Crochet Christmas Present

A couple of weeks ago, I had a flash of inspiration to make a blanket for my friend for Christmas.  I found my colour and pattern inspiration on Pinterest and quickly got to work.

It worked up really quickly, I added a scalloped border and I'm really pleased with the finished object.

I just can't wait to give it now.

xxx

Project Summer

Hi Everyone!

It's half term so I have finally found some time to catch up with some crafting and blogging!

I mentioned a while back, in this post, that I was starting my own twist on Project Life.  I couldn't commit to PL as I just don't have time, plus the fact that page after page of 'I  went to work' would just be boring! But I decided that a similar style just for the summer would be good fun.  I included the last week of the last school year and the first week of the new one just to put it all into context.  So here it is...

Week 1....

Week 2...

Week 3...

Week 4...

Week 5...

Week 6...

Week 7...

I've had great fun doing this, admittedly it did take me until today to finish the final week, but I'm ok with that.  I've decided to carry this on for all school holidays.  I'm going to do the next two weeks to document half term and my 30th birthday week.

Back with some crochet projects soon
TFL xxx

New Favourite Recipes

It's no secret that I love to bake but I am definitely guilty of sticking to a rather narrow range of recipes.  It's not that I'm worried about trying new recipes, it's just that more often than not I don't have a lot of time to bake so it's much easier to stick to what I know.  To try and break myself of this I added 'try new recipes' to my 30 things list so that I would make a little more time to be adventurous. 

Anyway, after trying a couple of new baked goodies and posting pics on Instagram, a couple of people (both called Lou, incidently! Hi Lou & Lou!!) asked me for recipes so I thought I'd post them on here.

The first is a Nigella one that I stumbled upon whilst perusing Instagram.  They are mega easy and totally delicious.

Sweet and Salty Crunch Bars

You will need:
300g chocolate (I use the 30p a bar supermarket stuff!)
125g butter
3 Tablespoons golden syrup
200g salted peanuts (again I used the 'value' type ones)
4 normal sized Crunchie bars

Melt together the butter, chocolate, and syrup.  Put the peanuts in a bowl with broken up crunchies (I chopped them rather than 'bashing' them as you want them to be chunks).
Pour in most of the melted mixture, I save a little back to pour over right at the end.  Press into an 8" tin lined with cling film and pour over the rest of the chocolate mixture to give a nice smooth finish.  Refrigerate and enjoy! So easy!

The second is something I tried today after finding on Pinterest (so it also ticks my 'make something from pinterest each month' on my 30 list!)

Bounty Cupcakes

To make a dozen of these you will need:

110g Caster sugar 

75g self raising flour

35g cocoa powder

110g butter

2 eggs

8 mini Bounty bars (or 4 of the two part ones!)

For the topping:

Icing sugar

Coconut milk

Desiccated coconut

Butter

Mix together all of the ingredients apart from the Bountys until light and fluffy.  Chop the mini Bountys into thirds.  Divide the mixture between 12 cake cases (small ones rather than the muffin sized ones) I usually fill them around 2/3 full, and press a chunk of Bounty in, pushing down well.  Bake at 175 degrees until they are springy to touch (sorry I can't be more specific, I never time cakes!!)

Make a buttercream using coconut milk instead of water.  When the cakes are cool, spread a little on top of each cake, press into desiccated coconut and add another chunk of Bounty.  And that's it!!

Happy baking peeps xxx

P.S if you try these recipes do share your piccies!

Finally Free to Craft

The school hols are here...yay!! I've done my first year and I have never been so tired.  The children finished on Tuesday, I've done three days of classroom sorting with my new job share partner and now I have 5 weeks of rest and relaxation stretching out ahead of me...bliss.  But I'm not that good at resting and relaxing so I've given myself a little project! 

Introducing...

I've never been quite sure about project life....or more specifically my ability to keep up with it, but I've become more and more intrigued and eventually I decided to give it ago in a miniature form just for the summer holidays.  I bought shares in a couple of different kits and got rather excited about trying it out.

I bought myself a really cool planner from Paperchase and set about making notes of the weeks events.  I found as the week went on I got better at documenting the little details that made each day different. 

Then at the end of the week I got the photos printed and set about planning what it would look like...

Next I organised some of the essentials so I could have everything I needed close to hand...

After this came the fun part...choosing the cards to go into each pocket.  So far I'm about halfway through but I'm impressed with how quick and easy it is compared to other yearbook type documenting I've done before...I may even be persuaded to give it a proper go next year!

So this is it so far...

When in Frome...

It's been a long time since I've scrapped with the stress that goes with my job this time of year, I've had the inclination but have either been too exhausted or had too much else to do but today I found myself with a quiet Sunday afternoon stretching ahead so I put on my new pj's (well one needs to be comfy when creating) and settled down to my desk with a selection of new (TKMaxx bargain) stash.

I used some pinterest inspiration in the form of a couple of different layouts from my crafty board and my Maggie Holmes 12x12 pad.

This is the result.  Apologies for the quality of the picture but if you waited for me to photograph it properly it would never get blogged!

This was the day the girls and I collected our holiday tickets and had our final night on the tiles before our getaway.  After slaving away at this layout for some time (it did not come easily...I must be out of practice) I ran out of inspiration for a title, so I posted it on Instagram and Vix (on the left of the photo) soon came up with this little gem....thanks hunny!

