smells delicious. Plus the people seem to be really nice (one guy commented on my tea-cup ring, I thought he meant my travel mug. Duh. Hehe), and the stuff there is just cute. I can't wait to keep going to see other exciting stuff that happens there ^^

4. Bagels!

When going to the city on a Saturday morning, my breakfast of choice is a plain bagel and cream cheese. So when I managed to locate some (at long last) plain bagels, that totally made my week. Since that was ages ago, the reason for the inclusion is this: instead of having to traipse half an hour away to get me some bagels, I actually (finally) located them at a store near me! Wooooo!

5. I don't know where I found this, but I thought I'd share it anyway...

Especially this week, this was a nice reminder.

Until next time,

-C

Happy Sunday - For 'tis the 5 Things Day

2011-11-12T12:31:00.000+10:00

1. Being known as a regular at my local coffee shop

Every Tuesday, I will (pretty much) always stop at the Gloria Jeans that's near my work for a drink of some form. It's always the same staff working there (there's only been one exception to that rule, but that's not a part of this story), so they've gotten used to me popping over for my coffee and a chat before I go to work!

This week, was totally awesome. It being a melt-y hot day, I went with one of my favorite chillers - the Tim Tam chiller (so. very. delicious). I was the only one there... so I got offered my choice of toppings - I could have anything I wanted!

...So I went with rainbow sprinkles and caramel sauce.

It was so delicious.

(also, apologies for the dodgy-ness of the photo, my phone camera isn't that great...)

2. World of Warcraft
Her name is Caytie, and she is my second 85 character ever! She's a Draenai Hunter.

...and I still don't have a name for my cat...

3. Actually Exercising =3
It's the one thing which I've been meaning to do, but I've always had excuses why not to - most involve three letters - cbf. That, and for the last couple of weeks, omg, it's too hot. For the last few days, I've actually been going out for walks/ jogs! I totally want to take my camera for the next time, there's a really photogenic area where I go for walks (can an area really be described as photogenic? Anyway, it's really pretty), so I figured it could be fun to practice my photography while exercising!

4. Getting a new book!!
Last Saturday, The Sending was launched in Brisbane. On Monday, despite having pre-ordered it on The Book Depository, I bought the book.

I'M SO EXCITED. It's such a good book, and totally has made my week amazing. I know I've recommended this series before, but it's amazing.

The Obernewtyn Chronicles - Isobelle Carmody. Read them. Hehe.

5. Spotlight's Bargain Bench
Every time I go to Spotlight (my local craft store, where I get pretty much all my fabric from), I always make a beeline straight for the bargain bench. It's a giant table with 2 levels, containing a tonne of different fabrics under $5 a metre. I've gotten some shantung from there before, but my favorite one from my trip this week was totally my pj silk for $3 a metre. It's white with the cutest bows, and I have a great idea for how to use it. Well, for pj's, obviously, but that's not my point, hehe.

Until next time,
-C

5 Things Sunday, Summer Style =3

2011-11-06T23:35:00.003+10:00

If this is the first time you've read it, 5 Things Sunday is a list of 5 things which have made my week awesome! I find that it's a great way to sum up the week and to look at all the fabulous things which happened, rather than just the really bad things ^^

I'm also thinking of changing the name to "Six Things Sunday" because it's a little bit catchier... Opinions? Hehe.

1. This Weather!
I know I've blogged about the weather at the moment before, but this is some seriously amazing Spring weather. Toasty warm during the day, and still cold enough to snuggle in bed with a cat and a blanket at night. Might have to break out my new swimsuit sometime (I'm so excited, it's so cute!)

2. Finding That Bargain
You know the one. The one that's so impressive that you can't help but brag. This is mine. I went shopping with my mum yesterday (procrasta-shopping for me and retail therapy for her), and discovered...

This! A 6 pack of wine glasses for $15! I've been adding to my moving out stash for quite a while, and I'm excited to add these to it. That, and I located possibly the cutest retro-esque dress I own.

3. ...Facebook games
I've been playing way too many this week... Therefore it totally has to make the list. Which is kind of depressing... Heh.

4. GLITTER POLISH
...yes. Glitter polish is so awesome it deserves capital letters.

Ssh, I know this is a craft blog, but I'm loving mah glitter polish manicure ^^ Glitter polish made a really crappy manicure turn out kinda shiny and great. I've noticed glitter polish tends to do that... That and it's... shiny.

(Oh, if you're interested, I'm wearing my favorite pink nail polish, Bubblicious by Maybelline (Mini Colorrama series), plus Model Perfect's Rock 'n' Roll purple polish on my tips (conveniently my favorite purple), and fiiiinally the glitter - Glitterati by Kink)

5. Revisiting the old hobbies
Lately I've been revisiting those hobbies I've neglected to do - sewing, cross stitch and baking. You never realise how much you miss something until it comes back (when it's gone too, but in this case, when I started it again I realised this. Moving on.), so since I've started actually doing the stuff I enjoy again, it's fabulous.

And I totally have the greatest ideas to actually do - and actually intend to do. I'm so excited.

That, and lately there's been some significant plans which involve geeky house-wares. Which I have some great ideas for. Which also involve me practice sewing techniques and trying new ones. ...Wow I said "which" a lot. Moving on.

As always, until next time,
-C

As bright as bright can be

2011-11-02T22:14:00.000+10:00

Until last Saturday (the 29th), I had never tried a Red Velvet cupcake.

I'm deprived, I know.

So I bit the bullet on Saturday, and actually made them. I used a recipe I remember seeing on Not Quite Nigella ages back now, so I searched for the recipe and... (cue dramatic music) made lots of delicious cupcakes.

The recipe made 25 cupcakes the first time, which taught me a valuable lesson:
When making cream cheese frosting, don't purchase spreadable cream cheese. The icing is tasty, but doesn't quite work.

As you can see by the cupcake above, and the ones below.

Though they were delicious, the icing didn't look that cool. Still. My mum named these the "happy cupcakes" because they're, well, bright red. That, and for some reason they make you kinda happy to eat. Not sure why.

