skills from uni (or candlemaking with a how to)

well, i don't know about you, but i learnt some very useful skills while i was at uni - like how to make candles. i have never actually done it though, and it has been a number of years since i was at uni. however, i had a couple of candles that had burnt through the wick, but with plenty of candle left. in the reduce/re-use/recycle way of things, the other day i decided pull out those old university learnt skills and give candle making a go. i started with an old candle, some new candlewick, a plastic cup and an old can. i then chopped the candle into little bits. and popped the bits into the can and popped the can into a saucepan of water over a fairly low heat (the water didn't even need to be simmering). the peg held the can in place, as otherwise it tended to float and threatened to tip the wax into the saucepan. while waiting for the wax to melt, i set up my molds - plastic cups - with their wicks. i trickily tied the wick to toothpicks and suspended it from the top of the cup, to ensure it didn't get swamped when i poured the wax in. once all the wax had melted, it was simple to pour it into my molds. i then left it to cool down and solidify - i left them overnight for good luck. i ended making three candles like this. then i popped them out of the cups, trimmed their wicks and...ahhhhh... how lovely.

flourless birthday goodness

its been birthday central 'round here - with cakes galore in recent times. i thought i would share great recipe for the non-gluten eaters amongst us (adapted from the cupcake recipe of a friend) Flourless chocolate cake

2 tablespoons brewed coffee

125g butter, chopped

200g dark chocolate, chopped

¼ cup cocoa powder

¾ cup caster sugar

4 eggs, separated

100g (1 cup) almond meal

100g milk chocolate, roughly chopped

Cocoa powder, to serve

1. Preheat oven to 180^oC. Grease cake tin.
2. Place coffee, butter and dark chocolate into a heatproof bowl and melt in microwave, stirring often. Transfer to a large bowl.
3. Add cocoa and ¼ cup sugar to warm chocolate mixture. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes. Stir in egg yolks, almond meal and milk chocolate.
4. Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites to soft peaks. Add remaining ½ cup of sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until thick and glossy. Fold into chocolate mixture, spoon mixture into prepared cake tin.
5. Bake for about 30 minutes (i left it for 35 minutes and it was a touch overcooked, so keep an eye out) or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Stand in pan for 5 minutes. Turn onto a wire rack to cool. Dust with cocoa. Serve.

i forgot to snap the cake itself, but here is the evidence at least that i made it...

the sheet skirt

so, here is my sheet skirt all finished and done.



i am really very happy with it. my first pattern-less skirt success. (you may well note the similarities with the pillowcase skirt i posted below - they are the same basic idea, but i did actually make this one first).








and thanks to everyone for their great ideas on what to do with the rest of the sheet. i really like the pj idea, and the cushions. and the bag lining and the softie... well all of them actually. i can see much potential!



Note to self - i really must clean that mirror!

my sunday afternoon

so, how was your sunday afternoon? mine was great, thanks.

i made a skirt.

without a pattern.

out of a pillowcase.



i am so very very pleased with it....

my creative space - with a problem and a challenge

my creative space this week is somewhat messy (who am i kidding, my creative space is messy every week, so unlike everyone else's creative spaces, hosted by kirsty). see i am in the middle of making a skirt. i am pretty proud of it - its not from a pattern, i'm making it based off a skirt i already own. i have tried this kind of thing before, and it always ends in disaster - so i am really pleased that this one is going sooo well. just a few finishing touches and i will be all summer skirted up. the problem is i am making it out of the fabulous fabric in the foreground (ooh, big word) of the pic. the problem isn't the fabric - i LOVE the fabric. its a double bed sheet i opped some time ago that has been waiting for the perfect project. the fabric is soft, vintage, brown and yellow and orange and white and second hand and utterly perfect for this skirt. the problem is more what to do with it now. see the fabric is pretty distinctive and having made a skirt that i can see myself wearing all summer, i am unsure what to do with the rest of the sheet. this is where the challenge comes in - i need some help. does anyone have any ideas of what i should do with the rest of the sheet? or indeed with what you can do with the rest of the sheet? or with part of it? i'm happy to share the sheet around and i'd love to hear your thoughts...

a macrame birthday

so since my last post, i have deliberately set aside two whole days to do crafty things - the plans i had, pillowcase projects, wardrobe refashioning, crochet, some stencil art... unfortunately things came up (as they do) and both of those days ended up being used for other things. oh well. on the plus side - one of the reasons i have been so non-crafty busy was that it was my birthday! *blushes* and i did get some lovely crafty presents from a lovely crafter. Including: the gentle arts - by jennifer isaacs (which catalogues "200 years of australian women's domestic and decorative arts") this great little beading magazine - for use with gay art bead loom. and this - how fabulous! a macrame nativity pattern book. for a full nativity set with macrame baby jesus a macrame sheep and even macrame camels (although i think they were being a bit creative - i can't actually make out the camel in this pic. a challenge made even harder as blogger refuses to orient this pic correctly. don't ya love fighting with blogger... ). i have no idea how to do macrame, but i am so excited - i have wanted to make a nativity scene for ages... yay for birthday fun!

crafternooning along

i love all the creative people i have in my life, friends and family who are also keen on making things. creating things. a few of us have gotten together and started having crafternoons - every two months or so. we pick a saturday, invite people along and eat and make stuff, and talk and laugh and create together. its so lovely. and it was yesterday. we have people doing all sorts of arty/crafty things... painting sewing wheat bags doing crochet (and no, this is not mine, i'm still much more beginner than this) eating much yummy food, and drinking Ethiopian coffee and for the first time - we also had a pottery wheel to play on it was just brilliant to spend a saturday in this lazy yet creative way.

my creative space

my creative space this week is filled with a combination of my two new favourite things. op-shopped vintage pillowcases and thread sketching... you have to believe gina when she says its easy - it really is. and play along with other spacers and the lovely kirsty...

so excited....

i love it when inspiration builds on inspiration... see, i was feeling inspired to make some more pillowcase veggie bags. i have been talking with some friends from my church about being more sustainable - including reducing packaging etc. and as part of the discussion, i showed them my veggie bags and from the positive result decided to make a few extras to pass around. but a few of my recent pillowcase purchases were fairly plain single colours. hmm, i thought - what can i do to make them a bit more interesting? the lovely gina from clutterpunk inspired a solution, with her thread sketching the other day - followed by a great tutorial today. so here they are (not quite finished - they still need draw strings, but i was so excited i had to share) note the pre-requisite bird on a branch (i suspect we will see this design popping up everywhere as a first attempt). big thanks gina!!!

obsession confession

ok, so. i may have popped into another opshop this week to feed my current pillowcase obsession. opps... (and actually, the floral one on the end there is from my fabric stash, but it happily joins the others). i can't wait for tomorrow - it will be pillowcase central round here.

a finished project!!!

eek! how exciting - i actually finished a project. who'da thunk it? see, i went to start a new crochet project today, and decided that instead, i would do some more work on my first ever crochet project. and i actually finished it. here 'tis - a doll's blanket ta da!