We had a great weekend – sounds like bragging doesn’t it!? I had a proper “me” day on Saturday finding some great new fabrics from a gorgeous little shop off Cambridge Market - Callyco, and then discovered a Vintage Fayre in the Guildhall so I went to explore.
There were hundreds of teenagers packed in there; convinced that anything vintage is instantly cool and that £3 for a really rusty old door key is a bargain. Steampunk is great and I love it but I’m not going to fall for that!
After I’d fought my way through the throng of teens fighting over flowery frocks and headscarves I found a stall with the most amazing collection of up-cycled buttons. They weren’t desperately over priced so I gave in and bought a card of pale blue pearl buttons. Perfect to go on my Cath Kidston fabric sunglass cases for the craft fayre in Wicken in a couple of weeks! I love the idea of “up-cycling” and “restored” things being put to use while they’re still beautiful or stand the chance of being beautiful again. Too many things have been ditched because of a split seam and old fabrics have that softness and signs of aging that make them prettier than ever.

So after I’d got my new fabric and up-cycled buttons I went and met my mum at the Garden Centre I worked in as a kid and was blown away by the standard of greetings cards in there now. For mass produced cards they were great! With laser cut windows and really vibrant modern art mixed with soft vintage styles there was something for everyone and my mum had me being very naughty and taking photos of them for inspiration once she got home!
Mr W somehow ended up playing in two rugby games that afternoon so we went to the pub next to the marina for dinner so he could have the mixed grill (not far off a whole pig/cow/with all the trimmings) and I somehow ended up with another cake order! This one is for Wednesday so tomorrow night I’ll be in my lovely mums kitchen baking and decorating! “Something pretty” is the stipulation so I may be looking at this lady’s lovely buns on Flickr for inspiration – her cakes are to die for!! Click here for her profile

Sunday was taken up by cooking a big roast beef dinner for an old neighbour and good friend of ours, and chilling out! Perfect! The beef was awesome and the only downer was that I forgot and made the gravy with the water from the cauliflower and carrots pan so I had a little allergic reaction. DOH!! Never mind… Dinner was gooooood! I made fresh swiss roll for pudding too :o) Dead easy!!

So tonight will be taken up crafting and then tomorrow it's baking!!!
Have a good evening!

Fried potatoes and colslaw

I've been a very naughty girl. I just broke the rules and ate potatoe skins and onion and a little carrot - gorgeous creamy colslaw.... I was already having a flare up so I figured what the hell!

I've had a busy old week - lots to do and all sorts going on but last nights "chore" was really good fun. A friends husband asked me some time ago if I would make a birthday cake for her, and he really wanted it to have a doggy them as she absolutely adores their chocolate brown labradoodle, Bruno. He's gorgeous and I really wanted to do him proud so I made a big dark chocolate cake (no cocoa in there, just loads of really good quality dark chocolate melted in after it's cooled a little, just before you add the dry ingrediants) and decorated it with a chunky little fondant Bruno!

With a sparkling base, an edible ivory ribbon and bow, and a delicate row of edible pearls to give it the grown up touch I was really pleased with it and have been on tenderhooks all day today waiting for her reaction! Thankfully she liked it and I didn't ruin her birthday!!

So other things happening tonight: a drunk dog, a selection of internet installations, and a bit of sewing!

The drunk dog is actually a doorstop and he's cute as hell! You can see him on Facebook in the gorgeous page of Little White Cottage - I'm finding her designs REALLY hard to resist!!

I heartily recommend going and taking a look!

As I booked a table at a local fayre on Sunday 27th I think I ought to stop rabbiting and get crafting... We'll be at Wicken Village Hall from midday to 4pm and would love it if you came by to say hi!

click here for location and map!

Pops and party poopers

I was really chuffed that I was well enough to go to our friends birthday party on Saturday night as I'm a fragile creature as those who know me will testify! We only stayed until ten as I was out of oomph by then, and Mr W (who had played rugby with Cambridge RUFC's development squad that afternoon) was definately flagging. So with birthday cake safely delivered to the birthday girl, off we went home (via the Kebab shop for Mr W's health conscious supper!) (actually, I have to admit, I had one too.... it's not big, and it's not clever, but god it was good!).