In an effort to get the frosting right, I made another batch of cupcakes today. This time, I managed to make 27 cupcakes. Another lesson I learned today was to make extra icing - I had 3 cupcakes without icing because I ran out... The first photo is of a cupcake from today. I got to use a piping bag for the first time today! It was exciting, but then I managed to get icing all over my fingers (the only responsible thing to do was to lick them. Yum. Hehe), so I'm looking forward to trying again!

This was such an easy recipe, I'm really looking forward to making them again!!

It's totally evident where I gave up and just started randomly squiggling the icing on... Hehe.

Until next time,
-C

P.S. This week's title is from a Vegemite commercial from when I was a kid! I can't actually find the one I grew up with... This is as close as I could find, but you get the idea. ...I'm an Aussie and I actually hate Vegemite, hehe.

5 Things Sunday

2011-10-30T20:26:00.001+10:00

If this is the first time you've read it, 5 Things Sunday is a list of 5 things which have made my week awesome! I find that it's a great way to sum up the week and to look at all the fabulous things which happened, rather than just the really bad things ^^

Back to blogging this week, I missed it! My Grandad passed away on Sunday, so we (my family and I) travelled to the funeral. RIP Grandad, you will be missed.

1. Seeing Family
...and meeting family who I haven't seen before. Granted, it wasn't the best reason to see them (being at a funeral / wake and all), but it was kinda nice to see everyone again. That, and I learned that my family have a kickass family crest.

2. Red Velvet cupcakes!

If you've been following my Twitter, then you'd know that I made red velvet cupcakes for the first time yesterday! I feel so deprived that I haven't made them before, they're so delicious. ...and addictive. Damn summer, please take your time, I need to get into shape...

On a almost completely unrelated note, anyone know some fun ways to exercise? Hehe.

3. Red Velvet's DIY Dress Up Course

I bought the course ages and ages back now, but never actually found the time to start it. Look what I made last night! *so proud* Actually, I'm more impressed with the course than with my bow-making skills. It's pretty awesome, and I can't wait to improve my sewing skills through it, and after I post this I'm going to put my great idea for those bows into action.

4. End of Semester
It's officially the end of the uni year for me! Better than that, I think I've passed all of my units! Which is pretty fabulous, especially since if I fail one of them again (I failed it last year), my entire degree gets put back another year, again. Which really isn't fabulous. Fingers crossed I can pass my exam!!

5. Getting Stuff in the Mail
I love receiving packages. And letters. I don't know why, it's so much more satisfying than getting emails. Probably why I love online shopping. Receiving the two rings below (from Etsy), plus a necklace and my Asos order in a span of 2 days was pretty awesome. Hehe.

Looking foward to the next week!
Until next time,
-C

10 Points to Gryffindor

2011-10-19T22:24:00.004+10:00

Initially, I intended to make this scarf for the Deathly Hallows Part 2 screening I went to with my friends. But, considering I'm a very distract-able person, it never ended up happening. When I felt like finishing it the other day, I took advantage of that motivation, and started working on it.

So here it is, my completed Gryffindor scarf! I did want to do Hufflepuff instead of Gryffindor, but I couldn't find black polar fleece... /sigh. I'm actually quite proud of it, it's really warm and snuggly. It's made out of strips (yeah. No joke here.) of polar fleece, sewn together with "straight" stitching. After all of that, I still can't stitch straight...

It was a pain to put together, all these teenie tiny little strips of fabric needing to be sewn together, but I'm actually pretty impressed with how it turned out - annoying to construct or not.

So if you were going to make one like I did, my strips were around 2x10cm for the skinny stripes, and 10x10 for the larger colour blocks. If I find my actual measurements, I'll be sure to post them up if / when I find them.

Oh! It ended up being around 170cm, which is a pretty good length for a scarf, in my opinion.

--

My WIP for this week (yep, I have a WIP, I've been stitching =3), is

Still got a lot of stitching to go, I'll tell what it is when I get closer to finishing, kudos if you can guess what it is before then. Hehe.

Until next time,
-C

Edit (04/11/11): Ah ha! I found my "pattern" (aka pretty coloured diagram...apologies for the dodgy photo, it's 1:30am =P)

So I used blocks of colour, one 7cm (2.8 inches, apparently) large colour block, and three 1.5cm (0.6 inches) for the smaller strips. Ssh, I know the right hand says red and black instead of gold, I have no idea what I was thinking... Hehe. The minimum at Spotlight was 10cm (3.9inches), and I believe I got 20cm (7.9in) x whatever length the fabric was. I did end up with heaps of yellow spare.

Before I forget, I sewed as close as possible to the join, so I don't have a measurement for that...

Anyway,
Good... night?
-C

5 Things Sunday =3

2011-10-16T22:39:00.001+10:00

If this is the first time you've read it, 5 Things Sunday is a list of 5 things which have made my week awesome! I find that it's a great way to sum up the week and to look at all the fabulous things which happened, rather than just the really bad things ^^

Also, I feel bad for missing all of last week! It's been a rather long week, a major family thing and my final assignment stopped me from blogging for a bit! I'm back though, I genuinely missed it, so hopefully I can present you all with some awesome stuff this week =3

1. Asos Australia
I first heard of the Australian version of Asos from Sydney Shop Girl, so I've been browsing for the last week... Then, sadly for my bank account, but fabulously for my (admittedly rather empty) wardrobe, there was a 50% off sale. So I got some adorable clothes which are totally in the mail, and I'm so excited to receive it soon!!!

2. Retiring an accessory and rediscovering it at a convenient moment
...Then realising exactly why you retired it in the first place.

A few years ago I got this adorable Guess bag and at the time I had the matching wallet. Last night, I needed a small bag which wasn't red (the only small bag I have is a red one, and I'm totally not a fan of matching a red bag with a pink dress), and my mum suggested this Guess bag. Granted, it looked adorable with my outfit, but... When your wallet, keys and phone don't fit in a bag, then back to retirement it goes... Hehe.