So....I scrapped and blogged in one day.....check me!! 

xxx

The One Week Blanket

I haven't blogged for ages but I've just finished a project that has inspired me to write a post!!  Last weekend I had a quiet night in planned to watch my new Les Mis DVD (love it!!) and I fancied doing some crochet but not the blanket I was working on.....something new. So I had a rummage through my yarn stash and armed with a rainbow of DK scraps I headed online to search for inspiration and I hit upon it on Heather's Blog in the form of her solid granny squares. 

Within minutes I had whipped up one square.....

And after an hour I had 6....

By bedtime there were 12....

And the next morning two dozen!

Then half a blankets worth...

By the end of Sunday I had almost the full complement needed and after a day at work on the Monday I had 48 squares ready and waiting.

Then came the tricky bit....deciding which colours went where! I wanted it to be seemingly random but not so random that squares of the same colour ended up together.  I also wanted the colours to be fairly evenly distributed.  So I layed it out....

And then jiggled it around a bit....

Until I was happy with the layout.  Then I stitched it together, which probably took as much time as the actual making of the squares!!

Finally, because it's a present for a baby girl I wanted to give it a border with a splash of pink to make it extra girly.

After I took this picture, I blocked the blanket just to make sure the corners were crisp and it led nice and flat.  I am just so happy with the result and would highly recommend the pattern, it's just fab!

Thanks for sticking through a bit of a long post!!

xxx

E

It seems like tradition now that when I need a present for a baby I go to hobbycraft and buy an initial to decorate for their room.  So luckily I was already en route to hobbycraft when I got a text to say a colleague had just had her baby boy Evan. 

I used lots of bits and pieces from my stash to customise it. Can't wait to hear if they like it!

TFL xxx

That Back To School Feeling....

Today was my first day back at work after half term and I don't know whether I'm just tired and suffering a post half term shock to the system, or if I'm coming down with something, but I came home feeling rough and am already in bed.

As I was led here doing nothing I thought I'd blog!

I managed to fit in quite a lot of crafty time during half term, I finished my christmas journal and my 2012 yearbook, I won't bore you with those...I'm not the happiest with them and can't really be bothered to take photos! I will share some other little projects though.

Unfortunately I didn't photograph this properly but you get the idea.  I made this for my teaching assistant who is waiting for her second grandchild in the next few weeks.  It was just a car seat size so worked up really quickly.  I'm pleased to report she was thrilled with it.

With the money she paid me for the blanket I treated myself to some yarn for a blanket for me, which is one of the items on my 30 in my 30th year list.  It's working up quite quickly although I'm sure now I'm back at work progress will slow a little! The colours were inspired by a blanket I spotted on Pinterest but I'm not entirely sure how happy I am with my choices...maybe they'll grow on me!

Back soon with some papery projects! Xxx

You Can Tell It's Half Term!!

No.....you're not seeing things....I actually scrapped! A whole 12x12 and loved every minute. 

I was inspired by the latest Sarah's Cards challenge so I thought I'd give it a go. 

TFL xxx

P.S I just blogged this from my iPad....now I know I can do this there'll be no stopping me!!

2012 A Round Up

Happy New Year Blogland!!

I hope you've all had a very happy Christmas and that 2013 is treating you well so far.

I had a fab Christmas, very restful after the busiest 3 months of my life.....but fear not it was not all rest...managed a good bit of play too!!

One of the things I really enjoy doing at the start of the new year is to look back to my first blog post of the previous year too see what my hopes were for the year ahead.  I always find this gives me an opportunity to reflect on the past year and really appreciate what has happened before thinking about my plans for the year ahead.

So 2012 for me revolved around my one little word.....

I have to say I have really enjoyed having a word of the year, it's just made me think about things in a different way and really gave a different spin on New Years Resolutions.

This time last year I was in my first few days of my final placement....oh how long ago that seems now.  It was amazing and truly set me up for the start of my career.  So obviously my main hope was to inspire someone to employ me, which if I'm honest couldn't have gone better....I got the first job that I interviewed for after a very small amount of applications, in a school that I completely love and I couldn't be happier.

Following on from that I hoped to inspire the children I work with, which from the feedback I've got so far from parents and colleagues, plus the endless 'best teacher' notes and pictures I get handed....I think I managed that too!

Creatively it feels like a quiet year compared to previously, but I have surprised myself by finding a lot more time than I would've thought.  I've definitely scrapped a lot less but have spent a lot of time being creative in the kitchen, as well as a bit of crochet and even tried my hand at some Cath Kidston tapestry.

So the other events I was looking forward to in 2012 were.....

Welcoming my best friends baby into the world......he arrived the day after my interview, I spent the day before nervously waiting for phone calls about the job and about the baby!! He is gorgeous and I am completely smitten!!!

Seeing another best friend get married......

It was amazing!! Just the best day and we had a lot of fun in the run up as well.

Finishing and passing my course and graduating again....

Done....and what a feeling it was!! Never thought I'd do it once let alone twice.

Getting a job.....already covered that!!

And completing a 'document' style project of the year....not quite finished yet but it will be.  I'm not entirely happy with the format I chose but that will just help me get it right next year!

So all in all a pretty good year.  

I'll be back soon with my plans for 2013.

Thanks for sticking through a mammoth post and for following my little blog for another year.

xxxxx