FYI the tiger themed cake was due to the birthday girl being a member of the Tiger MCC so isn't completely random!

After going to bed with a bit of a headache I awoke Sunday morning with small pixies trying to hack their way into my brain with miniature pick axes. Knowing it was bound to only get worse I cracked on with my first attempt at cake POPS as the teenager had decided they were a good present for her best friend (who lives 200 miles away but does like cake). These were actually really good fun to make, and despite the edible glitter going everywhere, and the teenager getting really annoyed with the elder of the two cats (Kevin - aka Kevin the Destroyer) getting to the cake mix bowl before she did, they came out fantastically well! I really like the idea of making these as wedding favours with colour coordinated ribbons and printed tags... soooo preeeetty!

By lunchtime the pixies were doing a grand job and it reached the point where if I stood up I was literally screaming with the pain in my head. Having spoken with the doctor we were sent to the local hospital where a very nice German doctor who shoved two needles in to my backside; one with lots of lovely painkillers in, and one with lots of lovely anti-emetics (anti sick stuff!). Within half an hour I could open my eyes and speak again which was quite nice! It eased off and by bedtime I'd only had one other dose of oral painkillers and had kept some dinner down! Yay! I woke up this morning determined to go to work but when I went in to say bye to Mr W I got one of "those" looks, and sent back to bed. Humph. To be honest, I was swaying slightly, and having a little trouble focussing so perhaps driving wasn't the best plan. I do hate not going to work though. Herumph. To add insult to injury I by then also had two huge bruises from the injections... lovely....

By mid afternoon I only had a niggly pain so took in some fresh air on the riverbank for half an hour. Took some pictures out there as it was just soooo nice!

So now I'm starting to get that feeling accross my forehead again I shall leave you in peace. Hope you're having fun in the sun today!

thirty minutes to special buns, and funny shaped balls.

It’s been a funny week really; I’ve only had a couple of flare ups and that’s almost a shock to the system now! I agreed to make a big cupcake tower for a 21st birthday have been plotting another very chocolately birthday cake for a lady who’s very loved by friends and family too!

I’ve been buying bits and bobs to put together some more very pretty butterflies this weekend (if I can get some time to myself!) to have handpainted and stitched fabric butterflies on magnets. I hope they look as great in real life as they do in my head… Dying to get on with them now!

After a visit to my mom’s last night (shorter than planned due to horrendous traffic jam on the way there) I came home and whipped up a batch of buns to thank the mum of one of our teenagers friends as she’d volunteered to drive said teenager home in the middle of the night tonight after it’s been bowling with it’s friends. Lucky escape for us!! Definitely worth cake!! I want everyone to revel in the awe-inspiring magnitude of my willpower though as I made a batch of eight buns and gave two each to Mr W and the teenager – and packed the other four! I didn’t eat a single one!!! Bet you’re impressed, right?! I might have sneaked a teeny bit of lemon buttercream but no one saw so it didn’t count. So there. :o)

Mr W is playing rugby with a bunch of 20 year olds tomorrow. I have a worrying suspicion that it’s going to end in disaster for someone. Probably not him, thank goodness, as the old experienced props know how to do the technical stuff properly, but the youngsters see the older players coming up against them and get all cocky and try and embarrass them. Bless their hearts…. He doesn’t deliberately make them leak but I suppose it can’t be helped sometimes.

While he’s playing with a funny shaped ball I get to go to the cake supplies shop – need boxes and boards! Thinking about another little cake I might do this weekend that will be fun – tell you more after the event though! Been looking through lots of everyone elses photos on flickr (you can see my profile on there – look for the little floating craft co of course – and see all my favourites! There are some amazing cakes on there that make me soooo jealous! And hungry! CLICK HERE TO SEE

Hope you have a great Friday night whatever you’re doing!