3. I got a fringe!

Ok, I have always had one in some form. Giant forehead and all, I don't look fabulous without one, hehe. For the last few years I've had a side fringe (which on bad hair days looked exactly like an emo fringe over one eye...), but the other day I got a full fringe and I'm so excited about it ^^ (Ok, so the photo isn't fabulous, but hey, it was the best one I got, hehe)

4. A "Pet" Plant!

I've been meaning to get a plant for a while, as a sort of intensive to get me outside more often. It would've worked, except for the awful weather we've had up here over the past few days. It's a gerbera, who I decided to name George. Because I like naming things. It looks really cute in its blue pot as well!

5. Thursday Night TV
Thursday night has officially been labelled "Mother Daughter Bonding Night" where we watch (and comment on, of course) Four Weddings and Beauty and the Geek. It's a lot of fun!

Woo! It was hard to pick just five things, it's been a pretty good week ^^
Until next time,
-C

Summer Flowers...

2011-10-07T23:14:00.001+10:00

As much as I am still working on the photo challenge, I've missed enough from this week to postpone my photos for the challenge. That, is the end of my excuses. So I thought I'd show off some of my favorite photos from the challenge - day 14, flowers. It's nice to see brightly coloured flowers after a dull, grey day like today.

This one is probably my favorite, I so love the bright purple contrasting with the brown of the dirt is just awesome =D

Until next time...
-C

Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair

2011-10-06T00:05:00.001+10:00

Ages (and I mean ages) back I bought a pack of 6 hair combs, to make a mini top hat. Which I'm pretty sure I've posted here, but it doesn't come into this story. Moving on. I've been meaning to make some more using the others, but I never actually did until tonight. All for the sake of a blog post. Hehe. Totally a good thing though, it's about time I started to do something with them.

For the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 2 I made my Griffindor bow, and now, I have 3 more combs! Four down, two to go.

My first bow is this adorable white / orange / purple one! I think this is my favorite, I love the little polka dots and the colours! I'm not sure why I'm such a fan of purple and orange as combination, but it's so adorable!

The next slide is...

This cute little flower one! I haven't tried it on yet, but it's still so cute, the flowers are just so tiny! Which is really nice, I don't usually like giant flowers on my head.

But yes, still so cute ^^

And finally...

This monster of a hair comb! Um, yeah, it's seriously massive, no joke.

The photo above is one I used for my 30 day photo challenge, just to demonstrate just how huge it actually is! So over a ponytail is totally my favorite way to wear this one.

As I said before, four down, two to go. Can't wait to do the other two!

So as always,

Until next time,

-C

5 Things Sunday ^^

2011-10-02T22:03:00.000+10:00

If this is the first time you've read it, 5 Things Sunday is a list of 5 things which have made my week awesome! I find that it's a great way to sum up the week and to look at all the fabulous things which happened, rather than just the really bad things ^^

1. Sales at Spotlight
They had a huge table all priced at $5 (AUD) and under per metre. That, in my honest opinion, is just purely awesome.

This is my stash, cotton and some shantung - so I can't wait to grab the time to use it!! (Got a couple of patterns which I'm excited to try!)

2. Psych

Ok, so pretty much every week I'm recommending a different TV show. This week it's Psych, about a highly observant guy (the one on the right in the pic above) claiming to be psychic, and working for the Santa Barbara police department as a "psychic consultant". It's a fabulously relaxing, hilarious show to watch ^^

3. Midsemester Break!
Wooooo! As much as I didn't really need the break as such (it's been a really easy semester), it was nice not to have to travel to and from uni, because it does get to be a pain travelling on public transport. Besides, it totally means I can stay up later and sleep in later, hehe.

4. Extra Ordinary Comics
I've been following these comics for ages now, and this week they're just getting cuter. Seriously, the cat has eyebrows! Everything about it is just so adorable, and this week's comic is just so true ^^

5. My Kitty
My baby ginger (aka Jesse, who I've posted about ages back now) cat had to go in for an operation this week, and I'm just so grateful he came out of it alright ^^ Granted, it was just for a teeth cleaning, but he's not exactly a spring kitten anymore, so I was worried about the poor thing. He's still adorably annoying as always, which is pure awesomeness.

Until next time,
-C

30 Day Photo Challenge - Days 15-21

2011-09-30T19:44:00.001+10:00

Day 15: My Shoes

How adorable are these?!? They're my birthday shoes from my parents, got them from Ruche. They're so comfortable!

Day 16: What I Ate

I actually forgot to take this photo on the day, and it's kinda hard to take a photo of what I ate at 7:40pm =P So here's a photo of my delicious mango Weis bar =P

Day 17: On the Shelf

Yes, I'm a fan of Jeffery Deaver. Hehe.

Day 18: In My Bag

So we have (from clockwise) my coin purse for parking (the one which I found my new necklace in), my wallet, diary, train timetable, book for random notes, cute happy cloud mirror by Shana Logic, Rimmel London gloss (which works really nicely, I highly recommend that), mints, tissues, a pen, stickers, my USB and under all that, one of my books for one of my subjects.

Day 19: Where I slept

With my adorable horse polar fleece blanket. It's old but so damn cozy ^^

Day 20: What I Read

Such a fabulous book, can't wait until the final book comes out /squee

(It's this one)

Day 21: Pretty Pattern

This is the pattern on my Janet Evanovich box set, I fell in love with this gorgeous stripey pattern since I saw it, it's just so bright and happy!

So until next time,

-C

5 Things Sunday

2011-09-26T13:59:00.000+10:00

If this is the first time you've read it, 5 Things Sunday is a list of 5 things which have made my week awesome! I find that it's a great way to sum up the week and to look at all the fabulous things which happened, rather than just the really bad things ^^

1. Recieving Packages in the Mail
I looooooove getting mail!! Especially when it's something I've been looking forward to. Like my books from The Book Depository. And my dress from Ruche. This is why I love online shopping. hehe.

2. Chain Rxn
It's such a fun game! It involves blowing up brightly coloured balls. It's really fun ^^

3. Cotton On Charity Bracelets!

I did get two, but I broke one... They're so comfy and adorable! (and $1 each.) I have skin which tends to destroy cute jewelry after a few wears in summer, which is such a pain! So now I have an adorable bracelet with a treble clef on it ^^

4. Questionable Content
I've been reading for years, but I thought I'd share because it's just awesome! Um, just to clarify, it's a webcomic... Hehe.

5. Surprise Late Birthday Presents!
I got this a few weeks ago, but keep forgetting to share! This was a birthday present from my aunt, and I squee'd so loudly when I got it, it was exactly what I wanted, and more!

Since my ear piercings are only a year or so old (long story, pretty sure I posted about it once =P), I had no idea how to store earrings other than in a draw in my jewelry cabinet (which this is sitting on), which lead me to tangled earrings. Which was annoying.

But yay!

So cute!

Until next time,
-C

Deliciousness in a Mug

2011-09-21T15:15:00.000+10:00

Chocolate cravings are bad when there isn't any chocolate in the cupboard. Well, as much as choc chips count, sometimes they just aren't enough. To make this story relevant, ages back I read a post from Not Quite Nigella (a seriously amazing food blog, with great photos, recipes and restaurants) with a 5 minute chocolate mug cake.

Oh it is so delicious.

The recipe says to serve with icecream, but my laziness and a lack of icecream said no. Hehe. Seriously though, it's amazingly easy to make and is so tasty...

It does make two, which is great. But it is so delicious that if you don't share... That's totally understandable. hehe.

This photo is my combining the two serves into one giant mug. I microwaved it for 3mins on medium, which worked really well, but I should've kept my eye on it, as it...

Kinda exploded in a delicious chocolate volcano.

The recipe calls for chocolate flakes, but I used white chocolate bits instead - still was absolutely delicious, especially since the choc bits melted a little bit. So. Good.

However, really make sure you mix it all up like really, really well, otherwise you'll end up with a really gross lumpy cake like I have twice, and yeah. It isn't tasty at all.

Five Minute Chocolate Mug Cake by Not Quite Nigella

It's delicious.

Lots of chocolatty goodness,
Until next time,
-C

10 Things Tuesday?

2011-09-21T00:56:00.002+10:00

If this is the first time you've read it, 5 Things Sunday is a list of 5 things which have made my week awesome! I find that it's a great way to sum up the week and to look at all the fabulous things which happened, rather than just the really bad things ^^

Um, yeah. Considering I haven't done a 5 Things Sunday for the last 2 weeks, here's a 10 Things Tuesday! ('cause you know, today's Tuesday and all)

1. The Most Unphotogenic Chocolate Cake Ever.
I'll be blogging about this chocolate cake on Wednesday, so no photo today =P It's a 5 minute chocolate mug cake by Not Quite Nigella, and it is the most delicious 5 minute cake (no joke) ever. So. So. Good. And only 5 minutes away in the microwave! Ahh you delicious cake, how will be bad for my thighs...

Warning though, don't cook it for too long, otherwise you'll have a cake which ends up looking like this... (it was way more impressive before I ran to get my camera hehe). My brother called it a chocolate volcano...

2. The Office.

This proves to be one of the very few shows which genuinely make me laugh out loud. It's awesome.

3.This Weather!!
It's spring here in Australia, and... it seems like we've skipped straight to summer, the weather's just stunning, blue skies, few clouds and a little bit of wind, perfect weather!

...well, except for the smoke that's hanging around because of random fires, but hey, it's still awesome.

4. The Amount of New TV Series Coming Out this Month!
Oh, my, God I am so excited. New How I Met Your Mother, Community, My Little Pony, not to mention new Doctor Who episodes... *squee*

5. Mi Goring
Oh this stuff is so good... Except it sets my mouth on fire.

Oh well, it's delicious ^^

6. Cotton On Oversized T-Shirts
These are so comfy!! They had 2 for $30 and it made me so happy, they're so comfy and look so cute!! I've got a blue and black stripey one, a bright pink and orange stripy one and a plain pink one now =D

7. In the Hall of the Mountain King
Possibly one of my favorite classical songs, ever.

<p>&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;If you have't &amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;</p>

If you haven't heard this song, you need to listen to it, like now. It's by Edvard Grieg, from the Peer Gynt Suite, it's totally amazing.

8. World of Warcraft
Yeah, I've started playing again. I'm playing a Gnome Warrior named Rosalynd on the Caelestrasz. She's adorable! ...and it's kinda funny to see a random Gnome charging out from the middle of nowhere ^^ So if you play on that server, come say hi!!

9. The Sims on Facebook
I've never played The Sims before, but this proves to be really amusing! I think I have to try the actual game now... Hm.

10. My Job!
Corney but true, I genuinely love my job. It's so much fun to teach piano, it's something I'm really passionate about and it's just amazing to pass on what I know to other people!

Until next time,
-C

Photo Friday - Days 8-14

2011-09-16T22:22:00.000+10:00

Day 8: Technology

I don't think that I realised how filthy my keyboard was until I took this photo...


Day 9: Faceless Self Portrait

For my entire life, I've been around music and been playing the piano. So a photo like this pretty much sums me up!


Day 10: Something I made

I am loving this! It's a little fake flower hair slide! I'll post about it soon.

Day 11: Something Fun

Yes, I find driving fun. It's really relaxing and going fast is awesome ^^


Day 12: Close up

Dad's cute mini capsicum! It's so adorable.

Day 13: From a Distance

This is possibly one of my favorite views from campus, it's so gorgeous!


Day 14: Flowers

I saw these and thought they were so gorgeous!! Loving the bright pink!

Until next time,

-C

Picture Book Crazyness

2011-09-14T19:35:00.000+10:00

I had to write and illustrate a picture book, get this, for assessment! The whole idea was to give us an idea that we could use in the classroom.

...It's harder than I thought it'd be to write one.

It had to be on a social justice issue, so I did (after much deliberation because I'm not exactly a knowledgeable person about this topic) it about a girl (named Sally) with two mums.

She gets bullied at school because she has two mums, so by the end of the book she ignores the bullies, tells her teacher and really makes piece that she doesn't have a dad.

I'm totally not an artist, in case you didn't notice, hehe.

Anyways,
Until next time,
-C

A Belated 5 Things Sunday

2011-09-05T22:28:00.000+10:00

It's been a long, long week... Hence why this is late =P Next week I should be back into the swing of things! =3

1. The Obernewtyn Chronicles

I think this is my favorite series ever. It's totally awesome, and the final book is coming out in November! So excited for that. It's a post-apocalyptical fantasy, where those with "special abilities" (such as talking to animals and telekinesis) are exiled or burnt at the stake for having them. It's Harry Potter-esque in the way that the books start as an easy read, and the later ones are designed for older-ish readers. It's fabulous! If you haven't read these books, you should!! (Be warned though, the last book is... massive).

2. The feeling after handing in an assignment...
Yeah. Since week 2 (it's currently week 6 in my uni calendar), I've had an assignment due every week - a presentation and assignments). So the feeling that it's all over for two weeks is totally fabulous! I might be able to do some crafting! YAY!

3. Angry Birds
Oh. So. Addictive. <3

4. Facebook games
I've been playing Pioneer Trail (formally Frontierville) and MafiaWars, and I can't figure out why they're so amusing... Hehe...

5. Driving.
Last week I drove a lot. When I say a lot, I mean a lot. Just to be clear. Hehe. I find it seriously relaxing - the simple motions of changing gears etc is seriously relaxing!

...And going fast is fun.

Until next time,
-C

Photo Friday! 30 day challenge! (1-7)

2011-09-02T13:29:00.000+10:00

Finally, I know... Day one's missing (though I did take a self portrait) because I don't want to post my photo on the internet! Heh.

Day Two: What I Wore

Day Three: Clouds


Day Four: Favorite Colour

Yes, nothing beats the colour of a freshly made latte when you really want one!

Day Five: Someone I love

His name is Moses! He may be a bit of a poser... Hehe

Day 6: Childhood Memory

This is Brownie - he's my oldest and most favorite teddy bear ever! I got him the day after I was born, and my Nan made clothes for him (like the shirt he's currently wearing!).

Day 7: Something New

I recently found this necklace in a small purse in my craft ...spot. So although it is kinda old (original owner: unknown. How long it's been sitting in my craft stuff: unknown), it's a fabulous new addition to my wardrobe!

Can't wait to keep doing this! So far (although I've been behind... hehe) it's been fun!

Until next time,

-C

5 Things Sunday

2011-08-28T18:20:00.000+10:00

1. Doctor Who

I am loving this show! Well, I've loved it for ages, I grew up watching the first series in black and white in the evenings with my dad. It's so exciting to watch new episodes as they come out, and so far this season is just awesome =3

2. Origami Boxes!
Friday, I needed 2 boxes for an assignment, (no joke...) so I learned how to make origami boxes! ...and got a little addicted.

Those are made out of post it notes! The triple coloured one is made out of 9 skinny post its glued / stuck together, so it's really, really tiny. Hence the 20c piece in the first photo, and I just realised that that probably isn't a good size reference for those who don't know how big they are... hehe.

3. Braids!
My current go-to hair style. Takes a short amount of time on the train, and looks adorable ^^. I blame The Beauty Department for having such cute braid how-to's, hehe.

4. Being Human

It's a somewhat new show, and it's actually really good. It's about a werewolf, a vampire and a ghost all living in the same house. ...Wow, typing that out makes it sound really corny, but it's fabulous.

5. Etsy
Oh, I have wasted way too much time here lately. Oh Etsy, you and your addictiveness. It's so distracting.

Until next time, hopefully before next Sunday,
-C

5 Things Sunday!

2011-08-21T18:13:00.001+10:00

1. Double Coat TimTams.
Best. Chocolate. Biscuit. Ever. I would've taken a photo... but yeah. I ate them.

Seriously though, they're fabulous, and that and giant mugs of tea were the things that got me through my assignments this week ^^ (that, and the cat leaving a gecko head in a pile of vomit on my bed. Ew.)

2. The Mana Bar!
I went on Saturday with my boyfriend and a friend for the 2nd time, and it was awesome! I think it's best to get there early, otherwise it's just too crowded. Basically what it is, is a bar with video games! The Ocarina of Lime is delicious...

3. Sleeping in late with rainy weather
Alright, this one was this morning, but it was fabulous - warm, cozy bed, rain pattering on the roof and a cute (although occasionally annoying) cat on the bed = a perfect Sunday morning.

4. My Little Pony Cross Stitch Patterns!
I've previously mentioned that I do love the My Little Pony Friendship is Magic series, so when I found these patterns, I fell in love!

and

How could you not love them though? You should totally go check them out, they're awesome!!

5. Learning random new words
You know the ones, which are just so obscure that they're just plain awesome. My lecturer mentioned one such word, just offhand, in one of my lectures this week:
interrobang.
That's right. Interrobang is an actual word. it's the word for "?!" believe it or not. I think it's awesome.

Can't wait until next week, hopefully I actually have time to post what I've been making/ photographing ('cause I've totally been keeping up to date with the 30 day photo challenge... /shifty eyes)

Until then,
Keep crafting!
-C

PS

5 Things Sunday

2011-08-14T22:58:00.000+10:00

1. Revisiting Old Hobbies
I've been sewing again lately (as I might have mentioned =P), so I'm so excited to keep doing more and making a lot more clothes for my wardrobe!

Seriously though, does anyone know any hints / tricks to install zips? That's all I've got left to do in my dress and I'm failing badly lol...

2. Mad Men

Never mind the story, the fashion in here is amazing. I kid about the story, you need to watch it if you haven't already, it's absolutely amazing. Though I'm not kidding, the fashion is just stunning, makes me want to whip up a circle skirt and go dancing!

3. Getting a new monitor!

A few weeks ago, my desktop monitor died! Thankfully, I did have my laptop, but still, I much prefer using a desktop. Either way, it's fabulous to be working at a desktop and a larger screen too!

4. Ekka Holidays!!
I have no plans to go to the Ekka (the Brisbane Exhibition) this year, so this week coming I'm being just so grateful to have an extra 2 days in the week to catch up on uni readings and work on my assignments...

5. Spending time with my Grandparents
I've mentioned my Nan before, and her amazing sewing skills. I got to spend most of my Friday hanging out with her and my Granddad making my dress! It was just awesome being able to spend time with them!

Until next time,
-C

P.S. I'm trying to do the 30 days of photos, I'll post them up on Twitter day by day but do a weekly summary on Friday =D

5 Things Sunday =D

2011-08-07T23:03:00.000+10:00

1. (Don't laugh...) 5 Things Sunday
No, I'm not running out of ideas, I genuinly love doing these posts, it's such a great way to look back on the week and go "Hey, this week was actually pretty awesome" even if stuff went wrong.

2. This 30 Day Photo Challenge
I discovered this yesterday, and I'm so so so so excited about starting it!!

Here's the button...

And no, I don't really want to post my self-portrait shot on my blog (unless it's fairly anonymous-like...), I'd like to stay fairly anonymous =P. Instead of posting daily (with my life in its current state would be difficult), I think I'll do a weekly round-up of my photos on Fridays)! /happy squee, more blogging!

Oh! Here's the list!

And credit for the challenge goes to Sherry of Oh So Lovely!

3.Twitter. Yeah.

I got me a Twitter account. It's actually really amusing so far... For now... Heh...

4. My Little Pony

It's so. very. cute. I challenge you to watch the first episode on YouTube and not find it adorable =P It's one children's show that doesn't want to make you scratch your eyes out. I can't explain why I like it though... Hmm. (That, and I'm catching references (*cough* intertextual references, complements of uni lol) from heaps of different things, I got a Lord of the Rings one and an Alice in Wonderland one too!)

5. New Look Pattern 6401

I'm making view C at the moment (the black on in the picture!) for Saturday, so I really hope I can get it done in time! It's actually really easy, even for an mature sewer like myself. Can't wait to post photos when I'm done!!

Until next time...
-C

WIP: Granny Square Blanket!

2011-08-03T13:00:00.030+10:00

So last time I blogged about my granny square blanket it was around 30cm square (huh. It was only a month ago. Well there you go...). Which I was pretty pleased about at the time. Well, I still am, it just got colourful and giant.

Pretty sure when I last posted a picture it was just the blue centre, but I'm pretty sure you can see it's a fair bit bigger since I changed colours. Hehe.

The easiest way to me to show off the size of the blanket was to take the above photo. Though I guess it didn't occur to me that the last colour I used was purple and my bedspread's purple too...Ahh well, I think it's pretty clear?

I am *loving* this colour combination, of the teal, black, purple and yellow. It did seem a little odd when I started, but I really do love it. They started off as colours I already had (the yellow and black were initially for a Hufflepuff scarf, but I gave up on that... the purple was a freebie with a magazine and my Nan gave me the light blue), and I added teal. Because I do love that colour.

So as always, until next time,
-C

P.S. If this works right, you should be reading this on Wednesday... *fingers crossed*

5 Things Sunday =D

2011-07-31T15:50:00.001+10:00

1. Reading fiction books and passing it off as coursework.
No joke, I have a subject called Teaching Adolescent Literature, and we read (and analyse, of course) excerpts and novels as a part of the coursework! I'm currently working my way through Robert Cormier's The Chocolate War (which I'm not a fan of so far, I think it's too... adolescent male-ly for me), and I have Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson lined up next.

2. Being a red-head
It's been something I've been meaning to do for a while, dye my hair red again. I'm naturally a brunette with fairly dark hair, so going for a bright red was a bit of a shock but it looks pretty awesome I think =D

3. Half. Price. Fabric. Sales.
That's right. Half price. Yesterday I traipsed all the way into the city to go to Lincraft to get me some half price fabric =3. I had a giant list of fabric I wanted, for an evening gown + practice fabric, a sundress, a bustier and a maxi skirt. Didn't quite turn out like that, but I'll get to that =P

That's the giant bag I lugged my stash about the city in, ahh how I regret not taking a backpack...

And that, dear reader, is my stash. I ended up only getting two lots of cotton drill (on the left) to practice on for my evening gown, and on the right, is the good stuff - white chiffon and black shantung. Annoyingly enough, the 2 lots of cotton cost more than the shantung... /sigh. Lincraft turned out to sell mostly 115cm width fabric, which made my job a lot more expensive than I first planned, so I got nowhere near the amount that I wanted... Ahh well. I look forward to making other stuff soon!

4. My Kitty Cat
I wish I had a photo of him on this computer, (or he was around to be photographed) he's so cute. His name is Jesse, and he's a ginger moggie! He lives on my bed at night, which I think is fair enough, 'cause he's getting older now, and it's pretty cold at night.

Edit: He made himself at home on my blanket, so I thought I'd grab a photo because he looked just so adorable!

5. Train trips
Alright, give me 2 more weeks and I'll be regretting that =P But for now, it's great to be reading / thinking / whatever on the train to get into uni.

I'll be setting up a post to hopefully post itself on Wednesday (that, and I think it'd be cool to have a post go up while I'm in class... hehe.), 'cause things are starting to get busy already! So I hope it works... lol.

Until next time,
-C

Love me some Tetris

2011-07-27T23:48:00.000+10:00

First week back at uni and I'm already tired... Haha. Either that or because it's 11:30pm. =P

Moving on.

So for a while I've had a whole bunch of these plain magnets from a $2 shop sitting around on my whiteboard. That, and a sheet of plastic canvas.

As a way to start using the magnets, I stitched up this quick Tetris heart. You know how much I love Tetris ;)

I'm thinking of making a few more of these because they're just so cute! And the perfect size for a magnet.

That's all for now,
-C

5 Things Sunday

2011-07-24T14:50:00.000+10:00

1. Playing the tourist in my own city

I went to the Southbank Markets for the first time in years yesterday! Of course, I took my camera. It was a most enjoyable day, and the weather was perfect! You know, the gorgeous, pretty much cloud-free winter days.

So many awesome things! Must go back soon... That, and go to the Gallery of Modern Art.

Also, the local wildlife was pretty cute too ;) Seeing 2 galahs in the middle of the city is pretty cool, I must admit.

How awesome is this for an idea! It's a garden made up of pallets! I thought this was an awesome idea!! Especially if you have to move or something.

2. Realising that your crochet blanket is twice the size you thought it was

I'll post a pic later this week, it's getting massive! Especially since the last time I posted a pic of it it was 30cm square...

3. Going back to uni!

WOO! So excited about going back tomorrow, especially since I have 2/3 great subjects to look forward to!

4. Photography

I used to do a lot, but it dwindled over the years as I discovered new hobbies / broke my original camera. Yesterday I got to do a lot more, which was fabulous and I do want to do more!

Hopefully I can get a little better, too.

All the photos are of Southbank, by the way.

5. "Window" Shopping

Well, virtual shopping, really. I do love it. That, and the wishlist-compiling. Ah pretty dress, cute shoes, you will be mine! *evil laughs*

*cough*

That's all for now,
Until next time,
-C

I wish it were Summer...

2011-07-19T21:32:00.000+10:00

For two reasons - it's cold and windy here in Australia and so I can wear some of the gorgeous clothes that Ruche is selling. /sigh. Well, they're running a lookbook competition right now! Here's a link to their lookbook, you should totally check it out, it's awesome!

Open publication - Free publishing - More ace hotel

5 Things Sunday/Monday

2011-07-18T13:31:00.001+10:00

It's a late one today (well, it'll be Monday by the time I post this...) because I was on a date with my other half =)

1. Unexpectedly receiving mail

I love getting mail, so when I got my Shop 'Til You Drop magazine in the mail on Monday, I was so excited! That, and I love getting mail in general.

2. Catching up with friends

Especially since it's been a while. There's nothing quite like catching up with the people you haven't seen in a while - I spent my Saturday catching up with some friends that I haven't seen in years over the Harry Potter movies. We saw the last one too. If you haven't seen it already, I'm horrified. It's utterly fabulous.

3. The view from my window at sunset

I do love my view - it's utterly gorgeous to see the palm trees silhouette'd against the changing light - it's absolutely stunning, the photo doesn't do it justice.

4. My favorite boots

You know the pair, the ones which go with everything, are really comfy and totally cute. I love winter so I can wear them so often! Well, to the point where they live in the car... Hehe. They're black suede knee high boots with a tiny heel. ^.^

5. Giant. Fluffy. Socks.

I hate slippers, so I have my giant fluffy socks to keep my feet warm. That, and these are just adorable.

Until next time,
-C

Mischief Managed

2011-07-13T19:52:00.001+10:00

Happy OMG-it's-the-final-Harry-Potter-film-released-in-Australia-today day! Although I'm a rather recent Harry Potter fan, I'm still so excited to see the movie with my friends!! So I figured I'd make a hair thing and a scarf to go with it. (Plus do my nails, but I'll get to that in a few days lol)

I used my trusty (yet very much under-appreciated) hot glue gun, Gryffindor themed ribbons, a hair comb and, of course, a giant cup of instant coffee.

I'm actually really excited as to how it turned out, it looks pretty much exactly how I had planned it! It wasn't that hard either, a little bit of hot glue and half an hour was all it took.

No in-hair shots of the bow, I'm yet to try that out! Tomorrow I'll be making a matching Gryffindor scarf, and at some point in time I'll be baking snacks - does anyone know any good Harry Potter - related recipes? I'm thinking about tackling the cauldron cupcakes, yum.

Until next time,
-C

5 Things Sunday

2011-07-10T18:08:00.000+10:00

1. The weather

It's winter here in Australia, but it hasn't been that cold! Well, until now. Gorgeous clear days, perfect for lying in the sun with a good book or stitching. As long as you can find a wind-free spot, that is. Yeah, gorgeous sunny days... With wind cropping up every now and again. Oh well. I'd post a pic, but the only shot of the sky that I can get around here is marred by the fact that the sun's starting to set. At 4pm in the afternoon. Ahh winter, how I love you...

2. Scarves!

These are the staples of my wardrobe at the moment. (Which are in the wash...) My favorite is my bright red Sportsgirl scarf, it's such a great way to brighten up my outfits! Especially since it's ruffle-ly and really, really warm.

3. Clannad

Since I got Botan (who I mentioned last week), I figured it was a good idea to actually watch the anime that he's from. Especially since I have friends obsessed with this anime =P It's actually pretty awesome, so far I'm really enjoying it!

4. Max Brenner Hot Chocolates

Omg so good. I went there while I was in Melbourne a few years back, but I was flat broke so I didn't get one then. However a friend of mine bought a chocolate pizza (marshmallows, nutella, cornflakes, white chocolate bits), which was totally delicious. So when it opened up in Brisbane, I had to try a hot chocolate! It was like melted chocolate + milk. That's what it tasted like, anyway. So. Very. Good. I'll get a photo next time I go ;)

5. Inspiration then Action rather than Inaction

If you've been reading this blog for a while, then you might have figured out one thing about me - I tend to have great ideas then never act on them. However lately I've been inspired to actually finish stuff I've started! That, and I intend to start sewing again. Let's see if this actually comes to something ;)

Until next time,
-C

5Things Sunday!

2011-07-03T21:12:00.000+10:00

1. The Big Bang Theory

Oh this does make me laugh so much. I've only ever known one person to not like it... Hehe.

2. Tetris

Ahh so addictive... I'm getting pretty good too ;) I think I need to do more Tetris crafts, they're just so cool, and I don't do enough... *plots*

3. My Beside-Computer-Monitor Soft Toys

I got these as gifts, the one on the right is a Wind Rider Cub (WoW) named Thrall (I figured that was pretty appropriate) who I got a few years back. The one on the left is a baby boar (apparently?) from Clannad (which I haven't seen / read yet) named Botan! He was a birthday pressie from oh, two days ago. Hehe.

4. The motivation to finish games I haven't finished yet
For the last... ages, I've had a few games which I installed and never actually finished. So with a desire to shoot aliens last night, I finally feel like actually finishing those. Yay to finish Halo (1) at long last!

5. Ruche
I got these Chelsea Crew shoes for my birthday (and a bag ^^), and they're such fabulous quality, look exactly like the picture and arrived in under two weeks! Which is awesome for Australia. Ahh so many drool-worthy items there, I can't wait to get more =3

Until next time,
-C

Birthday Rainbow Cake

2011-06-30T21:32:00.001+10:00

I knew what I wanted for my birthday - a rainbow cake. I mentioned this on Sunday, well, at least that I wanted to make it.

After reading the recipe on the original rainbow-cake and discovering it required a grand total of 5 egg whites in the cake, and, wait for it, 14 egg whites in the icing, I laughed and found another recipe.

I decided to use a butter cake recipe for one reason: I like butter cake. Ditto the butter icing. The only change I made to the recipe was not using vanilla essence, for the sole reason that I didn't have any... It was still delicious.

Thirty seconds of Google'ing later, I used an "Easy-Mix Butter Cake" recipe (which, true to its name, was really, really easy), weighed and divided by 6 (for each colour), dyed each layer a different colour and cooked each layer for 10mins each. I also used this Butter Cream Icing, again, because I like butter icing.

Only thing wrong - there's no blue. Why? That green layer is pure blue food-dye. Yeah. My yellow cake turned the blue food-dye green. Ahh well.

Until next time,
-C

5 Things Sunday!

2011-06-26T21:50:00.000+10:00

1. 50's Evening Dresses

Ahh I'm loving this style at the moment, I've got a formal event coming up in a few months so I was looking around for inspiration as to what to wear... Something like the above dress would be amazing, but we'll see. Hehe.

2. Nail Polish

Ever since discovering this blog, my nails have been changing colour with a rather regular frequency. It's so much fun! I'm using Maybelline's "Mini Colorama" in "Marshmallow" (2 coats) and Rimmel "60 Seconds" in "Blue my Mind" (1 coat). I'm not a fan of layering the Marshmallow, after several hours the blue on my right hand is still smudgeable...

3. Crochet!

I know I said crochet blankets last week, but this week I learned to crochet granny squares thanks to my mum and last night I taught myself to do single crochet stitches. So. Very. Awesome. My giant granny square blanket is just under 30cm (see photo above), which is awesome, I didn't realise it was getting so big! I'm going to re-do my single-crotchet stitches scarf, it's... rather wonky, hehe.

4. Rainbow Cake!

I <3 this cake. It's my birthday on Thursday, so I'm hoping to make this for my own birthday.

5. ProActiv
Yep, I have zits. So I tried this stuff as a last resort, and I do like it! Especially the mineral powder, that stuff is fabulous!

Hopefully this week I'll be posting some stuff I'm working on / have made!
So until next time,
-C

5 Things Sunday!

2011-06-19T21:54:00.000+10:00

1. Pinterest!

Ahhh so addictive and a fabulous way to keep track of things I find on the internet..

2. Crochet Blankets
I totally spent the last week or so under one... They're so warm! I'm hoping to learn to crochet soon, because I want my own blanket now, hehe.

3. How I Met Your Mother

It's so funny and has been such a fabulous way to relax with a cup of tea before dinner! Ahh I love this series, and I'm so excited for the next one!!!

4. Harry Potter

At long last, I have finally read all of the books and seen (except the final one, of course) all of the movies! This has totally made my week, and now I'm so excited to see the final movie with my friends when it comes out in under a month! *squee* Favorite character? Hm, Fred and George Weasley, I think... Hehe.

5. T2 Tea!

As much as I love coffee, there's something to be said about T2. Especially their teapots, cups and saucers.

That's it for now, I have done some crafting so I'll post that gradually ;)

Until next time,

-C

5 Things Sunday...

2011-06-05T14:53:00.000+10:00

1) New books!

When out celebratory-shopping yesterday (end of semester, hell yeah!), I had initially decided to get myself a cute pair of red boots (which I still haven't located. If anyone knows a great place to get boots like that, please tell me! Hehe.), but when I passed QBD, there was quite a few books on sale which I wanted more than a pair of cute boots.

I <3 Louise Bagshawe's books, and the other 2 were a "oh why not" buy, and the bottom book, Daughter's of Fortune is fabulous! (Definitely not for the young ones, it's a bit racy...)

2. Locating "me" time
I haven't had enough of this lately =)

3. English Breakfast Tea
The week before last I had a cold, so long story short, I tried English Breakfast tea. So. Very. Good. And cheaper than buying a regular coffee too... ahh so great on a freezing autumn day...

4. The Magic School Bus
Growing up on these books, there's still a stash in the bookshelf at home. It totally saved my bacon on my last assignment (I'm studying education).

If you haven't read The Magic School Bus before, even if you're an adult, you totally should!!

5. Catching up on Blogs I Read

I highly recommend reading these too, they're packed with great photos, a great read and are just generally awesome! ...and for the last week, fabulous procrastination reading...

Someday Crafts (craft projects / ideas!)
Of Cats and Crafts (craft ideas, inspiration and cute cats)
Gamer Grrlz (gaming info and really cool photos)
Cupcakes and Cashmere (gorgeous clothes and the inspiration for this "5 Things Sunday" series)
Sydney Shop Girl (fabulous photos and travel stories)
All Cats are Grey at Night (stunning clothes and (for me) wardrobe inspiration)
A Beautiful Mess (amazing clothes and photos, not to mention craft inspiration!)

Next Sunday I'm house sitting and won't have access to the internet for a week, hopefully I can do all the crafty-cooking stuff that I want to! That means plenty of posts for weeks to come, in theory ;)

Until next time,
-C